Massive Storage Being Used I have a 16GB Galaxy S3 with a 64GB SD Card. However, it appears that files have been saving to my device and not the external card. I only have 4 Gigs left of the 16. Is there any app that can "take all internal storage and move them to SD Card"? Or is there an easier way?

You might want to try moving apps installed in internal memory to sd card by long pressing on the desired app from the app drawer and dragging it up to the app info panel ,scroll down and there you may find the "Move to SD card" option. However afaik you cannot move apps to SD on the s3 unless rooted. You got to manage your files and apps using the 11 GB available or else root your device.


Where i can find my stock rom Recently I bought a Chinese made android phone. Specifications of the phone is given here. The phone has mediatek mtk6577 processor. I been thinking to install different ROM in my device. But, I can not find source to download this ROM. Is it possible to install google stock rom in this phone and where can I find this rom? How do I know which rom is compatible with my device?

For finding other ROMs, Google is your best friend. If you can't find anything with Google, chances are that there aren't any custom ROMs for the phone. Any ROM that is compatible with the device will specifically list the phone. If it is not listed, it is not safe to flash the ROM and may result in hard-bricking the phone forever.

As far as the stock ROM goes, Google is again your best friend. Many manufactures post the stock ROM on their website for just this reason, however, if it is not there, you can always take a nandroid backup of the phone which also captures the stock ROM, allowing you to flash back the stock ROM if you wish to do so.


Is there a way to use an Android tablet as a wifi handsfree device? My situation:

Android (4.0.3) tab hooked up to my car stereo using the headphones connector.
Android (2.3.5) phone (HTC Desire HD), which I use to call, text, browse, etc.

Since my car stereo's Bluetooth device died I thought I could use the Android tab as a audio relay device. Problem is: the tab has no Bluetooth. It has wifi though.

Is there any way to use an Android device as a handsfree adapter over wifi? Some kind of wifi relay between the phone and the tablet, perhaps?

Does the tab has USB port. How about adding an external custom BT device. BT device talks to android app on tab via any serial library for example scm (http://www.embeddedunveiled.com/scm-wiki).


How do I just charge (i.e. not mount for data transfer) a Galaxy Nexus when connected via USB to a PC? I like to be able to charge my phone from any PC I happen to be using. With my previous HTC Android, I could default to "charge-only" and only switch it to "mount as disc drive" when I wished to, on my own machines.

Why? Being prompted for driver installs (at least on a Windows machine) is annoying;  connecting a storage device to a PC I don't own may be against policy/protocol/politeness.

It would appear that the Galaxy Nexus uses two protocols, MTP and PTP; I currently have only MTP switched on, but can't turn it off.

I could try to find a '"USB" cable that only connects pins 1 & 4 ... [to provide] ... power and no data'.. But this would mean carrying two different USB cables around.

Any other solutions?

This feature is called "fast charge", and it charges your device slightly faster by disabling the USB data capability. It's not available in the stock ROM that I know of, so you need a ROM and a kernel that you know supports this. I'm using AOKP with the Franco kernel and it works great on my Galaxy Nexus, so you could try that. (There's even a quick toggle for fast charge available).

There's probably not an unrooted solution for this.

  Being prompted for driver installs (at least on a Windows machine) is annoying

It might be good to know that installing the correct USB drivers for the Galaxy Nexus in Windows is not something that happens automatically. If you decide to root and flash your device, you'll encounter this; I highly recommend using Galaxy Nexus Toolkit to make the procedure as easy as possible (it's really not that hard).


How To Bypass Android Lock-Screen? I can't remember the pattern to my phone anymore. How can I bypass it? I've looked at my options but they've been whittled down. Android debugging isn't enabled, so I can't use the Android SDK to access the console, as one article suggested. And I'm unable to use the "Bypass Screen Lock" app on Google Play to get in, as I can't remember my google account info- which means, of course, that I can't just use the "forgot your password?" option, either.

The phone in question is a StraightTalk Galaxy S2 running Anroid 2.3.6

Can anyone help me?

If you logged in with your google account, you should be able to see a forgot password option after you enter the wrong password 5 times. your google password will let you reset it.


How to perform double tap to zoom on android device with adb shell I want to perform a double tap on the screen or mouse with adb shell. Is this possible? I'm not interested in waking or turning off the screen, but to increase the zoom on a picture.

Thanks to @Firelord for pointing out the solution. These are several keyevents that work on a Samsung Galaxy S7. You cand send either the code or the name of the event:

Turn on/off the screen (clicking the power button):

adb shell input keyevent 26
 adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_POWER

Zoom in a little bit:

adb shell input keyevent 168
 adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_ZOOM_IN

Zoom out a little bit:

adb shell input keyevent 169
 adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_ZOOM_OUT

See all the official KeyEvents on Google Developer's page:
Android KeyEvent

Another option, much more powerful and sophisticated, is to use minitouch, which is a minimal multitouch event producer for Android.


Google Chrome - Do Incognito tabs automatically delete if phone runs out of battery? so recently, I was looking through some personal information on another friends Galaxy s4 (running Kit Kat) when the battery went out. Problem was, I was using incognito mode.

My question is, if there are incognito tabs running and the phone runs out of battery, once it is switched on again, does it still re-open the incognito tabs?

Much appreciated,
Jacob

The very purpose of having an Incognito mode would be beaten if those tabs would come back after you restart the Chrome or the device.
Google has the following to say here:
(Emphasis mine)

If you don’t want Google Chrome to save a record of what you visit and download, you can browse the web in incognito mode.
...
Incognito mode opens a new window where you can browse the Internet without Chrome saving the sites you visit.... When you close the tabs, Chrome won’t save the sites you’ve visited.

When browsing in Incognito mode Chrome doesn't record the tabs you visit which means there exists no possibility for a normal user to retrieve  them if the Chrome tries to recover/resume the last browsing session once you boot the device after charging it, in your case.
Whatever you browsed in that mode before the device went dark is lost now.
Though having a clear proof already,  I did test the solution by crashing my device and then launching the Chrome after booting it. Nope, those tabs doesn't show up anywhere.


Can I set the schedule for automatic Market updates, e.g. every night? Is there a way to schedule when the Market updates my installed apps? Ideally I would like to run it late every night, that way I won't have to be bothered with them when I'm actually using the phone.

I'm not 100% sure but maybe tasker can do it. If it can't do it directly and if you are rooted, you can use  tasker to kill Market except on night time. That way at night time Market will run and install your apps. At day time market will get killed and no installing of apps.


Why is Play Store still asking for all app permissions on install on Android Marshmallow? From everything I've read, when installing a new app from the Play Store under Marshmallow, it is supposed to just install with no permission questions (e.g. Slash Gear article). The app is then supposed to ask for each permission it needs as you run it.

This is not happening on my Nexus 5 which I updated via OTA to 6.0 earlier this week. When clicking install in the Play Store, still getting the massive list of permissions along with an Accept button. Is there a setting that is needed to make this work as expected?

I believe the app has to be made with API 23 (aka Marshmallow's API) and the user has to be on 6.0 Marshmallow or higher for what you want to take effect. However, you can still go into Settings - Apps and change each app's permissions individually, or go into Advanced under Apps (the gear icon) and change them by category.

Source: Android Developers - Requesting Permissions at Run Time


Restricted Access for SIM when use internet (3G, 2G and wi-fi) I am using THL W3+ and i have some problems when I switch on the internet (3G,2G, wi-fi) - it is working in normal mode for not more than 5 minutes and then the SIM and voice calls are in restricted mode and PIN is required.

Did somebody meet such problem and did somebody find a solution?

This sounds like it's a problem with the SIM card. My suggestion would be to check the SIM card seating and verify that there's no dust or debris between the SIM card and the connectors. If this doesn't help, try to use another SIM to test if it's a problem with the SIM card itself. If the device works with the other SIM, take your SIM to the carrier and ask for a replacement. If not, then I'd suggest taking the phone back to the shop for warranty repair.


How to use Tasker to kill apps on/after device boot? I have several apps auto start at boot, and it's really not necessary. So I'm trying to use Tasker to kill them on/after device boot.

Tasker has a "Event - Device Boot" option, but it seems that does not work. Tasker just cannot catch this event.

I'v also tried to trigger the profile when another app (which starts after Tasker) starts. It works but the problem is that each time the app starts, Taker performs the action, but I only need the task to be performed once.

Can anyone think of any trick to do this?

PS: please no recommendation on third-party apps or permission change method

Your restriction (no 3rd party apps) will keep a better fitting answer away, I'd say. What you describe is a task not for Tasker, but for... oh, I shall not mention it you wrote...

Your problem is most likely that Tasker very well catches the boot_completed event, but the apps to kill have been waiting for the same. So when Tasker looks to kill them, they're not yet started. Your Task thus finishes without anything done, and Whoop! then the unwanted apps start.

So if you really want to do this via Tasker, I'd insert a Tasker -> Wait at the very beginning of the task. Play with the values, start with 15s and increase in 15s steps until either it works or your reach a point where it's unlikely to work (say e.g. 2 min, or you see the apps have started and your Task didn't kill them).

If that still doesn't work, combine it with switching the condition: In case Tasker really cannot catch the boot_completed (well, Tasker itself is started then), switch to "monitoring start", and start over with 15s wait again.

Finally, though you didn't want 3rd party apps, just in case you re-think that: Autorun Manager does this job quite fine, without any hazzle. On rooted devices, it even can disable other intents than just boot_completed listeners.


adb "Permission denied" to run a "./configure" file I need to run a configure file into my android phone so I think the best way to do this is to use the adb shell command.

I'm running an Android emulator onto a Windows-7 platform, and there I'm running the adb shell command into a DOS window. Using the cd command I'm changing to the directory where my configure file is, and then I'm executing the following command: ./configure. I'm getting the following error :

./configure: permission denied

So I try to run adb in root mode with adb root -- but apparently my adb is already in root mode (Moreover I have the "#" character before each line of my adb shell).

I have also tried to use chmod but I don't see any difference before and after executing this command (ls -la), so maybe the problem is here (How can I run the chmod command?).

