Root S4 mini SGH-i257M A year or so ago I was looking into rooting my S4 mini SGH-i257M. This is the Canadian version, Android 4.4.2 from Rogers. At the time there was no reliable method available, and no hope of there being one in the near future. I am wondering if anyone has found a reliable root procedure for this phone since then.

S4 mini SGH-i257M
Baseband version i257MVLUBNG2
Kernal Version 3.4.0-2254622
Build number KOT49H.i257MVLUBNG2

The answer is yes, a simple reliable root procedure has been found for this phone. It is CF-Auto-Root by Chainfire. Here is a quote from Chainfire's initial post outlining the philosophy of this procedure ...

CF-Auto-Root is the root for "rooting beginners" and those who want to keep as close to stock as possible. CF-Root is meant to be used in combination with stock Samsung firmwares, and be the quickest and easiest way for your first root. In essence, it does nothing but install and enable SuperSU on your system, so apps can gain root access.

Here is the link to the actual procedure ...
http://androidmtk.com/root-samsung-galaxy-s4-mini-sgh-i257m

Here is a link to my post on xda with the details of my results ...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64690687&postcount=1329

Note that the procedure is for Build number KOT49H.i257MVLUBNG1 but i took a bit of a risk with my phone which has Build number KOT49H.i257MVLUBNG2 and it works flawlessly.


Android x86 in VirtualBox: “FATAL: NO BOOTABLE MEDIUM FOUND. SYSTEM HALTED” directly after installation “FATAL: NO BOOTABLE MEDIUM FOUND. SYSTEM HALTED” appears on Android x86 6.0 rc3, but not on Linux Mint or Windows XP, immediately after installation.

The boot order is correct.What might be wrong?

That was likely a flaw in Android x86 Marshmallow, which has already been patched in Android x86 Nougat, according to my tests.


Can I disable USB Debugging on Android smartpones from Windows via adb.exe? I have to install Applications on dozens of android smartphones and I am currently writing a program to automate this process. I know I can't remotely enable USB Debugging, so my question is: Can I use ADB.exe to send a command to the smartphone that disables USB Debugging immediatly or puts the disable in a command queue to execute at next reboot?

Thanks

If the device in question is rooted, you can write to the system settings directly from a shell command in adb shell. The name of the setting to write depends on which Android version you have.

If your device isn't rooted, you can't change the USB debugging setting from adb or any non-system app.


Why does my phone occasionally show the boot animation? I have a Motorola XT720 on eclair. A couple times, I've seen it show the boot animation (mystical Motorola logo), usually it's while it's sleeping. After I see the boot animation, I am on Emergency calls only, just like when I first boot my phone. (I'm not sure if this is normal either.)

I just saw this now, and it was plugged into my computer (usb debugging enabled). I had it set to memory card access and ejected it and switched to portal & tools. It sat for a couple minutes and then I saw the logo. I touched the screen and it showed my lock screen.

I'd assume this is a crash and reboot, except that if I goto Settings > About phone > Status, I see the uptime listed as 116 hours.

What is the phone doing? Does anyone else see this behaviour?

Update: I read elsewhere that it may be related to the SD card and I've started fscking whenever it happens.

First I find out where my device is connected (I'm on /dev/sdb1) and then I fsck.

grep fat /etc/mtab
sudo fsck.vfat -r /dev/sdb1

fsck will do interactive repair and ask you how to fix the errors. After I get one of these crashes, there are errors to repair. I think this has reduced the crash frequency.

Update 2: I put in an old 1 GB SD card awhile ago and I don't remember the last time I saw one of these crashes.

This is a crash and restart of the android runtime, without a crash and reboot of the underlying linux operating system kernel.   The uptime refers to the underlying linux, so it is maintained across the framework restart.

The difference between a framework crash and restart vs. a kernel crash and reboot is not very apparent to the end user, since there's no visual console while the gui is down; from a debugging perspective though they are very different and imply bugs in different parts of the system.

For point of comparison, if you connect to a device by adb (and I think this even works on a secured, ie not rooted one), you can cause a framework restart by typing

stop ; start

and a reboot by typing

reboot

You may or may not see any difference in sequence of splash screens, though the framework restart may be a little faster than a reboot.


Amazon Underground APK download location? I am trying to download a game for my child in the Amazon Underground app store.

The problem is, the Underground app refuses to install under my child's login (it claims to be incompatible with my device!?!).  I can install both the Underground app and the particular app I want to install under my login, but I don't allow my child to know my PIN or use my login as I have other things install I don't want her to mess with.

If I could find the APK before it is installed I figured I could just manually install it under my child's login, but I can't find it!  I have run a file manager and did a search under the entire filesystem (as root, no less!) for all files within the last hour, and did not find any APKs.  Some other answers here and here claim it is stored in /sdcard/Android/data/com.amazon.venezia/cache/ or /sdcard/Android/data/com.amazon.venezia/files/apks.  However, both of those directories are empty after the download is finished.  I am looking when it tells me the download is ready to install, but before I allow it to install, so I know the APK must be around there somewhere.  Where is it?

Look in /data/data/com.amazon.mShop.android/files

I had to use Fx to search my entire device to find the Amazon Video APK.


Call history not showing when expanding the contact details Hellow all, I am not able to see the call history under the contact details. It used to display the most recent call history when opening the individual contacts. I am using Nexus 6P with Andriod 8.2.1 OS. Below is the screenshot that I used to see the contact's recent call history (Highlighted with green rectangle).

Assuming that I am not having few permissions on contacts App but not sure what kind of permissions I should be granting!

So far I have tried clearing the cache of Phone App & contacts App. Also ensuring that the Contact App & Phone App has storage access.

Pl. help me here and let me know if you need any more info to answer my question.

I have a similar stock Android device with the Google Phone and Contacts app. And the call history under the contact has been missing since a long time now.
The only way to access the call history (for me) is to single tap on the contact name from the dialer/phone app and choosing history.

I know that's not your answer, but it is obvious that Google Contacts app does not have that implemented. You can probably choose a different Contacts app which has call log implemented under the contact details.

If it was working for you until recently, then uninstalling the updates for the app can help. You can do it in Settings > Apps. Probably an old version supported it and then Google decided to kill the nice functionality (as it always does).


What does the music symbol notification mean I'm using my son's hand-me-down Samsung S5.  It runs Android 6.0.1
A few days ago, a music symbol (quaver) appeared on the notification bar.  When I pulled it down, there was just the music symbol with no text next to it.  When I tapped on it, nothing happened and the symbol disappeared.  The next day it appeared again.  I did the same thing and it disappeared again.  This morning it appeared again.
I've done an internet search for notification symbols but I cannot find this music symbol or what it means.
What does this music symbol mean?
Edit
The symbol is in the top left corner.  It seems to be related to Android Auto.  It only appears after I've used Android Auto.  What I don't understand is I only ever use the maps application so why is the music symbol appearing?

The music symbol is the Samsung Music App.  The reason why it disappeared when I pressed on it is because my data was switched off and there wasn't a wireless signal.
When I got a wireless signal and pressed on it, it initiated some installation.
As for why it suddenly activated itself, my passenger fiddled with the phone controls when I stopped by at a supermarket to get something.


Annoying contacts FC I cope with a problem which more android users have to deal with. The well known android.process.acore fc or something similar. The constantly appearing fc notifications would be caused by your crashing contact list. However i cannot find a solution for this anywhere while many users have this problem. It is really annoying when you have to open whatsapp 3 times because the whole system freezes.. Isn't there a way to hide those notifications? I'm really getting sick of it.. Any help would be appreciated, if there's already a similar post, i would be thankful if you could refer me to it. Thans in advance!

I've installed Android 4.1.2, Galaxy S Advance

Edit: I've tried the options they give in force close wiki
but reboot and reset obviously wouldn't help, and deleting contacts isn't the solution.
When i really can't use those fc's at a moment i just temporalily freeze my contactlist but it is such a hassle to do everytime. i also tried to avoid the fc, but logcat is turned off and it doesn't help.

Do you have your contacts backed up?

Try uninstalling Facebook if that is installed. If this does not fix your problem then try the following.

Settings>Applications>System Applications>Contacts Sync Adapter and press Clear Data, this error usually goes away. If this doesn't work, try clearing the data on Settings>Applications>System Applications>Contacts or Settings>Applications>System Applications>Contacts Storage.


Can I enable OK Google in my Nexus 5 even when phone is locked? I actually like OK Google, and would like to have it available even when the phone is locked / screen is off. Anyway to do that?
Thanks! :)

For this to work, your Nexus 5 will need the "always listening" mode.  It's not supported on this handset officially, but there are community developers working on enabling this feature.  As of this writing, the development is still in a (semi-)working proof of concept stage.


How to remove pre-installed apps from Xperia E? I recently bought a Xperia E and since I am not a Facebook user I'd like to remove it from my phone. That also applies for Google+ and other stuff which is installed on my phone by default but I am realy not going to use it so it just consumes my memory and battery.

I tried to go for example to Settings->Apps->Google+ but there is only disable option, not unistall like with manually installed apps.

If it came pre-installed with your phone then its a system app. You cannot uninstall it (unless you have your phone rooted, which i think you don't have). Best option for you is to disable the app. In this case, the app won't run and won't consume any CPU or battery (if that's your problem). If you are concerned about storage space running out then this won't solve the storage problem.


Canot enter TWRP recovery because of "fastboot erase userdata" I want to flash a new ROM for my Android phone.

I clean data by fastboot erase userdata

but after that, I can not enter TWRP recovery because can not mount /data

I tried fastboot format userdata

then below errors occured:

Couldn't parse erase-block-size '0x'.
Couldn't parse logical-block-size '0x'.

So how to make the TWRP work again?

Or how to rebuild the data partition by fastboot?

I had the same problem but from a different reason. I was trying to unlock the bootloader, and I think my phone erased all the existent data for protection.

After I installed TWRP custom recovery, then my phone started booting, showing those errors every time TWRP appeared and restarting it again.

