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How to properly ENABLE dm-verity and FEC for /system on Motorola X4 with LineageOS 17.1?
I have built LineageOS 17.1 for Motorola X4 / payton with unlocked bootloader with reverted commit 81cc203c06596878d2beb62ab6e07f36e278018e.
The common question is how to disable dm-verity, but I want to know how to properly enable it for /system . The vendor partition is called oem on Motorola.
AVB was deactivated (the device is missing fastboot flash avb_custom_key but has a vbmeta_a/b partition?)
During build these options were set:
PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_BOOT_SIGNER := true
PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_VERITY := true
PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_VERITY_FEC := true

I checked system.img and vendor.img with verity_verifier script and the verity_key and it outputs VERIFIED.
I flashed boot, vendor and system to the corresponding partitions. /verity_key is inside the boot.img. The boot cmdline contains androidboot.veritymode=eio and veritykeyid=id:47b1fe9xxxxxx. The boot.img only contains recovery.fstab, verify option is set there, too. adb enable-verity is succesful for / and for /vendor. /vendor/etc/fstab.qcom contains the verify option for system and vendor partition.
The following obversations were made:

During boot I see a message "Verity mode is set to disable". What is this referring to?
Modifiying data (touch test) on the vendor/oem partition from Lineage Recovery results in the errors being corrected by FEC, messages shown from dmesg after next boot:

[    3.023786] init: [libfs_mgr]Enabling dm-verity for vendor (mode 0)
[    3.175842] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:31: FEC 0: corrected 21 errors
[    3.257369] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:31: FEC 4096: corrected 17 errors
[...]

The created file test vanishes after boot.

Modifying data on the system partition from Lineage Recovery is not corrected by FEC and no messages show up. The created file test is visible on the partition after next boot.
There is no difference between locked and unlocked bootloader (fastboot flash lock).

What am I missing here?

@alecxs see last paragraph of https://android.stackexchange.com/a/218886/218526

Warning! Use at your own risk!
The sense and especially added security of all of this may be disputed. Find some notes about security in the end.
tl;dr:
It took me some days to find a solution to get this:
[    2.251328] init: init first stage started!
[    2.251561] init: Switching root to '/first_stage_ramdisk'
[    2.252614] init: Using Android DT directory /proc/device-tree/firmware/android/
[    2.603025] init: [libfs_mgr]Enabling dm-verity for system (mode 0)
[    2.603181] init: [libfs_mgr]Verity table: updated block device from '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/system' to '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/system_b'
[    2.603195] init: [libfs_mgr]Verity table: updated block device from '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/system' to '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/system_b'
[    2.753873] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 0: corrected 22 errors
[    2.830804] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 4096: corrected 7 errors
[    2.831080] init: [libfs_mgr]superblock s_max_mnt_count:65535,/dev/block/dm-0
[    2.854916] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 0: corrected 22 errors
[    2.878336] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 4096: corrected 7 errors
[    3.001281] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 1052672: corrected 18 errors
[    3.001825] EXT4-fs (dm-0): mounted filesystem without journal. Opts: barrier=1
[    3.001947] init: [libfs_mgr]__mount(source=/dev/block/dm-0,target=/system,type=ext4)=0: Success
[    3.002215] init: Switching root to '/system'
[    3.139199] device-mapper: verity-fec: 259:33: FEC 3133440: corrected 12 errors
[    3.272389] init: [libfs_mgr]Enabling dm-verity for vendor (mode 0)
[    3.272662] init: [libfs_mgr]Verity table: updated block device from '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/oem' to '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/oem_b'
[    3.272679] init: [libfs_mgr]Verity table: updated block device from '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/oem' to '/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/oem_b'
[    3.276744] init: [libfs_mgr]superblock s_max_mnt_count:65535,/dev/block/dm-1
[    3.279830] EXT4-fs (dm-1): mounting with "discard" option, but the device does not support discard
[    3.279845] EXT4-fs (dm-1): mounted filesystem without journal. Opts: barrier=1,discard
[    3.279935] init: [libfs_mgr]__mount(source=/dev/block/dm-1,target=/vendor,type=ext4)=0: Success

Build LOS 17.1 with the reverted commit from the initial question

Place verity_key in ramdisk/first_stage_ramdisk folder

Append the following cmdline options, this is the android testing key:
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += root=/dev/dm-0 dm=\"system none ro,0 1 android-verity Android:\#7e4333f9bba00adfe0ede979e28ed1920492b40f /dev/block/by-name/system_b\" androidboot.slot_suffix=_b rootwait androidboot.force_normal_boot=1

Add system partition to the DTB fstab and include verify option

There are more caveats here than I thought. I will also try to include all words I was searching for in this text.
Key findings regarding booting and dm-verity about the payton

It seems to be a legacy SAR (system-as-root) device (most important read!). The kernel mounts the root/system filesystem itself, no ramdisk or ramdisk partition involved. Typical cmdline arguments for the kernel are root=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6x, where x is 5 or 6 for the system A/B partition and init=/init.
The original motorola files do not contain a fstab in the ramdisk
There is no system partition defined in the DTB in the motorola files
Therefore the bootloader seems to verify the boot image, most likely with some certificates baked into the bootloader? (strings -a on the bootloader hints at this). Then it sets the appropriate start partition and maybe the command line for verity verification, more on this later.
vendor is called oem on motorola.
Like mentioned the payton is missing fastboot flash avb_custom_key, so no new shiny Android Verified Boot (AVB) 2.0 with vbmeta.img. Most likely because it was initially shipped with Android 7.0 and nobody cared updating the structures.

Some things about building LineageOS 17.1

Build LOS like written in their help
LOS seems to also boot legacy SAR, except when you enter recovery mode.
Using the instructions below will give you something like Android Verified Boot 1.0
The build process prepares the following things for dm-verity integration: Creating boot.img, system.img and vendor.img, adds dm-verity metadata to the end of system.img and vendor.img and signs boot.img. vendor is verified in the default LOS configuration by adding it to fstab and additionally creating a DTB fstab entry for it.

The general build process

Codebase is impressively huge: 190 GB without ccache

Revert the mentioned commit in dm-android-verity.c

Use the following Kernel cmdline.

This circumevenes A/B and slotselect mechanism for selecting the proper system_a or system_b. Without bootloader support I do not know if it is possible to ever reenable A/B.

Also this configuration always skips recovery, even if you try to boot to recovery from bootloader.

This did not work with androidboot.veritykeyid, I do not know why (yet).

You have to escape " and # here!

device/motorola/sdm660-common/BoardConfigCommon.mk:
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += root=/dev/dm-0 rootwait
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += dm=\"system none ro,0 1 android-verity Android:\#7e4333f9bba00adfe0ede979e28ed1920492b40f
/dev/block/by-name/system_b\"
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += androidboot.slot_suffix=_b
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += androidboot.force_normal_boot=1
BOARD_BUILD_SYSTEM_ROOT_IMAGE := false

without force_normal_boot a "normal" boot goes to recovery.

kernel/motorola/msm8998/arch/arm/boot/dts/qcom/sdm630.dtsi:
system {
compatible = "android,system";
dev = "/dev/block/platform/soc/c0c4000.sdhci/by-name/system";
type = "ext4";
mnt_flags = "ro,barrier=1";
fsmgr_flags = "wait,verify,slotselect"; };

Maybe you can also leave out the DTB change (mounting partitions with DTB will be obsolete in Android 11) and use a fstab file (somewhere, maybe in first_stage_ramdisk).

make sure verity is enabled in ./make/target/product/verity.mk

PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_BOOT_SIGNER := true
PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_VERITY := true
PRODUCT_SUPPORTS_VERITY_FEC := true

When changing the verity key, do not forget to add it to the kernel in kernel/motorola/msm8998/certs and check the certificates in the running system in /proc/keys
You can get the last (failed) boot messages in /sys/fs/pstore/console-ramoops
The resulting system behaves like 2SI ramdisk SAR

Main Question: Does this add security to the device?

You can lock the bootloader afterwards with fastboot flashing lock
The boot partition has to be verified manually with the key ids shown while booting (at least I think it is some signatures of the signed boot.img)
Flashing partitions from bootloader does not work
Entering recovery also does not work
fastboot boot file.img gives an error
fastboot flashing unlock clears userdata, this is good!
In case anything goes wrong with the running system, you have to clear your device.
Updating just got a little bit harder without changes to the updater because the A/B partition is hardcoded
Root needs to be enabled for updates (at least ADB root), so this will stay a userdebug build.
Changes to /system can be executed without messing the dm-verity, just sign the changed system.
dm-verity is in eio mode here, I actually did not try to set it to enforcing.

Open questions

Can you change the kernel cmdline from bootloader?
Maybe you can blankflash (fastboot oem blankflash) the device, I do not know what happens in this case.

Have fun!


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Can't update the Walmart app on ONN tablet
I have an ONN tablet that was sold by Walmart.  It comes with the Walmart app built in.  But whenever I try to run the Walmart app, it says I need to install an updated version.  But when I try to install the update,  it tells me that the new version is not suitable for my device.
As I understand it,  ONN is the house brand for Walmart.  So I would expect any updates to the Walmart app to be supported on any ONN tablet.
I've tried getting support from Walmart via their website,  but no luck.  Can anyone suggest a workaround?

How old is the tablet (tablet may be just discontinued and hence no longer supported)? And the new app may require more RAM, or display resolution or whatever your tablet does not have.

I had the same problem with my 10.1" ONN tablet.I couldn't even access the Walmart web sight through chrome because it will revert you back to the app. So what I did was go into settings/apps/Wamart. Then disable the Walmart app. On my tablet this eliminated the app symbol on my home page. Now I accessed the Walmart websight homepage through Chrome, bookmarked it and put it on my tablet hompage. Works great.

