How to root Moto G (3rd gen) running Android 5.1.1? I recently bought a Moto G (3rd gen) and I want to root it. It runs Lollipop 5.1.1.

My previous phone ran Android Jelly Bean and rooting was easy with the Framaroot app. But it does not work on Lollipop.

So, how do I root my device?

Caution: Unocking Bootloader will void your warranty and format your device. Proceed at your own risk.

Download ADB and install it- google it
Turn off your phone and press vol- and power button. Release power button after 4-5 sec, youll see the bootloader menu. Now release the vol- too. To enter into the fastboot you may have to press the vol up key while fastboot is selected(use vol down to navigate).
Connect your phone and open command prompt on pc(press windows key + R and type cmd).
Type this- "fastboot devices" and see if it displays the device id. If yes, proceed to next step. If no, make sure fastboot drivers are properly installed.
Then type this in the cmd "fastboot oem get_unlock_data". You'll get a string copy it to a notepad and save it. Then type "fastboot reboot" to reboot your phone.
Go to motorola's website review the risks and click on next. You'll be asked to sign in, use the google account connected to your phone. Follow the instructions to format the string and paste it on the webpage click the agree radio button and click on "can my device be unlocked?".
On the next page click"request unlock key"
Check your email for the unlock code. Now type "fastboot oem unlock KEY" where KEY= the key you received in the mail.
Download TWRP Extract the .img file to ADB folder.
Connect your phone is fastboot mode. Type "fastboot flash recovery filename.img"
Now download SuperSU.zip (google it because I can't post more than 2 links) from the link and place the zip file in your phone's sd card or internal memory.
Now flash the update from TWRP recovery which you installed.
ASK if you're unsure about any steps. Don't risk bricking your phone.


How to automatically add a task to Astrid? I would like to automatically add tasks to Astrid. For example, a task to chare the tablet when battery is low or a task for an epsiode the just runs according to EpisodeCalendar.
I am using Tasker and I have the Locale Astrid plugin, but I cannot find any option to actually add a task.

I found the solution to send a mail to tasks@astrid.com, but as my phone is in airplane mode at night, I am missing a lot of tasks when internet connection is required. Any ideas?

This is not a really satisfying solution, but it is still better than nothing (really disappointed by Astrid, BTW):
According to the author, the App "Locale SendSilentMail Plug-In" by Stafan Dörr maintains a queue, so Mails are not lost if there is no connection to the mail server. This is sufficient for my cause, though not very elegant.


How to change the 'hosts' file to redirect URLs? For windows machine we got the hosts file to edit to redirect url's to other domains. Is there a file like that on android?

I'm looking to redirect a very long url to a shorter one using the hosts file, is this possible? This can also be used to redirect a list of known spam domains to nothing so the worst flash/gif adds are removed.

I'm running Android 2.1 on a rooted samsung galaxy S

The original link is dead. I pulled this short guide from way back machine, copied here:

  With the first few official Pre-Alpha builds of CyanogenMod 7 being
  released, it’s worth noting that a new feature has been included that
  allows you to change the hostname on your device from the Settings
  menu. If you have a supported device, you can get the nightly builds
  from the TeamDouche Mirror System. Once you’ve flashed (I take no
  responsibility if you break something – make sure to read up on
  issues/pitfalls/requirements before flashing), open the Settings menu,
  then choose Applications, then Development, and select Device Hostname
  at the bottom. This setting persists between reboots and ROM upgrades
  (unless you wipe).

  Warning: I accept no responsibility if you brick your phone while
  doing this.

  I ditched my iPhone due to problems my local provider was having and
  got an HTC Dream instead. I promptly rooted it using the Cyanogen Mod,
  but noticed that by default, Android reports the hostname as
  ‘localhost’. I don’t really like this, so I set about finding an easy
  way to change it.

  First off, even rooted, the / partition is mounted read-only when you
  boot normally, so you need to boot to Recovery Mode (Home+Power). In
  the recovery menu, choose to boot to console. From there, browse to
  /system/etc/init.d.

  IMPORTANT: Make a backup of ’05userinit’ before continuing! You can do
  this by simply running the following command – ‘cp 05userinit
  /05userinit’ (without quotes). This will create a copy of it in the /
  directory. If you screw up your editing, you can just rm the messed up
  version and cp the backup back in.

  To add the command to set the host name, we’re simply going to echo in
  the following two lines:

echo  >> 05userinit

echo hostname NEWHOSTNAME >> 05userinit

  Note that there are two spaces after the first ‘echo’ command. This
  creates a blank line at the end of the file. The second echo adds the
  hostname command. This way, whenever your phone boots, the hostname is
  set. Also, be sure to use two greater-than signs (>), as that
  appends – if you only use one, it overwrites the contents of the file.

  Make sure the edits are correct by typing ‘tail 05userinit’ – as long
  as it isn’t blank, and there’s more than just the hostname line,
  you’re golden. Reboot the phone by typing ‘reboot’ at the prompt and
  hitting ‘Enter’, and you’re done.

  Once you’ve booted back up, open up your terminal emulator of choice
  and type ‘hostname’ (by itself, no parameters) – it should echo out
  whatever hostname you specified.

  Update (April 6th, 2010): To change your hostname on Cyanogen 5.x, add
  the following line to the bottom of /system/etc/init.d/01sysctl — and
  make sure you make a backup of 01sysctl before editing it!

echo NEWHOSTNAME > /proc/sys/kernel/hostname


Overflow menu icon (three vertical dots) visible in Apps in HTC One X and not in Samsung Galaxy S2 I have HTC One X while my friend has Samsung Galaxy S2. In some Apps like Google Chrome in my phone the Overflow menu icon (three vertical dots) are visible while on SGS2 they are not.

Google Chrome in HTC One X with Overflow menu icon (three vertical dots)

Google Chrome in Samsung Galaxy S2 without Overflow menu icon

In my HOX I have set the setting of "Recent apps button" to "Press for menu, press and hold for recent apps". So when I press recent apps button it shows the menu, so the menu icon should be hidden, right?

Why is the menu icon visible on HTC One X and not on Samsung Galaxy S2?

Appears to be a bug.  The "Make the recent apps button act like a menu button" setting appears to not be changing the appropriate values to inform apps that a permanent menu button exists and thus apps act as if it doesn't have the menu button.

ViewConfiguration is what handles that.


How to easily switch keyboards on Android 9 (MIUI) My old phone (Android 8 I believe) showed a little icon on bottom right side to allow switching keyboards, from Gboard to Hackers' keyboard or else.

My new phone on Android 9 (also a new brand, Xiaomi, MIUI) after installing several keyboards, does not show the switch.

Does someone know how to switch keyboards easily on Xiaomi's Android 9 (as I could do previously on older Android) without having to go everytime into Configuration menus.

To switch between different languages in Gboard (keyboard visible in the screenshot in the question) —

Long press on the spacebar
(In much older versions of Gboard, you could also switch between different installed keyboards this way, but that feature disappeared long back.)
Use the language switch key (the globe-like icon on the left of the spacebar)

To switch to another installed keyboard —

Go to Settings → Additional Settings → Languages & Input → Current Keyboard → Choose Keyboards
Make sure that the keyboard that you want to use is enabled.

Now, navigate to any text input and start typing with your current keyboard
You should see a notification from Android System, that says Choose keyboard
(Note: This notification lasts only until your current keyboard is open, so you have to open the notification panel, without closing the keyboard, to see this notification.)

Tap on this notification and you should be able to choose your other keyboard in the menu


My phone displays: "Notification has been set" at each boot I am in doubt. My Galaxy SII phone began recently to display a standard pop-up notification box with the text "Notification has been set" at each boot. I uninstalled the software that I suspected was displaying this popup, there were no notifications in notification area left, but this popup has kept appearing on the screen.

How to track which software is displaying this popup?

Android 4.0.4

Found it. I messed around with adb logcat, adb shell dumpsys and Titanium Backup's Freeze feature. I have succesfully narrowed it down (on my device) to an App called "Pullups 2.04" by "NorthPark" from the Play Store.


How to fix corrupt exfat SD card on linux? I have an SD card that apparently is formatted exfat. I tried copying some music onto it, and now my CM/marshmallow phone is saying that the card is corrupted. It mounts on my linux system, and running fsck gives me some file errors. But I can't fix them. I have no access to windows (well, maybe my wife's fairly locked down work computer). I'm leaving on a trip tomorrow and don't have time to pull off, reformat through android, and then reload my files. Any ideas?

Note to self, since this happened again. I had to boot into a windows computer and run chkdsk. Doesn't appear to be a way to do this through linux. Maybe using testdisk, but I didn't mess with it much.


Wi-Fi Direct on Galaxy Mini I have already Googled a bit, but I haven't found a list specifying the supported devices.

Is it possible to use Wi-Fi Direct on Samsung Galaxy Mini (GT-S5570B with Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread)? Is there a hardware limitation?

WiFi Direct can be used on all Android devices. Android 4.0 and higher comes with this feature pre-installed.

If your device runs an older version of Android, you can find many apps in the Google Playstore to enable direct file sharing service over WiFi. Go for SuperBeam, Fast File Transfer, WiFi File Transfer, etc.


How to mask USB OTG as SD card I have a unique requirement wrt Youtube, MicroSD Card and USB OTG.

What I am trying to do:
I want to make use of Youtube offline feature where you can store a supported video offline (to view without any internet connection at a later date and time) in phone internal storage or attached MicroSD card.

The problem
The MicroSD slot in my phone is unavailable (because I am using the same for Dual SIM)

The non working solution
I do have an OTG connector where I can add a MicroSD card to my phone, however the same is being detected as USB storage by the Android and hence by Youtube, and I am unable to store offline videos.

Help required
I would like to know any app, hack, patch, custom ROM that will help me to use OTG as internal storage or mask the same as MicroSD card?

