text:
2G versus 3G: Does it really save battery?
I often hear the recommendation that fixing your device to 2G saves a lot of juice compared to using 3G.
Is that true? Or is it really a myth?

Fast answer:
Nes. Yo. Well, it all depends... on how you use your device.
Detailed answer
Self-Experiment
I just did a self-experiment to find out. Until now, I had all my devices fixed to 2G -- as that should "save juice", like the question suggests. So for 4 days now, I have 3G enabled. Surprisingly: No difference which could not be explained by measurement errors or slightly different situations (after all, I had a. no lab conditions and b. just tested with a single device). Humm. Time to go for some facts, and do some calculations.
Hard data
I already posted some hard data on battery consumptions of components as answer to the question What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device?, more than half a year ago. So now I picked the relevant values, made an average over the two devices, and -- I admit -- slightly adjusted things to reduce differences:

I took the best GSM (2G) speed possible to make 2G seem faster
I took worse conditions to "slow down" UMTS (3G) to conditions which should be met even in areas where it was not improved to the "the latest cutting-edge" (oh, speaking of "edge": 2G assumes EDGE here).

And now I've got some surprising answers: Whether 2G saves more juice than 3G, or vice versa, depends on how you use your device. I created 4 different "usage-groups", and added a 5th special case at the end. Here are my results:

Few phone minutes, few data
Yeah -- that's me: 150..300 minutes talk per month, that makes not more than an average of 5..10 min per day. I have a 50 MB data flat, and hardly ever use it up (which makes for ~ 1.5 MB/day). So I'm mostly left with "standby":

~UMTS StdBy 15 mW
~GSM StdBy  10 mW

Consider that your screen uses 400..800 mW on average when turned on, a difference of 5 mW can safely be ignored. Besides, the little data even compensate -- but I get ahead of myself.

The 24/7 caller with no time for data
...better switches to 2G:

~UMTS Tel   800 mW
~GSM Tel    400 mW

As you can see, when on-call, 3G uses about twice as much juice than 2G would use (and you don't speak faster on 3G -- a call is a call, and will take the same time). So if you spend a lot of time in calls, and have only little data traffic, you're much better off with 2G/GSM.

Few phone minutes, but big data sucker
Here comes the big surprise: This group saves a lot when sticking with 3G/UMTS:

~UMTS XFER  1200 mW
~EDGE XFER  1000 mW

Doesn't look like a huge difference? OK: looking on "how much does it suck per minute" might not make the big deal. So we need a second component:

~UMTS speed dl/ul   7/1 MBit/s (HSDPA/HSUPA)
~EDGE speed dl/ul   200/100 kbit/s

You see I assumed max speed for EDGE, but not the state-of-the-art (20 MBit/s downstream) for UMTS. UMTS coverage might differ between areas, but the 7+ MBit/s should be available everywhere. Now let's look how long the download/upload of 1 MB data takes, and how much juice that corresponds to:

~UMTS 1MB dl/ul     1s/8s ~ 1200/9600 mWs
~EDGE 1MB dl/ul     40s/80s ~ 40.000/80.000 mWs

That's about a factor of 1:7 for upload, and even more than 1:30 for download!
So yeah: This group is definitely better off sticking to 3G!!!

Multi-Tasker: 24/7 on call while using full data
This now very much depends on what "full data" stands for, and if you're really a 24/7 on-call-boy (or girl). No clear answer for this, you must put your own data into the equation and do the calculation. It's rather 50:50 -- as with group #1, you might run a "zero growth" -- or tend to either group 2 or group 3.

Special case: The "hopper"
Especially in rural areas, coverage might be, humm, "slippery". Your device might be permanently toggling between 2G and 3G, always on the hunt for the better signal. Here all the above might become relative, as the toggling itself is drinking the juice. If you are in such a situation: Check to which of the 4 groups above you fit best, and fix your device to either 3G or 2G, depending on.
Btw: A similar situation would be if you've got the idea to toggle between 2G/3G whenever you switch your display off/on. As the toggling requires up to 10s full-power (to find the corresponding stations; 2G and 3G use different frequencies), you wouldn't really "save juice".

Epilog
Yepp, I completely forgot about 4G/LTE. But incidentally. First: I have no 4G/LTE device for a self-experiment. Second: I have no "hard data" on 4G/LTE. So all I could do is guessing. Doing that, OK, OK: It most likely will be the same as above -- just increment the numbers by one :)

Note: the "hopper" scenario also applies if you travel by underground - most cities have station coverage, but not in tunnels, inducing the power-intensive signal search many times in the space of a few minutes. In such cases, disabling mobile data altogether while travelling by underground has dramatically improved battery life on my devices.

Since this question just resurfaced it might be nice to get an update of your data to include 4G now that it's been a while.

Might be, @ThomasMartin – but I cannot do that. I'm not using 4G, and I have no stats to base an update on. You could ask a new question especially for 4G, and link to this one here as reference.

For me switching to 2G has helped my battery last 2-3 hours longer. I use a samsung galaxy s3 I9300. Was using 3G connection for the first two months and the battery would be over by 14-15 hours under normal-heavy usage. Switched to 2G data couple of months back and the battery life has improved by 2-3 hours.
My usage has always been the same with both 3G and 2G. I use about 1.5GB of data every month. switching to 2G gave me better battery life for the same usage.
But while travelling , when there is fluctuations in network coverage , even 2G network mode drains battery. The network coverage has direct impact on the battery life. The better the network coverage , the better the battery life.
Screen , data transfer and games are the biggest battery hoggers for me. I have used some battery saving applications before but never found it to be useful, though other users may differ, its my opinion.

Do you use a lot of data? How is 3g coverage in your area? Without any background, this does not say much. The question was not intended as a poll ;)

My Data is ON 75% of the time. Mostly email and whatsApp. There are couple of places where 3G is absent.

It's not whether your data is "turned on", but the amount of data transferred which makes the difference. Mail & Whatsapp usually don't use "big data". What's your monthly used volume on mobile data? That's what counts here, provided signal strength is comparable for 2g/3g. See my answer for details: huge volume => 3g is better, low volume => 2g is to be prefered.

i was just giving an opinion according to my experience. My usage has always been the same with both 3G and 2G. I use about 1.5GB of data every month. switching to 2G gave me better battery life for the same usage.

OK, thanks! With those details it becomes more helpful :) Maybe you could update your answer to include them (2g/3g coverage plus the average data usage per month)? Thanks in advance :)

I live in a city and the coverage for both 2G and 3G is excellent. I make/receive phone calls for about 20-30 minutes a day. Use approximately 1.5gb of data every month.
But while travelling , when there is fluctuations in network coverage , even 2G network mode drains battery. The network coverage has direct impact on the battery life.

munna, I meant you should edit your answer to include those details :) Many users don't go through all of the comments, so it's always best to include additional details with the answer itself.

I agree that the network coverage has direct impact on the battery life. If you have a good 4G coverage, your battery will last longer than if you use 2G but with bad coverage.
Anyway, the white paper of Xperia V for example gives more battery if your smartphone uses 3G than in 2G mode. The same with other Xperia smartphones. Is it a mystery or is it a mistake?

Are you answering OP's question, or are you asking a question?

Specs of Xperia SP according to Sony.
Talk time (max.):
2G: 625 min. (10.4 h)
3G: 1133 min. (18.9 h)
Stand-by (max.):
2G: 635 h (26.5 days)
3G: 734 h (30.6 days)
4G: 709 h (29.5 days)

Chico, we don't collect device specs here. And just listing the theoretical talk time the manufacturer put on the pocket doesn't answer the question (unless you talk non-stop and do nothing else with the device). Apart from that, OP has no Sony device.


text:
Which disk encryption standard is used in Honeycomb?
Does anyone posses an official or un-official information on which encryption standard is used in Honeycomb "encrypt tablet" option? Is there an information on any hacks or backdoors, placed for law enforcement and such?
Basically, the question is: if someone loses a tablet with confidential information in it, how probable it is, that the data could be extracted from it despite encryption?

The current encryption scheme is outlined on the Android website's "Notes on the implementation of encryption in Android 3.0" page. From that page, the specific algorithm used is noted as such:

The actual encryption used for the filesystem for first release is 128
  AES with CBC and ESSIV:SHA256

That's the only official documentation I've seen for it at this point, but it is fairly lengthy and informative.

So yeah AES 128,  that's a big number right?   One problem,  the key used to encrypt the drive is the same as the key you use to unlock your phone,  which is tiny.  It would take a grand total of 5 minutes to perform an offline brute force against this tiny keyspace.
WisperCore has a modified android version with more reasonable security measures.

On my tablet (acer iconia a500) the length of the password is not limited. I tried entering as many characters as I could, and stopped at 40th (could have entered more). So, I don't see why would you say it's "tiny". Regarding WhisperCore - it's only for Nexus, isn't it?..

