Steps Necessary To Update A Custom Rom To Its latest Version? Many a time when I watch Youtube videos regarding people rooting and flashing Custom Roms on their Android Smartphones, they show you how to carry out the procedure both in their respective videos and perhaps also in written dialogue on their main website.

However as far as i'm aware most Custom Roms do not include OTA updates, therefore one would generally have to check the XDA website for example to be notified of a newer version to whichever Custom Rom for the particular device you are using becomes available. (I believe however that the CyanogenMod Installer recently introduced maybe an exception to that general rule).

It is also the case as outlined in my first paragraph that those people who have Youtube videos about Rooting and Flashing Custom Roms, fail to do a follow up video showing how you can install the latest version of a Custom Rom they are showcasing from a previous version.

For a beginner this maybe very daunting if you would like the latest version.

I would therefore like to know:

What are the necessary steps that one must undertake to update a Custom Rom to its latest version from a previous version ?

Summing up from the comments:

This very much depends on...

the ROM used
the update format chosen for a specific update

Some ROMs (e.g. CyanogenMod) come with their own "updaters", where special rules might apply. Specifically, they might deliver "patch updates", where only some files will be replaced. In those cases, no further action is required (except for, maybe, a reboot).

Some other ROMs ship in specific formats, and might require special tools to be flashed (e.g. odin or heimdall for Samsung devices).

Again other ROMs are delivered using the update.zip principle, where a custom recovery is needed to install them. This update.zip may be a complete ROM, or also just a patch. Instructions usually are to be found where the updates are offered for download.

In all above cases, some "initial steps" required for the first ROM install can be skipped and must not be repeated, including...

rooting your device (custom ROMs usually come pre-rooted)
unlocking the bootloader (unless you've re-locked it)
installing a custom recovery (when it's already there, no re-install is required; though there might be updates to this as well, and a newer custom ROM might require a minimum version here as well. Again, instructions should say so)

It's always a good idea to perform a backup before installing updates (or tampering with system stuff in any other way). Points to check for include:

nandroid backup: a full "sector-wise" copy of all the important partitions. If things go wrong altogether, this enables you to revert to the exact state of when these backups were created
logical full-backup: this is performed by tools like titanium-backup, and usually includes all your apps and data. So if something is missing after the ROM update, you can substitute the necessary parts. (note that Titanium Backup also can do that with Nandroid-Backups)
adb backup: quite similar to the previous one (see the backup wiki for details and differences).

Note also that an ota-update is quite unlikely to happen with custom ROMs. Some even include an app named fota-kill to "silence" the related update check. They either bring their own updater, or none altogether. In the latter case, the user has to check himself whether and when updates are available; often a "reminder" can be setup by subscribing to the corresponding thread on XDA (or wherever the ROM comes from), but actions have to be taken manually (as described above).

As I've shown until here, videos on updating your ROM most likely do not exist as the process already has been described as part of the initial video; though a few words like "for updating, skip to index ab:cd" would be a good idea (and could be suggested in the comments).

A special case are the google-apps (short: GApps). Whether you have to re-install them or not mainly depends on whether it was a "full update" (complete ROM), or the update just replaced some files. But it's easy to figure: When finished, just check if they are there and working. If not, you obviously have to flash them again. As a full-update replaces the entire partition content, GApps would be gone with that; a "patch-update" would just replace/add some files, and not touch the GApps, so they'd still be there. GApps are never part of a custom ROM (if they are, the "ROM cook" is in trouble due to license issues).


How to retrieve saved password in Google Chrome for Android? Is there any way I can retrieve stored password specific to any URL in Google Chrome for Android. This is not in any way connected with Google Chrome running in Desktop versions. I'm able to see saved password in Google Chrome in Desktop but not in Android version. Please Help. Thanks in Advance.

In Windows, if you open Manage password in Chrome, then it asks for a master password (i.e. Windows Admin password) to view and manage your passwords. But that's not the case in Android. So for security purposes, Chrome for Android doesn't reveal the password.

  From Greenbot: Saving your passwords to your device presents some obvious security
  issues. Although Chrome won’t show your password, all bets are off If
  someone gets ahold of your phone—they’ll be able to log into any
  account that Chrome remembers. If you choose to have Chrome remember
  your passwords, you’ll also want to set a passcode on your phone—or
  better yet, encrypt your device—to reduce the risk of your Internet
  accounts falling onto the wrong hands.

Based on this help link, to manage you password in Chrome browser for Android,

  Open the Chrome app.
  Touch Chrome menu Menu.
  Touch Settings > Save passwords.
  Touch the link for Manage saved passwords in your Google Account.

However, following the above steps only reveals the username and the website URL and you can delete the password but not view it. In order to manage/view your passwords from any device/browser, visit https://passwords.google.com and re-enter you Google account password to login and to view all your saved passwords (except your currently signed in Google account password won't be displayed) if,

you’ve signed in to Chrome and saved passwords or
you’re using Google Smart Lock for Passwords on Android

Click on the specific website and select the eye symbol to reveal the password for that particular site.

Update:

If you are having a rooted device, you can try Firelord's answer too.


Why does this ad keep showing up below my notification bar and how do I stop it? I keep getting an ad that shows up BELOW my notification bar. It is NOT in the notifications, nor on the homescreen, as far as I can tell.

I am using CyanogenMod 12.1 nightlies on a HTC M8. Screenshots below.

How can I get rid of this thing? It just showed up one day. I don't remember installing anything new (although I have autoupdate on for apps, and some update very often) right before it started. I tried ad scanners, but they haven't been much help.

I would rather not factory reset.

I can close the ad by clicking the small "x". If I click on the info button in the lower left corner, I can give feedback on the specific ad and ask not to see it again. If I click on opt out, it asks for my IMEI, which I'm not really comfortable providing.

The ads are all in Hungarian and Romanian. I live in Romania, close to the Hungarian border, so I'm guessing that is why.

(Click image to enlarge)

Opt out page:

There are many complaints about the Premium Wallpapers HD app, which apparently started to show ads looking like this after its latest update.

In general, an Android app can draw anything over other apps if it has the “Draw over other apps” permission, so you can check which of your installed apps have this permission.


Galaxy Tab is not being charged through USB Cable Currently i am using Samsung Galaxy Tab, model is GT-P1000, to test my application, so i usually attach it with PC through USB cable and it is attached for a whole day though it is showing low battery at the end of day. but it should charge the battery same as the other phone when we attach it with USB.

Does anybody know, what may be the problem why my samsung galaxy tab is not being charged through USB cable?

Tablets have larger batteries than phones and may be unable to sufficiently charge from the half amp limit of a USB port, especially while they are fully on (screen on and full speed processor clock).

Some will barely charge if the screen is off but come with high current 5v "usb-like" wall chargers, others use a higher voltage charger on a custom connector - typically something round.  Sometimes the "usb-like" ones are actually special cables with extra pins that tell the tablet that a special high-current charger is being used.

Check your user manual, or try the supplied charger.


Pokemon logo (Cubeon) showing on my boot screen I recently installed "Pokemon Go" game in my Redmi Note 4G. The game is working fine. But I noticed something peculiar in my booting screen. It shows up just after the MIUI logo. I took a photo and did a little research and came to know that the logo is of Cubeon, a Pokemon character. I don't know why this is happening. Is there any security issues? How did the app get access to my boot menu?

It's not from Niantic, it is the silhouette of the MIUI character head.

It's possible comes with a MIUI theme what you downloaded and applied.


Grand Quattro boot loop and can't go to recovery mode Let's keep this simple...

I root my phone using Kingo ROOT and now can't boot.
This... https://www.dropbox.com/s/8v7fbrlep05oc3y/WP_20150308_15_34_19_Pro.mp4?dl=0
Note that my phone is grand quattro and not win
Can't go to recovery mode but can access download mode.
I have Odin.

What should I do? Format or something? :/

Hopefully you made a nandroid backup... if you are able to get into download mode you should be fine. Put the device in download mode. Have the device connected to the pc. Open odin. Make sure that odin recognizes the device. There should be numbers in the first small box in odin above the ID:COM. Select your pda file by clicking pda in odin. Select the tar.md5 file that you should have downloaded. If you do not have this file you can get it by searching for a thread for rooting your phone. Once your device has been recognized and you have the md5 file selected, click start. The overall process should take 10-15 seconds. Once the process has been completed the phone should restart. You can now disconnect the phone. You should now be root.
note this will trip the Knox counter so you may not be able to claim warranty.
Now download clockworkmod recovery md5 file for your phone. Now do the previous steps up to where you select the md5 file. So when you click pda this time select the clockworkmod recovery file you just downloaded. Now you can do this next part two ways:

If you are able to boot your phone you can leave auto reboot checked in odin and then hit start.

Or:

You can uncheck autoreboot so that your phone stays powered off after you click start. Now you should be able to boot into recovery and recover your nandroid backup.

This anwser is based on not knowing if you are still able to boot into your phone or not. If this anwser does not fix your problem please post some clarification and I will try to adjust my anwser. Hope this helps


TWRP for Samsung Galaxy Note 1 GT-N7000 (GT-N7000B) I was browing https://twrp.me/Devices/ wondering if TWRP is awailable for the GT-N7000 (the GT-N7000B in my specific case).

Only the T-Mobile and ATnT versions are listed there, which seems strange to me as the international version should be more common.

Am I doing something wrong, or is TWRP not available for the GT-N7000.
If so, what should I use instead?

PhilZ is a CWM based recovery with touch support.
I used that one. It even has signed zips, so you can flash it Form stock recovery.


How does the Google Play signing certificate looks like Since some time it is possible to opt in for Application to be signed with Google maintained key. How does the certificate looks like? Is it a self signed one like before, or maybe it is issued from some Google one?

As far as I know the applications signed by Google is simple that you upload your private key + certificate and Google then performs the signing instead of the app developer. The certificate and the created signature is identical to the one created by a developer.

