Samsung Smartview cover breakdown

Samsung Smart View Cases

Samsung's range of Smart View covers are a popular accessory for the Samsung Galaxy range of phones.

I recently purchased a S-View Wallet case and it turned out to be non-genuine. While the cover looked almost identical, it requires sideloading third party app SmartWindow which also requires broad permissions.

Google Play store version weirdly does not support the device the cover is for.

Without the app the screen  doesn't react to the cover closing/opening, and installing untrusted apps to gain the functionality is extremely risky.

Having read a few post online, most hinting at the use of magnets/hall effect sensors, NFC/RFID chip, but nothing conclusive or instructive how to fix.

Intrigued to understand how these cases differ and why the app is need, I decided to breakdown my current, well worn case. I also wanted to see if the new case could be made to work the same way.

How are these covers different?

This blog post is specifically about the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus (SM-S916B) and each model will differ, but the same principals will apply.

1. Wireless ID chip. Its purpose is to identify the case, but also prevent aftermarket clones of the case.
2. Magnets and hall effect sensor shielding in the form a small metal plate.

Arguably the cover really only needs the single magnet to detect the cover open/close and the shield.

However the the use of second magnet ensures the cover will only be detected/activated if the cover is fitted. It's not possible to re-orient the phone.

Through experimentation the chip presence detection is only every ~30s. It's possible to remove the cover and then pass a magnet over the bottom left of the screen to get it think the case is closed and show just the clock.

Breakdown

Prior to physical breaking down, I used a small fridge magnet over the case to provide a guide to the location of any magnets.

EF-ZS916

Removed card flap

Front Magnet

This magnet is actually just beside the card flap, not under.

Remove the bumper. This allows the positioning of the phone in various orientations to locate any ID chip.

Remove the material lining. Start from the bottom right. 

Once the material liner is removed, you can see ID chip another magnet and the shield. The shield protects the hall effect sensor from triggering from a magnet on the rear.

Getting the aftermarket cover working.

Next challenge was to see if the magnets and chip could be transplanted.

The small magnet and shield can be removed with a utility knife.

Shield

Small magnet

The chip needs more care, but can be carefully pried.

 

 My approach was to cut away a bit of the plastic along side, so I could be the a utility knife under, without flexing the chip. Care is needed not to damage the coil/antenna.




With the items removed, I've opted to a practical (temp) approach, until I can be sure it works reliably.

Given the thickness of the magnets and ID chip, I avoided cutting into the new case for now.

I've affixed the small magnet and the ID Chip with tape to the back of the phone. The shields remaining adhesive was sufficient to hold it in place, within the cover. The open/close magnet I have used a small amount of cloth tap.

Aftermarket cover in in action

Google Graduated Takeout - Something went wrong. Try again.

Education editions of Google Workspace include a less know feature that allows staff and students to migrate their email, calendar, contacts and Docs/Drive data to another Google identity.

The destination identity can be a regular Google consumer account or a Workspace account. The latter has some caveats.

The target account must have;

• The Core Services (Apps) enabled for for the incoming data.
  i.e. Google Drive must be enabled for Google Docs to be migrated
• Additional Service enabled for for the incoming data.
• Additional Service without individual control enabled for for the incoming data*.
• Been Marked as 18year old older, either via OU or by group

*Additional Service without individual control is only applicable for accounts marked 18 years and older with Aged based access. See: https://support.google.com/a/answer/7646040

For Google Workspace for Education editions only: users under the age of 18 are restricted from using these services with their Google Workspace for Education accounts, even when this setting is On. For details, go to Control access to Google services by age. If one of these services later gets an ON/OFF control in the Admin console, it is set to Off for primary and secondary institutions.

Where a user tries to initiate the Graduated Takeout process, to migrate to a Workspace account, the Target (destination) account must me marked 18 or older, as Graduated Takeout will not operate without Additional Service without individual control.

Failure to mark the account as 18 or older will result in the non descript error Something went wrong. Try again.

References:

https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/11081157
https://support.google.com/a/answer/10651918

Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook (GWSMO) v4.3.73.0 Crashing Outlook with Contacts Sync enabled.

Google Support are aware of the issue and reportedly working on a fix.Issue has been observed on both Windows 10 and 11 with the latest GWSMO release (v4.3.73.0).

