AFWall+ Always on / Auto start

[mace-cortex]

I rooted my Poke 3 v3.5 and installed AFWall+ to block spyware and debloat. I can’t find any auto start options on my Poke 3 like I sometimes see on other Boox devices.

Once my Poke 3 goes into Power off mode, AFWall+ shuts down. Next time I power on the device, AFWall+ is off until I manually re-enable. On the other hand, MullvadVPN not only remains active but also re-enables itself on boot.

How can AFWall+ behave similarly and stay always on / re-enable on power up?

[winstonma]

May I ask what's the difference between AFWall+ and AdAway?

[Pentam]

Originally Posted by mace-cortex

I rooted my Poke 3 v3.5 and installed AFWall+ to block spyware and debloat. I can’t find any auto start options on my Poke 3 like I sometimes see on other Boox devices.

Once my Poke 3 goes into Power off mode, AFWall+ shuts down. Next time I power on the device, AFWall+ is off until I manually re-enable. On the other hand, MullvadVPN not only remains active but also re-enables itself on boot.

How can AFWall+ behave similarly and stay always on / re-enable on power up?

On my TMC AFWall stayed active, but it is currently away for repair. So I cannot tell you exactly the settings. However, here are two links that might be interesting:

For "normal" Android settings menu:
https://github.com/plateaukao/OpenSettings/releases
Maybe you can find other settings there to keep it active...

There might be a preboot leak with AFWall. To prevent that you can use this Magisk module:
https://github.com/Magisk-Modules-Al...-Boot-AntiLeak

[Pentam]

Originally Posted by winstonma

May I ask what's the difference between AFWall+ and AdAway?

AFWall is a firewall app. It prevents apps from accessing the internet (or even the local network if you want to).

AdAway is an ad-blocker. It writes domains of advertising companies into the host file which are thereby blocked across all apps. This prevent ads from being loaded.

[popej]

Originally Posted by mace-cortex

How can AFWall+ behave similarly and stay always on / re-enable on power up?

It could be configuration problem. Try preferences -> experimental and change "startup directory path for script". You can activate fix for startup data leak there too.

[Marin-Kitagawa]

Originally Posted by mace-cortex

How can AFWall+ behave similarly and stay always on / re-enable on power up?

Figured it out. Commenting in case anyone else hasn't figured it out.

I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out why AFWall+ wouldn't auto start on bootup with my rooted Page device (Firmware v3.5)

Tried different script paths, post-fs-data.d, service.d, permissions, afwall antileak magisk module, startup delay, fix start up data leak, disable battery optimization but couldn't get it working!

Reading AFWall+ github issue comment someone mentioned their OS had included their own "start up manager". This interfered with the startup process initiated via script.


ONYX Launcher > Apps > App Management > Auto-Start Settings

Enabled AFWall+ there worked! Now it auto starts after a reboot.

[greenbat]

Adding to this thread as I have struggled to get AFWall+ to persist past reboots for 2 evenings and now got a reproducible set of steps that work after a factory reset and root now. The individual components may help more general troubleshooting as well. This is for a Note Air 2 Plus with firmware version 3.5.3 (ee15f02840).


0. Root goes here, Magisk is installed during the process

1. boot
1.1 Install AFWALL+
1.2 enable firewall, use Floating Ball menu's Optimizer to adjust visuals, enable "Stay active in the background" in the advanced options
1.3 go to Apps, top right menu App Management -> Auto-Start Settings -> enable AFWall+ and Magisk
1.4 Open Magisk and let it reboot, it should prompt to finalize settings if you didn't open it yet

2. boot
2.1 Install Magisk Module afwall-boot-antileak (put the zip on boox, run Magisk -> Modules -> Install from Storage)
2.2 Install other Apps you want to let through the firewall now, I recommend LocalSend
2.3 Set rules enabling these apps in AFWall+. Doing this now lets you test after we're done
2.4 Open Magisk, enable background running via the Floating Ball like with AFWall+
2.5 Go to Apps -> App Management -> App Info -> AFWall+ -> Advanced -> Battery -> Battery Optimization -> (little text at top) All Apps -> AFWall+ -> Don't optimize

3. reboot, check if it works, test 1 blocked app (ie neobrowser) and one excepted app (ie LocalSend)

This may not be optimal (as in there could be less steps) due to it being the product of permutations. There are a lot of things that can go wrong and lead to termination of AFWall after boot in the new firmware. My understanding is that these are: straight-up not starting (solved with Auto Start), starting and being shown in notifications but then being terminated (solved with Floating Ball optimization and Battery Optimization), and getting stuck applying iptables rules (solved with Floating Ball optimization for Magisk).