How to turn off camera click sound on Samsung Galaxy S2? I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 through boost mobile.

I want to get rid of the camera sounds. I bought Tasker, and set up the profile like I was told. Everything is on or off. But when I exit Tasker at first, it says "Active profile". Then, it then says "no active profile".

How do I get rid of this annoying sound? I did system sound, notification sounds, media sounds, and slient sound. But I still have the dang noise.

Please help.

Have a look at SilentCamera.
Alternatively, if your phone's rooted you can delete those files:
/system/media/audio/ui/camera_click.ogg
/system/media/audio/ui/camera_focus.ogg
XDA has a mod for devices with custom firmwares.


Making Android not respond to connecting headphones My android (Galaxy sII, CM9) has this thing where if I connect/disconnect headphones (either audio jack or bluetooth) it responds to it. (Like turns the song on or off.) I use Poweramp for music.

The idea is great but the execution is horrible. It tends to just turn on random audio files in my phone that I don't want to hear, or just switch songs arbitrarily, lose the point in a podcast that I'm at so I have to reopen the file and find the point again, etc.

How do I cancel any and all Android responses to connecting or disconnecting headphones? I don't want my phone to do anything when I connect or disconnect headphones.

You can make this happen by going in poweramp settings->Headset/Bluetooth an uncheck
Pause On Headset Disconnect and Resume on wired Headset and that should be it


Galaxy S3 Accounts & Sync gone after jellybean update 4.1.1 Just updated my new Galaxy S3 to latest jellybean update 4.1.1 and my accounts and sync disappeared. Tech support said it should be under settings / personal tab but not there.
Any ideas of what happened?

On my Galaxy S3 wich I updated about two weeks ago, there is an "Accounts" part in the settings, right after the "Personal" one, where all my accounts are listed. Do you have it ?
I can also access to the sync settings from the contacts list, then press the menu touch button (on the left of the home button) and choose accounts.


How to add contact from email? Someone sends me an email with a phone number, address, etc.  I want to add it to my contacts.  I'd think it would be somewhat simple, but it is quite difficult.

I can click on the phone number, call it, hang up before it rings (ick!), go to call history, long click on the number , then add to contacts.
Of course then I still have to manually type in the address, etc. Going back to the email and cutting and pasting as multiple operations isn't so nice either.

Is there an easy and efficient way to do this?  Some app maybe?  Or am I just doing it wrong?

If relevant, my device is a T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide with Android 2.1

If you long-press the phone number, you'll get prompted to add a contact. Unfortunately you still need to manually enter a lot of information.


tasker to turn on do not disturb when plugged into charger I'm trying to use Tasker to turn on the do not disturb mode in android 6.0 marshmallow.  I used to use tasker to make my phone go silent when I plugged in my charger cord every night, and turn off silent when I unplugged the cord in the morning.  Tasker broke I think with Lollipop when we lost our silent mode.  Now with Marshmallow we have do not disturb, but tasker can't seem to trigger it and/or has no access to "do not disturb."  I set up a profile (state/power/any) and a "task" (audio/do not disturb/all) but it does nothing when I plug in my power cord.  Can anyone solve this problem?

It doesn't work because you designed the action not to do anything but let Android disturb you, as usual. Here's what each entry corresponds to under Audio → Do Not Disturb:

None: silences all sounds, including alarms - Total Silence
Priority: silences sounds except for certain calls or notifications - Priority Only
All: this effectively ends Do Not Disturb mode
Alarms: silences all ringtones & vibrations except alarms - Alarms Only

(Content partially derived from the article: Silence your device with "Do not disturb"  - by Elena)


Key symbol in notification bar when swiped once on Xperia with Lollipop I've recently upgraded to Android 5.0 in my Xperia C3. I don't seem to find the user profiles symbol on my notification or any sign of it anywhere. I also see a key symbol on my notification bar near to the battery indicator. What does it mean? And why don't I have the user profile options?

Yes, the key symbol means, your network is being monitored. If you run "Mobiwol" (a non-root firewall), it creates a VPN.


Lost then re-found phone I lost my android, and while it was lost I did the factory reset from the device manager through google.  Since then, the phone has been found.  In the off chance that the factory reset did not go through, as the phone was offline or dead,is there any way I can undo this? Also, how annoying or difficult is it to re upload apps, music, etc after the factory reset?

Yes. You can do it easily.

First Make sure you didn't have any Sim Card inserted in your phone and go away from any possible wifi area (incase if you did turned on Wifi or Mobile Data).

Then simply remove your Google account through Android Settings and try to use another Google account. (this works for all case)

This can help you to get your phone being formatted.


Swap partition not working on Huawei U8160 running CyanogenMod 7.2 I have a Huawei U8160 (also known as : Vodafone 858 Smart) which is running CyanogenMod 7.2 (which was released by MADTeam in 2/7/2012).

After updating to the 2/7/2012 update, I found an option to use swap partition instead of compcache (compressed cache), so I repartitioned my SD card to make a swap partition using mini tool partition wizard which is 100 MB in size and primary (I had an Ext2 partition).  But after enabling the swap option the programs where slower, so I checked whether the swap partition was working or not.  I used the terminal emulator and typed "free" and the swap partition was all zeros.

So I wanted to know if I should mount it or do something else to make it work?

There are two ways to apply and use swap on your device, using a swap file or using a swap partition. This guide provides instructions for both of them.

Disable Compcache

First step is to confirm the status or presence of the compressed cache, thus ensuring that it is disabled.

While CyanogenMod does not enable Compcache support on all devices, and by default if available it comes disabled, you can check the status by accessing:

    Settings » CyanogenMod settings » Performance settings » Compcache

If it doesn't show, your device doesn't support Compcache. If it show, disable it to use swap instead.

Using swap (file or partition)

Swap can give more available memory than Compcache, but you need at least a class 6 SD card to prevent slow access times. You should also be aware that SD write wear is increased, so, the card will last less than usual would last.

Using a swap file

This is the easiest way, you can have an app creating and managing the swap file for you:

Here's three recommended apps for this:

Swapper 2
Swapper
DroidSwap

Using a swap partition

You can manually create a swap partition, but for that to happen, you need to backup your SD card contents; format, and partition it.

The swap partition does bring better compatibility, when compared with swap files, but only concerning the connection of your phone as an USB mass storage device.

SD card partitioning

The method of reference if the use of MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition, compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista & Windows 7.

Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard;
Remove the SD card from your device, insert into USB SD Card reader.
Windows should report a new drive and you should see the drive contents.
Delete old partitions on SD card:

Notes:

Operations are QUEUED, not instantly applied. So nothing is deleted and changed UNTIL you click "APPLY" and then confirm by clicking "OK".

Confirm that you are selecting and flagging to delete the correct drive. Your SD card should be the smallest one present on your computer.

Select it, with a right mouse click, select "Delete":

Create FAT or FAT32 partition:

Right mouse click over the SD card unallocated space, and click "create":

From "Create As", select: PRIMARY
From "File System", select:

For SD card bellow 2GB: FAT
For SD card above 2GB: FAT32

Under "Size and Location", at the right side, mouse left click and hold, then slide to the left to adjust the space for this partition.

create ext2 or ext3 or swap partition:

Right mouse click over the SD card unallocated space, and click "create":

From "Create As", select: PRIMARY
From "File System", select:

For App2SD: ext2
For swap: Linux Swap

Apply changes

Now that all has been created, you just need to apply and confirm the changes:

On the top left, there's a button labeled "Apply", press it:

A confirmation popup should be presented, press "Yes":

All done, your SD card can now return to your phone. If your current ROM is capable of using swap, it will detect and use it.

Notes

Please read everything carefully before proceeding. As mentioned by t0mm13b in the comments to your question, this subject as been covered, and the CyanogenMod team informs that this features are disabled by default due to potential issues:

  Swap and Compressed Cache (Compcache) are optional memory management systems. By default, these schemes are disabled due to potential issues with some configurations.

Credits to:

CyanogenMod Wiki - Swap and Compcache
XDA Developers Forum - SD card partitioning


How to set alarm at a specific date and time? My phone is a Huawei Ascend Y511 with Android 4.2.2.

I like the Alarms feature in the built-in Clock app, but it only lets me choose a time (and days of the week, if using a recurring alarm), not a date. Any way to set an alarm (reminder) for a specific date and time?

I don't wanna use Google Now's reminders, as I don't like GNow from a privacy standpoint. I tried Google Keep which works but only produces a one-off, short sound, rather than a looped melody, and doesn't show any notification on the screen except a tiny icon in the top black bar.

I'd like something that works close to the Clock app: show a full-screen notification that lets me drag an icon in one of two directions to either snooze or discard the reminder. And don't stop playing the sound until I react.

Use Early Bird Alarm Clock.

It has all the features that you wanted.

  ✔ Select alarm date for shift worker
  Complete schedule such as day-night-off-holiday will be okay!


Why does every app has/needs the permission "Send MMS" and "Send Email"? So, I recently bought Elephone P8000 which has Android 5.1 installed. One of the first things I noticed was the new "App Permissions". After installing a few of my standard apps, I was curious and checked the app permissions, and I was quite surprised when I saw that every app had the permissions "Send MMS" and "Send Email".

I could understand that if it were only WhatsApp, obviously, a chat app might need this permission. But even my GBA Emulator or the Fallout Pip-Boy app had this permission even though they don't have any kind of communication functionality.

So what is the point of these 2 permissions? Why does every app need those?

Intrigued by this question, I searched in the forums and found a similar query,which probably explains, at least in part, of what you are seeking.

Preventing installed apps from making calls or sending SMS

Almost verbatim from the answer by @ Steven Roose (all credits to him)

Developers sometimes grant their apps permission which their apps in fact don't need. If you are aware and you don't agree with this trend, the only thing you can do is not download such apps. Or even better, you can consider contacting the developer of the application and ask him why this permission is required. Maybe they are not aware of the fact and are very willing to remove the permission if they can please their users by doing so.

A to-do list should not have the permission to send SMS messages, if I see a to-do app that requires this permission myself, I would just look for another app to use.

My "guess", is that app developers ask for them just in case it is required in future, though the app may not need or use them currently. It might even be that the developer has requested an inclusive permission (for example, android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE implies that android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE has also been granted, and both permissions will show up for the app); although this might not be true in your case.

