How do I install CyanogenMod on the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Wi-Fi? I put off buying a tablet or smartphone, because they seem like a kind of toy (not bad per se) and a way for big companies to use you. Even a laptop is not always practical though, and modern tablets are pretty powerful. After I found out that there are quality builds like CyanogenMod (CM) that can give you control over the device, I selected the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Wi-Fi for its CM support, good reviews and current low price.

Unfortunately, I found out after the fact that the install instructions at the CyanogenMod (CM) wiki don't work:
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_picassowifi

This is according to CM users:

forum.cyanogenmod.org/topic/102253-help-flashing-using-heimdall/
http://forum.cyanogenmod.org/topic/109417-newbie-question/

In the second link, "the recommended method on the wiki for installing a custom recovery (via Heimdall) indeed does not work on the tab pro 10."

After many hours of research, preparation and finally success, I provide my own answer below in the form of a detailed, step-by-step How-To, because the information was scattered. Hopefully this can save someone time, or encourage someone to try it out. It's totally worth it.

I hope that some experienced users will vet my answer to correct any misconceptions and add helpful details and explanations.

NB: I currently don't have enough reputation to post more than two links.

Overview

One user reported a method to do this on the CyanogenMod forums back in January, but it isn't exactly detailed.

Similarly, my path has three main steps, with varying levels of detail:

Install a custom recovery. I used TWRP.
Wipe the device.
Install CyanogenMod.

Root?
Note that I did not root the device. This is because I used Odin to install the custom recovery (TWRP). An alternative way would be to root the device and then install TWRP, without Odin; however, I shied away from rooting. There is more than one way to go about this.

Terminology
I do not explain certain concepts and terminology, but most are available here:

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Doc:_glossary
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Basic_concepts

Requirements

One Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Wi-Fi
A willingness to void your warranty
A PC or Mac with admin rights for flashing the custom
recovery
A USB data connection cable An external SD card could be
helpful

Furthermore, these instructions assume you have the stock Samsung ROM installed. If you've flashed before, probably you don't need this guide or can use it to figure out how to adapt it.

Step 0: Familiarize

If you are new to flashing, read through these instructions and some other resources (see below and search your own) to familiarize yourself before going ahead. In my case, I read for about a week before I decided to act.

Step 1: Play and charge

If your device is new, turn it on and play around with it. This way you can familiarize yourself with the stock ROM to see what you will not miss later once CyanogenMod is installed. Since I'm new to tablets and smartphones, I didn't hate TouchWiz, but the stock ROM did feel restrictive. Personally, I didn't even turn on Wi-Fi at this point, much less enter any account details or install apps.

Most importantly, charge the battery to at least 60%. I just went ahead and charged it all the way. If the battery were to die while you're flashing later, it would brick your device.

Step 2: Install a custom recovery

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/All_About_Recovery_Images

The custom recovery will allow you to install CyanogenMod. This is the most critical and the most involved step. I've divided it into several small steps and provided lots of detail in an attempt to anticipate questions and reduce confusion.

Note on the choice of custom recovery:
The CM wiki instructions suggest using ClockworkMod (CWM) or TeamWin Recovery Project (TWRP). From reading on the XDA forums, I gathered that TWRP is both easy to use—it uses touch buttons rather than using the volume and power buttons with CWM—and most importantly that it works well. Having used it, I can confirm that it not only works, it provides useful feedback and an intuitive interface. I haven't used CWM, but it is also known to work.

The following four steps (2.1 through 2.4) can be followed in any order.

2.1 Enable USB debugging

I assume your device is using the stock Samsung ROM. If so, select Settings, then General (top of screen) and select About Device (on the left, probably have to scroll down). Look for "Build number" and tap it seven times, and it will display "You are now a developer."

There is now a new menu entry "Developer options." Select it and then tick "USB debugging" and select OK when asked whether to allow. Now you can power off the device.

2.2 Install USB drivers on your computer

You need these to communicate with your device via USB cable. This guide provides instructions here for Windows 7. I understand that it also works on Mac OS X. (I don't use anything Apple.) GNU/Linux, though indicated in the CM wiki, is out of luck since Heimdall is known to not work (see the threads linked in the question).

There is a good guide for installing the drivers on Windows, the key parts of which are reproduced below. As an aside, Samsung Kies didn't work for me.

2.2.1 Download the Samsung USB drivers
The link from the android.gs guide

This provides SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_v1.5.25.0-retail.exe
You can get them directly from Samsung by entering your device, selecting Product Support and clicking on USB drivers, but companies like to change their web pages and drop support, so no guarantees.
This provides SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_v1.5.45.0.exe.

2.2.2 Scan the drivers with your anti-malware program (optional)
My scan gave no indication of a problem.

2.2.3 Install the driver package
Launch the exe file you just downloaded and provide the administrator password when prompted, follow the on-screen instructions.

2.2.4 Reboot
After completion of the install, reboot the machine. You'd probably never have guessed this one.

2.3 Install Odin

According to the instructions on the TWRP website there are two methods of installing TWRP that require you to root the tablet, which this guide avoids, and one that doesn't require root but does require Odin. A way with just FOSS would be better, but I did go this path, which is a weird one. Odin is leaked software, so there is no official download site. Fight a web site you can trust to obtain it; one possibility is another android.gs article. The version that worked for me is Odin 3.10.6. Odin 3.10.7 is also available, but not necessary.

If you mistrust using Odin, look at the instructions on the TWRP site, or use CWM.

2.3.1 Download Odin
Search for yourself, although there is a link in this guide (June 16, 2015). The link from that android.gs guide is this.
Wherever you download Odin from, be sure it's a safe download!

2.3.2 Extract archive and scan with anti-malware
The program is in a zip file, whose contents you can extract and scan with anti-malware.

2.4 Download the TWRP image

This is an easy one. Go here

Under Download Links, click "Primary (Recommended)" and then the most recent version with the .tar filename extension. Currently, this is twrp-2.8.7.0-picassowifi.img.tar (9 MB).

2.5 Install TWRP with Odin

All of the above steps should be completed before continuing with this step. Your tablet should be charged and turned off.

2.5.1 Launch Odin
On your PC, navigate to where you extracted (unzipped) the Odin files, and launch the executable. You don't need administrator rights. At least, I didn't.

2.5.2 Plug the USB cable into the PC
I had success with the white cable delivered with the device, but that may be different for you. It needs to be a data cable; some are only designed for charging. Do not plug the cable into the tablet yet.

2.5.3 Boot into download mode
The Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Wi-Fi has an unlocked bootloader, which is one reason we don't have to root it. It thus comes with a unique boot mode called download mode. To enter it, press these three buttons simultaneously for five to eight seconds:

Power + volume DOWN + Home

The first two are on the top edge, the Home button is the one in the middle on the front under the screen. See for example here.

WARNING!!! This is your last chance to not void your warranty. Samsung has a KNOX flag on this device, an e-Fuse that you very likely cannot reset. Continuing will void your warranty. Yes, Samsung has an unlocked bootloader and then voids your warranty if you use it. To me the tablet is only worth having if I can have control over it, so Samsung makes voiding the warranty a necessity.

2.5.4 Plug in the tablet
The USB should be plugged into the PC at this point, the tablet is in download mode, and Odin is waiting to see a device. Now plug the USB cable into the tablet, connecting it to the PC. This is the moment of truth whether the USB driver was correctly loaded. I had some doubt, because Windows popped up a dialogue with the spinning blue disc, saying "Searching Windows Update" for approximately longer than I could handle. It finally did work though, and the battery had charge.

You'll know it worked when Odin's "Log" window adds a text to show the detected device:
<ID:0/003> Added!!

That's what it read for me, anyway. Where Odin says ID:COM above several bars, there will also be a light blue background with the first tab listing 0:[COM3].

2.5.5 Set up Odin for flashing
Click on the Options tab to the right of Log, and make sure only the following two entries are checked:

Auto Reboot
F. Reset Time

The others should NOT be checked. Checking/ticking the wrong boxes here could brick your device. See here for some explanations of Odin terminology.

Now check/tick on the box next to the AP button. In earlier versions of Odin this button is apparently the same as the PDA button. Against my expectations, the BL (bootloader) button is not correct; the twrp.me instructions explicitly mention to use the PDA button (now AP). Browse to the TWRP .tar file you downloaded in step 2.4 and select it. Do not press Start yet.

2.5.6 Double-check everything
Seriously, do.

2.5.7 WAIT: Read this before pressing Start
We are about to flash TWRP to the device. The flashing goes very fast on this device, only a few seconds, and then the boot happens right away. The stock ROM will probably overwrite TWRP if allowed to boot. To prevent this, you want to boot immediately into recovery mode as described below. You need to have the tablet in your hands and be ready to press the keys as soon as you see it is rebooting.

2.5.8 Press Start and enter recovery mode
After pressing start, the tablet will soon reboot. To enter recovery mode, press and hold the following two buttons simultaneously:

Power + volume UP

If it worked, you will be greeted with the blue (in version 2.8.7 at least) TWRP splash screen.

If you missed entering recovery mode (I did the first time), Samsung will start your tablet as usual. Don't panic. Power down the device and repeat the preceding steps, starting with 2.5.2.

The next time you boot into download mode, you may notice the following line:
KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 1
Be glad that you are now out from under Samsung's oppression. :)

Congratulations. The rest is pretty painless, even fun!

Step 3 Use TWRP to install CyanogenMod

TWRP is powerful software. Respect it, but don't be afraid. It's actually easy and fast.

3.1 Pick your CyanogenMod

Based on the 36-page thread on CyanogenMod 12.0 Nightlies for the Tab Pro 10.1 Wifi (picassowifi) (link), the June snapshot is stable for daily use, and that is my experience so far. (The 12.0 nightlies were discontinued sometime in April with the advent of 12.1 nightlies.) If that's the version you'd like, get the snapshot here
The CM12 June snapshot filename is cm-12-20150626-SNAPSHOT-YNG4NAO0A0-picassowifi.zip (231.71 MB)

Do not unzip the file. I recommend transferring it to the SD card in its own folder.

