Relay SMS to a normal computer Is anyone aware of a way to relay SMS messages back and forth to a PC/laptop?  As in, so you could deal with texting on the computer and leave the phone sitting around wherever on the same LAN.  Any target OS is fine.

I've searched myself for this but it turns out "SMS relay" refers to something slightly different.

Android has no such native feature – but there are plenty of apps dealing with exactly this, see my collection to Send SMS remotely. The most famous candidates from that list are probably Pushbullet and MightyText.

If you want more, there are even apps to (almost) completely remote-control your Droid, see Manage your Android Device from your Computer. From this category, Airdroid is one of the favorites.


How to prevent Galaxy S4 from connecting as "Connected as Installer" instead of "Connected as Media Device"? I have my Verizon Wireless Samsung Galaxy S4's developer options enabled with USB debugging turned on. Whenever I connect it to my machine, it displays "Connected as Installer" in the notification window. However, after about thirty seconds, it switches to "Connected as Media Device" without me having done anything. This behavior is seen no matter which operating system I connect to (tested in OSX and Windows with appropriate drivers installed). I would like it to connect as a media device by default.

Does anyone know how to permanently keep the phone in "Connected as Media Device" mode?

After connecting via USB and receive the message "connecting as installer" on your phone's screen, make sure you're phone isn't on the lock-screen and swipe down from the top (or at least on my Verizon device) you can access "USB PC connection" settings under the "ongoing" tab.  Check one of two options, MTP or PTP. This would be the same pull-down where you would quickly alter various settings, view downloads and be able to link to recent notifications. This will effectively switch out of installer mode so that you can access your phone's directory and that of any sub sequential micro SD card. Hope this helps.


Problem with a sdcard under Android 7.1.2 three partitions can not be mounted / used Happy New Year!
there is a problem with my sdcard under Android 7.1.2 (Custom Rom) (root=true, adb=possible).
The vFat Partition can be used, but the rest is not mounted and can not be used.
mmcblk1p1 vfat 183 GB Status : OK
mmcblk1p2 ext4 16 MB android meta Status: not mounted
mmcblk1p3 ext4 64 GB Status: not mounted (primary) (want to use that partition as adoptable Partition for extra internal memory)
mmcblk1p4 ext4 2 GB Status: not mounted (primary) (want to use that partition as SWAP Partition for extra RAM)
Trying to mount the Partition3 (64 GB) gives the error

mount: mounting /dev/block/mmcblk1p3 on /data/sdwyt2 failed: Invalid argument

Other similar error messages may also occur.
Any help welcome !

Found the answer to my question myself here:
Solution: On devices running Android 7.0-8.1, file-based encryption (FBE) can't be used together with adoptable storage.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/60173545/why-i-got-this-error-please-adoptable-storage-not-available-on-device-with-nat


Huawei Honor 6X Emui 5.0 Android 7.0. Not Core GMS package problem I live in the UK. I got a Chinese phone where I can not run Google apps. Having to install a Core GMS package in order to do this?

Huawei Honor 6X Emui 5.0 Android 7.0.

Is there anyone who has useful information about how to do this?
Was ages searching in forums and nothing worked.

Thanks everyone

Did you try to install Google Play store apk from apkmirror?
Before install it you have to install

Google service framework 7.1.2,
google account manager 7.1.2,
Google Contacts Sync 7.1.2,
google play services 11.7.45 (430-174122868).

Find them on APKMirror, choose version that i recommended above for arm android 7.0.

Google Play store needs 4 apps above to work normally.


Remove analog clock from home screen So I've just got a Nexus 4 (hooray for me!) and I don't know how I did it, but I've somehow got an analog clock perched over my Google search bar. I don't want it there.

It doesn't appear to be a widget - I can't just hold and drag it and remove it, and it's constant across each page.

How do I remove it / how did I put it there??

(Click image to enlarge)

Go to settings-->apps-->clear data& cache of launcher(I think it is  trebuchet ).


What does the circle with dots mean? I have this circle with dots that showing up on my apps. Where did it come from and how do I get rid of it?

I've attached some screenshots:

It sort of floats on top of it. I can move it around but it doesn't seem to respond to anything.

Disclaimer: I wrote the app shown but I don't know where this came from and I don't see it on other apps.

It's either Floating Toolbox (Floating Launcher)  which is a shortcut application or the Samsung Galaxy S5/S6 Toolbox. These
Floating Toolbox apps gives you access to your apps from anywhere by pressing the Floating button.

Here is a link to the Floating toolbox app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.toolbox.shortcuts

You should be able to disable / uninstall them from settings -> application manager.


Uninstall apps installed from their APK I'm developing a game from Unity for Android, I created the first version, uploaded the APK to the phone, tap it, installed, nice.

Now I have a new build, if I do the same, it won't install because the app is already installed.

How do I completely remove the app? If I long press and drop into the bin, it does nothing. The app does not appear under "My Apps" in Google Play Store.

Using Android 4.1.2 and Samsung Galaxy S2.

It won't be shown in Google Play Store because you have not uploaded it to the store. To uninstall the app go to

Settings -> Apps -> find your app -> Uninstall


Apps I never installed appear in web store under "Other apps in my library" TL;DR version--do you have apps in your Google Play "Other apps in my library" that you know you've never installed?

In my Google Play account, under the section labeled "Other apps in my library", I'm shown 240 apps that I've installed, alphabetically sorted from A-Z. I test a lot of apps for work and I've had this account since Day 1 with my ADP1(G1), so this list only makes it to the G's before it's full.

When I activated my Nexus 7 this week, I went into this list to start installing some of my favorite apps and I noticed a bunch of apps that I know I never installed. I know, you're thinking "how do you know, you say you install a bunch of apps".  Well, I know I would never install some of these, even if it were part of my job.  Not porn or anything, just not my style. For example, the controller for a nabaztag. I don't own one, so I've never needed the app. Out of those 240 listings, I can count at least 15 that I've not deliberately installed.

Partial listing here: http://twitpic.com/a9sw74 (900x4000px PNG)

So, immediate panic that someone compromised my Play account, but the question became, "why would they install a bunch of stupid apps that didn't cost anything when they could install apps that have monetary impact". I let my son and daughter mess with my phone or tablet in the restaurant, but they know not to install apps and none of those apps would appeal to a 14 or 9 year old.  Regardless, I changed my password and revoked every device except the 3 I'm currently using.

I went into the "My Account" listing of all my purchases, which also includes free apps. Not one of these 15 apps that I've found show up in that list.  Which makes me wonder if this is a glitch in Google Play as opposed to someone accessing my account incorrectly.  Has anyone else experienced strangeness in this list?

I just had a look and found several apps that I'd never installed because they were pre-installed on one of my devices. I think that these may be apps that came with one device or another, but that you never noticed or made use of. In my 'other apps', I can see several pre-installed apps that I've disabled on my Acer Tablet. I suspect you're seeing the same thing, but that you paid even less attention to the pre-installed stuff than I did.


How to find and remove malware from some chinese smartphones? I am planning to buy a chinese smartphone. However, I've read that some come with extensive spyware straight from the factory.

Will I be able to detect such malware (Android.Trojan.Uupay.D and the likes) using any (free) android antivirus ?
Is it really impossible to remove them (GData says so) ?

Will I be able to detect such malware (Android.Trojan.Uupay.D and the
  likes) using any (free) android antivirus ?

No, if it was detectable by a free or even paid antivirus, the company wont ship the device with the malware, as it will bring down sales drastically. They have a reputation to maintain!

  Is it really impossible to remove them (GData says so) ?

No.

If you want to be 100% sure that the device is clean, then you must remove the OS that came with it and flash a trusted(opensource) ROM like official CyanogenMod. So before buying the phone, check if you can get one. Here is a list of devices that support CyanogenMod.

If a official cyanogen or other ROMs are not available and you still want to buy the same device, an impractical advice to the average user would be to port/compile CyanogenMod or AOSP from source.


Can't mount first-gen Kindle Fire in TWRP I have a rooted Kindle Fire running TWRP that I let my kids use. Last week the battery ran low and it shut off, but my three-year-old son somehow booted it into TWRP and wiped the device. Now the Fire hangs at the Kindle logo during boot.

TWRP still works, and I've attempted to mount /sdcard in order to upload cyanogenmod. Strangely, the Kindle is not talking to my Ubuntu PC: when I plug it in, lsusb reports no additional devices and dmesg reports that the device is disconnecting almost immediately:

[450654.465431] usb 1-4.7.2: >new high-speed USB device number 14 using ehci_hcd
[450654.558614] usb 1-4.7.2: >New USB device found, idVendor=18d1, idProduct=0100
[450654.558622] usb 1-4.7.2: >New USB device strings: Mfr=5, Product=1, SerialNumber=2
[450654.558627] usb 1-4.7.2: >Product: kindle
[450654.558631] usb 1-4.7.2: >Manufacturer: Amazon
[450654.558634] usb 1-4.7.2: >SerialNumber: 0123456789ABCDEF
[450657.586116] usb 1-4.7.2: >USB disconnect, device number 14

I'm at a loss for how to diagnose this further. The fk/FireKit tools can access the device but only while it's booting up, and despite using fk to reflash TWRP I have noticed no improvement.

Edit: As my answer indicates, I solved the problem by unbricking the Kindle with a different computer. This shouldn't have helped. I'm still very open to any answer that helps to identify the real issue.

Ultimately I plugged the Kindle into my Macbook instead of my Ubuntu machine, and it mounted it just fine. No idea what the issue is with my desktop - all other devices on the hub work fine, switching ports changed nothing, etc etc.

If your device won't mount, try it with a different computer. For some reason.


Auto block contact but unblock it after a couple days Is there any way to automatically block a contact after a received call and unblock it again after a given time?

The problem I have is that my mother just can't leave me alone for more than a day. I tried to talk to her about this countless times but she just ignores me and keeps calling. So the idea is to block calls from her automatically after a received call for 2 days and then unblock it again.

Try Root Call Blocker, but your phone has to be rooted. Root Call Blocker has many options you can set (im not sure if timing of auto block and auto-unblock is available though). Even while the person is calling, there is a swipe button right next to the swipe green button, and you can end the call and block the person then and there.

If your phone is not rooted, then you can use AFirewall

This is also feature rich with options, check to see if there are any auto-block and unblock timers.