I would assume that Google introduced this feature because a lot of developers loos their app signing keys and are then unable to publish updates for an existing app.


Phone numbers won't save My Samsung-g890a phone worked great until about a month ago, now when I put a phone number into my contacts, it stays for a short period of time but the disappears. What is causing this and how do I fix it?

Problem seems to be that your settings has changed, you probably store the numbers under one default account (gmail, hotmail , yahoo) and you display another.

Try to save a number and check under wich account are you saving, then check with account are you displaying.


Corrupt ROM file at CyanogenMod server I am trying to install CyanogenMod in my N7000 issue is the file I am downloading cm-10.1.3-n7000.zip from here seems to be corrupted as when I try to install it from sdcard through install zip from sdcard. it gives me similar unable to read error. cant open cm-10.1.3-n7000.zip (bad)

Plus I also tried extracting it manually on my PC same happens and the zip seems to be corrected I have tried downloading couple of time using download managers but still no changes.

Is there any other link/server from where I can get the latest ROM for my phone or any other ways to solve the issues?

Head over to http://get.cm/?device=n7000 and note the MD5sum of the download (take care that build name / date match, of course).

You can then check it on your phone against what was downloaded using FileSums together with any File Explorer app (filesums acts as possible target for the "send to" share button when you long press the .zip file). Open the file explorer, navigate to

/storage/emulated/legacy/cmupdater/

and then long press the file you want to calculate the MD5sum to "send  it to" filesums.

Or you can download it from your phone using your computer (via MTP or a SD card reader in case your phone has a removable one). Then check the file's MD5sum locally using the commandline tool md5sum (on Linux) or any Windows MD5sum utility (looks like http://www.md5summer.org has a decent one, or just google it).


Using open-source ROM and social network activities If you install a open-source ROM on your android. Can still an invisible rootkit (from manufacturer) monitor your tweets
Invisible means being invisible even in USB connection

Yes. The manufacturer can do anything they like to the phone. There could be spyware in the radio firmware, which monitors transmitted packets. There could be a filter in the bootloader, which modifies any system image you flash to add spyware. There could be spyware in any of the closed-source drivers, which would be the same in your custom ROM as in the official image.

If you don't trust the manufacturer, don't buy their phone, but on the whole, a phone OEM monitoring your tweets is not a likely threat.


What's the purpose of the trackball? what's the point of the trackball of the Nexus One and of the analogous devices in other similar phones? (e.g. HTC Desire's optical pointing device).

Is there any use case for which the touchscreen is not enough?

I find moving the cursor to a particular place in some text far more accurate using the trackball than trying to select it by prodding the touchscreen. I would say that there might not be a specific use case which can't be accomplished using only the touchscreen but that there are certainly tasks for which using the trackball is easier.

It's all probably quite subjective though, and depends on user preference.


Does factory reset remove apps that install into the /system from an unroot phone Suppose the following situation:

End-user have a unroot phone. (the phone is not rooted).

End-user install a app, which actually is a System app and is installed in the /system of the phone.

So, does a factory reset remove these app?

(In the first place, can end-user install a system app onto a unroot phone?)

System apps can't be installed without root.  Only updates to existing system apps can be installed, and they don't actually reside in the /system partition; the original app is kept there, which allows you to uninstall updates separately.  So a factory reset will remove any updates, but not the original app.


How to plug in an  Android Tablet and show it's screen on PC or Laptop for training session? Possible Duplicate:
  How do I project the screen of my android phone for a presentation?

I just bought an Android Tablet, Toshiba Thrive AT100, its HDMI port make me able to plugged it directly to HDMI-support projector in my training session.

But I wonder if there is any application which allow me to do this kind of activity...

Plugged Android Tablet to my laptop via HDMI (or any port), then show real-time tablet display on my laptop (or PC). This could be show via the application's area itself.

With this function, I can just switch from my presentation to show real using on tablet without to switch the cord between my laptop and my tablet.

Do you know this kind of application or any technique to do this?

Try a vnc server for your tablet, if you have rooted it. Thats the free option.


How to show screen display during phone call on HTC Wildfire? I have started using the HTC Wildfire, and have a small niggle with it.  When making a call, the screen blacks out to conserve power.  This makes it awkward when you have to enter a number i.e. for an automated phone call response.  Is there a setting to display the screen during a call?

I'm not sure about the Wildfire, but on my Desire HD when I take the phone from my face, the motion sensor detects it and re-awakens the screen automatically. I'm not sure if it's a setting, a Froyo feature, or maybe an HTC sense feature.


Android 2.3.3 on Kindle Fire - lost internet conectivity after modifing /etc/permisions/platform.xml - FIX? I tried to install an app that requested com.google.android.maps.jar.

It gave me INSTALL_FAILED_MISSING_SHARED_LIBRARY and after i runned adb install, logcat showed:

Package se.norstedts.svenskastora requires unavailable shared library com.google.android.maps; failing!.

So I copied com.google.android.maps.jar to system/framework.
Installed Google maps v5.12.0.apk from the device.
I tried to install the app again. Got the same error INSTALL_FAILED_MISSING_SHARED_LIBRARY because of the missing com.google.android.maps
Modified /etc/permisions/platform.xml. I appended at the end of the xml file in the "list of all the libraries available for application code to link against." :

<library name="com.google.android.maps"
        file="/system/framework/com.google.android.maps.jar" />
restarted device and discovered that i lost internet conectivity!!

I am still not able to install the first app, and didn't regain internet conectivity after i restored platform.xml to it's original form.

What should I do now? It seems to be a permision problem. Wifi connects with no problems. The apps cannot acces internet.

Judging from your actions, I am guessing you have root access and possibly a custom recovery.

First, a word of advice:

DO NOT modify the system framework directly especially permissions/platform.xml. This along with a few other files is responsible for defining what android permissions are, giving the permissions for the core part of the system and the mappings involved with it and the SDK. If you somehow mess up the files, then you could seriously lose functionality and as you noticed, permissions. If you modify other parts of the framework, you could cause system instability, boot loops or it just might fail to boot Android altogether.

Additionally, dropping the jar file into the framework directory doesn't work. This is because its actually installed in system/lib or system/bin (have to check android source. Might have this confused). Next, this jar file is usually installed with Google Apps package (or gapps for short) and the updater-script takes care of all that so if you still want to manually install the jar file, I suggest you look at the updater-script for the location of install.

Now, what is the quickest way to fix this and install the jar file?

reinstall whatever ROM you have - you dont have to wipe the data as only the system was modified. If you have a stock ROM, factory reset wont help. This is because a factory reset wipes the data and cache. It doesn't wipe the system partition that you changed and so the problem will still remain when you reboot.
Flash the latest version of gapps to your phone using recovery. This will reinstall all the Google Apps as well as the corresponding libraries needed to extend their functionality. It will also help your other app work.


Acer a510 touch screen not responding to some fingers Its more of a touch screen question than an Android question, but it pertains to an Android device so...  I got my Dad an Acer A510 for Christmas and he has been very frustrated with it, especially the touch screen.  I noticed that when he taps the screen it does not respond as readily as when I tap it.  So my question is: do touch screens not respond as well to older (drier) fingers?  He lives in New Mexico, and probably has relatively dry skin.  Alternatively, is he just doing it wrong and skin type has nothing to do with it?

Calibrate the tablet, if that doesn't work it could be a faulfy digitizer or it was made to respond to a stylus


Find out which firmware to use to revert to stock ROM I bought the SG3 (GT-I9300) 6 months ago from Amazon Germany. I have Cyanogenmod 10 installed but wanted to revert it because I'm selling the phone. I want to use this guide to revert it, but I'm not sure which Firmware I should download from sammobile. I didn't get the phone from a specific service provider, so I have no idea which firmware I should use. Any help?

You can use a SamMobile ROM, but be sure that the model, the country and the original carrier match the phone as different carriers often require different radio drivers if they use different radio spectrum for bandwidth.  If you don't know which carrier there are several routes you can use to determine it:

find out which radio you have on your device and match it to the appropriate carrier's
find out what frequencies your current carrier uses and use that to determine the equivalent carrier for the SamMobile ROMs
the version of CM you installed should also tell you which radio is on the phone, on the CM website
you can also get the information directly by dialing the code *#0011# on your phone, tho it may not be overly helpful (GSM900 is helpful, for example, but WCDMA is not - if it's WCDMA you'll have to look up the Rx(download) and Tx(upload) to determine frequency)

FWIW, I find that Odin generally is easier to use than Kies for flashing ROMs.


Why can't I download apps from the Android Market via my PC? I was trying to find a free french dictionary for android, and indeed I found many. But I can't download them.

The problem is, I don't have access to the internet right now from my cell phone, and what I want to do, is to simply download the application to my computer (where I have access to the internet) and then transfer the installation package to my cell phone, and then install it.

Is it a wrong expectation? Is it an unusual practice for installing applications on mobile devices?

However, every application either wants me to directly connect to the internet and android market to download the application, or to use my cell phone to download it. Why it is so? What is the philosophy behind it?

Many developers have their own sites and there are other app markets that allow direct download.  But besides that, we can't speak to their motives, you'd need to ask them.  I would assume, however, that they're controlling distribution in order to control distribution :P.  For paid apps this is obvious (piracy prevention), but even for non-paid apps there are developers and others who want to monitor, limit, etc. the download of apps.


How do I disable this MTP connection popup upon USB cable connection? This appears whenever I plug it in:

I have gone through all settings, tried everything. I want the MTP mode to stay on (I have no desire to enable Mass storage). I know how to invoke this window manually from within the settings.

I just want it not to pop up.

Using Lenovo A536, 4.4.4, rooted, stock ROM.
Read through the other threads, they never offer a working solution (just bogus solutions). It always seems to derail towards FTP and/or MSD and making up menu items that are absent in my phone. I have sqlite3 installed, if you know the right database and key, tell me and I can fix it.

