Looking for Android equivalent of Clonezilla / Diskimage / Ghost etc Have been googling for quite a few hours but can't seem to find what I'm looking for, hope someone can point me in the right direction....

I want to basically make a complete image of my phone before I make an changes to it so that I can restore it exactly as it is now. In the PC world I would use CloneZilla / ghost or similar. though I have used dd in the past and don't mind using it.

I am looking for a solution that will work on the following phones:

HTC Desire (not HD or S)
Sony Erikson X10 Mini Pro

In my searching I found mention of a tool called Nandroid, but as best as I could tell it seemed to only be for a G1 and required Root. I don't have root on either phone, so solutions offered requiring root are not helpful because (as I understand it) gaining root will wipe the data (at least some) I'm trying to back up.

I also found article about creating a GoldCard for a HTC Desire, is this what I need to do? there was no explanation on what a GoldCard was? It also didn't look like a particularly desirable method as It required wiping the memory card first and had no mention of how to restore if things go bad.

My objectives are as follows:

Upgrade the SE X10 mini (it's stuck on Android 1.6!) I know there is a 2.1 upgrade for it, but it's not available unless yo have a windows machine??? I only have Ubuntu + Mac. I'm not prepared to buy a windows licence just to upgrade an android phone (seems Odd!)
Try out Android 2.3 and 3.0 on the HTC Desire and the X10, understandably this is play, so I want to be able to go back quickly, especially on the X10 (wifes phone) as I will be in no end of trouble if I brick that and don't get it back by the morning :)
If successful with the first 2, then I can look at trying out dev releases and testing them (That is after all my day job) and hopefully being able to contribute. To do this I need to be able to load a release test it out and then roll back on the same night so Ideally I need a process that is quite quick or a bunch of shell commands I can script.

Hopefully someone can steer me on the right course....

Thanks,

Dave.

Root should not erase any phone data.  How do you expect to back up the entire device with only user permissions?  You need root permissions, in the absence of a system-level tool built into the OS or bootloader or a PC-side tool for directly accessing the phone storage (both are very unlikely).  Update: There is now OS-supported backup which an app like Helium can use to back things up without root.

ClockworkMod / Nandroid is definitely not G1-only, there are dozens if not hundreds of supported devices.  It's definitely the best way to back everything up.

I recommend checking out XDA's x10 Mini General forum and possibly the Android Development forum also; read all the sticky threads, they should give you a good overview of all this.  You can do the same for the Desire.


Is it possible to have separate user accounts in an Android tablet? Possible Duplicate:
  Support for Multiple Users on same device

I would like to buy a tablet and share it with someone else, but I wouldn't like us to mess with one another's configuration, i.e., having to log out and log in from GMail, Facebook, Twitter etc etc etc. Also, separate bookmarks. The issue here is not as much privacy as tidiness.

Will any Android tablet allow me to do that? Maybe if I install CyanogenMod on it? (If not, this question automatically becomes a feature request for CyanogenMod.)

CyanogenMod has Profiles, but they are not profiles like you are asking. They have more of profiles for the type of notifications and sounds that can happen when that profile is enabled.

Supporting multiple users has been discussed before, and I think that it is something that is needed as well. If I buy a tablet, and set it up for my email, calendar, etc. I don't want that device to be a community device. Which would mean that multiple tablets would be needed in a family household.

A problem with being able to support multiple users is the space required. If each user had their own settings, then the /data/data would have to be much larger to support these extra users. But not only settings, it would have to support all the apps installed by the user too, so /data would have to be much larger too. You couldn't use the same apps between users, because the paid apps are tied to the account that bought them.

I think this will eventually happen, but much larger storage would be needed for the devices. As it is, my device consistently fills the /data/cache and I have to clear that out because of the number of apps I have installed. Now just imagine have 2 (or more users) using the same device. And where do you set the limit on the number of users that can use one device? There are 2 adults and 3 teenagers in my household. So that is 5 people that could potentially be using one device.

I actually experience issues with Google TV about this very topic as well. It doesn't, currently, have gmail, or apps like that, installed, but I can log in to gmail via Chrome Browser, and then if someone else comes and uses the TV/Browser, now I am logged in. (I don't actually do this, but I noticed it to be an issue with services like youtube and such)


What is CCleaner for Android referring to by "Hidden Cache"? CCleaner for Android cleans regular cache and "hidden" cache.

What do they mean by "hidden" cache?

Other apps mention that as well, e.g. the cleaners of Avast and AVG – so it seems this isn't specific to the app. I would guess they refer to the apps' "private cache" (i.e. a cache directory inside the apps' private space in /data/data/<package_name>).

This developer article might give some insight. Quoting (emphasis mine):

  By default, Android Extensions adds a hidden cache function and a storage field to each container (Activity, Fragment, View or a LayoutContainer implementation) written in Kotlin. The method is pretty small so it does not increase the size of APK much.

Another insight from our sister site:

  … but other then that it's all saved on hidden cache partition.

Which suggests there's some special hidden cache partition somewhere – or the writer of that answer got it a bit wrong (which I think is the case).

A third variant: Some apps create "hidden cache folders" on the SD card. Now guess what "hidden" means here? sdcard/Android/data/<some_app>/.cache – a hidden directory (leading dot in the name) called .cache.

No straight answer, sorry – but my guess is it's referring either to the first or to the last of these 3 options. Highest likelyness is the latter – which seems to be confirmed by the SD Maid wiki¹:

  "Hidden caches" targets cache like files that are in non-default cache directories, e.g. videoCache, .cache.

One thing for sure: they're NOT talking about geo-caching with that

¹ thanks to SSS for this pointer!


Reduce in call volume I'm using Jelly Bean on my Samsung Galaxy Note. Plus I'm running Ultimate Rom v5.1 as mu ROM. The problem is minimum In-Call Volume is too high even though I have reduced it.

How can I reduce that in call volume than the minimum level?

It's due to noise cancellation was on during a call. I turn noise cancellation off now it works fine.


How can I see the upcoming calender event in the always on display? I have a Galaxy 8 phone that I can customise the content of always on display in some limited way. I could not find any option to add the upcoming calender event to it. Is there any way to do that?

Go to settings. Then Lock screen and Security. Scroll down to Lock Screen and Always on Display. Select Information and FaceWidgets. Then select FaceWidgets. From there you can select "Today's Schedule" as a screen on Always on Display. (I have the Note 8, but I would imagine you'd do something similar or the same thing.)


What is the technology used in the phones which reduces blur in the photos even if they are zoomed? What is the technology used in the phones which reduces blur in the photos even if they are zoomed?

In our old mobile phones, our phone camera pictures used to look blurred when the are zoomed. But now, it is not the case. Which technology is responsible for the reduced blur?

Are you referring to autofocus?

  An autofocus (or AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system
  and a motor to focus fully automatic or on a manually selected point
  or area.


Is there a way to automate data toggle on Galaxy S7 (Edge) I recently bought a Galaxy S7 Edge. I've meticulously gone through settings for notifications, sync, permissions to eliminate things doing stuff in the background as much as I can find, but none of this makes much difference to battery life. The only decent difference to battery life is made by manually switching data off before locking (and on, if I want to do something that requires data, after unlocking)

If I leave data on all the time I get about 30 hours.

If I habitually turn data off when I'm not using the phone I get about 3 days (even with regular turning the phone on and data on to check emails, do internet stuff)

(Note: I owned an iphone 6 plus before this, and that lasted days with similar use,  without turning data off)

I've tried JuiceDefender  (Which I already own for an older phone) and Tasker. Neither seem to be capable of turning the data on/off. It seems Samsung's version of Android makes that ability unavailable to third party apps.

Does anyone know of a way around this, other than rooting the phone/OS?

30 hours probably isn't too bad, especially if you use your phone a lot.

If you're in an area where reception is poor, this will also have a negative effect on battery.

There are apps on the Play Store ('Tasker' is one, 'Macrodroid' is another) that you can use to setup macros which perform certain tasks/functions based on the conditions you provide.

There may be a condition within one of those apps that state when the phone is locked, disable data. When unlock, enable it.


How to add a contact from a missed call? Someone just gave me his number with a missed call. I'm trying to create a contact from this missed call but I see it's not possible! By tapping the missed call one second I can send a message, dial IP call, delete, etc, but not create a contact from it. Is there not any way than writing down the number and manually creating a contact and copying the number?

I struggled with this. Long press the number, then chose Edit number before call. You then have the Add to Contacts option, click that and then choose Create new contact.


How to report an bug in calculator How do I report a bug or actually an error in the calculator that comes with Android? The version of Android on my Tab4 is 4.4.2 and 4.1.2 on my Samsung phone. It is the modulus function -- '%'. For example on paper if you divide 24 by 7 you get a remainder of 3, which is the correct modulus. The Android calculator puts a 'x' after the '%' and in front of the number you are trying to mod by. You end up with a 1.68. The only way this could be correct is if the creators of the calculator had something else in mind for the modulus symbol, which probably shouldn't be done. Maybe use '%x' on the button would be more accurate.

https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list
(you can report here and add it to the bug tracking list){{what you may need}}

MOST USER FRIENDLY
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.robotmedia.bugreporter
(bug reporting app on google play)


Is less than 2 hours of battery life normal for Galaxy S2 with Screen darker than | 5 times darker than normally possible thanks to Screen Filter app,
removed more than 70 system apps (I have less than 40 now) with the rest except absolutely essential being frozen,

WiFi GPS and all the rest turned off,sound muted, CPU and GPU undervolted and underclocked,(flashed 4.4.2 ROM and Dorimanx 10.43v98.4 Kernel which noticeably boosted battery life, especially after tweaking with the settings) disabled error reporting and everything else battery using I could think of while playing any game?

I doubled the battery life thanks to all the changes I made (read above) because the battery lasted barely an hour, often less.The issue was ever since I got the phone and I thought it was caused by the Samsung bloatware and Android 2.3.4.Being very UNsatisfied with the battery I bought a new one and it doesn't help except that I have double the battery life again (4 hours max) which is still very bad for Me.