How can I add non numeric sms senders to my contacts (for custom alerts) I get on call alerts via text messages from a non-numeric number, is there any way to add this as contact so I can set an individual alert tone for it?

Copying and pasting wont' work due to numeric validation and no direct "add to contacts" option exists in messaging

ADB should accept non-numeric contacts.

Download Terminal Emulator from Play Store, or hook up your phone to a computer with ADB drivers installed and USB debugging turned on.

Then enter:

$ am start -a android.intent.action.INSERT -t vnd.android.cursor.dir/contact -e name 'John Doe' -e phone 956-0987 <-- Replace with non-numeric

And/or:

$ am start -a android.intent.action.ACTION_INSERT -t ContactsContract.Contacts.CONTENT_TYPE -e ContactsContract.Intents.Insert.NAME John ContactsContract.Intents.Insert.PHONE 956-0987 <-- Replace

Both will still open up a "New Contact" window, but the information will be pre-entered.

If your Contacts app will not accept the data, you can actually solve your original problem using Tasker, a phone automation app, and setting up a profile Event -> Phone -> Received Text and playing whatever system ringtone, or personal ones saved in /sdcard/Ringtones by using Action -> Media -> Play Ringtone. Here's a screenshot of Tasker's UI:

Hope this helps!


Error 28 when sending SMS to short numbers I am using Android 6.0 and when I try to send SMS (via Hangouts or Messenger) to a 4-digit number, I get a confirmation pop-up and then an error saying

  Can't send message with SIM_NAME, error 28

I've tried to clear cache. Messages to regular numbers can be sent without any problems.

Why, and how to fix it?

There's a possibility that the short number/code hasn't been registered by the operator.

There are 2 similar cases happen with different operator:

Sky Mobile

  Why won't my phone allow me to send an SMS to a 5 digit number? It keeps telling me error 28 try again. I only activated my SIM card on Saturday.

  Not all, if any, short codes are supported on Sky Mobile I’m afraid

ID mobile

  I enter a few text competitions a month that use short codes, usually ITV competitions or the Gadget Show. However the new Gadget Show competition that uses short code 65555 will not send and I simply get a popup error of: Cannot send message with id - error 28

  Everything else works, phone, internet, texting. I even entered another competition that uses a short code beginning 6 and that works fine. I still have loads of unused credit before I reach my cap.

  Gadget show comp has changed the SMS number this series and I read somewhere that short codes have to be manually registered with the network providers to work, so maybe ID have not enabled 65555 yet??

  Hi all, we've got the problem sorted that was preventing you sending a message to 65555.

If that's the case, then there's really nothing that can be done from the user's side except by letting their operator know and request to allow/register the short numbers. Otherwise, switching to a different operator is the last alternative.


What does Android 2.2.1 bring? Compared to 2.2, what does 2.2.1 bring that's new please?

Thank you.

I'm not aware of an official changelog anywhere, but you can look at the commit log on the git repository here. Anything between the 2.2_r1.3 tag and the 2.2.1_r1 tag was a change added in 2.2.1.

The summary: it's basically just bugfixes, hence why it's a smaller increment (as opposed to 2.2->2.3, for example).

Note: If you're getting a 2.2.1 update from a carrier then they may have added other changes to their own software, so the above applies to the Android OS itself and not any additional components.


Netflix-Xyboard error: "Sorry we could not reach the Netflix service. (1009)" Rest of the error message: "Please try again later.  If the problems persists(sic) please visit the Netflix website."

I successfully used Netflix streaming video for over a week on my new Xyboard 8.2.  Suddenly, in the middle of a show, it started giving this error (and stopped streaming).

I tried other shows and different connections (WiFi and 3G).  I uninstalled and re-installed the updates to the factory version several times.  Rebooted several times.  Called Netflix, who said I should contact Motorola and re-install from scratch.  Rooted the Xyboard instead and installed from scratch. No change.

Netflix doesn't even think Xyboard is a supported device, although Motorola advertises it for the Xyboard.  The tech said they haven't gotten a rash of calls about this error.

All but the "1009" in the error messages seems to have occurred many a time on other devices with lots of weird resolutions that don't seem applicable and the few I've tried.

Any additional suggestions?

This was the coolest feature I found on the xyboard.

I think it's Motorola fault and I've found temporary workaround for me (Motorola Xoom 2 / Android Honeycomb 3.2).
Unfortunately only device factory reset is working. Before I had tried clear cache and data, uninstall Netflix app - nothing is working. Only factory reset.


Why has my Android phone stop updating calendars, mail etc? As question says above. It used to update every few minutes, but recently I've had to manually refresh each of the applications to get it to run

Thank you

Go to Settings -> Accounts and sync:

Ensure Auto-sync is checked.
Check the relevant accounts to see if sync is enabled for them (click the account and see what's checked off).


Internal Storage size is less than I have the Micromax Canvas A1 AQ4501 device. On various pages, as as this one, it's internal memory is listed as 4GB.

But, when I go to Settings -> Storage, under Internal Storage it says total space is 2.27 GB. The app Hardware Info also lists a similar amount: 2322 MB.

Where is the rest of my storage? :O

(Is it that the rest of the storage is taken up by OS etc, duh?)

The shown free space is without the size of the whole Android system. Your internal storage has a total amount of 4GB (Sometimes there is less because the manufacturer defines 1GB as 1 billion bytes). And the Android System and preinstalled apps are also using space.


List body sensors available on Android devices How can I list body sensors available on Android devices?

ADB can be your friend here:

adb shell dumpsys sensorservice

will provide you with a list of all your devices sensors plus details on them. In the following example, I've just captured a list of their names (better readability) using my Linux machine with my Wileyfox Swift connected:

$ adb shell dumpsys sensorservice |egrep -B99999 "^halVersion" |awk -F '|' '{print $1}' |grep -v -e '^[[:space:]]*$'
Sensor List:
liteon-light
liteon-proximity
BOSCH Acceleration Sensor
BOSCH Gyroscope Sensor
BOSCH Magnetic Field Sensor
BOSCH Orientation Sensor
BOSCH Gravity Sensor
BOSCH Linear Acceleration Sensor
BOSCH Rotation Vector Sensor
BOSCH Game Rotation Vector Sensor
BOSCH Gyroscope Uncalibrated Sensor
BOSCH Magnetic Field Uncalibrated Sensor
BOSCH Geomagnetic Rotation Vector Sensor
Rotation Vector Sensor
Gravity Sensor
Linear Acceleration Sensor
Orientation Sensor
Corrected Gyroscope Sensor
Gyroscope Bias (debug)
9-axis fusion disabled (0 clients), gyro-rate= 200.00Hz, q=< 0, 0, 0, 0 > (0), b=< 0, 0, 0 >
halVersion 16973825

Distinguishing the sensor types is a different issue and IMHO not covered that easily. But knowing what sensors are there altogether, you can tell them apart yourself.

Self-promotion: My tool Adebar includes those in the device documentation it generates.


How can I block an outgoing call to a specific number? I have a mentally ill relative who keeps calling a premium-rate telephone number. I want to block her ability to call this specific number because she is able to rack up a very high bill in a matter of hours.

1) Right now she has a feature phone (dumbphone) where as far as I found out it is not possible to block a specific outgoing number, nor do the phone carriers in my country offer the ability to block the calling of premium numbers (or the calling of one specific number).

2) My second option is to buy a cheap smartphone and somehow block this one premium number there. It would be best if I could block the number directly in the phone settings (parental controls or something similar?) and lock the setting with a password.
Second best option would be to install an app that can again block a specific outgoing number and lock the setting behind a password.

The relative would not be able to root the phone or do anything similarly technical to circumvent the limitation.

3) My third option is to take the phone away from her altogether, but she uses it to stay in contact with other people, so this is a bad solution (albeit one I must reach for in case the other ones fail).

What solution would you recommend to block a specific outgoing phone number? Does some version of Android have parental controls with a block of outgoing calls? Or is there a good app for it?

Thank you.

On Xiaomi phones running MIUI (their Android port) you can restrict calling to a list of fixed dialing numbers or to numbers with certain prefixes. Similar options may be available in other Android phones as well, be sure to check before you buy a phone.

In MIUI 9:

open the phone app
select menu ('hamburger' icon on bottom left)
select settings
scroll down and select 'Advanced settings'
select 'Fixed Dialing Numbers'

Otherwise, Android apps for parental control should provide that functionality.


What does Hot Boot mean? In Miui ROMs, there are four options for rebooting a phone from the power menu:

What does "Hot Boot" mean, technically speaking? Are there any circumstances where a hot boot could cause harm? Are there any reasons for choosing to hot boot at all?

If it works like other "hot boot" apps and functions, then it basically restarts the Android GUI processes/threads. There was an XDA news post a while back after someone made an app for it where the app author described it as such:

  Hot reboot by rebooting only the graphical Android shell.

From what I know it's sort of equivalent to restarting your X server in a Linux environment (like hitting CTRL + ALT + BACKSPACE, for example). I would definitely doubt that you'd cause any damage by restarting your graphical environment, especially considering other OSes do this pretty easily, but I suppose there's an outside chance if MIUI implements it strangely.

Typically the reason people use a "hot boot" option is if the UI has somehow gotten sluggish and would benefit from a restart but they want to save time by not restarting the whole system (maybe a memory leak in the UI or something of that sort). It could also be useful if you need to restart the UI to apply some sort of change, like a theme perhaps.


A swipe on status bar opens on quick setting instead of notifcation panel In short: any idea how to set a swipe on the status bar to open the notification panel, not the quick settings one? (It was the default setting before I installed/uninstalled an app)

The whole story:
Samsung Galaxy SIII 4G GT-i9305, Android 4.4.4, rooted
Nova launcher

Xposed messed up my settings. Before I intalled this app the notification panel, was fine, it opened the notification panel by default (not the quick setting one). So I had this panel:

Now when I open the notification panel, it opens on the quick setting panel so I have to click on the lines icon (top right) to get back to the notification panel.

This is annoying. I did restart, pull the battery, restart, pull the battery, but the change made by Xposed remains: my notification panel open on the quick setting panel. See here:

I'm not looking for an app, but the right file I should edit to get back the settings I had before installing stickmount. Any idea what files could have been edited, could keep this setting modification even after uninstalling the app?