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

sort: votes


text:
Backup Samsung Fascinate running ICS, make ODIN-flashable image
I have Samsung Fascinate running ICS. It's very easy to break the OS, such as: by improperly booting into recovery. I want to make a backup, which I could flash using ODIN.
Does anyone know what exactly partitions do I need to backup and what files do I need to put into ODIN tar, in order to get a correctly booting phone immediately after ODIN-flashing?
Here's my mounts:
root@android:/ # mount
rootfs / rootfs ro,noatime 0 0
tmpfs /dev tmpfs rw,nosuid,noatime,mode=0755 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,noatime,mode=600 0 0
proc /proc proc rw,noatime 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw,noatime 0 0
none /acct cgroup rw,noatime,cpuacct 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/asec tmpfs rw,noatime,mode=0755,gid=1000 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/obb tmpfs rw,noatime,mode=0755,gid=1000 0 0
none /dev/cpuctl cgroup rw,noatime,cpu 0 0
/dev/block/mtdblock2 /system yaffs2 ro,noatime 0 0
/dev/block/mtdblock3 /cache yaffs2 rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime 0 0
/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 /data ext4 rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,nodiratime,barrier=1,data=writeback,noauto_da_alloc 0 0
/dev/block/mtdblock4 /datadata yaffs2 rw,noatime 0 0
/sys/kernel/debug /sys/kernel/debug debugfs rw,noatime 0 0
/dev/block/vold/179:9 /mnt/sdcard vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0702,dmask=0702,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
/dev/block/vold/179:9 /mnt/secure/asec vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0702,dmask=0702,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure tmpfs ro,noatime,size=0,mode=000,uid=0,gid=0 0 0

and all block devices:
root@android:/ # ls -l /dev/block
brw------- root     root       7,   0 2012-05-11 11:33 loop0
brw------- root     root       7,   1 2012-05-11 11:33 loop1
brw------- root     root       7,   2 2012-05-11 11:33 loop2
brw------- root     root       7,   3 2012-05-11 11:33 loop3
brw------- root     root       7,   4 2012-05-11 11:33 loop4
brw------- root     root       7,   5 2012-05-11 11:33 loop5
brw------- root     root       7,   6 2012-05-11 11:33 loop6
brw------- root     root       7,   7 2012-05-11 11:33 loop7
brw------- root     root     179,   0 2012-05-11 11:33 mmcblk0
brw------- root     root     179,   1 2012-05-11 11:33 mmcblk0p1
brw------- root     root     179,   2 2012-05-11 11:33 mmcblk0p2
brw------- root     root     179,   3 2012-05-11 11:33 mmcblk0p3
brw------- root     root     179,   8 2012-05-11 11:33 mmcblk1
brw------- root     root     179,   9 2012-05-11 11:33 mmcblk1p1
brw------- root     root      31,   0 2012-05-11 11:33 mtdblock0
brw------- root     root      31,   1 2012-05-11 11:33 mtdblock1
brw------- root     root      31,   2 2012-05-11 11:33 mtdblock2
brw------- root     root      31,   3 2012-05-11 11:33 mtdblock3
brw------- root     root      31,   4 2012-05-11 11:33 mtdblock4
brw------- root     root      31,   5 2012-05-11 11:33 mtdblock5
drwxr-xr-x root     root              2012-05-11 11:33 platform
brw------- root     root       1,   0 2012-05-11 11:33 ram0
brw------- root     root       1,   1 2012-05-11 11:33 ram1
brw------- root     root       1,  10 2012-05-11 11:33 ram10
brw------- root     root       1,  11 2012-05-11 11:33 ram11
brw------- root     root       1,  12 2012-05-11 11:33 ram12
brw------- root     root       1,  13 2012-05-11 11:33 ram13
brw------- root     root       1,  14 2012-05-11 11:33 ram14
brw------- root     root       1,  15 2012-05-11 11:33 ram15
brw------- root     root       1,   2 2012-05-11 11:33 ram2
brw------- root     root       1,   3 2012-05-11 11:33 ram3
brw------- root     root       1,   4 2012-05-11 11:33 ram4
brw------- root     root       1,   5 2012-05-11 11:33 ram5
brw------- root     root       1,   6 2012-05-11 11:33 ram6
brw------- root     root       1,   7 2012-05-11 11:33 ram7
brw------- root     root       1,   8 2012-05-11 11:33 ram8
brw------- root     root       1,   9 2012-05-11 11:33 ram9
drwxr-xr-x root     root              2012-05-11 11:33 vold

EDIT: I am aware of following methodology, I could use to restore phone:

ODIN froyo or gingerbread image,
ODIN clockworkmod with ICS fix,
Install firmware from zip file
Restore nandroid backup

My question is specifically, how do I avoid having to go through all of this, and just make ODIN-flashable restore.

You need to back up everything that isn't on the data partition if I'm not mistaken.  You can skip the bootloader though since it's generally a very bad idea to touch that.  In fact I'd say this is a bad idea in general -- you want to be darn sure you're flashing good stuff with Odin, which means not something you might have screwed up before backing it up :P.

If you create a normal Nandroid backup, the steps to a full restore are Odin to stock / install CWM / restore backup, which doesn't take much longer.  I would tell you how to do this anyways except that I don't know which partitions are mapped to which Odin images :P

@MatthewRead Thanks for the answer, but my question is specifically about making ODIN flashable restore image. Although you think differently, it does take a long time to do all the steps you brought up here, and it is a lot of manual work, and many chances to forget something. I want to make a package I could restore without having to remember details

I have the same idea once,but its hard to achieve.
if use gingerbread ,you can reference the official rom,and make replacement,
but for ics, there different partitions,you  maybe hard to suceess.

What is it you're trying to say?

@AlEverett I think what he is trying to say is that with ICS it is challenging to make ODIN-flashable image because of different than GB partition structure.

@HenryWu I am not sure why would anyone give you a -1 for the answer, and it really bothers me that someone -1'ed this thread. I see no reason why asking questions, or posting answers about android recovery is considered inappropriate on this site. Even though you didn't answer my question I will +1 you anyway

@galets: There is nothing inherently wrong with questions about recovery or Odin on this site. This specific answer, though, could likely have been downvoted because it is very poorly-written and difficult to understand, or because (by your own admission) it does not answer your question. I encourage you to consider not upvoting posts unless you find them genuinely useful, though ultimately you are free to vote however you wish.

@eldarerathis it might be poorly written, but it's possible to understand what he is trying to say, and he clearly has a valid point. What makes me wonder is why in the world is someone so insistent on keeping his answer at -1. What about my question? Is it also poorly written? I have a feeling this site is being manipulated, no wonder you can't get any good answers here.

@galets: Downvoting poor content hardly qualifies as "manipulation", it's the entire purpose of the voting system. I have no idea why your question was downvoted - only the person who cast the vote could tell you - but they are under no obligation to do so. It's annoying sometimes, sure, but anonymity is core to the voting system and extremely unlikely to change anytime soon.

@eldarerathis that might be true, but follow me. My question sits with "-1" on it, so it's pretty much buried. Rating pretty much blocks most wanderers from checking it out. The HenryWu guy is obviously a new account. Nobody is paying extra attention to his comments. So, the moment he posted, somebody opened a buried, several-days-old thread to downvote him. Coincidence? maybe. So, time passes, nothing happens. I upvote him, and almost immediately after that someone gets him back to "-1". Under which scenario would you say such thing would normally happen?

@galets: The /review page has a tab that displays "First Answers" posted by accounts. This is this user's first answer, and it was how I landed on this answer. I would not be surprised if other people did as well since /review is visible to anyone with >=200 rep. Answering a question also bumps it to the top of the active list.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
CM7 default dialer - how do I set international prefix?
I installed vanilla CM7 (7.2.0), and ther is one thing that drives me crazy that I don't know how to fix. According to this, the default dialer that comes with CM7 has "011" international prefix configured. This makes it drop all the calls to the phone numbers starting with "+".
Here's what somebody wrote about solution:

This has been driving me crazy for ever. Finally played around with it
  today and if you go into settings then call settings tap on
  International Prefix remove the 011 and save. Do not put the +1 there
  leave it blank and it will call the +1 numbers tried it on 3 of my
  numbers after I did it and it worked on all. Hope this helps.

I am not sure what version of CM7 is the guy using, but on mine this option is nowhere to be found. Is there another way to configure this prefix, such as going directly to some sqlite database or something of that kind?
UPDATE: I dumped files from /data/data/com.android.phone/shared_prefs, and none of them seems to define any dialing rules:
# cat _has_set_default_values.xml
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>
<map>
<boolean name="_has_set_default_values" value="true" />
</map>
# cat com.android.phone_preferences.xml
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>
<map>
<boolean name="rotate_incall_screen" value="false" />
<boolean name="button_hide_hold_button" value="false" />
<boolean name="button_force_touch" value="false" />
<string name="preferred_umts_network_mode_key">4</string>
<string name="vm_number_key_cdma">*********</string>
<boolean name="button_vibrate_hangup" value="true" />
<string name="preferred_cdma_network_mode_key">4</string>
<boolean name="button_return_home" value="true" />
<boolean name="button_black_regex" value="false" />
<string name="sip_call_options_key">SIP_ADDRESS_ONLY</string>
<boolean name="button_vibrate_45" value="false" />
<string name="button_voicemail_provider_key"></string>
<string name="button_trackball_answer_timed">-1</string>
<string name="preferred_network_mode_key">4</string>
<boolean name="button_always_proximity" value="false" />
<boolean name="button_left_hand" value="false" />
<boolean name="button_screen_awake" value="false" />
<string name="cdma_system_select_key">2</string>
<boolean name="button_show_organ" value="true" />
<boolean name="button_vibrate_outgoing" value="true" />
<boolean name="button_led_notify" value="true" />
<boolean name="button_vibrate_call_waiting" value="false" />
<boolean name="bg_incall_screen" value="false" />
<string name="button_trackball_hangup_timed">-1</string>
</map>
# cat vm_numbers.xml
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>
<map>
<int name="#FWDSettings#Length" value="0" />
<string name="#VMNumber">**********</string>
</map>


text:
name resolution on samsung s22 device does not find local host using full name
S22 Android 12 device here.
I have my own DNS server on a local network. Phone seems to pick up local DNS, but it will not address devices using fully-qualified name. Example (in adb):
g0q:/ $ ping nas.mydomain.local
ping: unknown host nas.mydomain.local
2|g0q:/ $ ping nas
PING nas.mydomain.local (10.1.1.26) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 10.1.1.26: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=2.41 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.26: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=13.4 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.26: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=10.7 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.26: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=16.1 ms

Same is happening in firefox and other apps. I can access host via https://hostname, but not https://hostname.mydemain.local. Anyone knows what magic is happening here and how to turn it off?
UPDATE: what I suspect might be happening is that .local domain seems to have a special meaning. I am not sure what is different in Samsung implementation, since GrapheneOS (also based on android 12) handles these hostnames fine. If someone has any suggestions how to disable this feature, please let me know

Have you checked DNS access log on your server? Then you will see what DNS queries were sent.