The screen gets hot but the battery is even hotter and the area around the SoC (CPU, GPU etc) gets the hottest, I believe

So is this normal? What else can I do apart from the improvements I wrote above to improve the situation?

To be honest, it sounds like a hardware fault in the phone, especially since you say it's been happening since you bought the phone. If the phone were still new, I'd say you should take it back to the shop, but by flashing a new ROM you've voided the warranty.

To answer your question: no, it's not normal for that phone. I've known a few Galaxy S2 owners, and you should get as much life out of it as any other smartphone: a couple of days between charges if you don't use it heavily.


How to disable android phone's display? Hi im looking for method to disable my android phones display running on pie. I don't want to use tap to sleep, power button or simulate that option but I want to simply disable display completely and then turn it back on when I need it. I have rooted my phone already.

Example: I want to watch a YouTube video with only audio. So if I disable the display it can save my battery but pressing power button stops the buffering.

it's just an example for what I want to do this. I don't want it. I'm aware of youtube vanced..

Thanks @mnd I found solution for the problem.
The following app works smoothly. It disables only display

https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/app-screen-backlight-off-xda-exclusive-t3037380

Thanks stackexchange family.
Source: How to make an app behave the same way with screen off, as with screen on?


Apps can't connect to internet I have a connection problem with any app on Android 2.3.5. I can access the internet with the stock browser but any other app with full network permissions isn't able to connect to the internet. My handset is a Simvalley SPX-5.

Any ideas?

You can try one of these steps to solve it.

Is the problem recently? Have you ever used the phone when this all worked? Maybe then you can try to reset your phone. By setting your phone to the factory settings maybe some kind of glitch will be solved.
If you've never used other applications on the internet before, and you are using the phone for some time now. Maybe you can try to contact the manufacturer of your device. They can maybe help you better. Because I think, in that case, there is probably something wrong with your phone.

PS: Are you sure you are correctly connected to the web? Maybe if you are using a cellular network, it can be very slow.. Also check this link.


Download full WhatsApp history Is there any way to make backup of WhatsApp history with all emoticons and media? (no .txt file)

I have non-rooted Android 2.2.

It's very simple. Connect your phone to your computer, search for the Whatsapp directory (just called Whatsapp), and just copy it to your computer. Everything you wanted is stored in that folder.

When you want to restore your backup, you just copy the folder back to the phone and then install Whatsapp. You will then be given the option to restore backup.


How to modify functionality (skip song, play, pause) with side phone volume keys? This is a really requested feature in a lot of forum, but I haven't found any convincing solution.

I'd like that my volume keys:

If simple (short) press both together, pause/play.
If simple (short) press of single key, change the volume up or down.
If pressed and hold change track forward or backward.

My options in order from preferred to less preferred are:

Do it with Tasker
Download an app to achieve this (not a media player)
Develop an app to achieve this (any advice?)
Download a media player that has mentioned functionality.

Thanks, Diego

Note: With volume keys I don't mean keys in the headphone, I mean those which are at the side of the phone.

Headset button controller is an excellent app in market which will do all these functions..

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kober.headsetbutton&feature=more_from_developer


How to transfer photos from internal storage to SD without impacting Google Photos and Dropbox? I normally use my SD card to store photos. Due to some changes, photos I was taking were stored in phone storage for some time. I am back to storing them on the SD card. I am therefore left with ~500 MB of photos on phone storage instead of the SD card.

When taking a photo, it is automatically uploaded to Google Photos and Dropbox. In both cases (when the photos were going to the phone storage as well as now, when they land on the SD) they were correctly uploaded to both of these services.

I would like to understand how I can move the images in the internal storage to the SD without impacting the online storage (that is: without modifying it). In particular I would like to avoir re-uploading them, duplicates and changes in the timestamp.

Are the online services resilient on changes happening on the phone? In particular:

is the uploading process making sure that the photo which has changed (in my case: location on the phone)
would a full re-upload of the photos modify the online content (it could be that the photos are uploaded but Google Photos and Dropbox realize that the file already exists and just discard it). I do not care about the upload bandwidth, what I am worried about is the possibility of duplicates or (if the images are overwritten), of a change in the timestamp.

Is the impact of such changes on the phone documented somewhere?

Note: this answer is based of experimentation and some speculations at the end.

I tested with a few pictures, and then with a batch move of the pictures from phone storage to the SD card.

The result was OK: the pictures online did not change, there was no upload despite pictures appearing on the SD card.

I assume therefore that the phone does some housekeeping and keeps a trace of what was uploaded (so that it is not uploaded again)


Droid X - is Blur home running when you use Launcher Pro? Based on the process list in ATK, it appears that Blur home (including the widgets) are loaded and running - and can't be turned off in any way - when you are using Launcher Pro as your home replacement.

Is this an accurate observation?
Is there a way to stop any of the Blur widget processes from starting (rooted but standard ROM) completely? Just to clarify, "replace with Blur-less ROM" is not a satisfactory answer, since Cyanogen doesn't run on DroidX due to locked bootloader.

Yes, that's an accurate observation.

I don't have a Motorola phone myself, but from what I understand Blur is embedded pretty tightly into the ROM.  Trying to remove it would be painful at best, and probably just cause your phone to start crashing.  I'd recommend flashing a custom ROM that either never had Blur (e.g. something built largely from the AOSP like CyanogenMOD) or a heavily customized version of your ROM that has had Blur thoroughly rooted out and replaced with stock apps.


How to change the modified date of a file without root? How do I change the modified date of a file, specifically PNGs, on Android without root?

Total Commander failed to do it with a permission error Access Denied.

SHORT ANSWER:

You can simply touch the file or provide any time and date in past or future:

~$ touch /sdcard/test_file
~# debugfs -R 'stat media/0/test_file' /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata | grep crtime:
crtime: 0x5c926e0d:2d61b810 -- Wed Mar 20 21:45:01 2019
~$ touch -d '2009-2-13 14:32:55' /sdcard/test_file
~$ stat /sdcard/test_file
[...]
Access: 2009-02-13 14:32:55.000000000 +0000
Modify: 2009-02-13 14:32:55.000000000 +0000
Change: 2019-03-20 21:45:38.067021025 +0000
 Birth: -

Some file explorers like MiXplorer also have options to change Modified Time.
You don't need super user privileges to change mtime. Only the file should be writeable by your user ID (app in case of Android).

DETAILS:

touch uses utimensat to update time of access (atime) and modification (mtime) provided that filesystem supports the timestamps be saved in inode along with file's data.

Birth/creation time (btime/crtime) - a part of extended file status which requires at least 256bytes inode size - is not standardized, thus rarely supported by filesystems. In above commands debugfs is used with root privileges to get creation time of file on ext4 because some stat binaries aren't updated to use statx yet (requires at least Linux Kernel 4.11), so btime is empty.

Both btime and change time (ctime; inode/metadata modification time) are supposed to be handled by system, not simply changeable by user.

Since Android is based on Linux, it inherits the concept of inode and timestamps from UNIX world. Common Linux filesystems like ext4 and f2fs support timestamps, including the emulated filesystems used by Android on SD cards. Other OS and filesystems have similar concept with slightly different terminologies. E.g. on Windows' NTFS, MFTEntry Modified time is very identical to UNIX's ctime.


How to recover a System partition that won't mount A relative of mine brought me his Galaxy S4 Mini GT-I9190, which is stuck at boot. When I boot into recovery it gives the error Failed to mount /system (invalid argument).

How can I dig through the file-system of an android phone which doesn't boot, except in Recovery? The goal is not to flash it but to recover the data if possible.

I don't mind rooting or flashing, but I don't want to overwrite the system partition that may still have the valuable info on it. I've managed to install clockworkmod according to these instructions.

Is there a way to mount it, or expose the raw device to USB, or just back it up to SD, without overwriting it?

EDIT: Now I have Clockworkmod installed. Trying to use it to make a backup of /system. It fails to mount /system with the message:

mounting /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/b/system on /system failed: Invalid Argument
W:failed to mount /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system (File exists)

EDIT 2: with ADB shell I looked into /system, found an empty folder called bin and removed it. Now mounting /system fails with a longer error:

Error mounting /system!
W:failed to mount /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system (File exists)
I:Can't partition non mmcblk device: /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.3/mmc_host

My not-so-great solution ended up like this:

ClockWorkMod, installed with Odin according to the instructions (Odin seems to be slightly un-official so you're unfortunately always downloading from someone's Box or google drive, which is a bit uncomfortable)
ADB shell, (on PC: install java SDK, install android development kit)

Mount the SD card with CWM
In the shell, using DD to clone the unmountable partitions I wanted onto the SD, for later recovery
using CWM to mount the SD as a USB drive, moving the piece-of-partition to the PC
Repeat

Download fresh firmware from Sammobile and flash with Odin
Scratch through the partitions with a hex editor, to find the data I needed. Fortunately this was just text, things like pictures would have been harder.

A few features were still not working, WiFi for one, so the phone had to go back to the shop to be flashed with official firmware. At least it had the official bootloader on it at that stage, not CWM.


SIM vs. USIM inside Android smartphones I've browsing through some jargon and cannot figure out what exactly the difference is between USIM and SIM. While not strictly an android question I figure all android phones are bound to have either one or the other so any clarification on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

SIM is a old guy, but USIM (card's name is UICC, USIM is logical module) is new designed specially for UMTS (3G) generation. While SIM can also be used to access 3G, USIM has extra advantages over SIM:

3G Video Calls (not supported with SIM)
Higher Security: USIM introduces new algorithm to prevent unauthorized access to phone line. Plus, it encrypts your calls and internet traffic with stronger encryption keys. It stores contacts securely too.
Bigger and Improved phonebook: USIM allows you to store thousands of contacts (limit on SIM is 255). Each contact can now contain email id and more than one phone number.
USIM can run small applications like computer (SIM's analog is simple SIM menu which can't compute something by own other than communicating with carrier's server).


