Ledger Firmware 1.6.0 - Known Bugs and Issues

[jerry0]

My concern was if i don't update it, would there be a time like when someone created a thread that they could not do a firmware update because they didn't touch their ledger in at least few years and was in that very old version like version one? 

You're too paranoid, even for something so sensitive, such as cryptocurrency. Process of firmware update is something that takes a few minutes on a supported OS, and in most cases does not cause the Nano S/X to reset. Your problem is that you complicate things that are so simple, you hold the seed in another country, and persistently ask the same questions that you have already answered. Just update your Ledger or don't do it, it is a simply choice - who knows what will be with Ledger in next 5 or 10 years.

My Ledger also broke down after the latest firmware update, thankfully had almost nothing stored on it. Sent Ledger a message, but I expect they do nothing.

Broke down how, what exactly happened? The device could be reset to factory settings or in worst case you burn/brick it. In first case you can recover your coins by entering seed, and in second case Ledger has already replaced (for free) broken devices several times.

Im from the US.  Where im located now in another country, lot of thefts happen in apartments/condos.  So i dont want to risk having my seed in my apartment here.  And im located in a good area.


Well i rather never update the ledger, i want to keep it as is because my first time doing it... i had that bootloader frozen issue which freaked me out and that took hours to fix.


Again i never had the nano s reset ever.  But when i read ppl here who say they had it happen to them and others twice... that is why im always hesitant to do a firmware update.

[Rath_]

Hey.  Well the thing is im close to 100% sure my seed is correct as when i wrote it down very carefully.  However i never did the intentionally put incorrect pin 3 times so to reset it just to confirm my seed.  Does that make sense?  Does everyone does that to confirm their 24 word seed is correct.  

Yes, it does. Compare either the first receiving address or the public key of the first account to ensure that you will always end up with the same wallet. Even if you are 100% sure that you wrote down your seed correctly, spending a few extra minutes to verify it in a different way won't hurt.

[jerry0]

Yes the last time i used nano ledger s with ledger live it was fine.  My concern was if i don't update it, would there be a time like when someone created a thread that they could not do a firmware update because they didn't touch their ledger in at least few years and was in that very old version like version one?  That is why i always dont want to do an update.

Impossible to say with 100% certainty, but I would suspect that this would no longer be the case given the changes they've made to the firmware/infrastructure in more recent firmware revisions... I would think that Ledger would likely give warning if this was to occur.

The simple solution is simply check every 6 months or so to see if any updates have been released.

I thought i read 5 years somewhere.  So that is the nano ledger x then right?  

That would appear to be correct, from the Ledger Nano X support pages regarding battery life:

End of life
The battery is designed to last 5 years. Ledger does not provide a battery replacement program. If battery capacity has degraded beyond being practically usable, the device can be used by connecting it to a power source using the USB cable.

As the Nano S does not have a battery, so this "life expectancy" does not apply to the S.

But you would never do firmware update if you dont have access to the phrase right?

That depends on:
1. Is it a "required" update?
2. How "urgent" the firmware update was (ie. is it patching a critical security flaw)
3. Whether I needed immediate access to the funds
4. The time frame for recovery should the device reset and I needed to use the recovery phrase

If it was super urgent and I really needed to use the funds, I'd probably risk an update without the phrase. For the most part, the newer updates seem to go through OK without requiring a reset. However, if it is just a "feature" update (providing new coin etc) and they're not features I desperately need, then I'd probably just wait and continue to the current firmware.


As a side note... and something you might want to consider, given what appears to be a very large physical distance between your "regular" location and your recovery phrase storage location... what happens if you simply break the device and need access to your funds? What recovery plan do you have? Are you comfortable with the time frames involved?

It's all well and good having the recover phrase stored offsite... but useless if that is at direct odds with your requirements for being able to recover in a reasonable time frame.

HCP, once again thank you for the long detailed response.