In my case, I solved the problem selecting recovery mode, then formatting the partitions from TWRP wipe screen. I took me a while to realise that my phone was displaying TWRP, but the phone wasn't in recovery at that point.


How do I empty trash bin on phone? Please help. When photos and videos ef is are deleted,  where do they go? I'd like to delete everything in my " trash", as my storage is always full.
Thank you.

Android does not have the concept of trash bin or recycle (unlike windows).

When you delete a file, it is not actually deleted but the space it occupied is marked as free and therefore can be used to store data (that's why file recovery is possible using apps).

So, your storage being always full is not because of files in trash. It can be for a bunch of other reasons like remnants of uninstalled apps, system logs, duplicates etc. I would suggest you use this app SD Maid to clean your phone. Pro version allows you to schedule cleaning.

I have no affiliation with the app and recommend it strongly


Sony Xperia Z1 randomly rebooted and when it came back up, apps on the SD card read "Application not found" Just last night I was moving apps to my SD card and the phone (Sony Xperia Z1) randomly restarted. When it came back up, all the apps on my SD card no longer worked. Their icons became generic with a tiny SD card in the bottom corner.

When I tap an app, I get the message "Application not found". I've tried un-mounting and removing the SD card, restarting, clearing cache, but nothing works.

When I go to the App Store, the apps show up as if they need to be installed but when I look at the SD card via my PC, all the files are there still. The pictures and videos are still accessible from the phone however. Before that, I had problems moving a game to the SD card. I kept getting a "Not enough memory" error, even though all the other movable apps moved and I deleted apps to make space.

I tried options I found on the forums and other websites but to no avail, and the only thing I haven't done yet is to root my phone, which I am trying to avoid.

Maybe I can help with part of your question.  I too have had a 'Not Enough Space' issue.  I deleted a bunch of files and off-loaded more, still I could not move or edit other files.  Going to settings and checking 'Device' 'Storage' the operating system indicated that I had over 2/3 of my internal memory available.

I found that if I power cycled the device it would reset the file space available counter in another part of the operating system.  I also found that I could not count on my deletions or moves being deleted or moved unless I used the Power Cycle trick very soon after preforming the deletions or moves.


How can I exclude Sound Recorder files from Music library I am a fairly new Android user. I am using a Lenovo Vibe K4 Note running Android version 6.0.
I have two basic queries related to each other. My first question is about the Google Play music library (or for any music player app for that matter). The library aggregates all the music files on the phone, including .ogg files created by the Sound Recorder. I do not want this behavior.
I added a .nomedia file to my sound recordings folder as suggested here. On my phone, this folder is located at Local > Internal Storage > Audio > SoundRecorder. The Sound recordings were gone from the Google Play app. However, one side effect of this was that the recordings stopped showing in the Sound Recorder app as well. This is an undesired behavior since I happen to use the Recorder app and its easier to see my files there rather than going into the File Explorer.
Question 1: Is there any way to have the Recordings excluded from Music Apps but not from the Sound Recorder app?
My second question is about a related problem I had. While the .nomedia trick worked initially, it randomly stops doing its job i.e. the media starts showing up in all places. At this point, I tried all the suggestions I found such as clearing Media Cache and rebooting the Phone. It does not work and the media still shows. The .nomedia method has been working perfectly for Image files from WhatsApp and Facebook apps which I have blocked from showing up in my Gallery. And that always works, so what is up with Audio files?
Question 2: Can you provide any information on why .nomedia stops working intermittently and randomly for different file types?

I am grateful for all answers or links to information to this frustrating issue. Thanks community! First Post Nailed!!!

I have found a solution to the first problem thanks to the reference by beeshyams.
MortPlayer Music allows you to choose which folders to draw your music from. Hence, in my case, I removed all the .nomedia files from Sound Recorder and only allowed music from my Music folder in MortMusic, thus leaving the SoundRecorder functionality as it was (i.e. recordings show up in the Recorder App) but not in MortMusic, where only my desired .mp3's show.


How to not lose credentials, form data, and active tabs while still use DU Speed Booster app? I have installed DU Speed Booster app and use it regularly on my Android Device which I believe is running version 4.4.2 Kit Kat .

I always lose information stored on forms that I would like to maintain, mainly  Login Ids , Passwords, opened tabs I am working with, and more.

Could someone guide me here with this troubling issue?

As @Lucky says in the comment above:

Add the browser you are using to the ignore list within DU Speed Booster, the app cache will be retained when clearing the cache.


I need to view the saved WiFi passwords on my non-rooted Android phone I have an LG Optimus 7 (not-rooted), and all my WiFi passwords are there. I want to view the saved WiFi passwords to transfer thm to my new Samsung Galaxy S3, but I don't know how.

I tried to search on the Internet and Google play for an application that would allow me to view this information, but I can't find one. Is there any way for me to accomplish this?

This is not directly possible (as noted in the comment below your question).

You can let Google save them to their cloud:

Go to: Settings->Privacy and enable those two options:

Back up my data (Back up application data, Wi-Fi passwords, [...])
Automatic restore

Also, say yes when you're prompted if you want to Restore data during the first time set up of your new SGS3. If you've done the first time setup already withouth that option enabled, then maybe the Automatic Restore settings does it afterwards (not tried yet, though).


How do I force reset on Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T510 tablet w/o home button if password was forgotten? I cannot turn it off because it asks for the password.  I can not restart it without password.  I cannot do anything without the password.  The combinations I have found on the internet have not worked either.  Not sure what else to do.  There is no home button, or menu button available in this funky on mode.  Can't get to settings.  A google account had not yet been linked to the tablet as it had just been purchased, had not finished the set up when I was interrupted by my kid who it was bought for.  So when I was interrupted I had not yet written down the password to be put in my lockbox.

Power Button + Vol Down until the screen goes black
Then hold Power Button + Vol Up


Kid friendly fix for out of memory errors in Froyo My god-daughter has inherited her mother's old HTC-Desire, it's currently running Froyo, but despite having a huge memory card it still suffers constant out of memory errors.

I can move things on to the memory card, but being 12 the god-daughter in question just gets confused and deletes stuff.

Is there any kid-friendly permanent solution to the problem or an upgrade route to gingerbread.

From the commentary, it appears that you are having install problems, that is, out of internal storage, NOT RAM problems.

Assuming that's so, then NO, there isn't any real fix - you can't increase the internal storage of the device, you can only add a bigger SD card (external storage) and move apps to it.

The best you can do is to borrow the device regularly and push apps off to the SD card before things start to go wrong.


Update to 4.4.4 from 4.4.2 Kitkat, mobile data unavaliable I hadn't updated my software since 4.4.2 on my S5 and just updated it today. However, after updating to 4.4.4, my mobile data stopped working, I can still make calls and connect to WiFi, but mobile data does not work anymore. I even tried a factory restore but that did not help. Anyone ever experience this problem?

try this :

  full wipe with wipe cache,

remember ;

  OTA Update not recomended.

easily, download last android version from SamMobile , then with odin flash it.
check last firmware :

  http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/

goodluck.


Only 2GB of Device Memory is shown on Samsung Galaxy S2 I have Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100. As it has 16GB internal memory but it only shows that it has 1.97GB of device memory. I am not talking about the memory that is free after using some of the space. This is the max memory that it is showing.
I have tried resetting to factory settings and erasing everything. Also, I cleared cache and dump logs. Nothing have helped me yet.
When I connect it to my laptop, it shows that phone has 8.56GB used out of 11.4GB. But that is USB storage, isn't it?
Under settings > storage > device memory [Total space = 1.97 GB].
The problem arises when I install few of the applications and it starts showing that you are running out of storage.
I don't understand what it is showing only that much space.

The reason why you are having issues with memory is because even though the phone has 16g internal memory only 1g. Is available to the user the rest is being used by the os and preloaded apps. If you go to settings and then phone storage it will show you the available internal memory.


Download any Android apps on SD card How can we download the files directly to SD card rather than phone memory on Android phones?
Is it possible?

Let's say: without rooting the device, it's quite unlikely to be possible.

On a rooted device, one could symlink the download folder to a folder located on the SDCard, and thus trick the system to directly download to the card (the way Link2SD works with installing apps on SDCard).


How to fetch tracked data from *mi Fit* Android app? I have a fitness tracker band from mi (Xaomi). It has an Android app associated with it on my phone called mi Fit. Now, I want to know how to fetch all or some of the tracked data i.e sleep quality, steps taken, calories burned, distance covered etc. into a file that could be read by Windows or Android programs to create a graph out of it. If not, then is there any way to just combine and fetch the data?

If it is acceptable for you to use a separate app to collect this data, take a look at GadgetBridge (available on F-Droid). That's an open source app supporting many gadgets, a.o. Pebbles and Mi-Bands. It allows you to export the collected data (see e.g. here). Since v0.24 you can even set it up to do so automatically/periodically.


How can I specify a default contact for merged contacts? I have some contacts on my phone that appear in all or some of:

my phone
my google contacts
skype
facebook

Thankfully, Android allows me to link that contacts, so that I have only one entry in my phonebook with access to all the different sources.  However, the names aren't always identical.  For instance:

in some cases the name is in English, in others in Hebrew
some have the full name, others only the first name

Is there any way to select which of these is the default display name?

Edit the contact you want to be the default.
Then press the menu button and join the additional contacts.
This will keep the display name as the original contact you were editing.


Problem with Android Emulator on Android Studio. HAXM Kernel Module not Installed I recently switched over from Eclipse ADT to Android Studio and as soon as I tried to fire up the emulator, I saw the following message:

  emulator: ERROR: x86 emulation currently requires hardware acceleration!
  Please ensure Intel HAXM is properly installed and usable.
  CPU acceleration status: HAX kernel module is not installed!