Thanks for your help!

EDIT: in Safe Mode, the problem is solved because the Xposed update is removed

Maybe it's some TouchWiz bug and if you can't figure out what's wrong, you could use a third party app called Color Status Bar.
It has some themes built-in for notification panels.
Or you could also have a look at some modded TouchWiz-like notification app in this XDA thread

EDIT:
If the issue is solved in Safe mode, then its evidence that downloaded app caused the phone to behave that way.
Safemode allows you to boot up your device with only the core pre-loaded applications running, meaning any apps you’ve downloaded won’t be running.
Copy the build.prop to external sdcard when in safemode and compare it with the build.prop when the issue occured. That will give some insight on  why it might've occured.
Restore that build.prop, if the issue is still not solved in Normal mode.


How to use lsof, netstat and ps commands with complete options on Android? I tried T-ui and although it has the lsof command, it cannot do lsof -i for example, so I need to go through every single process in Android. My phone is rooted and I wanna know the PID of the process listening to a specific port. Thanks!

EDIT:
Oh yeah, netstat command also don't allow any option, so if you guys know some terminal with the complete netstat command that would do it.

Standard lsof source code has some differences with Android implementation. Android's own /system/bin/lsof or /vendor/bin/lsof (both provided by toybox) work perfectly, but with somewhat limited options.

However, to view listening ports, you have multiple options:

netstat static binary compiled from standard source
Netstat Plus app
Netstat applet shipped with busybox (app or any standalone busybox) or the one that comes bundled with Android (at least on Android Pie, not sure about older versions); /system/bin/netstat or /vendor/bin/netstat (both provided by toybox) also offer enough options
ss command; the Android one (standalone binary shipped at least with Pie) i.e. /system/bin/ss or static binary

To view processes:

ps static binary compiled from standard source
ps applet that comes bundled with Android; /system/bin/ps or /vendor/bin/ps (both provided by toybox) also offer enough options
ps provided by Termux (procps-ng package) is a complete Linux ps


Chinese in the quick settings Flyme 8.0.0.0A Stable (SystemUI.apk) I translated the firmware Flyme 8.0.0.0A Stable (RU & UA) for Meizu Note 9 and Meizu 8X, but I can’t kill the Chinese in the quick settings: The fact is that China’s events are taking place there - the usual date, for example, if you translate from Chinese “己亥 年 十月 廿六” - “October 26.” Who can help remove this problem from the quick settings? Or at least tell me where to look in SystemUI.apk, I suspect that somewhere in the smali code. Thanks.

I think that you are doing the similar stuff as I do.
I have Meizu 16Xs (Same CPU as Note 9) and I'm trying to mod actually the: Flyme 8.20.1.7 beta (chinese firmware)- which is by the way IMHO more stable, at least for my device, than 8.0.0.0A.
What I found out, is, that you can in some way partially "convert" the "Chinese" version of firmware to the "Global" by changing the single parameter in /system/build.prop file.

This is the original setting:
ro.product.locale=zh-CN

Try to change it to:
ro.product.locale=en-US

After restarting your device, this will give you "Global look", which means:

In the quick settings on the top-right, there won't be "notification setting" icon anymore, but will be changed to "cog-wheel" -> which means it's link to the "Settings"
In top left (where you are now seeing the chinese characters), you will see network carrier info and current date
You will be able to change the "Region" from the Settings->Language and Time
This also unfortunatelly will disable some options of the chinese rom, which means:

no Dark(night) mode (doesn't work even if found by app "quickshortcut maker" and tried to turn it on)
No advanced notification settings available (you won't be able to set priority of notifications anymore)
no Driving mode
Aicy link will dissappear from the settings menu (this I don't know why, will stay dissappeared also after changing the setting back to the "zh-CN", and will remain like this until you do the "factory reset", but other mentioned stuff will return back after changing to "zh-CN"...)
Digital health link won't work
chinese theme app won't work (can be partially solved by using the CustomizeCenter.apk from the Global firmware, but there will be only wallpapers loaded then, no themes) as I found out, that theme app's functionality relies on the setting "zh-CN" or "en-US".
you won't be able to change the lock screen wallpaper by swiping to the right on the lockscreen anymore
And I think there are also some other things but I won't be listing everything

For the above mentioned reasons I'm rather staying with the option "zh-CN" (as I would like to use these options, which are disabled in the "Global" rom) and I'm trying to ignore the above mentioned chinese characters in the quick settings.

But what I can tell you (hopefully might help), I found out what these characters actually probably are:
It's probably the chinese "Lunar Calendar", because, when you go to the settings-> Notification & status bar, there is an option "Lockscreen Lunar Calendar" which you can enable and disable.
When you enable it, the same chinese characters which are shown in the quick settings will be shown on the lock screen.

However, I would like to ask you if you can help me:

Which apktool or tool to compile / decompile the APKs are you using for modding Flyme roms? I tried to decompile and compile the Settings.apk, but all the times without success, there is still some "Failed resolving ResTable_map" error during compiling, and after pushing the modded apk to the device, the settings application won't start. I was reading somewhere on the net, that there is needed some special apktool designed for Xiaomi and some Flyme roms, but I didn't found it. And of course I tried with the different apktool.jar versions - 2.3.4 / 2.4.1 and so...)
Which Flyme framework apks are you using?
I used only "flyme-res.apk" and "framework-res.apk" from the /system/framework folder in the device

Can you please let me know?
Thanks.
@boinare


How to securely root g2 phone (AT&T LGE LG-D800)? I've been looking to root my phone, only all methods require installing binaries from little-known (by me) sites with no Web of Trust rating. I feel hesitant to do that.

Here are some rooting links I found for my phone:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2448887
http://theunlockr.com/2013/10/25/root-lg-g2-versions-video/
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_d800
requires ioroot: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48709232&postcount=869

The latter one refers to Kingo Android Root (its Web of Trust says XDA does not recommend it until it goes open source due to some suspicious activities such as sending IMEI to the server)

Which of them are safer than others?

Also, there was a manual way to root via ADB, or if there was source code, or if there was a reputable trustworthy site to download from, I'd be feeling much more secure.

I am a Java developer, new to Android development, but it' something I want to learn, so programmatic solutions welcome.

I used towelroot to root my phone when I was still on a stock ROM. It worked well. There are many other alternatives available as well. I've had no problems with it, and it seems to be what I would consider to be the "safest" as it was designed by geohot, and I've used many of his products in the past.


My Samsung J5 fell and the touchscreen, as well as the LED-screen are completely broken. Hwo can I make a backup? As the title says, the screen is completely broken. Apart from a few pixels lighting up when I turn it on. How can I make a backup without enabling USB-Debugging and unlocking the screen?

That sounds like a difficult issue. You can have the screen repaired at your expense unless its under warranty. You could try booting into recovery and using reference images and luck to do back up while you can't see it.


Contacts, asking to Block or add to contacts I recently lost my phone and reloaded WhatsApp on my new phone. Now, every time when I receive a message from a contact, it asks whether it should block or add to contacts. This does not happen when I send messages to my contacts.

If Android Version Marshmallow or above, you have to give permission.

Go to Settings
Apps
Whatsapp
Tap on Permissions
On Contacts permission and check.


How can I safely test custom ROMs on an obscure device? I have a ZTE Blade A1 with pre-installed malware. I'm only able to identify and remove some of it. So, I want to delete everything on the phone and install a custom ROM. Unfortunately, I cannot find any ROMs which explicitly support the ZTE Blade A1.

I've decided to try putting CyanogenMod on the device (or possibly something else), as it does support older versions of the ZTE Blade. My plan is as follows:

Create a backup of the existing ROM using ROM Manager
Run the device in recovery mode (using the default Android system recovery - CWM or TWRP do not explicitly support the Blade A1, so I won't risk using them)
Use the fastboot commands fastboot -w and fastboot update rom.zip to install the custom ROM
Restart the phone, and if it has stopped working, repeat steps 2 - 3 using the backed-up ROM from step 1

I've read up on using custom ROMs, but have found a lot of conflicting information. So, my question is: Will this replace the pre-installed OS with a custom ROM? Is there a risk the phone won't be restored to its original state?

Update: I haven't been able to confirm whether the phone can be irreversibly bricked by installing a custom ROM. However, if anyone comes across this question wanting to remove malware from the ZTE Blade A1, I have posted a solution here.

To answer your question installing a new custom rom will erase the phone and yes their is a custom rom available and working here is the link Downloaded this rom http://forum.flymeos.com/thread-6638-1-1.html to root of sd card.I installed and works great any question on installing just ask


encrypt wifi on Android? CM Security app on my galaxy 5 has an alert telling me my phone is RISKY, the wifi is not encrypted. How do I encrypt the wifi on my phone? I haven't tried anything because I do not know what to do.

It's telling you that the wifi network you are connected to is not encrypted, not your phone.  Most open hotspots are not encrypted, it's just warning you of that fact.  If you are on your home personal wifi, research how to enable WPA2 on your router.


Connect to a FTP server using IPv6? Currently my device is running on Android 4.1.1 (JB). I have a FTP server with IPv6 address and connecting to it on my computer is just fine.

However when I try to connect to this server on my Android device (using AndFTP and Total Commander), the result is always "Network unreachable"

AFAIK, IPv6 support has been added to Android 4.0 or ICS. But I still don't know what's wrong with my device.

Can anybody tell me how can I fix it, or is there any way to track the problem?

ICS has IPv6 support, but only on mobile data networks; it's somewhere between buggy and nonfunctional on Wi-Fi.

Issue 3389 lists a wide variety of Android IPv6 bugs. Your issue is probably among them.

I've been using IPv6 successfully on my Verizon Droid RAZR MAXX since I got it almost a year ago, on ICS. Works great on 4G LTE. No idea what Jelly Bean does on Wi-Fi since I haven't gotten around to redoing my home network to bring IPv6 into every subnet yet...when I do, I'll be sure to update this.


Galaxy A3 2016 bluetooth problem.Devices are visible but won't pair I have a Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 Android Version 7.0 .

Pairing with other devices was working just fine until the last couple of months .

Lately my device can discover other devices , but pairing is not working with any device .

I tried to pair it with my laptop, beats and a LED bulb but it's not working .

Any ideas ?

