Nougat notification bar limited to three icons? I had Marshmallow on my Samsung S6 before, and I would sometimes have many, many notifications - all the way to the system icons on the right.

Now I have Nougat on the phone, and it invariably shows a maximum of just three icons plus an ellipsis (...) to indicate that there are more. Of course the hidden notifications are the ones I am really interested in; the others are more or less static based on running background apps.

Is there a way to adjust the limit of how many notifications are shown?
Is this a Nougat "feature", or a Samsung "feature"?
Is this specific to only some Samsung regions?

The notification LED seems to work as usual, so there's that.

I use "DRE" for my SM-G920F but I'm aware there are other regions that would also work on this phone. They probably all have various combinations of bloatware; if only I could find a bloatless version...

you can limit the Galaxy to only show the last three notifications in the status  bar to keeps things clean and orderly. Head into Settings > Display > Status Bar and make any necessary changes.


USB driver for Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 I'm looking for a USB driver for my phone Samsung GT-S7582 S Duos 2. Can't find it in Samsung Official Site. Someone please help me.

Install  kies in your PC. It will automatically install corresponding USB drivers.

EDIT:
Samsung Kies is a freeware software application used to communicate between Windows or Mac operating systems, and more recently manufactured Samsung mobile phone and tablet computer devices, usually using a USB cable connection (though wireless LAN Kies connectivity is now possible using some devices).

This software may be used for:

Data backup
Data transfer (between a Windows or Mac PC, and a Samsung mobile device), limited to certain media file formats.
Multimedia (audio, photos, video, etc.) management, but limited to certain file formats.
Purchase/acquisition of additional or special device features.
Device firmware and operating system (OS version) upgrades.

To work all these, USB driver should be installed. So When you install this software it will automatically detect your device and install USB drivers.


Rebooting Problems in Smartphone my phone got dead and know even after charging it up properly its not starting and Samsung logo is appearing again and again even pressing "volume up+home button+power button "isn't helping ..
Please help I have very important data in may phone and don't want to loss it all.  my Phone Model is GT-S5282.

You said that you have some important data on phone. Using "volume up+home button+power button" combination in some phones hard resets the phone. So taking your phone to a service center is a good solution.


Heimdall errors, "ERROR: Failed to confirm end of file transfer sequence!" Using Heimdall v1.4 RC1 to flash Clockworkmod Recovery on a Samsung S4, I get the following,

$ sudo heimdall flash --RECOVERY ./recovery.img --no-reboot
Heimdall v1.4 RC1

Copyright (c) 2010-2012, Benjamin Dobell, Glass Echidna
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/

This software is provided free of charge. Copying and redistribution is
encouraged.

If you appreciate this software and you would like to support future
development please consider donating:
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Attempt failed. Detaching driver...
Claiming interface again...
Setting up interface...

Checking if protocol is initialised...
Protocol is not initialised.

Initialising protocol...
Protocol initialisation successful.

Beginning session...
Session begun.

In certain situations this device may take up to 2 minutes to respond.
Please be patient!

Downloading device's PIT file...
PIT file download successful.

Uploading RECOVERY
100%
ERROR: Failed to confirm end of file transfer sequence!
ERROR: RECOVERY upload failed!

Ending session...
Releasing device interface...
Re-attaching kernel driver...

I've even tried two different builds of Clockworkmod,

-rw-rw-r-- 1 ecarroll ecarroll 6.8M Aug 11 23:23 clockworkmod_6.0.3.2_jfltespr.img
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ecarroll ecarroll 6.8M Aug 12 00:02 recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.2-jfltespr.img

$ md5sum *clock*
c95fac4d0e27fcb0c3355f209e62cd9c  clockworkmod_6.0.3.2_jfltespr.img
760cbf5a3b157ab23f49fcf40b46db2f  recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.2-jfltespr.img

This is a because of a bug in Heimdall v1.4 RC1 -- the version that shipped with Ubuntu 13.04. What you'll want to do is upgrade Heimdall to version 1.4 final, or the latest version..

That should do it. Run heimdall info | head -n1 to get your current version.


Problems rooting an evo shift I'm on day 2 of the great quest for permanant root.  I have followed the guides here and here to the letter and still my hboot shows "S-On".  Hboot says:

SPEEDY XE SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-0.93.0001
RADIO-1.07.00.1129
eMMC-boot

Visionary will temp root, I go through all the steps, the md5's match, but when I go into hboot, it always says S-ON.  How do I get this thing rooted?

Did you try to permaroot anyways?

I'd try a factory reset and then try again.


What is the Riva_fm_cal file? What is the Riva_fm_cal file?

It is located in /data/app on many Android devices.

It is typically a very small file (under 25 bytes), and gets recreated if deleted.

Searching the file on Google returned a source code used by GeeksPhone: android_hardware_fm.cpp.

From line #199, it seems the file is related to FM radio receiver calibration.

static jint android_hardware_fmradio_FmReceiverJNI_SetCalibrationNative
     (JNIEnv * env, jobject thiz, jint fd, jbyteArray buff)
{

    struct v4l2_ext_control ext_ctl;
    char tmp[CAL_DATA_SIZE] = {0x00};
    int err;
    FILE* cal_file;

    cal_file = fopen("/data/app/Riva_fm_cal", "r" );
    if(cal_file != NULL) {
        ext_ctl.id = V4L2_CID_PRIVATE_IRIS_SET_CALIBRATION;
        if (fread(&tmp[0],1,CAL_DATA_SIZE,cal_file) = 0){
            return FM_JNI_SUCCESS;
        }
    }else {
        return FM_JNI_SUCCESS;
    }
  return FM_JNI_SUCCESS;
}

The code is implemented inside Android framework, which means that the Android OS is the one who (re)creates this file.


Can you reset private mode on a Samsung Galaxy S5? I set up private mode when I first got the phone, but now I can't seem to remember the password; it's none of my usual ones. Is it possible to reset (read: wipe) private mode and start over, without having to factory reset the whole phone?

I have root, if that helps.

Did you try to install Samsung Kies on your PC? Try to download it, connect your device and click the Backup/reset tab, and then click "Data backup".

The easiest way it factory reset. If you have any private data who you don't want to loose say what sort is it, there are numerous ways to backup them.


How to use Android sdk to flash android system images Can I use android sdk to flash a system image to a device? If yes, how to do?
Device: Samsung galaxy note3
Model:SM-N9000
Can I install an Android generic system image?.

The Android SDK contains fastboot for flashing images. But Samsung devices are usually not flashable via fastboot.
Instead you need a software named Odin or for Linux an "Odin clone" named Heimdall exists that can AFAIR also flash firmware images on Samsung devices.
For flashing an "Android generic system image" the current firmware of a device has to be compliant to Googles "Project Treble". There are apps in the Google Play Store that claim to be able to check if a device is "Project Treble" compatible. But I don't have any experience how accurate those apps are.


adb backup that operates similar to dd Do adb backup methods contain those that operate similar to how dd backups data? So I want to know if adb backup method that hard-copies every bit of disk exists.

If it does not exist, is there any way to do things similar to what dd does?

dd is a block-based copy tool -- it doesn't care what data it covers. adb backup is rather file-based, which is something completely different.

As you've tagged your question backup, you might follow that tag to its tag-wiki, which gives you some insight into available backup methods. You will quickly see the one coming closest to dd being Nandroid, which copies entire partitions. Though you cannot restrict it in the way you can with dd, you could still take its resulting files, copy them to your Linux computer, and use dd to work on them.

One tool not mentioned in this tag-wiki is dd itself. You could check with a terminal editor whether it's present on your device -- chances are good: I just checked with one of my extracted Nandroid backups, and found dd as a symlink in /system/bin, being a symlink to /system/toolbox. If you cannot find it, but your device is rooted (which I assume, as otherwise dd wouldn't make much sense), you could look for a BusyBox which brings it along.


Ever since connecting to a Chromecast, my device floods the network with SSDP packets I used both a Galaxy Nexus and a Nexus 7, running stock Android 4.3 and 4.4, to interact with a Chromecast in the past. Ever since, both devices flood the network with SSDP packets, which seems to be a UPnP related service discovery protocol. "Flood" here means that new packets are sent every second.

A sample packet, decoded by using WireShark, is shown below:

Internet Protocol Version 4, Src: android-28f8778edbb436c2.lan (192.168.200.120), Dst: 239.255.255.250 (239.255.255.250)
    Version: 4
    [shortened output for readability]
    Source: android-28f8778edbb436c2.lan (192.168.200.120)
    Destination: 239.255.255.250 (239.255.255.250)
    User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: 50225 (50225), Dst Port: ssdp (1900) Hypertext Transfer Protocol
    M-SEARCH * HTTP/1.1\r\n
        [Expert Info (Chat/Sequence): M-SEARCH * HTTP/1.1\r\n]
        Request Method: M-SEARCH
        Request URI: *
        Request Version: HTTP/1.1
    HOST: 239.255.255.250:1900\r\n
    MAN: "ssdp:discover"\r\n
    MX: 1\r\n
    ST: urn:dial-multiscreen-org:service:dial:1\r\n
    \r\n
    [Full request URI: http://239.255.255.250:1900*]

As this creates unneccessary traffic and likely drains the battery, I would like to deactivate this discovery feature. But even uninstalling the Chromecast app, Chrome itself, the Youtube app and other likely related apps (essentially everything that interacted with the Chromecast) did not help, the device still sends those packets.

Does anyone know how to disable this device discovery feature?

I doubt there is a setting on the Phone or on the Chromecast device that allows you to set the SSDP query interval. I've certainly never seen one.

Technical detail
Firstly, 1 UDP packet a second is not a flood.  Secondly, it's just the device sending out SSDP probes.  This is not a big deal.  I think once a second might be a bit much for a discovery protocol - once every 5 seconds for the application might be better, but that's just quibbling over a few seconds.  If the device was "flooding" the network with a thousand or more a second, then you'd have a problem.
WS-Discovery (which is a similar discovery protocol) uses the same multicast group (239.255.255.250) but on a different port (3702).  Make sure you aren't mixing up SSDP with WS-Discovery probes and responses.  If you have Windows boxes on your network, you'll see a lot of (WS-Discovery) messages bouncing around.
Also, in your typical network with Apple devices or AirPrint printers, you'll see a lot of Apple Bonjour (mDNS service discovery) UDP packets flying around on 224.0.0.251.  If you get less than 1 UPD message per second at this address, then you have a really quiet network (or some really old devices).
There is likely a bunch of other UDP multicast packets flying about on your network as well.
So, any modern local network with a modicum of devices will have at least 3 service discovery protocols chatting away at any given time - WS-Discovery, SSDP and mDNS.  If you have databases or other routers, then you'll have a couple more multicast service discovery protocols firing away.  The amount of traffic created by these protocols in the way they are implemented by most devices is just some minor network overhead.  Don't worry about it.