This problem can have three reasons:
1- You connect your mobile phone to the computer, in this case, you should on this page, select the option to only charge and look for an option with the theme "Always do the same" and activate it.
2. Your charger has a problem and your mobile phone recognizes it as a computer. Try another charger.
3- If the problem is not solved after doing the above work, your phone probably has a hardware problem


Can't open menu in apps without a menu button or physical key My device doesn't have a physical menu button, and the app that I'm using doesn't have one of the menu buttons that users can click (the three dots).  How can I open the app's menu without a menu button or key?

On most devices with softkeys for home/back/task-switcher, long-pressing the task switch button (right-most button, see below) will simulate pressing the menu button.


how Downgrade LG optimus P500 from 2.3.3 to 2.2.2 I upgraded my LG optimus P500 phone from Android 2.2.2 to 2.3.3.
After upgrading the battery started to dry very soon and it auto powers off as well even when the battery is more than 80%.

Now I want downgrade my cell back to original froyo 2.2 version.

How can i do this?
Or is there any other fix for this problem of battery and auto power off.

Had this problem on 2.2 when I first bought it. Changing SD cards did not help. Resolved by uninstalling some apps. I believe it's a task killer or a launcher that's causing the SD card rebooting few times daily. Try deleting these apps one by one and monitor.


Enabling Mixed content on Chrome Android Is it possible to enable insecure content explicitly for a site in android chrome? It's possible in desktops by going into site settings and allowing "insecure content" but when I checked the same in android it only has one option called sound in site settings.

Use case: streaming m3u8 files and browser keep blocking them, I want to enable insecure content for phones as well.

I am copy-pasting @beeshyams comment as it worked for me.
Try pasting this in the search bar chrome://flags/#unsafely-treat-insecure-origin-as-secure and toggle settings followed by restarting its browser. If it doesn't help, type Chrome://flags (don't get put off by the warning) and search for security and experiment.


Where has the normal Energy Saving mode gone in Nougat? When I had Android 6 on my Galaxy S6, the quick options drawer had two different symbols for saving energy: Normal and Extreme. Normal regulated background apps and dimmed the screen a bit, but wasn't too noticeable; Extreme turned off any themes and didn't let me start most apps.

After update to Android 7, there is only one such symbol left in the options drawer, and tapping it leads to a dialog "Maximum energy saving mode" which basically does what Extreme did before.

Now, how do I enable or disable the Normal energy saving mode?

The battery saving button in the quick options tray enables the energy saving option that was last chosen in Settings -> Device Maintenance -> Battery.


Can I install Android on my HTC Touch HD? Possible Duplicate:
  Can I install Android on my non-Android device?

I have an HTC Touch HD running Windows Mobile 6.1. Is it possible to run Android on my phone instead of Windows Mobile?

If so, how do I install Android and will it be possible to revert to Windows Mobile if the need should arise?

Yes, this is possible with a custom build of the Android operating system, available from the XDA Developers Forum.

The latest version available as of January 2011 is Android 2.2 and there are download, installation, and troubleshooting instructions in this XDA Developers forum post.


How do Mobile Access Points work? I have this data plan that gives unlimited mobile browsing.  It only works with the browser, so http and https.  If I tried to use the Maps or Youtube app, it won't connect.

I enter the APN settings with the provided server, port (80), username, password to connect.

There's a few proxy apps like ProxyDroid that let me use Maps, Youtube, Gmail, etc. with that same data plan.  I just enter those APN settings into the ProxyDroid settings.

Can someone tell me what the proxy is doing to give me access like this?

If you have an (W)LAN network connected to an ADSL modem at your home, a mobile access point is like that ADSL modem; a mobile access point (AP) translates between the protocol of the mobile network to the protocol of the wider Internet. Imagine the mobile network as a LAN, and access points are the nodes in the LAN that have direct access to the Internet, all communication between the inner network and the outer network must go through an access point.

Access points can have rules about what data can pass through it, how it works is similar to how a firewall works. At a minimum, the firewall will have rules on which ports that applications can connect to. By default, HTTP uses port 80 and HTTPS uses port 443, but any protocol can use any port number as long as both the client and the server agrees on which one to use. A more aggressive firewall will also inspect the destination of a data packet, and an even more aggressive one could inspect the actual content of the packets, as long as they aren't encrypted.

The job of a proxy is to tunnel a data transmission through a remote server; so if you configured your phone to use proxy 123.123.123.123 at port 80 or 443, the firewall will have no way of distinguishing between this and normal HTTP/HTTPS connection, especially with HTTPS proxy as the data is encrypted from the client to the proxy. The remote proxy server, which is ideally located in an unrestricted network, will then relay the data to their true destination.

The network operator can block a proxy by blacklisting their IP address and configuring their firewall to block any access to the IP address of a known proxy, but since there are 4 billion IPv4 addresses and the IP addresses used by some proxies change all the time, it is difficult if not impossible task to blacklist every proxy in existence. Anyone can also create their own proxy server using their own home connection or purchase a server that they use for proxying, this makes it impossible to filter all proxies.

Most networks that blocks only for browser connections does that to limit usage of bandwidth sucking applications, like torrents; so, as long as your proxy usage doesn't burden the network too much and you're not using it to access illegal materials, they usually wouldn't hunt you down for it.


simultaneous USB-OTG and charging I'm trying to charge my Nexus 7 2013 while using USB-OTG.

I built the widely described Y-cable that does USB passthrough, grounds the sense pin (yellow lead) through a 100 k resistor, and connects red and black to a charger.  Charging worked, but the tablet wouldn't recognize OTG devices.

The tablet does recognize OTG devices through a Samsung OTG adapter (EPL-AU10WEGXAR).  So I thought, hey, downstream of the adapter let's just put a USB-A male-female 4-lead extension cable, and tap into its red and black to add a charger.

But even without a charger, the extension cable breaks OTG.  Even though it works when inserted between a thumbdrive and a PC.  It's just four conductors.  The tablet should have no way of detecting it!

Works: tablet - Samsung adapter - OTG-device.

Fails: tablet - Samsung adapter - extension-cable - OTG-device.

How might I debug this, or otherwise make progress towards simultaneous OTG and charging?

There are two different questions here

  Fails: tablet - Samsung adapter - extension-cable - OTG-device..... (But) it works when inserted between a thumbdrive and a PC

Android devices  support USB host mode ( connecting a USB keyboard or mouse ) as well as USB peripheral mode ( example you can plug it into a PC, so the PC can access the phone's storage)
USB OTG cable facilitates the connected device to work in host mode
PCs always run in host mode

Source: What is the difference between USB On-The-Go (OTG) and USB Host Mode?

So when you connect using an extension cable to a PC, there is no issue in detection by PC which is always in host mode.

Now, coming to the  bit of why extension cable breaks OTG

From an electrical perspective, which is well explained here

  To avoid potential conflicts regarding which device is host and which is peripheral, the assignment of which device is A or B is determined by the orientation of the OTG cable. This cable determines whether the signaling pin of the port it is plugged into is left floating or is pulled to ground. The device with the signaling pin pulled to ground is designated the A-Device, or default host, and the device with the floating signaling pin is designated the B-Device, or default peripheral.

By adding a USB-A male-female 4-lead extension cable to the OTG cable, you are not extending this port detection mechanism to the other end. Hence it fails detect connected device

Ii is better to shop for a longer 3 metre OTG cable instead of attempting to increase the length as experimented

  Charging worked, but the tablet wouldn't recognize OTG devices

As explained in Powering a Nexus 7 tablet through the USB port while simultaneously connecting a USB device :

  .... While you can purchase various kind of “OTG” Y-cables, which purportedly will allow you to use an external device (or even connect to a USB hub so you can use multiple devices) while at the same time allowing a charger/power supply to be connected, this doesn’t work with a stock Nexus 7.

(Emphasis supplied)

This is a kernel limitation and you can override that by  rooting and flashing a custom kernel as explained in the linked article

Additional reading:

USB on the go standards
From SE Electronics: Can an Android tablet serve as USB Host and be charged simultaneously through a single port?


Log out from Google account on Android 6.0.1 How can I log out from my Google account on Android 6.0.1 in my Galaxy A5?

I tried the following:

Settings -> Accounts -> No such option anywhere...
Settings -> Cloud and Accounts -> Accounts -> Google -> [three dots top right] -> Remove account -> [some warning] -> Remove account (to confirm) -> [hint saying "Account is needed by some apps. You can only remove it by resetting to factory defaults..."] -> [back to square one]

Which defeats the point because then I'd need to re-install my apps, for which I'd need to re-login.

I'm happy to take unusual routes, i.e., brute force log out by deleting files, tokens or even the entire Android tree in the file system etc. if that's an option.

Fun fact: I managed to log out (I'm pretty sure it was via the second option from above) last time I logged in, which was about 2 months ago. Has something changed recently? Did Google become even more adamant in pressing down its surveill^Wservices down its users throats?

Partly answering my own questions:

It appears that you can sign out any (other) device by going to Google's recently used devices list and revoking the device's access. At the very minimum, the Play Store app will whinge with a permanent notification (one of the kind that won't go away, no matter how many times you acknowledge it) that you need to sign in again.

Edit: The notification goes away if turn off notifications for Play Store and turn them back on.

The downside:

Under syncing of app data etc. still happens under Settings -> Cloud and Accounts -> Accounts -> Google if triggered manually. Not sure how that's possible if the device has access revoked...

Man alive, this is an awful user experience... If Google was asking money for this kind of service, they'd be bankrupt tomorrow.


Installing default font from "Font Installer" app only changes partially. How to apply it globally? I rooted my LG G2 D802 and changed font using Font Installer ★ Root ★. Then I changed my mind and changed the font with the one which came already in the phone. But the font hasn't changed in the whole smartphone.

The rooted font exists in some apps like Play Store and the stock one in the rest of the smartphone!

What can I do?

