Unable to complete Cyanogenmod 14 setup Hei, I Just installed CM14 on my Nexus 6p + Gapps.
All clean, fresh unlocked etc.
Cyanogen boots up to setup-wizard the device, select the language etc.
But after the wifi selection the "tranfer data from another device" opens up and I can not cancel it / proceed it.
Can someone help me with this ?

As of now the Setup Wizard is known to be broken across multiple devices on CM14.x.

The solution for now seems to be removing /system/priv-app/CyanogenSetupWizard from your recovery. But the trick is that you shouldn't just delete it; instead, move the folder elsewhere for backup, then boot up into the OS properly. You will notice things like the notification bar and recent keys working weird. Don't worry - boot into recovery again and place that folder back to where it was, and set correct permissions (rwxr-xr-x for folder, rw-r--r-- for file). Reboot and you should see the Setup Wizard briefly come up but goes away if you interact with it. That's it - now start using the phone as you would normally.


Some SMS Display Date, Others Time I'm trying to figure out why some of the text messages on my Android only display the date while others display the time? Do the older messages have the date only?

As FieryCod has already said:

If the message is from today it will show only the time but if it is from earlier it will show the date


Google Play Store mobile payment I'm haing a problem with google play store from few weeks, I can't purchase any app with carrier billing option.
it says "Your mobile payment service isn't available, try again later" any ideas how to fix this?
thanks

Carrier billing agreements are only set up on a few carriers in a few countries.

As of the end of 2013, that list is:

Country       Carriers
Australia     Telstra
Belgium       Mobistar
Germany       T-Mobile International, o2
France        SFR, Bouygues, Orange
Hong Kong     3
Ireland       3, O2
Italy         Wind Italy
Japan         Docomo, KDDI, Softbank
Korea         KT, SKT, LGU+
Netherlands   KPN
Norway        Telenor
Poland        Play
Russia        Beeline
Singapore     Singtel
Spain         Movistar
Sweden        3, Telenor SE
Switzerland   Swisscom
UK            T-Mobile International
US            AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon

(source)

If you're still having trouble, Google Play Support has some other troubleshooting steps you should try:

If you don’t see a carrier billing option under Payment options, here are some troubleshooting tips:

Make sure you’re connected to your carrier’s mobile data network (3G/4G), not Wi-Fi.
Direct carrier billing is only available on mobile devices using the  Google Play Store
Google Play Store app, not computers.
Your account with your carrier must be in good standing.
Check with your carrier to make sure:

You haven’t exceeded your carrier’s monthly spending limit.
Your device and service plan allow premium content purchases.
Your device can use direct carrier billing.


Snapdragon or Exynos? I have Samsung Galaxy S7 and I want to check if I have a Snapdragon or Exynos chipset. I need this info because I plan to install Android Pie or 10 and I need to know exactly which chipset the phone has. My baseband is G930SKU3ETG1, Build number R16NWG930SKSU3ETG2, yet back casing SM-G930P. SNAPDROGON or EXYNOS? It has already been rooted with android 8.0.0.
Can anyone help please?

Install AIDA64 from the Play Store, which is free (with advertising). The CPU tab will show you exactly what SoC you have, and what the cores are. For example, my Samsung Galaxy S8 shows:
SoC Model  Samsung Eyxnos 9 Octa (8895)
Core Architecture 4x ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1690 MHz 4x Samsung Exymos M2 @ 2314 MHz


How do I upgrade my Sony Xperia X10 mini to Android 2.1? I would like to explain to my friend who lives in another country how to upgrade their phone to Android 2.1 so that they can use WhatsApp.

How can they do this?

Try pointing them to this link on the Sony Mobile website: http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/software/phones/xperia-x10-mini/

It has some software to download for mac or PC which will allow your friend to upgrade their device.


Soft brick Galaxy Tab s 10.5 I have recently rooted and installed Blisspop rom to my Tab S.  I decided to revert back to the stock rom.  I download the rom for the UK and applied via Odin.  Download completed and the tab rebooted.  The tab is now stuck with the Samsung logo.  I can reboot in Odin recovery.  I have tried to download openrecovery-twrp tar expecting to see and use TWRP when going into recovery but I don't.  Help!

I had the same issue. Follow the below steps to resolve it.

You must first find and then download the correct official stock firmware for your tablet via KIES:

Updating to the latest version of KIES program on your PC
Run KIES
Connect your Tab with Download mode to the PC with KIES.
KIES Menu Tools -> Firmware Upgrade and Initialisation -> Model name (your Model name Tab. For example SM-T800 or SM-T805) -> OK -> S / N (Serial Number of your Tab from sticker on original box Samsung or sticker on back cover of the Tab) -> OK -> OK -> OK
Turn on your Tab in the Download Mode ( press at the same time and hold for approximately 4 seconds the buttons Home, Power and Volume - and then press button Volume +)
Next step by step according to the instructions KIES


Stop certain apps from ever using mobile data Before you refer to this: I have tried installing Onavo as suggested here, but that did not allow me to do what I wanted (at least the current version of the app doesn't).

My Wi-Fi is not the most reliable, and it sometimes simply dies for a while, causing my phone to switch to data usage. Of course this always happens when I'm watching a video on youtube on my phone, and I only notice afterwards that this has happened, causing my mobile data usage to skyrocket.

What I would like to have is some way to completely prevent the YouTube app from ever connecting to the internet if I am not using Wi-Fi at the time. I have already checked the box that prevents the app from using data in the background, but that is obviously not enough.

Frankly telling : You just can't stop an app from using the data when it is running in the foreground. Android has not implemented any feature till now. However, You can restrict the background data for the apps and save the data. Better you keep mobile data closed when you're using WiFi. I know its frustrating but that's the best you can do.

 Another option is to use a custom ROM like CM. It has the profile option where you can set the usage of your WiFi and data when you're at your home or office.


Photos downloaded from facebook are appearing in Google Photos Photos I download with the Facebook app on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 are synced to Google Photos. I would like only photos I take with my phone's camera or add manually to appear in Google Photos. Is this possible? How?

No folders are selected in the "Choose folders to back up..." dialogue.

there is a simple solution to hide facebook downloaded pictures from google photo or the stock galery or technically speaking hide them from the android media scanner.

locate where the photos are downloaded facebook download to your external storage /DCIM/facebook and the facebook messenger app store it's pictures under /pictures/messenger
use a file manager app like es file explorer navigate to the location of the pictures and create a new file name it .nomedia
it's done the pictures downloaded from facebook will not show in the google photo.


Unable to pass through setup wizard I had deleted the Google keyboard app and was using a third party keyboard app on my Motorola Nexus 6. Just now, I hard reset my phone and come to know that there is no default keyboard installed; making me unable to pass through the setup wizard. I am running Android 5.1.1 and because of factory reset protection, it's a must to pass through setup wizard, can't skip anything. Please help me fix this, thanks in advance.

Because you are currently in an unknown state, the "best" option here is to reflash the factory images manually. Google provides factory images and instruction on their Factory Images for Nexus Devices page, and you could also upgrade to 6.0.1 if you wanted to.

Going through this procedure will return your Nexus device to it's factory condition, except with the version of software you chose to install.


How do I use my Google account when I have a FIDO U2F Key attached? I have recently attached a FIDO U2F Key to my Google Account to make it more secure.
How can I now actually log into my Google Account on Android again?

Whenever I try to log in, it says wrong password, even though I know it is the right password. Does anyone know what is required to get it working again?

Use a application token:

If familiar with Two Factor Auth. /Multi. Factor Auth. on Github or Bitbucket and use a ssh token essentially the  exact same thing.

May I recommend using google authenticator  ---which by default creates  10 OTPs (one time passwords) that can be used if the FIDO is not pre registered.


Entering a backtick with the Swype keyboard I have a Samsung Galaxy S and use the Swype keyboard by default (OK, I'm addicted to it).  Using Swype, I can't find the backtick character, `, which limits my ability to answer questions or add comments on these SE sites.  It exists in the Android keyboard, but going to Settings > Locale and text midway through entering a post is a pain, especially if I want to switch back to Swype afterwards so I have to do it twice.

I think I've done an exhaustive search of all the characters available (long press, extra-long-press, symbol key, etc.).  Does the backtick exist in the Swype keyboard and I just haven't noticed it?  If not, is there a way that I can customize the Swype keyboard to include the backtick?

Another confirmation that the back tick isn't on Swype. But, you don't need to dig that deep to switch.. Long press in the input area, choose "Input method" and then you can select the Samsung or Android keyboards. Another long press and two clicks and you are back to Swype.


How to switch between personal page and Brand Page in the G+ Android app? In Google Plus, I am able switch between my personal page and Brand Pages. (As described here.)

How do I do the same using the Android app version of G+?

The process has changed as of version 4.1. You no longer have to sign out and sign back in.

To switch:

Open the menu by swiping right or tapping the icon in the upper left
Tap the down arrow next to your name (or your Page's name)
If necessary, tap "Switch Google+ page"
Tap the name of the Page you want to switch to

The process is the same to go back to your regular account.

This is how to do it with versions 3.2 (or the version updated 11th October depending on your device) to 4.0.x.

To switch:

Sign out
Choose your user account (if you have more than one)

If you've recently updated the app you may need to go through a few settings screens

Choose to sign in as yourself or one of your pages


how to reinstall os in samsung galaxy sII GT1900 How can i reinstall android 4.4 in Samsung galaxy s2 GT1900.
when i turn on on logo appear and off automatically.
I try odin but it cannot scan id com .

When you connect your device via USB, a windows popup should appear and telling you that it is installing some samsung drivers. In linux, you can use lsusb to check if you device is recognized.

If odin is not seeing you device, I think either your charger cable is damaged or you should use another USB port, I would suggest an USB2 port directly at the PC.


How come my my HTC Desire Z sometimes doesn't notify me about a new SMS? My HTC Desire Z has developed an issue (well several, but just one for this question) where it doesn't always notify me of a new message. When a new message arrives, I expect:

the phone to beep (well ring tone), and
there to be an indicator in the notification area until I look at the message or clear notifications.