Add to contacts from recent numbers in Galaxy S9 When I am listing the recently called numbers, how do I add such a number to the contact list?

I am using the latest Samsung S8, so I will assume yours is most likely exactly the same procedure.

From the Recents list, tap the number you wish to create as a contact.
Mine opens a bar just below, 'Call' with a green phone icon, 'Message' with a bubble for messaging, and 'Details' with an info icon.

Tap 'Details' for an action bar to appear at the bottom of the screen with a '+ Create Contact' label. Tap, supply data to the page presented including any Name and Location and Detail information, then tap Save which appears in the header below the notifications area of the screen.


I want to hide my friend's proflie picture in whatsapp is it possible to change or hide my friend's profile picture in whatsapp? I have tried many ways but still no result. Thanks.

If only you have root access. WhatsApp profile pictures are now saved under /data/data/com.whatsapp/cache/Profile Pictures/ (earlier Internal Storage/WhatsApp/media/WhatsApp Profile Pictures)
In /data/data/com.whatsapp/cache/Profile Pictures/ profile pictures are saved with their respective phone number. Just change the picture with the exact name. Done.


I got 5 files, how to use them with Odin? My original problem is at After Factory Reset, Android Galaxy Camera Touchscreen is unresponsive
You can simply ignore my original problem since it's kinda not related to this question. Just share some backgrounds.

Now, I am trying a different (first stock release) ROM and hopefully, this time, it can work. After downloading this ROM, I got the following 5 files:

camera.pit
CODE_GC100XXALJF_413474_REV00_user_low_ship.tar.md5
CSC_HOME_OLB_GC100OLBALJB_409864_REV00_user_low_ship.tar.md5
CSC_OLB_GC100OLBALJB_409864_REV00_user_low_ship.tar.md5
MODEM_GC100XXALJG_REV01_CL1210642.tar.md5

How to use them with Odin? Which one belongs to which option?

I guess CODE_GC100XXALJF_413474_REV00_user_low_ship.tar.md5 is AP option because it has the biggest size. But just a guess.

Thanks a lot.

Edited1:

Since nobody replied me, I can not wait and did the following shown as screenshots:

[

[

Now, my galaxy camera is bricked... so what I can do?

Edited 2:

OK, I flashed another ROM. now it's unbricked. But I still has my another question's unresponsive touch problem. Whatever. This is just the weirdest thing I ever have in my life. I will never and ever buy a Samsung product again. I can't imagine a proper factory reset inside settings GUI can cause a problem in my life before Samsung.

AP : CODE, CP: MODEM, BL: BOOTLOADER (you dont seem to have that), CSC: CSC or HOME_CSC and USERDATA: USERDATA same for when you need to wipe the user data. I your case you'll only need 3 files AP, MODEM and CSC/HOME_CSC which contains your carrier specific files, settings etc.

Note that the firmware you are trying to flash need to have same version than your current version on the device or higher, otherwise you'll get the error you are getting in your third screenshot.

Important: Do not use the pit file as it repartition the internal memory and can cause a brick, and actually it is the cause of the flash failing message, so it is not advised to use it.


how do i deny a caller the option of leaving a voicemail? I don't want to completely block a #. I want to be able to answer, but, if I don't answer, I don't want that particular caller to be able to leave a voicemail.

can this be done? the only apps I find allow you to either send directly to vmail or it auto-answers and hangs up.

Sending to voicemail is a carrier service, and what you can configure depends on the features your carrier offers.

If you're able to configure this, it'll be via the "call forwarding" settings. On my Nexus 4 running stock KitKat, you can access these by opening the Phone app, tapping the menu icon, then Settings, then Call settings, then Call forwarding.

On UK mobile networks (I presume it's the same worldwide, but I'm far from certain), the behaviour when you deny a call is controlled by your "forward when busy" setting, so you'll want to disable call forwarding for that case. That'll also, obviously, disable voicemail when someone calls you and you're already in another call.

For contrast, "forward when unanswered" configures what happens if you let the call ring out, and "forward when unreachable" covers your phone being turned off or out of signal.

Some networks don't respect how you configure this through the phone menu. This may be because they don't support letting you have that choice, or it may be because you need to configure it a different way. This is frequently by dialing your voicemail number and pressing * or # to get a menu, but each network operator will have their own ways.


Popup at boot, warning about unspecified "problem" A few days ago my device (oneplus one with cyanogen) started showing this popup at boot, is there a way to diagnose this unspecified "problem"?

https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-9/development/fix-build-prop-variety-fix-aka-contact-t3133347/page7

Have a look at this.
It's the same issue,but with a different device(nexus 9).
My advice for you would be to ask(post) in the above page, about whether or not you can safely flash the given fix without bricking your device.
If not, then would it be possible for them to modify the fix(zip file), and make it suitable for your oneplus one.

Good luck.


Annoying functionality of suggestions in newer version of Google keyboard I recently updated my version of Android on my Nexus 4 and this is a really annoying thing I noticed.

In previous versions (I was on 4.0), the word that was typed displayed as the middle suggestion.  This was ideal, as I never had to advert my eyes from the soft keyboard (I use the swipe typing, so this makes a big difference.

The newer version does not do this; instead, it displays three possible alternates.  It's far less efficient and extremely annoying.

There's no specific setting I can find to change this.  Is there any way to change this back or some obscure commination of settings that will cause this functionality?

I downloaded an older version of the Google Keyboard app, which gives the preferred functionality.  For reference, it's 4.1.22063.1974169


App update/install claim insufficient storage with 3GB free on SD As you can see, the default write disk is set to the SD card with more than 3GB free, but it still complains of insufficient storage even for apps that do not exceed 100MB total size (I did not check the minimum size to trigger it, however).

What can I do to get around it?

Whenever you try to update and app, it first gets moved automatically to phone memory, even if the preferred install location is set to sd card.

Now, it is quite possible  (like in my case), the phone memory does not have sufficient storage for the app, or to hold the update along with the previous version. In that case, the apps will not get updated.

Whenever any app that was on the sd card is updated, you must again manually transfer it back to external storage, or it'll remain in phone memory


How can I automatically delete the oldest Photos which are uploaded to the Cloud (Google+, Dropbox, …)? When I was shooting photos mostly on my offline point and shoot camera, there was one obvious way to manage the pictures: copy them to desktop via USB, then delete from camera. This was typically automated using picasa out similar.

Then came the smartphones. You can still use the same technique, but Google+ and dropbox offer instant upload for backup purposes. So everything I shoot is copied to the cloud, but I still keep it in my phone. I can delete, but that's not automated at all. And I have to be sure not to delete stuff that wasn't yet uploaded.

Am I missing something here? Is there an obvious solution to this problem? Or is everyone fine with using USB like with regular cameras?

Dropbox's new Carousel app has an option to "Free up phone space".  This will delete photos from your phone that have been uploaded to Dropbox.

It's not automatic, and perhaps not exactly what you want, but if the real problem is running out of space on your phone it will probably help.


Redeem Google Checkout coupon on Google Play Are Google Checkout coupons redeemable on Google Play?

I've created a coupon on Google Checkout for a paid Android App on Google Play but when trying to buy it as a user, I can't find the place to enter it. On one device I saw a "Redeem" option along with the credit card but when I entered my coupon code, it returned an error message. Is there any way to make this work?

There is no way to use coupon codes with Google Play.


How to SUPPRESS "Unfortunately [app] has stopped" messages? I'm not trying to fix this error for any particular app. I'm just trying to fully suppress it globally because it's completely useless and very distracting to me whenever it occurs.

How can I make my phone stop popping up "unfortunately [blah] has stopped" error messages whenever something crashes? (I have root permissions so I can edit anything necessary.)

You can't (without customizing the code).  The relevant code is in the Activity Manager (see crashApplication() and handleAppCrashLocked()) and it only suppresses these crash messages in 2 cases:

The app crashed too soon since the last crash
The app has crashed too many times total


Samsung GT-i8262 only boots into recovery after flashing I have issue with this phone, flashed the recovery to CWM using the Rashr application and rebooted. Now my phone only boots into recovery anytime I turn it on.

The USB port is damaged, now I decided to flash with CyanogenMod but no avail.

Just remove your battery and  open download mode manually by pressing Power button+Home+volume down key. If you do like this, only then, download mode will support your Odin otherwise, it won’t support. After this just flash your CWM recovery again.

EDIT:
You just need to re-flash recovery. In your case, you can use your CWM recovery to flash. I don't remember that it will work. But you can surely flash this
TWRP recovery.

There is a bug which comes in effect if you use reboot from CWM recovery menu. Beware of that bug and reboot manually.

See this and this for any help about rooting or any problem.


Can I update Motorola Moto E to Android Lollipop 5.1.1? I'm about to buy and oldie - first generation of Motorola Moto E (XT1021) and everywhere I look it says it works on KitKat (4.4) but I've seen some posts about (oficially - OTA) updating it to 5.1.1.

I don't want to root or do some weird magic, so my question is:

can I just unbox this phone and it will automagically update to Android 5.1.1 (I'm living in Poland), how long will it take (yes, I'm in a hurry as you can see, I just need to have Android 5.1.1-based phone on my desk by tomorrow),
is there a single place where I can find a list of all Android phones with original Android versions AND latest Android updates for them? Because right now it looks like a mess, you're buying a phone, and every seller shows you the original Android version supported by the device, not the most recent one you can actually install...

Thanks a lot!

The phone runs 4.4 and then requires Motorola Update Services from Google Play to update to 5.1. NOT 5.1.1. Wasted cash :(


Can I get my car's head-unit to play audio, via USB, from my Galaxy S3? I've just moved from iOS to Android, purchasing the new Galaxy S3. Lovely phone; I'm impressed thus far.

The only thing that I'm struggling with is playing audio, via USB, to my car's head-unit.

I've got a 2012 Nissan Juke (upgraded Nav head unit with USB port in the center console) which worked fairly seamlessly with my iPhone 4. I'd plug the USB cable in, and my music would start playing through the car's speakers - with names/album/length etc. displayed on the head-unit's display. This worked with music I'd loaded on to the phone and the Spotify app.