On Googling around, I found that disabling Hyper-V would solve this problem. It did. And the emulator worked like a charm. But then, my internet stopped working. In any form. WiFi, Ethernet, every kind of service went bust. Re enabling Hyper-V restored my internet connection, but the error came back. So, I can either use the internet or my emulator.
I really can't keep doing that. Is there an alternate to this?

You need to install Intel's HAXM module. HAXM accelerates your emulator so you don't test apps like a slideshow.

  My advice: Install Intel HAXM. Leave Virtualization Acceleration functions (Hyper-V, Vt-X etc.) activated and the emulator will work. There seems to be something wrong with your network adapter/configuration, too. Virtualization should be independant from your network.

Also please read the error message first and do a Google search to make sure such questions aren't already answered.


LG G2 sound randomly turns on from vibrate mode I have a Verizon LG G2 (VS980) updated to Android 4.4.2, which I always keep on vibrate mode.

However, every day, at exactly 3 PM, without fail, it turns itself from vibrate back to sound. It doesn't matter whether or not it's charging, if it's on wi-fi or data, or anything else.

Any idea what may be causing this, or how I could fix it?

I had the same issue. Here is the solution which works perfect for me.

Settings>Sound>Quite Mode>Set quite time

after enabling quite timing, unselect all days and then disable quite timing.


Unable to set custom ringtone on Moto G 2 after upgrading to Lollipop I'm unable to customize the ringtone on my second generation Moto G after upgrading to Lollipop. I tried doing it normally from the Android settings, but just got a default "beep" sound instead. Only the built-in ringtone works properly.

Someone put this as an edit instead of an answer:

  Instead of setting ringtone under setting --> Sounds and
  notifications, try to set your ringtone from your player [Ex: ES File
  Explorer --> sdcard --> download --> your song. Play this in ES media
  player --> set ringtone ].

and someone else tried to edit this in:

  1- change ur choice music into .ogg format (try fx file explorer it may able to rename any format u want)
  2- put that music file on the ringtone folder on phone
  where hangout ringtones are present  3-now power off ur phone and
  start it
  4-go to phones and notification folder u got ur choice music
  as a ringtone


Does the Sophos Intercept X app have a feature that can prevent browser hijacks for my Chrome & Kiwi browser? Downloaded Intercept today cause my Chrome browser kept opening to web.bwanet.ca all of a sudden + all my open tabs were gone. Is there a specific feature in the Sophos app that can stop future hijacks?

First it is totally unclear why the tabs are gone. Can be anything between a simple bug in the web browser or a sophisticated attack.
And second nobody knows what bugs and vulnerabilities are hidden in the browsers you mentioned and additionally what bugs and vulnerabilities are introduced in the next version.
Hence from my perspective the only answer you can get is NO. Nothing can prevent or stop unknown problems in a constantly updated software browsing constantly changing web sites.
You can always protect yourself only against known problems. This also applies to  software like Sophos Intercept X.


Is 150 MB / month enough for limited use? I've been thinking about getting a pre-owned Samsung Fascinate from Verizon for $40. I can't afford a $30/month unlimited data plan, but I was considering the $15/month 150MB data plan.

I'm planning on using it primarily as a phone/PMP, without heavy use of internet-related features. Most of my data usage will probably come from these things:

Downloading apps
Occassionally checking weather, maps, etc.
Texting through Google Voice. I plan all cancelling my texting plan and moving all my texting activities to Google Voice. I only use around ~300 texts (sent and received) per month.

Is it reasonable to expect these activities to remain within 150MB/month? On a related note, I am usually on my university's campus, which has wi-fi. Can I use the wi-fi network to avoid suffering data charges?

Update: Verizon ran a promotion this weekend. For upgrading to a smartphone with unlimited data plan, you got a $10/month credit for the next 24 months. So the $30/unlimited data plan effectively becomes $20/unlimited, and I went with that instead of the $15/150MB plan.

Using wifi == not using your data plan.  So that will help reduce data usage from your provider.

So long as you are not streaming (music/video/youtube/etc) or downloading large amounts of data (podcasts, for example) then you should be fine.  Or at least save those activities for when you are on wifi.

Downloading apps: each app can be anywhere from 100kb to 10mb+ in size.  Save these for your wifi unless it is an update you really need then and there.

Weather/maps: shouldn't be too heavy of data.  Same with Google voice.


Pin deleted but pin lock screen still comes up I was fooling around with VPN on my non-rooted Galaxy Note II and created a PIN as required. When I was done I disabled VPN and disabled the PIN by entering my PIN again. Later on my screen locked and it now requires a PIN to unlock. My old pin does not work and there is no new pin. I cannot get the prompt to unlock via my Gmail info after entering the wrong pin 50 times.

How can I get into my phone? I am hoping for an answer other than wiping my phone.

There ONLY way to get into your phone is to wipe all downloaded applications but keep all data on your internal sd card. This can be done by switching off the phone. Then hold the volume up button and press the switch on button. Select to delete all user data. Do not worry as this will not delete data on your internal SD Card. Select reboot. The proccess of selecting is done by volume buttons. You confirm using the MENU button.  If backed your apps with ES File Explorer you can have them back without any internet connection. Select the back app file in MY FILES and install all your apps back again without any internet connection.


Is touch accuracy based on a phone's hardware or the application? Many apps on my phone, especially browsers, have awful touch accuracy. I wondering whether touch accuracy was based more on the design of the app, or the hardware of the phone. Some apps work better than others, but I also found that some phones had better touch accuracy for the same kinds of apps.

Does touch accuracy depend more on the phone's hardware than the design of an app?

Well the hardware needs to be properly aligned, so that where it senses your touch matches up with what you see yourself touching.

There are also general algorithms the system applies to make decisions about where the center of your touch is, since your finger is not a perfect point, and so on.

Finally, and app needs to decide what to do with a touch.  When an app uses simple widgets like buttons it's fairly simple to map the touch position to a widget.  In the browser, however, it's much more difficult.  Determining the position of a control rendered dynamically via HTML (and JavaScript etc.) is a fairly complex task.  You'll find that most touch browsers, even on other platforms, have varying levels of difficulty with touch accuracy.

So it depends on both hardware and software, but the variance you're seeing between apps is probably all due to the apps.


RAZR cuts off call ring after half a second My Droid RAZR (original model, 18 mos. old), seems to have an issue where when a call comes in it will start to play the ring tone but then the sound shuts off after half a second. The call is still there, but unless I feel the single vibration in my pocket (I have it set to vibrate and ring), I don't know to answer it.

This totally blows.

Is there any way I can force this phone to ring a certain number of times?

I just called Verizon Customer Care. They had me dial *900 and that fixed the issue. This cancels any possible call forwarding. Works like a champ now.


Samsung Tab 3 drivers reinstallation I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3. Upon connecting to the PC, some of its drivers were not installed. I'm using the Tab for the first time. Developer mode/option is checked.

I want to run my apps on it, but it is not recognizing it. So, how do I re-install the drivers?

Download and install the Samsung Android USB Driver for Windows.
(It's the zip file at the top of the page.)
Go to Settings > Security > Unknown Sources and check the box.
Turn on USB debugging in Developer Options.


MyMobiler unnable to connect to device (via WiFi) I have a task for my company to remotely control Android devices in the whole company from PC. So I need an app which could control Android Device from PC (not vice versa). I found an app called MyMobiler (http://mymobiler.com/index.html). This app allows me to view/control Android device from PC. You just need to download an app from Google Play and standalone program for PC.
Everything works fine with USB (I can control and view the device from PC), but when I try to connect it via Wifi, I am unable to do it. Basically I get an IP address on my Android device, and I write this IP address in the "Connect IP" window (http://mymobiler.com/android-wifi-keyboard.html). But when I press "Connect", I wait for about 30 seconds and get an error which say "Unnable to connect your device ..... [my IP address]". Any ideas? Thank you for any responses and appreciate any help :)

EDIT: This is how I get IP address of the network on my Android phone:
I downloaded MyMobiler app from Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mymobiler.android). When I first launch it, I have to turn big blue button ON (http://mymobiler.com/android-setup-start.html) and when on my PC, I have to press "Connect" button to connect with USB. When in my Android app the screen changes from localhost to IP address. This is how I get IP address. When back to PC I press "Connect IP" and typ this exact IP (for ex.: 192.168.2.132). When I press "Connect" and after 30 seconds waiting, I get "Unnable to connect device ...[my IP]"

OK, I changed to another network and it started to working. It may be some permission which denied my app from working. Thank you very much, onik, for assistance.


Huawei P20 lite not recognizing external keyboard I got this keyboard from China that has holder for a phone, but has USB-micro cable.
My phone (Huawei P20 lite) has USB-C, but that's not an issue, since I got usb-micro to usb-C converter. I tried to connect the keyboard through 3 different usb-micro to usb-C converters, but in any case the keyboard didn't work.

A friend of mine tried on Samsung S5(usb-micro) and S9(usb-c) aswell, using another 3 different usb-micro to usb-c converters. It worked well on S5 (usb-micro) but didn't work anyhow on S9(usb-c).

Tried aswell as downloading Swift keyboard (just in case it has any features) and
go to Settings > Language > Default keyboard > Input settings, but there was no options whatsoever.

I can't figure out what could possibly go wrong, while it's totally functionally working on all usb-micro devices and never on usb-c.

How to solve this problem, what to do about this?

I have the same with external keyboard, camera. It looks like the USB C Port does not support the extarnal interfaces, cannot supply. I have a small camera that lights automatically if connected to Samsung, but not on Huawei. Solution is iteressting for me also.

Have fun.


Installed CWM on note 2, but the phone is not rooted I've used Heimdall 1.4.0 on my mac to install CWM 6.0.4.3 (file name: recovery-clockwork-6.0.4.3-n7100) on my Samsung Note 2 GT-N7100 with android 4.3, the installation went smooth with no issues.

I then booted in recovery mode (volume up, home, power) and installed the zip file containing superuser downloaded from the link on the google play.