Thank you all in advance for reading or replying to my question.
PS: I have "Redmi Note 3" as my phone running Android  5.1.1 and MIUI 8.0.5.0

I found a rather easy solution here, but it requires Android Marshmallow 6.0:

(My Device is a rooted Nexus 7 2012 with latest ASOP 7.1.2 installed, the OTG Device is a USB-Card-Reader with a Micro-SD-Card).
I'm note sure if you need root for these commands.

Connect your OTG-Device, then run the command in a Terminal-Emulator (like this one) directly on your device:

sm set-force-adoptable true

or use ADB from your pc (you'll need to install the Android Debug Bridge ADB first, see here):

adb shell sm set-force-adoptable true

After that, you should see a Notification, which ask if you want to use the storage "normally" or as adoptable storage (which would format the Usb-device). I chose the first one (without formatting), then the my OTG-Device was available like a Micro-SD-Card on my SGS5.
The OTG-Device will then automatically be mounted under /storage/0000-ffff (hex-code of your device).

Now i can choose my "new" SD-Card for Netflix Downloads. I assume Youtube offline downloads are supported now, too.

There is a Notification to "discard" your device, with that I even can disconnect the OTG-Device and/or restart my android, the next time I reconnected my OTG-Device I was able to use the Netflix Downloads again, without repeating the commands (sometimes I had to force-close Netflix first)!

With my OTG-Adaptor (Inateck OTG Hub & SD Card Reader HB3001G) I even can use OTG and charge at the same time (connect the power source to the OTG Reader first, then to your Android Device, for some reason that dosen't work all thetime)!


VLC does not play m3u file iptv Hey I used to play iptv streaming on windows and android through VLC with a m3u file shared by internet distributor. However for some time now android is not playing channels by excusing that "multiple media cannot be played".
I tried to search internet for possible reasons but I am clue less except what I think andriod cannot play http path where my m3u file has http paths to channels.
m3u file in note pad
( #EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="815289d6a3560a2342b2fb3815441aae",13 Ulica HD
http://iptv.funtime.net.pk:9981/stream/channelid/1451840129
#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="797c22b333bd3ddcababc74bf996fe88",4 Fun Dance
http://iptv.funtime.net.pk:9981/stream/channelid/857898105)

Any solution? (if u can explain easily will be highly appreciated I am no high tech guy)

The problem is not with VLC. Your links are not working. That's the reason why VLC is unable to play them. I tried this list from IPTV - Collection of resources dedicated to IPTV, it was playing fine with VLC. Check/change your links for VLC to play them.


xolo q1011 can't root I have a xolo q1011. I tried to root but none of the methods vroot,towelroot,pieroot,sideload,cwm worked.  Is there any other way to root my phone so that I can install cm ROMs. Its in version 4.4.2 it have the Google sync problem as well

Kingoroot.

http://www.kingoapp.com

I hope it will work for you


How to connect an android tablet with a laptop using a USB cable? My AAkash 2 tablet has a mini-USB port and comes with a cable to convert the mini port to standard USB female port for connecting flash drives etc.

I want to connect the tablet to a laptop using this port. For this I bought the standard male-male USB cable, which attaches to the female port of the USB connector of the tablet and female port of the laptop.

But no devices are found by either the laptop or the tablet. Do I need to make any setting changes to make this happen?

You will most likely need to install appropriate USB drivers on your PC in order to have the tablet recognized by Windows (assuming your laptop has Windows OS installed.)

Datawind's site doesn't seem to have any drivers available for download, so your best bet would be to contact them directly, or try your luck with a Google search (be mindful of viruses posing as drivers).


Different notification tone only for one contact I want to have a different notification tone for one specific contact, but I can't figure it out.

I can change the tone only for All Contacts, but not for only for one contact.

Any ideas?

You can define a specific ringtone as detailed below. For message notifications you will need to find a messages app that supports that option.

To define contact-specific ringtones:
From the contacts app open the Groups Tab. Create a new group with the phone numbers that belong to the contact (home, work, cellular, etc.). Select Ringtone and choose the tone you want for this contact.


I need to backup my contacts & information I saved my information on gmail then lost my phone. I bought another phone but when I tried to restore my information from the lost phone I remove or delete my all information by mistake. Can you help me to please to restore my information?

If you are talking about contacts, you can go to https://contacts.google.com.
Under "More" press "Undo changes" to restore any changes you did to the contacts.


sd card reports full when it isn't I foolishly interrupted a file deletion operation on my internal sd card. (The card was full when I started) Now using any file explorer tool shows files and directories adding up to ~300 M, yet the entire 1.2 G sd card shows as full.

My tablet is rooted, and I have the file explorers set to show hidden files. I have connected to a Linux PC with adb and done ls -al on the sdcard. Linux disk tools also show the card full, but the extant files only adding up to ~300 M. Nothing shows what is consuming the extra space.

Please do not reply with advice to clear cache, look for dumps, etc. There is no visible or hidden file on the card which is consuming the space. There must be a corrupted file or directory attribute or table or some such.  Any advice as to how to reset this parameter(s) would be greatly appreciated.

On Linux I would run fsck on the disk - is there such a thing for Android?

This did indeed turn out to be file system corruption.  This question helped me solve it but I don't think it is a duplicate because the accepted answer did not work for me.  However one of the other answers was very close to what I needed.

To fix:
Connected to my Linux PC with adb.
Then issued adb shell mount | grep -i sdcard command.  This told me that my sdcard filesystem was vfat, which is why the accepted answer to the other question didn't work for me. So going off another answer to that question I did a adb shell fsck_msdos -y /dev/block/vold/93:80.  This spat out a bunch of output and created a bunch of files in LOST.DIR on the sdcard which was awesome, because then I could get at them and delete them.  One was 770M which was the bulk of the missing space.

Problem solved.


text editor that starts out in view mode? I would like a text editor that works like the Google Docs app, where you start out viewing a file and if you want to edit it you specifically have to click an "Edit" button.  The reason this would be useful is that the keyboard pops up automatically if you are editing text.  90% of the time, I simply want to view the text file and not make changes.  Or maybe I want to view the file and decide if I want to make changes after I see it.  Dismissing the keyboard or being prompted to save the file every time is annoying when I only wanted to view it.

You can install Google docs in your Android device.
Also you can use an editor called INKPAD, that works your way, the keyboard only is showed if you want to edit the note.


By accident, factory data reset on wrong phone. Still possible to recover photos? -Is there a way to recover at least some of the photos after factory data reset on S9 +?
-Background: My sister gave me a Galaxy S9 + as a birthday present. Wonderful birthday party, took great photos with my new toy. But I was surprised because for her, S9 + is an important expense. Next day, I asked her if she wants my S7. She said yes. I didn't think and performed factory data reset on the new S9 +. All photos of a great evening gone.

Yes you can try the following;

Download and install Android Phone Recovery on your computer. Then connect your Android phone or tablet to computer.
Run Data Recovery software for Android. Enable USB debugging on your device, the program will automatically identify your Android device, and then click “Start” to search for lost files.
After scanning, all found files will be listed. Preview and check to recover data after factory reset Android.

More information can be found here


Does Samsung galaxy tab pro 10.1 support exFAT on the SD card? Does this tablet support exFAT file system on micro SD card? Can this tablet recognize micro SD card formatted with exFAT file system?

Yes, as indicated on the user manual. I'm currently using a Sandisk Class 4 32GB formatted with exFAT, works just fine. Stock ROM, unrooted.


How to unlock screen with Bluetooth keyboard I can wake up the screen of my Android device by hitting almost any key on my bluetooth keyboard.  But all I see are my notifications, I can't actually unlock the screen.  How do I get the thing to come up that lets me enter the numbers of my PIN to unlock my screen?  Is there a setting somewhere that I a missing that would allow me to just start typing my PIN instead of ignoring what I type?

I'm running stock Android 8.1 on a Google phone.

I had the same issue... two parts to my solution...
- set Smartlock to unlock phone when BT keyboard connects
- then any key wakes to Notifications screen... then 'space-tab' key combination opens the phone to current android screen... found by trial and error!


How do certain apps record everything we type in android? Certain apps like Type Machine claim to be able to record everything you type. You have to install it and activate it from the device's accessibility settings, then it can somehow record typed text.

How is this even possible? It is not a keyboard app , so it is not directly accessing the keystroke information. Also, according to the android documentation "Only the system is allowed to directly access an IME's InputMethod interface" and 'Only the active client's InputConnection will accept operations'.

Given that a 3rd party service like Type machine is neither a  system app or the active client, how  is it able to record typed information?

It installs an Accessibility Service. These services are usually used as screen readers (like TalkBack), and thus have access to on-screen text. It is thus able to record on-screen information. If you install the app, you'll notice it prompts you to register it as an accessibility service so as to collect input information.

However, one limitation of this is it's unable to collect data within password fields.


Can i connect via adb to tablet that is stuck on welcome screen and won't boot? I am tring to connect via adb to tablet that is stuck on welcome screen and doesn't want to boot. If i run 'adb devices' i get this:

E:\minimal_adb_fastboot_1.4.1_portable>adb.exe devices
List of devices attached
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
0123456789ABCDEF        unauthorized

And if i try to connect i get this:

E:\minimal_adb_fastboot_1.4.1_portable>adb.exe connect 192.168.100.13
unable to connect to 192.168.100.13:5555: cannot connect to 192.168.100.13:5555: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond. (10060)

Is it possible to connect to the device if the operating system is not fully loaded?

It is possible to connect to the device through adb when it is stuck on welcome screen or even when it is showing boot animation. The problem in your case is that your device has not authorized the connection. Under normal circumstances, when you connect through adb a dialog is shown on the device for user's confirmation to proceed. Until the user agrees, you can't do anything good with adb. And since you're stuck on welcome screen, I see no way to agree to the dialog.

That been said, if you can somehow manage to flash a compatible custom recovery you can pretty much salvage all of your data. You might also be able to solve this adb unauthorized issue.


galaxy s2 charging cable doesn't fit galaxy tab 3 They both have micro usb ports but i thought I could use my current galaxy s2 cables with the tablet and they don't fit.  Are there different sizes and how can you tell when getting a cable?