This does happen the majority of the time, but sometimes neither of these things happen. But if I open the Messages app, there is the new message. This is really quite annoying, so does anyone know ways to fix this? Are there alternative SMS apps that might be different, or is this functionality an OS thing? Would using, say, CyanogenMod fix it, or at least be worth a try? Is it possible that the formatting of particular contacts would cause such a problem? Any other ideas?

Version info:

Phone: HTC Desire Z (Vodafone UK)
Android: 2.2.1
Kernel: 2.6.32.21-g540976a htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
Build Number: 1.72.161.1 CL296256 release-keys

How much free internal space do you have on your phone?  When my phone has too many services running or doesn't have enough free internal space then services will get killed left and right, therefore the messaging service won't run to alert me of a new message.  Try uninstalling some apps or moving them to the SD card.  You can check for any unnecessary running services under Settings -- > Applications --> Running Services.


Real time device share on Apple TV via AirPlay I see that there are apps that will broadcast certain things to an Apple TV via AirPlay, but is there a way to send a view of the screen in real time via this method?  I have seen iPhone 4S doing this, but the only apps I've seen for Android advertise that they broadcast media files as if they're being sent as opposed to streamed.

I don't know of any apps that can do that, but (supposedly) any Android 4.2 device can do that with a wireless display adapter connected to an HDMI-enabled TV. I also found this project by E.S.R.Labs, which they successfully get a Nexus S to mirror it's screen (albeit onto a Raspberry Pi). Mirroring functionality is also sometimes limited due to hardware requirements.
I also recently found that a developer was able to get Miracast working on Nexus 7 and 4 variants. Check it out on XDA with videos. Something cool to note with this project is that the mirroring capabilities are all software based; no need for additional hardware. Hopefully that will also lead to further development for mirroring on devices that don't already have the hardware inside of them.


How do I root a Zte Origin from Solavei? I got a Zte Origin (solavei service) from vx4gwireless

There's a customer in their affiliate program and she's added all these apps and needs to root her phone (and I need to as well). I do not see a Zte Origin in your list of Androids in the How do I root my Android device? section.

Can you please add this phone and instructions on how to root it?

Its the blue Zte Origin, Model number Zte V768 Android version 2.3.7

And I need to know how to delete apps and move them to SD card after rooting!

Thanking you and that I hope someone can help!

I rooted mine with no trouble. It's been a while but I now have SuperSU and Uninstall on my unit.  I don't remember specifically downloading either one they nay have downloaded along with an 'install'.  So do dome DD and try downloading these two. I do remember I had to fiddle some on the connection between my PC and the ZTE but eventually the rooting software loaded. I also installed Internet Booster, Ram Booster, SDCard Booster and I believe these are by the same software designer and seem to be flawless. These products working together have dramatically speeded up my ZTE Origin and I rarely get 'out of space' warnings - theyare fantastic and I would HIGHLY recommend them.

After getting all of these installed I was able to move a number of apps to my SD card freeing up a ton of space.


delete directory containing too many files I have an app called Telegarm and it stores all its cache files in a directory inside sdcard/Android/data folder.
the problem is that there are thousand of tiny a few kilo bytes files stored in there.
while file manager app trys to read the list of files it hangs and wating a long time dosent work.
is there a way which i can delete those files fast and easy?

-p.s: my phone is not rooted.
-p.s 2:they are more than 30 000 files and more than 300 mgb!

It could be that Telegram may misbehave when find those files missing. Anyhow. You can use command-line for the job. Setup adb in PC and execute this command

adb shell am force-stop org.telegram.messenger                  # this would force-stop Telegram app.
adb shell rm -rf /sdcard/Android/data/org.telegram.messenger/*  # * means everything - all files and folders. Replace it with the directory name and enclose it in "" if the files to be deleted are inside a sub-directory.

Alternatively, you can do it using a terminal emulator app:

Force-stop Telegram app from Setting → Apps → Telegram → Force stop.
Remove adb shell from the said second command and run it on terminal app.

Another alternative is to use a third-party file manager and see whether it hangs. I would suggest using even an automation app. You can use my answer here for further info. (Tip: Use only the actions not the profiles there. Actions can be performed without a trigger/profile.)


What will happen if I "Clear data" for the "Settings" app? (com.android.settings) I'm on a stable (Installer) build of Cyanogenmod 11 on a Galaxy Nexus, and for a while I've not been able to access 'Settings' at all - tapping on it to try to open it, gives me a "Unfortunately, Settings has stopped." crash.

I'm not a fan of unnecessarily wiping and re-flashing ROMs unless I absolutely have to - and I've got an idea, which is to 'Clear data' for the 'Settings' app (com.android.settings) and maybe that will make the crash go away and me be able to finally access Settings once again.

But what will I lose by doing this?

Will I lose important settings such as my (finely tuned) customised home screen icon layout, or my saved Wifi network passwords? Will it even delete my saved Google account(s) in the OS and possibly cause havoc as a result?

And furthermore, Could backing up the 'Settings' app in Titanium Backup Pro (then restoring), be a solution to fully restore the app's settings if it does?

I did it a few days ago for the same problem (CyanogenMod M8 for i9100):

I didn't lose anything;
It fixes the problem =)


How do I tell whether my phone is roaming? How do I tell whether my phone is roaming, preferably on the lock screen?

OP's intention
 of asking was to know how to identify the mobile is in roaming

It is indicated by R (indicating Roaming) , next to the signal strength icon, which was indeed the case


Custom roms for specific use cases I've seen this - Where can I find a good comparison of available custom ROMs?

However the release matrix linked to doesn't really do what it could do.

Is there an objective comparison somewhere that details the ROMs available by feature?

I'd like to find a ROM that's good for battery life and speed.

The phone model is a Galaxy S I9000.

No one will run the same apps with the same settings in the same environment as you.  Any "objective" evaluation will be no more useful than reading the XDA forums, for example; you're going to end up with an indication of reliability and speed, nothing more.

There's also a ton of ROMs for the SGS, many of which are only published certain places (XDA, MoDaCo, ROM-specific forums).  You'd be hard pressed to find a complete resource.  Even the "ROM Guide" threads on XDA tend to fail to include many of the ROMs from XDA.

In sum, I'd read the XDA Android Development subforum for the i9000 and shortlist a few ROMs that sound good to you, then test them out and see what works best for you.


Is it possible to prevent the screen from locking while connected to the USB Generally when there is a USB cable attached to the phone it's not in my pocket, so the screen lock isn't doing anything usefull for me and I'd like to disable it.

If you go into Settings > Applications > Development there is a setting for Stay Wake which is described as "Screen will never sleep while charging".

Give that a try :)


Modifying hosts file does not have any effect Since I spend too much time on websites such as 9gag.com and the like, I decided to try and block them by modifying the hosts file on my rooted Nexus 5.

So I created a new hosts file using notepad++, which looks like this :

127.0.0.1 board.4chan.org
127.0.0.1 4chan.org
127.0.0.1 9gag.com
127.0.0.1 www.9gag.com
127.0.0.1 www.4chan.org

etc., saved it as a file without extension, and replaced the original "hosts" file found in system/etc with the new file. However, it does not have any effect and I can still access all those websites as easily as before. I'm using Chrome as my browser.

I checked that the new lines are LF and not CR+LF (read somewhere that it could make the hosts file work not properly) and that the file has no extension (File Explorer shows it as a "file", that's all). When I try to edit the hosts file with an app called Hosts Editor, it looks like everything is good and like my device should redirect the websites I'm trying to reach to localhost.

So my question is : why is this not working? What have I done wrong?

Thanks a lot!

To expand on the update that was made by the OP:

Chrome stores its own DNS cache for sites that you have visited.  This cuts down on DNS resolution time when browsing sites that you have recently visited.  However, this happens before the hosts file is checked for DNS resolution (so your new hosts entries will not be checked if they are in the Chrome DNS).  Therefore, you need to clear out Chrome's DNS cache.  You can go to chrome://net-internals/#dns and clear it out from there.

The order in which Chrome checks for DNS (from first to last) is:  local-cache->hosts-file->DNS-Server


How to remove GMail contacts from Messaging app on Samsung Galaxy S Advance? I have a Samsung Galaxy S Advance and when I try sending an SMS message to someone, I have to search through all my GMail contacts that for some reasons appear on the app along with my phone contacts.

I don't send mails through the message app and most of my GMail contacts are people who I sent just one e-mail in my entire life.

The Sync and Account settings don't let me turn off Contact sync, just remove the GMail account entirely, and there is no menu in the messaging app that lets me hide the GMail contacts.

Is there any way to make the messaging app only show the contacts I have on my phone?

In Android 4.1 Jelly bean follow the following steps:

Open the Contacts app
Tap the Setting touch button
Select Contacts to display
Select Phone

A similar procedure should work also for the earlier Android 2.3 Gingerbread.


I accidentally deleted the updates of my google play I was exploring my cellphone. I came to the uninstall updates of google play. Now I can't open it nor can update my apps. What do I do?

That should be easy to fix, simply make sure you have enabled "Unknown sources" in your Security section of your settings app and download and install this APK file from this reputable source:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/04/03/play-store-5-4-10-makes-the-notification-bar-transparent-on-app-pages-apk-download

It's simply a download link for the official Google Play app. When you get it installed, it should update itself automatically if there's a newer version available.


What's the maximum size for a second partition for moving Apps to a SD card? What's the maximum size for a 2nd. primary partition that can be used for App2SD?

Specs: 32GB microSD + 4.1.2 JB + LG Optimus L5

Nope, no limit.

Source at xda-developers forum


Invalid IMEI after factory reset After factory reset my phone starts showing "Invalid IMEI" on both sim slots and I can't call or be called. What might be the problem?

Android version; 2.2.1 , model: A601

If it has a Mediatek (which usually cleared IMEIs after flashing), you can try entering the IMEIs (found on the retail box) manually using *#*#3646633#*#*, and finding the option in Radio settings. I can't be sure if this works with newer MTK devices.


Would disabling the package installer prevent updates? If so, how can I disable the ability to sideload apps while still being able to update apps already installed?

