How to stop your rooted Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II from receiving an OTA update notification
I recently told you about how Verizon has issued an OTA update that will lock the bootloader on your Samsung Galaxy Note II. This pushed me to the root side of the fence and a few days ago, I rooted my Note II. Everything went smoothly and I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about seeing the update notification again. Then the next day I woke up and the notification was back. Now what should I do?
Thanks to XDA, I learned that all you need to stop receiving OTA notifications is your rooted phone and an app that lets you browse all the files on your phone, specifically the system folder. The app I use is Root Explorer, but there are lots of other apps that will do the same thing.
The two files you will be looking for are fwupdate.apk and SDM.apk. Any changes to other files in this folder could have unintended consequences.
If you’re using Root Explorer, open the system folder and then the app folder. Mount the directory so you can make changes to the files; to do this, tap the button at the top that says “Mount R/W.”
Now find the fwupdate.apk file and rename it by long pressing on the file name and selecting “rename” from the options box that pops up. You can rename it to anything you like; I just renamed it to fwupdateold.old. When you are done renaming fwupdate.apk, scroll down until you find SDM.apk and repeat the same process of renaming.
Some people say that you can delete these files, but I prefer renaming just in case I need them for something at a later date. If I do, then it is just a matter of renaming them back to their original name.
If you are running a custom ROM there is a good chance that the developer of that ROM already removed or froze these files.
Either way, this means that you won’t ever see a notification for an OTA update.