Thanks

It should easily go in. The ports on the two devices are the same and with same orientation of the port as well. Maybe there is something stuck inside the port on your Galaxy Tab 3. You can usually tell by the shape of the male port. The two slanted ridges on the size are an identifying feature of Micro USB A/B. B also has two little latches on the bottom. Micro USB standards A and B are compliant with each other as well but these two devices should have the exact same Micro USB B Port.


Galaxy S plus does not see files on external SD I bought a 32Gb external SD for my S plus and can upload video files from the PC to the card. They show up on windows explorer as uploaded, but I cannot access them from the phone. The /mnt/sdcard folder shows the /external_sd folder as empty apart from a LOST.DIR folder.

Any ideas?

I think if your phone is 16 gb the max you can go with ext sd card is 16 gb
any bigger and the phone doesn't know what to do so 32 won't work
that's what they told me for my galaxy s2


"Viper4android" removed "Audiofx" app permanently To save time, you can just read the bold writing OR the short summary at the end

I saw some reviews of "Viper4Android", it looked good so I installed it on my OnePlus One (CM13 NOT CM13S). The tutorial I followed was in the description of this YouTube video. I flashed the viper4android zip file (which I downloaded from the tutorial video) in TWRP recovery, in the zip file name it said "lolli" meaning lollipop which isn't the android version I use but apparently all I needed to do for it to work on Marshmallow was enabled init.d and create a file named "08setperm" to the init.d directory created when init.d was enabled.

I followed all the steps of the written text tutorial but after I rebooted my phone as the last step, the viper4android app wasn't making any changes, so after some looking around the app and on the internet for ways to make it work, I concluded that I simply couldn't use it on my device.

I began uninstalling it by first uninstalling the drivers in the app itself. Then I undone the changes I made in the "Universal Init.d" App and deleted everything in that app that I could. I uninstalled "Universal Init.d" when this was complete.

I rebooted the phone and tested the viper4android app to make sure it didn't just magically start working and it didn't so I closed it and used Titanium Backup to uninstall it as it was installed as a system app.

After I rebooted my phone once again, to clear the ram of any evidence of viper4android, I noticed that the "AudioFX" app was gone. I had planned on going back to using that app again as an equalizer since viper4android wasn't working.

I flashed a zip I found somewhere on XDA which was the AudioFX app for CM13, upon opening the app, it would remain blank with only the title bar reading "AudioFX". So it basically wasn't functional.

I then tried updating to the latest build (CM13 nightlies) using CyanDelta, I had the latest update downloaded and I then let CyanDelta automatically flash the zip along with romracers v80 xposed framework zip and then clear the cache etc.

After it was completely booted, I noticed the AudioFX app was still missing. I will continue to flash the latest nightly builds until the audiofx app is reinstalled from them.

The point is, viper4android completely removed the audiofx app from my phone and I can't get it back even if I flash the latest nightly build of CM13. Right now I am flashing a nightly build straight from cyanogenmod downloads that hasn't been messed with by CyanDelta as a test.

Thank in advance!

Using TWRP, do an advanced wipe on all but internal storage.  Then freshly flash CyanogenMod.


Lock screen launch bar not launching app, shows different icon too This is an HTC One with Android 4.3 and Nova Launcher Prime (This may be a Nova issue, not sure yet)

Since a picture is worth 1000 words, here is the pictures:

Dragging an icon "up" from the lock screen is supposed to unlock the phone and launch the app. This worked fine until I changed SMS apps

Now when the phone is locked, it shows this funny little android icon instead of the Textra icon. Dragging the icon up unlocks the phone, but does not launch the app

Once the phone is unlocked, the proper icon shows (With the music and browser icons swapped) and clicking the textra icon launches the app properly.

I'm going to contact the Nova developer with this as well, but was wondering if anyone had seen anything like this before.

**UPDATE

This now appears to be a bug or issue with Nova.

Tried something I should have tried before asking, but I will update with the solution anyway.

I dropped back to the default HTC Sense launcher and the Textra icon was not where it should be. I re-created the shortcut with the HTC launcher, then went back to Nova and got the proper icon and launch behavior.

It sounds like the lock screen icons are configured separately from the home screen icons. If the lock screen shortcut is pointing to an app that's no longer installed, I'd expect it to show the icon you're seeing (the default app icon).

Try going into the lock screen's settings and setting the shortcut to the new app you want.


What is EastworldService running from the Play Store app? I looked in on my running apps and my Play Store has 1 process but 20 services running: Play Detection Async services, Collection Dispatching services, Thunderbird Setting Injector service's, Device Connection watcher service, GCM service, Pending Intent Callback service, Context Manager service, Nearby Direct service, Cable Authenticator, Emergency Persistent, Lockscreen, Scheduler, Google Location Management, Local Accuracy Injector, ClearcutDebugDump, Local Persistent, and Nearby messages service.

Is this not a little odd? Please please someone help. My phone is driving me crazy

The "Eastworld Service" is an integral part of the Google Mobile Services (GMS).

From it's code it seems for example to collects some device statistical data like app (un)installations, available Playstore updates, screen on-times, charging times...

BTW: The GMS core package also contains a "Westworld" service and other funny names. Also the Thunderbird service is mentioned here, seems to be related to Google Cloud Messaging (better known as Push Messaging system or "Firebase Messaging").


adb backup command on non-rooted device creates an empty backup file? I recently tried to backup my Motorola Moto G2 XT1068 phone running Lollipop 5.0.1 and after connecting it over USB with usb-debugging ON and I ran the adb backup command to backup my device completely and this question Full backup of non-rooted devices and the solution guided me. However running the following adb command,

adb backup -apk -shared -all -system -f D:/backup.ab

din't work in my case. The command instructed me to Unlock my device and confirm the backup operation. However doing so displayed the Backup started and Backup completed toast message back to back in just one second duration. And obviously the backup.ab file generated too was an empty 0kb file.

Removing and changing the parameter din't help either.

The workaround was to set the desktop backup password under Developer settings. It seems there is a bug in backup process. If you didn't set a desktop backup password under the developer options settings the above problems occur and your backup will eventually be incomplete(empty backup file). However, I couldn't find an official source for this bug report that setting the desktop backup password solves adb backup issue.

Got this information based on the XDA Forum [GUIDE] Full Phone Backup without Unlock or Root

  Note: There seems to be a bug in which backup and restore operations will
  fail unless a desktop backup password is set under Developer Options.
  It will not work with a blank password.

After I set my desktop backup password under

Settings > Developer Options > Desktop backup password

adb backup -apk -shared -all -f D:/backup.ab

I am now able to run the above adb backup commands successfully. Note that I left the -system parameter as it is default one and the backup.ab file is almost 6GB now.


How to set alarm for all calendar events synced from Google account android I used to use my events in Google Calendar for reminding me of my events through SMS alerts earlier (when I had a simple mobile). Now I've got those synced up in my Android 2.1 (Samsung Galaxy 3 Apollo) and I would like it to remind me of my events by  alarm instead of SMSes.
Is this possible?

Using stock Calendar apps, you can Press "Menu Button" > Tap "More" > Tap "Settings" > Tap "Set Alerts & Notifications" to set the phone to ring for each reminder you've set for each events.

EDIT:

The stock calendar icon:

press "Menu", then tap on "More":

tap "Settings:

tap "Set alerts & notifications":

tap on "Alert":

This is on Calendar version 7 on 2.1-eclair Samsung Spica


ICS upgrade for Asus Transformer should be available OTA I can read everywhere here in France that the OTA version of Ice Cream Sandwich is available for the Asus Transformer TF101. But when I check for a new firmware, it finds nothing. Is there a step I missed?

My Transformer is currently working with Android 3.2.1.

OTA upgrade has been stopped due to several SW issues. A modified upgrade is expected within weeks, be patient.
(I do have the upgrade, but not installed as I have read about the problems... now I am refusing it every day :(


Are there any risks to flashing a ROM? Are there any risks to manually flashing a stock or custom ROM?

Does it have the potential to brick the device?
Will it void my warranty?
Will I stop getting updates?
Anything else I should be aware of?

(See also: Are there any risks to rooting a device?)

Adapted from Are there any risks to rooting a device?

Does it have the potential to brick the device?

Yes.  Flashing bad software is the easiest way to brick your device.  A failed flash or one that gets interrupted may also brick your device.  Sometimes things just go wrong even if you do everything right; flashing software manually is not something for the faint of heart.

Some devices are easy to "soft brick" but difficult to "hard brick".  A soft brick is when the device fails to boot and you need to resort to flashing firmware, often through a manufacturer tool like Samsung's Odin, to fix it.  A hard brick is when it's totally broken; this usually only occurs if you overwrite the device's bootloader.

Will it void my warranty?

If you flash a custom ROM, you void your warranty.  If you flash a stock ROM over top of an "unaltered" (e.g., never rooted) stock ROM through the manufacturer-approved process, then you should be safe, but flashing stock under other circumstances is no different from flashing a custom ROM.

Will I stop getting updates?

For stock ROMs, no, not in general.  You won't get stock updates for a custom ROM, but the custom ROM might have its own updates.

Can I go back to the stock ROM if I'm unhappy with the custom one?

Generally, yes. Most guides you'll find strongly recommend backing up your stock ROM when your phone is in recovery mode before you actually flash the new ROM. From recovery, you should be able to restore your stock ROM in all its glory should something go wrong during the flashing (but you can still boot in recovery mode) or if you are dissatisfied with your current ROM. Finding the right stock ROM for your device online is going to be much harder after the fact (and it might be hard to be sure it hasn't been tampered with), so be sure to do this before doing anything else.

Anything else?

Custom ROMs will frequently provide features that the original software did not.  However, it is also often the case that not all hardware may be supported on your specific device.  Modified versions of the original ROMs are more likely to be fully compatible than something like CyanogenMod.  (Although, of course, there are cases where CM has fixed issues that the original manufacturer did not!)


How can you open a URI from the command line? I recently started playing with the app called 'Automate'. The starting block for each Automate flow provides a URI. Can this URI be used to initiate a flow? Can I accomplish this from the command line? Specifically, I would like to call Automate flows from within a Termux environment.
I assume this can be done with am start ... but I haven't had any luck trying different commands (and I have successfully used am from within Termux before, so I don't think that's an issue). I have very limited knowledge of Android intents.