F-Droid java.io.FileNotFoundException / won't update I'm having the problem, that I can't

install a new app from F-Droid, instead I get

  java.io.FileNotFoundException: ...

update my package sources, I get something like

  unknown error

(F-Droid is an "installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform.")

In detail:

I'm using Android 4.2.2 on a FairPhone 1
I want to install the OwnCloud synchronization client.
my error message when trying to install the client from F-droid:

  java.io.FileNotFoundException:
  http://f-droid.org/repo/com.owncloud.android_10500800.apk

What can I do to install the app from F-Droid (to benefit from the updating service)?

What solved my problem was:

I realized, that

the OwnCloud synchronization client is on version 1.7.2 on the webpage,
while my F-Droid tries to download version 1.5.8
on the F-Droid webpage there is no version 1.5.8 for the OwnCloud client
(which may have resulted in the "File not found" exception)

I forced my package sources/repository to reload
(by changing my repository address to something invalid and back to original and then "update")
I could install the up-to-date OwnCloud client in version 1.7.3 (voila!)

Edit:

On F-Droid 0.96.1 it appears you can't edit existing repositories. You'll have to replace 2. above by

  I forced my package sources/repository to reload
  (e.g. by removing the "F-Droid" archive (note the URL) and re-adding it)


How to automatically repeatedly dial a number and automatically press numbers each time? I'm trying to get through to the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) and their lines are constantly busy. In order to get into the queue, one needs to call them, then press 1 twice. This would be fine, except typically you get a voice telling you that all lines are busy and to call back later. The migration agency then cuts the call. One such cycle takes roughly 30 seconds.

In order to get through, one simply needs to repeat this process repeatedly until there happens to be an available line and one is placed in queue. This can take anything from 5 to 20 minutes of manual calling and pressing depending on chance.

So one needs to call them, wait to be connected, then press 1 twice. Then, when all lines are busy, hang up (or wait for them to cut the call, which takes a few seconds longer), then repeat the process until a line is available and one is placed in queue. I would prefer to spend my time and attention doing something else.

How can I automate this process?

There's an app called Auto Redial that you can configure to keep calling the same number over and over.

I configured it like this:

(click screenshot to enlarge)

Note that I added ,1,1 after the number. This makes the phone automatically dial 1 twice, once the call is connected. This works even outside of the app, while dialing a number manually or from the contact list.

I've set the hangup time to maximum because this particular service hangs up automatically when you don't get through. In that case, I can listen to the phone once in a while to check whether I got through yet.

You may need to tweak these settings a bit depending on the service you're calling.

Disclaimer: I have no connection to this app whatsoever. The problem described in the question was a real problem I was facing, and when I found the solution I decided to share it with Android Enthusiasts. I have no other motive with this post, and I'm not involved in app development in any way.


Would Cyanogenmod be faster than stock Android? I am currently running an HTC One (M8), rooted, stock 5.1 Android Lollipop. If I upgraded to a CM build, would I notice any significant performance increase? Once in a while, 5.1 lags like crap; I don't think they completely fixed the memory leak...so would a CM ROM fix stuff like this? Their latest build for my phone came out yesterday, but it's only a nightly build, all of them are...

So bottom line, should I flash the nightly Cyanogenmod ROM, if I'm looking for stability, speed, and maybe a bit more customization?

Actually, rom experience varies device by device (even for same models, it is possible that you may have more/less stable feeling for rom than others).

  so would a CM ROM fix stuff like this?

Yeah there is no memory leak in CM 12.1 right now, that I can assure you.
Stable builds will take a while. Nightly arent bad, I use them too. It really does have a great performance. Never froze in my case, customization is awesome as well.

Now I cannot (and no one can) guarantee same experience for you. I can only give you an idea of what CM 12.1 is now. So->

Its quite very stable. I cant even remember last time I faced an issue on it. Although RAM is not something I bother about, but CM actually leaves my phone with far better free ram than stock.
I Dont have HTC ONE M8 so I dont know how the stock rom was. But on my phone, CM is far better than stock.
I do face some lags. The frequency is somewhere around just 2-5 per day (not more than that definitely, infact I barely notice this).
You can actually push the performance further. Install a custom kernel, get a better governor (my personal fav is interactive v2). Probably overclock it a little (not needed really, but in case you feel like...). There are a lot of tweaks a kernel can do alone.

  So bottom line, should I flash the nightly Cyanogenmod ROM, if I'm
  looking for stability, speed, and maybe a bit more customization?

Yes. I cannot say for definite that your experience will be mind blowing and stuff. But CM is one rom you must never judge before you actually try. As I said, even its nightlies are very stable given the amount of time they had to correct bugs. As for customization, it has a great theme manager that allows you to control a lot of aspects separately (different theme for notification panel and statusbar, fonts, bootanimations, icons etc etc), so the customization capabilities are ofcourse far better than stock.

In fact, a lot of roms are ported keeping CM as base. CM is known for its stability and speed (and probably minimalism too if you uninstall those pre-installed bloatware apps. The optimized drivers are another great thing), hence it makes porting roms easier. Definitely worth a try.


I can't unlock bootloader on fly fron linux My OS is majaro linux.
My phone is fly nimbus 8.

I tried to unlock bootloader on it.
I followed the instruction.
First I go to the Dev mod then enable OEM unlock and USB debugging.
Second I typed:

  adb devices

output:

List of devices attached
56090913288827  device

Then I typed:

  adb reboot-bootloader

It became like this:

Then I checked again:

  fastboot devices

output:

56090913288827  fastboot

It seems all works out good!
But then I entered:

  sudo fastboot oem unlock

And then nothing. I mean absolutely nothing: it does not throw an error, not answers, not completes.
By the way, the phone does the same - absolutely nothing!
if I plug off the device it writes:

FAILED (Status read failed (No such device))
fastboot: error: Command failed

I tried it already ten more times but it doesn't want to work!

Does anyone know what the problem?
Did somebody have the experience in flash the fly(in particular nimbus 8)?
I'll de be waiting for an answer!
Thanks!

I found out what the matter!
Fly nimbus 8  delivers in two kinds: with MTK and with spreadtrum!
In my case it was with spreadtrum.


How to root my phone without PC? I have a indian phone . I am giving below its specifications

Manufature-Vox
Model-Kick k5
1.2 Ghz single core processor
4.512 MB RAM
256 MB ROM
Android 4.4.2

I have tried many apps like framaroot, Vroot, Oneclick root, Universal Androot but theydonot work. Help me to root it without PC.

I already rooted two devices with towelroot and it worked very well. But I'm not sure if it will work with your device.


Send selected text to dialer Is there an App that registers itself as a Share Command and lets me send a selected text in a webpage or email to the default dialer?
I would like to avoid copy and pasting a number from a webpage or email to the dialer manually...

Thanks in advance!

I guess Clipboard Dialer might be your choice:

  This little tool enables you to extract all phone numbers from what ever text is in your clipboard. It will present a list of all numbers it finds giving you an easy way to call, SMS or create a new contact.


Boot loop after ROM write  in recovery I have an HTC Sensation with ICS Android on it. How can I revert back to Gingerbread?

I have root and s-off. I tried to flash my Gingerbread ROM (??) in the recovery but am now stuck in a boot loop.

Do this:

Boot into Recovery
Wipe cache
Wipe Dalvik cache
Wipe them again
Install your ROM

The first successful boot afterwards is going to take a while, as it is rebuilding Dalvik cache.

If you are not boot looping here, just let it go for a long while. If it boots a while and reboots, wait some more.


Sleep Tracking App connected with google health Do you know if there's an app :

Dedicated to sleep tracking
Connected with Google Health

I'm interested in such an application, so if you know one, please share it w/ me.

Thanks.

Rob

There's Sleep Bot Tracker Log and Sleep Logger.  They don't seem to directly connect to Google Health, but they let you export data (one does CSV, the other doesn't specify).


Android 4 don't require unlock at home In the Android OS version 4, what would I have to do to require a pass code to unlock the phone when I'm away from home, but when I'm at my home, I don't need pass-code restrictions.

Detecting proximity to my office could be done by detecting a WiFi or BlueTooth link to some hardware in the office, but GPS would be iffy since it doesn't work well inside. Also Google's location service would work, since it seems to know where my WiFi router is located very accurately.

I would also be interested to know whether this would be compatible with the full storage encryption on the Android.

Skip lock screen (formerly "Unlock with WiFi") will let you bypass your device lock screen if you are connected to your home WiFi network. (Or whatever WiFi SSID you define.)

I used it a year or two ago and it worked well.

There is also a trial version.


Can't access Whatsapp since yesterday (8th Feb) I've got a Samsung Android 2.3.6,

The message says the version on my phone became obsolete on 24 Feb 24 2020, but we are still in 2018. It is asking me to download the latest version. when I try to do this, it says Whatsapp no longer supports my phone, I should switch  to a supported phone.

From WhatsApp's FAQ page:

  For the following platforms, you can no longer create new accounts,
  nor re-verify existing accounts. However, you'll be able to continue
  using WhatsApp:

  Android versions 2.3.7 and older until February 1, 2020

  Note: Because we will no longer actively develop for these platforms,
  some features may stop functioning at any time.

So if you're trying to reverify your account, above is the reason why it won't work.

I remember when WhatsApp stopped supporting some blackberrys, some were able to change the date of the phone to a few months earlier, and WhatsApp worked! So go ahead and try that. No guarantee that it's going to work.

If you are still having trouble, contact WhatsApp support for further assistance.

Update

A friend of mine had the same issue, he emailed WhatsApp, and they replied that it was an issue on their side, and that It's fixed now.

If it's not fixed on your side, restart your phone and try again.


How to create filter in mobile Gmail? Opening a message on my phone/tablet and I want to create a filter for that message but I cannot see where to do it. The same thing can be found from the top right menu when using the web version of Gmail.

Any workaround for this?