(Click image to enlarge)

You will have to find someone with the same phone as you (rooted) and find the font files and send them to yourself and copy them into the location of your font files and do a reboot. Worked for me. Or you can find a dump for your phone and download those files and find the font in there and place those into your font files. (Friend did that and it worked as well. I have warned people not to download that app as it ruins the font settings.


Removable MicroSD card detected but not mounted I have recently switched from the stock ROM (4.4.2) for my Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo+ to Cyanogen 11 (4.4.4 - I wiped data, system and cache partitions before doing this). I have a 64GB external sd card formatted to FAT32 which was working fine when using my stock ROM but Cyanogenmod will not mount it anywhere. It detects the presence of the removable sd card as I am offered to erase it in the storage section in the settings. However, there are no files under /external_sd or /storage/sdcard1.

Is there any way I can fix this and mount my external sd card?

I solved this by converting my external SD card from FAT32 to NTFS using MiniTool Partition Wizard.


Serial Number Got Changed After Factory Reset After "Factory Resetting" my tablet I realized that the serial Number was changed (it is now a weird number 0123456789ABCDEF).

Edit March 17 2019

This is the number that shows when I do adb devices. As far as I know this is the serial number and not the Android ID.

End Edit

Why did this happen?
How do I go about returning it to its original SN?
How do I prevent it from happening again?

I have seen some options of changing the SN number but I'm reluctant to try them since the programs they use doesn't look like official (safe) programs.

Your serial # is provided by the Linux Gadget driver. Depending on your kernel version it's either in

/config/usb_gadget/g1/strings/0x40*/serialnumber
or

/sys/class/android_usb/android0/iSerial

Since you're rooted, you can easily change the number by writing to this "file" - which is really just a parameter that the driver will digest and export accordingly.
While you're at it, there are other cool strings there, like Manufacturer and Product , which you can mess with, and similar "files" containing USB identification, and controlling the device persona (Mass storage, MTP, PTP, etc)


Rooting Nexus 7 - SuperSU Binary Update Installation Failed Can someone please help me find the correct SU binary for this device? I am trying to install the SU binary for SuperSU, and I get an installation failed every time.

I have been looking for information on this specific problem, and from what I have read, I may have to download a new binary file and download it through flash recovery (shrug). I thought I would try that, but I cannot find anywhere with information specific to my device.

If you think the problem could be caused by something else, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

You should be able to download the latest SuperSU from Chainfire.  Push that to your Nexus 7 using adb push and install it from your custom recovery.  I'm guessing you have that already?


I'm unable to toggle between Chrome Tabs Earlier I used to toggle between tabs by swiping left or right and clicking on the tab I wanted to open.
But know if I click on the change tabs icon, I can only see the list like this attached image. How to get back to toggling tabs?

Check if some Android accessibility settings are enabled.
Android accessibility settings can affect an app's behavior. In Chrome's case, some settings (e.g. Switch Access) change the behavior of the tab switcher: from showing the stacked preview tabs to a simpler list shown in the question.

Left: "Switch Access" disabled | Right: "Switch Access" enabled
When offending settings are enabled, Chrome will also add a new menu entry under Settings - Accessibility - Simplified view for open tabs. Toggling this will change the behavior of the tab switcher without needing to disable the global Android accessibility settings.

Note: it is still possible to switch to another tab by swiping the address bar to the left/right, even with accessibility settings enabled.


Set equalizer settings that works for all sounds from any programs? Can we set equalizer sound settings in some program, then go to any other program that produces sound knowing that those settings would apply?  For example, set it so that bass is enhanced across the board.

DSP Manager (root only) is an app that's incorporated into a number of custom ROMs.  I have it in my CyanogenMod but I know it's available in others or as a stand alone (that you have to flash over your current ROM) depending on your device.  Search XDA for "DSP Manager" in relation to your specific device as there are numerous device specific threads and downloads.


SMS not working on Moto G, 2nd gen I bought Moto G, 2nd Gen. Also got my old sim replaced with new micro sim. Sms on the new phone are not working. Neither I am receiving sms nor my sms are getting delivered. Calls, watsapp, internet are working fine. Please let me know if there are any settings in the mobile to enable sms

The problem is due to SMS message center not being stored in the new SIM. Unlike other mobile devices where you can manually set the SMS message center, the latest Android update seemed to keep this setting well hidden.

You can try setting the SMS message center by opening the phone dialer and dial - *#*#4636#*#*. This will open the hidden setting confusingly titled as "Testing".

Under the Phone Information, you can find the setting "SMSC". Try refresh or give the correct SMS center number.

Note:

I tried this and there was a refresh error / update error. The final workaround was to load the new SIM into a Samsung phone and manually set the SMS Center number. This gets stored in the SIM and then you can start using it on your Moto E / Moto G. Crazy stuff.
I use Airtel in India


Recovery Mode Fails on Samsung Galaxy i7500L I'm trying these steps to root my Samsung Galaxy i7500L.

When I get to step 9, recovery mode, I just see a yellow exclaimation-mark icon over a phone icon. I can reset my phone to OEM settings, but I can't see any menu or enable SU/Root.

I tried copying the rectools.tar.gz to my root folder (I assume this is the folder that opens as a drive when you plug in to your PC via USB and select "open files/folder" -- I think you need Mass Storage mode enabled though). Is that the right place?

Also, even if I reset and then just run straight recovery (without running fastboot to flash first), I see the same screen.

What am I missing?

For some reason you're not successfully replacing the stock recovery (the "yellow exclaimation-mark icon over a phone icon") with the new one they instruct you to download. Step 7 is key:

  7) Type fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

This is where they have you 'flash' (copy/format) the modified recovery over the stock recovery. Is this step working for you? Simply copying the 'RECTOOLS.tar.gz' to your device's storage or SD card isn't sufficient.

On a separate note, have you investigated other means of rooting your device besides manually flashing via ADB? My favorite guide is Lifehacker's, and if I read it right you might simply be able to use SuperOneClick.

In any event, as always, tread lightly and read carefully.


SMS sent but still shows sending Many of my SMS messages are still showing as "sending" in Samsung Messages app, even though they are already sent. I know they are sent, because they have been replied to.

After a reboot, the messages are still in the log but they show "Sending Failed". If I re-send successfully, the recipient gets a second copy of the message.

I have considered switching apps to resolve this problem, choosing Android Messages as an alternative. However, when I tried this I found that none of my sent messages are in the new app. Everything I've received is there, but nothing that I've ever sent is.

I've considered clearing the app cache of Samsung Messages to solve this. However, I'm worried that this will also lose parts of my message history - particularly, the stuck messages that weren't picked up in Android Messages.

I'm also going through some particular life issues right now, which necessitate keeping an accurate record of sent and received SMS messages. So, any action that risks losing these stuck messages is unacceptable.

What should I do to fix this problem?

Platform:

Samsung Galaxy S8+
Android 7.0
Samsung Messages 4.1.64
Android Messages 2.2.075

This can be one of the reasons below

The service that sends and receives messages has some buggy or broken code, which is creating these errors. Wait for an update, if you believe this is the error
Another reason for this, which is quite common, is that your phone has the wrong time set, or it has automatically entered daylight saving mode. Make sure the time on your phone is correct and turn of daylight saving (if switched on)

Small tip: Cleaning the cache of the messaging app won't work because of the way Android works. Cleaning cache might result in something worse, so refrain from doing that. Messages stored on the phone are handled by another background app (or service), which makes it available to all apps.

Hope it solves your problem.

PS if it doesn't solve your problem, then find an old phone lying on your house or get one from your friend. Use that to send and receive messages. This is the last bet if you are serious about the messages. Pro Tip After your phone starts working, take screenshots of the messages from the old phone, transfer them on your phone and delete the messages from the old phone.


ADB does not recognize device (LG X Charge) I am not able to get adb to recognize my device. Here is my setup:

USB debugging is enabled under Developer Options
Use USB Connection for File Transfer (Transfer Documents and media files to the connected device)
In device manager on Windows 10, under Portable Devices I see LG-M322. I have tried right-clicking on it -> update driver -> browse my computer for driver software -> C:\android-sdk\extras\google\usb_driver -> Next. It says the best drivers for your device are already installed. screenshot below

But when I run adb devices I don't see my device:

C:\Users\me>adb devices -l
List of devices attached

I have tried killing the server many times as well as unplug the device and connect it again. I am able to transfer files to the device using windows explorer.

My phone is running Android version 7.0. Build number NRD90U. Software Version M322V10n.

How can I fix this please? I have tried similar posts and tried all the things they mention (the bullet points above).

changing the USB Mode to Photo Transfer worked

C:\Users\Downloads>adb devices
List of devices attached
LGM322c17168b6  device


Changing android.os.build.serial In terms of using android.os.build serial as a unique identifier

How/when is it generated
When does it change
Is it possible to manually change the value back to something that I had before
Is it something that can be expected to be available across devices and operating systems

most of these properties are in /system/build.prop (or a file like that). But i believe the android.os.build.serial is actually set when the device first boots. The system gets the device serial number and adds it to the properties.

I actually found a commit in some cyanogenmod code that you can see how exactly it is set:
(now this does say it is somewhat of a hack, but it is set when the device boots).

From Git:

57| sprintf(buf, "ro.serialno=%s", serial);


Amazon Video download location Amazon Video now allows you to download certain titles from their library but you have to use their video player.  Does anyone know where those files get downloaded to on your phone?

Actually the videos are stored in /data/data/com.amazon.avod.thirdpartyclient, but they are stored in small parts as a different file format so you cannot play it through regular means.


How can I change notification volume on Android 6.0? I have an option to change alarm or ringtone volume in Settings, but not notifications as I had in 4.3.

How can I change notification volume on Android 6.0 without changing ringtone volume?

I would prefer a solution that doesn't require root, but would accept one that requires root if it's impossible otherwise.

3rd-party app is acceptable if there's no way to do so in the OS.

