Willl unlocking my Bootloader delete my OS I have decided to install Cyanogen Mod Android 5.1.1 onto my Xperia SP[C5302].

I am about to unlock the bootloader(the first step).

I have followed the steps and downloaded Android SDK(downloaded and installed google usb driver separately) and FastBoot driver.

Am about to perform the unlocking but am hesitant in doing so because am afraid whether unlocking my bootloader delete the OS.

It's running on official 4.3 update from Sony and no custom works have been done ever since.

My question is whether unlocking bootloader will delete the os and I'll not be able to boot the phone again?

No. Unlocking your bootloader will not delete your os. It will delete your userdata which is not related to the /system partition.

But always keep in mind that, especially with Sony devices, there are solutions without having you to unlock the bootloader.

Cheers


Suddenly can't add events in Jorte? Just today I've been unable to add events in Jorte. I can only add in Google calendars and then sync.
Anybody know what's going on?
I'm so sad!

In settings, Click Default Calendar to select a default calendar for new events. Then, when you click new event, there is an option for calendars. Make sure PC Sync is selected and not Exchange.


How can I unlock my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 without factory reset I suddenly cannot access my phone with my normal password. it just keeps saying its incorrect. How can I unlock my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 without factory reset. Very urgent help needed please.

Follow the below steps if you forgot lock screen password.

Enter a wrong lock screen pattern five times (shouldn’t be hard if
you don’t remember the correct one)
Select ‘Forgot Pattern’
Now you should be able to enter a backup PIN or your Google account
login.
Enter either your backup PIN or your Google login.
Your phone should now be unlocked.

You can also follow Device Manager by Android steps

Ensure that you had enabled Android Device Manager as a device administrator under security settings before trying this.

On a computer or other mobile phone, visit:
google.com/android/devicemanager
Sign in using your Google login details that you also used on your
locked phone.
In the ADM interface, select the device you need to unlock (if it
isn’t already selected).
Select ‘Lock’
In the appearing window, enter a temporary password. You don’t have
 to enter a recovery message. Now click ‘Lock’ again.
If it was successful, you should see a confirmation below the box
 with the buttons Ring, Lock and Erase.
On your phone you should now see a password field in which you
 should enter the temporary password. This should unlock your phone.
Now, before you go on with your life, go to your phone’s lock
 screen settings and disable the temporary password.

Disable your lock screen using custom recovery and “Pattern Password Disable”

Download the pattern password disable ZIP file on your computer and
 put it on an SD card.
Insert the SD card into your phone.
Reboot your phone into recovery.
Flash the ZIP file on your SD card.
Reboot.

Your phone should boot up without a locked screen. Should there be a password or gesture lock screen, don’t panic. Just type in a random password or gesture and your phone should unlock

That’s it!


Cannot connect to google account tablet I have a tablet and an older smartphone that I wish to use as a mini-tablet.  while the tablet does have Play functioning I cannot log in to google account for other purposes. It just says cannot connect to server.  WiFi is fine. Can surf web etc. no problem.

On the smart phone I cannot even log in to my Play account with the app. Same error but nothing seems wrong, just won't let me log in to install apps. Cannot connect to google account either.  This is a Chinese smart phone not being used for data/phone, just as a tablet.

There is an issue with google account signin and signup all over the world today

check this for more info : http://mashable.com/2016/04/19/google-oauth-down/#I8jZi7QGiuqN

You can check now it's live.


How can I de-brand my phone? (install vanilla Android?) I bought a cheap handset (XTE San Francisco, 2.1) from the Orange provider.

I'm not a regular Orange customer so I had it unlocked so I could use my existing SIM.

Orange seem to pre-load their devices with a bunch of useless stuff. Which is now even more useless since I can't access any of them.

Is there anyway I can remove these? I would prefer not to "root" my device if possible.

What about installing the vanilla version of Android, such as the flavour which the SDK emulator has?

You have two options I know of to 'de-Orange' the San Francisco. You can use something like Titanium Backup (requires root) to remove the Orange apps, or install a custom ROM.

On my San Francisco I rooted the phone (see first part of this video, full details and file downloads here, or alternatively you could use Super One Click) and then used Titanium Backup to uninstall the Orange apps (list in this thread). If in doubt, TB lets you 'freeze' apps so you can make sure everything still works before uninstalling fully.

Alternatively, you can install a custom ROM (see full video) which I haven't done yet (waiting to see if FroYo ROM becomes available).


Android 7inch RCA Tablet voyager my tablet will not let me connect to WiFi it is saying authentication problem. I know I am keying in the right password. When I try to log into a diferent network
it won"t let me log into my google account. Help please I don't now what to do?

The only way to connect to the wifi with that device is with the wps button on your router. Go to advanced settings in the wifi menu, then press "wps push button"


How to edit init.sh file and where is it? I want to edit init.sh but I can't find it. where is the location of that file ?
I want add this to that file:

  alsa_amixer set PCM 100 unmute

I think you mean init.rc and don't.

But to answer your question, that file is in the root folder /init.rc to edit it you need root access and remount / rw and even with that you'll lose changes when you restart because it's overwritten every time by boot.img content, so you would need to extract boot.img content edit that file rebuild the image and flash it.

The right way to execute commands at start is to use init.d scripts.

In short if init.d script is supported init.rc calls a functions that search for user scripts in /system/etc/init.d/ and execute them.
You can put a script there and see if it gets executed or search for how to enable init.d scripts.

Edit
Looking for your command I found out maybe you are using android on x86. In that case looks like there is an init.sh in /system/etc/ folder.

To be able to edit files under /system you need to remount it rw using an app like ES File Explorer or running from terminal as root:

mount -o rw,remount /system


How remove blank white screen after unlocking I am using ASUS Z010D Android Smartphone. Recently it shows a white blank screen after unlocking. I need to touch the back button to return the home screen. Anybody knows how to remove the white screen please telling the instructions.

======= UPDATED =======

My mobile has been infected malware, ads so that the white blank screen is always shown at the time of sliding to unlock the phone. I have tried to reset it several times but it could not be recovered. Actually, we need to go through several steps to setup our phone if we choose to refactor it. But the ads still exists even if I do not finish the setup process. I guess the root has been infected malware/ads as well.

=======================

Thanks for taking your time to read the message.

I have had your same problem these days, my mom's phone (your same model) was full with pop ups ad. This kind of problem are caused by spyware/malware apps. I did a hard reset, but nothing.

I looked in the preinstalled apps (Settings -> Apps -> ALL) for something strange. I found two Download Manager apps. I disinstalled the one without the icon. This resolved all my issues. Hope can help you because for me was really annoying.


App drawer disappeared on One Plus One with Cyanogen OS I accidentally removed my app drawer on the dock. I already tired different ways suggested on this site to get it back. But none of them worked. I am not sure if this is related to the OS version or the phone. Can someone help?
Thanks in advance.
AC

I had the same problem, what worked for me was accessing the Home Screen settings (on home screen, hit the menu button and then the three little dots towards the top of the menu, or hold anywhere on the screen and hit the same triple-dot symbol) and under "Drawer Settings," switching some settings.

I believe by changing some of these settings any problem causing the app launcher to disappear is corrected when it overwrites its properties.


Gmail not being retrieved automatically I have recently (since ~1month ago) experienced the following problem:

When I get new mail on my gmail account, Gmail will usually not autimatically retrieve it (e.g., no notification; and when I manually open GMail app, the mail will NOT be in the inbox)
However, manual mail retrieval/sync DOES work fine, for example if I click on "Sync" (retreieve) curcle icon within GMail app; or on Elixir 2's "start background data sync" icon; or check-off-and-back-on on the "Mail Sync" in Settings->Accounts for relevant Google account.
Also, sometimes Gmail does get retrieved/notified; I am not 100% sure but there seems to be a very strong correllation between that and having recently opened GMail app (especially in foreground).
GMail sync worked perfectly find till ~1 month ago
The background sync does not work for ANY of the 3 Gmail accounts I registered.
OTHER mail apps seem to sync perfectly fine (e.g. Hotmail or Yahoo mail) in the background.. So I have a hard time believing it is a problem with overall sync.
The issue is independent of network - it doesn't work on WiFi or 3G.

System details:

Droid X, running rooted stock Froyo 2.2.
I have gone through 100% of intents in Autostarts and made sure every single intent is ON for both Gmail listener and Google Framework.
Gmail version is 2.3.6 (it has a 7/1/2012 backup in Titanium Backup Pro, so I'm assuming this is when it was last updated. BUT the problem existed before 7/1)
Background sync is turned ON - confirmed via Quick Settings app as well as widgets from Elixir 2.  (also, as noted above, Hotmail and Yahoo mail seem to sync fine)

I had the same problem.  After reading kevinf's answer, I found the solution by checking the general Google sync settings.  Gmail was not checked!

Settings->Accounts/Google->YourEmail@gmail.com Last synced MM/DD/YYYY 12:00 PM->List of Google Sync Settings.

As a side note, the Gmail app indicated that sync was turned off.

Gmail App->Menu/Settings->YourEmail@gmail.com->DATA USAGE/Gmail sync is OFF


Will my photos and videos be gone? I have a samsung galaxy tab 2 7.0, and I forgot the password. I want to save my photos and videos but I am not sure whether a factory reset will do. Any suggestions?

You can try installing a custom recovery and make a backup of the entire system. The backup will be a file that's like a zip/rar/etc. Then you can get your files that way.

Take a look at http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_p3110 If you have the WIFI version of the tablet.

Take a look at http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_p3100 if you have the GSM/SIM Card version of the tablet.

As with anything, You do this at your own risk.


What would happen if I deleted all my data used by Google Play Services? Unfortunately my phone has a total space of 5.52GB with no place for extra storage ... Sad, I know.. However my phone is constantly rejecting texts and won't keep an app open for more than 2 minutes without crashing. I clear my cached data almost every ten minutes. My phone isn't full by any means. I only have Facebook and Snapchat as apps and only 168MB of pictures and videos.

So I decided to dig a little deeper to figure out where all my storage is and under my Google Play services it says I have 3.9GB just there! What I'm wondering is what exactly Google Play Services entails. For example, what would I be losing if I cleared all of its data? Would I lose pictures and apps?

