Successfully installed TWRP and Magisk means bootloader unlocked? I have a Samsung Galaxy On7, running stock firmware, Android 6.0.1. I have successfully installed TWRP and also flashed Magisk. In the developer options, I have toggled the "OEM Unlock" option to ON position.

I was reading that in order to flash a custom ROM like Lineage OS, I have to unlock the bootloader. There are a number of methods to check if the bootloader is unlocked, viz. one from fastboot and one by dialling certain commands in the phone dialer. Unfortunately, fastboot cannot recognise my device in Download mode, and the dialler commands are not working too.

I read somewhere that toggling the OEM Unlock option to ON means my bootloader is ulocked. Is that true? Having been able to successfully install TWRP and Magisk, can I conclude that my bootloader is unlocked?

Install Google's ADB drivers, connect your phone to your PC, open a command prompt and type:

adb reboot bootloader

Then:

fastboot oem device-info

And you will see the bootloader's status, either in the command prompt or on the device's screen.

To unlock a locked bootloader, type:

fastboot oem unlock

Remember that unlocking the bootloader will wipe all of your user data, as a factory reset does. Backup your data first.

Since you have a Samsung phone, remember that Fastboot isn't supported, while Odin is. To unlock the bootloader, simply find the OEM unlock entry in the device's settings and enable it.


Recovery data from nexus 5 I have a nexus 5 that give me a Black screen when i unlock it with sign-code.I can't utilize it but i have to recovery my data.I thought to install an update image with adb sideload to see if my phone restarts to work well and recover my data but I don't know if the update images wipe my data.Do update images wipe my data.Are there other methods to recover my data?

Sounds like your launcher (home screen) is acting up. Turn on USB Debugging if you haven't (go to Settings from the notification bar), then adb install another launcher from your PC. After that press HOME and select what's installed.

Don't try updating stuff yet - there are ways to recover even if the above fails (though more complicated).


How to root android one without pc? When i try to root my spice dream uno mi 498 without pc with kingroot it give me the error aboveplease prefer another app or give the solution
I am begging please!

Device: spice dream uno (android one)
App: king root.apk
Problem: not rooting
Problem description: failed  to root

You will need to use a PC
Please have a look at this question recently asked, it brings clarity to the causes of a failure.
Why don't root apps work anymore ?

So after you understand that, you can unlock your bootloader and install a custom recovery, then flash a Systemless root like SuperSU or Magisk

Please follow the complete guide for your device ..
Unlock Bootloader - Install CWM - Root with SuperSU guides


Wifi scanning for known networks that don't broadcast their SSID When wifi is enabled, and the phone is not connected to a wifi network, it scans for known networks. I always thought that networks send out their SSID (like StarbucksWifi) and if this SSID is in the list of known networks on the phone, the phone tries to connect.

Recently I found out that the phone actively tries to connect to known networks even if they are not available. Is it possible to block this last behavior?

See another discussion on Information Security about this.

I'm surprised by what you are saying, so let me recap.

Yes, most networks send out their SSID (it is called a beacon).  If your wifi is enabled and you haven't disabled scanning then your phone will listen for those beacons and try to match the SSID in the beacon against your phone's list of SSID's.  Depending on your settings it will also use the beacon to determine your current location and possibly even send the beacon's MAC address to google so google can keep its wifi location database up-to-date.

So far this is all passive - it is just listening for beacons.  The phone doesn't need to actively try to connect to networks unless some of the networks don't send out beacons (hidden networks, as mentioned by @Chahk).  But even if you have some hidden networks in your list, I thought that Android did not actively try to scan for those networks (send out probe requests).  Actually, I remember people complaining about this, and 3rd party apps being written to address it, e.g. see "HiddenSSID Enabler" in the play store.

Has this changed?  Can you tell me where you read about this?

If so, the only solution I can think of is to purge hidden networks from your list of known networks.


Fastboot connection problem I am trying to install Lineage OS 16.0 on my Moto 4X. I unlocked the OEM bootloader. But when I enter the command 'fastboot reboot bootloader' it shows
'< waiting for any device >'. There it stays until I break.

The next day it suddenly worked and I booted TWRP, install Lineage OS, G-Apps 9.0 micro and started the phone following the instructions at https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/payton/install.

Lineage seem to work fine, but the G-Apps are nowhere to be found. I remember during the installation there was an error like 'can't access date/media., such a Directory does not exist' but it worked, or I thought that it did. I wanted to reinstall it all. Now I have the same problem again.

C:\adb>adb devices
List of devices attached
ZY224KGGGC      device

C:\adb>fastboot reboot bootloader
< waiting for any device >

USB debugging is enabled, the drivers on the PC are the newest from the Motorola website.

I used every USB port on my PC.

I tried my PC and two other laptops, all Windows 10.

Also I tried CMD, Powershell, and GIT-Bash for the commands. It’s always the same response. So I don't know what to do right now.

Does someone know where that problem came from?

You are mixing up adb and fastboot.

When a device is booted and visible via adb it can't be accessed via fastboot (and the other way around). Fastboot is only active while the bootloader is active.

Hence if your device is visible via adb devices you have to access it via adb.

If you want to switch to fastboot mode have to boot boot to bootloader mode by executing adb reboot bootloader.

Then you can use fastboot.


What did marc.info do to my Firefox that required a restart? I opened a mailing list archive on link to marc.info last night with Firefox on my Nexus 6P (stock firmware, monthly security patches applied as they come out, unrooted). Pretty quickly after the page loaded, Firefox gave me a worrying notice, saying it needed to "restart to complete changes":

That's awfully similar to what it looks like when you install an extension and it needs a restart. And it was indeed a real Firefox dialog (it goes above the page content area, and clicking restart actually restarted Firefox).

I checked Tools → Add-ons, and I don't see any new/unexpected extensions (I have LastPass, OpenH264…, QuitNow, Save Page, Tap Translate, View Source Mobile, and uBlock Origin shown there)

Also, the site—marc.info—is a well-known mailing list archive for open source projects. I wouldn't expect them to be pulling stunts like secretly installing extensions.

My guess is I've just misunderstood what Firefox is telling me, or this is some Firefox bug (e.g., it's a normal update from addons.m.o, but it's just mis-reporting the source). But I couldn't find anything when Googling or searching here. Seems odd I'd be the only person to notice this!

What is Firefox trying to tell me?

It's a bug (although not for much longer). The doorhanger is simply doing its default thing, which is to use the domain of the tab it's being displayed on as a title. If this is triggered from about:addons, everything is fine because there is no domain to display, but if an extension automatically updates in background during browsing, something like the screenshot can happen.


Bring back to life my dead Tablet (Is it Bricked?) Edited 12/3/2018

My tablet died from one minute to the next. I can't get it to turn on and it doesn't connect to the computer. I can't even get it to handshake with the computer when running SP Flash Tool.

Device Info:

Pipo N7
Android 7.0
MTK8163A Chipset
Rooted with Magisk
TWRP Custom Recovery

This is how it happened:

The tablet was connected to PC and I was trying to push a file with adb to my External SD Card. I got an error message that permission denied. I tried doing adb root and push again out I still got the same message. I tried a third time and got the same message. After this 3rd message I found the tablet was off and nothing I did was able to get it to turn back on.

I'm running the rooted device for about 2 weeks without any problems. The only change in the last few days was the TWRP Custom recovery which I added about 2 days before the device died on me.
The device was about 95% charged when this happened.

This what I have tried:

I tried a variety of hardware buttons for extended time like up to a minute.  for example Power + volume UP, Power + Volume DOWN. with and without it being connected to the charger.
I tried a few different chargers.
I tried putting the tablet into the freezer and then to charge.
I tried warming up the device and then charge it.
I tried with a battery pack.

I have read many posts about this but nothing I tried helped me.

To me it looks as if the device is dead not that there is a problem with the charge, But I may be wrong.

** EDIT **

A little over a week after this happened I happened to connect the device to a charger and lo and behold the device showed the charge logo. After that I powered it on and it turned on. I was very surprised but glad.

But then after a little while o using the device, I got on the screen colored lines moving around. Nothing I tried was able to get this to go away, So I held the power button to turn it off. After this I'm in the same problem as before the device is dead.

Now this proves that the device isn't bricked. My question now is what is it that is causing this and how do I fix it. At this point it is dead again but I may have some luck again in it turning on again.

** End EDIT **

Please any help with this would be greatly appreciated. i would like to also try to figure out why this happened as well as trying to repair the tablet.

Drain the battery fully and then recharge it. This has worked for me in the past.


"Waxl dyne untherhouze" bug Every time I start my device a Cleaner window appears. And in the window these words appear: "Waxl dyne untherhouze".

What does that mean? Is there a bug involved?

Sounds like you have malware. Look through your installed apps (from settings) and see if anything sticks out as fake. Uninstall it.

If nothing appears off, then the next step is doing a factory reset. Back up your information first!

If even that doesn't work, call the manufacturer for service. Fixing malware that can survive a factory reset is a very technical and risky process.


How to clear all applications data in android? Hi I want to clear all applications data(preferences and sqlite) from my phone in one tap.

How can i do this? is there any app which can do this WITHOUT ROOT PERMISSION?

You can do factory reset under such case.

Go to Settings -> SD & Phone storage -> Factory data reset.

I don't think an app without root can do it as apps are limited in their own sandbox.


Can I mark sms as read in the notification menu? When get an incoming sms and view it in the notification menu (swiping down from the top of the screen) I can sometimes read the entire message there and I don't need to reply to it. Is it possible to mark it as read there and then? The two options I have right now is "reply" and "call".

I am using a Samsung Galaxy S5 with android 4.2.2

Yes indeed you can! It's not a 'stock' or 'Hangouts' feature though, but there are apps that can perform this functionality.

 SMS notifier on the  Google Play store has this option as you will see in the screenshots for it.

Off the record a friend said that Google tend to prefer you to Activate something, rather than mark as read! That's why you don't see this option very much.