Also, one point: It might be a device-specific or case-specific (one-time) issue. Try uninstalling and reinstalling all relevant apps to check.

EDIT

ELEPONE 8000 runs a custom ROM as per Android Authority.

"The Elephone P8000 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box, with the custom Elephone UI on top"

ROM appears to be Flyme as per this forum (search for Flyme)

Does this explain the discrepancy of app displaying different permissions as discussed in comments to the question?

EDIT 2

As tested  by Andrew T, I have repeated that by downloading from play store and the app does not have "send MMS " or "send email" permissions accorded. This leads to the conclusion that the observations made by OP are ROM / UI specific.

Reasons for the ROM/UI causing this could be a topic for separate question


Android app keeps Screen on, how to let it go *OFF* against app settings? The app is one of those applications that keeps the screen on and doesn't permit it to turn off. It's killing the battery and I shouldn't have to simply manually turn the screen off constantly. Every other app simply lets the screen turn off once I stop interacting with it like a good app should.

Hence my question: Is there any setting/app/widget/button/magic wand of any kind that will let me block this application from keeping the screen on. There has to be some kind of permission I can revoke to stop it from doing this.

The phone is rooted.

In short, no, you cannot, write a review on the said app's entry on the Play store, and email the developer in question to get that to be made optional via settings within the app itself.

If the developer refuses to budge or dismiss the feedback, best to look for an alternative out there.


did "restrict background data" *per-app* just disappear in an os update? (android 4.2.2) Just noticed this now, I'm pretty sure option was there a few days ago...

now I can't stop Play Store from using up my data. There is now a global "restrict data access" but it doesn't seem to apply to some apps - like the play store

EDIT weird, now they're back again. I think the only thing I did was logout (via about:debug, then setting->debug->reset prelogin, the last one)

The option is "Restrict Background Data" and you can access it on Settings -> Power Saving, after choosing a proper power saving mode.

To stop Google Play from hogging your data, open the Google Play app settings and look at the "Auto-update apps" option. There is a possibility to only update when connected to an wifi network.


Google Authenticator I had no problem using Authenticator for the first month.  Two weeks ago, my phone's operating system upgraded and now Authenticator will not work.  I have uninstalled it, re-downloaded it, and reinstalled.  No matter what function I choose (sync time, setup) I get an error message that Authenticator has stopped working.  Also, since I need the two-factoring for our website, that the codes stopped working on that.  I keep reporting the issue to Google but of course have had no response.  Any suggestions?

If you can't access to Google Authenticator in any way, I suggest trying Duo Mobile or FreOTP Authenticator

I tried Duo Mobile and I personally use it for my personal Google Account. It works like a charm. Feel free to draw feedback if that resolves the question for you.


Creating a line break using Gboard on Signal and other apps I want to be able to create a line break while using Gboard on Google Pixel 3X.  This will allow me to start a new paragraph while using Signal or another app.
Any ideas here?

Goto Signal -> Settings -> Chats
Disable "Enter key sends"


Hidden led lights that are seen only by camera on my 3 adroid devices I accidentally found something hidden on the main screen of my android devices. 1-4 blinking led lights that canot be seen with the naked eye but can be seen using the camera app. The location color and intensity of hidden lights vary phone to phone. Can anyone tell me what they are for? Ifound nothing in searches.

Those are proximity sensor and  light sensor they emit infrared light that's why you can't see them with nacked eyes. They are located near the top area of the front side of the phone. More can be read here


A simple explanation of CWM and Odin I'm going to root my Samsung Galaxy Note and I come across the terms CWM and Odin very often. What exactly are they? It seems that CWM is used for rooting and Odin for flashing the phone. Is there more to it?

I've posted here because I have been unable to to find a good explanation online.

CWM is the shortform of ClockWorkMod.  ROMManager, CWM recovery, Tether etc are their products.  CWM Recovery and ROMManager are tools which enables you to backup your current ROM, install custom ROMs etc.
If you are interested in knowing more about CWM, see this page.  For rooting you do not need CWM. In fact for installing CWM you need to be rooted.
For anyone who plays with ROMs, tweaking and testing, CWM Recovery or some thing equivalent to it is mandatory and would save your neck several times.
Also, you could specify which part you are not clear with.  It will help to get better answers. :)


Developer Mode on VSN Mobil V.50 I have a phone made by VSN Mobil called the V.50.  It's running their own mod of 4.4.2.  The normal method of tapping Build Number seven times to access Developer Mode does not work.  I just need to be able to install and debug.

Has anyone successfully gotten a V.50 into Developer Mode?

[UPDATE]

After some back and forth with VSN's customer support, VSN confirmed that there is "no access" to Developer Mode on the V.50.  The V.45 does display the Build Number and it can be tapped seven times to access Developer Mode, but the V.50 does not display Build Number, so therefore Developer Mode is inaccessible.  Boo VSN.

Sometimes this can happen, whether it's a decision made by the vendor, or it's really an accidental mistake.

However, it doesn't mean that the whole developer option is removed from the system (though, this could really happen, as shown on the linked question). The workaround is to invoke the developer option through 3rd-party apps, such as:

Developer Options by uDroid (free)
Developer Options by SingleByte (free)
Developer Settings Shortcut (free)
and many more...

If it's still inaccessible, then the developer option might be really removed from the ROM, and you should contact the vendor regarding this.


How to check the current platform of Android OS? There are 4 common platform such as: ARM, ARM64, x86 and x86_64 on which Android can run.

How can I check which platform I'm on within Android OS? So I can check whether my app is compatible with it or not.

I'm using different emulators (BlueStacks on Mac, Genymotion on Demand, etc.), so I'd like to check basically which platform they're exactly emulating, because some apps works for me on BlueStacks, but not on Genymotion.

If you have adb set up, it's a one-liner at the shell prompt:

$ adb shell "getprop ro.product.cpu.abi"
arm64-v8a

In this example, the device asked answered that it has a 64bit ARM V8a CPU (second line).

Note: You can also run the quoted command in a terminal emulator running on the device / emulator. In there, it's just getprop ro.product.cpu.abi.


What kind of upgrade procedure can I expect after rooting my tablet? I am considering rooting my Galaxy Tab 10.1, mainly to get rid of some obnoxious bloatware that really annoys me.

I've read this post, and this one, and found these instructions which are nice and clear. I think I'm set as far as executing on this process.

What is not clear to me is down the road, when new versions come out, what the upgrade process will look like.

Will I be notified in any way shape or form of any upgrades? (my
current non-rooted phone alerts me when a new OS upgrade is
available.)
Will I have to go through an equally complicated procedure with
every upgrade, or is it much simpler once the initial rooting is
done?

Most (if not all) custom ROMs deliberately prevent over-the-air updates from carriers/manufacturers.  This is done both to prevent incompatibilities during the upgrade process, and to avoid losing root.  With that said, some custom ROMs do offer ways to be notified of updates.  For example, for ROMs that are integrated with Rom Manager update notifications are available through that app (available for the Premium version only though.)  Other ROMs may even include their own update notification built-in.  This is really up to the developer of a given ROM, and you should be able to find this information on the ROM's support thread.

After the initial rooting and installation procedure, upgrading a ROM to a newer version is quite easy:

Download ROM's update.zip file and place it on the root of your SD Card.
Reboot device to Recovery (ClockworkMod in this case.)
Perform a Nandroid backup.  This step is not strictly necessary, but highly recommended in case something goes wrong during the update process, or if you just aren't happy with a new version.  If that happens you can always restore a previous backup to get your device back to a fully functional version.
Clear Cache and Dalvik-cache partitions.  Again, not really necessary, but in some cases this helps prevent issues with installed 3rd-party (and system) apps in case the updated ROM changes things around too much.
Apply the update.  Pick the ZIP file you downloaded in step 1 and wait for the update to complete.
Flash the GApps package.  Optional, if you want the Play Store, Google Talk and other Google experience apps.  You have to do this step each time you upgrade the ROM, since the /system partition gets formatted as part of the update process.
Reboot.

The first boot after ROM update will take a long time (5+ minutes,) depending on how many apps you have installed.  This is because the Dalvik-cache gets gets rebuilt.  After this you should be all set.


Can't unlock previosuly resetted Wiko Pulp 4g phone (loop in login screen) I just got a new phone from a friend, a Wiko Pulp 4G. Before giving it to me, she did a factory reset on it without logging out of the phone previously - so now when I turn on the phone, it demands to log in with the account that was used on the phone before the reset before you can do anything else. Problem is: It doesn't unlock. It's stuck in a loop. You first have to insert email and password and then a code is sent to my friend via SMS - but when I enter the code, the first screen demanding my friends email appears again, and the process of logging in starts anew.

Here's what I already tried:

Hardresetting my phone as described on this website. This doesn't change anything sadly.
Remove the device from my friends google acount on Googles device manager page - but the phone doesn't have a remove button (because it isn't actually logged in I guess)

Is there any way to solve this? If nothing works I will try to root it and install another ROM, provided I can figure out how to enable USB debugging without unlocking my phone.

This is called Device Protection Lock or Factory Reset Protection. It's an anti-theft feature that is triggered when you hard reset your device without removing the screen lock code and Google accounts. You can check if your account is synced to the device by going to Google.com/dashboard, and check under Android. If you see your device there, it means that it's synced before the reset, if not, then there's gotta be another account that was signed in to it.

If you changed your password before or after the Factory Reset, you need to wait for 24 hours before you can sign back in on the device and complete the setup.

If that still doesn't work, try disabling the 2-step verification from your friend's account, as some devices may have compatibility issues with it.

If that still doesn't work, the best way is to get in touch with the device's manufacturer. You may need to send in your device for repair. I'm not really quite sure for every manufacturer, but usually, they will flash it.


Why are Google contacts and phone apps not available for my Samsung S5 phone? I have a Galaxy SC-04F with a non-rooted, stock ROM that came with the phone, running Andoid 6.0.

I believe it's a common model, and I haven't done anything to it that I know of that makes it special or dysfunctional in any way.

But, Google Play says the standard Google apps Contacts and Phone are not compatible with my device.

Why would these apps be incompatible? Is there a way I can get them installed?