When I plug my S3 in, the phone detects the connection and asks what mode I want to use - Media mode, or Camera mode. Regardless of which mode I use, the head-unit is unable to play either stored or Spotify music.

I've read up a little, and I'm wondering if this is to do with the S3's inability to render itself in Mass Storage mode.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a workaround, or an app which might resolve the problem? I can play audio via Bluetooth, but its interface isn't as seamless and I will forget to turn Bluetooth on/off; don't want to drain the battery excessively.

Yes and no. The fact that your Galaxy S3 does not support mass storage mode means that you cannot play audio files stored on the S3 with the radio, like you could with a USB stick. (If your car's radio supports mass storage, that is.)

However, the other type of USB connection, allowing your iPhone to be controlled by your car's radio is an Apple Accessory connection. This is a protocol for communication between Apple devices such as the iPod and iPhone and accessories like your car's radio. Android currently does not support the Apple Accessory connection, but has it's own protocol for communication with USB accessories. It might be technically possible to create a solution for Android to allow it to speak with Apple Accessories, but currently (as far as I'm aware) no such solution exists.


Does Lineage OS 16 runs on Nokia 6.1? I am looking to find if the Nokia 6.1 is able to run Lineage OS 16. I didnt find a Nokia section in the official list of supported device. I looked online and find this list from thedroidguru (same list on alldroidtips):

  List Of Nokia Devices Getting Lineage OS 16

  Nokia, or HMD Global, has already maintained a nice record when it
  comes to providing Android updates. Though these devices did not
  receive any support from LineageOS 15, it is expected that LineageOS
  16 would support the Nokia 8, Nokia 6 2017, Nokia 1, Nokia 2, Nokia 3,
  Nokia 5.

As far as I know, the Nokia 6.1 is the name of the Nokia 6 2018. Is this list accurate? If the Nokia 6 2017 can run the rom, the 6.1 should be able to do so, shouldn't it? So, Does Lineage OS 16 runs on Nokia 6.1?

Well, nobody knows which devices will be supported for LineageOS 16 because each device's maintainer(s) (developer(s)) are different.

LineageOS team never maintains a list of devices supported for LineageOS 15.1 or 16 etc.
But they have a devices list for which they support any of the LineageOS version:
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/

But that's not all. The actual official builds come very late because of many factors.
For example, the lineage16.0 branch is almost ready but there is no OFFICIAL LineageOS 16 build available from LineageOS team or any device maintainer.

But if you see the LineageOS 16 builds available UNOFFICIALLY, you will find many devices. This is not an official source but more accurate as it is maintained by me.
I hand pick all of the available builds to accumulate at one place.

Similar to LineageOS 16, I have an OFFICIAL LineageOS 15.1 page where you will find all such OFFICIAL builds.
I will continue to maintain an OFFICIAL LineageOS 16 page when the builds will be available.

Coming to your question, as of now I did not see any builds available for Nokia 6.1. You may follow my LineageOS 16 link, where I do update the page almost on daily basis. You will find the build once it is available from a dev.


Change System Language to one not listed? I have a Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime, which isn't exactly the most high-end Android/Samsung Smartphone out there, I do not have a lot of features that other people have, and I was simply wondering if there is any way to change the system language to Japanese. When I go into Settings > Language and input > Language, I only have the options shown in this image:

Is there any way to change the language to Japanese or am I out of luck? Thank you in advance.

Background:

Firstly please take a look at the similar post:  How do I add a new language?.

  Adding a full language support for a device is done at ROM level, the
  langauges that the default keyboard will support are added before
  compiliation and the android keyboard will only give you the option to
  download  dictionaries for the languages it supports..

Generally it is not easy to add a new language to the OS if it is not done by the manufacturer.

  The best solution will be to flash a new ROM that holds your desired
  language, either a stock ROM made for your area by your device
  manufacturer or a custom ROM.

Having said that, nevertheless it could be that the ROM supports many languages but are hidden because of things like:

CSC (Customer Service Code) location
Region or
Carrier

This behaviour has been noted for Sony, HTC and Samsung devices. Luckily there is a possible workaround in this case (yay!).

Since you have a Samsung device, you may try Language Enabler (Wanam) which is recommended on this XDA thread.

  Description

  This application lets you activate your home language (locale) with ease.

  Language Enabler activate all supported Samsung languages and keyboard
  inputs.

  Starting with Android 4.2, the permission to change your system
  language became protected.

  If you are familiar with Android developments tools, then you can
  grant the required permission to the App without root, by executing
  this command through usb adb -d shell pm grant com.wanam
  android.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION

  If you have root access on your device then Language Enabler can
  automatically do it for you.

  This application supports all languages / locales: Arabic, Chinese,
  Indian, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Farsi... عربية، عبرية، فارسية.

  There are some devices variants (US,Chinese) that remove completely
  all unused languages, sadly there is no much thing we can do in this
  case.

Features :

Choose language to be enabled (83+ languages)
Display Languages on their Locale encoding
Auto Backup your stock language settings
Restore your stock language settings

Important

This app doesn't add any language support, it just enable all supported languages, so if you don't get your local language after reboot, that means it's not supported in your ROM.

Please remember to share you feedback in comments section


What do Android application permissions mean? When installing an application, the application lists permissions that it needs to perform its  functions.

I am creating this list of the the system defined permissions and a description of what they mean. It is a community wiki so if new permissions are added in the future they can be added to this list.

This is all the available permissions that an application can require. Of this list, there are some that can only be "requested" by "System" applications. Applications that are not system applications will not be able to request permissions to "System Permissions". Only applications that are in the /system/app location and signed with the System key can request these specific system permissions.

These are the names that are used by the developer of the application to request the permission, but the name that is displayed when installing should have some similar wording to the name.

Permissions

ACCESS_CHECKIN_PROPERTIES

Allows read/write access to the "properties" table in the (Unix security)
checkin database, to change values that get uploaded.
Group: LOCATION
Level: SYSTEM

ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION

Allows an app to access approximate location derived from network location
sources such as cell towers and Wi-Fi.
Group: LOCATION
This permission is usually used by applications that display location based
ads by publishers like Admob (Google).

ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION

Allows an app to access precise location from location sources such as GPS,
cell towers, and Wi-Fi.
Group: LOCATION
This permission can be used by applications that display location based ads
by publishers like Admob (Google). It is also used by applications that want
your exact location. Examples would be Navigation applications, "Check-In"
apps like 4square.

ACCESS_LOCATION_EXTRA_COMMANDS

Allows an application to access extra location provider commands.
A good example for poor documentation, as even books on Android application
development state: The Android documentation doesn’t tell us
which location commands are “extra,” so we’ll ask for all of them.
Group: LOCATION

ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION

Allows an application to create mock location providers for testing, and is
intended for development use in e.g. the Android Emulator (to save the dev
from having to run around to check if positions are displayed correctly).
Cases where this is needed in an app ready for endusers should be rare.
This allows an application to fake the location information.
Group: LOCATION

ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE

Allows applications to access information about networks.
Information including if a network is available (or just connecting), what
type of network the device is connected to, if any (WiFi, 3G, LTE), if it's
in Roaming, and also reasons for a failed connection attempt (if any).
Good use: The application may check the state of your connection before
trying to access the internet, and e.g. restrict itself to WiFi for some
actions.
Bad use: Only in combination with other permissions (e.g. data collection for
profiling).
Group: NETWORK

ACCESS_SURFACE_FLINGER

Allows an application to use SurfaceFlinger's low level features.
SurfaceFlinger is part of Android's media framework. It provides a
compositor which takes care for rendering in frame buffers (so this has to
do with graphics).
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

ACCESS_WIFI_STATE

Allows applications to access information about Wi-Fi networks
Group: NETWORK
This could be requested by any application that uses internet access. The
application may check the state of your connection before trying to access
the internet.
Good/Bad use: See ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE above.

ACCOUNT_MANAGER

Allows applications to call into AccountAuthenticators. Only
the system can get this permission.
An account-manager is the service working behind the scenes and taking care
everything works as expected.
Group: ACCOUNTS
Level: SYSTEM
This permission is reserved for system apps.

ADD_VOICEMAIL (4.0+)

Allows an application to add voicemails into the system.
Group: PERSONAL_INFO

AUTHENTICATE_ACCOUNTS

Allows an application to act as an AccountAuthenticator for the
AccountManager
Group: ACCOUNTS
This is for applications that would authenticate you to their service.
An app using this permission usually provides an interface to deal with a
certain account type (which is not known by the pre-installed Android
system), such as Dropbox. As shipped, Android does not know how to login to
Dropbox and how to deal with a Dropbox account – so the Dropbox app provides
the mechanism. Additionally, an "account authenticator" might restrict the
actions an app can perform with the account (so it would e.g. be possible to
administrate this via some web interface offered by the service).

BATTERY_STATS

Allows an application to collect battery statistics
Battery widgets and other battery information tools use this permission
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

BIND_APPWIDGET

Allows an application to tell the AppWidget service which application can
access AppWidget's data.  The normal user flow is that a user picks an
AppWidget to go into a particular host, thereby giving that host application
access to the private data from the AppWidget app. An application that has
this permission should honor that contract. Very few applications should
need to use this permission.
Group: PERSONAL_INFO
Level: SYSTEM

BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN (2.2+)
Must be required by device administration receiver, to ensure that only the
system can interact with it.

Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

BIND_INPUT_METHOD

Must be required by an InputMethodService, to ensure that only the system
can bind to it.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

BIND_REMOTEVIEWS (3.0+)

Must be required by a RemoteViewsService, to ensure that only the system can
bind to it.
Level: SYSTEM

BIND_TEXT_SERVICE (4.0+)

Must be required by a TextService (e.g. SpellCheckerService) to ensure that
only the system can bind to it.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

BIND_VPN_SERVICE (4.0+)

Must be required by a Vpn Service, to ensure that only the system can bind
to it.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

BIND_WALLPAPER (2.2+)

Must be required by a WallpaperService, to ensure that only the system can
bind to it.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

BIND_*

many more like the above for different services, like NFC, PrintService, and
others

BLUETOOTH

Allows applications to connect to paired bluetooth devices
Group: NETWORK

BLUETOOTH_ADMIN

Allows applications to discover and pair bluetooth devices
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

BLUETOOTH_PRIVILEGED (4.4+)

Allows applications to pair bluetooth devices without user interaction. This
is not available to third party applications.

