text:
Offline safe sync directory on sd card on non-rooted Android with Ubuntu PC
Is there a way how to offline safely synchronize directories between sd card on Android which is not rooted and PC with Ubuntu?
Safely = using secured connection between the devices (for example using ssh).
Offline = without Internet access, but the PC and smartphone are connected through LAN.
Synchronize directories = a process which transfers data between smartphone and PC in a way that at the end of the process, both devices contain exactly same data in selected directories (preferably, but not necessarily, excluding filtered files). The process is able to detect deleted data so it doesn't copy file which was originally on both devices and later deleted on one of them.
My systems

Android 6.0.1 (not rooted)
Xubuntu 18.04 64 bit PC

What I already tried/checked (without success)
Unison

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.danielroggen.unison
Problem: requires rooted device.

Unison for Android

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nerdysoftware.unison
Not secure - from application description: "No SSH access is necessary - clients connect directly via socket. Because Unison clients connect to your device over a direct socket connection instead of over SSH, the server should only be run when your Android device is connected to a trusted network, like a home WiFi. Running the server on other networks could expose files on your device to untrusted parties."
Also seems to use older version of Unison (this application requires exactly same versions on server and client to allow data transfer).

Rsync

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.letscorp.rsyncwrapper
Not quite designated for two-way syncing.

SSHDroid

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=berserker.android.apps.sshdroid
For using SSH with another software (see bellow)
Cannot write/modify SD card using the ssh connection. I went to settings -> Applications -> SSHDroid -> Permissions: storage is enabled. There I opened context menu -> all permissions: reading SD card available. Modification/deleting data on SD card available. In other words, I checked the application has permission to modify the SD card: it has.

SSHFS with SSHHelper

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.arachnoid.sshelper
Same problem as SSHDroid. I checked permissions.

SSHFS with SimpleSSHD

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.galexander.sshd
Same problem as SSHDroid. I checked permissions.

What I already tried (with mixed/partial success)
Combination: Unison (on PC) + some SSH server (Android) + SSHFS (on PC)

In case I could find working SSH server; use SSHFS to mount remote Android device locally and then use Unison for synchronization.
Results:

When the SSH is actually rw, then it works, but it's so slow that it's impractical - it must ask for every single file and directory over the network. Of course, other apps (like Unison) must do that too, but they don't ask for every single file sequentially (not: client send request for single file - latency - server checks and sends response - client receive response and go to next file).
Unison requires permission to rename files; it always creates temporary files and directories and when everything is downloaded and double-checked, then old files (if any) are deleted and new files renamed. So if renaming is not allowed, it doesn't work.

SSH/SFTP Server - Terminal

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.xnano.android.sshserver
This actually works but has two problems;

It requires entering password several (>10) times when mounted as sshfs (I tried trivial one and and made sure it's not typo) and doesn't support ssh keys. I was able to solve this problem with a hack: zenity --password | sshfs user@host:/ "$PWD/data" -o reconnect,password_stdin, but I'm not sure how secure it is.
This ssh is unbelievably slow. Much slower when compared with SSHDroid and SSHHelper (not only with sshfs, but also when I simply connect using ssh and terminal; typing and responses are really, really slow). Maximum speed is 2 MB/s, but most of the time it's ~500kB/s.
Cannot rename files (permission error) so it makes it unusable with Unison (on PC).

Syncthing

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nutomic.syncthingandroid
Problem: cannot modify SD card (on non-rooted systems) and devs are not going to fix this anytime soon.
The only solution is to use obscure, hard-to-reach deep directory structure: /storage/XXXX-XXXX/Android/data/com.nutomic.syncthingandroid/files.
But for this particular directory, it works. It's speed is about 5 - 10 MB/s and I suspect that it's being throttled down by SD card itself (or Android). For now, I'm using this solution, but the directory is really inconvenient.
Smaller problems:

It doesn't support following symlinks and until someone (other than current devs) implement it, it's not going to be supported.

What problem I'm trying to solve
I "just" want to synchronize data on file level (some pdfs, images, etc.) between my PC and Android smartphone. I use multiple devices (desktop, laptop, etc.) and use Unison (note: I do not insist on this app) to synchronize data between them. Because I switch environment quite offten, I need it to work on one button press and to be fast as possible (which, for example, Unison does greatly). Because I work on different environments, I need to cover my cases: sometimes I'm without Internet access. Other times I'm connected to untrusted network.
This is also reason why I cannot use cloud (like Dropbox): it's slower than two devices communicating directly and sometimes I'm without Internet connection so I cannot synchronize even when the devices are connected on same network.
The reason why I want to sync with SD card is simply because it has bigger capacity so my files fits.

Upvoted for thorough spade work :) Welcome to our site

@beeshyams Thanks :). (I thought this is so basic thing, that I kept searching for solution believing it's matter of course...)

Not tried, but maybe installing Nextcloud on your Linux machine and the Nextcloud app on your Android device? Nextcloud comes with a sync client AFAIK. Alternatively, if Playstore is acceptable, FolderSync works via SFTP (ie. SSH) and wouldn't require additional software on your Linux machine.

@Izzy Thank you for you suggestions. NextCloud seems very nice, it also (at least from what I see in documentation) solves lots of different problems I have, but regrettably installation process seems to be little bit involved process and I currently don't have that time.

@Izzy As for FolderSync with SFTP - I spent my today's free time playing with it and it seems to work. It's not fastest (just like my idea with sshfs - it must check content of all directories over the network) and doesn't handle conflicts well (options are to always prefer files from one device, other device, newer version or ignore, but there is no option to let me choose per case) (also if timestamp of both files changes but content does not, or if content changes in same way, it wont check the data and just marks it as conflicted).

@Izzy So it's not optimal (I anticipate huge slowdown when a big file's timestamp changes - it will have to download it over the network just to find out it's same as local version), but makes the work done. So again, thanks for the suggestion.

No, it's not the fastest – but that never bothered me. It syncs in bg at 3am while I sleep, and is done when I get up. Conflicts are the real bad thing here indeed – which I usually notice when having copied an entire folder to a new device (FS seems unable to detect their state and doesn't even seem to bother trying CRC or something else to find out). But unfortunately, no better ideas here. Be welcome to check my corresponding app listing, there are many candidates I didn't try myself ;)

@Izzy I guess it depends on our workflows - I usually do some work to the last minute, then sync, take my things and run to catch a train.
(About FS - yeah, it seems to me exactly as you wrote.)
Your list of apps is really interesting, thanks for sharing. I'll try to find some time to check out some apps from it :).

Just remembered: SyncThing I often hear praised, could be an option for you. Should be in the linked list ;)

@Izzy Well, it seems good, except it doesn't work on SD card; see links in my question (I mention the app there).

The biggest constraint is your requirement to write directly to SD card. Apps don't have filesystem level write access to external SD card since KK. They need to use SAF APIs to be able to write files to public directories on SD card. CLI solutions aren't able to use SAF and GUI apps aren't very feature rich from syncing aspect. rclone is a great utility but it'd be able to write only to private directory of the terminal app it's run from. Also it doesn't copy symlinks (b/c cloud storage don't support) but can follow (copy actual files). With root access, though, there are many possibilities

Btw, Android 10 restricts filesystem access even to primary external storage (/sdcard), so the developers trying to avoid using SAF won't be able to go too far.

At the end, I settled with Syncthing. So, how does it fulfil my requirements:
Safely
It uses encryption. I didn't analyse how secure it is, so this is more matter of trust, but at least it shouldn't send data unencrypted.
Offline
Works exceptionally well. Local LAN detection seems reliable and is able to connect clients directly. I use it also at work (Windows-to-Windows and Windows-to-Linux) to share data with co-workers without exposing them to 3rd-party companies, it's fast and reliable. (Tens of gigabytes are transferred pretty quickly, so it seems the only bottleneck is the local network.)
Synchronize directories
Works well, but at the end, I decided to synchronize two-ways only one subdirectory instead of all data. It seems like Android likes to modify my files without my consent (especially media files), so except certain working directory, I block any changes done by the Android. It's inconvenient, but it's not issue with Syncthing.
Another problem is when synchronizing big files (thousands of megabytes and more), but again, it seems like issue with my device, but after a few system crashes, Syncthing eventually manages to transfer the data. (Later edit: it seems this issue really happens only on my Android device. Syncing single ~25GB file with a co-worked, Windows-to-Windows was without any problems.)
Pros

Reliable across platforms.
You just configure it and it works in background. If you're used, for example, to Dropbox, it's similar, except you don't share your data with 3rd party company. And it's actually faster (ymmv), because it synchronizes data between clients directly, not with server.
The application can be configured through browser. You can enable access from outer device (I recommend to enable password in this case!!!) which allows you to configure Android Syncthing through your desktop browser (you just need to find out IP address of your phone), which is really convenient.

Cons

As already mentioned in question, only directory on SD card, which can be synced, is /storage/XXXX-XXXX/Android/data/com.nutomic.syncthingandroid/files. It's really inconvenient, but I got used to it, somehow.
Linux desktop version doesn't handle symlinks. I solved it by using mount bindfs --resolve-symlinks --no-allow-other "srcDir" "shareDir".

Notes
I miss option to review data changes before they're synchronized, but this is matter of preference and application design, not an issue. And as stated in question, I couldn't find reliable Unison implementation on Android.

I also chose Syncthing so far, have you experienced sometimes files getting replaced by 0 byte ones as well? I'm trying to figure out if Syncthing is to blame or whether something else is wrong with my phone...

@TobiasKienzler I use Syncthing since the day I wrote the answer. On one side, no, I didn't experience files being replaced by zero bytes. However, on the other side, I sometimes experience that old files are damaged (i.e. just some bytes are changed, I didn't check which ones exactly.) Personally, I suspect the problem is old memory card, but I never inspected it to more depth (I only created a git repository to track what's happening - the repo itself got damaged after more than a year.) I just sync important data one way PC -> phone and move working data (e.g. photos) to the safe directory.

@TobiasKienzler Also, I sometimes use Syncthing for sharing big data (tens of gigabytes) with a colleague. That's PC -> PC connection (no phone involved) and I never experienced any such issue, so I'm convinced the problem lies in the phone (although we use it much, much less frequently than how I synchronize my phone, so it's not exactly same case.) (And btw. sorry for late answer.)