This is not the "standard contacts"app (AOSP contacts).

Google™ contacts and dialer apps only work with Nexus and Android One devices running (as far as I know they come pre installed) starting with marshmallow (Android 6).


bootloop without power button I have a Nexus S which sadly has a broken power button. This means I cannot do anything in recovery mode. Recently, after downgrading from a Cyanogenmod 10.1 nightly to and experimental build, it got stuck in a boot-loop.

I am trying to install ClockworkMod Touch, I think this would probably be the fastest (and most permanent) option. I have an .img file, but also a flashable .zip file for ClockWorkMod Touch.

The problem is, I am unable to either flash the .zip, or install the .img, because my PC doesn't detect a device in fast-boot mode.

Does anyone know how to install the zip using ADB, with commands that are available through either regular boot or recovery mode?

I could also try and send keystrokes for the power button through ADB but this wouldn't work in recovery.

Thanks for the help in advance!

Update: The phone wont go into Fastboot-usb mode, I dont know why. (I am not using the original USB cable)

Update 2: I managed to fix the bootloop by reinstalling the ROM using

    adb shell
    recovery --update_package=/sdcard/cmupdater/cm-10.1-20130121-EXPERIMENTAL-crespo-M1.zip

Still would like to know how to install CWM touch.

Check this out. It's a step-by-step guide on how to load a rom with fastboot. Maybe it helps.

Also, additional info can be found on xda forums.


adb can find device but fastboot cannot Context

I can run adb commands on my Nexus 4 and they work fine but when my device is in the bootloader and I try to list the device with,

fastboot devices

my device is not listed. I was having problems with adb on my Windows 7 VM due to driver issues, so I switched to OSX because it does not require any drivers.

I think I may have corrupted my bootloader and recovery in my previous attempts to root my phone with a toolkit(I know I should have done it manually).

Question

Is it possible to reinstall my bootloader or a recovery using just adb i.e. without using fastboot?

The problem with my device not showing up with the fastboot devices command resolved itself. I was then able to flash a custom recovery.

The only thing I did different was, I rebooted my computer and symlinked the adb and fastboot commands in my bin folder.


my samsung galaxy 2 battery is draining to fast! I have an Samsung Galaxy S2 GT i9100. I have had it for quite a time, but today I noticed something strange:

First my battery had not been charging while I was sleeping: when I woke up I had only about 13% charge left. So I put the phone on the charger while I was making breakfeast.

When I came back to the phone some time later, it had nearly not charged at all: in fact the phone was using more battery then it was charging.

Why is my phone battery's charge dropping when I'm charging? I had this problem the whole day -- it won't charge more then 30%, then suddenly the battery level drops. How can this be solved?

Had exactly the same, did the same as you asking questions and hearing lots of different answers. My solution new battery, couple of quid on ebay.


How to change input method on 5.1.1 I cannot see the "select input method" command in the pull down menu like in Android 4.
By experimenting, I discovered you can select the input method if you long-press the space bar in Samsung keyboard.
I used this to switch to Hacker's keyboard.
But that keyboard doesn't support the space bar long press convention.
So, I cannot change back.

Edit: the long press method is a feature of Google Japanese Input, not the Samsung Keyboard, sorry. I can change the input method via Settings/Language and input/Default Keyboard. That is far too inconvenient for regular use.

Edit: I remember seeing on some Android version a good mechanism for this: a little keyboard icon displayed while in input mode. I feel it must be somewhere; I'm just not looking in the right place.

Found it. Stupidly, you have to pull down, then scroll through the entire stack of notifications. "Select Keyboard" is buried at the bottom!


How to launch an app immediately after another app is closed using Tasker I need help creating a Tasker profile that will open Aldiko Sync  ONLY after I have ended the main Aldiko Premium app.

So with this profile, Aldiko Sync automatically launches and does its thing immediately after I close Aldiko Premium reader.

You can setup an exit task. An exit task is assigned from the Profiles tab. Expand the entry of your profile, long-press the assigned task there and choose Add Exit Task.
(Click image to enlarge)

Instructions:

Profile: Application → your app (Aldiko Premium in this case)
Task: (Actions): do anything you want
Exit task: (Actions): App → your another app (Aldiko Sync in this case)

Note: It is not mandatory to have an enter task in order to assign an exit task to a profile.
If you don't want an enter task i.e. don't want a task to be run when the profile is triggered, you can choose to create a task (supposed to be used as an exit task) under Tasks tab, assign it as an enter task to a profile and make it an exit task using Move to Exit (see screenshot).


How do I find out the address of [Settings>Display->Cast] devices? I see a [TV] Samsung 6 Series (50) wireless display in the list from display settings. But I do not own a Samsung television, so I would like to know the IP or MAC address of this device to double check with my router's list of connected devices.

You can't easily identify its MAC address as its not connected to any AP.

Wireless display (WiDi) does not require any Wi-Fi Access Point or router or hotspot for operation. It uses WiFi Direct® (or Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ Miracast®) technology, for wireless connection to WiDi compliant receiver.

Having said that, it therefore implies that by your device identifying [TV] Samsung 6 Series (50) in Settings→ Display →Cast is not connected to any AP, but it just being detected by your device as a "nearby device" and does not even reveal its MAC/IP explicitly even if you make the connection.

However the easiest way to identify its MAC/IP is allowing it to connect to any of available wireless AP:

Go to your TV's menu and choose Network → Network Settings
Choose Wireless for your connection type
Choose to connect to the  SSID
At this point, the Smart TVs will show you a screen with the Wireless MAC address.
If not, go back to the Menu and choose Network → Network Status.

Alternatively check on your device's list of connected devices and get the IP.

Note: I have even observed that my Smart TV (Samsung) shows in the list of Available Wireless Display devices on my tablet, even before connection.


How to charge the HTC One X with power-off / display-off I used to power off my phone at night while charging when I was using Desire S. Recently I bought HTC One X and can't charge with power off anymore. It keep turning on with the battery and bolt logo and display don't turn off. If I press the power button, the phone is boot again into Android. Now I have to turn on Airplain mode at night when charging. Am I the only one who encounter that problem because I doubt that is happening as I unlocked bootloader. I ain't sure as I unlocked the bootloader since the day I bought it. How can I charge with power off?

Sorry, Min, but that is a built in feature that I believe one cannot change. Could you cover up the screen with something at night or just turn it over?


Getting to the bottom of excessive logs? I'm a fairly new Android phone user and I have a question about excessive logs.

My phone battery is pretty awful (Elephone P9000) so I thought I'd hook it up and look at LogCat. In just over 20 seconds it logs nearly 5000 lines when idle with the screen off. That sounds like a bit much to me? Most of the log is filled with the same pattern repeating:

    05-31 13:26:40.559: I/fanzhuan(980): onSensorChanged front----> 0.361  0.497  10.07
05-31 13:26:40.571: D/AudioTrackShared(293): front(18369600), mIsOut(0), mAvailToClient=0 stepCount=320 minimum=320, FUTEX_WAKE
05-31 13:26:40.591: D/AudioTrackShared(293): front(18369920), mIsOut(0), mAvailToClient=0 stepCount=320 minimum=320, FUTEX_WAKE
05-31 13:26:40.612: D/AudioTrackShared(293): front(18370240), mIsOut(0), mAvailToClient=0 stepCount=320 minimum=320, FUTEX_WAKE
05-31 13:26:40.631: D/AudioTrackShared(293): front(18370560), mIsOut(0), mAvailToClient=0 stepCount=320 minimum=320, FUTEX_WAKE
05-31 13:26:40.651: D/AudioTrackShared(293): front(18370880), mIsOut(0), mAvailToClient=0 stepCount=320 minimum=320, FUTEX_WAKE
05-31 13:26:40.671: D/AudioTrackShared(293): front(18371200), mIsOut(0), mAvailToClient=0 stepCount=320 minimum=320, FUTEX_WAKE
05-31 13:26:40.691: D/AudioTrackShared(293): front(18371520), mIsOut(0), mAvailToClient=0 stepCount=320 minimum=320, FUTEX_WAKE
05-31 13:26:40.711: D/AudioTrackShared(293): front(18371840), mIsOut(0), mAvailToClient=0 stepCount=320 minimum=320, FUTEX_WAKE
05-31 13:26:40.731: D/AudioTrackShared(293): front(18372160), mIsOut(0), mAvailToClient=0 stepCount=320 minimum=320, FUTEX_WAKE
05-31 13:26:40.751: D/AudioTrackShared(293): front(18372480), mIsOut(0), mAvailToClient=0 stepCount=320 minimum=320, FUTEX_WAKE
05-31 13:26:40.758: D/SettingsInterface(980):  from settings cache , name = turn_silent , value = null
05-31 13:26:40.758: D/SettingsInterface(980):  from settings cache , name = callsilent , value = null
05-31 13:26:40.759: D/SettingsInterface(980):  from settings cache , name = alarmsilent , value = null
05-31 13:26:40.759: D/SettingsInterface(980):  from settings cache , name = musicsilent , value = null
05-31 13:26:40.759: D/SettingsInterface(980):  from settings cache , name = mediasilent , value = null

Is this normal? I've had a google and I can't see may people talking about this. Also, how do I go about finding what's causing this so I can kill it?

Maybe it's totally unrelated to my battery drain, but this amount of constant logging sounds little excessive to me.

Thanks for your time and help :-)

P.S. Running Android 6.0

The D/ entries show the log level is set to "DEBUG" – which of course generates quite a lot of logging, and shouldn't be necessary for "production use" (though it's quite helpful if you want to debug some misbehavior). For normal use, log level "INFO" should be sufficient.

As the default log level usually is defined in the init script, there's not much a "standard user" (without root-powers) can do about it, though. You can filter the output, though, as described on the logcat help page: so adb logcat *:I should only show messages using log level INFO or above. You could try run adb shell setprop log.tag.* INFO, but I'm not sure if that works; and even if it does, it would be reset at boot.

Apart from that, I can't say whether that would improve your battery life noticeably. For that purpose, you probably find better hints in our battery-life tag-wiki.


In search of a Terminal App that works with SSH to AWS (EC2) I have the itch to try and see how far down this path I can get for my own work. I've got a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and a Bluetooth keyboard.