As per bmdixon: This does not work in Hangouts. It seems OK if hangouts is not the default SMS application, but this may vary between Android Versions and OEM devices.


how to adb wait-for-device until the home screen shows up? I need to unlock my screen using adb, and wait-for-device exits way too early(when the device is booting up), and screen unlock fails. Is there a way to detect that the home screen, so I can fire screen unlock then?

This is the command I am using to unlock screen -

adb wait-for-device shell input keyevent 82

well wait-for-device, as you already realized only waits until the adb daemon properly started. This is already at init time. In order to check for a complete boot you cann ad to your script something like:

in pseudo:

wait-for-device
long as getprop sys.boot_completed != 1 sleep some seconds
check getprop sys.boot_completed again
shell input keyevent 82

This should work.

Something like this:

#!/bin/bash

adb wait-for-device

A=$(adb shell getprop sys.boot_completed | tr -d '\r')

while [ "$A" != "1" ]; do
        sleep 2
        A=$(adb shell getprop sys.boot_completed | tr -d '\r')
done

adb shell input keyevent 82

This is not tested so be aware of potential mistakes


Which phone configuration is better? I want to buy Moto G4 Plus phone but I am confused as they are giving us two configurations.

1) 3 GB RAM with Snapdragon 617 Octacore 1.5GHz processor and 32 GB ROM

2) 4 GB RAM with Snapdragon 617 Octacore 1.5GHz processor and 64 GB ROM

As I searched it on Google everyone is saying that the combination of RAM and Processor always matters.High RAM and Lower processor or vice versa doesn't give us better performance.

So my question is which configuration is better? why?

Enough amount of ram but your first priority must be processor, GPU and chipset .
Of course, Ram should be good for seamless performance .
Go with always snapdragon SOC, for good performance and gaming..
Hope that helps..

My devices:
Moto g
Redmi note 3
One plus 3


Tracing Android applications I have been mucking around on my Android tablet (rk2928, Android 4.1.1) at a low level, removing and replacing ROM apps and such... aaaand now I'm getting a few applications saying "Unfortunately, <application> has stopped.", and I suspect that some apps are missing or at the wrong version. If this were happening on a desktop system then I could use strace or some other language-specific tool to see which part it's having trouble at, but I don't know how to do this on Android. What tools are available for tracing Android method or library calls on a device?

(If you've got adb enabled on your tablet and installed on your PC, skip the next two paragraphs)

If you've only been replacing apks, you'll need to enable Developer Settings
(Settings -> About tablet -> scroll down to "Build number" and tap seven times).
Then, go back, and into the developer options panel, and scroll down to the "debugging" section. Enable the "Android debugging option", and plug your tablet into your computer.

You'll also need the Android SDK. After installing it, navigate to the SDK folder, then the 'tools' subdirectory and run 'android'. You'll need to wait for it to load, and then check the platform tools package. Click install, agree to the license, and it will install.

Open up a command prompt/Terminal (Windows: Win+R cmd, Mac: Launchpad -> 'Other' -> Terminal, Linux: you know how), and navigate to the folder your SDK is located in using cd (i.e cd C:\Users\bobby\android-sdk or cd /Users/bob/android-sdk). Then, run platform-tools/adb devices. It should show up your tablet. If it doesn't try unplugging your tablet and repeat, and then try double-checking that you enabled USB debugging.

Now, simply run platform-tools/adb logcat, and run the misbehaving apps on the tablet. You should see lots of lovely stacktraces and whatnot.


What is the meaning of 1,000,000-5,000,000 installs in google play? I used to see a number in Google Play Store app on my tablet showing the number of installs for an app. However, when opening google play in PC browser, e.g. for the DI app (shown in figure) under "ADDITIONAL INFORMATION" section of the app page, it reads Installs: 1,000,000-5,000,000. What does this number show? If this is a range, how can it signify number of app installs?

As you said, it is a range. That being so, it cannot signify the number of installs.

Those getting revenue out of it- developer and Google need to know the exact number. Exact figures would be available with them.Thanks to Lucky for confirming
From a user perspective, I am not sure how exact number helps unless that metric is used to evaluate merit of the product! Which is not the use case for most

There is a source, which claims to provide you a view of the downloads and revenue figures, Sensor Tower (I have no idea how reliable it is- you could cross check with a developer). Website says:

  Sensor Tower is the leading app analytics platform focused on helping companies with mobile apps understand and improve their organic user acquisition, analyze their app’s performance, keep up to date with competitors and manage reviews. Over 90,000 mobile companies and developers use Sensor Tower to improve their downloads on iOS (iPhone, iPad and iPod) and Android

App mentioned has this statistic using the above source


How to use two Android smartphones as lavalier microphone transmitter and receiver? I have two Android smartphones (Nexus 5 and Galaxy Nexus) and lavalier microphone. I would like to connect microphone to one smartphone and connect another smartphone to the mixer console. Then stream audio from lavalier microphone to the mixer console directly via one smartphone to another over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Maybe router should be added to this network, to expand the range.

I work on stage in noncommercial events, so buying real transmitter and receiver will be to expensive for me, or for organization.

Theoretically it can be done through simple call, but there will be latency (it is not direct connection) and it will cost money every time..

I found several similar questions here, but no one was about using one smartphone with microphone, and I didn't found any answer yet.

I've come up with what is hopefully a better solution. Use the app here. Install the app on both devices. There are many similar apps to this so if this one doesn't work perhaps try another one. The app listed works over Bluetooth rather than WiFi. I hope this is OK and it should avoid latency. I'm not sure why I didn't make the link in my head that what you needed was a voice communication app. The old solution is below:

There certainly seems to be a gap in the market here because I can't see why this would be impossible (actually, thinking about it, capturing all device audio might be an issue [although you would only need to capture audio input which wouldn't be...]). I have a solution but it's a rather hacky one and will require root, I'm afraid.

NOTE: I haven't used any of these apps myself. Be careful when installing unknown applications.

Host a WiFi hotspot on one device and join the hotspot on the other. Make sure to turn off data before doing this. This way, the devices won't have an Internet connection but they will have a network connection.

Install AirAudio on the device that you wish to stream from.

Install Microphone on the device that you wish to stream from (this app may have some latency but hopefully not).

Install UPnPlay on the device that you wish to stream to.

Turn on the Microphone application so it starts recording everything and then set AirAudio to stream all device audio over DLNA and then use UPnPlay on the other device to recieve this stream.

I don't think this will work well in practice but it may be worth a try.

Hope this solves your issue.


Password-protected APK installation? I am seeking ways to disable installing apps with APK, i.e. make the setting "Allow apps from unknown sources" password-protected or disable completely for user.
Is there a way? Maybe it's possible from adb shell?
I am running LinageOS 13 on Lenovo Vibe A Plus and can flash 14.1 if needed.

I feel I found solution to my problem. Though it is not exactly what is in the question title, but it is perfectly does the job.
In the LineageOS there is a special setting that is located in Settings>Privacy, it is called Protected apps

In this applet you can specify any app and protect it with pattern.

Any, including Settings app, which fully covers my needs. If the user cannot enter the settings he cannot install APK as well


Can I root my Nexus 5 without a custom image? Is it possible ?

So far I've found 2 images that would allow me to get root, either cloudfire or team win recovery project (twrp).

I'm a little uneasy loading an unknown bootloader to my device.

Or maybe some information beyond "run this program", "double click here" and such. I work as an embedded engineer so I like to know what I'm doing

EDIT :

Usually embedded devices have a 3 stage loading. First they execute hard code in ROM when power comes up. Then this code loads the boot loader, then this boot loader brings the actual linux kernel up. It is my understanding that I will be overwriting the boot loader with twrp. By image I mean a fully compiled binary that will overwrite what is already present. If it is not an "image" to you then fine, it is not. I want to know if it is possible to root the device without overwriting the default bootloader.

29 January 2015: TWRP can no longer install official updates past 5.0 on Nexus devices. Updating my language here to say "install unofficial updates" instead of "official".

Since you specifically mention TWRP in your question, I'll just use it as my example. Note that CWM or any other possible Android Recovery project will also apply.

It looks like there's a slight misconception at play. I'll just drop a few clarifying notes here:

TWRP is indeed an image to be flashed.
Flashing TWRP does not overwrite your bootloader.
TWRP is not a bootloader replacement - it is Recovery software. It is a drop-in replacement for Android's stock open-source Recovery Mode, and therefore has the access needed to do things like

Create/Restore backups
Root devices
Install unofficial (and some official) updates

So the short answer is: Yes! It is indeed possible to root without overwriting the stock bootloader!

A few more notes:

TWRP (And CWM Recovery) is a mature (Several years old and quite stable) Open-source project that is used by a huge portion of the Android community and considered very trustworthy.
Flashing TWRP will replace the contents of /recovery/.
You generally need to use the stock bootloader in order to select the boot-to-recovery option in order to use TWRP.


How to lock bootloader with stock os in moto e2? I have asked my to install custom rom. He unloacked the bootloader and installed custom rom.
After installed, my speakers and calling features are not worked.

I thought the problem is with custom rom. So I have thought to install the stock os again.

But I don't know how to install.
Can anyone please help me how to install the stock os and lock the bootloader again?

Just reinstalling the stock rom will not give you a locked bootloader. You will need to factory restart the phone by either going into the settings on the phone, or connecting it to a computer and using a utility there to factory reset.


How do I root my Nook HD? I checked The Master List of Rooting Techniques, and found nothing. This XDA thread looked promising.

To root a Nook HD or HD+ you can use Clockworkmod (CWM) Recovery, a tool to install modifications to an Android device.

Follow the instructions on this XDA thread to create bootable Micro SD from one the provided images.

I used Win32DiskImager on a Windows XP net-book with a built-in card-reader to burn a SD with the NookHD-bootable-CWM-6025-for-emmc-stock-small-rev2.zip image. And I copied NookHD-HDplus-Universal-Root-rev1.zip into it.

Once I could boot my Nook from the CWM SD I made a backup and used "install zip from SD" to apply the NookHD-HDplus-Universal-Root-rev1.zip

More information and tips to be found at the XDA thread


No sound playing in Chrome web browser I would like to loop a song of YouTube, so I need to play it in Chrome browser rather than in the YouTube mobile application. The loop itself is working fine, but unfortunately there is no sound playing. I am using Chrome 72.0.3626.105 which is running in Android 4.4.4 KitKat.
What is probably the problem? Sound other than in Chrome is working fine. So, it is clear that the problem is with the browser, not other part.