Glad to hear, thanks for the feedback! I'm also starting to suspect the memory card, even though this sometimes also seems to occur on the internal storage...

@TobiasKienzler Well if it also happens on the internal storage, it's quite suspicious. In that case, I would recommend to split the data into two parts - one synced through Syncthing, the other manually (e.g. through ssh) and watch them thoroughly and see what happens.

Indeed, I guess I'll have to check it in more detail... Thanks for your feedback!

I used to plug in the mobile and mount the directories using simple-mtpfs
  mkdir /mnt/phone
  simple-mtpfs -o enable-move /mnt/phone

I could then use unison directly between appropriate directories
It worked great for many years over 3 different phones.
Additional I was hoping to use unison for android, but it cant create a lock file on the sdcard which it wants to use for its one phone files. (Mistakenly thinks there is one, and asks to delete it)
Only problem is the plug on my current phone is so loose I can't get a file transfer connection, only power charging.  Which is why I am here looking for a network solution.


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Screen black during phone call and it won't come back during call
I have an Xperia XZs with Android 8. Lately I'm having problems while calling. When I start a call, the screen goes black immediately, and won't come back anymore during the call. The result is that when I'm in a menu where I need to chose a number, I can't, because the screen is black. I can't even hang up. Well, I can pull out the sim card, and that will end the call, but that means a restart.
I've installed a new dialer, and that seems to help a little, but the problem is still there.
Is there any way I can get my dialer back to normal? Is this a new bug? I updated recently.

The screen protector has an opening for the proximity sensor. This opening collects dirt along the edges. After removing the dirt, the problem is gone.

The proximity sensor take charge of your screen when making a call
Factory reset your phone or change to custom ROM. If the problem still exists, you've to change the proximity sensor on your phone.

That's an explanation of the behavior, but not a fix of this problem.

How does one change the proximity sensor of a phone? And why is it always a factory reset you recommend? Wouldn't it be better to try calibrating the sensor instead? Such an app could also detect if the sensor is working properly. If it does not, it might be necessary to sent it to a service center. A factory reset hardly helps then.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Why does the WiFi symbol have "R" text on it?
I have this strange "R" on my WiFi signal.

It's not on my cell signal and it's not a glitch. It seems to be set when I am on WiFi, but I don't know why. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it goes away.
The only way I am able to fix the issue is by restarting the phone, but does anyone know why this happens?
When I look online, everyone seems to not know what the main problem is and most threads give up and stop trying to figure out what is going on.

do you have some VPN app installed?

@Esther that is a good question. I have no VPN apps installed. I used to have OpenVPN app back on my old phone but I just got a new phone a month ago and I just checked my apps to double check; and there is no VPN apps currently installed.

What is your phone model, manufacturer and which Android version is running?

Have you tried turning off roaming in your settings? The R stands for roaming.

@Mastaxx This is the WiFi icon, roaming does not apply there.

I know, but from what i read from other users having this problem it appears roaming still needs to be turned off to get rid of it?

It wouldn't make sense. Roaming refers to your device not being in its home country and using the network where it is, in most places (outside of the EU) at increased cost. For this to apply, it would have to for example geolocate the external IP it uses and then decide to show said icon, which has no added value. WiFi is WiFi, and almost always freely available...

I'm wondering if there's a built in VPN function on the asker's phone that either kicks in or is buggy. Can you please answer @Robert's question on which model, manufacturer and Android version you have?

Sorry for the delay @Robert and MiG. The model: Moto G Stylus (2021). Manufacturer: Motorola. Android Version: 10 (build number QPCS30.Q4-31-26-1-9)

Thanks! And which WiFi network is it connected to when said 'R' is displayed? Is it a specific one or ones at certain locations, or does this also happen to for example your home network?

Only my home network. Its usually connected to the wifi extender's ssid.

For as far as I can tell so far it seems to be a bug, specifically with Motorola Android devices (Motorola themselves do not list WiFi-with-R in their glossary of terms and WiFi troubleshooting section either).
I've seen one mention that a factory reset might resolve this, so if it's particularly annoying it's worth a try.
If you want to help squash said bug I would first contact them before performing that reset though, maybe they can finally track it down and fix it for everyone.

It means that your WiFi has a repeater (like a range extender). Or your AP was in repeater mode.

For those not familiar, AP = Access Point.

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


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Different vibration sounds for different contacts
I would like to have different notification "vibrations" based on who messages me. Ideally, this would be done on any of the main messaging apps (Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Signal, etc.)
Currently, Facebook Messenger does have a different vibration sound than WhatsApp (it has a lighter vibration), so I know that I am getting a notification from Facebook Messenger rather than WhatsApp. That being said, I don't know who is messaging me.
The Nothing Phone (1) aims to solve this problem by having a different array of light based on the notification, but can the same be implemented on any Android phone via vibrations (which has more functionality too since you can use it while in your pocket).
I am using a Samsung Galaxy S20 5g unlocked without root.

The BuzzKill app will give custom vibrations for specific notifications or contacts.
It also has other powerful features such as

Cooldown - Only get buzzed once even if there are multiple notifications in a short space of time
Batch - Save notifications until a certain time.

Is there any free alternative Of buzzkill ? : androidapps

Filterbox

Spren

Nap


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Cannot remove Avast from Asus Zenpad 3S 10 Z500M
I have an Asus Zenpad 3S 10 Z500M running Android 7 and I tried Avast recently but now I can not remove it. I deactivated the admin permission but still, when I uninstall, it redirects me again to manage the admin screen.
I tried to email support but they are very slow to reply and never give me a solution, all they knew is to deactivate the admin.

@Tetsujin none worked out.

Their support pages are as tracker-ridden as their "security" app itself… You could try uninstalling via ADB with adb uninstall <packageName> (see our ADB tag wiki for details on ADB). The package name is the part you find in the Play Store URL of the app, following the id= parameter.

@Izzy I dont see how security app does not give you a choice to remove it is good nor  waiting for a week for support to replay to me, it is a terrible app but thanks for your help.

I have my doubts on most of those so-called "Anti-Virus" apps (see the intro to my corresponding app list). Often they are more harmful than useful. IMHO security apps (as well as apps for health, fincances or children) should not contain any trackers, yet most of them do. I've never installed such on any of my devices. I rather keep my defenses up and my eyes open, using that gray mass between my ears. Served me well so far ;)

@Izzy yes I found the same.

@Izzy if you post as answer I will select. I think adb is the only way.

You could try uninstalling via ADB with adb uninstall <packageName> (see our ADB tag wiki for details on ADB). The package name is the part you find in the Play Store URL of the app, following the id= parameter – for Avast that would be com.avast.android.mobilesecurity, so the complete command should be
adb uninstall com.avast.android.mobilesecurity

As it turned out (see comments below), the instructions given by Avast included the required details, but one needs to take care not to miss a step. Summing up:

open the app
via the Hamburger menu (upper left corner) navigate to Settings › Uninstall App
enter your pin, then toggle off "turn off device administrator first"
now tap "uninstall app"
on the following screen, tap the Uninstall button and confirm.

On the last screen mentioned, you could also try to first force-stop and clear its cache/data, as shown in this (older) video. Also see this video for more up-to-date visuals.

As for the so-called "Antivirus" apps, I'd keep them off my device and rather use "brain.apk", for multiple reasons:

they often do more harm than good, especially with the trackers included. Avira is the best example of this, tracking you without your consent as security specialist Mike Kuketz demonstrated in detail (German article) – and as you experienced yourself, removing that threat proves hard.
the term "Antivirus" is misleading. There are no viruses on Android (there is malware, yes, but you have to actively install it while viruses replicate themselves). So the naming is scare tactics as people using Windows think they must use such things.
Due to the architecture of Android, such scanners must have root privileges to be effective. As they do not, they cannot do half of what they promise: there's no heuristics, no live-activity-scanning. At best, they compare the package names (and maybe APK hashes) against some databases.
There's a wrong sensing of security. People let their guards down because they think themselves protected, getting reckless as they think no harm can happen.

So with some common sense and carefulness, your protection level is much higher :)

For "what to install", just follow the link I gave to the ADB tag wiki. There you find a lot of details getting you started – for example also Is there a minimal installation of ADB?. Concerning the DELETE_FAILED_DEVICE_POLICY_MANAGER error message: that indicates you still have granted the app device manager permissions. Have you thoroughly checked with your settings? Settings › Security › Device administrators and uncheck the box next to the app? Does the app also have something like an anti-theft protection? If so, you might need to disable that in the app, too.

yes check box clear for administrator. Yes there anti theft but I did not grant all permissions so it is not on but I will try to turn it on and then off maybe it will allow uninstall.

This one you have tried (all 3 variants)? You could also try to first force-stop and clear its cache/data, as shown in this (older) video. There also seems to be a device admin setting in the app itself; maybe this video provides some help? If none of this works, forgive me the pun, that app seems to need a malware remover to get rid of it…

no I did not notice the settings. I was able to uninstall from inside the app. I am getting old :) Thanks


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Downloading and installing an application in the system/app on a un-rooted device
Is it possible to install an application in the system/app directory on a un-rooted device? Right now I can do it on a rooted device, so I was wondering what I have to do to if the device is not rooted. It's a custom rom, so I can get a hold of the certificates that signed the rom.
Currently if I try on a un-rooted device, I get the permission denied (read_only file system). If anybody has an idea of how I can do this please help me. The reason why I need this done is so I can do app updates on the system applications that will be shipped with the rom and they wont be on the app store.

Root is only required if you are installing a system app within the confines of the Android OS.
If you can flash your own rom, you can bypass any restrictions that the OS has, because you are able to do anything you want with a custom bootloader before the OS has a chance to load and restrict things.
If you are creating a custom rom (off-topic for this site), you can edit the rom on a desktop and flash it to the phone.
You could simply flash a file using a custom recovery (such as TWRP or ClockWorkMod).
If you are on a stock phone with a locked bootloader, you could always root your phone temporarily, remount system as read-write, add the application, then remove root.
As far as updates go, as long as the application in the system directory is signed by your key, you should be able to update it (root not required). You'll need a way to get updates out, though. You could post in the Google Play Store, use a 3rd party store (such as Amazon App Store or F-Droid), or have the user download the app and side-load it. If you also wrote the app in question, you could probably program a way to self-update as well (also off-topic for this site).