I created an AWS EC2 Micro Instance and I can SSH into it from my laptop. I copied the key to the tablet and when I try to run the same SSH I get the error:

  ssh: Exited: String too long

Here's a post where someone seems to be having a similar problem. I'm not specifically using dropbear, that I know of, though. I've tried 3 or 4 different Android terminal clients and all seem to have this same problem. I do have busybox installed, so maybe it's using dropbear under the hood -- I just don't know.

I have been able to connect using ConnectBot and the ssh key file downloaded from AWS, but the UI/UX for this app is horrible and unintuitive, and if this is my only option then I'd give up. It seems to be designed for phones, has no landscape orientation support, and only connects to the EC2 instance intermittently.

I also tried creating my own key files (ssh-keygen -b 2048 -C GTab -t rsa -f id_rsa_gtab on my laptop) and installing them on the EC2 instance & tablet, but get the same error. I tried running ssh-keygen from the tablet, but it doesn't appear to be available.

Try JuiceSSH. It works perfectly and manages all connections and files in a secure way.


Ring only for favorites? Any way to micromanage ringtones?  I'd like to only hear my phone ring when called by people on one of my favorite lists, or family list.  Same with sms/mms sounds.

Edit:
I'd already considered putting everyone but favorites on silent.  However those lists change fairly often.  So only a specific group ringing at a specific time is prefered.

You can do this. I use Zedge to get ringtones. Get a mute or silent ringtone and then select another ringtone and set it manually for specific people. Zedge also helps you set it for individual contacts.


Does QueueTube download complete videos or audio only? There is a Queuetube app that enables listening to YouTube material while the application is minimized. YouTube app stops playing videos when minimized; this app plays sound only.

Does this mean it is downloading audio only or just playing audio from a downloaded video format?

This is important because I need to know how much memory my Xperia will download from YouTube.

I am the developer. It was using the full video streams up until last week when I released version 1.8.

However it is possible that the android MediaPlayer when given a video stream, doesn't bother to download the video too, but I doubt so.

Now it specifically downloads audio-only streams, however only on Android 4.3+ devices.

Android 4.2 and lower still stream the full video because the OS isn't compatible with the audio only streams.

To give you an idea of bandwidth consumption, a 5 minute song takes up about...

3MB video stream, HD Audio disabled
12MB video stream, HD Audio enabled
3MB audio-only stream, if your device supports it. The sound quality is about equal (possibly a little better) than HD Audio with video.

On Android 4.3+ devices, the HD Audio switch in settings doesn't really do anything..


ClockworkMod Recovery makes corrupt backups Four backups I made using ClockworkMod Recovery couldn't be restored because their MD5 hash values didn't match. Another one was successfully restored. What is the problem and is there a way to check if a backup succeeded or not?

I'm using Clock Work Mod Recovery 5.0.2.6 on Xperia Arc.

You may have a bad SD card, try a new one (they're cheap anyway).

The MD5 sums are generally computed after the backup has been done (assuming everything went fine).

I.e. the process up to CWM 5.x is (CWM 6.x is different due to dedupcication):

CWM generates a backup and stores it
Then md5sums of all of the above files are computed
The md5sums are also stored in a single file

The hard work is all done in (1), steps 2/3 are just a single md5sum computation per file and a final store of those in another file.

If the MD5sums mismatch the backup files there must be a problem with your storage eventually (most probably). What is also possible: Don't rip out the battery and reboot, use CWM's reboot option (files may have not been written do disk fully yet).


Galaxy Note 8 unresponsive to touch input I've been pulling my hair out over this one for a while now and have been unable to find anything on Google to help.

I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (wifi UK version) and found a very annoying issue with it.  I've found that whilst using touch input, the screen can become unresponsive to touch for a few seconds.  This seems to happen once every 5-10 minutes and lasts 3-5 seconds or so.  It's especially annoying when playing games that rely on touch input.  It's most noticeable with Plants Vs Zombies and Scribblenauts.

The tablet as a whole isn't hanging or crashing, because the game is still running, the music still playing and the screen still updating.  It just doesn't register any touch input.

The only thing I found that might have been remotely helpful to this issue was a forum post claiming that Dropbox could cause this.  I disabled Dropbox on the device and didn't notice any improvement.

I believe the firmware revision is 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

Does anyone know what to do about this?

UPDATE: The 4.2.2 firmware became available for this device yesterday.  Installing it seems to have resolved the issue (so far).

It looks like the issue was in either Jellybean 4.1 or Samsung's supporting software.  I've upgraded the tablet to the official 4.2 firmware and have had no recurrences of the problem described above.


How do I find out my SIM number? I have a Samsung Galaxy GT-I9000 and need to find out my 20 digit SIM number somehow.

I have been told that I should go to Settings > General > About to find it.

However, it isn't! Does anybody know where this information is stored?

How about taking the SIM out and see the number printed  on its back side (the other side of the contact surface) or next to it? Just thought to say this just in case if you are not aware of!


Where is my ROM backup made in recovery mode saved? yesterday I had mz first experience with android phone - Samsung galaxy S4 mini.
I followed this instructions Installing Cyanogenmod and in recovery mode I made a backup of stock ROM (as is recommended).

I wonder where is this backup saved? I would like to transfer it to my PC.

In my PC I go to Internal/clockworkmod but there is only RECOVERY_VERSION File which has 42 bytes, so I guess it is not it :)

Thx.

On your SD card (external, if available), a directory named clockworkmod/backup will be created, and on successful ROM backup inside that your nandroid backup lies. If the backup folder is not present inside the clockworkmod folder, it seems you have not taken backup successfully. In that case, try to take a complete backup using CWM properly.


One of my phone's last location is in different continent today, on my Google Account, I saw that one of the last locations of my phone is from the USA when I live in Europe? Is it right?

If you haven't been to the US recently and haven't used a VPN connection on your phone, this is not right. The first thing I would do in this case is to change your Google password.
Maybe go through the Google security checkup, some good advice on there: https://security.google.com


How to turn WiFi on with a non responsive screen? So I own a Moto G4 plus

The touchscreen on this phone has stopped responding.
Since I'm in midst of a lockdown for a long time. I can't buy a new phone or get this one repaired.
I do want to keep using Whatsapp Web till then.

A couple days ago the wifi on my phone turned off for no reason and I can't use Whatsapp web anymore

How can I turn on the wifi again in this case?

You will need an OTG cable. It allows you to connect various devices to your phone.
The way to control using the OTG cable via USB is to connect one end to the phone and the other to the keyboard.
All keyboards may not work, just like not all smartphones support the OTG cable (all tablets do).
Instead of a keyboard, you can use a regular computer mouse by connecting it with an OTG cable, via USB.
You can even write text using the virtual keyboard. The cable itself is inexpensive.
Of course, this is not a 100 percent solution, because it is unlikely that someone will carry a mouse with him, let alone a keyboard, but at home or at least to copy important data, this is a great way. Recommend. The main thing is that your phone supports it.


Is Google Chrome for Android Beta compatible with the 4.0.3 emulator in the Android SDK? Is Google Chrome for Android Beta compatible with the Android SDK (Android 4.0.3 system image)?

I tried installing the Chrome .apk file and it installed fine. When running the application I can see the introductory screens, but when I try to navigate to a webpage, all I see is a blank screen. The page appears to be loading indefinitely.

I also tried the stock Android browser and it works fine, so that rules out a network connectivity issue.

The image appears to be stripped of a bunch of packages - Google Login Service/Market, etc. Could that be the cause of Chrome for Android not working correctly or am I not doing something the right way?

No im sorry, but Chrome for Android needs hardware acceleration, so until Google change that (i dont think thats gonna happen sorry) you can't do that. But maybe in the future.

Sorry, i know it wasn't the answer you really wants to hear...


Google Voice: There was an issue refreshing your inbox? Using Android 2.2.1 (Version.2.3.340.MB810.Verizon.en.US) on a Droid X.  I just updated Google Voice to version 0.4.2.34 yesterday and now I continually get an error message that appears as a notification:

Google Voice
There was an issue refreshing your inbox

Clicking on the notification takes me to Google Voice settings.  I have powered off my phone and turned it back on and the behavior persists.  How do I fix this?

From Al Everett's comment, I decided to try signing out of the application (which gives a warning about deleting all data) and signing back in, figuring that would be a less extreme step than going to manage applications clear data (although maybe it does the same thing). It seems to have fixed the problem


Flashing andriod roms and kernals If you have rooted an android phone and flashed a different kernel can you just flash over another rom or will it brick your phone.

Is it necessary to go back to a google factory rom before you flash another rom?

If you have a ROM you are simply updating with a newer version of that ROM, you will need to re-install the custom kernel though. It's usually not recommended to flash one ROM over another different one without wiping. I have not had any experience with my phones being bricked; however, it can cause your ROM & the apps/settings within your new ROM to crash or not act as intended. Dirty flashing is usually only done with updates from the same custom ROM.

best practice is usually to do a clean install, which would mean wiping data, cache, and system data. This would mean losing all of your personal data, and may also include internal memory depending on device. I would go to your devices' dedicated forum for more details on properly wiping and installing these things, though.

To answer your other question, you do not need to install a Stock ROM each time before flashing a new custom ROM.


Rooting Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 (SM-A310F) How can I root the Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 (SM-A310F)?

Andoid version is Marshmallow (6.0.1) and my computer runs on Windows 7.

ROOTING YOUR PHONE WILL PROBABLY VOID YOUR WARRANTY FROM BOTH THE CARRIER AND THE MANUFACTURER. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO ACCEPT FAULT FOR ANY ADVERSE EFFECTS OF ROOTING, THEN DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.

Downloads and installs

Samsung USB Drivers.
Odin.
Root File.
Install Samsung drivers and unzip Odin and Root File.

Phone Setting

Turn on developer mode:

  Settings > About device > Sofware info > Build number.
  Tap build number 7 times.

Enable USB debugging:

  Settings > Developer options > USB debugging.
  Turn on.

Enable OEM (very important!):

  Settings >  Developer options > OEM unlock.
  Allow the device to be OEM unlocked.
  This has to be turned on for ever from now! Reports said without this options phones have turned into bricks.

Rooting

Turn your phone off, then turn it on in download mode.

  Press and hold together Volume Down, Home and Power.