It may not work but I just rebooted the phone then paired again and it worked !  Mike


Cyanogen and Google Play compatibility I already read, how to install Google Play on Cyanogen. But then what? Do the apps from Play store install seamlessly, like on "standard" Android?

Some apps require minimum version of Android. Google Play "tells" me, if certain app is compatible with my device. If eg. app requires Android 4.4, does it mean, that it will or will not work on Cyanogen?

The guide is only to install Google Play and other related and necessary Google Apps. The installation is such due to licensing issues which prevent CyanogenMode from packaging it in the ROM directly.

Once you go through the install of Google Apps, you can use Google Play same way as on any other Android device.

Regarding versions, every CyanogenMod version is based on particular version of Android, e.g.:

CyanogenMod 11 is based on Android 4.4 KitKat
CyanogenMod 10.2 is based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
CyanogenMod 10.1 is based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
etc.

The play store will treat CyanogenMod versions as Android of appropriate version, so you will have no problems regarding that.


Why can't I connect my bluetooth speaker to my android tablet? I have an android tablet without bluetooth enabled ability. I also have an Ematic 8 in 1 bluetooth enabled speaker. I've tried several times to connect the speaker to the tablet using the audio 3.5 to 3.5 cable, but to no avail. It will not play the music. The music starts and plays, but no sound comes out. Can my device play through the speaker? And are all portable speakers bluetooth enabled? Thank you for any help you can give and I will await your response.

Most Bluetooth speakers (not all) have a 3.5mm jack for the sole purpose of audio out, not audio in. Because of this, audio can not be sent to the Bluetooth speaker via auxiliary cable to be played, because the speaker's sole purpose is to output audio over a Bluetooth connection or through headphones in the speaker's 3.5mm jack.

My suggestion is to gain access to a device with Bluetooth and connect to the speaker to play music. Once this is done, connect headphones to the 3.5mm jack in  the speaker and see if the sound is played through the headphones, as opposed to sound coming directly from the speaker. If sound does play through the headphones, then you've found your solution.


Partitioning SD card on Android phone I have a 32GB SD card which I want to have it partitioned.

I'm having the hardest time finding any apps that work or any tutorials.

Can anyone please help me out with this?

Are you rooted? There is no way to edit partitioning directly from the device without root, once you have root privileges, there are several apps which allow for the card to partitioned, such as AParted or Parted4Android.

If you have custom recovery, such as TWRP or CWM, some of those builds have SD card partitioning built in.

Remember that Android will only mount one SD card partition by default, with root you can manually mount a second partition.


Sideload a downgrade I side loaded 7.1.1 from 6.0, on my 2014 Nexus 6. I would like to downgrade to 7.0 (because of issues such as speakerphone echo). Can this be done via side loading?

I was able to do this flawlessly with the Nexus Root Toolkit. I'm unsure how to do it on a Mac, though.


Xoom 2 ME speakers stopped working My Xoom 2 ME is running ICS 4.0.4 (rooted), and a week ago the speakers just stopped working. Lost the hour to go to work twice because alarm clock did not go.

Googling around seems to show some people also having problem with the speakers of the tablet running that particular version of android...

Some are just the subwoofer, others the orientation, but mine went completely mute. The sound still comes out of the headphones jack.

Is there a fix for this, if its a software malfunction?

Also, why can't Motorola make a proper ROM?
(this one is just to vent some steam, don't answer that)

Retag as Xoom2-ME because I am still somewhat short of rep to do it. Delete this line afterwards, thanks.

No. Motorola really did a shitty job of patching the ICS rom for the Xoom2 ME. the IR blaster didn't work for a couple months, and this speaker bug is indeed software.

There is an app by Wyrm on the Play Store that fix some of the speakers issues:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=wms.xoom2mespeakersfix

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=wms.xoom2mespeakersfixfree

It needs root. If your problem is fixed by the app, send some dough the dev's way by buying the donationware paid version.

Also thanks to the team behind the http://xoom2me.blogspot.com.br/ blog for the savior post.


Remove built-in search-engines in Firefox Nightly I don't use the default Firefox search-engines, so I like to be able to delete all the Amazon, Twitter, Google nativelly installed on every Firefox version.

Using current and beta version of Firefox, I am able to remove built-in search-engines on Firefox on Android, simply from the add-ons manager and disable the search-engine.

However, on the last Nightly build, the search-engines can not be found in the add-ons manager. My phone is not rooted, so I'm not able to directly set the search-engines list by editing the files or removing it through the search-engines list. Can't find a property in about:config either...

In the current Firefox 28 the issue is solved by setting browser.search.loadFromJars to false in about:config. Then only the search engines I added myself are shown.


Hello, is it possible customize the snackbar in Moto G 2nd Gen? I am right handed but when I turn the phone, I would like to change the snackbar to the left, is it ONLY to the right?

Snackbar by default appears at the bottom of the screen.


My sdcard is showing up in storage, but I can't place apps on it. 0 My sdcard is mounted, but I can't store apps to it. My HP tablet run Android 4.2.2.

This is a new Sdcard.

Unless you have a rooted phone with a proper Android ROM, you will not be able to place all apps in the SD card. Specific apps allow you to do so, but others, like Whatsapp, don't even allow to place media on the external storage. That's a shame.

Starting with (non-rooted) standard Android 4.2.2 ROMs, apps no longer can have full access to SD card.


Android input language adding phonetic variation I'm looking to add a Russian Phonetic keyboard layout to the default list of input layouts in Jellybean 4.2.2.

Going into Settings->Language & Input->Keyboard & Input Methods/Android Keyboard->Input Languages

On that menu I see Russian, but it is the standard Russian keyboard which doesn't have Russian letters mapped to the English QWERTY layout.  There apps that do this but I lose the gesture typing capabilities for example.

I was hoping there was a way of adding a Russian (Phonetic) layout to the list by somehow modifying the standard Russian layout and readding it as a phonetic variation.

After you've added Russian language to GBoard go to Languages, click Russian and it will show you additional keyboard layouts. Swipe right and choose the phonetic layout you like - there are even more than one!


Arnova 10 G2 won't start I recently got a Arnova 10 G2 in my workplace for testing. But unfortunately this device doesn't start up at all. I have charged it now for more than half a day. The Green led glows while I connect the charger. And sometimes I can see a home screen showing "ARNOVA" and that's it. It goes off. What could be the problem?

Most likely, the culprit is the faulty hardware. Send it back for replacement or repair, if it's still on the warranty. There's nothing you can do yourself.


Android applications need WiFi but I have only ethernet connection I have the Imito MX1 device that is working on Android 4.1. I have problem with WiFi quality (speed and reconnecting) so I use the Ethernet on the RJ45 to USB device. Unfortunately some of the applications that need Internet are not working. They are displaying communicate about lack of Internet. Is there any solution to redirect the ethernet to the WiFi device?

Maybe it is a matter of permissions which are necessary for Ethernet but not for Wifi. Applications which do not work anymore might not have those permissions. Check them!


How do I solve these problems when flashing Samsung Galaxy J5 (SM-J510FN)? The Iusse

Well, this is normally a simple task but I have a lot of problems. I hope you can help me. To begin, let's explain the situation: I have an SM-J510FN device with firmware from Spain to which, according to what I have been told, the unlock pattern was changed and the owner does not remember it, so he can not unlock the phone.

What I've tried

1: The first thing I did was enter Recovery mode with Power + Volume Up + Home. After showing me the android icon looking for updates, I get a screen that says "Sin comandos" ("No commands") for a few seconds. Then the menu appears in which I choose "Wipe data / factory reset". When doing this, this message appears in red:

E:format_volume: make ext4 failed on /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdate with 1(I/O error)

2: After this failure, I downloaded Odin3 (V3.12), Samsung drivers and a firmware from sammobile, the most updated with Android 7 for this device, which is not rooted (I say in case it has something to do with the problems )

I open Odin, I select the firmware where it says "AP", I connect the phone and start it with Power + Volume Down + Home, and the screen that says "Downloading, Do not turn off target" appears. In the log, odin says:

<ID:0/003> Added!!

I configure the options in this way:

After a few minutes in which progress bars in Odin and on the phone are advancing, and messages appear in the log, Odin looks like this:

Obviously, the phone restarts, but it does not start the system normally. Return to the Recovery menu, the same one that I entered to try de factory reset. Select "Reboot system now" and this time if it enters the system... but the same system, with the same unlock pattern. Nothing has changed.

I tried to go back to the Recovery menu in case at least the error had been fixed when I tried to do the factory reset, but it was still the same,

I have to say that I have tried the same with previous versions, even with Android 6 that is the one that comes from factory, but the problem is the same.

3: I tried exactly the same as before, only adding Odin a PIT file for this device and checking the option of "Re-Partition", but the result is the same: Odin does everything he has to do without giving any error, but when it's over, the phone restarts and everything stays the same.

I do not know what else I can try to restart this device. Any ideas?

The file system may be broken or something. Or the file system are read-only for some reasons...

You should know that flashing with Odin and "normal" (AP)  firmware doesn't wipe the phone, it just upgrade the system but leave the user data partition untouched.

Assuming there is no hardware failure (damaged eMMC), such errors can be corrected by flashing a "repair" firmware which contains a script that wipe everything in the phone.

Try searching for "4 files firmware" on the internet then flash with Odin. Should work now.


Take notes, and enter into a Google Docs spreadsheet using Google Assistant. I have a pair of Google Assistant compatible headphones, and I want to use Google Assistant to help me keep track of my spending.

Essentially, I want to be able to say:

'spent $20 of groceries', or 'spent $10 on transport' etc,

and that map on to an spread sheet like:

datetime             type         amount
11/11/2018 5:10pm    groceries    20
12/11/2018 5:55pm    transport    10

I am happy to use an IFTTT integration to do this.

What would the best way to achieve this?

Ok,this is actually pretty simple on IFTTT - it's lucky that it's a simple task.

Here's an applet I created:

https://ifttt.com/applets/91022983d-if-you-say-spent-on-then-add-row-to-google-drive-spreadsheet

Essentially you can create a text and number trigger for google assistant, that maps nicely to creating rows on a spreadsheet.


Is it possible to enable the Android default keyboard on an HTC EVO 4G? I am not much of a fan of the HTC EVO 4g's custom keyboard, but it appears that they have somehow removed or hidden access to the default Android keyboard input method.

