Ledger Nano X Circus (Battery, Recover and more)

[Pmalek]

I see; so there's no alternative client for initial setup / updates / app installs and so forth, like on Trezor with trezorctl command-line client?

Not that I know of, no. Trezors are shipped with no firmware installed, so the original buyer installs either a bitcoin-only or an all-crypto firmware. Ledger ships its products with already installed firmware. Usually, the latest version. So you might not need to do anything on that end. But you need Ledger Live to install the apps you want to use, and those can only be found in the Ledger Account Manager.

It may be possible to clone https://github.com/LedgerHQ/ledger-live and patch out all the connections to Ledger servers, or even just do it through your firewall. Someone may even have done it before, not sure about that. It should be evident that I'm not too knowledgeable or experienced with Ledger products myself.

You could get blockchain data from your own node and configure Ledger Live to connect to it. But again, you are going to need apps, app updates, and the firmware from their servers.

[1714217006]

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[1714217006]

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[dkbit98]

It may be possible to clone https://github.com/LedgerHQ/ledger-live and patch out all the connections to Ledger servers, or even just do it through your firewall. Someone may even have done it before, not sure about that. It should be evident that I'm not too knowledgeable or experienced with Ledger products myself.

You didn't miss out much, it's just a regular cheap circus show
I don't think patching ledger live is possible, blocking ledger servers is certainly possible, but than I think device wont work correctly.
From my understanding it's not only ledger that are going to receive data from customer wallets, they are only one of 3 companies, other two companies are located in United Kingdom and United States.
Now imagine any of this three governments wanting to do mass seizure of coins, they won't have any problem doing that, since user controls nothing if they applied for Recover.
Even in case if they didn't apply for anything there is a chance keys could be exposed somehow.

Let me look from the bright side of this incident... I think ledger nono X eternal battery problem will not exist anymore  

EDIT:
I found one interesting ledger commercial driving down the Internet Highway 101 

[safar1980]

I see; so there's no alternative client for initial setup / updates / app installs and so forth, like on Trezor with trezorctl command-line client?
Somehow I thought a similar thing existed for Ledger, as well. Maybe that was a thing in the past which got killed. Or my memory simply tricked me. Then I guess Ledger users are SOL no matter what.

It may be possible to clone https://github.com/LedgerHQ/ledger-live and patch out all the connections to Ledger servers, or even just do it through your firewall. Someone may even have done it before, not sure about that. It should be evident that I'm not too knowledgeable or experienced with Ledger products myself.

I was bribed by the fact that the ledger works with many coins out of the box and authentication also works out of the box.
The first Ledger S models were low on memory and had security issues.

15-Year-Old Exposes Vulnerabilities In Ledger’s Nano S Cryptocurrency Wallet
https://fossbytes.com/ledger-cryptocurrency-wallet-hacked/

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Let me look from the bright side of this incident... I think ledger nono X eternal battery problem will not exist anymore  

LOL.  I've been following the Ledger subreddit, and although I've never visited it before I have to think that previously there was a lot of discussion about new coins, new devices, and all sorts of threads that were about actually using a Ledger.  Now every other thread is from someone who's switched HW wallets, and 99% of the discussion is about the recovery service.

And boy, for a subreddit devoted to a single HW wallet you'd think most of the participants would know exactly what the danger is if they continue to use Ledger devices.  But judging by the posts being made that is not the case, and they're not shill posts either, just Ledger users who don't realize that their coins aren't safe on any of the devices and who fundamentally don't see what the problem is.  And Jesus, I'm pretty tech-ignorant (as many of you know) and from everything I've read even I know Ledger users are potentially fucked if either Ledger or a government or a hacker or rogue employee decides it's time to gain access to private keys.

It really is a circus.  At this point I'm just wondering what Ledger as a company is going to look like in 6 months to a year.

[dkbit98]

Ledger nono X battery circus is back in town for season 2024, and they never stop to amaze me with their special quality control for batteries they are using.

One user of ledger X reported on twitter that his ledger device was melted during charging, but on good side at least it didn't exploded like it happens with EV vehicles


https://twitter.com/magic_degen/status/1752713548164395362

[SFR10]

they never stop to amaze me with their special quality control for batteries they are using.

I'm pretty sure their so-called QC only exists when they're making promotional videos for YouTube and the fact that the following page still exists after a year clearly shows they only care about finding workarounds, as opposed to resolving the issue in question: HOW TO TROUBLESHOOT LEDGER NANO X BATTERY ISSUES

One user of ledger X reported on twitter that his ledger device was melted during charging, but on good side at least it didn't exploded like it happens with EV vehicles

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/02/06/vz1ZC.jpeg
https://twitter.com/magic_degen/status/1752713548164395362

Considering some of their users have started to warm up the batteries to jump-start it, a part of me thinks this might be a direct result of the following things before he attempted to charge his/her Nano X

• someone said they held the nano over a flame for a little bit just to warm the battery inside so that it could be charged when plugging it in
• heated it up by leaving close to open oven, this brought the battery back

[Cricktor]

As long as those Ledger crap customers have the decency to replace their "parisian" electro-shit with any other decent hardware wallet, I'm fine with the circus tour. Under my proposed premises, gimme more of this circus, popcorn just got ready.   