Maybe someone here can help me with my issue, and if you have also an explanation about why I don't have the permission to run my configure file it will be great.

Thanks.

PS: My goal here is to use the net-snmp package on an Android platform by compiling the sources of this project directly onto the platform.

This is due to 2 things:

The file does not have execute permissions [AND]
The file cannot gain executable permissions as it is on the SD Card. The SD Card's filesystem can accept file permissions, however it is mounted with the noexec flag, as stated in a comment. This stops files being executed.

Solution:

Copy the net-snmp-5.7.2 directory to the /data/local/tmp directory as root.
Set the configure file to be executable by running chmod 0777 /data/local/tmp/net-snmp-5.7.2/configure as root.
You should now be able to execute the configure script by typing /data/local/tmp/net-snmp-5.7.2/configure and pressing enter.

Note

This should all be done as the root user :)


How to flash a kernel image without building Android from source I got the following msm kernel branch for my Nexus 7(flo)

      msm/remotes/origin/android-msm-flo-3.4-jb-mr2

added some files and then built an image(zImage). I then downloaded a factory image of Nexus 7 for JB - 4.3 (JSS15R) [This said razor which I dunno why. I thought it was flo]

Anyway I took the factory image. Split the boot.img file into the ramdisk.gz and zImage. Then I got the zImage from the kernel I build and replaced it with the zImage from the factory image. The I combined the zImage and ramdsik.gz to create the boot.img and tried to flash it. But the device goes into a bootloop.

The zImage works when I build android 4.3-JB from source. But aosp seems to miss some packages I need.

I wanted to know what I'm doing wrong and why android goes into a bootloop when I combine it with the factory image

You can't (reliably) combine a kernel with a ramdisk from a different kernel. The ramdisk contains the kernel modules you build, so it has to go with the exact same kernel build. If you build a kernel, you have to flash the ramdisk produced by that build along with the kernel image (and vice-versa).


Can I replace the OS of a Samsung Galaxy S? I was attracted by the hardware specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S.

However, I don't like the default TouchWiz skin developed by Samsung. I'd prefer to use the native Android UI, as in the Nexus S and similar devices.

Is it possible for me to perform "self installation" of the stock Android OS, after I bought the Samsung Galaxy S? If yes, how? Will I void the warranty of my phone by doing this?

Yes, flashing a custom ROM will void your warranty.  However, it is very simple to revert to the stock ROM with a Galaxy S for warranty purposes.  Rooting will also void your warranty, but the method below does not require root.

The easiest way to a get a new OS for a Galaxy S is to use Odin for Windows (download here.  Search for "Heimdall" if you want to do this on Linux).  You just need an Odin-flashable ROM.  For the Galaxy S Vibrant, I highly recommend the ROM I currently use, Bionix v1.3.1, which has a TouchWiz-free version.  I assume you have a GT-I9000 however; you should look for one that suits your purposes in XDA's i9000 Android Development forum.

Edit: According to this post, the only completely TouchWiz-free ROM is CyanogenMod, which is unstable/buggy.  So if you don't want CM and just want to replace the launcher, you can do that without flashing another ROM as Amanda says in her answer.  Otherwise you can continue with the instructions below for using Odin.

Once you have the ROM, do the following:

Put your phone into Download mode

Remove the battery
If non-i9000, attach the phone to your PC via USB.
Hold VolumeDown plus either the Home key (i9000) or VolumeUp (non-i9000) and the power button

Reinsert the battery.
Let go of the power button only about 1 second after the white device logo appears (if it does)
After a few seconds a yellow triangle with an android in it should appear, you can let go of the keys since this is download mode.

Start up Odin.
If non-i9000, detatch your phone from USB.
Attach the phone to USB so that Odin recognizes it.
Load the .zip file you downloaded (the custom ROM) into the PDA field of Odin.
Load the 512 .pit file into the PIT field of Odin.
Check "Re-partition".
Hit Start.  Odin will tell you when it's done; if it fails, reboot your phone and try again.  (This happens occasionally).

Note that if you need to back anything up, you should do that beforehand and save the backup to your PC, since everything (except probably the external SD card) will be wiped on the phone.  Also note that you do this at your own risk; Odin is very powerful and misusing it can damage your phone.  I've used it dozens of times myself safely.


Send SMS instead of MMS when texting multiple people When I put more than one person as the recipient to my message my Samsung Galaxy S3 vibrates and says it's converting to MMS. When I send my message I know at least one person is not getting the message. However that person can send me a group message and I can see it is as a SMS instead of MMS.

I can't find any options to prevent it from becoming a MMS. I set the delivery report checkbox and sent another one out. I know one person got it and that person did it. I get no report on who got it. I'm using Android 4.3.

I was facing the same problem for long time on my Galaxy S3, at last i figure it out

by default android SMS allow you to send same message to multiple people without converting it to MMS.
But when you Select the option Group Messaging under the multimedia message (MMS) setting
it now set group messaging only for MMS

try un-checking the option

hope this will help ( am using default sms of android)

Screenshot (click to enlarge)


Can Galaxy S2 ICS be updated to enable spell-checker without rooting? I've read that Samsung disabled the ICS spell-checker by removing it from the settings application.  Can it be re-added/enabled without rooting the phone?

Based on Android ICS spell checker does not know how to spell (English)?, spell-checker seems to be enabled [but there's some issues].

Right now, I'm on Samsung Galaxy S2 ICS [using CyanogenMod], and there is a checkbox to enable Spelling correction. When I was using stock ICS, I could turn off spelling / auto-correction, but it might be because I was also using a 3rd-party keyboard [GO SMS Pro]


How to remove old Android images/packages/apps? The initial setup on my Android device was using 4gb of space. After several upgrades it's using 7.5gb and most of that is Android OS crap. Personal files and non-Google apps are on an SD card. I need to clean up internal storage. This is the equivalent of finding an old Linux image in synaptic and then remove completely.
Is there a tool similar to synaptic for Android?

Synaptic is a GUI tool over apt package manager that manages .deb packages built for  Linux distros. Android's package management is inside a Java environment, totally different from Linux distros. Android's Java apps are built as .apk (zip) files and are managed by PackageManager which may also be used from commandline tool pm.

What you are looking for i.e. the purging of old packages is not simply achievable on Android. You can uninstall user apps and their data will also be deleted from /data/app/<PKG-NAME>, /data/data/<PKG-NAME> and /sdcard/Android/data/<PKG-NAME>. You can delete any left over files from /sdcard yourself.

But there are a number of packages (system apps) that are part of Android core framework and they store their data on different directories under /data which also include your preferences, settings, databases, backups, contacts, messages, caches, logs etc. You can't remove them all because - unlike Linux - everything on Android isn't neceassarily a part of some package.

So what you can do easily is Factory Reset. It'll bring your device to clean state by removing almost everything from /data partition. However it will remove your settings, personal data & all user installed apps. So keep a backup before doing so.

If you don't want to start from zero, you need to analyze space usage manually, not possible without root access or at least custom recovery. If you have rooted your device, you can use a  GUI app like SDMaid to check space usage of /data (and even other format-able) partitions in detail. Or simply use du command from recovery or from terminal emulator within Android. See this for a practical example of space usage.


Phone extremely slow, even after factory reset I have a Samsung Galaxy J5 2016. It's gotten extremely slow and buggy (>10 crashes a day, waiting more than 30 seconds to open default apps, ...).
I've done a factory reset, with removal of all data, including SD card. And... It's just the same.
I'm already looking around for a new phone, but I'm wondering what can cause this?
When I google why phones get slower over time, they point to more and heavier apps. But this doesn't explain my case.
What can cause this behavior, even after a reset?

The most common culprits for slowing down your phone is accumulating background apps and hardware degradation. Since you've factory reset your phone, that rules out the first.
Flash memory in your phone degrades as you repeatedly write data, but this is a slow process. Eventually you will have sectors of memory fail from physical wear or accumulation of electrons which makes them unreadable.
Same thing happened to my Samsung Note 4. Was blazing quick when I first got it, now its sluggish, even after a reset.
Btw, check out Cycle (https://cyclephones.com)
It lets you stream an android emulator from a server to your phone so that you can run any app smoothly.
Full disclosure: I run Cycle, but I'd use it even if I didn't. There isn't a good solution to a slow phone other than buying a new one.


Text message appears as Chinese Symbols in AT&T When I send a text with letters (in English) and Emoji's to a friend from my Galaxy S5,  she receives text that looks all Chinese. She has a Galaxy S7 and we are both on AT&T

Your network APN settings are messed up somehow. AT&T can assist you with fixing it but I had to change the mine to add admin into the string. It's worth noting it's happening on large messages. It just so happens emojis bloat the send size.


Is there a way to give root privileges to an app through the ADB? The Android Debug Bridge (ADB) itself has root access (after executing the adb root command). Can that be used to give the same privileges to apps on the device? Is there a file somewhere in the system that keeps track of which user (app) has root access and can it be modified? If it helps I've already put the app in the system folder so it's regarded as a system app now.

Nope. Though you could use e.g. pm grant and grant it SUPERUSER, but that would have no effect if the app hadn't declared that in its manifest. And if it had, it wouldn't be necessary to grant it manually.

An app must actively request superuser privileges in order to gain it – and even then it only works with a superuser app in place (acting as "gate keeper") that then pops up a message for the user to confirm.


Relative GPS accuracy? GPS is not that accurate on Android devices (at least at mine) Measuring tools tell me the accuracy is between 8 and 12 Meters.

But what is about relative accuracy? When I place two marks on different coordinates in the distance of 1 meter will this distance be measurable?

Distance can be measured even if you place 2 points in one place - for mesurement used signal from satellites, and in city it's extremely difficult to predict it changes.

Accuracy depends on signal quality, and it's impossible to get it 100% even in a field, so when you move phone to 1 meter, signal change may be so small, what not detected, and it may be changed so seriously, what will displayed over 100 meters change (tested on buildings corners with HTC Desire and Nexus 7).


How do push notifications work? I am wondering how is push notifications system working?

Is there an active TCP/IP connection that runs in the background to Google servers?

