Is there anyway to use Ledger Nano S without updating?

[CoinMLS]

A friend has a Ledger Nano S with v1.3.1 firmware and has never used Ledger Live.

I was trying to help them recover their ETH but I can't seem to be able to get to the ETH wallet in Ledger Live. I assume this is because we have old Firmware.

He doesn't have the 24 word pass phrase so I don't want to update the firmware which will reset the device.

But I can't seem to be able to use any of the original Chrome apps to access the ETH wallet, every time I try it give a message about using Live.

Surely there must be a way to access the ETH wallet without updating firmware! Does anyone know how this might be possible?

[DireWolfM14]

Wow, that's kind of scary.  If you figure out how to get his coins you should definitely have him reset his Ledger and write down his seed phrase.  As far as I know there's no way to display the seed phrase once the wallet is initiated.  That's by design, to maximize security.

On to trying to solve your situation without updating the firmware: you can try MEW: https://www.myetherwallet.com

On the other hand, I've never had to restore my hardware wallets after a firmware update, but I'd be very cautious doing that without exhausting every other option.  You can contact Ledger tech support and ask if they have a recommendation.

[NeuroticFish]

If it doesn't work with MEW, you'll have to check each and every possible ETH wallet, some should be good/legit and work with your friend's Ledger.
One list is here: https://coinsutra.com/best-etherum-wallets/

[Pmalek]

You and your friend need to fix that as soon as possible and move the funds from the wallet that he doesn't have the seed for. Discuss what is best to do with the support as well: https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us
If the device brakes or somehow resets itself - the money is gone since he doesn't have the seed. My device reset itself a couple of moths ago so it can happen but I had the seed so everything is OK. That's why it is so crucial you deal with this asap.

[Lucius]

~snip~

Without seed, anything you try poses a risk, but since it is impossible to get seed only way to get that ETH is to try something. It is not true that the update will 100% reset Nano S, some users did it successfully without device reset to factory settings.

Did you try to remove ETH app from Nano S via Ledger Live and install new/latest version also from Ledger Live Manager?

Regarding old Chrome app, last time I use them I can only open the app which I have on Nano S, but Ledger Manager is just giving me blank screen, no way to remove or update apps.

If you decide to update firmware do not do that on Windows 7, it is not supported by Ledger and you will only get more problems.

I recently updated out of date firmware using ledger live by following the instructions it provided. I'm sure mine was older that 1.3.1 and it took a little while but went without a hitch

[HCP]

He doesn't have the 24 word pass phrase so I don't want to update the firmware which will reset the device.

How do people end up in this situation? Without that backup seed mnemonic, users are sitting on a ticking time bomb... one small accident and all their funds are gone.

For ETH recovery, try following the instructions here for connecting to MEW: https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005200009-Set-up-and-use-MyEtherWallet

If that doesn't work, then I would contact Ledger Support and see if they are able to assist with a way to access ETH on an old firmware without updating. They recently added a dedicated Support Twitter account:  https://twitter.com/Ledger_Support

Or you can try researching other options (including logging a ticket via their online form) here: https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us

[bitmover]

He doesn't have the 24 word pass phrase so I don't want to update the firmware which will reset the device.

How do people end up in this situation? Without that backup seed mnemonic, users are sitting on a ticking time bomb... one small accident and all their funds are gone.

My Ledger Nano S suddenly reseted once. I didn't even try to put my PIN, and it just reseted when I touched the device while plugged in.
That's scary.

On to trying to solve your situation without updating the firmware: you can try MEW: https://www.myetherwallet.com

You can also try Mycrypto.com
Both myetherwallet and Mycrypto.com are supported by ledger.
https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008268594-Set-up-and-use-MyCrypto

[Lucius]

My Ledger Nano S suddenly reseted once. I didn't even try to put my PIN, and it just reseted when I touched the device while plugged in.
That's scary.

It's a well-known bug in 1.5.5 firmware, and Ledger says that this should be fixed in new firmware which is scheduled for Q4 this year. I try to get some info about release date, but only thing I find is few posts on Reddit that Ledger is testing new firmware and that it should be available soon.

I have to admit that even though I have seed backup, I wouldn't want something like this to happen to me. I can only imagine when something like this happens to someone who is not quite aware of how things work.

[CoinMLS]

Thanks. When we tried MEW, we get an error which I believe indicates that the old firmware isn't supported:
"interface number chosen not supported by the device in its current configuration"

We are well aware of what a bad situation it is to not have the seed phrase. That said, we are where we are and there has to be a way to recover the funds from an out of date Ledger without updating.

I will contact Ledger support.

[DireWolfM14]

I found a link to the old Ledger Manager Chrome app.  That may work for you.  Since it's their old way of connecting the wallet it may not need the latest firmware.  Worth a try:

https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/360007534774-Download-Ledger-Chrome-apps

[CoinMLS]

I found a link to the old Ledger Manager Chrome app.  That may work for you.  Since it's their old way of connecting the wallet it may not need the latest firmware.  Worth a try:

https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/360007534774-Download-Ledger-Chrome-apps

Thanks. The link takes you to a place where you can get the BTC app but not the ETH app which has been discontinued (still not sure why they can't let you download it though).

[DireWolfM14]

I saw the bitcoin app, but I was talking about the "Ledger Manager" Chrome extension.  It's a plug-in that works with the Google Chrome web browser.  It'll also likely work with Chromium.  That has an option to access your Ethereum wallets.  I don't know if it'll work, I've never use it.  Here's the link directly to the Chrome app store:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ledger-manager/beimhnaefocolcplfimocfiaiefpkgbf

[HCP]

I saw the bitcoin app, but I was talking about the "Ledger Manager" Chrome extension.  It's a plug-in that works with the Google Chrome web browser.  It'll also likely work with Chromium.  That has an option to access your Ethereum wallets.