As far as I know, the GMail app and the mobile version of GMail does not have any way to add filters. You will have to use the Desktop/full version of GMail to create filters.


Handeling android emulator via command line I installed default android emualator in windows xp . Is there a way to launch android browser with a specific url open on it  with help of command line .

Basically I use emulator for testing my website . so if there exist a command for launching emulator from command line  (with browser and url open on it) then i ll create a script which ll take url as argument and launch the emulator for me .

We can do the same with mac (apple xcode emulator) hopefully there is a way for android too.

Thanks in advance

Yes, you can open a browser from the command-line using adb.

Here is an example from SO:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3512198/need-command-line-to-start-web-browser-using-adb


How to auto-answer video calls for telepresence/baby monitor/pet cam? I would like to leave a tablet on my shelf and be able to video call into it while away and talk/hear/see my home without anyone necessarily being there, just to be able to check in. I have looked for auto-answer settings in Skype and Hangouts.

The situation is that I have a baby I'm going to leave in my home with her grandmother, and other sitters and relatives, and I don't want to have to teach them except to say that I'll check in via video sometimes. This way I shouldn't ever disturb the peace with phone ringtone sounds, nor have to wait for someone to pick up, nor have to wonder why they didn't pick up.

Skype has auto-answer, but it doesn't turn on video from the receiver. What else can I try? I haven't installed everything in the Play store…

Cloud camera solution

TL;DR Use SeeCiTV to use a second device as a remote camera.

Assuming your device is always going to be plugged in and connected to the Internet...

You can use the app SeeCiTV on the Play Store in order to always be able to check on the camera on your device. There are several apps which accomplish this, but I recommend this app as its interface seems easy to use (unlike the IP Webcam solution posted below).

This method is secured using your Google account which should already be set up with your phones, with the addition of being able to add Trusted Users if you want to give other accounts access to that camera.

One potential downside to this is that you can only access your new "home camera" on another phone or tablet, as there is currently no way to view it from a PC (unless you have a mobile device emulator). While SeeCiTV is great in terms of security and efficiency (the device screen and camera is turned off until you want to monitor it), let's say you need to be able to access it from any device on the Internet, then you'd need a different app like the next solution...

TeamViewer solution

TL;DR Use TeamViewer QuickSupport to answer VoIP calls.

This is another handy solution because you will not need to keep your remote screen on at all times (unlike the next few solutions). This supports most devices, but you can check the supported manufacturers list to make sure your device will be supported.

Download and install TeamViewer QuickSupport on the Play Store and set up a TeamViewer account from the app. Now download the TeamViewer control app on the Play Store on both the remote device (the device you will control) and the host device (the device from which you will he controlling your remote device).

Now you will need to install a manufacturer-specific add-in for QuickSupport, which the app should prompt you to install when you first open it. After you install the add-in, sign into your TeamViewer account on both devices. Then, add your remote device's ID (given by the QuickSupport app) to your list of account devices. Then, you'll be able to connect to that device any time and answer any incoming calls that you need (or you could start the call from the remote device).

IP Webcam solution

TL;DR Please use the Cloud camera solution unless you know what you're doing here.

If you need to have access to this device from a PC, and you can't use a mobile device or desktop emulator, then you can use an app like IP Webcam on the Play Store in order to constantly stream the camera data to the Internet.

You'd have to set up your remote network's ports and other settings to work with IP Webcam. The steps are walked through in the app, but

Why do I recommend the Cloud camera solution instead of this one?

For starters, it's potentially much less secure. SeeCiTV uses a Google account for authentication, but IP Webcam has its own form of authentication. Since you'd be connecting to your own remote IP, it's possible that your credentials, when you log in, will be transferred insecurely over the network. While IP Webcam may encrypt this information before transferring, you can avoid exchanging your camera stream and passwords over a non-SSL-secured connection if you use the Cloud camera solution instead. Even if you use a different password for this, it is much easier for attackers be able to gain access to your remote camera. And, yes, they could watch your baby for you, but maybe you should leave that task to yourself and your family.

It's also far less convenient to set up and to access the IP Webcam. IP Webcam will require your screen and camera to be active at all times (which will affect device life).

Skype solution

TL;DR If you need 2-way comms, use Skype

If it's necessary to have two-way communication between your device and the remote device, you could set up a Skype group between 3 devices: the remote tablet, a PC or another old device, and the device you want to use to video call. First, you'll need to install Skype on all of the devices. You can use these installers: Skype for Android or Skype for desktop. Start a Skype group between the devices, using a different Skype account for each device. Start a group call, and you will need to answer on the tablet and PC/device, then start the video on the remote tablet. Now you can connect to the group call whenever you want, from a third device. You can even share your own video feed from your third device. Just make sure your Internet is stable and that the call remains on at least 2 devices at all times.


How can I let apps use their default notification sound on Moto G5 I have a Moto G5 S, Android 7.1.1, and all (messaging?) apps are using a really annoying notification sound (the one that came by default in the phone). I would prefer that each app uses their default notification sound (like WhatsApp's whistle or Facebook's... thing). Is there a way I can set that for all apps?

As said earlier you cannot choose a custom notification sound for each app, however you can change the notification sound for all apps.

Go into Settings > Sound > Default notification ringtone > choose whichever ringtone you like


How do I set reminders using Voice Actions in ICS 4 - Galaxy Nexus? Willing to pay for an app.

Thanks

Try My Voice Reminder. Its a free app. Don't know if it supports ICS.


Get rid of Messages' notifications when application is connected to a PC I am using and very enjoining the fact I can connect my base Android Messages application to its web counterpart on my PC and get much more flexibility in writing and managing all my SMSes.

But, I am pretty much irritated that it displays so many notifications about the fact that it is being connected to this or that PC:

I think that I see it dozen of times:

daily, each time I start a PC,
each time I restart my browser and
even each time my Messages application / mobile phone looses and regains connection to the Internet and thus Messages application and its browser counterpart reconnects each other.

Is there any way to disable this pseudo-security messages?

I can't find corresponding configuration option in either Messages application on my Android phone or in its web counter part. And I am afraid to force-block notifications from this mobile application in my Android settings becuase I think that I will loose all the notifications from it, i.e. not just those about being connected, but also notifications about received SMS message.

The same goes for notification about using mobile plan, in web counterpart:

Is there any way of getting rid of it permanently or do I have to close this nag everyday, every time I restart my browser?

For disabling first notifications (i.e. the one that appears on the phone when it is connected to PC) one must:

tap such notification (or select Messages for web from three-dot menu in Messages application),
tap three-dots menu and select Notifications and
uncheck Show presistent notification option.

As for disabling second notifications (i.e. the one appears in PC / Chrome / web browser version of Messages for web, about phone using mobile data) this is most likely solved in the Google-way.

Thus there is no way to disable this because Google thinks that you must see this and doesn't actually care what you really need or want, sorry.


How to update GTalk to feature video chat? I would like to know if it is possible to 'force update' the Talk app. I have Nexus S and I have the video chat in my Talk, but my girlfriend with S Galaxy II (2.3.4) doesn't. I read somewhere on the internet that Talk should feature videochatting from 2.3.4 on, but well... It doesn't so far.

This post from xda-developers will help you if her phone is rooted.


How to make phone play a custom sound after pressing physical button? I have LG G2 Mini with Lollipop.

In Settings there is an option that allows the phone to quickly launch apps at the locked screen. So when you press and hold volume down it can open the Camera, and with volume up it can run QuickNote.

I want to replace this volume up gesture. Instead of running QuickNote I want it to play a custom sound.

OK, I found an answer by myself :-) To add action to volume button I used Key Plus app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apptuners.keyplusapp). Then I created a task with Tasker (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm&hl=pl) which set media volume to max, play a sound, wait till it ends and revert volume to previous value:


Does installing a terminal emulator from play store root my phone? I recently Termux terminal emulator in my phone to copy files from my phone to my mac through a ssh connection. But I fear whether installing such emulators root of damage the OS.

Not at all, a terminal is just a command-line utiity useful for executing shell commands, that might otherwise be difficult to input without such a utility, or alternatively can be achieved using adb via your PC.

On the other hand, rooting involves putting (and modifying) the su binary (that previously didn't exist in the device) giving appropriate permissions, in order to allow certain apps/proceses to execute with elevated privileges.

Furthermore a terminal app can even be used to carry out normal tasks that doesn't require root.


How to browse file:/// URLs on my Android device? I have some extensive documentation in HTML format that I want to carry around with me. On my old Gingerbread phone, I was able to save the entire "site" onto the phone's sd card and browse it with the url

file:///mnt/sdcard/mysite/index.html.

Unfortunately, this is not working with my new ICS phone (which uses Chrome as the browser); trying different urls produce either a 404 "file not found" or a 403 "access denied".

Can anyone point me to a read me on how to do this?

Re-phrasing your question to reflect your real problem:

  How can I read my extensive, HTML-formatted documentation on my Android device?

there is an answer which would make it easy, comfortable, and even less storage-consuming:

You could convert the entire documentation to an eBook using Calibre on your PC. A good format would be e.g. ePub. As a result, your entire documentation would be packed into a single file. Now check the playstore for a nice eBook reader (my recommendation: Moon+ Reader or its payed version, Moon+ Reader Pro), and install it on your device. Et voila: You have your documentation available on your device. Added pluses (with Moon+ Reader): You can even set multiple bookmarks, highlight text, make annotations. And due to the integrated OPDS support and even pre-configured online libraries, you'd have a bunch of books at your fingertips.

Adding a dictionary app like ColorDict Dictionary Wikipedia or Fora Dictionary plus some (freely available) dictionaries, you could even look up things whenever needed, online or offline, as the second screenshot2 shows.


Gmail Contact Remove From other Mobile I once had to log in my Google account on my friend's phone and I  delete my account on his phone. Is there any way for me to remotely delete my Contacts on my friend's devices?

You can log in to Google and navigate to https://myaccount.google.com/security#activity and remove that device.