Yes, Android keeps one active connection to Google's servers, but it doesn't use much power or data, because no traffic is sent along it until something sends a GCM message to an app on your phone. There's only one connection on the phone, used by all apps: installing a new app that uses GCM doesn't add any extra load.

The first step in GCM is that a third-party server (such as an email server) sends a request to Google's GCM server. This server then sends the message to your device, through that open connection. The Android system looks at the message to determine which app it's for, and starts that app. The app must have registered with Android to use GCM, and it must have the relevant permission. When the app starts, it might create a notification straight away with the data from the message. GCM messages are very limited in size, so the app might instead open a normal connection to the third-party server to get more information (for example, downloading the headers of new emails).

The advantage of using push notifications is that apps don't have to run at regular intervals to check for new data, saving both power and data. The advantage of having a centralized mechanism like GCM is that the device only needs one open network connection and the Android GCM system is the only thing that needs to keep running, rather than each app having to stay running in the background to keep its own network connection to its own server.


Error adding another Google account Device: T-Mobile G2 (UK) / HTC Hero OS: 2.1

I have a primary gmail account, a second Gmail account, and a Google Apps account. I'd now like to add another Google Apps account.

However, whenever I try, I get a "you don't have a network connection / This could be a temporary problem or your phone may not be provisioned for data services. lease try again when connected to a mobile network, or connect to a Wi-Fi network. If the problem continues, call Customer Care" message. However I've tried this from 3 cities, across a few weeks, from where I'm always able to access internet and Google accounts.

I presume there's no limit of 3, so what else can I try?

Edit - 3rd Jan - I just tried removing an existing (working) gmail account. I can't add the new account, or put back the removed account - new error is "Can't establish a reliable data connection to the server./This could be a temporary problem or your phone may not be provisioned for data services. If it continues, call Customer Care.". This is on WiFi and 3G - whilst the process was trying I received (pull) email! There's something really wrong.

I have 4 Google accounts, so no there's not a limit of 3.  I'm guessing trying two Apps accounts is the problem.  Try adding another standard (gmail) Google account and see if that works.

Edit: I'd try a factory reset at this point.


Installing system apps on Android 4.4 I've installed apps on the system partition on Android 4.1 and it's as easy as moving an APK to the /system/app/ folder and restart the device. The PackageManager (I assume) will recognize a change in the directory and will install the application.

Now I'm trying to do the same thing on Android 4.4 and it's not working. I'm seeing the APK on the /system/app/ directory but I don't see the app on the launcher. I also tried moving it to the /system/priv-app/ folder but the end result is the same.

Does anyone have a clue of how to do this?

By the way, the 4.1 device was a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7" Wifi and the 4.4 device is a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7". Both are rooted.

When copy/move files to system you need to change permissions using chmod 644 file_name.apk. The apps will then show back up.


Autostart mobile hotspot when starting smartphone Is there some way to autostart the mobile hotspot once turning on the smartphone?

We have an external device relying on a mobile hotspot. We need some way to always run mobile hotspot when the phone is alive.

Is there some way to autostart the mobile hotspot once turning on the smartphone?

Yes, you can do this. Note that as a prerequisite your android device needs to be rooted. Head to Play Store and install Tasker (a paid app). Open Tasker, provide permanent Root privileges from your installed Root App. After that:

Cancel any help section or window for the time being and head to Profiles out of the three options :- Profiles, Tasks, Scenes.
At the bottom, touch + -> Event -> System -> Device Boot. Touch Backward key one time and it will ask to Enter task.
Create a task by choosing New task +. Enter a name for it, touch right symbol and you'll be presented with blank screen and some symbols at the bottom.
Touch + -> Net -> Wifi Tether. Below option Set choose On. Touch backward key two times to come back to main screen of app.
Touch Context Menu key one time and select Enable Tasker. If it is already enabled then you'll be having an icon(like lightning) in Android's Status Bar.
Make sure that no external app(if any installed) is inhibiting the Tasker app from starting after startup.
Reboot or Power-Off and Power-On and you'll see that hotspot gets activated automatically after every reboot.

NOTE:- Depending upon the apps in Startup your system may take some more seconds to start hotspot but eventually it will do by itself.


Larger Lock-Screen PIN buttons? Problem:
I just upgraded my phone software, and the lock screen PIN buttons have changed appearance!  They are now shifted up, smaller (circular with spaces in between them, instead of square and using the whole screen area), and less responsive.  This seems like a terrible idea from a UX standpoint- completely messing up my muscle-memory; now every time I try to log in to my phone, I screw up the pin at least twice.  Very annoying.
Examples:
Before the lock-screen PIN had something like this, with square buttons, except they were larger & took up the whole the middle of the lock screen:

Now, this is the awful new lock-screen PIN layout:

Phone Specs:

Galaxy S10e (SM-G970U)
Android Version 11
ONE UI version 3.0
New Software Version: G970USQU4FTLN / G970UOYN4FTLN / G970USQU4FTN

What I've tried:
When I try to look up this issue, most of the responses will be about changing my PIN lock-method to a password / pattern, etc. lock method, or changing the PIN itself.  Those Q&A's I've found addressing the appearance / behavior of the lock screen tend to say it's inbuilt to the system & nothing you can do except for really cracking your phone software.  I also don't see anything in Accessibility options, but maybe I'm missing something.  Any ideas, or is this really something I'm going to have to put up with (until I get mad enough & just throw it in the trash)?

There are Apps in the Play Store that provide an alternative lockscreen. Have a look at this page to see some. But from a perspective of security, I would personally avoid using an alternative lockscreen app, as you give your whole security and privacy into the hands of one app. But that's a decision you should make on your own. Android itself does provide the functionality to let other apps handle such important things using Device Administrator rights.
Other workarounds would include using an alternative locking method like Smart Lock or installing another ROM, for example LineageOS.
I personally would try getting used to it.


Reading NFC tags from the front of the phone I'm creating an app reading NFC tags.

Currently all works well expect that the NFC tag can only be scanned when it touch the back of the phone.

Is there anyway to allow NFC to be read through the screen?

I'm testing on a Nexus 4.

With the backing of dotVezz, summing up from the comments:

Considering the specifications, this is quite unlikely:

range of the NFC signal is limited to a max of 10 cm on "clear view" (see Wikipedia)
material with a greater density will reduce this even more: air ~ 0.001 g/cm3 versus Lithium ~ 0.53 g/cm3 makes rawly a 500-times-density difference, so a factor of 10 (as I mentioned in my comment) probably is a huge under-estimation
even calculating with a factor of ~10, this would reduce the range to below 1 cm. And you will rather have to more than double that factor.

With few devices being thinner than .8 mm, your wish is close to impossible of being fulfilled.


app installed to /system/priv-app won't run Prerequisites:

a rooted Rockchip-based China tablet device running Android 6, patched to disable SystemUI
own-developed app which declares LAUNCHER category and is intended to take full conrol of the device

What am I trying to achieve:

install the app as a system app to avoid handling SDK 23+ permissions

What have I done so far:

installed the app regularly via Android Studio
moved the app to /system/priv-app:

(root)

ls /data/app/my.package.name-1
 base.apk
 lib
 oat
mount -o rw,remount /system
mv /data/app/my.package.name-1 /system/priv-app/AppName
ls -la /system/priv-app/AppName
 -rw-r--r-- system   system    2464934 2017-12-08 11:32 base.apk
 drwxr-xr-x system   system            2017-12-08 11:32 lib
 drwxrwx--x system   install           2017-12-08 11:32 oat
reboot

What is the problem?

It seems the system is not aware the app exists: it does not run on boot (which it perfectly does when installed as a regular app) and I am unable to launch it manually:

root@rk312x:/ # am start -n my.package.name/.ui.MainActivity
Starting: Intent { cmp=my.package.name/.ui.MainActivity }
Error type 3
Error: Activity class {my.package.name/my.package.name.ui.MainActivity} does not exist.

What am I missing?

Moving an application from one space to another on Marshmallow and more superior will almost always result in that. The best way use the cp command, after that delete the source. An application at data has it's own set permissions which persist to the system and though even if you change them, since there's no new instance of file creation, the system just doesn't take care to trigger preparation of the app. The best way is

cp /data/app/[package.name]-1/app-name.apk /system/app/[app-folder-name]/app-name.apk

Repeat this for the libs in the app folder to the app folder. The folder should look like:

APPNAME containing .apk and LIB folder
LIB folder containing type of lib like ARM folder
ARM folder with all libraries eg libexample.so

set permission of all folders to chmod 0755
and all files to permission chmod 0644

They will work. To make life easier, stop using the shell commands. Look for a file manager to simplify your work but always remember of you're using TWRP or Terminal on a boot device always copy and delete source. Moving for many ROMs will actually lead to that

NOTE: The oat folder in that folder at /data/app/package.name/ is of no use. Dalvik will create it's new classes.dex at /data/dalvik-cache on install as system application


stolen smartphone tracking If my  stolen samsung J1 (android 4.4.4)  got a ' hard reset' by the thief (so all the data and tracking app are deleted), how is it possible to track that device ? Does these facts help;

the thief has replaced my SIM by his own one.
the thief use his own gmail account now

,can help?

If that security is bypassed by a thief and it was not encrypted, only law enforcement can track it at that point, and call your service provider and report it stolen that way it's rendered useless and eventually will be busted for using/receiving stolen goods


What can I do after breaking the screen of my phone? I dropped my phone on the concrete. Now, I have a crack and my screen is pitch black. I tried rebooting it and charging it, but it won't come on. I want to know if I can change the screen and if it will come back on or what?

Replacing the screen isn't really a job you can do yourself: it's very fiddly and usually needs special tools. You can take it to a repair shop and they can replace the screen (if they have the replacement screen for your model of phone), but this is usually expensive. Because the screen is one of the most expensive components of the phone, and labour costs are expensive, replacing the screen might cost as much as replacing the whole phone.

You don't know what else might have been damaged by hitting that concrete. If the broken screen is the only damage, then replacing it will make the phone work again. But if the phone's internal components have been damaged too, it may not be possible to replace them. The repair shop should be able to tell you when they've examined the phone.