Note on file integrity:
Note there is a sha1 sum listed below the download. You can use this to check the integrity of the downloaded file. If you can use the PC to transfer this file to the Android storage, you can use the PC to check the file integrity after download (easy on GNU/Linux and probably on Mac, may need to download a utility on Windows). In my case, I couldn't get the PC to see the Android storage, so I ended up turning on Wi-Fi to download the CM12 snapshot directly on the device. If you want, "there's an app for that."

3.2 Back up (optional)

Restart the tablet in recovery mode (see 2.5.8 above), so that you are TWRP. If you want, you can back up the stock ROM to revert to in case of eventual trouble. I recommend putting this on the external SD card.

3.2.1 Press Backup

3.2.2 Set backup name (optional)
If desired, give a meaningful name; note it includes the date and build number, mine was KOT49H.Tt520XXUAOB1. I also clicked to enable compression (smaller file size, but takes longer) and allowed MD5 generation (for an integrity check when restoring, I believe). Use the enter key when done. (Took me a while to get this.)

3.2.3 Select Boot, Data and System

3.2.4 Swipe to Back Up
When done, return to the home menu

3.3 Wipe the tablet

This is a crucial step for correct flashing.

3.3.1 Press Wipe

3.3.2 Press Advanced Wipe

3.3.3 Make selections
You want these four:

Dalvik Cache
Cache
Data
System

Do not select Internal Storage or external_sd.

3.3.4 Swipe to Wipe
This will go fast. When done, return to the home screen.

3.4 Install CyanogenMod

Go for it!

3.4.1 Press Install

3.4.2 Select the CM zip you prepared
You can use the Folders area on the left to navigate between external (SD card) and internal storage, wherever you stored the zip file in step 3.1. Select the file, making sure it's the right one. You can select "Zip file signature verification?," which I suspect also verifies the file integrity.

3.4.3 Swipe to Confirm Flash
Shouldn't take long, actually.

3.4.4 Return to Home menu
When done!

3.4.5 Press Reboot

3.4.6 Press System

3.5 Boot into CyanogenMod

You should now see the CM logo animation and walk through the device setup. Rejoice!

Notes

Note on GAPPS:
I want to get away from Google and did not install the standard Google apps. If you want to do that, it's your homework.

Note on Google leftovers:
Unfortunately, CyanogenMod is not entirely free or open-source software—there are remnant proprietary Google components. You theoretically can remove these using a script called freecyngn. Sadly, I haven't been able to confirm yet that it worked on my device.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2550769

NB: I didn't know how to take screenshots, but experienced helpers are welcome to do add images.

Resources

Install CM 12 Final Android 5.0.2 Stable ROM for Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Wi-Fi (Uses root)
Samsung USB drivers
How to root Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 SM-T520 (updated March 2015, see download mode)
How To Root Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 SM-T520–Easy Guide (Feb. 2014, see Odin interface)
How to Use ODIN to Flash the Official ROM [Ultimate Guide] (Jan 2013, see Odin terminology)
Odin Tutorial: How to Use Odin to Flash ROM on Android Device (Jan 2013, older guide)
How to Install Custom ROM using TWRP Recovery! (Get a feel for using TWRP)


Prevent LED flashing when tablet is on standby My Xperia Z tablet has a really bright LED that flashes when it is in standby (that is when the screen is blank). In fact, I am not sure it does it all the time, but it is very annoying if it is in the room at night. Is there any way to stop this from happening?

Perhaps the app Notification Light Widget will help you. It gives you a widget to manually enable/disable the light. Can't get a lot simpler than that!

Note that tweaking the notification LED is often a hit-or-miss operation with some devices. There's no promise that it'll work perfectly. Give it a shot and let us know how it goes!


App with tail Command? Is there an app that will let me run the UNIX tail command?

I want to be able to monitor a text file on a remote web server as it gets written to.

I don't know the syntax, but Terminal Emulator on my Samsung Galaxy S lets me run tail.  I would assume any console app would allow it.

As noted in the comments below, tail is part of BusyBox so you can get it from there.  There is a root app on the Play Store  that includes BusyBox if you don't want to search for a package to sideload.


Lava V2 s stuck on company logo after deleting Launcher 3 and System UI I have rooted Lava V2 s running on Android 5.1 and mistakenly deleted some system apps: Launcher 3, and System UI. The phone is starting up but cannot go into the home screen. Instead, it directly goes to power off and has stuck on the company logo while booting up.

How to fix the boot issue?

In this state, you just need to flash your phone.
Go here and download the firmware for your phone model


Does whatsapp backup media on Google Drive? I linked my Google drive account with whatsapp for backup. They give the impression that all accompanying media including video and images gets backed up too.

You can back up your chats and media to Google Drive, so if you switch Android phones or get a new one, your chats and media are transferrable. To use Google Drive, make sure the following is true:

 - Your device must be synced with Google Drive. Google Play Services
   must be installed (only available for Android 2.3.4 and later).
 - Your Google Drive account must have enough space for all of your WhatsApp
   data
 - Your phone must have enough free space to create the backup.

However, it seams that there is only 19mb of hidden data on the Drive after a full backup.

And restoring whatsapp to another device, I get an image not found error when I try to open recent images.

So what is the case? Is whatsapp dishonest if they do not state the limitations of their backup feature? Especially when we need to move images off the device, due to space constraints.

If you see that size is not matching, it's likely that you didn't tick include videos in WhatsApp settings

If you have ticked it and it still doesn't match, that's strange because I have restored to test, when starting to use this feature and all media plus charts are backed up.

  does whatsapp keep previous backups on Google Drive ?

No

WhatsApp FAQ says :

  Every time you run a Google Drive backup on a Google account, the previous Google Drive backup will be overwritten. There is no way to restore an older Google Drive backup.

So if for some reason your backup doesn't include videos after ticking it also, it makes sense to take a fresh backup on WiFi


SELinux Policy from Permissive to Enforcing Using Nexus 5 with AospExtended ROM (Android 9) 19/04/05

The ROM, by default, has the SELinux policy set to Permissive instead of Enforcing.

Is there any way, perhaps using TWRP Recovery, to change the SELinux policy to Enforcing? perhaps a similar Android 9 ROM

Some apps such as Google Pay will not work if the phone is rooted or the SELinux policy is not set to Enforcing. Also, feel slight safer if the NSA SELinux security policy was enforced.

Advice appreciated

If a custom ROM has SEL set to enforcing, it means the dev is confident that features are working under strict SEL, and you can safely change it to permissive knowing that things will continue to work under a more lax SEL environment.

On the other hand, however, if he chooses to release with SEL permissive (especially if he lists it in the "bugs" section), it means some critical features doesn't work yet under strict SEL, forcing the dev to use permissive for the time being. Under this circumstance you shall not change it to enforcing.

Regarding Google Pay, it's common practice to just use Magisk and let it hide root/BL/SEL status for you instead.


How can I only have sound when being called (phone)? In my Android phone, I have the following options for sound:

Media volume
Alarm volume
Ring volume

However, if I increase ring volume, I also get each time a sound when I get a Whatsapp message, Facebook massage etc.

Is it possible to (temporarily) get sound only when I will be (phone) called (by another person)?

(background: I always leave my sound off, but I expect an important phone call today I do not want to miss).

Mobile: Motorola S5+, Android 8.1.0

Thanks in advance.

You can try this:

Go to System settings->Notifications->Select WhatsApp->Choose Block all and/or Show silently according to your need.

Do the same for Facebook.


How to stop "permission denied" app toasts after denying permissions? I often like to deny app permissions that I think the app does not need but yet they keep requesting for the permissions even after Denying, resulting in lot of toasts [package name] has been denied [permission name] permission.

How do I permanently suppress these toasts?

I am using android Kitkat.

I believe your primary aim is to turn off some permissions. So I will form my answer to that direction.

If you are rooted:

Choice 1: Since you are referring to toasts, there is a way to turn them off using the xposed module Untoaster. I wish I could tell you how to use that, but I currently cant use xposed due to compatibility issues. SO this, you may have to test and figure out your self.

Choice 2: You can also try using lucky patcher. It can disable permissions. To do this, open lucky patcher and grant it root rights. Then browse to app/package name whose permissions you want to block and tap on it. Then select the option Edit Permissions and tap on permissions to enable/disable them. Be careful though, you may end up messing up the app.

If you are not rooted:

In this case, we will modify app permissions to the core. We will edit a minor code/xml so app doesn't even know of those permissions. Yes, it is a very DIRTY trick. There are consequences.

Firstly, download APKTool. Refer this guide on how to use (you will be using the compiling/decompiling and signing features).
Firstly, get the app's apk. You can either use some app backup program or use Terminal Emulator. If you decide to go with terminal emulator, open it and run these commands:

mkdir /sdcard/apps123

cp /data/app/*.apk /sdcard/apps123

This will copy all the APK files installed by you inside apps123folder in your internal sdcard.

After you have got the apk and decompiled it, go to apktoolDirectory/projects/[package name you decompiled] folder and open AndroidManifest.xml with some editor (Notepad++ recommended.
After you have opened the file, look for permission lines. They will have the format:

(In this case, its permission to write internal storage).

Delete out lines corresponding to permissions you do not want. All permissions are defined at beginning of xml so you dont need to explore the whole manifest.
After you are done, compile app again and sign it. Put it to phone and install.

------> You can also have a look at this documentation to see what each permission does.

NOTE: There is also an android version of APKTool. You can install and use it in phone itself. Its much more easier to use but takes longer time to complete tasks.

----> This method wont give you toast notifications like now.

Drawbacks of this method:

You wont be able to update app from play store anymore.
Whenever app tries to access that feature whose permission is missing, it will cause a security exception and app is likely to crash unless developer has handled it (which they normally dont).


Why does my mobile data work for some things? I'm not really sure when this started but I've discovered that I have some type of data. My parents haven't included data in my line yet I'm able to receive notifications from discord, youtube, google feeds etc. I can even do google searches or search for apps on the play store. But I cant actually go on a website or install an app. I cant watch youtube videos or read my discord messages. I cant play online games like brawl stars because it wont connect to the server. I can also use google maps and read reviews. My service provider is tmobile btw. Why does my mobile data work for certain things but not others?