But the nano s resetting issue, did ledger fix this issue yet?  Or is anyone that is on 1.5.5 or earlier still susceptible?  Someone said nano ledger fixed lot of firmware issue but does this mean the ppl using 1.5.5 or earlier still vulnerable to the reset issue?  Or they still are and only ppl who upgraded successfully to 1.6... should not have issue?


Okay so the 5 year was the nano ledger x then, thanks.


At the moment, i do not have to send/receive btc.  But i want the option to do that.


Well im outside the US now and my seed is in the US.  Thus im in another country.   My first issue is if i did a firmware update and it reset, I would be very anxious where i would want to head back to the US immediately because of it.  I wouldn't be able to even concentrate on other things if my ledger reset now.  I mean, i wont need access to the funds now.  I still have some money in the bank to withdraw with us debit card here.  But no, i would not be comfortable with the time frame involved because this would be on my mind 24/7.  Like what if something happens to my seed back in the US... does that make sense?  


Well i would have my seed here but theft happens a ton in apartments where im located here and im in a good location.   Thats why i dont feel comfortable having my seed written down here and leaving the paper in my apartment.  There are even buildings here where they have 24/7 security but theft/breakins due to windows as i heard ton of cases here with theft.  So thats why i dont feel comfortable having my seed with me in my apartment here.


So based on this, you would agree don't update firmware till i get back to the US right?  And would you say buy a 2nd ledger nano s as well because i notice this dimmed display?  


Also HCP, if you are 100% or close to 100% you wrote your 24 word seed correct... but you never ever reset your ledger  nano s with the wrong pin 3 times, would you risk doing it?  Now if i did that reset one time to make sure my 24 word seed is correct and i have my 24 word seed with me right now, obviously i would have no concerns.

[HCP]

But the nano s resetting issue, did ledger fix this issue yet?  Or is anyone that is on 1.5.5 or earlier still susceptible?  Someone said nano ledger fixed lot of firmware issue but does this mean the ppl using 1.5.5 or earlier still vulnerable to the reset issue?  Or they still are and only ppl who upgraded successfully to 1.6... should not have issue?

As per the other thread... it is FIXED by the 1.6.0 firmware.

Well im outside the US now and my seed is in the US.  Thus im in another country.   My first issue is if i did a firmware update and it reset, I would be very anxious where i would want to head back to the US immediately because of it.  I wouldn't be able to even concentrate on other things if my ledger reset now.  I mean, i wont need access to the funds now.  I still have some money in the bank to withdraw with us debit card here.  But no, i would not be comfortable with the time frame involved because this would be on my mind 24/7.  Like what if something happens to my seed back in the US... does that make sense? 

Then you should probably consider alternative solutions for how you separate your device and your recovery phrase and/or the storage of your recovery phrase. It seems like you have doomed yourself to constant worry... you're either panicking that your device is going to reset and you're going to be stuck... or you can't update, because it might reset and you're going to be stuck... or that you might lose your device and you're not going to be able to recover... or you'll constantly be worrying that someone is going to break into your condo and steal your recovery phrase.

Good luck with that.

Also HCP, if you are 100% or close to 100% you wrote your 24 word seed correct... but you never ever reset your ledger  nano s with the wrong pin 3 times, would you risk doing it?  Now if i did that reset one time to make sure my 24 word seed is correct and i have my 24 word seed with me right now, obviously i would have no concerns.

If you have NEVER tested your backup, then pretty much all this discussion is moot. You absolutely need to prioritise checking it to ensure you actually have a working backup before something happens (device stolen, device reset, device broken/lost, firmware update failure).

Being "almost 100% sure" means nothing unless you are 100% sure that it works... the number of people I'm seen on these forums who are "almost 100% sure" that they're using the correct password/passphrase/seed mnemonic... and being 100% wrong is quite staggering. These forums are littered with numerous threads about these situations.


Also, note that you no longer need to reset the device to check your recovery seed. Simply go to the "Manager" in Ledger Live and install the "Recovery Check" app... then open it on the device and follow the prompts. It doesn't reset the device or change the seed.