Connect the phone to the computer.
Start Odin and select AP, then browse to the Root File.
Press Start and the rooting will process.


Mirroring an Android display via Android Studio I have an Android (first-generation Pixel) with a broken display. While the display does still appear to receive touch events, its ability to actually display anything seems to be basically done for.

Before I get a replacement phone (which I will, in a few days), I was wondering whether I could mirror the display on a laptop via some of Android Studio's visual or command-line tools, or otherwise without installing third party apps.

Is this possible at all, considering how limited my interaction with the display is?

TLDR; Yes because it receives touch events.

Why?  I have even done this with the original iPhone 2G back with a jailbreak.  Basically I would copy the configuration files from a working jailbroken iPhone onto the broken iPhone.   Back then I used Chickenvnc and a VNC root application.  The problem with Android is that I do not know of a current VNC application that let's you operate the entire device from VNC even with root.  There are literally zero to my knowledge.  My question here has gone unanswered for similar reasons.  Home Screen Launcher Completely Operated By Keyboard & Alpha VNC  But you have touch events so you should be able to configure the device on an identical pixel and then flash the exact same configuration onto the broken pixel.  The tricky part will be navigating the home screen.


Google Photos backs up only cover photo from burst mode photos When I take picture on my Moto G5 Plus, I long press in my Camera app to get multiple photos. From what I have read, it is called burst mode. The photos are stored in the /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera folder. The naming convention of the image files goes something like this.

Cover photo - IMG_YYYYMMDD_<SOME NUMBER>_BURST000_COVER.jpg

Other photos - IMG_YYYYMMDD_<SOME NUMBER>_BURST011.jpg

But when the photos are backed up by Google Photos, only the cover photo gets backed up. I lost quite a few photos this way because I thought the auto backup will backup everything.

I cannot find any setting that can backup all the photos along with cover photo also. Is there any setting for this?

Update 1:

I have auto backup enabled.

Update 2:

Added details for image file naming convention and folder details.

Follow below step

Open the Google Photos app.
On top left side click three line button.
Goto Setting.
Tap on Backup & Sync.
Now tap on Back up device folders.

Select the folders you want a backup.


What is this status bar icon? Verizon Moto X - Stock - 4.4.4
Only pops up every once in a while...

In my phone (Moto G running 4.4.4) this symbol appears when the phone is set to use "High Accuracy Mode" (i.e. use the GPS rather than Wi-Fi/phone network for location) and some app requests the location.


How private are separate Android users? My new job uses Workplace by Facebook, and Workplace Chat is their preferred messaging platform.
However, Facebook's apps asks for about every possible permission (see below), which is why I don't use them on my phone.

If I create a separate user on my Android phone, and install Workplace to this "work" account, preventing this user from making calls and sending SMS, will the Workplace app be able to "spy" (calls, microphone, networks, etc.) on my main account?

If I create a separate user on my Android phone, and install Workplace to this "work" account, preventing this user from making calls and sending SMS, will the Workplace app be able to "spy" (calls, microphone, networks, etc.) on my main account?

No.

App developers must handle supporting multiple users and are offered hooks through the UserManager API to do so.

The only way an app can interact across users is by specifying the signature level permissions

INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS (signature|system)
INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL (signature)

These permissions require that the app be signed with the same key as the system.

So, Workplace cannot access data across different users.


What are the "Window animation scale", "Transition animation scale" and "Animator duration scale" settings in android developer settings? I have seen many posts suggesting to turn them off, i have them turned off and notice quicker transitions, no animations, etc. But in some places it is weird to see no animation.

I googled the terms to try to find what they meant, but could only find the above suggestions. Could someone explain what effects each setting has?

All 3 of these are set to 1.0× by default ;  you don't need to turn them off, just cut the values in half and set them all to 0.5 for noticeable snappier performance.

As for what each one does specifically and using my Galaxy S8+ to test them ᎓

Window animation scale controls pop-up window opening and closing animation speed, such as the pop-up you get with the various speeds you can choose when you select this option.

Transition animation scale controls app window opening and closing animation speed,

Animator duration scale controls app switching animation speed.

If you use your phone's stock launcher, one of these — likely the middle one — will also affect homescreen-to-homescreen transition animation speed ;  on my phone I use Nova Launcher and homescreen animation speed is adjustable within Nova itself, and is unaffected by any of the above developer options.


Connect Xiaomi Mi Box to Hotel Wi-fi I need to connect my Xioami Mi Box (Android TV) to my hotel wi-fi. The hotel wi-fi requires you to open a browser and sign in to an agreement page before it will connect a device. How can I get the mi box to do this? I have a fresh Mi Box and I need to perform initial setup.

I had the same issue. I was able to solve it by the help of multiple tools.
Here is how I solved it

What you need.

A mobile with active data connection.
A USB mouse (may be Bluetooth or WiFi mouse will also work)
A USB to transfer browser apk file to Mi Box(if you are running ES File explorer in your mobile or if your phone is detected as USB mass storage in Mi box, you don't need another USB.)

Here are the steps. During all these steps you can connect USB mouse and make use of it if needed and supported.

Connect Mi Box on your android mobile hotspot to access internet through your data connection. First create a hotspot on your mobile and then in Mi Box, go to "Settings => WiFi => Select your hotspot name and enter password to connect"
Select Google play store in Mi Box and download ES File explorer app. Mi Box is not having any file explorer(we need this to install a browser apk in Mi box). I think there is no alternative to this step.
Download any browser apk in your PC/mobile. I used MIUI 7 browser(find link provided at end).
Search in google for browser apk file(chrome apk, firefox apk etc. somehow firefox didn't install, may be a bad download)
Transfer downloaded browser apk to Mi Box (if you can access and install from downloaded storage, you need not to copy it to Mi Box. Make use of ES file explorer both on mobile and Mi Box).

You may need a USB to transfer it(Copy to USB from PC/mobile, connect it on Mi Box, use installed ES file explorer to copy it on Mi box.

If you are running ES file explorer in your mobile, you can make use of options under Network tab of ES file explorer(LAN, FTP, and may be the best is Sender).

Open ES file explorer in Mi Box, Explore and Select copied browser APK file and chose install option. For this you should enable "Unknown sources to On" in Mi box.
To enable Unknown sources = On, Go to "Settings => Security & restrictions => Unknown sources"
Now we will switch back to hotel WiFi from hotspot. In Mi Box Go to "Settings => WiFi => connect to your hotel WiFi( select your hotel WiFi name). You can turn off your hotspot in mobile if needed.
After installing open the browser. The browser is not designed for Android TV so it will not be displayed in home screen.
Find the browser under "Settings => Apps => Downloaded apps"
Make use of your USB mouse and to select address bar. Once you select the address bar, On screen keyboard will be displayed. Enter the url or some search keywords to connect to your Hotel Wifi. Rest of the procedure is depending on your connection method.

Now your Mi Box is connected to internet and enjoy the shows.
Install Kodi and add addons for more shows.

If you are using MIUI browser apk, It may show some Chinese. Don't worry the language of app is in English. I always prefer desktop mode for MIUI browser. To set for desktop mode - Click on options button on extreme top right corner, select "Settings" from drop down menus, Scroll down and find "Advanced" menu, Scroll down and select "User agent string" to "Desktop".For all these you need a mouse.

MIUI 7 Browser


Downloading from Play Store gives error 491 When I try to download anything from the Play Store it shows error 491 and can't finish the download. I have a Samsung Galaxy S 7582. How do I fix this?

You will need to do the following:

Open Settings
Go to Apps
Scroll down to Google Pay Services and open it
Clear data and cache
Do the same thing for the Google Play Store
Restart your phone
Open Google Play Store, let it sync, and you should be able to download whatever app was giving you error 491


Video file is not readable when trying to upload I recently downloaded a zip file with two .mov video files in it. Once I unzipped the file onto my Android phone (HTC One), I converted the file using a Media Converter app. I can play the file on a VLC player, but when I try to upload it to any social media (Instagram and Facebook), it doesn't even show up as an option. What can I do to change that? I need it to be able to upload in this fashion for work and have been trying to do this for the last 24 hours with no luck. Any suggestions please???

Convert the files to a recognized format like MP4 or 3gp


SMS problem on moto g after updating android 4.4.4 I have updated my Moto G yesterday to Android KitKat (4.4.4.) Before that I have disabled the stock Messaging app and I used Textra SMS app instead. Everything was working fine until the update. Then I was not able to send SMS from Textra or Hangouts because they were crashing. After resetting the app preferences and re-enabling the stock Messaging app, I am able to send SMS again from both the stock app and Textra. But I want to disable stock messaging app again, because it shows the incoming message preview in notification bar, and I don't want that. I want privacy with my SMS. This feature why I use Textra. How can I disable the stock SMS app?

On Moto G the stock Messaging app is an integral part of the system, and should not be disabled even if you install other SMS apps.  If you manage to disable it, other 3rd-party SMS apps (like Textra SMS in your case) will start crashing again.

Instead, you can disable the notifications inside the Messaging app by going to menu -> Settings, and un-checking the "Notifications" option:


Stop Google Photos app from deleting a local album I have a lot of cool projects which I like to show off when I am on the road. On my phone, I have a 'demo' album created in Google photos.

This is the single most used album on my phone, which I generally show off once per week.

The app continually deletes the local cached copies, meaning that each time I try to open my demo album, it needs to download the media from remote.

My phone has 128GB of storage, and have >100GB free.

How can I stop the Google Photos app from erroneously deleting local media?

One option is to individually open the photos and on the options menu choose "Save to Device". This creates a copy of the photo on your device and will be stored locally for a while longer.

Another would be to visit photos.google.com on a Chrome browser, and then select the photos and download to device.

The cached photos within the Google Photos app will not stick around for long. So it's better to have the relevant photos saved to device.


what does it exactly mean to move data in phone storage and internal storage I am using a Micromax canvas turbo
it has 16 GB internal memory

so when I install an app ,
i get the option to move the app to internal memory card ,
and then ican move it back to phon storage

so what exactly does these both mean ,

how should we decide ,
what app to move ,

or any info regarding this movement

"Phone storage" is essentially your /data partition, the main space on your phone allocated to apps.