[NotATether]

Considering some of their users have started to warm up the batteries to jump-start it, a part of me thinks this might be a direct result of the following things before he attempted to charge his/her Nano X

• someone said they held the nano over a flame for a little bit just to warm the battery inside so that it could be charged when plugging it in
• heated it up by leaving close to open oven, this brought the battery back

I swear to god people do extremely dumb things with their electronics sometimes. Why? For reasons I cannot comprehend, and perhaps it is better that way.

For example, I always have to tell my granny that no, you can't leave AAA batteries in the sun to make them charged, you have to buy new ones.

But for people to take a proprietary battery like the one in the Ledger and to warm it up is not only a new kind of stupid, it is also a fire hazard.

[m2017]

Considering some of their users have started to warm up the batteries to jump-start it, a part of me thinks this might be a direct result of the following things before he attempted to charge his/her Nano X

• someone said they held the nano over a flame for a little bit just to warm the battery inside so that it could be charged when plugging it in
• heated it up by leaving close to open oven, this brought the battery back

I swear to god people do extremely dumb things with their electronics sometimes. Why? For reasons I cannot comprehend, and perhaps it is better that way.

For example, I always have to tell my granny that no, you can't leave AAA batteries in the sun to make them charged, you have to buy new ones.

But for people to take a proprietary battery like the one in the Ledger and to warm it up is not only a new kind of stupid, it is also a fire hazard.

Of course, many people are stupid because they handle devices inappropriately (using them in an operating mode that is not intended for this), but in this case, Nano X assembly doesn't become any better. It should be admitted that the Nano X has some problems (described by unfortunate users on reddit) related to design features. It seems that the Nano X is not worth the money spent on components and materials used, and perhaps there are also not the best engineering decisions made when creating this device. Let me put it bluntly: the hardware is junk, the software is questionable in terms of security, and the manufacturer is screws up often.

[tread93]

I mean what can you expect from a company that severely dropped the ball in multiple instances. They shouldn't be trusted to hold your coins. I wouldn't trust them or even touch this Bluetooth device with a 10 foot pole!! Ledger is a ticking time bomb waiting to happen and I wouldn't he surprised if peoples funds start magically disappearing

[Meuserna]

Ledger is a ticking time bomb waiting to happen and I wouldn't he surprised if peoples funds start magically disappearing

I have a theory on that.

When their key extraction firmware gets hacked, I doubt the hacker will start draining wallets.  If they start draining wallets, it'll quickly become obvious that Ledger wallets were hacked & Ledger could release an emergency firmware update to prevent more seeds from getting stolen (though it'll be too late for anyone whose seeds were stolen, and there will be no way for any Ledger user to be 100% sure their seed is safe).

When Ledger's key extraction firmware gets hacked, I expect the hacker to steal as many keys as possible before draining wallets.

By the time wallets start getting drained, it'll be too late.  And it will be ugly.

[dkbit98]

Considering some of their users have started to warm up the batteries to jump-start it, a part of me thinks this might be a direct result of the following things before he attempted to charge his/her Nano X

It seems that ledger wallet manufacturer found a perfect partner in die hard ledger customers 
I am waiting to hear news about ledger exploding soon.

When Ledger's key extraction firmware gets hacked, I expect the hacker to steal as many keys as possible before draining wallets.

As much as I don't like ledger and what they are doing I still think it's not easy for single hacker to get a hold of all seed words data.
More likely this could be coordinated joined attack of multiple parties, maybe pushed by one or more governemnts.
 

[Meuserna]

When Ledger's key extraction firmware gets hacked, I expect the hacker to steal as many keys as possible before draining wallets.

As much as I don't like ledger and what they are doing I still think it's not easy for single hacker to get a hold of all seed words data.
More likely this could be coordinated joined attack of multiple parties, maybe pushed by one or more governemnts.

I agree, it won't be easy.  Obviously.  But Ledger is now a honeypot for hackers since they've given their devices the ability to send seeds out, over the internet.  I don't think a hacker will manage to get "all" seeds.  I assume the vulnerability will be on the user's end, and hackers will have to seek out users once they know how to attack Ledger's firmware.  I won't be surprised if hackers do that via a virus, or something along those lines.  And I don't think it'll happen anytime soon, which will just make matters worse since people will have gotten used to trusting firmware with key extraction capability.  People already make excuses for all of the tracking in Ledger Live.