This issue is same as yours. t mobile.. no brawl stars.. The problem is with your ISP.
I suggest you to try using a trusted local vpn (check if local one works.. not sure). It won't slow down you internet speed and get the job done too.. I too play brawl stars btw :)


Is there any launcher app that behave like Iphone? I've just switched from Iphone to Android (CM7), and I strongly prefer the Iphone way to manage apps. The separation between Home screen and App Drawer screen on Android is very awkward. Is there any launcher app that behave like Iphone, ie. manage, arrange apps right on the home screen?

Apps I've used: LauncherPro, GO Launcher Ex, and ADWLauncher

Since you've already rooted and flashed your ROM, you can give the MIUI rom a go, see http://en.miui.com/

I feel that is sort of the iPhone feel ROM for Android... no app drawer, newly installed apps get put onto the next available space on your screens. Folders to organise etc. Even the settings look iPhone-ish.


Why is Google Maps always running in the background? I'm running on JB. The Google Maps application always seems to have 2 instances running in the background inspite of turning the GPS off. Is there a clean solution to prevent it from ever running in the background?

One part of Google Maps is a so called "Location Service", which kicks in on a couple of intents (e.g. always when your network connectivity changes -- which happens when you login to a new WiFi network, or to a new cell tower). It caches your current location to the "location cache", which should serve to faster provide your current location when needed (and to update Google's location database, as the cache's contents are submitted in intervals).

Without being rooted, there's not much you can do about. But if your device is rooted, you have several options:

Use an app like Autorun Manager PRO (yes, here you need the "Pro") to disable the listeners which cause it to kick-in1
Use Titanium Backup ★ root to freeze the app when you don't need it, and un-freeze it on demand2

Which method to prefer? I personally would go for the second. Titanium backup lets you create a widget on your desktop to toggle the "frozen state" of an app, so you can easily switch it on/off. Disabling some listeners might work well -- but the app also might start behaving strangely.


Which phones have the purest Android? I'm looking for phones with stock Android. I was able to find articles on the internet, but they mention mostly new phones, and I'm more interested in older (cheaper) versions.
I have Google Pixel (one) and from what I read, it's the one with "vanilla" Android. But there are some preinstalled apps on it - like Google Play Music, Google Play Movies, which I cannot uninstall (without rooting). I neither need nor use them and consider them bloatware.
Is it possible to find a phone from a manufacturer which does not have even such Google apps?  Or they just must be there?

tl:dr; Google phones have the purest Android. They come with Google apps
In Android ecosystem, phones launched by Google are stock Android (aka vanilla). It's the purest form of Android because Google developed the OS and tightly integrated with the hardware (earlier Nexus and now Pixel). They come with Google apps, you can't avoid them, unless you root your device and uninstall.
If you are looking for a phone that is running Android LineageOS -XDA launched a phone that ran LineageOS /Ubuntu out of box. Such devices are more of an exception to the rule (running LineageOS out of the box, as you mentioned in the last paragraph of the question, though LineageOS doesn't qualify as pure Android)


How to perform system upgrade using 3G instead of WiFi? I use my android device as my home internet service - for the most part it works ok with occasional dropouts which was a known issue with my phone (Moto G 2nd gen 4.4.4) so was pleased to find out there is a new update available (5.?.?).

Problem is my phone refuses to do the upgrade until I connect it to a Wifi network - and since its a 300+ MB download the local McDonalds free wifi isn't gonna cut it (i'm in Melbourne, Australia and were pretty stingy with our public wifi)!

Is there a way to bypass this idiotic restriction? I have plenty of GB available to download via 3G, also is this an android thing in general or specific to this model?

You can always sideload the upgrade. So download it over your 3G into a folder and then sideload it. You can download directly from google and you can find instructions on sideloading for your phone/os all over the web.


Where is the current_now measurement generated If you go into the adb shell, you can check what the amount of current the battery is discharging by using the following command

cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/current_now

When the current is discharged it shows it as a negative value. I am wondering where in the kernel this current_now file is generated. I am using a nexus 7(flo) and I am using 4.3 jelly bean.

An app I am using (trepn) doesn't like negative measurements. So it shows current values as 0. I am trying to find where the current now file is generated and replace the sign

Basically there are battery drivers in the android. Actually the device consists of Fuel-Gauge which is the IC providing information  regarding monitoring of voltage, current, temperature. These values are then send to the concerned unit, for eg. charging current is send to the Charger IC etc.

The battery driver (not device) present in the device provides interface to the charger IC and Fuel Gauge IC (not in all chipset but in most of the Samsung phones) and has nodes which has these values and are used by the framework layer through sysfs. So the value which you read is the exact value read from the registers of FuelGauge IC presrent.

Hope this helps.


Hiding Boot Logo on Samsung Galaxy Tab3 Lite SM-T116BU I'm trying to hide this Samsung boot logo splash from my tablet

The closest that I get was trying the method described on this post: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2529133 but after writing the PARAM back to the device, nothing happened.

Trying to solve by myself I started looking at the SBOOT partition on my device, dumped it from /dev/block/platform/sprd-sdhci.3/by-name/SBOOT and opened it on a hex-editor, looking at the result I found the "logo.jpg" reference on the hex result, and now comes my question.

Do you guys have any recommendation/tips on how to avoid the logo.jpg being showed on the device screen? Maybe patching the SBOOT?

Is it too stupid changing the hex from modifying the "logo.jpg" string to avoid the file being located?

That's the easiest way to end up in hardbrick. Don't try that. Remember samsung has no Fastboot mode. If it ends up in HBrick and close you out of Download  Mode, you're ruined totally unless you are a Samsung Hardware and Software Engineer.


Facebook Messenger without permissions Facebook Messenger for Android requires a lot of permissions - like reading my SMS and other stuff. I really don't like that. Is there any fb chat application which doesn't require such permissions?

In fact i would only need a notification when there is a new message.

You can use ChatSecure (formerly known as “Gibberbot”) with Facebook added as an XMPP account. Just enter username@facebook.com and your Facebook password to connect.

For even more protection of your details you can use the "Connect via Tor" option with Orbot (the Android port of Tor) to hide your location from Facebook as well.


Changing menu button positions After my Samsung Tab 2 7.0 got upgraded to 4.1.1 the main buttons changed place. Back used to be to the far left, now it's the second to the right, for example. This is amazingly annoying.

When it was new I did find some way to change these things, so I could get rid of the annoying Screenshot button that was installed by default. But after the upgrade, the possibility to configure this seems to have disappeared.

Any ideas?

With the stock ROM, you won't be able to do anything.
Consider switching to a custom ROM like cyanogenmod.
OR, if you like the stock samsung experience, you can find several stock based ROMs on XDA which gives you this feature


Preferred and forbidden networks on Android In the days before Android, buried deep in the network settings of my old phone were two options called Preferred Networks and Forbidden Networks was an option called Preferred Networks, and I have also heard of Forbidden Networks. These were used for roaming: when the home network was not available, the phone would not simply grab the first available network but compare the list of currently available networks to the Preferred & Forbidden Networks: it would never try to roam into a forbidden network, and if one of the visible networks was on the Preferred Networks list, it would try that network first. The lists were stored on the SIM.

Note that this has nothing to do with APNs or network types – this setting is entirely about network operators.

Does Android still use these lists? If so, is there a way to view/edit these lists on Android?

Deselect international OR select the service provider's roaming options under SIM tools, this may  may help to avoid any forbidden network scenario.


Why Google Play Store only allows free apps in Myanmar? I am an Android developer and noticed that my apps can not be sold in Myanmar (and other countries) - the country appears in the list but with a strikethrough formatting.

I found a post on XDA forum asking the same.

Does Google enforce an export restriction of any kind?

Burma or Myanmar had been sanctioned since 1997 by the U.S. due to the political system. The U.S. plans on lifting the sanctions  starting 2013 because Myanmar began to allow democratic elections (Source: Wikipedia). Not all sanctions have been lifted, yet but Google plans on expanding to Myanmar in the future.

From qz.com here:

  "Google Play… and Google Wallet? The Google Play store, the app store
  for Android phones, has been blocked in Myanmar because of
  international sanctions that restrict payments to the country.
  Instead, locals use pirate app stores, which work with their
  jailbroken phones. Google plans to open the Google Play store in the
  near future, and already the country’s app developers report
  restrictions are coming down."

From the US Treasory Department sanction document:

  "With certain exceptions, U.S. persons (both individuals and entities)
  are prohibited from transferring, paying, exporting, withdrawing, or
  otherwise dealing in the property and interests in property of an
  individual or entity on OFAC’s list of Specially Designated Nationals
  and Blocked Persons (“SDN List”), including those listed in the Annex
  to E.O. 13310, E.O. 13448, and E.O. 13464, or determined by the
  Secretary of the Treasury [...]"


Can I use an iPhone 4 micro-SIM card on Samsung Galaxy S? I borrowed a Samsung Galaxy S device in order to test an app. I have attempted to insert my iPhone 4 sim card (micro-SIM) into the Galaxy S, yet the device won't recognize it and display a 'No SIM' error. Is the Galaxy S compatible with micro-SIM or do I need to purchase a different one?

The Samsung Galaxy S (not S2; S3; S4 or S5) uses a mini-SIM. The iPhone 4 uses a micro-SIM. Maybe Robert's answer, well, kind of missed the wood for the trees.


How to restrict syncing to only calender and not contact I have contacts and calendar on my Mac but like to sync only the calendar to my android through google. Whenever I sync with google, both my local contacts and calendar are being synced. Because I have separate and different contacts on google, I like to only sync the calendar but not the contact. Is that possible and how?

Settings > Accounts > Google Account > name@gmail.com

You can decide which features to keep synced up here.


How to change the default hotspot DHCP IP address range on Android? As the title says I look for a way to permanently change the default IP address range form 192.168.43.xxx to 192.168.1.xxx.

Reason: On my router some of my devices get a static IP trough DHCP, in the 192.168.1.xxx range. Using the hotspot on the road I would like to have the same setup.

I have tried to change the range following this steps, but it did not work out on both of my devices. They are rooted and Lineage OS is installed. The last answer suggest an easy way to do this, but it is not possible in Lineage OS.