Is there any shortcut to turn on flashlight in Android? I have tried the most popular applications but no default shortcuts.
For instance pressing the button long time could be one. I am using Samsung Galaxy 4 and Android 5.0.1.

Is there any shortcut for a better flashlight in Android?

This is as far as I understood your question. You simply want to attach an action to long-press of Home key. This action, at the moment, is about activating the flashlight.
Since you can opt for root, you can also consider opting for Xposed Framework (the installer here may not work for Samsung devices running Lollipop. You would need to visit XDA forum).
Use Xposed Additions to attach an action to keys. Use TeslaLED to enable flashlight (use an alternative if this doesn't work).
Optionally, read my answer for Page up and page down in web pages and elsewhere to become familiar with the interface of Xposed Additions.
All you've to do is:

Install and enable Xposed Addtions module. Launch it.

Go to Buttons → optionally configure Long press delay → Add new Key and configure it.

Select the entry for your key → Add new Condition → Screen On  → Screen On → activate Long Press → Long Press.
Replace Screen On with Screen Off, if required. Screen Off would work only for hardware buttons, such as Power button (buttons which you can actually press).

Either choose Torch or go to Shortcut → TeslaLED Toggle.

Done!


Where are the battery capacity files located? Background
My current device Huawei Honor 6 comes with a 3100 mAh battery. I was therefore surprised to see 3C Toolbox Pro report the capacity as 4000 mAh.
I mailed the developer of the app and his reply was on these lines

In Android, one can get the stock hard-coded battery capacity from battery profiles, an hidden API in Android. That’s the one of the 2 sources the app uses.
The other source is in the kernel, usually under /sys/devices/power_supply/battery/charge_full_design

( To know the path on your device, from 3C Toolbox, tap request support from Help and support menu. An email will be generated to the developer having information about your device, including battery_info.txt. This file amongst other things specifies the path of second source )
So, the battery capacity and state of battery as reported in percentage depends on from which of these two sources it is being read and the two sources could hold different values (In my case, it was the stock ROM shipped with wrong capacity in the battery profiles)
This explanation fits in well with battery capacity being  reported differently by apps as also mismatched battery readings using an extended battery (Note: These two questions are of '14 vintage and based on the location of battery files as mentioned, I have answered)
Question
I have been scouring the net, various forums, Android Developers etc to get an authoritative source for this rather than a mail communication. This would help me understand better and also answer such questions with a good reference
Can someone point to an authoritative source that supports or offers an alternative explanation ?
Edit: I am looking for generic information , not specific to my device

I think the answer in the email is legit, here's why:

All of the following information is based on the Google Nexus 5, but the general procedure should apply for all Android phones.

The mail describes two possible sources for an app developer to get the information on how high the battery charge is on full capcity:

Reading from the sysfs file in the Android file system (/sys/devices/power_supply/battery/charge_full_design).
Using the Android private API. Private in this case means that only system apps (from Google) have access to this information. But an app developer can use a few tricks (described here) to get access to this information too.

Both of these methods have their own source for the "charge at full capacity" value.

1.: In the Nexus 5 this file is created by the driver responsible for handling the chip (Maxim MAX17048) which measures the remaining capcity on the battery. The source code of this driver can be found here. The driver uses additional files to get device specific information. This information is fixed and usually provided by the smartphone manufacturer. The file used for the driver in the Nexus 5 also contains a value called fcc-mah. You will get the content of this value if you read from the /sys/devices/power_supply/battery/charge_full_design file in the Nexus 5.

2.: Another way is provided by the private Android API. This API uses power profiles to know how much energy every component approximately consumes. The Google documentation says:

  Device manufacturers must provide a component power profile that defines the current consumption value for the component and the approximate battery drain caused by the component over time. This profile is defined in platform/frameworks/base/core/res/res/xml/power_profile.xml. For guidance on these settings, see Power Values.

The power_profile.xml also holds a value called battery.capacity which can be read via the API. This value also holds the maximum capacity of the battery.

To get the power_profile.xml for your device, do the following:

Use ADB to get the the framework-res.apk: adb pull /system/framework/framework-res.apk
Follow these instructions to get a readable version of power_profile.xml
Path to the extracted file is: framework-res/res/xml/power_profile.xml

So depending on how a developer chooses to get the "charge at full capacity" value, he may get different results. Especially when I look at the driver file for the Huawei Honor 6, one can see that there are different values depending on the used battery type.

One could assume that a lazy manufacturer does not update the files in the driver or the power profile appropriately for the used battery, which in return causes the different values.

Form a developers perspective the second method is more attractive and easier to implement (again, see this answer). The first method needs access to the Android file system and root privileges.


Issues installing Android apps in Anbox Anbox doesn't come pre-installed with Google Play Store and there's not even a package installer, so the only way to install applications in Anbozx is through Android Debug Bridge, aka ADB.

adb install /path/to/file.apk

which would result in installing the application in Anbox, which worked for me for installing QuickPic and Snapseed, but it failed in installing Opera Mini and WPS Office giving the following error:

Input:

adb install /home/sumeet/Downloads/opera.apk

Output:

* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
30103 KB/s (4597754 bytes in 0.149s)
Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_NO_MATCHING_ABIS: Failed to extract native libraries, res=-113]

Is this an Anbox problem, an Ubuntu problem or an ADB problem that can be fixed? Since Anbox is essentially just an Android emulator running on top of Linux, how can I fix this?

Let's take a look at the error message again:

Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_NO_MATCHING_ABIS: Failed to extract native libraries, res=-113]

This means that the app in question uses native C/C++ libraries, but the APK doesn't include that library compiled for the CPU architerchture of the the target device. Unlike Java, C/C++ code is not cross-platform, nor is it cross-architecture.

Some apps have different APKs for the different CPU architectures.

But, bottom line, this is the app developer's fault, not yours.

Original Source


How can you display a Unicode character on Android that otherwise appears as ☒? I want to display the character ⮚ on my phone. However, whenever I open any app containing this character, it is displayed as ☒. I am aware that this is due to the font limitations of Android. Is there any way to resolve this?

As of now there is no way to install fonts globally for all applications. I would advice you to write to app developer.

Also this character should be displayed correctly in your web browser.

In conclusion best way is to approach your application developer by following a feedback channel or writing a review if no feedback or support channel is provided.

Apps like
WPS Office support this


JuiceSSH android rsa key I am using JuiceSSH on android to connect to an ssh server running on my linux box.

I would like to authenticate using an RSA key pair.

Am I able to do this using JuiceSSh on android?

Does anyone know where the settings are to import an RSA key. I can't seem to find them anywhere.

When you create New Identity you have Private key option, you can paste or generate new keys.


Google Talk alert sound Is it possible to change the alert sound when a new message arrives for Google Talk? My colleague and I both have Galaxy Nexus' running Jelly Bean and when either of us get a Google Talk message its very confusing! :)

I can't see a setting for it in Google Talk and it doesn't seem to use the "Default notification" sound that is set under Settings -> Sound -> System.

Thanks!

In the Google Talk app when I go into Overflow menu | settings | {username}@gmail.com I see a setting for "Notification ringtone" under "Chat Notifications". That's what you want, no?

(I'm still on Ice Cream Sandwich so it's conceivable that things are a little different.)


How do I download videos from my phone (or card) to my PC? How do I download videos from my phone (or card) to my PC? Once I connect the phone and PC only my photos are visible on the PC screen.  I can only see the videos on my phone screen.

Lisa, when you say download I assume that you mean transfer. I apologize, I cannot add comments.

The easiest method I would suggest is that you first go into your File Manager (or download one), and find the path to your videos, e.g. DCIM > 100Media and confirm that your videos are there (or wherever they are). Once achieved, connect your phone and set the USB type to Transfer (or whatever it is called on your device), then navigate to this path on your PC. You should then be able to copy the videos.

Alternatively, let's say your video is called 'video1.mp4', you should then be able to search on your PC for this file. From there, right click and open file location. From there it should just be a matter of copying and pasting. Hope that helps!


Permanent Changes After Un-rooting I've been playing around with rooting and I'm enjoying it (because I like to tinker). However, I have noticed that my applications tend to force close on me very frequently (particularly in Bugless Beast), or my Moto Droid runs very sluggishly (particularly with CyanogenMod).

So I am able to root my phone, I flashed my Vanilla back-up (made using Clockwork Recovery) and all is fine and dandy...except for one thing. Although my phone is now unrooted, I had made a few changes BEFORE I made my back-up...namely using SetCPU and AdFree. Now it seems as though, even though I don't have root access, my phone is still scaling the processor (when I go into "readonly" mode in SetCPU, it's still showing my scaling measures applying), and I am not receiving ads (this is not necessarily bad, but I want to know how to revert to the original way the system was - particularly because one application becomes very slow when it can't download advertisements).

Can anyone provide any help on how to revert completely (without flashing a Vanilla kernel that is not my backup).

Uninstall SetCPU and AdFree if you don't want to use them.  Beyond that, you should do a factory reset to erase your data and apps -- if the ROM/OS is vanilla, then that should be the only thing different from how your phone came in the box.


Samsung Ace 2 with Cyanogenmod turns itself on when put on charger while turned off It started happenning after repair.
Could it be a software setting that was changed in repairshop or is it a hardware issue?
All they did was replace mini-USB port.

In recent versions of CM, check the Settings->Developer options->Stay Awake (Screen will never sleep while charging) option.


Would it be theoretically possible to do a block-level backup of /dev/media without root? I have nothing against root except eFUSE. Whose ever idea eFUSE was . . .

As far as I understand:
Because of amateur users and clueless minimalists who don't know how to utilise tools that are intended for power users, the development team of TWRP has controversially decided that their NANDROID backup does not include /data/media.

More information and sources in these comments:
  1. Best practice for backing up /data/media?
  2. Best practice for backing up /data/media?

What I want is a block-level image backup of the entire phone, so that I can return to the exact spot later on.

I want that block-level backup to include the /data/media partition.

Now, I have found out it is possible via ADB, but that requires root. If there is really no other way, I would consider taking the risk of rooting the phone after doing any other possible backup method (adb app backup, file backup, etc.)

