rooted my phone but want to go back to stock rom Okay so i rooted my Samsung Galaxy Express to jelly bean 4.2.2 using the method below.
but i cant access Samsung kies because it doesn't recognize rooted phones. So i was wondering if there was any way to keep the rooted features but go back to the stock rom? And if there is how do i do it and where do i get the file from?

Here are the steps I took to upgrade my phone:

  Flash Clockwork Recovery

  Download Express OUDHS CWM.exe.
  Turn off the phone
  Press and hold volume down and power to enter download mode (if this doesn’t work, press and hold volume down, power and home key)
  Connect your phone to your computer via USB
  Window ID: COM should be highlighted in yellow, this means your phone was properly detected
  Press start and wait for installation
  Disconnect your phone, recovery is now installed

  Install SuperSU

  Download SuperSU v1.25
  Connect your phone to your computer via USB
  Copy the SuperSU v1.25 file to the root of your SD card (make sure you have an SD card in your phone)
  Turn off your phone
  Hold volume up, power and home key to enter recovery (as soon as you see blue text on the top of the screen that read entering or
  booting recovery, immediately release all the buttons)
  Click on install zip from SD card and locate SuperSU file
  Select the SuperSU file and install
  After installation is complete, reboot your phone

  You will now have both custom recovery and SuperSU installed on your
  phone, which allows you to install custom ROM’s, which is the next
  step. (Make sure USB debugging is still enabled). Please note that
  these versions of CM10.1 and CM10.2 are unofficial builds, however are
  stable enough as daily drivers.

  Download CM10.1(Android 4.2.2) or CM10.2(Android 4.3)
  Download Gapps (Google Apps) for CM10.1 or Gapps for CM10.2
  Connect your phone to your computer via USB and place ROM and Gapps files in root of SD card (make sure they are on SD card)
  Download ROM Manager and reboot into recovery. You can also manually reboot into recovery by powering off your phone, pressing and
  holding volume up, power and home key.
  Create a backup.
  Wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache partition and dalvik cache (found in advanced)
  Install the ROM from the SDCard
  Install Gapps from the SDCard
  Reboot phone and let it sit for a few minutes while it boots for the first time. It may take a few minutes, and this is only evident
  upon initial boot.

  You will likely run into issues with non functional WiFi. To resolve
  this, after flashing the ROM, follow these simple steps:

  Download this file.
  Power off the phone.
  Hold volume down, power and home button to enter download mode.
  Press volume up to enter download mode.
  Connect phone to your computer
  Open Odin and flash the downloaded file as Bootloader (You should see a green box that indicates that the method passed and worked)
  Reboot the phone and test WiFI

Samsung Kies is no longer recognizing your phone because you've replaced the operating system by installing a custom ROM (CyanogenMod in this case.)  Simply rooting it and leaving stock Samsung firmware would've been sufficient, and wouldn't interfere with Kies.  You should have stopped after the "Install SuperSU" step.

With that said, here are the instructions for returning back to stock Samsung firmware:

Galaxy Express comes in different flavors, depending on your country and/or carrier.  Find out the exact model number of your device (e.g. GT-I8730/T for international version, or SGH-i437 for US AT&T/GoPhone) and download the latest firmware from here. Make sure to pick the correct region.
Make sure you have taken a full backup of the contents of your device. Flashing factory firmware will wipe your device clean.
Extract the downloaded zip file to your desktop. You should get a file with a .tar.md5 extension (.md5 extension may not be visible in Windows)
Download ODIN (instructions here). This is a special tool used to flash firmware files on to Samsung devices. Extract the downloaded zip file to your desktop
Make sure you have installed all the necessary device drivers for your phone on your PC. You can also get the drivers by installing Samsung Kies
On your phone, enable USB Debugging from Settings -> Developer Options
On the PC, launch ODIN. Click the PDA button in ODIN and load the stock 4.1.2 firmware .tar file you got in Step 3
Make sure everything else in ODIN is left at default values. Just make sure Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time boxes are checked, and the RePartition box is left unchecked
Switch off your device and reboot it to Download Mode by pressing and holding Volume Down+Home+Power buttons together. At the warning screen, press Volume Up to enter Download Mode
Connect your phone to the PC via USB cable now
ODIN should display the message Added! and the ID:COM port box in ODIN will turn yellow
Click the Start button in ODIN to start flashing the stock firmware on to your device.
Once ODIN has successfully flashed the file, it should display the message PASS!, and your phone should reboot automatically
Disconnect your device from the PC now, and proceed to set up your phone.

After the above process is successfully completed, you can try rooting your phone again.  This time do not install a custom firmware, and you should be all set.


Android keyboard flickers on and off when typing When I type on my Android keyboard, it flickers on and off, I'm not sure why. I'm using Samsung Galaxy S3 if it matters.

How to fix it?

Disable the hardware overlays from the developer options.

Go to Settings - Developer options
Tick Disable HW overlays.

It should drastically fix the flickers or at least help until the fix is merged.


How to unlock nexus 5X without deleting data on forgetting pin i forgot my pin to unlock the phone. Even after entering wrong pin 15 to 20 times, it kept on asking me to enter the pin after 30 seconds. But never prompted me if i have forgotten my pin.
I tried restarting my phone and it went to airplane mode. And now, on entering wrong pin, it says "warning: your device will be wiped after 9 more failed attempts to be unlocked".
Does anyone have any idea how to unlock without erasing my data. Please help.

android version after 4.4 does not ask user if they have forgot pin or password, not sure why will they do it, but unfortunately android have been  designed in such a secure way that they don't want anyone to have access to our data even though they breach into our device by whatsoever means, so there is no means you can have access to your data without a password or if there were a way someone else would also have been able to do the same.
If you are thinking about rooting unless its already bootloader unlocked your device is unable to be broken into for data


lenovo a6000 internal storage 0 mb. unable to mount data. system cache My phone is Lenovo A6000 Plus. It got encrypted by mistake and now after a lots of efforts its got bricked. No OS. TWRP is running only after getting command though fastboot boot recovery.img. Everything is wiped default TWRP splash screens.

When I try to wipe it or try to flash any zip or img it shows errors like "unable to mount /data / system /cache". I think its internal storage got encrypted.

I tried everything. Changed a lot of TWRP but not working. Not able to flash any custom ROM. Not able to wipe anything due to this error. Internal storage shows 0 mb. Not showing in MTP device.

Is there any way to completely wipe internal storage or make it visible in PC so I could format it? I tried every flashing tool for lenovo like QFIL lenovo downloader but not working at all.

Please help.

Your phone isn't bricked as you say, since the bootloader enables you to boot into its recovery mode. That picture shows that the md5 file wasn't found and there was a failure in verifying zip signature. Have you tried other images?


Okay Google option to open from lock screen using Moto G 3rd Gen Can anyone help me? On my Moto g 3rd Gen I cannot open by saying OK Google from the lock screen. In fact it doesn't even give me that option. The only option that i have when i go to my OK Google detection in the settings is "FROM THE GOOGLE APP"-Say OK Google to start a voice search from the Google app or any Home screen in the Google Now Launcher. That's it. I have tried everything. I have spoken to Motorola a number of times and they are, to say the least, clueless. I also contacted Google and they understood what I was saying but had no idea's on how to fix it. If anyone can help me - Please, I'm taking suggestions.

Sometimes it's just the gapp you have. I had a rom that had gapps preinstalled and the option wasn't there, but when I flashed official gapps from opengapps.org it gave me the option.


Sharing Browser Links between PC and Phone I'm starting a wiki to compile a short list of browsers, apps, extensions, etc. that allow users to easily link or bookmark webpages between their PC and phone. This is ultimately just a "best apps" question, so answers should be made CW. I placed an answer below. Any other suggestions are appreciated!

If you're running Android 4.0+, just use Google Chrome both on PC and Android, and associate it with the same Google account. This allows you to sync your browsers so that you can see open tabs from both locations on all devices. You can even have multiple PCs/OSs synced, just use the same Google account.

  "Sign in to Chrome to sync your open tabs, bookmarks, passwords, and omnibox data from your computer to your phone or tablet.  Pick up right where you left off."


Samsung S3 - Device Memory Damaged I have a Samsung S3 GT-i9300 which has an error on booting up. It goes through the Samsung splash screen then displays the following:

Device Memory Damaged
The data partition has been corrupted. You need to reset your device to factory defaults. This will erase all your
data.

I really don't want to delete the data and am looking to recover the media from the device. I'm not bothered about getting the phone working again really.
I can boot into download (ODIN) mode, but this doesnt really assist (or does it?). I can also boot into recovery mode but I get the following errors also:
E:failed to mount /data (Invalid argument)
can't mount '/data'(Invalid argument)
E:failed to mount /data (Invalid argument)
E:Can't mount /data/log/recovery_log.txt

The device shows in Nautilus on my Ubuntu system but fails to mount. I can select the option to 'Apply update from ADB' and running adb devices shows as:
$ ./adb devices
List of devices attached
4df74280146d3071    sideload

Is this of any use to me? Is there a way I can get into the storage to salvage what's there. Can I load a custom rom without deleting everything, or if I do delete everything is there a way to recover the deleted files?

You could get the same version of your operating system as flashable zip-file for the recovery mode and flash it, or use Odin to flash a kdz-file of it. If the files you'd like to get back are not in the system folder (like music or images) there is a chance they will still be there with the flashed system. Just don't do any formatting prior to flashing!


How can I automatically connect to my company's wifi? My Samsung Galaxy S6 with Android 7.0 automatically connects to my home wifi when in range. However, in my company, it only shows me a notification that I can click on to connect to the company's wifi (which then makes me accept terms by clicking on a button every single time.)

Is there any way to make this at least partially automatic, i.e. opening the page with the button automatically instead of just showing a notification? Or even saving my answer to this wifi page and using it during the next connection attempts?

It can be completely automated.

First, you need to know how button click data is submitted to the server: GET (less likely) or POST

If data is submitted to server using GET, just record the URL after submission. If data is submitted using POST, intercept the HTTP header when you click the button (there are lots of softwares for that; for example this Chrome plugin can log everything).