Android 1.5 Dialer App - Exploit Block I just read about the remote USSD attack. My hoary old Samsung i7500g phone is vulnerable (confirmed via this site).

The solution is to install a (free) secondary dialer, like Dialer One. Unfortunately, since my phone is running on 1.5 (I know, I know!), I can't download any apps through Google Play.

Furthermore, an alternative download on AndroidDrawer told me that "this app is not compatible with your phone" -- presumably OS related.

Okay, so, what are my options? Is there a free dialer I can use that will, as explained here, at least prompt me which dialer to execute the command with?

I just tested my own phone by loading Dylan Reeve's web page and to my surprise the Lookout app I have installed stopped it. I guess Lookout also functions as a dialer. According to this page there is a version that supports 1.5 (although I'm not sure if that version does include protection from USSD attacks).

I haven't tried it myself but, according to this post you can download apk files from the play store to your computer. If you succeed just copy the apk to your phone manually and install.


the last number that used whatsapp on my blackberry How do I check the last number that used whatsapp on this my blackberry handset because I downloaded it bt am asked to give the last number that used whatsapp on my phone

As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use. So, by the end of 2016, we will be ending support for WhatsApp Messenger on the following mobile platforms:

BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10
Nokia S40
Nokia Symbian S60
Android 2.1 and Android 2.2
Windows Phone 7.1
iPhone 3GS/iOS 6

While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future. - WhatsApp blog

Check your phone model.


Is the Google Home exactly the same as the Google Assistant? So I'm considering getting a Google Home. I have a Nexus 6p which has the google assistant. I'm just wondering, is the Google Home basically just a device with only the Google Assistant installed?

Does Google Home offer any features or benefit over just a phone with Google Assistant?

Does Google Home offer any features or benefit over just a phone with Google Assistant?

Sure does.

Hands-free.
Multiple users.
Control your smart home.
Control music
(and it has a hi-fi speaker built-in)
Just to name a few things.

https://madeby.google.com/home/


how to install custom rom on mmx bolt a35 I want install the dream xperia a35 custom on my mmx a35.
I downloaded the base rom and main rom but how to install them in cwm recovery how to install the base rom and then main rom if base rom can be installed by install zip from sd card but how to install the main rom when where can i need to reboot mobile to install 2nd zip
give me both procedure with links detailed
thank you

It is an easy process but you can use only custom roms on the device. Just have look at this link
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-flash-a-rom-to-your-android-phone-30885281


How can I modify files on a remote computer over wifi/3g from my Android phone/tablet? I have a scenario where I watch a fair amount of video content from a DLNA device that doesn't support deleting (GoogleTV, via Logitech Revue). I would like to be able to delete files after I'm done watching them, without using my laptop to RDS/FTP/etc to the file server.

In a perfect world I would be able to do it from the DLNA player (which I realize would be a question for another StackExchange site, but I've done a fair amount of research on this and I'm pretty sure it's just not possible yet...), but I would accept an Android-friendly solution -- since I have an Android phone -- that I could use to connect to the file server and delete the files as an acceptable alternative.

Before getting the Revue I accomplished this using my XBox360 as a Windows Media Center Extender, which in addition to allowing me to watch my content, was capable of deleting.

The file server is running Windows 7. I want a point & click, turnkey solution, so I'm not interested in an SSH-like or RDP-like solution, because I don't want to type out directory navigation commands or do lots of pinch-to-zoom + drag + click on my phone. I could more quickly and easily just walk into the other room and delete the files. Some sort of native file browser would be best, I think.

I just found ES File Explorer which seems to do what I need, and a little bit more. This looks pretty promising. I'll report back if I have any issues with it, but for now it seems to answer my question.


How to permanently remove a particular Chrome notification from Android mobile phone? I visited a website yesterday. Today, a notification popups every time my mobile phone is rebooted, showing me that website (it is grouped under "Social digest"). However, when I click on that notification, it only takes me to Chrome but not to that website.

How to permanently remove this notification?

Open Chrome → Settings → Site settings (under "Advanced") → Notifications and click on it.

The following screen will appear

If you turn off the Notifications slider, you will not get any notification from Chrome at all (from sites).

To turn off for a particular site, click on Allowed → [URL of the site] → Notifications (under "Permission") → change "Allow" to "Block".


Filesystem hierarchy, that defines the directory structure and directory contents of Android? I have searched, but haven't yet been able to find, an authoritative documentation of the filesystem hierarchy of the Android OS.

Can someone tell me whether this exists at all and if so, where?

There's a big chapter on that in Andrew Hoog's Android Forensics book on that (see this Amazon list for available copies). Unfortunately, that book doesn't come for free (but from Elsevier; so prices range from ~USD 20 for the Kindle edition to ~USD 50 for the print, with some crazy offers for ~USD 170+ as well), but it explains a lot of background not only interesting for Forensik specialists. A German version of this book now is available for EUR 35, published by Franzis (which can be found e.g. on its German Amazon page as well as on the publishers site, see this link).

While the link to AndroidUserland given in a comment on the question contains a very rudimentary list, a better (though also incomplete) documentation can be found at robotz.com. As said, this is far from being complete, but better for understanding.

I remember having seen another documentation at android.com -- some hints can be found there e.g. in the Storage Options (check "Internal Storage" and "External Storage" here). But a complete documentation of the file system hierarchy is missing here as well.

So again, the most complete documentation known to me is Hoog's Forensics book. German speakers might also be interested in taking a look into the chapter Dateisysteme und Datenstrukturen of my book "Die Androiden-Toolbox", which (in this community edition) is freely available in HTML, MobiPocket and PDF versions here on my eBook Server (if you prefer a printed copy with a few more details, the (extended) Franzis edition Das inoffizielle Android-Systemhandbuch will be available end of this month, i.e. starting around the 26.11.2012).

Disclosure: As said, I'm the author of the second book mentioned. And, not yet mentioned, the translator for the German version of Andrew Hoog's book. But that does not mean I hold back other sources here, of course.


Samsung Galaxy S3 requesting network security key when tethering My S3 (Jellybean) was suddenly no longer recognised by my PC when plugged in via USB.  I solved that by debugging using Developer Options as advised in another thread, which allowed the driver to be installed... again (thank you).

But now if I try to use it as a hot-spot via USB tethering, I'm prompted to enter a network security key.

Previously it just connected without the need for this and furthermore, I don't know where I would find such a key since I didn't set it up in the first place.

Help anyone?

Go to setting > more settings > tethering now enable tethering. On same screen tap tethering again, not to turn off, so tap to the left of the tether on switch. A screen opens, go to bottom left corner and tap configure.  Scroll down you will see a password field, tap the show password then copy and paste the password to notepad or write it down. When your laptop asks for a security key enter password. I did this for the first time in ten minutes.


Android phone HDD/SSD 2.5"/1.8" - how much power is too much? Recently I started experimenting with OTG adapter and some USB devices. While pendrives, RS232 adapters etc typicially work, storage is more interesting topic. I tried to connect my 1tb Seagate SSHD but it started emitting weird beeping noise and phone didn't detect it. However today I connected my friend's Samsung T3 1TB SSD and it does work just fine. So the question is - what power draw is too much and is it possible to connect some lower power 1.8" HDD do phone? (Because high capacity SSDs are quite expensive)

It's interesting topic as vision of being able to access 1TB or even more of data on the go (without additional power) sounds quite promising. Especially for phones without sd card but also because such insane capacity cards are insanely expensive, even comparing to SSDs

USB flash drives consume about 1-2 watts, SSDs max 5 watts and good HDDs 6.5-7 watts. I doubt a low powered USB connection could power an HDD. Perhaps a portable HDD since those use a bit less power.

Sources:
http://www.buildcomputers.net/power-consumption-of-pc-components.html

http://techreport.com/review/25391/wd-red-4tb-hard-drive-reviewed/3

https://superuser.com/questions/565653/how-much-power-does-a-hard-drive-use

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8747/samsung-ssd-850-evo-review/10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Power

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10163/usb-flash-drives-power-consumption-measurement-using-plugables-usbctkey


No recovery mode .. Stuck in Fastboot mode (RAMDUMP) i have my cherry mobile Omega spectrum ..
i was supposed to reboot my phone after installing a custom
i can't find any answers in my  group so i decided to post here about this problem anyone here can help me ??
i'm new here ..p thanks a lot

As Ryan commented, you can use fastboot commands to push a recovery image to your phone.

download a recovery image for your phone if you don't have one, then connect your phone to your pc and, via the fastboot tool on your computer, type

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

where "recovery.img" is the absolute path of your custom recovery image (path is not required if you placed your img in the same directory of your adb-fastboot toolkit).

Afterwards, get into recovery (it should go automatically there if system is missing/corrupted, if not try pressing the power/vol combination for you device)

As you are into recovery, flash your OS as you normally do.

PS: before flashing your system via recovery, remember to update your custom recovery, to avoid using a buggy one. Also, be sure to make it check MD5 sums before flashing.

It is also possible that your problem is temporary: a lot of people got through this just by extracting battery, SIM and SD from the phone and then booting normally. Try this before doing anything.


How can i stop Android OS updare after tapping "INSTALL OVERNIGHT" So I'm running Android 6.0.1 and i don't want to update it, but when the notification popped up, i accidentally tapped "INSTALL OVERNIGHT", being 2AM to 5AM tomorrow. Is there anyway I could stop it? PLEASE HELP THANKS!

Yes, there is an app or settings dedicated to handle OTA updates by visiting that app/settings one could easily choose to install now/schedule installation time/install later option.

This app/settings may vary brand to brand. So, there are all possible ways:

Open Settings-About Phone-Software Update.
Open Settings-Software Update.
Open dedicated app from app drawer( app name vary from brand to brand e.g. Updater in Xiaomi).

If in case homepage of the app doesn't show you any of the above written option. Please tap 3 dots on the upper right corner of the screen, there you will see options and choose accordingly.