The reason indeed was that domain ended with .local. I configured several servers to use .home domain name, issues them new certs, and they work resolving properly.

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


text:
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 charging paused, battery temperature low
I have a new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. I recently bought it online. It was working fine, but now the tablet is not charging and keeps giving the error 'battery temperature low'. I tried charging it by switching the tablet off, but then it gives a yellow error sign.

Try charging in safe mode and report your findings.

A rather similar question was asked here. Did the answers given there work for you? If not, please edit your question and explain how your situation is different

I can only get min to charge in safe mode. In normal mode it makes the charger connect sound, immediately followed by charger disconnect sound. To start in safe mode simply power down and restart, it will first show static Samsung logo, and then start animated Samsung logo, when second logo starts press and hold volume down. The screen will go slightly grey after a few seconds. You can leave the button then, it will start in safe mode.
Only workaround seems to be rolling back to Kit Kat.


text:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 not powering on and unable to do factory reset
What happened is my tablet froze. I tried to restart the tablet by holding the power button, however it stayed on the Samsung screen and did not proceed to the home screen. Eventually I was able to turn off the device.
I want to factory reset the device now. However the options to factory reset are not showing. I press and hold volume up together with the power button, nothing happened. What else can I do to hard reset the device?

Hold the Volume Down and Power Button to get into the stock recovery - you should be able to do a factory reset from there.

I tried doing that. Nothing happened.

Reflashing your stock firmware might help - go into the download mode by pressing Vol Up + Power Button, Select and download the firmware. This is for the Galaxy Tab2 GT-P3100, if this does not match your device then search for an other firmware. Follow the instructions on the bottom of the download-page to reflash a stock rom.


text:
Some apps are gone and others crash after Samsung Galaxy S2 crash
I'm facing a problem with my Galaxy S2. I've been using it for 1 year but a week ago when I used the alarm clock to set an alarm, the phone suddenly hanged and restarted. After the restart it stopped working properly. At first all of my apps crashed even the TwLauncher. So I turned it off and then tried turning it on by removing the memory card and simcard. It didn't work out, so I used my Nokia for a week and left it with battery, simcard and external memory card removed. But this weekend I turned it on and it started working with less app crashes but some of my apps were gone like opera mobile. Also I had to re-enter my Google account because the phone was like factory reset. All data was there, the only thing gone was my Google account.
Now my problem is all my apps are crashing when I enter them and sometimes a text comes to the screen saying "Oooops !! I crashed but a report has been sent to my developer"
How can I fix this? Any ideas? I can provide screenshots if needed. Any help would be helpful.

It sounds like something has corrupted within your phone.
You didn't say if you forced a factory reset - that would be my first suggestion.
Failing that, you're left in a tricky situation.  The only think I can suggest is to root your device and install a new ROM over top, I tend to advise people to install Cyanogenmod.  Luckily there are complete instructions for doing that over at the Cyanogenmod wiki.
Good luck.

No Martyn i didn't make a factory reset,when i switched the phone on it was like factory resetted (only thing gone was settings and google account).I really really don't want to do factory reset,isn't there something esle useful ?


text:
Any custom ROM reboots Kindle Fire
I've installed FireFireFire and TWRP on my Kindle Fire. That went ok and I can boot into TWRP. Then I tried installing many custom ROMs (SimpleCM9, jandycane, MIUI, AlienDroidV4.0.zip) but all with the some result - flash ok, reboot, boot logo/animation of custom ROM, then reboot and Kindle hangs on next boot.
TWRP 2.2.2.1

did you make sure to completely wipe the dalvik cache and factory reset the device between each ROM flash?

Yes. I'm was reset cache/dalvik cache/Factory and separately all this and system.


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

E:verification failed

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

I'm doing this through goomanager.

First of all, you're rooted right? Also, this might seem obvious but I'm going to suggest it anyway: have you tried installing it through CWM Recovery? That seems to be the normal way to install/wipe ROMs, so I'd try that first. See Howto: Using the Recovery.
Also, your ROM installation ZIP might be corrupt. Double check the md5 sum on it, if it doesn't match, try redownloading it. Try another ROM, might be a corrupt version of the ROM (if it's a nightly for example).
If you have any questions or additional details, comment and I'll update this answer.

Hi, thanks for taking the time toreply, yeah the phone is rooted right, i have installed a number of different roms succesfully, i have tried to instal the ROM through CWM, i have downloaded and tried to install a few times but get the same error codes?? I did have cm10 ics ROM on the phone about a month ago, some how i bricked the sd card but i did manage to unbrick it, all is working ok now, do you think this could have anything to do with it?  please can you explain what md5 sum is, and what you mean by "nightly" many thanks again for your time.


text:
How can I install a CSC code which are not listed on Samsung Galaxy S/S2/S3 CSC app?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2.
I want to change its CSC to any Indian version. I came to know that ODD, INU, IND, INA, INS, IMS & REL are the Indian CSCs. But when I checked it with Samsung Galaxy S / S2/ S3 CSC, these CSCs are not listed.
How can I install a CSC which is not in the list?

You will have to use Odin to do the deed in performing a wipe/flash with the appropriate CSC, as @geffchang mentioned in his answer - you will lose everything on your handset so backup first before proceeding :)

If you change CSC, you need to wipe / Factory Reset your phone.
So, you might as well download and flash a stock ROM that is for India. It has Indian CSC.
EDIT #1: You do not need root to flash stock ROM on your phone using Odin.


text:
Samsung Galaxy Ace keeps updating Samsung app store
I recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy Ace and tried to get onto the Samsung application store on the phone.
It said that there was an update for the application so I downloaded it and tried to get into the application again.
It again came up with the update option and it keeps repeating the process...
Please can I have an answer for this as I'm not familiar with these kinds of phones...

If I remember correctly, the Samsung app store required me to install 3 updates before I could use it when I bought my Samsung Galaxy S2. I browsed it once and then never looked at it again because it hardly has any interesting apps. So if I were you, I wouldn't bother with the Samsung app store update, just use Google Play.


text:
How can I automatically set up Android as USB storage only when connected to my PC?
How can I set up Android to automatically act as USB storage only when connected to my computer (or other "known" devices), without asking additional questions?
I want to have those questions on other computers (charging by default).
I understand the questions are for the security reasons, but I trust my machine,
so I don't need to answer any questions each time.
The device is rooted, cyanogenmod 7, Tasker and Locale installed.


text:
WiFi Connection problems Samsung Galaxy S3 mini
I have a Samsung Galaxy s3 mini. The wi-fi is turned on and the phone is not detecting my Trendnet 3G router at home. All my other devices e.g. laptop and BlackBery's are connecting seamlessly with the router, but not the S3 mini. How do I ascertain that the phone's wifi is working correctly. There are no other routers in range to cross reference with those.

Does the Blackberry support creating a wireless hotspot? You could try that and see if your S3-Mini is detecting that. There's also PC software available to create hotspots (as e.g. Connectify for Windows) -- however, they mostly generate ad-hoc networks Android does not natively support connecting, though it should detect them.

Hi Izzy, I am installing connectify. Will keep you updated on outcome. Thank you for your advice.

I have had the exact problem on galaxy s3. Did everything I read on the forums from rebooting phone, router,modify router settings e.t.c. I'll cut to the chase I simply went on the playstore and installed an app called Wi-Fi fixer which resolved the problem straight away and I haven't had any problems since.
Hope this helps


text:
Telegram shows contacts from different phone?
Recently I installed Telegram on my SGS3 and surprisingly the Telegram contacts show me the contacts from my father's phone!!!! My father has an SGS2.
By the way, on my SGS3 the "Contacts to Display" option is set to show 'Gmail account', and none of my father's lists are there.
Who can explain this?

Same problem here. Telegram is showing contacts from an older google account that was delete from the phone.

Probably you have both google accounts (yours and your father's) synched with your phone OR you are  running Telegram with the same phone numbers.

Both of us have different gamil account and my father didn't install Telegram on his mobile. Regards


text:
Disabling "Show notifications" isn't always working
This scenario happens specifically on an unrooted/original SGS4 4.3 with the Glovebox app. See screenshots. I haven't encountered such a problem up until now.
Any idea why the notification is show even though it shouldn't?
Enabling and disabling the checkbox again does the trick and removes the notification - until the next time it is show.
Notification:
(Click image to enlarge)

App info:

maybe it hasn't installed correctly?


text:
Can overcharging destroy Xperia J or Android phone?
My phone needs to charge for about only 2 and half hour, but I forgot so I charged my phone for about 3 and half hour. Then I noticed that my battery is easy to drain. When my phone is in 14% or below, it will tell me that I already need to charge but when I turn off my phone and turn it on again, it will go back to 16%. Also when my phone is already 100% charged and I turn it off and on again, it will be at 95% left. Can overcharging destroy a Xperia J or Android phone?

Your question is very hard to follow so people are unlikely to answer if they can't understand what you're saying could you write it in sentences please.

If an Android device is connected to a charger for a long period of time, with poor ventilation, this can contribute to overheating the device.
Apart from that, modern devices and batteries will stop charging when the battery is fully charged. There's a builtin failsafe that will cut off the power, as to prevent overcharging. Additionally there's is also a Short Circuit Protection.
As per your device in particular, you can read from the User's Manual (page 13):

Charging the phone over a long period of time, for example, overnight, does not damage the battery or the phone.

I'd delete the first paragraph, because damage by overheating is not connected to leaving the charger plugged in. As soon as the phone is full, it only draws standby current and leaves the battery charged and goes to sleep as without charger plugged in. Car analogy: driving for 12 hours does also not harm its battery either, the charger circuit takes care of it.

@ce4 What do you think now?