Didn't work for my 7 inch.  I still upvoted your answer.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


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Samsug A50 Pattern Unlock not working Android 10
my sister was using her phone normally and till yesterday, the pattern unlock stopped working. The problem is not that she forgot her pattern but rather the phone is not allowing the correct pattern to access the phone.
What I have tried:

Find my phone; was not enabled

USB Debugging is off, but I can access adb sideload and can flash files and zip both using sd card and adb

Tried to flash pattern-remover.zip but an error occurred saying that
E:footer is wrong
E:Signature verification failed
E:error: 21
I don't want to factory reset it because pretty much all of her data are not backed up. If there is any options to backup and restore the data would be great, or to bypass the pattern lock. Any methods is much appreciated thanks

Did you not enabled face or fingerprint unlock?

both enabled but the device was restarted before the incident

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Can i delete a message from a blocked caller. Just a certain one not all of them?
Can you delete just certain messages you get from a blocked call?

On most messaging apps, if you tap and hold on a message in any conversation, it will give you an option to delete the message. However, the deletion only occurs on your phone, not the phone on the other end.


text:
"Find My Phone" shows "No active devices"
I am having an issue very similar to this one. However, all the settings noted in the accepted answer are turned on for me. I have used find my phone in the past (though not for a while). I don't know how or when it changed but I haven't had this problem before.
I am able to see my phone on my account's devices, but the options there are not very useful:

As per here I also installed the Find My Device app on the phone. I can see my phone there, but I don't understand how that's useful (I could only find my phone from my phone if I have my phone already). The phone still doesn't show up on the web. Any help/ideas are appreciated.

Try 1.signing out of your phone and after a while signing in 2. Different browser 3.this 4.and this

Check on your device under Settings -> Security if it shows that "Find My Device" is active.


text:
How to hide "Do not disturb" notification card
Is there a way to hide this notification card?

I have Huawei P30 with an up-to-date Android 10 (EMUI 10.1.0 - Build version 10.1.0.133) and I believe this card started showing up after a recent update (which happened in the past 2-4 weeks).
I keep my phone on DND most of the time, but I'm pretty sure this card wasn't there before when DND would be on. It's just noise (since I have the DND button in the drawer anyway and it's blue which signifies that DND is on), it's occupying space, and I don't want it to be displayed (but I want my DND to stay on during certain hours). Is there a way to make this specific notification not show up - ever?
Pressing the "Disable" button actually disables DND.
Thanks.

See if this helps:https://android.stackexchange.com/a/163569/96277


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Memory - 20Gb being used by something
Apologies that this is a similar question but I have not yet found the solution here.  I have 32 Gb A6, apps consume around 10Gb and I have a ton on SD card but storage info says I only have 2Gb free on internal memory.
Have downloaded X-plore but I am either too stupid to figure it out or it does not easily show what the issue is.
Any help is much appreciated

The dialog only shows your data but it does not show how much space Android itself consumes. Assuming a dual system partition about 10 GB or more can be used by the Android OS itself. Use DiskInfo app to see the partition layout.

Thanks Robert - git this from DiskInfo.  (Cannot paste picture)

Internal Storage

Data [/data] (/data) [ext4]
Used: 21.9 GB, Free: 2.9 GB, Total space: 24.8 GB
Cache [/cache] (/cache) [ext4]
Used: 5.9 MB, Free: 186 MB, Total space: 192 MB

How can I find where all that data is being used?

delete your WhatsApp folder

Thanks Alecxs - dont have WhatsApp on it

Now you know that your system already occupies 7.2GB and you can only use 24.8 of 32 GB. For more details on app and data usage use the storage overview in Android settings. Apps on unrooted devices don't have access to data of other apps, hence an app can never show you the data usage.

Thanks Robert - will just try deleting stuff and see what happens :)

Try this settings>storage>cached data click on it then click on ok, it will free much space without losing anything just give it try even i got same problem like you but for 2gb not 30gb still worth try it

2nd option is you can connect your phone with pc or laptop with USB Cable as MTP storage aka removable device then see internal storage size and if its full open it and check property of each folder size then delete that folder or useless data.


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Mobile Legends not working in android x86
I I'm trying to play mlbb on my laptop with android x86. But after the first extradition the screen goes black after the logo and it says keeps stop working. I enabled native bridge and tried other is like prime and phoenix. It works on emulator but slow. How can I get it running?
If this is not site for it. Please refer

As you pointed out in a comment that Mlbb is only available for arm7, it's unlikely to run on x86 due to architecture differences.

But android x86 has arm compitibality. And arms games like alto packo runs well. I also saw some people  on youtube play it on phoenix os. There was also a edieted apk for android x86 2 years ago.

Ah, OK – I wasn't aware of that.


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How to keep notification badge when dismissing notifications?
I am running LineageOS 17.1 (which is based on Android 10). When I receive e.g. an e-mail or a Telegram message, the notification appears as you would expect and the app icon on the home screen gets a notification badge with the number of unread messages.
When I swipe such a notification away, the badge disappears. I have found posts on the internet claiming any of the following:

This is intended behaviour, system-wide.
This depends on the launcher.
This depends on the individual apps and the best way to get the badge to stay is to write to the respective developers.

Question
How can I make the notification badge persist until I have actually read the message?
I'm hoping for some hidden setting, but I'm willing to install some magisk module or if it's easy enough to contribute some code for adding such a setting to lineageOS (though I'm unaware yet of both their guidelines and the complexity of adding such a setting).
Use Case
On my old phone with android 7.1.1, that was the default behaviour and it was highly convenient.
Example Case 1
A friend sends me 20 messages on Telegram. I see in the notification that they are not urgent and swipe the notification away because it is not currently relevant to me and should not clutter my notifications.
After work, when I have the time to reply in detail, I do so. Or rather, I would, if I hadn't forgotten about the messages because there is no indication that they still exist.
For this example case, Telegram explicitly has options under the heading "Badge Counter" called "Enabled", "Include Muted Chats" and "Count Unread Messages". This implies that the app itself would feature the badge independently of the presence of notifications (since muted chats don't generate notifications).
Example Case 2
I receive an invoice on gmail. It's something I'll get to later. I don't open the e-mail yet so that it stays unread, and swipe the notification away.
System Information

Android version 10
Build number lineage_beryllium-userdebug 10 QQ3A.200705.002 5b9e5cef6f
rooted
POCO Launcher 2.7.4.6

One option could be to use an app like this ( I use it), to keep track of notifications even if you swept them away. Of course, it requires an extra step of opening this app to look up //  other similar options// Title of question is probably misleading, since it's not so much to do with retaining badge count after swiping notifications but more to do with knowing the notifications after you swiped them

@beeshyams Thank you for making me aware of the notifiction log in the settings, so far I only knew of apps like the one you mentioned and the ones I've used tend to be loading for a long time. If there is no way of making the badges stay, I can see myself using this as a workaround.


text:
Access App content [non-root] [non-debugable] [no-backup support]
Background:
I am using an app (developed by my network carrier); each month a bill is generated for my usage detail, it is a PDF file, which is only visible in app (no save, no export option). In app, there is a limitation of viewing only last three-month’s bill. I want to save generated bill to maintain history.
Scenario:
The OS of my device is android 9, non-rooted (and I do not want to root my device).
Analysis:

With some emulation, I figured-out that, app is saving these files (bills) in a (temporary) folder, which is located in /data/data/com.app.package/files/
I have also tried ADB commands e.g. run-as and adb backup but not achieve the task (application is not debugable and backup support is disabled on this app).
I also tried multi-droid app “Parallel Space” (as described in different tutorials e.g. How to View/Edit AppData on Android) but shockingly, app folder (among other apps) is not accessible (might be due to some security patches).

Question:
Is it possible to access / copy (protected) files generated by app in /data/data/com.app.package/files/?

All apps store their data in /data/data/. That's how Android's security model works. // Even if you are able to extract data (by rooting or other means), there are chances that the data would be encrypted/scrambled in some way, leaving it not meaningful to others (except the app itself). That's how apps secure sensitive data.

@IrfanLatif as I mentioned, via emulation (Nox Android Emulator [Rooted]) on PC I have checked the data and that is as per my requirement (not encrypted).

Is the app limited to your device/the used mobile network? Because otherwise you could try to make it run in a rooted emulator on a PC, then access to the files wouldn't be a problem.

@Robert that would be my first option to adopt if I don't HAVE to do my all stuff on mobile.

If you have access to a PC you may try to repackage the app using apktool and modify the app to allow backup. Additionally you could try to find the limitation to 3 bills (if the limitation is in the app, not in the server part).

@SaadBinKhalid Just confirming that taking a screenshot(s) of your bill is disabled in carrier app or insufficient for your needs.

@Robert I have also tried 'apktool' but at 'built' step, I receive so many errors (just for information: I checked detail about errors on project's site and come to know that these are reported bug, which are not fixed yet.). Secondly, 3 bills limitation is mixture of server and app; server allow app to get bills of 3 months and app delete these bill as soon as I exit / close bill.

@MorrisonChang screenshots are not disabled but insufficient for me, as bills are consist of multiple pages (5+). Secondly, I have to extract information from these bills (text information), which is not (easily) possible if I go for this method.

@Robert , I check the method you shared but extracted AndroidManifest.xml file is encrypted and can't be edit. By the way I ad d argument in your command to de-compile apk.

The AndroidManifest.xml is never encrypted. What you see is the binary xml format which can be decoded/encoded by various tools: https://stackoverflow.com/q/29669937/150978


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Galaxy S8 Stuck After Update
My Galaxy S8 is now locked on the Samsung screen after receiving an Android update via Verizon. According to the Samsung site, it was running Android™ 7.0 (Nougat). I have attempted a hard and soft reset then moved on to Odin.
I downloaded Odin v3.13 and using the latest firmware version of Nougat from the Updato site my attempts to restore my phone continue to fail. Recommendations? Thanks for reading.