But my question is:

Is it technically possible to do a block-level (dd) backup of the /data/media partition without root?

Had the developement team of TWRP decided to include /data/media, pleasing power users and maximalists instead of minimalists and amateur users, would it actually have been possible without root?

Is it technically possible to do a block-level (dd) backup of a file? - Yes
Is it technically possible to do a block-level (dd) backup of a folder? - No


Google drive making extra local copy on phone I tried uploading some large audio files recorded on my phone to Google Drive to free up space on my phone (Xiaomi A1).

Almost immediately, I got memory insufficient warnings; apparently the Google Drive app stores a local copy on the device everything something is uploaded.

Is this counter-productive or am I using Drive wrong? I'd like to store files on the cloud and not on my device, with an option to download them to device when I require them. Any solutions towards this end are welcome!

( I would prefer not to migrate to another cloud storage app, but if that's the only option and/or there are other good reasons for that, please let me know.)

Some possible causes to why the Drive app saves local copies:

The file has been accessed recently and cached. This is possibly to reduce more bandwidth usage when the file is accessed regularly. Clearing the cache from the in-app's Settings can save some space, including limiting the cache size to a minimum of 100 MB.
The file is marked as "available offline". Files that are marked as "available offline" will be automatically downloaded to the local disk. To toggle it, tap the overflow context menu (3 vertical dots) on the file, and select "Available offline". To check which files are marked as such, there's an "Offline" category on the navigation drawer.


Toggle "Unknown Sources" with Tasker Is it possible to toggle the Unknown Source setting with Tasker? I couldn't find such a setting. I also tried the Secure Settings Plugin there is also no action for this.

What I want to achieve is to set this setting on when I start the Amazon AppStore and switch it off when I close it again.

Samsung Galaxy Note, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

This can't be done in a totally automated fashion, as indicated by the accepted answer to this StackOverflow question. Basically, it's against the Android security model to allow Unknown Sources to be changed programmatically.


Formatting Android storage "zero out" technique I have an Android mobile (Galaxy S3), and am really worried that my corporate information will be retrieved after a reset. I've seen shared video showing it is possible to recover data after hard reset.

Mac has an interesting format option, i.e., to write zeros all over hard disks (lengthy but effective). Is it possible to perform such formatting on the Android phone? And how?

There is an app for this called Secure Deletion for Android, which can be used to overwrite the data. Another way to obfuscate the data would be to encrypt the device before using factory reset. This encrypts all your data, and after the device is reset, it will be very unlikely that the data can be recovered.


I encrypted my phone (samsung S4) of which i dont remember the password. Need help to unlock it and save the data I am using Samsung S4. I can't remember the password i setup while encrypting it. Is there a way to unlock the device ?

If it cant be unlocked how do i factory reset the device or i'll have to go to samsung service  center for that too.

Master reset with hardware keys

Turn Off the Device
Press and Hold the Volume Up, Home, and Power Button
When the phone vibrates release the Power Button, but continue to hold the other two
When you see the system recovery screen release the other two buttons
Using the Volume down, select "Wipe data / Factory reset"
Press Power Button to select it
When the reset is complete, choose Reboot system now and press power button to reboot the phone.

Disclaimer: THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON YOUR PHONE.  This does not solve the question about how to recover data that is encrypted.  It only answers the question about factory resetting the phone.


Chinese tablet does not boot I have a Chinese Tablet that was working till last night. I did a factory reset and now it is stuck in small Android logo. I have tried all key combinations to enter into recovery with no success. Please help. Do let me know what information can I provide about the tablet.

System (Android 4.0.4)
Model- L26
Manufacturer - unknown
Device - crane-a088
Product - crane_a088
Brand softwinners
Android Version - 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
API Level - 15
Build ID - IMM76D
Fingerprint - softwinners/crane_a088/crane-a088:4.0.4/IMM76D/20120924:eng/test-keys
Display (800x432)

Processor (ARMv7)
Processor - ARMv7 Processor rev 2 (v7l)
Cores - 1
Max Frequency - 1200 Mhz
Instruction Sets - armeabi v7a, armeabi
SIMD Instructions - NEON

Memory (306 MB)
System RAM - 306 MB
JVM Max Memory - 48 MB

Internal Storage - 639 MB
External Storage - 935 MB

Back Camera - (1.9 megapixel)
Front Camera - (0.3 megapixel)

Sensors (2)
MMA 3-axis Accelerometer
Vendor - Freescale Semiconductor Inc.
Broncho 2-axis Orientation
Vendor - Topwise 3G Inc.

OpenGL 1.X (Mali-400 MP)
General
Renderer - Mali-400 MP
Version - OpenGL ES-CM 1.1
Vendor - ARM

OpenGL 2.0 (Mali-400 MP)
General
Renderer - Mali-400 MP
Version OpenGL ES 2.0
Vendor - ARM
GLSL Version - OpenGL ES GLSL ES 1.00

Features (20)
Graphics
OpenGL 2.0
Android Hardware
android.hardware.bluetooth
android.hardware.camera
android.hardware.camera.autofocus
android.hardware.faketouch
android.hardware.location
android.hardware.location.gps
android.hardware.location.network
android.hardware.microphone
android.hardware.nfc
android.hardware.screen.landscape
android.hardware.screen.portrait
android.hardware.sensor.accelerometer
android.hardware.touchscreen
android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch
android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch.distinct
android.hardware.usb.accessory
android.hardware.wifi

Android Software
android.software.live_wallpaper

Model number
L26
Android version
4.0.4
Baseband version
M1190_V1.0.3
Kernel version
3.0.8
lihongling@lihongling-desktop #30
Mon Sep 24 19.53.13 CST 2012
Build number
Ubuntu-L26-B-20121016

If it is stuck in bootloop, I suspect corruption in /system. You should either reinstall the stock ROM or install a custom one. The first thing you will need is a custom recovery. According to this post by flowish at XDA-Developers, you can do this by follwing these steps:

  Download the recovery (recommended latest build)
  extract and put to your /sdcard
  open terminal applications (like better terminal
  emulator) ,or you can use from adb shell and type :

$ su
# cd /mnt/sdcard
# sh install-recovery.sh
# sh reboot-recovery.sh

Here is the button configuration of the recovery:

  Power button : Select

  Volume (+) : Up

  Volume (-) : Down

After doing that, install a new ROM from the recovery. Here is a custom ROM (from a post by nizar07 at androidtablets.net) that you can install from recovery.


How to uninstall a system app using adb uninstall command (NOT remove via rm or any other way) Have to mention this to avoid possible confusion, this question is not duplicate. This question is specific to using adb to uninstall a package. There are several similar questions but are all different from this one, as they're focused on removing an application by any means.

Please do not provide answers using "rm" command to delete the package files. Also, answers related to malformed package names, or trailing carriage returns. I think they're pretty much all covered in all the other questions.

I had pm uninstall functionality but after ROM upgrade. Some things won't uninstall anymore. For example the following two system apps (which I removed under previous ROM, significantly improving overall performance):
/system/priv-app/SecurityCenter/SecurityCenter.apk=com.miui.securitycenter
/system/app/Updater/Updater.apk=com.android.updater

Now I get an error trying to pm uninstall them:  Failure [DELETE_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR]

But other system apps (which won't uninstall through regular android interface) do uninstall via pm uninstall command. Example:
/system/priv-app/Browser/Browser.apk=com.android.browser

So both are system apps, what could be the difference between them?

For reference, I upgraded from MIUI 8.1.6.0 to 8.5.3.0, and re-installed TWRP and SuperSU. This question is not specific to my ROM, as I see other people are in the same situation. But I seem to have an advantage being able to be able to uninstall some system apps. And am willing to contribute, to find a solution for everyone, to uninstall any app.

I tried: mount -o rw,remount /system
but that didn't solve it.

Please help out with any ideas along the way. Thanks!

Update 1  - Confirming steps to avoid intermittent issues
 * Wiped all partitions in TWRP
 * Installed Latest ROM (MIUI 8.5.3.0)
 * Went back to TWRP, wiped only /Data
 * Restored /Data from backed up version of the ROM that came with device (MIUI 8.1.6.0)
 * Now after I boot into OS, ROM shows as latest (MIUI 8.5.3.0) in settings

Now I am able to pm uninstall every app I've tried. Even the most resilient: Google APP, Updater, Security.

This Frankenstein.. err I mean hybrid ROM works fine so far, and I've already removed many system packages, making the phone (Redmi 3S+) visibly faster. But I would still like to pinpoint what was causing this to make it into Generic Solution. So, if it ain't broke I'm willing break it, so next time it breaks we will know what's causing it and how to fix it.

Update 2  -
 * Wiped all partitions and restored all partitions from Original ROM.  * Restored to factory settings (using TWRP)
 * and after booting into ROM, went back to TWRP and made another backup
 * Using same scenario as in Update 1 above, with only exception of using /Data from here. pm uninstall does not work.

Any thoughts on the differences between the two /Data partitions I should be focusing on?

I succeded adding the -k and --user options to the pm command, e.g.:

pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.service

The command was issued as root, no need to remount /system as rw. Android on the phone is 6.0 and the package is a system app. Without the extra option I get the error:

Failure [DELETE_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR]


Which specific storage space is low, when getting "Low Space" on Samsung Galaxy S? I'm getting the alert "Phone storage space is getting low". Here is my Samsung Galaxy S running Cyanogenmod 9's space status:

Name: Cache
Path: /cache
SIZE: 17.50MB
USED: 2.47MB
FREE: 15.02MB

Name: Data
Path: /data
SIZE: 1889.83MB
USED: 576.64MB
FREE: 1313.19MB

Name: SD-card
Path: /sdcard
SIZE: 5654.56MB
USED: 2011.00MB
FREE: 3643.56MB

Name: System
Path: /system
SIZE: 250.00MB
USED: 240.23MB
FREE: 9.76MB

You'd think it's /system, but /system has been like that forever. In fact, after installing cyanogen it only had 1mb free. I actually deleted some system apps (wallpaper crap mostly) to free up a little more.

I am not asking how to get rid of the alert. I want to know which specific storage space does the alert refer to?