BRICK

Required to be able to disable the device
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

BROADCAST_PACKAGE_REMOVED

Allows an application to broadcast a notification that an application
 package has been removed.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

BROADCAST_SMS

Allows an application to broadcast an SMS receipt notification
Group: MESSAGES
Level: SYSTEM

BROADCAST_STICKY

Allows an application to broadcast sticky intents.  These are
 broadcasts whose data is held by the system after being finished,
 so that clients can quickly retrieve that data without having
 to wait for the next broadcast.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

BROADCAST_WAP_PUSH

Allows an application to broadcast a WAP PUSH receipt notification
Group: MESSAGES
Level: SYSTEM

CALL_PHONE

Allows an application to initiate a phone call without going through the Dialer user interface for the user to confirm the call being placed.
Group: COST_MONEY
This will allow the application to "prompt" you to place a call. You will not have to enter the number, but you will have to place the "call" button. You will be able to see the number that is being called.

CALL_PRIVILEGED

Allows an application to call any phone number, including emergency
numbers, without going through the Dialer user interface for the user
to confirm the call being placed.
Group: MESSAGES
Level: SYSTEM

CAMERA

Required to be able to access the camera device.
Group: HARDWARE_CONTROLS
Any application that uses the rear or front cameras.

CAPTURE_AUDIO_OUTPUT (4.4+)

Allows an application to capture audio output. Not for use by third-party
applications.

CAPTURE_SECURE_VIDEO_OUTPUT (4.4+)

Allows an application to capture secure video output. Not for use by
third-party applications.

CAPTURE_VIDEO_OUTPUT (4.4+)

Allows an application to capture video output. Not for use by third-party
applications.

CHANGE_COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE

Allows an application to change whether an application component (other than
its own) is enabled or not.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

CHANGE_CONFIGURATION

Allows an application to modify the current configuration, such
 as locale.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

CHANGE_NETWORK_STATE

Allows applications to change network connectivity state
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

CHANGE_WIFI_MULTICAST_STATE

Allows applications to enter Wi-Fi Multicast mode
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

CHANGE_WIFI_STATE

Allows applications to change Wi-Fi connectivity state
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

CLEAR_APP_CACHE

Allows an application to clear the caches of all installed
applications on the device.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

CLEAR_APP_USER_DATA

Allows an application to clear user data
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

CONTROL_LOCATION_UPDATES

Allows enabling/disabling location update notifications from
 the radio. Not for use by normal applications.
Group: LOCATION
Level: SYSTEM

DELETE_CACHE_FILES

Allows an application to delete cache files.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

DELETE_PACKAGES

Allows an application to delete packages.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

DEVICE_POWER

Allows low-level access to power management
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

DIAGNOSTIC

Allows applications to RW to diagnostic resources.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

DISABLE_KEYGUARD

Allows applications to disable the keyguard
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

DUMP

Allows an application to retrieve state dump information from system
services.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

EXPAND_STATUS_BAR

Allows an application to expand or collapse the status bar.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

FACTORY_TEST

Run as a manufacturer test application, running as the root user.
Only available when the device is running in manufacturer test mode.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

FLASHLIGHT

Allows access to the flashlight
Group: HARDWARE_CONTROLS
Allows application to control the LED flash from the camera and have it act like a flashlight.

FORCE_BACK

Allows an application to force a BACK operation on whatever is the top
activity.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

GET_ACCOUNTS

Allows access to the list of accounts in the Accounts Service
Applications that require some type of authentication from accounts that are
"connected" to the device. A list of the accounts are ususally displayed so
you can choose the account to use with the application. To really use those
credentials, the USE_CREDENTIALS permission is required.
Group: ACCOUNTS
also see: What does “discover known accounts” permission mean?

GET_PACKAGE_SIZE

Allows an application to find out the space used by any package.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

GET_TASKS

Allows an application to get information about the currently or recently
running tasks: a thumbnail representation of the tasks, what activities are
running in it, etc. Bad cop: spy for possible security leaks (vulnerable
apps), data collection. Good cop: check whether the app's own service is
running, show recently used apps (task-switcher), provide app-specific behaviour (eg orientation manager tools).
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

GET_TOP_ACTIVITY_INFO (4.3+)

Allows an application to retrieve private information about the current top
activity, such as any assist context it can provide. Not for use by
third-party applications.

GLOBAL_SEARCH

This permission can be used on content providers to allow the global
search system to access their data.  Typically it used when the
provider has some permissions protecting it (which global search
would not be expected to hold), and added as a read-only permission
to the path in the provider where global search queries are
performed.  This permission can not be held by regular applications;
it is used by applications to protect themselves from everyone else
besides global search.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

HARDWARE_TEST

Allows access to hardware peripherals.  Intended only for hardware testing
Group: HARDWARE_CONTROLS

INJECT_EVENTS

Allows an application to inject user events (keys, touch, trackball)
into the event stream and deliver them to ANY window.  Without this
permission, you can only deliver events to windows in your own process.
Very few applications should need to use this permission.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM (or APPLICATION ONLY)

INSTALL_LOCATION_PROVIDER

Allows an application to install a location provider into the Location Manager
Group: LOCATION

INSTALL_PACKAGES

Allows an application to install packages.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

INSTALL_SHORTCUT (4.4+)

Allows an application to install a shortcut in Launcher (Homescreen)

INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS (4.4+?)

Allows an application to call APIs that allow it to do interactions across the users on the device, using singleton services and user-targeted broadcasts. This permission is not available to third party applications.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SIGNATURE_OR_SYSTEM
also see this answer

INTERNAL_SYSTEM_WINDOW

Allows an application to open windows that are for use by parts of the
system user interface.  Not for use by third party apps.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

INTERNET

Allows applications to open network sockets.
Group: NETWORK
Any application that accesses the internet for any reason will have to
request this permission.

KILL_BACKGROUND_PROCESSES (2.2+)

Allows an application to call killBackgroundProcesses
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

LOCATION_HARDWARE (4.3+)

Allows an application to use location features in hardware, such as the
geofencing api. Not for use by third-party applications.

MANAGE_ACCOUNTS

Allows an application to manage the list of accounts in the AccountManager
Group: ACCOUNTS
This permission allows an application to add/remove accounts in the account
manager. Like when you log in to facebook, it adds your account to the
Account Manager accounts. For further details, see: What does permission
“MANAGE_ACCOUNTS” mean?,
and also the AccountManager Documentation on the Android Developers site.

MANAGE_APP_TOKENS

Allows an application to manage (create, destroy, Z-order) application
tokens in the window manager.  This is only for use by the system.
Group: ACCOUNTS
Level: SYSTEM

MANAGE_DOCUMENTS (4.4+)

Allows an application to manage access to documents, usually as part of a
document picker.

MANAGE_USB

Allows an application to manage preferences and permissions for USB devices
Group: HARDWARE_CONTROLS
Level: SYSTEM

MANAGE_MTP

Allows an application to access the MTP USB kernel driver.
For use only by the device side MTP implementation.
Group: HARDWARE_CONTROLS
Level: SYSTEM

MASTER_CLEAR

Level: SYSTEM

MEDIA_CONTENT_CONTROL (4.4+)

Allows an application to know what content is playing and control its
playback. Not for use by third-party applications due to privacy of media
consumption

MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS

Allows an application to modify global audio settings
Group: HARDWARE_CONTROLS

MODIFY_PHONE_STATE

Allows modification of the telephony state - power on, mmi, etc.
Does not include placing calls.
Group: PHONE_CALLS
Level: System

MOUNT_FORMAT_FILESYSTEMS

Allows formatting file systems for removable storage
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

MOUNT_UNMOUNT_FILESYSTEMS

Allows mounting and unmounting file systems for removable storage
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

NFC (2.3+)

Allows applications to perform I/O operations over NFC
Group: NETWORK

PERSISTENT_ACTIVITY

Allow an application to make its activities persistent. deprecated
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

PROCESS_OUTGOING_CALLS

Allows an application to monitor, modify, or abort outgoing calls.
Group: PHONE_CALLS

READ_CALENDAR

Allows an application to read the user's calendar data.
Group: PERSONAL_INFO

READ_CALL_LOG (4.1+)

Allows an application to read the system's call log that contains
information about incoming and outgoing calls.

READ_CONTACTS

Allows an application to read the user's contacts data.
Group: PERSONAL_INFO
Check the app permission.READ_CONTACTS to see what informations can be obtained with this permission.

READ_CONTENT_PROVIDER

Access mail information
Group: MESSAGES
This is primarily for access to information on Mails in Gmail. Developers can use this content provider to display label information to the user.
also see: What lurks behind these Gmail/GTalk permissions?

READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE (4.1+)

Provides protected read access to external storage. In Android 4.1 by
default all applications still have read access. This changed with
Android 4.4 (API level 19), which now requires that applications explicitly
request read access using this permission. If an application already
requests write access, it will automatically get read access as well.
Group: STORAGE

READ_FRAME_BUFFER

Allows an application to take screen shots and more generally get access to
the frame buffer data
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

READ_GMAIL

also see: What lurks behind these Gmail/GTalk permissions?

READ_HISTORY_BOOKMARKS

Allows an application to read (but not write) the user's browsing history
and bookmarks.
Group: PERSONAL_INFO
Check the app READ_HISTORY_BOOKMARKS App. to see what information can be obtained with this permission.

READ_INPUT_STATE

Allows an application to retrieve the current state of keys and switches.
This is only for use by the system.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

READ_LOGS

Allows an application to read the low-level system log files. Log entries
can contain the user's private information
Group: PERSONAL_INFO
No longer granted to user apps starting with Android 4.2+ (user apps can now only see their own log entries). Work-arounds are possible on rooted devices.
For details, see: Read logs from all apps on android from within an app for android 4.2+

READ_OWNER_DATA
READ_PHONE_STATE

Allows read only access to phone state.
Group: PHONE_CALLS
This permission gives access to your device's identifiers (IMEI/IMSI),
SIM ID, voice mailbox number, your phone number and, if a call is in
progress, the remote number. It's not required for things like
call state (whether a call is in progress/pending), network operator, or
the network provider used – according to the app permission.READ_PHONE_STATE, which shows what this permission is needed for (and what not)
automatically granted to apps targeted at Android 1.6 or before
good use: ???
bad use: you can be tracked across networks via your IMSI/IMEI/phone number
neutral use: targeted ads (service can see what ads have already been
displayed on your device, and don't need to be displayed again, for example)
See also:

Read phone state and identity
Why do so many applications require permission to read the phone state and identity?
Can Phone Calls application permission allow developer to read my contact book?