I tried running am start -d content://rest-of-uri and I received a prompt asking which app to open, I chose Automate and the notification appeared for a second but the flow didn't run.

As shown here, you can use these commands:

am start -a com.llamalab.automate.intent.action.START_FLOW -d content://com.llamalab.automate.provider/flows/13/statements/1

or

am start -a com.llamalab.automate.intent.action.START_FLOW -d content://com.llamalab.automate.provider/flows/13/statements/1 -n com.llamalab.automate/.StartServiceReceiver

Replace content://com.llamalab.automate.provider/flows/13/statements/1 with your flow URI.

The first command worked for me while the second was giving an error in Termux and result=0 in Terminal Emulator.


Where should I install Toybox? I own a rooted Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G running stock Android 4.1.2.

If you have Android 6.0 "Marshmallow" or better, then you have Toybox.  This is a package of command-line tools, handy for advanced users who sometimes use a terminal emulator.  Unfortunately, Android 4.1.2 does not include Toybox. Instead, it includes some other tools which aren't as nice to use.

Sometimes I use the terminal emulator written by Jack Palevich; other times I use adb shell from a laptop.

Would it make more sense to install Toybox to my system partition, or to my data partition?  Both partitions have far more than enough free space.
When a command is provided both by Android and by Toybox, I want the Toybox version to win.  On Linux, I might install Toybox to /home/unforgettableid/bin or /usr/local or /opt.  Could you please suggest a sensible place for me to install Toybox (and its large collection of symlinks) on my phone?

[Edit:  I wonder what the various BusyBox installers do.  Also, I wonder how Android sets the PATH environment variable.  As well, I also wonder whether or not there's a way for me to change that variable and to make my change persist across reboots.  Finally, I wonder whether or not putting the Toybox tools first in my PATH would be likely to break things in non-obvious ways.]

Possibly related:  "Android Folder Hierarchy".

Where should I install Toybox?

  Would it make more sense to install Toybox to my system partition, or to my data partition?

Depends. If you don't plan to factory reset the phone ever again, you can choose data partition, else, choose system partition.

  When a command is provided both by Android and by Toybox, I want the Toybox version to win.

The PATH variable contains the location of the directories containing executable binaries. Should you decide to keep a separate directory for your symlinks, configure $PATH to search for a command into your directory first. If it finds one, it will execute it.

  On Linux, I might install Toybox to /home/unforgettableid/bin or /usr/local or /opt. Could you please suggest a sensible place for me to install Toybox (and its large collection of symlinks) on my phone?

All those locations don't exist for Android. Since you're using Android 4.1.2, I suppose you would be having your external SD card formatted with a  FAT filesystem. Symlinks don't work on FAT filesystems (not on FAT32 or vfat at least) so your best bet is to install under /data or /system.

Alternatively, you can make an image under your external SD card, format that image with a filesystem supported by your Android's kernel (often EXT2 | EXT3 | EXT4), then mount it in the device anywhere in loopback mode. I've not tried this method though.

  I wonder what the various BusyBox installers do

Busybox (by Stericson) places the busybox binary into /system/xbin and creates  symlink for its applets to its binary under the same directory.

  Also, I wonder how Android sets the PATH environment variable. As well, I also wonder whether or not there's a way for me to change that variable and to make my change persist across reboots

I do not know when Android sets up $PATH. However, the shell you're using  would most likely be having a configuration file.

mksh (MirBSD Korn Shell; the default shell on Android) has a configuration file mkshrc in /system/etc. You can set $PATH there and the change would be persistent across reboots.
For bash shell, the configuration file is bashrc located under /system/etc/bash.

It appears that both files are meant for interactive sessions only, so if you attempt to use adb for accessing a Toybox or its symlink which is not placed under /sbin, /vendor/bin, /system/sbin, /system/bin or /system/xbin (the default locations in $PATH), you would receive a "COMMAND: not found" error. This is because the default $PATH would be used instead.

I've not found a solution for this problem yet, but see the comments below this answer.

Anyhow, let's install Toybox for now.

How do I install Toybox on an Android device?

Note: the solution assumes that your Android is rooted, that adb is setup in PC, and that your device is connected to a PC with USB debugging enabled.

Installation into system partition

No change in $PATH is required if you choose a standard location. Busybox prefers /system/xbin.

Remount the system partition in rw mode. If required, see Can't remount /system in rw
Copy the toybox binary to /system/xbin/ and give executable permission to it. (The default permissions set for other binaries is rwxr-xr-x.)

You can do so using chmod

adb shell su -c "chmod 755  /system/xbin/toybox"

Create symlinks for various tools accessible by toybox binary. It is up to you how you create them.

I used a very simple method, but it requires a *nix system

adb shell toybox | sed 's/\ /\n/g' | head -n -1 | tr -d '\r' | while read line; do adb shell su -c 'ln -sf /system/xbin/toybox "/system/xbin/$line"'; done

All I'm doing here is executing the toybox binary, replacing the white-spaces with a new line so that each tool shows up in a new line. Later on I'm removing the last line (it was blank in output), removing carriage return conveniently put by adb, and then for each line of output I'm creating a symlink to toybox binary with the name of the tool, in the same directory.

You can use this method if you don't have a *nix OS in PC:

adb shell
su
toybox | toybox sed 's/\ /\n/g'| toybox sed '$d'| while read line; do  toybox ln -sf /system/xbin/toybox /system/xbin/$line; done

Done! Your Toybox and its applets are ready to be executed.

Installation into data partition

Create a directory under /data (/data/my_bin henceforth)
Copy the toybox binary to /data/my_bin and give executable permission to it. (The default permissions set for other binaries is rwxr-xr-x.)

adb shell su -c "chmod 755  /system/xbin/toybox"

Create symlinks for various tools accessible by toybox binary. It is up to you how you create them.

I used a very simple method, but it requires a *nix system

adb shell su -c "/data/my_bin/toybox" | sed 's/\ /\n/g' | head -n -1| tr -d '\r'| while read line; do adb shell su -c "ln -sf /data/my_bin/toybox '/data/my_bin/$line'"; done

Only the location has changed, the rest of the procedure is alike to one followed for installation in system partition
Edit your default shell's configuration file and add

PATH=/data/my_bin:$PATH

This would cause the shell to look into /data/my_bin first and execute the binary, if available.

Done! Enjoy your Toybox and its applets.


Manually trigger MediaScanner to scan files on Internal Storage on Nougat/Oreo I often manage my files in Termux with scripts that use the mv command to move or rename them. I want to manually trigger MediaProvider to scan my internal stroage (/storage/emulated/0) or a given directory in it with command line, on a phone running Nougat or Oreo.

When I use a GUI file manager application, all moves/renames are immediately reflected in other MediaScanner-dependent apps like Gallery, but changes done in a terminal don't, until a reboot. So I have to manually call MediaScanner to update my changes in the filesystem.

Before KitKat, this worked well on /storage/sdcard0 (a separate partition named glow):

am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_MOUNTED -d file:///sdcard

The above command doesn't work now (/storage/emulated/0), obviously.

I also tried this, but it doesn't seem to be working, either.

am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE -d file:///sdcard

Just tested the commands again, they seem to be working on removable storage like /storage/sdcard1, /storage/usba or /storage/{volume id} (it gets re-scanned), but not my phone's internal (where /sdcard points to, or /storage/emulated/0).

Anyone have some insights? Rebooting my phone always causes a rescan but that's inconvenient in some cases.

Note: the commands are run as root, so no concerns about permissions.

Note: It is possible the following commands do not work out for you with just USB debugging /  shell (uID 2000) user. In that case, you must have root access to make them work.

Before KitKat, this worked well:
am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_MOUNTED -d file:///sdcard

The above command doesn't work now, obviously.

This works perfectly well on my stock Android 7.1.1 (Nexus 6) having only Internal Storage. But starting since Oreo implicit broadcasts are not allowed, so you have to send an explicit broadcast to Media Storage. This can be done using the argument -n followed by component name or simply by -p followed by package name. In Android 9.0 (OnePlus 6), here's what worked for me:
am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_MOUNTED -d file:///sdcard/ -p com.android.providers.media

I believe the above command would work for Android Oreo as well.
Note: shell (user 2000) cannot run that command, so you must elevate privilege to system (1000) or root (0). In short, run the command as root or it won't work.

I also tried this, but it doesn't seem to be working, either.
am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE -d file:///sdcard

Because that intent expects a FILE as data, not a directory (I understand everything is a file in Linux, but that's not the case for an intent). Provide the full path of a file and it would work. Furthermore, as stated above, for Oreo and above, make the broadcast explicit.
If you have multiple files and you intend to use this intent only, you need to get all the file names and pass them on to the intent recursively (per Aritra Roy on Stack Overflow). It may be possible to pass an array but I don't know how to do it with adb.
Furthermore, my Android behaved rather erratically for file names containing [].


Can I Theme the Messaging app's interface? When my Droid updated to Android 2.2 the Messaging app changed to a very light colored interface and I can't find any settings that allow me to change it back to the light text on dark background theme. Is there any way to do this?

No. There are alternative, customisable SMS apps though, like ChompSMS or Handcent SMS.


How can I turn off Notification Sounds and leave phone sounds on How can I turn off the annoying Notification sounds but still leave phone ringer on?

Not sure what version of android you have, or if this is different between versions, but in the settings there is the option to Not Use Call volume for notifications. If you uncheck that, you get a volume slider for notifications.


Editing multi-line text in address book fields I often have multi-line text in my address book, in fields such as notes or the first line of the address.

Editing this seems near-impossible, as the text entry field only shows one line at a time.

Is there any way to cursor through the multiple lines of text so I can edit it easily?

The phone in question is an HTC Desire S.

Get an on-screen keyboard with arrow keys, such as Hacker's keyboard. I use it as a secondary input method, it's not so suitable to all situations but can quickly be switched from the long-press menu.