Google Play services offers APIs to other apps. Data used by Play services is mostly cached data for these APIs, duplicated data of Android wear apps synched with your phone and some kind of search index. If you delete this data, chances are Google Play services will just recreate it, although 3.9 GB is really much (mine only use 300 MB). But you won't delete any of your personal data by deleting Play services data.


I can't permanently delete or download files Whenever I try to permanently delete a photo in my photo gallery, I get a message saying "Can't delete from device." I've tried deleting files by plugging my phone up to my computer, but the files keep coming back sometime later after they're deleted. Not only that, but I'm also unable to download images or apps. Whenever I try to download an image or app it says "Download Pending" even though I have 114 MB of space free. Is there a way to fix this?

I got a similar issue. When I delete photos from the gallery I get a message saying it deleted but when I check the gallery again those are still there. And also When I get new photos those are not saving in the gallery.it's a Samsung J1. finally, I did a factory reset and the problem was solved.


sluggish performance due to mmcqd CPU usage I have an older Droid Incredible running Cyanogenmod 7.2.  Recently, I've noticed some sluggishness on the phone that doesn't seem limited to a single app.  The CPU Usage Plus app (which I think just runs top) often reports that the mmcqd\2 process is using up a lot of CPU (sometimes 50-60%).  Googling around, it seems that this process is somehow related to SD card access.

Is there any way for me to diagnose in more detail what exactly is causing this process to use so much CPU, e.g., by seeing what other process is accessing the SD card?  Could re-formatting the SD card help?  Or could CPU Usage Plus be leading me astray?  I have some apps installed on the SD card, and I could try moving them all back to the phone, but it would be nice to figure out a more detailed diagnosis before trying random solutions.

Yes, when you see mmcqd on the top-3 processes most of the time you can assure there is a bottleneck created on any storage/flash. You can check that fact easily at the developer options in Android (how to get it), by enabling view CPU usage, the blue color represents I/O operations (more info).

My scenario was more general than the one of the original question: the tablet was already cleared factory-reset, no new apps at-all except chrome and netflix, even re-flashed the stock image but it still was desperately laggy (FYI - Nexus 7 model 2012 with 5.1.1). This is specially true when connected to WiFi or CellData, so before proceeding it's better to enable plane mode for a faster operation.

I found the following fixes to be sufficient:

[optional but recommended] IF you are root OR have custom
recovery (any), you can manually trim the storage for a boost of
performance (how to). This is specially true since the last
time it was used years ago apparently worked well but apps or reflash might have filled space without a chance to trim (more info).
[optional but recommended] The newer versions of the Google Play
store include more services and functions (even API and sync), which I found
specially heavy for those older flash storage. Uninstall unused new Google Play items (such as music, books, news, films) and then go ahead to the sync
menu and disable most of the items (how to). You will surely
find there an item in error, but anyway it's better to clear most of them.
All these are background I/O (instead of foreground I/O) lagging
your device as soon as you connect to network (WiFi/cell).
[optional but recommended] On the above mentioned developer options menu, scroll down at the bottom to find limit background process and select no process for a radical approach. That will eliminate background apps I/O adding up.

These general actions totally solved the I/O issue of the old Android (constant mmcqd). However obviously it is not perfect and there might still be other additional problems, because still modern apps take a small lag to react (for CPU and disk read), and first-boot-up of the system needs some patience (all this is expected). Newer apps and google services do expect newer devices speed.


Locked out of my Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 I have been locked out of my Galaxy Player. When I clicked on "forgot password" it told me to log in to my Google Play account. I forgot my password to it too. I need help to figure out how to change my password to it.

Is your phone rooted? If yes,  then

Power off your phone. Wait for 5 minutes (till it vibrates to indicate it's switched off completely or just remove the battery)
Press volume down+power button+home button (to boot it to bootloader)
It will ask your warranty is void bla bla bla., just click okay
Now navigate the menu with volume up (to go one level up) volume down (to one level down) and power button (to select)
There must be some wipe dat/factory reset
If yes then select it and wipe all - all yes' and okays' (it will not clear your media inside the internal sd)
When it finishes go back to menu and click reboot

And check if your password has been set to slide unlock

Checked and verified on many Samsung devices and other phone out in India.


What range of tcp buffer size do you suggest for slow and fast networks? If you search the net, you come across with ranges like these that claim would enhance your net throughput:

net.tcp.buffersize.default=4096,87380,256960,4096, 16384,256960
net.tcp.buffersize.wifi=4096,87380,256960,4096,163 84,256960
net.tcp.buffersize.umts=4096,87380,256960,4096,163 84,256960
net.tcp.buffersize.gprs=4096,87380,256960,4096,163 84,256960
net.tcp.buffersize.edge=4096,87380,256960,4096,163 84,256960

In place that I live, the net speed of gprs/edge connectivity is so slow that even sending just a sentence of text via instant messaging apps like Whatsapp could take up to 5 seconds and even fails to send some times! but on the other hand my wifi connectivity is very fast;

so; what range of tcp net buffer size do you recommend for these two connections that better suits me?(or maybe any other effective variable)

Bufferbloat only becomes a problem when the link (i.e. your edge/gprs connection) is congested. If it's not congested, you may just have very poor cellular reception.

If bufferbloat is really the reason you will be unable to do anything locally (because the problem is very probably the largish buffer size on the cellular network equipment).

A few pointers:

try to avaid parallel traffic when using WhatsApp
try to switch off Image loading in WhatsApp (not sure if this is possible as I don't use WA)
(root required) use an outbound app firewall to avoid unnecessary traffic (e.g. AFWall+)
(root required): use an adblocker to avoid unnecessary traffic (e.g. AdAway)


Internet not working in browsers on mobile data, but works on WiFi and in all apps. Please help! I get the error "ERR_CONNECTION_RESET" in Chrome along with the message "This site cannot be reached" when I am on a mobile network. However, all apps, such as New York Times, The Guardian, etc. work fine and can download and display content just fine.

If I switch on the Wf-Fi, then internet works both in apps and in the browser.

I have also tried using Firefox and Opera, but I get the same issue.

Incidentally, the Gmail app behaves the same as the browsers: It cannot connect to the internet when on mobile networks.

I am using a Lenovo tablet.

Any help would be much appreciated.

I have the same problem. that happens with Google Chrome over WIFI i have internet and can use YouTube App but the Browser isn't working.

I resolved the problem by removing Chrome and installing it again.

The problem disappeared, but i noticed it happened again when i allowed " Enable data saver feature on Chrome's settings/Advanced Datsaver" Make sure you have it turned off.


How to fix in-app (google) maps after Google Play services update broke map functionality? I am running AOS 6.0.1 (API-23) on a non-rooted phone. It's been working perfectly for months, but one day after updating some apps like Uber, Viber or Windy, I was told that Google Play services need to be updated as well and would not work properly, until then.

I then updated Google Play, Google Play services and Android System WebView, but then none of their maps was working, meaning that maps based on Google maps are just showing an empty blank map canvas without any features except the pins. I.e. showing the cars in Uber but no background map.

Somehow, after having installed all and everything Google related for my device, the in-app-maps was working again. Unfortunately, I have no recollection or idea what I did at the time that made it work.

Unfortunately now, 6 months later, I have the same problem again after some updates but this time I can't get my maps back. Although Googles own Google Maps, always seem to work... Nowadays I always use apkmirror to download, since they show the relevant app variations and are simply better that Google Play Store, which I no longer use. Here for example, is what's shown for Google Play services:

My device is a "440", at least according to the original firmware versions.

What Google related apps are responsible for showing the in-app-maps correctly?
On what do they depend? (I.e. How are they related?)

Most surprisingly, after reverting and/or updating some of the relevant Google apps, some settings got restored to some previous values. Those may also include permission settings and in my case, the Data Usage settings.

I solved this by first ensuring that the following 2 system apps were up-to-date:

Google Services Framework *
(com.google.android.gsf)
Google Play services (com.google.android.gms)

Note that GSF is normally never updated and remains fixed for your AOS API version.

Next, I went to check the permissions of those apps. That's when I found that Mobile data had been mysteriously disabled under data usage. Check by navigating to:

Settings > Apps > Google Services Framework > Data usage > Mobile data: "allowed"

Check both Mobile data and Wi-Fi tabs, and for both apps above. That fixed it!

For completeness, also check:
Settings > Data traffic management > Networked apps and check that data is available on both the tabs Installed apps and System apps.

But since you're on it, you might as well also update:

Android System WebView (com.google.android.webview)
Google Play Store (com.android.vending)

If you still have map problems after this, then (a) make sure you're using compatible binaries (APK) for your specific device (API, DPI, arm version etc) and (b) that the permissions for all of these apps are as allowing as possible. Also, the device clock need to be correct...


Why files/directories under Android's root filesystem don't change across different version updates? I compared 2 devices; one running Android v5.1.1 and other v9.0. So I noticed that files under /proc are same in both.
Can anyone explain why there is no difference even though OEM's are different and SDK versions are poles apart?

Android OS has two parts: kernel and userspace binaries, libraries, configuration etc. Android's kernel is taken from Linux, slightly modified and rarely gets major updates in years (other than critical security patches), while the second part gets frequent changes and updates, particularly with version releases.

The procfs is Linux kernel's virtual filesystem which:

  contains  (among other things) one sub-directory for each
  process running on the system, which is named after the process ID (PID)

So it's not directly affected by changes made to AOSP by OEMs or Google itself.

Since Android is based on Linux, its filesystem hierarchy also resembles Linux distributions. So there are least chances of it being changed with Android version updates. What Android (Google or OEM) changes resides mostly in /system and /vendor partitions. Libraries (native or java), executable and configuration files may possibly change but most of the changes related to Graphical User Interface or Android's internal API's are only within source code and don't reflect at filesystem level.

ANDROID'S ROOTFS:

Android's root filesystem is extracted from RAM disk which is a part of boot partition. boot.img that also contains kernel binary is built along with ROM (Android OS for a specific device). Starting with Android Pie for non-A/B devices, contents of RAM disk are moved to /system partition, making system.img essentially the root filesystem. See System-as-root.