Now, install Tasker in your Android device.

Set Trigger as State ~> Net ~> Wi-Fi Connected and enter SSID of company Wi-Fi.
Set Action as Net ~> HTTP GET or Browse URL if button click data is submitted using GET. Otherwise, set Action as Net ~> HTTP POST or HTTP Head and enter the intercepted HTTP head data.


Problem with signing into wifi network through android How to tackle this problem of signing into wifi network? When I connect to WiFi networks, it comes up with a notification to 'Sign into WiFi network.' Is it a permanent problem? If not please let me know what is the solution?

This occurs when the Wi-Fi network is a captive portal. The network lets you connect to it, but it redirects all web traffic to the Wi-Fi network's own page - typically a login page, or a form to accept some terms and conditions before you can use the network.

When you click the notification, the phone will open a browser to let you sign into the network. Once you've done this, the network will stop redirecting your web traffic, you'll be able to use the internet as normal, and the notification will go away.

If you can't do this (you don't want to accept the terms, or you don't have an account to sign in with on this network), you should "forget" the network in the Wi-Fi settings, so that the phone won't bother connecting to it again.


Nexus 5 stuck in boot screen My phone is Nexus 5, not rooted, android version 4.4.4

I hated the "swipe up" gesture for google now, bacause I'd sometimes do the gesture by accident.
So I read somewhere that I should disable "Google Search" from apps, to disable the gesture.
But that just messed things up. After disabling, it showed a few errors, so I powered off the device, thinking that a restart would fix things.

Now I'm stuck in a boot loop ( four circles converging into one ).
I read elsewhere that I should hold power + volume down button, and go into Recovery Mode , did that, but it then got stuck in a screen showing "No command".

How do I fix this ?
I'm a newbie in this, so please answer in detail.
Also I have my data backed up, so if I could somehow just reset it, that'd work too.

Apparently, the 'Google Search' app now contains large parts of the application launcher in Android 4.4.4. Thus, disabling it also stops the launcher and the next reboot leaves you in a catch-22 situation.

With previous versions of Android 4 this wasn't a problem - one could disable 'Google Search' without such drastic side effects. Use-case: make the annoying search bar disappear from the home screen.

The tricky part then is to get into the settings to re-enable the 'Google Search' app.

Booting into the recovery mode does not help. It just reports 'no command'.

But, fortunately, you can still talk with ADB (Android Debug Bridge) to the device (after a normal boot, when the 4 circle animation is playing).

Thus, you can connect your device via USB to your computer. Assuming a Linux system you can enter the adb shell via typing

$ adb shell

in your terminal.

The ADB prompt is something like:

shell@hammerhead:/ $

There you can directly start the settings via:

shell@hammerhead:/ $ am start -n com.android.settings/.Settings
Starting: Intent { cmp=com.android.settings/.Settings }

In the settings you can go to 'applications' there swipe right to the 'disabled' category - where you can find 'Google Search' and you can enable it again.

One can probably install an alternative launcher - and if that works the disabling of the google launcher (aka 'Google Search') should not be a problem.


Is there a way to set a time frame for updating applications? I would like to know if there's a way to limit when the applications are updated by the system.

For example, I set the system to update applications only between 00:00 and 03:00. If an app has an update available at 15:00, the system won't download and update it, because of the time frame set.

This feature is similar to Microsoft's Windows Update. You can set when the system will look for updates in there.

The problem is that if my device isn't powerful enough, downloading and updating multiple applications at a time will degrade the device's performance significantly, so I would like it to update when I'm not using it.

This is a great question, it is possible to do.

Install Tasker (not free)
Install Tasker plugin AutoInput (not free)
Set auto input to open play store, tap the drawer, tap updates & update all.
Note, sometimes for an update a dialogue pops up saying 'this app needs new permissions' you could get autoinput to tap accept or skip a couple of times in case it does pop up.


Does the built-in Google app data backup work? This question is a long time coming I guess. I have been seeing claims in Android since the dark ages that our data is being backed-up to the cloud, and recently "Sync App Data" showed up as well in the account settings. However when I have to restore, all I get is the apps I had, and a very small restore.. perhaps wifi passwords and desktop wall paper from what I see. So my question is this..

Does the in built-in backup service work?

I see from code documentation, that the apps need to manage it manually. I guess then it is possible that some apps do not support this?
Is this backup service actually supposed to backup app data or only just system data?
Is installing helium or similar 3rd party services the only way to go?

Second minor question. Am I right in understanding that Helium and its adb backup bretheren rely on the opt in android service, and that Titanium backup and their ilk just copy all possible files of the app and thus do not require the opt in service?

p.s. Am sorry if there is a good post about these details, much of what I see is very cynical posts which plug one of the aforementioned 3rd party software.

Does the in built-in backup service work? Yes.

But maybe not how you expect/want. As you mentioned apps need to 'opt in' to backup data and most apps don't actually use this. I'm only aware of a couple that do. As far as i know, the backed up data is only actually restore to a device when the device is initially set up, not when you install an app from the Play store that you've previously used (i could be wrong on this though). Google recently launched a way for games to sync progress between devices which more apps seem to be using and are publicising this more.

Helium and adb backup work differently in that they backup the data stored on the device and don't require opt in. Helium uses the adb backup method so essentially they work the same way (although it doesn't require a pc to perform the backup).

Titanium Backup backs up the apk and the appropriate 'data' folder (NOT the folder on your sd card by default) and again this does not require any opt in from the app developer.

Personally i use Titanium Backup as it was the only option when i first rooted my first phone. I've not used Helium so can't say if it's better/worse. When i have used adb backup (not via Helium) it took a long time to backup/restore but it does work quite well.


Disable gmail notifications for certain labels during certain hours I want to shut off gmail notifications (not SMS or calls) for specific labels (not all labels) from 11 pm to 8:30 am every day.

Turning off sync (or turning off all notifications) during those hours will not work, because I still need to get notifications for certain emails at all times.

Is there a way to do this? I don't see a way to do it in IFTT. Don't want to purchase a paid app unless I have confirmation that it will work.

My phone is encrypted and not rooted, if that makes any difference.

You can use the app Quiet for Gmail, it will enable/disable the synchronization based on your schedule. And you set it up to disable synchronization just for your work email account and leave your personal email always on.

You can find the app here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sgarcia.quiet_for_gmail


How do I remove the search bar in ICS? Is there a way to remove the search bar from all of the home screens in Ice Cream Sandwich?   I have a Nexus S, which already has a hard-button for search, so the search bar is redundant.  Long pressing on it doesn't seem to do anything useful.

You can't remove it from the stock launcher, it's a permanent fixture. You can, however, install a custom launcher which is based on the stock one like Apex Launcher or Nova Launcher.

You can also disable the Google Search app completely if you want to, but then you won't be able to use it at all (also discussed on Google Groups).


Does Razr i connect to PEAP protected wi-fi networks? I have tried to connect to a "eduroam" network (PEAP) but it did not work in my Motorola Razr i, Android 4.0.4 . Any tips?

I have the same phone and got it to work on eduroam just now (was actually googling for solutions when I managed to solve it myself).  Was your problem also that you couldn't find the right part of the settings?  Weirdly you need to first just try to connect any old how (so it's saved as a network you use) and then long-press on it and choose "modify network".  This time you get a much longer list of options and can choose PEAP etc as in the university instructions -- at least, my university instructions work (http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/network/wireless/services/eduroam/android/) and I believe the point of the network is that you only need to set it up once.

However I'm already on the 4.1.2 update.  If you still can't get on you could check if the OTA is available for you yet (all settings -> about phone -> system updates).


If I can flash a ROM using adb or SP Flash Tool, is CWM (ClockWorkMod) Recovery really needed? I have a general question about flashing ROMs and recovery. I've flashed stock ROM on my Asus Fonepad before using adb & fastboot when their last OTA update had issues. Similarly, I've used the SP Flash Tool too to backup and flash ROMs on my MTK6572 based mobile in the past.

However, I've been hearing a lot about CWM recovery. Of what use it really is? Is it just another flashing tool like the others?

edit

As explained in comments, I know what CWM Recovery is and is used for. I specifically want to know what extra benefit it offers that others like adb/fastboot and SP_Flash_Tool don't?

Rest of tools require a pc to flash but this CWM stays in your mobile and you can flash roms directly just using your own mobile.


Mobile Data blocked while getting/sending phone call and message I have 2 sim cards in my phone Samsung J7 Pro. Whenever I used the packet data for internet using sim 2 and there's phone call or message coming in my internet got blocked. I used packet data because it's the only reliable internet connection I have right now. How to totally block all incoming call or messages to avoid my packet data blocked while using the internet?, Thanks in advance.

This all depend on your network provider. And also android operating system.
Generally in 2G network  when you get call, mobile data turn off. while in 3g you can use call and data simultaneously. This also depend on network strength and hardware.
while in 4G LTE, you can connect internet and make call.
So choose network which support data + voice.
kindly provide what is written near your network signal strength at the top of the screen E or 4G Volte.


Android not detecting USB though it is connected I am using YU YUREKA that runs on Cyanogenmod 11.0 with Android 4.4.4. Suddenly I found that my device is not detecting the USB connection. Though my phone is getting charged, it shows 'USB not connected' in the tethering option. I have checked that with different computers and USB cables but without use.

Later I go to Settings > Developers options > Android debugging and enable the Android Debug Bridge (adb). Then my device starts to detect the USB.

But when I turn off the Developers option, again it stops detecting the connection. If anyone could help me in this matter.

Also is it safe to use tethered data connection with debugging mode turned on?

To answer the last question first, yes it is save to tether with debugging mode on.