I already considered a hack of setting ringtone to a very loud sound and notifications to artificially quiet sound file, please don't offer that as a "solution" since it doesn't allow adjustments.

I'm not aware of a native solution, but my app listing for Volume control has an app called Ringer & Notification Unlink. It requires root and the XPosed framework, but should do its job. From the app description:

  Since ICS, Google has decided to link the volume of ringer and notification volume together. This Xposed module can separate the two streams as they were before ICS.

I have not tried it myself and especially cannot tell whether it works fine with Marshmallow – but the changelog for the latest version explicitly mentions it should: "support for Android 6".


Nexus 7 cannot acts as Handsfree Today I watched this video in below url and I am wondering why Google Nexus 7 and Google Nexus 4 cannot act like this. Unable see the incoming call coming from paired device in Nexus.

URL:  http://support-us.samsung.com/spstv/detail.jsp?ctg_id=209&sub_ctg_id=&live_id=8

I have updated both the device to Android 4.3.

Have I missed any settings or Nexus does not support A2DP? or only Galaxy Player supports this?

Thanks
Deepak

Bluetooth has a master/slave setup, in which the other device is a master (for example, a phone) and the other a slave (a headset). Most phones support the hands-free profile only as a master, which means that the phone can connect to slave devices and stream its audio to the device, not the other way around. Apparently Samsung has included support for HFP slave on it's Player models, which is reasonable since they don't have phone functionality builtin.

Therefore, it's not a question of settings, it's a question of support.


What is the Android Permission "WRITE_GSERVICES" doing? There is a mysterious and undocumented Android Permission called: WRITE_GSERVICES. As usual Googles own documentation is even more mysterious than any bad fairytale, writing:

android.permission.WRITE_GSERVICES      Allows an application to modify the Google service map.

However Googling (!) for Google Service Map yields nothing useful.

What is it controlling and what is it used for?

Note this permission is almost completely undocumented, hence we need to feel our way to its real meaning. So this is in no way an "authoritative answer" – but more or less something between a "good guess" and a "deduction from other pointers".

The official description for this permission (as said, there's no further documentation) is:

  Allows an application to modify the Google service map.

So now we can guess what that's supposed to mean. Let's do some "reverse engineering" for that to feel our way into it. Ryan already gave some pointers in his comment, linking to two SO questions:

Android Google Maps API v2 - Requires permission that it already has (in our context: Maps API requires READ_GSERVICES)
When to use READ_GSERVICES permission?

Reading between the lines: Whenever an app wants to use (parts of) the Google Services Framework, it must declare the READ_GSERVICES permission required – which is pretty much similar to requiring GET_ACCOUNTS if you want to USE_CREDENTIALS: the app first needs to ensure the required service is available at all, before accessing it.

This gives us an idea of what the Google Service Map must be: some kind of index for available (installed) Google Services.

Now that we discovered that, we can make a good guess what the WRITE_GSERVICES permission might be intended for – and why it is protected by the system protection level (meaning, it's only granted to "system apps" – i.e. those integrated into the ROM, which is being installed on the /system partition): If READ_GSERVICES is intended to figure out which Google services are available, WRITE_GSERVICES must be its counter-part to update that service map. Which is e.g., whenever a new service was installed (or removed), to update the "index of Google Services available on the device" – the "Google Service Map".

Just one thing I wonder in this context is, why this permission belongs to the ACCOUNTS group …

See also:

Google Play Services Requirements (especially the chapter "Specifying additional permissions")
Maps API v2 and WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission describes the READ_GSERVICES permission as "Allows the
API to access Google web-based services" (quoting a message from the android-developers@googlegroups.com mailing list)
Google Service Map: Karte des Google-Netzwerks (a German article preceding Android) describes the "Google Service Map" as "listing of all available Google services". Note that, though similar in terms, this might be something different – but it makes much sense. See the complete list here. And it might explain why this permission belongs to the ACCOUNTS group, as it includes e.g. Google Account Authentication ;)
SO: What is Android Permission WRITE_GSERVICES exactly for? (again points out this refers to Google Web Services)


Speaker is not working during phone calls I've a Sony Xperia Z smartphone and I recently updated Android from 4.3.x to 4.4.4. Ever since that I'm unable to hear people when making phone calls, except when I enable the free-speech button (where the side-speaker is used).

Applications like Youtube are affected as well.

I already toyed around with sound settings and, after seeing a notification about a headset being connected to the phone (which is not the case), plugging my earphones in and out, without success. For the record: Sound is played through the ear phones the moment they're plugged-in.

I also never saw that notification again. IIRC the notification had the 'Smart Connect' icon, but I'm not sure about it.

Sony support told me to use the repair functionality of their software which does not work (Something something update routine error 2003).

Hope someone can solve this for me.

So I completely forgot about asking this question until someone upvoted it. (Thank you).

I 'fixed' it by sending my Xperia to Sony after another defect occured (headphone jack didn't recognize when something was plugged-in). Apparently whatever was wrong with the headphone jack caused them to switch out the smartphone.

I had the same headset and the same android version on that smartphone for some time and it worked without a problem. So whatever was wrong was most probably either a hardware problem or an error that occured during the upgrade procedure (maybe something wasn't installed correctly).


How can I debug "Homescreen has stopped working"? I have an LG L40 D160 Android phone that repeatedly gives me errors. When it boots, I always get the message "home screen has stopped working". This pops up repeatedly and makes it hard to do anything. Not that there is much to do as the home screen is just black. Internet forums have suggested to delete the app files for the home screen via the settings app, but this didn't bring any change.

This same situation happened less than half a year ago. At that time I sent the phone to LG to get the problem fixed. They simply flashed the phone with a new (or even the same?) firmware.

As this has now occured once again, I don't think this is something that can permanently be fixed simply by flashing the firmware. It seems there is something inherently broken in one of the apps or the firmware itself. I would like to find out which app causes the problem and disable that, if possible.

I am a tech savy person, software developer by trade. However, I have never developed on Android and am therefore not too familiar with the architecture.

I have put the adb logcat output of one boot and shutdown cycle on a filehoster as it is too large for pastebin: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=01407861783018316845

From looking at the log file, it seems this is the relevant error message:

[ 11-30 19:02:36.686  1410: 1410 F/libc     ]
Fatal signal 11 (SIGSEGV) at 0xd2305848 (code=1), thread 1410 (m.lge.launcher2)

However, I have a hard time deciphering what exactly the problem is. Seems the launcher just dies with a segmentation fault.

I have already tried the following steps but the problem persists:

Clearing data for Homescreen app
Factory reset of the phone
Booting in safe mode
Official LG firmware update does not let me re-flash the phone because I already have the latest version
Selecting "EasyHome" as my home screen instead just changes the error message to "EasyHome has stopped working"

What can I do to further diagnose the problem? Are there any more temporary files I should be deleting?

On 8/15/16 , spoke with a Verizon Tech for my "Homescreen is Not Working"issue. The fix is simple:

Hold   Power and Volume Down simultaneously, till the phone powers on

When screen comes back all icons are working.


Xiaomi stuck in fastbot mode while bootloader is locked I've found my Xiaomi redmi note 4 stuck in fastboot mode after the battery had died. I tried different ways to unbrick it but nothing helps. The list of ways I tried:

platform tools fastboot binary. fastboot reboot bootloader - still
rebooting to fastboot.
 Also, adb binary doesn't recognize my device.
I can't use mi unlock tool because it doesn't see my phone.
Miflash doesn't recognize the device also.

Are there any other ways to unbrick it?
Edit: It's Mediatek Helio X20

The problem was not in fastboot mode. The reason was that my volume button was shortening and was always pressed. Fixing the button solved the issue.


If I charge Nexus 4 with a wireless charger will it charge considering red LED error I've had a red LED error in my Nexus 4 for a week and it won't turn on or charge. I've tried everything, pressing the power button for 60 seconds, etc. I even opened it up and removed the battery and plugged it back in. It just won't help. I think it's due to very low power levels in the phone and it won't even charge. I was thinking that if I charge with a wireless charger will it charge or not?

Also if I charge it with an iPad charger the LED becomes stable red otherwise it's blinking using LG's original charger. So what's the issue and how can I resolve it?

If you have the red LED and the device won't charge from the wall, using the original charger, then it's faulty. Send it back for a replacement.


/etc/hosts file is ignored (android) I changed my hosts file using ES Explorater after root to

127.0.0.1 youtube.com

but it still takes to the real website, I tried on chrome browser and the default browser. I found the same problem on many forums but it didn't help me at all. can any one help me?

I had a similar issue.

Check if the content of hosts ends with a line feed. The trailing line feed is required.


How can I flush the DNS Cache? How can I clear my DNS cache on my android phone? (Droid3, Gingerbread, rooted to be specific)

Ideally I'm looking for a command to run through a terminal emulator, something similar to

ipconfig /flushdns

On a windows machine.

What's the Linux version of this?

Addresses are cached for 600 seconds (10 minutes) by default. Failed lookups are cached for 10 seconds. From everything I've seen, there's nothing built in to flush the cache. This is apparently a reported bug in Android because of the way it stores DNS cache. Clearing the browser cache doesn't touch the DNS, the "hard reset" clears it because it simply times out.

Can we ask the underlying reason for needing to clear the DNS cache? Perhaps there's another solution that's missed because we're not looking at the bigger picture.


Delayed notifications on Huawei Mate 10 pro with Android Pie, EMUI 9.0 What I experience these last months is that notifications from various apps of mine  do not appear in time.

Either they appear very late or not at all (until I open the specific app).

My system is Huawei Mate 10 pro with Android Pie, EMUI 9.0.

What could be the reason for that?

Likely reason is battery saving feature of Huawei which is a stronger version of doze-mode, in that apps are frozen if inactive after a duration. I had seen this on my earlier Huawei device. See my answer here. What is protected apps in Huawei phones?.