Disabling the package installer would prevent apps from making the user request to install an app. Technically, they would still make the request but it would not show up, with the installer  being disabled.  That said, if a system app has INSTALL_PACKAGES permission (such as Play Store) or a third-party app has root access somehow, disabling the package installer would make no difference. Similarly, disabling it would not prevent sideloading from adb.


How can I disable annoying Xperia application on Windows? This application appears when I connect my Xperia T (CM12) to the PC:

Usually I just close it, and continue with my work, but even after closing, the application stays open in the taskbar:

There aren't any settings to disable this type of behaviour.

How can I disable this window (at least from the taskbar), without losing the MTP functionality of the phone?

Since the Xperia Control Panel automatically appears every time you connect the device, it seems a default action is set on Windows AutoPlay.

Usually, Windows will ask the user what to do when a device is connected to the PC (e.g. open folder to view files, take no action, etc.), and the user can set it as default action (which removes this pop-up and directly run the action automatically).

To change/disable this:

Open AutoPlay by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type autoplay, and then click AutoPlay.
In the list next to the device or type of media, click the new action you want to use.

For the new action, you can choose Take no action so that Windows won't do anything when you connect the device.


Can an app update from Play Store reinstate its permissions I've disabled earlier? There are quite a few apps out there that request too many permissions during install time, most of them seem  highly dubious. I tend to disable permissions I feel unlikely to be used and for the most part I get it right.

Can an update to said app reinstate its "factory" permissions that I've disabled? (an update might be from Play Store or APK)

This is about protecting privacy, which, I feel, is increasingly difficult these days.

Cases that doesn't affect your current permissions:

Updating app from play store.(also maybe the same for apk install too)
When you disable/enable any app.
When you clear only app cache.
When you force stop and restart.
During uninstall updates of an app. (This action is performed automatically when you disable that app).

Cases that may reset your current permissions:

When you clear Data and Cache.
During reinstall.
After factory reset.

Note: The app developer/company can add more permissions while releasing a new update to a currently running app with specific permissions.

For example, phone app have many permissions such as contacts, phone, sms, storage, location etc. But, we need to set these permissions only such as contacts, sms, phone. Later, when developer release app update he adds camera permission for video calling. User need to enable this for video calling purposes.


How to execute a file via adb command line? I am trying to root my Motorola Xoom. Root checker pro currently tells me that "Executing this file can grant root access!" So I want to try that.

the file is located in system/bin and is called su.

I have gotten this far:

adb shell

cd system/bin

How do I execute the system/bin/su file via the adb command line?

A few suggestions (this is a shell so I'm guessing you have basic shell commands) one or all of these may work:

First try: sh su

Then: bash su

Then: ./su

If it has an extension give all the above commands a try with the extension of su

Also as a suggestion to see what commands are available just type: help

[EDIT]

since you mentioned not having root access try using the sudo command before su (and the above commands if needed)


Controlling phone and making calls remotely I'm wondering if there's a way to connect to my phone via, say, ssh and be able to make calls and send texts remotely.

Use case would be for when I'm abroad but have internet, I'd be able to contact people without roaming and whatnot.

I suggest Teamviewer app for remote control


Galaxy S5 SM-G900F programmed as SM-9006V I have a Samsung S5. On the box, on the sticker inside the unit, checking the IMEI and using CPU-z they all said the unit is an SM-G900F and is using the Snapdragon core.

My biggest problem with it is I want to be able to back the entire unit up so that if I mess it up, I can put it back to its original state. There is no simple universal backup method, so I used ADB to do the following command:

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=testsystem.img

I made changes to the programs and did this command:

dd if=testsystem.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0

I thought this worked, so then I proceeded to try to install Cyanogen ROM. After many tries and other things too tedious to describe about what did not work, I finally got this version to work:

13.0-20160114-NIGHTLY-kltechn

This version and ones before it are for the SM-G9006V Chinese model, not my supposed international model. I tried to put in this version:

cm-12.1-20151007-SNAPSHOT-YOG4PAO333-klte

which should work for the SM-900F but it won't.

Now trying to put the phone back to its original state using

dd if=testsystem.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0

does not work.

I think the phone was programmed somehow with two different ROMs, and I am hoping someone can tell me how to do this, or why I can't make dd command work?

Here is some more information before I did anything to the phone:

On Kies before changing to cyanogen rom it said it could not update the phone and reported the following:

G900FXXU1POEC/G900FOJV1POF1/G9006VZNU1BOE3/G900FXXU1POEC  (XSG)

Original answer to *#1234# before Cyanogen rom was:

G900FOJV1POF1

Now this information cannot be gotten from KIES, and the *#1234# no longer works.

In addition, I wrote down all the following from the phone in its original state:

Device Name: Galaxy S5
Model Number: SM-G900F
Android Version 5.0
Broadband Version: G900FXXU1POEC
Kernel Version: 3-4.0-4884557     dpi@swdd5702 #1  Tue May 12 11:54:06 KST 2015
Build Number: LRX21t.G900FXXU1POEC
United Arab Emirates   TRA ID:0016333/03  TP: 00000000/00
Security Software MDF V1.1 Release 4   VPN V1.4 Release 3
Knox Version   Knox 2.3

Standard SDK 5.3.0
Premium SDK 2.3.0
Customization SDK 2.0.0
Container 2.3.0
IM 2.0.0
CEP 2.0.1
Enterprise Billing 1.0.0
SE for Android 2.2.1
SSO 2.1.1
TIMA 3.0
VPN 2.2.0

I want the phone to have a complete back up that is simple like using dd.

I want to use the phone in the US and Asia.

I would like to be able to put it back to its original ROM programming.

Current Situation

I am afraid you have messed up things in a big way by flashing a ROM not meant for the device ,see this to get more understanding Can I install a ROM made for a different device?
Also surprised that you were actually able to successfully install CM meant for another device
I am not conversant with "dd" commands, but the probable reason it is not working now is that the partition information has been altered after flashing the wrong ROM
Samsung phones do not come with two ROMs as you are speculating based on Kies output. One remote possibility that strikes me is that this is a refurbished phone which had traces of earlier ROM (if that is possible ), leading to Kies reporting inability to upgrade. You can verify, if your phone is refurbished or not and also obtain more details about your phone, see my answer How can I tell if my phone is refurbished

Next Steps

At this juncture, trying to solve things on your own may cause more damage than help, so  visit a service center to get it fixed. Leave it to the experts
If you still want to experiment, download correct stock ROM from Sammobile (requires registration) and flash stock using Odin as explained [Guide][Samsung] How to flash Stock ROM

Edit

OP has confirmed that check by Phone Info Samsung shows it as  refurbished. My guess is that the refurbishment was not properly done in terms of OS, leaving traces of earlier ROM as well. This could possibly disrupt attempt to restore to stock. This complicates situation further and strengthens my earlier recomendation to have the service center handle it. Of course, this does not stop OP from trying to flash stock ROM

  On Kies  before changing to cyanogen rom it said it could not update the phone and reported the following:

  G900FXXU1POEC/G900FOJV1POF1/G9006VZNU1BOE3/G900FXXU1POEC  (XSG)

factually reported by Kies, shows this, which is further confusing, either all the actions done by OP are not correctly reflected or there is an issue with refurbished phone

G900FXXU1POEC is UAE lollipop for your device
G9006VZNU1BOE3 is lollipop for SM-G9006V
G900FOJV1POF1 is lollipop UAE


No option to choose "Do Not Validate" under "CA certificates" when connecting to PEAP/MSCHAPV2 WiFi (Android 11) I can't connect to campus WiFi anymore after installing latest ROM with december 2020 security patches. The configuration is PEAP/MSCHAPV2. Under CA certificate, we usually choose "Do not validate" but now CA certificates is set to "Use system certificates" and can't be changed. "Use system certificates" setting requires Domain name which I don't know and have never needed to use before in any ROM.

Is there any workaround to choose "Do not validate" in "CA certificate"?

Have you asked the IT department from your campus ?
Looks like if you 'just' enter the correct domain, it should work with the system certificates.
If so, then you would end up with a more secure WiFi connection.
The article where Yogesh is pointing at, is more an advertisement than independent information. Obvious that securew2 is writing to use their products instead of another solutions.
The root of the problem is a user unfriendly way to connect to a Wifi network in Android.
In many other OS's you need to 'trust' a certificate, which is needed for a safe connection.
Before December update, Android gave 2 options:
1st solution is to import a certificate on a smartphone. Which manually is a hell, or by using an app. (Like securew2, connect this with the site were the article is hosted)
2nd option was to 'not validate' the certificate, and just trust any certificate presented. This however is of course less secure, but a lot more user friendly and can be explained. The risk is that if someone (with bad intentions) set up a network with the same 'name'/SSID, the android phone connects regardless, without warning you are connecting to a rogue network.
To address the security problems in the second option
Android has removed the do not validate option and (according to your screenshot) it seems to be replaced by using system certificates (with a domainname check).
I am curious If you can connect when you would use the correct domain name.


What's my solutions if i brick my android phone? Are there any tricks (general or not) that I can use if I brick my Android phone? e.g.: when updating android..

As you haven't mentioned your phone related information, I can share my view.

When your phone is not responding or bricked then you can use your phone PC Compassion or PC suite or whatever depends on what your phone model gave you.

I own Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro. Sometime back while installing another ROM the phone bricked. I googled and read lots of articles to unbrick the phone.

Especially XDA Forum helped me in unbricking the phone. Sony Ericsson has SEUS(Sony Ericsson Update Service).  Using this we can unbrick the Sony Ericsson phones. I am guessing the similar kind of set up is there in all the other phones also.


Easy and efficient way to run GNU/Linux on top of Android on an x86 device? I have a quite powerful x86-64 Android phone. I want to run a GNU/Linux desktop distro (preferably Debian-based) on top of Android.

I have the stock firmware, but rooted and with Xposed Framework.

I know about Complete Linux Installer, and it seems excellent. But they have a pre-prepared image. I assume that image is ARM, so it won't work? Right? Also, they say my ROM has to support "loop-devices." Does it? And if it doesn't is there any tweak to enable it?