It's been reported but not confirmed by Google, that the latest update of GWSMO uses a new Contacts API. GWSMO users have observed that disabling the contact sync, resolves the crashing. It's unclear if the unhandled exception (crash) resides in GWSMO or Outlook.

There's 2 options to work around the crashing issue. These are temp workarounds until the official fix from Google arrives.

Option 1

https://support.google.com/a/answer/9833647
Prior to loading Outlook, disconnect the PC from the Internet. This will stop the syncing and subsequent crash.

1. Open GWSMO from the system tray and turn off the contacts sync.
2. Turn sync OFF for data types
1. Click GWSMO icon in your Microsoft Windows taskbar notification area.
   
   If you can't find the icon, it might be hidden in the overflow area. To view all icons, click the up arrow on the taskbar.
3. Select Turn sync modules on/off.
4. Uncheck the box beside the contacts sync module.
5. Click OKOK.

Alternative Option

Registry for automatic wider deployment
https://support.google.com/a/answer/1041455#sync&zippy=%2Cturn-off-sync-for-a-specific-product

Run each of the following commands to add a registry value to disable the Contact Sync module in GWSMO.

• reg add “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Apps Sync” /v SyncFlagsEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001
  
  
• reg add “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Apps Sync\ContactsSync” /v DownloadEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000000
  
  
• reg add “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Apps Sync\ContactsSync” /v UploadEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000000

Cisco Dual ISP Failover helper script

Is the internet's down?!?!

We all know how dependent daily life relies on internet connections and  how frustrations quickly mount when it fails. For years Cisco IOS versatility has offered various solutions to this problem via IP SLA and Track features to detect failures and reroute traffic via alternative interfaces.

While this solution works reliably, there are some draw backs, particularly where NAT is employed, due to stale translations mapped to failed interfaces. Inconveniently not all failures result in interfaces being down.

So what?

Stale NAT translation persisting after fail-over result in extended interruption, until they timeout. Non-DNS UDP translations time out after 5  minutes; DNS times out in 1 minute. TCP translations time out after 24  hours, unless a RST or FIN is seen on the stream, in which case it times  out in 1 minute.

The common solution

The common solution is the use Cisco IOS Embedded Event Manager (EEM) the automate the clear ip nat translation * command following a fail-over. This sledgehammer approach has drawbacks. Clearing all translations effectively resets all NAT sessions on all interfaces, not just the failed interface. Compounding the issue, is no TCP RST or FIN is sent when the translation is cleared, leading to packets being silently dropped, until the client times out and re-initiates the connection. 

Sadly IOS lacks a command to clear NAT translations per interface, but it does provide a command to clear individual translations... Not exactly useful when you have thousands of translations.

clear ip nat translation $protocol inside $inside_global_ip $inside_global_port $inside_local_ip $inside_local_port outside $outside_local_ip $outside_local_port $outside_global_ip $outside_global_port

Dual ISP config

Before we get into the specifics, I suggest familiarizing yourself  with the standard Dual ISP setup under Cisco IOS.  You'll find plenty of examples online, explaining how to configure a Cisco ISR with multiple ISP connections, employing route maps  and leveraging the IP SLA and Track features of IOS to detect failures and reroute traffic.

Once such example can be found here 

The challenge - Clearing NAT translations per interface.

One of the less known and used features of Cisco IOS is TCL scripting. The below script can be used to selectively clear ip NAT translation per interface, and triggered via EEM in the same manner.

Clearing only the NAT translations on failed interfaces will ensure the smoothest fail-over and avoid unnecessary interruptions, particularly where successive failures occur in close succession.

This method will only clear the translations of an interface that has failed SLA.

Part 1 - The TCL Script

Copy this script to bootflash: or another suitable location.

If you want to verify the operation of the script, you can manually invoke from the enable (#) prompt using; tclsh bootflash:clearnat.tcl <interface>

tclsh bootflash:clearnat.tcl dialer0

The script is basic.

1. Parses the output of show ip interface to grab the IP
2. Matching the interface provided in the argument it finds an IPv4 address it continues
3. Parse the output of show ip nat translations
4. For each translation, it checks for a match IP the interface
5. If a match is found, it executes the command clear ip nat translation with the translation parameters.