All's fine, your answer is (and was already) good :-) I often get annoyed by rumours in this field, like battery charging was something mystical... http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/33003/is-there-any-sense-in-this-technique-for-charging-li-ion-batteries

Aaand, this one: http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/36248/consequence-effects-and-solutions-mobile-phone-always-connected-to-ac-power


text:
Unable to download media Whatsapp while using Wifi with proxy
I'm using a wifi network that contains a proxy. I am using proxydroid to run the proxy for all applications on my Android phone. But sometimes I am not able to download media on Whatsapp.
How can I use a proxy for Whatsapp and other applications with no restriction?

As mentioned in the WhatsApp FAQ:

WhatsApp is not designed to be used with proxy services, so we cannot provide support for proxy configurations.

There are many other apps that have this restriction and hence many other applications may have issues functioning properly with proxy servers.

A phone wide VPN would be a good thing to try. Tunnelbear is free, but there are other services you can pay for. Essentially, you need to use a system VPN or something similar, rather than an app, to proxy all traffic through another source.

In that case that proxy is blocking WhatsApp. I can confirm because I am in the same situation, while being on corporate network WhatsApp can't even recieve or send messages.
This is not an issue in WhatsApp or a general bug, its just blocked by your network administrator. You can try with VPN, but depending how that VPN works it might also be blocked by the network (ports that VPN uses for connection).


text:
How do I factory reset this Chinese device?
I have a Pritom M10 tablet I bought from Amazon a week or so ago, it's essentially a Chinese cheap thing based on the Lenovo M10. However, the audio quality is absolutely awful and that has really put me off. So, as it is new, I was going to send it back to Amazon, but want to do a factory reset to wipe anything I have put on it like pictures, login info etc, just to be safe.
I followed the instructions for the Lenovo version, which is turn the device off, hold both volume buttons along with the power button and you'll get a menu, one of the options being factory reset. Of course, this is in Chinese and I can't read it. I have done some Googling on resetting Chinese tablets and the option that is chosen in the examples I have seen doesn't match any option on mine. This is the screen I am faced with:

Does anyone know which option I have to select? Or should I be asking this question elsewhere?

If the device is functional why don't you simply trigger factory reset from within Android itself? This is always the preferred method as it deletes your Google account before performing the factory reset. Otherwise if you have set-up a Google account the device will enter in Factory reset protection state (if FRP is implemented on this device) and Amazon my reject your resent device.

@Robert you mean through the settings? The factory reset function is blanked out and says to contact my administrator. Even thought it's a new device and I'm the only owner. Otherwise, that's the way I would have done it and I wouldn't have to go through this method

Take a more clear snapshot and upload it on an OCI (image to text) website which can convert mandarin/Chinese to English. Otherwise, approach a forum where mandarin/Chinese speakers hang out and ask them nicely if they could help you figure out what these options mean.

@Firelord Thank you. I'll give that a go. Unless anyone knows why the factory reset option in the settings isn't letting me select it?

Check into Security settings -> Device administrators. Remove any device administartor that you see there. Go into Settings, check if work profile is enabled. If yes, remove the Work profile. After this, try factory reset from Settings again and let us know the outcome.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Chinese/comments/2kzarn/chinese_tablet_menu_could_someone_translate

you accidentially entered the wrong mode (Spreadtrum Factory Test Mode)
volume up is for recovery mode, volume down for download mode, do not press both
google translate for last two options
重启 - reboot
恢复出厂设置 - factory reset

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


text:
Can I get back an image that displayed momentarily in the camera finder?
I had someone take a photo for me with my phone.  I didn't verify the photo but I took the phone back and put it into sleep (pushed the power button to turn the screen off without switching off the power) with the camera app still open.
Some hours later when I woke the phone up, the camera app displayed and in the finder there was for a split second the image that the person had taken for me.  The finder then switched to what was currently in front of the lens.
The photo doesn't seem to be saved.  It's not in the folder where photos normally end up.  However since the image did show up in the finder for that split second well after the fact, the phone must have saved it somewhere at least temporarily.
I've seen this phenomenon before, on multiple phones.  In this kind of case, might the image still be somewhere that I could retrieve it, and if so where?

I'm not sure what you mean but you can check in Phone Storage > Pictures > .thumbnail folder. It will be a hidden folder

Most likely the preserved image you saw after unlocking the phone was still saved somewhere in RAM by the graphic driver.
Waking up the camera takes a few milliseconds so you could see the old image in RAM before it was overwritten by the new live image from the camera.
Thus I don't see a chance to recover that image as it had not been saved to flash storage.


text:
How to Find Where an App Is Installed? Find an App's Install Location
Usually, Android apps are installed in:
Internal shared storage/Android/data/app/com.example.MyApp/

However, I've been looking for a while but can't find where CapCut (the video editing app) is installed. Anyone know where CapCut is installed or how I can find its installation directory?

Sorry but you are totally wrong. Apps are never installed to the internal shared storage ( better known as /sdcard or /storage/emulated/0). Apps are installed to /data/apps. See also https://android.stackexchange.com/a/159070/2241 how to get the install path of an app.

Apps on the internal storage are stored under /data/app/.
Apps on external storage are stored as .asec files under the .android_secure folder.
System apps are stored under /system/app/.
The asec files are mounted under /mnt/asec but it may all vary a tiny bit depending on the version.
Try looking in each of these folders.

Do I need root access to view /data/app/? Because I'm not seeing it from my phone.

@GTSJoe Yes, you do.


text:
With magisk, how to bypass boot-time password input?
I have an phone with magisk and termux installed, and now functions as a mini server at home. Whenever I need to reboot the phone, I need to manually unlock the phone with GUI to get termux running, so I can not reboot when away from home.
Is there a way to let magisk decrypt the phone programmatically, with password written in some config/script file?

If you keep the phone at home then why not just remove the password?

@Firelord IIRC, FBE is always there with or without password, so even I removed the  password, android need manual swipe up at boot to get other non-core app running. See reference here: https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/266720/android-file-encryption-without-screen-lock

You can disable encryption from fstab. You then have to format the data.

Add a shell script that runs at start-up. It's just a matter of timing.
/data/adb/service.d/99unlock
#!/system/bin/sh
sleep 30
input keyevent KEYCODE_WAKEUP
sleep 5
input keyevent KEYCODE_SPACE
input text <SIM PIN>
input keyevent KEYCODE_SPACE
sleep 5
input keyevent KEYCODE_SPACE
input text <PASSWORD>

Make sure the script is executable:
chmod 0700 /data/adb/service.d/99unlock


text:
Emulate vanila Android-arm64 on PC
I need to examine how the ELF binary (which is compiled for ARM processor) executes on Android-arm64. Can you please suggest how I can emulate Android-arm64 on the x86 system?
I have checked Android studio, but it seems that it only runs a single application but not the whole Android system.

Test in an Android Emulator or on a physical device.

Android Studio includes SDK manager and and AVD manager which you can use to install and run a virtual Android device.

I have checked Android studio, but it seems that it only runs a single application but not the whole Android system.

You are mistaken. The Android emulator in Android Studio creates and runs an entire virtual Android device. It's set up to make it particularly easy to do this with an app that you're developing in Android Studio, but that is not all of what it can do.


text:
How to set custom text notification sounds with a Samsung Galaxy S22?
I just purchased a Samsung Galaxy S22. It runs Android 12 and One UI 4.1.
What I am trying to do is use a custom notification sound for my text messages (Google Messages). I want a custom sound for one specific person and another for everyone else. I had this previously on my Galaxy S8.
Unfortunately this does not work for me. I have added the sounds I wish to use to my phone's storage. This includes custom ringtones. Those do work as I am able to select them when choosing a ringtone. I can see them in my list of available ringtones.  But the sounds I have added for notifications do not appear in the list of available notification sounds.
I have tried placing them in the following locations:

/root/sdcard/Notifications
/root/sdcard/Ringtones
/root/sdcard/Android/media
/root/sdcard/Android/media/Notifications

It's this still possible to do? If so, what am I missing?

Can someone with enough reputation create the samsung-galaxy-s-22 tag for me, please?

Turns out what I was missing is that the format of the file must be MP3. Mine were .wav files which worked on the older OS but not in the newer OS.

I think .ogg files are also accepted. But custom notification sounds seem to be no longer available on my S22 and I'm trying to find out what's going on. Very annoyed by this.


text:
Unable to delete file on sdcard
Can anyone tell me what the file and folders are in the picture below? I can't do anything or delete these files and folders. They are coming into my external sd-card. If I format the sdcard they are removed. If I take this sdcard out of my phone and put it into my PC I'm still unable to do anything with the files and folder.

Community bump prevention: this question was closed because the question seems to have been abandoned (OP hasn't visited the site after posting the question, and no answers have score above 0). If anyone can evaluate the existing answers, feel free to vote accordingly and reopen the question (or mod-flag the question requesting for reopening). For anyone else having the same issue, please post a new question and refer to this question as additional context.

These are corrupted directory entries, stored in the File Allocation Table if the card was formatted for an FAT family filesystem.  Reformatting gives you a new clean File Allocation Table, and therefore the spurious entries disappear.
Thanks to Wikipedia for providing this background:

The name of the file system originates from the file system's prominent usage of an index table, the File Allocation Table (FAT), statically allocated at the time of formatting. The table contains entries for each cluster, a contiguous area of disk storage. Each entry contains either the number of the next cluster in the file, or else a marker indicating end of file, unused disk space, or special reserved areas of the disk. The root directory of the disk contains the number of the first cluster of each file in that directory; the operating system can then traverse the FAT table, looking up the cluster number of each successive part of the disk file as a cluster chain until the end of the file is reached. In much the same way, sub-directories are implemented as special files containing the directory entries of their respective files.


text:
Problems using Whatsapp on HTC One V
I'm facing a problem using Whatsapp. Many times if I received 2-3 pics or a large conversation on Whatsapp, the phone's title bar (where it shows date, battery status & network status) disappears automatically. Also when I open Whatsapp it opens and disappears so in that case I have to select any pic/note & select option share on Whatsapp. Then Whatsapp opens after forwarding that pic/note. I have to use the option of clear conversation and then everything becomes normal.
This is really a very irritating procedure. I don't know why this happens. Many friends of mine who use other company mobiles with the same configuration as my HTC One V don't have this type of problem. Please suggest what the problem is.