I then booted my phone normally, and tried if it was rooted with root checker, installed via google play. It says it's not rooted.

the application superuser starts and gives no errors,

I've done the procedure several times, also installing supersu, and installing other versions of CWM but I always got the same result.

What could I possibly have done wrong? and how can I finally get to root my phone?

thanks,

You are rooted. AFAIK Samsung bootloaders are already unlocked, you only need to flash the recovery to get the "root"

Now for the problem.

Go to settings->about phone and tap the build number 7 times to enable developer options. Then go to settings->developer options and there you should be an option similar to root access. Make sure you select Apps or Apps and ADB (recommended) in it and you should have root access.

If there is no such option, download and flash SuperSU via recovery and you should have root access later.

And that addition of "255|" in indicates you being in root user mode and accessing terminal as root. So its a positive sign here as well.

Alternatively, in case you failed to get the root to work, you can also flash
some custom ROM like Cyanogenmod via recovery.

But rest assured, you are rooted. Its probably some bug and flashing supersu should probably fix it.


Voice commands for contacts with unusual names Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

My partner's name is not "anglo" and I have not worked out a way to pronounce it and have it understood. Are there work-arounds for this?

Can I get the phone to pronounce the name so that I can try to use the same tortured pronunciation?
Is there a way to set a simpler "nick name" for a contact that can be better understood?
On my device, can Google Now do the same thing instead of S-Voice I.e. "Call partner_name/nickname" and would it be any better?

I would try the first approach, and have the system pronounce the name. To do so, a simple TTS app like Auto Speak Clipboard 2 will do: Install it, copy her name to the clipboard, send out all cats and your girl (to avoid their punishment), and have that app speak what it thinks the name should sound like. Have some Valerian ready in case you freak out ;)


Will I get Offcial updates after rooting my Xperia SP? I have Sony Xperia SP, I am planning to root my device. Will I get offcial updates ( Like Kitkat update in future ) after rooting?

No, OTA updates only work with unmodified system images. If you can download a new official system image, you'll still be able to flash that yourself, but you'll probably have to root again after you've done that.


"Access to Keep is unauthorised" error message I started seeing this error message today whenever I open Google Keep. It reads, "Access to Keep is unauthorised".

So I have archived my notes and taken a screenshot to post here.

Can't find anything about this on Google. Any idea what this is?

OnePlus One, latest stock ROM, COS13, non-root. All apps updated to latest versions.

And this issue seems to extend to the Google Keep web app also. Its says, "You’ve been signed out. Please reload the page to sign in again and continue working."

UPDATE

I no longer see the error message. It resolved somehow, and it's probably due to some work done from Google's server side.

This is an outage on the Google side, see their G Suite Apps dashboard. Fix should be on the way.

The current outage (as of 11 April 2017) has its own status page, and you can get details on future outages via the above dashboard link.


Show battery percentage on Nexus 7 (Jelly Bean) Is there a (preferably built-in) way to show the remaining battery percentage in the status bar on the Nexus 7 (4.1.1)?

Jelly Bean

Unfortunately, there is no setting that you can enable to show battery percentage on the system icons tray. Without using an app, all you have is:

Battery indicator on the top right corner of your screen.
Access to the battery settings, level and usage details:

Go to: Settings > Device > Battery

App

Using the Battery app by MacroPinch available from Google Play Store, you are able to get the percentage on your status bar:


Wi-Fi doesn't stay connected I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace running Android 2.3.6. The problem is that when I'm in the middle of internet browsing, I completely lose my Wi-Fi signal. I've tried a factory reset which didn't help, I've tried different Wi-Fi hotspots, but that didn't help either. I know it's not the connection thats the problem, as the same Wi-Fi connections work perfectly on my laptop. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Here is the solution that worked perfectly with me: the problem lies in the DHCP settings of the ADSL router.

Follow these steps:

  Login to your router and go to DHCP settings (for belkin its
  192.168.2.1) and find the item called lease time. The default values of the lease time is usually Forever, which produces a bug in Android. All you have to do is to change the value of the Leasing time
  from forever to any other long value (depends on the routers options).
  Here I changed the value from forever to 2 weeks -- and since then I
  didn't have a single WIFI disconnect.


My google play is logged in a different E-mail than my google account For some reason my google play is under some other E-mail but my google account it still signed in.. So when I tried to purchase an app it made me add my card info and it added it to this other E-mail. When I try to remove it I am sent to google where I am logged in... So how do I remove my card from this other persons google play account? I have no idea who this is so I cant even ask for them to do it for me.

I am assuming you took the old one off.

If not, just go onto the store, tap the side menu icon, tap the down arrow above the options, and switch account.Then delete it from the accounts menu in settings.

If you did take it off:

Take off every account, and clear the data, cache and force stop the play store. If you must, uninstall its updates. Then re-add the needed account.


Is there an app that blocks certain search words on kindle fire? http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/dont-filter-me-from-aclu-15feb11.html?m=1I  want to block certain words like "pornographic" on search engines like Yahoo, Google, Bing, etc without blocking my whole search engines. Is there anything on the kindle fire HD that can do that or apps. Is there any apps that I can download to my silk browser as I do not want to install other browsers to block words and sites and videos. Any downloadable content at all? I have an obsession which my self-control of it is spiraling so if I can just find an app, software,  etc. Anything at all to block playlist,  videos, search words, anything related to thr obsession like this:
 It would gladly be appreciated.

See
 http://www.google.com/goodtoknow/familysafety/tools/

http://m.internet-safety.yoursphere.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Finternet-safety.yoursphere.com%2F2012%2F12%2Fhow-to-make-the-kindle-fire-safe-and-age-appropriate-for-your-child%2F#2941

Google search:   safe search kindle fire

If you really want to use an APP here are a couple of apps, separate search engines, and a search at the Play store to find others.  I don't think any provide for you selecting your words. Have attempted to eliminate those that are "Free Trial" and want money afterwards, but that is not always successful.  Check out ratings, descriptions and comments on each app.

Safe Search - Android Apps on Google Play
 Worried about what you or your kids might see on the web? Safe Search is an app that leverages Google's "safe search" feature that filters out inappropri...
Parental Control and Dashboard - Android Apps on Google Play
 Best Android Parental Control Apps Lock and Launcher for Smartphones, Tablets! Comes Bundled with Kids Safe Browser, Kids Video Player (with educationalists selected f...
Kids Safe Search Engine - Android Apps on Google Play
 Shop Google Play on the web. Purchase and enjoy instantly on your Android phone or tablet without the hassle of syncing.
site:play.google.com/store/apps free -"free trial" "safe search" OR "parental control" - Google Search


Upgrade mediastar x2 4k satellite receiver i have ms-x2 4k satellite receiver with android os v7. 0 after download last updrade file from official site and restarting the device it showes this error: "installation aborted". What should i do? Plz help me

You can fix it by USB :
You need to Download the Update MS-Diamond-Z2_V3.4.1_2018-10-24
And put it in USB Drive in Folder

Then Change both the name of Folder and the name of update File to

Folder : RomUpdate

File:      RomUpdate

Then turn On  your Mediastar Z2 while you are pressing the Power button in Front till reciver Screen Show update

Then keep your hands away
And Receiver will do the Update Automatically


How do I update ADB on my phone So my phone was stuck in a boot loop. Last time this happened, I just simply used adb sideload after wiping my phone to flash a new rom. It worked fine. This time, however, it won't let me use adb sideload, it says it is out of date and I need a newer version. But I don't know how to update it if I can't even use my phone. I have a sd card slot, but for some reason no matter how I format the sd card, it isn't readable from my mac to TWRP. What I mean is I can place the file on the SD card on the mac, but it won't show up when I put it back in the phone. Help me please haha im struggling

Flash the latest TWRP from bootloader, then try sideloading, if that still doesn't work format the SDcard as NTFS and make sure to safely eject it! tell us if it works.


3g network connection Problem while using data For last two months or so, the situation in my two years old international HTC One X is that the data is not connecting when it is on 3g network but it is working absolutely fine with 2g network. when its connected to 3g, the mobile network fluctuates, data works with 3g speed for only few minutes and signal drops out. In simple terms, on 3g it fluctuates in data access and network access whereas on 2g it works absolutely fine.

I have changed two 3g enabled sim of different carriers they are also performing the same way in my HTC one x. I have changed the location of the phone, the problem persists. My sim also works fine with another handset in 3g as well as in 2g. So the conclusion is that there is fault with my HTC one x but the question remains what is the fault. Whether software or hardware. I have also done the factory reset but to no avail and I have also switched to custom rom but the problem is still there.

Any solution would be of great help.

In your mobile network settings ensure that data in roaming is enabled and working. Secondly, the data channel option will be there in the mobile while addressing the APN and advanced settings. In that option you choose your service provider channel.


Xiaomi A1 Android 8 update fix Any fixes or recommendations for fixing the issue with no sound from receiver on Xiaomi A1. It plays fine through the loud speaker but not through the normal receiver. The issue started with the new android 8 update.

I would try updating the device, latest software will put Android Pie on the device, so if the issue is linked to Android 8, you should find it resolved.


Current Android font Several months ago, I changed my base font using Font Installer. Now I can't remember the name of the font I changed to. Is there a simple way to find out?

If you are looking for the name of the font you have changed to, you can use the website What the Font.


Performance of Android 2.2 vs. earlier versions One reason that I haven't switched to Android in the past is that it has seemed sluggish when I've tried phones that run it.  I see that Google claims performance improvements of 4x to 5x over previous versions, but those numbers are based on benchmarks, not on real-world use.

Does anyone have any information about how Android 2.2 affects typical smartphone usage.  Not just making calls -- scrolling through a long contact list, reading emails, browsing the web, navigating photo albums, playing games?  Ideally, a side-by-side comparison of device X running 2.2 and an earlier version.

This page has a couple of benchmarks that compare not only a Nexus One running 2.2 vs. one running 2.1, but also includes iPhones and the iPad. In both cases, the Nexus One running 2.2 outperforms the 2.1 version by over 2x.