One important file in root directory is /init executable binary which is the very first process started by kernel. It's the supervisor of all subsequently starting and stopping processes. /*.rc files are its configuration files.
Some other necessary binaries are included in /sbin.
/sepolicy is the SELinux policy file that's loaded before starting any services and processes on boot.
/cache, /data, /dsp, /firmware, /persist, /odm, /system and /vendor are mountpoints where different block devices are mounted. Last three contain most of the Android OS stuff while /data contains settings and user's media. /system has a partial rootfs hierarchy of a standard Linux distro. /cache holds temporary files. /dsp (directory or symlink to /vendor/dsp) and /firmware (directory or symlink to /vendor/firmware_mnt) hold some read-only firmware related to SoC (Qualcomm) and /persist (directory or symlink to /mnt/vendor/persist)  has configurations that are rarely changed.
/config, /mnt and /storage are also mountpoints of virtual filesystems to manage mounting of SD cards and external storage. Details here.
/proc is a pseudo filesystem as stated above. /sys is also a similar filesystem. /dev is also a virtul filesystem (tmpfs) which is populated from sysfs and contains interfaces to all available devices.
/acct is one of Android's control group implementation to control load-balancing of CPUs. Other cgroups are mounted on /dev/memcg, /dev/cpuctl and /dev/cpuset to control usage of hardware resources.
/root is the traditional home directory of Linux's root user, not used on Android.
/default.prop is a file or symlink to /etc/default.prop which contains some of default Android System Properties.
To retain compatibility, /sdcard is a symlink to /storage/emulated/0, /bin to /system/bin and d to /sys/kernel/debug. The traditional Linux's configuration directory /etc is a symlink to /system/etc.

Almost all of this filesystem hierarchy is the backbone of Android OS and there are very least chances of it being largely affected by Android's internal changes that occur to native services/daemons or Java-based framework.

For more details: ANDROID DEVICE PARTITIONS and FILESYSTEMS


Rooted device: "This device, OS, or software is not compatible with Pokémon GO" Just when I was about to reach level 23, Pokemon Go stopped working with this message:

  This device, OS, or software is not compatible with Pokémon GO

I am using CyanogenMod 13.0-20160817-NIGHTLY-hammerhead (Android 6.0.1) on a Nexus 5, and can't live without root.

QUESTION: Is there a way to make it work again?

Screenshot (click image for larger variant)

Since the 0.37 update on android, Root users have been forced out of the game. Niantic claim this to cut down on hacking (but a better option would be to not open if allow.mock.location is 1)

Source 1 - A report that talks about the new updates limits.

Either way, you do still have an option: Using Magisk, You can play Pokemon Go again with root. It is the exact same method as Allowing Android Pay with root, but I'll Link it here, for simplicity


Titanium Backup batch options Does "Backup all user apps" also include app data too and does "Backup all system data" include backup of messages and contacts ?

TiBu's FAQ says:

  Click “Backup all user apps” (if you want just your apps) or “Backup all user apps + system data” if you want everything backed up. This doesn’t seem to always backup SMS and contact history.

Unfortunately it doesn't explain all options in detail -- but from the above quote one can conclude:

"Backup all system data" normally includes contacts, SMS, etc (but might miss some history -- not clear if the latter a) refers to an old version, as I never experienced that, or b) is device-specific)
"Backup all user apps" must include the data, otherwise the term if you want everything backed up wouldn't make sense.

To make sure, just visit the above mentioned FAQ for a closer check, which might answer other questions (you didn't know you've had ;) on the way.


Recover deleted SIM contacts I have an Android phone. I accidentally deleted some of my SIM contacts which were not synchronized with my gmail account (actually, I hadn't synchronized my SIM or Phone contacts ever). Is it possible to recover those deleted SIM or phone contacts using software or any other method?
Please someone help.
Thank you.

Unfortunately, you cannot.

You need direct access to sim memory for that to work. Any app that exchanges data (standard read and write of contacts, sms, few other id's) with sim card will pass the request to the micro controller on the sim card. And I don't think it is possible for apps to have data recovery level operations on the sim card's memory.


How do I disable full-screen mode in Chrome for Android? Some time ago, both Chrome and Chrome Beta started going full-screen. That is, I no longer see my status bar. This is a deal breaker for me, as I can no longer see what time it is or if I have notifications.

I have browsed chrome://flags and didn't see anything related to this.

Is it possible to disable this full-screen mode?

Chrome versions:

Chrome (30.0.1599.92)
Chrome Beta (31.0.1650.32)

My phone:

Galaxy Note 2
Android 4.1.2
Verizon
no custom rom or root

I had the same problem, but I saw the exact moment it happened, a message appeared saying "switching to full screen mode". Then I couldn't switch it off. I deleted all data in Chrome, and the problem was fixed. There was no need to uninstall the app, just cleaned the data using the Android built-in Application Manager. It seems some website included code that caused this, and the Chrome for Android simply does not have the settings to revert this. Hope this helps.


Screenshot saving issue on Moto G running Lollipop -- unable to clear the notification My phone has been saving a screenshot for three days now. I can't clear the notification so I'm wondering what  should I do? I'd like to keep it if I can for some reasons. If I can't keep it how do I clear the notification?

I'm tired of restarting my phone but that didn't do anything. And I'm using Moto G running Lollipop

To remove the notification, force stop the app. Long hold the notification, go to app info and choose force stop.


Google TV vs Android TV vs Chromecast Can someone write or link to a clear comparison of all of Google's TV products?

I have the original Logitech Revue, I have a Chromecast dongle, and now there is Android TV.

What are the use-cases of each? Why 3?

Google TV is an old set-top box (STB) product line, conceived as a competitor with Apple TV, using Intel-based hardware and initially without access to Google Play. After a rushed launch and a series of bad product reviews, Google TV had been pretty much abandoned as a product line, and is now replaced by Android TV.

In addition, other manufacturers have brought out some Android-based STBs which are just normal Android devices in a different form factor. These support normal Android apps but have often been a bit awkward to use because each manufacturer has their own big-screen user interface, and because many apps don't work well without a touch screen.

Android TV is basically a new version of Android for STBs and smart TVs. It adds features to Android to provide more commonality between different TV products, and to make it easier for app authors to support this form factor. Like the earlier Android STBs, it's a stand-alone device (it could be the only Android device you own) providing a full Android experience controlled directly through the TV interface (e.g. with a D-pad on a remote). You can use it to read and write email on the TV screen, to play games, to watch videos from YouTube, &c.

In contrast, Chromecast is an entirely passive device. Chromecast is just a cable for plugging your Android device (or another computer with Google Chrome) into your TV's display, but as it's a wireless device there's no physical cable. Even so, it's only useful for using your TV as the display for another device. You can't control it with your TV, only with the device that's connected to the Chromecast. With Chromecast, anything you can do on your phone is visible on the TV screen, so you can use it to watch videos from YouTube or to see a game on the big screen (useful in combination with a wireless game controller), but there's no TV-based user interface.


Change name of shortcut icon? I have created a shortcut to a single document. The home page icon carries the name of the file manager (Astro) that I used to create the shortcut (using the method explained here).

I'd like to rename the icon to something more relevant so I can distinguish it from shortcuts to other documents or folders. Is there any way to do this?

Partial Solution

Long press on home screen to activate shortcut launcher
Tap on Shortcut
Tap on Activites
Tap on file manager (Astro)
Navigate to file location (internal or external SD card)
Tap on target file
Accept (or amend) suggested shortcut name > OK
Named  shortcut appears on home page under an icon for the associated app to display the document

To open the document, tap on the icon and then tap on the associated app in the menu .


Updates for Google Search, and Street View for Google Maps, listed but not able to be downloaded/installed I have an LG ally that's just about a year old now, running 2.2.2. When I go to Market -> My Apps, there are two apps listed as "Not Installed" I'm having trouble with:

Google Search
Street View on Google Maps

(I have no interest in updating Facebook for Android, I luckily have an old, working version and I'm sticking with it.)

When I click on Google Search to download / install the update, the only button available  is "Open"; there is no "Install" button.

With Street View on Google Maps, there simply aren't any buttons at all!

If I didn't already install whatever these updates are, I'd like to install them. If I did already install them, I want them out of the "Not Installed" queue. How do I figure out which is the case? Is this a problem with my phone, or with the apps?

I've had the same problem with the new Market app a couple times now, the only solution I've found is to clear the Market data in Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> Market -> Clear data (and Clear cache if it isn't already 0.00B). Now after you reopen Market, it should show the correct updates.


Android and Google contacts not syncing For some reason I have 10 contacts in my Google Contacts account, but I have 50 contacts on my Android phone.  I have signed into my Google Account from my Android phone and I have enabled

settings > accounts & sync > background data
settings > accounts & sync > auto-sync
settings > accounts & sync > oshirowanen@gmail.com > sync contacts

Why are my contacts not syncing?

I have tried switching my phone off and on, and I have also tried deselecting and then selecting

settings > accounts & sync > oshirowanen@gmail.com > sync contacts

to force a sync, but nothing has worked so far.

All contacts that have a group will sync. Those contacts that don't have a group (ie "Other Contacts") will not.

Go to Gmail on a PC and choose contacts (I haven't tested from a phone).
There is a default group called "My Contacts" and there is a default group called "Other contacts" I would guess you don't have any or very few in "My Contacts".

Open a contact and make sure they are assigned a group. Either "My Contacts" or a custom group underneath that.

This way you can still have contacts in Gmail without having them in your phone.
BTW anytime you get an email and the contact is new, it is put in "Other Contacts".


"Read Later" for Twitter posts with fewest taps possible Most Twitter apps I've tried require at least three taps to even get to "share", which then makes me select the thing I want (I never share those links on FB or G+, I just want to save them for later, when I have a bigger screen).

What I want is something similar to Tweetbot on iOS: hold the link, tap "Send to Pocket". Is there some technique I'm missing? Is there an app that can let me save with fewer taps?

Not sure if this helps, but Slices for Twitter will let you tap on a link to open it up in the built-in web browser, then tap on the share button to bring up the list of targets for URLs, including Pocket.

You don't have to wait for the page to finish loading before sharing the link to Pocket, which allows this process to be fairly quick.

That's 3 total taps to save something to Pocket. I admit, a built-in method of saving a tweeted link to Pocket/Instapaper would be much better. Tap & hold on a link to bring up options, then tap on a Read Later link.