Thank you for the reply what info would I be looking for? I see - Carrier - VZW; RPMB fuse blown; RPMB Provisioned; Current Binary: Samsung Official; FRP Lock: On; Warranty Void: 0x0; Qualcomm Secureboot: Enable; RP SWREV: B7(2.1.1.1.1) K6 S7; Secure Download: Enable; DID: 205ED0955789.    Where would I find the Odin log files?

Does this answer your question? How I can downgrade from U3 to U1 "oreo to nougat"

not sure about the FRP lock as well...doing some reading. I guess the challenge is finding the correct FW version. This is all new to me..thx

From reading it appears that FRP is only engaged after the phone is working. Is there a way to find the correct FW version?

sure you have S8 (not S8+)? just search for G95*FXXU7****

Hmmm...S8 on the phone and Samsung says S8, SM-G950U, so I'm fairly confident.

the last letter is also important because that devices shipped in two different chipset (Exynos/Qualcomm) look at sticker for the exact model no

Excellent...thanks. I have started a new download based on Frija's results.

Still failing with the latest FW...any recommendations?

FYI...you must run Odin as an Administrator.

if that was the solution please post that as answer, not comment


text:
how to to restore apps without reinstalling them after ROM change
I installed a custom rom on my Android phone which is havoc  GSI 3.1   I am not happy with certain features that don't work and I would like to go back to the original ROM what is preventing me from doing that is the fear of losing my app data and building the phone from scratch. all my app APK files as well as the data be it internal or external is on the second partition of my memory card ( app2sd )  . now if I change the ROM and go back to OEM I do not want to go through the hassle of restoring all app data. titanium backup used to be good at doing it but now it's crappy and it does not do its job especially if there is a change in the architecture between phones or version changes in the OS. besides it will just hang whenever it cannot restore the app and you have to start all over again in batch mode. my understanding is that there is no registry equivalent in Android what we find in windows. so is there a method where I can recreate the links and point em to existing APK files on my second partition.  the other option would be in Nandroid backup of my internal data and then restore it to OEM.  which of these approaches should work..

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3862763

the registry is /data/system/packages.xml

@alecxs packages.xml only contains the app listing not the app settings hence it is not really comparable to Windows registry.

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/217452


text:
Please help me do data recovery from a phone stuck in bootloop
I bought a Huawei Honor 5C Pro phone 2 years back and so far it had been working well. Two nights back, the phone shut down because of empty battery and I slept without putting it on charge.
The next morning, I started to charge it but the red light started blinking continuously for some time. Then, the honor logo was repeatedly flashing on and off without it reaching the lock screen.After every two or three times of flashing honor logo, it flashes emui with reboot,factory reset and clear partition cache options but it doesn't stop for me to choose any option.
This bootloop happens continuously while it is charging and if I remove it from charging, it still bootloops and doesn't shutdown no matter what. It bootloops until all battery is drained and then shuts down.
Only one time did it open while charge was 10% but after that, it shut down and hasn't stopped bootlooping.
Unfortunately, the battery is not removable.
Also, the problem is, when I put it on charge, for some time a red light blinks and then without any input from user, the phone switches on, boots to Honor logo and after every 2-3 honor logo flashes, it flashes to emui (with reboot, factory reset and clear partition cache option) but the screen immediately blacks out before I can choose any option.
The morning it happened, after many tries, it did open once at 10% charge. But it again switched off and hasn't stopped bootlooping since.
I don't care if the phone doesn't work. I just need the data stored on the ROM. If the phone can work, that's great but the data is more important.
As long as the phone keeps charging, this boot loop keeps happening despite me trying to switch off the phone. When I remove it from charging, it still boot loops until battery is low.
Please help me get back control of the phone or atleast recover the data stored on the phone's ROM.

This is your the second post on the same topic. Please to only ask one question per topic. You can edit your old question at any time and add or change something.

When your Android's system files stop communicating correctly, the device may end up having difficulty starting. Boot loops are the result of system files not knowing how to function during the initial start-up phase and can be caused by a variety of things, from downloading new apps to accidentally changing system files.
Soft Reset the Android Phone
The first step in dealing with a boot loop is performing a simple soft reset. Turn off your Android phone and remove the battery. If you're unable to remove the battery on your specific model of phone, leave the device powered off for at least five minutes. Turn the device back on to see if the boot issue has been resolved. Sometimes a quick soft reset is all it takes to shake bugs out of the startup process.
Factory Reset the Device
Factory resetting your phone will completely wipe it of data and restore it to the original factory settings. Power down the device and boot it into Recovery Mode. The exact steps for booting into Recovery Mode depend on the phone's manufacturer – consult your user manual. From there, select “Wipe Data/Factory Reset” and start the process. After the wipe, select “Reboot System Now” from the main menu.
Using CWM Recovery
If your phone is rooted already with CWM, the steps for wiping the device are different. Power down the phone and launch it into CWM Recovery Mode by pressing the Home, power, and volume up keys at the same time (this key combination may be different for your specific Android phone). Select “Advanced,” choose “Wipe,” and then pick “Dalvik cache.” Next, choose “Mounts and Storage” and then use “Wipe /cache.” Reboot the phone and the issue should be resolved.You can do same things if you have TWRP recovery.
Use Dr. Fone and RecoverIt from Wondershare
This is app for pc. Download this programs(for premium functions you can install cracked version) and connect your phone to pc. Click on data recovery and you will see "Recovery from bricked phone". It can work when your phone has hard brick or soft brick. After that press on recovery and it will work. If something is not clear for you, you can watch tutorials from YouTube and etc.
These are the ways I know. I hope these methods can help you.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/fix-boot-loop-android-78426.html

Wondershare products are scam and won't fix anything on bootloader locked devices

Sometimes it works. So, I wrote it as option.


text:
How safe is my Nexus 6 with Android 7.1.1 and the possible latest update (Oct 5th 2017)?
I found my old Nexus 6. No SIM in it, just connects to the Internet via my home wifi.
I've tried to catch the latest updates, upgrades, and security patches, then I realized, unless I doing something "big" like changing rom, or whatever it is called, which I definitely do not want, I stucked with 7.1.1 and its latest security update Oct.5th 17.
My question is it safe to use?
Nothing special sensitive there, but I would like to log in to Google Play with my account to download and by some apps

That depends mainly on the app you use. If you often try out new apps from PlayStore (or other sources) there is a chance that you may encounter an app that uses one of the vulnerabilities to gain root and installs malware on your system. However if you just use existing apps from known developers and disable Bluetooth (there some vulnerabilities in the last years) on the device the risk of getting infected should be manageable. As you can always go back as Google provides the firmware images I would recommend to test LineageOS for your device.

Rober, many thx for you instant answer. I am just doing Recovery Mode/Wipe Data Factory Reset. After that I would like to set to connect my home Wifi, then add my Google Account, then buy 2-3 well known application via Google Play. No sideloads, just a few well known app from Google Play.


text:
Does MMS messages with pictures always use your data?
I have the Pixel 3a running android 11. My Wi-Fi is always on. And my mobile data is always off. I have the app "My Data Manager" installed so I can see when my mobile data is being used. When I send an MMS text, no data is used. But when I send a MMS text with a pic, then I can see that my data is being used. The following app is using the data "org.codeaurora.ims". Is this normal? Because my phone plan is supposed to offer unlimited text messaging with pictures. But everytime I send an MMS text with a pic, it's eating away at my data plan. Thanks for your help.

Yes, MMS are sent via regular data connection, however as MMS already have a price of it's own the MNOs should not charge the use data for it.

Thank you Robert.  So this is not an issue with Android but an issue I need to resolve with my phone carrier?  I don't know what MNO stands for.

MNO = Mobile Network Operator

No, it does not take your data(Internet connection) but it takes the balance of your sim.


text:
Screen on when charging on powered off phone
The issue
My phone's screen is always on when I charge it while it is turned off.
It displays this image:

And the screen cannot be turned off. I believe it is not charging either, but I can boot it normally. It charges normally when on.

Specification

Image installed: lineage-17.1-20201012-UNOFFICIAL-treble_a64_bvS
Build number: treble_a64_bvS-userdebug 10 QQ3A.200805.001 eng.crossg.20201012.051017 test-keys
Phone: Blackview BV 5500 Pro

Similar issues
I believe the issues posted at

https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/help/power-off-charging-lineage-os-14-1-t3694182
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lineage/help/charging-screen-misbehaving-phone-off-t3611714

are fairly similar, but do no have a solution, as far as I can tell.

What I've tried
Originally, I had the message

Orange State
Your device has been unlocked and can't be trusted..Your device will boot in 5 seconds

Displayed along the picture of the battery. The phone would not boot (unless I've pushed the on button, that is), but the message would continually be displayed.
I've followed the tutorial at https://forum.hovatek.com/thread-31664.html and removed the 5 seconds boot delay time in Orange State: I don't see that warning when I turn off my phone or when it is turned off and charging, but the screen still stays on when I'm charging the phone turned off.


text:
How to push a file to internal storage?
I want to do this step to root my phone:
Copy it to the internal storage of your device
So the command is:
adb push <local file> <remote location>

The "local file" is "boot.img"
What is name for my phone's "internal storage"?

/sdcard/ or /storage/emulated/0/

A boot.img is mostly installed via fastbootand therefore doe snot have to be pushed via adb to the device. You should edit your question and add more details like the manufacturer and model name of your phone, the Android version your phone runs and the link to the root tutorial you use.