My phone work but screen is black My phone open normally and it works , but the screen is black!

My phone is galaxy j3 with OP 5.1.1 , Help please ! :(

Possible reasons:

1.) Your phone might be in a hanged state. Try a "adb reboot" command by attaching your device to your computer, however, you need to have developer options enabled or else it wouldn't work.
2.) LCD digitizer (a hardware module responsible for rendering Android's UI) is gone (short-circuited). You need to get it replaced.
3.) Do a hard-reboot (into any mode: recovery, bootloader/fastboot/any-other-samsung-proprietary-alternative-mode).

If you have tried every possible way to make your display come back, clearly the digitizer is short-circuited. Get it replaced (warranty covers that for free*)
* - Conditions applied.


How can I be informed through my computer if a new SMS is received? While I'm working with my computer, my mobile lies next to me and every time I receive a new SMS or WhatsApp message, I have to grab the phone, read the message and answer it.

So it would be really nice, if there is an App or another possibility to connect my mobile phone with my computer via Bluetooth, WLAN or USB so that I can read and send SMS messages from my computer desktop.

This would have several advantages:

It is easier to copy page content. A lot of time I'd like to send a SMS to someone with content on my computer. So I don't have to type it anymore but just copy & paste it
My working process isn't disturbed as much it is if I have to grab my phone
It is easier and faster to write with a keyboard than the mobile phone pad

So my questions are:

is there any app/program that can do that?
if not, would it be at least technically possible or are there any restrictions that prevent such an app?

If you have Android, try Texdro. I tried a few of the other related apps and this worked the best for me. It allows you to send and receive texts from your computer. It also allows you to silence SMS notifications on your phone while the program is running so you can just be notified on your computer (or you can be notified on both). The free version of the app allows you only to connect via WiFi and the Pro version adds USB and Bluetooth options. I will probably be purchasing the pro version when I get some handy $$, mostly to support the dev, because WiFi connectivity works fine for me.

Texdro - Desktop SMS for Android on AppBrain

Android Market QR Code


How to recover Galaxy S4 from unrequested ADB recovery mode state? Last night, my wife turned the sound down on her factory default Verizon Galaxy S4 by Samsung, then later plugged it in at home and it showed a dark screen with the battery charging indicator.

This morning, after waking up, my wife disconnected her phone, now charged, in the following Android Debug Bridge recovery mode state:

# MANUAL MODE #
-- Applying Multi-CSC...
Applied the CSC-code : VZW
Successfully applied multi-CSC.

Now send the package you want to apply
to the device with "adb sideload <filename>"...

In the screen center there is an icon of an Android cartoon green figure on his back being operated upon with a red triangle over his belly with exclamation point inside the red triangle, below the icon is labeled with No command.

Should we take the battery out and reboot?  I've tried holding the power button down and trying the up and down volume keys, but the device seems unresponsive.

The phone is still in warranty, are we better off just going to the Verizon store or will they just want to mail it off somewhere else to repair?

I called up Verizon support and they had me simultaneously hold the three keys:

Volume Up
Power
Home

Please understand that this is the key combination for a Hard Reset on the Samsung Galaxy S4 and it will wipe your data from your device.

But after 30 seconds, still no response, so they had me remove the battery for ten seconds and reboot.  After reboot, the phone seemed back to normal.


Unfortunately, System UI has stopped I have PAC-ROM Paranoid-Android (downloaded and flashed from here), and suddenly, after changing some settings (unfortunately I can't reproduce an annoying message started popping up every 2 seconds, it says "Unfortunately, System UI has stopped.".

Has anyone faced this before?
Does anyone know how to reproduce the issue or what setting is causing that? I'm sure reflashing the ROM will solve the issue, but I prefer avoiding a reconfiguration of all my personal settings.

UPDATE
I'm noticing now, that since that message started to bug up, the status bar is gone.

This is a symptom of a programming or integration error in the custom ROM. System UI is the name of the process that draws things like the soft home/back/recent buttons and the notification tray. When this process crashes, the soft keys and notification tray, along with anything else it's responsible for, will stop working.

The error could be in their UI customizations, or in something fundamental like the GPU or framebuffer drivers or the kernel. You should report this error to the developers of the custom ROM so that they can fix it.

They'll certainly need more detail to find the problem, such as what device you're using, what settings you changed to make it happen (reproduction steps in technical parlance), and they'll probably ask you for more information too. This answer tells you about getting crash logs using adb logcat and the bugreport command.

Of course, if there's already a newer version of the ROM, the developers will probably not be interested in your bug report unless you can also make it happen on the latest version.


How do I transfer music To a Moto4g phone without using Google Play? When I try to transfer music files a pop up box appears warning me that the files will be transferred but I might be unable to ply them which happens.

From what I understand, you get the default message Windows gives when you try to copy some files and it thinks your phone probably "wont" be able to play them.

Just select the "Ignore" option and go on copying anyways, the phone should be able to play the music fine.


Is there an app for quickly toggling between different settings presets / profiles? I am aware of apps such as Power Toggles, Extended Controls etc.. All of there however allow you to toggle each setting as a separate entity. I was wondering if there is an app which allows you to save custom presets of settings and then quickly toggle between them. For example - home (wifi on, mobile data and gps off), car (wifi off, mobile data and gps on), mountain (wifi, mobile data off, gps on) etc..

Search for profile in Google Play.

You'd find apps like:

MyProfiles
Quick Profiles
etc

Those are not my recommendations. It's up to you to see which one works best for you.


Terminal emulator permission denied on complex commands I'm porting a script that runs well on android 4.0.4 to android 4.4.2

Simplified it does this:

ls *.a | ./busybox xargs ./busybox rm -f

I'm using a busybox binary in mi app's folder.

The error I'm getting is:

  xargs: ./busybox: Permission denied

However, if I run ./busybox rm -f x.a it works.

I'm rooted and can execute simple commands as root, the problem is when a comand has a nested command inside.

same thing happens with rsync -e.

I've tested this on Samsung galaxy note 10.1 android 4.0.4 where it works fine, and Samsung galaxy note 10.1 2014 edittion android 4.4.2 where it fails.

I'm sensing this has something to do with the problem: Terminal emulator article about su and ping but it doesn't help on a solution.

I've confirmed that it was SELinux fault. Running as the app linux user instead of root took me further but "rsync -e ./ssh" still didn't work.

Flashed a custom kernel without SELinux (getenforce returns Disabled) and now it works fine.

For this you have to know how to uncompress an official android image and change the boot.img file with the one with custom kernel, then compress again and flash with odin.

Any attempt at disabling selinux got me nowhere, only changing kernel worked.


Is there a way to move my Google Play music to my SD Card? I have a Motorola Droid Micro.

I'm running out of space on my internal storage because it won't let me install things to the SD card.

Is there a way to move the Google Play music (which takes up 2/3 of the space) to my SD card?

Just announced: Google Play Music Now Lets You Specify Where Your Music Is Stored

A new Google Play Music update is rolling out now, and it brings with it a number of small but significant new features — one of which is the ability to specify where your downloaded music is stored.
You cannot choose a certain folder, but you can choose between internal storage and an SD card, which lets you free up space on your device itself.
This option won’t appear on devices without SD card support...


How to get the installation date and time of application? I want to find the installation date and time of the applications in my mobile. Where is it stored? In Ubuntu it can be found from the /var/log/dpkg.log. What about Android? I am using Android 4.1.2.

There are several apps to use, but I like using App Detective.

It's easy, concise, and fully detailed. This will tell installation time plus a lot more.


Where does Android keep app permissions? I have a rooted Android, and I want to disable (not read/write/execute) permissions to an app (for example, I don't want it accessing the camera or the phone).

Where does Android keep those permissions? Is it in a database somewhere?

App permissions are defined in the code of the application (the manifest to be exact) and cannot be changed without actually "un-building", changing and then rebuilding the apk again.
the solution you're looking for is using permissions controlling/restricting applications.

Here are some examples for these kind of apps:

LBE Privacy Guard

PDroid

App Ops - Permission Manager


How to customise directions path rendering in OsmAnd? OsmAnd+ 2.3.5

Is there a way of modifying the look of the directions path? There is too much going on there to my liking so I would like to:

remove the yellow arrows (not sure what they signify but they obscure the road names)
remove the black arrows (they are less intrusive but still obscure road names)
change the colour and transparency of the purple path

It still remains a mystery to me where the black arrows are hiding but I found a way to address the two other requirements.

First I went through a renderers primer which prepared me nicely for the task at hand. Once completed the solution turned out to be quite simple, albeit a bit hackish. I also made the fat purple route a little slimmer. For completeness, here is the entire renderer consisting mostly of my comments:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<renderingStyle name="Decluttered directions path"
    depends="default" defaultColor="#ffffff" version="1">

    <renderingAttribute name="route">
        <!-- for some details on 'whatever_DIGIT' named attributes see: -->
        <!--
            https://github.com/osmandapp/Osmand

            OsmAnd/src/net/osmand/plus/render/OsmandRenderer.java
            OsmAnd-java/src/net/osmand/render/RenderingRuleStorageProperties.java
            OsmAnd-java/src/net/osmand/render/RenderingRuleProperty.java
        -->
        <!-- strokeWidth="a:b" -> a initial value, b extra when zooming -->
        <!--
            route described by:         color and width
            skinny arrows described by: color_3 and width_3
            black arrows described by:  ?
        -->
        <!-- first two hex digits of a colour specify opacity: 48 ~= 30 % -->
        <!-- disabling skinny arrows by setting opacity to 0 -->
        <case color="#4800cd0a" strokeWidth="10:8"
            color_3="#00ffde5b" strokeWidth_3="7:6"/>
        <!-- set it up in a similar fashion for the night mode:
        <case nightMode="true" color=.../>
        -->
    </renderingAttribute>

</renderingStyle>

And the before/after pictures:


unlock Xperia Neo bootloader on linux I was following these instructions to unlock the bootloader on my Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo until I reached steps 9 and 10.

