Securing Your Android Device: Must Read Before Using Unlock Patterns

The unlock pattern is an interesting way to protect your Android
smartphone or tablet. Easier to input than a text password and more
secure than a number password, an unlock pattern simply requires you to
draw a pattern to unlock the screen.

Unlock patterns can be as simple as this:

Or as complicated as this:

If for some reason you can’t remember the unlock pattern function and
enter too many incorrect combinations, then you are temporarily locked
out. Fortunately, all you need to do is enter the email address and
password of your Google account to unlock it again. However, it’s
software based and software is not always perfect.

There is a known bug in Android where the unlock pattern simply doesn’t
work and the only way to disable it is to restore the phone to factory
settings. Restoring the phone to its default settings will delete the
user data and the installed applications (memory card data will not be
lost), but it’s a much better than permanently losing access to your
phone due to a bug.

Factory resetting is done through the recovery boot menu, which is not
accessible on all devices. Here, we show you how to access it on a few
of our most popular Chinavasion Android Smartphones and one of our best
Android tablets:

Entering recovery boot menu on the Eclipse Android Cellphone [CVVD-M171]

Power off the phone and then when powering back on, just hold down the
“volume down” button. Once the phone is back on, press the home button
to get into recovery menu. In the menu, select “clear flash” or “wipe
data/factory reset”. The phone will then restart in its default factory
settings.

Entering recovery boot menu on the Excalibur – 3G Android 3.2 Inch Touchscreen Cellphone [CVQC-M107]

Power the phone down, but before you turn it back up, holding down the
“volume up” button, the “camera” button together, and then press the
“power” button. Keep holding the buttons until the screen lights up and
you will enter the recovery menu. In the recovery menu, select “wipe
data/factory reset” and the phone will restart in its default factory
settings.

Resetting unlock pattern on the TechPad – 7 Inch Android Tablet [CVGY-PC07]

On the popular TechPad Android tablet, the recovery menu is not
accessible directly, but it’s not impossible to disable the unlock
pattern. It does, however, require slight technical knowledge and a
slight modification to the tablet’s system database.

• To start, download the HIDROID drivers from our download page located here: Android Wireless Fix. This is just a patch for some WiFi fixes, but contains the necessary drivers and tools.

 

• Next, extract the files to anywhere on your computer (preferably
  somewhere easy to access). We recommend “C:\tablet”, which is the
  directory this guide will be using.

 

• Connect the tablet to the PC. (Windows XP 32bit recommended)

 

• When it asks for the HIDROID drivers, browse to and select “C:\tablet\android_usb_driver_for_x86\x86” from your downloaded file.

 

• Open up the command prompt. (Start ->Run -> enter “cmd” without quotes and press enter).

 

• Enter the following commands:

  C: [press enter] (it will switch to C drive)

  cd \ [press enter] (go to root directory of the C drive)

  cd tablet\WIFI update [press enter] (go to the folder where the development tool is located)

 

• Now, we start modifying the system database:

  Enter the following commands:

  adb -d shell [press Enter]

  # sqlite3 data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db [Press enter]

  sqlite> update system set value=0 where name=’lock_pattern_autolock’; [Press enter]

  sqlite> update system set value=0 where name=’lockscreen.lockedoutpermanently’; [Press enter]

  sqlite> .exit [Press enter]

  # exit [Press enter]

 

• Now power off the device, remove the USB cable and turn it back on. You are done!

These methods could be also useful if the Android system crashed, cannot
access the menu and need to be reset. The recovery menu also gives you
the opportunity to update the operating system, however, we do not
recommend it and doing so will void your warranty.

Want to learn more about Android Smartphones and Chinavasion products? Check out our latest products at their new products page.