While pushing to git using Termux, it crashes while compressing files I am pushing large number of files to git from android using Terrmux.

git push origin master

There is no issue pushing up to 40 files of around 1.5 MB. But when number of files is larger, Termux simply crashes while compressing the files.

Any Idea how can this be avoided?

It is possible that you don't have enough free disk space for the compression.

(Termux resides in the local storage and not on the SD card, so you'd need to check your device's free space.)


Can't record Facebook messenger call My friend has Cloudfone excite prime.
He can record the Facebook messenger, whatsapp calls using his phone's default voice recorder.
I have Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
If I try to record the messenger call, it says "Unable to record during call".

The question is why my friend's phone can record the call but not mine?

And he can also play music while on the call. But my phone says "Unable to play during call", why?

https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-record-WhatsApp-call

This should help you. It's a Quora tutorial on how to record whatsapp calls. Just grab any app that do that, there are a lot of them. The multi audio problem is mainly based on the version of android you're running, not only the phone you're using. For example in android 6.0 there are 3 main audios: notifications, music and allarms. I hope that this'll help you, let me know.


Flashed BTU from sammobile but is still EVR I'm trying to flash BTU stock firmware from sammobile for my s9 g960f. I got the firmware from here https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s9/SM-G960F/BTU/  date: 14/11/18 pda: G960FXXS2BRJ6.

I used Odin to install the firmware, it appared to work from odin and the phone restated and went straight to android setup, but is started to install EE apps and is showing as EVR crc in software info. Could this an error on my end or not the right files on sammobile?

Not sure if it is an error on your end or Sammobiles. You did however appear to have flashed EVR firmware variant instead of Blu firmware variant.

Carefully check and re-download the Blu firmware variant and flash again through Odin.
Thinking about it though, as long as the CSC you are changing it from is not included in the CSC you are flashing, otherwise it will just default back to the phones original CSC.
You will need to flash CSC and not HOME_CSC in order to change though, which will reset the phone back to factory.
If the problem persists, contact Sammobile customer support to inform them of issue.


How can I check that my Samsung phone is original and hasn't been modified? How can I check that the mobile device that I am using has not been altered after leaving the factory?

By this I mean no changes whatsoever have been made to the device. Whether it's the whole OS (firmware)or just a single malicious app installed on system partition.

Is there some way I can check the md5 or sha256sum of the device? And if the firmware for my phone is available on the internet I could compare. Would this work? How could I do this on ubuntu?

Or is there some other way?

The simplest answer is you can't check if they have changed your hardware or not with comparing build numbers. But the easiest way if something is changed or not will come up in an app called CPU-Z it show all the software and hardware informations that the device has.
I recommend everyone to give it a try before buying a device because it helps too much. I also realized in settings it has validation option you might give it a go. It will probably ask your details to the vendor and email it back to you


playstore in app purchase application s i have downloaded in app purcahse app from playstore but i have not entered any bank a/c so will i get any bill from playstore.it was written that it is in app purchase but it was in Top Free list. please help me

In-app purchase means just that. You can purchase, for real money, additional features or upgrades to the app. The app is free, but a lot of games almost require spending money after beginning gameplay in order to proceed or finish. You do not need to enter credit card information to download or use an app with in-app purchasing and you will not be charged without purposefully selecting and confirming an in-app purchase.

Hope this helps!


Unpatching (Disable .APK Signature Verification & Signature verification status always true) in Lucky Patcher? I applied the patch (Disable .apk Signature Verification and Signature verification status always true) in Lucky Patcher by going to Lucky Patcher >>
 ToolBox >> Apply Patch to Android.

Now I want to unpatch, but there is no option to do so kindly help!

This occurs because it has been applied to Xposed settings

You can do like so, to restore this setting to its default:

Go to Toolbox >> Xposed settings and untick:

(1) .apk Signature Verification,
(2) Signature Verification status always True and then click apply.

Your device may reboot or not but after that it should show that the patch is not applied on respective options.

Alternatively just disable ALL patches already applied in Android via the Lucky Patcher:

Toolbox >> Untick;

(1) Remove all patches from core.jar and
(2) Remove all patches from services.jar


Execute task if tasker profile has been active for some time How can I execute a tasker task only after a certain condition has been true for a certain time?

Normally a profile executes its task as soon as all conditions are met. I want to delay this activation, until the conditions have stayed true for some time.

E.g.

do something after the screen has been continuously off or on for 10 minutes
do something after wifi xy has not been near for 10 minutes
do something after cell towers x,y,z have not been near for 10 minutes.

A mix of Wait, Variable Search and If-Else should suffice here.

Tasker maintains a variable named Profiles Active, denoted by %PACTIVE.

  Profiles Active (dynamic)
  %PACTIVE
  A comma-separated list of the currently active, named profiles in activation order. Duplicate names will appear on the list only once. The list always starts and ends with a comma to make matching easier, if it's not empty.

(Emphasis mine)

You can use Wait action to wait for N amount of time and then check whether your profile is active or not. If not active, exit out of the task, else, continue.

You may begin your task with these actions:

Task → Wait → configure it
Variables → Variable Set:

Name: %ActiveProfiles
To: %PACTIVE

Variables → Variable Search Replace:

Variable: %ActiveProfiles
Search: ,PROFILE_NAME,
tick Ignore Case
Store Matches In: %CurrentProfile

Replace PROFILE_NAME with the name of your profile. A profile's name must be setup manually.
Task → If: %CurrentProfile1 Isn't Set
Task → Stop

Alternatively, put any action that notifies you that the profile deactivated in the mean time.
Task → Else
Setup the actions you want be executed if the profile remains active after N amount of time.


When using Google Payments for an in-app purchase, does the App admin see any information identifying or associated with your google account? For example,

Let's say I have 2 play store accounts signed in on android:

  alice@gmail.com

  bob@gmail.com

Event 1:
I sign into the app using alice@g, and then make a payment in the app using the Google Play Payment Method (GPPM) associated with alice@g's account, and which is then assigned order: GPA.111...

Event 2:
I then delete the app's data in settings and remove then reinstall it on the same device, but sign into it using bob@g. I then make a payment in the app using the GPPM associated with alice@g (since it is available and already on the phone), which is assigned order: GPA.222...

My question is (under the assumption that the app is not given the unique device id) for Event 2, is there anyway for the App-admin to associate bob@g's login with the alice@g login (for example, does the GPPM send the app admin an e-mail address such as alice@g or an id, such as gppm-id-alice, or gppm-randomId-associated-with-alice) or is each payment with GPPM fully anonymous?

It is not fully anonymous. Google Payments Privacy Notice under the "Information that we collect" section states that:

  For example, when you make a purchase or transaction using Google Payments, we make certain personal information about you available to the company or individual you purchase from or transact with. This includes sharing your personal information with the developer from whom you purchased when you use Google Payments to make a purchase on Google Play. When you add a third party form of payment to your Google Payments Account, we may exchange certain personal information about you, such as your name, profile image, email, IP and billing address, phone number, device info, location and Google Account activity info, with the third-party payment provider as necessary to provide the service.

Information about the account used for the payment is shared. If that information is an email address like in your example, the app's developer receives Alice's information not Bob's.


Can Xposed Framework be run successfully alongside a custom rom? I would like to know if Xposed Framework can successfully run alongside a custom rom that possesses many features or whether it has to be a stock ROM. I wasn't able to find a consensus on whether or not it was possible, so I attempted to try flashing Xposed on a Nexus 6 while running Benzo Rom (a feature rich AOSP ROM), but I was unsuccessful since I got stuck on the Google boot logo.

I don't know if there's a general rule to it. The Framework might be incompatible with some ROM, but I've never heard of such.¹ I've used it successfully on multiple devices running either "stock"² or CyanogenMod.

¹ Some modules however don't work well with specific devices/ROMs, or only with them. Examples are those written for a specific flavor (e.g. just for TouchWiz devices), or adding features from a specific custom ROM (and thus shouldn't be combined with that one).

² What is "stock"? In case of one of my devices, it is CyanogenOS. On Xiaomi devices, it's something with MIUI. On the OnePlus, it might be OxygenOS. For Samsung devices, it's something heavily modified including TouchWiz. So some ROMs (e.g. CyanogenMod/CyanogenOS) are even closer to AOSP than some "stock ROMs".

Conclusion: A generic answer is difficult. When in doubt, check for your specific combination (device & ROM) at XDA – either in the XPosed area, or in the section specific to your device.

PS: Also note that the "latest Android" is usually not (yet) supported by the Xposed framework. As of this writing, the latest supported Android version is 6.x.


I have a yahoo and a google (Gmail) account I always have used the yahoo account but don't remember the gmail account password. If the two accounts are linked, will I delete both if i delete one of them? Where could I locate the place where I could change/create the gmail account? It might be useful to have 2 email addresses
Sincerest of thanks for any guidance you could offer...
Stan

Deleting one account won't affect the other one(s).

On Android 4.x you can head to Settings (the gray gear icon app), then scroll down to Accounts and tap + Add account. You'll then be able to select which type of account you want to add (some of the possible options are Corporate, Email, Exchange and Google). If e.g. you want to add a new Gmail, select Google account and proceed. You'll be required to inform if you wish to add a New Google account or set up an Existing one. Tap New and proceed.

Once you've added your new Google account, you can e.g. access the People app (the one that gives access to all your contacts), then tap the button having 3 vertically aligned dots on the lower right corner:

...so you can tap Accounts to select your accounts and what you want to sync on each one (e.g. sync contacts). There will also be a Contacts to display option, which gives you the option to choose which contacts (from which accounts) you want displayed by the People app.


What is the difference between .dex and .apk file? .dex and .apk file: What are they and how do they execute ?

Actually, an APK file is a ZIP file, where you can found the Magic Number PK in the file header. It contains not only classes.dex but also other meta files such as AndroidManifest.xml which contains the basic configuration of this file.

A .dex file is just... uh, I regard it as a "real" executable, like an .exe file in Windows or an ELF in Linux, which contains the machine code(for Dalvik VM).