I'm not sure about the answer to the first question, because i'm not well known with cyanogenmod. If you were a normal android user i'd suggest looking if the MTP or PTP settings are set well. You can find these under Settings > Storage > USB computer connection

Hope this helps. I found this useful on my Nexus 4 using android 4 and android 5


Best file system for an external SD card I have a Galaxy S5 with Android 5 and got a new 64 GB SD card. What is the best file system for the SD card? FAT32 is not an option because I want files >4GB. Which file system offers the best performance ? Thank you for your help.

The answer to your question is built into your phone's OS.
1. Put the SD card in your phone
2. Reformat the SD card with your phone(Settings --> Storage/Storage & USB)
3. The file system on the freshly formatted SD card is the type that will give   you the best performance with your phone.
4. Outside the context of your phone the optimum file system is another story.


How to disable battery saving when battery level is below 15%? I used an old tablet to operate a smart home. In order to work continuously, I took the battery out of it and connected it to a 4V power source, which works continuously. Based on the measured battery resistance between GND and BSI, I soldered a 10k resistor. After this treatment, the tablet works properly, only despite the constant voltage level, the battery level drops after a few hours to 1%. I would not have a problem with it if the battery saving function did not limit the capabilities of the device. Is there any way to turn it off? The tablet has root access.

You may be able to mock the battery level to 100% by using ADB by the following command:
adb shell dumpsys battery set level 100

The battery level should then stay at 100%.


Why Does ART Compile Apps After Upgrade? I have a Google Nexus 5. Every time I do a system update, I see this message:

  Android is upgrading...
  Optimizing app [x] of [y]

I understand that ART is compiling my apps. What I don't understand is why. What happened to the previous compilations?

Because the ART compiler can get better each version after your OS gets upgraded. If Android makes any improvements to ART including bug fixes, the apps will need to go through the same processes as the compile part of the installation.


Can't get rid of icons with green locks on them I would like to know how to get rid of these icons with the lock, every other app just goes but not these three. I used the small broom icon but these remained there and it didn't happen before. I'm using Android 4.2.2 in a Lenovo vibe x s960 smartphone.

Click for larger version

This is the task bar showing applications currently in main memory. The broom cleans up main memory except "locked" apps. To clean them up, you can flick them up one by one.

Yet, with Android it is not necessary to do this in the vast majority of cases. Android OS does a pretty good job of managing memory and swapping apps to storage.


Use android phone as bluetooth receiver in car In my car I have my old Android phone as the GPS and music player. I was hoping to use it as a receiver for my calls coming to my other phone and any bluetooth devices around it streaming music. Is there a way to do this? I have searched Google thouroughly.

Technically it is possible with most Bluetooth Android phones  but you would have to root your device and find a ROM  with source code  like CyanogenMod and rewrite the Bluetooth driver.


How to assign default app to unlisted file type in Android 6.0 Marshmallow, is it possible to assign a default app to a file type that isn't listed yet? Specifically, I have *.notes for plain text notes, and *.md files for markdown. Windows is set to open them with my editor.

Is this possible in Android? So far, I can only assign default apps to file types that are already listed. Not to ones that aren't yet. From here etc., I find several different apps all called 'default app manager'. None of them seem to offer what I want.

Any suggestions?

Although this is slightly programming related, nevertheless;

You can't assign an application to open a specific file extension (.notes or .md in this case) if the application has no explicit intent filter declared in manifest file to open that extension type.

When an app is created it usually has various intent categories and intent filters for  particular file extension(s) that makes android to recognise the capability to open a file extension.

If the declared intent filter matches that of a particular file say .pdf  then android populates and lists all available applications capable of handling that file type, otherwise if no application contains thie specific intents to open/browse etc the particular file extension (.md or .notes in this case) then there is no way to set a default application for that file extension or at least to open that extension.

To expand on this lets consider an intent filter for a cetain application capable of opening/handling audio files:

 <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW"/>
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE"/>
                <data android:scheme="content"/>
                <data android:scheme="file"/>
                <data android:mimeType="application/x-flac"/>
                <data android:mimeType="audio/*"/>
                <data android:mimeType="application/ogg"/>
                <data android:mimeType="application/x-ogg"/>
                <data android:mimeType="application/itunes"/>
            </intent-filter>

In the named intents categories this audio application will have the capability to handle files extensions of audio types including .ogg and itunes file types.

Unless the intents to browse or open these file extensions have been declared in the manifest files of your already installed applications, you can't assign any application to be default. Either you first have to install an app capable of handling such extension or create your own application using suitable filters.

Related:  Android intent filter for a particular file extension?


Where does Android store fingerprint data? I am looking for the files that correspond to the recorded fingerprints on my Nexus 6P and a way to "reset" the fingerprint system. Something similar to how Android stores lock screen settings (pattern etc.) under /data/system/locksettings.db*, and you can remove the lock screen by deleting these files (if you have root access).

The reason I am asking is because after a TWRP restore on a new Nexus 6P, my fingerprint hardware is not working anymore. The error message is Fingerprint hardware not available. Also see this question: "Fingerprint hardware not available" after TWRP restore

All five previously recorded fingerprints show up on the settings UI, but I am not able to delete them by clicking "Delete".

try removing these files also

/data/system/users/0/fpdata/user.db
/data/system/users/0/settings_fingerprint.xml

Instead of removing files, appending the filenames with some random extension would be better. So, if anything goes wrong we can revert the changes.
eg: user.db -> user.db.xyz or xyx_user.db

I faced the same error too and this worked for me.


Will deleting my whatsapp account delete my messages from my contacts phone? I wanted to know if my messages will still be visible to the people I sent them to in the past when I delete my whatsapp account. I basically want my whatsapp messages to be deleted from their phone.

The messages you sent will still reside in the recipient's Whatsapp even if you delete your Whatsapp account.


Maximum SD card class for Samsung Galaxy S4 I am thinking of getting a 64 GB micro SDXC card, but I am unsure wether to get a class 10 or UHS-1 for my I9505G with 16 GB.

I've read so many conflicting reports. Some say that the max the device supports for proper function is class 6. Others say that the UHS-1 card works just fine.

What is the maximum class that the device allow to work properly?

Use Class 10 SD cards. There will be fewer problems.


Why doesn't my Desire S support RTL? When I bought my Desire S in Israel I was under the assumption that it's OS (Android 2.3) came with built in Hebrew support.

When I turned the phone on I discovered that there isn't an option to choose Israel as a locale and that I don't even don't have a Hebrew keyboard.  That doesn't bother me (despite the fact that it should be supported) as much as the fact that even after I downloaded a Hebrew keyboard my SMSs and other little things in Hebrew appear left to right and not right to left (RTL).

What can I do to make it appear in the correct RTL way?

From my experience I would guess you've bought a device imported by a private store rather from a local carrier, the people where you bought it should have replaced the stock rom into a hebrew supporting one after opening the package. I had the same thing done to my device after purchase and it won't void your warranty in any way.

either ask them to do so or just root your device and flash a hebrew rom from the web (may void warranty).


No mobile data with CM13 I have flashed CM13 onto my Samsung Galaxy S3, and since then, mobile data does not work. I am logged in into the network and I can make calls and receive SMS, so the IMEI / EFS data is still there and working. Connecting to the mobile network works, too, the "mobile data" button is enabled.

No matter which app I try to use, none of them can connect to the internet with mobile data. I only get error messages. However, resetting the mobile data statistics and then trying again still gives me error messages, but a few kilobytes of data usage appear in the statistics.

I already tried:
- Wipe Cache
- Re-flash CM13
- Restart phone a dozen times
- Enable and disable Airplane Mode a dozen times
- Deleting the APN and re-entering the exact information I got from my provider
- Completely disable and uninstall AFWall+
- Disable any "data restriction" / security / privacy settings I could find that could possibly cause this

What else could be the problem? Why does my mobile data not work?

If someone still has no mobile data, delete all APNs except the one you need. That fixed it for me after a lot of time of investigation


clockworkmod/backup can it be removed? Today I installed cyanogenmod JB on my galaxy note and I found this huge directory (2.47GB) in the /sdcard partition. Can it be removed or it could be useful? Can I move it on my pc?

Thanks in advance

Two times yes: Of course it can be removed, and of course it can be useful. At that place ClockworkMod stores the nandroid backups you've created with it, and from that place you can restore them when need for that arrives.

In case of an external SDCard, and when space on it is precious to you, you could simply copy its contents to your computer, and then empty the directory. Or just keep the latest backup on it. If you need to restore one of the removed backups, it then would be possible to use a card reader, copy them back, and re-insert the card to your device so they can be found.


Nexus 7 and ethernet connection In places where there's no wi fi, wired internet connection is sometimes available. But reading around it seems there's a bug in my Nexus 7 (2013) - Android updated to 4.4.2 - that prevents an ethernet connector from working.

Is this correct? Has there been any response from Google about it - a firmware fix? I'm not really up to doing my own patching.

Many people have reported that Plugable's adapter works.


Why do new photos take so long to show up in the Gallery? If I take some photos, and then go to the Gallery app, those photos do not always appear immediately.  I've tried causing the Gallery to refresh, but the images simply do not appear for more than 15 minutes.  I can open the Camera app again and browse through them, so I know they have been stored.

Is there a way to eliminate the latency between when a photo is taken using Camera and when it appears in Gallery?

The delay is because the Android media scanner process doesn't run constantly. There's an app in the market to force it to run -- http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.addz.mediascanner

I haven't used this app personally, but it is highly rated.


Storage Space running out - can't access phone at all I have an LG Volt (LS740).  Woke up this morning and couldn't get into the phone at all.  When swipe, I just get black screen. Notification indicates "Storage space running out: Some system functions may not work" but clicking on notification just gives me black screen.  Rebooting the phone doesn't seem to help.

I've gone thru similar questions posted but they all seem to have access to either Settings or a file manager.  I can't access any functions on the phone.  Occasionally I can get the icon desktop, but the system won't respond to taps.

Do I need a reset of the phone or is there some magic incantation I can perform to get some control back?