As an add on to this answer - you don't need root to update a system app, assuming you have the same certificates on the update. If you don't, you could probably use an OTA update in zip format to update it too

@sloosecannon True, OTA updates can 'update' apps, but that is because they are really overwriting them -- normally, system apps are updated differently from user apps. An OTA is basically installing a new ROM (whether full or partial).

Well yeah. Either of those options should work. I can't imagine a production scenario where you'll regularly be updating apps with a different signature so the standard system app update method should work...

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


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How to make lock and home screen backgrounds separate
I have a Moto G 2014, and it's running 4.4.4. I cannot seem to find away to get my lock screen and home screen wallpapers different from each other. How can I go about doing this? I haven't rooted yet.

Just use the Google Photo app to set it. It will ask you whether you want to set a photo as wallpaper of the home screen, the lock screen or both.

By default there is no setting to change lock screen wallpaper. One way is to have a lock screen app like Go Locker which will allow to set lock screen wallpaper different than the home screen wallpaper. Another is to install a custom ROM like Cyanogenmod 11 which gives much more features over stock OS.

Oh yes there is: just use the Google Photo app to set it. It will ask you whether you want to set a photo as wallpaper of the home screen, the lock screen or both.

I also have a Moto G and I don't have the wallpaper background to be different from the lock screen. I figured out, by going through every setting, that there is no possible way for your wallpaper background and your lock screen to be different. But there is a solution. Either you can get a whole new phone (in which you can have a lock screen) or, you can suggest to the Motorola company to get a new setting to put up a lock screen.

The latter is unlikely to help the OP (even if Moto would comply, the day the update rolls out the device probably is no longer supported). And "buying a new phone" just for that is a poor (but expensive) solution.

Oh yes there is: just use the Google Photo app to set it. It will ask you whether you want to set a photo as wallpaper of the home screen, the lock screen or both.

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


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What is the application space limit on Galaxy Nexus?
Samsung Galaxy Nexus has a 16GB internal memory and no external sdcard. I'm wondering if that means I have 16GB (or at least the free space left of that memory) to install applications?

Yes you have full 16GB for apps+data together in a single file system. You won't have to do any moving to SD card any more.
Google merged both partitions. It's just one big file system now with sections for the former parts. It's completely transparent, so no worries for you.

Formerly: /data and /sdcard were separate partitions
Galaxy Nexus / Nexus 7 and others running Jelly Bean: One single partition for both, i.e. no need to decide how to divide the space for both any more.

To make it more generic:
The partition layout will however not change for former phones (most probably), so devices which got upgraded to 4.x+ will still have separate file systems for both /data and /sdcard. If your device has an additional micro SD card this will also be separate still.
By the way: This is the reason why there's no USB-thumbdrive functionality any more for the Galaxy Nexus (because /sdcard is not a single partition any more and also there's no FAT32 formatted partition internally (except for SD cards if existent))


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Is there a way I can use a Galaxy Note on Virgin Mobile?
I want to know if it is possible to use a Samsung Galaxy Note on Virgin Mobile's network.  If so how would I go about setting it up?  Virgin doesn't currently offer the Note, so I can't just buy it from them.  So would buying an unlocked version and calling Virgin's customer service to activate the phone on their network work?

What are you asking for? Can you re-edit your question to make it clearer :)

@t0mm13b Are the edits clearer?

Makes more sense :) Just realized by looking at Chahk's answer below, is your Galaxy Note CDMA radio based? I would have thought there'd be a CDMA based version of the Note? :o

@t0mm13b I don't have a Galaxy Note.  I was just thinking about getting one.

Not in the USA. Virgin Mobile USA's network is CDMA, while the Galaxy Note is a GSM phone.
Virgin Mobile UK is a GSM network, so Galaxy Note will work on it.  Although depending on whether the phone and the carrier use the same frequencies for 3G, you may only get 2G speeds.

Well that sucks.  The Galaxy Note looks awesome.

Rumors are that because original GNote sold so well, Samsung is readying a Galaxy Note 2 for this fall.  Hopefully they will release it on more carriers this time around.

Yes, I saw the tweet about the Gnote2 coming out later on this autumn... http://www.gsmarena.com/exclusive_galaxy_note_2_to_have_55_screen_remains_narrower_than_original_note-news-4455.php

Yeah, I heard about it as well.  Hopefully they make a CDMA version.


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Why can't I install apps when I have enough storage?
In "Settings" > "SD card & phone storage settings" under "Internal Phone Storage" it lists "Available Space" as 13.78MB.  I'm trying to install an app that is 2.38MB.  Why do I get the "Insufficient storage available" error message?  I clearly have enough space.
If it's relevant, my phone is an LG Optimus V.

possible duplicate of "Cannot download, not enough space" when "Phone Storage" clearly lists enough space

At least 25MB free space on internal storage is required to get rid of that error (see tag-wiki for "insufficient-memory).

At least 25MB, @Izzy? So, why are so many people with similar complaints with hundreds of free MB?

@Rodrigo look at the date, and follow the link to the mentioned insufficient-memory tag-wiki. Actually it's "25MB or 10% of the storage", whichever is hit first. So with e.g. 10 GB internal storage, it would hit you as soon as you drop below 1 GB free. Crazy, but that's what it is.

So they turned completely evil, that's it? Because it makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!

Android devices actually have several different buckets of storage that can fill up independently, any one of them can cause an "insufficient storage" error.  This question:
Why is "insufficient storage" wrongly reported when installing an .apk via adb?
seems to cover the details and options best.

I already do the things mentioned in that link.  It seems rooting is the only option I haven't tried.  But I don't want to void my warranty...

So, I removed all the apps no don't use or can live without, and even though they were on my SD card, I now have 52.7MB of space.  What gives?

the move to sd feature leaves stuff behavind, yoi can see this in the app overview in the settings when you move. Plus: I think Android reserves some free space, so that you can do updates. The biggest app counts for this calculation.

moving an app to the sdcard only moves the apk. All the data for the app still goes in /data/data. This location, or even /cache, is probably one of your reason for the low storage message. These tend to fill up a lot faster then the app install location /data/app. Especially with apps like twitter, facebook, and google+. They tend to write a lot of data to the /data/data folder.

I had the same issue....
I tried the whole remove updates thing, I tried the delete apps, turn off gmail, gtalk etc. etc. etc.
What you need to try before all of that is to confirm that Media background data is not turned off. Download Manager is a component of Media.
Settings>Usage>Media make sure Media is not ticked. I ticked this when I was tinkering with the settings... and for 3 weeks I couldn't work out why I couldn't download apps via 3g/4g.

I don't have a 'Usage' option under settings.


text:
How can I Know about SD card logs (eject or mount details) in Android logs?
I want to maintain a log of when the SD card is ejected or mounted in my Android device. How can I do this?

Please don't Capitalize Every Word in your question.

I'll take care next time.

That could e.g. be done using tasker:

Condition: Event → Hardware → Card Mounted
(resp. "Card Removed" / "Card Unmounted")
Task: File → Write File
(specify file name, text, check "append")

You will need a separate profile for each action (mount/eject) with the respective condition, but of course you can write to the same file (or use a separate one if you prefer).
For details on Tasker, please check with our tasker tag-wiki.

Anytime! If it solves your issue, please don't forget to mark it such (using the check-mark next to the answer). Makes it easier for others to identify "solved issues" ;)

i don't want to do it with the help of an application . isn't there any other solution

I'm afraid it's not possible without an application. Though there might be other apps to do it.


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Google now - retraining the voice model
Sometimes my phone ignores the Ok Google command. I've noticed that I need to say it in the exact same way, as I said it during the voice model retraining. Even a wrong distance between my mouth and my phone's microphone can cause it to ignore the OK Google command.
Is there a way to save many voice model profiles just like you do it with fingerprints? In android 6.1 you can save up to 5 models of your fingerprint, all of them are checked during the fingerprint authorisation.
If I could record more than 3 "Ok google" commands during the voice model retraining, I think it would work much better.

This is sadly not possible.
You could, however, say OK Google a little bit different each time it has to be recorderd. This might help to make sure that your voice is being recognized when you aren't saying OK Google in exactly the same way as your voice model.


text:
Can I program Tasker-like programs to do stuff if specific WiFi network is in range?
I'd like to try out Tasker, Llama or some such automated program.
However, I do NOT want to program events based on GPS or other location information (for a variety of reasons not germane to this question).
Is there a way to trigger tasks in Tasker or some equivalent program based on the fact that a WiFi network with a specific SSID (or other signature) is in range or goes out of range?
To clarify: one of the main tasks is to turn on/off my WiFi when I float in/out of the range of known networks. Therefore, merely being in range should be the trigger, NOT connected to the network.

In Tasker create a new State based context and choose Net as
state category.

Then choose Wifi Near as net action:

This will bring a screen where you can input data about the WiFi access point you are interested in. If you are near the desired WiFi access point then you could just press the scan button (the button with lens symbol at left end of the text SSID).

This scans the near by access points and lists its details. Simply select the one which you are interested in.  Now you are good to go to add an entry task and exit task to whatever you want.

Narayanan, you should update your Tasker app :) Today's screens look a lot different (Holo-UI). But +1 for the answer – that's how I would do it, too.

Thanks Izzy, the Tasker has different versions for 4.0+ devices and 1.6+ devices - just FYI. The screen shots were taken from my mobile running Tasker 1.6u2m on Android v2.3.3 and the Holo-UI are in v4.1+. Correct me if I am wrong.

Yo. Nes. Partly. I have the holo UI on 4.0.3 already, so it's not 4.1+. But yes, right after placing my comment I thought that might be the case. Need to check with my old Droid² which still runs 2.3.7 whether it updated to Holo UI – but I remember exactly that thing with some other apps (Holo on 4+, old interface on GB). // So let's replace my previous comment with a hint that on newer Android versions (most likely 4.0+) screenshots would look different :)

Nay. Yay. IIRC Tasker got a revamp for holo, using ActionBarSherlock(ABS) for older platforms < ICS :)

In Short: Both Llama and Tasker have the WiFi Network Connected/Disconnected State where you may trigger tasks/actions. Tasker also has a WiFi Near state so that you do not have to be connected to a network for a task to trigger, whereas Llama does not.