Chrome which you are using is targeting minsdk 24 which corresponds to Nougat and you are on KitKat so you shouldn't be surprised if it doesn't work properly (you can check the manifest using many apps available to determine sdk level- just search for manifest on Play Store )

You can search Chrome version that is compatible and download from third party sources of your choice. Related Install Google Chrome for old tablet / phone


How to find and read boot up log files? My phone's SD card got stolen yesterday, and I'm trying to find a way to read the boot up logs. I had left it at work by accident, and I know that it had to have been stolen by one of our employees in the 8 hour window it was there. Now, I pretty much have my suspicion of who took it, but I need a definite point of evidence I can show my boss before I start asking to check our camera files (pointed outside of the breakroom, not actually one in it to certifiably catch anyone). So, seeing as my phone was on and charging the whole time I left it, that someone would have to take my battery out to take the SD card, and that the phone was already booted up when I came back and picked it up--I figure this is my way to tell exactly who it was by tracking back to that time in the room and seeing who exactly was there.

I can't control what this person does with my SD card or the info on it, but I don't care too much seeing as I have nothing to hide. I'm just really pissed because I had a lot of family pictures and pictures of my late dog on there, and I want to pin the person for stealing my crap, tell them to return my card or get me a new one, and get them out of here.

Also, this is unrelated to the boot files, but I connected my phone to my laptop and it shows some Android data folders were edited at a time when I wasn't with the phone yesterday (com.android.vending and com.google.android.youtube, which has a recently edited cache). I'm guessing this either has to do with an automatic update or someone using my phone...I can't see any files in the folder, only when they were last edited. If there's a way you can help me understand what's going on with this and to differentiate what happened, I would also appreciate it.

Thank you!

Unfortunately for you, the Android log files use a "ring buffer" (think of it as an Ouroboros), so you might not be able to see the startup logs anymore. But here are some things you can do:

Check the "battery monitor" in Settings. Provided you didn't put your device to charge again since, it should show you how long it's been running without being attached to a charger
Using a terminal app or adb shell, run the command uptime – which tells you exactly how long the device has been running since it was last powered up (should also be listed in Settings › About › Status on your device)
different logs can be obtained via logcat, dmesg, and others (see our logging tag-wiki). On ICS (Android 4.0.x), you also can use Logcat & Co..

Keep in mind that every action the device performs "scrolls on" the ring buffer, so older events get flushed out; installing an app will do so, but the other actions as well: screen tapped/swiped etc. are also events. I'd suggest starting with Settings › About › Status if you're after the time your device was robbed of its card.

As for the modified files: At least the Playstore app periodically checks things in background (not sure about the Youtube app here).


How to send Back Button and Home Button Commands with Screen Monitor-Droid Explorer 0.9.0.4 The Droid Explorer version 0.9.0.4 Screen Monitor feature provides the ability to use a mouse to select and use applications on Android devices, but the back button and home button are not available on the screen. An application is available for download from Google Play to provide this function.

Is it possible to send back button and home button commands with Screen Monitor without downloading an application?

About keyboard shortcut Home
button input can be send using  Esc
 key located at the top left corner of qwerty keyboard...
Still looking for back button shortcut.


How to find only SD card movable applications on the market? As I do not have more free space on my HTC Desire, I am interested only in applications which can be moved to the SD card. How to find them on the market (via web interface, or on the device, does not matter) ?

The Market doesn't support this (or any search filters aside from price and "safe search", really) on either the website or the native app. It has been requested a handful of times on the Google support forums, but never really received much of a response.

AppBrain does support this, however (example search), so you could use that to search and then install from the Market if you wanted. Inconvenient, but at the moment there's not much else you can do about that.


Unable to copy files to Nexus 7 / Android KitKat I've got brand new, factory-based, un-tweaked ASUS Nexus 7 II (2013) LTE tablet and I'm completetly unable to copy more than just a few files between my PC and tablet.

Steps, that I repeat every time are painfully obvious:

plugs these two devices together,
wait until Nexus device appears in Windows,
open source folder window (any on Windows disk),
open destination folder (any on my Nexus device),
select some files or folders in source and drag them to destination.

Copy process starts and stops after sending about 10-20 files. On Windows side, copy progress freezes forever. On Nexus side, you see beatuful message saying that com.android.media process is halted.

I can repeat these steps over and over again. Changing cables, using different computers, restarting source computer or Nexus itself, all for nothing -- my Nexus 7 breaks file transfer after receiving about 20 files (sometimes it breaks after getting just one).

I know, that MTP protocol is very, very unstable and forcing users to use it (i.e. removing native USB support in Android 4.x) is a Google very not funny joke. But, for God sake, how can I copy my 20k photo collection to my brand new Nexus tablet, if it breaks copy transfer every tenth files?

Is this an identified bug, or with Android 4.4.2 Google decided, that we won't be able to copy files to our own devices at all? And the only way to get them there, will be to use stupid Google Drive?

Is there any fix or work-around to this problem? Other than my own solution, as stupid as setting up local FTP server, installing FTP client to my Nexus and copying files that way, through FTP protocol?

I was in the same boat as you for a while. I guess you could use FTP but I was looking for something more.

I now use AirDroid to transfer files over Wi-Fi. I have transferred files as big as 10GB and have no complaints. Plus it saves messing around with the cable and drivers.


Block Google app on Lollipop 5.1 My son had an old Moto G running KitKat. On that phone, I set up an app locker to block the Google app because there was no way to restrict the "safe image search" on that app. Instead of him potentially being exposed to explicit images, I just blocked the app entirely.

That phone broke last week, and I just bought him the new Moto G (2015). Evidently, in Lollipop, you cannot block the Google search app using an app blocker. Accordingly, there is no way to keep my son from searching for and finding explicit images using the Google search app.

I have searched the internet for a solution, but cannot find one. Does anyone know whether there is any way to block the Google search app on Lollipop?

There are multiple solutions which can be used here.

Disable or hide the app

If the device supports multi-user setup, you can can create a secondary user account for your son and put as much restrictions you want.

If you don't see Users under Settings app, your device officially doesn't support  multi-user setup. See a bypass here: Multi-user option not avilable in Android one after Lollipop update

Anyhow,

Setup adb in PC, enable usb-debugging in device and plug the device into PC.
Create a new user from Settings -> Users and switch to it.
Go to Settings → Apps → All apps → find your app, tap and disable it.

If you think disabling may not be enough, simply make the app inaccessible to your son. Follow these steps:

We need to know the UserID of the secondary user we created. For that follow my answer at How to find out currently running user name/ID from ADB?. The UserID most likely would be 10.
We're going to hide any app whose usage you find questionable for your son. Execute

adb shell pm hide --user UserID PACKAGE

Replace UserId with current user ID you found and PACKAGE with package name of the app. For Google search app, it is com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox.

Hiding here is akin to temporary removal of app, with the major difference that app is never removed from the system but only inaccessible to current user. You can always unhide the app by replacing hide with unhide in the said command.

You may be able to skip some steps by using Debloater app

Rely on automation

I'm not sure how your app blocker app really works. It should have no problem. Anyhow, you can use an automation app, such as Tasker to block usage of an app.

Profile: Applications → choose app(s)
Task : (Actions): you have range of options to choose.

You can send the kid back to home screen whenever app is launched.

Action: App → Go Home
You can launch another app as an alternative.

Action: App → Launch App
You can create a transparent scene with dimensions equivalent to screen and use it in overlay blocking mode. This would make screen not receive any input hence app would become useless for your son.

Action: Scene → Show Scene

Disable the scene whenever the app is closed or some app takes over, using an exit task.

Action: Scene → Destroy Scene

See my answer for more info at How to add screen filter with tasker?
If the Android is rooted:

you can force-stop your app

Action: App → Kill App
you can implement previous section for your only user in order to hide or disable the app on-the-fly without the need of PC. You just would need a suitable trigger

Note: some of the actions mentioned for Tasker can be achieved using MacroDroid, AutoMagic, Automate and AutomateIt individually.


Cannot Shut Google play music Whenever I go to shut google play music, it does, and then opens again. And again.  Et cetera. Reboots do not really help (Play music starts up after a minute) and safe mode makes no difference, neither does cache clearing, force stopping, clear data, or even uninstalling and reinstalling. Does anyone know what I can do to stop it?

Just go to Settings > Apps >Google Play Music and  click disable. Or if you can root your phone you can permanently delete it.


Why my nexus 5 is not getting on air update for Android 4.4.2 In India there are some Nexus 4 which got updates for Android 4.4.2 but my Nexus 5 is not even updated to 4.4.1, Who can let me know how this OTA works with Google?

The roll-out for all (or at least most) OTA updates is staged in case there is an issue which has not been noticed. The 4.4.2 update seems to be being rolled out quicker than the 4.4.1 update, but it won't be available to all devices at the same time. You should receive the update in a few days.

This post by an android engineer explains the process a bit better but i've extracted some of their post here:

  Morrill mentioned how they “typically” begin with 1 percent of devices
  for the first day or two. This small batch is sent out and Google then
  watches for “return rates and resulting device checkins and error
  reports.”

  Assuming the initial 1 percent rollout goes according to plan, the
  process then expands. Again, the word typically was used. But in this
  case Morrill said the updates then go to 25 percent, 50 percent and
  100 percent “over the course of a week or two.”


Delete all files from an Artist/Album with VLC VLC has the ability both to remove items from a playlist, but also to delete the filesystem data for a particular item or selection of items. To delete in VLC 3.0.1, open list of items, (e.g. by Artist, then Album) and then long press to select items. After selection, long press again to interact with a context menu which includes the Delete option.

However, I can't seem to find an option to delete all items in a particular set (e.g. Artist, Album) in one swoop. Do I have a way to delete these items other than by selecting them individually?

No, VLC does not offer the ability to delete an album or an artist in one swoop.
The issue was discussed in this thread Ability to delete an album/artists etc...