It looks like it is not called "protected apps" anymore and this Reddit explains the required settings to disable this for apps. There is also a feature of Power Genius involved and a workaround to bypass that. Options mentioned in Reddit

  See if you can find a way to turn off battery savings in this Location or similar Settings- apps & notifications - apps- settings cog- special access - ignore battery optimisation >allow/disallow

Or

  Settings -> Apps -> Apps -> three dots on upper right corner -> special access -> battery optimization -> change dropdown menu to "all apps" -> change apps you want to keep in background to "don't allow, may drain battery more quickly

Edit: OP confirmed that the second option was the right one for their device. Thanks

Disable battery saving feature for those apps and hopefully that should fix delayed notifications.


Why is a Google account required when installing applications from the Market? I installed an application from the Android Market for the first time today however was informed that I need a Google Account. Why is that?

Because the applications that you download are tied to that Google Account.  That way, if you buy any paid applications, and your phone is wiped, or you buy a new phone, all you need to do is make sure that account is logged in on that phone, and you can re-download any of those paid apps without having to pay for them again.

It also enables you to go the Google Play store with your PC, and choose apps to be directly installed onto your phone without even touching your phone.  I do it all the time and it works great.


An app put made my Status Bar auto-hide and transparent. How to fix? (Nova, System UI) What I've tried: uninstall the app (Black Pocket) and restart.

Also tried: Google. All search results tell me how to hide the status bar, which is not what I want.

Obviously like most users I want to see all the battery and connectivity icons when I press the power button, then the Home button.

Using Nova and System UI on Android 8.1.0 on a Nexus 6P - as if this would have anything to do with it, when I saw the status bar go transparent and auto-hide upon install of the app...

Try the following:

Open Nova Settings.
Click on Look & feel.
Enable Show notification bar.


Nexus Player 5.10.31-leanback developer options I just purchased Nexus Player after doing a bunch of research on it capabilities. However the one i have appears to be stripped of the "developer options" that will allow me to side load the apps I want. When I click on "Build version" 7 times nothing happens. Is there a way to do this on the new software version?

After speaking to support at Google and Asus it seams the folks at Google removed it. However, if you hard reset the device you'll get the original Asus software and Developer Mode can be entered.


Galaxy Note 2 JellyBean update I have a Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100 running on Android 4.1.1 JellyBean. The 4.1.2 update has been released a while back, but I still am reluctant to upgrade. I have read over the Internet that it causes the battery to drain faster than normal. Is there any truth to this?

Yes there was Issue with Battery drain but they had solved the issue and you can go for 4.1.2 and performance is good.


How Does Android Detect USB Connectivity and More About USB ~~~~UPDATED WITH RESULTS - READ BELOW ORIGINAL POST~~~~

So here's the story. I'm going to put a tablet in my car to accommodate my many desired functions. Of these functions is a backup camera. I plan on using a Logitech webcam that I had around for the camera. The webcam uses USB, so I was going to get an OTG Y adapter so that I could charge the tablet and get data from the camera to the tablet at the same time. This would require a Kernel Update, but that's already lined up.

I plan on wiring the power for the webcam into the reverse light wire (either using a relay or a DC-DC converter), and then wiring the data cables to the front of the car to the tablet. This way, the camera would turn on only when the car was in reverse, and then I would have Tasker launch a video viewing app once it detected that the USB had been plugged in, which would be initiated by the webcam receiving power and sending data.

This is based off of the assumption that Android recognizes a USB device being "plugged in" as the transfer of data being initiated, or power transfer being initiated.

What I want to know is, which one is it? Is USB detected by whether or not power can flow from the host to the client, or whether or not the tablet is receiving data? Because the tablet would only be doing the latter, and power of the webcam would be completely separate of the tablet.

I suppose I could test this, but I wanted to check here first before I murdered several USB cables in the process.

Thanks for any input.

RESULTS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The short version: The Android device does detect a USB device based on power and data flow, but my experimentation did not conclusively prove this.

The long version: To start, I soldered in an automotive relay into the wire for the webcam. If you don't know, this now switched circuit would be dependent on whether or not another circuit going into the relay was hot or not. First, I plugged the webcam with the relay into the tablet just using an OTG cable. Using Tasker to detect when USB was plugged in and open an app, I got nothing. I looked in settings, and, on the custom ROM I have installed (Timur's Nexus 7 USB Host ROM), it said that the tablet was in USB host mode, and that it was powering the slave device. Obviously, this implies that the USB device had been detected, but no data had been transmitted, since the camera itself was still off, or at least not receiving enough power. Interestingly, when I completed the control circuit on the relay, thus allowing power to the camera, still nothing happened. It was sort of in this limbo state between being detected and actually being able to be detected by Tasker. The conclusion that can be drawn from this is that true USB detection relies on data transfer, and since data transfer will require the device to be powered, power transfer as well.

As an interesting note, the ROM give me the ability to prevent the tablet from powering the slave device. In this case, I plugged the camera into a POWERED USB hub, and plugged the hub into the tablet, which was also being powered by a charging cable with this OTG Y Cable. In this case, when everything was hooked up, and I activated the control circuit on the relay, tasker immediately recognized that something was plugged in and launched the app.

This wasn't exactly a scientific study or anything, but based on the qualitative data gathered, it seems that true USB connectivity relies both on data and Power.

Feel free to leave any comments or responses with questions or something you want me to test specifically. I'll monitor the thread.

It is based on port detection, which involves both power and data for a conventional USB connection. See Android USB Charging Secrets and Overview of USB Battery Charging Revision 1.2 and the Important Role of Adapter Emulators
When it comes to OTG Y cable, which requires powering and data transfer as visualized by you, I don't think it will work without modifications to the cable . Reason: You are attempting to marry USB standard with USB on the go standards. The D+ and D- pins which are used for power negotiation (as described in the links above) are not available for data transfer
I haven't played around with OTG Y cables much but this question on Electronics sister site shows the modifications that are required to be done Can an Android tablet serve as USB Host and be charged simultaneously through a single port?. See in particular, Guide..OTG USB HOST and CHARGING at same time for Galaxy tabs.. by MRBR7 XDA post quoted in one of the answers

Interesting question and do post your answer with your findings (yes, answering your own question is encouraged)


Phone will not vibrate for incoming text messages No matter what I do, I can't get my phone to vibrate for text messages anymore.

I am running Cyanogenmod 7.1.0.

It vibrates for phone calls and for haptic feedback, so there's obviously nothing wrong with the hardware or notifications in general.

Settings → Sound → Vibrate: Always
Stock messaging app → Settings → Notification settings → Vibrate: Also vibrate when notified, Always, and Vibrate Pattern: Multiple short (which used to work)

I don't get it.

I had a rom that failed to vibrate certain "very short duration vibrations" (or those of low strength vibrations). I am not sure if its just a hardware limitation of my phone or the rom in particular, but you could try an app like Handcent for now and play around the vibration settings in there. Handcent SMS allows you to fine tune the vibrations, adjust the intervals between each vibrations in milliseconds etc..


Is Qi / wireless charging safe? Heightened temperature not an issue? (Nexus 7) A friend of mine told me, like it was a fact, that qi (wireless) charging is not safe and it damages battery because it heats it. I just bought one charger, but would like to avoid damaging my Nexus. Could not find out any information about it on the internet though, which makes me even more sceptical, that it just might be a rumour of some kind.

I am currently charging right now and it is getting kind of warm. The temperature according to a system monitor is just 32 degree Celsius. Seems normal to me.

I am charging the device regularly and checked with a system monitoring app the temperatures, that I reached. It was never more than 33 degree Celsius, while charging or after charging, still laying on the charger.

This is to be considered a completely normal temperature. Just today I was out with the tablet  on the sun and I reached more than 40 degree Celsius, just because of the sun, so I wouldn't really consider charging with Qi an issue.


Phone unlocks when call comes in I have a Samsung SM G930V, Android v 7.0

My phone is set to lock with the fingerprint scanner, but when a call comes in the phone automatically unlocks and when I pull it out of my pocket half the time I inadvertently hang up because I touch the hang up button as I am pulling it out of my pocket.

How do I make it stay locked even when a call comes in?
Meaning I want it to wait till I unlock before letting me answer or hang up.

Of course, if I am in the car with bluetooth I still want the answer button in the car to work without having to unlock it manually.

No, you can't do that unless you are using some other app for calls that doesn't shows incoming call screen while the phone is locked.
As phone apps are generally set with a  FLAG_SHOW_WHEN_LOCKED flag, which enables them to show incoming call while phone is locked.


'failed to mount cache', 'failed to mount system', 'flash write failure' in yureka+ i have yueka plus yu5510 ,
i've installed cm13 on it.
when i'm wiping its cache using twrp 3.0.8 , it shuts down.
after reboot i tried again then it shows 'failed to mount cache' , 'failed to mount system' , failed to mount data'.
size of internal storage,cache,system become 0 mb.
 What have to do ???? pls. help me . i'm stuck  .
i tried every thing under my knowledge like erasing and formatting using fastboot .
i tried to flash stock rom cm12.1 but it says "flash write failure".
also cant change twrp to cwm cause of 'flash write failure'.
pls. pls. can someone help me

Seems like the eMMC chip got corrupted during the wiping process due to power loss - Always perform dangerous operation while phone battery is unless 50% or above.

If the chip is not damaged, you still can flash your phone with a stock firmware.

You can find flash files  (firmware) and the flashtool here. Download it and extract its contents.

This tutorial teaches you how to use the flashtool.


Why is my battery life fluctuating? I installed CM7 on my LG P500, and ever since the battery sometimes lasts 30 hours, sometimes for 8 hours, under the same usage and same power state (conservative).  How can I fix this?

I was having that problem, and the solution that helped me was to charge up the battery completely, then use the recovery boot menu to wipe battery stats. Then, I used the phone until the battery died and the phone shut itself off. During that time, it is important to not plug in your phone to USB or charger, it has to drain continuously. Then you can charge it back up again and use it as normal. It should help to make the battery percentage more accurate, and to drop in a more stable way.