Sending email from an alias using Gmail app I use G-Suite for business. I have the main domain (Let's call it example.com) and a number of secondary domains (we'll use example.co.uk for this). I have set up aliases so that I can receive email sent to joe.user@example.com and also joe.user@example.co.uk.

Using GMail on the web I can select a default email address for outgoing email. So, although my primary address is joe.user@example.com my outgoing email appears to come from joe.user@example.co.uk

So far, so good.

Now I want to do the same thing on my Android phone and tablet.

How can I set up Gmail for Android to use my alias joe.user@example.co.uk instead of my primary address joe.user@example.com?

Note that I don't want to reset the phone and sign in with a different address. I just want to change the GMail alias.

One answer to this question suggests it's not possible, but that was five years ago. Has anything changed?

It's still not possible if you use Gmail app.

Alternatively, you can use FairEmail ( link to the community ads promotion), which let's you do this and has many more features available.

I use  Gmail aliases with this app (not affiliated to it) . You can refer to the extensive app FAQ
in case of issues or join the active app forum on XDA


"Charging paused. Voltage too high" on Samsung Galaxy S2 after upgrading to ICS I am keep on getting this pop-up every 30 sec. I searched on the internet, and most of the solutions are to play with the charging pin.

It's also showing it's charging when it's not.
My phone thinks it's charging

I think this has to be a software issue.

Does anyone have any solution?

Short answer:

That's no doubt a software issue, reported across forums after an upgrade to ICS 4.0.x.

Some users reporting this can be found here:

Galaxy s2 charging port problem - xda-developers
Re: ICS 4.0.3 Charging Paused, Voltage Too High an... - Vodafone eForum

Don't know with certainty if you've upgraded the firmware to ICS 4.0 or any other variant, being the latest ones 4.0.3 or 4.0.4

Nonetheless, you either roll back and wait for a new version that doesn't cause that issue or you can try some of the suggestions provided below (all reported to have worked without problems by other owners of a Samsung Galaxy S2).

Extending the answer:

First and above all

Backup all personal data on your phone to make sure you are not going to lose anything either by rolling back or trying a new/different firmware.

e.g., contacts, SMS, MMS, Internet settings, Wi-Fi passwords, etc...

You can go with one of these suggestions:

Once the backup is concluded, the following solutions are documented as to have solved that particular issue on your phone. Solutions ordered from the simplest to the most complicated:

Clearing cache data

The problem you're facing can be related to old files still in cache. Follow these steps to clear your cache and see if it solves it:

Boot your phone in recovery mode, to do that press and hold VOLUME UP and MIDDLE KEY, while holding both press POWER ON;
You will see your phone booted in recovery mode , in recovery mode touch screen will not work so use Volume UP and Volume Down to navigate through options and MIDDLE KEY to confirm;
Choose “wipe cache partition” from menu;
It will clear the cache data;
Now select reboot system now;

Factory Reset

Samsung has a master reset code used to factory reset your phone. You can try this as to cleanup your phone and wait for a better ICS version, or try another ICS version (see suggestion n.º 3):

Make sure you have a backup of your personal data (e.g., contacts, SMS, MMS, Internet settings, Wi-Fi passwords, etc).
Take your SIM and memory card out of your phone
Turn your phone back on, and wait for the dial pad
Dial the factory reset code: *2767*3855#

This will wipe, reset and then correctly format the internal storage. After the process is completed, place your SIM and memory cards back on the phone.

Firmware Flash (Odin)

Download the Latest Samsung Odin here, and install either one of the latest ICS versions or a previous one that can be found on the links at the very end of this answer.

3.1. flash your firmware to the Android 4.0:

XXLPQ — Update Galaxy S2 to Android 4.0 Official Firmware Manually

  This firmware and the guide below is compatible only and only with Galaxy S2, model number i9100. It’s not compatible with any other device, including US variants of S2, the Epic 4G Touch, T-mobile Galaxy S2 and AT&T Galaxy S2 along with Skyrocket. Check your device’s model number in Settings » About phone.

3.2. Install Android ICS 4.0.3 XXLPJ Firmware Update:

Install Android ICS 4.0.3 XXLPJ Firmware on Samsung Galaxy S2 GT I9100

  Here is another tutorial how to Install Android ICS 4.0.3 XXLPJ Firmware Update on Samsung Galaxy S2 GT i9100. Samsung Galaxy II got the Official XXLPQ Firmware update recently. But the Firmware had some bugs and users reported it. Samsung revived the Android 4.0.3 and added some other latest features

3.3. flash your firmware to the Android 4.0.4:

XXLQ5 - Download & Install Official Android 4.0.4 ICS Firmware for Samsung Galaxy S2

  Finally, you can download and install latest official Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich Firmware on Samsung Galaxy S II now. Yup, there is a leaked official Android 4.0.4 ICS Firmware for Samsung Galaxy S2 ~ XXLQ5 Firmware (Europe region).

Update Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100 to Android 4.0.4 ICS XXLQ5 Leaked Firmware

  Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100 has been running on the Android 4.0.3 firmware and recently there were rumors that said that it won’t receive the Android 4.0.4 ICS update. However, all these rumors were shattered today because there is a new leaked firmware for I9100 that is based on Android 4.0.4 ICS and with XXLQ5 firmware, which means that Samsung should eventually launch the new update in the near future.

Useful and related links:

The official Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) website.
A very extensive list with Official i9100 Firmwares LPE/Q/7/2/F/S/4/7/G/9/W/D/F to Download and an how-to guide to flash your firmware with Odin.
Android Firmwares.NET - Samsung Galaxy S II Firmwares.


get gps coordinates offline Is there a way to get currect geographical coordinates using android gps while being offline (e.g. lost in the mountains) without additional applications?

AFAIK there isn't a way to do it without additional applications but this app or this one seem to do what you need it to.


How can I change a QWERTY keyboard layout to AZERTY without changing the phone language? I've just acquired an HTC Desire with MIUI interface.

I speak English and want the phone to stay in English. But I live in France and all my keyboards (computers, etc.) are French standard AZERTY, not QWERTY.

The phone shows a QWERTY keyboard.  Having the phone in QWERTY is confusing.

How can I change the phone keyboard to AZERTY without changing the language of the phone into French please?

SwiftKey X supports the feature you are asking (English with AZERTY keyboard).  Try out their demo.

After you have installed the app, go to the Settings of SwiftKey.  Go to "Languages & layouts"

Next to Englush, tap on the little keyboard icon.  Then choose AZERTY.

You'll now have English autocorrect on an AZERTY keyboard.


How to track data consumed by assisted GPS? My Moto E sometimes uses up mobile data even though I have turned it off. To fix this, I added a dummy APN with random values. But still occasional data charges are incurred. I found this and am pretty sure this is the reason for my data charges as I had location services turned on since the first day. Also, the data being used is in very low amounts as I'm being charged for bytes. My question is
How to be sure that it is assisted GPS that is using up my mobile data?

I have no idea how to monitor AGPS data consumption; it will probably be counted as Android System itself using up data.

But if you do have A-GPS enabled, it will use data. From Wikipedia:

  A typical A-GPS-enabled receiver will use a data connection (Internet
  or other) to contact the assistance server for aGPS information. If it
  also has functioning autonomous GPS, it may use standalone GPS, which
  is sometimes slower on time to first fix, but does not depend on the
  network, and therefore can work beyond network range, and without
  incurring data usage fees. Some A-GPS devices do not have the
  option of falling back to standalone or autonomous GPS.

In Settings > Location > Location mode, you can set it to Device only for GPS-only. Battery saving and High accuracy will definitely use data.


Locking down an Android device? I'm interested in locking down an Android, so the user can only access a particular app (bonus points: only allow them to access the browser app, and only allow one website from within that).

How might I go about doing this with minimal work?

(I work for a school, and am considering using some androids as roll-marking devices)

There are a number of apps in the market that allow access to apps only after inputting a password.

For your second problem, i hope there's some way of preventing a user from putting a SIM of choice (either by encasing the device in a lockable case or something) and then configuring your WiFi router to only allow access to the site in question and block all other requests.


how can I change the language of the keyboard of sony ericsson xperia mini pro? my mobile keyboard is supported with Arabic alphabet but I don't know how to use it !!
I need to write a lot in arabic and I'm not used to the touch keyboard so I need to change the language of the mobile keyboard

I don't know specific to your device. But normally in Android it is like this:

  Settings >> Language & Input >> Language


Can an intent to open the camera specify a prefix to the names of any photo's taken? I understand that there are apps that make renaming easy but would it be possible to specify the photo name actually before taking the photo? If so would this also work with an app that allows the user to take multiple photo's before returning to the app, rather than the one photo most apps allow. Sorry for the newb question!

Yes. The app that starts the intent (i.e. the app with the "take photo" button) is responsible for choosing a file name and creating the file. It then puts that file's URI (its path) in the intent. The camera app then opens that file, writes the photo to it, and gives a result back to the first app.

The upshot of this is that it's up to the calling app (the one with the "take photo" button) to give you a way to set the file name, if they want to do that. The file name will take effect whatever camera app you use.

The intent protocol doesn't provide a way for the calling app to ask for more than one photo, so there's no way for an app to offer this feature without launching the camera app several times in succession.

If you're interested in the details, the official Android developer documentation describes it, with code examples.


Stock Messaging App Locks and is Slow I upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy S4 (from iPhone) and still trying to make the transition and learn all of the new features.

One issue I have is with the stock messaging app. It completely freezes up at times. I cannot back out of a conversation thread. Messages do not go out. Eventually I will receive a message saying this app has frozen do I want to wait or close. Finally the messaging app doesn't load at all and I have to reboot the phone to get the app back.

What can I do to solve this problem and have the messaging app functioning smoothly and properly?

Notes:

I am running 4.2.2.
Memory is 8+ GB available
Only a few apps are running (I know how to close open apps)

If you are coming from an iPhone and looking for a better messaging app, check out Go SMS Pro and use an iPhone theme.