My wife's been getting this on her Ls740 lately. A temporary fix is to go into settings / apps and sort by size. The app using the most space will show up at the top. In her case it's the "google play services" thats going crazy and using up all available memory (currently at 2.4 gb). Click on it and select "clear all data". That fixes it for about 24 hours but then it happens again. I still have not figured out whats causing it. I have the identical phone and do not have the problem.

I did try a factory reset too but it didn't solve the problem.


Setting up mail client. Trying to connect only to the incoming server, avoid setting an outgoing server up I have an Android 4 mobile phone and I'm trying to use the stock email client to connect to a webmail service.

The thing is that I am only interested in receiving my mail. I don't need to be able to send from my phone. Is something like connecting only to the incoming server and leaving the outgoing server settings blank possible? If not, are there any other email apps that offer this feature?

For the SMTP server details, try entering a server like mail.messagingengine.com and NOT entering any authentication details. The client will connect but because no auth details are provided, even if you attempt to send emails, the server just won't accept the connection and the emails will remain in the outbox.


Can Nokia X,X+,XL run android apks? Can Nokia's new android phones run android apks just like in other androids via package installer? I heard there is no google play store, can I use a google play apk or flash gapps that brings one more question is their bootloader unlocked and rootable?

You can side-load any Android app provided you have the APK.

However, by default these phones do not come pre-installed with Google's core applications like the Play Store. But you can "hack" the devices and install Google Apps. Needless to say it will void warranty and root access is required.

There is this guide in XDA Forums that should help people install Google Services on their Nokia X device.


How can I root the Amazon FireTV? I would like to root my Amazon FireTV so I can sideload applications on it. Like XBMC (Kodi), Google Play, Google Play Movies.

My FireTV OS version is 51.1.1.0_user_511070220. Can I root it? What are the steps to root it?

Important: Not all versions of the FireTV can be rooted. See below if your version can be rooted.

For a list that may be more up-to-date, see AFTVNews software list.

  Due to recent software updates that block rooting, some Fire TVs
  cannot be rooted. To know if your Fire TV can be rooted, check your
  software version by going to: Settings > System > About on your Fire
  TV.

51.1.4.3_user_514020320

Released: 2/5/2015
Rootable: NO

51.1.4.2_user_514015320

Released: 12/15/2014
Rootable: NO

51.1.4.1_user_514013920

Released: 11/18/2014
Rootable: NO

51.1.4.0_user_514005520

Released: 10/23/2014
Rootable: NO

51.1.4.0_user_514006420

Released: 10/23/2014
Rootable: NO

51.1.3.0_user_513010720

Released: 10/26/2014
Rootable: NO

51.1.3.0_user_513011820

Released: 9/25/2014
Rootable: NO

51.1.3.0_user_513011520

Released: 9/13/2014
Rootable: NO

51.1.2.0_user_512073320

Released: 8/13/2014
Rootable: NO
Notes: As of 1/1/2015, all updates after this date have not been rootable.

51.1.1.0_user_511070220

Released: 7/9/2014
Rootable: YES

51.1.1.0_user_511069920

Released: 6/25/2014
Rootable: YES

51.1.0.2_user_510058520

Released: 4/29/2014
Rootable: YES

51.1.0.1_user_510055620

Released: 4/7/2014
Rootable: YES

51.1.0_user_510047320

Released: 4/2/2014
Rootable: YES

If you made it this far, congratulations! You have a build of FireOS that is rootable. Let's proceed

Download TowelRoot by clicking on the Red Icon

Download SuperSU Apk - We need the APK because we do not have Google Play - XDA Thread for SuperSU
Side load the applications on to the FireTV - This is beyond this question, I may do a Q&A for this in the future. In the mean time, look for adbFire to sideload the apps or Ask a Question for help with this step.
Launch towelroot from your FireTV application menu
Use the remote and click make it ra1n button

Wait for towelrootto finish.

You may need to reboot.

Launch SuperSU
Update su binary if you are asked.
Verify you have root access - see how can I tell if I have root

this can be done from a console/terminal window and connect to the FireTV via adb

adb connect xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:5555
adb shell su

You should be promted on your FireTV with a Grant request


Can other apps play music from my Google Music library? I have uploaded my song collection to Google Play Music, and use my phone to listen to them.

Now, if I copy the original music files directly to my phone storage, I can then use any app I want to play them. But what about music synced via Google Play Music?

If I download the songs to my phone in offline mode, can any other app be used to play the same collection (just like with the files), or are they only accessible by Google Play Music app?

They're only accessible from Google Play Music. It stores them somewhere in the internal space of the app, not in the music library of the phone. There is no way to tell the app to move the file somewhere else at the moment, and no way that I'm aware off to point other app to that specific folder.

That's the main reason why I don't use Google Play Music. I want to be in control of my music folder.


night mode with reverse video? I have seen apps that lower the brightness, but is there a way to get rid of all light colored backgrounds such as (selectively?) inverting the image colors? For instance, I have an app that only provides black ink on a white background; this emits a lot more light at any brightness level than if I could reverse it to show white ink on a black background while in night mode.  Ideally even all light colors would turn to solid black and all dark ones to a gray light enough to see. Some apps provide the ability to control these colors, but others do not.

Is there some in-built way to accomplish this starting with any specific Android version, or some other way to accomplish this? Simply reducing "brightness" is insufficient when the goal is to be able to use the tablet for short periods during the night without disturbing one's partner or even affecting one's own sleep cycle.

Update: Also, it seems the backlight by itself emits a lot of light even on a black screen, and the filter approach does not seem to affect this at all.

I have found under setting (in Android 4.3 anyway) that I can go to Device: Accessibility:Negative Colors.  This will produce the "inverse video" effect so normally white backgrounds are black.  In conjunction with normal (or app enhanced) screen dimming this reduces liht significantly over the normal black on white output.

I will update this answer if I find a way to control backlight brightness.

Update: This mechanism does not work when the onscreen keyboard is involved, as those are typically dark and negative video makes them too bright.


How to save Facebook and Skype information to Google contacts? I've looked around this site and in spite of what I read I can't figure out the following:

How do I save my merged contact information into a Google contact?

For instance, I have a friend F who has a phone number Fp a mail address Fm, a Skype username Fs and and Facebook username Ff. Although these data are merged into a single F contact on android, I cannot see Fs and Ff in F's Google contact.

How can I really merge the data so it all shows into Google accounts?

Yes you can, as far as Facebook you need to use an external agent. Here is what I mean:

Because Facebook does not work with Google very well you have to sign up for Yahoo! Mail.
In the contacts option you will be able to import your contacts from Facebook. Once you do that you can then export them as a spreadsheet and then once again import them into Google Contacts using the import feature.

Skype would be different as you would have to class their Skype username as a note rather than a phone number or email, you would have to do that manually.


Link2SD: mounting /dev/block/vold/179:66 on /data/sdext2 failed: No such file or directory I am using a rooted Xperia Z5 Compact E5823 with the latest stock Android 6.0 ROM.
I am trying to use a 2nd partition with Link2SD but so far I always get the same "No such file or directory"-error:

Mount script error
Mount script cannot be created.
mount: mounting /dev/block/vold/179:66 on /data/sdext2 failed: No such file or directory

To format my microSD card I've used GParted under Debian with ext2, 3, and 4, always as primary partition. I've also used TWRP recovery to format this 2nd partition. With this I have only tried ext3, which my Debian recognizes as ext2 and there seems to be no way to choose which type of partition (I suppose they have primary as default). With TWRP I could also try ext4 but preferred to 1st post here.
I do see a /data/sdext2 folder with help of a root file browser. This folder is empty.
The "file" /proc/partitions does show a 179  66  2000000  mmcblk1p2 entrance, which correspond to the second partition of my external SD card.
Link2SD has superuser permissions and its mount script /data/data/com.buak.Link2SD/init-link2sd.sh looks like this:

set +e
echo "$(date) mounting..." > $LOG
sleep 2
mount -t ext2 -o rw /dev/block/vold/179:66 /data/sdext2 1>>$LOG 2>>$LOG
mount -t ext2 -o rw /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /data/sdext2 1>>$LOG 2>>$LOG
mount >> $LOG
echo "$(date) mount finished" >> $LOG
chmod 773 /data/dalvik-cache

You can use application "Apps2SD" mount a 2nd partition (after remove it and use Link2SD). (Don't use it if you only use 1 partition is sdext2) If you use android 6.0 and use both 2nd partition and "Adoptable storage" use "Root Explorer" go to path "/etc/apps2sd-mountscript.sh" edit it. Because use 2 partition, so default it use if create is "dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /data/sdext2", you change it to "dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /data/sdext2" (I use Sony M4 aqua dual)


Using emulator as a monitor to my phone? The screen of my Google Pixel burned out the other day. The phone still works, but the screen doesn't turn on. Is it possible to connect to my phone via adb and use an emulator to see what the phone is doing (essentially, use an emulator as an external monitor)?

I can connect to the phone via adb and use shell, but what I need to do is access my Google Authenticator to get two factor authentication codes.

Not tried this but there are possible solutions to this:

Using Visor

Add Vysor as an app on Chrome.
Connect mobile device with USB debugging on.
Allow debugging on the popup that comes on the phone.
Vysor should then start showing the phone screen.
Vysor lets the user project the screen and also control the phone from the PC.

Using Droid@Screen software (requires JAVA runtime)

  Droid@Screen is a tool that will show the screen of your phone, once
  all previous steps have been completed (i.e. drivers installed, usb
  debugging enabled, etc).

Download latest version of Droid@Screen here: http://droid-at-screen.org/download.html
Set adb in PATH variables or just navigate to the platform-tools dir to start it.
Whenever you want to project the device, start Droid@Screen  and plug in your device. Droid@Screen will automatically start showing the screen.
Your computer screen can then be projected on a bigger screen using a projector.

Alternatively you can use Aidroid or other available commercial tools such as Wondershare MirrorGo

Acknowledgements

Devika, Kristen Burton: Android Phone Screen Projection to your computer


How can I disable Firefox for Android default URL suggestions? I wiped, formatted, and then installed the latest Lineage OS for my device.