"WiFi Network Connected/Disconnected" is definitely NOT what I asked about, given that the task I want is to turn on/off WiFi when I'm in range of a known WiFi network :)  Does near state in Tasker know the difference between networks, or simply whether one exists in range?

@DVK My apologies! The way you worded your question suggested otherwise. Tasker does know the difference between networks - when you create a profile with the WiFi Near state you will get a list of multiple networks in range that you may choose from. If you are not in range you can input the SSID manually (and optionally the MAC of the network, which I would recommend doing). I've created a test profile with what you want to do and I can confirm that it works.


text:
Android OS with VR in future
I've heard a rumor that Facebook has been working on VR and have successfully launched one product, Oculus Rift. Have any VR projects been released or announced for Android?

There are already two VR projects running on Android.
Google Cardboard (google-cardboard) provides a cheap way of strapping your phone to your face and a software platform for app authors to add VR capability to their apps. In its original form, it's a template that you make out of cardboard and add a couple of cheap lenses to, but several manufacturers have started shipping low-cost "VR headsets" based on this design.
Samsung Gear VR is a Samsung project developed with Oculus VR. It uses the screen from any of this year's high-end Samsung phones, along with extra sensors provided by the headset device, to provide a mobile VR platform offering more immersion and presence than Google Cardboard. It's a product you can buy in shops now.
Facebook hasn't launched a VR device. Their investment in VR has been to buy pioneers Oculus VR, which is responsible for developing the Gear VR for Samsung, as well as the Oculus Rift, their PC-based VR product.


text:
Google voice search crashing
The Google voice search crashes after detecting the keyword ok google.
If, I tap on the mike button in the search app and do voice search, it works.
What could be the reason behind this app-crash?
Phone: Samsung Galaxy Note II (GT-N7100)
OS: 4.4.2 KitKat. (Rooted)

At last, I found a solution.
The problem was with the entry in sports section in Google Now. It can also happen with entry in stocks according to this article.
Resetting the Google Now data fixed the issue.
Steps I did:

Open Google Now and click the magic wand on the bottom right which opens a Customize Google Now screen.
Click the sports section and remove all.
Do the same for stocks.
Open settings >> Application >> Google search, and tap clear data.
Open Google Now, go to settings and disable Google Now.
Restart the device.
Open Google Now, Follow the instructions.

I also turned off audio history from the voice menu of google now settings.
This link helped me to fix this issue.
After the reset all my cards started to appear again except the sports. Data was there in  for all sub menus except sports and stocks in the Customize Google Now screen.

I believe you are using the Google launcher which has the Voice command operations as well as the Cards which you have mentioned  (I can't assure you that this answer will work because the root of the phone may hamper the application working but still you can try as these steps are common for all).
And yes you will lose the cards as you are deleting the data but you will not loose if you clearing cache.Clearing cache memory is no where related to any file getting deleted .
Cache memory is just a temporary storage which is used to speed up the loading of any application.If you clear the cache memory then your app may load slow only the first time later it loads fast.
Coming to the voice search crashing after "OK Google" could be related with your mic problem or just a small software bug.Follow these steps to pin-point the main reason of the issue
First enable the speech output from settings>Voice>Speech output to make sure it is really detecting OK Google and not something else.If it's detecting correctly then your microphone is correct.
Second after enabling the speech output you need to 1)force stop then 2)clear the cache.
Third make sure the area around the mic is clean and is free of any obstruction (the mic could contain small and minute dust particles which need to be cleaned only by trained professionals, covered by some accessory).
After that you shall be able to perform voice search directly without manually touching the microphone.
If you still have the problem then you need to get in touch with the Support team which is there in the play store bottom of the app page.

I am using the google search application, which is there in play-store as well. Clearing the cache didn't work. Voice search works unless invoked by the "Okay Google" command.

To be precise, the application hangs up at the recognition stage.

Did u try a force stop + clearing cache? Seems the root is causing the prob

Yes, I did a force stop + clear cache.

then it's the root which is causing the interference with the application

It was working until last week. I rooted my phone around 6 months back.

The only way I fix it was to uninstall the updates. After resetting it back up the voice searches started working again.


text:
Voice typing -how to continue dictation in new line without restarting microphone?
The solution in accepted answer here works on Nougat 7.1.2 using Gboard
What do I say to make a new line when using voice recognition?
But irritatingly, microphone switches off when you move to new line or paragraph and you need to activate it again, breaking the dictation and thought flow
How to prevent that on Nougat 7.1.2 ( not rooted)?
Please don't suggest any apps

You just simply say enter, as the enter key on the keyboard is responsible for adding a new line, same works with speech recognition.
I came across this thing when I needed to type a message on WhatsApp and the enter key was replaced by an emoji key. I tried this trick and it worked!

How to get a new line with voice typing in Android. This works with a Samsung Galaxy A51
1 Before activating voice typing icon press enter on phone keyboard several times bringing the cursor right down the page.
2 Activate Voice typing, Starting as normal at top of page.
3 When requiring new line or paragraph, just touch down below line with finger and proceed.


text:
How to activate Google now voice commands from the lock screen like siri?
I just switched from an iPhone, and I want my android to have the same behavior as iOS where you hold the home button, and siri starts listening.
With my android, I have to wake up and unlock the device, then hold the home button to get to the google now screen, then I have to either say "okay google", or hit the microphone button.
This process takes way longer and makes voice commands in the car unsafe, which is primarily what I used siri for
Please any help would be appreciated

On my Samsung S6 this is how I did it:
settings > personal > lock screen and security > info and app shortcuts > app shortcuts > left shortcut > voice search
Now from the lock screen I can drag up from the bottom left and google starts listening.
note: Unfortunately if you have a password lock, you have to unlock the phone before it will answer your question.

In Android, by default, you can't have access to Google Now when the phone is locked (maybe for security reasons), but there could be a lock screen widget for that. You can search for that.


text:
Emulate Full Battery Charge
Now before you guys disvote this question, let me explain. I've been messing with lithium polymer batteries for 8 years (I work in a shop repairing electronics) and I have studied the behavior of Lithium Polymer batteries.
It kinda bugs me when my phone automatically shuts down when battery level is said to be 0%. In these moments I usually am finishing almost done watching a video or writing up a text to someone and my phone completely interrupts all operations and shuts down. I know for a fact that as when it shuts down there still is enough power left to run the phone for another 4 emergency minutes.
Is there a way I can emulate the operating system into thinking I have a higher percentage of power left so that it wouldn't shut down right away? I know this sounds risky, but I am aware of what's really happening here. My system is Nexus 4 running android 4.4 (fully rooted).

Not related but I know a trick in old nokia phones. Whenever battery is empty, I will keep an currency note in between the battery and battery pin in the phone and I will pull the currency note and voila phone will survive 5 more minutes

I have a rooted GS2 and I installed "Xposer Installer" and within that program I installed the "Xposed framework" that lets you download "tweaks" for android.
http://repo.xposed.info/module/de.robv.android.xposed.installer
I didn't try it, but among the available tweaks there is one named "DisableCriticalBatteryShutdown".
The description says:

DisableCriticalBatteryShutdown (for Xposed Framework)
What?
Disables the Auto-Shutdown when Android detects a critical
  battery level
Why?
This is to prevent the auto-shutdown when you have 1% left of
  battery. It is useful for calibrating your battery by draining it
  completely, using Chinese Branded Batteries with terrible battery
  percentage detection or even lengthen the life of a phone with
  non-removable battery with terrible calibration.
Compatiblility: Not working on 4.3+ Tested only on AOSP 2.3, 4.0, 4.1
This project is abandoned, I will not add support for any other ROMs.

As I already said, I haven't tested it, but theres a chance that it does what it says.  If you have 4.1 or older this might do what you need.

Just installed the app, now it says that it soesnt work on 4.3+ and i have 4.4

the "not working on 4.3+" means anythiong higher than 4.3 or 4.3 and higher. i might downgrade


text:
How can I make Google Maps speak the street names when the voice is set to a foreign language?
I'm running Google Pixel 2 with latest updates. You can change the navigation voice language in Google Maps via:
hamburger icon (3 horizontal bars) --> Settings --> Navigation Settings --> Voice selection --> choose any language
I have my Google maps voice set to French. However, it no longer speaks street names! I am using Google maps to navigate using voice only, without a screen, while riding my electric skateboard. So, I really need it to speak the street names while I'm riding, but I want the voice to be in French. Any way to do this?

The best answer would be for GOOGLE TO PLEASE FIX IT so we can have an option to turn street name speaking on or off regardless of the chosen system language and the chosen Google Maps spoken language (they should be functionally separate).
However, this is the only current work-around I have been able to discover:
the solution is simply to change your entire phone language to the foreign language you want spoken, as apparently the street names can only be spoken in the phone's default language. This is dumb.
Anyway: main phone settings --> System --> Languages & input --> Languages --> Add a language --> choose the one you want (ex: French) --> tap and hold the hamburger icon (3 horizontal bars) next to this new language and drag it up to re-order this language to be on the very top (it is now your default system language).
That's it! Now, back in your Google Maps navigation settings you'll see that the default language (French) is now chosen, and under it it says what it used to say for the English default language: "Prononce les noms de rues" (Speak street names). It now speaks street names in French, just like it used to do for English. However, the down-side is that my entire phone is now in French instead of just the audio for my Google Maps, like I wanted. Google, please fix this!

Actually, you only need to change the app language, not the phone language.
open Maps, open the profile menu, go to settings and select app language.
Please Google, fix this.

If this works now to speak the street names in the foreign language, not just the directions in the foreign language, this is new. At the time I wrote my answer, it did not.

There's no reason why the above "solution" needs to be so complicated. Open Google maps. Cluck settings. Click navigation. Click language. Click default.
That's it.

You should try testing your own answer. This doesn't speak the street names in the foreign language at all. It speaks in a non-foreign language. Then, if you change to a foreign language it only speaks the directions in the foreign language, but won't speak street names anymore. Refer to my question. Read it carefully.


text:
How does Samsung's "quick charge" work?
How do the batteries work?
Will those batteries have a shorter lifespan? Will the "quick charge quality" get worse over a period of time? And why aren't there other companies using this technology?