I'm following this tutorial https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g7/how-to/moto-g7-twrp-root-t3914112?nocache=1 to root my moto g7 play

that's correct, don't flash it, just push to /sdcard and patch it with Magisk Manager (step 5 is important) 'adb pull /sdcard/Download/magisk_patched.img' will pull the patched boot.img back to PC's platform-tools folder

Thanks I got there, then went into "Recovery Mode" and then get "no command", press power and vol and go to recovery menu. Then reboot and it's still not installed. Will try using TWRP

adb push <the file> /sdcard/

if /sdcard is not available, try
adb push <the file> /storage/emulated/0/


text:
Format an SD card from TWRP recovery using shell
I'm trying to format/partition an SD card (that was used as an encrypted storage on an android phone) because it only shows as 15 MB while it's supposed to be 2 GB.
I was intending to install a ROM from TWRP recovery but made a mistake and wiped everything including the SD card and selected "format" to remove encryption but forgot that the SD card had the zip to be installed...
I don't have access to a reliable USB cable which is probably why adb sideloading didn't work for me.
Here is what I tried from the TWRP terminal:
~ # df -h
Filesystem              Size      Used    Available   Used   Mounted on
tmpfs                   361.1M    16.0K   361.1M      0%     /dev
tmpfs                   361.1M    20.0K   361.1M      0%     /tmp
/dev/block/mmcblk0p19   2.2G      38.7M   2.1G        2%     /data
/dev/block/mmcblk0p19   2.2G      38.7M   2.1G        2%     /sdcard
/dev/block/mmcblk0p16   196.8M    4.4M    192.4M      2%     /cache
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1    16.0M     24.0K   15.9M       0%     /external_sd

(Why tmpfs and mkcblk0p19 listed twice with different mount points?)
I know that the block mmcblk1 is the sd card because it disappears when I physically remove it and reboot.
I tried the following:
~ # umount -f /dev/block/mmcblk1p1
...

~ # fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk1
Found valid GPT with protective MBR: using GPT

Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk1: 3862528 sectors, 1886M
Logical sector size: 512
Disk identifier (GUID): ...
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 3862494
Number   Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1    2048   34815   16.0M   0700   android_meta
2    34816   3862494    1868M   0700 android_expand

Command (m for help): d
Selected partition 1

Command (m for help): d
No partition is defined yet!

Command (m for help): n
Command action
    e    extended
    p primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-239, default 1):
Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (1-239, default 239):
...
Command (m for help): w
...

But it didn't change anything.
And, I see the files /dev/block/mmcblk1, /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 and /dev/block/mmcblk1p2.
But mmcblk1p2 is not in fstab:
 ~ # cat /etc/fstab
 /dev/block/mmcblk0p17  /system       ext4  rw  0  0
 /dev/block/mmcblk0p19  /data         ext4  rw  0  0
 /dev/block/mmcblk0p16  /cache        ext4  rw  0  0
 /dev/block/mmcblk0p15  /efs          ext4  rw  0  0
 /dev/block/mmcblk1p1   /external_sd  vfat  rw  0  0

I don't have a card reader but I tried the sd card in another phone and plugged it to windows and it shows 16 MB there as well.
Question: How do I format the sd card from android terminal so that I can use it normally again?

I managed to boot into the OS and therefore I fixed my issue since android prompt to format the sd card as external or internal storage. But it would be really nice for someone to help others who might be dealing with the same issue and need to do this from shell in recovery mode.

tmpfs is a virtual filesystem which lives in RAM. It's usually mounted a score of places. mkcblk0p19 is mounted at /data and bind-mounted to SD card. // You can insert the card when running in ROM and Android will prompt you to format as portable storage. // Otherwise you need to create partition of DOS type, not Linux. // fdisk is not the right tool to manipulate GPT, better create DOS partition table. // Changes to partitions may require partprobe.

@IrfanLatif Thank you. partprobe is not available, and with no internet I suppose it can't be just downloaded. So are there any alternatives or is this simply not possibly from the recovery shell? Also, I'm still searching and trying to understand your comment, especially the part about creating a DOS partition table...


text:
My Firmware do not have emmc, raw program and patch file
I own a heavily Bricked Nokia X Rm-980. Currently, I am trying to bring it back to life.
It is detected as Qualcomm HS_USB QDLoader 9008 (Com3). After spending some time online, i got a possible solution, flashing it using QFIL. I downloaded the firmware (LINK), it didn't have 3 files needed to start the flash process which were raw program XML file, patch file, prog emmc file. I looked up Online for these file specifically, But found nothing.
Do anyone know what should I do

Generally these files are not available from most manufacturers, and the only way we get them is if they "leak" out somehow, which is rare in most cases... The file you downloaded is likely an upgrade file only to be used on a operational device, which has a different structure and format and is used by either tools built into the existing OS, or things like fastboot (part of the core of Android). \

So, is there any other way to get it to life?

https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_us/support (adjust for your region/country) and click Repair and Replacement... Unfortunately, for most devices this is the only way to recover it from QDLoader state.

some collections https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/224131/bootloop-issue-and-cant-go-to-recovery-mode#comment305555_224235


text:
How can I schedule Focus Mode on my Android phone?
Google have launched Digital Wellbeing features in newer Android versions, including Focus Mode. Focus Mode lets you select a list of allowed apps and block all others, during periods when you want to focus and avoid distractions.
According to this blog post by Google, it is possible to schedule Focus Mode:

Their feedback inspired us to include a few new features with today’s launch. For example, we’ve added an option to automatically turn Focus mode on and off for the days and times that you choose (e.g. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays). This is especially handy for setting daily schedules; you can minimize distractions during the hours you’re at work, school or home.

My phone has Focus Mode, but it does not seem to have a way to schedule Focus Mode. How is Focus Mode scheduled on phones where this is supported?

@beeshyams The link doesn't instructions on scheduling. I'm interested in the answer for any Android phone, because I want to know what it looks like on phones where Digital Wellbeing is fully supported.

On one plus 7 Android 10,you can schedule this way: Digital Wellbeing &  Parental control → Tap on Focus mode → on next screen select distracting apps → Set a schedule → Set schedule (set days of week and time) → turn on now. From 3 buttons menu you can also add a quick settings shortcut.

(Click to enlarge)


text:
Google won't read web pages on my Android 8.1.0 phone
When I bring up a web page on Google assistant & say
"Hey (or Ok) Google read it" nothing happens, & in Google Go, the play button triangle is greyed out.
These apps have permission to use the microphone and I have tried making seemingly helpful changes to all the obvious settings I could find.

So your question is only about the Go edition where reading web sites does not work (neither via button nor via speech command)?

Unless Google Assistant is just Google Go in disguise, then my question is not solely about Google Go


text:
How do you animate when you press the power button to lock the screen on s10?
On my old j3 when I press the power button i get this cool transition/animation when the screen locks. The black thing that covers the screen vertically from the right and left side. Similar to how you get it with samsung tv but it does it from top and bottom.

Are you asking this from a developer's perspective? Development questions are off-topic here.

No the user should be able to do this normally from settings unless that feature is removed


text:
"Unable to open this file on your device" : How to download the file to Android?
Using the Android app LINE, a friend sent me a file, and I would like to download it.
Upon tapping the file, the download takes a few minutes then displays:

I don't have access to a PC.
I can't find the file in my Android's folders Downloads nor Downloads/LINE nor data/jp.naver.line.android/temp/temp_download.
Question: How to get the file?

Maybe the file is saved somewhere in a temporary or internal folder?
Maybe I can use an app that would pretend to open the file, but in fact save it? I tried this trick with ToGoZip but it did not work, ToGoZip just said it could not open the file.
Any other trick is welcome! The file is a .key presentation, if that matters.

Did you check the log to see if LINE fires an intent to ask the system for apps which can handle this type of file? Btw what type of file is it?

I will check, thanks! The file is a .key presentation, if that matters.


text:
How to use Smart Lock using Chrome browser?
Based on the following text, it seems Chrome browser can log in to a compatible mobile app with Smart Lock. Could someone help me learn how to do it by giving an example (maybe...)? Does that mean Chrome browser can unlock my smartphone as well? Sorry, I am not tech savvy. Thank you in advance !
"For Chrome and apps -
Skip the password guessing game. Smart Lock remembers your passwords within your Chrome browser and select mobile apps."

Thank you for your response! Is it possible to log in to the following app using Chrome browser? If so, how to go about? Thank thank you once again! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.konylabs.capitalone

Can't say.... App not available in my country for download :(

Hello, sorry for the late reply! Could I ask you then if Chrome browser is able to turn on and off a smartphone with Smart Lock? Thank you.


text:
Update Sony Xperia C5303 ( with Android 4.3 ) to new version?
Is it possible upgrade or update Sony Xperia C5303 ( with Android 4.3 )  to Android 8.1 with Xperia Companion software ?
Or any description else ?

A simple and clear NO.
Using the Sony companion app you can only install official updates. Your device is so old that Sony stopped supporting this device long before Android 8 was released.
Keep in mind that Android is not like Windows, every update has to be adapted to your device. Therefore providing updates for a device costs a lot of money which is the reason most manufacturer drop device support very early. Some cheap devices never get a single update.
Therefore the only newer Android releases for your device are unofficial (aka customROM, community builds by skilled Android developers) if they exist. Check xda-developers forum for your device for newer firmware updates. But for installing them you need to root and unlock your device which can go wrong and brick your device.
If you are lucky you may find an Android firmware based on Android 5 or 6. I doubt that there are newer ROMs.


text:
Stopped receiving AIB bank code notifications
I have recently stopped receiving notifications from my bank and one card company when they send me codes to log on to their sites on the PC.  I have a Huawei PSmart 9 phone and I am on 02 network.  Both the bank and 02 are saying that it is not their end causing the problem.  I have searched through the internet and tried every thing on my phone settings but nothing works.

Just for clarification, is it sent as an Android notification, or SMS? Also, did you recently change the phone? If it's an Android notification, since the Huawei and Google debacle, it might be possible that the bank app is using Google's push notification, and for the device to receive it, it needs to have updated Google Play Service. If it's an SMS, then it has something to do with the mobile carrier.