Google's android products are still going to phone storage I have changed my android device's default app storage as memory card using adb shell command. It is working fine for most android apps. But when download and install apps that google such as Hangouts, Gmail, etc. They go to phone storage. How to fix this?

Many apps require to be stored in internal storage. This is by design and it cannot be changed. Most of the Google apps such as Hangouts and GMail cannot be stored to external storage (i.e. SD Card). So whenever you download an app that requires internal storage it will be stored in internal storage regardless of your app storage setting.

P.S. Developers prefer internal storage as external storage is generally slow to read and affects the performance negatively.


Lock Android Phone/Tablet after a certain time I have my younger brother who spends too much time playing on Android Tablet, he wastes too much time and I've decided to give him only 1 hour a day but he's clever and uses the time in two shifts (30 minutes each), but I can actually tell him to use it once. Anyways, I want an app which will lock the phone after it's used for 30 minutes or 60 minutes automatically or shut down, whichever is possible.

He also uses extra time without me knowing (I can't always keep watching at him), so I want to eliminate everything and get some discipline to him.

It would be good if its linked with some website to track it but if not its fine, what I'm looking is an Android version of CyberCafePro (if possible) or anything that will auto lock the Android device after a certain amount of time and can be unlocked with a password or some sort of combination.

I found the excellent app "Kids Place" which acts as a launcher for kids. With this, you can choose what apps they are allowed to start, and how long they are allowed to use the tablet each day.

  An app launcher with parental controls & child lock that protects your personal data and restricts kids to apps you have approved. Kids Place also prevents children from downloading new apps, making phone calls, texting or performing other actions that can cost you money. Includes convenience features for parents such as auto app restart, useful for small kids who accidentally exit launched apps. With Kids Place app, kids gets fun time and parents can get some much needed peace and free time.
  Trusted by millions of families.No internet connection; no email; no account creation and no payment required for app to work.

  Features:
  ★ Custom home screen displays only apps that parents have authorized
  ★ Can prevent children from buying or downloading new apps
  ★ Timer feature to lock Kids Place after specified amount of time.
  ★ Support Multiple User Profiles.
  ★ Capable of blocking incoming calls when Kids Place is running
  ★ Capable of disabling all wireless signals while Kids Place is running
  ★ Can restarts apps accidentally stopped by small children, allowing parents to stay focused on their own tasks.
  ★ Add custom wallpaper to customize your child’s experience while in Kids Place
  ★ Appropriate for children of all ages - babies, toddlers, even teenagers
  ★ Plugins - Kids Place provides additional parental controls for Website content filtering; Videos and Pictures via plugin based design. Please go to setting > plugins to access these features.

  Premium Features (requires In-App purchase)
  ★ Run in background mode. Kids Place will not be used as a launcher or home screen. Suitable for older kids or on
  employees device to be used with stock launcher.
  ★ Added option to always start on reboot.
  ★ Ability to block app uninstall.
  ★ Customize App Title

  Home; Back; Search and Call buttons are locked so that kid cannot get out of the Kids Place or make phone calls.


Debug android Device I have a problem with many of my android devices,I figured out that my devices micro usb is easy to damage ( sad reality) so when I try to debug returns for me an empty List of devices attached,

My question is so how i can debug my devices now with a damaged micro usb ?

Knowing that my devices have an ethernet port + usb standard port.

Thanks for your support.

ADB is able to work over Wi-Fi, but it needs to be enabled on the Android device first.  Usually this is done by using command adb tcpip 5555 while the phone is plugged in via USB.  However if the USB port is damaged, you will need to be rooted to enable the wireless adb mode.

If your phone is rooted, connect it to the same Wi-Fi network as your PC,  install a Terminal Emulator app, open it and run the following commands:

su

Accept the prompt to allow access,

setprop service.adb.tcp.port 5555
stop adbd
start adbd

If the above succeeded, you should then be able to connect from your PC by using command adb connect <IP of your phone here>, for example adb connect 192.168.1.100.  If successful, you should be able to continue debugging.


Is there a way I can see or edit clipboard entries in Samsung Galaxy Tab S? I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Tab S running Lollipop stock update (8.6 Wi-fi only).

I need to be able to visually reference what is being stored for the clipboard for a variety of reasons.

My Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus had an "advanced clipboard"  (I think that's what it was called). It gave the user the ability to edit, delete or use several separate entries with multiple formats (.txt, .jpg). I found it too be the most useful of Samsung's bloatware!

Is there anyway or anything I could do or add to gain similar functionality?

I don't like not being able to access, edit, or delete the contents of the clipboard without turning cartwheels, metaphorically of course.

native clipboard which used to use Xposed to seamlessly integrate into the system (it was accessed by either the system's paste button or the selection menu). However it was now updated and uploaded to play store, the major update is that it no longer requires Xposed nor root, but it's still seamlessly integrated into the system. By simply double tapping a text filed the clipboard will open,so no notification or distracting floating buttons. Also the selected text from the clipboard gets automatically pasted.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dhm47.nativeclipboard

^^The app only Got published last week to the store . I think it's a breakthrough in the clipboards for Android


Can't use ADB with Nexus 4 after 4.3 update Here's a funky issue. I've been using ADB without any problems on 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 on my Nexus 4 (Stock Android and some CM10-based ROMs). When I flashed a CM10.2-based rom (JellyBro, I believe?) a few months ago, I was never able to get ADB to work, so I restored a nandroid of my previous setup. After a while, I decided to flash the stock 4.3 image  and see if I still have the problem. I do.

The setup?

Phone: Nexus 4
Phone OS: Android 4.3 (Factory)
Computer OS: Linux Mint 15

Okay, the problem?

I cannot use ADB with my N4 on 4.3.
I cannot authorize my computer with my device.

What have you tried so far?

I just tried to use the default feature. The phone should prompt to authorize my computer, but I never get a prompt.
I checked /data/misc/adb/  and the directory was empty.

Even so, I decided to click the "Revoke USB debugging authorizations" option in Developer options.

I copied ~/.android/adbkey.pub from my Linux box and put its contents in  a new file named /data/misc/adb/adb_key on my device.

When that didn't work, I rebooted the device.
When that didn't work, I disabled/enabled ADB on the device.
When that didn't work, I killed adb on my computer, then restarted it.
When a-c didn't work, I did them all sequentially before trying again, which also didn't work.

Exactly the same as above, but put it in /data/misc/adb/adb_keys intead of adb_key (because XDA and other sites cite both filenames).
Clicked the "Revoke USB debugging authorizations" button again. Rebooted the phone, killed ADB on my computer. Still no prompts to authorize.
It only removed /data/misc/adb/adb_keys, not adb_key. So I'm pretty sure adb_key is the wrong filename (despite being cited at a frequency on par with the correct name).
Update my platform-tools and Android SDK packages. No dice.

Can't actually update; I have the most recent version (18.0.1)

Remove and reinstall platform-tools. No dice.
By the way, my permissions for the adb_keys file are 300. Owner is root. Group is root. Or in other terms:

ls -l adb_keys
-rw------- root root

Are you sure this is only happening to you on 4.3?

Yes. I have no problems after installing any 4.2 rom with recovery, or the 4.2.2 factory image with fastboot.

And it's exactly the same issue with factory 4.3 or a 4.3-based ROM?

Yes. Although I've only tried two or three roms, plus the factory image. There may be a magical rom out there somewhere that does work though.

Have you tried any other devices?

I tested adb with my girlfriend's 2012 Nexus 7 running 4.3. It had no issues at all.

Any other computers?

Unfortunately no. I only have my Linux Mint 15 box.

Okay, so that's basically the gist of it. Does anyone else have any clever ideas? (Or does anyone see where I was an idiot and made a mistake?)

File transfers over MTP also work fine.

Flashing the 20130910 nightly build of PAC-man actually gave me working ADB without the need to authorize my computer at all. This is fortunate, but the original question is still up in the air: Why can't I get it to work on stock?

Try to switch the device into PTP mode (under Settings -> Storage -> USB Computer Connection and  manually select the connection mode...) and connect to computer. Let it install, switch back to USB mode and plug in again.

Update: XDA tread


Why does viewing an .htm file in Android dropbox folder show broken images? I have an .htm file in a dropbox folder with the following content:

this is a test of html

When I view it on my PC, it shows the image (which is in the same directory as the htm file).

However, when I view it on my HTC Wildfire and choose as the viewing application "HTMLViewer", it shows me the correct HTML rendering (with bold) but shows me a broken image.

How can I view HTML files with image tags in my dropbox folder on my Android phone?

I have DropBox installed on my Moto DROID v1 (Android OS 2.2.2).  I placed an HTML file that referenced an image in a DropBox folder.  The image was in a sub-folder.

DropBox\Folder\index.html
DropBox\Folder\img\image.jpg

I first downloaded just the index.html and opened it in the HTMLViewer.  The image link is broken.  I then downloaded the image.jpg file, then returned to index.html and viewed in HTMLViewer.  The image now appears properly.

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with it, but you may want to try switching your file extension to .html, and verify that the doctype of your file is set properly:

<!DOCTYPE html>


Installating Resurrection Remix on HTC One X I have a HTC One X (International model) and have been trying to install Resurrection Remix as a way to get a more modern Android version. I've unlocked the bootloader and installed ClockworkMod Recovery 6.0.4.8. I cannot get Resurrection Remix installed. I keep getting this error:

  Your recovery is using the new storage layout but the ROM you're trying to install is not.
  Flash a compatible recovery and format /data and /sdcard or use a compatible ROM.

I've tried 6 different versions of Resurrection Remix, the latest one being cm-12-20150228-UNOFFICIAL-endeavoru-big.zip. It explicitly states it uses the new storage layout, though I still get that error. I followed the steps described in this blog post, and I've also been Googling the error. It seems other people have run into it, though I can't find any actual solution.

Should I be using another ROM? Should I use an older/different version of ClockworkMod? Is the error wrong and caused by some issue not related to the ROM layout?

I've now managed to make a working installation. I followed this YouTube video and the blog post it links. The main difference being the usage of a special version of TWRP rather than ClockworkMod Recovery. Note that the android version included there is 5.0.2, so you might want to use a more recent one instead.


Restore an android system that will access my google account Hi I bought my tablet in China but they have blocked access to my get to my google account. How can I install the core component that allows me to access my google account and download apps from the playstore?