It is usually /datadata that gets full on the Galaxy S. Interestingly this partition is not displayed in the Storage Setting Menu. The quirk is that /datadata is mounted on a special very fast flash chip that only provides 170MiB of storage space.

While this was enough in the "early days" of Android when the Galaxy S was released, it can easly become tight with modern Apps. /datadata is used to store application user data, and while many apps only place a few KiB there, some apps require to store more. Typical candidates that store around 20MiB in /datadata are Google Chrome and Google Currents.

ATM the best practice is a fix that lets you control which apps can store data on the fast chip and which are outsourced to the slower RAM. This script can also be installed with an app called datafix.

To find the apps that consume the most space use su && du -s /datadata/* |sort -gr |head. For example on my device:

shell@android:/datadata # su && du -s /datadata/* |sort -gr |head
39180   /datadata/com.android.chrome
20809   /datadata/com.google.android.apps.currents
16763   /datadata/com.google.earth
9431    /datadata/com.google.android.apps.plus
8938    /datadata/com.inisoft.mediaplayer.a
8270    /datadata/com.google.android.apps.maps
3015    /datadata/com.google.android.apps.docs
2160    /datadata/udk.android.reader
2096    /datadata/com.android.providers.contacts
1597    /datadata/com.fsck.k9


Is there a way to play music from an android phone in a from an ipod/iphone dock There are many devices on the market that have a docking station for iphones, ipods and ipads that allow to play the music from the ipod through their speakers, and many time also to control the ipod through the docking station. For me, it's the stereo of my car.

Is there some way (obviously with an adapter) to use those docks to play music stored on an android device?

Looks like you will need a 3.5mm connector to iPod proprietary 40-pin converter. There are some available on eBay here: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/ipod-female-connector (note -- this link is temporary once the items are sold; if someone finds a permalink to a product page please edit my answer and add it).


How to connect to PEAP MSCHAPv2 Wi-Fi using system certificates in Android 7.1 Nougat? Android 7.1 has introduced some changes to Wi-Fi connection interface.
In 6.0, when selecting PEAP MSCHAPv2 in Wi-Fi connection interface, there were no CA certificates available (unless some had been installed). In 7.1 one can Use system sertificates and Domain input field appears.

So, for example, I want to connect to Eduroam, that requires thawte Primary Root, using login user@uni.org. What am I supposed to type in Domain and Identity fields?

Assuming you want to use the email address user@uni.org, Domain would be uni.org and Identity would be user@uni.org.

Source: XDA developers and originally Virginia Tech Helpdesk


How can I change the ringing noise when I place a call? I'm not asking to change the ringtone for contacts (what plays when they call me). Now am I asking how to change the outgoing ringtone--so that when people call me they hear a custom ringtone while waiting for me to pickup.

I just want to change the sound when I place a call and it rings while waiting for the other party to pickup. I'm using CyanogenMod 7 on a rooted T-Mobile MyTouch 4G. The reason I want to do this is that the ringing noise is quite loud. If I have the Phone Call Volume all the way up, so I can clearly hear people on the line, then the ringing is loud enough to be painful. If I have it turned down so the ringing noise isn't overpowering, I can't hear people on the line after they pick up--and don't want to have to turn the volume up and down every time I place a call.

(I did consider using Tasker to change the Phone Call volume when ringing and when the other person picks up, but I didn't see the right states/events to be able to do that).

Is there a way to change what ringtone is used, so I could just pick a quieter tone?

Your question is a touch confusing, especially due to the use of the word 'ringtone', but I think this is the crux of what you are asking:

  I just want to change the sound when I place a call and it rings while waiting for the other party to pickup.

The answer is no.  That sound is generated by the communications network, and your phone is just playing it to you.  Your phone has no native way to differentiate between that sound and the sound of the person on the other end (or their voicemail).

In theory, an application could be written that would listen to all the sound during a call and adjust volumes depending on what it hears.  I performed a fairly exhaustive search, and found no applications that currently do this.


Where is the temp file of recorder in Android? Galaxy Note2 4.3 Samsung firmware.

Recording for 1 hour with the highest quality, accidentally pressed "back" button, nothing saved.
Usually the file would be saved automatically even if "back" is pressed. But maybe 1 hour is too big for the simple recorder app.

Any chance that there is a tmp file somewhere?
Or recorder just stores everything in DRAM before hitting save button?(that would be too naive..)

Thank you

It's on main drive of your phone (at lest it was in my case), named something like .voice.3ga

Just plug in your phone to PC, an run search for .3ga file type.

Hope this helps.


ES File Explorer - Remote manager read only I have just installed ES File Explorer on my Samsung, and started the Remote manager

I opened a FTP client on my PC and could connect to my tablet.. But I can't write files only read? Is this a bug or do I have to pay to get write access?

Not necessarily, I have the same setup on my devices using both MiXplorer and ES explorer. The ftp server runs fine with read/write access (even on non-rooted device).

Perhaps your OS doesn't allow anonymous logins to have write access, in which case you need to configure a password authentication on your ftp server:

Under remote manager, go to settings → Set manage account → Current user
Input you new username and password
Run the ftp server and enter the configured password on the target PC to access the files, and see if you have write access.

If you still having issues to access the files, then I recommend you'd use an alternative ftp client e.g WinSCP for Windows or Fillezilla for linux


LG Aristo 2 and Xbox 360 Controller with USB OTG I'd like to connect my phone (LG Aristo 2) to an Xbox 360 controller. It is wired, and I've connected it to my phone via USB OTG. It doesn't function currently; no button presses make any action. Is there a way to get this controller working with this phone via USB?

Could this be of any help? I suppose connecting it to an Xbox controller would work if you can use any other controller.
Does the LG Aristo work with gamepads, if so how can I connect it too the ípega?


Google play login different GSM carriers I moved to the USA from Kenya with my android handset, but am unable to log in to google play on my new network, T-mobile.

Can anyone help me fix this?

Go to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications. Select Google Play Store from the list. Select Clear data. Then try using Google Play again.


Enforcing no synchronization with Google Possible Duplicate:
  Can I use the Google Market without syncing other Google data?

Hello,

I'd like to setup a personal calendar with Funambol's syncing application. My goal is to never let my calendar items go on Google servers, for privacy reasons. But I do have Google Calendar application (from a stock ROM, so not easily uninstallable).

From what I understand, Funambol Sync Client synchronizes with a system-wide calendar, the same which is used by Google Calendar client. Will this make my items sync with remote Google Calendar if I launch Google's client (f.e. by mistake)?

I still want to use Google account for Market--and only for it. How can I enforce a no-synchronization rule only for calendar items?

I think I could remove /system/app/Calendar.apk (my phone is rooted), but doesn't Google services synchronize using GTalkService?

Just turn off sync in Settings -> Accounts and sync.  You can specifically turn off Calendar syncing for a particular account in that menu, as well.


Hardware reset screen My Samsung Galaxy SII has not been used for a while, and whenever I try to plug it in to charge, it doesn't seem to start charging, and instead loops between the battery charging icon, and a screen with an image of the android icon. This screen has, in red writing, what appears to be a value for RST_STAT at the top of the screen (This is always 0x10000), and in larger text beside the android icon, the words 'Hardware reset' (without the quotes). Does anyone have any idea how I could get this phone working again?

Problem solved.

I'm still not certain what the problem was, but my best guess is that the battery was completely dead. Anyway, I got a new battery, which completely solved the problem.


How can I see how much internet bandwidth each process is using at the moment? On Android, I have a nice Xposed module which shows me the current internet usage, but for the whole system, not per app:

On my desktop computer I have this expandable panel item which shows me exactly which apps are using the internet connection at any given moment. It also shows me exactly how much they're uploading and downloading per second right now, on a per app basis. The UI looks like this:

So I wonder if this is possible on Android as well. I'm asking for a per app metric of up/down usage right now, as in the above screenshot from my desktop computer.

Is there any way to get that?

To clarify even more, I'm asking for current speed, not past, accumulated usage.

Solutions that require root access and Xposed Framework are welcome.

Simple System Monitor does that

Relevant feature from app description

  View list of active apps and processes and their CPU usage, RAM usage, network activity, PID and UID.

If you monitor the Active Processes tab you can see the change in data usage. You can order the view based on parameters as shown in the second screen shot. The default update interval in settings is 3 seconds which can be varied as per need. If you worried about battery consumption , you can pause the app from the menu option on top left


Enable Adhoc on Jelly Bean [Is] there any way to enable adhoc mode in JellyBean. WPA_supplicant hack isn't working.

Root your phone, then use root explorer and download this wpa_supplicant file. Rename the original to wpa_supplicant_backup and set the permissions of the downloaded wpa_supplicant to match the permissions of the original one.

I tested on Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread it worked like a charm - almost. Sometimes I have to turn off the and turn on the WiFi twice but it's not a big deal.


"No calendars have been synchronized with this device." I'm running Android 9 and I'm trying to add an event in Calendar. Upon  clicking the circular button with a plus sign, a message saying No calendars have been synchronized with this device.. I don't want to synchronize the calendar on my phone with anything, be it a Google account, my carrier, or anyone. Is there anyway around this? I never had this problem on my previous Android phone or on my Android tablet.

@maleb so I have the same issue but I guess the work around is in the app setting or widget hold down the calendar icon and two options appear rather; than new event (give synch loop feedback) click new reminder and you should be able to add your event.


note 5 signal refresh I am using a galaxy note 5 running android lollipop 5.1.1. At times, my phone will show "Emergency Calls Only", alerting me to the loss of signal. I can restart my phone and re-acquire signal successfully. My question is: is there a way to refresh network signal without restarting the phone?

Thanks

Try enabling Airplane Mode, wait about 15 seconds, then turn off Airplane Mode.


Is there a launcher or some software which would ignore top 1 cm of the phone screen? Our infant son threw me wife's phone. Since then the top 1 cm row of the screen is no longer responsive to touch. The display works perfectly, but touching it has no effect. Because of that she can no longer swipe down the notification tray in portrait mode. She has to open some app, rotate to landscape orientation, and swipe down.