When I install Firefox, before I ever browse anything and after turning search suggestions off, I see URL suggestions whenever I begin to type an address.

For example, if I type 't', the URL bar suggests twitter.com; 'ta' target.com; 'te' telegraph.co.uk; 'ti' ticketmaster.com; 'to' toysrus.com; 'tu' tumblr.com; 'aa' aa.com; 'ac' accuweather.com; etc.

I cannot find where to tun off these suggestions, and there is no reasonable way to avoid these suggestions, and 100% are completely useless for me. I want my URL bar to only offer me the suggestions of sites that I have actually visited, not all this garbage noise that Mozilla is puking into my face with.

It's impossible without disabling autocomplete completely and Mozilla maintainers refuse to change it, see this issue: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1267208


Pre-caching limitations and reliability in Google Maps The latest version of the Google Maps application bundled with Android allows me to pre-cache map areas. Each time a pre-cache a point it saves the map in a 10 km hamming radius of that point.

I'm about to take a long vacation in various destination. Can I pre-cache those destinations and reliably use Google Maps there without data connection? Is there a limit to how many areas I can pre-cache (aside from the obvious memory required)? Is the map data guarantee to remain after a few weeks or months, or does it expire after some time?

The number of areas you can pre-cache is limited by the amount of system storage you have available.  It is important to note that the cache is stored in system storage, not the SD card.  Also, the stored data is the base map tiles and landmarks.  You will not be able to get directions based on this downloaded data, but you can browse it offline and track your current location.

The cached data expires and is deleted automatically after 30 days.  If you are not able to refresh your offline data in that time, you may be in trouble.

More data on the feature is available on the Official Google Blog post.


Galaxy S6 stuck on logo screen I was installing trying to install custom ROM on my Samsung Galaxy S6. I have done it previously without problem. I booted up in recovery mode(TWRP) and performed advanced wipe. I checked Dalvik/ART cache, system, cache and data. After wipe was done i pressed reboot button. After that my phone was stuck on Samsung logo screen(the one that says Samsung Galaxy S6 powered by android).

I tried to boot up in recovery and download mode but it just gets stuck on that logo screen. I just want to boot in recovery mode to install ROM.

Ok, I just realized you can go into recovery mode(volume down+home+power button) even when you are on logo screen. Hope it helps


Reset battery history after unplugging charger? As far as I can tell, the stats on the Battery page of Settings records the time from when the battery is booted up onwards. What I'd rather want it to do, is to reset that counter whenever I disconnect the charger so that I can monitor more accurately how long a full charge lasts.

I am aware that there are 3rd party apps like Battery Monitor widget for these things but I'd really want to use the pre-built in options that came with Android.

One thing that comes with Android is the dialer. Try to "call" *#*#4636#*#*. On most devices, this gives you the choice between "since boot", "since last unplugged", and more. Admittedly, the graphics is not that nice as with your screenshot :)


How to properly set the Scrolling Wallpaper? I've set a scrolling wallpaper, but it only accepted 2/3 of the complete image. I've seen some google apps whose wallpapers are 16:9 aspect ratio and still don't overlap and move from extreme left to extreme right. So how can I do the same with my own wallpaper?

And not only the app, If I apply a theme, the wallpaper in that theme also doesn't overlap and moves from extreme left to right.

Refer these images to see what the app is capable of doing, and what happens when I try to do the same with my edited wallpaper. The app in talk is Wallpapers of The Witcher

Using Redmi Note 5 Pro. Other specific details of the phone in screenshot included in the above imgur link.

First time posting here. I've asked this question at 3 different sites with 0 response. I hope I'll get some answer here. I know what I want is possible as the apps are capable of doing so. Also, I found one question asked before with the same thing asking, but it isn't answered. Coincidentally, the previous asker wanted to apply the same wallpaper that I'm interested in.

Thank you.

PS: The art is not mine. It is from Deviantart artist astoralexander.

The image does not seem to be matching the width of your screen. You need an image that is 3 times (exactly 3,240 pixels wide, according to this https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_note_5_pro-8893.php).

What is the width of your image? Of each part?


Unable to uninstall apps I am unable to uninstall any application on my Samsung Galaxy S. I have tried all possible ways (settings-applications-manage applications-uninstall and with the edit option). These applications are the normal ones downloaded from market.

But whenever I reboot my phone those applications are still there in my phone and its as if nothing has changed.

Also I keep getting this "settings.google.application has stopped unexpectedly" and am not able to open any of my apps.

I tried formatting my internal SD card by connecting it to the PC but that also didn't work.

(converted from a comment to an answer)

This might be a file-system problem.

I once got an overfull yaffs2 files system on /data to get frozen and wasn't able to delete/move/update anything. By executing 'dmesg' in a terminal or via adb you could clearly see it, was full of yaffs panic msgs.
Formatting was the only option (aka. factory reset).


Is there a Word Lens alternative/port for Android? Any idea how we can do this in Android?

For those of you at work who can't watch the video, it's a demo of an iPhone app that came out today called Word Lens, which in translates language in real-time through the camera.  If you point it at a sign in Spanish, it doesn't just output a translated text, it makes it look as though the sign were in English.  Un-freaking-believable!

The closest thing I have seen is Google Goggles but I don't think it even comes close to Word Lens.  Am I missing anything?  Do we have any awesomeness like this yet?

Looks like Google Goggles is as good as it's going to get for now.  From what I've read in the comments and around the web it sounds like that Word Lens video makes the app look a lot better than it actually is.  For now it looks like Goggles, while it may not be in real-time is a more accurate option.


HTC Evo's Facebook Sync Reboots Phone After a week's worth of troubleshooting, I have discovered that enabling any sort of account synchronization for "Facebook for HTC Sense" will cause the phone to randomly soft-reboot.  I believe this happens if either "Sync live feed" or "Sync contacts" is checked in "Accounts & sync".

I would like to have my facebook feed available to the facebook widget and I like having my contacts' pictures automatically updated when they change their profile picture.  However, the random reboots are extremely annoying and it also causes a ridiculous amount of battery drain.  One last symptom is that the stock messaging app will continuously scroll you to the bottom of a conversation when you attempt to scroll up.  Is there any way I can get the best of both worlds?

I am running 1.47.651.1 (Android 2.1).  Will upgrading to 2.2 fix this issue?  I haven't upgraded yet because currently their isn't a way to root 2.2 and I'm still on the fence about that.

Good work on not upgrading to 2.2 yet for purposes of rooting!

As for your specific issue, you mention it happens when attempting to sync with facebook and then mention the reboots are random. Are they random or a cause of a specific action? My guess is they would be more random since as far as I know few people have problems with FB. Although there was an issue on HTC servers that caused FB sync to stop working awhile back. I do not think that issue caused any phones to reboot though.

Where did you buy your phone and did you get it brand new or used or refurb? With random reboots I would think you could take it into Sprint and have them look at it if you bout it new, since the likelihood you caused the reboot issue is slim.

Have you looked at the XDA Forums for help? There are a lot of Evo users there and they may be able to help, even if you aren't rooted.

Also I would recommend rooting, check the XDA forums. I don't think a single custom ROM has any issues with FB syncing. Not that rooting will necessarily fix your issues.


How to check which app changes home background image The background of my homescreen keeps changing and I do not know what causes it. I can change the background manually, but after a certain moment of time it just changes automatically to another background. It is really annoying. I mean... I do not hate baby's. But I do not want them randomly eating biscuits on the background of my phone .

An app must have the permission android.permission.SET_WALLPAPER to change wallpaper. I suggest you find out which apps have that permission and than try to disable or remove some of those app one by one until you no longer have that problem.

You can use a permission checker app to find those app. User Izzy maintains a nice list here if you need help finding one. I have used aSpotCat earlier so I'm showing you how you can use it to list all the apps having that permission.

Launch the app.
Choose List apps by permission
Scroll down and choose Misc. Permission
Tap the three horizontal line icon next the Misc. Permission to list the permissions instead of the apps.
In the search bar (tap the lens icon) type android.permission.SET_WALLPAPER
Under Set Wallpaper category you can find the apps which have the permission to change wallpaper.


LineageOS for Samsung Galaxy Young (S6310)? I have a Samsung Galaxy Young (S6310), which I'm re-tasking to play with as a secondary, mini-tablet (with no cellular access i.e. no SIM card inside, just wifi for internet access). My issue is space available on the device for applications, data, etc.

I don't want to use an SD Card, because the one which was in this phone has already been moved to a new phone. Plus, I don't want to buy a new SD card, because the point of this exercise, for me, is to see if (without spending any money) I can take this already-four-year-old phone and get several more years out of it.

I've already removed old pictures/videos on it, old messages, rooted it to remove some unnecessary Samsung and Telstra bloatware, etc. But I'm still not having a whole lot of internal memory available, so my next step (unless I'm missing something which would make the next step unnecessary?) is flashing a different ROM onto the phone. I used CyanogenMod in the past on a different phone, so I'm thinking I might try out LineageOS, CyanogenMod's successor. However, herein lies where I got stuck.

Checking out the download page for LineageOS, after expanding the Samsung models on the left, I can't see the Galaxy Young or its model number in the list of devices at all.

Am I correct, and a ROM for the Samsung Galaxy Young is not available/supported by LineageOS? And if so, could I use a different ROM instead?

For the latter question, I'm assuming "no", but asking anyway in case the answer is actually more along the lines of "not really, but you could, with certain risks".

You didn't look hard enough, but it's probably not your fault, because 1) the site of LineageOS (LOS) does not list devices formerly in the CyanogenMod (CM) build roster, and 2) the device is never a member of the official CM/LOS queue.

There are a bunch of unofficial CM builds on XDA-Developers, all the way up to Android 5.x, with various bugs. See for yourself if you could accept them, and flash them with caution.

However, as for the problem you're attempting to solve (storage space), regrettably no custom ROMs will remedy that. Repartitioning will do, but 1) your device doesn't have a solution for such, and 2) being a low-end device, the storage chip itself is too small for repartitioning to claim space from.