Also this post from anroidpolice.com suggests that it is possible by an app, I look for a solution to do this with adb. I have no access to Google Play, and do not want it.

NOTE: Root is required.

Default DHCP IP address range is hard-coded (1), you can't change it without rebuilding ROM with modified source code. Or use a little hack.

When you switch on tethering, what happens (at least):

hostapd -  the daemon which manages access points - is started.
Network interfaces are set up, IP address is added to Wi-Fi interface (hard-coded before Android Pie (2, 3), randomized afterwards (4)), and routing table is added (5) for local network.
dnsmasq - the DHCP/DNS server (up to Pie) - is started with hard-coded commandline arguments (6) (which can be set through /etc/dnsmasq.conf (7) otherwise).

So we can replace /system/bin/dnsmasq with a custom shell script, taking control of the process in between. Rename the original binary to something else:

~# mv /system/bin/dnsmasq /system/bin/dnsmasq.bin

Create script /system/bin/dnsmasq:

#!/system/bin/sh

OLD_SUBNET='192.168.43'
NEW_SUBNET='192.168.1'
WIFI_INTERFACE='wlan0'
LOCAL_TABLE=$(awk '$2=="local_network" {print $1}' /data/misc/net/rt_tables)

export PATH=/system/bin

# delete old route, add new
ip route del ${OLD_SUBNET}.0/24 dev ${WIFI_INTERFACE} table $LOCAL_TABLE
ip route add ${NEW_SUBNET}.0/24 dev ${WIFI_INTERFACE} table $LOCAL_TABLE

# set new IP address on Wi-Fi interface
ip address add ${NEW_SUBNET}.1/24 dev $WIFI_INTERFACE

# inject new subnet in hard-coded arguments received from netd
set -- $(printf '%s' "$*" | sed 's/'"${OLD_SUBNET}"'/'"${NEW_SUBNET}"'/g')
unset OLD_SUBNET NEW_SUBNET WIFI_INTERFACE LOCAL_TABLE

# execute original binary with new arguments
exec dnsmasq.bin $*

Confirm the name of your Wi-Fi interface (wlan0 usually). Check with ip link or ls /sys/class/net/ or iw:

WIFI_INTERFACE=$(iw dev | grep -E 'ssid |Interface ' | grep -B1 ssid | awk '$1=="Interface" {print $2}')

Also confirm your local_network (8, 9) routing table (97) is being used for hotspot. Android's routing is a mess, getting more complex with every new release. So I'm not sure if this has been persistent or not. Also before making any changes, check your routing policies and tables to figure out what you should put in your script:

~# RULES="$(ip rule | grep -vE 'unreachable|local')"
~# echo "$RULES"
~# for t in $(echo "$RULES" | awk '{print $NF}' | uniq); do ip r s table $t; done

SELinux rules also need to be defined if (all or some) not already defined and if status is enforcing. Use Magisk's suploicy or some other similar tool like sepolicy-inject:

# execute binaries from /system/bin
allow netd system_file dir { read open getattr search }
allow netd system_file file { read gettattr open execute execute_no_trans }

# execute /system/bin/sh
allow netd shell_exec file { read getattr open execute execute_no_trans }

# execute /system/bin/toolbox and its applets
allow netd toolbox_exec file { read gettattr open execute execute_no_trans }

# configure RPDB rules / routing tables
allow netd netd capability { sys_admin }

* Rules are not persistent across reboots, use some init.d script or replace /sepolicy in ramdisk

Set permissions on files:

~# chown 0.0 /system/bin/dnsmasq*; chmod 0755 /system/bin/dnsmasq*
~# chcon u:object_r:system_file:s0 /system/bin/dnsmasq
~# chcon u:object_r:dnsmasq_exec:s0 /system/bin/dnsmasq.bin

Enjoy!

Another options is to modify the value of config_tether_dhcp_range (10) in Android framework as explained in this answer, but I haven't tested this.

Or you can setup complete tethering from commandline, running your own processes. This answer includes the instructions, though the question is different.

RELATED:

How can I permanently assign a static IP address to Wi-Fi or USB tether clients?
How can I permanently change my hotspot tethering IP address?


How to increase music playback volume? The volume on my headphones (even on maximum) isn't very high at all. Is there any way I can increase the volume higher than the program allows?

I don't think so. But depends of the application, if it's open source you can submit a patch or ask for bug fix/new feature.


Mobile data only works when tethering is active Issue is exactly as described in the title, works when used as hotspot and connected with computer, but not on the phone directly(regardless the hotspot setting).
Moreover I have to add:
I am abroad in Italy.
This is vodafone "data only sim".
Bought two days ago and last time it worked was yesterday evening.
I have two sims and my native-roaming enabled sim works fine.
I tried swapping slots, having one sim, removing/changing/restoring apns, changing dns, restarting phone multiple times.
When I try changing apns it goes back to the default one automatically.
I cannot call customer service as they do not speak English.

After two hours, I have solved the issue.
The problem was, there were two default APNs.
One for tethering, one for mobile phone network connection.
The solution was to add "defult" apn type to the tethering apn and remove the mobile phone one.


Data partition with 23GB only shows 8GB when mounted I have a Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, and I was finding strange that the storage manager showed that the system was filling 20GB of the 32GB internal storage, so I went to dig a little further into this.

I found that the data partition is p42 in the internal rom using TWRP's fdisk, which correctly reports it as having 23GB (I haven't found how to get the TWRP terminal output here, though). However, using fdisk with the device fully booted up, via ADB shell, I get this:

suzuran:/ # fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0

Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 31.2 GB, 31272730624 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3802 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

               Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks  Id System
/dev/block/mmcblk0p1               1        3803    30539775+ ee EFI GPT

not showing the full partition table...

However, when I try to read the partition, it gives no errors:

suzuran:/ # dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p42 of=/dev/null
48365568+0 records in
48365568+0 records out
24763170816 bytes transferred in 246.927 secs (100285391 bytes/sec)

Reading the entire storage also gives no errors:

suzuran:/ # dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/dev/null
61079552+0 records in
61079552+0 records out
31272730624 bytes transferred in 365.211 secs (85629213 bytes/sec)

But when mounted, either booted or inside TWRP (I also mounted it manually) it shows only a 8GB size:

suzuran:/ # df
Filesystem                    1K-blocks     Used Available Use% Mounted on
[ other skipped mounts ]
/dev/block/mmcblk0p43           5215496  1188900   4026596  23% /system
/dev/block/mmcblk0p42           8641912  6071544   2570368  71% /data
/dev/block/mmcblk0p41            197472      188    197284   1% /cache
/dev/block/mmcblk0p3              81872    57808     24064  71% /firmware
/dev/block/mmcblk0p31             28144      164     27980   1% /persist
/dev/block/mmcblk0p39             14327      160     14167   2% /idd
/dev/block/loop0                  92656      980     91676   2% /su

I'm using LineageOS, but in the stock Sony rom I had the same issue, only didn't have the tools to check this further.

Anyone had this issue before or can help me with this?

Edit: I just found about 'blockdev' command:

suzuran:/ # blockdev --getsize64 /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata
24763170816

which gives the correct size of the partition. What's happening with the 'mount' command? Could this be kernel related? If so, why does it happen in TWRP too?

After "playing" a bit with the device, I managed to trace the problem to the ext4 partition data. Booted into TWRP, terminal, backed up the files in the partition, unmounted, then:

mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata

And voila! 23GB of data storage available. Restored the backed up files to the new ext4 filesystem and everything is working now, although I feel it a little slower. Nevertheless, it's solved.


Can't hear caller after updated from 4.3 to KitKat 4.4.2 on Moto G I have a retail Motorola Moto G 16 GB with 4.3.

After updating to KitKat 4.4.2 (using the official Motorola process), I can't hear the caller's voice. But when activating the speakers or using a headphone I can hear the other side. Prior updating there where no problems at all.

I also did a full factory-reset, which did not helped.

With this issue the phone is practically unusable, I appreciate any help.

As stated in ayush's answer, Motorola customer care advises to wipe the cache to solve the issue, and it reportedly worked.
As ayush omitted the steps required to follow whis advice, here are the steps to do "Wipe the cache partition". This will remove any temporary files that may be causing the problem, but will not delete your files or settings.

With the phone powered off, press the VOL DOWN KEY for 2-3 seconds, then POWER key, then release.

The device will display different BOOT OPTIONS

Use the VOL DOWN Key to SCROLL to Recovery and VOL UP Key to select

Tip: If the device reboots, you may have waited to long to make a selection, you will need to begin the process again.

The device will display the Motorola logo and then the Android in distress (logo with Exclamation mark)

Press and hold the VOL UP key for 10-15 seconds. While still holding the VOL UP key tap and release the POWER key

Tip: You can try this step, holding the phone in landscape. If you are stuck on step 6, try a force reboot by pressing the POWER key and VOL DOWN key, and start the process again.

The device will display additional menu options (Text will appear in BLUE)

Use the VOL DOWN Key to scroll to wipe cache partition and the POWER Key to select this option

The device will then perform the partition wipe

The device will reboot and start the normal power up sequence


How can I make the stock browser stop asking which browser I want to use? I have a number of browsers installed on my phone.  I haven't set any as the default because some pages simply render better on some browsers than on others.

When I use the stock browser, every single time I click a link it asks me what browser I want to use.  I'd like it to get the hint that if I chose the stock browser for this current session, then it should open the links in the stock browser and stop asking me.

Is there any way for me to stop the stock browser from asking me this without making it the default?

No. Android works with intents. Opening a link is asking for an intent to open an url. If you have more than 1 browser and you haven't set a default, Android will ask you which one to choose.

I can imagine certain browsers not following this rule of starting an intent and just stay in their own program but that's all as the program decide to handle it.


Keeping forensic cops out I was just arrested and bonded out immediately. my phone was confiscated.  It was an Android and is there anything I can do to keep them from accessing the contents of my phone? Would deleting my Google account keep them from changing my password? Google will give them their own personal passcode to get into my locked screen and change pin lock.I'm not sure what question to ask,any help would be highly appreciated by me and my family

Is there anything I can do to keep them from accessing the contents of
  my phone?