This app allows you to customize several things while still looking very similar to the iPhone's messaging interface. I always install Go SMS over the default messaging app and you might just want to give it a try, especially since you are coming from iOS. There are other plugins that are all free that allow you to view iOS emojis and other cools things like that.

Let me know if you still have the same issues with this app as well.

btw, congrats on smartly making the switch ;)


Removing desktop panes on Galaxy Tab 10.1 I have a brand new Galaxy Tab 10.1 and I can't figure out how I remove some of the desktop panes.

To remove some of the desktop panes, you will have to use an alternative launcher. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with Honeycomb so I can't give you any recommendations besides looking in the Play Store.


Re-sign APK to prevent updating - crashes "divide by zero" I'm using an app that has been updated, but doesn't work on my phone on the current version. So I'm currently using an older one. But of course it always shows up with an update in the PlayStore.

Now I've found one workaround to be signing the apk with my own key. Therefor, it would not be recognized anymore by the PlayStore. It is a banking app (code verification). The app at first seems fine. Unfortunately, when I try to scan the activation code, the self-signed version crashes. Via adb logcat it throws this error:

java.lang.ArithmeticException: divide by zero

Is this some kind of security mechanism inside the app to check whether the certificate is the correct one? Shouldn't it be possible to alter this check? Or is there a way to trace with action causes the divide by zero exception?

Dude, just tell Google Play not to automatically update the application.

Given that this is a banking app, I would be VERY surprised if there was not some kind of anti-tamper mechanism in place, and this could be a part of it. Of course, this could have been a basic coding screw-up too. From the information you provide, we simply do now know.

Apktool might give you more information as to what is going wrong.


Adaptive Notifications re-enabling itself after some updates I have a OnePlus 6T running Android 10 / OxygenOS 10.3.4. The problem I'm about to describe has, I believe, been present since the system upgrade to Android 10.

I started seeing these suggestions on various notifications - mainly from messaging apps; the above is a WhatsApp notification. I don't want them, and didn't have a clue how to turn them off because I didn't know what they were called.
Googling various related things ('suggestions', 'smart notifications', etc.) didn't get me any closer, but I eventually found some article on a feature that'd just debuted called 'Adaptive Notifications'. While it didn't mention the above behaviour explicitly, I figured this must've been it.
Switching them off (temporarily)
Sure enough, when I dug through my settings, found the option under Apps & notifications > Special app access > Adaptive Notifications, and switched it to 'None', these suggestions on notifications disappeared after a few minutes.
However, they periodically reappear after I apply a bunch of Play Store updates - and every time they do reappear, I find that 'Adaptive Notifications' has been re-enabled in my settings.
I'm unsure precisely what updates trigger this, but I'd hazard a guess at it being Play Services.
So, how do I stop this from happening?

While this setting keeps turning itself back on after certain updates, I've finally figured out how to switch off these 'smart actions' (apparently that's their actual name - see my above comment).

As per the above, go to the Adaptive Notifications setting. Switch it on.
Go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > Notifications.
Scroll down and hit Advanced.
Scroll down to Suggested actions and replies. Switch it off.

I'd seen this setting before, but it was greyed out. The missing step was re-enabling adaptive notifications.


Installing web browser in Android Wear Emulator How can we install a web browser like Chrome / others in an emulator of Android Wear?

Web Browser for Android Wear by appfour is the only browser for Android wear at the moment.


My Galxay Grande Prime can't connect to 3G anymore I used to connect using 3G without any problem. But suddenly the 3G connection is not working anymore.

Problem:
The networking Symbol "H" appear for few seconds (2s-3s) and they disappear and it keeps appearing and disappearing as long as the 3G is on, I tested that during those few seconds the network works fine.

Note that the WIFI works fine.

What I have tried:

Reboot.
Switch-off and Switch-on 3G.
Restore default settings.

What are the options that I have ?

Android 4.4.1
Galxay Grande Prime

The sim card was broken, I tried another sim card and it works fine.


On the Samsung Galaxy S5, how do I change the default USB connection type? Right now when I plug my S5 into a computer, the USB connection defaults to 'installer'. I then have to pull down the notifications menu and switch it to 'MTP'.

I'd like it to default to MTP, so I don't have to fool with the phone after plugging it in.

Phone is from Verizon, and Android version is 4.4.4.

You have to enable the developer options, which allow setting a default USB mode.


Lollipop - mute notifications but not calls I'd like to have phone calls ring at full volume, and all other notifications be silent. Notifications should still vibrate and/or use the LED; whatever their default behavior is.

I can't figure out how to do this in Lollipop. Ring volume and notification volume seems to be the same slider, so I can't turn this down to zero without muting calls. I can use priority interruptions and say that only phone calls have priority, but this seems to turn off the LED and vibration for notifications.

In KitKat, I think notifications and the ringer used a different volume slider. The only workaround I can find in Lollipop is to configure the default notification sound to be silence, and turn off sounds for individual notifications where I can. Is there a cleaner solution for this?

It can't be done. https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=79445

This is currently a very hot topic with many people extremely frustrated that this functionality has been removed. Hopefully google will bring it back.


Reasons for "Unfortunatly, Google Play services has stopped." and how to fix it my device is rooted, i did a factory reset and now google play services seems to be broken.

Some suggest to wipe and delete cache and data, or do a factory reset. But that did not help.

Settings-Security: unknown sources is on! App permissions is off!
Settings-Developer options: USB debugging is on!
Running Android 5.12 on a ARM Cortex-A7.

After factory reset, google play services was at version 7.5.71 -436!
436 stands for:

4 for Android 5.0 and 5.1 before Play Services v8, Android >= 6.0 after

3 for armeabi-v7a

6 for 320dpi

Since nothing helped and i couldnt do a update, i did uninstall google play services so that i can manually reinstall a newer version.
However newer version means that i can not pick -436, for play service v8 and higher i picked 8.1.04_(2215451-230) and installed it as a System App!

2 for Android 5.0 and 5.1 starting with Play Services v8

3 for armeabi-v7a

0 for universal dpi

But when i want to add a google account through setting i still get the same error message. Other apps end with the same message too, but i want to keep this simple.

Which brings me to the thought that my "Google Play services has stopped." message might be caused by something entirely different.
What apps, processes, services do you know that can trigger this error message? Keep in mind i only tryed to add a google account through Settings-Accounts-Add account-google

thank you, best regards MiK

Since I can't comment. Are you using stock rom? This answer applies to custom rom only. Flash the relevant gapps from here : http://opengapps.org


How to root Innos A35 I bought a dual sim phone from a local carrier which has been branded in their own name. After searching I found that it is the innos A35 phone. It has dual sim support and sim1 has been locked to the carrier I have mentioned.
For sim2, the "Use only 2G networks" tick is ticked and it cannot be unticked(the tick is disabled). Due to this reason I can only access Internet through the above mentioned carrier's connection.

My first question is, will rooting the phone allow me to remove the mentioned restrictions?

My second question is about how to root the phone. Following this guide I got stuck at the command $./psneuter with the error Failed to set prot mask (Inappropriate ioctl for device). The version of Android is 2.3.5

Does anyone know a solution to this problem?

Steps taken from http://www.erodov.com/forums/how-root-any-android-device-manually/43325-page2.html. Many thanks to the author of that post.

To verify adb is properly installed and that your device is recognized run

adb devices

Copy busybox, su, superuser.apk to /data/local/tmp/ using adb. These files are available in the SuperOneClick zip file. Copy the needed files to the phone using the following commands

adb push busybox /data/local/tmp
adb push su /data/local/tmp adb push
Superuser.apk /data/local/tmp

run adb shell

adb shell

set the permissions to the copied files

chmod 6755 /data/local/tmp/su
chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/busybox
chmod 644 /data/local/tmp/Superuser.apk

Turn off your Android device using the power button.

Now you need to reboot your computer into a Linux distro which has a file manager.When you have booted into Linux, open up terminal and open the file browser as root.Now put your Android device into Download mode. For Innos A35 press and hold the volume up and down keys at the same time for a while (5 seconds?) and while holding them plug in the phone to the USB port of the computer. Now, a few drives will be detected from your phone and shown in the computer. This means you're in download mode.

Navigate to the folder where you copied files to the phone and verify that you have the files you sent to the device viz. su, busybox and Superuser.apk

Move/cut-paste su and busybox to /bin/

Move/cut-paste Superuser.apk to /app/

Now pull out the battery from your Android device.

Now simply turn on your device.
You must now have root.

Verify by running:

adb shell
su

Read more: http://www.erodov.com/forums/how-root-any-android-device-manually/43325-page2.html#ixzz2S5wcT78x


how to identify on command line terminal emulator apps and packages that have active network connections I tried this using an app and I am able to identify most apps and their  network connections however there are certain apps listed as  '?' so apparently it is not able to identify a package name I would like to know how I can get this information on command line using termux or any other emulator. I am magiskaly  rooted on an Android 10   phone
also would like to get a list of apps that can modify contacts and then revoke modification of contacts from certain apps by command line

and on command line how do I force kill an app I mean I can use the hang -9 Signal ....but I am sure there must be a more gentle package-level way of force stopping an app title the equivalent of getting inside the app property on gui and clicking that force stop button

also delete the cache on command line

what I want to do is write a `batch` script that will overwrite certain app specific files that the app keeps resetting every time and then force stop and clear `cache` and restart the app

If you mean by network connection the applications that has "android.permission.INTERNET" permission, then run this shell script:

for package in $(pm list packages -3 | cut -f2 -d":"); do
dumpsys package $package | grep "android.permission.INTERNET: granted=true" > /dev/null && echo $package
done;

If you want to list all applications that are connected to internet:

netstat -tuplna

That will list all application that has an established connection

If you want for each App an their mobile data usage:

for package in $(pm list packages | cut -f2 -d":"); do echo $package; pm dump $package | grep  "Mobile network"; done;

To kill an App:

am force-stop PACKAGE_NAME

Clear cache:

pm clear PACKAGE_NAME


Can you identify this mystery notification? Does anyone know what the symbol at the top of the screen between 'bluetooth' and 'silent' is? The one that looks like an 'N' with waves emanating from it?