This question has already been flagged for being "off topic" and is liable to be closed on that account. To understand why , see this for What topics can I ask about here?. You may like to reword the question

Related How does fast charging work?

As seen on Android Police

You've probably heard of quick charging, turbo charging, adaptive fast charging, rapid charging, and Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 before - or at least one or two of these things. What you may not know is that all of them are actually basically the same thing, based on the same licensed technology from Qualcomm known as Quick Charge.

How does Quick Charge work?
How do the batteries work? Will they have a shorter life span?
Will the Quick Charge quality get worse over a period of time?
It's already explained in depth by @beeshyams. It basically works by drawing more power, safely.

To summarise, normal charging is done at 0.5 to 0.8 C (C is charge rate) and fast charging done at 1 to 3 C. Please note that the exact or indicative charging rate is not revealed in any OEM documentation despite extensive search and it is unlikely that OEMs will reveal such details, deeming it "proprietary"

It affects the battery in two ways:

A common feature while using fast chargers is raise in temperature of battery (since more current is being pumped in and power (read heat) is proportional to square of current) and this is inimical to good health of battery, which is extensively  covered here.

Short Term (Battery capacity after charging) Battery is not really fully charged as it does not undergo charging spending enough time in all stages, compared to conventional charging. In simple words battery may deliver typically 85% of performance compared to regular charging. Details on this are available here
Long Term (Battery life span) Battery life is specified in Cycles or discharge cycles. OEMs/ Battery resellers may specify this number, for example, it is 550 Cycles for Samsung Note 2

Quoting from BU-501: Basics About Discharging

Why aren't there companies using this technology?
There are several smartphone OEMs including ASUS, BlackBerry, Fujitsu, Samsung, HTC, Panasonic, Motorola that borrows this technology from Qualcomm.
What about Apple?
Here's a list of features Apple left out even in their latest iPhone 6S. They don't support Quick Charge yet.
--
See also:
Qualcomm Quick Charge FAQ
,
Samsung Fast Charge FAQ

Unfortunately that's the part I already knew.. but I don't understand why companies like apple aren't taking advantage of that technology.. and why wasn't it used before, because the idea seems pretty simple. There has to be something about it

@LewPérez Compatible batteries are most likely to be the issue here. It's more expensive to use more capable, feature rich batteries than using cheap old simple batteries.

FYI. You may like to see Quick Charging 3.0 explanation here http://android.stackexchange.com/a/138678/131553

Samsung arent the only ones using Quick charge other companies have a similar technology but it goes by a different name. My phone has Flash charging my 4000mAh battery gets fully charged in less than an hour. I used a phone with this for like an year and the battery life never deteriorated. I upgraded and my phone has the same technology.... Its even faster.

authors: กมลชนก น้อยมีเชาว์


text:
Link2sd boot issues
I've got a stock, rooted firmware on my LG Optimus One (P500) handset.
I installed Link2SD, and I've got roughly 100 apps installed.
Whenever I boot my device, however, it takes 5-6 minutes to boot to lockscreen, and then, for ten-fifteen minutes after that, it gives me the "Internal Storage full" error, and a negligible amount of free memory.
Then, Link2SD finally seems to kick in, and I get my 90Mb of free memory.
What's happening? May I solve this issue?

May I know what Android version (2.2 or 2.3) and what firmware version you have (like v20a, v20c etc)? Mine is 2.3.3 running v20c.

2.3.3 running v20g

It's the data stores for the apps that are actually to blame. While you have so many apps installed, all the data they create when you use them is still being stored internally (For speed) and Link2SD has to fiddle with things every time you boot up, which uses internal memory. The best fix for such a low end phone, and I'm speaking from experience, is to create an "apps" directory on the ext partition of your SD card, and use Titanium Backup's batch option. If an "apps" directory exists on the partition, Titanium Backup will recognize the partition and list it as a2sd and give you the batch option to move data to the sd card. Once you're done with this you will see nearly every bit of internal memory on your phone is now free, and your apps can continue to access their data with no errors.

Wow -- I didn't know about that feature, and I'm using TB for years already! Just googled it and found the corresponding Howto -- but that speaks of a separate partition (not just a folder). Maybe that "extra partition" is rather optional; are you using it without such? Even the TB FAQ writes the extra partition is required.

I am going to suggest a painful solution - when LG provided update to v20d for my country, I felt the ROM was utter slow and I had to downgrade to v20c. Same could be your situation. But before that:

try unchecking Relink lib files at boot and Relink dex files at boot options in Link2SD
if the above doesn't work try Clean up the 2nd partition option.
Remove link for system apps and move it to internal memory.
As a last resort, I would try partitioning my sd card and installing back apps in steps to see whether the number of application is the cause of the delay.

I tried a couple of minuts ago the first and second tip.
They din't work at all. Actually, after rebooting with the relink lib files at boot some apps (Samsung Mobile Printers, Google Maps) left the lib files in the internal.
As for system apps, you mean the updates for the gapps?
As for partitioning, I tried that some time ago.

In my opinion the internal memory is faster than the external SD card. Hence if frequently used apps and its data are kept in sd card, it should be slow than if it is kept in internal memory - that's my theory. Hence if you keep more apps that require frequent thrashing it should be slow.


text:
How to take screenshots without using buttons?
My android phone has weak buttons, so I don't use them frequently. I even change my volume from the settings!
But to take a screenshot, I need to press the volume down button and the power button. I have a Motorola Moto E4 Plus running Android 7.1.1.
Is there any other way to take screenshots? I don't want to root my phone.
NOTE: This question is not a duplicate as this is asking specifically without buttons and so helps those who can not use their physical buttons.

Have you enabled three finger shortcut for screenshot which is an option in Moto Actions which is inside Moto application.

Are you willing to download an app to do it? If so, there are a number of screenshot apps in the Play Store.

One of the answers shows how to use Google to take a screenshot. If none of the solutions there help you, please comment to reopen the question. Also mention the Android version by [edit]

Done. Edited for the Android 7.1.1.

Tasker app can do this without root.
Install Tasker. Setup a Task named Capture Screenshot and add the following actions:

Display → Status bar → Set: Collapsed.
Task → Wait → MS: 500
Display → Take Screenshot → File:%DATE-%TIMES → tick Insert in Gallery.
Optional: since Tasker doesn't visibly show whether it took a screenshot or not, you can configure your task to show a toast or a notification that screenshot has been taken. Both toast and notification can be added from Alert section.
Set an icon for the task.

For the ease of use  I suggest you attach this task to a quick setting tile. Tasker offers three tiles. You can access them and add them into your enabled tiles through the quick settings editor (the pencil icon in your quick settings) and drag the 'unset' named tile to visible tiles.
After that, go into Tasker, click three dots lines, select Action and under Quick Settings Tasks replace the entry named unset with the name of the task you just created. Make sure you change it only for the entry you dragged into visible tiles.
From now on, whenever you would tap that quick setting tile, it would collapse the notification bar, wait for 500ms, than capture a screenshot.
In practice, Tasker responsded with an automatic delay of at least 3 seconds when tapping the tile. I have no solution for this delay though.


text:
How to disable the google app in android 8.1.0?
I have been looking for the option using the google app itself, but when selecting  the settings button inside,  it does nothing, only stays in the same screen without the options in the second and third panel.
So I dont know how to delete the bar on the main screen.

UPDATE
Besides the method that changes the launcher (that I havent tested yet), all the methods suggesting to disable google app or google search does not work because it does not uninstall or force the stop of the google app/google search inside the installed apps. So the idea its changed to how to disable google app in oreo 8.1.0.

Just use another launcher?

Click and hold on the bar and drag it toward the the trashbin or remove text.
If that does not work then check out this article https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-remove-the-google-search-bar-from-your-android-homescreen

This was my first try and it does not highlight the bar nor appears the remove or trash option. I'm reading the article you suggested.


text:
Disabling data for specific apps on android
My device is rooted with magisk, and I prefer cli options over apps.
My device have android version 10 with stock android.
All the firewall apps connect to a vpn (which i don't trust at all) to block applications from using mobile data. That is why I'm looking for better options, I'm thinking of using iptables but I don't know how to block specific apps with that.

EDIT: I recently switched to Lineage OS 17.1, it does have options for disabling mobile data/wifi for individual apps.

See: Block apps from accessing the Internet on Android device If you've already tried the solutions listed there, please update your question with what attempted.

All the firewall apps don't connect to VPN, they just use VPNService API so that whole network traffic is redirected towards them (over TUN interface) and they may control it in whatever way they want. // Since every app owns a unique UID, you can use owner module with iptables to control traffic i.e. iptables -m owner --uid-owner .... That's what AFWall+ does. For details: How to view network traffic requested by a specific app?

Apart from that, not "all the firewall apps" use VPN – only those that don't have root access revert to that. I'm using AFWall+ and it does not use VPN, but iptables. And you can decide per-app as well as per-interface what app gets Internet access: via mobile data, WiFi, while in Roaming. It uses a GUI, but can be extended by your own scripts (which is what I e.g. do to override my providers DNS). // As your question is for command-line, I'm not sure if an answer along these lines would be acceptable? "iptables howto" would rather be off-topic ;)

@IrfanLatif that could probably be solved by running a service. But yes, I see your point. In dubio pro reo, let's assume OP meant to prefer cli over GUI, and things could match again ;)


text:
Pixel 6a does not show available Android security updates
On a Pixel 6a device, Android seems to have trouble finding the latest security updates.
On the one hand, it warns me under Settings->Security like this:

(!) Update this device
This device hasn't had a security update in 90 days
(Check for updates)

Fair enough, but when I do check for updates Android tells me:

Your system is up to date
Android version: 12
Android security update: 5 April 2022
Last successful check for update 13:55

(which matches the device's current time)
The expectation is that there is at least one more recent security system update available.
Especially, since a Pixel 3a device I have access to update to the 5th of May 2022 system security update, a few weeks ago.
What gives?
Is there some trick to persuade Android to check - let's say - more thoroughly for system updates?

Is your phone branded by a MNO? Branded devices often get delayed updates. It is known that the button "Check for updates" does not every time checks for updates. Try to repeat the update check multiple times...

Checking the official Factory Images for Nexus and Pixel Devices, looks like there were only 2 images with June 2022 security update: JP carriers and Verizon MVNOs, but no May 2022 images at all.