There was no extras/google directory or android_winusb.inf file anywhere. So from Eclipse's Android SDK manager I tried to download the Google USB Driver but found it as not compatible with linux.

What should I do now to replace steps 9 and 10?

both solutions mentioned by @Izzy and @darknight in comments could work, But I found the easiest way is to replace steps 8,9,10 of the instructions by the following terminal command:

sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

and then continuing as normal (and of course write fastboot instead of fastboot.exe in steps 15,16).

That saves the trouble of manually downloading and installing flashboot and configuring files and so.


Cannot send or receive SMS on my Moto G XT 1033 (1st Gen) on Cyanogenmod 13 I cannot send or receive SMS on my Moto G XT 1033 (1st Generation) on Cyanogenmod 13 official build. It's a dual SIM phone and only one SIM is working now. This is th first time I'm rooting and installing a custom ROM. I can receive and make calls but not SMS.  I just flashed CM13 along with GApps.

Try this patch, it is a modem image:

Reboot your phone into bootloader
Extract the contents of this file
Run Fix CM13 Network XT1033.bat

Original post can be found here


Keylogger for android I'm in the process of moving from qwerty to another layout on my computers, and most other layouts are focused on the use of the home row. I also keylog myself to find out what layout would work best for me, with my usage pattern. (And it's a great backup if the program you're writing in crashes.)

Now I want to do the same on android. Home row isn't really a thing when you're typing with your thumbs, so I thought I'd make a new layout designed for thumbs, rather than hands. Step one is to figure out what I normally write, so a keylogger would work great. Then I can build markov-chains, do benchmarks and everything would be great.

Is that available, or do I have to write my own keyboard app that just does that?

These are availabe for free use :

KidLogger (Download Page)

or Xposed :

Use a Keylogger to Record What Friends Do on Your Android


How do I add another keyboard layout to my ICS phone? I speak English as my first language, but I also am fluent in French and I'd like to occasionally write in French on my Android phone. I have ICS, and whilst I can easily change my language to French, I cannot change the keyboard layout to an AZERTY or QWERTZ layout.

How do I add another language keyboard layout to my phone?

Actually it's very intuitive, open the App Drawer, look for Settings, then follow below:

Language & Input > Keyboard & Input Methods > Android keyboard (AOSP) Settings > Input Languages
And in this list tap to put a check-mark for both English and French.


Using headphone out to hook an alarm clock app to speakers I own an Archos 43 Internet Tablet running Android 2.2, and I am looking either for an application or configuration option to allow using the headphone out port (if it is plugged in) for the alarm in an alarm clock app.
I'd like to hook my Android device to external speakers in order to make the alarm louder than the device's internal speaker is capable of reaching.
The ability to use the math alarm option would be nice, as well.

I've tried the integrated alarm clock, as well as the free version of "Alarm Clock Plus".  Neither of them seem to output the sound to the headphone port in their current configurations.

I am not opposed to spending money if I know that it will work as a viable solution.

Any feedback or solutions?

I just tried with my Archos 70 and alarm clock plus v2 and it didn't seem to work at first but when I played with the headphone-jack and pulled it out about half a millimeter and it worked.  This would seem to be a problem with the jack, but it works just fine when playing videos or music.  I think the issue might be that the alarm clock apps are sending the audio out on just one channel and it's not getting picked up for some reason by the stereo speakers.  I remember I used to have a similar problem with my old walkman and certain headphones and I'd have to pull the jack out just a little bit.  I know theory doesn't make complete sense because it still should work just out of one speaker but it's something I've noticed about 3.5" headphone jacks for years and can't explain it.

Also, if you don't want to mess around with playing with the depth of the jack or trying a mono speaker, you could set the Alarm Clock Plus to launch Pandora which would probably play just fine over the stereo speakers.


Turn off vibration when docking the phone When I put my phone into the dock, it vibrates very strongly and for too long (IMO). Is it possible to turn that off or at least to decrease the intensity and/or duration of the vibration?

This is about a Samsung I9000 Galaxy S, with the Samsung ECR-D968BEG desktop dock/charger. The phone is running Android 2.3.3.

This app allows you to set duration of vibration

  Vibration Notifier Makes Sure that You
  Don’t Miss Important Email and SMS
  Messages

This app allows to have settings based on conditions such as in a dock

    With Locale and the Dock Plug-in Condition, your phone can
    automatically perform actions based on
    whether it is docked in the car, desk,
    or undocked. Automatically launch an
    app with the Shortcut Plug-in when
    docked at home, enable Bluetooth in
    the car!


I can't connect my phone as a debugging device I have a newer phone (an LG G2), and I'm trying to develop on it using a new laptop for the first time (I've done this before w/ other phones and other computers).

I've installed all of the Android SDK and Java SDK components on the laptop.  On my phone, I've enabled Developer Options, and I've checked the "USB debugging" checkbox.

However, when I connect my phone to the laptop, I only get the standard dialog box for charging vs. viewing-files, etc.  I don't get prompted to accept an RSA Key... nothing happens.

I've run "adb devices", and the "List of devices attached" is empty.  I think I really need to purge my laptop of whatever driver it's using for this phone.  Charging and transferring-files works fine, but not debugging.  Any ideas?

EDIT: I've also checked Device Manager, and I don't see an "Android" section in my devices.  My phone is only listed under "Portable Devices" as "VS980 4G".

Also, When I connect my phone to my computer, I don't see the debugger icon in the notification tray of my phone.

I ultimately got my phone to enter debugging mode by switching the USB setting to "Internet Connection".  Once I did that, I found MORE issues w/ my new Eclipse install, so I just switched to Android Studio and moved on w/ my life.


Explaining the unexplained rooting terminology? LG G4 A rooting instruction post says I can root with the following models:

H811 10H
VS986 11A
H815 10C

Though I have an H815 I am unable to grasp what the '10C' part means.
I have thoroughly checked the back of the phone and there is no mention of any similar code, at least not one that is constant.

What does it mean?

Another similar rooting instruction post mentions '20a' and '20b' but doesn't say whether a version of 20a can be rooted with '20b' version or vice versa.

Can I assume that there are 100's of versions of the H815 variant of the LG G4?

Or does this '20a', '20b' just mean iterations of the same rooted stock android version?

Those are just build numbers of stock ROMs you can see in Settings - About Phone. Letters usually indicate minor updates and numbers major updates. By major it doesn't necessarily mean Android version bump - it could patch a number of important exploits, often including ones crucial to rooting.

A tool will be released with the exploit suitable for a version and all versions below it. Therefore, as long as the tool claims to root that version, you can do a lower one just fine.


Android virtual keyboard (Rugby Pro) types j when I press g (and other keyboard mismaps) This description is bad but I have been struggling with finding the right words. I searched SE for "android virtual keyboard loses touch mapping" and nothing that looked right came back.

Have a Galaxy Rugby Pro with Android 4.2 stock. Using standard Samsung keyboard app with occasional Google Voice.
Every three months or so, my Android phone virtual keyboard seems to lose its mappings.
Meaning, when I type a g, the keyboard actually registers a j. Same with other keys, usually in the central row but also has included backspace, space bar.
This only happens in the keyboard that comes up in portrait mode for messaging and Facebook, etc. Does not happen in landscape (which I don't use much, unless the problems with portrait are significantly hampering me).
I've tried app manager/samsung keyboard/reset keyboard. No luck.
The only thing that works for me is to reset the phone completely with a factory reset.
That always fixes it, but reinstalling apps, redoing logins, etc is a PITA. I don't think backups are the answer because reinstalling would just reinstall the bad keyboard mapping.

So, two questions
A. Is there any way I can prevent the problem from happening without doing a full phone reset?
B. What terms should I use in googling this problem? "Android keyboard mapping" just leads me to links about, well, keyboard mapper apps. "android keyboard wrong letters" brings me to the link about the factory reset and other not-useful items about installing non-english keyboard layouts, which is not my issue.

For a fix

Open settings>apps
Go the all tab, swipe left 2x's
Scroll down to Samsung Keyboard and tap it
Tap on force close, then ok
Tap on clear cache
Tap on clear data, then ok

Problem should be fixed!!!
Google search keywords
galaxy rugby keyboard typing wrong letters


Undo remove word from autocorrect In the newest versions of Android, you can click and hold a suggested predictive/autocorrected word, and drag it into a bin (title "remove") to prevent it from being suggested again.

I accidentally deleted the word "I", so now when I type "i" it doesn't automatically autocorrect to "I".

Two related questions:

I tried shaking my phone to undo the accidental word removal (like I would undo things on an iPhone), but it didn't do anything. Is there a way I could've undone my action immediately after it happened?
Now that it's a few days after the face, how to do I add "I" back to the suggested words without having to completely erase all the things my keyboard has learned about my typing habits?

The solution is to type the deleted word, in your case the "I", many times in a sentence or sentences. Gboard will re-learn about it, and start suggesting it again.


What actually happens when you swipe an app out of the recent apps list? The recent apps list in Ice Cream Sandwich added the ability to swipe apps out of the list, thereby dismissing them permanently (and as far as I know this is a vanilla function, not a CM/custom ROM one). The documentation and platform highlights don't appear to cover the under-the-hood workings of this functionality, but I'm curious to know what the system is actually doing.

Further adding to my curiosity, I decided to do a quick test: I started up Music on a CM9 install, then backed out of it. I then checked the recent apps list and saw it was indeed there (and in the proper state, based on the thumbnail). I then went into Settings->Applications and force stopped the Music app, but it was still listed in the recent list, leading me to believe it's not connected to processes lingering in the background.

Realizing now that Music may have been a poor choice, I also tested with the USA Today app. This exhibited basically the same behavior, and it seemed like it was forced to "relaunch" after the force stop (which makes sense) though the thumbnail in the recent apps list didn't reflect this (cached, I'm guessing?).