Is it possible to use a keyboard and mouse on android to control a remote pc? There are apps like TeamViewer where you can control a pc remotely, my question is if it's possible to use mouse and keyboard otg on the android device to actually control the desktop pc?, like if you were in front of it.

I've been using Splashtop (another remote desktop app, just like TeamViewer), and mouse & keyboard works just fine, but definitely not exactly like you're "in front of it". It can recognize right clicks (Android can't natively), but lots of common shortcut keys like Alt+Tab or Win+* are absent, not necessarily because the software can't support it, but because they already have a purpose in Android itself and that's of higher priority. For example, Alt+Tab actually switches apps on the Android device, instead of the remote one.


Stay connected to WiFi that requires sign-in I recently upgraded my Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini to Kitkat (4.4.2), and I noticed a new behaviour that I'd like to disable: when I'm connected to a wifi network with a captive portal that requires sign-in, and I don't actually sign in, the phone will disconnect from the network after a while, and I have to reactivate that wifi network manually.

That's normally a useful thing to do, in order to maintain some kind of connectivity, but less so when the wifi network in question is the one in the London Underground, where there is no mobile phone signal.  While using a normal web browser requires sign-in, there are some apps that work without it, such as Opera Mini and Facebook Chat, and sometimes I'd rather not spend my time on dealing with the sign-in page.  Disconnecting from the wifi network will in this case only make connectivity worse.

Some googling suggested that I turn the option "Smart network switch" off, but it is already off and I still see this behaviour.  Is there anything else I can do to make the phone keep the wifi connection regardless of whether I'm "signed in"?

You could disable captive portal detection altogether. On Android <= 7.1.1 that is done by:

settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 0

For later versions:

settings put global captive_portal_mode 0

For more details please see: Captive Portal parameters.


Yuphoria optimizing apps loop I have YU Yuphoria 5010...When i start  Mobile it shows CYANOGEN then "optimizing apps ..." and then it complete and again starts optimizing.

My main concern is internal data... I don't want to wipe it out. Please help me out as soon.

Also my mobile is not rooted and does not have twrp.

I got my solution to this  problem. In one of post it is mentioned that start phone in safe mode. And i do so and really it WORKS!!!!

Just press volume down key after first time optimizing ends and then it will boot in safe mode.Here is detailed answer that i mentioned


How to flash android AOSP 10 to device? I used to run Android AOSP 6.1 on my Nexus 5 by manually flashing the boot, cache, system, userdata, recovery images one by one using fastboot. I managed to successfully flash Android 6.1 on my Nexus 5 following this tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5BMfvO9Xi0

I have managed to build Android AOSP 10 and my goal is to flash it to my Pixel 2. First thing I noticed is that the output dir looks a bit different now. There are a few different images and there is no more recovery.img. The Android 10 Factory 10 dir contains this images:

I tried to manually flash the boot, dtbo, system_other, system, vbmeta & vendor images but the device ends up in a boot loop.

Does anyone know how to flash the Android 10 AOSP images to a device?

Thank you in advance!

The recovery is now built into the boot image instead of having a separate partition. So, a separate recovery image does not exist.
The files you have are supposed to be flashed to their respective partitions:

Boot to boot,
System to system,
Vendor to vendor,
Vbmeta to vbmeta,
Dtbo to dtbo

You can avoid the system_other as it is to build a dummy into your inactive boot slot. It isn't actually used. But if you want, you can flash it to the inactive slot. You check current active slot by using this command: fastboot getvar current-slot. Then flash to that slot by adding the slot suffix (example: If current slot is a, flash it to b - fastboot flash system_b system_other.img

Remember that you need to perform a wipe of internal storage from either fastboot (fastboot -w) or by going into the Android Recovery mode.


Low on internal data storage - looks like the some apps use a lot! So, looking at the Gmail, Twitter, and Facebook apps for example, the apps themselves only take up 3-4 MB each, but then the app data is like 10+ MB for each. Is that stored data the synced copies of my email inbox, or my twitter feed, or FB feed? And, if so, is there a way for me to limit how much of my phone's internal storage each app gets allocated?

There really isn't much control you can do over limiting storage.  Most likely the data is from the apps using local SQLite databases to store information their apps use.

You can pretty much only do these things:

Move the app to the SD card if you have Android 2.2
Clear the data cache every now and then (but it's going to grow again)


Start application from ADB I have an Android device which I don't have physical access to. But I can access it through ADB commands. I have Teamviewer host installed on it. But unfortunately it's not running. How can I start it using ADB commands? Below is the Teamviwer app that I am using.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teamviewer.host.samsung&hl=en

You can launch apps with the am start command. Or if you don't know its launcher activity, use the monkey command.

Try

adb shell

monkey -p your.package.name -v 500

where package name is the name of the app package – making the command, in your case:

monkey -p com.teamviewer.host.samsung -v 500


Simple volume control on Lollipop Is there some way to have a simple volume control on Lollipop? It was bad enough when each media stream had it's own volume, but the addition of notification priorities has made the overhead with Android volume management impractical.

With this in mind, is there some utility, app, Tasker profile, etc that will make it so when I press the "volume down" key on my phone, all streams will get quieter, and when I press the "volume up" key on my phone, all streams will get louder?

I would like this to be completely context agnostic; if I try and decrease the volume while media is playing, I'd like it to also decrease the ringer volume, and visa-versa.

A root tweak is one option but if you don't want to do this, SoundHUD (avaliable here) will bring more traditional volume controls back to Lollipop. The app has lots of configuration options too.


How much battery does using live wallpapers drain? I know they are unnecessary, but they look so cool!

Different wallpapers drain the battery differently. It really depends on how many different factors the wallpaper is paying attention to. Is it just being pretty or is it altering itself based on every movement of your phone?

The best way to find out is to simply test it yourself. Spend one charge of your phone running a live wallpaper. When you get near the end of the battery charge, open up your phone's settings. Go to "About Phone" -> "Battery" -> "Battery Use". This screen will show you all services that have used up more than 2% of your battery's charge.

Your first reaction will probably be that it is taking up a lot when you see "Display" draining the most but that isn't taking into account wallpaper. The live wallpaper, if it has used more than 2% (some don't), will show up as it's own service.

They will pull more than a normal wallpaper (that's a given) but some won't effect it the battery charge nearly as much as say your widgets or the brightness of the display. Turn down the brightness and you could probably offset the difference in battery charge of running a live wallpaper.


Is it possible to hide the "Listening..." popup that appears after "OK Google"? It would be extremely helpful if I could say "OK Google" and issue voice commands without my screen being almost entirely covered by the white "Listening..." pop up.

There are ways to achieve that:

Using Google search widget

If you have a Google widget, simply tap the mic and say "Okay Google, the window that appears is not covering whole scren but its almost half:

Customising window with third-party tool (XHalo floating module)

Good news is if you have root (and additionally Xposed framework), you can install the XHaloFloatingWindow, pin the Google to Status bar and launch it fron there with a small sized window as shown:


MIUI rom fails to install on HTC Desire This is my first post, so apologies if I don't make things as clear as they should be.
I'm trying to flash MIUI_0.8.1-2.9.7zip on HTC Desire. I'm doing this through goomanager. I wiped data, cache and dalvik cache and installed the zip from a sd card. While installing I get the following message on screen...

E:missing file
 system/media/audio/ringtones
 argonavis.ogg

E:verification failed

Then it aborts installation. Do I need to partition the sd card? If so, what would be the best way to partition it? Through Rom manager or Gparted? Currently I'm using MIUI GB version 2.3.7, I have S-ON
Many thanks in advance for any advice.

I'm doing this through goomanager.

First of all, you're rooted right? Also, this might seem obvious but I'm going to suggest it anyway: have you tried installing it through CWM Recovery? That seems to be the normal way to install/wipe ROMs, so I'd try that first. See Howto: Using the Recovery.

Also, your ROM installation ZIP might be corrupt. Double check the md5 sum on it, if it doesn't match, try redownloading it. Try another ROM, might be a corrupt version of the ROM (if it's a nightly for example).

If you have any questions or additional details, comment and I'll update this answer.


HTC One M9 google pixel launcher experience app removel My HTC One M9 with Android 7.0 will not allow me to uninstall an app which is flashed by TWRP Recovery. Actually its a google pixel launcher experience app by XDA forum.

You have made it a system app by flashing so you can not uninstall it via conventional methods. If you are a rooted user then you can remove it via this system app remover.


How can I replace the apps in the SGSII's stock launcher dock? When I turn on my Galaxy S2, on the very bottom, there are the default icons for "phone", "email", "web", and "applications". On the Galaxy Tab (running Android 3.2), if I want to free up any of those apps and replace them with my own, I simply press and hold like any other app and just delete and replace with my own.

On the Galaxy SII Skyrocket (running 2.3 Gingerbread), I press and hold and nothing happens. Is there a way for me to change the shortcuts in the dock on the SGSII, similar to the way I can on the Galaxy Tab?

If you have the Ice Cream Sandwich update, pretty much all you have to do is hit the Menu button from the home screen, select Edit, and then long press the application you want to change.

For Gingerbread, click the Applications icon, then follow the same procedure (Menu button, edit, etc.)


Turn Screen Upside Down Horizontal I need to turn my android phone horizontal, but have the "up" side be the side that is closer to the ground. How does one do this?

I assume you mean 180° rotation - lots of screen rotation apps, like Ultimate Rotation Control, can be set up to do that.

The bonus point of the one I linked to is that, after setting up properly, it will seamlessly integrate with the built-in rotation switch of the OS.


want to use whatsapp account in 2phones I have 2 phones with same MAC address and same iP address  Samsung grand and Samsung core with me I used my sim card in grand there is no sim in core I just use it for Internet through wifi is it possible to use same whtsapp account in both phones without using QR code once I tried doing it but when I open whatsapp in 2nd phone it request verification in my 1 phone

You can't register the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones at once.

From WhatsApp's FAQ

  Your WhatsApp account can only be verified with one number on one
  device.