Especially now that the default Android keyboard has been enhanced in 2.3 (Gingerbread), does anyone know of a method to enable the default keyboard instead of HTC's customized keyboard?  I haven't seen an application to do this, but I've noticed that some applications (Vlingo in particular) seem to somehow come up with what appears to be the Android default keyboard.

Yes you can - from this thread on XDA-Developers, you can use the APK on unrooted phones, depending on your Android version. Remember to pick the correct version for your phone.


Keyboard keeps crashing in Cyanogenmod 10.1.3 I am running Cyanogenmod 10.1.3 on my Samsung Galaxy SII (GT-I9100), and starting yesterday my keyboard continuously crashes with the following message:

  Unfortunately, Android keyboard (AOSP) has stopped.

This message pops up very 10 seconds or so even when I am not trying to type. I thought it might have something to do with my recent install of the DU Speed Booster app. But after uninstalling it I still get the same problem.

This is very serious, as my phone is rendered almost completely unusable since I can't enter any text, and message keeps popping up preventing me from even doing things that only require touch.

Any help would be appreciated!!

Here's a few tips for troubleshooting:

Go to System Settings > Apps > click Android keyboard (AOSP). Clear Data. Clear Cache.

If that doesn't work, and you have a custom recovery, reboot into recovery and clear the entire cache, clear davlik cache, and go to advanced > Fix permissions.

Other than that, you could try uninstalling and reinstalling from Google Play or downloading a different keyboard.


How to flash a rom on an entirely blacked out phone (s5 mini G800H) Three or four months ago, whenever I tried to connect to Play Store or my gmail account etc. my phone returned a network related error message, which happened after I made a factory reset. Some games encountered errors too.

I tried to flash a rom from sd card, but it did not install even though it said that installation was successful. Odin doesn't recognize my phone, and there is no root, so rom installer won't work because I can't install custom recovery without root (correct me if I'm wrong).

In this desperate situation of mine is there at least something I can do (except buying a new phone)?

Custom Recovery can be installed without root.
If you have Samsung Kies running while the phone is connected to PC, chances are high that it interferes with Odin. Disable Kies

Try the following method that makes use of adb commands through a commmad prompt from PC instead of using Odin.

Download TWRP recovery for S5 Mini from here -> TWRP Recovery
Make sure USB drivers are installed.
Download 15 sec ADB installer
Rename the downloaded img file to "recovery.img" and move this to the ADB folder that was downloaded earlier. Make sure you have ADB.exe, fastboot.exe and the recovery.img in the same directory
Enable developer options and USB Debugging in your device
Connect the device to PC. Make sure device is detected. If not re-install the correct USB drivers.
Once device is detected, open a command prompt and change location to the ADB directory. Issue the command "adb devices". This should give your device ID as the output.

Executive the following commands carefully:

"adb reboot bootloader" - the device will reboot in fastboot mode

Once device shows up fast boot screen, type " fastboot devices " and make sure device ID is listed

Type "fastboot flash recovery recovery.img" . this installs the TWRP image into the device. If successful you will see an Okay message in command prompt.

Issue command "fastboot reboot" and wait for device to reboot normally. Once this is done you can try the key combination to boot into recovery. If everything went well you should be greeted with the TWRP recovery instead of the stock Android recovery.

Once this is done. You can root your phone/install the ROM.zip file using the TWRP Recovery

Hope this helps.


Unknown error code during application install “-24” installing Instapaper I'm getting the following error when I attempt to install Instapaper through the Play store

Unknown error code during application install “-24”

Googling suggests I need to delete any remnants in the /data/data instapaper folder.  Unfortunately, that seems impossible, I've tried both using file explorers on the device, and adb shell, which tells me "Permission denied" when I try and ls the /data/data folder's contents.

I really don't want to perform a factory reset reinstall everything that is on my device (Nexus 7 2013).

My device is not rooted.

How can I fix things so I can install this app?

I have a logcat file I can attach if it would be helpful.

You would need root to access /data/data, and rooting would require unlocking your bootloader, which would wipe your data.

Other than doing a Factory Reset, there may be no other way.


How do I remove all social integration features with Google+/Google applications I bought a Nexus 4. It's my first Android device, and I'm really disappointed at how this thing is a complete intrusion of my privacy and online behavior. Just in upgrading the default applications that came with the device, it seems like Google can literally do whatever it wants with my personal information. Every single Google app seems to require every permission under the sun.

One of the things that really bothers me is Google looking at my Google+ stuff and pulling it in for other applications. When I'm browsing the Google Play store for an application, I don't like that I see friends comments on products I'm looking at. Conversely, I don't necessarily want my friends to see a review I write for an application or book or whatever the case may be. How can I disable this? If I try to disable the Google+ application from Settings, I'm warned that I may break a bunch of important stuff that depends on it. Google Play is an important application.

I feel like this is all so crazy. I don't want this level of integration because its impossible to manage. My previous device was an old iPhone and everything was cleanly sandboxed. Here, Google unifies everything. I search for a certain kind of product or TV show or whatever and I get a bunch of Play Store recommendations for the same thing. This is messed up.

Can I get rid of all the social stream integration crap Google has infested the Play app with? Can I get rid of all social integration altogether?

No, not easily. one of the side-effects of using Google services, is that all the Google services link together in the back-ground. This can be incredibly useful in some cases (if I Google for a bar's address on my desktop PC, my phone will later offer me directions and estimated travel time to that bar on a Google Now card). Some can be spooky.

Having said that there are ways around this, the easiest is that just because you have an Android phone, doesn't mean you're limited to using Google's services, one of the strengths of Android is all the choices you have:

You could get your apps from Amazon's App Store, instead of the Play Store
You could sync your mail, contacts and calendar with an IMAP server, instead of GMail, or you could install Yahoo's apps or Microsoft's apps and use those instead.

Or alternatively you could create a second Google account, add it to your phone and use that account for the apps/services that you'd rather keep separate from the apps/services that you use "as you". Have a look through the google-account tag for some hints on how to set up another account and swap apps from using one account to another.


Is there a way to get Google Calendar reminders to act like Alarms? I miss many calendar reminders because they're just too subtle. I might put my phone down and walk out of the room for 5 minutes, missing the reminder, then come back and not touch my phone again for an hour; completely missing an important appointment.

If reminders worked like alarms, they would make their notification sound continuously (up to a point, like alarms: ~10 minutes), and take over the whole screen, until silenced. That would be preferable to me. Is there an app that can do this?

If you want to stick with your Google Calendar as backend and frontend, you might wish to check Calendar Event Reminder. You can tell that app which calendars to look at, and to annoy you until you're going crazy. I almost guarantee you cannot miss such a reminder! I've used the app for quite some time, before...

I switched to a different calendar frontend: Business Calendar. Very configurable again, also concerning reminders: vibrates and makes "subtle noises" (I've told him so) until I lose my nerves and switch it off :)

There are probably a lot of similar approaches. But I know of no way to even come near to one of them without any 3rd party tool being involved.


How do I transfer music files to Nexus 4 I plugged in Nexus 4 to my windows machine(XP Service Pack 2) and it didnt recognise or install any software automatically. I downloaded Google USB Driver from SDK Kit and installed it and now it shows up as recognised device in the Device Manager, but how do I copy files to Phones Storage ? There s no send to option as its not connected as a USB mass storage(which is not there in this device as well)

The XDA article How To - Connect Nexus 4 to XP like MTP device describes the steps needed for Windows XP as follows:

  Connect your Nexus to PC.
  Go to My Computer>Properties>Device Manager and double click on MTP device
  Go to Details and copy (Ctr+C) info like (USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE2&MI_00) (you can copy it from here too, if it is identically)
  Unplug Nexus from PC.
  Go to C:\Windows\inf folder (it's hidden)
  Find a file "wpdmtp.inf" and open it with any text editor (Notepad)
  Modify or Paste (Ctrl+P) what did you copy at step "3" as bottom I showed.

; Installation inf for devices supporting Media Transfer Protocol (MTP)
;
; Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
;

[Version]
Signature="$WINDOWS NT$"
Class=WPD
ClassGUID={EEC5AD98-8080-425f-922A-DABF3DE3F69A}
Provider=%Msft%
LayoutFile=layout.inf
DriverVer=02/22/2006,5.2.5326.4762

[DestinationDirs]
MTP.Files.Kernel = 12
MTP.Files.XPRT_USB = 11
MTP.Files.Core = 11
MTP.Files.UMDFDDriver = 12,UMDF ; copy to system32\drivers\umdf
[Manufacturer]
%MfgName%=Generic,NTx86,NTamd64
;
;Device is identified by Microsoft OS descriptor
;If your device does not support it, use specific VID & PID for identification
;
[Generic.NTx86]
%GenericMTP.DeviceDesc%=MTP, USB\MS_COMP_MTP
%GenericMTP.DeviceDesc%=MTP, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE2&MI_00
;
[Generic.NTamd64]
%GenericMTP.DeviceDesc%=MTP, USB\MS_COMP_MTP
%GenericMTP.DeviceDesc%=MTP, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE2&MI_00

  Save and close the file.
  Connect your Nexus to PC
  Go to Device Manager and update MTP driver.
  Tick chekbox "Install the software automatically (Recomenden)" on driver installation dialog and install driver.
  Wait for a moment and you can see Nexus 4 like an MTP device.

Now you should see the MTP device, and be able to transfer files to it.

Hope this solves your issue :)


How can I require my Android (latest version) phone to require BOTH a fingerprint and a password? Setting up one or the other is easy, but I can't seem to activate both at once.

Before anyone asks, my primary reason for wanting to do this is security.

You can go trough Android's security using only one at once. For example, if you have both Fingerprint and Pattern activated, only one of them is required to unlock the device. However, with third party apps like Next Lock Screen or Picturesque Lock Screen, you can actually stack them. If you activate Next Lock Screen, Pattern and Fingerprint, you will have to use Next Lock Screen first, then either Pattern or Fingerprint.


Remove swisscom on Samsung s6 I ordered a Samsung s6 from some shitty page on the internet, I got the phone and it's the real Samsung s6 but they put some shit called Swisscom in it, which is really annoying cause the phone starts up with the Swisscom. How do I remove the whole Swisscom shit?
Please answer!!! Thanks

There are few ways that you can do it.
If you want to remove just the application you can use system app remover
2:To change/remove carrier(swisscom) splash screen form s6
Re-flash your phone using the official firmwares.
How to flash a new firmware?