As stated in the thread:

  That's because we don't support deletion on ext storage.
  This option would appear only for some album/artists with no clue for the user why.

  That would be an inconsistent behaviour.


Does the Secure Random bug affect apps besides Bitcoin? The Bitcoin Project recently announced a bug in the SecureRandom implementation on Android, which caused Bitcoin wallet apps to generate weak private keys that leave bitcoins vulnerable to theft.
The major wallet apps have released updates which apparently include their own RNGs instead of using SecureRandom.

However, in principle, weak random numbers could cause vulnerability in any crypto system where they're used. Thus this could affect any app that uses this function for secure communication: perhaps pgp, ssh, remote access and tracking, or even the built in ssl and https implementations.

Is there any information about other affected apps? Has Google announced an OS update to fix the bug, or otherwise responded to the issue?

I do not know of any specific apps, but it certainly CAN (on probably does) affect other apps. Read here for Google's notes on the problem, as well as info for developers on how to avoid the bug. They have also issued patches and sent them to their OHA partners, but it is up to each of them to roll out the update.


sharing lan connection to android I have a big problem. In the hostel in which i live has lan facility but theres no wifi in our hostel so i want to share internet through lan connection via wifi hotspot but the problem is this
" lan is provided with proxy settings more over a username and password as authentication" so when i make hotspot it gets connected to phone but no data is transfer between my laptop and mobile.
HELP ME FRIENDS

You need to enable Internet Connection Sharing on your lan network. To do so you need to:
1.Go to your network icon after connected your LAN cable. Click on " Open network and sharing center."

2.Then click "Local area connection" > "Properties" > "Sharing" Tab and check "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection..." Then click OK > close.


Is BKB50 keyboard touchpad for Sony Xperia Z4 compatible with any RDP client? As you know - Bluetooth keyboard BKB50 was designed for Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet. The keyboard has an integrated touchpad that controls the mouse on device's screen. With help of some RDP terminal clients I want to connect to my Windows desktop.
Will mentioned keyboard touchpad help to control mouse within RDP session? Which RDP client to use to be able manipulating the mouse by BKB50 keyboard touchpad?

Yes. Examined with Microsoft RDP client.


How do I disable mobile data access for certain apps at certain intervals? Due to increased battery drain I figured I should probably come up with a solution that will allow me to block access for certain apps during certain hours while the only data connectivity available is the mobile connection.

For example: I don't really care if someone is messaging me via LinkedIn during night time so it's probably better not to check.
Or if I'm not over obsessed with who is messaging me via OkCupid I would probably want to increase the check interval for that app to check for new data only once an hour or 3 hours.
Blocking Facebook push notifications during work hours is pretty much reasonable as another example.

I've been looking at solutions such as AWall+ and although I could figure how to block data I could find any simple method of defining time range for that operation.

I was also thinking of a possibility to block access for half an hour after a fetch, this way the interval will change to a half an hour minimum causing the battery to drain less.

Do you guys know of any existing app or Tasker script? (My phone is rooted)
Thanks in advance!

AFWall+ allows creation of multiple profiles and the profiles can be toggled using Tasker. I'm giving you a basic idea now.

Enable multi-profile support in AFWall+. It's inside the Preferences.
For nighttime, create a profile and allow or disallow the apps which you want/don't want to connect to Internet or to a particular network interface.

(Click image to enlarge)

Once done, create a task in Tasker with the action Plugin → AFWall+ → Configuration → choose your profile.

Now it is up to you how you want this task to be executed. The best option is to create a time triggered profile and assign the task to it. This technique would work for office hours as well.

  I was also thinking of a possibility to block access for half an hour after a fetch...

This can be done too, now that you've got the idea about AFWall+ profiles.

Consider this example: If it is about two profiles to be switched after an interval, I would roughly use these actions in a task:

Select an AFWall+ profile of your choice under Plugins
Task → Wait and make it 30 minutes
Select another AFWall+ profile to be triggered
Add Wait of another 30 minutes
Task → Goto → and choose first action.

You just created an  endless task. Attach it to a time triggered profile or any profile of your choice.

In order to stop that infinitely looping task, create another task and use the action Task → Stop → choose the task to be stopped. You've to execute this task of course.


What's the reason that the alarm clock isn't working when the phone is turned off? I know that the alarm isn't working when the phone is turned off, but my question is: Why doesn't this work? What were the developers/engineers thinking?

I always used my mobile phones as alarm clocks and even very old mobile phone support alarm clocks when they are turned off.

There is no power to the phone when it's off.  It's actually off.  Some phones have a minimalistic charging mode that just shows a battery animation, but I have yet to see an Android device that boots into a clock-only type mode.

The Android OS is designed to use minimal power when not in use.  If you have a problem with the battery dying overnight, it's probably due to a third-party app.


How to Know my Android Processor info using ADB? I want to know the android QCT Chipsets Processor information like snapdragon version details usind ADB Commands. Can you please explain anyone?

I'm not too sure about how to do so specifically using ADB commands, but there is a free app in the Play Store called " Droid Hardware Info" that displays everything you could possibly wish to know about your device's hardware, including chipset, modem, architecture, etc.


Leaving work profile for Tasker I'm using Tasker, and maybe I'm just trying too hard, but I can't seem to set up multiple conditions in the way that I want to. Here's what I'm trying to do:

From M - F (8AM - 5PM), set the phone to silent mode... which is pretty easy. After 5PM rolls around though, I want to kick on the GPS/Network location listener.

If I have left the office, then I want to go ahead and switch off the silent profile, and back to normal. If I haven't yet left the office, I'd like the task to sleep for 15 minutes, and then try again (sometimes I work late).

It's the combination of these two separate tasks that I cannot seem to make work together. Can anyone help me out here?

Now with your latest details, a raw approach. As you are on a stock ROM, switching GPS might not work out-of-the-box. In case it doesn't work, take a look at the Secure Settings plugin, which should be able to help out.
I assume your raw concept is: 8am to 5pm is work time, and you want different settings during work hours and after leaving work, considering eventual late-work issues. So this should preferably turn out as a single profile: At work do... and After work switch to.... So here's what shoud basically work:

Profile "Work":
Condition:

Time from 8am Till 5pm

Task:

Audio -> Silent Mode: On

Exit Task:

Misc -> GPS: On (might need to be replaced by Secure Settings, see above)

Now we enter a second profile, and you probably do not even need GPS:
Profile: "AfterWork":
Condition:

State -> Tasker -> Profile Active: "Work" [x] Invert
State -> Phone -> Cell Near: (Scan your work cells) [x] Invert

Task:

Audio -> Silent Mode: Off

So you see you neither need GPS nor the 15min wait loop. At 8am the "Work" Profile gets active, and switches your phone to silent mode. As you do not really need GPS, you can define some dummy Exit Task here (e.g. again switching Silent Mode on), as otherwise Tasker would automatically revert to the "before" mode.
The second profile does not even check conditions before "Work" has completed, as Tasker remembers which Profiles are active. After that, it starts monitoring the surrounding mobile cells -- which are either known by the phone as needed for telephony. If none of the surrounding cells match any of the scanned cells, the attached task is executed and Silent Mode turned off.
But why so complicated? Much easier done like this:

Profile "Work":
Condition:

Cell Near (Scan your work place mobile cells)

Task:

Audio -> Silent Mode: On

Done. No matter what time you are at work, your phone will be silent. And no matter whether you leave work early or late, Silent Mode will be switched off.


Unable to make/receive call from Lenovo TAB2 A10-30 (Lenovo TB2-X30L) I have a Lenovo TAB2 A10-30.

Model Number: Lenovo TB2-X30L
Serial Number: XXXXX

I can send and receive messages but unable make or receive a calls. I have downloaded and install many phone dialer apps from google play store, but it is useless.

The voice call function is not available on this tablet, the SIM slot is there for DATA connection only.


22MB backup on new nexus 5 - too small? Trying for the first time to root my device, using a Nexus 5 that I just got yesterday.

I'm naturally trying to back things up before doing anything that can wipe memory, but the size of the .ab files that backup programs (Nexus Root Toolkit, Holo Backup etc.) produce without root access are around the ~22MB area.

I've googled around and the consensus seems to be that it's far too small - BUT, I've only just got the device, and thrown a handful of apps (Twitter, 8SMS, etc.) onto it, no music or anything. Has this backup been performed correctly?

Also - when unlocking the bootloader and rooting the device, do I need to put the stock ROM back onto it, or does it remain there naturally?

Apologies if that last part was a bit oblivious but the places I've looked haven't been exactly clear, seeing as most of them go for custom ROMs.

Thank you in advance!

ADB backup archives are a "all or nothing" solution when it comes to restore – which is what the "unsafe warning" is about. Considering your circumstances, here are a few points to consider:

do one "full backup" excluding your system apps cannot hurt, so you could restore that as-is. Note, hoever, that this most likely also excludes data of system apps, which might include APNs, contacts, calendars, etc.
use e.g. Helium Backup (no root required) to create ADB compatible backups of all your apps separately, so you can restore them separately. This can of course also be done on the command line (specifying the package names), but this app makes it much more comfortable.
Create a full ADB backup nevertheless, including everything (except -shared, as data from your (internal) SDCard can be copied on file-level using any file manager). Though you probably might not wish to directly restore it, you might still have use for it

Considering you're after rooting in the first place, here's the background for my recommendations:

If you succeed rooting your device, and have no side effects, all the above backups just gave you a "good feeling", and you have no current need for them. But hey, it didn't hurt; could well be one of the following things happened:
If you succeeded rooting, but had to factory-reset the device due to some side-effects, you could either use Helium (or adb restore) to restore selected apps from their separate archives, or use adb restore to restore all of your user-space-apps in one run. But you could also use Titanium Backup to extract selected apps/data from the complete backup, and also restore some system data that way.
If rooting failed, and you have to factory-reset your device, you at least can restore your user-space-apps and their data from that archive, or chose to only restore selected apps as described above.

As for the size of 22 MB: That could be fine, or could be too small – depending on what apps you've installed, and how much data they have; there are no absolutes for "user-apps-only" backups (except of course for 0 byte files when you have at least 1 app installed).