No Andrew I haven't changed the phone.  I will contact the bank and ask what way they send their notifications and act accordingly. Ta

After 9 months of having this problem I was finally given a solution today from a lovely gentleman in AIB. I had tried everything!!! I rang them every month, called into the branch, checked with phone provider etc. It was a case of change my phone or my bank.
Here’s what worked for me.
Go to your messages. In the top right hand corner there should be three dots. Click on them. There will be a selection of options. Click on spam and blocked. My AIB messages were coming up as blocked. There were about 50 of them there. Click that AIB is not spam.
Best of luck


text:
Android System storage usage blew from 7GB to 40GB overnight,Magisk problems?
I have LineageOS 17.1 with Magisk on my phone and this night system storage usage blew from 7GB to 40 GB
dreamlte:/ # df -h
Filesystem                      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                           1.6G  492K  1.6G   1% /dev
tmpfs                           1.6G     0  1.6G   0% /mnt
tmpfs                           1.6G     0  1.6G   0% /apex
/dev/block/sda3                  16M  2.5M   13M  17% /efs
tmpfs                           1.6G  4.9M  1.6G   1% /sbin
/sbin/.magisk/block/system_root 4.1G  2.0G  2.1G  49% /sbin/.magisk/mirror/system_root
/dev/block/sda18                484M  704K  484M   1% /cache
/dev/block/loop2                 95M   95M   36K 100% /apex/com.android.runtime@1
/dev/block/loop3                5.5M  5.5M   28K 100% /apex/com.android.media@290000000
/dev/block/loop4                232K   36K  196K  16% /apex/com.android.apex.cts.shim@1
/dev/block/loop5                 24M   24M   28K 100% /apex/com.android.media.swcodec@290000000
/dev/block/loop6                840K  812K   28K  97% /apex/com.android.tzdata@290000000
/dev/block/loop7                1.6M  1.6M   28K  99% /apex/com.android.resolv@290000000
/dev/block/loop8                5.0M  5.0M   28K 100% /apex/com.android.conscrypt@299900000
/sbin/.magisk/block/data         54G   49G  4.1G  93% /sbin/.magisk/mirror/data
tmpfs                           1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /system/etc/permissions
tmpfs                           1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /system/priv-app
tmpfs                           1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /system/lib
tmpfs                           1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /system/lib64
tmpfs                           1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /system/framework
/data/media                      54G   49G  4.1G  93% /mnt/runtime/default/emulated
/dev/block/vold/public:179,1     29G  7.6G   22G  27% /mnt/media_rw/B351-0D99
/mnt/media_rw/B351-0D99          29G  7.6G   22G  27% /mnt/runtime/default/B351-0D99

As you have root you can exactly track what files occupy the storage space. Once you know the file(s) it is usually not a big problem to understand what app/service has created the files.

Does this answer your question? How disk space is used on Android device?


text:
How to backup Signal app on sd card instead of internal storage?
I want to backup the signal app on my Android phone at the sd card for my new phone. In the app there is no option to choose the pathway, it is automatically saved in the internal storage. However, the app now has 4,7 GB and my storage is only 16 GB big and nearly full. With the storage needed for the system I'd basically had to remove everything else to make it work. So the backup always starts but stops at some point and no backup is created.
I tried

deleting other apps and media even though I calculated it would still not be enough space and it wasn't.
removing the /signal/backups folder manually several times before or while the backup was creating but the folder at the sd card still remained empty and was recreated in the internal storage
finding an option to move the entire app to the sd card as possible with other apps but this has to be in a forced way if possible
making the used space by signal smaller by deleting saved pictures by signal in the internal storage and by deleting chats but the space remained the same size ...
google. But what I found in the internet was not much and I did not understand what to do. Like using tasker or osmand somehow?

Do you know a creative or clever way of forcing Android and Signal to backup on the sd card?

Does your phone allow you to save other apps to the sd card?

yes, I moved other apps to the sd card, but not all apps are possible on my phone


text:
How do I disable all vibrations on a Samsung A51 running One UI 2.1?
I've got a Samsung A51 running Android 10 / One UI 2.1 and updated to latest available security patch (1st September 2020).
Other users report being able to globally turn vibrations off, and this appears to have been available in stock Android since 2018 (although it was available on Windows Phones in 2016...). I don't have the same options in my Accessibility menu - have Samsung moved this, or have they disabled the functionality completely?


text:
Oppo mobile blocks button clicks with hyperlink
I have developed an android app, which has a button that opens a website link on click. The function works in Motorola, Samsung, some Redmi phones.But, the function doesn't works on oppo phones. Button click to load new activity(pages/app window)works well. What may be the reason? Its not development related question. How to solve this issue?

Taking a log of what happens when you click and adding that to question may help

I have done that, it shows arrayoutofbounds error in oppo only, the function works well on my motorola and samsung mobiles (no error)

Wild guess - is that Oppo phone rooted with EdXposed? If yes, uninstall EdXposed and check. I had encountered this error in a different context, when no array was called for and it turned out to be EdXposed created problem

Does this also happen on other apps? Otherwise, I assume this is the relevant code on SO, which might as well a device-dependent development issue. Some vendors are "brave" enough to customize their Android framework and making it fragmented even for developers.


text:
New Android version for Acer DA220HQL
I have got the following android model (Acer DA220HQL) with  Android Ice Cream installed (Android 4.0.4). Unfortunately this version is quite outdated nowadays and all android apps  do not work. I would like to know, if there is any new official Android version or even a custom android rom that would be compatible with this specific model (image attached for better assistance) and which one.
That would help me a lot!

Regards

It seems there's no official update for this device. I also noticed that you have been asking this on many forums without success. I'm afraid if there's no custom ROM found on XDA until now, then it seems impossible to create one (I noticed that the ROM developer needed the device tree source which seems unavailable). I'm skeptical about the blog that says it's possible to update to Android 6 though... sorry :(

I just saw that same blog for update to android 6 and I would like to ask if it is possible and also if exists such version of that particular device. I have posted only to acer community forum where I got no reply and android central forum where they told me that I might find one android version, but it does not worth the effort to install it. Asking this trustworthy forum if android 6 is supported by this device? Regards

Actually, forget that blog... the download links are already dead, and the blog contains many similar posts just with the device name changed, the reviews are also fake... the only hope was someone from the XDA forum speculated that it might be possible to create a custom ROM based on Android 4.1/4.2, but then nothing heard anymore. I'm really afraid that there's no alternative since each Android ROM has to be made specifically for each device...


text:
Recovering LINE account chat history after a delete and reinstall
I deleted and reinstalled my LINE messaging app since it kept notifying me to do so the past few days (which I found odd because it was on the latest version). I'm guessing it might have had something to do with me playing around with Lucky Patcher to install a modded version of Google Playstore, which ultimately failed so I had to flash GAPPS to get the playstore back after LP uninstalled it.
Anyways, I backed up my LINE app using Titanium Backup before deleting and reinstalling. After the reinstall, I opened LINE, logged in, and saw that all my chat history has been deleted so I ran TB to restore the data (restore app + data didn't let me install LINE so I installed it through the PlayStore and just restored the data using TB).
However, when I opened LINE again, I saw everything restored briefly until I got notified that my account is being used on another device and I was forced to delete everything.
I looked through the questions and answers in StackExchange, Reddit, and XDA but most of their problems involved transferring their LINE app to a different phone, or a different ROM (but the same phone). All I did was to delete and reinstall so my android id should not have changed so it doesn't make sense why LINE is giving me that notice.
Does anyone have ideas on how to fix this?
Phone: OnePlus 6, Android 9, rooted.
Thanks!


text:
Flashing Nexus 7 factory image fails on writing userdata
So I've been attempting to factory restore my good ol' Nexus 7 (2013) LTE (deb) all day, and I can't get past this one error that has me stuck. I'm using the stock image from Google, and where I'm stuck at is when running the flash-all.sh from the command line, everything looks great up until "Writing 'userdata'":
...
Erasing 'userdata'                                 OKAY [ 19.272s]
mke2fs 1.45.4 (23-Sep-2019)
Creating filesystem with 6997491 4k blocks and 1749664 inodes
Filesystem UUID: ee2e310b-02d9-4271-b8ff-75d231a0a955
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
    32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
    4096000

Allocating group tables: done
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

Sending 'userdata' (180 KB)                        OKAY [  0.011s]
Writing 'userdata'                                 FAILED (remote: 'Bogus size sparse and chunk header')
fastboot: error: Command failed

I found a similar question posted related to a Nexus 5 having the same issue (Flashing Nexus 5 factory image fails on writing userdata), and the same general workaround seems to work up to getting to the android boot screen, except the device is stuck in a bootloop. One comment mentioned needing to resize the partition prior to the first boot. So far, I haven't been able to find how exactly to do that. Anybody got an idea?
Appreciate any help!

why don't you just skip userdata, no need to flash it's empty anyway

I tried that, except if I skip, and then boot up normally, the OS gets stuck in a boot loop. From what I've read, I need to change the partition size, otherwise it will never successfully write to it when it first boots up.

you can format from 'fastboot format:ext4 userdata' (use latest platform-tools) or from TWRP 'mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata'

This can be resolved by manually performing the actions specified in the flash-all.bat file. I had the exact same problem and this stack exchange page got me sorted.
Flashing Nexus 5 factory image fails on writing userdata


text:
how to add a location tracking script on android?
How can I add a custom script that retrieves the current location and also fetches current sim's cellphone number?
I want to root my phone and add a script that notifies me of its location and user every 10 minutes. So that even if the person resets my phone and manages to bypass frp I can still rely on the root script running in the backend.
I'm aware that they can just install a new rom though to get rid of the script

Before you reinvent the wheel: are you looking for something like Cerberus or Prey?