Android devices made for Chinese market don't have Google apps installed. You need to download GAPPS packages and flash it (from recovery).
Download link : Open GAPPS

Download the one that matches your android version.


Invalid username or password on Android lock screen when 2 step verification is enabled I have a Moto G (1st gen) running Kitkat 4.4.4 (not rooted). The first time I signed into my Google account on my device I had 2 step verification enabled. I still do have it enabled. Now in the “forgot password” screen I’m not able to sign in using my id and password.

I haven’t changed my password in a year so I’m positive that I had the same password at that time which I have now. When I tried signing in with an application specific password, it worked out but only when I was connected to the internet.

So the question arises what should I do if I’m offline and by any chance get locked out because of kids messing with the lock screen. And yes when I disabled 2 step verification I was able to sign in with my actual password when connected to the internet but still not able to sign in when offline. Any kind of help would be appreciated.

In the username field are you providing the entire email address i.e. shubham@gmail.com or only shubham? The login works better if the email is provided.

Also if you are offline and got locked out from the phone, the only option is hard reset. If you were rooted and have USB Debugging enabled then it's a different story.

But if your connected to wifi or if mobile data is on, then the forgot pattern (or similar) would be working.


Upgraded my device from KitKat to Lollipop, is there a way to get the airplane mode back to the power options? I recently upgraded my phone's OS from KitKat to Lollipop, and noticed that when I press the power button for an extended time to open the power options, there is no longer a quick button to put the device into airplane mode, which was present in the KitKat version. The only way I can now put my phone to airplane mode is via the settings menu, which is not as fast and effective as it used to be. Does anyone know if it is possible to add the airplane mode function to the power options and if so, how can I do this?

This is the way Google wanted the power menu to work in Android Lollipop. It's just terribly inconvenient for those who used Android before. But if you really need to bring back the feature and have a rooted phone, you can try this method which works on Nexus.

But you don't need to go to the settings to enable Airplane mode. From the top of the screen, just swipe down twice or drag down once using two fingers to reveal the Airplane mode toggle.

It's the quickest way to use the Airplane mode in Lollipop. Some apps in play store(Power Toggles, Toggle Airplane) has shortcuts to enable Airplane mode but you need a rooted phone for that to work.


Where is the .config hidden on Samsung Galaxy S4? cat /proc/config.gz
  tmp-mksh: cat: /proc/config.gz: No such file or directory

Is there another place to find it?

/proc/config.gz (and consequently .config), a file containing all needed flags for the Linux kernel building process, can only be found if the kernel maker / your device manufacturer explicitly enabled config.gz availability when the Linux kernel was being built.

So if it's not present in /proc, you'd have to either do a trial-and-error, get help from somebody else, or contact the manufacturer.


Rooted my phone now it won't turn on So a couple of minutes ago I rooted my phone ( well I think I did anyway ). Then all of a sudden, it went to the lock screen. So I tapped the bar where you put in your password and it was kind of glitching, I don't know how to explain it. I put in the first two letters of my password and it switched off. Pressed the power button, and it wouldn't turn on. I held it down for about a minute. Still nothing. I tried pressing the home, volume and power button at the same time but still nothing. I know at least half of you will say "That's why I hate 'one-click' rooting" or "Should have done your research!" but I'm not good at this stuff, and I knew it was a bad idea. I just wanted to get cheat droid for a game I really like. I don't understand these things. I'll give you some information, but I don't know if it will help.
( By the way, my phone doesn't have a sim, it's my moms old phone, I have another question up telling what happened, but that's fixed )

Battery Percentage: 100% and it was charging

Version: 5.1.1

Name of phone : Samsung Galaxy Core Prime

Root app name: 360 Root

Please help me. I'm terrified, I never did this before :( Thank You.

EDIT : Alright, so I just restarted it somehow and it's on, turned out its not even rooted...?
I didn't link it up to my computer, as mine is broken. Does anyone have any idea on good rooting apps that are easy ( KingRoot won't work, and I don't have a computer that's working as I just said )

My number one advice for people that are new to rooting, flashing etc. is, read at least 5 times before you do it. One-click-root Apps are almost a thing of the past nowadays because manufacturers are stepping up their game with securing their phones.

In your case, that means that you would have to reflash the stock ROM (I doubt that everything is still in tact after you tried to root it) and root then root it properly, for both of which you would need a working PC. Also, you will loose all the data that's on your phone.

For reinstalling the stock ROM, you'll first need to download a few things:

Drivers for your phone: http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/SW/201306/20130610184736640/SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_v1.5.25.0-retail.exe

Odin: http://odindownload.com/

Stock firmware: https://www.sammobile.com/ (I can't link this to you directly since I don't know your model number, just click on firmware and search for your phone)

Install the drivers, unpack the firmware, connect your phone via USB, put it in download mode (turn it off and hold volume down, home and power at the same time) and start odin. On the right, you'll find many buttons named "Modem", "PDA" and so on. Click on the buttons and select the corresponding file in the firmware folder that you extracted earlier (For "PDA" select a file called "PDA" + extension etc). After all buttons have the corresponding path behind them (only leave those out which you don't have a respective file for, differs in some firmwares), click start.

Now your phone should be running stock Android again.
For rooting your phone, you need to download:

TWRP: https://dl.twrp.me/core33g/twrp-3.1.0-0-core33g.img.tar.html

SuperSu: https://download.chainfire.eu/696/SuperSU/

Open up Odin again (after connecting your phone and putting it into download mode), click on "PDA" and open the twrp file you just downloaded, then press start.

Disconnect your phone and restart it holding down volume up, home and power at the same time. You should see TWRP come up. Now connect your phone again and copy the SuperSu zip you downloaded earlier to your phone. Next, on your phone go to "Install" and select the SuperSu zip, then swipe to confirm. After that, click "Reboot System now" and when your phone booted, you should be rooted.

Good luck :D


Add languages to Anki the text-to-speech? On AnkiDroid, the only TTS language I can add is "English".  I'd like to have Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and French, as well.  How can I get these languages to load up?

NOT WORKING.  The .mp3 files do not play on synced devices for some reason, even with a connection to the internet.

The Kindle Fire HD 7 has no support for engines that support Asiatic languages.  So, you can either root the device and load in better engines, or:

Get on Anki Desktop.
Install the AwesomeTTS add-on.
Restart Anki, then open the browser.
Select the deck you want to add TTS to in the left-hand pane.
Hit ctrl-a to select all of the cards you want to add readings to.
Click "AwesomeTTS" in the drop-down menu.
Select "add readings" and then follow the dialog.


How to configure Simplenote client to use external storage? I've just installed the official Simplenote client on my Samsung Galaxy S3 mini (Android 4.2.2). I don't have a lot of space on the "on board" storage, so want to ensure that Simplenote uses the external SD card.

I cannot find any settings for file storage, however, and I failed to find its files poking around with a file manager.

Question How can I ensure Simplenote is using the external SD card for storing its data?

Simplenote files are hidden in Android. No way to access or export beyond the syncing provided by the app.


any way to edit id tag inside android phone? any way how to edit (mp3) id tags inside my android? HTC Desire 2.1

I am used to play my music using winamp with right click on directory and select 'play in winamp'. In that case it doesn't matter if you have id tags set up or not. I miss that on Android a lot.

I've used this app in the past to edit my tags AudioTaggerFree


Is it possible to remove the ":-)" smiley key in Swype for stock Messaging? I love Swype but have a minor gripe with it.

Many times a word will be completely messed up so I hit the backspace key but instead accidentally hit the :-) key.

In almost all programs there will be a return key instead. It appears to only be in the stock messaging application (though it's where I spend most of my time!).

This is extremely annoying, as I never use the built in smileys (I prefer them without the nose, e.g. :)). Is it possible to remove that key and make the backspace key bigger or something similar?

My phone is a rooted Motorola Defy with a stock ROM.

That's unfortunately not possible, Swype would need to provide a setting for this, which they don't. You might have more luck with third-party-messaging apps, but I doubt it, as this is a contextual feature that pops up whenever it makes sense for smileys to be inserted.


Deleting log files on galaxy tab s 10.5 sm-t800 I have a rooted samsung galaxy tab s 10.5 running android 5.0.2
I am having a lot of storage problems and deleting apps doesnt work, the storage just gradually decreases.

I read somewhere that the log files are supposed to be in /data/log but there is nothing there, i am using es file explorer with the function root explorer on. i have already checked if my device is rooted correctly but there is nothing wrong with it. Also using other file explorers doesnt work.

Where could my log files be? (Or other deletable files that use a lot of space)

If the file explorer cannot find it,  I suggest connecting it to your computer.  If you cannot find the log files there,
 Take note of folder sizes.  Check back every few days and see which folder has grown in size.

This may lead you to whatever is taking up space.

Hope this helps!


Is it possible to rebuild a Huawei (or other) phones firmware from a existing installation? I wondered, if you can install a firmware to a Huawei phone from a update.app file, could it be possible to reverse it and build the update.app back? I mean it like create a update.app from the currently installed firmware on a Huawei phone.

I need it, because i have a Huawei Y560-L01 (Firmware build Y560-L01V100R001C577B043), and it seems i cant download this update.app version anywhere. If something happens to the phone, i could repair it with the update.app. Is it possible to rebuild the update.app from the currently installed firmware on a Huawei phone?

Try a custom recovery tool. Google  Huawei Y560-L01 (Firmware build Y560-L01V100R001C577B043 toolkit. If that doesn't work, go to the official huawei website and use a flash recovery (this will erase the phone)


What is the installation size of a clean build of 4.2? This is a pretty simple question, but one that I have not been able to find the answer to.  How much disk/storage space does an installation of Jelly Bean (bonus points for other versions) take up?  I am not looking for a super-accurate answer, as installation size varies from device to device, but more of a ballpark answer in the gigabyte/gibibyte range, such as 1.7 GB.  Or does Android's size vary drastically from device to device?

Well, to put this another way:

For Gingerbread, storage space weighs around 95Mb, give or take, including Google Apps, source code 6.5GB, compilation taking up approx 14GB space.

Android's storage space for ICS, weighs around 160Mb, give or take, including Google Apps, source code 9.5GB, compilation - takes up approx 20GB space.