But I'm sure there must also be tons of other ways to do it? FWIW I have access to a laptop with an Intel processor that I can use for the process. (But I'm not too keen on hours of tinkering to make it work.)

Other than that, I want to really take advantage of the specs of the phone. A user friendly process is also a plus.

Please note that even though I have a accepted my own answer here, I still very much welcome additional answers.

I found  way to do this that I'm very happy with.

I used Linux Deploy. (It requires root, but here's an alternative for those who don't want to root.)

Here's a nearly full version of Xubuntu 16.04 (x86-64) running on my phone.

It performs really well. I had no performance issues. Note that this is not a virtual machine. Android and Xubuntu share the very same Linux kernel at the same time. If, while this is running, I switch to OS monitor (in Android), I can actually see the individual processes from Xubuntu (dpkg, etc.) running and how much of the CPU they're using. (That has to be enabled in a setting, though.)

An external keyboard and mouse are a must (though not strictly required). And an external monitor is also a good idea. Or you can just VNC into this system directly from another computer. Linux Deploy supports that out of the box.

The setup is really easy. The default settings of Linux Deploy pretty much work. Just select your distribution and desktop environment. But, by default, the system creates a 2GB .img file as a file system. That wasn't enough for me. So since the internal storage of my phone is ext4 formatted, I was able to set it to 40 GB. If yours is FAT32, the maximum will be 4GB. But it's also possible to have a directory or partition instead of a .img file. (Although I didn't figure out how to do that.)

The process is described in detail here. Skip down to the "Linux Deploy" section. It's important that you install the correct version of Busy Box. Otherwise, it won't work.

This kind of thing has potential. If you have a powerful enough phone, it can actually replace your desktop computer in many cases.


how to restore a deleted memo on Samsung galaxy S3? I accidentally deleted the wrong memo on my phone so I was wondering if I could restore it or not and if I can then how?

Try going to your Memo Menu button > Settings > Accounts > Samsung Account, and do a sync.

Hope this helps.


skullcandy earbuds with mic My skullcandy earbuds with built-in mic only partially work with my Maxx.  The earbuds do their part broadcasting sound, but I have to talk directly into the phone's mic to be heard.  The earbud's mic, which I assume is opposite its volume control, does/perceives nothing. Any clues?

You might need an adapter. I know that when I bought a couple of ear plugs with a mic once, I got an adapter with them that stated the adapter was for Samsung, among other brands. On the surface it looked like a "3,5 mm > 3,5 mm" adapter so I wasn't sure what the difference was, but upon inspecting it I noticed the plug had three "lines" where it usually only has two (I think). Don't quote me on this, but it obviously had a point since they included it.

So in short, it might be that your Skullcandy earbuds are made to work with iPhones for example, but the designers did not consider how the plugs are made for Samsung or other Android devices. If you have a working pair, try comparing the plugs.

To fix it, I guess you would need an adapter. In the future this could be good to know as well, so you can adapt your purchase after what product supports your phone.


Offline Voice search on ICS? I have an Samsung Galaxy Exhilarate, with 4.0.4 operating system. Is there a way to get offline voice search for Ice Cream Sandwhich or below?

Unfortunately, offline voice recognition is only available for devices running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and above - anything below that will not receive support. There is, however, another hidden requirement - your device must have a sufficient amount of RAM in order to be able to download the Offline Voice Recognition files from Google. My Incredible S is running 4.2.2 and with 572 MBs of RAM I do not see the option.

Should you receive an upgrade to 4.1+ (by root or other means), you may go to Language and Input in Settings and select Download offline speech recognition under Voice Search.


How to be confident mobile data is off I have a mobile package which includes a small amount of mobile data. If you exceed the limit, or use data abroad, the costs can be truly enormous. This has made me paranoid about how to ensure that mobile data is turned off.

My biggest fear is that I am abroad, but then want to check my email when without wifi. I manually turn on my mobile data, check my emails, but then forget to switch it off.

What is the surest way to avoid this scenario? I have seen all sorts of apps on the market that relate to this issue, but none of them do quite what I need. For example there are many apps you can open up and check your data usage... but of course if you don't know that you've left data on, then why would you even go and check? There are also apps where the icon on your screen shows the state as connected/not connected. But they tend to also act as a switch themselves, so it would be far too easy to accidentally switch data on just by touching the icon. What I would really like is some strong visual indicator of being connected, which isn't itself a toggle to switch data on.

Another alternative that I haven't seen yet is something which turns mobile data off when the phone sleeps (and doesn't turn it back on again).

I have a Samsung Galaxy II with Android 4.3. My phone is not rooted, and I don't want it to be (my banking app does not work on rooted phones).

SOLVED: I ended up using mattm's answer as well as using Firelord's suggestion of macrodroid. I used macrodroid to switch off mobile data every time the screen switches off.

The standard Android Settings->"Data Usage" allows you to set warnings and limits for mobile data usage. The screenshot is from Android 6, but I recall having something similar in Android 4.x.

This won't give you a visual indication of data usage on your home screen, but it will give you a warning (I don't remember what this looks like) and it will cut off your mobile data if you hit the limit.

The advanced settings also allow you to toggle whether data is enabled on roaming connections.


How to stop System Update from Canvas A1? Android version of my Canvas A1 (AQ4501) is 4.4.4. And its rooted.

Now I am getting System Update for Android 6.0.

How to stop System Update for my rooted Canvas A1? and

If I update it to Android 6.0, will it affect root access?

Regards

Ugn10

How to stop System Update for my rooted Canvas A1?

PROCEDURE to disable the Google Official OTA updates completely:

*. You need to be rooted for this.

Install this app: Disable Services and open it.
Select the 'System' tab.
Select the "Google Services Framework" app and uncheck (disable) the following service: SystemUpdateService
Again, select the "Google Play Services" app and uncheck this service: SystemUpdateService

Tested and working on Android One devices & Google Nexus.

That's it! You'll never get the update notification and neither will you be able to check it manually.

If you feel you want the updates again, you can re-enable these services again to receive updates.

(Source: [TIP] How to disable the Google OTA updates completely)

  If I update it to Android 6.0, will it affect root access?

Yes, definitely it will affect the root access.
BTW, you won't even be able to install the OTA zip (since you have rooted the stock KitKat, by which system partition is modified).


Does Xperia S support HDR? As the title says, does anyone know if Xperia S supports the HDR feature?

  HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It usually refers to the method of capturing images having “greater dynamic range between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than current standard digital imaging methods or photographic methods” (Wikipedia).

HDR has not to be enabled on the device. It is a software feature, combining multiple photos (see: Bracketing) into one. So you will need a camera app supporting this.

AFAIK the stock camera shipping with Android 4.2+ does so, plenty more are available on Google Play (not necessarily requiring Android 4.2+, most will run on your device). See e.g. Camera HDR Studio or HDR Camera for apps explicitly dedicated to this feature, or Camera FV-5 for an all-round-camera having this feature "amongst others". More to find out there.

A helpful article to read on the topic: How to use HDR on your Android device.


Phone memory shows as nearly full in PC, but is not ATT version of Galaxy S3
running cm-10.1.2-d2att.zip

http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?type=stable&device=d2att

I seem to be having a storage issue. I'm guessing it was while I was changing to a new a ROM. I wiped the device and did a fresh install, but used titanium to restore settings.

the 12 gig internal reports having less than 1 gig free, but I can only find ~3 gig of information. (see pic)

Try reflashing the Rom with full wipe again but don't restore anything with Titanium Backup.

similar problems usually happen when I used to restore data with Titanium Backup especially if the android upgrade from Rom to another is significant (e.g 4.1 to 4.2).

please try this and tell what happens :)

Edit: added my comment to the answer.


How to emulate a NFC card with an Android phone? I have installed several "NFC tools" apps, and I am able to read a NFC door card. It seems to be able to duplicate it (when I'll have a blank NFC card) or even write new NFC tags.

But I'd like to do something else:

How to make my Android device act as a NFC tag?

Example: since I can read and get the hexadecimal codes from my NFC door card, I'd like to make my smartphone act as a NFC card, so that, if I forget my door card, my smartphone could serve as a NFC tag.

How to do this?

PS: it is surely possible, because when paying with a smartphone ("contactless payment with phone"), the smartphone acts as a NFC device indeed for another reader (typically the shop credit card reader).

It is possible physically for the phone hardware but there are software problems, payment works but it's provided by google. I read about using phone as nfc tag recently and even if you can make it work card reader expects like logical address from you when you connect and card has it static while android sets new for itself with every connection so you need to somehow set it also to static.


How to get a clean device tree to build the drivers of the msm8939/snapdragon 615 I come to you with many interrogations about qualcomm msm8939 SoC.

I bought the Archos 50 diamond last year and have since been waiting for archos to make their move regarding android software updates.
As of october 2015 Lollipop has been released but in a beta version, no sign of any progress or any comunication ever since.

Whereas Samsung or others have released binaries and device specific configuration for their boards, archos on the other end seems to have other things on it's plate.

I know the binaries for a specific SoC wich is needed to build android or GNU/linux on embedded systems are sometime proprietary and surely in this instance they are, but..

Even if it's only for limited development purposes, would there be any way, known to man to acquire a personal license for a tailored driver binary?

Or maybe is it possible to get an exhaustive list of specific msm8939 device tree configurations options?

Is it safe to think that i can gather that exhaustive list of parameters from the various sources available on github?

Wherever I look for the device tree of the msm8939 I only find repositories for other phones based on this SoC... with a few minor differences. The only thing worth of mentioning (IMHO) is the work of cyanogen Inc. who signed a partnership with qualcomm regarding snapdragon SoC.

Then again even if Cianogenmod is an open source port of AOSP(Big up to anyone contributing), Cianogen Inc's work for those boards still remains behind closed walls.

That's why I would like to know if it is manageable to use another device tree (based on snapdragon 615/msm8939) to build something worth "risking" flashing?

The 50 diamond appears to be a rebrand of the chinese K-touch Touch7 and it would seem it didn't attract a sufficient amount of good FLOSS developpers for me to find the "good & easy to understand" informations in English or in French.