Apps can be uninstalled man, I want to create my own script that fetches my phone's location and gets the cllphone number of the sim card and ocassionally takes pictures when it gets unlocked. It will bundle all this data and email it to me. I don't believe this is primitive. It's like a backdoor to my own phone without the thief knowing.

You obviously didn't check. AFAIR both apps mentioned can be installed as hidden/camouflaged system apps if you have root access (at least they could when I last checked, which admittedly is a while ago), which is why I mentioned exactly these two (and no other). So removing these apps is not easier/harder than removing your script. But the apps already bring all the features you're after.

What you are looking for is definitely out of the scope of a shell script. At least you need to write a native service. But I don't think that location, phone number, camera and email features are available through native APIs (C++). Uaing Java APIs i.e. installing an app is the only option.

Thanks @IrfanLatif


text:
How can I force my phone to connect to US-based cell towers only?
I use a Samsung Galaxy S9 with Android 10, and plan to enter Mexico from the US via the land border. How can I force my phone to connect to US-based cell towers only? (I believe my data usage will get way more expensive for non-US data use)

Most phones have the ability to turn off roaming, for example in a Pixel 3A it is in Settings, Network & Internet, Mobile Network, and toggle Roaming off... Otherwise contact your carrier and see, in some cases roaming into Mexico is included in your plan or they may have a cost-effective add-on for roaming into Mexico.

@acejavelin thanks I'd like to keep roaming if still able to connect to a US-based cell tower

Most US carriers have roaming agreements with Mexican and other Central and Latin America carriers, I would suggest reaching out to your carrier, otherwise be aware that roaming is roaming and could result in very high fees. Best to just turn mobile data off except when absolutely necessary.

It is currently impossible to do force one's phone to connect to US-based cell towers only. E.g. from Dicknose22 on https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidQuestions/comments/j5ntyg/how_can_i_force_my_phone_to_connect_to_usbased/g7tefwh/:

Not to the best of my knowledge, even with total root access, your phone and the tower communicate on what to connect to you do not have power to override what your carrier decides you should connect to.


text:
full storage: internal storage counts external images
Android claims storage space is running out. Settings > Storage shows that Photos & videos take up 2 GB. See screenshot:

However, I moved almost all camera photos to an external sd card. When I click on the last item, I get the message: couldn't find item, as shown in the screenshot.
It seems that the storage calculator counts the images moved to the external drive.
How can I fix this?
This is a Moto G5 with Android 8.1.0.

Th reason is similar to this case. The used space is not directly calculated but summarized based on the media database. And updating this database can take some time. To force an update reboot the phone and wait for ~30 minutes.

Does this answer your question? How disk space is used on Android device?

@Robert: no, the problem persists after rebooting + waiting


text:
How much security does Android encryption provide for turned on devices?
In case my device is stolen it probably will be turned on. How secure are my data when this happens with Android 10 and file based encryption (https://source.android.com/security/encryption/file-based?hl=en)?

That depends on the protection you have selected (pattern/PIN/password). If the pattern or PIN can be guessed easily (e.g. by smudge of your fingers on the display) any protection measures won't help.

very secure. your device is protected against bruteforce https://source.android.com/security/authentication/gatekeeper


text:
Is there a way to change the lockscreen message/owner's info using ADB?
My Realme 7 Pro doesn't support lockscreen messages for some reason but I was wondering if I could change my lockscreen message because when I first got my phone I backed it up immediately (Google Backup I think...) and my old cringey quote was on the lockscreen (it was horrible) and I couldn't remove it. Does anyone know what ADB command I need to type to replace my old quote? If you know other ways to replace it without root I will gladly accept it.

Yes, Android Management API can help finishing this. as it requires Java API, so pure ADB solution may be hard. Here is a solution which requires additional app installed.
To accomplish this, Device Owner API is required. OwnDroid can help you customize lock screen message. Here is OwnDroid's lock screen info docs.
I've confirmed that the message won't reset after you deactivate OwnDroid.


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Changing the emailid associated with your android account
My android phone is LG W10 Alpha LMX210LMW running Android 9. I have a particular email account associated with the phone say emailid1@gmail.com - I don't use that email id at all - it's solely for the phone. I wish to delete this emailid permanently. But then it would be a problem for my phone.
I tried this to change the id - but like it says it's not usually allowed for gmail ids.
So is there a way I can backup the phone related info (like phone contacts, apps installed & other stuff) & delete the account & reconfigure it with a new gmail id - say emaild2@gmail.com
Is there a simple way to do this?

You can copy all contacts using the web UI: https://support.google.com/contacts/answer/1069522?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en open section From a Gmail account

contacts backup sync with PC MyPhoneExplorer remove google account wikihow.com

What do you see in Settings>Accounts and Settings>Google

@Aayush - I see my emaild

First of all make sure you have two or more accounts already logged in. Go to Settings>Accounts>Google>(click on your email id)>tap on three dots on top right corner>tap on remove account

@Aayush - but if all the data (like contacts, apps installed, settings etc) is stored in the first account, then won't all that data be erased when I remove the first acct?

Take a look at this... https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/features/new-gmail-account-switch-migrate-1682770 and tell if it works for you. I'll post the answer

@Aayush - this link seems to be about how to move your emails & email contacts to another email acct. What I want is move all phone related stuff into the new acct.

Okay so after an hour, i have answers. https://www.vaultme.com/articles/how-to-change-gmail-address The option 3 is you i guess. I searched and found that there is no way to transfer your app purchases to another phone except for Google Play’s new Family Library

Is your phone rooted?

@Sruly - no, it's not.


text:
Turn on display for new notifications?
Is there a way to turn on the display for new notifications arriving?
Use case: I enjoy having my display turned off but don't want to manually turn it on to check for new notifications on my lock screen.
Is there a native way to do that with Android 8?
I am using a Samsung Galaxy a3 (2017).

Some ROMs have a feature called "ambient display" that wakes the screen for a while when receiving notifications, not sure if it exists on this device though...

And some apps can do the trick if the ROM itself doesn't (note: link goes to my site), like "Wake Up Screen" or "Screen Notifications".


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Android 8 encrypt phone vs SD card
I have Android 8.1 on my phone.
It states under Settings->Security->Encryption&cred = Phone Encrypted.
I am using microSD on my phone. This microSD is not encrypted as I am able to remove it and read it.
Does Android 8.1 have capability to encrypt microSD card?
If so, where would I find this option? Do all phone manufactures implement this option?

capability to encrypt means the MicroSD Card will not be longer removeable, and data is not recoverable for damaged MicroSD Cards (because encryption key is not accessable/shareable) [adoptable-storage]


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How do I translate an application that is protected and cannot be translated by AllTrans Xposed Module?
I've been trying to translate this application using AllTrans, yet I don't know how to do it by extracting and recompiling the APK?

Try Google Lens.. it can translate text directly from your screen. Pretty awesome.
Hope it helps


text:
I Can't change my password
I can not change my password to slide or no password, it says it is due to administrator policies but i have disabled all apps from there, What do I do?

That is because of credential storage. Go to settings--> storage and clear the credential storage. Reboot your device and now you will be able to set lock screen to swipe or no password.


text:
Why do I see a screenshot of something that I was doing in the background on my smartphone?
When I take a screenshot it does not appear on it, it is like seeing through a drawn glass, It can only be seen from the outside, it's hard to explain.
Is it some kind of malware? The screenshot looks much better when there is a solid color and it can be seen perfectly, it is as if the screenshot were on my screen.  I have already rebooted my device and it still continues.

The Huawei devices have a number of gestures to use to make screenshots general or highly specific. You will want to look at settings intrinsic to them, since you can capture menus and tabs on top of screens, so, multi-layered can be captured but not as you intended. Read your user manual.

Do you mean that you see a little impression of the previous screen you were on even after you switch the app right? For example: You are using youtube and the you press home key and go to home screen but you can still see the faded view of the youtube app on homescreen.
First of all that's totally normal! I have a leeco le2 and experience the same thing everyday.. It's just because of the limitation of your screen(hardware). It's not any malware.. and definitely nothing to worry about.


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Using Here Documents in Termux
I'm trying to run commands in a script that needs to be run as superuser. I tried doing this with here documents but wasn't successful. ( I used to be able to use it with tsu in Termux).
Does anyone know a reason why it shouldn't work or a way to get it to work.
Here is the code that used to work but doesn't work anymore.
#!/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/bash
... begining of script Just some regular commands

sudo touch s
tsu << EOF
    echo "Test" > s
    exit
EOF

echo after here doc

The results currently from this script is
echo "Test" > s
exit
after here doc

The 2 first lines should not appear at all and they should be in the file s. But the file s is empty.
I have also tried the following code but with the same results.
sudo touch s
sudo -s << EOF
    echo "Test" > s
    exit
EOF

echo after here doc

I have also googled this and haven't found anything to help me. All suggestion work in regular linux but not in Termux. Here is one example of what I have tried.
Any suggestion or help will be appreciated.

I explained the behavior here: https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/issues/1463#issuecomment-506874581

I'm not sure I fully understand what you wrote there. Is there anyway I can accomplish what I'm trying to do? I would like to be able to run some commands in a script as root but not with sudo. The reason is that I'm having an issue with the PWD having (unreachable) prefixed to the path. See here from @isrgish. For tsu I have found a solution but when I try to run with sudo I still get the (unreachable) prefix.

remove all formatting whitespaces

@alecxs That doesn't seem to help.

okay forget it, i just remembered how i fixed some issues with mksh here documents. after reading github it's clear that termux su does not support that usage (like expected from linux su) you must run su -c  instead (like for magisk su)


text:
Data gone after adding a new SD card and formatting as internal storage
I've just added a Samsung EVO 128GB MicroSD card to a Fairphone3 and formatted it to "internal storage"
After that WhatsApp is not able to find media any more and pictures located in "DCIM" seem to be vanished.
However when I inspect the storage devices in the Android settings it looks like a lot of the space of the SD card - as well as the internal storage are in use.
Stragely Android reports the SD card to be 256GB instead of 128 - while gparted tells me the correct size.
Is there any way to find out where my data has gone?