#!/usr/bin/env tclsh

proc clear_nat_translations {interface} {
	set interface_details [exec "show ip interface $interface"]
    regexp {Internet address is ([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)} $interface_details -> interface_ipv4
	
	if {[llength interface_ipv4] == 0} {
		puts ""
		puts "No IPv4 found for $interface"
		return
	}
	
	puts "Clearing NAT translations on $interface. IPv4: $interface_ipv4"
    
	set nat_entries [exec "show ip nat translations"]
    set nat_lines [split $nat_entries "\n"]
	
    foreach line $nat_lines {
        if {[regexp {([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)} $line inside_global_ip]} {
            if {$inside_global_ip == $interface_ipv4} {
				regexp {(tcp|udp)} $line protocol
				regexp {:(\d+)} [lindex $line 1] -> inside_global_port
                regexp {([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)} [lindex $line 2] inside_local_ip
				regexp {:(\d+)} [lindex $line 2] -> inside_local_port
				regexp {([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)} [lindex $line 3] outside_local_ip
				regexp {:(\d+)} [lindex $line 3] -> outside_local_port
                regexp {([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)} [lindex $line 4] outside_global_ip
				regexp {:(\d+)} [lindex $line 4] -> outside_global_port
				
                puts "clear ip nat translation $protocol inside $inside_global_ip $inside_global_port $inside_local_ip $inside_local_port outside $outside_local_ip $outside_local_port $outside_global_ip $outside_global_port"
				exec "clear ip nat translation $protocol inside $inside_global_ip $inside_global_port $inside_local_ip $inside_local_port outside $outside_local_ip $outside_local_port $outside_global_ip $outside_global_port"
            }
        }
    }
}

set argc [llength $argv]

if {$argc == 0} {

    puts ""
    puts "no command line argument passed"

    return
}

set target_interface [lindex $argv 0]
clear_nat_translations $target_interface

Download

Part 2- EEM Trigger

To trigger the script add the following EEM configuration.

event manager applet clear_nat_2 authorization bypass
 event track 5 state any maxrun 10
 action 1.0 syslog msg "Cellular Failover. Clearing NAT Translations"
 action 2.0 cli command "enable"
 action 3.0 cli command "tclsh bootflash:clearnat.tcl cell0/2/0"
 action 4.0 syslog msg "Cleared NAT Translations"
event manager applet clear_nat_1 authorization bypass
 event track 10 state any maxrun 10
 action 1.0 syslog msg "Dialer Failover. Clearing NAT Translations"
 action 2.0 cli command "enable"
 action 3.0 cli command "tclsh bootflash:clearnat.tcl dialer0"
 action 4.0 syslog msg "Cleared NAT Translations"

Hopefully you find this script useful. Please leave a comment if you find it useful, have issues or want to suggest improvements. 👍

Uninstall Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook (GWSMO)

Occasionally the GWSMO installer refuses to uninstall or reinstall. Thankfully a rare problem, but one that has persisted from the GASMO, then GSSMO through to GWSMO. This post will talk about how to manually uninstall Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook (hereafter referred to as GWSMO).

For one reason or another you have decided to uninstall GWSMO or attempted to reinstall to over come some issue.

Error: MAPI was unable to load the information service C:\Program Files (x86)\Google Apps Sync\gsync.dll

This is particular common where problems have persisted even after you've run through "Set up a Google Apps Sync user" and created a new Outlook profile for your Google Workspace email account.


Where the uninstall fails via add/remove programs, here's how to manually remove GWSMO components, to overcome errors that block reinstallation

1. Ensure Outlook is not running
2. Rename the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Apps Sync
   ie. Append '.old' to the folder name
3. Rename the folder C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Google\Google Apps Sync
   ie. Append '.old' to the folder name
4. Rerun the installer and configure GWSMO.
5. Upon completion can confirming all is operating as required, you can safely delete the renamed folders.

ABC RSS Feeds
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Where are they?

The ABC has decided to hide the legacy RSS feeds on their site.

Here are the main feeds that previous lived at http://www.abc.net.au/news/feeds/rss/

Recommended

• Just In
• Top Stories
• World
• Australia
• Business
• Entertainment
• Sport
• The Drum

States

• New South Wales
• Victoria
• Queensland
• Western Australia
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Australian Capital Territory
• Northern Territory

Benexmart Irrigation Timer - Tasmota / ESPHome conversion

Finding a cost effective Tuya water timer that can be converted, has been a bit of a hit and miss.