Installing Whatsapp on Galaxy Note Pro I have installed whatsapp in my galaxy note pro previously but uninstall a few days later. Now that I want to install back again, it says device does not support whatsapp.

Please advise why am I able to install at 1st and not now?

Whatsapp provides the apk files to install it without the Play Store.
The apk can be found here: http://www.whatsapp.com/android/


Ways to see notifications besides pull down bar The notification status pull down bar is not working because the very upper part of the screen seems damaged (verified running diagnostics that pixels there are not active).
1) Can I see the notifications some other way?
2) Can I assume that screen replacement solves this?
Htc one X phone

If you use a third party launcher you can use gestures for certain functions.
For instance, using Nova Launcher Prime, when I swiped down anywhere on my home screen it would bring down my notifications.
So that could solve that issue for you.

There should be other free alternatives that perform the same function

To answer your last question, a screen replacement should fix the issue though.


Is there a way to record internal audio? I have Amazon Kindle (I don't have a USB cable, so I can't root the Kindle). I also have online lectures. For some reasons, my Kindle can stream faster than on my PC.

Now, I want to record the audio from online lectures directly from my Kindle so that I can listen to it while offline.

Most of the Android applications I've found record phone calls, which is not what I want to do.

If you have a Samsung or LG phone, Mobizen Screen Recorder can capture internal audio.  I've tested on a Samsung but not LG.


How can I see what exactly an application does? I'm a bit surprised I couldn't find this answers myself.  I am a major minimalist when it comes to computers (my desktop and laptop both run strip-down Linuces) and I wanted to get rid of some of the bloatware that came with my new Android.
My only problem being that I'm not entirely sure what some of the applications do and whether I need/want them.  Is there any way to get details on what an application does?

Edit: For clarification: when I say "details" I mean some description of what the application does.

Edit: My device is a Samsung S4 Mini from AT&T.

It's a really old question but you may still be interested in this quite new community project : Universal Android Debloater
It's a bash script using ADB to debloat non-rooted smartphones. The packages lists used are as well documented as possible in order to provide a better understanding of what you can delete or not.


Vital signs of unfamiliar software are present in safe mode: TopBuzz in Galaxy Note8 In Device Maintenance system app on Samsung Galaxy Note8, there is a TopBuzz cache shown when caches are being cleaned. Also in the safe mode.
It reappears as a cleanup item every few minutes together with System cache item and they show 82 MB to clean up.

Since nothing like that is installed, I originally thought this is a sign of a malware, but after rebooting to the safe mode, the behavior continues and both items are re-appearing every few minutes in 82 MB size.

Is TopBuzz normal part of Note8 built-in software or is it possible that it somehow got into the phone later? How can I determine what is happening here?

Additional details:

The phone is not rooted.
Android 8.0.0.
5 anti-virus scanners did not find any issue with TopBuzz.
I reviewed the entire app list in the safe mode and found nothing like that.
Despite the name on the above screenshot, I did not find a public or hidden cache called TopBuzz using SD Maid app. Any other caches shown by SD Maid contain only few kilobytes after cleanup, 82 MB is nowhere to be found. But TopBuzz + System cache still show that 82 MB size in Device Maintenance app.

Update: Samsung support replied me that "TopBuzz is not a part of their device".

I have a Samsung Galaxy S8 and have the same problem as you with TopBuzz showing up in the storage clean but unable to find it anywhere in my phone.

I tried the SD Maid app but that did not help. However, I did try Clean Master which I have used in the past with my old phones becuse it does work better than the built in storage clean (but uninstall it when im done with it because im sure that it slows down the phone to make you use it from time to time) and that appears to have fixed the problem.

I ran Clean Master, then ran the system storage clean and did not see TopBuzz, ran Clean Master again for good measure and then uninstalled it. It has only been a few hours but I have ran the storage clean a couple times and have not seen TopBuzz at all. If you still have this problem try this out and let me know how it goes!


Displaying the saved name for self-phone number in WhatsApp I have my own WhatsApp account's number stored as a contact in my mobile.

Theoretically, WhatsApp should detect my own number from the contacts list and show the name of the contact as set in the list of chats if I send myself a message.

The following screenshot shows the chat thread with my own phone number even though it's already saved in the contact.

Is it possible to display the name from the saved contact instead?

Theoretically, it should. However, WhatsApp doesn't allow that. So, whilst you can still somehow start a chat with your own number and send messages, there's no way to make WhatsApp see it as a contact and show it with a name. I have tried saving it in different ways to no avail.
I often use the self chat to save important messages and to take notes without having to send the message to a random contact. And for that I just type in my number to quickly get it there.


Google Pixel 3 - Cannot Stop Security Updates I just recently got the new pixel 3 and have loved the phone from stem to stern but I have this huge issue with it. Since I turned it on and ported all my contacts, photos, etc over it has not loaded all my apps. I found out this was because it has been installing system security updates non-stop for over 24 hours now, rendering it basically useless.

I can't use this phone in this state. I've tried clearing the google app cache and storage and it keeps on chugging through security update to security update. I can't even tell how many it has completed or has yet to do because it has no indication of how many are left, at all. All I can see is the current update's progress. I've had to reboot the phone twice this morning just for the security updates.

Is there a way via rooting the Pixel 3 or entering developer mode, or just some setting i overlooked that I can tell the system to stop updating so I can have a useable phone? Or am I up a creek.

Unfortunately this this the proper way to initialize a newly bought Android device.

Google usually releases every month a new security update and each security update has to be installed individually, and often after the update installation a restart is required.

Hence if you get a device that for example was produced 6 months before you have to install up to 6 updates one at a time.

In this case the Pixel 3 has been released in October 2018. If the device you got was produced at that time up to the time of the question up to 8 updates have accumulated and each update has to installed one-by-one plus reboot.
Hence the first hours after switching on a new Android device you are busy installing security updates, which usually requires several buttons to be pressed at the correct time.


Second partition can't be mounted (link2sd) I'm trying to partition my external SD card (32GB SDHC), so I can link application to the second partition with link2sd. Now the problem is that, no matter what filesystem I use, link2sd can't create the mount script/fails to mount. I tried FAT32, FAT16, ext2, ext3 and ext4. Same result everytime, I tried formatting it with MiniTool Partition Wizard and ClockworkMod Recovery. I made the first Partition a FAT32 primary and the second partition an put in filesystem here primary partition. I also tried diffrent sizes between 256MB and 4GB.

I'm on Cyanogenmod 10 running on an Samsung Galaxy Ace (I-5380).

Edit: It seems like the question is quite popular. If you have the same issue, try the things that I said I tried above. In most cases this resolves the issue, my accepted answer is for a silly not so common cause for this issue.

Ok the problem was simple and stupid. SuperSU had denied link2sd its root access permanently, I must have clicked on denied once...
Enabled root access for link2sd and everything was working fine.


Restrict app's background battery usage using terminal (root granted) Is it possible to change this setting using termux?

I initially asked this question to figure out a bug-fix for an open-source app but it turns out it's in AOSP (see here if you're interested to learn it, https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager/issues/388)
Now, for Users who want to apply this setting to a batch of apps the best and easy method would be to use this app, https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager
From AM's prevent background operation option available in the batch operations.
There are should be many alternative apps such as https://github.com/mirfatif/PermissionManagerX
and App Ops which you can try and see what it offers.
This answer didn't cover how you can do it using CLI but you can check the comment by Irfan Latif if that's any help.


Updation frequently fails on MIUI 8.2.5 I want to update my Redmi 3S Prime with miui 8.1.1 stable ROM to miui 8.2.5 (643 MB ;STABLE), I just downloaded the ROM via updater app in the mobile and when it completes the app shows that please retry to download the file. Since the the release of ROM in May 2017, i downloaded the required ROM about 10-12 times.Now help me solve this issue.

Install Xiaomi PC suit from this link: pcsuite.mi.com/
Go to fastboot mode (Turn Off phone turn on using power and volume down
button) and connect device to computer and turn on PC suit
Here is process to install rom from PC suit
en.miui.com/thread-95630-1-1.html
Select a Global option and click on the flash device.It will install China Stable Rom.
After that download Global Stable Rom from the following link
http://en.miui.com/download-303.html Flash it from updater app

Note: Please take the backup before doing any steps. It will wipe out your staorage


Determine Android N preview stage build I have Nexus 6P and I'm on Android Beta Program for Android N Developer Preview. From its program overview, it's stated that there will be 6 stages:

Preview 1 (initial release, alpha)
Preview 2 (incremental update, beta)
Preview 3 (incremental update, beta)
Preview 4 (final APIs and official SDK, Play publishing)
Preview 5 (near-final system images for final testing)
Final release to AOSP and ecosystem

How do I know which Android N preview stage I have?

Android provides release notes for Android N Developer Preview on here (as of current writing):

Developer Preview 1
Date: March 2016
Builds: NPC56P, NPC56R, updated: NPC56W, NPC56X
Developer Preview 2
Date: April 2016
Builds: NPC91K, NPC91O
Developer Preview 3
Date: May 2016
Builds: NPD35K
Developer Preview 4
Date: June 2016
Builds: NPD56N
Developer Preview 5
Date: July 2016
Builds: NPD90G

You can compare your build number with the available release notes by going to Settings - About phone - Build number.


How to root htc desire 626s metro pcs How can i root HTC desire 626s metro PC phone? Tried many ways. Cannot seem to find a way to turn s-off and edit code.

It didn't solve it however once I realized that HTC calls their backup a ruu file I was able to alter the common push su code and able to use lost Android to exploit the temp root and change the build props to turn s-off


Battery Charges OK after full discharge, but only once I am using a Samsung Galaxy J5 Prime smartphone. My battery recently started to show up (I would plug in the charger, and it would charge, but the meter would become stuck). One full discharge solves the problem and the battery charges OK after that, but only once or twice. After that the problem resumes.