READ_PROFILE (4.0+)

Allows an application to read the user's personal profile data.
Group: PERSONAL_INFO

READ_SECURE_SETTINGS

Allows an application to read the secure system settings.
Group: HARDWARE_CONTROLS

READ_SMS

Allows an application to read SMS messages.
Group: MESSAGES
Check the app permission.READ_SMS to see what information can be obtained with this permission.

READ_SOCIAL_STREAM (4.0+)

Allows an application to read from the user's social stream.
Group: PERSONAL_INFO

READ_SYNC_SETTINGS

Allows applications to read the sync settings
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

READ_SYNC_STATS

Allows applications to read the sync stats
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

READ_USER_DICTIONARY (4.1+)

Allows an application to read the user dictionary. This should really only
be required by an IME, or a dictionary editor like the Settings app.
Group: PERSONAL_INFO

REBOOT

Required to be able to reboot the device
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED

Allows an application to receive the
ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED that is broadcast after the system
finishes booting.  If you don't request this permission, you will not
receive the broadcast at that time. Though holding this permission does not
have any security implications, it can have a negative impact on the
user experience by increasing the amount of time it takes the system to
start and allowing applications to have themselves running without the user
being aware of them.  As such, you must explicitly declare your use of this
facility to make that visible to the user.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

RECEIVE_EMERGENCY_BROADCAST

Allows an application to receive emergency cell broadcast messages,
to record or display them to the user. Reserved for system apps.
Group: MESSAGES
Level: SYSTEM
Pending API council approval

RECEIVE_MMS

Allows an application to monitor incoming MMS messages, to record
or perform processing on them.
Group: MESSAGES

RECEIVE_SMS

Allows an application to monitor incoming SMS messages, to record
or perform processing on them.
Group: MESSAGES
also see: Can the RECEIVE_SMS permission be used to intercept SMS messages?

RECEIVE_WAP_PUSH

Allows an application to monitor incoming WAP push messages.
Group: MESSAGES

RECORD_AUDIO

Allows an application to record audio
Group: HARDWARE_CONTROLS

REORDER_TASKS

Allows an application to change the Z-order of tasks
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

RESTART_PACKAGES

deprecated - No longer supported

SEND_RESPOND_VIA_MESSAGE (4.3+)

Allows an application (Phone) to send a request to other applications to
handle the respond-via-message action during incoming calls. Not for use by
third-party applications.

SEND_SMS

Allows an application to send SMS messages.
Group: COST_MONEY

SEND_SMS_NO_CONFIRMATION

Allows an application to send SMS messages via the Messaging app with no
user input or confirmation.
Group: COST_MONEY
Level: SYSTEM

SET_ACTIVITY_WATCHER

Allows an application to watch and control how activities are started
globally in the system.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

SET_ALARM (2.3+)

Allows an application to broadcast an Intent to set an alarm for the
user.
Group: PERSONAL_INFO

SET_ALWAYS_FINISH

Allows an application to control whether activities are immediately
finished when put in the background.
Group: DEVELOPMENT_TOOLS

SET_ANIMATION_SCALE

Modify the global animation scaling factor.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

SET_DEBUG_APP

Configure an application for debugging.
Group: DEVELOPMENT_TOOLS

SET_ORIENTATION

Allows low-level access to setting the orientation (actually rotation) of
the screen. Not for use by normal applications.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

SET_POINTER_SPEED (3.2+)

Allows low-level access to setting the pointer speed. Not for use by normal
applications.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

SET_PREFERRED_APPLICATIONS

deprecated No longer useful
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

SET_PROCESS_LIMIT

Allows an application to set the maximum number of (not needed)
application processes that can be running.
Group: DEVELOPMENT_TOOLS

SET_TIME (2.2+)

Allows applications to set the system time
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

SET_TIME_ZONE

Allows applications to set the system time zone
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

SET_WALLPAPER

Allows applications to set the wallpaper
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

SET_WALLPAPER_HINTS

Allows applications to set the wallpaper hints
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

SIGNAL_PERSISTENT_PROCESSES

Allow an application to request that a signal be sent to all persistent
processes
Group: DEVELOPMENT_TOOLS

STATUS_BAR

Allows an application to open, close, or disable the status bar and its
icons.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS
Level: SYSTEM

SUBSCRIBED_FEEDS_READ

Allows an application to read the subscribed feeds ContentProvider.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

SUBSCRIBED_FEEDS_WRITE

Allows an application to write to the subscribed feeds ContentProvider.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW

Allows an application to open windows using the type
TYPE_SYSTEM_ALERT, shown on top of all other applications.
Very few applications should use this permission; these windows are intended
for system-level interaction with the user.
Group: SYSTEM_TOOLS

continue here
too many characters (Body is limited to 30000 characters), so it had to be split


OTA update to Jelly Bean 4.3 fails (Nexus 4) I just purchased a used Nexus 4 online and it came with Android 4.2.2 (stock, as far as I can tell).  The phone does have an unlocked boot-loader and is was rooted.  I was able to un-root using supersu, but the OTA update to 4.3 still fails.  It starts to install, then it just shows a screen that says "Error" with a dead robot.

Is there anything else I might need to do in order to allow this upgrade to go through?  I don't care about keeping the unlocked bootloader or anything.

You can always try flashing the 4.3 factory image if data preservation is not a problem. Grab the image from Google, then follow these instructions


Display Notification Dot But Not Notification On Lock Screen Is there a way with or without root to display a notification dot for my Messenger app on the home screen but not on the lock screen?

This setting is standard for all apps for iOS but the setting "On the lock screen" seems to only be available for certain applications like Gmail and Android Messenger in Android.

This is possible with the Pixel 2 and Android 9.

Go in your app notifications (facebook messenger in this example) and make sure "Allow notification dot" is ON. Then select which category and in "Behaviour", select "Show silently and minimise".

When you get a new message, there will be a dot on the icon (second in the top row) and no notification on lock screen, no notification in top bar with the clock. However, if you drag down the menu, you will see a small notification.

Best I could find. Tested with facebook messenger and gmail.


Backspace in Evernote does not delete words at an even speed In Evernote if I hold down the backspace key too long it deletes way to fast. Worse yet there is not undo option. I have lost many notes this way. Is there a way to change the rate at which the backspace key works (or at least hold the rate constant) or is there an undo key? I think Evernote is great but this is almost a deal breaker because if you loose your notes it doesn't matter how good the other features are.

UPDATE: the fact that the main productivity program for Android lacks even these simple functions was the largest reason I got rid of my tablet.

The backspace key
The backspace keep repeated action is controlled at application level, either by the keyboard App, the Evernote App or the Android System.
AFAIK, there's no setting to control the spead of the action repeat cycle.
The undo feature
A premium user of Evernote has a backup privilege that creates a snapshot of every note on the Evernote server every 8 hours.
HELP: Need to restore text deleted from a note

Note history creates a snapshot of your not on our server every 8 hours.

Aside from that, there's no undo capabilities on the application.

Note: As already suggested on the comments under your question, you could submit a feature request to have a Redo functionality.


How to root and flash the Galaxy Note 4 AT&T version I got a Galaxy Note 4 from my father and it is the AT&T version. I think it's been already rooted since I can use other networks besides AT&T on it... But there are some AT&T stock apps/bloatware on it which I can't seem to get rid of. Is there a way to or is there a ROM I can flash on it? I heard there were no ROMS for this. And if there is a way to upgrade the PHONE from lollipop to marshmallow. Thank you.

DEVICE NAME: SAMSUNG-SM-N910A

Android version: 5.0.1

BASEBAND VERSION: N910AUCU2COC5

BUILD NUMBER  : LRX22C.N910AUCU2COC5

Sim unlock (being able to use different carriers) is not bootloader unlock or root. The SM-N910A cannot be rooted. You can root the T-Mobile version (SM-N910T). Your phone will update to Marshmallow baseband version N910AUCS2EQH1 when you check for updates with an AT&T sim card installed.


htc desire z root shell I'm trying only to get a root shell, not persistent, don't want to flash any kind of image or install closed/proprietary apk, nor run scripts/exploits that write/erase/modify any flash.

For a newer device has been just a matter of few mins, found an exploit, compiled, pushed, executed, got the root shell, instead this one seem to be unbreakable, already spent hours trying different approaches :-|

2.6.35.10-g53a84f9 (htc-kernel@and18-2) - Android/2.3.3

Suggestions?

zergRush did it, seems to be the only one working, I just did some personal change to not remount /data and not set any property but just chmod an adb pre-pushed /data/local/tmp/su.


Cannot access any files on Samsung Tab 4 7" I have a Samsung Galaxy tab 4, 7", rooted but running stock OS (Android 4.4.2. It was rooted using Odin 3.09 and TWRP recovery. I then enabled adb root with the adbd insecure app by Chainfire. It would appear that everything is good to go but when I run Droid Explorer with the tablet plugged in and USB debugging on, it appears to load correctly but then I do not have access to any files or folders. All I see on the left-hand side is a file labeled "/" but I cannot actually open it and it shows "0 objects" at the bottom. I would really appreciate some help here, thanks.

Figured it out! Turns out I had failed to install busybox, my mistake!


Can't use Jio and data on another sim together! I have Moto Z play. It is a dual sim device.I have inserted Jio and Vodafone sim.

Once I am switching Vodafone for data. It is automatically switched Vodafone sim to 4G.

Is anyway to use data using another sim and JIO sim together?

Please advise.

Thanks

My OnePlus 3T lets me change the data SIM, but the problem is that not both SIM is a phone can be 4G / 3G, if one SIM is 4G / 3G, then the other has to be 2G.

JIO will not stay because Jio is a 4G only network, and it will lose network once other SIM is set as 4G / 3G. You can try using Vodafone's internet in 2G.


Add custom search engines on Chrome for Android One of the most powerful productivity tools I use on Chrome is custom search engines. However, I was wondering how I can do the same thing on Chrome for Android?
I went through the settings on Chrome for Android, but understandably it doesn't have that feature. Ideas?

According to the sources, the option is reported by a few users for it. And hope so it would be released in future updates.
As of now, it is not possible to change the default search engine in Android.


Homemade update Sony Xperia to Android 6.0 Marshmallow and DRM restoration I have a Xperia smartphone, Android 4.4.

Is it possible to upgrade my device with new Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and restore previously backed up DRM keys so Sony proprietary features can work as before? Or maybe the keys are bound to specific Android version?