Low memory memory full notification keep popping up How do I restore the memory in my Huawei cell phone I keep getting memory full notification

You can try following:

Uninstall Apps
Move apps to external storage or money card. You can do that by going to app settings. You may be able to move some apps by app settings option.
If you're still getting low memory issue, then you use This app. This is only app I found on play store which can move those apps to SD card which android app settings couldn't. But to use this, you need to be rooted.


Power off randomly after screen lock... I have a very interesting problem. This is a chinese based phone Alps i4000 (fhd, inew i4000) with Jelly bean 4.2.1 os.

The problem:
 - After i click the power button to screen lock, the phone randomly turn off (random value from 1 sec to 15 min)
 - After i let to go to automatic screen lock, also turn off randomly the phone.

But if i use / let running any software, its working well. No battery problem, no temperature problem.

the phone stock, no rooted, no custom rom, no custom app (apps just from play store).
Bitdefender and avira antivirus say everything okay.

Idea?

Sounds like a hardware problem to me, like the internal power supply. Fixing would probably require a change of the logic board.

If the device is still under warranty, I would just return it as defective.


Send pdf file as attachment to text message Maybe this is a naive question, but I was wondering if I could attach a pdf file to a text message. I have a Sony Xperia M4 Acqua running on Android 5.0.

You can't. You can only send small images and audios, but that would turn the SMS into MMS. Don't you like emails?


How can I change the default location for bluetooth file transfers? I have an Android 2.3 device (Samsung Galaxy Y Duos, S6102) and want all files that I receive via bluetooth to save to my SD card.

How can I do that?

The default location is already on your external SD card in the /bluetooth folder.

It's not possible to configure it up to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean:
With the included stock bluetooth receiver you cannot change the location as of now, because it's hard coded. You need a 3rd party app like Bluetooth file transfer which might be configurable here.

In ./packages/apps/Bluetooth/src/com/android/bluetooth/opp/ you can see it.

Constants.java defines this:

public static final String DEFAULT_STORE_SUBDIR = "/bluetooth";

BluetoothOppReceiveFileInfo.java has no switch for the location:

File receiveFile = new File(uniqueFileName);
if (sDesiredStoragePath == null) {
    sDesiredStoragePath = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().getPath() +
        Constants.DEFAULT_STORE_SUBDIR;
}


Samsung Galaxy Pocket Duos unlocking screen in horizontal position when calling I noticed this function on Alcatel with same version of Android (2.3.6). When you talking phone blocked, but when you changing phone to horizontal position(standart position for working with phone) it unlocks screen.

This function is very helpful if you need to finish call fast.

is ti posible to add this function to my Samsung Galaxy Pocket Duos?

It's not normally to do with the position of the phone, there's normally a "proximity sensor" on the front of the phone that locks the screen if the phone is against your face, and unlocks the screen a few moments after you take it away from your face.

According to the Galaxy Pocket Duos's specs on GSM Arena there's no proximity sensor built into that model, compare with the Alcatel OT-991 or Samsung Galaxy S's specs where you can see they do have a proximity sensor.


How can I get Ethernet adapter and still be able to charge my tablet I found this adapter to add Ethernet to my android phone, but looks like doesnt power the device. Is there a way to have Ethernet connection and still be able to charge the device at the same time?

Also found this one but said power is for the USB devices and wont charge the tablet.

Yes, but I have not found a single device solution that solves the problem. Utilizing multiple devices can solve the problem.

According to PoE Texas, you can combine the use of a USB to RJ45, Powered USB OTG Hub, PoE Splitter Micro-USB and RJ45. Finding a 10 Watt OTG Hub would be good for continuous use of a charging device.


How to create nested folders on home screen in Lollipop? Example:

Assume that a folder F1 has ABC app icons (shortcuts) in it.
Another folder F2 has XYZ app icons in it.
The default launcher in COS12 doesn't allow inclusion of more than 16 icons in a single folder.
Neither it provides the option to include one folder (F2) into another one (F1) so that the included folder (F2) would show up as a normal icon in F1 amongst other ABC icons, but when touched, would show its XYZ icons, hence achieving the proper nesting.

How do I achieve this folder nesting in Lollipop?

I've found that Folder Organizer can do the job but it hasn't been ported to Lollipop's Material design. Result, your host folder looks in sync with rest of the UI (white background, smooth font) but the nested folder gives you a somewhat black background with not so smooth or crisp font. It also doesn't respect the current theme in place. Pretty much a weird combination in hand.

I believe Tasker's scenes can do this but I would like to have consistency between folders when it comes to their appearance.

I've a OnePlus One running rooted Cyanogen OS 12 with Xposed Framework installed.

I've created a Scene in Tasker, loaded it using a task and created a shortcut using Task Shortcut widget to launch the scene.

First image is showing a normal folder with some app shortcuts. See the folder icon titled "Nest". It is a task shortcut for the Scene.
Second image is the Scene created in Tasker which is launched from a shortcut .

(Click image to enlarge)

To maintain consistency in appearance I took the background from Material Palette, cropped the color I wanted and loaded it into the Scene as background image.
All the app icons are loaded using Image element in the Scene.
Because it isn't a folder, so there is no drag and drop in it.

As for how to create this scene, you can see YoutTube videos or search Tasker sub-reddit or the numerous websites filled with cool tutorials. You may consider my answer here to get a rough idea of how to create a Scene in Tasker and how to use it then.


Is it possible to install an app compiled for ARM on an x86 emulator image I tried to install an apk from online on a virtual device, but it wouldn't install due to INSTALL_FAILED_NO_MATCHING_ABIS.

I'm able to install it on an ARM image, but ARM images are super slow on my computer. So is it possible to convert or modify the apk to use x86?

One of the answers on this post said "If you using Genymotion you need Installing ARM Translation and GApps". But comments on that answer said that it doesn't work anymore.

So is there any way to do this?

Genymotion with ARM translation

You can use genymotion (the personal use version is free) with an Oreo ROM + ARM_Translation_Oreo.zip (google the filename to download it). Once you download the zip simply drag-and-drop it into the emulator window, accept the prompt and then reboot the emulator. It's not a lightweight solution since genymotion uses virtualbox as a backend but it works way faster than google's arm images available with android studio.

Standard Android emulator with an ARM image

Another option (does not answer your question directly) is to actually use an ARM image instead of X86. In Android Studio > Tools > AVD Manager > Create Virtual Device when prompted to Select a system image select the Other images tab and pick an arm-based image — those images will run VERY slowly compared to X86. You will get a warning that it's not recommended, but you might get acceptable performance if you select the oldest API version possible (depending on your needs) with a low screen resolution.


Can SMS be received by Samsung's smart watch if a third-party SMS app is used? I own a Samsung S7 and the phone is connected to my Samsung Galaxy Watch Active.

Is it possible to use another SMS app in order to get the SMS on my watch rather than the default Samsung application?

Yes.

I have a Galaxy Note 9 and a Galaxy watch and I use Yaata SMS.

You don't get any extra features that you would get in the 3rd party SMS app but you can still read and reply to text messages the same as you can with the default app.


Samsung p7510 versus p5110 : what are the main differences? I'm in a tight schedule to buy someone a tablet in the ipad2-range, but I want to buy an Android device.

After some research I decided to buy the Samsung Tab  10.1" P5110 (I don't need 3G).  However the Samsung Tab 10.1" p7510 is much easier to find in a short term.  When comparing both I got a bit confused because I don't get the main differences between both models.

Is there an obvious 'best one' ?

P5110 is the Galaxy Tab 2 while P7510 is the original. The difference is that the newer ships with ICS and has a different SoC along with a slightly larger battery, while it is a lightly ticker. The P7510 came out almost a year ago.

If you want future software upgrades the P5110 is a safer bet. See that datasheets for more info.


Unable to automate disabling mobile data via Tasker plugin Secure Settings on CM 13 I hope this isn't as niche as it looks. In Android 6 apparently there's no way to disable mobile data using Tasker alone. So, I'm trying to disable mobile data via Secure Settings, using the "mobile data" setting. It gives out an error when the task runs. I have given both Tasker and Secure Settings pretty much all permissions I could find in settings. Still no go. Ideas?

Unfortunately, Secure Settings doesn't work well on Android Marshmallow due to lack of platform compatible updates. That been said, you can toggle mobile data using command-line approach in Tasker.

Action: Code → Run Shell:

Command: svc data disable

Replace disable with enable to enable mobile data.
tick Use Root.

Tasker community at Reddit has compiled a useful list of all the Secure Settings actions' command-line alternatives. You can find the list here.

An alternative to command-line based approach is to use an another automation app in parallel or with Tasker, such as MacroDroid and Automate. Both the apps can toggle mobile data, given root access is granted to them.


What does "Global EU" mean in the context of smartphone versions? While browsing smartphone offers, I encountered several offers like "Xiaomi Mi9 6/64GB Global EU". What does "Global EU" mean in this context?

It's the ROM version installed on the phone indicating the region. Manufacturers ship different ROMs depending on the region. Someone living in Europe will have a different ROM than one living in Africa or Asia. You can even find difference in ROMs within a continent or region.

Usually with Xiaomi phones, you have the Global and China ROMs. Then (if I am not mistaken -- someone corrects me here), the Global versions is divided in EU, Russia, India, etc depending on the market. Global EU is just the ROM version for the EU market.


WiFi not getting ON and Off I have a Samsung S Duos GT-S7562. Its warranty is over. I am seeing that its WiFi is not working now. Whenever I try to switch it ON, it toggles between ON and OFF. I have tried a factory reset and that doesn't helped me. Request your suggestions.
My current version is Android 4.0.4

I cannot comment because I do not have 50 reputation hence I am updating this as an answer.

Me too had this problem and I tried all possible troubleshooting steps with the help of almost every forum I knew to no avail. This is what I tried:

Installed 4-5 wifi fixer apps from play store - Did not help.
If you have a cwm or twrp recovery installed, try doing factory reset from recovery - I tried it on my mmx canvas hd a116 with 4.1.2 JB but did not work
I installed a custom rom. The device was working fine but no improvement in WiFi
Went to mmx service station, they asked INR 60 for checking problem and said it was a motherboard fault and would cost more than INR 4500

Finally I went to a local cell phone repair guy and got the WiFi & bluetooth IC replaced for INR 400. Now everything is working fine.