@Robert no, it isn't. It's a vanilla device from the google store. I repeated the check 20 times or so today already, including before/after a device reboot.

@AndrewT. AFAICS, all currently supported Pixel devices should have received the May and June monthly security updates, at this point. Looks like the OTA/firmware images are released on a different schedule and thus don't always include all the released security updates.

According to the news sources (XDA, Android Police), Pixel 6a got the first OTA a few days ago, bumping the security patch from April 2022 directly to June 2022 but not July 2022, and is still only available for JP carriers and Verizon MVNOs (as mentioned on the official page). Also, AFAIK, Google releases factory images at the same time the OTA is first rolling out, so it's usually published quicker than some users getting the OTA

@AndrewT. ok, then Google's statement on their bulletin page 'These bulletins supplement the Android Security Bulletins with additional security patches and functional improvements on supported Google Pixel and Nexus devices (Google devices). [..] Google devices start receiving OTA updates on the same day the monthly bulletin is released.' promises more than Google delivers. Do you want to post your comments (including the last 2 links) as an answer?

Statements from Google regarding their update procedures such as

These bulletins supplement the Android Security Bulletins with additional security patches and functional improvements on supported Google Pixel and Nexus devices (Google devices). [..] Google devices start receiving OTA updates on the same day the monthly bulletin is released.

(source)
should be taken with a grain of salt.
Clearly, the Pixel 6a is a supported Google Pixel device but didn't receive any OTA updates for May and June updates, even in late July, as reported by tech sites:

https://www.xda-developers.com/google-pixel-6a-first-update/
https://www.androidpolice.com/pixel-6a-gets-its-very-first-update-but-only-to-a-june-patch-level/

According to these reports, such a delay of security updates is common with newly released Google devices, and happened with past models, as well, in a similar fashion.

FWIW, my Pixel 6a device (bought directly from Google, from Germany) received its first monthly security OTA update on 2022-08-05 - and that's the June 1st update.

When I contacted support about not getting updates, their response was "wipe to factory reset and restore".  I declined, given the time required to set up apps that are not part of the backup regime.  Shortly after, the device got updated to Android 13 and August 5 patches.  But the September 6 patches still do not show up after 6 days.  My device was purchased unlocked from the Google Store on the July 28th release date.

It eventually updated.


text:
Is it safe to give accessibility permission to an app?
So I use the app from Cleanbrowsing and gave the accessibility permission to it and saw that it can view my screen, action and inputs, perform actions and control the display.
Is this app even safe to use?

I guess it really depends on the providence of the app in question, if you got it from the Google Play Store that has certain rules about how apps work and bans them if they include scripts for "click fraud" for example then I imagine that's a good place to get a reliable app from, one hopes.  If however you obtained the app from a 3rd party website with no vetting of apps that could have god knows what kind of nefarious scripting included in it... well you obviously need to be wary.

I'm using the web version of the app because it has device admin permission so you can't uninstall it.

I'd be very, very careful granting that to an app – regardless if it came from Play Store. As you found out, that permission give access to a lot of things and can be abused not only to spy on you, but also to cause other harm. So unless there's a very good reason to it and you really trust the developer, I would not recommend granting it. Seeing the reason the dev of this app gives (calling it "advanced browsing" that the user shall be unable to uninstall the app, see Andrew's answer), seems rather suspicious to me.

It always depends on how trusted the app is.
There are malware apps that abuse accessibility service, that Google took action to remove them from the Play Store. Do not enable it unless you know what you are doing.
As for why the accessibility service (which this permission is about) has such powerful control, it is because the original purpose is to help people control their device more easily. Taken from the official Android documentation on Accessibility service,

An accessibility service is an application that provides user interface enhancements to assist users with disabilities, or who may temporarily be unable to fully interact with a device.

Example of accessibility services:

TalkBack: eyes-free control of your device, by viewing the screen and intercepting the user's action to read out the content.
Voice Access: control your device with spoken commands, by viewing the screen and performing actions with voice commands.
Switch Access: interact with your Android device using one or more switches instead of the touchscreen, by viewing the screen and performing actions using button switches or face gestures.

However, developers also found unusual ways of using Android accessibility services, as explained by Maksym Dybarskyi:

[...] there are several ways of unusual usage of accessibility services. I wrote ‘unusual’ because all these scenarios are different from the original purpose of accessibility services.

Automation apps like Tasker, MacroDroid, and Automate have their own "accessibility services" to allow more features that are otherwise restricted by the system (e.g. intercept action on buttons, take screenshots, etc.)

As for CleanBrowser, the documentation claimed,

Advanced functionality includes removing the users ability to uninstall the app. [...] it makes use of the Accessibility API to prevent the user from uninstalling the [app],

(Emphasis added)

This answer is a big No. An Accessibility Service lets an application simulate touch and read the content of the screen. Read again. Enabling an accessibility service is like giving your phone to somebody else. In fact, this is how almost all non 0-day malwares work on Android. Every single malware starts by pressuring the user into enabling its accessibility service, then uses it to steal passwords, prevent deletion, gain permissions, and dismiss warnings and notifications. Don't enable third-party Accessibility Services unless you absolutely need it. P.S. You don't need it.

@MargaretBloom I updated the answer to add the warning, hopefully it's clear now. To be fair, some devices don't have built-in accessibility like Android Accessibility Suite, thus a person with disability may have to resort to download Google's own as "3rd-party" though.

+1 good answer..


text:
Why LSPosed slows down screenshot take?
My phone is Samsung Galaxy M20 (OneUI 2.0 - Android 10) and I use the latest Magisk v24.3 (24300). After installing LSPosed, my phone takes screenshots more slowly.
Why? Is possible to fix this? If possible, how?

LSPosed uses Zygisk or Riru for injection interface.
There is no solution for Riru because if your LSPosed is using Riru, update Magisk to the latest version. Enable Zygisk (Beta) feature in Magisk Manager. Then download the Zygisk version of LSPosed from the GitHub repo, and install it.
Main Solution:

Enable DenyList in 'Magisk Manager > Settings'
Select SystemUI with its subprocesses.

This operation will revert all Magisk modifications for SystemUI and the problem will be solved!


text:
Galaxy Note apps on stock Android
I've just ordered a Samsung Galaxy Note, and since I generally don't like manufacturer-installed bloatware (TouchWiz etc.), I'd like to reflash it with a stock ICS ROM. However, one of the main reasons I've bought the Note is for the S-Pen functionality.
Is a vanilla ICS ROM capable of running the Note-specific S-Pen apps that come with the phone? If not, is there at least a way to make the phone look and behave as if it doesn't have TouchWiz?

At first, there's a current Hardbrick warning and a tool to diagnose this for the Galaxy Note (and other Samsung devices).
Here's the Galaxy Note N7000 CM9 team's current issue list, it doesn't mention missing S-Pen functionality (unlike an experimental build #1) so I guess it's fixed.
The CM9 alpha for N7000 announcement on XDA also mentions S-Pen beeing worked on.
And finally, here's the CM9 builds for N7000 and a full update guide.

Regarding Samsungs specialized Note apps alone: That's probably not possible unless TouchWiz is installed

This was my question. Guess I'll have to stick with TouchWiz then.

One amazing and very much compatible APP is Memo Beta, free and open source S-Pen drawing app:

Memo is a note taking app designed specifically for Galaxy Note.

ROMs supported:
CM9 (CyanogenMod 9)
AOKP (Android Open Kang Project)
AOSP (Android Open Source Project)
Paranoid Android

Some features

Licensed GPLv3 open source
S-Pen combatible (including side button and pressure sensitivity)
Inport and resize/move images from the camera, gallery, webpage or map
Two finger zoom and pan for inputting those finer details
Add typed text to notes
Share notes using MMS, E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more
left handed mode

Useful Links.

Github page
Google Play page
XDA Developers Forum Thread

I've found that on my Note, the CM nightlies seem to have 3G connection issues (nothing predictable enough to file a bug report on, unfortunately), so I'm back to stock at the moment. But thanks anyway!

My favourite note taking app so far is Papyrus You can have infinite length note surface and use two fingers to move around the note and a single finger as an eraser. All drawings are vectors.
The quick note taking app that pops up double clicking the pen is really shitty and the editing with polaris office too basic. I still have to do a lot of playing and investigating.

It's also worth mentioning that you can install other launchers such as ADW Launcher which allows for themes which will completely change the look of the homescreen and icons on it. For instance, this Antique CM theme is a theme for ADW Launcher, as is this Red ADW Theme which as you can see looks very different. You can also download replacement contacts apps as well, so you can hide almost all of TouchWiz, whilst still keeping the stock ROM and with it, the S-Pen apps.
I've only recently installed replacement launchers because I was beginning to get frustrated with TouchWiz and things like it's lack of rotation. Makes me wonder why Samsung bother with their own inferior launcher in the first place.

Not sure why I'm getting marked down for answering the second part of the question which was never answered, but such is life.

right. it looks rather unrelated at first. maybe place a citation of the very last question on top of your answer and the ambiguity is gone

Yes, I'm aware of third party launchers, and am currently running Apex. The problem with this is that it still departs from the cohesive design language that Google was said to have introduced in ICS. Since my last Android phone couldn't run ICS, I would have quite liked to experience the undiluted ICS experience as well.


text:
App can't be moved to SD card
There was an app moved to SD card.
I did a factory reset.
Then I reinstalled the app. It was side loaded by Humble Bundle app, it's not from Google Play.
Now the app can't be moved to SD, getting error "Couldn't move app".
I am guessing there is this some type of Android's cache for this app on SD already that prevents it from moving again, but this is just a speculation.
Titanium backup couldn't move it either. Well, it said it did but it's still "on the phone".
Any ideas welcome.
The phone is HTC Sensation.