If they have physical access over phone, then the answers is no. If the information was encrypted, then you would stand a chance. However, if that is not the case, then in no time they will have access to your phone and the data it keeps within.

  Would deleting my Google account keep them from changing my password?

No. The data is already written on the storage of your phone. One thing you would do would be wiping your phone using Android Device Manager. However, it won't actually wipe the data really. It'll just make it overwritable for other datas to take its place, which will be ineffective anyway. But that for sure will make people realize you got something to hide and might even be considered as tampering the evidence as acejavelin said.

  I'm not sure what question to ask

I think the question you want to ask is Are they going to certainly learn whatever is on the phone and is there a way to stop them at this point?

The answers are yes and no respectively.


Which, if any, of the major console game developers also develop for Android? The Android market has a lot of apps now, and for the most part almost anything that could only be done on the iPhone a couple of years ago is now possible on Android. The app stores have become quite competitive and comparable.

However, one thing that appears to be missing from the Android Market are major console game developers. iOS, for example, has many titles by publishers such as Electronic Arts, SEGA, and Square Enix. Some of these are ports of console games (like Sonic the Hedgehog), and some of them are made-for-mobile games (like Square Enix's Chaos Rings). I don't see anything from those publishers in the Android Market.

So, my question is are there, in fact, any major console-game developers/publishers currently selling games in the official Android Market? If not, is there any reason to believe this might change?

Note that my question is about Google's Android Marketplace and does not include any 3rd party markets. I'm aware that Electronic Arts is selling apps in Amazon's store.

How did you search for the publishers? Electronic Arts, for example, most certainly has applications in the Market. I only see one Square Enix game, though.

Beyond that, the Xperia Play will be supported by a line of Playstation titles. They're already starting to hit the market, in fact. I wouldn't recommend purchasing them unless you own an Xperia Play since I have no idea what running them on a non-suported device would entail (or if it's even feasible - I'll leave that to XDA), but it's another angle to it.

Whether or not they'll continue to update them or develop new games...I could only speculate, really.


Is there a way to trigger hover behavior in the Chrome Beta browser? Is there any way to trigger the behavior that usually occurs when a mouse is hovered over an element (for example, hovering over your username at the top of a Stack Overflow site) using the Chrome Beta browser?

One way to trigger the hover on links is to long-press the link, wait for the menu to appear, and the press the back button to cancel the menu. This also works in some other browsers.

Note that this doesn't work on all links. Just tried on the example you mentioned, doesn't work, probably because there's a slight delay between the onMouseOver event and showing the menu. But on other pages, where it's a simple onMouseOver trigger this method works.


Can I use usb OTG for serial connection between nexus 7 and Arduino? I got myself an OTG cable for Nexus 7, which works just fine. Now, I am wondering if I can connect the Nexus 7 with my Arduino for serial communication between the two.

Yes, according to this blog post. It involves Android programming, something I'm not very familiar with.


I cant Update Google play services as it says "Authentication is required. You need to sign into your google account" I keep getting nonification updates the I need to Update Google Play services and that Google Play services wont run unless updated, wh I click on the nonification. It bring me to Googl
play services but it says "Authentication is required. You need to sign into your google account which I checked in Accounts, I was signed in. I need to get the Play services to work as most of my apps like Snapchat rely on it.

Try to update Google settings, front-end for Google Play Store and other Google stuff. Go to Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Services and uninstall the updates. Leave the phone on WiFi. It will update automatically.


How do I remove previously download apps from my Google Play account? When I click on "My orders and settings" it shows me all the apps I've ever installed, including ones I've deleted from my phone. I would like for apps I've uninstalled to not appear in this list. How do I do that?

You can fix that for yourself:

open the playstore app
navigate to Menu→My Apps
chose the "All" tab
next to the apps you've no longer installed, you'll find a symbol looking like a striked circle ("parking forbidden here"). Long-tap that for the first app you want to get rid off here.
at the top of the page you should find a notice that you've marked one app. Now tap all other apps you want removed from the list to mark them.
having all marked, tap on "remove" there

Done.


Share text via HTTP request I'd like to add an item in the system "Share" menu that sends links and other small text via HTTP POST requests.

On my PC i'm using curl + a shellscript.

The share menu simply lists apps that have an appropriate intent filter for the share action with the type of data being shared. So the only way to get a new item on the share menu is to install an app that does the thing you want. If one doesn't already exist, it's not that hard to create one following the official documentation, but since this isn't a programming forum, we can't help you any further.


Gear VR needs update, downloads it, but doesn't install it If the phone is inside the Gear VR, then it just shows that we should open the Oculus App.

In the Oculus App it shows the update button and pressing it starts two downloads which you can see in the system notifications.

But when the downloads are done nothing happens, just that the update button is re-enabled like challenging us to press it again.

Oculus writes, that they require the Apps Facebook App Installer and Facebook App Manager, and ask that you re-enable them (https://support.oculus.com/help/oculus/186299228426214).

If that worked, then great. But those two programs were not in my App Manager (even when activating "show all").

I tried everything, like re-installing every app with name containing Samsung Gear VR, Oculus and Facebook. Still, the two apps were missing.

I searched the web and found these two sources:

http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/facebook-2/facebook-app-installer/
https://apkupdate.com/download/49310/facebook-app-manager

I installed them and got no warning messages from ES File Manager. I can give no guarantee that they are safe and am looking forward to what the experts found out. After installing them, the Oculus App was able to install the updates and it now works in Gear VR as normal.

For those who want to try this: download the apk's, place them on the phone (e.g. the Download directory), open and install them with ES File Manager. Then open the Oculus App and start its update which is now working.


Whatsapp backup in Google Drive Does Whatsapp backup in Google Drive differentiate with one Gmail account from 2 different devices with different Whatsapp account?

To be honest, it is quite straight forward how Google Drive back up work with WhatsApp.

For a WhatsApp account, which is tied to your phone number, lets say, you used abc@gmail.com as the Gmail Account to Store WhatsApp back up.

So, all your back up is now with abc@gmail.com. You should remember this Gmail Account and use this Gmail account to restore the back up of your WhatsApp Account.

Now, for Another WhatsApp account, which is tied to another number, you can use the same Gmail Account, in theory, which is abc@gmail.com, and you can restore the back up of this WhatsApp account using the abc@gmail.com

It really does not matter, which phone from where you are accessing the WhatsApp, as A backup file does not exist on the Google Drive account or locally on the phone.

You can read about the WhatsApp back up on Google Drive on Official FAQ page of WhatsApp.


Getting DeadObjectException on uninstalling any app using adb On a fairly old non-rooted Galaxy Tab A-tablet I wanted to uninstall all the Samsung and Microsoft apps and most of the Google packages to make it faster. Using adb shell pm uninstall -k user 0 I uninstalled 106 packages but after com.sec.android.app.music I suddenly can't uninstall packages anymore. Instead, I get a DeadObjectException and the tablet reboots:

$ adb shell pm uninstall -k user 0 flipboard.boxer.app

    android.os.DeadObjectException
            at android.os.BinderProxy.transactNative(Native Method)
            at android.os.BinderProxy.transact(Binder.java:628)
            at android.os.BinderProxy.shellCommand(Binder.java:675)
            at com.android.commands.pm.Pm.runShellCommand(Pm.java:299)
            at com.android.commands.pm.Pm.runUninstall(Pm.java:674)
            at com.android.commands.pm.Pm.run(Pm.java:170)
            at com.android.commands.pm.Pm.main(Pm.java:103)
            at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.nativeFinishInit(Native Method)
            at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.main(RuntimeInit.java:315)

It looks to me like pm needs something that isn't there, so I might have uninstalled something that it needs. My question is, how do I find out what it was, and, assuming it wasn't the Samsung music app, why did it function correctly until after I installed that?

In an attempt to start over I have reset the tablet to factory settings and all the apps are there again, including the music app, but even now I get the same error when attempting to uninstall any of them.

I noticed that user needs some dashes to look like --user

Second are you sure that is the package name? "clipboard.boxer.app" because general but not always the case it starts with a com.package.name


Internal storage not mounting on all Android M ROMs I have a problem with my HTC Desire 816G (MT6592). Whenever I install the Android M ROM, internal storage doesn't mount. My phone's internal storage doesn't appear in USB mode and nor in file manager. The phone's features like Gallery, Camera, Recording, etc., are not working on all Marshmallow ROMs. Lollipop and Kit Kat work fine. I didn't have this problem with Marshmallow ROMs before. I've been stuck for around 2 weeks now.

Try to format internal storage with /system, /data, /cache. Do these format with recovery, whatever you are using.

Do it multiple times until all of them get mounted and internal storage shows your space.

Two days before on my new rom flashing I got hell out of that situation by doing so as written above.


How can I sync photos to a network drive over wifi? My current workflow is to snap pics on my Droid, plug it in via USB, and sync the pics. I'd like to just run a script to sync the DCIM folder with a shared network drive, if anyone knows of a way that I can do this?

I can connect to the share with a file explorer app, but copying the files is even more awkward that way than plugging in the USB. The tech is there, I'm just wondering if there's a simple one-touch solution.


Can I install non-market apps on my AT&T phone directly (without a PC)? I've installed non-Market apps on my AT&T Captivate using adb, but it'd be nice if I could download an APK directly and install it locally.  I've heard of "App(s) Installer" and about a hundred variations on similar names, but it looked like those were just intended to work on devices with a working package installer (e.g. not one that's had the ability to run unsigned apps stripped out).

I've rooted the phone -- is there some way I can either replace the existing package installer with one from e.g. another Galaxy S phone on another carrier, or maybe just an app that asks superuser permission before installing the APK itself?  Is this something I could just do directly from (su'd) terminal on the phone?  I'm sure somebody has thought of this already but I'm having trouble finding an answer on the web... maybe I just don't know exactly how to ask.

ETA: please note that this is original AT&T firmware. The carrier is blocking non-market app installs, I think by modifying the package installer.  I'm aware of the setting to enable unsigned apps, but on my phone it has no effect.