As to JB, have not yet built it, but source code is 12.5GB, compilation takes up around 25GB space, various official JB images hovers around 200Mb mark.

The above ball-park figures above, reflects from GB, ICS and JB. As for the future versions of Android, only time will tell how much more space will be taken up, it will increase, no doubt!

As for the final image build output, this would be dependent on handset, as ROM developers/manufacturers love to add their own bits, hence the inclusion of the "give or take" in the above sentences, not to mention carrier bloat-ware so the mileage will vary.


Should I disable mobile data while I'm connected to WiFi? If WiFi is activated, the phone expends energy trying to find WiFi connections, even if I'm not using the internet. Is the same true for mobile data? Does the phone expend any energy trying to keep a good data connection even while it's connected to the internet via WiFi? If so, I'll set Llama to disable mobile data while WiFi is connected. Will that make a difference to my battery life?

When Wifi is activated, all data is pulled down via the Wifi. It is a mutually exclusive/flip-flop mechanism. That is to say, if Wifi is off, 3G is used.

And yes, regardless of whether one or the other is activated, battery is being used likewise :)

No discernible difference in terms of battery consumption.


Can you fully remove Google system apps from Android including the Play Store updates? Believe it or not, but I want to remove a few Google Apps which I have no use for and want to free up space, resources and mobile data usage by not having them on my phone at all.

These include:

Google Currents
Google Play Music
Google Play Movies
Google Play Newsstand
Google Keyboard
Google+

I have ‘uninstalled’ them via the Play Store, but they still appear in my ‘Installed’ items in ‘My apps’ in the Play Store and instead of ‘UPDATE' and ‘UNINSTALL’ for any other app in my ‘Installed’ list, they stubbornly remain and only have ‘OPEN’ AND ‘UPDATE’ options.

Also going in the ‘All’ list in ‘My Apps’, all these apps are also different from other ones, where unlike other locally uninstalled apps that have their payment status (‘FREE’ or ‘PURCHASED’) and a ‘X’ at the top to remove it from your Google Account entirely, these Google Apps that I don’t want on my Android and want to be completely optional for my Android experience, only have an ‘UPDATE’ and no X up the top of their listing.

I don’t mind them remaining on the Google Account if Google insists on this, but I just want listings to ‘update’ them in my Google Play updates list to be removed, given this is Google basically forcing me to reinstall them against my will.

Is there a way to do this?

I’m on stock 4.3 Gnex.

The solution is to ‘Disable’ the apps from the Android system settings and they will no longer appear in your Play Store updates list.

E.g. for Google Currents:

Settings > Apps > All > find ‘Currents’ - tap it, select ‘Disable’.

The same applies to the all other listed apps in the question (with the exception of 'Google Play Newsstand’ which I couldn’t find in the list), and when you open the Play Store updates list anew, they will finally be gone from it as desired.


Alternative for Kies New firmware upgrade is available. I tried to install it through Kies at least 15 times. But every time, it fails. I am using latest version of Kies on my PC.

I Googled for alternative. I found ODIN for the same. But I am doubtful whether it is reliable.

Please tell me if someone knows reliable way to upgrade firmware without using Kies.

There is no alternative for Kies.

Kies is the only offical way to update Samsung's Android devices.

To unofficially flash/update Samsung devices Odin (for Windows) and Heimdall (for Linux) are the de facto standard. These two a very reliable.


Why doesn't my android start daydreaming? In Settings > Display > Daydream I have
- selected one (any one, but right now it's just the standard Clock)
- when to daydream = either docked or charging
- "start now" works fine.

I've connected my Nexus 4 by USB cable to a wall charger and "Clock" confirms Charging (AC), 45%

Settings > Display > Sleep is set to 15 seconds while I try to get daydreaming to work. If/when it works, I'll probably set it to 2 minutes.

Despite the above settings, and being on AC power, the phone never daydreams. Why not?

This is a Nexus 4 with stock 4.2.2, not rooted, not superuser'ed (yet).

As mentioned in comments, I also have a Nexus 4 (4.2.2) and it daydreams OK when charging (USB to wall charger) when set to sleep after 15 seconds.

"Daydreaming" is triggered when the device goes to sleep (or when sleep mode would normally be triggered). It would seem that if the "stay awake" option is checked in "Developer options" then sleep mode is never triggered and the device never daydreams. So, the solution is to uncheck the "stay awake" option.

"Daydream" is like a conditional stay-awake option. The screen does not switch off and for this reason a device can only be set to daydream when it is connected to a power source.


different way of securing applications In my phone instead of unlocking screen by providing "symbol", I'd like the phone to unlock to most of my applications without the "symbol". But for selected important applications (eg. gmail) I'd like it to ask for the symbol. It would be useful eg. when I borrow my phone someone to play games. Is there application which would help me to achieve something like that?

Sounds like you are looking for an app which allows you to password-protect other apps.  There are many on the Market, but I haven't used them so cannot comment on their reliability.


Why no consistent headset control? I'm a recent convert to Android (I have a Moto X on AT&T) and I'm running into a problem that I never had with my iPhones: the button on my headset sometimes works; sometimes doesn't. It upsets me greatly, especially since I recently purchased a $300 set of Bose headphones (Quietcomfort 20) that are specifically made for Android devices. I've even tried three apps from the Google Play store that purport to make the inline control work—none of them do, however. Why is this happening and, more importantly, how can I fix this?

07/30/2014 EDIT:
So I've been using this Moto X plus QC20 headphones for several months now, using the recommended Klipsch Control app to allow the button on the QC20 to work better. Well, it only seems to work about 50% of the time.

I have yet to figure out what is causing the interference, but some days, the button works perfectly. Other days, it will work, but it may take anywhere from 0 to 15 seconds before a button press is actually registered by the Klipsch Control app. It just seems to be completely random. Still other days, the button doesn't work at all.

It might have something to do with either the time of day and/or when the headphones are plugged in / removed. For example, one morning, it'll work fine. Then I unplug the headphones and go to lunch. Returning from lunch, I plug the headphones back in and the button no longer works. Or the reverse could be true: The button doesn't work before lunch, but works great after.

Because of this odd behavior, I'm sure you can see why I am fearful of unplugging the headphones for the rest of the day once the button on them starts working. I know that if I unplug them and plug them back in later, I only have a 50% chance of the button working.

I hope this makes sense. More importantly, I hope someone can see some sort of pattern that I have yet to see in this behavior to identify the cause(s) of this problem. Any ideas?

I have a moto  X also and I recently bought the QC20.

Commands with main button did not work (neither did the micro btw) so I installed Klitch Control and still it did not work.

Then, I looked around and changed the audio settings. I turned the audio effects off, and then it started working... (why? don't know) I uninstalled Klitch Control and it's still working. I've even put the audio effects back on and the button still works..

Hope this helps.

EDIT 05/09

Hey guys, it stopped working almost directly. Today I took care of it, and I finally managed to have something working (and free): headset button controllerTrial APP.
It fixed everything : micro OK, switch OK, only thing you can't change is the long press action which is reserved on Android phones for google now..

Enjoy your QC20!


How to Install an application that requires android 5.0+ on android 4.4.4 I have a phone running android 4.4 and the app requires android 5.0 or higher. I want to install this app on android 4.4. Do you have any way, help yourself. Thank you very much.

Sometimes an app has the ability to run on an old device, but there is also something in an app's apk file, indicating the oldest version that can install this app. For example, maybe an app CAN be run on android 4.4 but the author of the app set the minimum supported version to android 5.0.
So it is possible to change it. Afterwards the app might be able to run on old devices, while it may also crash.

An android app downloaded from Google Play or somewhere else is an apk file, which is actually just a zip compressed package, containing multiple files, e.g. dalvik bytecode, pictures, text resources. To learn more about apk file's structure you can just google it. One of the files is AndroidManifest.xml, that was originally a xml file before the author "compile" and publish the app. You don't have to know what is xml but it was "human readable" before being published and become unreadable when the app finally reached you. The AndroidManifest.xml have a line looks like android:minSdkVersion="8" , sdk version 8 means Android version 2.3, sdk version 23 means Android 6.0, search for "android sdk versions" to get a full list. Now however, this line had already been converted to something unreadable. We need something else.

One of those things is apktool, it can "decompile" an xml or even the whole app back to what we can read and edit, then "compile" it back to apk. There're plenty of blogs about how to use apktool so I won't run into details. Using apktool you can decompile the apk, change the minSdkVersion to a very small number or just 1, compile the app back, then install.

Notice:
1. You have to "sign" the apk after compiling it back. Google for details.
2. You have to uninstall the previously installed version of the app before reinstall the modified one.
3. Do not publish a modified apk, it's illegal.
4. Don't expact too much from this method. The app may still crash.
5. Though I often do this but it's really complicated for non-programmers to do the modification so feel free to ask, and prepare to give up at any moment.


How do I copy text from my PC to my phone? I am looking for a way to copy text from my home computer to my phone, sort of a shared clipboard. Right now I go to the zxing QR code generator and paste the code, take a picture of the screen with the phone, and set the barcode scanner to copy text to the clipboard. It seems like there should be a simpler way. Does anyone know of a way to do this?

You can install the WiFi Keyboard app from Android Market. A good app, supports both USB and WiFi input. You need to follow information carefully, to get work around.


Do I need Android SDK to connect my phone in USB debug mode? I'm following the steps provided here to root my Samsung Captivate (Galaxy-S).  I install the USB drivers in the link provided.  Whenever I connect my phone, I get the error There was a problem installing this hardware... SAMSUNG Android Composite ADB Interface.  I do have USB Debug mode checked on my phone.

The googling I have done on this issue mention downloading the Android SDK, but I have heard no mention of needing this on the XDA developers forum or in any other conversation about rooting.  So, I wanted to ensure that downloading the Android SDK was necessary, or would even fix my problem before I bother installing it and its dependencies (Java JDK).  I'm running Windows XP.

Note:  Although I'm running a 64-bit machine, I Installed the x86 Samsung Drivers since Windows XP is a 32-bit OS.  I hope that's right.

No, you don't need to install the Android SDK.  The SDK's drivers don't work for the Galaxy S, actually, at least not the last time I tried.

You best bet is to download Samsung Kies and update the drivers through it, as per this answer to another question.  You can get Kies most easily from Samsung UK here.