TL;DR: "you could, with certain risks"


Phone only works with busted battery I have a Samsung Galaxy S3. A few days ago I noticed that the phone shut down on it's own, but when I plugged it to a charger it showed that the battery still had 20%. When I removed the battery I noticed that it is slightly swollen. Those look like signs of a busted battery to me.

Now, I bought a replacement, put it in, but the phone doesn't start or charge (not even the red diode is lighting). I've taken my phone to the store where I bought the replacement thinking that I got a broken battery, but the seller tested 2 other batteries (one no-name brand and one original Samsung battery), but neither worked. What does work however is the busted battery. I want to continue using my S3, but I'm at a loos as to how to fix it.

My best guess is that the battery level meter in the phone got decalibrated by the busted battery and the voltage levels on the good ones way too different for it to work.

Any advice?

So I found out why my new battery isn't working, it had a transparent sticker on the power pins (and only on the pins). It was virtually invisible in broad daylight and there was no indicator on the package anywhere that there is such a sticker there (much less that it needs to be removed). It was only when I looked on the battery at a certain angle with electric light that I noticed it.

I'm not an expert on mobile phones and I change phone batteries pretty much never, so maybe that sticker there is common knowledge for everybody else, but the funny thing is, the guy at the shop where I bought the new battery didn't notice it either (and he should have been an expert).


Map Whatsapp media to external SD on rooted Lollipop I've wanted to create a symlink from the Whatsapp media folder on internal storage to external. So I installed FolderMount from XDA, which is claimed to work. Instead, what I've seen is that Whatsapp is unable to write to the new location on the external SD card. When I click on a picture or other media file sent by someone, it downloads it but the blurred thumbnail persists, and when you click on it, it says 'the file was not found on SD Card' or similar.
Does Lollipop deny writing to the external card for apps somehow? The other option I've used is Link2SD to a separate internal partition, but that doesn't work well with Whatsapp either.

Do I need to make sure I'm mapping the actual path to the internal/external storages and not symlinks/aliases, and in that case what would the actual path be?

Symlink should work
Run ln -s /ext/directly /ext/dir/no/fat


Change the language back from Chinese to English on Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 My grandson used my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 and now the language is all in Chinese. What do I have to do to get it back to English as I do not read Chinese?

Go to:

  Settings > My device > Language and input > Language

then set any language you want it to change the menu language. Should be similar to this, just find this icon and follow it step-by-step.


On TurboCharging, "Charging Slowly" message displayed on my phone Moto G4 Plus My Moto G4 Plus has the turbo Charging(30 min Charge 80%) feature.
 But when I connect to a Turbocharger, I get a display message on my
 lock screen as "Charging Slowly".  On connecting a general charger
 Phone charges as usual in 3 hrs. I am curious to know, with only the
 given knowledge, how can I predict whether the issue is in Mobile
 Phone Hardware or Software or the specific Turbo Charger.

Moto phones are quite close to Nexus phones or pure android as commonly referred to, so the explanation below is valid
See Android phone "charging slowly": How to make it faster, for reasons on why charging slowly is displayed, in particular Andrew's excellent answer. To summarise, fast charging/ Turbo charging is achieved by increasing voltage or current or both, i.e. wattage ( being the product of current and voltage), as compared to conventional charging. Andrew's answer explains the values for which such notification appears ( Nexus phone on linked question uses a different type of which charging compared to your device, but that is a minor detail, since OS is flashing the notification based on wattage values and not on type of quick charging)
So, the most likely cause IMO, is that your Turbo charger is not working well or it is not receiving adequate voltage ( connect through a voltage stabiliser, avoiding extension boxes). You can verify otherwise by going to service centre and checking with the Turbo charger sample.

Do revert with your findings

Edit: I own Moto X Play and the charging cable is fused with the charger. If your charging cable can be detached from charger, try replacing with a good charging cable, to eliminate cable issue


Export Firefox Android Bookmarks to html file Is there a way to export Firefox for Android bookmarks to an html file ?

I would like to transfer my mobile bookmarks to my desktop, and would prefer doing it without using Firefox sync or any cloud based extension.

Thanks !

As of 2019, Firefox for Android has no built-in support for exporting bookmarks.

However there are some workarounds/alternatives:

According to the "Chosen Solution" on the Firefox Support Forum, use Firefox Sync for Android to transparently move bookmarks across devices.
Find an add-on (like EverSync).
If your phone is rooted, you can directly query your profile's database.


Tasker - Count The Amount Of Days Since A Certain Day the title says is all
I want to create a task that holds a count from a certain date
My goal is then to use minimal text to display the amount of days, that part I know how to do it's just getting Tasker to do the sums
Any ideas?

You first have to convert both dates to seconds using Variable Convert.  Then subtract those two values to get the number of seconds between the two dates and convert that value to the number of days by /24/60/60 (hours/minutes/seconds).

Here is a sample task that illustrates using 08-01-2014 as %startdate and today (%DATE) which is 08-23-2014 as %today.  The result is 22 days.

A1: Variable Set [ Name:%startdate To:08-01-2014 Do Maths:Off Append:Off ]

A2: Variable Convert [ Name:%startdate Function:Date Time to Seconds Store Result In:%startdateinseconds ]

A3: Variable Set [ Name:%today To:%DATE Do Maths:Off Append:Off ]

A4: Variable Convert [ Name:%today Function:Date Time to Seconds Store Result In:%todayinseconds ]

A5: Variable Set [ Name:%secondssince To:%todayinseconds - %startdateinseconds Do Maths:On Append:Off ]

A6: Variable Set [ Name:%dayssince To:%secondssince / 24 / 60 / 60  Do Maths:On Append:Off ]

You could shorten this a bit by eliminating A3 and replacing %today with %DATE in A4.  Also, you could combine A5 and A6 by using (%todayinseconds - %startdateinseconds) / 24 / 60 / 60.  I split it up only to show the individual steps better.


Use SD card (or part of it) as internal storage I recently rooted and installed CyanogenMod 10 on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7" tablet. My main purpose for doing this was to get rid of the bloatware that came with it so I could have more apps because I was running out of space. However, after installing even fewer apps than I had pre-root, I'm getting insufficient storage error.

I'm guessing there are a couple of solutions for this. I probably have something taking up space that I'm unaware of that can/needs to be removed. There may also be an option to use the SD card as "internal storage"? How do I identify the root of the problem and fix it?

There are a quite a few options.

Open Terminal Emulator and check with the 'df' command, how much space is left on your partitions. Is /data or /system full?
Goto system/apps/all > 'Sort by size to' find out which apps eat up the most space.

Check if you have big size apps installed where you could change data location within the app to sdcard. Thinking of navigation apps and games. Every app where you have to download additional data to the actual app.
Make sure you use the sdcard for media like photos (camera settings) music and video.
CM has a built-in system to move apps to SD under settings/apps/on sdcard. Check apps that are big and you use rarely and are not interactive first. Reason: If you still use the USB feature those moved apps are not available to system anymore and are least likely to cause trouble.

Another option is to use the app FolderMount. Use it to move certain locations to SD like the Download* folder. Or the DCIM folder if the camera doesn't support sdcard location in settings.
Use the app Link2SD which is able to move every bit from an app (including app data) to SD. It has a good overview on how much space an app really needs. You will have to create a separate partition on the SD card for that to work.


Multiple phone numbers per SIM contact Some time ago I owned an Sony Ericson mobile phone. It was able to store a contact on the SIM card and add information like adress or multible phone numbers.

Why isn´t it possible to do the same thing on newer Smartphones?

I heard that old phones stored multiple contacts on the sim card by creating a contat for every information and combine it in the view, could that be true?

The SIM card isn't capable of managing complex records. Due to its limited storage, it only holds one phone number per contact, and also misses other details.

So when your "old phone" allowed for multiple phone numbers with one contact while storing the data on SIM, it must somehow have used multiple contacts, and displayed them in a kind of "merge view" (had it used some own format to achieve this, your SIM contacts would have become incompatible with other devices, so that approach is unlikely). While that would be doable on Android as well, it's not a standard for good reasons: How to tell which contacts to merge? By their name? There might be multiple "John Smith" entries, not necessarily pointing to the very same person.

As long as there's no standard defined, implementations might differ and thus leading to different results – which is the most likely reason it's not done at all.


Eroot World’s Strongest Root Tool: Scam or No Scam - That Is The Question? "Eroot (phone one key root tools) is a free android root tool which is developed by China root team. It is a new tool and become the World’s Strongest Root Tool. Currently the Eroot supports Samsung, Motorola, Huawei, SONY, HTC’s most models, the total number of models have more than 200 models. Root success rate in the industry leader."

Source: Android Groupon

Things that are too good to be true usually are !!

However is this a tool to stay away from or a legitimate product that every android enthusiast should keep by their side ?

Anyone with experience of the above & can comment on its effectiveness, I would be very grateful.

Yes it works.I rooted sony er wt19i with locked bootloader and it installed superuser.You should try.Many people asking can  I do this or that  and never did nothing. How can you know if you didnt try?


My phone is not connecting to the cell network (No Service) I have an Android KitKat based phone. For over a week the phone is getting poor (at times) or no reception but the WiFi and bluetooth is working.

There is a cross near where the range is shown and I get "No Service" in the notification.
This screenshot summarizes my situation:

Here is a list of things I tried to do, but did not solve the problem:

Get a new duplicate sim card.
Use a working SIM card from a different service provider.
Switch to 2G mode and back.
Reset my phone.
Completely flash the stock ROM again.
Flash several modems from XDA.

Edit: Even if it is a hardware issue, is it possible to get some debug information? Like for example, somewhere in the kernel logs, it should be possible to know for sure what is happening, right? What and were to look for this information?

Edit2: Device is Lenovo P780, ROW (not chinese) per OP clarification

Reset Your android
just search for recovery mode buttons combination in google for your android

then choose wipe data/cache in that option


How to close a malware tab in chrome? A webpage got redirected to a "virus alert" malware page and I can't close it.

