[akerl_]

Yea, I feel like this is the kind of thing that makes manufacturers resistant to open/hackable devices.

I've done restrictive or invasive things to a variety of devices I own. But if something isn't working the way it should, "reset back to a clean default state and test again" always comes before trying to engage a warranty service process.

[hakfoo]

There's two possibilities there:

The device might not be designed with a publicized tool to restore to a "clean state", and there's also the business signaling factor of "the device stopped working, so I will make sure sure it costs them money to handle a warranty claim".