# Need help catching a thief



## Noremacam (Jul 25, 2011)

In short, I need a rom that has _*disabled*_ the ability to shut off(or go to recovery). Also, blocking the ability to turn off GPS would be a plus. I really don't care what rom as long as it's stable.

I've had my car vandalized from the outside and stuff stolen from the inside a few times, as well as damage to my garage, over the last year. I've lost two stereos now.

I'm gonna superglue the battery back to the Eris, and then I'm gonna leave that Eris in my car with gps tracking software, and when it disappears I'm gonna find its location and call the police and get my stuff back. This Eris has a 3500mah battery in it to make sure it lasts long enough to get my stuff back.

Can you guys help me? I'll donate to whoever modifies a rom to those hopefully small goals, AND I'll post whatever happens as a result for everyone to enjoy.

Pretty please?


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## Noremacam (Jul 25, 2011)

I even found where in the source code the shutdown action in the shutdown menu:

http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=pl...6dcc4c6f218cdd3ee220f0daf3b99455c2a5e;hb=HEAD

It's on line 207. I just don't know what to change it to(perhaps something that just turns the screen off instead?), or grab the whole source and compile it for the Eris, but I wanna help in any way I can to tempt a developer to help me.

In other news, I found out a LOT of neighbors had been suffering from break-ins. Including neighbors who've had their garages tampered with, another guy who had his jeep top slashed to break into it, as well as my next door neighbor running people off and unable to catch them. This would really help more than just me.


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## Spikelangelo (Jul 25, 2011)

Ooh.. A soap opera!

Seriously though I'm no help. I would like to see this guy get some help though. You'd probably have to somehow block the market or at least some apps like quick boot so they can't download that to reboot/shutdown. I hope you find the help you need.


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2011)

Spikelangelo said:


> Ooh.. A soap opera!
> 
> Seriously though I'm no help. I would like to see this guy get some help though. You'd probably have to somehow block the market or at least some apps like quick boot so they can't download that to reboot/shutdown. I hope you find the help you need.


Yeah, and it's also important to note that most thieves that actually know what they're doing will not bother with a phone they can't shut off. It's pretty much a given nowadays that smartphones can be tracked by GPS. I know I sure as heck wouldn't bother with a phone that I'm not able to disable without destroying the hardware. No, I'm not a thief. 

OP, good luck with your "fishing." I hope you find a modification that allows your phone to do what you need it to and the thief is stupid enough to fall for it. He or she could just be a crackhead and not a seasoned thief.


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## nerdslogic (Jul 7, 2011)

I don't know about a rom that does that buti wrote a thread on how I got my phones back after they were stolen. I will posta link
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk


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## Jordan8 (Jun 10, 2011)

Spikelangelo said:


> Ooh.. A soap opera!
> 
> Seriously though I'm no help. I would like to see this guy get some help though. You'd probably have to somehow block the market or at least some apps like quick boot so they can't download that to reboot/shutdown. I hope you find the help you need.


I'm poppin' the popcorn.

Edit: @OP you could remap the power button to sort them turning off the phone, however it would still be able to turn off any method that doesn't involve the power button.

Edit2: Better idea: What you might could do is just set a lockscreen password, than they wouldn't be able to unlock it to turn off GPS & what not.


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## JsinLegacy (Jun 7, 2011)

WTF... I would invest in a car alarm system and a nice big dog... .. possibly a new neighborhood


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## nerdslogic (Jul 7, 2011)

Here you go.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-applications/150274-your-phone-just-stolen-dont-deactivate-before-reading-thread.html


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## SyNiK4L (Jun 7, 2011)

"JsinLegacy said:


> WTF... I would invest in a car alarm system and a nice big dog... .. possibly a new neighborhood


New hood sounds like the best idea lol


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## Noremacam (Jul 25, 2011)

Sorry for no reply lately. I finally got my phone to not shut off. Sunday night there were no visitors to my car. But I will post as soon as I have news to post!


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## Noremacam (Jul 25, 2011)

"SyNiK4L said:


> New hood sounds like the best idea lol


Actually this has been, until the vandilizers, a very peaceful and great community. I really believe that this is just the work of one person or one group, so catching them will make a huge difference.


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## Guest (Aug 4, 2011)

Noremacam said:


> Actually this has been, until the vandilizers, a very peaceful and great community. I really believe that this is just the work of one person or one group, so catching them will make a huge difference.


Neighborhood Watch is a great idea as well. I've lived in neighborhoods where the residents got together and started watching each others' backs. The thieves and vandals ended up focusing their attention on different areas of town.

Thieves want easy targets. Once they realize their targets aren't as easy as they would like, the move elsewhere.


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## razorclose (Jun 9, 2011)

My town is in the top 15 for most car break-ins in the country. Luckily, I live in a pretty safe neighborhood, but 2 miles down the road yields rough neighborhoods. Girlfriend's neighborhood is a little closer to the bad neighborhoods, but a safe one too. Her house was broken into and the thieves were gone literally 5 minutes before she got home one night. Open/concealed carry and gun at my bedside, as well as hers FTW.