Deleted the cache, both the general tablet cache as well as the chrome cache, deleted the "unimportant data", did "force stop", restarted the tablet, but chrome still automatically opens that tab where I left off.

Google should make an option to close all tabs on exit or otherwise.

Issue Resolved:
Clicked on a link in another app that opened in chrome, and then by pressing X on as many tabs as fast as i can, was able to close that tab.

(PS Chrome should make a feature whereby you can close all the tabs automatically all at once instead of individually each one.)


Find out model code for Samsun Galaxy 7 edge? Under "About device" I can see my model number is SM-G935F. However when I try and register my phone with Samsung it needs the "Model code/name" eg "SM-G935FZDABTU Galaxy S7 edge United Kingdom".

How can I find this extra information?

see the long list of model codes for your device here.  (Since you didn't mention your country)
OEM says for S7, it is under the battery, so that's likely where you could find, but as mentioned by you , it's not removable

  Reboot the phone into the Download Mode (a.k.a Odin Mode) to see the Model.

( From the developer of Phone info Samsung mentioned in earlier question )


Rooting the HTC Desire Z Just received one of these (SIM Free, UK Version, Android 2.3 with Sense UI).

Can anybody point me towards the simplest and most easiest way to root this handset?

A quick Google search returns these two methods.

I would recommend the manual method.  It's more complicated, but gives you a "better" root ( S-Off, SIM-unlock, SuperCID).


Using an old phone number with Whatsapp on a phone with no SIM card I have the following situation, which though similar to other questions I believe not to be a duplicate.

I currently own a rather old iPhone with a SIM card installed and a new Android phone without. (There is a Verizon SIM card for the new phone, but I am leaving it unactivated it to avoid penalties from Verizon, which which I have no contract.)
I am in the US now on vacation, but new Android phone is intended to accompany me back where I live and not see service in the US in the foreseeable future.
I can't install my old SIM card on my new phone because it is the wrong size, and I am afraid of destroying it if I try to cut it down to nano-SIM size myself. (I guess I'll have to transfer my number to a new nano-SIM card from my provider when I arrive in my home country again.)

Now I would like to be able to use Whatsapp via Wi-Fi on the new phone with my old number and hence appear as my familiar old number to my old contacts. But Whatsapp demands, in order for me to use that number, that I have that SIM card on my new phone. If you send a SMS, rather than letting you respond from the old phone, it tells you it is waiting to autodetect the text on the new phone. When that fails, it offers to voice call the old number, but that number has no service in the US.

I am capable, on the other hand, of registering Whatsapp as a landline, through the voice call option, but this doesn't let me reach my old contacts through Whatsapp, and trying to change to my own number on this app activates the same sequence of countermeasures enumerated in the previous paragraph.

There are numerous solutions posted online, but most are of out of date and seem to be defeated by the current version of Whatsapp, specifically the facts that the SMS must be auto-detected or the voice call must be picked up. The most up-to-date solutions I've found suggest one log into Whatsapp on the web through the browser on the old phone to obtain a QR code scannable on the new phone, but the Whatsapp-on-the-web feature is unavailable to my old iPhone's OS, and upgrading to iOS 8.1 or higher would brick that phone.

But I'm still not willing to concede defeat. What can I do?

Here's what seems to have worked. The trick is that the system sends the same code via SMS and voice message. So in order, here's what happens.

The SMS is sent to the old number and received.
The Android phone tries and fails for five minutes to autodetect the SMS.
Whatsapp on the new phone then offers to voice call the old number, and asks you to enter the number you hear.
The voice call will never be received, but you can enter the number sent in the SMS anyway.


What's the most effortless way for "cloud" back up of photos taken with an Android phone? After I take a picture with my phone, I want it to be synced (and/or shared) to the "cloud" shortly thereafter. (Say after a few seconds when I have wifi connection but not necessarily right away when on 3G). Does such an effortless synchronization system exist? Can a Picasa or DropBox account already do this but I haven't taken full advantage of it? Am I missing something?

I can't seem to find an official Picasa app by google. This Picasa/Android question I found seems to tell me it doesn't exist, although it's an old question.

The option to auto-share photos backed up this way would be worth mentioning. Non-picasa solutions are also well worth mentioning.

If you sign up to Google+ you can do this with the Google+ app now.

There is an Instant Upload option in the app. This syncs any photos (and videos if you set the option) to an Instant Upload album in Picasa.


Android and other OS at the same time Possible Duplicate:
  Can I install Android on my non-Android device?

Is it possible to have Android 2.2 as well as say Windows 7 Mobile on my smartphone?
Any idea how that can be done?

Thank you.

I don't believe a way has been found to dual-boot.  However, the HTC Desire Z (Android) and the HTC HD2 (Windows Mobile 7) are basically the same phone, so I'm sure a dedicated developer could make it work for those.  Windows Phone 7 doesn't work on any phone the way Windows works on any PC, and Android is mostly the same.

N.B. Something called "Gen.Y DualBOOT" allowed for Android and Windows Mobile 6 to run on the same phone, but I don't believe it has been updated for WP7.  There's a netbook that does it, but not very well.


Battery meter went crazy and now stays at 0% I have a Samsung Galaxy Discover that worked fairly well until the last week or so. I ran the device down down to 0% - at which point the device shut off. I performed a full recharge and then occasionally recharged it for brief amounts of time (usually getting to 30-40%).

My battery graph ended up looking something like this:

Then earlier today, I performed a full charge to 100%. The device shut off after a few moments and insisted that the battery was at 0%. I plugged it in and the meter now stays at 0%.

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I discovered that the voltage is being reported as 4195 mV (the so-called 0%). However, a few days earlier, I remember that the phone seemed to think that about 3800 mV was 0%.

Is there a way to "reset" the battery meter? In other words, I need to tell the phone that it actually has a full charge even though it seems to think otherwise.

Update: the battery was eventually replaced with a brand new one and the issue continues to persist - even with the new battery. Interestingly, the battery seems to charge and operate correctly when the battery temperature is above 30° C.

Wife had a somewhat similar issue. I went into recovery mode and formatted the cache and it solved her problem. To get into recovery mode it is usually Hold volume up + power, let go of power once the phone vibrates but keep holding volume up.


Call Android phone using an API Is it possible or are there any applications that provide an API to make it possible for a script on the internet to ring the phone?

I need to get reminded of a specific action that happens in an online application I've built, when I'm not in my desk.

You can try IFTTT. Make a new applet and make the trigger a webhook. Make the action service a phone call.


Stop Calendar from changing time-zone I use Google Calendar instead of the stock calendar on my LG G5. I travel internationally on a weekly basis, and the Calendar app would automatically adjust the calendar events' scheduled time once I landed to a different time zone (if Auto Date & Time is on) or once I adjusted the time zone manually (if Auto Date & Time is off).

The fact that Calendar Events' times got changed is utterly impractical and annoying.

For example, I would add an event at 8pm on a future date in that destination of a different time zone, and once I land there, the Calendar event time will be changed to 2pm. This throws off the timing of all my events. I almost missed several flights because the alarm did not go off at the right time, especially in connected flights crossing multiple time zones.

How can I stop Calendar from doing that? If I recall, iPhone does not do that.

It's a bit of inconvenience of how Google Calendar uses time zones.
Here is a brief explanation of how it uses time zones:

How Calendar uses time zones
When you create an event, you'll see it in your local time zone. It
will also show up in the local time zones for anyone you invite, even
if they're in a different time zone.

Some workarounds:
1. Disable device time zone
When you travel to a different time zone, you can see your calendar in the local time.

Open the Google Calendar app .
In the top left, tap Menu .
At the bottom, tap Settings .
Tap General.
Tap Use device time zone on or off.

If "Use device time zone" is on, your time zone will update
automatically as you travel. If "Use device time zone is off", you can
select a time zone from the drop-down menu.

2. Create an event in a different time zone
There is another workaround involving setting time zone for an individual event in Google Calendar.
For example, if you're going on a trip to Bahamas and want to make sure your 2 PM island tour shows up on your calendar correctly, you should choose the time zone for Bahamas while creating your event. i.e

Create an event

Open the Calendar app .
Tap Create .
Tap Event .
Start typing in a title for your event. You'll often see suggestions – choose one or keep typing.
Tap Done .
Edit event details like the date, location, time, event visibility, and who's invited. If you don't share your calendar, you
won't see visibility settings at all for your event.
Optional: If you have more than one calendar and want to change which one you're adding the event to, go to the top and tap the
calendar name.
Tap Save.

References

Google Calendar help: Change calendar time zone without changing event times
Google Calendar help: Create an event


unsuccessful VPN connection I'm unable to connect my phone to VPN, it always say "unsuccessful". I deleted the profile and created it again but it didn't help. What is wrong with it?

The only surefire fix I can suggest is factory reset. But I know it should be your last resort so maybe it can also be fixed by resetting the settings to defaults, without losing data. This method sometimes work with broken wifi, issues with force close, some lagging issue and some others.

First, if you have Titanium Backup or other similar apps, backup your system data (Settings, ApplicationSettings, Settings Storage) because you will be wiping it clean. 2nd, Go to Settings -> Applications -> All, and scroll down until you find Settings. Select it, now you will see some info, scroll down until so see Clear data. Note that clearing data will set your Wifi, Wallpaper, Sound, Network, but not your password and google login, to defaults.
Now after clearing Settings, go back to Applications -> All, and check if you also have VPNservice, and Network Provider there, clear its data too to be sure.

Try to login your VPN now, it should probably work. If not, use whatever last resort you have. But remember to backup first :P


What options do I have to purchase a play store app for another account? Recently my wife gave birth to our son and I purchased the tinycam pro app to use with my d-link DCS-932L as a baby monitor.

After some tests I was satisfied with the results and decided to buy the app for my wife's google account, so she can monitor our child with her own phone. It was a surprise when I found that google provides no simple way to achieve such a simple task.