"Internal storage" sometimes means the same but, since they are being contrasted here, it likely refers to the internal "SD card" partition.  Likely both of them are on the same flash chip, just set up differently.

SD cards (and "cards") are sometimes mounted later in the boot process, so sometimes it can confuse some launchers and you end up with app shortcuts being removed from your home screen.  Services also might not start properly.  Otherwise, however, they are more or less the same.  You really only need to move apps around if you're running out of space or if you want to be able to wipe one partition without losing as much data.


How do I change phone number in Viber from SIM1 to SIM2, when I only have data on SIM2? How do I change Viber phone number in a dual-SIM phone from SIM1 to SIM2, when my current Viber account's phone number corresponds to SIM1, but I only have data on SIM2? (e.g. when I have moved to a new network)

(The Viber doc does not say how to)

In Android > Wifi & Internet > SIM & network, Enable both SIM1 and SIM2. Set 'default SIM for mobile data' to SIM2.

Apparently Viber needs to see old SIM1 as well, to verify it corresponds to your account, before it will allow changing phone number. But SIM1 is disconnected and doesn't need roaming; all your data is now coming via SIM2. While you are in this in-between state, you will not be able to receive any calls or messages with Viber - but neither Viber nor Android won't actually tell you 'No network on SIM1'. Viber will not notify you it's offline (oh no, proper notification would be too easy...), it will appear as if it's online, except when you try to send a message it will just get silently delayed, or when you try to make a call you get a 'No Service' dialog (but it won't say which SIM, and even if you  do have service on SIM2 and SIM2 is enabled as default).

Close and reopen Viber. Go into Settings > Account > Change phone number > New phone number > Continue > Continue (to prompt about spamming your contacts with your new number)

Type in the new phone number (from SIM2) and press Continue. Viber will attempt to message all your contacts but fail with 'No Service'. Ignore that. (Actually it's desirable to prevent Viber spamming your entire contact book)
Viber will send the confirmation code to the new SIM2 number. This should succeed. This is the crucial step.
Verify it worked by checking that the phone number at the top of the 'More' profile page (under your picture) has changed to the new one.
If this step didn't work, do it again till it works. Make sure you actually have data connectivity on SIM2.

In Android > Wifi & Internet > SIM & network, disable SIM1. (At this point you could power down and remove SIM1 from SIM tray, if you won't need to reactivate it again/soon).
Now, you apparently have to reboot your phone. (Quitting Viber and deleting its cache don't seem to be enough. Although the doc implies this is never needed.)
Restart Viber and everything should be fine under SIM2.

(None of this procedure is described in Viber doc > Change phone number but should be. Possibly because dual-SIM phones are not very common in Europe and US.)


Why isn't Android using kernel v4+? While i understand that the patches needed to "support" Android operations aren't in the mainline kernel distribution, I don't understand why it isn't being ported to newer kernels.

Newer kernels come with a load of improvements in a lot of architecture-independent areas, as well as in a lot of architecture-dependent areas.

FWIK, I see almost all Android distros, starting with Google's, are sticking with kernel v3.4.
Yes, v3.4.112 is an LTS kernel, but so are v3.10, v3.12, v3.14, v3.18, v4.1 and v4.4! (source: kernel.org).

So, what is holding Android back to v3.4?

Google's Android specific features were not included in the mainline Linux development. So they took the then LTS branch and added their own code.
Android does not use or include the native GNU C Lib, it uses Bionic.
OEM specific changes could not or were not included in the mainstream branch.


Setting custom permissions per-application I want more granular control over permissions. I’m fine with applications having some permissions, but I want to be in charge and have more granular control.

Can this be done on Android? I know iOS has this for some things like contacts and calendar data. The user is prompted before the application gets access to these sensitive datasets.

Technically, I can see this working by denying API access when the application tries to access it.

Adding to Chahk's answer: Yes, it's true that "natively" permissions are an "all-or-nothing". The "standard user" is expected to either accept all permissions an app requests -- or to refrain from its installation.

And yes, it's true: using an app like Permissions Denied, which simply "denies" an app certain permissions, apps might force-close as they don't expect this.

But there's a third way where apps are simply fed "fake data". This is done e.g. by LBE and PDroid (see Other apps to manage permissions? and how to fake my personal information for details). App wants the contacts? Ooops, address book is empty. IMEI? OK, how about "1234567890"? Internet? Sorry, but we're in a tunnel -- neither WiFi nor mobile data available. So all returned data make sense to the requesting app: It does not get a simple "exception", so it doesn't crash. And what it makes up from the fake data -- who cares? :)

Needless to say: root is required here as well...


Is there any way to listen to Zune Pass music on my phone? I have a Zune and download DRM-ed music via the Zune Marketplace that I can listen to as long as I have a Zune Pass monthly subscription. Is there any way to listen to this music on my Droid?

There does not appear to be a way, no. (Some information in this forum thread: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-audio-video/40610-zune-not-droid-friendly.html)

Apparently, DRM'd wma files require a Zune device. Since Droid ≠ Zune, it's not going to work. Unless and until Microsoft decides they want to build a Zune App (à la the way Amazon has a Kindle app) you're out of luck.

Only option appears to be to burn those tracks to a CD, then re-rip them as DRMless MP3s.


Hide call logs across user profiles I've created two user profiles on my android phone. One Main and the other one(let's call it Child) is a separate user(NOT the default Guest). But whenever I switch between users, the call logs can be seen which were made from the other profile, ie. calls made from the Main profile can be seen in the Child profile and vice-versa. I don't want to share my call logs across profiles. I searched for some viable switch or option to disable this in settings, but couldn't find any. Googling with the post's title along with android tag results in some log hiding apps which is not what I'm looking for! How can this be disabled natively from android options/settings itself? Or can it be done via some root 'tweak' if the rom is rooted as in my case.

Android OS - Nougat v7.1.2
Root Status - Rooted

Access user profile and tap on More Settings (the second one in orange is child profile with Bom as name)

You will see yourself and child profile as below

Tap the cog icon on right and disable
Turn on phone calls and SMS
That's it.
If you enable, it gives you a warning that your calls and SMS would be shared as shown

Tested on stock 7.1.2
But the drawback is that child user can't use the phone or SMS
This is the designed behaviour

By default, only the primary user has full access to phone calls and texts. The secondary user may receive inbound calls but cannot send or receive texts. The primary user must enable these functions for others.
Note: To enable or disable the phone and SMS functions for a secondary user, go to Settings > Users, select the user, and switch the Allow phone calls and SMS setting to off

While it is not explicitly mentioned that secondary user will see call logs of primary user and vice versa, once the primary user enables then everything is accessible to secondary user (remember default is not to allow , if you do, there is a price to be paid )


Bluetooth pairing fails, no more PIN entry field I wanted to pair a bluetooth device (specifically, Dynamo Harvester) with my Moto G 2 (Android 6) with the normal workflow: Open bluetooth system settings, scan for devices, select Dynamo Harvester, enter the PIN and it is paired.

Now, after entering the wrong PIN (0000 instead of 000000) several times – where most of the time a message was displayed that the PIN was wrong –, I entered the correct PIN, and something strange happened. The Incorrect PIN message popped up for a brief moment, and afair the device moved to the list of paired devices.

Since the app still did not recognize the Dynamo Harvester, I turned bluetooth off and on again. Now the device has disappeared from the list of paired devices, but appears in the scan list. If I try to pair, I cannot enter a PIN anymore but receive a message Can't communicate with Dynamo Harvester.

I thought that perhaps the device is broken somehow, but connecting with a Samsung Android tablet worked just fine (with the correct PIN).

What can I do? Might this even be a bug in Android because of the strange message about the incorrect PIN, although it was correct?

I recently had a similar problem though different devices (Android Google Nexus 7 running Marshmallow and Motorola Buds Bluetooth headset). Turns out the headset needed a reset to forget all the devices it had learned. Since I switch between devices, I suspect my data in the headset itself had become corrupted. In any case this fixed my problem. You might try finding a headset reset for your device and see if that fixes your problem. You may also need to have your phone/tablet forget all the devices, too, as that has helped me in the past.


Change language to English on Honor 5C Please guide me. I cannot read Chinese. How do I go about changing the language to English. Thanks

设置 (Settings) - 语言与输入法 (Language & input) - 语言 (Language) - English (United States) (or any language you're looking for).


Connect a portable USB modem (data card) with Samsung Galaxy S II Is it possible to connect and use portable USB modems such as Reliance net connect, MTS, etc., using an OTG cable with Samsung Galaxy S II and use it?

I went through many forums and haven't got any promising answer. I'm currently using Android version 4.0.3 along with SiyahKernel 3.0. In this kernel, I'm able to connect flash drives, mouse and keyboard.

It's difficult to say with absolute certainty, but generally speaking that is not possible. Some devices can be patched and hacked to include support for this, but I am not aware of one for the Samsung Galaxy S II on any kernel. The flash drive, mouse and keyboard support is built-in to Android whereas USB network dongles need to be hacked on to it. I know it is possible on a number of Nvidia platfoms to connect Huawei USB dongles, but on the Samsung gear, I've never seen a way.

In short, that's not known to be possible on the Samsung Galaxy S II ICS.


Is it possible to connect desktop/laptop display with smartphone? I have android smartphone . I have computer with Windows 7 operating system.

I want to see data that I am surfing on internet in my smartphone on my computer. If I connect my smartphone with my computer using USB cable, can I see content which is displayed on my smartphone's display (say any website) on desktop screen? Is it really possible to do it? Is there any apk available for it?  I don't want to root my smartphone.

There is no native way to do this through through a USB port, although you have a few other options:

1. Use Mirror Beta

On your PC/Mac, download the AllCast Receiver app for Chrome and launch it. On your Android phone download the Mirror Beta app and make sure both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. If everything works well, you should be able to see your Chrome browser as an option on your phone, tap that and it should work.

This doesn't require root, but it does need lollipop

2. Simply use an HDMI cable

Get a microUSB to HDMI converter, plug one end in the phone and the other end in your monitor or TV. It should work out of the box as an input in your TV. This method will have less lag and will work on older phones, but is less like what you wanted.