Earlier this year I found this Water Timer. Price was about $60 AUD from AliExpress. The Timer itself uses the TYWE1S module and consists of a single button and relay to control the valve.

Manufacture: Benexmart
Model: FJSJKZQ-TY-W-XV-JS (PCB Markings)

I have been running the timer via the regular Tuya integration with Home Assistant, but had the odd event when it failed to turn off. 

The original vendor listing isn't active, but I found these links.

TuyaSmart Life Store

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001244982369.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001363870790.html

As with recent devices, this was shipped with the newer Tuya firmware that doesn't work with tuya-convert, and needs to be flashed directly via serial.

credit

Important note: Make sure your flasher is set to 3.3v

Opening

Opening the device takes a little patience. Case is glued. I started at the bottom (vents) and pried around, carefully breaking the glue. Once open you can access the 4 screws holding the front plate on. These have a small amount of silicon applied, but easily removed.

Tasmota config

There wasn't an existing Template for this device, but it was simple enough to create.

Device has LED (red), Button and relay. The Green led is linked to the valve state and not controllable independantly.

{"NAME":"FJSJKZQ","GPIO":[0,0,0,0,32,0,0,0,288,0,224,0,0,0],"FLAG":0,"BASE":18}

GPIO4 - Button - 1

GPIO12 - Led - 1

GPIO14 Relay - 1

Other Config

Console commands to configure auto off rule, in case of WiFi/MQTT interruption and (red) LED function.

Set red led to reflect WiFi/MQTT connection state (optional)

LedPower 1

Automatic turn off after 15 minutes (900 Seconds)

Rule1 ON power1#state=1 DO RuleTimer1 900 ENDON ON Rules#Timer=1 DO Power1 off ENDON

Rule1 1

ESPHome Config (Update Feb 24)

This is a sample ESPHome config. It features fail safe to turn off after 60 mins where wifi connection is lost. It leverages a Home Assistant calendar for flexible scheduling. 

esphome:
  name: watervalve
  friendly_name: WaterValve

esp8266:
  board: esp01_1m

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  encryption:
    key: "<snip>"

ota:
  password: "<snip>"

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password
  domain: .ha

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Watervalve Fallback Hotspot"
    password: "<snip>"

captive_portal:

web_server:
  port: 80
  auth:
    username: !secret web_server_admin_user
    password: !secret web_server_password

script:
  - id: valve_failsafe
    mode: restart    # Solenoid will be kept on for another 60 minutes since
                     # the latest time the script is executed
    then:
      - logger.log: "FAILSAFE set for 60 minutes"
      #- delay: 1 min
      - delay: 60 min
      - logger.log: "FAILSAFE TRIGGERED!!! Turning off valve"
      - switch.turn_off: water_valve

time:
  - platform: homeassistant
    id: homeassistant_time
    on_time_sync:
      then:
        - logger.log: "Synchronized system clock"

switch:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO14
    name: water_valve
    id: water_valve
    #restore_mode: always off   # default when power is turned on
    icon: mdi:pipe-valve
    # synchronise the LED with the relay
    on_turn_on:
      then:
        - logger.log: "Water Valve On"
        - output.turn_on: valve_led
        - script.execute: valve_failsafe  # Set timer for 60 minutes
    on_turn_off:
      then:
        - logger.log: "Water Valve Off"
        - output.turn_off: valve_led
        - script.stop: valve_failsafe  # Cancel Set timer for 60 minutes

  - platform: restart
    id: restart_controller

binary_sensor:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO4
    name: Button
    id: button
    device_class: window
    # when button is pressed, toggle the switch on/off
    on_press:
      then:
        - switch.toggle: water_valve

  - platform: status
    name: Controller status

  - platform: homeassistant
    name: "Irrigation - Rear garden"
    entity_id: calendar.irrigation_water_valve
    on_press:
      then:
        - switch.turn_on: water_valve
    on_release:
      then:
        - switch.turn_off: water_valve

output:
  - platform: gpio
    id: valve_led
    pin: GPIO12
    #restore_mode: always off   # default when power is turned on

sensor:
  - platform: wifi_signal
    name: Garden Controller WiFi Signal
    update_interval: 10s

  - platform: uptime
    name: Garden Controller Uptime