It must be an NFC tag notification, looks like your device has support for NFC tags


Black screen for about a minute after the startup sequence When I start up my device, I often have to sit through a black screen for a minute or so before it asks me the PIN code of my SIM. This didn't used to be the case before. The black screen comes up after the Nexus' regular loading animation and is completely empty except for the status bar at the top.

Then after entering my PIN I see a 'Process system isn't responding. Do you want to close it?' message on top of my home screen. I can just tap 'OK' and then use my phone like I normally would, but it's annoying.

Why does this happen and how can I avoid the extra waiting time? I have a Nexus 5 with Android Marshmallow.

It may just be because your phone cannot handle marshmallow.

You have a Nexus 5 (released in 2013), therefore when you bought it, it would have been designed for Kitkat. The phone has now been through two other major os updates (lollipop and marshmallow). Because these updates are designed to work fluently with newer models, older phones are expected to see long loading times.


How to connect to adhoc wifi on Nokia XL Is there a way I can connect Nokia XL phone to adhoc wifi created using my laptop.
I've had Nokia 900 which connected & Nokia N8 connects to the same wifi hotspot while none of Samsung (Android) devices do.

How about Android powered Nokia XL? Please share your experience if you have a workaround.

Thanks

I would wonder if the Nokia XL makes an exception here – but as you can find out by other questions tagged ad-hoc and our ad-hoc tag-wiki, Android itself doesn't support this type of networks by default. Usually, solutions involving this require root access on the device (which again does not ship by default) – and rooting in most areas voids your device's warranty.


Droid Explorer permission denied when accessing root-only folders I have been trying to get Droid Explorer (a windows app) working with my 2013 Moto X and am having trouble.  A previous question was answered (I needed busybox!) but now I have a new one.

The file manager part of the app isn't getting root privileges for some reason.  I also use JRummy's ROM Toolbox and it's root browser works fine.  I just want to use mouse/keyboard for file managing :)

Droid Explorer Debug Console
[CommandRunner] Checking for adb.exe
[CommandRunner] adb.exe -s T065001AK4 shell busybox ls -lFa --color=never "/data/"
[CommandRunner] ls: can't open '/data/': Permission denied

edit: context :)

After researching this, it comes down to this:

When Droid Explorer launches, it attempts to start ADB in root mode by running adb root. If adb cannot run as root, you will have limited access to some paths.

Found this question here, which is related: Why can't I get root access from shell?

Update: This should work with Rooted devices running Stock (or somewhat stock) ROMs

There is an app on Google Play called ADBD Insecure by Chainfire. This app lets you run adbd in root mode if your device is rooted when running the devices Stock ROM.

  adbd Insecure lets you run adbd in root mode if your device is rooted.
  (Note that if you are running a custom kernel, it is likely that it already implements this functionality)

  If you are running a stock (made by the phone manufacturer) kernel on your device, chances are adbd is running in "secure" mode, even if you are rooted. This app lets you run adbd in "insecure" mode, which gives you root access in "adb shell", allows access to system files and directories through "adb push/pull", and lets you run the "adb remount" command to make your /system partition writable.

Now, I run CyanogenMod 12 (this should also work with CM11), but I don't know if this can be accomplished with stock rooted ROMs.

These settings are for CyanogenMod
In order to allow ADB root access, I go in to Settings => Developer Options. There you will see Root Access:

This needs to be set to either ADB only or Apps and ADB.

If this is not set, Droid Explorer will not be able to launch as root. When it tries to get the folders and files of certain directories, it will be denied.

If you can, try running adb root from a Windows Console window and see what it returns. It may add some insight to if it is possible to have non-CyanogenMod devices run adb as root.


Can't make or receive calls or texts, or connect to the Internet My Samsung Galaxy S2 wont allow me to make or receive phone calls, messages, or texts. My provider is Vodafone; my Android version is 4.0.4.

I have tried my SIM in other phones and it works fine. It is just in this one that it doesn't work.

I have preformed a factory data reset and still have the same problem.

How do I fix this?

There are several things to check out. Walk the list until your problem is resolved -- then skip all following:

make sure the SIM was inserted correctly (it easily happens to insert it the wrong way round)
does the same SIM work in other phones?

yes: SIM should be OK, phone probably "borked"
no: SIM "borked". Ask your provider for a replacement (Done.)

do other SIMs which work in other phones work in yours?

yes: very strange. Check with your provider to send you a replacement SIM: it's rare, but sometimes there can be incompatibilities (especially with older SIMs and newer phones).
no: pretty sure your phone is broken. Hand it in to service.

Some indicators to watch during the process, as they might prove helpful to service (and for combinations not covered above):

Do you see a signal in the status bar?
Are there any SIM errors displayed?

These two are pointing to an answer whether a SIM was detected at all. The phone should display a special symbol in the notification error if no SIM is found, and usually asks the user to insert one.


Micromax nitro a311 fastboot connection error I'm trying to flash custom ROM for Micromax a311 when I enter fastboot devices it is stuck at < waiting for device >. I think this is driver problem, I tried with some drivers that I found on web, but nothing help me,

that phone is not having any OS right now, and it is showing command not found error in Chinese. I can't install OS from sdcard either!

please help me

< Waiting for device > is caused by the Android Debug Bridge interface driver missing.  Go into Device Manager and you should see the failed driver.  Right click on the driver and update it.   Microsoft Update now carries the ADB driver.


Is there anyway to backup current ROM without unlocking bootloader/ installing clockworkmod recovery? I'm trying to use ROM Manager app to backup the current ROM of my Xperia Z but it seems that cannot be done without unlocking the bootloader/ installing ClockWorkMod Recovery.

Is there any alternative for me to backup current ROM and flash another ROM without having to mess with bootloader or ClockWordMod Recovery?

Note that my device is already rooted using this method.

According to Sony's website, messing with the bootloader is likely to void warranty which defeats my purpose and so all my attempts to backup the stock ROM here.

I found another way to do it. This one uses Terminal Emulator or adb shell.
Open a shell as root. You first determine what device blocks /system and /boot are, with ls -al /dev/block/platform/dw_mmc/by-name. Note that the dw_mmc may vary between devices. You'll need to find it yourself. Then dd if=/dev/block/systemblock of=/storage/sdcard0/system.img and dd if=/dev/block/bootblock of=/storage/sdcard0/boot.img will backup all your Android system.

If you want to restore using this solution: boot into recovery, mount your SD Card, then in a adb shell, do

su
dd if=/storage/sdcard0/system.img of=/dev/block/systemblock
dd if=/storage/sdcard0/boot.img of=/dev/block/bootblock


How to add multiple "Forwarding routes" to stock VPN client? I am in need of adding two specific routes to the "Forwarding routes" section of the stock VPN client.  How can I accomplish that?

Lets say I need to add 1.0.0.0/24 & 255.0.0.0/24. I have tried adding them every way I can think of and I am unable to save as soon as I try to add the second route.
EG:

1.0.0.0/24
255.0.0.0/24
1.0.0.0/24 255.0.0.0/24
1.0.0.0/24,255.0.0.0/24
1.0.0.0/24:255.0.0.0/24
1.0.0.0/24;255.0.0.0/24
1.0.0.0/24255.0.0.0/24
1.0.0.0/24&255.0.0.0/24
1.0.0.0/24 & 255.0.0.0/24

None of these options worked.

I know that I can use 0.0.0.0/0 but I don't want ALL of my traffic to go via the VPN as the VPN doesn't provide internet connectivity & is just used to gain access to specific equipment.

If this is not possible with the stock app, is there any other solution?

I think you are talking about PPTP / L2TP / IPSec VPN configuration in Settings:

I haven't used that, but according to this source a space between routes should work:

  "In the Forwarding routes box, enter X.X.X.X/X - optionally, you can also enter Y.Y.Y.Y/Y Z.Z.Z.Z/Z (put a space between each entry)."

So this should work:

1.0.0.0/24 255.0.0.0/24

If it doesn't, I'm afraid rooting is the only way. Then you can modify routing policy (ip rule show) and kernel routing table (ip route show table all) as per your requirements.


Error installing Xposed Framework I have a completely successfully rooted Nexus 6p running the tawin project. I checked many tutorials on how to flash the xposed file via recovery, but every time it comes up with an error stating that the updater process has ended with an error installing zip file. I have no idea why this occurs and am pretty sure the correct file was installed. How can I be able do do it?

install error / device details (click images for larger variants)

Based on the screenshot, there's an error saying cp: write error: no space left on device. It seems there's no space in /system partition of the device.

Flashing Xposed Framework would make use of the device's /system partition.

In case there are apps or anything bloating up the /system partition, try removing them and freeing some space from unused apps, and then re-flash it again with a recovery program like TWRP or ClockworkMod.

Before reflashing, do wipe the cache/Dalvik cache first. Whenever the errors appear after flashing, wipe the cache/Dalvik to be sure it's clean before flashing again.


Why is my internal memory almost full while the files add up to only a few gigabytes? My HTC One M8 internal memory is almost full (15.40 out of 16). The phone says it's mostly applications. But when I connect it to my computer, go to Internal Storage and add the sizes of all directories, the total is about 3 gigabytes.

Devices have different partitions for different purposes. Data storage is bigger because you will need to store your pictures etc. BUT the partition that your device uses for apps is always limited. You might want to move some apps to sd if you are able to.
For example here is the partition table to a Samsung Galaxy S5:

aboot -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p6
apnhlos -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p1
backup -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p18
boot -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p15
cache -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p24
carrier -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p25
dbi -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p4
ddr -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p5
efs -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
fota -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p17
fsc -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p19
fsg -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p9
modem -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
modemst1 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p13
modemst2 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p14
pad -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p10
param -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p11
persdata -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p22
persist -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p21
recovery -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p16
rpm -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p7
sbl1 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p3
ssd -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p20
system -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p23
tz -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p8
userdata -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p26

Hope this helps.