Phone will randomly crash, then only loads to boot loader I rooted my Samsung-sm-g930a (Galaxy s7 AT&T)
And after I did, the VOLTE showed up... I thought nothing of it because it is Voice Over LTE but a week after I did that when i tried to open an app it closed the app 2 seconds later (almost immediately) and if I restart my phone it gets stuck at the AT&T logo I can boot it into recovery and reset the device, this fixes it temporarily then 3 days later it does it Agian. Any idea how to fix this?

I ever faced a situation like this where my phone load until the Samsung logo and that's it. What I did was installing a stock rom in to my Samsung and it did fix my phone. You can visit the web of cyanogen to see if your phone model is listed there.


How can I prevent stock Android browser from loading last visited page? Whenever I launch the stock Android browser (my phone's running Gingerbread), it loads the last visited page. If the last page was a 'heavy' one and I'm on a mobile connection, it can often slow down browser start. Is there any way to prevent the browser from doing this?

You can close all the pages via Menu -> Windows before exiting the browser.

If you want the last page to stay loaded and not reload, you have to make sure the browser isn't killed or forced to give up memory by Android.  In other words, use only lightweight apps or don't use anything, and hope your system behaves :P


How to root Samsung J1 Ace? I have tried with many apps but none of them help to root Samsung J1 Ace (SM-J110H).

Is there any successful method to root Samsung J1 Ace (SM-J110H) smart phone?

Download Odin, SuperSU.zip and twrp for the j110h. Then be sure to enable adb debugging and OEM unlock in developer options. Then reboot into download mode. Plug into PC start Odin, choose the correct twrp and click start and at the same time hold down vol up and home button, I'm thinking g when I flashed this recovery I had to hold the vol up and home while it appeared to restart a couple times but it did work. When twrp finally boots it should mount on the PC and then transfer the SuperSU zip and then flash it.


unable to connect i9100 in cwm recovery mode phone; i9100 maguro galaxy nexus. From CM, I got a message stating a new update was available: the CM11. I accepted. The update failed to install. Now on reboot the phone enters CWM Recovery mode. BUT IT WILL NOT CONNECT TO MY PC TO ENABLE ME TO TRANSFER ANY ZIP FILES to my phone, and so I cannot install any older CM10 versions. HOW TO CONNECT THE PHONE TO PC IN CWM RECOVERY MODE?

You could give adb a try, and use adb push </source/on/PC/file.zip> <target/on/Nexus/file.zip> to transfer the files.

I you don't have ADB installed on your machine yet, and don't want to install the full SDK, take a look at Is there a minimal installation of ADB? Also, for more information on ADB, there's always our adb tag-wiki as a good starting point.


Is it possible to do DNS resolution based on connection? On my Galaxy Note 2 phone (Android of course), is it possible to edit the hosts file so that it resolves example.com to a public IP BUT resolves it to a local private IP if connected to WiFi with a specific SSID? That is when connected to home WiFi, it should resolve a domain name to a local server on the LAN, but anyplace else it should resolve it to the public IP.

I'm guessing it'd be hard at the very least, if it's even possible, but do I have any options here (either hosts, or some other way)? I've got shell access, and root access, so I can edit pretty much anything that needs to be.

DNS resolver always consults local /etc/hosts file before sending DNS query to configured name server (see details in How does Android OS do DNS name resolution?). So this approach cannot work based on connection.

The possible method is to run a DNS server on that specific network and configure DHCP server (mostly your router) to send local DNS server's IP address in response to DHCP requests. Configure DNS server to always resolve a domain name to a fixed IP. Or you may resolve the domain name to required IP using a VPN app temporarily (it's less hassle than editing hosts file every time). See linked answer for details.


Run a particular app on boot I have a phone running Android 4.0 and I wish to know if it is possible to turn this phone into a dedicated calculator? When I say dedicated I mean - once the phone is turned on, it boots directly to a calculator GUI? Whereby the user can immediately starting using the calculator, just like any stock standard Android calculator app would look like.

I do not wish it to boot to a home screen in between, but directly to the calculator itself. I am using a very simple example here, in anycase, would this be possible?

First, I'd like to point out that turning on is different than booting.  That said, I have a suggestion that will work if you are talking about turning the device on and off:

Use the Pin Screen feature of Android 5.0 (Lollipop). To do this, screen pinning must be enabled in Settings->Security. Once enabled, start Calculator (or any app) and then hit the "app switcher" button. This is done differently depending on what phone you have and tweaks you may have applied.  On my device, it's done by double-tapping the home key. When you are in app switcher view, touch the push pin icon on whatever app you want pinned.

Once pinned, Calculator will be the only app that can be used. If you turn the device off and on again, you will be right back at Calculator.

Note that the pin will not persist across reboots, hence the caveat.


Samsung Galaxy S4 black screen My cellphone Galaxy S4 fell out of my pockets, bottom lights turn on but my screen is black, if i shut it down and turn back on, can see the Samsung logo fade, is it possible to open my phone by using my pc, whatsapp, sms

Don't give up. I tried the method where you take out the battery, press the power button for one minute and then wait for five minutes before reinserting battery. Did not work.

I then tried the heat method. Disassemble the phone and unclip five or six ribbon connectors. Take the main board and heat it with a heat gun or close-up hot hair drier. Fast, with sore fingers, press the ribbon cables back into sockets and reassemble the phone. Did not work either.

I then reflashed the ROM using Odin. Not easy with a black screen but possible. Reflashed successfully, screen still black.

Then took out the battery and waited for six days: the phone then booted first time.

Hence, it looks like some bizarre capacitance is stored somewhere and needs time to discharge. I hope this info saves someone else's phone. Neil, Dallas, Nov 7, 2016


Can I mark read SMS messages as unread in 2.2? I've just switched to a Samsung Galaxy Europa from a push-button Sony Ericsson K660, and already I'm finding a few features in the old device that I'm missing in the new one. For example, sometimes when I read a text message, I'd prefer to reply to it later. On the K660 I'd read the message, then return back to the inbox listing and mark the message as 'unread'. This adds the envelope icon back on the taskbar, and renders the message title in bold, so I know to respond to it later.

However some research on the web doesn't turn up much, and I wonder whether this isn't included in the stock messaging application. I'm running version 2.2. Any ideas?

Do not think you can do that with the stock messaging app. Might be best to install an alternative app to do that. There's three alternative popular ones available from Google Play.

There's handcent-sms, go-sms mentioned in the tags, also there's Chomp-Sms as well.

As for permissions yeah, that's a tricky one, as long as they don't have the over-usage of permission demands, you should be pretty ok.

As an off-topic, I do know that in CyanogenMod, there is a setting to deselect the permissions as required for each and every app you install, for example, an app called 'FooSms' - uncheck 'Read SMS', the app may bomb out with an Security Error exception due to the said permission being revoked. Incidentally, there is CM7 available for Europa via Madteam.


If I root my phone, can my service providor tell if I am using my phone for USB tethering or as a WiFi hotspot? Looking at the responses to this question, it seems that a mobile service provider can't automatically detect whether or not a phone user is tethering their phone or not. Though they can infer it by the type of activity a user does.

However, my service providor charges extra for both USB and WiFi tethering. They can provide accurate usage statistics and charge by the data packet, so they must have some deliberately set up way of monitoring this. I believe the most likely way of doing this is they likely have some kind of software built into my installation of Android that reports whether or not I'm tethering.

So, does that mean if I root my device, and then presumeably that software is gone, they won't be able to tell anymore?

I'm weighing the risks and rewards of rooting my phone, and whether or not I could bypass their nickel-and-diming by charging extra for tethering would be a deciding factor.

Technically they can inspect the HTTP Headers and look at the User-Agent field to determine browser and OS; but imagine the millions and millions of HTTP requests for web pages and applications in a given day.

They can do trends, and data mining techniques to find out - but is it worth all that effort for them just to track down someone using a few more MB of bandwidth? Probably not.


How to stop a phone from ringing without rejecting the call? Sometimes I don't want to take a call, but I don't want him to know that. So I left the phone be until it stops, so it would appear that I'm away from phone or something and I miss the call. Can I silence the ringing tone and the vibration while doing that?

Info: My phone is Galaxy S

I suspect this is very much device dependent, but on the HTC Desire HD, you can press the physical volume down button to silence the ringtone whilst allowing the call to continue.


Use an Android tablet as a Wacom drawing tablet for a Mac? How do I share Android tablet's screen while attending zoom meeting from Mac? I know there is a zoom plugin to share iPhone/iPad screen but is it possible to do the same with an Android tablet? (using the Android tab as a Wacom tab)?
I have: MacBook Air2020
Galaxy Tab A

You can do so using the Android remote control software scrcpy:
If you enable Development option on your Android device and afterwards enable the "Android Debug Bridge" option you can connect your Android device to your computer via USB and then remote control the Android device and see it's screen on your computer using a software like scrcpy (install it on MacOS via brew install scrcpy).
Then in a Zoom call you can share your computer screen which shows the Android screen via scrcpy.


How to create app-like Chrome shortcuts? I have a Chrome application which, at some point, I added to my home screen and it was behaving like a real application: there was no Chrome toolbar (for the URL and other settings). The icon was also a "native one" (the difference will be clear in a second).

For various reasons I removed it from my home screen and also upgraded to Pie (I am not sure if this matters).

I then tried to re-create the "app" by adding, from Chrome, a shortcut to my home screen. This is how it looks now:

Please note the Chrome thumbnail which was not there previously.

The app itself does not look "native" anymore:

The part between the status bar and the blue line used not to be there, completely hiding the fact that this is a web page running in Chrome.

What is the correct way to get back this "native app" behaviour?

You wait for the web app developer to implement Chrome's WebAPK on Android feature/requirements.