[LTU_btc]

I have Nano X wallet for more than a year, got it for free from one promotion. Haven't used it much, but can say few words about it. Not going to talk about whole their company, just about device.
What I unlike most about it is screen. It's bigger than on Nano S, but I don't like it at all. Letters and numbers displayed on it is so unclear that makes it so hard to read. I almost failed to write down recovery see because of it. When I took Nano S wallet to my hands, difference is is huge. Screen is smaller, but text is displayed perfectly and it's easy to read.
Another thing is error related with battery, but as I understand it's related with that I barely used that wallet and battery got drained out fully.
And one minor thing - their original USB cable is so short that makes use of wallet very inconvenient.

[SFR10]

What I unlike most about it is screen. It's bigger than on Nano S, but I don't like it at all. Letters and numbers displayed on it is so unclear that makes it so hard to read. I almost failed to write down recovery see because of it. When I took Nano S wallet to my hands, difference is is huge. Screen is smaller, but text is displayed perfectly and it's easy to read.

Considering that the Nano X has two times more vertical pixels than the Nano S, numbers and letters should appear slightly better so I think your Nano X screen is suffering from dimming/fading issues ^{[it's more common with the Nano S screen, but few users have also reported such issues with their Nano X devices]}.

And one minor thing - their original USB cable is so short that makes use of wallet very inconvenient.

Unfortunately, this also applies to most of the other HW brands.

[Pmalek]

And one minor thing - their original USB cable is so short that makes use of wallet very inconvenient.

Maybe the cable that is standard for the Nano X is shorter than the one for the S model. Perhaps they have different cables and you were simply unlucky enough to get the shorter one. Still, how long do you need it to be? Its only purpose is to connect your hardware wallet to a laptop or computer. It doesn't need to be long.

When I compare my Nano S cable to the one I got when I bought my Trezor One, it's like 4 times longer. But I am satisfied with both.

[dkbit98]

And one minor thing - their original USB cable is so short that makes use of wallet very inconvenient.

Trezor also has super short cables, so maybe they are competing who is going to make the shortest one 
I don't know what other hardware wallet manufacturers are packing, but for USB-C connections it should be easy to just use same cables from smartphones.
 

Unfortunately, this also applies to most of the other HW brands.

Best wallets don't have data cables at all

[LTU_btc]

Considering that the Nano X has two times more vertical pixels than the Nano S, numbers and letters should appear slightly better so I think your Nano X screen is suffering from dimming/fading issues ^{[it's more common with the Nano S screen, but few users have also reported such issues with their Nano X devices]}.

Yeah, it looks like there is dimming/fading issue, it feelsvlike letters/numbers displayed on screen have shadows what makes it hard to read. Then when I take Nano S to my hands, it feels like it have 4K screen resolution .

And one minor thing - their original USB cable is so short that makes use of wallet very inconvenient.

Maybe the cable that is standard for the Nano X is shorter than the one for the S model. Perhaps they have different cables and you were simply unlucky enough to get the shorter one. Still, how long do you need it to be? Its only purpose is to connect your hardware wallet to a laptop or computer. It doesn't need to be long.

When I compare my Nano S cable to the one I got when I bought my Trezor One, it's like 4 times longer. But I am satisfied with both.

I think they used to send regular length cable with Nano S and now sending short cables with all Nano X.
My PC is located under my table, so Nano X cable is way too short to use it convenient. Regular 1 m. cable would be enough for me.

Trezor also has super short cables, so maybe they are competing who is going to make the shortest one 
I don't know what other hardware wallet manufacturers are packing, but for USB-C connections it should be easy to just use same cables from smartphones.

Seems that's just another way of cost savings that helps to maximize profits. And you always can buy longer overpriced cable from official website of manufacturer .
At least all these cables is universal thing and you always can use cable from smartphone - I guess we all have more than enough these things.

[Pmalek]

I think they used to send regular length cable with Nano S and now sending short cables with all Nano X.
My PC is located under my table, so Nano X cable is way too short to use it convenient. Regular 1 m. cable would be enough for me.

In that case, you are out of luck. I use a laptop, so even the short Trezor one I took a picture of above is OK for me. In your case, you would have to be on your knees holding the device in your hands while looking up from below your table when trying to compare and verify transaction data.

Go to a local PC or mobile store in your city and get a long data cable that is long enough for your needs. Alternatively, use the Bluetooth feature of your Nano X.

[m2017]

I think they used to send regular length cable with Nano S and now sending short cables with all Nano X.
My PC is located under my table, so Nano X cable is way too short to use it convenient. Regular 1 m. cable would be enough for me.

The standard length of the Ledger Nano S / S+ / X cable has always been less than 1m. The following sizes are indicated on the official website: 71 mm x 86 mm x 25 mm.

In that case, you are out of luck. I use a laptop, so even the short Trezor one I took a picture of above is OK for me. In your case, you would have to be on your knees holding the device in your hands while looking up from below your table when trying to compare and verify transaction data.

Of course, it’s still a hassle to try to confirm a transaction if the PC is located under the table. The manufacturer was probably more focused on laptops (and savings). With millions of devices sold, every centimeter of cable counts.