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## JsinLegacy (Jun 7, 2011)

swiftmazda said:


> Neighborhood Watch is a great idea as well. I've lived in neighborhoods where the residents got together and started watching each others' backs. The thieves and vandals ended up focusing their attention on different areas of town.
> 
> Thieves want easy targets. Once they realize their targets aren't as easy as they would like, the move elsewhere.


probably the best option... we don't do that in my neighborhood ... luckily tho a cop lives two doors down.. not that it still can't happen.. but I also live in a smaller community .. I think larger populated places should do a neighborhood watch ...


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2011)

JsinLegacy said:


> probably the best option... we don't do that in my neighborhood ... luckily tho a cop lives two doors down.. not that it still can't happen.. but I also live in a smaller community .. I think larger populated places should do a neighborhood watch ...


Yeah, it's definitely beneficial for larger populated places. Many areas also give local residents the option to pay for their police to do routine patrols. I know it's a flat rate around here, and they patrol the area extremely heavily. They're off duty though, and it's merely an optional security service they offer.


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## Noremacam (Jul 25, 2011)

I have a few ideas for making the property safer. But I'm with-holding them coz I don't wanna scare my thief off. I wanna know who's messing with me and then ill tighten up security.


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## Walter White (Aug 1, 2011)

Plan B is another great app that you can text from someone's phone and it will email you the location with map. It can also be installed remotely.
http://www.google.com/url?q=https:/....planb&usg=AFQjCNHTqnG38tUZV9BpxikmB4YUY1dK7A

Good luck, hope you cash those basterds!!


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## scooby0u812 (Jul 31, 2011)

Please keep in mind that when you ask someone something like that. You are also giving them the answers they need in combating what you have done to prevent it from happening. If possible, have replies sent via email or something. Im just sayin.


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## xmrsilentx (Jun 13, 2011)

Check out the plan b application from lookout mobile security in the market. It let's you install it to you lost/ stolen phone from the PC market. Then it sends an email to the address connected to the device with the location.

Still looking for a better reason to post from anything other than the OG


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## SyNiK4L (Jun 7, 2011)

sad the things we have to do in the world to keep ourselves safe. completely unbelievable


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## bdpyo (Aug 14, 2011)

You could always remove every possible thing from your car like a normal person or sit out side all night with your favorite handgun and wait for said theives....


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## Guest (Aug 15, 2011)

bdpyo said:


> You could always remove every possible thing from your car like a normal person or sit out side all night with your favorite handgun and wait for said theives....


Not keeping a laptop, cell phone, or anything valuable in the car is one thing. Unfortunately, thieves will still break into a car to see what is inside. More often than not, the damage to a car being broken into is higher than the value of the goods actually stolen.


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## bdpyo (Aug 14, 2011)

I actually just had my truck broken into, tinted Windows and all.

They stole my tools and only my tools, useless to anyone unless you're in my trade.

Didn't even go through my glove box where I had a check book or my center console which contained 2 spare phones and a check book with cd's and other goodies.

You live and you learn.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk


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## chaotikcore (Aug 11, 2011)

I'm under the impression that a common low-life thief would most likely not be reading rootzwiki.so...I had the same problem once.what I did was get me a 30$ wireless webcam, mounted it over my garage where it also had a clear view of my yard and front door.caught them In 2 days.took the picture from the wireless stream from my laptop to the cops,of course they knew the pair of em.


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## ro6666lt (Sep 2, 2011)

I read through this, hoping for awesomeness... and... nothing. *crosses fingers* maybe tomoro?


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## roscoenr (Aug 25, 2011)

ro6666lt said:


> I read through this, hoping for awesomeness... and... nothing. *crosses fingers* maybe tomoro?


Yeah really was the prick caught?

Swyped from my Orange Peeled Synergist EVO


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## Tahl (Jun 15, 2011)

chaotikcore said:


> I'm under the impression that a common low-life thief would most likely not be reading rootzwiki.so...I had the same problem once.what I did was get me a 30$ wireless webcam, mounted it over my garage where it also had a clear view of my yard and front door.caught them In 2 days.took the picture from the wireless stream from my laptop to the cops,of course they knew the pair of em.


I have to agree with the webcam idea. Throw a webcam in a bush or something and point it at your vehicle. Also if you want the cops to be able to help you recover anything like a laptop or phone, make sure you have the serial number of the device so that they can report it stolen. Legitimate pawn shops will check against stolen items in a police database, at least that is what the pawn shop near me told me after I had a laptop recovered that was stolen from the trunk of my car and I went asking around.

You could also hide and activate your newly modified Tesla car security system.


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## Noremacam (Jul 25, 2011)

Well, unfortunately I think my days of using the Eris are done. I am currently a thunderbolt user, and every time I switch to my Eris, they deactivate the sim card in my thunderbolt(that all verizon 4G phones now require). They cannot activate them remotely, and it takes 4-5 days for them to ship me a new one, which I did once. The only other option was to drive 40 minutes to an authorized verizon dealer and pick up another sim card(albeit the card itself was free), and then drive 40 minutes home again, just to get my thunderbolt activated again.