From the following post: How to Remove Chrome Logo from PWA App Home Screen Link (Android O Preview)

Digging through the comments on the accepted answer from Anand dated Dec 17, 2018:

  If you are asking how to avoid chrome icon, as long as your went [sic] app is fully qualifies PWA to be installed as APK, new versions of chrome won't add that icon. I've tested with chrome version 70 in Android pie . If it's a mere web page, failing to meet key PWA criteria or non PWA, chrome might add chrome icon to indicate it's a web link(depending on chrome version again)

Further research on details led me down a rabbit hole of what features exist on Chrome vs Android and the meaning of 'install' to home screen, which while it does somewhat affect end-user behavioral expectations, the implementation details are off-topic for this site.

If you can live with icon badging, you may want to try your site/webapp with Firefox for Android and see if the app UI still retains the undesirable "header".


Transfering my contacts from old phone to a new phone How do i copy all mt contacts and messages from my old android to a new android phone. downloaded wondershare but trail version only transfers 1st 5 numbers. linking the phone to my pc only the sd card details are shown. Contacts and messages may be in the phone memory which i cant access. How do i go about it. Please Help

When you add a new contact, your phone asks you where to store it (Phone, SIM, Google account). You can store your contacts in your Google account so when you sign in on another device, it will import your contacts.

For backing up SMS messages you can use SMS BackUp+ or a similar app.

For more detailed explanation you can refer to HowToGeek's article on SMS backup.


ZTE StarTrail : Android Update 2.2 to 2.3.3 or an other version I'm new android user. I just buy un android phone: ZTE StarTrail. The current version is android 2.2 (Froyo). I would like update my system to 2.3.3 or an other version. i saw there is version each for device (HTC, Samsung ....). I don't found a version for my device. Where can I found android a version that is specifically designed for ZTE StarTrail ?

Thanks

You should check with the manufacturer of your device if they have an official upgrade available.  If so, they will either provide the download (with installation instructions) themselves, or forward you to your carrier's support.

If there is no official upgrade, your only option is to find out if there are any 3rd-party ROMs available from Android community developers.  Best places to look for such ROMs are xda-developers forums or RootzWiki, for example.  Keep in mind that installing custom ROMs usually involves modifications to your phone that will void your warranty with the carrier and/or manufacturer.


Re-install settings application. I have compiled Android Source codes and get settings.apk now I wonder can I install that application on my phone ? When I try to do that my phone say "CAnnot install application" what can I do to install that application ?

System application are odexed, which means the code part it extracted and kept separate and also some crucial parts of the application are kept in framework.jar. If you want to copy your freshly-compiled application to your phone, you have to deodex it first, which restores the missing parts and only then you may replace /system/Settings.apk with your new file. And, please, make sure you delete old /system/Settings.odex file, otherwise it won't work.

As usually, it's recommended to save old Settings.apk/odex files just in case when something goes wrong.


How to get back colored app headers in recent apps list on Samsung devices running on Android Oreo? Before, in recent apps list of my phone (Samsung Galaxy Note8), headers of apps were colored.  Now, they are all white.

I am not sure whether it was caused by the transition from Nougat (7.1) to Oreo (8.0) or by a change in some Android settings. They are white for several months.

I would like to return to colored ones for faster navigation using app colors. Is it possible?

It looks to me that this is not possible, because Oreo re-used the color coding for different purpose:

white header: standard app

and here, the original coloring concept is partially present in text color (instead of bg color)

light cyan header: app pair on split screen

I think that this new coloring purpose implies that the original coloring is gone.


Wifi On/Off toggles 5 times per second! Phone: OnePlus 2
OS: Marshmallow 6.0 latest updates

When I go to the Android system wifi settings and click the slider to turn wifi off, the slider starts toggling back and forth very rapidly (4-5 times a second) and it seems to be almost impossible to stop it from doing so.  If I get lucky and hit the slider at just the right time it turns on the wifi again and seems to settle down.  This problem is easy to reproduce, and a reboot doesn't solve it.

Going into airplane mode turns off the wifi but coming out of airplane mode causes the toggling to resume.  This is a recent issue but I have not installed any apps lately nor changed any of the phone's settings so I wonder if it's a system update that has broken something.

When I am at home and connected to my home wifi this issue doesn't occur (as far as I've noticed).  When I am at work I usualy turn off wifi to save battery power and use LTE for data when I need it.  There are wifi networks available at work but I do not connect to them (I always remove the passwords to prevent accidental connections).

I can't find anyone else online who has had this exact issue.

What should I do to solve this?  Could this be an app-related issue?

fixed it this way: Settings, location, improve accuracy and turn off wi-fi. So far problem seems to be fixed.


Where has the forgotten password button gone? My device is running Android 5.0 Lollipop or above and I have forgotten my lock screen password. After trying multiple times without luck, I do not see an option to reset my password using my Google account credentials. Why is this option not appearing?

This option seems to be have removed by Google in Android 5.0 and above and there is no longer an official way to reset your lock screen password.

Resetting your password using Android Device Manager also often fails as there is already a screen lock set.

Check the locked-out tag for information that may help with your issue.


Android 9 (Pie) sd external card conventions My Moto g6 asked to reformat my SD card after the official Pie update. No app was able to access the SD card and only the System and Total Commander even recognized it. After Android formated, I could read from and write to my SD card. The problem is the following.

I fast transfer my libraries from my computer. This is I put the card in my computers card reader and copy my files into the root of card's directory tree. (I don't see that it matters but I rsync from a Linux installation.) Now android wants to reformat again as if I hadn't formatted. To restate, no app is able to access the card and only the System and Total Commander recognize it.

Where should I move the files, and where can we check the conventions? What are the protocols and what is going on with Pie? Any references are welcome as well as a direct answer, thank you.

Possibly related question: SD card is unwillingly used for apps

The card was corrupted at removal time because it wasn't properly ejected (unmounted) beforehand. Remember to eject your removable devices even if you think it is safe to remove them.


(Semi) permanently disable touch input I own a Samsung Galaxy S4 (GT-I9515L "jfvelte") running Lineage OS 16. It has a broken touchscreen which register random "ghost" touches.

I'm able to use it with the help of a USB mouse. To disable the touchscreen I use adb to open a shell on /dev/input and remove event3, which disables the touchscreen (renaming or moving the file doesn't work, only removing it) - until reboot.

How do I keep it disabled even after reboot? Preferably, I'd like a way that I can enable it later if I ever want to.

Turn's out there's init.sh support on Lineage (content of /etc/init.d/90userinit):

#!/system/bin/sh
# call userinit.sh if present in /data/local

if [ -e /data/local/userinit.sh ];
then
   log -p i -t userinit "Executing /data/local/userinit.sh";
   /system/bin/sh /data/local/userinit.sh;
   setprop lineage.userinit.active 1;
fi;

So I wrote a bash script that removes the /dev/input/event3 on boot, thus It disabling touch input on boot time:

/data/local/userinit.sh:

#!/system/bin/sh
rm /dev/input/event3

If I ever need to re-enable touch input, I can simply remove the bash script.


Difficulty in accessing Internet through University network [require proxy setting] I use university's wifi network for accessing internet. When I connect to internet from Academic area, some of the apps does not connect (especially whatsapp), whereas when I connect to internet from residential area all of apps works fine.

The network requires prxoy settings and authentication. A few of my friends uses ProxyDroid app for accessing internet which requires to root the device and I would not prefer that. Other option include running a Python script through SL4A. Any suggestions?

I am using Zenfone Laser 550kl working on ZenUI.
Thanks

I use Psiphon available on Google play. Doesn't require root.
It's a proxy server, and bypasses filters in my college.
Try it out.


Icon is stuck behind google search, and appears on all screens (screenshot included) I was re-arranging my icons when I accidentally dropped an icon "behind" the google search bar up top.

The icon appears on every screen when I swipe left or right, but disappears when I view all apps.

How do I remove this icon?  (see the mis aligned YouTube icon at the top)

Screenshot (click image for larger variant)

Note that my other answer is more of a workaround (but also something recommended by many even without problems) that is almost guranteed to fix the problem. This is a direct fix which will most likely work, but I can't say that with absolute certainty as I can't recreate the situation myself.

After some googling, I've noticed that your icon (as you point out already) is off-center and missing its text label. Rather than the icon itself being stuck, it looks like what you're seeing is a stuck graphical artifact. This has happened to a few other users on other forums, and rebooting the device seems to be a fix for them.

Whether this works for you or not, I'm posting it as an answer for the sake of future internet travelers who stumble upon this question.


Android home buttons not work (e,g, back button/home and recent apps) I have a nexus 4, got it roughly 5 years ago, and it has been working fine up until today. When I boot it up, I can open the phone but sometimes, when I hit my passcode, it freezes and I have to reboot. When I get past that, I can use apps and get into them, but I can't get out because the bottom buttons don't work. I can still use the app just fine. Those buttons also work when I first restart my phone.

Probably it's no software issue, the home button may have been damaged. However, you can try installing third-party Navbar tools from the Google Play Store or install a custom ROM :)


Using YouTube under Orbot I'm trying to put my YouTube app's traffic on Orbot (Tor) in my phone due to filtering issues in my country. When Orbot is in Tor Everything mode, it works, and all of the traffic used by YouTube is gone through Orbot. But, when I choose Select Apps (and I select YouTube in there) it stops working. The point is that the video is not behind Tor on this state. Should I add another app to that list? What should I do?

Are you sure you need Tor for all youtube videos?  If you only need youtube access, then you should try alternative lower latency circumvention techniques, like alternative DNS providers or a VPN.  Tor should be used when you're worried about your government even knowing what you watch, meaning countries like Iran, China, Syria, etc.

Case 1. You care about speed and access, but not really privacy.

You should first try bypassing your nation's DNS servers by simply setting a DNS server outside the country.  OpenNIC and OpenDNS are cool, albeit maybe slow.  Google has some faster ones.  etc.  All these options worked fine in Turkey.

If your country blocks more than DNS then try using a VPN based outside your country, including free ones like VPNReactor.  VPNs are slower than simply bypassing a DNS block, but almost any VPN should be faster than Tor.  Or even a dedicated youtube proxy.

Case 2. You care about privacy more than speed.