I've been puzzled about another thing in regard of this rebranding. In my build.prop the board name is msm8916(Snapdragon 410) instead of 39!!!!! How come? Is this a trap? Did they just tricked us Or even worse, did they advertise the wrong board ??

If Archos or K-touch or both did in fact used the msm8916 device tree to build the drivers and Android for this board, wouldn't it be missing a whole world of features?

Maybe someone knows of a good forum or repo wich might house the golden goose!? (not including the Cyanogemod repo)

And by that I mean any curated informations about embedded developement for GNU/linux and/or Android (free as in free beer if possible)

It's a shame for smartphone manufacturers that I can't progress on this matter, with a little luck i would brick the damn thing and would have to buy another one :D

I'll leave to it!
This community rocks!
Thanks in advance and see you around!!
Bye bye etc, etc...

One minor thing I can answer: Archos is not deceiving you by using an SD410. It's just the "platform board" is for SD410, and due to SD410 and SD61x being of the same generation and using the same core architecture, using the same board is alright.

As can be freely verified, many SD S4 Pro (APQ8064) / SD600 (APQ8064T) devices use the board msm8960, because ultimately they're using the same Krait 200/300 cores. That doesn't mean they're dual core instead of quad.

As for the main question, I think it's a bad decision to ever purchase devices from such minor manufacturers if you're looking for development, even if these devices have popular SoCs.


How to prevent most syncing with Google in Android 7.0 Nougat on Samsung devices? In Android 7.0 Nougat on Samsung devices, you can go to Settings -> Clouds and accounts -> Accounts -> Google to see a list of all the Google sync options.

Currently,

Sync Calendar says "Tap to sync now" with "Last synced date" of when I factory wiped the device.
Sync Contacts is the same as Calendar.
Sync Google Fit data is the same as Calendar.
Sync Google Play Books says "Tap to sync now" and "Sync turned off".
Sync Google Play Movies & TV is the same as Play Books.
Sync Google Play Music says nothing under it.
Sync People details says "Tap to sync now" with "Last synced date" of today!
Sync Play Games Cloud Save is the same as Calendar.

There are no enable/disable toggle checkmarks next to any of the items.

In Settings -> Clouds and accounts -> Backup and restore -> Back up my data is turned off.

I want all syncing with Google to be turned completely off, and any synced data to be deleted.

The exceptions are for Books, Movies & TV, and Music, for which I would like to manually sync once in a while.

How can this be done?

My advice is to completely remove your Google account from the device and go to your account on Google and delete it

Some Google stuff, even on devices that let you turn off syncing select things in accounts->google->sync, will sync no matter what


Why is rooting considered dangerous? I understand that being root, applications can do a lot more with your device, but an application first needs root access, so what is the problem? By that logic, Linux as a whole is a dangerous environment since you can give root access to commands by using "sudo". Wouldn't it be more correct to say that root access is as dangerous as the user? If the user is stupid and gives root access to all applications, then yes it is dangerous, but stupidity of users will always be present in the IT. field.

If you know what you give root access to, in what way is rooting your device more dangerous than not rooting?

Why is rooting considered dangerous

Because when you root your phone you have (basically) full access to your phone, if you accidentally delete a system file/application it can brick your phone & you have no way to get your files back unless, of course you have the stock firmware downloaded & restore your phone using Odin.


How can I see the browsing history and bookmarks in the stock browser? I have an SGS with Froyo.  I can't seem to find the browsing history in the stock browser.  I'm also only able to access bookmarks (or favorites, or shortcuts) from inside the browser.

How can they be accessed?

On my Samsung Fascinate I click on this button next to the address bar:

And it takes me to this screen, which also has a History tab (top-right):

The functionality shown above is also available to me on CyanogenMod 7, leading me to think that it's a feature of the stock browser (i.e. not added by Samsung).


How do I remove an app installed if the buttons in "Manage Applications" are locked and can't be pressed? I didn't download the application from Google Play and got the apk from a website and installed it on my tablet. But the app wasn't the one I needed and it was just making offers for me to get other apps.

Now I want to uninstall it but in "Manage Applications " all the buttons there are locked and can't be pressed, including the uninstall and move to SD card.

What do I do to get rid of it? It's taking up space on my internal memory.

Some apps register with the "Device Administrator" to avoid accidental/unwanted de-installation (e.g. child-protecting apps, so the child does not simply uninstall it -- also stuff which implements additional "rules", such as MS Exchange related apps). In this case, you need to remove them from the "Device Administrator" first:

Go to Settings→Security→Device Administrator and check if the app is listed there. If so, remove it from here. Now you should be able to uninstall the app.


Add contact without using "Google account"? When I got my phone, I imported my old contacts by writing a small program that uses the contacts API. That worked great, and all my contacts were stored locally on the phone (sync with Google is turned off). Now I need to add a new contact manually through the standard contacts menu. I only get the option to add the new contact to my "Google account", there's no choice for local storage. All the contacts i batch-added with my program are correctly listed as "phone only, unsynced contact", and this is what I'd like to happen also with new contacts I add from the standard contacts menu as well.

I'm aware of this question, but there are no storage settings at all in the contacts settings menu described in that question's answer.

What do I do to add new contacts to the local storage? I could of course use the program I wrote, but that seems a bit cumbersome in the long run, and surely there must be a way to do this through the menus?

I'm running stock Android 4.0.2 on a Galaxy Nexus.

Disable the Google Contacts Sync app (Settings -> Apps -> All -> GoogleContactsSyncAdapter -> Disable) and reboot, then try adding a contact again.  If this does not help and you have rooted your Android then you can delete /system/app/GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk with a file browser (but take a backup first!).
Either way, next time you create a contact you should be informed that the contact will be stored locally.

As far as I can tell this won't break anything else.

However, if you also use another account with sync function like Microsoft Exchange (for hotmail), you'll have to remove that one too. In case of Microsoft Exchange, it's best to remove the entire account, because just disabling the app prevents you from receiving emails anyway.

Source


K-9 Mail not working with Openkeychain K-9 does not seem to find the installed Openkeychain app. OKC works fine and so does K-9 except for this problem. Both programs have been installed from F-Droid and are the the latest version. I am using a Moto G ("falcon") with ParanoidAndroid 4.6b5 without Gapps. APG used to work.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Apparently on the "Accounts" screen, one has to long press the account.  Menu will pop up.  Click on "Account settings".  Another menu will pop up.  Click on the "Cryptography" item at the bottom.  The Cryptography menu will open.  Click on "OpenPGP Provider".  By default, "None" is selected.  Click on the "OpenKeychain" and you're set!

Hope this helps!


Do the ROM files contain some information about themselves? I have downloaded so many custom ROMs to try, but I did not organize them. One of the zip files is called "ODEXED.zip".

Is there any way to determine what it's name is just by inspecting the files in the zip file? Or maybe some other information about it?

This is just curiosity, I know I can just flash it and see its info in "Settings>About Phone".

Ok. I have found the answer, at least for that ROM:

In the /system/build.prop file in the zip file, the first "section" has build properties, which details all the information that is visible in the "About Phone" part.

This is an example of it here:

# begin build properties
# autogenerated by buildinfo.sh
ro.build.id=GINGERBREAD
ro.build.display.id=Hyper_Droid
ro.build.version.incremental=DDKT3
ro.build.version.sdk=10
ro.build.version.codename=REL
ro.build.version.release=2.3.6
ro.build.date=Wed Feb  1 15:11:04 KST 2012
ro.build.date.utc=1328076664
[...]
ro.product.brand=samsung
ro.product.model=GT-S5670
ro.product.name=GT-S5670
ro.product.device=GT-S5670
ro.product.board=GT-S5670
ro.modversion= v2.0
ro.author.name= Wilfred
[...]
# end build properties
#
# system.prop for GT-S5670
#


Why can my phone interact with other devices wifi streaming? I've noticed today, that, if someone in my company is streaming music to our smartTV, my phone is able to interact with it and, for example, pause it or even fully stop it.

I don't know what causes this behaviour, even weirder, my colleague is casting using Spotify and I don't have Spotify on my device.

Needless to say we are using the same WI-FI. But, still, I can't figure out why I can access the stream.

Couldn't that even be a security flaw?

Cordially,
Matthieu

Most likely the TV supports DLNA and provides the controls to any device in it's network.

In your scenario there are three DLNA device roles:

The "Server" provides the audio/video stream (e.g. a NAS with a lot of files or as in your case a smart phone)
A "Renderer" (the TV) displays the data
One or many "Control Points" control what is displayed where and how

In conclusion what you have observed is simply a DLNA feature. It just means that multiple control points can be active at the same time. I think DLNA was just designed to work - security was not an objective - therefore it is not a security flaw, it is a feature...

BTW: TVs and DLNA are designed for end customers not for company networks, therefore they should always be separated into a restricted network section.


Set Google Chrome default font As of this morning, Google Chrome Beta has suddenly begun using a silly font (HYTravel) as the default in web pages. (See screenshot below.) Setting the Android default application font (a feature offered on my LG Viper 4G LTE) is not involved—I’ve set that and unset it, with no effect on Chrome’s behavior.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of this setting?

It's an LG bug exposed by a recent Google Chrome change: http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/-nS44H44Aqs%5B1-25-true%5D


capacitive touch screens not responding I have several old cellphones that stopped accepting any touch input.... there has been no water damage and have not been dropped since they did work. they just sat for a while.

first I wonder as this is called capacitive does that mean maybe a capacitor is responsible and it may have discharged over time, if this is the case is there a way to recharge it?

second is there any way to repair something like this cheaply.

third is this normal that touch screens simply go bad from not being used?

Old Mobile Phones having such problem but none user consider the fact that capacitive displays can be controlled with very light touches of a finger and generally cannot be used with wet or gloved hand.

also, just Read about Capacitive sensing from this link. You will get idea about Surface and Projected capacitance.

and some mobiles with this technologies stop working or not responding to touch. that was just e-waste though you can open device and learn many things.


Google calendar created on PC won't show on galaxy 4 active I have created a new calendar in my Google calendar and I can't get it to show up on my calendar on my Galaxy 4 Active.  I cannot locate a menu icon in the calendar app on the phone to add the calendar to this device.  Any advice out there???  Items added from my phone show up on the calendar on my PC if they are added to any of the other calendars that were previously created.

