As with any firmware update, there is a risk of bricking your device. This risk is higher when updating it with a custom piece of firmware. Luckily for you, the firmware recommended here has a decent community behind it who work hard to minimize errors. That said, Flippers have been bricked by this process. Usually this happens because the user did not completely update their Flipper Zero to the latest official firmware and/or did not format their SD card properly per the Flipper Zero documentation. Thankfully, Flippers are quite resilient and can recover from most bricking with hard shutdowns, reflashes, and other desperate measures employed.
Since you have read this far, you will now learn one of the “secrets”. It’s buried here because this secret can brick your device in a hurry and it is very much not recommended unless you are very aware of the risks (high) and have weighed it with the gains (low). There is a file “subghz/assets/dangerous_settings” that can be edited to extend the range of the sub-ghz radio. One of these settings will make it able to transmit in frequencies which are against the law (based on the region of the Flipper) and another setting will make the Flipper transmit in ranges which can break the software defined radio completely. You have been warned…
Sure, you are more than capable of breaking the law without a custom firmware update. Generally this should be avoided though. This firmware update will give you new and exciting ways to go to jail. Please exercise extreme caution and follow all laws in your area. There will be blog posts in the future about building faraday cages and other ways to help you research radio frequency hacking techniques without breaking the law. Beyond that, exercise discretion and don’t do things like clone door cards to break into places you are not authorized to be.
Since you have read this far, you will now be pointed to one of the secrets. The last paragraph in the previous section describes how to enable your radio to do even more things you probably shouldn’t do. Each Flipper Zero is built for a region based on how you purchased it. This is to help users (and the manufacturer) not go to jail by limiting your transmission frequencies only to those allowed in your region. You can undo that restriction in the custom firmware. Please exercise caution and discretion with this. You have been warned…
There are also several fun addons, one of which is the Wifi Marauder and will have it’s own blog post dedicated to it in the near future. These devices increase the number of new and interesting ways you can end up in jail. Please do not end up in jail by practicing caution and discretion. This bears repeating even more often than it is already. Do not use this to break the law. If you aren’t comfortable with understanding what is breaking the law and what isn’t, then please do not do anything which you are unsure about. This blog is not legal advice.
Now that you understand the risks and benefits of installing this custom firmware, here is a step by step on how to install.
Setup your flipper according to the official flipper documentation.
https://github.com/Eng1n33r/flipperzero-firmware/releases - download the latest release archive (.zip, .tar.gz, whatever you prefer)
Power off your Flipper Zero and remove the microSD
Create an update folder on the root of the microSD
Extract the contents of the archive into the “/update/” folder
Put the microSD back in the Flipper and turn it on
Press the down arrow, then left arrow
Navigate to /update/f7-update-<VERSION>/ and select the file called update.fuf
The Flipper will now update and you will have the custom firmware
https://docs.flipperzero.one/ - Read the documents!
https://github.com/djsime1/awesome-flipperzero - This has loads of excellent Flipper Resources for your enjoyment.
https://github.com/Eng1n33r/flipperzero-firmware - Direct link to the firmware recommended “Flipper Zero Unleashed”.