Couldn't sign in to Google I'm experiencing this issue from couple of days :

I have already :

Disabled 2 step verification from Google Account
Factory Reset
Clear cache from recovery
Reflash the ROM

go to  :

  /etc/

//need root access.of course you know this.

then, 2 ways for fix this availabe :

1.Rename this file " Hosts " to " # ".

need change Mount R/W to Mount R/O for edit Permission.

2.Block or Delete Block Url/Ip's in the Hosts File

Other Links :

How to edit etc/hosts file

Cannot connect to gmail account/market

Can't add gmail, "Can't establish server connection." Please Help


I have an unrooted stock Xperia Z Ultra, should the LED turn off when the battery is fully charged? I got an Xperia Z Ultra unrooted and still running on the stock ROM (Android Lollipop 5.1.1). My question is, when I'm charging it and the battery reaches 100%, is the LED indicator light supposed to turn off to notify that it's fully charged? So I'm kinda asking what behavior I should expect from it.

User guide doesn't say it should be switched off on full. Expected behaviour below

  Battery notification light status

  Green   The battery is charging and the battery charge level is greater than 90%

  Red     The battery is charging and the battery charge level is less than 15%

  Orange  The battery is charging and the battery charge level is less than 90%

Edit: If the LED turned off, you wouldn't know whether it is fully charged or charger isn't connected, color coding this way makes sense


android special characters keyboard Under Winodws, if I want to enter extended characters (such as "«") I canuse the Character Map application and the Alt+keypad numbers (such as Alt+0171 for the "«").

How can I do this under Android?  I know there are ways to do this under Linux, but is this infrastructure there under Android?

Especially with tablets and phones and their special Android keyboards - which typically don't have Ctrl or Alt keys.

You might want to take a look at Hacker's Keyboard:

A full 5-row keyboard including arrow and Esc/Ctrl keys, intended for tablets.
Are you missing the key layout you're used to from your computer? This keyboard has separate number keys, punctuation in the usual places, and arrow keys. It is based on the AOSP Gingerbread soft keyboard, so it supports multitouch for the modifier keys.

It supports a bunch of keyboard layouts -- though I'm not sure about the "special characters" being inserted using alt sequences.
If you're mainly interested in being able to insert special characters (and don't care whether they are bound to alt-sequences or selectable by other means), I'd suggest to search the playstore for "charmap". This will yield about 10 results, the topmost of them would match your needs.


How can I add a search button to my dock on a Galaxy Nexus? I just saw a tweet where someone had added a search button to the 3 docked software buttons

So I'd like to know how to add the search button (or any other) to the dock with the Back, Home and Multitasking buttons

Is this a setting of the default launcher or done through some app?

They work like normal shortcuts, just long-press the icon and drop it into the recycling bin, and then open the app menu, long-press Search and drag it down to the dock.

Edit: The dock in question is not customizable from the default settings, but it can be patched through ClockworkMod. The most comprehensive customization options I've seen can be found here.

The files need to be applied through ClockworkMod so the device has to be rooted. Just download the file you prefer, move it to the internal sdcard and apply the update from recovery. Be sure to backup first, just in case.


Moving applications to SD card I own a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT8010-Wifi) model and I would like to move some of my apps to the external SD card and change the default installation location to be the external SD card from now on. The Android version on the tablet PC is 4.1.2 and I have rooted it following a guide on the internet which can be accessed via the following URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv8440QhHsw
I would be happy to get some assistance on this matter, thanks in advance.

You can use the Android SDK. Instructions at http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-install-apps-onto-your-SD-Card-No-Root/?ALLSTEPS


What Android parts do these terms describe? Android users frequently use a lot of words with unclear meanings. In particular, they use these words a lot:

Framework / framework-res.apk: What purpose does this structure serve?
Flashing: What does this refer to?
ROM: What does this refer to?
Firmware: What does this refer to?
update.zip: This is an update package replaces files on your filesystem. What parts of the system can update.zip change?
Kernel: The kernels they talk about seem to persist across 'flashing' and 'resets' of the device.
Android Release: When someone talks about Android 'KitKat,' or 'Gingerbread' or '4.2.2,' what parts of the whole system are they referring to?
Custom ROM: What parts of the system do 'CyanogenMod' and other 'Custom ROMs' replace?
Titanium Backup: What parts of the system does Titanium Backup back up?
Factory Reset: If I wiped the internal storage (say, dd if=/dev/null of=<storage device>), what can it reset to!?

Here are some relevant terms that are publicly well-documented and known:

BIOS. When the system is powered on the BIOS initializes and does sanity checks on the computer's hardware and peripherals. The BIOS is 'firmware' and exists outside of the computer's normal storage. Even if the system was started with no mass storage, the BIOS would still be there. The BIOS runs a piece of software in the system's storage called the bootloader.
Bootloader. The bootloader uses and is itself a set of files on the filesystem, sometimes in the /boot directory. The bootloader (depending on the case) presents a list of options for how you want to proceed in starting the system.
Each option (usually) corresponds to starting a kernel with specific boot parameters. The kernel is a binary contained in a package file called vmlinuz (or similar) that resides somewhere on the filesystem (like the /boot directory). The kernel creates abstractions between hardware and software, like the hardware interfaces, filesystem abstraction, processes and threads.
Sometimes vmlinuz also contains some utilities that are put into folders like /sbin. Things that are in vmlinuz cannot be modified without repackaging a new vmlinuz file, and replacing the old one.
The kernel loads kernel modules which do various things and are sometimes drivers. Some kernel modules are built into the kernel's binary file and some are separate files on the filesystem, sometimes in the /usr/lib/modules directory.
The kernel also starts a program called init which is in a location that is sometimes specified in the boot parameters. init mounts mass storage devices to directories and starts a bunch of programs. These programs are on the filesystem and usually have all their files in /usr. They are called the system's userland.
In Android, there is a Java-like virtual machine called Dalvik which is started by init, which is what most programs run within.
Rooting: Rooting a device allows users to grant themselves root permissions.
To simplify managing all the software on the system, a system usually has a special program called the package manager which can manage, update and install sets of related files as `packages' corresponding to individual development projects. Android's interface to its package manager is the Application Manager in settings. Applications are available for download via the Play Store
Home Folder: Users have a directory in /home where all their files are stored (including local configuration settings for applications).
Recovery: a separate userland which the bootloader launches that only does system related tasks. You get to it by restarting your device while doing a special dance with the buttons.

Root: As you understand, "root" in this context refers to the ability to grant a user the privileges of the root user. It's similar to installing sudo on a linux box (but Android root uses su, so there's that fundamental but small difference). We have a tag-wiki for it which has more information: root.
Flashing: In the world of embedded systems, mobile computers, microprocessor-based development, and other technologies that led to modern smartphones, to "flash" something is essentially to copy files to a device. The etymology goes deeper than that, and doesn't seem to have a specific single meaning, but in all practical terms, in the Android world, it's essentially a word that means "Replace system software" (But varies contextually).
Firmware: Firmware is actually a word that, in its original meaning, doesn't seem to apply to Android. However, the word has come to be synonymous with the Android OS when used in this context.
OS: This won't be any different from the term in other computing-related contexts. Android itself is an Operating System - and many other things. (For example, it's also a development platform, etc).
Bootloader: The bootloader standard used for ARM Embedded systems (like most modern smartphones) is indeed quite different from what we're used to on X86 and X86-64. Speaking in a practical sense, the bootloaders used on Android phones have the same job as grub or syslinux, they just work differently.
Recovery: Many Android devices come with support for a separate extremely basic piece of software, which is called "Recovery". It generally includes its own kernel, separate from the kernel Android runs on, and is limited in functionality. It is used to write to system partitions in order to perform actions like changing/updating the kernel, Android OS, or other modifications that can't be done while the Android system is in memory. recovery
update.zip: OS version updates, patches, and many more things are often saved to a file called "update.zip". When Recovery Mode is started (booting to Recovery), it can be set to automatically load this file and install whatever it contains.
Kernel: The kernel used in Android is the Linux Kernel - Version 3.4 for most modern devices.
CyanogenMod: Cyanogenmod is a fork of Android which purports to maintain the "true" Android Experience. It is actively developed and supports many devices.
Titanium Backup: This is an app, available in the Play Store, which backs up applications and application data. It can, of course, also restore apps and data. It requires root access in order to do this.
Factory Reset: When performing a factory reset, the device does not erase the main filesystem. It restores it to a "factory" state - removing user settings, applications, root, call history, etc. You'll want to check the tag-wiki for factory-reset for more information here.


Move angry birds progress from one device to another (cross-platform) I was playing angry birds on iPhone, now I am selling my iPhone 3GS on ebay because I got an android (galaxy nexus).

Is there any way to transfer progress in the game over to new phone?  I like the game but I don't think I could really be bothered playing all again up to where I was at..

I found this thread on xda-developers. If you have jail broken iPhone and rooted Android phone, you can transfer your progress.

Basically you have to copy two files, highscores.lua and settings.lua from /private/var/mobile/Applications/(very long string)/Documents from iPhone and replace them on Android phone in /data/data/com.rovio.angrybirds/files/. You also have to fix permission and make sure you've completed at least 1 level in Android phone before replacing the two files.

If you trust yourself you can also use programs like Angry birds unlock all level in Android and unlock only up to the level you've completed in iPhone. But you won't have exact score and hidden star collections. So though little troublesome the earlier way might be what you want.


messaging push notifications won't work after 4.3 update? I updated my Samsung galaxy s3 to 4.3 a few days ago, and ever since then, push notifications for the built in messaging app hasn't been working. My phone doesn't ring, the icon doesn't appear in the back on the top of the screen, and the lock screen doesn't show the previews. I have to keep manually checking if i have new texts by opening the app, which is annoying and inconvenient. The sound works for other apps so I know that sound isn't the issue here. Does anyone know how to fix this?!

Could it be, that for some reason--aliens, loch ness, etc.--that some of the apps have "show notifications" checkbox unchecked? To check, go to Settings->Aps->whatever SMS app and see if you have a Show notifications checked.

Also, have you tried using Hangouts as a replacement for texting?


How to uninstall a device administrator app that wont deactivate? My cousin decided to download an app on my phone as a joke. I tried to uninstall it but it just won't uninstall. It's an administrator app, I tried to deactivate it but it won't deactivate. Whenever I try to deactivate it, it shuts down my phone. What should I do?  I tried to root my phone and delete it that didn't work either.