Did you try removing and then reinstalling the app?

Remove the data and then uninstall the app. Failing that report it as a bug directly to the developer!

HTC One V users can now take the software update. HTC has provided the update for whatsapp crash. Go to Settings>About>Software Update

Since this issue is mostly isolated to HTC devices running 4.0.4 OS or older, we have reason to believe your device may have issues with Indian languages written in Devanagari such as Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati etc. Android only recently added Sanskrit based characters support to Android 4.3. This is likely what is causing the crash in your history. Unfortunately, this is not something that WhatsApp can resolve, the only known fix is to update your phone to a phone that supports Sanskrit languages or to ask your contacts to stop sending you messages containing Devanagari fonts.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. We would be happy to help!
Regards
Kuldeep

Try updating HTC one v software. This will solve your issue. No need to reinstall whatsapp. You can go to Setting -> About -> Software Update -> Check now.

If the title bar disappears, install a task killer and kill all tasks. It may help.

How will it help? Using a task killer is counter-productive and generally a bad idea.


text:
How to connect Sony Xperia L with Ubuntu?
How do I connect my Sony Xperia L in MTP mode with Ubuntu? If I connect in MTP mode, Ubuntu fails to read my files from internal storage.
What can I do?

That might depend on which Android version your device it running. Some devices additional support USB mass storage. Also: there are some packages you might install/update on your Ubuntu side, to support mtpfs (see e.g. answers here and here).
Alternatively, you might wish to go the "ADB way" (this is how I do it on my Ubuntu box). Here you would need a basic ADB installation (see: Is there a minimal installation of ADB?) and adbfs (see my answer here). In both cases, you can use graphical file managers as well as the command line to deal with your files.

Normally mass storage mode was not supported by Sony xperia L if it doesn't had any sdcard.So,you have to connect the xperia L with Ubuntu in MTP mode to see its content.
In Ubuntu,an android device which was connected in MTP mode was not detected if it was pluggedin to any one of the USB 2.0 ports.For getting your device detected in Ubuntu,you have to plugin the phone in USB 3.0 port.
Port with black tongue - USB 2.0 port
Port with blue tongue - USB 3.0 port
Tested in Ubuntu 13.04 and 13.10.


text:
Which custom recovery to use for Chinese Samsung Note 3 Neo SM-N7506V?
I bought a Samsung of the above mentioned model here in China and I want to flash Gapps on it. I understand the process to do so is

rooting it,
flash a custom recovery program like CWM or TWRP
install the gapps zip in the recovery mode of the phone.

I successfully rooted it via Odin and C-Flash.
The problem I encounter is that I can't find a custom recovery that works on my model.
CWM does not offer any.
I tried TWRP, but with this my phone got bricked and I needed to install a new firmware.
Repeated googling did not produce any answers to my questions.
Please help me out,  I would be happy to use gapps as on a European phone.

Try putting all .so files from the zip into /system/lib and all apk files to /system/priv-app (4.4+) or /system/app (<4.4)


text:
Can't do factory reset on Galaxy Tab 2
I can't reset my Galaxy Tab 2 to factory settings. I know that you can when turning it on but the problem is that I installed a sort of ios onto the device and have forgotten the password and it won't let me turn it off without being logged in, but I can't unlock it.
Please help

According to Verizon, if you cannot perform a factory reset from the Settings app, you can perform one by following these steps:

Power the device off.

Press and hold the Power key.
Select Power off.
Select OK.   Note: If the screen doesn't respond to input, press and hold the Power button for 10-15 seconds.

Press and hold the Volume up key then press and hold the Power key.   Note: USB cable must be disconnected.
When the Samsung logo appears, release the Volume up key and Power key.
From the Android system recovery screen, press the Volume keys to select wipe data / factory reset then press the Power key.
Press the Volume keys to select Yes -- delete all user data then press the Power key.
Press the Volume keys to select reboot system now then press the Power key.
Perform Initial Activation and Setup.

You can read more at the Verizon website (Tab 2 Troubleshooting: Hard Reset).

You can wipe your phone straight from your computer using Android Device Manager, by going to the Play Store website on your computer, clicking the settings button, and selecting Android Device Manager.  Then, select your phone if it isn't automatically selected, and click wipe.

What if my device isnt connected to device manager

If you haven't set it up on your phone, then this won't work, but if you mean that it just isn't connected to WiFi, then once it is connected to a network it will factory reset it.


text:
Why can't I download anything from the Market after CSC change?
I changed the CSC to my country and after that, I couldn't download anything from the Market.
It gives this error: "app name" could not be downloaded due to an error. (-101)
I tried updating  to Market 3.4.4, cleared the cache, rebooted my phone. Nothing worked. I don't have wifi at home and I get online via free wifi at a local mall. Couldn't download any app for 2 days now (that I've tried after the CSC change) but I'm able to browse.
Please help. Thank you.

I'm not familiar with the term. What's "CSC"?

@AlEverett I found this, appears to be country codes? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=779580

Also, maybe related: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=787163

I fixed it by doing a factory reset, and restoring my personal apps only and not including backups of system data.


text:
Consequences of rooting HTC One X?
All I want to be able to do on my device is to be able to use Titanium Backup.
I don't want to install custom roms, I want to keep everything as-is but be able to run apps that need root like the above.
If I do root my device, will that stop OTA updates from installing? If they do install, will it need re-rooting again?
Can devices be un-rooted?

Yes, most manufacturers (AFAIK including HTC, as I had this experience with my EVO 4G) will have the OTA update break if the device is rooted. This may have changed, but to my knowledge, OTA will not work after root.
However, devices can be unrooted, however, some are easier than others, and the process is different for most devices. Please note that most unrooting methods require a full wipe. Thus is the nature.
However, if I can give you a bit of personal advice, custom ROMs can usually give you the features of an OTA update and much, much more ;)

Many unrooting method can be undone without causing a wipe, there's nothing about unrooting that requires a wipe.


text:
Some 2.1/2.2 apps not working
I just upgraded my Galaxy gt i5800 to 2.2 froyo from the kies firmware.
Why am I getting "not compatible with this device" from some apps that say they require 2.1 or 2.2? Can anyone please explain.

Can you provide some examples of the apps that are listed as incompatible?

The "Not compatible with this device" message encompasses more than just the OS version.  The Play Store also checks for other software and hardware components that the app's developer listed as requirements.  These components can range from a minimum screen resolution, to having particular hardware (e.g. Tegra 3 chipset).
You can try searching for a given app on Google Play Store website to get a better idea of the incompatibility.

Thanks for the advise probably screen res whats the problem. 1 thing i dont understand zynga poker wont dowmload through google play says not compatible it used to load and has loaded from another source? Thanks for the advise it it worth doing the rom upgrade (to overclock etc.)  or should i just stay with the samsung firmware via kies.


text:
Samsung Galaxy Y asking to install CDC ACM DATA?
I have connected my Samsung Galaxy Y mobile with Windows XP (64 bit) operating system. It is asking me to install the CDC ACM Data. I have selected the 'install automatically' option, but it is saying that it can't install the software. Where can I find the software? I have searched a lot.

Here they say, installing Samsung Kies should solve the problem.
I haven't tried it yet, but it is available on Samsung's official website for their various phone models.


text:
How to trace/track my stolen Samsung Galaxy Ace 2
Today was a bad day for me as I'm having a lot of problems. The latest and important event was I lost my phone. It was registered with my name and email and has information on it about me etc. The sim card is inside (if the robber didn't thrash it). The phone has gps but it's turned off. I hope I can find it.
If you have any question just ask me, maybe about the story how it began?
Is there any software/tools to track it, or find it manually maybe?

You will need to submit a request to Police Station to track your android device through its IMEI number. As soon as the mobile is switched on and it gets Signal from telecom company, its location will be detected.
Or alternatively, If you had any tracking app, installed on your device, then you may contact app developer for help to track your device.

is this things "ppl report to police n police track with IMEI" thing u said..rare or it was the often useed solution?

well! I have came accross this situation once. I lost my android device with No SIM CARD INSERTED in it. somebody got it and was using it . So this stuff helped me to get my device back... It is very oftenly used method but i will recommend you to search for someone who can track your device personally with IMEI because Police is so slow...

And that tracking is what the solutions in my answer provide, amongst other things. So if your device was stolen, I recommend going both ways in parallel -- but start with the solutions I mentioned as soon as possible: if the thief disables your account on the device (e.g. wipes it), they won't work anymore.

The thief would have been disabled all his account by now...

i think..naahhh..because i still can open the google play with my google account and the GP still can trace my phone with my google account..but idk if the sim was changed..it said Celcom and gt-18160(my sim celcom..but when i called always voice mail)..

I was saying that the Thief may probably have removed/changed your account from you device. -_-

can u use IMEI?

No! you need some specific machines to do so. That is why i am refering Police Station. They can track it easily if it is being used with any sim.

k ill try..
other way???

No! There is no other way to track the device.

I strongly recommend you take a look at the lost-phone tag-wiki, which contains a lot of first-aid hints. As you write your SIM is still in the device, there's hope it's also still connected to your Google account and has a network connection -- so hurry up trying solutions like Plan B or Android Lost, which you can then push to your device via Google Play's website. Find more details in the linked tag-wiki, plus on the apps' page at Google Play.

and if the sim was thrashed???cause i called always voice mail..yes it was my account in the phone..