Here's a workaround:

Use WhatsApp web on the second phone, that way you'll be able to see your messages on both phones.

On the primary phone, open WhatsApp, in the menu click on "WhatsApp web"

Now, on the second phone, open your browser, and go to web.whatsapp.com then, go to your browsers menu, and click on "desktop site" (depending on your browser, the name of that setting might differ)

Now scan the QR code using the first phone. You will now be able to use both phones with the same WhatsApp account.

This is not ideal, but that's the only way to have the same account on two phones at the same time.


Issue with Google Play Services I can't access the Google Play Store and I keep getting the following error when trying to access my Gmail account on my Samsung phone: "Gmail won't run without Google Play services which are currently updating". This has been happening for 2 days now. I have tried restarting my phone but this has not fixed the error. I would be grateful for any advice, thank you.

Straight answer to your problem is

Go to settings and then apps under settings then find google play services and google play services for instant apps clear data for google play services for instant apps and then

Simply click here  it will redirect you to "google play services" in play store. There can be options: 1. To update(you need to update in this case), or 2. To deactive(nothing needed, it is already up-to-date).

Note: Above solution will definitely work but in  case if you don't see option to update the app(written at 2nd point) . Then try restore to factory settings.

Enjoy!


Notification on Connecting to Network Carrier Simple question. I work in a basement office and my network signal is very patchy at best. Is there a way to get a notification (buzz preferably) when it finds a signal? I have an HTC One running Kit-Kat (4.4.3). My favourite search engine hasn't given me any joy.

AFAIK there's nothing built-in to be used. And for apps, I only know the opposite: buzzing you when the alert is lost (see: Bad Signal Alert).

However, you could use tasker to create your own customized solution. Tasker can monitor signal strength, and you can setup a profile to utilize that. I cannot give you the matching profile currently, but you might wish to take a look at What is Cell standby and how can I keep it from eating my battery? In my answer there I've introduced a longer configuration involving the necessary tasks, so you might be able to adapt them to your needs. In fact, the SigReturn task already does what you asked for: Whenever the signal is restored, it issues a vibrating notification.

Being older than 2 years already, it might need some polish, though :)


What exactly does the pop filter in google photo editor do and how can it be applied to videos? The google photo editor has a "pop" filter (it might be called diferentlly on an english phone)

I would like to know what exactly this filter does and how it could be applied to a video - for example using adobe after effects or a free tool.

Pop filter is used to increase sharpness ( though I can't find official description)

For videos, Adobe Premier Clip does similar job using the highlights function, accessible from highlighted icon in the first screen shot. Subsequent screenshots show the effect

I am not familiar with Adobe after effects, as Adobe Premier let's me edit on the mobile itself and hence is preferred


Huawei P20 lite double grey circle in screen? I had my phone (Huawei P20 lite) in ultra battery saving mode and manually set the light to lowest possible (went hiking for 2 days and tried to save as much battery as possible) and when I tried to use it during the day, everything was so dark I didn't knew what I was pressing.

Since then, I have additional grey "button" on screen, which does...something weird. If I just put finger on it, I can drag it across the screen and leave it wherever I want. But, if I hold my finger on it for ~2 seconds, then it acts like a cursor and if I move it left/right/up/down, it just does same thing as I would press the most right button on the bottom of the phone (square).

How can I disable this "action" or how it is even called? I would take a print screen of the desktop, but the circle isn't shown on it. But here's a drawing, how it looks like.

It is the navigation dock which can be disabled from Settings → System → navigation system

Source - Reddit


Samsung Galaxy S4 verizon stuck in bootloop This is my device info:

What forums refer to my phone as: JFLTEVZW
Name that comes on box: Samsung Galaxy S4 Verizon SCH-I545
Carrier: Verizon
Unlocked: Yes
Root: When my phone was working, Yes

I used safestrap to install hyperdrive ROM for my phone, and now it is in bootloop. I cleared my cache partition, and did a factory reset. I need to wipe DALVIK cache from my laptop because Clockwork mod and twrp does not install. is there any way to do that on linux... if there isn't is there another method. thanks

The easiest way with a Sumsung device to fix a "soft-brick" is to use ODIN and flash the stock firmware. You may be able to find stock firmware that is already rooted if you want that.

You can look at "Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device".

More information on what all the checkboxes mean in the ODIN tool.

Since you are on linux, you cannot run ODIN as it is a Windows only tool. However, you can run Heimdall, which is an open source version of ODIN that a group of developers have created. Heimdall uses the same protocols as ODIN, as it is basically a reverse engineered version of ODIN that is designed to be supported by the community and run on multiple platforms.


bluetooth password for existing paired device I have lost the password for my pajero 2015 free hand system that is already paired with my note edge device

Is there a way to know the password used to pair my note edge with the pajero?

Thank you
Regards

Your android device will not have the saved PIN anywhere because PIN is used only temporarily during pairing procedure So I think there isn't a way to reveal your PIN since it is not stored in you device. However you can remove and pair your note with pajero 2015 again.


No ADB connection to Transformer Prime TF201 on 4.1.1 ADB connection to Transformer Prime TF201 on 4.1.1

With USB Debugging disabled I can see the TF as expected.

With USB Debugging enabled I can see an entry under Device Manager for ASUS Transformer Prime ADB Interface with no warnings or errors. However when I attempt to use ADB to connect I'm not getting any devices returned.

Screenshot here:

If I plug my phone in and list devices I get a single entry returned which works as expected, SHELL etc works normally.

Any thoughts?

This was an issue with the computer I was running ADB on. I took the transformer to work and ADB worked perfectly first time.


Where is the root folder of BlueStacks located in PC? Is there a way to locate the files in pc as shown in the root explorer of BlueStacks?

I.e. how to move files of BlueStacks (APKs or any other file) to PC or from PC without opening BlueStacks?

I mean move files of bluestacks or computer through the pc directories without involving the use of shared folder or root explorer or adb shell
a more simpler way?

BlueStacks is Android emulator which is basically running virtual machine with different operating system, therefore you can't access your files directly.

You can find your data files under C:\ProgramData\BlueStacks\UserData\SharedFolder on Windows or Library/BlueStacks/Android on Mac, but the data files are in VDI format (VirtualBox drive image).

So you can try to convert .vdi files into RAW image which you can mount by the following command:

VBoxManage clonehd --format RAW Root.vdi Root.img

Then you can try to mount these files by some software which can support Linux ext3 file systems.

Alternatively you can install Total Commander, Root or File Explorer (or similar app) in BlueStacks, then transfer your files into fake SSD card and they should appear in C:\ProgramData\BlueStacks\UserData\SharedFolder folder. On Mac, you probably need to convert SDCard.vdi file into RAW format (as mentioned above) and mount the image, or use VirtualBox software to access the VDI image.

Another easier way is simply to install FTP or SCP plugin for Total Commander app and transfer the files via network.


Screen dims except navigation bar On my Yoga tab (B8080-F) with Android 4.4.2 all of a sudden screen got dimmed except for the navigation menu, where it remains bright as set in the display settings. If I change brightness manually, the dimmed part of the screen also changes and if I restart, the brightness is normal but shortly after the startup screen gets dimmed again, so I am suspecting an app that can make use of screen overlay to cause this. I have uninstalled FB messenger (it uses overlay notifications) but no luck. Any idea how to figure out what app is cause this annoyance?

UPDATE: Well as it often hapens, I found out solution right after posting this question. Using instructions from this post Determine which app is drawing on top of other apps? I have identified the offending package to be com.lenovo.powercenterhd which is Lenovo Power Manager, where at some point I have apparently enabled Protection Glassess feature, which dims the main screen. After turning it off, brightness went back to normal.


How do I swap the content of two phones I have two Samsung Galaxy S3 phones running Android 4.3 (one for me and one for my wife)

I no longer use my phone regularly (I switched to another phone) but I still need it occasionally (for things that only run on Android)

My wife's phone has a broken screen (a big crack on the glass in the middle of the screen, the screen still shows the image and touch and everything else still works)

I want to swap everything between phones so that my wife has the intact phone (with everything she now has on the broken phone) and I use the broken phone.

So, what is the easiest way to swap the entire content of two phones?

As both phones are identical (make that sure first!), there's even a possibility to "cross-clone" them:

First you'll need a custom recovery such as clockworkmod or twrp. Other than "stock recoveries", custom recoveries support...
nandroid backup: Using your new custom recovery, you can create a Nandroid backup of each device – which basically is a collection of "drive images" from all the partitions the device has. They will be stored on your SDCard usually.
Now swap the SDCards, enter the custom recovery again, and restore the Nandroid backup. With this step, the "body switch" should be perfect :)


How to Boot to Recovery mode on a Lenovo tab M8 FHD Tablet? The questions says it all.
This is what I know.

Pressing & holding the vol+ button while pressing Power - Boots into
fastboot.
Pressing & holding the vol- button while pressing Power -
Boots into download.

The question is how can I boot into Recovery Mode?

To access recovery mode on this device do the following.

Hold down both volume buttons while turning on the device with the power button.
As soon as the device goes on release the power button but continue holding the volume buttons.
Hold the volume buttons till it enters into recovery mode.


Problem with GPS on xiaomi I have a Xiaomi redmi note 3 pro and i have installed an application that control in real time your running (it take the Speed, the course)  thanks to the GPS.
But sometimes the GPS lose the signal and my results are not clear.
There are some settigs to change or the application has a problem?

perhaps your rom/firmware has a bug with GPS, try to reflash the firmware of the your xiaomi form the official site


How to get Facebook chat on Asus Transformer? So I just got my wife the Asus Transformer and for some reason there is no Facebook app available in the Market... She can use the web site, but chat is not available there as far as I can see. Any good solutions for this problem? :)

The Facebook app (at least as of July) simply doesn't support the Transformer. It's pretty bad on a tablet anyway, and I don't even use it on my Xoom. However, some solutions you could try include:

Try to download Facebook from a different app store (Amazon, SlideMe, etc). You may also be able to use Market Enabler, though I'm not sure if it will bypass device restrictions. There is a question that discusses this already.
You could try the about:debug trick to switch your useragent to "Desktop". That is discussed here. This works on my Xoom and allows me to view the chat bar.
You can install Opera Mobile and then go into the Settings and select the "Desktop" user agent (Press the "O" button, then Settings->Advanced->User Agent). This also works on my Xoom. Other browsers also allow you to switch the User Agent string, so these may also work (Dolphin, for example).
You can use a third-party IM client like Trillian, which supports Facebook accounts. Facebook chat is, I believe, XMPP under the covers, so other chat clients will probably also work.