My wife has no international credit card, and even if she did I would be reluctant to associate her google account with one, since she's very careless regarding account/password security

What options do I have to install the app on my wife's phone without adding credit card information to her account?

Another solution would be to buy some Google Play credit you enter the code you buy into your wife's play store, and you can use that balance to buy apps


How do you copy a contact from the SIM card to the phone in order to assign a picture to it Searching the site here has let me to believe that you cannot assign a picture to a contact which resides on the SIM card ( I am using a Samsung Galaxy S, and that indeed seems to be the case - at least I haven't found a way to do it ).

So I have to copy these numbers to my phone, I presume.

How do I copy/duplicate one contact at a time from SIM to phone memory ?

I especially ask 'one contact at a time' because I , some months ago, seem to remember having read that you can copy all contacts at once, but that is not the action I would like to take ( although, to be honest, I haven't even found that option, yet ).

Although I still hope that someone else gives me a easier and quicker solution, I have found the following procedure to be a fairly quick method to accomplish what I wanted ( someone else will certainly have another idea regarding this , I'm sure ) :

I send the contact information using the Send via Gmail to my own Gmail account, press Download in the received email and choose Contacts and Phone). Since all information is present in the .vcf file attached to the mail, I can now easily create/duplicate a new contact without having to enter the name and phone number again.


Set Android to update only via WiFi? I own an Android phone (a Nexus 5, so it's "standard" Android) and use it with a very limited data plan. Sometimes it downloads huge updates over the mobile network, even though it's at home and could use our Wi-Fi.

I haven't caught it in the act, so I don't know if the updates are for the operating system itself or the apps.

Is there a setting I can use to configure the phone to download software updates exclusively via WiFi?

Yes. Probably, these are app's update, because if they are OS updates you would be asked to restart your device or install the update. To avoid auto update from app's:In the Play store app, swipe from the left edge to the right. Go to settings. Under the "General" list, select "Update app's automatically"and mark with a dot "Only through Wi-Fi"


Why can't the touch layer on the screen can't be replaced? AFAIK, touchscreen has three different layers: the protective glass, the touch panel, and the LCD screen:

Touch technology in smartphones explained - FlatpanelsHD

However, when an area of the screen is not responsive, in my observation technicians will replace the whole screen, not just the touch panel, and this would increase the fixing cost significantly. Why is that?

It depends on the phone, really. I had a Motorolla Attrix HD with a broken touchscreen, the LCD was fine, and I was able to order a replacement touchscreen by itself. However, during the repair, separating the LCD screen form the touchscreen damaged the LCD (it was glued on way more tightly than the one in the youtube video I was following for this exact model).

Some phones, the touchscreen and LCD screen are sold as an assembly, other phones, the 2 parts are available separately.


Trouble with updating Android on Lenovo A2010-a Today I updated my Android Lenovo A2010-a to latest version (Android 5.1): I just click on message like that "Your have new update. Update have downloaded and can be installed". Than was opened new window on that window I click on button "install". Than phone was reboot. Than phone was updating (with icon - green android). Battery was in normal condition (not low). After that phone booted normal.

After updating I have error on all applications installed on my phone. Error for all application in one separate window, one after one. With text like this: Error in application "Google Keyboard" - it translated to English from Russian.

What I can do for resolve that problem?

Well, I come to Lenovo site. And choose chat with tech-support.

Thay say - "You need reset phone to factory config". That all.

That what do Lenovo with they customers :( .


Touch Screen not working I am using Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510. The problem is that my touch screen is not working sometimes. It has been like this for several weeks. I use Pin lock feature to unlock the phone and EZanswer Trial to attend calls. This is possible only because of the qwerty keyboard. Without which I would be doomed. Some times the touch screen starts working for some time and then, without a warning, it becomes not responding. No error messages are seen.

This all started when after I upgraded it into GingerBread 2.3.6 and rooting . After seeing this problem, I downgraded into the stock rom, unrooted it, and everything.

Not sure if its a software issue or hardware problem.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I have had this issue before when I rooted my galaxy ace it was extremely random and I fixed it by flashing an old stock rom and then using Kies to upgrade to the latest.

If this doesn't work it would suggest that your digitizer has gone, or is in the process of going. If you have time remaining on your warranty, and have returned it to stock, you should be able to return it for repair to samsung.


Missing "Visibility" option on Lollipop Calendar Did Google take away the Visibility option for a new calendar event in their Calendar app for Lollipop/5.0?  It was present in KitKat/4.4, but I don't seem to be able to find it anywhere.  The full set of options looks like this for a new calendar entry:

Incidentally, the calendar app is now correctly using my reminder options as set in the Calendar web app, something that never worked right for me in KitKat (I always had to manually add an email reminder to a new entry added in my phone).  So, that's fantastic, but this feels like one step forward, one step backward since I now have lost the ability to control the event entry's visibility from my phone (the "Default" visibility selection is what is chosen behind the scenes, which I verified in the web app after adding a new entry via Lollipop).

It seems Google changed its logic regarding "Visibility" option since Lollipop version. Now, the option is available only when the calendar is shared. If not, the Calendar will hide it instead since it doesn't have any effects.

From Google Calendar support - Change how others view an event,

  Change the visibility setting for an event

    Mobile

      [...]

      Note: If you don't share your calendar, you won't see this setting at all.

and

  How visibility settings for an event work

  [...]

  Who is your calendar shared with?

    No one

      If your calendar isn't shared with anyone, visibility settings won't affect your event. Choosing "Public" won't make your event public. On mobile, you won't see this setting at all when you create or edit an event.


Termux - How do I create a directory of files accessible outside of Termux? I discovered that the files and directory that are created in (default) Termux, are not accessible to other apps on non-rooted phones.

Where is the folder that Termux defaults to?

How do I set it to use a folder / filespace that I can access through an app like ES File Explorer?

Or perhaps slightly differently, how in Termus would I change to, let's say, the default "Download" folder?

Cheers.

From within Termux itself, you can change the current directory to the internal storage, by means of

cd /storage/emulated/0

or

cd /sdcard

followed by enter. After that, create a new directory by using

mkdir Directory

and replace Directory with a name of your choice. You'll then have a new directory in your device's internal storage, whose data you'll be able to access with any file manager.

Notes concerning Marshmallow and above

If your device is running Android 6 or newer, you'll need to run the command

termux-setup-storage

from within Termux, and then accept the request to write to the storage, in order for Termux to be able to perform directory and file creation.

The termux-setup-storage command creates a new directory in your $HOME or ~/ directory named storage. This new directory contains a few symlinks to /storage/emulated/0 listed below:

dcim -> /storage/emulated/0/DCIM
downloads -> /storage/emulated/0/Download
external-1 -> /storage/external_sd/Android/data/com.termux/files
movies -> /storage/emulated/0/Movies
music -> /storage/emulated/0/Music
pictures -> /storage/emulated/0/Pictures
shared -> /storage/emulated/0

Therefore, you can run the following commands to create /storage/emulated/0/Directory described above with a little less typing now:

cd ~/storage/shared
mkdir Directory


Does Titanium Backup work with system using Link2SD Titanium Backup is a root app that allows you to back up your apps and all their data.

Link2SD is a root app that moves all files an app stores in internal storage to a special partition on SD card, and creates symlinks into the internal storage in place of the original files.

Does Titanium Backup work with Link2SD? That is, does it correctly back up the files that the symlinks point to, or does it instead end up backing up just the symlinks?

Titanium Backup works fine with Link2SD. I've been using them together for about six months, with around 100 apps symlinked. There's no reason taking a backup would uninstall linked apps as Wolfgang reports, and I've also had zero issues restoring backups of linked apps, so it's clear that Titanium follows the symlinks correctly. In fact, I have just finished restoring all my apps from Titanium after flashing a ROM.

The only caveat is that when you restore in Titanium, Link2SD will not automatically link apps as they are restored, even if you set it up before restoring the rest of your apps. This is annoying, because it means you have to be conscious of your available internal memory and only restore in batches that will fit in your free space, then link the apps and do another batch.

Other than that, they work very smoothly alongside each other.


cant do factory reset or hard reset on mi 5x I tried to factory reset my mi 5x phone through settings but after clicking reset device, it just turn off the phone and restart it without changing anything on the phone.

And when I try to do a hard reset, after holding Vol down + power button, this screen shows up:

And after a few seconds the phone turn off again.

How can I fix this problem?

Reading the comments above, I can think  your volume up button may be broken? But remember, you can perform  a factory reset from the Fastboot mode too, simply connect your phone to the computer, install Minimal ADB & Fastboot (Windows), run it then type fastboot -w[press enter] the phone should be reset.

Also ADB lets you do many things on your phone including factory reset:

Enable ADB (USB Debugging) from the Developer's menu
Connect the phone to the computer
Run Minimal ADB & Fastboot
Type adb shell [press enter]
Type wipe data [press enter]

You're done.

ADB can let you boot in recovery mode and perform factory reset manually:

Type adb reboot recovery [press enter]

PS: Don't forget to install drivers to let your phone be detected by the computer.

Not on Windows ? Check this question related to a minimal installation of ADB for all operating systems.

Check also our ADB tag-wiki


How can I find out what devices support Skype video calling over Wi-Fi? How can I find out what devices support Skype video calling over Wi-Fi?  (I'm particularly interested in tablets.)

The Skype application description in the market lists the list of devices that supports video calling. As of Skype 2.5.0.108, video calling is supported on these tablets:

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 (Wifi, Verizon, Sprint, Plus)
HTC Flyer
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (T-Mobile)
Acer Iconia Tablet (A500)
Motorola Xoom
Acer Iconia Smart

Devices that are not listed may still be able to do video calling, but Skype says that the video quality may not be as good as on supported devices. Check out Skype's application description page for the latest list of supported devices.


Whatsapp last seen is blank and shows only when online it looks pretty confusing and weird that some contacts the last seen is always blank and it shows up "Online" only when the contact is Online.

They haven't blocked me anywhere not have I. How this could happen?

Regards
Shiva

Because in their settings, they have disabled for others to see their last seen time.