So, what actually happens at the OS level when you swipe an app out of the recent list? Does it simply clear the app's data out of RAM and garbage collect it, destroying its saved state?

I appear to have found the magical search terms that led to some explanations from Google employees. Specifically, I found a couple of different places where Dianne Hackborn explains what happens when you swipe something out of the recent list. The first is a comment on one of her Google+ posts:

  [W]hat specifically happens when you swipe away a recent task is it:
  (1) kills any background or empty processes of the application (see
  http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals/processes-and-threads.html#Lifecycle
  for what this means), and (2) uses the new
  http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Service.html#onTaskRemoved(android.content.Intent)
  API to tell any services of the application about the task being
  removed so it can do whatever it thinks is appropriate.

She also notes in a blog comment:

  Actually, removing an entry in recent tasks will kill any background
  processes that exist for the process.  It won't directly causes
  services to stop, however there is an API for them to find out the
  task was removed to decide if they want this to mean they should stop.
  This is so that removing say the recent task of an e-mail app won't
  cause it to stop checking for e-mail.

  If you really want to completely stop an app, you can long press on
  recent tasks to go to app info, and hit force stop there.  For stop is
  a complete kill of the app -- all processes are killed, all services
  stopped, all notifications removed, all alarms removed, etc.  The app
  is not allowed to launch again until explicitly requested.

So, it looks like the summary is that swiping an app out of the list will first kill all background processes for the app, then use onTaskRemoved to notify the app that the background task was removed. At that point it looks like it's up to the app to decide what happens, so I guess there technically isn't a hard-and-fast rule about what happens to the app beyond that point.


Cell standby use about 35-50% of total battery? I have Micromax canvas 2.2 a114.
I am in strong network zone and use 2g internet all time and time without network is 0%. So why it is consuming more battery. I also never in weak signal.??

What matters is, what is your total battery life, if your phone lasts 2-3 days, then 30% is reasonable, however if it only lasts 8-10 hours, then it isn't.

If it is the latter I would recommend clearing your cache (and davlik cache if you can) and or performing a factory reset and seeing if the problem persists, also try using a different sim card on another network.


Use Bluetooth Headphones with Phone and Old Laptop I am wondering if there is a way for me to play audio that is coming into the headphone jack on my phone out of my phone's bluetooth. I have bluetooth headphones that do not work with my old laptop but I could easily plug a male-male headphone cable from my computer into my phone. If I did this is there a way to make the sound coming out of my laptop be played over my phone's bluetooth?

Alternative solutions are also encouraged, however I thought this one was the most plausible.

I am not sure this will exactly fulfil your requirements. But i think USB Bluetooth Adapter Dongle would enable Bluetooth connectivity to your old laptop and you can play directly via laptop.

When you have easy access to your Bluetooth headphone from mobile then why don't you transfer audio files into your phone :-)

What I have understood from your question is :


What are the pros/cons of using the JIT (Just-in-Time) compiler on an older phone? On an older phone originally designed to run Android 1.5 or 1.6, what are the pros and cons of using a newer Android feature like the JIT compiler?

JIT typically causes an app to use more RAM due to the JIT cache, although Android's JIT was specifically designed so the additional memory usage was minimal (compared to a typical Java JIT). On phones that are already very RAM-starved to begin with, JIT may result in a decrease in performance.


How does "virus been detected" on android pop up on chrome when visiting some sites? What is the cause of this chrome bug on android? The last site I went to was www.destructoid.com and all of a sudden it gets redirected to the following url. This happened previously awhile back, but I didn't document everything as I did today. I'm also on android chrome canary if that matters.

I took some screenshots before closing out of that tab. But my question is:

What chrome bug or malware is causing these random redirects?
How can one detect if they have this vulnerability?

The url is: warning: open in incognito mode

In short:
Nothing to worry about, unless you have downloaded an app suggested by the pop-up.
In More detail:
It's an old issue. You visit a normal website, and suddenly you see pop-ups telling you that your phone has a virus.
It's called scareware. It's basically "ads" which scare you into downloading their "anti-virus" apps. Many times, the apps you will download are the ones with malware.
Why they show up:
When you see it on big websites like New York Times, it's not because the website is intentionally sending these ads; rather, it's because the innocent looking ads that the website is selling space to are laden with hidden code, which then allows them to display scareware without the website publisher knowing about it.

Many social media posts lamented that even top-tier publishers like
The New York Times and The Atlantic were willing to run such intrusive
ads on their sites. But experts say the problem isn’t with lack of
discernment on the part of site publishers but with an extremely
complex online advertising system that makes it hard for publishers
involved to detect, let alone weed out, misleading and malware-laden
ads. Source

Every website you visit is able to tell what phone you are using. This info is sent to the website by your browser. The scareware ads then use that info to make their warning look more real and scary.
You can even have a look at this website using your browser, it will tell you exactly what phone and Android version you're using.
What to do:
There is nothing to worry about, as the websites you visit have no way of knowing if you have a "virus" and therefore, the info cannot possibly be true.
When you get such a warning, simply close your browser. You can also clear the cache just in case (settings → apps → [browser name] → storage → clear cache).
If you do download the advertised app, make sure to uninstall it, or even factory reset your phone.
the Good news:
There's a simple way to disable these popups as explained by Android Police:

If you want to manually turn on the feature, and deal with whatever
lingering bugs it currently has, it's pretty simple. Just copy
chrome://flags/#enable-framebusting-needs-sameorigin-or-usergesture
and paste it in the address bar (you can't tap on that link directly).
Then tap the highlighted dropdown menu, change it to 'Enabled,' and
restart the browser when asked


Text editor that supports italic text and tab indenting, via keyboard shortcuts Background: I've just become to proud new owner of an Asus TF101 honeycomb tablet, which has a nice hardware keyboard attached to it.

I do a lot of writing, and cannot find a text editing app which allows me to set text as italic using CTRL + I, or to reliably indent new paragraphs with the tab key*.

Does anyone here have any recommendations? (I'm pondering writing my own app to do this at the moment, I'm that desperate).

The google docs app doesn't support it (and at any rate doesn't work unless there's an active internet connection). I have tried various free text editing apps, to no avail.
I've asked the developers behind Documents to Go if they support this, but no answer yet. Quickoffice have a feature request for it currently open. Unsure about possible Androffice support, but googling suggest unlikely.

Many thanks in advance,

UPDATE: Documents To Go does not support the CTRL + I shortcut, although italics are supported.

G

PS - I know android tablets are still in their early days, and it might be a case of waiting. The OpenOffice guys have released an ODT viewer, hopefully a potential full openoffice android app might do this.

* - the bundled productivity app called Polaris Office supports the tab key for indenting newlines, but not CTRL + I (it requires four screen-touches to turn italics on and off - OK for once in a while, not OK for frequent use)

Documents To Go is a very good app. It provides the formatting requirements you wanted and supports creating and reading Microsoft Office documents as well as Google Docs.

It supports word, excel and powerpoint. It can be found on the Android market https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dataviz.docstogoapp&feature=search_result

There is a free version but I believe this only let's you view not create or edit documents


Where does "Places" get all its information? In my Nexus S, there is an application named "Places", which it is able to provide me the restaurants information near by me. Surprisingly, the information are very localize and accurate.

May I know where does Google get all these information?

Places is part of Google Maps (and was introduced with Maps 4.4 about a year ago), you should be able to see and search for all the same businesses and attractions in the main Google Maps app, Places just puts a nicer interface on it.

Much of the data came from what used to be called Google Local. Businesses can add themselves to Local/Maps/Places and update their records themselves, here http://www.google.com/local/add/promo Google Maps has had a "Add your business to Google Maps" link on the page pretty much forever, that links to http://www.google.com/local/add?hl=en&gl=us

Also just like other local business discovery services like Foursquare, users themselves can add places into Places, check into them and rate them through the app or http://www.google.com/hotpot

See also the announcement page from when "Place Pages" were first added to the web version of Google Maps back in 2009 which has some more details http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/place-pages-for-google-maps-there-are.html including that you can add them through community edits or Google Map Maker.


How do I find out how long a Samsung Android device will be security supported? As we all know, surfing the Internet with a device that no longer gets security updates is a sure recipe for getting hacked.

If I have a Samsung Android device, how do I find out whether it is still officially "security supported" (i.e., whether Samsung will push an OTA update when a security vulnerability is discovered) or not?
If I consider buying a new Samsung Android device, where can I look up how long it will be security supported by Samsung?

(I don't care about feature or OS version upgrades; this question is only about security updates. In addition, let's keep things simple and restrict this question to devices without a carrier lock - I know that carriers can delay updates, making matters even more complicated. I am looking for something like this for Samsung Android devices.)

Unfortunately, like most Android phone manufacturers, Samsung does not give any guarantees about future security updates.

They do, however, have a web page telling you which models are currently scheduled for monthly or quarterly security updates:

Samsung Mobile Security - Android Security Updates

Judging from the current (2017-10) content of the list, it appears that the duration and timeliness of security updates depends on the price of the phone: The 2015 flagship model S6 still gets monthly updates, whereas cheaper models, even those released in 2017, only receive quarterly updates.


How to properly ENABLE dm-verity and FEC for /system on Motorola X4 with LineageOS 17.1? I have built LineageOS 17.1 for Motorola X4 / payton with unlocked bootloader with reverted commit 81cc203c06596878d2beb62ab6e07f36e278018e.
The common question is how to disable dm-verity, but I want to know how to properly enable it for /system . The vendor partition is called oem on Motorola.
AVB was deactivated (the device is missing fastboot flash avb_custom_key but has a vbmeta_a/b partition?)
During build these options were set:
PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_BOOT_SIGNER := true
PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_VERITY := true
PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_VERITY_FEC := true

I checked system.img and vendor.img with verity_verifier script and the verity_key and it outputs VERIFIED.
I flashed boot, vendor and system to the corresponding partitions. /verity_key is inside the boot.img. The boot cmdline contains androidboot.veritymode=eio and veritykeyid=id:47b1fe9xxxxxx. The boot.img only contains recovery.fstab, verify option is set there, too. adb enable-verity is succesful for / and for /vendor. /vendor/etc/fstab.qcom contains the verify option for system and vendor partition.
The following obversations were made:

During boot I see a message "Verity mode is set to disable". What is this referring to?
Modifiying data (touch test) on the vendor/oem partition from Lineage Recovery results in the errors being corrected by FEC, messages shown from dmesg after next boot:

[    3.023786] init: [libfs_mgr]Enabling dm-verity for vendor (mode 0)
[    3.175842] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:31: FEC 0: corrected 21 errors
[    3.257369] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:31: FEC 4096: corrected 17 errors
[...]