As long as your account is still alive and connected on the device, mentioned solutions should work. They can't work obviously without a network connection. The SIM, on the other side, should be of not much interest to them (as long as a network connection is available, and your account still active on the device).

about the plan b..i ady installed it from pc..bu then it said step 2. Plan B will start automatically and send your phone’s location to your Gmail address.
3. To locate again after 10 minutes, borrow a friend’s phone and text the word “locate” to your lost phone...until now..i've done the text message..i sent locate(as there are no email from plan B in my gmail)..about 2 hours ady..

and the android lost..and still cant control...it said:
Waiting for phone to be registered.
Register your phone by starting the application on your phone. If you have forgot your phone at home you may remotely start the app by sending an SMS with the text 'androidlost register' to your phone. Wait a little while. Please be patient. Relogin to this page to see if it has been registered..also 2 hours ady..

Sorry, I never used any of those solutions myself -- so I cannot say for sure; but to me that looks very much like there's no SIM card inserted anymore (so it cannot receive your SMS), and the device connected via WiFi, if at all (maybe not at all anymore, if there's no response). If I were the thief (beware!), the first thing to do would be switching off the device. And before switching it on again, remove the SIM so it doesn't connect to any network. Then, if I'm after the phone, wipe it, re-flash it. If I'm after your data, it's a different thing -- but for sure no network.

remote registration doesn't work on Android Lost - https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/androidlost/Vo5_F0wF_do/0CUPZ5o2nuYJ


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Bypass lockscreen PIN with broken screen (Android 7)
I've a Huawei P9 Plus running Android 7 with unlocked bootloader and TWRP installed.
My screen is broken so I need to mirror my screen with scrcpy.
I've tried ton of guides like this one to enable USB Debug and bypass RSA verification via recovery mode and adb but nothing.
I think that adb can't detect my phone because I can't enter my 6 digit PIN, in which way can I bypass it or delete PIN request?

I’m wondering, is it possible to plug in a USB keyboard on an Android 7 system ? If yes, maybe you could enter the PIN that way ?

@NovHak If the phone supports USB OTG this should be possible. But it also depends on the used keyboard, if it has [RBG] lights, integrated USB-hub, smartcard reader or something like that it often draws too much power and therefore does not work as an OTG keyboard.

Thank you both, I read that my phone is compatible with USB OTG but even if I connect a keyboard I can't see anything because my screen is broken, I don't know if I can connect my device to an external monitor via HDMI..any ideas?

@Bug-Gy It’s not necessary that you see before typing, if you can guess what’s on screen after boot ; you could then type blindly. Another option if you want to remove the PIN request : remove the SIM, Android can perfectly boot without one. Of course if it’s the PIN to unlock the screen that’s another matter, but at least you won’t risk locking your SIM with three consecutive bad PIN codes.

@NovHak Thanx for the help, I've already remove my SIM to avoid lock. I've tried many times to swipe and blindly type my PIN to unlock the screen but nothing.

Shouldn’t that work ?

adb shell input keyevent 26 (press the lock button to wake up the screen)
adb shell input touchscreen swipe 930 880 930 380 (swipe up to bring the PIN dialog)
adb shell input text XXXX (XXXX is the passcode)
adb shell input keyevent 66 (press OK)

Just a wild guess, according to what I read in the aforementioned question and subsequent replies and comments.
You probably don’t need to send a lock button press via keyevent if the actual lock button still works, especially considering you will have to be quick to swipe up after waking up the screen before it goes off again.

Thank you for your effort, since my phone is not detected by PC, I can only connect via recovery mode. In recovery when I digit the command adb shell input I get this error: /sbin/sh: input: not found and I can't proceed

Ah yes of course, I suppose it won’t work if USB debugging hasn’t been enabled beforehand. I don’t know what can be done from revovery mode in that respect…

Thank you, your method works but you have to enable USB debug first (tested with a working P9 Lite with debug enabled, specially the "allow USB debug in charge-only mode" option). You've a good guess that could help someone so I vote your answer. About my phone I'm stuck. I've learn my lesson, I'll search for a screen replacement or similar and then I'll enable the debug options manually. Thank you all!


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Can I connect to Wifi after flashing GSI
My old phone is running Android 10. I wanted to install Android 14 beta on it. Bootloader is locked.
From what I know, unlocking bootloader would reset the device. Therefore Wifi passwords are gone. This is ok as I know them. The problem is my router admin has setup something so when using randomized MAC address it doesn't connect. But fron what I Googled, it seems MAC address is hardware based so resetting phone wouldn't change it.
So, my question is, does MAC address reset in unlocking bootloader or flashing GSI make me unable to access the network? If possible, please actually try because I don't want to mess up I have no experience in this area.

That depends. There is one randomization mode that generates for each Wifi an own MAC address (for that Wifi the MAC is then always the same). The algorithm that generates the MAC address bases (as far as I remember) internally on a secret that is user specific, thus will be erased on factory reset. If the Wifi connection you currently use is configured to use such a generated (but Wifi static) MAC address, it will also be erased by a factory reset. Next time you try to connect after factory reset the MAC would be different.

If i choose "use device MAC" instead of "random MAC", stuff should work right

I confirmed myself by unlocking BL, flashing ODIN with magisk patch. Still same MAC address


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How to force Android to tell the browser about real physical resolution?
Samsung Flow allows users of Samsung phones to use the external display, eg. laptop as larger display and also with physical keyboard.
However, the browser is still in mobile mode (big UI and big font on low resolution).
I've activated the view as desktop in browser and the websites are displayed as in desktop, but the Android OS is still reporting to browser (or browser itself) the virtual resolution which is altered by DPI. Thus the web pages are limited at around 800px to 900px (width). This can be seen when opening mobile browser at whatismyresolution.com.
How to force the browser to use physical resolution in its desktop mode? I've tried all mobile browsers but no such option in their Settings.

Change the browsers user agent to something other than a mobile browser

that agent value is reported to server side, doesn't affect the resolution that browser is using

You are mistaken. In Edge on the desktop you can change the user agent and make it appear your on a mobile device part of that configuration is also choosing the resolution of the device.

but also the font, its size if not reducible

The font size setting in Android Settings can change the font size and apps will follow but it is still not enough to use the physical resolution
In order to use physical resolution on the phone that browser will report physical resolution to the JavaScript inside the pages:

The font size in default Android Settings is not enough, it's just app UI
Steps

Enable Developer Settings, press 7 times on something in Android Settings of that kind of stuff

Go inside Developer Settings, set "Minimum width" to the smaller size of the dimensions, eg. full HD is 1920x1080, set it to 1080

BUT BE AWARE: DON'T PUT THAT "Minimum width" TOO BIG, ALL UI IN ANDROID WILL BE TOO SMALL TO PRESS WITH FINGER TO CHANGE IT BACK.


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Galaxy Note 3 - Is there a way to add more apps to use when drawing a 'Pen Window'?
Is there a way to add more applications in the list that appears when you press the button on the S-Pen and select "Pen Window" to draw a floating application?
It would be really nice if you could open a floating twitter or Facebook application.

Without root it is up to the developer of the particular application, and chances are there aren't enough Note 3s out there to justify it.
There is an S-Pen SDK from Samsung
There are lists (but these will often be out of date in no time)  like this best S-Pen apps out there.

With root access  there is a way to open any app in Pen Window Mode

First, make sure you are rooted with busybox installed.
Second, make a backup.
Third, just download PenWindowManager_v1.apk  and install as normal.
Finally, just tick the apps you want and don't forget to press the save button. A soft reboot maybe required for the changes to take effect.


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Part of touch screen is not working
This is a weird touch screen issue as only part (2 blocks) of the screen is not working. I tested the touch functionality via "Touch Test" and observed that 2 red zones are not responding to finger tap (see screenshot). Where there are 2 thin gaps (actually 2 lines) are responsive. This happened after an app update (15 apps). I didn't drop the phone during this period. So I am suspecting this might due to a software issue. What could cause this issue?

Try rebooting. I used to have this problem in my old phone...part of the touch screen wouldn't work. Those times i would pull down the notification bar and close it. After that the whole screen would become responsive again.

No luck after rebooting. I am going to reset the phone to factory setting (or upgrade the firmware and wipe the phone) to see if it's a hardware issue. This is the last thing I want to do before any possible way to identify the issue.

Was there any water exposure? Was it dropped at any stage, before or after installing apps, despite I didn't drop the phone during this period? 15 apps would not do that... just saying :)

There is an option in Settings->Developer options->Show touches which when enabled will show a blip on the places where you touch. Try enabling to see whether you could see the blips in the area that you reported not working.

I might be late, or maybe not. I confirmed (here) this issue being adressed into a firmware where the asigned screen size was bigger than it was supposed to be. In my case, a 7" tablet flashed with a 10" screen size tablet, downloaded straight from the tablet's company support page, for my specific tablet.
The guy from the link applied a solution by himself, using pieces from another firmware so the screen size matched the desired one. You can either do this or try another firmware, if it exists.

some basic general troubleshooting steps that you can try to get a touchscreen working again.
Step 1
More RAM consumption
Turn the device off, wait a few seconds, and then turn it back on again. This process will clear out any software errors that are causing the touchscreen to malfunction. If the touchscreen still doesn't work, remove the device's battery, if possible, wait ten seconds and then put it back in.
Step 2
Malfunctioning Card(SD or SIM)
Remove both the SIM and memory cards from the device, if the device accepts such cards, and then turn the device off and back on again. Sometimes errors in these cards can cause devices to malfunction.
Step 3
Recalibration
Check your device's documentation to see if there is a way to manually recalibrate the screen. This process will either be done through the "Settings" or "Tools" menus, for those devices that have an alternative method of input, or by holding a combination of buttons while you turn the device on, for those devices that only have the touchscreen for input.
Step 4
OS Mafunctioning
Upgrade the device's software to the latest version, if possible. Many devices come with software for your computer that will allow you to connect the device and update the software. Often, this process will resolve existing software errors that may be causing the touchscreen to stop responding.
Step 5
No Connection between Screen and device's contact
Clean the device's contacts and screen using isopropyl alcohol and a small brush. Turn the device off before you clean it.
Step 6
Perform a hard reset as a last resort. This reset will erase everything you have added to the device and return its software and settings to their factory defaults. Even with an unresponsive touchscreen, most devices will have a way to perform this reset either through PC software or by holding a combination of buttons while turning the device on. Consult your device documentation to determine the exact process for performing a hard reset on your device.
Step 7
Contact the manufacturer for your device if the touchscreen is still unresponsive after your troubleshooting attempts. The manufacturer may have additional steps to take that are specific to your device, and if your device is still under warranty you should be able to get a replacement through their customer service division.
I got this from here

Your answer is cool, but the question What could cause this issue? is what made me curious about what specific situation could have caused such strange damage: was it dropped?, exposed to some substance?, to extreme temperatures?, a surge in current/voltage levels? etc.