Some apps which do not rotate or reorients the buttons in such a way that it is always in unresponsive zone are impossible to use. We can use split screen as the last workaround sometimes.

Anyway. I was wondering if there is any app for Android which force the whole OS to render in the responsive region only. I can manually select the responsive rectangular region. (Buying a new phone or changing the screen is not an option right now.)

When I had this problem, I think I learned from this answer.

One option is to use adb, i.e., the command line client/tool that comes with the Android SDK. It does a variety of things, but the thing that is most relevant here is the ability to use it to reconfigure your display.

Specifically, you want to access the shell commands to change the window manager's overscan setting with adb shell wm overscan L,D,R,U.

So you will want to use adb shell wm overscan 0,0,X,0 to push the top of the screen down by Xdp.

You can revert to normal with adb shell overscan wm reset or adb shell overscan wm 0,0,0,0.

If you don't know how to adb, it doesn't take much to get to the point where you can type that command in. I can relate because I used to have a device that had a partially functioning screen and I spent a lot of time rotating the phone and using this!

Within Settings > Developer Options is some options that will help you diagnose the problem, such as Show Pointer Location, or perhaps Show Touches. Or you could create a small app that simply displayed touch input.


Accented characters show up as Chinese characters in KitKat Cyanogenmod, had no issues in Jellybean I have a few songs on my CyanogenMod KitKat device with accented characters in their names, but they keep showing up as Chinese characters. The screenshot below is of the music app Shuttle, but it also occurs on Apollo.

The same files posed no problems in jellybean cyanogenmod Android.

How to fix this? It's pretty annoying, and for some reason it doesn't affect all files, meaning that the music apps divide the same Racine Carrée album into Racine Carrée and the one below.

Example screenshot (click for larger variant)

To rule out the ID3 tags being broken, I've copied and overwrote them directly from last.fm using mp3tag. In addition, the same files posed no problems in a different android phone running JellyBean Cyanogenmod and the same music apps.

So I reflashed a different version of the ROM manually using ClockWorkMod (I used the Cyanogenmod application on Windows before) and now it works. Unfortunately don't know the version numbers, so was either a ROM issue or an issue in the Cyanogenmod Windows application.


Running am commands in terminal without using su Android: JB 4.2.2

I am trying to launch Android apps from the terminal emulator using the am command. When I tried the phone's terminal emulator application, it gave me an error:-

java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: startActivity asks to run as user -2 but is calling from user 0; this requires android.permission.INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL
    at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1425)
    at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1379)
    at android.app.ActivityManagerProxy.startActivityAsUser(ActivityManagerNative.java:1906)
    at com.android.commands.am.Am.runStart(Am.java:494)
    at com.android.commands.am.Am.run(Am.java:109)
    at com.android.commands.am.Am.main(Am.java:82)
    at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.nativeFinishInit(Native Method)
    at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.main(RuntimeInit.java:235)
    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)

If I go into root mode, then the am command works. Any idea how to get am to launch browser without doing an su in the terminal emulator?

You just need to add the --user 0 option to your am command.


How can I execute a script on the SD card and be able to pass arguments to it? I tried executing a script on the sdcard as is because on FAT, everything is 777.

./.profile
./.profile: permission denied

I added this as the initial command for the Android shell and it executes it just fine:

eval "$(cat /sdcard/.profile)"

So what I'm wondering is: Is there a way I can execute a script on the sdcard (other than the way I found out) and be able to pass arguments to it or do I need to do it the normal BTEP way (in its data directory)?

You will probably be unable to directly execute scripts from your sdcard. At least without root. Reason is, with most ROMs sdcards are mounted using the noexec flag -- which means, as the term suggests: "no exec from here". Of course, having root you could simply remount the sdcard while removing this option.

Why might this option be forced? I'd say for security reasons. While on internal storage, apps are quite limited regarding where they might write to, on sdcards they can write everywhere. So this could be used by some "evil guys/girls" to place their malware scripts -- but that's just a guess.


My Samsung is stolen If they factory reset the phone and took my sim card out, can I still get my Samsung Galaxy S6. I hope you can help me please. I think the thieves already reset it and took my sim card out cause its off

Too late to close the barn door and lock it after the horse is stolen or wandered off, but for those reading this question worried about any precaution they could take beforehand, there are several apps like Prey that you can activate after you phone goes missing that will allow you to remotely lock/wipe it, and have it report where it is; or at least where it was last turned on, if they haven't yet factory-reset it.  The enhanced (IE: paid versions) will snap the person's picture when they try unlocking the phone too.


Multiple Users in Android 4.0.4 I have a Toshiba Thrive AT105 running on Android 4.0.4.

I wish to use the multiple users function on it to share it with other users.

Can this be done on Android 4.0.4? If not, how can I upgrade to another android version which can support this feature.

There might be several approaches you could try. No guarantees whatsoever, and I didn't try any of those. Still mentioning them, so you can investigate for yourself. Note further that these solutions will require root access on your device.

First, there's an app called SwitchMe, which already was available before the multi-user feature was released with Android 4.2. SwitchMe works with Android 2.1 and higher.

Second, our friends at XDA have a thread on Porting Multi Users JB to ICS (but it seems that approach died before producing a workable solution).


Mystery application called "Add Contacts" After a factory reset there is no application present on the phone that is called Add Contacts. On such a clean unit I used Google Play Store to install Skype. I think Google Play Store requires some sort of update so I allowed that update to be installed. I don't remember exactly what the update was called but it seems to always be a requirement after a factory reset upon the first use of the Play Store so it is probably a legitimate Google update.

After using this fairly "clean" unit for very little time a new application called Add Contacts appeared in the "wallpaper" array of applications. It asks for permission to read my location.

Is the "Add Contacts" program malware? What caused this to be installed?

I did another factory reset to get rid of it. Note that under the Backup & reset function is a  Backup & restore dialog with the check box for back up my data and a check box for automatic restore. I UNCHECKED both before doing the factory reset. After the factory reset I also UNCHECK both before connecting to WiFi. I next used Google Play Store (allowing the mandatory update related to the use of Play Store) to install Skype (non-advertising version) and nothing more.

This unit has Android 4.4.2.

Update: It has been about 3 weeks since the last factory reset. A few hours ago I noticed that the Add Contacts icon is on the wallpaper array of applications. I did another factory reset. I will install Skype (non-advertising version). I also installed that update that Google requires before allowing the use of Play Store. (I need Play Store to install Skype and for no other reason.) As an experiment I will use only the native SMS application, voice calls, and Skype. For the past 3 weeks I have not used any other application but to be sure I will un-install several of the default applications just to increase my confidence that nothing is being invoked that I cannot account for. I have instructed people never to send photos or other attachments to my Skype and the default SMS application and I made a mental note to myself never to use the camera and to never use service provider data other than SMS. This phone will only ever process WiFi data and only for Skype. I will monitor for the mysterious appearance of applications or other unexpected behaviour.

Update: The "Add Contacts" application reappeared after only a few hours. I will do another factory reset with backup my data disabled and automatic restore disabled. The application "Add Contacts" version 3.0 has the following permissions: read phone status and identity, precise location, read contacts, modify or delete SD card, read SD card, disable screen lock, view WiFi connections, full network access, run at startup, retrieve running apps, draw over other apps, modify system settings, and many more. There is no app by the name "Add Contacts" in the Play store. After a factory reset I immediately disabled backup my data and automatic restore before enabling WiFi. This time I was able to use the Play store and install Skype and there was no prompt to do an update to Google Play "services". This is unlike before and perhaps strange. As always, there will be no deliberate use of service provider data other than SMS. All data use will be through Skype and WiFi. Voice calls and SMS will be handled with the default Android features. There will be no use of the camera and there will be no receipt of attachments via Skype and SMS. People have been instructed not to send me attachments. Play store will not be used to install anything other than Skype.

There is sometimes an Add Contacts app that comes with Android. With the newer versions of Android, the add contacts button is in the Contacts app. So it is NOT malware.


Can I run an external display off of the Galaxy SIIX USB port? I would like to attach an external display, can that port do that? May use Ubuntu...

The S2 supports MHL through USB, so technically, yes. You won't be able to get a full display, just through supported apps.


How to erase all contacts from an Android phone? How to erase all contacts from an Android phone?
There are about 3200 contacts.

The full story

I don't manage my contacts with Google Contacts, but with another tool that can export to the VCF format.

The first time I imported my VCF file into Google Contacts, my Android phone synced and got all contacts, perfect.

After a while, having new contacts, I exported to VCF again, and imported again to Google Calendar. All contacts got duplicated on the phone.

I removed all contacts using Google Contacts web interface in Gmail, and re-imported, but contacts get duplicated every time.

I just want to start from scratch, remove all contacts, and import from my new VCF file.

Does this work for you?
contacts -> menu -> delete -> select all -> delete

If not there are apps "Delete Contacts" in the market you could try.


Wifi and data keeps turning on i did a recent update off some apps a few days ago and ever since my wifi and data keeps turning on no matter  how many times i turn them off... Then on the other hand, sometimes it turns off and stays off for  while, only to turn again randomly. it's really annoying and killing my battery, plus the data usage is killing my wallet as well! i don't know what's causing it...

i'm using apex launcher and i thought it might be causing the problem (since it's recent update) but switching to my previous launcher (htc sense) didn't make a difference... i don't wanna go and delete my launcher since i've made quite some customizations and don't wanna do it all over again.

can somebody help me, please?

Assuming it's an app doing that (which is not unlikely), you'd first need to identify which app that might be. Uninstalling all of them would be a bit hard, so let's try a different approach – and narrow down the candidates.

To be able to change your device's network state, that app would need specific permissions. Which are CHANGE_WIFI_STATE for WiFi resp. CHANGE_NETWORK_STATE for your mobile data. So check your installed apps for those having that permission. You can do so by looking up each of them in the "my apps" section of Google Play – or you use a Permission Checker.

There's e.g. Permission Friendly Apps, being very permission-friendly itself (requiring not a single one). It presents you with a list of all your installed apps, and even marks them according to their "permission-friendlyness". Tapping the entry of an app reveals its permissions.