I know about the tool Backup-TA and about the fact that Sony has recently released AOSP version for Xperias.

Please, if you can, give me answer which will be more than 'yes' or 'no', I always like to understand the way things are :)

PS. Sorry if this questions is unclear or could be a duplicate. Let me know about it please. I just could not find any information on the web about restoring DRM keys into new system version.

If you have a backup of your ta partition running a specific firmware it is for that specific firmware. Firmware in this case means the specific version of your firmware (e.g. build number). You cannot restore it.


Upgrade Cyanogenmod from 9.1 to 10.1 without losing information? I am running Cyanogenmod 9.1 on my Samsung Galaxy SII, and would like to upgrade to version 10.1. Is there a way to do this upgrade without wiping all my apps and settings from my phone?

If not, is there a good backup strategy (what should I backup, and how) for relatively easy restoration after upgrading the Cyanogenmod rom?

Thank you.

Here's some advice for moving between any two Android ROMs that will serve you well:

First, do a full nandroid backup if you're not feeling completely confident. You can do this in CWM Recovery, or via ADB (Android Debug Bridge). This will create an "image" of your entire device.
Now that you're safe from screwing anything up beyond repair, go ahead and use TitaniumBackup to backup all your system settings and your user apps (I usually don't backup system apps as this might cause problems). Backups will be saved on your /sdcard/ and will not disappear when you wipe.
(Before this step, make sure you have the ROM zip files on your sdcard, otherwise you'll have to add them via ADB) Go into CWM Recovery and wipe your device (cache and data). Remember, /sdcard/ is still fine. Now install your shiny new ROM.
When you've booted your new ROM, install TitaniumBackup first of all. It will recognize that there's already TitaniumBackup files on the sdcard (from before), and you'll be able to batch install your apps and restore system settings.

Some advice on restoring backups: be conservative. Start by restoring apps without user data, as old data may break the app. If somethings missing and it annoys you, restore that app only with data. Same goes for restoring system settings, deselect everything and just restore what you really want (usually just WiFi hotspots for me).


can you use wireless charging on LG G3 s can you get wireless charging on the LG G3 s as under the cover on the back of the phone there are two pins that connect to the cover, this cover also has a pad on the back. Thanks.

Your phone doesn't support wireless charge, but you can try to find a cover which enables it: the cover connects to the micro usb of the phone and has an embedded coil (and some other hardware). I'm not sure it exists, but you can try to find it.


USB connectivity problems with Nexus 7 2013 I've just acquired Nexus 7 (2013) and can't connect it to my PCs. All drivers I have (one from Android SDK, as I'm a developer, and the second from the Android site here, named as latest_usb_driver_windows.zip btw) do not install either under Windows 7, or Windows XP. PC discovers new device as "Nexus 7", but wizard says "could not find the software on your computer" when I specify folder with drivers.

After some unsuccessful trials, I decided to disable MTP and mass storage modes on the Nexus, just to eliminate these parts of driver - in fact I need only debugging via USB. I enabled the debugging via USB at very beginning, and it shows up in Android's notification bar, but the device does not show up in adb/Eclipse.

So I switched MTP and mass storage OFF via notification area. This did not help to attach the new device. But now I can't enable either MTP or storage mode back. They are missing in notifications, and they are missing in Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> More, where they are supposed to be.

So the question number 1: how one can switch MTP and storage mode ON in Android 4.3, specifically on Nexus 7 (2013), other way than via notifications? I saw similar question on the Internet, and the only answer was to reboot the device - in some cases (from time to time!) this worked for someone. I restarted Nexus, but still nothing USB-related shows in settings.

Also I'd appreciate any clues on how to connect Nexus 7 (2013) to Windows PC? I should mention, that I have Nexus 7 of the first version, and I'm able to debug apps using it, that this first Nexus is connected to the same PC successfully. This brings another problem, because I do not want to lose connectivity with the first device by complete removal of drivers, because I have no guarantee that after this the first device will not become lost in the same manner as the second.

Thanks in advance.

Had similar problem with Google Nexus7 (2012).

To solve it I passed next steps:

Uninstalled incorrect Nexus USB drivers.
1) Previously, I installed windows default MTP driver to have ability to connect the device. It was a bad solution, because it made a problem for me to install new drivers.
Each time I tried to install latest_usb_driver_windows.zip from developer.android.com, Windows told me:

“The best driver software for your device is already installed”

So I disconnected all USB devices, and in order to remove all previously installed USB drivers I used freeware tool DriveCleanup.
It was a bit unusual to run some tool, which perform some unknown system-related actions, but at the end of the day, it removed all USB-drive related stuff from Windows and didn't    harm a system.
In order to install proper USB drivers for my Nexus 7 on Windows 7 performed next:

Enabled debugging options on Nexus (Go to Settings > About tabled and tap 7 times on  "Build number" field);
Run "Settings -> Developer Options -> Revoke USB debugging authorizations", in order to start next negotiating between tablet and PC from scratch.
Enabled "Settings -> Developer Options -> USB debugging" to have ability to connect to the device by adb.
Connected device to PC. (Some informaition in the internet points, that in case of problems drivers installation, it's better to use USB 2.0, but I have only USB 3.0 on my PC)
Run "Device Manager" Windows tool. "Start -> Run -> mmc devmgmt.msc" or "Control Panel -> Device Manager"
Found Nexus Device, press right mouse button "Update Drivers -> Manual -> Browse", pointed to the latest usb drivers from google (In my case, they were downloaded by Android SDK manager: C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\extras\google\usb_driver). And press OK.
In most of cases, previous 6 steps should be enough to install drivers, but each time I received next error:

"The folder you specified doesn't contain a compatible software driver for your device. If the folder contains a driver, make sure it is designed to work with Windows for x64-based systems."
So in order to make USB drivers fit my device, I performed next steps:

Run "Device Manager" Windows tool. "Start -> Run -> mmc devmgmt.msc" or "Control Panel -> Device Manager".
Found Nexus Device, press right mouse button "Properties -> Details" chose "Hardware IDs" from the dropdown, right mouse button on ID values "Select All -> Copy"
In my case it was:

  USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42&REV_9999&MI_01&MI_01
  USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42&MI_01&MI_01

Opened usb_driver\android_winusb.inf  file from latest usb driver directory by text editor, found [Google.NTamd64] section (there is also [Google.NTx86] section for 32 bit PCs). In amd64 section I found a ;Google Nexus 7 section. It looked like:

  ;Google Nexus 7 %SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install,
  USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E40 %CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install,
  USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42&MI_01 %CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install,
  USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E44&MI_01

Basing on IDs, taken from my hardware:
USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42&REV_9999&MI_01&MI_01
USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42&MI_01&MI_01
I added to the Nexus section next lines, using as last parameter of CompositeAdbInterface device ID with removed revision and all the text after it:

  %CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42
  %CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42&MI_01&MI_0

Nexus section of android_winusb.inf file started to appear next way:

  ;Google Nexus 7
  %SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E40
  %CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42
  %CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42&MI_01
  %CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42&MI_01&MI_01
  %CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E44&MI_01

After this modification, Updating of USB Driver from Device Manager finished successfully. Maybe It is not the properest way to fix this problem, but it was first working solution, so I stopped further investigations.


Can I downgrade from Kitkat to JellyBean on my Moto X? I have a stock (non-rooted) Moto X that 'upgraded' itself to Kitkat recently.  Is it possible for me to go back to Jelly Bean?

(Deliberately leaving out the reasons since that's not the point of the question.)

The full guide can be found here but i've included the steps below in case that page is not available.

NOTE: All of your personal information, data, accounts and so on will be deleted so make sure you have a backup

  On your computer Android SDK must be installed: learn how to install Android SDK on Windows, or learn how to set up ADB on MAC OS X / Linux.

  Also, on the same computer the Moto X drivers must be installed.

  Download the RSDLite app from here.
  Save the file on your computer.
  Also, install the program.
  Get the Moto X stock Android OS from this page.
  On your computer, unzip the downloaded update file.
  Then, from the folder that will be created right click on the file
  with .XML extension.
  Select “open with” followed by “notepad” or any other XML editor
  from your computer.
  Find the following string and delete it: “step operation=”getvar”
  var=”max-download-size”.
  Save and close the notepad window.
  Open the RSDLite program on your computer.
  Take your Moto X and connect your phone with the PC via USB cord.
  On your PC now open a command prompt window (start -> run -> cmd).
  On the cmd window type: adb reboot bootloader.
  Your phone will be rebooted in fastboot mode.
  From RDSLite, click on the three-dot browse file button and select
   the .XML file.
  Up next, click on “start”.
  Wait while the process is running on don’t press anything else.
  When the firmware is successfully installed you will be able to
   unplug the USB cord.
  Good; now reboot your smartphone.


hi, i have a Karbonn A26 4.1.1 , after rooting and used for 3 years. But mistakenly once I deleted one file from boot. Now it's not powering up i have a Karbonn A26 4.1.1 , after rooting and used for 3 years. But mistakenly once I deleted one file from boot. Now it's not powering up. I gave to service centre , they told it's waste , throw it. I still have ROM but tried flashing but it's not responding. Light switches on , it power ups but won't connect. Anyone please tell me how to recover that "bricked" phone

Follow these steps:

Download a custom ROM for your mobile model.
Android flashing application
Download device drivers.
Now flash the mobile by connecting a USB cable to your system.
Run the application and then you have successfully flashed your mobile.


where are the free books the kindle app offers? According to its description on Google Play, in the third sentence, it says that the books are free. I installed the Kindle app and went to the Kindle Store and all the books I looked at so far all have to be purchased.

Where can the free ebooks be downloaded from? Because when I click 'books on device' in the kindle app, it shows none (so I'm guessing I need to download them from somewhere).

The majority of books on sites like Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and the like, are definitly payed for. All of them offer some free books to get you in, but you end up in a "closed ecosystem": you can read them only with their dedicated readers, as they often use their own formats (Amazon) or at least some DRM.

If you want to go for free content, you're much better of chosing an eBook reader app supporting the open ePub format (some exemples include, but are not restricted to: Moon+ Reader, FBReader, and Aldiko. At least the first two already ship with a load of free libraries pre-configured, which they can access directly from inside the app.