Use Tor, preferably Tor everything mode.  There are security risks with using youtube's flash app through Tor, probably this specific issue doesn't impact youtube's android app.  Yet, maybe Tor's "select apps" mode doesn't adequately handle the NDK, where youtube's codecs probably live.  If so, that's harder.  Try a browser maybe?


How can I text a photo from Google Photos instead of a link? On my Pixel 2, I can include a photo in a text message in these two ways:

Open Messages app, select recipient, Hit "+", select photo on phone, touch "MMS" to send.
Open Google Photos app, select photo to send, touch "sharing" symbol, select recipient, touch "SEND".

In the first approach, the recipient receives the photo. In the second approach, the recipient is told I'm sharing an album, and they get a link to the photo.

I want the recipient to get the photo itself, not a link to it, but sometimes it's more convenient to choose the photo using the Photos app instead of the Messages app. How can I select a photo using the Google Photos app and then send that photo (as opposed to a link to it) in a text message?

[Originally posted in the comments section on 11/5/17]

After touching the "share" icon, you have to select the Messages app. Then you select the recipient and touch "MMS".


OTA Update Error - "Package expects build fingerprint of ..." I unrooted and re-installed stock recovery from CWM on my Nvidia Shield Tablet. But when I tried to install an OTA, I got However when I tried to install the update, I got a red triangle error. After checking the log I got an error saying "Package expects build fingerprint of ... or ..., this device has ...."

I can't remember what the fingerprints were, but the first one was something that began with "nvidia/", had a bunch of numbers in the middle followed by an underscore, then it ended with "/release-keys".

However the device's current build fingerprint was exactly the same as the first, except that it cut off halfway through, right after the numbers and the underscore.

Resetting the cache didn't work. How was this error caused, and how can I fix this without wiping my data?

I've faced the same issue when trying to update OTA from Android 4.4.4 to Android 5.1 and now from Android 5.1 to a new version.

I'm assuming your phone is rooted and you have a custom recovery installed.

1. Find out your build fingerprint.

Install CID Getter and check the ro.build.fingerprint entry.

  (In my case, its value is motorola/peregrine_retbr/peregrine:5.1/LPB23.13-35.5/5:user/release-keys)

Check your value again.

Double-check it, and triple-check it, it's very, very, VERY important to get it right to the last bit.

2. Obtain the zip file for your OTA update

Start the OTA update process (settings -> phone -> check updates). It will download a file and place it on your internal memory, for instance for me it's /cache/Blur<long file name>.zip.

Obtain that file and place it on your computer (I have used my custom TeamWin recovery to do that).

3. Check the updater script

Inside this zip file, there will be a file called /META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script.

There will be a line similar to the one below:

getprop("ro.build.fingerprint") == "motorola/peregrine_retbr/peregrine:5.1/LPB23.13-35.5/5:user/release-keys" ||
getprop("ro.build.fingerprint") == "motorola/peregrine_retbr/peregrine:5.1/LPBS23.13-35.5-1/1:user/release-keys" ||
abort("Package expects build fingerprint of motorola/peregrine_retbr/peregrine:5.1/LPB23.13-35.5/5:user/release-keys or motorola/peregrine_retbr/peregrine:5.1/LPBS23.13-35.5-1/1:user/release-keys; this device has " + getprop("ro.build.fingerprint") + ".");

What's it doing in this case? This line checks for the build fingerprint and aborts the process if it's not exactly either motorola/peregrine_retbr/peregrine:5.1/LPB23.13-35.5/5:user/release-keys or motorola/peregrine_retbr/peregrine:5.1/LPBS23.13-35.5-1/1:user/release-keys.

4. Compare your build and the updater script.

Seriously. Check it again.

5. Edit the updater script

Delete this line. Place the edited file on the zip file.

6. Patch and be happy!

Use your custom recovery to apply the patch without signature verification.

OBS:

If you have flashed anything that modifies system files -- including, but not limited to, SuperSU and the Xposed framework -- you might need to revert those files to their original state, since the OTA update will perform a check on many system files. In order to revert those files, consult the documentation from whatever you flashed.


Android display to TV? I have an android device(tablet) and I want the screen that I see on my tablet to be able to see it on my TV. The TV has HDMI to which I connected but I only have the video playback or whatever. I need what I see on my tablet to be able to also see on the TV. I need this very fast. Any help is appreciated.

I understand it is possible but only for movies. Is there a way to see media other than movies?

I have both the Iconia A500 and the Transformer TF101. Both output just fine to TVs with HDMI.

There is a little bit cropped off the image in both cases and the home - back - recent buttons don't show on the TVs, nor does the notification panel, all suggesting that it isn't really an external monitor type feature, only to play back movies etc on the big screens.


Can we remap the keys when using an external keyboard? I'm using my physical keyboard on my tablet with Android. The Brazilian keyboard works fine for me, there are only two problems:

The right-shift is "/" instead of shift.
The "ˆ" is different and is not accepted by LaTeX. (In LaTeX, we use aˆb for exponetiation and this one doesn't work).

One possible fix is to be able to remap the keys, Is this possible? Is there some app that allows me to remap the keys?

Use GBoard (the Google Keyboard), it should be very easy.  Install this then when you are connected with the external keyboard, change the keyboard to Brazilian Portuguese and you shouldn't have any issues.


How to extend screen on a secondary monitor in Android-x86? I'm looking for a way to get two separate (i.e. "Extended" or split) display outputs on my Android x86 setup.
It appears that I need to modify the content of /grub/menu.lst file, but every guide that I have found instructs the user to either clone (i.e. "duplicate" or mirror) the displays, or worse, it instructs the user to entirely disable the internal LVDS display.  This is not what I want.
What I want is to simply have a separate output for each of my displays (two 1920x1080 monitors using HDMI.) This is something that is available on many Linux distros and even Windows.
Is what I want even possible on Android x86 at the moment?

A quick check of android-x86.org shows at the bottom:

Development (2019/10)
What we are working on now

Android 10 (Q release) porting (q-x86 branch)
Upgrade kernel to 4.19 or newer
OpenGL ES hardware acceleration for intel/radeon/nvidia/amdgpu (pstglia, mauro) and virgl(robh) GPUs.
HDMI audio (cwhuang)
LineageOS integration (jjm)
Hardware accelerated codecs

To-Do List

Multiple displays support
Better power management
Miracast

So the feature Multiple display support is on the To-Do List and probably dependent on OpenGL ES hardware acceleration efforts.
So as of 2019-10 the feature you want isn't available.


Error code (ERR_ACCESS_DENIED) Local HTML file on SD card with Chrome I cannot access local HTML files at external SD card on my Lenovo S6000 within Chrome. It is mounted at /mnt/extSdCard. Browsing to file:///mnt/extSdCard does show this message:

  The file at file:///storage/sdcard0/foo/bar.html is not readable. It may have been removed, moved, or file permissions may be preventing access.
  Error code (ERR_ACCESS_DENIED)

I've tried multiple browsers. Some show the app and doesn't work, some show the app and does work, some show the above error. Interestingly, I have 2 tablets. The one with updated firmware is the one that doesn't work. I held off on the update on the 2nd and Chrome works with local HTML files.

From comments:

$ls -l index.html
-rw-rw-r-- root  sdcard_rw  8097  2013-11-20 10:40 index.html

In case some one else comes across this. I did not completely figure out why 1 updated firmware tablet works and 1 non updated tablet does not with the same file path from sdcard0. I did notice on the updated firmware tablet in storage I have folders emulated(read only), sdcard0(read/write), and sdcard1(neither). What I understand these are android 4.2 multiuser folders.

Using the html file from either legacy/0 folders within the emulated folder turns out to work fine with Chrome. Both those folders are read and write. So that is my solution for now.

Side note, the emulated folder is not on the non updated firmware tablet.


What is YGPS and why does it have every permission that's in the book? I have a FairPhone One. From time to time I look in the system settings and the battery usage to see what is draining the battery. I've disabled anything I don't use, including a number of builtins from Google. I've also looked at other apps and if their permissions are in balance with what they're supposed to do. (Simple games should not have access to my phone calls.)

What is YGPS and why does it have the longest possible list of permissions? Can I safely disable it?

YGPS, as far as I can discern (I don't own a FairPhone), is an app which lets you view what GPS satellites your phone is currently connected to. I'm guessing it probably provides the same kind of function here, and is likely draining your battery life because it's constantly making GPS calls in the background.

My guess is that, being a poorly developed app, the developers decided to call every permission possible to ensure they wouldn't run into any issues. It's likely only using the GPS function of the phone anyway, but considering you were going to anyway it's probably not a bad idea to disable it.


Manually set a hostname for IP address (i.e. /etc/hosts equiv.?) I am a web developer and am developing our website on my local desktop machine. I have an android phone (htc desire running android 2.2). I want to test what our web application looks like on android. I can connect to the same wifi network as my desktop machine, however we make use of several hardcoded fake domain names in our web application. On my Ubuntu Linu7x desktop machine I use /etc/hosts to set these domain names to local IP addresses.

Is there anyway to do this on android? I want "foo.xyz" (our testing domain name) to point to 172.31.1.67 (my internal desktop machine). Is there any way to do this without rooting the phone (as my android phone is not rooted now)

Firefox Mobile supports HTTP proxies, so whilst it's a different rendering engine you should at least be able to get a feel for how your UI performs on a small touchscreen.  Here's how to get to the secret config section - http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/758279

The default browser includes proxy support in Gingerbread (although that doesn't help you and your unrooted Desire right now, HTC should be offering an OTA update to Gingerbread soon, or it may spur you into rooting and re-flashing your phone).

(For both of these, you'd need to configure a proxy on your network so that it can serve up your foo.xyz domain)

Finally, you could always use the Android SDK's emulator.  Performance will be painfully slow, but you would at least be running the same rendering engine.

Edit: As GAThrawn mentions in the comments above, you could also possibly achieve what you want using DNS entries on your network's default DNS server or a development DNS server.  Your phone will pick up your wifi network's default DNS server, or you can change it to something specific via Settings > Wireless & networks > Wi-Fi settings > Menu softkey > Advanced.