How to implement OTP verification? Can anyone tell me How to implement OTP authentication?
How to implement two-factor authentication?
How many API android has for OTP verification?
Which encryption technique is used to secure it?
Which technique or method is used to generate random number and send
it to user for authentication? Is there any API for generate such
random number?

Answering your questions respectively:

1) You are able to implement OTP using firebase Phone Number Authentication. The related link is here https://firebase.google.com/docs/auth/android/phone-auth

2) Two-factor can be implemented by using a normal login setup in addition to a phone number Authentication. Firebase can also perform login setup for you at https://firebase.google.com/docs/auth/android/password-auth

3) You may google search for SMS OTP Service Providers and you would find ample of messaging companies offering Phone Verification APIs. Here are some of the top listed OTP service providers; 2Factor, Twilio, Plivo, Nexmo, Sinch, Zang.

4) The techniques vary across providers. With AES being more secure while putting a large security load on the system compared to a scrambled 6 digit SMS-code provided.

5) Both methods I have listed in (4) uses a random 6 digit pin with AES encrypting the code additional times with its algorithm. This might be what you are looking for: https://codepen.io/corenominal/pen/rxOmMJ


How do I set the duration of a "calendar insert" in tasker Declaring the starting time to be now seems to be easy in tasker. I just put 0 into the "In / For(Minutes)" field. However how do I define the length of the calendar event?

The In / For field actually serves both purposes. You can enter two numbers, delimited by a / such that:

The first number is the number of minutes from now when the event starts, and
The second number is the duration of the event

If you wanted to insert a one hour event starting "now", you would, for example, set the value of the field to 0 / 60.

This is summarized from the "Calendar Insert" entry in Tasker's Action documentation.


Phone gets stuck on the clock Every once in a while, my phone gets into a weird state where when I press the home or power button, the clock appears (see photo), but it is otherwise "dead": no amount of pressing power, home, or other buttons seems to bring me back to the normal home screen.

I have the impression that maybe the phone enters this state when the battery is very low, but charging the phone does not let it exit this state.

The phone is not completely dead: not only the clock is displayed (and updated), but alarms do ring (and you can snooze or stop them by touching the corresponding button which appears then on the screen).

Any idea what that thing might be (bug or feature?), what might trigger it, and how I can exit this state (other than taking out the battery, which so far has been my only recourse)?

This is a Galaxy S5 running LineageOS-15.1

It turns out it's the "smart cover" feature (the thing that displays time when you close a flip-case-with-a-window), which was misfiring probably because of the presence of a nearby magnet (likely the one in my holster's cover) or some problem in my phone's magnetic sensor.

This feature can be disabled in Settings => Connected Devices => Smart Cover.

See the reddit thread where I found my answer.


Retrive data from Broken + Locked Screen Samsung Galaxy S Duos Today, I used a third party ordinary charger with my Samsung Galaxy S Duos (s7562), and was shocked to see that the screen touch stopped working.

Earlier, whenever I used to use third party charger, the screen used to behave insanely. But, once I unplugged the charger everything was normal. So, I tried to stick to the original Samsung Charger. Today, my cousin went out with original charger and I used the third party for approximately 10 minute. The touch is not responding anymore, but phone is functional. Home button, power button and volume keys are working but not touch. Display is all fine. I tried :
1. Restarting phone after keeping out battery for 5 minutes.
2. Enter recovery mode, clear cache partition.
3. Enter recovery mode, reboot.
4. Physically knocking the edges of touch screen smoothly to fix any loosen connection.

But nothing worked. So, the last thing to test is to FACTORY RESET the phone. Now the problem is I use PIN Lock to lock the screen for security Reasons. And I have very very important photos, Messages and Contacts in  my phone.I have controlled my phone earlier with PC Via Bluetooth. And I dont think this cheap crap supports OTG Mouse. Is there any Method to get back my Data by unlocking the phone via PC ?

I know All minds on Stack exchange are intelligent and somebody must show me the correct path.

The problem is not with the phone, but with the charger!

I've experienced this as well with cheap crapware (possibly Chinese-made). The reason they cause this behavior is the cheap design that doesn't provide a sufficient decoupling of the voltage and also a bad ripple current.

Furthermore, they do not meet any safety standards. The one I used blew the fuse of my house. Thankfully, no other devices damaged. Also, a Chinese woman has reportedly been electrocuted by using a cheap charger.  Whether it's true or not, I strongly advise against using those chargers. It doesn't have to be from the phone manufacturer, but it's for sure a good idea to get some quality (and none-fake!) charger.

Once you use the original charger again, your phone should be working again normally.

PS:
Read this article for an in-depth explanation at the example of fake iPhone-chargers
http://www.righto.com/2012/03/inside-cheap-phone-charger-and-why-you.html


How can I restore IMEI code after factory reset? The phone is a Hero H2000 dual sim with Android v2.2.1, MTK Platform

I get an Invalid IMEI error after a factory reset.  How can I fix this?

There are several possibilities. The first starts with checking the "Related" section to the right of this page, which gives you some good candidates which already contain answers/solutions, e.g.:

How to fix “Invalid IMEI ” after Factory reset?

Next, there are some video tutorials on Youtube on this topic, e.g.:

How to Change or Repair Your IMEI Number On Android Cell Phone
HOW TO SOLVED Invalid IMEI

My short Google Search also found some forum threads providing hints and solutions, e.g.:

Invalid IMEI after Reset to Factory Defaults

I couldn't verify any of the mentioned solutions myself (luckily, I've never been affected by this problem) -- but I hope at least one of them will prove helpful to you.


Why date/time automatic adjustment didn't work? Recently I went to Italy and bought a pre-paid TIM chip to use while there, because it was much cheaper than the ridiculously high prices of Rogers' roaming.

However, something quite puzzling happened. Whenever I changed batteries (I don't recharge my phone, I change battery to a full one and put the other one to recharge on an external charger) I would lose my date/time, it would reset to 1/Jan/2000. Manually setting it worked, but it was a bit annoying.

I didn't understand why the "Automatic (Use network-provided values)" setting didn't work. I was assuming that the phone would use NTP, and once being able to resolve DNS it should adjust the date/time, but it never did.

Doing some googling I found about NITZ, which apparently Rogers uses but Italian's TIM doesn't. My questions are:

is this the reason why automatic updates didn't work?
is there a way of changing these configurations? (use NTP instead of NITZ for example, or some other configuration that would make the automatic update work, other than installing an app)

Most likely.
If your phone is rooted, you can install an app that will sync the clock using NTP. (Just search for NTP on Google Play: there are many such apps.)


How do I get push notifications of a specific user on Twitter? I heard someone mentioning you can be notified when a specific Tweeter start tweeting...but I haven't been able to find a tool that does this.  What is the way to do this without following them?

OS: 4.1
S3

Follow them, then go to their profile and star them (it's next to the follow button).

You'll now get notifications whenever they tweet.


How to remove device from Google? I have given away one of my devices, I'd like to remove it from my Google account entirely. It seems, there is no longer a way to do this (which, if true, probably breaks GDPR).

I'm aware I can "hide" the device at https://play.google.com/settings/ by unchecking "Show in menus" but I actually want to remove the device from my account entirely.

Edit: I'm also aware I can remove the device from Recent Devices at https://myaccount.google.com/device-activity, to prevent that device from accessing the Google account. The device is already not in that list. This does not remove the device from all of Google's databases, as it still exists in Google Play, for example.

I've checked https://www.google.com/apps/mydevices/b/0 which used to be the place to do this, but it no longer works, and there is notice to use https://www.google.com/android/find However, that does not provide an option to remove the device from your account - only to erase it etc.

Any idea how to remove a device, or contact Google to remove a device?

Log into your account and click this

https://myaccount.google.com/device-activity

Source

It works for me. I don't think GDPR
 should make a difference, else that would have been widely reported

(Click to enlarge)


Prevent wallpaper to slide when sliding the home screen My question is that when I slide my home screen, my background wallpaper also slides. Not giving me a complete view of full wallpaper on a particular screen.

How to fix it?

That's the way every android homescreen work. Wallpaper scrolls along with the screen. Stock homescreen doesn't allow us to customize this. You need to get a replacement for homescreen. Like Apex launcher, Smart launcher 2, Solo or Nova launcher etc. They allow you to disable wallpaper scrolling. (or) There's an app called Wallpaper Wizardrii in Play Store to set the wallpaper in the way you want. Give it a shot.


How Do I Activate 4G LTE Only On Samsung Galaxy A5(2016) I use Samsung Galaxy A5(2016) and have just upgraded the firmware to Android 6.0 (Mashmallow). The phone supports 4G but the option to set it there is LTE/3G/2G (auto connect) on Network mode.

How do I get the phone to use 4G only?

P.S.
I have tried *#0011# and have entered Q0000 as answered here but it is not working.

Open the Dialer/Phone application and dial (STAR)#(STAR)#4636#(STAR)#(STAR), then select Phone Information and scroll down to Set preferred network type and change the drop-down to LTE only.

Be aware that with few exceptions, like T-Mobile's VoLTE, that in LTE only mode, you will not be able to make or receive phone calls or text messages. 2G/3G/HSPA(+) is required for voice calls and SMS in most GSM/LTE networks.

Also, be careful with using terms like 4G and LTE... depending on your carrier these might be interchangeable, or some carriers use "4G" to mean HSPA+ and "LTE" to mean, well, LTE service, some carriers use "4G" to refer to both/either HSPA+ & LTE, and some others use "4G" to mean only LTE.

In common practice for most users, 2G refers to Edge, 3G refers to GSM, and 4G refers to HSPA/HSPA+ and not LTE service.


How can I select the apps to sync when auto-sync is turned on? When I turn on auto sync it sync all my accounts like Google, Twitter, Facebook, BBM etc.

How can I set auto sync to sync only selected accounts so that only my Google or Twitter account will be sync?

Did you take a look at Settings → Accounts & Sync? (I'm not sure about Android 4.1+, but at least on my LG Optimus 4X this setting is there)

Accounts & Sync (click image for larger variant)

As the screenshot shows, here you can define what to sync. Green arrows to the right show what's to be sync'd, gray ones what not. For some apps, you even can tap the app to specify it more detailed.