In my answer i have tried to describe these too. More RAM consumption, OS malfunctioning, errors in SDCard or simcard or may be dust particles has blocked connection of screen with contact.

Until now, your answer has been the only one which (despite not being based on your own experience in a similar case) shows some effort to query credible and/or official sources, rather than make guesses or repeating what already has been said. So, take your well deserved +50 bounty!

Uninstall or disable Facebook; it doesn't play nicely. And I'm not joking. It really works. I knew my issue wasn't hardware, because when I rotated my phone, it was still unresponsive at the top left, so it was software issue. Someone mentioned FB or Messenger being the issue. So far, I've disabled FB on my Galaxy Note 4 and poof! No more top left issues. Can't uninstall since it's apparently been baked into the phone, though.

This may, or may not, fix your problem. I found this thread trying to fix my problem. Now that I have fixed it, I wanted to share this in case someone else finds this thread.
Short answer: Disable the "Block Status bar" feature in Cerberus.
Long answer: When trying to investigate the dead area I went into dev options and turned on "Show touches". Touches registered just fine. I saw a rectangle the exact size of the dead area when I turned on "Show surface updates". I first thought it was the heads up feature. After doing some tests, I came up with the same problem. It wasn't until I did a factory reset and reinstalled Cerberus that it came back. I looked through the settings and it does it when the "Block Status bar" feature is turned on. Disabling this fixed it.

This is exactly the answer I was looking for to resolve the issue I've been having on various Android devices I run using Cerbarus. Thank you!

I have the same problem. Try charging your phone via USB in one night without using it. I have this problem since a bought this second hand nexus 4.last night I charged it through USB and my screen is fully functional now. I will test this for a couple of days to see if the problem reappears.

I think the reason might be moisture or water inside the panel if that is the case just open the front panel and keep it under the sunlight for a while it might work.

If it's moisture, drying by sunlight is not the recommended way. Better using one of the other methods then, like putting it in a box of rice for a few (2-3) days.

if it is water would putting it in box of rice make it worse @Izzy ?

I never tried (no reason), but common arguing is exposing it to heat is not the healthy method to dry electronics. Rice is drawing the water. Slow, but reportedly save.

Rice works OK, silica gel packets too. On the other hand, heat sources are a big DON'T!. http://hacknmod.com/hack/diy-save-a-wet-cell-phone-using-rice/

I'm typing this on a device that I'm facing the very same problem on. I've found that squeezing the part of the screen is a temporary fix. For me it's the lower part. For the long run gotta live with auto rotate. Until its fixed. Sigh.

Go to  Settings->Developer options->show and test it with touching the screen.If it works fine switch off and work else try to repair(Check where you bought it).There is no chance hanging the touch because of apps.

Are you talking about the option Settings->Developer options->Show touches? Yeah, @Narayanan suggested it before...

Did You try that?


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What are the pros and cons of allowing Google Play store to automatically update apps?
Automatically update apps on my Android phone:
Upsides:

Apps get new feature, bug fixes, performance improvements, etc.

Downsides:

The UI layout or some features that I am already used to changes. Sometimes I am regret to update the app due to this.

So I set Google Play to not update the apps automatically on my old phone. Now I am getting a new phone. Are there any other pros and cons to these settings, and what are some ways to mitigate my concerns?

Apart from being automatically updated, and even if you apply updates manually, you only know about possible disadvantages once the update was done. So my recommendation goes in a different direction, namely: being able to restore the state before the update was applied, so you can "roll back".
For this, I recommend using AppMonster (or rather AppMonster Pro, as the Pro version can do all required stuff automatically in background, so you cannot forget it). This app automatically creates a backup of each app's .apk file whenever the app is installed or updated. It also takes care about only keeping a configured number of backups, so you don't risk running out of space. If you don't like an update, you then can simply launche AppMonster to restore a previous version.
I'm using AppMonster for years already, and can heartily recommend it. And as to your original question: I have auto-updates turned off, so I can manually decide which updates I want and which not. For some apps, I prefer the version I'm currently using for reasons like removed functionality, less overhead, and more.

Depends on how you wish for your phone to operate. System updates is pretty much the only updates that are needed, app updates depend on what apps you use. If you let every app update at will, you will get a few issues. The first is battery life. If updates are frequent, it will pull a little extra battery. If you use cellular network, you use up your mb's, or simply drain your wallet if you don't have a locked speed\payment service. If you are using the phone while it updates, you are also likely to notice some delay or sluggish performance during the updates.
While you can select what apps update automatically, and what apps do not, I suggest it's better to simply create some sort of weekly routine to update the apps you use most. It only takes a minute or two, and if you want, you can usually select "update all" to just get it all done. Tho that is best to be done on wifi network, as cellular network can be costly.

If you are always on internet and have wifi everywere you should.
Else it is just a waste of your mb\s.
But on 3g it is impossibile because of the high costs.

Question was not about costs, but about updates rather being a step backwards from the user's point of view (removed features, new bugs).

most updates fix bugs but also add bugs. there are no bugfree programs as big as apps for your phone

Agreed. But what does that have to do with "waste of MBs" and "high costs"?

the money you spend when using 3g


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Questions about Samsung Galaxy Tab
I'm going to buy a Galaxy Tab and I'm hoping to find the answers here:

Can I plug in a USB flash memory or an external hard-disk to Galaxy Tab via any USB Converter?
Does Android 2.2 support VPN connections?
Are Android applications free?

1 - No. There is a microSD slot where you can insert cards upto 32 GB in size to extend the memory.
2 - Yes - VPN support is present in 2.1 as well
3 - Some are free, some are not. Some are ad-supported.

Thank you very much, So there is no trick to connect a usb flash memory, like the way iPad does ? http://www.macstories.net/ipad/connecting-a-usb-flash-drive-to-the-ipad/

I mean can i use something like this with its usb cable to connect a flash memory to it? : http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/361666970-USB-A-Male-to-USB-A-Female-Adapter-Converter-wholesalers.html

@Saba Jamalian: Android does not yet support USB Host mode (USB OTG); however there are hacks on some hardware that allows it to become USB host http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-bLOc1qnMM Given that Linux kernel already support USB OTG and that the upcoming Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) will be focusing on tablet, it is possible that USB Host may be supported.

My archos 70 suppots usb host. Are you sure the galaxy tab doesn't?

@Matt - Pretty sure...that's an area where Archos has the upper hand.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


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How does Google Play's "Market license check" work?
About a month ago I bought a game called Whale Trail during a sale on Google Play. Today, when I tried to play the game on the subway, it asked to verify the game's license, and failing to do so (since there was no internet connection on the subway), shut the game down. When I got home, I took a look at the game's permissions tab and saw this:

Market license check
Can check if you have a license for this application from Market

It seems like this is a feature built into Google Play. So my question is, how does this "license check" work? How often does apps using this "feature" phone home to verify that indeed I'm not a dirty pirate stealing these developer's apps?

I'm no expert on it, so not going to answer, but information is here. The quick and dirty: Application is purchased and the .apk file is licensed to you, it goes over the network to check the license. It's possible the network wasn't available to you at that time and the developer didn't cache anything or handle that.

@DoozerBlake So the answer is - "As often as the developer chooses"? I think that is acceptable as an answer

You can choose when, and how often, you want your application to check its license and you have full control over how it handles the response, verifies the signed response data, and enforces access controls.

From http://developer.android.com/guide/market/licensing/overview.html
So yes basically whenever the developer wants it to. I'd imagine the most common time to check is when the application is first opened.

Your application does not query the licensing server directly, but instead calls the Google Play client over remote IPC to initiate a license request. In the license request:

Your application provides: its package name, a nonce that is later
  used to validate any response from the server, and a callback over
  which the response can be returned asynchronously.
The Google Play client collects the necessary information about the
  user and the device, such as the device's primary Google account
  username, IMSI, and other information. It then sends the license
  check request to the server on behalf of your application.
The Google Play server evaluates the request using all available information, attempting to establish the user's identity to a sufficient level of confidence. The server then checks the user identity against purchase records for your application and returns a license response, which the Google Play client returns to your application over the IPC callback.

So:

The information about the application, the device and the user goes off to Google's servers.
Google then checks your name against the list of people it knows have paid for the application on Google Play. (It could also check the name of the application against a list of applications it knows that you've downloaded from Google Play)
If it can see that you have downloaded (and paid for) the application from Google Play it sends back that you have a license, if not then it tells the app you don't.

Obviously this is all done online so if you're offline then it won't work. If I was writing the application I would have a counter to let the person to use it offline 3 times or so before having to go online to get the license check in order to stop the kind of thing happening to you where you can't play offline. Of course if someone digs into the file where the counter is stored they could change the value back to 3 tries every time they use it and never have to pay but that's probably beyond the technical competence of most users.

what happens in following scenario, a paid app which has not implemented license check library in its 1st version but implemented license check library in its 2nd version. Will the buyers of 1st version be considered as authenticated users when they update to 2nd version?