If you want a tablet-oriented Facebook app, I recommend Friend Me, though it does not currently support Facebook chat. Friendcaster also has a beta version for tablets that you can try out.


How do you clear share actions bound to ‘copy to clipboard’? I accidentally set a sharing intent to always copy to clipboard. I know that usually to unbind these defaults, you go Settings > Apps > All > [bound app] and hit the 'Clear defaults' button from there, but I've had a look at all the system- or text-related things in there and I can't find anything with such a default set.

In my googling, I found this thread on XDA Developers that describes exactly this problem, but it has no responses.

If it matters, the action in question is the one the Github app uses to share issues.

There are multiple ways to clear "default actions":

Walking through the list of apps in Settings→Apps→Manage Apps, looking at each entry whether it has a "Clear defaults" button, and hit that (not very user-friendly -- and in this special case obviously not applyable, as the action seems not bound to a special app)
Using a helper app like e.g. Default App Manager or DefaultApp Reset (much more user-friendly -- but not suitable in this case, for the same reason as the previous point)
Installing another app which uses the same intent (in case of a "homescreen launcher" and the "home" key, another launcher, to give an example) -- not always easy to figure out what app might be fitting for this purpose. This is what lead to success in our case here, by installing Andmade Share
Note: You do not need to keep that app installed. It's the installation of the app which "drops" the default. This is also the purpose why the next item works:
Updating/uninstalling one of the apps currently using this intent (to take above example: that's why you will be asked again when your launcher received an update) -- this point just for completeness :)


Can Galaxy S use 802.11n for tethering? I have a Galaxy S (GT-I9000) running Darky's ROM 10.1 (Gingerbread 2.3.3). I just noticed that when I use tethering to create a wireless AP, it uses only 802.11g, not 802.11n even though my netbook supports it. Not that I'd need it for the speed, but better signal for crowded places with lots of access points and all the g-channels used.

EDIT: g-channels, not frequencies

I have read, that even though the GT-i9000 claims to support 802.11n, it does not. I even read that if your router is set to 802.11n "only" mode, the SGS will not connect to the access point. This is why you see the device using 802.11g.

I don't think you can change the channel that is used with the "built in" tether, but some of the 3rd party apps look like they let you change the channel.


Huawei Phone Ram replacement, flash rom? My friend's phone died with no signs of life, the repairs shop diagnosed it to have it's ram chip failed and they say that all the data will be lost after repair.

Does it need to have its ROM reflashed after the ram chip replacement?

All the data will likely be lost, in fact, the phone will likely even have a new IMEI after the repair. The exception would be any data on an SD card as long as it is not adopted as internal storage.

These individual components, such as RAM, storage, radios, etc, are generally not replaceable even in an authorized factory repair facility. The standard practice for this "repair" would be to replace the mainboard of the phone. This action is similar to replacing a motherboard in a laptop, when it is done it is essentially a new device in the same original shell. Any data or information currently on the existing device will be lost as the "guts" will be replaced with new.


ADB restore isn't working I think there are a lot of this type of questions but I have a new (for me and can't find it anywhere) problem with the adb restore command.

I created an adb backup -apk -shared -all and it looked like it worked and I think it did because the size is 6 GB. Well I made this from Android L Preview because I wanted to downgrade because of the bugs (I hope they fix them) and when I try to restore it on Android KitKat 4.4.4 it is not working, the adb shell logcat -s BackupManagerServicereturned this when I tried to make a full restore:

I/BackupManagerService(  758): Beginning full restore...
D/BackupManagerService(  758): Starting restore confirmation UI, token=1224340204
D/BackupManagerService(  758): Waiting for full restore completion...
D/BackupManagerService(  758): acknowledgeFullBackupOrRestore : token=1224340204 allow=true
D/BackupManagerService(  758): Sending conf message with verb 10
I/BackupManagerService(  758): --- Performing full-dataset restore ---
I/BackupManagerService(  758): Initiating bind of OBB service on com.android.server.BackupManagerService$FullBackupObbConnection@437913f8
I/BackupManagerService(  758): OBB service connection com.android.internal.backup.IObbBackupService$Stub$Proxy@43ad7c48 connected on com.android.server.BackupManagerService$FullBackupObbConnection@437913f8
W/BackupManagerService(  758): Wrong header version: 3
W/BackupManagerService(  758): Invalid restore data; aborting.
I/BackupManagerService(  758): Full restore processing complete.
D/BackupManagerService(  758): Full restore pass complete.

Is there a fix for this? Or another way to restore this information? The backup is encrypted but there is not an error of a wrong password and I am pretty sure it's the correct password.

Thank you for your time and I hope you can help me solve this.

You can't restore a backup made from a higher Android version onto a lower Android version. This can be seen from the line W/BackupManagerService(  758): Wrong header version: 3. ADB backups should always be restored onto the same version (or higher, not sure about this).


System storage is showing full even when it is not. So I can't install apk as system app I have OnePlus 6 with latest Open Beta. It is rooted. I have done everything but I still can't install any app as a system app.

I have tried Link2SD and Titanium Backup. I have tried to copy/paste the apk using TWRP file manager and ES file Explorer. I have tried to move the apk using adb shell. Everything is giving the same error that /system has no space left.

Link2SD storage shows

Settings storage shows

Why it is giving me memory error when system has space?

... /system has no space left.

It indicates that your /system partition is mounted R/W but just to make sure, if dm-verity is enabled, /system is always R/O. For details see How to disable dm-verity on Android?.

Next, both of your screenshots show that your /system partition is full. Even if you haven't written anything to it, some ROMs may have /system already completely filled. After all it isn't for user's usage.

The space shown as "System" in Settings isn't actually the /system partition. In fact it can't be of 11GB, that's too much. Android is counting a large data from /data partition also as "System", because it's not what a "user" directly puts there. User can access only shared/external storage (/sdcard).

You can check actually space usage of /system partition with command df -h /system. Execute du -h /system | sort -h to get a directory-wise detail of what's taking up space.

For more details, see How disk space is used on Android device?


Set whatsapp to send delayed messages? Is there any extention or function to manage whatsapp to send delayed messages?

I would like to send every day a message at the same time but I do not find this function?

The message is different every day and there are images or text

There seems to be an app called Seebye Scheduler ROOT which can do what you intend but the device must be ROOTED and this one named Scheduler NO ROOT(from the same developer) is also available, for non-rooted device.

Once app is installed on your device, user needs to set a rule, by below steps,
 1. setting the user to whom the message will be sent, 2. message text that needs to be sent, 3. when it needs to be sent  4.how frequently it needs to be sent.

None of my devices are compatible with these app, hence I could not test it myself, but looks worth for trying! Good Luck.


How to take whatsapp backup (from Phone Memory to Sd Card) on Android I am using Whatsapp on my android phone. Since the phone as Jellybean installed, it doesn't have "Move to SD Card" feature and hence all my whatsapp files such as Backup, Media etc were stored in Phone, which eventually consumes lot of space on the phone.

Since I would now be purchasing new phone (which has KitKat version), I would like to know how can I take backup of whatsapp so that the images taken within the backup are stored in SD card in new phone.

Please assist me.

P.S.: I know how to take a manual backup of Whatsapp on an Android Phone.

You just need to copy the WhatsApp folder from your internal sd card (/sdcard) to your new phone. If you then first launch WhatsApp it should ask if it should restore your messages.

Note: This only works if you use the same phone number on both devices. For more information about that see the WhatsApp FAQ: http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/android/20887921


"(unkown)" Google Contact Records I can't delete? Temporary Error (200) Numeric Code 68 I can't delete five corrupt contact records from my Google Contacts. This is causing sync problems with my phone. Verizon, Motorola and Google all claim they can't help.

"(unkown)" Google Contact Records I can't delete? Temporary Error (200) Numeric Code 68. Please help.

I couldn't delete one particular contact in my Google Contacts and I managed to solve it with this solution. Not sure it can help you, but you can try.

Go to your Google contact page
Press "More" and then "Export"

Press "Go to Old Contacts"

You will find old interface of Google Contacts, and there you will be able to review your "Other Contacts"

I found that all duplicates are inside "Other Contacts". Now we need to delete 18.000 duplicates :)
In order to quickly delete I pressed "Settings" and then selected 250 items to display per page

I used "Select All" and then "More" & "Delete". In around 15 minutes I managed to delete all duplicates (in batches of 250).

Finally, I deleted all Android Contact using this solution and then synced Contact to the latest Google Contact status. Finally after so long time my contacts are fixed!


What happens if I uninstall the Google Settings app? My android device frequently runs low on free memory space.

Can I delete the Google Settings app?

I want to install a game but it is not installing what should I do?

I don't think you CAN uninstall that App.  At a minimum, you would need ROOT to do it.

This probably wouldn't have any immediate effects, until you wanted to make any change to your settings (in which case, you wouldn't have the tool to do it).


Using an OTG cable while charging Most Android devices have a single port for both connecting to the computer (USB) and charging. I have to use this OTG small cable to transfer data, but also to use a real keyboard. However, when I connect the keyboard, I cannot recharge my device while I work. Since they both use the same port, is there a way to split an OTG cable to introduce power on it, but keep the existing port so I can connect a keyboard ?

Yes, it is possible, at least technically.  What you need is a cable called a OTG host cable with power, which is a double-female cable with a male micro, a female micro (which only has the power and ground connected, no data), and a female A, like this one.
Additionally, you also need software support.  I know an appropriate kernel patch is available for CM10 on the Nexus 7 (here), but I don't know about any other devices.