Why did my Galaxy Tab 7.7 suddenly stopped connecting to my Wifi router? I have Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet running Android 3.2. Recently, I'm having connection problems to my home Wifi router. The device keeps scanning for Wifi access points for long periods. My home Wifi router is shown with a "Not in range" message next to it in the Wifi settings screen. However, sometimes after long period of time, the device randomly connects to the Wifi router.

It is worth mentioning that during the scanning mode the device does not detect any Wifi access point even thought where I live there are many Wifi access points (over 8 access points).

What is the solution to my problem?

The solution turns out very trivial and surprising. It shows and proves practically that the behavior of complex software systems is unpredictable.

The solution:
Go to Mobile network settings and disable Use packet data. Next, enable Wifi and then go back and enable Use packet data.

Magically, all my problems disappeared after I applied described steps.


Two Asus Transformer TF300s, same JB version, different skin A friend has two Transformer TF300 tablets, both upgraded OTA to the (apparent) same JB 4.2.1 version, but one has tablet-style notifications (lower right corner) with the Home, Back, and Recent apps buttons left justified on the bottom, and the other has notifications on the top (like a phone), with the back, home, and recent buttons centered at the bottom.

Is there a setting that controls the notification style, or is there some non-obvious difference in the software versions?

Asus provides two launchers in their 4.2.1 rom - they differ as you descibed in your question. The one with the notifications in the lower right is the same one as used in their 4.1 rom and the one with the notifications at the top is the vanilla Android 4.2 launcher.

You can switch between them at will by opening settings and then navigating to Device -> Launcher (it requires a reboot to switch).


Android won't let me change configuration file So, because of some hardware issues I'm having, I need to disable Android's HDMI Digital Audio Output and let only the analog sound card of my A10 chipset work.
Just for info - the issue is that there's no cable plugged into the HDMI output of my tablet, but the Android is recognising that there's something plugged into the port and as soon as I wake up the tablet, it redirects the audio output through HDMI Digital Audio out.

Now for my actual problem..
I'm trying to change
/proc/asound/cards or /proc/asound/pcm
The filesystem (/system) is mounted as rw, I do have root access, ES File Explorer is with "Root Explorer" turned on and as soon as I click Save, it backs up the old contents of the file. Also, the folders and the files that I'm trying to modify are with 777 permissions and owned by root.

Of course, I tried through ADB push and the same shi* happens.
What it can be?

/proc does not contain actual files, and it's not part of the /system directory. It is, as described by the Linux manual:

  The proc filesystem is a pseudo-filesystem which provides an interface to kernel data structures.  It is commonly mounted at /proc.  Most of it is read-only, but some files allow kernel variables to be changed.

In other words, it is a "virtual" filesystem that allows for file like access to certain kernel data. You cannot modify these handles by editing them the way you are hoping to.

If the data you need to change allows for modifications through /proc, it generally needs to be done using something like cat or echo to write a new value to the handle. However, according to the ALSA documentation, both /proc/asound/cards and /proc/asound/pcm are read-only structures.

You'll need to find another way to accomplish your goal, perhaps by changing some underlying configuration file that controls ALSLA on your device. On traditional Linux desktops, it's typically/etc/asound.conf, but your device's ROM may not expose these configuration settings in the same manner, or it may be hard-coded to populate the /proc entries without actually using a config file. Based on what I've seen, if your device does support the config file, it's generally in /system/etc/asound.conf.


Multiple #'s on Note 3 Can the Note 3 have more than 1 number associated with the same phone? Someone gave me their # and then another #. They said it was the same phone.

It seems there is a Galaxy Note 3 with dual SIM support.


How to restore/recover accidentally deleted key from google Authenticator? Is there any way to recover my accidentally deleted key from google authenticator app ? My android device is not rooted and am not able to access the 'com.google.android.apps.authenticator2' package. I have already tried adb pull/ adb backup but it is not usefull for non rooted device. Is there any way I can access to the database folder without root or rooting is the only option. Also I am not sure key will be there on the DB if I have manually deleted the key. Can anyone confirm.

Thanks in advance.

By deletion of key, if you mean to say that you've deleted your account from Google authenticator app, you'll not be able to recover it by adb systems.

Simply go to Google my account, log in, and if it asks for authenticator pass code, choose a different methods of verification, and then either backup codes or through mobile verification (whichever you've got active). Then switch off authenticator system of verification. Again switch it on, and follow on-screen processes. Done. This is the simplest method to regain authenticator access.


Encryption state after changing PIN I enabled device encryption but android didn't gave me the chance to choose a new password instead it used the lock screen's.
I came back to screen lock settings and changed the password and encryption password has changed automatically. But that happened instantly, my device didn't go through any process of encryption

Question is: Does changing encryption password require any kind of long re-encryption process? In other words, is my device still secure and data is encrypted securely?

Device: Xperia E4 Dual

Android version: 4.4.2 sony stock

From the Official Android Source:

  Upon first boot, the device creates a randomly generated 128-bit master key and then hashes it with a default password and stored salt. (The default password is: "default_password").
  However, the resultant hash is also signed through a TEE (such as TrustZone), which uses a hash of the signature to encrypt the master key.

  When the user sets the PIN/pass or password on the device, only the 128-bit key is re-encrypted and stored. (ie. user PIN/pass/pattern changes do NOT cause re-encryption of userdata.)

What this means is that, essentially, there are two keys to be understood:

The master key
The user_encryption key (or just 'key')

The master key is generated during the first boot only, and never ever changes (unless maybe a factory reset or wiping userdata partition is done). The data in the /data partition is encrypted or decrypted only using the master key. The master key cannot be stored as it is (it's not safe to do so, right?), so it is encrypted using another key said below.

The user_encryption key is the key using which the encrypted master key can be decrypted, because only using the master key, the encrypted data can be decrypted. (This key is computed based on your PIN/password/whatever.)

People often tend to think both these keys as one and the same, which is not the case here.

When you change your unlock PIN/password, only the user_encryption key changes, not the master key, so the data is not re-encrypted.


Is "Display size" option not present on tablets? I recently bought Lenovo Tab4 8 plus. It runs Andoird Naugat. I have Nexus 6. I love content dense screen. So on my Nexus 6, I always keep font size and display size to the least. (More on this here). I can find font size option in my tablet, but I cannot find the display size option on tablet, as can be seen in below screen shot:
It can be found below Font size option in Nexus 6 Naugat.

Is this lenovo made customization / screw-up thing, or there is some reason for it? and way to enable it? Any third party app to achieve the same?

Does both of them have same Android OS? Like AOSP or else?
My suspect is the setting based on Official ROM. In this case the Nexus 6 use 'Display Size' to adjust DPI, it adjust font size to match DPI means larger DPI smaller font or as you wish.
In Lenovo you get fixed DPI but you can adjust only font size.
Hope it helps


How to identify and remove a looping sound? I have a Nexus 4 running Android 4.4.2 (not rooted, but with developer options enabled), and it keeps developing a stuck looping sound (I guess part of a notification sound, looping approximately every second). It survives shutdown / restart, and I've been through killing processes and services, and apparently at random at some point after killing everything, it sometimes seems to stop (sometimes it keeps going no matter how many you kill)...

...but it keeps coming back. I'm at the 4th or 5th time in 24 hours where I think it is fixed, only to find it bleeping away later. Obviously this makes it hard to leave the volume on!

So: any ideas on identifying the offender? Maybe some tool that can display the sound buffers by originating process? Or just flush them...

Note: it also survives a reboot into safe mode, continuing to play in a loop while in safe mode.

Hard to say what could cause this problem.
Maybe you're able to tell what happened before the sound started? Could be a hint to address the issue.

I would recommend start with uninstalling any unecessary apps and going through every app that is/was ever generating notifications for you. Check their internal settings (if there are any) and also check notification settings in app manager.

If you're using developer mode I suppose you can also try to turn it off, just in case.

If it's reacting on shake in a weird way I'd also recommend to run all possible updates, alternatively reinstall apps or in the worst case: reinstall the system. Can't tell more about what could cause the bug.


Should Dalvik Cache be wiped in Android OS that supports ART? When switching custom ROMs (in ART), is it necessary to wipe the Dalvik Cache?

Wiping the Cache is necessary, but should wiping Dalvik (which doesn't exist in Android Lollipop and afterward) be necessary?

What impact will it cause if we wipe Dalvik (something not present)?

In ART, what does the Dalvik cache contains? (is it an empty folder?)

No, you don't need to wipe it. It is probably still in recoveries because you could need it at some point, or developers just didn't remove it yet.

For me, dalvik cache folder is empty.


How can I remove a MultiRom ROM? I have a secondary ROM I'd like to remove, but trying to remove it using the TWRP Multirom menu or the Multirom app in the primary ROM fails (shows failure and force quits respectively). Is there any other way to remove the ROM?

One possibility is to completely remove multirom and all associated  secondary ROMs but that's really overkill and I'd like to avoid that as far as possible.

I'm not entirely sure why this worked but what I did was to:

Wipe data from the secondary ROM I wanted to remove
Reinject the current boot sector

Then I rebooted and was able to successfully remove the ROM via TWRP.


No fetching of instant messages and e-mail after update to Oreo 8.1 I have a Blackberry keyone that got updated last week to android 8.1, and after that update I need to open Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger Lite, GMail and other similar apps manually to receive the messages and e-mails which has been sent to me. I have checked the notification settings multiple times, and they are set to on. Regular text messages seems to work however.

So without knowing more it feels like there is some kind of syncronization problem?

These are the steps I've taken so far to try to mitigate the issue:

I've disabled the battery and data saving features that comes with android, I don't have any third party applications.
I don't have any notification applications that could interfere
I've tried using both cellular and wifi to see if there was any difference, which it wasn't
My whatsapp and messenger notifications are setup properly
I'm not restricting background data
I've restarted my phone
I've checked the native notification settings, all switched to "on"
Disabled Power Center

System information:

Android version: 8.1
Security patch level: 1 July 2018
Build: ABG044

Update:

I discovered that while keeping my phone connected to the desktop version of Whatsapp, I'll receive the messages sent to me on Whatsapp.