How can I view all of my attachments from gmail? When I search in Gmail app for files that were attached to emails, Gmail can't find them.
Is there a way to see all of my attachments from Gmail? 3rd-party apps would be acceptable too.

If you search for has:attachment within the Gmail app then you should see emails which have attachments.


Location of battery animation file on a Chinese tablet I'm working with a Chinese tablet. I need to turn on the tablet when it is attached to an external power source.

I'm looking for the equivalent file of playlpm that you usually find on Samsung devices.

Are there any names for Chinese brands?

Provided you have adb access as root while in recovery, you can adb pull the *.rc files from recovery's ramdisk and search the entry or similar to

on charger

to see what the equivalent service is.
Or ,again, while in adb shell in recovery,

cat /init.rc

which is where the entry for charger/on charger functions should be.
The battery animation resources will be in /data/media OR (while in recovery) /res/images/

As to the boot on charger plugin, if you don't have your own approach sorted see my answer to a similar question.

Look for the service under the on charger section that runs as per on charger, Using the Samsung example, reassign lpm service under on charger as reboot, You can't achieve an instant boot up on plugin, it just doesn't work, so you tell the device that on being plugged in it will reboot to normal operation INSTEAD of beginning it's on charger defined service.
Here is the Samsung example;

From,

service lpm /system/bin/lpm
    class charger
    critical

To,

service lpm /system/bin/reboot
    class charger
    critical

Find the equivalent service for your device and make that modification.
Redefining service classes can lead you into a minefield of problems.
Or you just won't boot. You do need to be rooted and so be able to dump,unpack,modify,repack and, rewrite your boot.img


Titanium Backup - sync via Windows File Sharing (SMB) after backing up? I have Titanium Backup Pro with sync after backup option, but I don't want to sync to clouds, instead I want it sync backups to my PC via SMB.
I also have Foldersync which supports SMB syncing but it works with scheduling only, what I need is syncing right after the backup procedure is done.
Any suggestion ?
Thanks

Suggestion: FolderSync does support Tasker, and Tasker supports file events. Idea based on a post:

  To detect the arival of a new file, use "File Modified" but long press the folder instead of selecting a file within it. now tasker will monitor changes to the folder.

So: Use Tasker to monitor TiBu's backup directory. If Tasker detects changes, give it a wait for 5 minutes (which should allow TiBu to finish the backup), then let it trigger FolderSync to synchronize with your Windows share:

Condition:

Time → Between X and Z (optionally, to minimize battery consumption. X should be at least a few minutes before the scheduled backup, Z a few minutes after. Make sure that Z = the scheduled backup time plus the wait in below task plus some margin for the sync to complete)
Event → File Event → File Modified (select directory as described above)

Task:

Tasker → Wait (5 min, or whatever you feel best)
Plugins → FolderSync → (whatever the action is called there)


Auto wallpaper changer I need to auto download wallpaper from internet and set based on a frequency ( daily or hourly ) ?
I'm using Samsung Galaxy Note 8 on Android Pie. Is this functionality available in android?

You can try Casualis:Auto wallpaper change. It can:

  lets you have an always new wallpaper without lifting a finger: you just have to decide when you want Casualis to activate and you're done!

  Features:

  Set a random wallpaper every 1/3/6/12 hours or every 1/3/7 days, at the time you prefer;
  Choose a wallpaper manually among over 3000 high-resolution images or use your own images;

In the settings, you can select the wallpapers from. Disadvantage: It shows ads.

Or you can try Wallpapers.

  Enjoy a collection that keeps on growing. Access images from Google Earth, Google+, and other partners.
  Double your fun. Show the world one wallpaper on your lock screen, and keep one for yourself on your home screen. (Requires Android™ 7.0, Nougat, and above.)
  Start each day fresh. Pick your favorite category and you’ll get a new wallpaper image each day.

Disadvantage: Made by Google and not updated since 2018.


How do I invoke "su" from a terminal prompt? I can get a root prompt in the terminal by running one exploits documented elsewhere. (e.g. here: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Motorola_Droid_2_Global:_Full_Update_Guide)

At this point, I can install the "su" binary and give it permissions 4755. This should allow anyone to execute it, and since the owner of the binary is "root" and the sticky bit is set, I should become root.   But I apparently have no way of un-become root from the terminal short of rebooting.  But, after I reboot, then I can't seem to become root using 'su'.

$ ls -l /system/bin/su
-rwsr-xr-x root    app_101    26234 2012-07-09 15:00 su

Ok, the permissions look fine, should I should be able to run it to become root, but only in this particular invocation of the terminal.

$ /system/bin/su
Permission denied

It also fails if i specify the command to run as root, or with any other arguments:

$ /system/bin/su /system/bin/sh
Permission denied

Why?  Is there some other mechanism at work?  I don't want to install Superuser.apk, because I just want a way that I can temporarily get a root shell if needed, for instance to delete unwanted files manually.  Besides, Superuser.apk relies on the su binary anyway, so it must have some way of calling it, so why can't I replicate that in the terminal?

Edit:
I had another thought, so I tried copying /bin/sh to another locattion and made it suid root.  But while I can execute the new binary, it doesn't give me root.  Is Android doing something tricky/different with suid that regular Linux does not do?

The clue is in the owner/group id...

$ ls -l /system/bin/su
-rwsr-xr-x root    app_101    26234 2012-07-09 15:00 su

Notice the group id is set to 'app_101', that should be 'root', but then again, you need the busybox binary (which is part of the SuperUser.apk binary, when installed, it copies the relevant said binary into /system/xbin) in order to be able to chown it.


How to back up game data in galaxy y s5360 I have Samsung galaxy y s5360 in which i installed hill-climb racing  i want to backup game data but i dont have google play service and cannot installed it because of low space is there any way to back up without google play service and transfer it to another phone

maybe you can have a try of Titanium backup, and Helium is also another good choice, this doesn’t need the phone to be rooted.


What does syncing do? My samsung galaxy s4 mini offers two syncing methods : Samsung syncing and Google syncing.
My phone has important notes in the standard built-in app "S memo" and important recordings in the built-in voice recorder.
Does any of these two syncing methods sync this stuff ? Under "app syncing" maybe ?
If so, does that truly mean I can retrieve it if I lose my phone and buy a new Samsung (resp Android) phone ?

I can't speak to the apps your using but in general I'll audit/limit network traffic with a firewall just to be safe. As you've not specified if root or not I'll suggest two that I've had good experiences with.

NoRoot Firewall uses a neat trick with Android VPN built in options to allow for both logging and blocking network access; per interface (cell antenna or WiFi) and per application.

AFWall (root required) uses iptables and a fancy user interface to allow for even finer grain control.

Do be aware that blocking apps that require network access, such as a browser, will break the apps' features until unblocked. But using either will allow for you to find out exactly to whom each app is talking to in each network state... you can even catch dumb apps trying to make connections when in airplane mode.


Chrome getfileattachment download failed due to missing sd card I am running Android 7.0 on a Huawei P8 lite 2017 (brand new)
Every time I try to download a file from Google Chrome I get the error message:
"getfileattachment download failed due to missing sd card".

What I know right now:
1) The SD card works (Pictures from the camera are saved there)
2) I tried the workarounds consisting in force stopping chrome, denying and reenabling permission, and clearing cache as shown on several youtube videos such as this and this
3) Gmail can download attachments (it stores them on the internal memory, though).
4) When I first inserted my SD card, I received a warning that the card is old and this might result in suboptimal performances.

Can someone help me?

Try ERASING (reformatting) the SD Card while inserted in the phone.

Back up your data
Go to device “Settings”, then select “Storage”.
Select your "SD Card", then tap the “three-dot menu“ (top-right), now select “Settings” from in there.
Now select “Format as internal”, and then “Erase & Format”.
Your SD Card will now be formatted as internal storage.
Reboot your phone.

Reference:
http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/id-3325411/download-due-card-missing.html


Galaxy S5 Battery Drain Galaxy S5 (unrooted)

My battery drain isn't dreadful yet, but it isn't getting better.

I can't narrow down what is causing it.  I have tried keeping my sync turned off, keeping google location reporting services off, even keeping my data off.  I can't narrow down at all what is causing this.

Anybody else have an idea or in a similar situation?

Had the same situation, I rooted and installed some app management apps, and stopped autoruns of many apps like maps, games, etc. I also removed some stock apps that I don't use which runs in background like Samsung apps. I recommend "System Cleanup" app for this .


What are potential causes of internet malfunction? I'm using Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2.
Running on android pie.
Phone is updated to latest firmware.
Few days ago I've changed sim card but problem still persist.
I can use internet with another sim card even with same network.
Sim tool kit is disappeared with sim I face problem, for other sim card it is appeared.
So what should I do to get rid of this?
Here is may you get cause of problem

I was facing same problem in my 3G phone so there also sim toolkit was disappeared.
And because of removing and insert sim in slot scratching sim card chip.
I insert this sim card in my new phone.
And I've started facing same problem.
So I had changed sim card but still facing same problem.
I had tried in both sim slot.  Tried other sim that was working fine.
Just notable difference is about sim toolkit.
For my sim card it is disappeared for other sim which is used in other phone is appearing.

Do I need to change my sim card as well as phone sim slot?

Possible causes of SIM Card and Mobile Data related internet problems,

Incorrect Mobile Service Provider.
Dirty or Scratched SIM Terminals.
Misaligned SIM in SIM Slot, usually caused by cutting your own SIM Card into a Micro SIM.
Broken SIM Card.
Broken Device Aerial.
Incompatible SIM Slot ( Micro, Nano ).
Incompatible SIM Frequencies, usually caused by having an old 2G Sim card with newer 4G device's.
Mobile Phone Number Inspection, A possible DOS or Denial Of Service may be happening for a specific phone number only.

Without further information I am unable to answer you with regards to your specific problem,

Try additional information,
What was happening prior to the issue ? ..
Did you get a new device because of internet issues ( maybe it wasn't the device but the actual SIM Card is damaged )

Did it ever work at all, Can you Read SIM Contacts ( Therefore Connect to the SIM )


Will upgrade to Android 4.3 with Samsung Knox make my s3 impossible to root? So my Galaxy s3 has finally offered to upgrade to 4.3.