"Ledger Manager" was only useful for updating firmware and/or adding/removing "coin apps" from the device. It has no wallet functionality.

The "ETH wallet" chrome app , simply brings up a screen telling you to install Ledger Live... and indeed, that support download page says:

No longer supported

Ledger Ethereum Chrome app has been deactivated. Please use Ledger Live to manage your ETH. Learn more

This happened way back in December of 2018... So, it's not a recent occurrence.

One other thing might be trying an "old" version of MEW or MyCrypto? You can check the GitHubs here: https://github.com/MyEtherWallet/MyEtherWallet/releases and here: https://github.com/MyCryptoHQ/MyCrypto/releases

If that is a bust, Ledger Support is your last best option

[CoinMLS]

I saw the bitcoin app, but I was talking about the "Ledger Manager" Chrome extension.  It's a plug-in that works with the Google Chrome web browser.  It'll also likely work with Chromium.  That has an option to access your Ethereum wallets.

"Ledger Manager" was only useful for updating firmware and/or adding/removing "coin apps" from the device. It has no wallet functionality.

The "ETH wallet" chrome app , simply brings up a screen telling you to install Ledger Live... and indeed, that support download page says:

No longer supported

Ledger Ethereum Chrome app has been deactivated. Please use Ledger Live to manage your ETH. Learn more

This happened way back in December of 2018... So, it's not a recent occurrence.

One other thing might be trying an "old" version of MEW or MyCrypto? You can check the GitHubs here: https://github.com/MyEtherWallet/MyEtherWallet/releases and here: https://github.com/MyCryptoHQ/MyCrypto/releases

If that is a bust, Ledger Support is your last best option

The old MEW versions are a pretty good option, I bet that will work. If only I knew how to deploy the github code. It is as simple as getting a webhost and FTP'ing the files over?

[HCP]

I don't think you need a webhost... It's meant to be able to be downloaded and run locally... so you should be able to simply download the .zip associated with a release (you might need to click the little "assets" link to expand it to see them for older releases)... extract the .zip file and then open the index.html in your webbrowser. That should work.

MyCrypto (which was a fork from MEW due to some "differences of opinion" of the devs etc) seems to have .exe and AppImages available as well...

[bitmover]

I have to admit that even though I have seed backup, I wouldn't want something like this to happen to me. I can only imagine when something like this happens to someone who is not quite aware of how things work.

I did a nice thin that made me feel better about reset

When I first created my wallet I noted down the seed. Then I checked the public address.
Then I rested the device and restored with the seed. Same address. Then I was sure I could survive a reset

[CoinMLS]

I did a nice thin that made me feel better about reset

When I first created my wallet I noted down the seed. Then I checked the public address.
Then I rested the device and restored with the seed. Same address. Then I was sure I could survive a reset

My friend wasn't stupid about this. She wrote down her phrase and then hid it in her house. Then she sold the house and forgot about it and left it behind and cannot get it back. It's rather stupid that you can have a working device but because it's not on the latest version it won't work anywhere.

[CoinMLS]

So now another tricky part...

She received BCH during the original BTC fork and believe that BCH is still "on" her Ledger. I am not as well versed in the world of BCH. Are there any Ledger support BCH wallets? She has a MAC. I am going to try the old Bitcoin chrome app next time I see her.

[DireWolfM14]

I saw the bitcoin app, but I was talking about the "Ledger Manager" Chrome extension.  It's a plug-in that works with the Google Chrome web browser.  It'll also likely work with Chromium.  That has an option to access your Ethereum wallets.

"Ledger Manager" was only useful for updating firmware and/or adding/removing "coin apps" from the device. It has no wallet functionality.

Thanks for the correction.  Great idea about an older version of MEW, too.

So now another tricky part...

She received BCH during the original BTC fork and believe that BCH is still "on" her Ledger. I am not as well versed in the world of BCH. Are there any Ledger support BCH wallets? She has a MAC. I am going to try the old Bitcoin chrome app next time I see her.

That actually might be the easiest part.  You can use Electrum to extract your bitcoin private keys, and subsequently extract any BCH that is trapped on them.  As far as I know, Electrum doesn't care about firmware versions of hardware wallets.  And yes, I'm bracing myself for a correction, lol. 

[HCP]

She received BCH during the original BTC fork and believe that BCH is still "on" her Ledger. I am not as well versed in the world of BCH. Are there any Ledger support BCH wallets? She has a MAC. I am going to try the old Bitcoin chrome app next time I see her.

"Ledger Wallet Bitcoin" chrome app is still functioning... I just installed it... simply select "Bitcoin Cash" here:


Then to access the BCH from the fork... make sure you select "Main" (DO NOT select "Split"):



This will show any forked coins that the device still holds. That is to say, any BCH that is sitting on BTC derivation paths (m/44'/0'/0'...). If you use "Split" it uses BCH derivation path (m/44'/145'/0'...) which will only show non forked coins.

That actually might be the easiest part.  You can use Electrum to extract your bitcoin private keys, and subsequently extract any BCH that is trapped on them.  As far as I know, Electrum doesn't care about firmware versions of hardware wallets.  And yes, I'm bracing myself for a correction, lol. 

Nope. That won't work as you can't export your private keys from the Ledger by using Electrum. Electrum simply imports the appropriate XPub creating a "watch only" version of your wallet. So, all private key actions are still done within the Ledger itself... and part of the core of HW security is to never expose private keys