Based on this forum thread, this might be a known issue with your particular phone, and it looks like you've already troubleshot it pretty thoroughly.

Here are a few more things you could try if you haven't already:

Factory reset the phone
Follow all of WhatsApp's Notification problems troubleshooting steps. There are a few steps in there that you might not have tried yet.

Unfortunately, if all else fails, you might just have to go back to the previous version of Android that didn't have this problem.


Cannot revive Galaxy Note 2: Kies says "This device version cannot be updated" I have had a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (GT-N7100GSMH) for almost 2 years now. Never rooted it, was always installing all recommended OS upgrades. After the latest one, the phone started rebooting itself randomly now and then. I was going to take a look into it but never had time. A few days ago, during such reboot, it got stuck at the logo screen (white Samsung Galaxy text). I've read it was called bootloop and, following info on the web, tried to wipe the cache. Having entered the recovery mode (Power Up + Home + Power), I received multiple messages E:cannot mount xxx (file or directory not found), with xxx being /system, /cache etc. I still tried to wipe the cache, it seemingly did so, and then displayed the same set of error messages. Then I tried the factory reset, again some activity and the same screen with all the error messages. This is what it shows exactly after the dead Android with red exclamation triangle:

E:failed to mount /efs (No such file or directory)
E:failed to mount /system (No such file or directory)

# Manual mode #
-- Appling Multi-CSC...

E:failed to mount /system (No such file or directory)
E:Can't mount /system (No such file or directory)
E:failed to mount /cache (No such file or directory)
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_recovery
E:failed to mount /data (No such file or directory)
E:Can't mount /data/log/recovery_log.txt
E:failed to mount /system (No such file or directory)
E:failed to mount /cache (No such file or directory)
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/log
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/log
(a few more such errors)

Android system recovery <3e>
KOT49H.N7100XXUFNE1

Volume up/down to move highlight; power button to select
(here goes the blue menu)

Then I went the Kies way: Installed Kies (not Kies 3) on Windows 7, went into download mode (Power Down + Home + Power), and tried Tools/Firmware Upgrade and Initialization. Kies accepted the model and serial numbers, downloaded something, showed the window with the instructions and check boxes and then, after hitting Start upgrade, told me "This device version cannot be updated". I then went to Tools/Emergency firmware recovery, and received an empty list of devices that require recovery. This is what the phone shows in the download mode:

ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: GT-N7100
CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official
SYSTEM STATUS: Official
KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 0
RP SWREV: A2

Finally, I tried Kies 3, with the same lack of success. Additionally, it was saying that I was using the wrong Kies version.

I don't know if it's important, but my phone was encrypted (company policy).

Is there anything useful you can guess from the above and recommend me doing before sending it to Samsung for a probably rather costly diagnostics/service?

I have eventually brought the phone to the service, and they diagnosed problems with the motherboard. It turned out these phones have a 2-year warranty, so they sent it to Samsung for repair for free. Nicely, it "died" just one month before the end of warranty, so it was a good luck.


Is there a way that you can set an Android Vivid to delete messages of the number you select How can you set an Android Vivid to delete text messages after a certain number that you pick

You can go to the Setting of SMS app, when you see the SMS interface, you hit the menu button, then you can see the option


Message Memory Full, Incoming message rejected I got this message on my phone:

  Message Memory full
  Incoming message rejected

I have deleted a lot of messages, and I have also run the memory cleaners I have on my phone.

What should I do?

Exactly which memory is used?

Are there alternate apps that will let me store the messages in a different location?

According to several sources (including a.o. TechniPages and AndroidCentral) the cause of this problem is lacking space in your device's internal memory, which must have at least 25MB free space left.

T-Mobile's support pages have a detailed instruction on how to solve the issue. Though for some steps it was not clear to me what Android version (and what menu option) they were referring to, as a basic abstract the most important points include:

Remove apps you no longer need
This is the fastest solution, as it will certainly reclaim larger amounts of space per single step. To do so, you can e.g. use Androids default app manager: Go to Settings → Applications → Manage Applications, select the Downloaded tab (you only can remove apps you downloaded yourself), check which apps you no longer need, tap their entry, and hit the Uninstall (or Remove) button. In case this is grayed out, you might need to Force Stop the app first.
Move apps to your sd card
This option is available with Android 2.2 and higher, but doesn't work with all apps. In short, apps must actively support this -- and must not provide widgets and some other things in order to be moved to sd card. The built-in "mover" only permits you to move apps applying to these rules.
Cleaning up caches
You can do so manually going to Settings → Applications → Manage Applications, select "All" (not just "Downloaded"), tap each app, and select the Clear Cache button.
Clear history
This is for your call-logs etc. I doubt this reclaims lots of space.

Having followed these essential steps (which I placed in the order of "most effective first"), your problem should be gone.


installing custom rom in Samsung galaxy s3 SGH T999 hi I m unknown from unknown I want to install custom 6.0 on my Samsung galaxy s3 SGH t999 I tried available ones but did not work cm13 rom and Google apps are installed but getting into boot loop can u tell me how I resolve this I tried all possible ways

Try to install TWRP Recovery and go to recovery mode and click wipe data and tick all without internet and external storage then wipe data then go back and click install select the file and install it


What Could Cause System Apps to Run that Are Not Used When testing a widget I created, I wanted to make sure that it uses as little CPU power as possible. After some research I downloaded Watchdog to use as a monitoring tool, which works great. When I finished my testing I set the CPU threshold at 10%, just curious to see what process would randomly go above that level. One that exceeds the 10% threshold on a daily basis, at least a couple times a day, is com.motorola.Dlna.

I know what DLNA is, what it's used for, and how to set it up but I don't use it, nor do I have it set up on my phone. I spoke with a Motorola support analyst and asked why it would be running. The response I got was "it's possible you could have set it up without knowing it, maybe by an application that you downloaded but it's nothing to worry about".

Needless to say the answer I got wasn't very helpful so I'm really just wondering what would cause this service to use so much CPU power randomly? Most of the time it's not being used, but when it is, it shows that it's using usually between 12.5% - 15% CPU power. Do applications really access/use this service without me ever actually going through and setting it up?

You might want to use some package inspector like e.g. App Detective to see what receivers the app in question has set up. Most likely it's acting on some broadcast, such as e.g. "sdcard mounted", to check for media, or "network changed" to check for other DLNA services.

If your device is rooted, you might be interested in apps like ROM Toolbox or Autorun Manager, which allow you to disable selected receivers, or even freeze the entire app. Without root, you can try whether that app can be disabled in Settings → Apps. It's either running for nothing or (these days it's no longer called "paranoia") working for somebody else, if you don't use it yourself.


PC Companion won't update my computer past 1.6 A couple years ago, I picked up an Xperia X10i secondhand.  The phone itself has been working great; no problems whatsoever.  It's a real workhorse.  I unlocked it almost instantly, and followed some steps I Googled way back when to open it up completely.  I can't quite remember what it was, but it was supposed to root the phone.  I don't think I managed to actually root it, but it's been working fine, regardless.

Lately, I've been wanting to update the firmware on it.  Every time I use the Sony Ericsson PC Companion or Update Service, though, to try to update the firmware, it just tells me I have the latest version.

How can I go about updating this to 2.1 or higher?  Are there steps a technically-savvy, but Android newbie could follow to update the firmware?

I'm willing to blow it all away if I have to, although I'd really prefer to not have to do that.

If SE has dropped support for your device (which seems likely) your only way to upgrade your phone is to take root control over your phone and install a custom ROM, a third party version of the Android operating system.

There's a huge modding community, largely centered around the XDA developers forums. There's actually a subforum there for just your device, and the subforum for your device that you want (there's also Q&A sections and whatnot) is XPERIA X10 Android Development.

There's plenty of informative threads in that forum, including:

[HOW-TO]UNLOCK bootloader for X10
Help for Newbies, All questions & Answers for X10

As for what specific ROM to use, I'll leave that up to you. Your first step however should be unlocking your bootloader, getting root and getting CWM Recovery installed on your phone. When you have that installed, you can always create a complete backup of your phone, so if anything breaks you can always restore to that backup via the recovery, since the recovery remains untouched between ROM installations.

If you want to venture into rooting your phone and trying custom ROMs, I wish you good luck! It's a learning experience :)


How to disable speed camera notifications in maps? Google maps has recently introduced speed camera notifications, and I had the misfortune of experiencing these for the first time yesterday.

Personally I find the audio "speed camera ahead" very annoying and distracting, and would like to disable it. I don't mind the little beep or the icon on the map, but I'm also quite happy to lose them if it means getting rid of the spoken announcement.

However much I search, I can't find an option to remove this, or any information on the internet about disabling this. Is it possible?

No they seem to have implemented it woth no option to turn it iff. Keep complaining on the feedback. I think it's distracting and dangerous (since it doesnt tell you the limit)


Restore a whatsapp chat with someone else using that person's phone I have lost my phone and got a new one. Unfortunately I did not backup my WhatsApp.
There is a chat session held between me and someone else which is very dear to me. I have this person's phone.
I wonder if I can restore this chat on my phone through that other person's phone.
Thanks.

The easiest would be to use the 'email chat' option. This would send you a copy of the conversation to your email.

Open the chat on your friends phone,
Press on the menu on the top right>more>email chat. Put in your email address, and you will have a copy of the conversation.

There is no way to port the conversation over to WhatsApp and make it appear as if you never lost it. Unless you have a backup.


Can I put a Galaxy Note on Virgin Mobile (US)? I am thinking about getting the new Galaxy Note phone, but I want to put it on Virgin Mobile (US). Is this possible? If not does anyone know of any phone service like Virgin Mobile I can put the Galaxy Note on?

No, this isn't possible. The Galaxy Note is a GSM phone whereas Virgin Mobile USA is a CDMA network (it is a subsidiary of Sprint). The two are not compatible. In addition to this, CDMA carriers typically only activate phones that are specifically branded for their networks, so you can't even use a Sprint phone on Virgin unless you "know a guy" or find a really nice rep.

The Galaxy Note is quad-band GSM/UMTS, supporting the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM bands and 850/900/1900/2100 MHz UMTS (3G) bands. If you get one that is not carrier locked then you can use it on AT&T, T-Mobile, and any smaller US carrier that uses their spectrum (Straight Talk, for example).