It's become such a chore that I ceased bothering with it. I could only tolerate using an Eris with no way to shut the screen off for so long as a main cell phone.

I'm really sorry to disappoint you guys. As always, if anything else changes, I'll let y'all know.


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## AndyFox2011 (Sep 5, 2011)

If you can't set it so it can't shut off then hide it so it's not easily/quickly found.


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## bliynd (Jul 16, 2011)

hmmm, another great app I would reccomend is androidlost, its free and it lets you do alot!


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## Phateless (Sep 8, 2011)

"nerdslogic said:


> Here you go.
> 
> http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-applications/150274-your-phone-just-stolen-dont-deactivate-before-reading-thread.html


That was a great read.


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## Phateless (Sep 8, 2011)

"razorclose said:


> My town is in the top 15 for most car break-ins in the country. Luckily, I live in a pretty safe neighborhood, but 2 miles down the road yields rough neighborhoods. Girlfriend's neighborhood is a little closer to the bad neighborhoods, but a safe one too. Her house was broken into and the thieves were gone literally 5 minutes before she got home one night. Open/concealed carry and gun at my bedside, as well as hers FTW.


I hope you realize that statistically that gun is more likely to be used against you then by you.


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## Guest (Sep 8, 2011)

Phateless said:


> I hope you realize that statistically that gun is more likely to be used against you then by you.


Yeah, but that's primarily because most people with guns are idiots and don't know how to properly use and secure them. I have a concealed permit and often carry it in a holster. Unless a thief is pretty educated in firearms and how to disengage the safety on mine, it's next to impossible for him or her to discharge it since it's a tactical pistol and a little more secure than your standard single safety. At home, my firearm is secured in a location that is easy for me to access but extremely difficult for thieves to locate.

Statistics aren't reason enough to not own a firearm, but statistics are a great eye opener for those that don't know much about firearms. They're a great tool for protection and sport when the user is knowledgeable. Too many people nowadays purchase firearms without actually knowing anything about them.


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## Dr. Carpenter (Jun 10, 2011)

"swiftmazda said:


> Yeah, but that's primarily because most people with guns are idiots and don't know how to properly use and secure them. I have a concealed permit and often carry it in a holster. Unless a thief is pretty educated in firearms and how to disengage the safety on mine, it's next to impossible for him or her to discharge it since it's a tactical pistol and a little more secure than your standard single safety. At home, my firearm is secured in a location that is easy for me to access but extremely difficult for thieves to locate.
> 
> Statistics aren't reason enough to not own a firearm, but statistics are a great eye opener for those that don't know much about firearms. They're a great tool for protection and sport when the user is knowledgeable. Too many people nowadays purchase firearms without actually knowing anything about them.


+ 1 Statistics are not something to be afraid of. If anything, they should be a tool to prod people to educate themselves, rather than change their mind about something like personal defense. I'll never get rid of my guns because some statistic says they are more dangerous to me than beneficial, because knowing the statistics means I know how to beat them.


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## davidnc (Jun 7, 2011)

Sooo has the thief stuck again ??Also I'd rather have a gun when facing a thief then not have a gun .I was raised around guns ,nothing wrong with having a gun if used correctly and you have a steady aim , or a good night scope whichever the case applies


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## cloud36426 (Jun 10, 2011)

Just a suggestion you could buy a few "game cameras". They are activated by motion. Just set them up pointing toward your vehicle. Maybe you could get a pic of the suspect and if you have another one point toward the street to get a vehicle description.


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## boatbod (Dec 16, 2011)

Phateless said:


> I hope you realize that statistically that gun is more likely to be used against you then by you.


Really? Would you care to cite the data or peer-reviewed study to back that claim up? ...and yes, I mean the original source, not the Brady talking points.


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## Gman (Sep 4, 2011)

It's cliche but true, guns don't kill people, people kill people. Someone who breaks into your home with bad intentions is still going to have bad intentions with or without a gun. Proper fire arm skill sets and application of the 4 safety rules should eliminate most issues. Everyone knows rule #1 - Treat every weapon as if it were loaded....


swiftmazda said:


> Yeah, but that's primarily because most people with guns are idiots and don't know how to properly use and secure them. I have a concealed permit and often carry it in a holster. Unless a thief is pretty educated in firearms and how to disengage the safety on mine, it's next to impossible for him or her to discharge it since it's a tactical pistol and a little more secure than your standard single safety. At home, my firearm is secured in a location that is easy for me to access but extremely difficult for thieves to locate.
> 
> Statistics aren't reason enough to not own a firearm, but statistics are a great eye opener for those that don't know much about firearms. They're a great tool for protection and sport when the user is knowledgeable. Too many people nowadays purchase firearms without actually knowing anything about them.


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