Stop Android OS auto-update

Question

We have a variety of devices for testing purposes, and now that Froyo is being pushed (to the Nexus One so far at least), we have to constantly dismiss upgrade requests. There is no apparent "stop asking me" button.

So, is there any way I can disable OTA OS updates? We want a number of these phones to stay on old OS versions.

You can cut it off from internet connections, but other than that I don't know of a way — CodeFusionMobile, Aug 18 '10 at 18:54

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 18 '10 at 20:21

6

Remove SystemUpdater.apk from /system/app. From terminal (with ADB)

adb pull /system/app/SystemUpdater.apk C:/Path/to/your/desktop //Backup the file (just in case)  
adb remount                                       //Remount the system partition to read-write  
adb shell rm /system/app/SystemUpdater.apk              //Remove the apk

Warning - this will permanently disable system updates, until you push SystemUpdater back to /system/app

answered Aug 18 '10 at 20:21

QRohlf

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Do I need to root the device to use this? If there's an alternative, I would prefer to keep these devices as close to factory spec as possible. – DougW Aug 18 '10 at 20:49
At best, that can only work with rooted devices, as `/system/app` is not readable, let alone writable, on standard production devices, AFAIK. – CommonsWare Aug 18 '10 at 21:01
CommonsWare is correct, to use this, you do need a modified boot.img (which means root), but you don't necessarily need to have a modified ROM. For a nexus one, you should be able to root and install a custom boot image but leave the stock ROM on the phone. – QRohlf Aug 18 '10 at 21:23
Cool, well not my ideal solution, but a good answer none the less. Thanks. – DougW Aug 18 '10 at 22:08

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 29 '15 at 11:08

2

From ADB with root access:

adb shell pm disable com.google.android.systemupdater

Not need delete apk.

edited Dec 29 '15 at 11:08

Muhammed Refaat

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answered Jan 17 '15 at 20:32

e-info128

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 02 '11 at 04:31

For XOOM running android 3 honeycomb. You have to remove Upgrader.apk (not SystemUpdater).

adb pull /system/app/Upgrader.apk C:/Path/to/your/desktop //Backup the file (just in case)  
adb remount                                       //Remount the system partition to read-write  
adb shell rm /system/app/Upgrader.apk              //Remove the apk

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 04 '20 at 12:20

I have a very old Lenovo Yoga 2 1050F tablet, Android 5.0.1(Lollipop). Today year 2020 it made an unexpected OTA firmware download. After downloading a file reboot gives a signature error which may relate to my root and half broken recovery boot app. This is how I disabled a system update adb devices | adb shell | su | pm disable com.lenovo.ota

Stop Android OS auto-update

4 Answers4