I have the Verizon S4 and this is how you do it with that phone:

Open stock calendar app
Hit the left hand soft key for menu options
Chose Calendars from that list
All of your calendars should be listed there
Hit the Display option to choose which calendars you want to display all the time (All is also an option). Check All or select individual calendars.


What happened to Lenovo LePhone? Is it on the market? Was it released? I found a lot of adds, comparisons, and presentations of Lenovo LePhone, mostly from January 2010, but on earth I cannot find any store where to buy it! Was it released at last?

It was released, but only in China:

  In May 2010, the company launched its 2,899-yuan LePhone, which China Unicom sold 145,000 units after hitting the market, to compete with Apple's 4,999-yuan iPhone4.


How can I remotely control my Android device via PC? How can I control my Android device from a windows PC though a HotSpot. I mean there's no Internet, no LAN and no USB between PC and Android. I'm looking for something like ShareIt, but for mirroring android screen and controlling it via PC mouse.

For Online:

try TeamViewer. its a good remote control app from PC to PC and phone to PC and PC to phone.

TeamViewer

For offline:

try AirDroid its good and it worked for me.

AirDroid

If you need just simple commands(enter text, press, perform actions):

adb shell input

text, keyevent, keyboard, mouse, joystick, touchpad, trackball, dpad and more.

Usage:

adb shell input text "Hello"


How to create a link on website by long-pressing in Internet browser? I want to create a desktop icon to a link on a website by long pressing it.
However, long-pressing the link does not have the function "Add to Home Screen" (in Chrome) and Page > Add to Home Screen (in Firefox).
It adds the current page to the home screen, not the link pressed long.

I need this function because some website urls does not reflect the current page, but instead the early clickable link to the website does it. So having the possibility to add the url ask an icon to home screen would help me to maintain track of the articles that I want to read again regularly (so bookmarks not sufficient).

Internet browsers: Chrome, Firefox
OS: Oreo 8.0
Phone: Oneplus 3T

My understanding is, that when you press a link, it directs you to the desired page, but the URL automatically changes to a more general one, and therefore you cannot create a home screen shortcut.

I found a very simple solution to this problem. Hope it works for you as it worked for me. I did it in chrome. It should also work for Firefox.

Put your phone into airplane mode, then long press on the link, and select 'copy link address' then paste the link in the URL bar, and press enter. As soon as it directs you to the 'connection failed' page, go to the three dots menu and select 'add to home screen, rename the shortcut, and press ok.

The shortcut will now appear on your home screen. And when pressed, will direct you to the desired page.

If it still gives you the wrong page, then try all of the above, using incognito mode.


Every App crashes, if you connect a BT input-device I have a problem with my Android-tablets and a connected Bluetooth remote control. (It gets detected as a BT-keyboard, which is fine to me)

The remote control is a BT 4.0-remote control and is already paired with Android. Once it is connected, it is working fine.

The problem is the connection process itself: When the remote control is not connected - e.g. after some idle time, or after a reboot of the system - you press a button and it immediately reconnects. This part is working good.

However while it is connecting, the current foreground activitiy crashes! This affects every app, no matter what.

E.g. if I am in the launcher, the screen goes black for a split-second until it redraws everything. If I am in a game-app (for testing), the game completely restarts. While it wouldn't be a problem if it goes black for just a split second, it is a major problem in my own app, that I am currently developing:
The app completely restarts. The user sees nothing for 3 seconds (that's the time the app needs to load).

First I thought it was a programming issue on my side, that's why I posted a question on Stack Overflow

But now I found out, that it is not a programming problem, because every app crashes and restarts, once you reconnect the BT-device. What can I do to fix this?

Devices, where I tested the BT Remote:

Android 4.4.2 tablet ("no-name" product) - The error is present
Android 5.1 tablet ("no-name" product) - The error is present
Android 5.1.1 phone (Samsung xCover) - No problem!!
Android 4.4.2 phone (Samsung GALAXY S III Neo) - No problem!!

I hope somebody has an idea how to fix this.

I'm seeing the same behavior between my Samsung Galaxy A tablet and a Zagg Flex Bluetooth keyboard. When it connects or disconnects, the current app reinitializes itself or force-closes. In order of misbehavior, I see apps do one of three things (with one example each): force-close (Lightning Launcher), reinitialize and lose any work-in-progress (ES File Explorer), or gracefully handle the connection event as if nothing happened (Chrome). Performing a search on Google, it seems that this is "by design:" Android will reinitialize an app when the BT keyboard connection status changes, but apps can declare to Android that the app will handle the event itself and therefore avoid the reload.


Can I use the latest version of ICS gapps without using the latest ICS? I'm using AOKP M5 on my SGS (it didn't have a I when I bought it). I'm using the version of gapps that was available when I installed AOKP.
I got a notification that there's a new version of gapps. Is it safe to install it over the current AOKP,or are there any dependencies I should be aware of?

As long as the gapps pack API number requirement is equal or lower then the rom API number they should work


Up and down arrows in adb shell I have an HTC Desire HD. When I connect to it with adb shell from Windows, the up and down arrow keys work fine and I get command history. But when I connect to it from Mac OS, the up and down arrows show up as ^[[A and ^[[B.

Is there a way to fix the mac OS terminal to work like the DOS one?

Thank you very much!

What shell is running on the phone? - You can find out with ps

I seem to remember having this issue a while ago (but haven't run in to it recently on my current phone) when logging in to plain sh, executing bash or ash immediately after connecting was a simple workaround


Can I boot into other OS (such as Ubuntu) from an Android OS tablet that have a USB host? I have the following scenario:

A user have a Android OS tablet that have Android 4.0

The tablet have a full USB port (not the mini USB port)

The user have a thumbdrive that have a boot from USB version Ubuntu.

Is it possible and how do the user goes about booting the USB Ubuntu on an Android OS tablet?

This also apply to any boot from USB version OS.

Short answer: No.
Longer answer: The thumb-drive version of Ubuntu is for x86 processors. There are ways to run Ubuntu in Android, all of them requiring a Ubuntu port with an ARM architecture. Search for Complete Linux Installer in the Play Store for basic stuff. It will rum on top of Android in a virtualized environment, and you can connect to its environment and everything. Just download the image and put it on your flash drive instead.


Soft-Bricked Samsung Galaxy S5 - "Set Warranty Bit: Kernel" I recently did some stuff to my Samsung Galaxy S5 UK (SM-G900F) on Three and Marshmallow 6.0.1:
(In order)

Successfully install TWRP using Odin
Successfully root using Chainfire's Systemless Root
The message 'Set Warranty Bit: Kernel' starts appearing on the Samsung Android logo during boot, but it still works fine. (I think this means I voided my warranty.)
Successfuly install BusyBox using this app
Install XPosed Framework ArmV7 version, following a guide I can't find any more, but I got my file from the official XDA thread

Now when I rebooted my phone after installing XPosed, it gets stuck on the Samsung Android logo with the 'Set Warranty Bit: kernel' message. I can get to TWRP by (steps, not methods):

Removing and replacing the battery
Plugging in the charger
When the battery charging animation shows, pressing Home+Power+VolUp

What I would like to know is:

Should I restore it using Odin?
If so, with a Stock or Custom ROM?
If not, how is it recoverable?

Samsung phones require a special version of Xposed -  the regular one just won't work as you experienced.

Since you can still get into TWRP, the situation is still under control. Uninstall the current one with the uninstaller from the official Xposed thread, try booting up, and if it returns to normal, download and install the special version.


Did Google remove the "backup while on wifi" option from the Photos app? I recently updated Google Photos (Build version 1.23.1.126715090) on my Android phone and noticed that my photos are no longer set to automatically sync to the cloud. I went into the app's settings and I cannot find the option that formerly existed: "Backup while on WiFi only."

Is this feature hidden somewhere or did Google (perplexingly) remove it? I really counted on this to save on data usage, especially when uploading video.

OK, so I did some testing and have determined that although the wording on the Photos "Settings" screens has changed, it is still possible to back up your photos solely when the phone is connected to WiFi.

On the Settings-->Back up & sync screen, enabling "Back up & sync" means "WiFi ONLY" by default. Lower on the Settings screen, in the "Cellular data back up" section, enabling "Photos" means that you are allowing photos to back up when on your cellular network. Leaving this switch off will prevent cellular backup of photos, but by virtue of having "Back up & sync" enabled at the top of the screen, your photos will back up via WiFi.

See the screen shot below. I have drawn in red to emphasize the toggle switches mentioned in my answer.


Embedded YouTube videos have sound but no video Whenever I come across a page with an embedded YouTube video and press play then the sound will be heard but the video will be blank (a black screen).

The controls work just fine - it's just that I don't have any video.

If I attempt to rotate the phone to landscape, then the video will briefly show just before the screen is rotated and then go back to being black again. Sound will continue to play just fine. If I attempt to rotate the phone back to portrait then the same thing happens again.

This problem occurs in Chrome, but also in any apps where the browser has been embedded (eg. Feedly and Facebook).

My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S3 (i9300) running CM11-20141115-SNAPSHOT-M12-i9300.

Is there any way I can resolve this?

If the problem is only with embedded videos, just click on the link to the actual video on Youtube. Or try long pressing on it to get the link to the video URL.


My Notification bar won't roll up ? I am using Motorola Defy Android 2.2. But I am facing a problem with touch screen. The buttons at very lower end of the screen don't work i.e touch at the very lower end don't work. That's why after pulling downing the notification bar I am unable to roll it up back. I am even unable to use apps that have small buttons at very end of the screen. To use them I have to rotate the phone.

Please help me out.

Like Al said, it's most likely a hardware problem, but to address the title question: you can roll the notification area up with the back button.


SELinux restricting my system app even while it was signed with the same key as the previously shipped one! Well, I have something weird going on. I was thinking fiddling around with Dotcase.apk from CyanogenMod 13, so I was able to rebuild the apk. I even made sure to sign it with the Platform Android test key (I checked, the original APK was signed with this exact same key! I extracted the CERT.RSA and compared the certificates - they are the same!).