Turns out I was right to suspect that this has been done before. The fix I was looking for was  Super One Click. It has a fix to allow non market apps. I think what it does is to change the config file that the settings dialog ("Allow Non Market Apps") normally sets. My guess its that AT&T just took out the UI for the option.

Anyway, works perfectly and I strongly recommend it for anybody stuck under AT&T'S thumb!


Packet forwarding between USB Tethering and Wifi on Android I have Toshiba notebook with embedded wifi adapter 2.4Ghz, desktop without embedded wifi adapter and Samsung Galaxy smartphone with Mobile HotSpot feature also on 2.4Ghz. Smartphone is connected to Internet through mobile operator. I need provide internet access for notebook and desktop through smartphone and combine them in network, so I will be able to ping notebook from desktop and vice versa.

I have bought TP-Link Archer T1U usb wifi adapter for my desktop and found that it supports only 5Ghz bandwidth. Yeah.. shit happens. But also I have old rooted Samsung Galaxy SM-T211 tablet with USB Tethering feature. So I   switch on Mobile HotSpot on smartphone and connect notebook to smartphone through wifi. Then I connect tablet to smartphone also through wifi. Finally I switch on USB Tethering feature on tablet and connect desktop to it through usb cable. Network schema is shown below.

All devices have internet access. Seems good, except I can't ping desktop(192.168.42.56) from notebook(192.168.43.24).

Forgot to mention, I use ArchLinux on both desktop and notebook.

I have found the solution.

First, I add routing for 192.168.52.0/24 net via 192.168.53.224(tablet) on notebook:

$ sudo ip route add 192.168.42.0/24 via 192.168.43.224 dev wlp5s0

Second, flush all the chains in ip table on tablet through Android Terminal Emulator. Tablet is rooted, so it is not a big problem:

$ su
# iptables -F

That is all. Now notebook can ping desktop and vice versa.


My device doesn't react to touches while connected via USB My device is Samsung Galaxy ace 5830 and I want to upgrade it from Android 2.3.4 to 4.
But the problem, when I connect it to PC with a USB connection, it doesn't react to touches so I can't unlock it and work with it. for example when I touch somewhere some other place get touched.

How can I upgrade it while it has this problem and I can't connect to it? thanks

The problem you mentioned can be caused by the following:

Your micro USB port in the phone has some moisture.
Your micro USB port connection is loose.

If it happens normally which is not your case, it can be caused if there is moisture on your screen or droplets of water.

Try testing if this happens while using the mobile with charger connected. If it does, it is definitely the micro USB issue.


"Couldn't move app. Not enough storage space." I have factory reset my phone, inserted & formated a new 64GB MicroSD Card As my wife bought an Android Phone last year, she has been using an 8GB MicroSD card, recently she wanted to increase more storage space due to having more music and photograph files. As such, I bought a new SanDisk 64GB MicroSD card Class10.

I have successfully formatted the 64GB MicroSD card using the phone's Format function and copied all her photos and music files into the card, I can view all the photos and play the mp3 with no problem. I can also successfully install Apps from PlayStore.

The problem comes when I start to move Apps from Internal to SD using the "Move to SD" function, which will prompt me "Couldn't move app. Not enough storage space."

So I thought there might be some residual apps data somewhere in the phone memory, hence, I factory reset the phone, reformat the 64GB MicroSD, and copy all the photos (folder name: Pictures) and mp3 (folder name: Music) back into the MicroSD. Although I have nearly 50GB of free space in the MicroSD, unfortunately, I am getting the same error again.

Details of the phone:
Model number: e1901_v77gq2008
Android Version: 4.1.1
Build Number: e1901_v77_gq2008_20130131

Appreciate advice for any kind soul.

With some models of phones there is a difference between "internal SD card" and "external SD card", where the former is just a link to the phones internal storage (whyever). The latter is your real SD card.

It might be that you are not able to use your SD card in the way you like due to this limitation. Using a file explorer, can you see a difference between /storage/sdcard0 and /storage/extSDcard (or similar entries)?

What puzzles me most is that you said the problem occurs after a factory reset. So not even the smallest app is movable?


Why is the stock Android dialer app incompatible with my Samsung J7 2017? I want to install this app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.dialer

to replace Samsung's customized dialer app.

But on that page it says:

"This app is incompatible with all of your devices."

Any idea why, or any workaround?

Some apps are only set to install on the phones they are designed for. The workaround is you can get it from apkmirror.com and install it. It should work on your Samsung. I installed it from there last year on my LG V20 and it worked fine.


Enable Google assistant ("Okay Google") on oneplus 3t I have just bought a new Oneplus 3T device, and immediately upgraded to the newest Nougat 7.1.1

I do have the Google search bar on the main screen as a widget, and if I click the mic icon I can voice-search without any problems. However, just saying Okay Google near the device does not activate the search.

How can I activate the Okay Google voice recognition on my Oneplus 3T device, please?

Settings screenshot attached.

You can try this to resolve "OK Google" detection problems:

Possible fixes

Language Pack settings

Make sure you are using the latest supported language pack. Check your Language settings

  In previous iterations of the Google voice search feature, it was only
  able to respond to US English. ( More languages have been added since
  then although many languages are still not supported). However, this
  feature needs to be enabled, so if you don’t speak English as a first
  language, this may be the issue. In order to enable other languages,
  you should first ensure you have the latest feature of the Google
  Search App. Then go to:

  Settings
  Voice
  Languages
  This will open a list of languages. Check the boxes next to the languages you want OK Google to recognize.
  You can select up to five languages that OK Google will recognize a search request in.

Updating your language pack may also solve your problem. Go to Voice > Search Language Settings > Offline Speech Recognition > English (US) > Update Available

Whitelist from Battery optimisation

Make sure that "OK Google enrollment" is disabled in battery optimisation

Retrain OK Google voice model

Sometimes, for reasons unknown, Google Now doesn't retain the commands you have given it. In order to do this, you'll need to go to the Google Settings App,

  locate the Search & Now option, followed by Voice then OK Google
  detection. Select Retrain Voice Model and say "OK Google" three times,
  as you did when you initially set it up.

Check the hardware

Few a times small bits of dust and debris can clog up the tiny hole that leads to your microphones. Use a safety pin or needle to investigate and dislodge anything that may be preventing good auditory reception.

Disabling and renabling OK Google

Go into Assistant settings, turn Ok Google detection off and then on, and check if  it starts working again.

Rebooting device

Try clearing cache of Google apps and reboot.

Update Google play services and Google App

Make sure your Google App is updated to the latest version . If not, just go to Google Play Store and update the Google App an Google play services

Acknowledgements

Okay Google not working
Okay Google isn't working
Okay Google not working
How To Fix Android “Ok Google” Not Working Problem


Can 'Triangle Away' reset knox counter to 0×0? I have a galaxy s5 duos (SM-G900FD) and my knox counter olis triggered to 0×1 (4) (due to some rooting and blah blah..) is it possible to reset knox to 0×0 with triangle away of any other method?

No, it is IMPOSSIBLE to reset the KNOX flag to 0x0 or 0.  Triangle away will only reset the flashcounter and will not reset the Knox flag.

Hope my answer helps


HTC Desire 616 hard-bricked (dead) after format all + download in sp falsh tool Recently I have used SP flash tool for flash htc desire 616. I flashed successfully. But I am unable to start the OS. So once again i done "format all+download". But now my phone completely dead. Please help any one how to write NVRAM files (including factory logo and imei no). But still, i am able to flash the mobile using SP flash tool. But mobile not getting ON. Please help anyone.

The dead state of a smartphone is actually because of corrupted firmware files.
either the rom your are flashing is corrupted or the flashing process is interrupted whatever is the problem. try flashing with some other flashing tool and make sure you are flashing the right rom for your smartphone...

and about factory logo and imei no. factory logo is inbuilt in the rom your are flashing if it is official..and for the imei all android roms have modem binaries which are responsible for networking and imei related operations..

Can you tell me about your smartphone.?


My alarm clock program is no longer installed. Can I re-download it? I have an HTC Incredible 2. I went to check my alarm clock before I went to sleep last night by pressing the clock on the home screen and nothing happened. It usually opens up my alarm clock.

After pressing several times and nothing happening I went into all apps and clicked the clock app. It said:

  The linked program is no longer installed on your phone.

I did not uninstall it. The only unusual activity I did last night was install the 5 Guys app, Opera Mini, uninstall Opera Mini because I did not like it, install Dolphin Browser.

I went into widgets and selected the htc clock and put a different variation on my home screen, it did not work either. I tried to find it on the Android market to reinstall it and its not listed there either.

Is there anything else I can try before I go to my Carrier?

I asked Verizon and they said it is because of an update. There are lots of complaints about the same issue and until another update is released there is nothing you can do, not even a factory restore.


How to force dark mode on Firefox for Android? I am looking for a way to force dark mode on Firefox for Android.
I tried using Dark mode add-on, but it doesn't work.
Is there another way?

Try Dark Background and Light Text add-on.
This is how it looks like using the mode (it's night time for me as I write). By toggling the Aa icon on the address bar, you can enable or disable it, select the global or select sites you want affected as also modify the default scheme


SH Script to Rename .apk.odex files I have written a script to utilize dexopt-wrapper to odex a folder of .apk's

#!/bin/sh

SYSAPP=/mnt/extSdCard/FilesToOdex/system/app/
SYSPRIVAPP=/mnt/extSdCard/FilesToOdex/system/priv-app/

for i1 in $SYSAPP*.apk ; do
        echo "Odexing $i1..."
        dexopt-wrapper $i1 $i1.odex
done

for i2 in $SYSPRIVAPP*.apk ; do
        echo "Odexing $i2..."
        dexopt-wrapper $i2 $i2.odex
done

for file1 in $SYSAPP*.apk.odex; do
    mv "$file1" "`basename $file1 .apk.odex`$file1.odex"
done
for file2 in $SYSPRIVAPP*.apk.odex; do
    mv "$file2" "`basename $file2 .apk.odex`$file2.odex"
done

The odexing part works, but as you can see it creates a bunch of .apk.odex files

So my question is:

How can I setup the odexing portion to not write the files out as *.apk.odex?
OR, How can I get the mv to properly rename the *.apk.odex files to be just *.odex files?