How to recover data from adaptive storage while rooted phone stuck at boot? So , i'm using Galaxy Mega (i9152) with a CM13 ROM which i flashed through TWRP. For the sake of running PoGO , i had disabled root through the settings of the SuperSu app in CM13 (the game still didn't run , kept tripping safety net). The phone was running fine up till 2 days ago , after which it started going into bootloop.

so , i googled on how to resolve boot loop and saw that fixing file permissions through TWRP might resolve the issue. i did that BUT i also rooted the phone when TWRP prompted me to install SuperSU , citing that the phone was not rooted. After that , the phone was stuck at Boot Animation (the CM android face) , possibly because i rooted the phone through TWRP.

I had formatted my SD card as internal which meant that it would not work on any other device. All my pics and stuff is on that SD card now. I researched extensively on google to find out a way to decrypt the encrypted SD card and found out that i can decrypt it through linux. i have also recovered the .key file from /data/misc/vold folder and have converted the code into the appropriate 16 byte format through terminal commands.

I have a linux system and i have tried to decrypt it. here's what happens when i run parted -l. (i also wanted to post output of fdisk -l , but my reputation score won't let me post more than 2 links)

since the names "android_expand" and "android_meta" are still showing , i have hope and good reason to believe that my data's still intact !

but when i try to mount it ...

i don't know what to do now , since this is all i knew , all i had :/ , i have no idea what filesystem the encrypted card is. i tried ext4 as described in the guide. maybe if there was some way i could make the fstab file cycle through ALL possible filesystems , hitting the right one and finally mounting my SD card. maybe the mount feature has such an 'auto' feature to auto detect the filesystems ?

I have tried to reflash the SAME ROM without factory resetting , but it gave me an error  saying : "error executing updater binary" and also "cannot install on top of incompatible data"

i have cleared the Cache and Dalvik Cache SEVERAL times.

i have backed up the DATA portion , through TWRP , by using ANOTHER SD card in the phone . Also i have backed up SYSTEM portion in the internal storage of the phone. I am just worried about my pics and stuff on SD card. I can't see my encrypted SD card in TWRP , it just shows me O MB in the SD card option in TWRP , possibly because the SD card is encrypted. i have no idea how to access  my files in the encrypted SD card through the TWRP file manager. i don't want to lose my data. just please help me recover data from this SD card that has been encrypted by Android Marshmallow. i don't know if my SD card will be detected in the OS as before if i am able to somehow reflash the EXACT SAME rom i was using prior to this disaster.

Just to clarify , i am using my Laptop's internal SD card reader for reading card with Linux (i have ubuntu 16.04 LTS), with an sd card adapter supplied with the card (it's a Kingston 16 GB , SDHC class 4)

if i can somehow access my SD card and retrieve all my data from it , my problem will be solved. please help me out.

P.S : also , at the VERY beginning of this ordeal , by mistake , i MIGHT have created partitions on the SD card , while using the fdisk. i hope that did not wipe the data off the sd card or corrupt it. i CTRL+C'ed out of the utility without saving changes ... so that might be of some hope.

EDIT (1-Dec-2019): This is NOT a duplicate, as can be seen by the solution i provided below. This question represents a much more serious case with adopted storage, where your phone is having problems booting or your OS is corrupted. Kindly let this question remain as it is, as it will prove helpful to advanced users and others who have their files stuck in adopted storage while facing difficulties in accessing their phone's Operating System.

before starting , i'd recommend making a FULL backup of your SD card , through a raw image ( google the 'dd' command in linux)

i followed the guide here ; Corrupt SD card formatted as internal storage

BUT with some IMPORTANT MODIFICATIONS of my own !

Phone was stuck in BOOTLOOP and later stuck at BOOT Animation, no access to any usual file manager utility. Mind you , this is a VERY Grievous situation , since there's no trivial method of gaining access to your sd card (it shows as 0mb in TWRP file manager) for backing up your precious data , pics and memories. Also , this is the only part which is a bit shaky since i am not completely sure if my phone was rooted or not (since my problem changed from bootloop to boot animation when i tried to install to SuperSu through TWRP) and retrieving the encryption key is central to solving this. I had to get the .key file , since that was pivotal to breaking the SD card's encryption. So amidst all the panic , i was able to browse , through TWRP file manager , to the /data/misc/vold folder and found the .key file. This was a MAJOR breakthrough !
Next , to extract the file. i used another , UNENCRYPTED SD card and transferred the .key file to that card , through TWRP file manager , read that SD card into the laptop and got the .key file onto Ubuntu (16.04) . Decoded the .key file and got the 16 byte key. there's 2 ways to do this ... either open the file through a hex editor (i used BLESS) and copy off the 16 pairs of hex digits you see OR use this command ;

  hexdump -e '1/1 "%.2x"' expand_8838e738a18746b6e435bb0d04c15ccd.key

make sure you're in the SAME directory as the .key file when executing this command (advanced linux users will work their way around this but i want it to be as beginner friendly as possible)

so , i got the 32 digit / 16 byte key.

NEXT , decrypting the SD card AND making Linux recognise it. when i read it in , through the card reader , it wouldn't show in Nautilus (the Ubuntu filemanager) but upon running fdisk-l and parted -l , i saw

"parted -l output"

http://pasteboard.co/5klviklR8.jpg

"fdisk -l output"

http://pasteboard.co/POGvyBOxO.png

notice the android_meta and android_expand , those names gave me hope , that my data was still intact. ESPECIALLY , since at the beginning of the problem , i had created partitions and partition tables in the sd card through the fdisk utility (but i ctrl+c'ed out so it's possible that the changed were not written , PHEW! )

the unknown filesystem was the biggest pain in this whole fiasco ... since according to the few guides and discussions regarding this issue , SD cards formatted as internal by marshmallow were supposed to be ext4 filesystem. but that was not the case , at least not here.

So , to decrypt the card , i used

dmsetup create crypt1 --table "0 `blockdev --getsize /dev/mmcblk0p2` crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 "insert your 16-byte key here w/out double quotes" 0 /dev/mmcblk0p2 0"

if you get some ioctl related error use this format instead (this is the EXACT format i used today , with my key and everything)

dmsetup create crypt7 --table "0 `blockdev --getsize /dev/mmcblk0p2` crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 07147CFFB77F249A5DBD2AD204610E7D  0 /dev/mmcblk0p2 0"

please note that the dmsetup utility should be installed in linux. (google it ) . also , note that i went for the parition 'mmcblk0p2' , since that was the bigger one in size and had the obvious inference of containing all the data !

this went well , completed without error. the next bit , though , ABSOLUTELY drove me crazy and took around 20 hours (including my sleep time ) to be properly resolved.

the GADDAMN file system ! it was written EVERYWHERE that adoptive storage is formatted as ext4 , so when i ran the command

  # mount -t ext4 /dev/mapper/crypt1 /mnt/1/

(please note that mnt/1/ should exist as directory in your root folder , if not , use mkdir to create it)

it yielded the damn error

  wrong fs or bad option.

and this got me thinking ... if the sd card is NOT ext4 type , then HOW ON EARTH am i supposed to know what file system it is out of all the possible ones !

i searched and searched for a command that could force cycling through ALL possibilities in a brute-force method or any entry i could make in the /etc/fstab file that could AUTOMATICALLY detect the filesystem somehow, but to no avail...

5 . In the end , i recalled ... that maybe , just MAYBE the filesystem was f2fs (flash-friendly file system). And that proved to be a telling recall ...

for this code ;

  mount -t f2fs /dev/mapper/crypt1 /mnt/1

proved to be the WINNING GOAL !

i was then able to cd into /mnt/1 and saw some very familiar android-esque files and from there on , it was Eternal BLISS !


How to uninstall an app when "Uninstall" dialog is not shown? How to uninstall this app where after clicking uninstall, only the picture of the app shows up and there's no "OK, cancel" prompt?

My device is Asus Zenfone 2 Laser 5.5 (ZE550KL).

Boot into safe-mode, go into Settings → Applications/Apps → find your app and uninstall it. This would work unless your device is a system app.
If it is a system app, disable it from Settings app. If you don't get the option to disable it, and you're certain that disabling it would not affect the stability of your Android (think of boot loops and crashes), then enable usb-debugging, setup adb, and issue either of these commands:

adb shell pm disable-user PACKAGE_NAME         # disables the app
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 PACKAGE_NAME   # uninstalls the app for primary user account

Replace PACKAGE_NAME with the package name of the troublesome app. To  get help in finding it, see my answer here.


Multiboot with windows I would like to multiboot my SM-T210 with Windows 8.1 and Android.
I have a windows 8.1 ISO file,A rooted SM-T210.

I do not want to remove android from my tablet because of all my game progress and i do not want to restart my progress in games.

No, currently, it is not possible. On smartphone software, the operating system is tied into the device's BIOS and configuration. You can only run Android/UNIX OS's that were built for that mobile device.

See @RyanConrad's comment for more info:

  … Normal Windows will not run on ARM which is the type of CPU this device has. And even if hypothetically you got it to run, Windows would likely not have drivers for the hardware like camera, touchscreen, and other chipsets. Not to mention the device as 1GB of RAM, and Windows doesn't run very well with that little RAM.

Alternatively, you can install an app like Complete Linux Installer or Debian noroot to install an emulated desktop Linux.


How to transfer files between Galaxy S3 and HTC one x using NFC As I have mentioned in the question, I want to transfer files (pics) from samsung galaxy S3 to HTC one x via NFC. I have switched on android beam on both the devices. When I bring the phones close, I am getting the "touch to beam" message on S3. When I touch it, I am getting a message that S beam is switched off, please switch it on. But I dont want Sbeam (as one x doesnt have it), instead I want the transfer to happen via Android beam.

As far as I know, you can't transfer files over Android beam, just URLs/locations etc. This is because Android Beam doesn't use Bluetooth or WiFi Direct in addition to the NFC transfer, which means that an average photo would take 30+ seconds to beam. In Android 4.1+ (Jelly Bean) you can transfer files with NFC+BT, and S Beam uses NFC+WiFi Direct.


Is my phone using LTE if the notification area says 4G? When I bought my Galaxy S5, it came with Android 4.4.2. When I was connected to my mobile data network, the notification area had a little icon that said "LTE" above to arrows showing data being uploaded and downloaded.

Recently, I rooted and upgraded my phone to Android 5.0. Now, that same icon in the notification always shows "4G" above the two arrows when I'm on the mobile network.

I looked up the difference between LTE and 4G, and if I understand it, LTE is a subset of 4G, but a faster and more advanced version. Please correct me if I am not getting this right.

Assuming I'm close enough to the truth, one possibility is that I'm using the same connection, and it's just the icon that has chanced. Another possibility is that something about my upgrade has changed how my phone communicates with the network, and maybe I'm not getting the same connection.