I've heard Android 4.3 contains Samsung Knox which I have heard is a security feature that will make it impossible or at least really risky / difficult to root.

Is this true? Will I still be able to root my phone after I upgrade to Knox?

If I plan to root my phone after my warranty expires, should I not take this upgrade?

Depending on what version of S3 you have (there are 13 just looking at the wikipedia article), there could be different safeguards in place to prevent tamporing
Having KNOX installed is one thing, upgrading to 4.3 is another as some of the updates that Samsung has put in prevent certain types of expolots to get the bootloader unlocked and ability to boot a unapproved rom
A coworker of mine upgraded his phone to 4.3 and serious issues with KNOX not letting him boot. He had to downgrade all the way back to 4.1 and then upgrade back up to get a working phone. Needless to say, all of his data is lost.
If you are planning on rooting, do it now, upgrade to a rooted Rom with TouchWiz (like Carbon), or go full 1337 and get a CynogenMod rom and run Kit Kat
Rooting your phone kills the warranty, but there are ways to revert back to stock. Depending on the insurance you have on the phone, they'll take in a broken rooted phone. However, if some phone component breaks, and you have no way to get it back stock, you are sort of SOL.
There is a huge market for used phones, and if you have yours rooted, you give a bit of added value to the phone. Swappa is probably the best place to go out and sell your phone.

TL;DR: Root now, install a rom you like, get KitKat if need be, sell on swappa.

Source: Rootin' since 2009. Owner of multiple Samsung phones.


Should I and how can I avoid update pulled by Google I have Nexus 6 and there was a news that google pulled March 2017 update. I have notification pending saying update is downloaded, click to restart and install. I dont get, how can I avoid this update altogether. Do I have to install this one and get the next update hoping it will fix all things? I am afraid accidentally restarting my phone (due to say low battery) will result installing this update.

tl:dr
OP's device is on  7.0,  whereas this update is for 7.1.1 as explained here
Hence, OP needn't be concerned about it and apply pending OTA updates

For those on 7.1.1
According to Google is Rolling Back Nexus 6 Devices to Android 7.0 Nougat, ( also mentions the problems you linked to ),this update is to roll back To 7.0 ,  thus, enabling future OTA updates. It quotes Google manager in a reddit

There was a recent OTA update for Android 7.0 that is causing confusion for some Nexus 6 users. For those of you that want to guarantee future OTA updates, you will need to get back on the 7.0 supported track. If you are experiencing issues after accepting the 7.0 update, please factory reset your device to help resolve any problems.
For any Nexus 6 users that want to continue flashing/sideloading future builds, you can stay on 7.1.1 and continue to do so.

So, if you are willing to downgrade and get OTA updates in future, You should apply this update or flash manually updates if you want to continue on 7.1.1
As you can see on reddit, this appears to be a first, where an update actually downgrades your version !


Self bricked with bootloader I install a Flashify on my Huawei Ascend P7 to make my .img files run and I can install a Custom ROM, because always when I try to install it from ADB it shows

FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)

All files what I want to boot from ADB, shows this line. I add to boot a twrp.img file to get TWRP and install ar CustomROM

When I turn on my phone, blinks red, 2 times green and then again the same. Also Power + Vol Up or Down, doesnt work, even I cant run a update from SD Card, and HiSuite doesn't show my phone as connected...
Similar problem is in this post - http://forum.xda-developers.com/ascend-p7/help/unfortunately-boot-failed-information-t2908514

There's full CMD lines from my try to run recovery and boot

The system cannot find message text for message number 0x2350 in the message file for Application.

Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.
Not enough storage is available to process this command.

C:\...\ADB Flash Tools>fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending 'recovery' (12510 KB)...
OKAY [  0.480s]
writing 'recovery'...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 0.481s

C:\...\ADB Flash Tools>fastboot boot BOOT.img
creating boot image...
creating boot image - 9660416 bytes
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [  0.363s]
booting...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 0.365s

Only thing I can get into fastboot.

Whats the problem? And how I can get back my phone to work?

Commands not allowed shows when the bootloader is locked. Try fastboot oem get-bootinfo to get the lock status. This guide shows you how to unlock the bootloader.


Can Cyanogenmod 11 themes be used on CM 10? In the past, I unintentionally discovered that Cyanogenmod 9 can use CM 10 themes.
While the play store shows CM 11 themes as incompatible on CM 10, would the themes work if installed manually?

The new Theme Engine, introduced with CyanogenMod 11 and later adopted by other KitKat custom ROMs, uses a different but simpler structure from past engines.

The theme files are all under the assets folder of CM11 theme APKs, while it was solely up to the developer as to where to put the theme files in the old Theme Engine themes.

While I have seen that there are some backwards-compatible themes available, they generally specify the target CM versions in the Play Store app listings. So if Play Store tells you that your device is incompatible, better heed the warning; but if you see in the app description / reviews that people using CM < 11 can install the theme, then maybe you can install the theme manually.

TL;DR

Try to see if people using CM < 11 have successfully used the theme. If so, then go ahead!


Is it possible to increase Samsung's limit on contact merging? On Samsung phones, at least I know on the Galaxy S and Galaxy SII, it is only possible to merge 5 contacts max. There is also an issue on the Google Code page of Android here, but this did not solve the Samsung specific problem.

The suggested fix on XDA-Developers did not work with newer Android versions, and I'd like to stick with the official Samsung ROM.

Is there way to increase the limit on contact merging?

It is, if you have root Access.

Found the following solution on l0uy blog:

Open /system/csc/others.xml and add the following child to the <FeatureSet> parant:

<CscFeature_Contact_SetLinkCountMaxAs>30</CscFeature_Contact_SetLinkCountMaxAs>

The 30 is the limit, how much contacts you will merge. choose what you want.

Works fine on 4.1.2.


Is all data lost after factory reset? I had an LG Optimus I phone (LG E410f) with Android (can't remember the exact version now, but I believe it was 4.1.2) -- and I had OI Notepad pp installed  (app home is here). There were some very important notes saved on that notepad, but I accidentally did a factory reset while trying to boot into recovery (as far as I remember I did boot into recovery, but now everytime I boot it, the phone will start the initial setup again). I did not finish the initial setup after the accidental factory reset, so as to not overwrite any data in case it's possible to recover.

The device was rooted prior to booting into recovery (but I did not install alternative recovery/os/anything -- I just used some apps that needed root access).

So, my question is: is there any way to recover the app data?

You might have a chance via a custom recovery:

boot into recovery-mode and see if adb devices shows your device
if not, or if you have no custom recovery, you can "temporarily load one" using fastboot boot recovery.img (this is not guaranteed to work with all combinations, but I had luck with this using twrp on several devices)
if it shows up, use adb shell to get to its prompt. This should be a root prompt.
use dd to create an image of the relevant partitions (the /data partition is what you're usually after). Have it created on your external SD card.
use adb pull to get the image to your computer
use a file-carving software (see our data-recovery tag-wiki) to get back your deleted content from that image

Detailed information can be found in the article One Way to Use a Linux Computer to Recover Files from an Android Device – including those for some of the tricky parts: how to find your partition (step 4), plus an alternative way to grab it (adb shell su -c "cat /dev/block/mmcblk0" | pv > mmcblk0.raw would work even if you have no external SD card, and write the image directly to your Linux machine).

If you got no Linux machine, there are several LiveCDs available you could use. To use ADB on those, see our adb tag-wiki for a minimal installation; I'd recommend to simply download the minimalist archive from my site, unpack to an empty directory, and run it from there.


Eclipse(and adb.exe from sdk) doesn't detect my beaglebone black as running android device I need some help for problem. I'm using Beaglebone Black and Android (JellyBean 4.2.2) with 3.8 kernel. BBB connected to window7 through USB which comes with BBB. When I boot the android on micro SD card, it works fine(I'm using 4DCAPE LCD screen) but I cannot find it as running android device. I turn on the USB debug mode.

Thanks.

I am assuming that you are using the Andrew Henderson's 3.8 Kernel + Android JB configuration. As I understand the adb as it is intend is not functional in this configuration. Nikolay Elenkov in is blog has the following work around. Following is a direct word to word copy from the his blog

Configure FunctionFS support in the kernel

(CONFIG_USB_FUNCTIONFS=y):

Device Drivers -> USB Support ->
     USB Gadget Support -> USB Gadget Driver -> Function Filesystem

Modify the boot parameters in uEnv.txt to set the vendor and product IDs, as well as the device serial number
g_ffs.idVendor=0x18d1 g_ffs.idProduct=0x4e26 g_ffs.iSerialNumber=
Setup the FunctionFS directory and mount it in your init.am335xevm.usb.rc file:

mkdir /dev/usb-ffs 0770 shell shell
mkdir /dev/usb-ffs/adb 0770 shell shell
mount functionfs adb /dev/usb-ffs/adb uid=2000,gid=2000

on fs

Delete all lines referencing /sys/class/android_usb/android0/*. (Those nodes are created by the native Android gadget driver and are not available when using FunctionFS.)

Please review this blog for detail infomation

http://nelenkov.blogspot.be/2013/07/building-wireless-android-device.html


Pandora starts playing, un-prompted, in middle of the night Samsung GALAXY S-6 with operating system 6.0.1. I use the sleep function on Pandora and it works well. However, the application starts unprompted at random times during the night. Not good, solution?

I just had to uninstall it since I couldn't figure it out. Not only did it start spontaneously, I couldn't even turn it off because it didn't show up in my list of running apps. It was like it was on, but not on. I would have to power down my whole phone to get it to stop. It's not worth the trouble, there are way too many other music apps out there to be dealing with this. No Bluetooth devices connected at the time and also in an area with a very weak WiFi signal.


Connecting to PPPOE ethernet over USB to ethernet adapter I have an ASUS Infinity tablet, running Android 4.1.1.

I plugged in my USB to Ethernet adapter, and it said that the ethernet port was detected. How do I set up my ISP username and password?

You can try WiFi PPPOE, although meant to be used over Wifi, it might be able to use wired Ethernet as well, depending on how it is implemented (wired Ethernet is not a standard Android thing).


Terminal or ADB command to force-stop applications What is the terminal or adb command to force-stop an application?

Like for freezing we use pm disable application_name.

You can use am force-stop <package name>. Also there is am kill <package name>.