The created file test vanishes after boot.

Modifying data on the system partition from Lineage Recovery is not corrected by FEC and no messages show up. The created file test is visible on the partition after next boot.
There is no difference between locked and unlocked bootloader (fastboot flash lock).

What am I missing here?

Warning! Use at your own risk!
The sense and especially added security of all of this may be disputed. Find some notes about security in the end.
tl;dr:
It took me some days to find a solution to get this:
[    2.251328] init: init first stage started!
[    2.251561] init: Switching root to '/first_stage_ramdisk'
[    2.252614] init: Using Android DT directory /proc/device-tree/firmware/android/
[    2.603025] init: [libfs_mgr]Enabling dm-verity for system (mode 0)
[    2.603181] init: [libfs_mgr]Verity table: updated block device from '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/system' to '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/system_b'
[    2.603195] init: [libfs_mgr]Verity table: updated block device from '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/system' to '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/system_b'
[    2.753873] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 0: corrected 22 errors
[    2.830804] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 4096: corrected 7 errors
[    2.831080] init: [libfs_mgr]superblock s_max_mnt_count:65535,/dev/block/dm-0
[    2.854916] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 0: corrected 22 errors
[    2.878336] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 4096: corrected 7 errors
[    3.001281] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 1052672: corrected 18 errors
[    3.001825] EXT4-fs (dm-0): mounted filesystem without journal. Opts: barrier=1
[    3.001947] init: [libfs_mgr]__mount(source=/dev/block/dm-0,target=/system,type=ext4)=0: Success
[    3.002215] init: Switching root to '/system'
[    3.139199] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 3133440: corrected 12 errors
[    3.272389] init: [libfs_mgr]Enabling dm-verity for vendor (mode 0)
[    3.272662] init: [libfs_mgr]Verity table: updated block device from '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/oem' to '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/oem_b'
[    3.272679] init: [libfs_mgr]Verity table: updated block device from '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/oem' to '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/oem_b'
[    3.276744] init: [libfs_mgr]superblock s_max_mnt_count:65535,/dev/block/dm-1
[    3.279830] EXT4-fs (dm-1): mounting with "discard" option, but the device does not support discard
[    3.279845] EXT4-fs (dm-1): mounted filesystem without journal. Opts: barrier=1,discard
[    3.279935] init: [libfs_mgr]__mount(source=/dev/block/dm-1,target=/vendor,type=ext4)=0: Success

Build LOS 17.1 with the reverted commit from the initial question

Place verity_key in ramdisk/first_stage_ramdisk folder

Append the following cmdline options, this is the android testing key:
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += root=/dev/dm-0 dm=\"system none ro,0 1 android-verity Android:\#7e4333f9bba00adfe0ede979e28ed1920492b40f /dev/block/by-name/system_b\" androidboot.slot_suffix=_b rootwait androidboot.force_normal_boot=1

Add system partition to the DTB fstab and include verify option

There are more caveats here than I thought. I will also try to include all words I was searching for in this text.
Key findings regarding booting and dm-verity about the payton

It seems to be a legacy SAR (system-as-root) device (most important read!). The kernel mounts the root/system filesystem itself, no ramdisk or ramdisk partition involved. Typical cmdline arguments for the kernel are root=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6x, where x is 5 or 6 for the system A/B partition and init=/init.
The original motorola files do not contain a fstab in the ramdisk
There is no system partition defined in the DTB in the motorola files
Therefore the bootloader seems to verify the boot image, most likely with some certificates baked into the bootloader? (strings -a on the bootloader hints at this). Then it sets the appropriate start partition and maybe the command line for verity verification, more on this later.
vendor is called oem on motorola.
Like mentioned the payton is missing fastboot flash avb_custom_key, so no new shiny Android Verified Boot (AVB) 2.0 with vbmeta.img. Most likely because it was initially shipped with Android 7.0 and nobody cared updating the structures.

Some things about building LineageOS 17.1

Build LOS like written in their help
LOS seems to also boot legacy SAR, except when you enter recovery mode.
Using the instructions below will give you something like Android Verified Boot 1.0
The build process prepares the following things for dm-verity integration: Creating boot.img, system.img and vendor.img, adds dm-verity metadata to the end of system.img and vendor.img and signs boot.img. vendor is verified in the default LOS configuration by adding it to fstab and additionally creating a DTB fstab entry for it.

The general build process

Codebase is impressively huge: 190 GB without ccache

Revert the mentioned commit in dm-android-verity.c

Use the following Kernel cmdline.

This circumevenes A/B and slotselect mechanism for selecting the proper system_a or system_b. Without bootloader support I do not know if it is possible to ever reenable A/B.

Also this configuration always skips recovery, even if you try to boot to recovery from bootloader.

This did not work with androidboot.veritykeyid, I do not know why (yet).

You have to escape " and # here!

device/motorola/sdm660-common/BoardConfigCommon.mk:
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += root=/dev/dm-0 rootwait
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += dm=\"system none ro,0 1 android-verity Android:\#7e4333f9bba00adfe0ede979e28ed1920492b40f
/dev/block/by-name/system_b\"
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += androidboot.slot_suffix=_b
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += androidboot.force_normal_boot=1
BOARD_BUILD_SYSTEM_ROOT_IMAGE := false

without force_normal_boot a "normal" boot goes to recovery.

kernel/motorola/msm8998/arch/arm/boot/dts/qcom/sdm630.dtsi:
system {
compatible = "android,system";
dev = "/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/system";
type = "ext4";
mnt_flags = "ro,barrier=1";
fsmgr_flags = "wait,verify,slotselect"; };

Maybe you can also leave out the DTB change (mounting partitions with DTB will be obsolete in Android 11) and use a fstab file (somewhere, maybe in first_stage_ramdisk).

make sure verity is enabled in ./make/target/product/verity.mk

PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_BOOT_SIGNER := true
PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_VERITY := true
PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_VERITY_FEC := true

When changing the verity key, do not forget to add it to the kernel in kernel/motorola/msm8998/certs and check the certificates in the running system in /proc/keys
You can get the last (failed) boot messages in /sys/fs/pstore/console-ramoops
The resulting system behaves like 2SI ramdisk SAR

Main Question: Does this add security to the device?

You can lock the bootloader afterwards with fastboot flashing lock
The boot partition has to be verified manually with the key ids shown while booting (at least I think it is some signatures of the signed boot.img)
Flashing partitions from bootloader does not work
Entering recovery also does not work
fastboot boot file.img gives an error
fastboot flashing unlock clears userdata, this is good!
In case anything goes wrong with the running system, you have to clear your device.
Updating just got a little bit harder without changes to the updater because the A/B partition is hardcoded
Root needs to be enabled for updates (at least ADB root), so this will stay a userdebug build.
Changes to /system can be executed without messing the dm-verity, just sign the changed system.
dm-verity is in eio mode here, I actually did not try to set it to enforcing.

Open questions

Can you change the kernel cmdline from bootloader?
Maybe you can blankflash (fastboot oem blankflash) the device, I do not know what happens in this case.

Have fun!


Priority of the Nougat sound control Is there any way I can change the priority of the Nougat sound control?

Every time I click the volume button on the side of my smartphone it prioritizes the volume of notifications.

The priority for my smartphone is as follows:

Notifications
Alarm
Media

And I would like to switch to:

Media
Notifications
Alarm

Is this possible?

Unfortunately, there is not a way to do this with stock Android.  There may be OEM (Samsung, LG, etc) features that allow this but I'm unsure if they exist.

There is an app that allows you to lock Media Volume, though.  It's called Rocker Locker:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tomwandroid.rockerlocker&hl=en

[Edit]  The above app reports significant battery drain.  This app may be a better alternative, NGC 4388:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=catchpower.gogo.blackholeaddons

Of course, there's always the option of writing your own volume panel changes then compiling your own OS binary from source.  :)


Flashing Nexus 7 factory image fails on writing userdata So I've been attempting to factory restore my good ol' Nexus 7 (2013) LTE (deb) all day, and I can't get past this one error that has me stuck. I'm using the stock image from Google, and where I'm stuck at is when running the flash-all.sh from the command line, everything looks great up until "Writing 'userdata'":
...
Erasing 'userdata'                                 OKAY [ 19.272s]
mke2fs 1.45.4 (23-Sep-2019)
Creating filesystem with 6997491 4k blocks and 1749664 inodes
Filesystem UUID: ee2e310b-02d9-4271-b8ff-75d231a0a955
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
    32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
    4096000

Allocating group tables: done
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

Sending 'userdata' (180 KB)                        OKAY [  0.011s]
Writing 'userdata'                                 FAILED (remote: 'Bogus size sparse and chunk header')
fastboot: error: Command failed

I found a similar question posted related to a Nexus 5 having the same issue (Flashing Nexus 5 factory image fails on writing userdata), and the same general workaround seems to work up to getting to the android boot screen, except the device is stuck in a bootloop. One comment mentioned needing to resize the partition prior to the first boot. So far, I haven't been able to find how exactly to do that. Anybody got an idea?
Appreciate any help!

This can be resolved by manually performing the actions specified in the flash-all.bat file. I had the exact same problem and this stack exchange page got me sorted.
Flashing Nexus 5 factory image fails on writing userdata