Flipper Zero could blue screen windows 10 PC when connected through a USB hub

Firmware update / qFlipper
#1

Hi,

I don’t know how many users have noticed this. Flipper Zero can cause problems when connected to PC though USB.

I think it probably has something to do with the bad USB feature. Every time I connect my flipper zero to my PC, it would cause the LED light on my keyboard and mouse to flash, and they’ll freeze for a few moments. The PC plays the USB connected and disconnected sound a few times. Then it goes back to normal. I believe flipper zero caused my mouse and keyboard to disconnect and reconnect.

Just a hour ago, flipper zero blue-screened my PC when I unplugged it. It was very scary. My PC was playing music, the speaker stuck at one frequency of the sound as the PC tries to reboot. It was a very unpleasant experience.

I hope someone at flipper can look into this and find a solution to this issue.

#2

Oh wow, that definitely should not happen.

I don’t think that this is caused by BadUSB as it only activates when you enter the app.

Can you please provide more info?
What’s the sequence of actions you were doing to cause that behavior? What app was running on the Flipper while you plugged it in? Was the BadUSB app running?
What’s your PC setup, is it a laptop or a desktop? Are you connecting your flipper through the USB hub, or directly? Do you have any anti-virus software installed?

#3

Hello Astra,

I don’t think it was caused by a running BadUSB. I didn’t have it running. But I think it probably has something to do with this feature. Because it feels like Flipper Zero is being recognized as a peripheral device for a moment, and it conflicted with existing peripheral devices. I am not exactly sure what happens behind the scene.

Now that you mentioned it. I did plug it to a USB hub. And I use a desktop PC (windows 10). My PC is on the corner of my table, so I have to use USB hub and extension cable to connect peripherals to the PC tower. My mouse and keyboard are on the same USB hub.

I only triggered the blue screen once. I don’t remember the exact details. But I think it happened after I unplug Flipper Zero while qFlipper software is on. Both the flipper zero and qFlipper were not doing anything. I made sure they both are in idle before unplug Flipper Zero.

For the keyboard and mouse freeze though it is much simpler. Both plugging and unplugging of the Flipper Zero might trigger this behavior. Windows will play the USB connected and USB unconnected sound effect a few times in quick succession. Mouse and keyboard won’t response to anything during this time. I can also see their LED lights flashes on and off along with the USC connected and USC unconnected sound effect. So I think they are actually being connected and unconnected in quick succession. And the blue screen probably was caused by this behavior.

#4

The Flipper is presenting as a peripheral only while the badusb app is running, so that’s not it. Sounds like the problem is your USB hub, can you try plugging everything directly to the PC (with the hub disconnected) and reproduce the behavior?

#5

Thanks. That makes sense. I’ll give it a try.

#6

Yeah, you are correct!

It seems it was the USB hub’s issue. I connected my keyboard, mouse, and flipper zero to the desktop PC directly. It did not cause any conflict.

More cable management for me :sweat_smile:

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#7