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/214233

Have you tested the sd-card before using it if it is a fake (shows higher capacity that actual flash chip)?

It looks like Android just displays 130GB as 256GB - on adb shell, the correct size is being reported and I just made a dd-rescue of the whole sd-card without any errors. So it looks like transferring data to the 'internal storage' killed data.

WhatsApp files are still there in /data/media/0 but /sdcard is no longer targeting it. you can move files from internal storage into adoptable storage /mnt/expand which is accessable via /sdcard now. use the Migrate Data option. see linked question


text:
Streaming Android screen to YouTube, Twitch etc
I have Lenovo Yoga Book, which I would like to use for drawing - it has a drawing tablet with a stylus.
I would like to use it to draw on Slack meetings. However, screen sharing does not work on Android version of Slack. So I was thinking I could stream the screen to YouTube and send my colleagues a link.

I have tried Mobizen, but that gives me "Stream Error: 901".
I have tried Twitch app but that's only for viewing.

Does anyone have some working solution?
Android 7.1.1.

I figured out. The Omlet Arcade
app works like a charm.
It even supports internal audio streaming, but only from Android 10 which supports it itself.

In case anyone has the same use case as me - drawing - then the app I use for collaborative drawing is Aggie.io, and for stylus-on-tablet drawing I use Lenovo NoteSaver, which one of the few apps which supports the drawing pad.


text:
Does hotspot connect directly to proxy or through the computer from the connection being shared?
Let's say I have connected my phone to the internet through the hotspot from my Laptop. In order to access the internet, i have to configure proxy in both laptop and android.
Now on the server side would the traffic come from my laptop or it would be shown as different i.e coming from the android?

Does this answer your question? Why proxy set on Android does not work when used as hotspot?

If I understand your question correctly your Laptop is the device that is connected to the Internet and it shares the connection to the phone. In this situation the proxy operator will see one IP address (the public IP from your Laptop, but the proxy client on phone and laptop will behave a little bit different and therefore it is not impossible to distinguish between both devices (or to detect that there are two different devices connected from the same IP).


text:
I am not able to write to the directory Android/data or /Android/obb in android 11?
I was trying to add some obb data files to the obb directory in Android folder but every time I made a try it pops an error message, first I thought that this may be because of some fault in File Manager. Than I tried some external File Managers like Solid Explorer and Files by google , but for my surprise I was not even able to access the Android folder in any another external file manager (Android folder was empty no data, no obb was there), than I searched on internet and found this is because of scoped storage (introduced in android 10)

I didn't understood much about scoped storage but only that this limits access of apps to the Storage, I want to understand more about scoped storage and want to know how this is helpful to us and how I can access those data and obb folders

Does this answer your question? Android can't view local content after OS upgrade

@beeshyams i am able to read files in android/data on system file explorer but not able to write there, so it means i have read access but not write access, is there a way i can write data in those folders, and thanks for your comment it really meant alot to me

Sorry, I am not familiar with Android 11

okkk no problem


text:
Is it possible to install Android Go Edition in Xiaomi Redmi 2 pro?
I have an old Xiaomi Redmi 2 pro from 2015.

This phone has Android 5.1.1 installed, 16MB capacity and even with a fresh install there's only about 2GB left. I read Android Go is lighter and leaves more space available.
How to install this in this phone? any suggestions?
Thanks a lot.

Based on my understanding, you need to modify the build.prop to add ro.config.low_ram=true (need to be rooted). However, AFAIK Android GO is more about RAM, not storage. I think you may consider flashing a more lightweight custom ROM instead...

Redmi 2 pro/Redmi 2 have same chipset, try ROMs for 16GB variant https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3307136

I'm new to this, and this flashing and stuff seems confusing :( all those files and ROMS.
Is there an easier way, just to connect the phone to the computer and flash Android Go or another ROM that's light and takes less space than 5.1.1?

android go not available. select custom ROM, check it's status is stable, follow install instructions. be aware builds are specific for device model. you will always lose all data


text:
Wifi works only on safe mode on pixel 3XL
I'm an happy owner of the Google Pixel 3XL. It's been working like a charm for ages, but since a few weeks, the WiFi & Bluetooth started to fail after a few hours for system uptime.
I first thought about an hardware issue, but both the WiFi & Bluetooth works in Safe mode. Is there anything I can do to fix this without making a full reset of the device?

Based on your description you Wifi does not work if you reboot the device, but it works if you reboot the device to safe mode is this correct?

@Robert it works sometimes on reboot, and always on safe mode

Have you tried doing a Network Reset from the resets menu?

@acejavelin yes, but it ain't getting better

At this point the next step should be a full factory reset. Is it completely stock? If not, I would factory default and reflash the stock firmware... If it is, then I would suspect a hardware failure likely related to heat micro-cracking. In Safe Mode the processor is kept throttled in addition to preventing some software from loading.


text:
Replacing headphone jack in Motorola Moto Z2 Play
I'd like to know, if it is possible to replace malfunctioning (actually: dead) headphone jack in Motorola Moto Z2 Play? I would like to do this in an repair shop (not myself), if this is possible at all.
I mean "possible" in terms of hardware. If it isn't for example an irreplaceable part of mainboard or if something else does not make such repair impossible or too expensive.
If this isn't possible or would be too expensive, what other options do I have? Is purchasing and using any microUSB-to-jack adapter the only option?
The only, of course, next to replacing the whole phone. But since audio-jack is the only problem in otherwise working and useful phone then I'd like to avoid this option as much as possible.

Just watch the repair tutorial yourself: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Motorola+Moto+Z2+Play+Audio+Jack+Replacement/103357

make sure it's actually a hardware failure and not just permission issue in settings. i think it's not worth it to open the phone just for headphone jack if there is a risk to damage display. bluetooth headphones is another alternative

@Robert Thanks for pointing this out. I'd say that your comment is a valid answer. You could write something like "Yes, this is certainly possible, not only in repair shop, you can do this yourself" + link. Due to my limited skills, I'd like to do this in a repair shop, but for some reason I'm getting responses that such replacement is not possible, so it may turn over that I will be forced to do this myself. Thank you.

@alecxs Thanks for pointing this out. However I am more than certain that this is a hardware problem, since I started to hear only on one of the ear phones and soon for none as I was doing nothing (just listening, screen turned off). And then it turned out that jack is simply very very loose. I can move my cable around and at some weird position I can again hear on one earphone and and some other position -- at second one.


text:
See what apps I have installed with the facebook SDK
Is there a way to check on my rooted phone what apps use the Facebook (or just any) SDK?

You can check your apps using https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/page/what/. They try to identify trackers based on the strings in the app. However if an app is heavily obfuscated this will fail.

There are several privacy checkers (link goes to my site) which can assist you here: Exodus Privacy (as mentioned by Robert) for non-paid apps available on Play, ClassyShark3xodus and TrackerControl for apps on-device are the ones I'd recommend as they come free of trackers themselves, Appbrain is quite good as well (comes with a single ad module by Appbrain itself).


text:
Is it possible to virtualize Android on an X86 machine?
Following this question, I had a little bit of success installing an X86 port of Android (i.e., BlissOS) on macOS with QEMU. Now I am wondering if I can virtualize a "normal" Android (preferably LineageOS) on any of the conventional FLOSS hypervisors such as VirtualBox, QEMU... (preferably something portable on Windows).
There are qemu-system-arm and qemu-system-aarch64 versions of QEMU that I expect to do the job. Over here, Alex Bennée is doing some magic with the so-called "ranchu kernel" that I can't really understand and trust. Meanwhile, on this post it's being said that the upstream QEMU hasn't inherited the graphic acceleration back from Google's Android Studio Emulator.
Now my questions are:

what is that "ranchu kernel"? and how much it can be trusted?
Can I virtualize LineageOS or any other well-known FLOSS Android? How?

Could this answer on our sister site for Software Recommendations be what you are looking for? It's a bit "dusty", don't let the "Android 4.3" scare you away – 6 years later, there are newer versions available as well, of course. A longer list of candidates can be found at the end of this page (on my Android website).


text:
Google Play Problem with my wifi
Google Play Store not working with my wifi. When I try to update or install apps stuck "Waiting for download". On another wifi working perfectly. And on my wifi with VPN working too, but too slow.
This problem exist on all android device with on my wifi.

If all Google services do not work this might indicate that your Wifi router has been hacked (there might be other reasons, too, but this is the first that comes into my mind). In such a situation data to certain servers is intercepted. Because PlayStore uses HTTPS with pinned certificates then app download does not work. Use your web browser and check a large number of larger and smaller websites that use HTTPS if there are errors shown regarding certificates.

Everythig working fine in browser and android app (gmail, google, youtube, etc.) only app install and update not working in play store.

The only alternative would be that Google has blocked your IP for app download, but for what reason? Also Google typically blocks user accounts, not IPs. But it is worth a  try - power down your wifi router and modem (if you have multiple devices for Internet connection) and then connect them again. This should get you a new IP address and therefore remove existing blockings on IP level.

3-4 years ago we have the same IP address. I think static IP though, less often, the modem was turned off for weeks.

Can you download apps on mobile data?

yes without a problem.


text:
How do I disable notification sounds and vibrate in messenger?
I'd like to disable sounds and vibration for messages on Facebook messenger, but leave on sound/vibration for calls and other apps. How can I do this?

Configure channels in app's notification settings (provided that it uses different channels) to control different types of notofications.

@IrfanLatif what do you mean by "channels" - I don't see that mentioned in Messenger's notification settings, nor in the android notification settings.