You most probably left some residuals of the (moved) app on your SD card.
The easiest way to remove that would probably to pull out the SD card and remove the moved app on your computer (it's not accessible on your phone easily).
For example, the full path to the moved tricorder app on my phone is:
/mnt/sdcard/.android_secure/org.hermit.tricorder-1.asec
Just access it on your PC and remove the appropriate .asec file in the .android_secure folder.
Background (why not to do it on the phone):
Moved Apps are located in a cryptoloop mounted container file which is stored at /mnt/sdcard/.android_asec/*. This is however not accessible so that normal apps cannot mess around with moved apps (there's a tmpf mounted over /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure with 0kb space to inhibit access). The original .android_secure is bind mounted to /mnt/asec/secure where the system can access the containers.
app_36@android:/ $ mount
# omitted unecessary stuff, only the sdcard, the bind mount and the tmpfs mount are shown
/dev/block/vold/254:1 /mnt/sdcard vfat [mount-options-omitted] 0 0
/dev/block/vold/254:1 /mnt/secure/asec vfat [mount-options-omitted] 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure tmpfs [mount-options-omitted] 0 0
# no output, tmpfs still mounted:
app_36@android:/mnt/sdcard/.android_secure # ls
app_36@android:/mnt/secure/asec # umount /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure
# umounted... now there's what we expect:
app_36@android:/mnt/secure/asec # cd /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure
app_36@android:/mnt/sdcard/.android_secure # ls
org.hermit.tricorder-1.asec

+'d, Exactly my thoughts on this issue! :)

Yeah, not tried it but it must just be this. PS: If you want to do it on the phone, you need root to umount the tmpfs mount (as shown above), then just remove the .asec file using any file explorer you have installed.

This was the right move. I deleted entire /.android_secure (since I reset the phone anyway). Now I can move almost everything I want to SD without an error. However the app in question still can't be moved. Since it solved the issue for most apps I'll go ahead and mark it resolved but I'd appreciate any further info. Thanks.

Good question. I have only less constructive ideas left. What say the logs: logcat. Else, standard procedure proposal: Reinstalled app and retried? Is it a paid (protected) app that cannot be moved?

@ce4: Thank you for this detailed answer! Not that I was affected by the problem, but now I better understand how /sdcard/.android_secure and /mnt/secure/asec work together, technically speaking.

Reinstalled app and retried - yes, a few times, same result. Logcat is awesome, thanks. Interestingly the log shows "Failes to unlink asec '/mnt/secure/asec/appname.asec' (No such file or directory)". Weird, of course it's not there. Tried to create an empty file with the same name, still can't be moved. Then there was this: "No content provider found for permission revoke: file:///data/app/appname.apk". I am guessing something is wrong with permissions. I'll look into this further. Thanks for a lot of useful info.

When I had an N1 that used to fill up on space quickly, I used to use an app called ModInstallLocation to move apps that weren't technically movable through Apps2SD.

As it turns out ModInstallLocation didn't help, app was still installed on the phone. Apps2SD opens the standard Android app info page that has the "Move to SD" button which fails with "Couldn't move app".


text:
Micromax Funbook tablet frozen at boot screen. No clockwork mod recovery - how to restore?
I have a Micromax Funbook tablet (codename:P300) running Android 4.0.3.
While playing with a file explorer, I accidentally moved a file from /system folder. Yes, the device came as rooted and I had enabled root explorer and mounted the partition as writable. I  did so because I was mistakenly taken an assumption that I had installed Clockworkmod Recovery mod recovery.
Upon restart, the device does not go beyond bootloader image (it just says "Funbook" for ever).  I had attempted restart into recovery by pressing option button and then powering on.  To my nasty surprise, now only I realised that I had not installed Clockworkmod Recovery and landed on some recovery with following options:
Android system recovery <3e>

Reboot system now
Apply update from external storage
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
apply update from cache

Can anyone can help in restoring the tablet to original ROM? Even if I have ROM file, without Clockworkmod Recovery how can I recover?

Does ADB work, either in the stock recovery, or if you boot the system normally to the point where it hangs?

Thanks Chris, I did not have an opportunity to try what you said as by the time I read your words, I had flashed another ROM.

This link helped me to flash a rom image. As an additional benefit, this ROM seems to be faster than Micromax's original ROM and also claims to support a list of 3G dongles.  The previous (i.e. original) ROM I had did not support Reliance and BSNL's 3G dongles.
As in a settings menu the following dongles are supported (I haven't got any 3G dongle to test):
WCDMA:
Huawei(E230, E176G, E160E, 182G, E1782, E1750 UMG1691), ZTE (MF633BP-1, MF633, MF637U)
CDMA2000/EVDO:
Huawei(E150, EC1261, EC122, EC156, EC1270), ZTE (AC580, AC2736, AC2746)
After re flashing, I installed clockworkmod recovery as per this link as well.

I just plugged it in, did a reboot with the on/off and volume switches like turning it off, and I came to life again!  Yay!


text:
How to see what applications do some actions when I power on my phone?
I believe there's some set of “hooks”, which get executed when I power on the phone. I want to see it to figure out the reason why my phone sometimes doesn't wake up properly (wakes with black screen).

best option is probably to attach to logcat when the device boots.

While the logcat option recommended by Ryan of course is a valid possibility, it is not the most user-friendly solution. I've got a better idea :)
Apps started automatically after boot registered for a certain event, called BOOT_COMPLETED. To do so, they need to request this permission (you find it under "more" on the playstore pages) called "Start after Boot" (or, with its technical name, BOOT_COMPLETED -- what a surprise!). So to figure out which apps could potentially be in here, you can use a permission checker. There are many of them in the Playstore, but I will mention only two of them to get you started:

PermissionDog1
RL Permissions2

Both let you browse your apps by permissions, and even try to indicate "potentially dangerous apps" -- nice side-effect in your case ;)


text:
How to disable split-screen when opening the app from Edge panels on Samsung Android 12?
I have a Samsung A53 running with Android 12 and OneUI 4.1.
When I open an application from the Edge panels, it always opens in split-screen / multi-window, if the app has a split-screen layout (such as Google Maps or WhatsApp).
I find this behaviour intensely annoying, but cannot find a way around it - searching the settings yielded a toggle in Advanced - Labs to enable this for all apps, but this is obviously the exact opposite of what I'm trying to achieve.
An online article mentioned an app named "Samsung multiwindow toggle" where this can be disabled, however I haven't been able to find it in the Play Store. I've also looked through similar questions here, but they were mostly quite old and related to different software versions, with settings that I don't have.
So, what can be done to get rid of this "feature"?

Have you tried the Samsung AppStore? It usually carries all Samsung-specific apps its developers push to devices. Unless this is a third-party Samsung app? https://www.samsung.com/us/apps/

The settings can be changed from the Edge panels' settings directly (not Android settings):

Open Edge panels by swiping it
Press the hamburger menu (3 horizontal bars)
Select "Edit"
Press the kebab menu (3 vertical dots)
There are 2 options for "Open in split screen view"

Touch and hold
Tap


text:
How can I auto rotate in Samsung Galaxy?
Coming from a Huawei P9 Lite, I recently moved to a Samsung Galaxy A30s.
While on my other phone it had an Auto rotate icon, I can't find one at the moment.

I've gone to Settings and searched for the term "rotate" but no results were found.
So, when I'm on a webpage

And rotate it, notice that it appears a new icon in the bottom right

And I need to click in it to actually rotate

During the first days, this was kind of ok, but now I'm tired of having to click always in that icon and waiting for it to appear (sometimes even requiring to do the rotation movement multiple times).

Where it says "Portrait", clicking in it changes to "Auto rotate"

and then auto-rotation gets active.
Notice that if the phone is rotated using the method mentioned in the question, then one won't see "Portrait" but "Landscape"


text:
How to fix "Preflash validation failed" when flashing stock image from Fastboot?
I recently soft bricked my Motorola G5s plus (sanders), and tried reinstalling the OS from here, but I failed with errors including Permission denied (while wiping partitions), preflash validation failed (on system and oem, including the latest version of Oreo, I'm running 7.1.1).
I have managed to root my phone using Magisk Manager and install TWRP. I created a program to read flashfile.xml.

While installing SANDERS_RETAIL_7.1.1_NPS26.116-45_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip I get these errors:
Executing:  fastboot getvar max-sparse-size
max-sparse-size: 268435456
finished. total time: 0.000s

Executing:  fastboot oem fb_mode_set
...
OKAY [  0.001s]
finished. total time: 0.001s

Executing:  fastboot flash partition gpt.bin
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'partition' (45 KB)...
OKAY [  0.002s]
writing 'partition'...
(bootloader) Validating 'gpt.default.xml'
(bootloader) Security version downgrade
(bootloader) Image primary_gpt failed validation
(bootloader) Preflash validation failed
(bootloader) Cancelling 'gpt.default.xml'
FAILED (remote failure)
finished. total time: 0.057s

Executing:  fastboot flash bootloader bootloader.img
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'bootloader' (5115 KB)...
OKAY [  0.138s]
writing 'bootloader'...
(bootloader) Validating 'bootloader.default.xml'
(bootloader) Committing 'bootloader.default.xml'
(bootloader) - flashing 'emmc_appsboot.mbn' to 'aboot'
(bootloader) - flashing 'rpm.mbn' to 'rpm'
(bootloader) - flashing 'tz.mbn' to 'tz'
(bootloader) - flashing 'devcfg.mbn' to 'devcfg'
(bootloader) - flashing 'cmnlib.mbn' to 'cmnlib'
(bootloader) - flashing 'cmnlib64.mbn' to 'cmnlib64'
(bootloader) - flashing 'keymaster.mbn' to 'keymaster'
(bootloader) - flashing 'prov.mbn' to 'prov'
(bootloader) - flashing 'sbl1.mbn' to 'sbl1'
OKAY [  0.533s]
finished. total time: 0.671s

Executing:  fastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'modem' (71925 KB)...
OKAY [  1.860s]
writing 'modem'...
OKAY [  1.093s]
finished. total time: 2.953s

Executing:  fastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'fsg' (3024 KB)...
OKAY [  0.079s]
writing 'fsg'...
OKAY [  0.115s]
finished. total time: 0.194s

Executing:  fastboot erase modemst1
erasing 'modemst1'...
OKAY [  0.032s]
finished. total time: 0.032s

Executing:  fastboot erase modemst2
erasing 'modemst2'...
OKAY [  0.030s]
finished. total time: 0.030s

Executing:  fastboot flash dsp adspso.bin
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'dsp' (16384 KB)...
OKAY [  0.422s]
writing 'dsp'...
OKAY [  0.288s]
finished. total time: 0.710s