Then I replaced the APKs in /system/priv-app/Dotcase, swapping the Dotcase.apk for my own built - basically the same as the shipped one, no code changed, just built by myself.

The Dotcase app is using UEventObserver and opening a "DEVPATH=/devices/virtual/switch/cover"

And this is where the problem arises. SELinux is giving me a headache with the message:

07-29 01:07:56.918  4902  4902 W UEventObserver: type=1400 audit(0.0:1229): avc: denied { create } for scontext=u:r:platform_app:s0:c512,c768 tcontext=u:r:platform_app:s0:c512,c768 tclass=netlink_kobject_uevent_socket permissive=0

after that the app crashes, taking with him com.android.systemui, with:

07-29 01:07:56.960  2558  4902 E AndroidRuntime: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to open socket for UEventObserver

while the same app with the same code and the same signature key is fine.

I tried some tricks which involves usage of something like supolicy from SuperSU, etc, to no avail - seems like the app (which boots as android:sharedUserId="android.uid.systemui") is starting before anything else is kicking in.

Now the questions:

What I did wrong?
How to fix it?
Is there maybe a possibility to disable SELinux completely by patching something in /system - at least for the time being while I'm fiddling around with it?
Or the only option is to built the whole cyanogenmod rom image with my changes each time I need to test a small change? :(

PS: device is HTC M9 GSM (himaul)

Well I found out that I messed up. I was building it with the wrong manifest. It should had been android:sharedUserId="android.uid.system" instead of android:sharedUserId="android.uid.systemui". When I compared the manifests (thank you apktool for decrypting the manifest for me!) it become obvious. Replacing the related bits in the manifest fixed it. Problem solved. Probably I was just using the wrong repository.


How to share my mp3 collection with my family's android devices? I have a collection of CDs that I ripped to mp3 to listen on my android phone. My kids want to listen to some of them on their android phones as well. Is there a way to share my mp3 collection with them so they can also play them on their own android devices? Is there a way to create a family library of mp3s for sharing across all the family's android devices?

The first thing that comes to mind is network-based sharing. A common solution is Plex.

Ideally you would install Plex Server on a device that is on 24/7, like a NAS/router/home server. Then install Plex Clients on each device and connect with the Server.  The added advantage is Plex allows connections from over the Internet if you configure it to do so. So you can access the songs from work/school/car etc.

If you don't want to set up the full-time Plex Server, but just share from your phone over LAN, then you can also use the Plex client on your phone to serve the files. But using the client to serve means it is UPnP, so not easily accessible over the Internet. (You can't install Plex Server on Android OS).

TLDR; install Plex clients on all your devices. This solution is not free. If you just want LAN sharing, there are free DLNA apps like bubbleupnp. I personally use a Servers Ultimate server with Ginkgo DLNA clients. Ginkgo is very small if your family just want to consume your content.


How can I zip a folder into a zip file in Android to send over the Internet? I have root, and I tried running the zip command from shell, but zip is not found. I think Android doesn't come with zip. How can I install zip on Android?


How to get mDNS working for Chrome on Android? Is there a way to connect to http://mylaptop.local/ using Chrome on Android, or is there another browser that works?

I travel from network to network with my laptop and my phone and I often have to connect my phone to a website on my laptop. With Safari on an iPhone I can simply use http://mylaptop.local/ (usually hitting reload on an open browser window), but with my Android device I always have to figure out the current IP of my laptop punch it in by hand and connect to it (I don't control many of the networks I'm on and they don't seem to ever have DNS integrated with DHCP).

I've searched a for an answer and it seems most people simply hack around the issues using static DNS, or they control DHCP and DNS, neither of which apply for my situation. Also I see code libraries for supporting mDNS (and other zeroconf stuff) in a specific Android application, so perhaps there's a Chrome add on out  there, or some other browser that supports it?

Also, is there any official word on device wide support for mDNS and the .local domain on Android? I had trouble finding that as well.

I don't think so.

The system DNS resolver in Apple's platforms has in-built support for mDNS, so that pretty much any app eventually winds up using the core getaddrinfo function and supporting mDNS in URLs and hostnames and whatnot.

On Android and other platforms, even if there is a Multicast DNS daemon running and libraries available for using it, "typical" DNS lookups do not. So while recent Android releases do give developers some mDNS features as part of the platform, most do not go out of their way (as they would need to do) to use them.

It's a bummer, but AFAIK there's nothing short of rolling your own custom Android build (or convincing Google to change it) that could really solve this.


Does Jorte synch with Google Calendar? When I create events on Google Calendar, they don't end up in Jorte. Does Jorte truly sync events with Google Calendar or does it just import events when you set it up and then forget about it?

I use Jorte to add events to my Google Calendar linked accout without problems and without any specific setting tuning.


Audio Skipping while Playing Music I just recently encountered a problem with my Nexus 6p where my music (and audio but haven't tested that yet) started Skipping beats and stuttering while I was playing it. This is something new and wasn't happening before. I restarted my phone but it still stuttered. My internet is fine too and this problem is true with all apps including Google play music, Pandora, and Spotify. Are there any fixes for this?

System: Android 6.0.1
Carrier: Google Project Fi
(Phone is not rooted)
(Front facing speakers)

I had an ongoing and frustrating experience with audio skipping and the "sdcard unexpectedly removed" fault.  I disabled programs, kept my screen open, got a faster card etc.  I should say here that my audio was not on the sdcard, it is in the phone memory.  I hunted through my settings time and again, and finally I came across something in the developer options.  The option to force apps to ask for access to the sdcard was checked.  I unchecked that option and presto!, both my problems went away.  Also, I should say that no app ever asked for permission to access the sdcard.


How to configure phone number in LG l7 (P-708) i can't setup the phone number in:

Settings -> About phone -> Status -> My phone number

How i can change it in the LG L7 P-708?

It has installed Android 4.0.3

What you are trying to set is the MSISDN number on your SIM card. This can be quite difficult to do on Android. This site has a post detailing how it can be done on various phones (including non-Android) which if you have access to another device is probably the easiest way.

If you don't have access to another device then you could try the myphonenumber app. This is very flaky and only works on certain ROMS/devices.

The other option is to contact your operator as I believe this is something that they can set OTA, although most don't seem to know anything about it from my experience.


What is the best way to root a 2012 Nexus 7 running 5.1.1 Lollipop? I have had my N7 for about 5 or 6 months now, and I am considering rooting it. I would like to know the best one click rooting methods to use. I've heard of kingoroot, but I don't know if it roots 5.1.1 yet. Thank you

Use the Nexus Root Toolkit. It is the easiest method, and will walk you through all the steps (setting up drivers, etc.)

Here's a link: http://www.wugfresh.com/


Can I use my phone as a WiFi-WiFi hotspot? I have a (non-rooted) Sony Xperia Z3 with default Lollipop installed. One challenge I often run into is that I can connect to a WiFi network, and my friends with iPhone cannot (I've also encountered the opposite, but that's another topic). It seems the hotspot functionality only works with connection to a telephone network, and not as a regular WiFi-WiFi hotspot. Do any of you know of a built in functionality that will do this, or an app I can download that will solve this issue for me? Thanks :)

Unfortunately you can't, at least with today's hardware standard. To be able to do that (connecting to a WiFi and tether that through WiFi again), you would need two WiFi beacons on your phone. Since this is not the case, it is not possible to do so.


Play Store Purchased Apps I've kind of a dumb question. I've recently purchased an app from play store. I've not installed it yet, but I notice that there is a remove option for it. My question if I remove it, do I have to purchase it again or is it only removed from my apps list?

Once you purchase an app you don't have to purchase it again unless you switch Google accounts.


Genymotion 2.8.1 - Can't flash Play Services on any Virtual Device So, on Genymotion 2.8.1, I've tried flashing Play Services on a number of Virtual Devices. None works. I get the error along the lines of "Flashing xyz zip failed for an unknown reason, check the logcat for more info"

In the logcat, I move to where the error starts, and there's NO error message giving info as to what is happening, except something like 'Flashing stopped'

I've downloaded about 4 different virtual devices of different OS versions, and I'm beginning to suspect Genymotion 2.8.1 has a problem.

Any idea how to use or flash Play Services onto Genymotion 2.8.1 or any alternative means to install apps from Play Store?

You can use old vision.  v2.5.4 is usable.

http://azodl.blogspot.tw/2015/06/genymotion.html


Hide folder only from stock gallery without using Samsung's private mode I know this might seem like a very common question, but when I have searched for a solution it seems almost no one has this same problem, all that is discussed is how to hide pictures that no one should see, which is not my case.

I need to stop the media scanner from scanning several folders and subfolders for pictures, but still scan them for audio media. My case is that I have a lot of music albums in folders with album art in the same folder. So in the stock gallery app I get all this album art which is meaningless.

The following found 'solutions' would not work in my case:

to create a file named .nomedia, since that would stop the music from being scanned.
to use the privacy mode (I have a Galaxy S5), since that would still display all this album art when I am in the privacy mode
to use some kind of file vault, since that would hide everything in the folder from every app (I guess)
to use another gallery app, since KitKat doesn't allow non-stock apps to modify the external SD card

I might consider rooting if that would enable non-stock app to modify the SD card, since I use ES File Explorer anyways.

I wanted to do this and the .nomedia file approach is the way to go as it is used by certain apps to hide images that they don't want indexed (such as pics of birds in the birds of Britain app).

However it's a bit of a devil to do. Firstly you must create this .nomedia file in every directory that you don't want indexed, not just the top level one.

The main difficulty is trying to get the gallery app to forget the indexed images. It goes without saying that the next step involves clearing the app's data and cache to force a reindexing (this will also possibly require a reboot of the phone if the gallery app refuses to work afterwards - this happened to me and I had to reboot the phone to get it to work again - sometimes it just worked after clearing it's data, sometimes it didn't - random pot luck). I had to repeat this a couple of times to get it to work. Go to settings -> apps -> all apps -> gallery and tap on stop app, clear cache, clear data.