I know the battery is being charged because doing a full load drain (screen, flashlight, etc all turned on) takes time to discharge the battery which is already on low percentage so it is definitely a meter fault.

What other options do I have since the full discharge only works once?

See if the behaviour persists in safe mode
If the behaviour is normal, it would point to a misbehaving app (though, I haven't come across apps causing this). factory-reset your device and check
If the same behaviour continued , flash stock ROM using odin, since the fuel gauge drivers may be corrupted

For 2 and 3 make sure you back up your data

If none of above helps, service Center is the only option to address hardware issue


How to use Skype on Android 2.3.5 Can anyone explain me how to use Skype app on Android 2.3.5, because it is no longer available on Play Store for this Android version?

Thankful in advance

As already mentioned in comments, get an older apk. Here's a link to one from Apk Mirror, a fairly reputable site for downloading apk's. To install the apk on your device:

First, enable Unknown sources.
Enabling unknown sources allows you install apps outside of the Google Play Store.
Before you start, you need to make sure you have allowed your device to install apps that are found outside of the Google Play Store.
To enable installation from these “Unknown sources,” as Google calls them, go into the system settings and scroll down to Security. Inside this menu, you’ll see the Unknown sources option. Check the box, press OK, and you’re good to go.

This is quoted from this site. Visit that site if you want more options for sideloading apk's. But if you downloaded the app from your computer, hook up your phone to your computer, and copy and paste the apk to your phone's files. Then unhook your phone, and find where you put the apk. Then select it, and it will bring up prompts to begin installing it. If you didn't get the apk i directed you too, and it's too new for your phone, it may say "Problem Parsing Package", which means you have downloaded an apk that's non compatible for your device.
 If you install the app and try running it, but it doesn't let you log in, make calls etc, unfortunately that means skype has discontinued its support for devices that old, as mentioned above in comments.


Sony F5121: Forgot Device Encryption Passwort, locked bootloader I forget the device encryption password for my F5121 (locked bootloader). Is there any way to hard-reset the device, so I can use it again (I don't care about the data on it)?

I already tried some combination with Power Button + Volumne Up/Down, but I don't see any options popping up.

Also, unlocking the bootloader does not seem to work (probably I should have enabled oem unlocking in the android settings before), it says:

FAILED (remote: 'Command not allowed')

Same error, when trying to flash TWRP.

I can't believe it. Entering anything (but the password) for 30 times resets the phones.
I also stumbled upon this (later on), it looks like there is default password in AOSP based ROMS: How does Marshmallow encryption work technically?


Retrieve (list of) default apps via ADB Many of you will know (or at least have heard of) commands like adb shell pm list packages or adb shell dumpsys package to retrieve a list of apps available on your device. What I am looking for and cannot find is a command to list default apps – like what is set as default launcher, default camera, default browser etc. Not even parsing the full details of all apps via e.g. for app in $(pm list packages); do [[ -n "$(dumpsys package ${app#package:} | grep APP_BROWSER)" ]] && echo ${app#package:}; done reveals that (the command would simply list all web browsers on the device).
So how can I query for those default apps via ADB? It's fine if I have to pass the "type" (like APP_BROWSER in my example) as long as there's a reference of types available.

I meanwhile found a partly resolve working with Android 7/8 and up (when the cmd package command was added):

Default dialer: cmd package resolve-activity tel://123456
Default mail: cmd package resolve-activity mailto:john@example.com
Default browser: cmd package resolve-activity http://www.example.com/
Default messenging: cmd package resolve-activity sms://123456
Default homescreen launcher: cmd package resolve-activity -c android.intent.category.HOME -a android.intent.action.MAIN

In the output, then grep for packageName= (e.g. packageName=com.android.messaging for the default SMS app). If a given action has no default set (e.g. multiple browsers are installed but none was declared to be "always used"), the action will resolve to the OS (packageName=android) to prompt the user. Side-note: if you want to check for available alternatives, just replace resolve-activity with query-activities (note it might also return a one-liner like "No activities found", especially on Android < 8).
I call this a "partly resolve" as it lacks several default apps I've no idea what activity to ask for – like the default homescreen launcher (note: just figured) or the assistant app (hints welcome!).
Thanks to Irfan Latif for pointing out a solution for Android 10 and up. Here, the role manager was added which I had already found but didn't figure how to call it via ADB. Turns out that was because all my devices are running Android < 10 (and as just said, role manager was added with Android 10), and the command would be dumpsys role (but not availabe before Android 10).


How safe Skype is on rooted Android OS? Recently I have rooted my Android phone to third party custom ROM. After rooting, I have gone through many articles which says rooting cause serious security issues.

Now my question is: how safe is my Skype? Can anyone access my Skype account? Can anyone record the video conversation of mine? The provider of custom ROM has any hold or control over my phone?

The provider of all the rooting software you use (such as Kingroot if you use a "one-click" technique, SuperSU, and any software you give root permission on your phone), and the provider of the ROM you use (whether it's a custom ROM or the stock ROM) has complete control over your phone. They can steal any passwords you type into the phone (in apps, websites, or your Google account details). They can take control of any app, including Skype. They can record all your conversations, steal your credit card number, and use your details to masquerade as you. They can lock your phone (as well as any online accounts you logged into) and demand a payment from you to get your files and accounts back.

When you decide to root your phone, you need to have complete trust in all the software you use to do it, which means you also need to trust the person you got it from (e.g. the website you downloaded it from). When an app on your phone asks for root permissions, you need to have complete trust in the source of the app. If you don't have complete trust, don't root your phone/install the custom ROM/install the app.


Why am I constantly running out of space on my Galaxy S2? I have a Galaxy S2 running Android 4.1.2. It has a 12GB internal HD, and a 16GB SD card.

I keep getting errors from various programs telling me I am running out of space. BeyondPod won't download new episodes, Evernote keeps putting up a notification of a lack of space (even though it seems to be storing everything), and sometimes apps won't update.

I have tried to ensure I have no superfluous apps, and I haven't really changed the apps I use since I first ever started using the device. I keep any large files, like music collections or videos, on my SD card.

When I connect my device by USB to my Linux computer and check the properties of my 12GB HD, it says 9.9 GB is used. But if I browse the files, every folder seems to have barely kilobytes of information.

Why is my 12GB HD filling up, and how do I clear it out so I don't get these errors?

Update: My phone is rooted, so if that is something that can help me in this situaton, then root access is available to me.

If you're getting "storage space runout" on your Samsung S2 phone, just dial *#9900# on the tablet and select option 2 “Delete dumpstate/logcat”

It's not necessary to root your android. Restart your phone afterwards.


How come my phone says I'm connected to the wifi yet the internet doesn't work? My phone is a Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime and it says I'm connected to the wifi, but none of my apps actually work. I get notifications of the apps, but when I click the app it says "network connection problem" or "please check your network connection". The wifi works on everyone device in my home except my phone.

There are many ways you can use to get rid of this issue and Here is how I could fix this issue:

We will first try the easiest checklist and then go to advance options later.

Reboot your phone and check if it works.
Have you installed any Anti-virus apps? If yes, try uninstalling it and check if it works.
Boot into Safe mode and check if it works.
Clear app data by going to Settings > Application Manager and that particular app.

Hopefully the above method does work for you, If not follow the instructions below.

Modify Network Configurations:

Go to Settings > WiFi Networks
Tap and hold for 2-3 seconds on the network your device is connected to.
Choose "Modify network config"
Further tap "Show advance options"
Finally set proxy settings to None

Hopefully this fixes the issue, If not follow the 2nd method.

Factory Reset Method
This method will wipe the data stored on the device so make sure you've already taken backup of important files.

Go to Settings
Under the personal tab, choose Backup and reset.
Finally I am sure you should have everything working fine.


Albums disappears from gallery Some time back I was asked by the PHOTOS app to move photos to my account. When I confirmed the same I have found to my dismay that they have been removed from my albums in gallery. Now how do I retrieve those photos back to my albums

Verify the photos are on your google account by going to https://photos.google.com. (sign in if needed) then verify they are there.

If they are then:

Go to accounts and sync.
add account.
allow 5 minutes to sync in background.
open accounts and sync and sync now by hitting menu or 3 lines/dots and hitting sync.
Update/install google photos app and then open it.
change account under the google photos app to correct account if needed.
See if photos are there, if not, after checking wait 3 minutes and check again.

Another option is too use the website to download all the photos to your sdcard by clicking on the "photos" section and then hitting the 3 dot menu in top right and hit "select photos", select the ones you want, then 3 dot menu again and hit download photos.


Android compresses all the photos I see online My HTC One M7 (ARHD 81.0) is compressing all the photos/videos I see online. Instagram? Compressed (even more than normal). Imgur on Chrome? Compressed. Photos from bacon reader? Compressed. Google Drive? Compressed. You name it and my phone will compress it.
I was using opera max to cut down on my data usage but I removed it because I thought that it is the cause of my problem.
Any ideas on how to get this fixed?

The compression is actually performed by your carrier. Almost all mobile network carriers compress images to reduce bandwidth use on slow mobile connections.

You can avoid the compression by switching to a Wi-Fi network, or using an HTTPS connection to the website you want: since HTTPS is secured from interception, the carrier can't replace the pictures with its compressed versions.


Disable notifications while watching videos or listening to music Is it possible to disable WhatsApp Status bar notifications while watching YouTube videos on a Android device or while playing music on Android device?

I don't want to disable WhatsApp notifications in any other conditions, but only when I am watching videos or while listening to music/song.

I know it is possible to disable notifications of an app (like WhatsApp), but that will block it for all the time. This I don't want to happen. I would like to continue to receive WhatsApp notifications but not while watching videos or while listening to music/song.

My Device: Micromax Canvas 4
Android OS: 4.2

Is this possible?

When you are watching youtube, temporary put your phone on silent.

However you can also use this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pierceholdings.dontpause&hl=en