Executing:  fastboot flash logo logo.bin
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'logo' (2192 KB)...
OKAY [  0.055s]
writing 'logo'...
OKAY [  0.108s]
finished. total time: 0.163s

Executing:  fastboot flash boot boot.img
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'boot' (16384 KB)...
OKAY [  0.463s]
writing 'boot'...
(bootloader) Image signed with key bad key
OKAY [  0.370s]
finished. total time: 0.833s

Executing:  fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'recovery' (20580 KB)...
OKAY [  0.565s]
writing 'recovery'...
(bootloader) Image signed with key bad key
OKAY [  0.476s]
finished. total time: 1.041s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.0
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (256355 KB)...
OKAY [  6.733s]
writing 'system'...
(bootloader) Preflash validation failed
FAILED (remote failure)
finished. total time: 6.745s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.1
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (262115 KB)...
OKAY [  6.921s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [  3.460s]
finished. total time: 10.381s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.2
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (259034 KB)...
OKAY [  6.770s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [  3.539s]
finished. total time: 10.309s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.3
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (262013 KB)...
OKAY [  6.564s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [  3.574s]
finished. total time: 10.139s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.4
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (262142 KB)...
OKAY [  6.464s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [  3.440s]
finished. total time: 9.905s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.5
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (262140 KB)...
OKAY [  6.498s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [  3.322s]
finished. total time: 9.820s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.6
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (259637 KB)...
OKAY [  6.692s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [  3.315s]
finished. total time: 10.007s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.7
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (240915 KB)...
OKAY [  6.158s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [  3.688s]
finished. total time: 9.846s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.8
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (262142 KB)...
OKAY [  6.482s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [  3.692s]
finished. total time: 10.174s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.9
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (233189 KB)...
OKAY [  6.014s]
writing 'system'...
(bootloader) Invalid sparse image data
(bootloader) Failed to flash sparse image
FAILED (remote failure)
finished. total time: 6.563s

Executing:  fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.10
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'system' (65436 KB)...
OKAY [  1.614s]
writing 'system'...
(bootloader) Invalid sparse image data
(bootloader) Failed to flash sparse image
FAILED (remote failure)
finished. total time: 1.615s

Executing:  fastboot flash oem oem.img
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
sending 'oem' (145482 KB)...
OKAY [  3.656s]
writing 'oem'...
(bootloader) Preflash validation failed
FAILED (remote failure)
finished. total time: 3.658s

Executing:  fastboot erase cache
erasing 'cache'...
OKAY [  0.011s]
finished. total time: 0.012s

Executing:  fastboot erase userdata
erasing 'userdata'...
OKAY [  0.182s]
finished. total time: 0.182s

Executing:  fastboot erase DDR
erasing 'DDR'...
OKAY [  0.002s]
finished. total time: 0.002s

Executing:  fastboot oem fb_mode_clear
...
OKAY [  0.001s]
finished. total time: 0.002s

How do I fix these errors? I have tried many OS's and my phone will just bootloop in different forms, such as booting back into fastboot, erase loop, and hanging on the 'This device has been unlocked' screen.

Update:
When I do fastboot getvar all I get this output:
(bootloader) version: 0.5
(bootloader) version-bootloader: moto-msm8953-C2.12
(bootloader) product: sanders
(bootloader) board: sanders
(bootloader) secure: yes
(bootloader) hwrev: P4
(bootloader) radio: 1
(bootloader) storage-type: emmc
(bootloader) emmc: 32GB SAMSUNG RX1BMB RV=08 PV=07 FV=0000000000000007
(bootloader) ram: 3GB SAMSUNG LP3 DIE=6Gb M5=01 M6=05 M7=00 M8=7B
(bootloader) cpu: MSM8953
(bootloader) serialno: ZY3226ZJG4
(bootloader) cid: 0x0032
(bootloader) channelid: 0x51
(bootloader) uid: DAEA774100000000000000000000
(bootloader) securestate: flashing_unlocked
(bootloader) iswarrantyvoid: yes
(bootloader) max-download-size: 534773760
(bootloader) reason: Volume down key pressed
(bootloader) imei: 355654081635257
(bootloader) meid:
(bootloader) date: 09-16-2017
(bootloader) sku: XT1805
(bootloader) carrier_sku:
(bootloader) battid:
(bootloader) iccid:
(bootloader) cust_md5:
(bootloader) max-sparse-size: 268435456
(bootloader) current-time: "Fri Jan  2 19:36:32 UTC 1970"
(bootloader) ro.build.fingerprint[0]: samsung/sanders_n/starlte_n:7.1.1/
(bootloader) ro.build.fingerprint[1]: NPSS26.116-61-2/7:user/release-key
(bootloader) ro.build.fingerprint[2]: s
(bootloader) poweroffalarm: 0
(bootloader) ro.build.version.full[0]: Blur_Version.26.271.7.sanders.ret
(bootloader) ro.build.version.full[1]: ail.en.US
(bootloader) ro.build.version.qcom: LA.UM.5.6.r1-03800-89xx.0
(bootloader) version-baseband: M8953_27.36.07.41R SANDERS_EMEADSDS_CUST
(bootloader) kernel.version[0]: Linux version 3.18.31-perf-gaf9c281 (hud
(bootloader) kernel.version[1]: soncm@ilclbld87) (gcc version 4.9 201501
(bootloader) kernel.version[2]: 23 (prerelease) (GCC) ) #1 SMP PREEMPT T
(bootloader) kernel.version[3]: hu Jan 11 10:56:22 CST 2018
(bootloader) sbl1.git: git=MBM-NG-VC2.12-0-g698fb2f
(bootloader) rpm.git: git=MBM-NG-VC2.11-0-g92e5e21-dirty
(bootloader) tz.git: git=MBM-NG-VC2.11-1-g9a0b157
(bootloader) devcfg.git: git=MBM-NG-VC2.11-1-g9a0b157
(bootloader) keymaster.git: git=MBM-NG-VC2.11-1-g9a0b157
(bootloader) cmnlib.git: git=MBM-NG-VC2.11-1-g9a0b157
(bootloader) cmnlib64.git: git=MBM-NG-VC2.11-1-g9a0b157
(bootloader) prov.git: git=MBM-NG-VC2.11-1-g9a0b157
(bootloader) aboot.git: git=MBM-NG-VC2.12-0-g07ff23c
(bootloader) frp-state: no protection (144)
(bootloader) ro.carrier: retapac
(bootloader) current-slot:
(bootloader) slot-suffixes: _a
(bootloader) slot-count: 1
(bootloader) slot-successful:_a: INVALID
(bootloader) slot-successful:_b: INVALID
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_a: INVALID
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_b: INVALID
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_a: unknown
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_b: unknown
all: listed above
finished. total time: 0.007s

Update 2:
When I flash the contents of system, img_sparsechunk.0 errors out in Preflash validation error, and says Image is too large in the bootloader logs.


text:
How to clear dalvik cache if DDMS doesn't recognize device?
I have a Navon Platinum Explorer tablet (wich is not an original Navon tablet). Few years ago I was able to clear the dalvik cache, with DDMS in Eclipse (Mars) but it's full again and DDMS doesn't recognize the device, so I can't clear it. Windows  says unknown device. I looked for this device in Oracle VM USB device list and there I found it as Onda (unverified) V972 tablet in flashing mode.
When I turn the tablet on it display the android logo and stuck there. When I press the Power + Volume up / Volume down buttons it doesn't display anything, but connects to the PC (or if already connected then disconnects). I can't enter recovery menu.
So how can I clear the dalvik cache, and disable logging so it doesn't get full again?
From Ubuntu
(First, I do not really know linux yet.)
With sudo lshw -short command I get some interesting item related to the device (with H/W path /0/100/6/*):

It's maybe possible to do something whith it?

Is the device rooted?

@BoLawson I don't rooted this device, but the previous owner maybe.

I guess the first thing to address would be getting the device recognized by the computer. Try updating the drivers next thing would be try switching between mtp and ptp in settings to see if eclipse can recognize the device. What version of windows are you using?

Windows 10 Pro 64 bit, and see the edit.

Flashing mode should be the bootloader but I do not know if it uses fastboot commands. Not much can be done to the davlik-cache since it resides in /data/dalvik-cache. However it might be possible to erase the cache which is different. So do you have adb and fastboot installed on your computer? For adb is usb debugging turned on through developer settings? On a side not I am not sure the device is visible to eclipse while in the bootloader. I believe you need to be in the android os or recovery.

I don't know (or remembered) that the usb debugging is was enabled. Where should I install adb and fastboot on the Windows OS (host) or on Ubuntu (guest)?

What ever you are most comfortable with. The usb debugging is important. It can very much so make your device invisible to eclipse and the computer itself. Check to see if Developer settings is visible. If not go to Settings/about device/software-possibly/tap the build number 7 times to enable developer settings. Exit it out to Settings menu go to developer settings scroll down to use debugging` press it to toggle it on. Then restart eclipse and try to see if device is now shown. before you try to get adb installed. https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools

Let us continue this discussion in chat.


text:
How to display truncated text?
Often, a text item is too long to fit the screen, and it gets truncated with three dots (like this: …). How can I access the hidden part of the text?
(I tried turning the phone to rotate the display, but it seems to not be a feature of this phone.)
(Sorry for the newbie post. I searched Google and this forum but failed to find anything relevant.)

Auto-rotation can be enabled in the settings: Settings > Display > Screen rotation. Turning the phone then displays text fully.


text:
Huawei File Safe Stuck/not working
I have created a safe on the SD using the files app on my Huawei P20 Lite.
It worked fine, until I decided to create a second one. Now, it no longer asks for my fingerprint, but for my password. After entering it, it brings me to a safe selection screen.

Selecting the one that is in use does nothing. Selecting the other one brings me back to the password entry screen  after which the process repeats.
I have tried deleting all but one safe from the SD card, and resetting the password. Both methods do nothing. Creating a new safe lets me add files to it until I exit  at which point the process repeats.
Q: How do I enter a safe or reset it entirely so I can create a new one?

Unless someone figures something else, here are my findings:

Huawei will let you create multiple safes. However, doing so will cause you to enter an infinite loop of login screens that you cannot "exit" to enter either safe.
The only way to fix this is to delete the .File_SafeBox folder from the root of your SD card.
All files will be destroyed.