I tried:

for file1 in $SYSAPP*.apk.odex; do
    mv "${file1}" "${file1%.odex}"
done
for file2 in $SYSPRIVAPP*.apk.odex; do
    mv "${file2}" "${file2%.odex}"
done

but it turned all my .apk.odex files to .apk

That's rather a shell scripting question to be asked at Super User. Your answer can be found here: Extract filename and extension in bash:

for file1 in $SYSAPP*.apk.odex; do
    mv "${file1}" "${file1%.*}.odex"
done
for file2 in $SYSPRIVAPP*.apk.odex; do
    mv "${file2}" "${file2%.*}.odex"
done

should work on most shells, supposedly.

Update:

You can even omit half of your script by adapting this to your original statements: dexopt-wrapper $i1 ${i1%.*}.odex should create the file with the correct naming, so no need to rename it later. To make your script real short and handy:

#!/bin/sh
SYSAPP=/mnt/extSdCard/FilesToOdex/system/app/
SYSPRIVAPP=/mnt/extSdCard/FilesToOdex/system/priv-app/

for i1 in $SYSAPP*.apk $SYSPRIVAPP*.apk; do
    echo "Odexing $i1..."
    dexopt-wrapper $i1 ${i1%.*}.odex
done

That's all you should need :)


Should I install cm12 nightly builds incrementally? I installed CM12's nightly build two weeks ago on my phone. Since its a nightly build, my phone asks me everyday if I want to upgrade to the latest build.

Since it's been a couple of days since I last upgraded my phone, I'm wondering whether I should install every updates incrementally or directly install the latest one.

Are the updates listed on the software-update screen incremental ?

You can flash the latest build as each is a full-build rather than a patch. You do not need to install each one incrementally. You should also be able to change the type of build that the updater checks for from nightly to stable (and possibly some others in between)


How to charge a new Samsung Galaxy tab & what to expect I am now trying to charge my new Samsung Galaxy tab since morning and it keeps flashing on me.  No signs of it being charged.  I am unable to switch it on.  Please, for how long is it going to have to be charged before I can turn it on for my usage?

I realize that this is too late to help the OP, who apparently couldn't be bothered to follow up, but for future readers that might come across this in a search...

Samsung products are pretty picky about the chargers they will recognize, and there can be several problems using "known-good" chargers.

Most after-market chargers are designed for Apple devices, and will not quick charge most Android devices without a special cable or adapter. But even with this special charging adapter/cable, some chargers won't work for Samsung even though they might work for, say, LG (I have this scenario, so I know about it).

Also, most USB ports, and many chargers, cannot supply more than .5 amps, which is not enough for many phones or tablets.

So, the bottom line is to always keep the original charger and cable to test the device, and if you can, try to get a replacement before you need it, so you can compare it to the original to make sure it works.  Otherwise, if your original goes bad, and you get a replacement that doesn't work also, you'll never know where the problem lies.


How can I get my Chrome-synced bookmarks in an Android device? I'm using Google Chrome and syncing the bookmarks with the built-in feature. How can I get those bookmarks in my Android device?

Synchronizing bookmarks between the Android browser and your Chrome desktop browser is now a built-in feature of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0).


SMS/Phone validation of Whatsapp/Viber not working on Cyanogenmod 7.2 I am using a Samsung Galaxy S (I9000) and have been using Whatsapp before with Cyanogenmod 7.1. I've tried reinstalling many times via the market and by downloading the recent .apk from whatsapp website. I stil cant get the validation to work on both programs.

I'm assuming, that cyanogen is "blocking" these apps to send a SMS/Call request to their server, because there is never an answer.

Any Ideas?

This is a member of the Viber R&D Team!

Viber is compatible with CM7.

Please be more specific in regards to the error message and scenario.

If anyone has any questions/suggestions for Viber, please feel free to let us know, and we will address them shortly.
Thanks,
Viber Team


How to delete a Play store accpunt through system I have sold my old android mobile to a person and made sure that the mobile was completely formatted.

But, when I try to view the list of devices in Play Store it is listing both my new and old mobile phones.

Is it possible to remove this old phone from the list so that the other person doesn't use my account?

If you performed a /data wipe (factory reset) on your old phone, you have nothing to worry about; that person will not be able to "automatically" log onto your Google Account. Old phones will always show up on Play Store when you're looking from your PC.

You cannot remove the device from Play Store, but you can hide it from your Google Play Settings from a PC. Just untick Show in menus next to the device you want to hide.


How to disable flash messages from telecom carrier? I am having a Nokia 6.1 Plus running on Android 10.

I am facing this trouble while activating my bank on Google Pay. While the activation process, an SMS is sent. Then this flash message is shown regarding my SMS balance from the operator.

(Click to enlarge)

While this message is shown, the system gets out of context Google Pay. In return, Google Pay says this.

(Click to enlarge)

I am irritated by this, sending or receiving money is trouble.

These Class 0 messages are also called flash messages, that can be disabled by :

Calling Airtel service and requesting (personal experience)

On your device (SOURCE that lists methods for other  Indian carriers also)

Open SIM toolkit application and tap on Airtel Now! service. Now click on Start / Stop and select Stop to deactivate flash SMS completely.

In addition, you can also message STOP ANOW to 58234 to request the service deactivation.


Capturing internal Audio without loss Is there a way to capture the internal audio strean directly without loss?
I know there are numerous screen capturer (Mobizen etc), but I only need the audio, not my screen.

The only conceivable way I can think to achieve this would be the use of some kind of external USB DAC (digital-to-analogue converter), which involves routing the audio out through the USB C port

I've successfully done this using a cheap adapter-type "soundcard" (the 'Sabrent Aluminum USB External 3D Stereo Sound Adapter', bought on Amazon), which involved attaching it via a USB OTG cable to my phone and then connecting its headphone jack directly into its mic jack, using a male-to-male 3.5mm TRRS cable. I don't recall the software I used but it shouldn't be hard to find a good app.

I seem to recall the audio sounding decent enough but, as you stipulated without loss, digital audio will only ever sound as good as is allowed for by the processing of the digital signal by whatever DAC is used (along with the quality of the source, for example Tidal Hi-Fi streams are lossless/uncompressed flac files, whereas Spotify maxes out at MP3 320kbs), so another way which I believe is possible - I intend to try it myself at some point - would be through the use of dedicated HiFi separates.
Either a DAC/amp, Audioquest's Dragonfly range and Schiit's Fulla being good starting points if you're new to this sort of thing, or separate DAC and amp components paired, such as the "Schiit Stack" - their complementary and very fairly priced Modi DAC and Magni headphone amp/pre-amp.

For this to work (without using a PC, anyway), you'd have to connect a TRRS jack cable from the amp to your phone's headphone jack, which also acts as a mic and should - as far as I'm aware - be picked up by Android audio recording apps.
Of course if you own a PC that could make things a lot easier, just hook it up to your amp and record with something like Audacity.

Oh and if you go for the second, more expensive/higher fidelity option, I STRONGLY recommend the USB Audio Player Pro app. This allows you to bypass the phone's internal DAC, acting as something of an interface for/with your DAC by directly feeding it the raw audio data/signal.
It's an all-round great audio player and has many great features, especially support for Tidal (the audio stream playing through it rather than having to use the service's own dedicated app) and a few other streaming services

Hope this helps.


How to fix Facebook (Build 14...), download manager process on Samsung Galaxy S2 I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 Model Number (SGH-I727R), running Android 4.1.2.

The problem that I am encountering is that there is this Facebook (Build 14....) thing that is running in my drop down menu. Unfortunately, that is all I can read on it because the rest of the brackets are cut off. It looks like it is trying to download something. When I hold my finger over it to get info, it says Download Manager version 4.1.2, followed by a long model number.

I am not sure how to end this process or get it to finish whatever it is trying to do. I've tried restarting my phone, uninstalling Facebook and then re-installing it. The problem still persists.  Please help me. It's just really annoying to constantly see that downloading icon running all of the time, and nothing is happening.

Go to downloads, click on it and send it to trash. Worked for me.


Many problem on Mega 6.3 GT-i9205 after rooting After rooting my phone, (Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 GT-I9205), I can't turn my WiFi back on but the important part of it is that my device storage is totally empty. It causes some apps/games to force close because all the files are gone, however, my rooting succeed...

Look at this image, it shows that my memory suddenly becoming very low after rooting!

From the thread you linked to (highlighting my own):

  The root via vcore doesn't work any more. Please get it looked up. Lots of people online are getting this problem as they flash the root. Problems are all of the internal storage are gone, left with 8gb and all apps in storage wont work.

Which seems to be the issue you are having. This appears to be that this root method does not work with the newer, Knox enabled bootloaders.

This method is the new way to root the device.

Right now, your best bet is to go to SamMobile and get the stock ROM for your device, restore back to stock VIA Odin, and try re-rooting, once you confirm your WiFi is working and your internal storage is back to normal.

It's always worth reading into a thread on XDA before attempting anything, to get a feel for what issues people might be having, and if there are any work arounds. I always put a big "READ, READ, READ" in my advice for rooting, as it can (and indeed does) go wrong and is not a nice feeling. Restoring to stock appears to work, and is mentioned in the thread you provided. Good luck fixing it and we'll be here to help if you need it.


What is the difference between system memory and internal storage? I am using LG Optimus L3.

When I look into the app manager, there is a system memory of 157MB and an internal storage of 1GB. I can't install all the apps on internal storage. It's something like internal SD card.

Can I somehow extend the system memory and shrink internal storage?

"System Storage" is where the OS and the System Applications are installed. This could also be considered where the User application are installed (based on your question). User installed applications are installed in /data/apps, settings and app data is stored in /data/data, and then application cache data is stored in /cache. These are all part of the "System Storage".

Internal Storage is an area that is used like an sdcard. As far as the Android OS is concerned, it is an sdcard. Some applications may save data to it, but it is mainly used as direct storage for your stuff. Like pictures taken with the camera, music, ringtones, things like that.