If you decide to create a new folder and create the .nomedia file inside that and then move the images you don't want indexed into that directory then that should just work as it does for other apps. The difficulty comes when you try and get the gallery app to honour the .nomedia file on directories that it has already indexed.

This worked for me on a Nexus 4.


Android limited to 1 hour video recording? At the moment, I am using the standard video recording app for video recording.  I have found that the recording automatically stops after just 1 hour.  Is this a deliberate limitation placed on the app, or is this an android limitation?

I have a 32Gb sd-card, so I don't think storage is a problem.  I am using Android 2.2.  I understand that this particular version of android has a 2.1Gb file size limit, but the videos I am recording are no where near 2.1Gb in file size.

So what is causing the video to stop after just one hour is my real question.

Most video recording apps are IMHO limited to 1h non-stop recording, as you can find with a simple Google search, which is probably a safety measure to not let you run out of battery -- as video recording is the biggest consumer (see What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device?).

However, a developer can have his app overriding this limit (see Max duration for capture video on android on Stack Overflow) -- so you might just have to find a video recording app which has this setting increased (as e.g. One Eye Browser in this linked pro-version).


I am not able to open Google Account on New Galaxy Ace 3 Phone I have tried to open a Google account but after many attempts have failed. When I tap the Gmail icon I get a window, prompting me to add an account, for either an "Existing" or "New" account. When I tap on either option the WiFi scanner starts up instead. I should get a window with a qwerty keyboard to enable me to register my details for an account; but I do not.

This phone is brand new so I am wondering is the phone faulty or am I doing something wrong. This is my first smart phone which I bought on Ebay but I have not yet registered the Sim card with my provider as I am still using my old phone. Would this make a difference? Thank you for your help in this matter.

Obviously you need an internet connection to create or log into your account. As you don't have a mobile internet connection yet, the phone needs to connect to a Wi-Fi network first. That's why it's showing you the Wi-Fi settings right away.


Does Google Talk push messages? I would like to know if Google Talk works like Gmail where it actually pushes your messages onto your phone instead of the phone pulling periodically.


Does Samsung process its single take images in China? I was in my backyard, taking pictures of the bees on the trees. I got inside and noticed that one of the single take pictures I'd taken on my s10 T-Mobile version had a location tag from Yushu, Qinghai, China. This wasn't an original single take picture, but a screenshot taken from a video. All other files were located in the US. There are some other files that I want to include but are too big, so here's a google drive link to the rest of them.

So, that brings me to the question of whether Samsung sends photos/videos taken on Samsung devices to be processed in China? Is it even possible? Thanks!

Not sure how to resolve this question, thanks to @Robert and @IrfanLatif in the comments. Did some digging and this is probably just a bug. If it happens again, well, I'll see. Additional thought: Onedrive is connected to the photos app so maybe something with that.


Control phone on MacBook Pro via bluetooth? I'd like to control my Galaxy Nexus via my Macbook Pro via VPN (Virtual Private Network).

Since connecting the Galaxy Nexus to an Adhoc, WiFi created by the MacBook Pro doesn't work. That's why I'd like to do it via bluetooth.

Is that possible and if yes, how?

A similar question was posted entitled "Software to control mobile phone via bluetooth" over at Superuser.com on 11th December 2012 to which I responded:

https://superuser.com/questions/517884/software-to-control-mobile-phone-via-bluetooth/517888#517888

My response was this:

A program called Remote Professional from mobileways.de claims to be able to make calls from your PC-mobile. There is a brief article about it entitled Remotely Control Your Phone from Computer from Technize.com

A youtube video and link to download the program is also included: http://www.technize.com/remotely-control-your-phone-from-computer/

However this method used a PC rather than an Apple Mac. It may well be possible that mobileways.de offer a similar program for Macs.

So in theory what you have asked is perfectly plausible, if they haven't developed a program for apple macs, they may do in the near future.


Google Play Books - Navigate back to reading passage text Often in ebooks there are links embedded in paragraphs that reference some image or figure in the previous chapters or sections. Once I've clicked on it (and viewed that image), how do I get back to the paragraph I was reading?

Hitting android's back button always exits the app.

To return to the last page you visited, you can just tap on the screen to notice a bar in the bottom. If you look closer you can see a blue triangle that marks the last visited page. Click on it and you'll return to that page!

Click image for larger version

Hope this helps.


How to Custom install a Custom ROM? The Custom ROM has several apps and features that I will remove and settings that I will set (just like any other ROM) This wouldn't be a big issue if I wouldn't flash a rom every few hours

So how to custom install a custom rom?

Unless the ROM is specifically designed to allow some kind of default set-up (and I don't know any that are), you can only do this by building the ROM yourself from source. You can edit the build scripts to remove any apps or features you don't need, and the source code to change the default settings, then compile a ROM image yourself.

You don't say why you're flashing a ROM every few hours. Obviously if you're flashing different ROMs, changing the source each time is going to be harder than just setting the settings on the device. If it is essentially the same ROM you're flashing each time, then you can keep your settings across flashes by simply not wiping the userdata partition when you flash the new ROM. Bear in mind that if the ROMs are significantly different, this may make the new ROM unstable, because it's trying to use settings files that were written by the old ROM.


Can you block URLs with Tasker? Is it possible to block URLs with Tasker?

I'd like to block different sites from 9-5 everyday.

You can if your device is rooted. You need to add the URLs in the hosts file (/etc/hosts) like:
127.0.0.1 facecrook.com
127.0.0.1 liveminmin.com

and so on.
Note that you'll have to remount (as rw) your /system first using the commands:
adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw /system

Use a file editor to do the editing and then remount the system in ro mode. Also, before editing, copy the default hosts file at some location say /sdcard/host_files/original/hosts and the modified hosts file at /sdcard/host_files/modified/hosts
Now with the Tasker:

Create a time based profile as + → Time and select your timing when you want URLs to be blocked.
Create a task under the above profile and the action inside it should be + → Code → Run Shell:

Type mount -o remount,rw /system in Command
Check Use Root

Create a new action through + → File → Copy File:

Tap the lens icon corresponding to From and select /sdcard/host_files/modified/hosts
Tap the lens icon corresponding to To and select /etc folder by holding it.

Create another new action through + → Code → Run Shell:

Type mount -o remount,ro /system in Command
Check Use Root

Create this last action through + → System → Reboot → select Normal in Type.
Create another profile for the time you don't want URLs to be blocked using step1.
Copy steps 2-5 and choose /sdcard/host_files/original/hosts in step 3 under From.
Make Tasker an exception in any app (if you have) that disables Tasker from startup.

Enjoy!


Why does Android Device Manager not changes my password? I have an Android phone with password, but I don't remember it. I have access to the phone through Android Device Manager. I tried to change the password with it, but when I set the new password, Android Device Manager says:

  The phone has a password, the password you just entered will not be used

How can I change the password? I have not logged in with Samsung and adb does not recognize the device.

I solved the issue by installing ClockworkMod, and Aroma file manager with a sdcard, then I removed the next files:

password.keypattern.key
locksettings.db
locksettings.db-shm
locksettings.db-wal

Useful links:

HOW TO: Install ClockworkMod Recovery 6 on Galaxy S5 G900F

Remove /Bypass Lockscreen With Recovery


type "adb shell su" in terminal (cmd in win or console in Linux ) let the terminal hang I just want to input more shell commands after typing adb shell su, but the terminal just return an "#".

It appears to be unresponsive to further commands.

How can I solve this problem? Recompile the su binary? Any other suggestions?

Other information: I use ddmlib to communication with Android phone,
if I use device.executeShellCommand("su", receiver), an exception occurs(com.taobao.wireless.testlab.ddmlib.ShellCommandUnresponsiveException).

typing a command, such as su, after adb shell only executes that command and returns. What you probably want to do is type adb shell, then once in shell type su. You will probably need to allow super user permissions, depending on certain boot.img/kernel configurations.


How do I delete an old device from my Google Acct? so I have given my old phone to my mom and have forgotten to remove the my gmail account. I want to delete the phone from the "approved" list but I cannot find a way to delete it.

I've looked at various guides and the options/settings they are talking about are not available anymore.

I am looking at this page: https://myaccount.google.com/device-activity

Any ideas?

I'm trying to avoid changing my password since that means I need to change that on all my devices.

Thanks

If you are unable to remove the device from the Device activity section of your Google account because the red button doesn't show up, go instead to Google Security Checkup and expand Your devices, then tap on the 3 dots on the side of the device you want to remove to select the option.


Does ZTE prevent the use of adoptive storage with Marshmallow? I was trying to format a 32 GB Samsung SD card for adoptive storage in a ZTE Z815 running Marshmallow, but the only option is portable. What's going on here?

Your device doesn't have this feature enabled by OEM . Similar to other models as you can see from Google search and for another ZTE model Convert portable SD to Internal SD where option is unavailable

Same is the case with some Samsung devices. You would need to search at places like XDA for workaround like this

Also see this question for workarounds

How can I move apps to SD on non-adopted Marshmallow storage?


Android: Where does android store system properties key/value I want to change device's serial number. I have researched and finding some places that android stores prop file:

/default.prop
/system/build.prop
/system/default.prop
/vendor/build.prop
/data/local.prop
/factory/factory.prop

On my device, there are just 2 places for storing prop file:

/default.prop
/system/build.prop

But I view those two files and don't see serial number storing here. I also see that serial number is storing at: /data/property/. But as I researched, this directory is just a memory mapping. So I have tried modify and reset device, all values come back to normal value.

Please tell me where android store imei/serial number ...

Thanks

Device Serial

I have several devices sharing the same serial (namely the phantastic 0123456789ABCDEF), so I've been looking for a solution as well a few years ago, and found it. Of course, it requires a rooted device.

adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
vi /system/etc/install-recovery.sh
# edit, save and exit
mount -o reount, ro /system

And here comes the line to add to /system/etc/install-recovery.sh to make the magic happen:

echo -n NEWSERIAL123 > /sys/class/android_usb/android0/iSerial

Of course, replace NEWSERIAL123 by the serial you want the device to use. After the next reboot, this should be in effect.

Device IMEI

As for the IMEI, you'd better not touch that. Legal issues – apart from the fact that different brands deal with it differently.