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How to bookmark an automatically redirecting link on the Android?
I am on page_1. There is a link_1 to page_2 that redirects to a random URL page_x. I cannot go to page_2 because I will not see its URL in the address bar (it redirects to page_x)
I want to bookmark link_1. On a non-mobile browser, I would right click link_1 and bookmark it.
I am using the pre-installed "Internet" browser that comes with the Android. How do I bookmark link_1 on Android?

I'm not sure I entirely understood the scenario you're describing, but a similar function to right-click->bookmark on Android would be to do a long press on the link, then choose Bookmark link. This should bookmark the link as it exists on the page, regardless of where it eventually sends you.

I don't see that option on 3.1 Honeycomb's browser.

I don't see a "Bookmark Link" option on 3.1 Honeycomb's browser. An alternative would be to:

Copy the URL link by long pressing the link you need to bookmark and choose "Copy link URL"
Create a new bookmark by clicking on the star on the location bar on any page
Replace the label and location in the new bookmark options with the URL you just copied and the title of the page you need to bookmark


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What are the requirements to have the change your background feature enabled in Microsoft Teams?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/change-your-background-for-a-teams-meeting-f77a2381-443a-499d-825e-509a140f4780 mentions:

Note: If you don't see this option in the menu, the feature might not be available on your device yet.

What are the requirements to have the change your background feature enabled in Microsoft Teams on Android? I have a Samsung Galaxy S9 with Android and I don't see the feature.

As of late March 2021, Microsoft Teams for Android doesn't have "blur background".
However, per MSPowerUser.com - Background blur is coming to Microsoft Teams for Android which has a link in the article to a support forum, such a feature is pending/planned, but with no definitive timeline.

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/galaxy-s21-features-to-enable claims one can change the background on a meeting in MS Teams on Android with a Samsung Galaxy S21:

Galaxy S21 features: Video effects. With the Galaxy S21, Samsung has introduced a new feature for video calls. Simply called Video Call Effects, it lets you add blur, a solid color, or an image to your background while on a chat. In this age of social distancing, Video Call Effects spice up your video calls.

https://redd.it/p726we claims that MS Teams the virtual  background option with Xiaomi Pocophone F1.


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What is the Android 11 Easter Egg?
What is the Android 11 Easter Egg? If so how do you find it? Does Android 11 even have a Easter Egg?

Like with previous version, go to Settings -> About Phone -> Android Version. Tap on Android Version until the Easter egg appears.

Do you know what the easter egg is?

@Joshua by "easter egg", did you mean the "Android Neko"?

@AndrewT. Yes, Thank you.


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Badly swollen Galaxy battery - safe to handle?
I've recently found my old Galaxy S6 in a drawer, where it's been sitting for the last ~1.5 years. In that time, the battery has swollen very badly, pictures below:

I need to so something about the phone, as I feel it might be a fire hazard to keep this at home especially when I'm not present during the day.
Naturally I'm not going to attempt to charge the battery or turn the phone on in this state.
I would like to remove the battery and take it to a recycling/ewaste collection point. I'd make sure to take precautions when removing the battery to avoid puncturing it or applying pressure, but with this level of swelling, is just handling the phone/battery dangerous? If so, I could instead take it to a technician to remove the battery or just recycle the entire phone - but I'd still need to carry the phone there, obviously, so some risk would remain.
Is there a risk of a sudden explosion or fire without warning?

I had several phones that looked quite similar got them "recovered" (battery replaced) by a repair shop. To my knowledge LiO batteries do not explode but they can suddenly start burning (there are lots of videos on YT where people harm a battery to make it burn). You can try to carefully disassemble it, but make sure nothing around is of a material that can catch fire (only stone, ceramic, and metal around you). If you transport the phone I would do so in a closed metal case (better two metal cases inside each other and the outer one filled the gaps with sand to isolate the potential heat).

The battery will not catch fire unless it is discharged at an excessive rate. If the phone is off, this won't happen. Since the battery is useless anyway, remove it and take it to a battery disposal facility.


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File Transfer: How to transfer files betwen my Xperia Neo (Android 2.3) and Kubuntu Linux?
I have bought a Xperia Neo which runs Android 2.3 and I'm running Kubuntu Linux on my Laptop.
I just connected the Phone using a USB Cable and set it to Mass Storage Mode. I expected to have the phone SD card in my devices list, so I can mount it and use it as a file storage. But there were no device added.
A few Googling led me to some Microsft Applications, (Activesync, etc.). Does it mean I cannot connect to my phone's SD Card in Linux?
Should I really use Windows for such a simple task, Tranfering files using a USB Cable?!

Note
With the help of @onik I tried to mount the SD card manually and here is the result:
in Mass Storage Mode
takpar@skyspace:/media$ sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdb /media/android/
mount: no medium found on /dev/sdb

takpar@skyspace:/media$ sudo mount /dev/sdb /media/android/
mount: /dev/sdb: unknown device

takpar@skyspace:/media$ sudo mount -t ntfs /dev/sdb /media/android/
Error opening '/dev/sdb': No medium found
Failed to mount '/dev/sdb': No medium found

and in Media Mode there would be no /dev/dsb anymore. But a window opens with url: camera:/MTP Device@usb:001,021/ and empty content.

in Ubuntu, I just had to plug the phone in and set the phone to mass storage mode, and Ubuntu will automount the phone.

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/36376/cant-explore-files-on-my-sony-xperia-u-using-my-ubuntu-12-10-laptop

In my case (KDE4 on a Debian Squeeze) it worked easily after setting the device as MSC. It was directly automounted by KDE.
To do this just go to: Settings -> Xperia -> Connectivity -> USB connection mode
As I have Spanish language in my Android I suppose the translation will be something like that.
It also worked in the same computer on a WindowsXP inside VirtualBox.

Did you mount the drives from the phone? Once you're connected, you have to open the notification bar, tap on the "USB Connected" notification and press the button to mount the drives. This should make them visible on your desktop.
After you're done, unmount them from the desktop first, then unmount them from the phone, and then disconnect the cable.

I have tried all different conditions. You mean it needs no additional application on PC and should work in Linux too?

Yes, assuming SonyEricsson didn't implement it's own software for the mass storage mode. Try running dmesg after you plug it in to see if any /dev/sd* devices are recognized, and try mounting them manually with mount -t vfat /dev/sd* /media/android (or similar)

I tried, but it couldn't be mounted. I have added the detail in Question, may you check it?

Try mounting the partitions instead of the device, for example, /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb2

there is no /dev/sdb1, it's just a single /dev/sdb. what does it mean? Is it a proprietary, as @Broam said?

Sounds like it, will verify tomorrow when I get around a linux box.

*buntu needs to have a udev config file manually added to recognize Android devices - see my answer below.

You could always unmount your SD card (if it's removable, like my HTC Magic allows for) and plug it into an SD card reader.
or you could root & run CyanogenMod - CM's Mass Storage mode works great in my Gnome2 install of Ubuntu, don't see why KDE would make it any different.

Thanks. I don't want to open the back lid just for moving some photos into my laptop. so as you say rooting is inevitable. right?!

I'd explore the other answers & check your host computer's dmesg before you go rooting your phone, but I wanted to provide an alternate way of working around the problem.

I'd got the point, thanks. What would dmseg tell me?

Your host computer's dmesg and lsusb would tell you what sorts of devices have connected and what your computer is able to discern about them. That would tell you pretty quickly if Sony is doing a standard mass storage device (and it's failing mount because of some error) or it's something proprietary.
OPINION: it's Sony, so it's probably the latter. I don't trust Sony to implement standards except when they have to.

it seems you're right. the /dev/sdb can't be mounted.

What's the mount error?

For Ubuntu you may need to edit the USB subsystem config files in order to recognize your device's SD card.  Luckily this is super easy :)  I've also answered this question before, if you want to check that thread.
Your Ubuntu system's udev config should be edited as so:

doublecheck that the vendor ID for your Neo is 054c using sudo lsusb; you should see a line something like Bus 002 Device 010: ID 054c:0c02 SonyEricson
using your favourite editor as root edit (or create) "/etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules” and add this line: SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="054c", MODE="0666"
make sure the perms are right for the file you just edited: sudo chmod a+rx /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
restart the USB subsystem: sudo restart udev
connect your phone and see if your SD card shows up now

First of all you don't need any USB cable. You can transfer files from/to your android device with the Wi-Fi network of your device. Just install airdroid on your android device. Then activate wi-fi hotspot on your android and open the airdroid app. Next connect your pc to that hotspot, open any browser in your pc and enter the url provided by the airdroid app there. It will ask for your permission, click to connect. Done. The good news is that this technique works in any Linux distro as well, I tested it on Ubuntu 14.04.1. It just uses your android wi-fi device and there is no issue related to mobile data plan i.e. you can use it without the mobile data.


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List of all devices connected to my network
Is there any way to get list of all devices connected to my Wi-Fi network?


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How do I disable the data usage warning and notification in ICS?
I'm running ICS on a Galaxy Nexus and my data plan is grandfathered in from the days of unlimited data with my carrier- so I don't need any warning or notification for the amount of data I'm using. However, ICS on this phone has an annoying warning and notification when I hit either 2 or 4 gb before the month is over. The notification persists in the background and will not close. How do I disable this?

In Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Data Usage you should be able to uncheck the "set mobile data limit". The limit will stop data usage when you reach the limit. (You probably have this unchecked already).
On this screen is where you can move the "warning" levels up so you will not reach them and you will not receive the notification.

One thing to note: If you have mobile data disabled, the checkbox to set the limits will not be visible. Re-enable it temporarily and you can dispatch the annoying notifications for good.

I had it unchecked already. Moved the limit level up to a zillion gigs and the annoying notification went away. Thanks!

@Ryan So lovely to see you can take snapshoot of the phone screen. Please share me how to do that, thank you.

@NamG.VU Hold the Volume Down and Power button at the same time to take a screen shot.

i took mine with ddms