Permission Friendly Apps and aSpotCat inform about permissions your apps request (click images for larger variants)

Better suited for our purpose here is aSpotCat. As you can see in the screenshot, it lets you browse apps by permission – perfect to find your candidates.

Once you've narrowed down the list of installed apps to those having the necessary permissions, check that for apps you've recently installed or updated (i.e. just before the trouble started). Hopefully that leaves as few candidates as possible, best only one. Those you need to get rid of, at least temporarily, one by one – until your trouble ends. The last app disabled must be the one having caused the issue.

Before "kicking it" completely, check its settings. Maybe it was just a new feature introduced, and you can turn it off. If not: the app stores are full of alternatives, watch out for those. And take care of permissions before installing one of those ;)


How to join WhatsApp group from "chat?code=" link I was provided a web link in an email.  I was reading the email on my computer, so when I clicked it, it opened in Firefox.  It bounced around a bit (since it was a marketing tracking redirect link), but finally landed on whatsapp://chat?code=(randomlookingthing)&usp=sharing.

I would like to participate in this group (only).  In other words, I don't need to or want to involve my existing contacts, I just want to be able to interact with this group.

So far I have:

Forwarded the whatsapp:// link to my phone via an email
Installed WhatsApp on my Android 7.0 device from the PlayStore
Answered 'no' to the requests to access contacts
Pasted the link into the phone's browser, which had an error "Problem loading page" (didn't understand protocol whatsapp://)

I don't see where I enter the group in order to begin interacting with those in the group.

How can I join the group?

The marketing link clicked in the original email "secretly" went through a http://chat.whatsapp.com/(randomlookingthing) link first, before landing on the whatsapp://... link.  That link is only understood by phones that have WhatsApp installed.  As noted, the Firefox on the computer doesn't understand the whatsapp:// protocol, and the browser on the phone doesn't either.  What is needed is the chat.whatsapp.com/... link.

The easy solution is to forward the original email to the phone.  That link, with the original marketing link, should bounce through the chat.whatsapp.com link, then, since WhatsApp is installed on the phone, it will understand how to add you to the group.

Alternatively, you can open Firefox's Developer > Network, then run the marketing link.  This will expose the chat.whatsapp.com link that's aligned with the group.  If that link is used in the phone's browser, since WhatsApp is installed on the phone, it will understand how to add you to the group.


fail to connect to public wifi networks with cyanogenmod I changed my pre-installed OS to Cyanogenmod 9 on my Xperia Neo V and since then I cannot connect to any free public network that requires simple registration (like airports, cafes, etc).

My phone does connect to the networks (it says connected) but when I open the browser (Opera) to register it never connects, getting a failed to connect message after a while.

Does this has to do with this other problem I also have? To solve that problem I had to delete the dhcp folder. Maybe I deleted some other important files there?

DHCP is the method by which your phone is assigned an IP address whenever you connect to a wireless network, exactly as in the scenario you mention.  Basically (and oversimplified) when you connect to the network, you announce to everyone "Everybody, I'm here on this network now!  Hey router, I'm a phone with the MAC address of 00:01:02:03:04 (or whatever)  Can you give me an IP to use?"  And the router responds "Yes phone 00:01:02:03:04, for this connection you should use the IP of 192.168.1.105" and from then on that's your IP.

If you're deleting files and folders out of /data/misc/wifi or /data/misc/dhcp, you're removing the place that the wifi system sets and stores wifi/network-related information, so I'm not surprised that you'd be having issues.  In fact, sometimes just doing a rm -rf /data/misc/wifi can solve some corrupted/messed up wifi issues, but of course you lose all your settings when they are re-created.  At reboot, those folders are usually recreated if they are missing and their permissions and ownership is adjusted, but if you're asking if deleting stuff in there is related, then the answer is probably yes, depending on when and how often you're clearing it out.  A reboot when you're near one of these open wifis may help if you've messed with those directories since rebooting.

One final observation is that there appears to be a cm10 for your device.  If you're still on cm9, you may want to upgrade.


Bootloop after modification of "/system/bin/playlpm" file Modification of playlpm file sets my Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini I9192 into boot-loop.
Instead of normal booting, it goes back to battery charging screen without animation, reboots again and keeps repeating this cycle. It happens only at the attempt to auto-start the phone by connecting a charger. Otherwise phone is fully operational.

Is there any option of "reboot" or similar command that forces S4 Mini to come out of the bootloop?

Note: /system is write-protected in Galaxy S4 Mini and needs to be remount to save something on it.  Used command: mount -o remount,rw /system

You'll need to get it in recovery mode and re-flash it. There's a tutorial here if you need it.
If that doesn't help, I'm afraid the only option will be to carry it to service for repair.


How can i cofigure a sabai router using a samsung s tablet Would like to cofigure router settings IP etc but dont have adevice with a LAN connection with me -only my tablet.
Is there any way to do this easily or do l wait?
Thanks

You can either connect to the router via WLAN connection or directory via cable i.e LAN with your Samsung tablet

Open a web browser e.g Chrome and enter 192.168.199.1 in the address bar. (Login is admin/sabaipass123.)

You can configure desired settings from this page;

Navigate to Settings → Static IP
Edit accordingly

Get more instructions from the Sabai support page


Where can I get Android Market App for my Tablet? Possible Duplicate:
  How can I add the market to my device?

I do not have Android Market App installed on my Tablet. When I try download Google Maps App - it redirects me to link which look like that market://details?id=com.goodle.android.apps.maps and my browser fails on it. I guess I have to have Android Market App installed in order to install other apps. Right? Where can I get Android Market App ?

Google Maps and Android Market are not freeware apps, and are available only on Android devices certified by Google.  Aside from using other marketplaces, you can try installing 3rd-party custom ROMs such as CyanogenMod (if available for your device) that provide Google apps as an add-on.


Deactivating Viber Account on my stolen device Is there any possible way to deactivate viber account on my stolen device.? I've tried to open it on PC but it keeps on asking for the code that was sent to my stolen device.. Wondering if deactivating SIM Card will help? Thanks!

According to the Viber support page

  You may re-install Viber on your new device using the old device’s
  phone number. This will reinstate the previous account on your new
  device. Please note that message and call history will not be
  restored.

I would suggest going to the closest avaible store of your service provider and getting a new SIM card with the same number and cancel the stolen one.

Hope this helps!


Wanting to use only one email I have to use 2 emails on my phone at all times cause some apps I purchased on one email and some I got on my other email. Is there a way to put all my purchases on to my primary email so that I don't have to use 2 emails forever?

There is currently no way of doing it. You can download apps again to the same userid account on different devices, but you cannot transfer those licenses to other userids. So you'll have to rebuy the apps on one account which you wish to keep if you want to stop using both accounts.


Switch Keyboard Automatically I am using Nexus 10 with android 5.0.1

I recently purchased a bluetooth keyboard to go along with the tablet. The keyboard I was using (soft) beforehand was O Beta keyboard, which does not function very well with bluetooth hard keyboard.

Is it possible to switch keyboard to the Google Keyboard automatically when the physical keyboard is paired and revert to O Beta keyboard when I don't use the physical keyboard anymore?

You can do this with Tasker if you are rooted. An explanation is here: http://www.pocketables.com/2012/09/using-tasker-and-external-keyboard-helper-to-better-the-bluetooth-keyboard-experience.html .

If you don't want to pay for Tasker, or you are not rooted, I have done something nearly as good with Llama, which is free on the Play Store.

Tell Llama to trigger an action when Bluetooth Device Connected and name your device. Tell it on this event to trigger the Android intent android.settings.INPUT_METHOD_SETTINGS .

Create a matching event for disconnection. You will then be automatically asked to pick the correct keyboard each time you connect or disconnect the BT keyboard.

In my case I used External Keyboard Helper (Play Store) as my alternate keyboard but you can select Google Keyboard instead.

The result is not totally automated but it just means you are prompted for one or two extra taps when you connect or disconnect the keyboard.


Google Hangouts: Conflicting online status information Another "I don't quite understand what is going on in Google Hangouts" type of question....

So - when I view Hangouts via my Android app (running under KitKat), my girlfriend's status is ALWAYS shown as online (green speech bubble next to her picture), even when she is not online.

Conversely, if at the same time I log into my GMail account, her status is  shown as NOT online (no green line under her name). How can she be both online and offline!!?

What the hell is going on here?! Has anyone else had this issue?

Once you sign-in to the Google Hangouts app in an Android device, you will always appear online until you sign-out of the app.  Shutting down the phone, or even uninstalling the app won't do it.  I'm not sure why she appears offline in Gmail.


Checking virus/security status of specific app? So I let my 8 year old cousins play a game on my tablet for a bit and next thing i knew they had downloaded and installed three new games, some of which acted suspiciously, displaying notifications every second until another app was installed for example.  Is there any way I can check if these apps on the market are legitimate, or if my system has been compromised?  I use this device to check my primary email and access bank statements etc.

Though I know of no definite way, I'd suggest looking them up on AppBrain. Additionally to the "Permissions" tab we had in playstore before their "Win-8 relaunch", that site offers a tab "Permissions & concerns", where some things are pointed out.

It might also be worth taking a look at their search results: Spam apps are "filtered" at AppBrain, so they show up single-line instead of full-heights in the result list.

While all that might only give indicators (and no definite answers), it's one step in the desired direction at least. A second step would be searching the web for reports. Including the app names (with links) in your question might also give you the chance somebody here recognizes the one or other.


How can you set a default calendar to use for new events on a LG Android 2.2.1 phone? My wife bought a LG-P350 phone running Android 2.2.2.

Is it possible to set the default calender to use when entering new appointments using the agenda application ?

She added the google account of my son to her accounts, and now , every time a new appointment is created, the last agenda of my son's account is selected.

I have found no obvious way to change this default.

I don't know if this is the stock application of Android.

As no one is answering this question, I presume it is not possible.

So I looked for another solution and found the Business Calender Free edition. This program not only displays a very nice monthly calender, but , most important, let you choose which colour you want to use for each agenda you want to display.

Very impressive indeed.

Just thought I'd let you know ...