You cannot just adjust the size of system memory. Is it technically possible, yes. But doing so could require you to have knowledge of linux tool, rooting, custom roms, recoveries, and even possibly having to compile your own linux kernel and ROM or other information that I am not thinking of at the moment. Which is well beyond the scope of this site.


Why is my device not utilizing all of its available RAM? I have a Nook Color with Cyanogenmod 7.2 (on mSD), and Nook Color is supposed to be 512MB of RAM (says so on product's page).

When I open Menu (on bottom bar, while on desktop) > Manage Applications > Running, it says on the bottom left 95MB used, and on the bottom right it says 174MB free. These are about 270MB, does that mean my RAM is corrupted? Why is it not utilizing all 512MB of RAM?

Although your device may have 512 MB of RAM in it, the settings almost always report the RAM that is available to user processes, not all of the physical RAM. This means that it won't report any memory that is being used by:

Android's system-level processes
Your GPU, which often uses shared memory
Any memory a cellular radio chip may need to function (irrelevant in your case)

Although this memory is not reported, it is being used by the system. Reporting it in a system monitor is simply not very relevant because the OS is going to basically keep it for itself forever (after all, the OS needs RAM to run properly, too). There is really no way that you can get this RAM "back" from the system, but you wouldn't want to anyway since your phone would basically stop functioning without it.


Samsung Galaxy S front camera Possible Duplicate:
  What can I do with my front facing camera?

I have followed the directions and instructions from other users on here but, i have no "self shot" option nor do i have the camera with the arrows on my Galaxy. Any suggestions?

Not all Galaxy S models have a front-facing camera.  Just (most?) GT-i9000's and Epic 4G's.  The Vibrant, Captivate, and Fascinate do not.


command to get current volume level Is there any adb command to know the current volume level of android device?

I find this somewhere:
sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db "select * from system where name like '%volume%';"

but it's throwing following error:
Error: unable to open database "/data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db": unable to open database file

Use command adb shell dumpsys audio. It will list all the volume related information. e.g for alarm volume look for STREAM_ALARM in output logs.

- STREAM_ALARM:
    Muted: false
    Min: 0
    Max: 7
    Current: 2 (speaker): 7, 40000000 (default): 6
    Devices: speaker


Why is the ART VM slower than the Dalvik VM, at sorting an array when the array size is 62000? Look at row 62 of this graph.

It is the time taken for a quick sort integer array, on a VM for android 4.4 (KitKat). How come that ART is faster except at an array size of 62000? In fact, it is significantly slower than Dalvik, as Dalvik takes 238 seconds, but ART takes 333 seconds. The result does not even fit the pattern of results, in rows 61 and 63. I could even say that its anomalous.
This is very strange. Why does this happen?

Most probably the test is inconsistent. Have you tried repeating the test at least 100 times to have pseudo-valid statistic results? And are you sure the emulator is a valid platform on where to test such low-level things? It may be optimised for the Dalvik VM.

Best guess is to try it on a real device, like the new Nexus 5 or waiting for the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 updates.


My phone is in an update boot loop I have an update for my Samsung Galaxy Exhibit.
I clicked on Update and it started updating my phone, but now it goes to the update screen, loads about 25% and then restarts my phone. It has been happening for a half hour now, what should I do?

Taking the battery out did not help, either.

Two options depending on the status of your phone.

If you are rooted and have a custom recovery (and backup), simply reboot into recovery and restore a backup of your original rom.
If you are not rooted, then you will need to download the original firmware file (try SAMMOBILE.COM) and then flash it using Odin - There are lots of tutorials on how to flash using Odin, so I won't go into detail. Once you have successfully done this, then re-download the updated firmware, as it sounds like your original download is corrupted.


How can I find a lost phone or help people return it? I'm looking for an app like Where's My Droid to help locate a lost device.

Ideally I'm hoping there is one that might have two specific features:

The ability to display a message to the screen to help people return it, like Windows Phone 7 will have, as illustrated here.
The ability to turn the GPS on remotely to aid in the physical location of the phone. I do not want to have to keep GPS on all the time, to avoid the battery drain.

Running on a non-rooted Galaxy S Captivate.

Try Prey for Android.

Some features:

To trigger it, you send an SMS with specific text (default: GO PREY)
Once triggered, starts recording its location to display on your Prey dashboard
If "missing" you can put text messages on the screen or cause a loud alarm to be played

Here's a recent review: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/10/28/prey-for-android-is-an-open-source-anti-theft-service/


Cyanogenmod 7 OpenVPN DNS not working I want to route all the internet traffic of my phone through my VPN.

I configured OpenVPN on my htc Desire with Cyanogenmod 7.2.0.1-bravo through the integrated VPN settings dialog.

When I activate the Redirect-Gateway option, DNS resolution (e.g. google.com) doesn't work anymore. So not like others where the resolution of there local hostnames doesn't work (that wouldn't be a problem for me). The device hast still a connection to the internet (through the VPN) but it can't resolve domain names anymore.

The nameservers look correctly configured (adb shell):

# cat /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 8.8.8.8
nameserver 8.8.4.4

I've also tested the OpenVPN Settings app but as soon as i add 'redirect-gateway' to the openvpn configuration file I get the same problem.

What could cause this problem?

I found now a solution myself:

First, cat /etc/resolv.conf isn't a valid way to display the used DNS servers under Android. Use getprop net.dns1 instead.

In my case the DNS server wasn't the Google server as set in /etc/resolv.conf, instead it was one of my ISP which accepts only requests from IPs in its network but my OpenVPN server is in another network.

To solve this issue i just modified /system/etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-hooks/20-dns.conf a bit:

# Set net.<iface>.dnsN properties that contain the
# DNS server addresses given by the DHCP server.

set_dns_props()
{
    case "${new_domain_name_servers}" in
    "")   return 0;;
    esac

    count=1
    for i in 1 2 3 4; do
        setprop dhcp.${interface}.dns${i} ""
    done

    count=1
    for dnsaddr in ${new_domain_name_servers}; do
        setprop dhcp.${interface}.dns${count} ${dnsaddr}
        count=$(($count + 1))
    done

    setprop net.dns1 8.8.8.8
    setprop net.dns2 8.8.4.4
}

case "${reason}" in
BOUND|INFORM|REBIND|REBOOT|RENEW|TIMEOUT)       set_dns_props;;
EXPIRE|FAIL|IPV4LL|RELEASE|STOP)                unset_dns_props;;
esac

That will force the phone to always use the Google DNS servers for all connections (e.g. 3G, WiFi, OpenVPN, ...).

I've tested that for a few weeks now and it works perfect.


HP Stream 7 originally runs Windows - Can it run Android viably? I have an HP Stream 7 that I'm not using here (since I've bought my Asus T100), and I was thinking about putting an Android to run, instead of the Windows OS. I know that is possible, but my question is: is it viable? Has someone already tested this using the same model? Does it have any problems with drivers, or something that Android does not recognize? If it works, I'll definitely give it a shot.

After a little bit of work, I was able to run an Android live version at the HP Stream 7. Unfortunately, it's a little bit buggy, mainly because there is no drivers available for the device. I will make some researches on, to see what I can find. Thanks for the answer


Unlock android pattern after changing Gmail Password My little brother had put a pattern lock on my old phone. I can't lose any data from that phone as It has many important contacts in it. so I'm not going for a factory reset. I had recently changed my password of my gmail account. Now I cannot access my phone through that gmail account. What can I do? The phone is Samsung Galaxy y with android 2.3.5.

On older Android devices, if you lock your phone using Google's find my device you'll be able to choose a new password, and you'll then be able to access your phone.

Go to android.com/devicemanager enter your email address and password. Now, press on lock. You will now see an option to put in a password to lock your phone with. After filling it out and pressing lock, You should be able to unlock your device with the password you chose.


Moto G4 Rooted stuck on TWRP recovery loop New to rooting androids so if you could help that'd be awesome.

Moto g4. Android 6

I unlocked my bootloader fine, and flashed TWRP.img and installed supersu

I had everything running fine but then I decided to try and get rid of the amazon bloatware with
rootjunky's tutorial (cant post links)

I ran:
fastboot flash oem oem.img

And my phone has been in a boot loop ever since.

I've tried clearing the contents in TWRP, going to boot "System", reinstalling supersu, pretty much everything I could find the last hour, no luck.
Everytime no matter what I do, my phone boots into TWRP.

Any help?

I don't know if it's still a problem, but on my Moto G5 I have a similar problem, but booting into the bootloader and selecting start seems like the only thing that is able to boot the device.

Start will automatically be selected. If not, use the volume buttons to select it. After selecting it press the power button

No answer yet, but it could be useful in the future.
TWRP saying no OS is installed


Remove default action? When I try and add a picture to an SMS it only lets me choose a picture from my dropbox. I accidentally hit to make it use dropbox all the time - how can I change it back?

Go to Settings->Applications->Dropbox->Clear Defaults.

You can then choose an app to pick a picture again.


Nexus 5 doesn't connect to PC anymore I'm new to this community so I hope there are no problems with my question. Also, sorry for my English.

So, until yesteday I've been using my Nexus 5 for debug porpuse, but this morning my PC didn't recognize the device when I plugged it to the USB port, though it was still charging.

Before that my phone was correctly recognized (it was listed with adb devices and also appeared in Eclipse)

I'm on Windows 8.1 (Android version 5.1.1 on device) and the most curious thing is that the Nexus doesn't even appear into Device Manager. Here is a list of things I've tried to solve the problem.

Restarting phone and PC several times
Uninstalled drivers from Device Manager and plugged the device right after, but nothing happened.
Tried several USB cables, on different USB ports
Tried MTP mode, PTP mode, with USB debugging both enabled and disabled
Tried to start Windows with Digital Signs disabled
Tried to connect the phone to a friend's PC and it got recognized
Tried to revoke USB debugging authorizations
Tried to adb kill-server; adb start-server

I really don't know what to do now, I'd really appreciate it if you'd help me, I need my PC to recognize my phone for my thesis work.

Thank you

You should go through the driver update process as outlined in Nexus Root Toolkit. I've gotten into this DLL-hell-type thing on my Windows 8.1 box before with multiple USB drivers for multiple devices.  Following the NRT functions explicitly, fixed it for me.