How can I uninstall this app?

You can manually uninstall the app with steps below:

ROOT IS REQUIRED

I am not responsible if you damage your phone, just follow steps below and nothing will happen.

Download a root file explorer like Root Browser from the play store.
Open the app.
Go to /data/app/.
Delete the apk of the app.
Check if also a directory of the app exists in /data/data/. If so, delete that directory. (The directory is the package name.)
Reboot your phone.
The app now should now be uninstalled.


permissions to manage google drive automatically removed if app removed? I recently tested an app called "Autosync Google Drive" by Metactrl. When testing it, I had to give it permission to my google drive.

After testing it, I decided to just use a USB cord to sync my files so I deleted the app.

My question is... does the permission to my google drive by Autosync get automatically revoked by Google? How do I see which apps has access and control to my google drive?

You'll want to log into your Google Drive via web browser:

Click the Gear icon
Select Settings
Click Manage Apps
Find the app in question, click on it and select Disconnect from Drive


nroot/unbrick Galaxy S2 SGH-T989 I am having problems trying to go to this screen

but the process ends me up on this screen

My process:

Turn off device
Hold power volume up and down until a vibration
Event: shows the end screen but not the warning screen

Can someone guide to get to the warning screen so I can connect directly of computer and access it by odin?

Url of what I am trying to do

When starting your phone in step 2 of your example, hold the volume down only. Once the warning screen appears, then press volume up.


Wifi turns off on NookColor when put to sleep. How can I prevent this? I have a rooted NookColor.  Everytime I put the device to sleep and then unlock the device on the next use, I have to disable the wifi and re-enable it in order to get wifi working again.  I've tried downloading the SpareParts app from the Android Market and setting the wifi sleep policy to "never" but it still loses the wifi during sleep.  Any suggestions?

Issue only happens when ad-hoc is enabled.  See here for more info: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=872521


Can I completely wipe a Galaxy Nexus A friend of mine is considering selling his Galaxy Nexus (to me) and we wanted to be sure that if we did a hard reset it would wipe all data linking him to the phone.  I understand it utilizes a lot of core Google technologies and we don't want to find out down the road that something survives the process.

This is one of the unlocked Galaxy Nexus (GSM) purchased from Google

Yes you can.

Actually, wiping an (unrooted) Android device is relatively easy. Just go into Settings and look for Backup & reset option. At the very bottom of the options you'll see Factory data reset, hit it and you'll see some confirmation dialog, go through that and your "new" Galaxy Nexus will be ready in a couple of minutes ;)

This method will compeletly erase anything stored on the phone's internal storage, including all Google-related data.

Note that it's a good practice to also erase the sdcard partition alongside the process. Some Android application uses the sdcard partition to store user data which might be restored even after you wiped the device.

Good luck! :)


How do I set custom search engines in Android? For years now, on every browser I own, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Internet Explorer, I've assigned w as a shortcut/keyword to the custom search engine http://www.google.com/search?q=site:wikipedia.org+%s&btnI.  That is, I just type w android comparison to jump to the befitting wikipedia article.  I use many, many other custom searches.

Is there a way to set this up on Android?  Not necessarily with the stock browser?

There are a number of apps that will either give you a Wikipedia search widget on the home screen, or add Wikipedia as an option to the built-in search widget's drop-down selection. Have a look at a few of these: https://market.android.com/search?q=wikipedia+search


How to repartition Google Nexus 4 (aka. LG E960)? Over a month ago, LineageOS rolled out Oreo (I think) update for the Nexus 4 (mako), but there's a catch - the system now takes up so much space, that even the nano version of open-gapps package can no longer be installed without manually removing application in-between the installations. I thought, rather than shooting down apps from default LineageOS, I would rather bump the system partition's size by another 200 MiB.

I haven't attempted anything yet, as information how to achieve this on a snapdragon device seems to be very sparse - is it even possible? I've done repartitioning on a Mediatek device, where doing so involved hand-editing an MBR-like partition table and uploading it to the device using SP-flashtool. Is there a similar, or perhaps an easier-to-use tool for Snapdragon devices?

P.S. - I've read the answers/suggestions to question 65781, and none of them are helpful to my question.

As mentioned above, the Nexus 4 uses plain GPT on its storage to split it up into partitions. Any tool able to modify GPT should work. By far the biggest problem for me was getting an appropriate tool - the fdisk bundled with TWRP can only list partitions on a GPT disk, without making any changes. I prefer not to use parted (available from Termux), due to its inability to display/modify partition GUIDs (may have changed since the last time I checked).

Looking back, it may be possible to dump the entire storage to a computer, make changes there, and put the whole thing back, but I specifically wanted to avoid writing over critical partitions (loaders, kernel, etc.), so I set out to get gdisk for android.

I eventually found this thread, where the author prepared an archive with gdisk and a few other tools.

Requirements:

Computer/VM with adb, fsck.ext4 and resize2fs
This zip file

Overview

The relevant partitions (system and userdata) are 21st and 23rd on the storage. The 22nd partition is just cache, so there's no harm nuking it, and making a new one after data from the other 2 are in place.

The TL;DR version of the procedure is:

pull the data partition to computer

[PC] adb pull /dev/block/mmcblk0p23 userdata.img

put gdisk on the phone, and use it to modify the partition table - grow system while retaining its starting sector, shrink userdata by the same amount, and re-create cache between them

[PC] adb push gdisk /tmp/
[adb-shell] /tmp/gdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0
...

use resize2fs on the phone with the system partition to grow it
use resize2fson the computer with the userdata partition's image to shrink it to appropriate size
push the modified data image to the phone

[PC] adb push userdata.img /dev/block/mmcblk0p23

format the cache partition, reboot into system


Can't access my smartphone through neither adb/fastboot or GUI So I was about to format my phone and install a lineage ROM (as I already did a thousand times before and always worked) but my phone now ended in a very strange situation. First I booted TRWP recovery mode and ran a wipe, then rebooted back to recovery and plugged my phone in the pc to transfer de rom zip. After pluging it my pc, KDE desktop shows that a "moto g is connected (...)" and give me the options to browse its folders through the GUI but by clicking on it fails with the message:

  "The process for the mtp protocol died unexpectedly".

So I ignore it and decided to transfer the zip through adb push but adb devices finds no attached device. The same happens for fastboot devices. I've made a little search and found that the mount folders for mtp can be located in either /run/user/$USER/gvfs/ or /var/run/user/$UID/gvfs but both of these are empty. So I'm now at a stalemate (i think this is the right english word). I don't know how to proceed. All I want to do is transfer the files to reinstall my system (rom.zip, opengapps.zip and magisk.zip). Any ideia what is happening, and, how to solve it (if possible)?

So after a talk and help from user esQmo_ in the chat, the only possible explanation would be my local install of android tools to be broken. I've tested by installing adb and fastboot in another machine and there it was possible to the device to be accessed (it was visible throught all adb, fastboot mtp didn't failed)


Galaxy Tab 4, Wifi strong but internet drops constantly I'm having this issue with my father's Galaxy Tab 4. He can be just feet from the router and even though the WiFi is strong, the internet keeps dropping on his device.

Even my crappy Dell Venue 8 almost never drops the internet despite the issues it came out with.

I already updated the Galaxy's firmware and didn't fix the issue. I found this is a documented issue in other sites but the samsung link they were giving to troubleshoot this issue was no longer working.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks!

This is a known issue to users but Samsung won't admit it. I have a Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 and have the same problem. I have read a lot of other users experiencing the same issue.

I emailed, chatted and spoke with Samsung customer service about the issue. After a lot of back-and-forth, I finally set up a service ticket where I sent them my tablet, they replaced the entire motherboard, and sent it back to me. The Wi-Fi is integrated into the motherboard, and replacing the motherboard didn't fix the problem. This is the only device I use that has this issue, and it happens when connected to other networks as well (not just my home router, NETGEAR N600).

Basically, the Wi-Fi in the unit is garbage. The device shows that the device has a wireless connection, shows the SSID of the router, and shows full-strength for the signal- but the internet connection just stops working. No rhyme-or-reason, either. It will happen in the middle of doing something after working perfectly for hours. It normally won't fix itself, and the easiest way I've found to reconnect is to just cycle the Wi-Fi off and then on again.


Root a Samsung Galaxy 4 tab 7", Kies isn't working I am trying to root a Samsung Galaxy 4 tab 7". The box says SM-T230NU with a label "Model: SM-T230NYKMXAR".

I got drivers from here:
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/SM-T230NYKUXAR
which is slightly different number (has a U instead of M) but matches (ie. Samsung Galaxy Tab® 4 7.0 8GB, Black). I installed these and the device connected to the PC with no problems.

Using Odin 3.07, it detecets the device. I click the PDA button and select CF-Auto_Root.tar, then Start and I get this error:

 Firmware update start..
 recovery.img
 NAND Write Start!!
 cache.img.ext4
 FAIL!
 All now when I restart I get this message:

Now when I restart I get this message:
Firmware upgrade encountered an issue.
Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again.threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

I downloaded and installed  Kies 3. When I run it it says "The connected device is is not supported by Kies 3".
It should be, this is 4.4 KitKat

So I tried Kies 2.6, and it doesn't connect either. It doesn't give this error message, just keeps trying to connect but doesn't.

What can I do now?

Flash your stock ROM using Odin whilst your device is in
Download mode  Power  +  Volume Down  +  Home

(Put the file in the AP/PDA depending on what version of Odin you have). If this works then your tablet may be back to factory state, but if it fails then you have Hard bricked your tablet. Presuming it isnt bricked, use the latest .apk file of King Root to root your Sm-T230.

Stock Rom Download from XDA forums: ACHERON ROM v2.1.1 and
Odin 3 download


How can I root my HTC One for T-Mobile using ADB? I want to use ADB. FastBoot isn't working on my OS X machine.

 ./fastboot devices

lists nothing.

 ./adb devices

shows my device

I downloaded SuperSu from the Google Play store but it says it I had to manually root my phone if I am running 4.3 (which I am).

Can anyone please tell me how to use ADB to root my device? ISIS Mobile Wallet app thinks my phone is rooted.

There's a website called HTCOneRoot.com I guess you can find instructions there (videos at the right side, scroll down)