I don't have Messenger app to guide you precisely, so this may help: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=android+notification+channels

As of now, notifications for chats and calls in Messenger are grouped and can only be enabled/disabled together.
Your best bet is to contact facebook/messenger and ask them to add the feature, by splitting the notifications into channels, which can then be controlled seperately.


text:
Scroll problem with my android mouse
I have a HUAWEI MediaPad M5 Lite 10 tablet I use it with a mouse connected to USB thanks to this adapter.
For some time with my mouse, I can no longer scroll through the pages of browsers like Firefox or Chrome where another browser.
Rather than scrolling the text from top to bottom or vice versa, it selects the text for me!
I can no longer also do a copy / paste in the web pages, it selects but without displaying "copy / paste" I reset my tablet but it doesn't change anything.
I reset my tablet by following this procedure but it doesn't change anything.
I changed the adapter, tried with another mouse, with a bluetooth mouse but it's the same :(
I sent my tablet to the after-sales service 3 times for this problem but it came back each time as repaired but the problem is still present.
The funny thing is that when I take control of my tablet with my computer and with teamviewer I use my computer mouse! Well it works.
I can scroll web pages through my computer. An idea ? Thank you

You did not include this detail in your questions but I assume by "scrolling" you are referring to pressing and holding the left mouse button and then moving the mouse which also moves the scrollable screen under the mouse cursor. Does "scrolling" work in other apps or has it changed in every app on your tablet?

Yes I am actually talking about pressing and raising or lowering.
The scroll works perfectly with the rest of the applications.It is only defective with web browsers

Then the web browsers mimic "desktop/PC behavior". May be you should simply use the scroll wheel on your mouse?

Unfortunately I am disabled and I do not have a wheel on my mouse I do not understand because a few months ago it was working very well It looks like there is something on the android side that has changed

Could someone test it with a mouse without it and see if they can scroll a web page by holding the left click?

I tried it, it is the same on my tablet. May be there is a configuration option or flag that disables this behavior. I assume you may get better results directly asking the Chrome/Firefox developers.

I will try to contact the developers


text:
Unable to Login to or Forget a Network
My Android tablet worked fine up until a couple of months ago.  Now I cannot use internet on it.  It is not possible to forget a WiFi network.  It will not allow me to add a new network (5GHz for example).  If I enter the password for the valid network it 'sees' it comes back with 'authentication problem'.  The password is correct.  All other devices in the house fine including iPads, iPhones, Windows computers.
Do I bin the Android crap?

Try to turn on airplane mode and then open WiFi

Did you try a Network Settings Reset? It is usually a separate option under the Reset section of settings (location could very, search in settings for reset).

I did the network settings reset but that didn't help.

I only use the tablet in an airplane and I am usually the pilot at the time.  I tried the quick access menu to locate airplane mode but never found it so moved on to the next suggestion.  Eventually a factory reset worked. 谢谢

Factory Reset apparently is the answer.  Came up straight away.  Having to blast the tablet every time you want to use the internet is not convenient.


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

Why don't you just install an system or cpu info app that checks the CPU and shows the results?

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


text:
Voice activated / HF inputs: how can you escape special function phrases?
For example, say I have a sentence that I want to end with a period then have returned to a new line, but the contents of that sentence itself include period and new line as literals.  Is it possible to use voice-only commands to write such a message?

I tested the sentences below. They should have been separated by a new line.
The first period is about to start.
He crossed a new line on the sand.
This is the end of a period.

In my case, period was handled correctly the majority of the time whether I wanted the word period or a dot for the first sentence. The 3rd sentence was hit and miss. For a sentence that as both the word period and the punctuation mark period, you can make it easy for the phone by saying full stop so it can differentiate between the two. But for the third sentence, the differentiation did not work.
To go to a new line, I had to pause 1-2 seconds before saying new line. Only then, was it recognized as starting a new line and not the literal new line.
In both cases, while dictating my sentences in one go, the literals were considered. Pausing would insert the punctuation marks. This is not a scientifically proven experiment. You will have to test on your side and reach a conclusion.

I found saying "new line" is very hit-or-miss[1], but "carriage return" seems to work more consistently. I haven't actually found this documented anywhere. AFAICT the "Text Editing" section of the online Voice Access commands reference makes no mention of punctuation, including "new line" or "carriage return", while the command reference on the phone (via Voice Access settings => Voice Access commands or saying "what can I say") lists "new line", but not "carriage return"
[1]: Very occasionally it actually inserts a new line, but it seems to far more often get mis-recognized and inserted as "New life" "Do line" etc. (seems to be mis-recognized far more often than any other phrase for some reason. Maybe because I'm often saying it in isolation, out of the context of a full sentence?)


text:
Upgrade keyboard to another phone's
I've had three phones in the Samsung Galaxy Note line, a Note 3, a Note 5, and now for a few years I've been using a Note 8. I have enjoyed a keyboard on which I can draw a shape which has a vertex at each letter of the word I want to write, but I'm also perceiving that they're trying to make it smarter, to give it better capabilities faster than they can develop the algorithms that carry out the tasks.
(Some problems I can identify with the Note 8 keyboard is that it is autonomously adopting typos as new words in its dictionary, coming up with new words to suggest or interpret what I draw as, and also sometimes, when I write "something" putting down "s something", repeating the first letter.)
I would really enjoy it if I could upgrade from the native keyboard of my Note 8 to the keyboard which came with one of my earlier phones. Either would be good, though I think the first, that from the Note 3, would be best.

I always use (and recommend) SwiftKey, but ...

On the phone whose keyboard you like, install APKExtractor (it's in Play and it's free).

Extract the keyboard.  (It extracts as an .apk file.)

Copy the .apk file to the Note 8.

Install it.  You should now have 2 keyboards.  Go into Settings and choose to use the one you just installed.


text:
How do I do a screenshot on a RCA 10" tablet?
My RCA only has touch screen volume control. Holding down the power while touching volume down doesn't work. Is there another way?

Some Android versions have a screenshot button in the shutdown menu that you get if you press power for about two seconds.

If your power menu doesn't offer screenshot button, you can try a myriad of apps which can add a screenshot tile in Quick settings. Use that tile to take screenshot. See https://play.google.com/store/search?q=screemshot tile quick settings&c=apps


text:
External SD Card Mounted, Permissions granted, but still Inaccessible on LineageOS
I know there's a ton of external SD card questions, but my case doesn't seem to line up with any of them, sorry if this has been asked before and I just couldn't find it.
I'm running LineageOS 14.1 on a Fire HD 10 Gen 7. When I insert my SD Card the system recognizes it, I go in and make sure that all the apps that need it have permission to access SD card storage, and I enabled Global Namespace in Magisk. But LineageOS only mounts it to /mnt/media_rw/0000-0000 and there is no way to access it without going through the root directory.
Using a root browser I can see all of it's contents, but I can't access anything using any other apps. For example, I can see there's an mp4 file in the file browser, but if I open with VLC via the root browsers VLC immediately crashes. And if I try to go to the SD card via VLC, it isn't there, the only storage is Internal Memory.
All the other question articles I read were either concerning moving apps to the SD card, which I was able to do with Link2SD when creating an ext4 partition on the card, but the FAT32 partition was still inaccessible even by the apps on the ext4 partition which makes me think the issue isn't with the SD card (the SD card also works as intended on my PC), or were solved when they enabled permissions for the apps to access external storage, which I have done.
What do I need to do to make the SD Card accessible by apps other than my file browser?

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/166557 https://android.stackexchange.com/q/221122


text:
Turn on adb network mode on device without USB connection
I am debugging an app using a phone-PC combination which has USB issues.  I can successfully establish a wifi connection using 'adb tcpip 555' then 'adb connect 1.2.3.4'
However, sometimes I can't even make the first USB connection to enable the debug listener on the phone.  Is it possible to put the phone adb into listening mode (on wifi) without a USB connection?

Do you have a rooted device or Android 11?

Not rooted, android 8.1

try various apps from google play

Related: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/216474/218526

@irfan -that described how to start TCPIP listening, but still requires an initial USB connection (as described in that post)

Yes that's the point. The answer explains the limitations; why it's not usually possible to achieve what you are looking for.


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com.termux linked or mounted on SD (Root Available)
So I'm trying to get more space into my termux to download and use
I'm trying to mount the folder onto the SD does anyone know how to already or done it?
I've seen that it isn't possible but I don't see why wouldn't it be especially with root

It's definitely possible. Create a loop file on SD card and mount it wherever you want.

Can you tell me how?

The location of the termux by default is/data/data/com.termux/ I made a folder on my SD /storage/26B7-11F7/com.termux/

check xda @alecxs

check the above link again, have extended my answer especially for you, just copy & paste the commands


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No Graphene or Lineage support...am I stuck carrying a google-tracker now? (LG "Journey" on Tracfone)
I prefer flip phones but now I need web access while on job-site, I don't know why I thought I could just put Lineage onto any handset (swore you could just root a phone and put a new OS on, didn't recall it being model-specific but haven't used smartphones for nearly a decade)
What can I do to eliminate, or reduce if that's all I can do, my "google footprint" here?  I've used ADB to remove every package with "google" in the title but that doesn't remove all the google stuff (and some of it simply cannot be removed, one of them - if removed - makes it so the phone will go into an endless loop upon reboot, requiring a full hard-reset)
Thanks a ton for any advice, I know about F-Droid and am using the duckduckgo browser and FOSS alternatives to, say, Calendar adn Youtube-viewer but the fact it's still on this device/hardware that seems to have "Google" tattoo'd to its bones is bothersome, any & all things I can do to ameliorate this would be greatly appreciated!!

If you want a Google free Android device you have to plan this before buying, read reviews, tutorials and user comments to find the best device. Note that nearly every web page also contains Google and/or other trackers. Therefore the only way to live Google free is not to use anything web or Android related. Nowadays you can only decide how many data you give to trackers like Google. Totally preventing is next to impossible.

you can reset your google advertising id from settings every day

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/225549