Basically, it lets you enter (what you believe is) your 24 word recovery phrase using the same method as during a restore and then it'll confirm whether or not the recovery phrase that you have entered will generate the same seed as the one currently being used by the device.

NOTE: You still CANNOT see what the current Recovery Phrase/Seed is... that is to say, it won't show you the 24 words or the current seed etc... it'll just let your enter 24 words and tell you whether or not the seed that would be generated from those 24 words is the same as the one currently stored in the device.

That way, you can be 100% confident that the 24 words you have written down are the 24 words you need!

[jerry0]

HCP thanks.  Okay so based on your long response... i think my best solution is


Do not do any firmware update or anything like that with my nano s since im outside the US.  Once I go back to the US, install the Recovery Check app... then type in my 24 word seed... to see if it confirms right?  It ask to type all 24 words right?  And if its correct, it would say correct?  If not, then incorrect right?


So once it says correct... then i can update to firmware 1.6.  So if anything happens, well i have my 24 word seed and then order another nano ledger s while in the US... you agree this is my best solution here?  Again, my worry here initially wasn't the firmware 1.6 issue with the reset... it had to do with my ledger nano s screen being much dimmer when i didn't connect it to my laptop for a few months.  Like the letters use to be much more darker and now its much more lighter.  But do you think i should try to change the display brightness or do you think i should not bother with that?  Obviously i do this after i confirm my 24 word seed is correct first though.  Yea i never did the reset thing to first confirm my seed is right but i checked all the 24 words many times.  You want me to post a picture on this thread or my other thread so maybe you guys can tell if its a defect or not?  I posted on reddit and one person said thats a defect.  I mean, i know for sure the letters were not this light on the screen when i previously used it.  Im 100% sure on this.  The recovery seed app you talked about... i believe you or someone else mentioned this a while back on this.  I never tried this because i thought was it possible that app can be hacked but that is 100% impossible right?

[HCP]

Do not do any firmware update or anything like that with my nano s since im outside the US.  Once I go back to the US, install the Recovery Check app... then type in my 24 word seed... to see if it confirms right?  It ask to type all 24 words right?  And if its correct, it would say correct?  If not, then incorrect right?

https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/360007223753-Recovery-Check

Again, my worry here initially wasn't the firmware 1.6 issue with the reset... it had to do with my ledger nano s screen being much dimmer when i didn't connect it to my laptop for a few months.  Like the letters use to be much more darker and now its much more lighter.

If you're concerned the hardware might be faulty... log a ticket with Ledger Support and see what they say. No one here is a Ledger technician as far as I'm aware! If you're within the warranty period, you might be able to get a replacement. At the very least they should be able to confirm whether or not the hardware is faulty or failing and will need to be replaced.

[davbess]

hello everyone !
finally !
everything is fine.
the most important thing is to understand that
If you reset your device as new you will create a new wallet thus new accounts (0 balance) and new addresses.
so i think i got sometimes confused and did silly things with recovery phrase, restore the device and so on..
at the end, i had three lists with 24 words... and only my first list allowed me to reconnect with my crypto.
once you understand the trick, the rest is easy and works fine.
you have the right recovery phrase ? ( be very careful of the look alike words when you write them down )
you ll fine your crypto back.

[Lucius]

hello everyone !
finally !
everything is fine.

Beginner's mistake that should not have happened if you were informed how things work. The only logical thing is that you can restore things to the original state if you use the original backup, in this case 24 seed words. I suggest you destroy the additional lists you created so that you will not be confused in the future if you have a similar situation again. Also, one backup does not guarantee you any security, make at least 2 or 3 and store them in a safe place.

What about PC crashing when you plug in a Ledger Nano S, did you solve that problem?

[Pmalek]

you have the right recovery phrase ? ( be very careful of the look alike words when you write them down )
you ll fine your crypto back.

I would say that you were pretty lucky this time around. At least one of the copies had the correct seed but what would you have done if they all contained the wrong words?

In the future, if you ever create a new wallet, make sure you have written down the seed correctly before you send any money to it.
It could have turned out to be an expensive lesson for you.