In either case, how can I be sure I'm getting the best connection that is offered by my mobile provider?

LTE actually does not meet the original 4G standards, it is neither faster nor more advanced.

I'm pretty sure that it's just an icon change, but if it's not it's almost certainly that your connection is better rather than worse.

I recently saw this on my device as well and used SpeedTest to check how the connection was performing.  My download and especially upload speeds were absurdly high.  You could use it to see whether your speeds align with your expectations as well.


How to get the full path of an image viewed in the default Gallery App on the Samsung Galaxy? The Android is the Samsung Galaxy S7.

Can someone tell me how to get the full path of the files being displayed in the Gallery App?

I have tried to figure it out by creating a folder, placing picture in it, then browsing to the pictures in Gallery.  It shows the folder name, but doesn't show the path to the folder.

If I create a folder: /sdcard/mypictures/, it's show the images in an album called mypictures.  It doesn't show that the mypictures folder is off the root of sdcard.  If I make a subfolder in /sdcard/mypictures/march2017, it shows the images are in march2017.

I'm trying to figure this out because browsing a friends phone, we are trying to grap pictures from it.  We see them in Gallery, but can't figure out, of his years of storing and sorting pictures on where they are actually located.

I'm sure there is a way to get the path.  Hopefully someone can help.

I was able to figure out how to get to the path by this message and steps provided by beeshyams.

The menu button on the Samsung Galaxys is the hardware Return Key.

The problem is that, there isn't an onscreen menu for the recent Samsung Galaxy androids.  I was stuck on the 3 dot menu step.

The Samsung Galaxy has a hidden hardware menu.  Pressing and holding the Return Button activate the menu feature.

While having an image in view, press and hold the Return Button, this bring up a menu that include the Details option.  Clicking on Details brings up a lot of information on the image, including a map marked where it was taken.  It also shows a properties block that includes the path of the image.


Can an application use the microphone for two different tasks at the same time? I'm currently exploring the PortSIP app( link is here) to make calls. I want to be able to record what I speak. I am successfully able to record using the microphone, when there is no call in progress. But once the call is initialized, the reciever can't hear my voice.

Is there any way to make this work??

Can two apps use the microphone at the same time?

As far as I know: By default, the same way two different apps can't use the camera at the same time, the same principle applies to microphone too. Since these hardwares' drivers respond to only one call from one user at a time. Of course you can make an app that gets the input from microphone and then acts as a broadcaster to share the input with other apps. But the microphone itself doesn't provide for two users at the same time. Since the Phone app is also a user, microphone provides only for it. That being told, my information can be outdated. Or there can be ways to cheat in this case. User Micheal from this Stack Overflow question says:

  I don't remember exactly where the limitation comes from, but on one of
  the platforms I've worked with we had a workaround in the form of a
  stream splitter. This class was written by the platform provider (so
  it was proprietary), and was part of libaudioflinger IIRC. It would
  manage the audio hw input stream, and hand out audio data to all
  clients (apps) that wanted to record audio. So it can be done if you
  have the ability to build your own Android ROM, but it's not trivial.

So is it possible? Yeah. But seems unnecessarily painful to me. Still as I said, take my words as a grain of salt, since my Android knowledge is not very up to date.

Can an app use microphone for two different things?
An app is made of different components. User of the phone uses user interfaces (activities) to start processes that happen in the background (services) and all services have their own thing to do. Yet, they all belong to the same process that has a specific UID given by the Android. Once the given UID gets the input info from camera, microphone etc. it can use it for different services at the same time. That's up to app to decide.


Updating T-Mobile G1 from 1.0 to 1.6 I have a T-Mobile G1 phone (Dev Phone) with android 1.0. To be able to install some apps, I needed to update it to 1.6. So I downloaded an update file and put it on its sdcard. But the update failed and now the problem is that I cannot boot the phone completely. First it asks for a SIM card.

Although, I don't have a T-Mobile SIM card now, I could pass that stage with an AT&T SIM card.

Now it wants me to login to my gmail account to boot up. But I cannot connect to Internet at the moment.

There is no option for wireless too. When I press menu button it just shows me the settings for APNs.

I believe in the newer versions of android, one can skip logging in to Google. But now I cannot even "adb shell" to copy other update files to the SD card.

Any helps would be appreciated.

Thanks,

You can follow this guide to bypass the activation screen.  It requires reverting back to RC29 ROM (downgrading back to 1.0), and having ADB and HTC drivers installed on your PC.

The reason for installing RC29 is that this version has a flaw that treats anything you type as if it was typed into the Terminal.  You will be exploiting this flaw to enable ADB access and bring up the Settings menu, from which you can enable WiFi and activate the device.

  With a Sim Card installed in your HTC G1, turn on the phone.
  Plug your T-Mobile HTC G1 to you PC USB and Install Drivers on the Windows XP Machine.
  Once it ask you for registration type on the keyboard the following:
  [enter]
  setprop persist.service.adb.enable 1
  [enter]
  *Even though you don’t see what you are typing, but you are actually
  executing a Command on your G1 to Enable USB Debugging in Settings.
  You will notice that the command worked, because Windows XP will recognize a new Hardware Device. “HTC Dream Composite ADB Intefase”. Install the driver by pointing to the folder where you downloaded the USB Drivers.
  Unzip the ADB Tool software into the “c:\adb” Windows XP folder.
  On Windows XP, click Start -> Run -> cmd” to Command Prompt
  Type c:\adb devices (If your Device is Connected u will see it)
  Type c:\adb shell (You will see a $ sign) Just Copy & Paste this into Command Prompt:
  am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.android.settings/.Settings
  The settings screen will appear on the HTC G1 Phone. Now switch on Wi-Fi, connect to the WiFi network you have and connect to the Internet.
  Now you can either Login with your existing account or create new account with Google.

After your G1 is activated, you can then flash a custom firmware (e.g. CyanogenMod) or a pre-rooted stock 1.6 ROM that will allow you to re-activate your G1 over WiFi without resorting to exploits.


How to add a new word to keyboard by backspacing and clicking on its suggestion? It used to be that if I were to type a new word, like Androidenthusiast, it would suggest other words. I wouldn't select any, press space, backspace, and then it was there as a suggestion. If I clicked on it, it would say "Click again to save", and so I did and so it did. But as of late, it has stopped doing that.

I can't find the settings in Language / input > Keyboards anywhere. Can't remember when its behaviour changed. Nexus 5, running Android 5.1.

The option is gone. It used to be that it just wouldn't show up for those words which were already in your personal dictionary. Now it doesn't appear for any word whatsoever.

It was probably a recent update to the Google Keyboard app which broke this functionality. The Google Keyboard app updates for everyone so it wouldn't matter that my Nexus 5 is running Android 5.0 and yours is on 5.1, everyone got the bad end of the deal.


Where do I start if I want to learn custom modding an android device? I have some basic knowledge of android phones from a fan's point of view and have had a bit of experience with testing of custom ROMs but I really would like to start with basic development on my own.

I'm no developer, which is why I need some serious advice of where do I start and how do I proceed. What kind of prerequisite knowledge do I require ?

Any kind of tutorial or knowledge database which can help me get started would be very helpful.

XDA is a good resource but not a good starting point. The AOSP is also. But the best idea is always to look how others are creating customs ROMs. For example the CM development for the Kindle Fire:

A good starting point is Jackpoint Calvin's post about how to create a CM update.zip for the Fire from source. It gives a good overview about how the kernel, ASOP, hardware modification and CM play together. And how these are handled with Android's repo script.

Forums are a good information resource, but it's hard to find useful information fast. IRC channels are the first place to get involved. Join a few rooms to get into contact with developers. Maybe you find a beginners task on which you can start working.

Also you need knowledge about Android/Linux kernels, hw drivers, C and some Java.


Motorola Defy Not Turning On I have tried to install a CyanogenMod on my Motorola Defy as illustrated here. The problem is that despite the phone had been rooted, I had some problems with ClockWorkMod and rebooted my phone in  recovery mode using the application that ships with the phone. I did remove the Cache and Factory settings and ran the zip file.

The problem is that upon restart, the phone kept rebooting itself, that is, I kept seeing the Motorola logo for a couple of minutes, and then, the phone reboots and the process is repeated.

Now, out of the blue, the phone is not even turning on. What I have is a small white light that turns on whenever I connect the phone to a laptop via usb. Any idea on how I can get the phone working? At the moment I do not really care about what OS version, as long as it runs.

Thanks in advance :)

Edit: There seems to have been an issue with the battery, I have managed to load up the phone to recovery mode. Can anyone show me how can I install a fresh Operating System? I seem to only have access to the phone's boot up screen. Also, the laptop does not seem to be able to connect to the phone via usb.

First you need to have RSD Lite installed. Do a Google search and look for either 4.9 or above. Then you need to go to Motorola's site and install the drivers needed. Find an SBF file that will work for you, likely it will need to be a 2.2 file. Best thing to do is keep trying until you find one that works. Boot your phone in bootloader mode (volume up button) and if you get a message about a low battery you will need to find a way to charge up the phone. Go to the XDA developers forum and search for McGyver battery fix. (you can also find sbf files there) If RSD lite recognizes your phone flash the sbf file and let it do it's thing. More detailed instructions can be found on XDA as well, but that is the jist of what you need to do.


Floating browser window that can be minimized? My problem: I need to have an open web page floating on top of my Kindle app which can be minimized to the screen and not on the status bar as that covers the book.  What I need is an open resizeable window with transparency settings so I can read and research at the same time.  How do I go about solving this?

Boat Browser has a floating tab feature that can minimize to the notification bar (pulldown menu). You can also resize this window. It's the closest I can recommend.

Boat Browser (click for larger image)


Compacting giant Power Saving notification I have a Note 4 running 6.0.1 that I recently reflashed back to stock in an attempt to fix issues I was having.

Now, whenever I enable Power Saving mode, it populates my notification list with a giant notification that takes up half the screen:

I remember this happening when I first upgraded to Marshmallow, but at some point I did something that compacted the notification down to just the "turn off" button.

I don't care about having a little notification at the top, but all the "Your device performance is limited..." text is annoying.

Does anyone know what I might have down to fix this before? I'm pretty sure nothing I did was "hackish", and I didn't disable System UI notifications altogether since I still had the small one when Power Saving was enabled.

Figured it out seconds after posting.

If you go into Power Saving settings and disable "Restrict all background data", the notification shrinks down. I must have had this disabled before.