text:
Should the phone be fully charged before flashing a rom?
In posts like this, and from other sources, I have heard that the handset should be fully charged before flashing or installing a customer ROM.  I assume this is because the calibration for the battery is kept somewhere within the ROM, but I don't know for sure.  Is this really necessary?

For most ROMs if you are over 50% battery you'll be alright

I always just leave my phone plugged in while I make backups or flash a new ROM.  If you're concerned with battery calibration you can manually reset it by fully charging your phone and then letting it run down to the point where it shuts itself off twice in a row with no charging between 100% and 0%.

@JonnyP Thanks, I'm definitely familiar with the calibration reset method, but I am more concerned with whether or not it is even necessary.  Seems like this is more a measure to prevent borking the rom than anything else.

That's my feeling as well.  Better safe than sorry when the consequences are so drastic.

It's just because, under some circumstances, flashing can take a while.  You really don't want your device shutting off while it's being flashed; it can brick the device.
The calibration for the battery is stored, yes, but usually it gets adjusted within a few charges of the phone.  It might be a little inaccurate for a while, but it's not a major concern.


text:
Preparation steps for sending a phone back under warranty
I'm sending my (unrooted) nexus s off repair under under warranty, and was just wondering if there any precautions I can take to limit the amount of personal info on the device, lest the engineers take a look through my contacts/emails etc.? (ideally without resetting phone to factory defaults)
Main ideas I've had so far are:

Associating the phone with a brand new google account and deleting the old ones
Moving all sd card content to computer
Clearing caches

Resetting the phone to factory settings (Menu -> Settings -> Privacy -> Factory data reset) and wiping the microSD card (after backing up its contents) should be all that's needed.
Factory reset dis-associates the phone from your Google account, removes any custom apps (installed on internal memory) with their data, and clears all the caches.
[Edit]
P.S. There is a good chance that the manufacturer (Samsung in your case) or whoever you are sending your phone to for repairs might send you a different handset.  Depending on their service terms, they may simply ship you a brand new Nexus S, or even a refurb.  So jumping through hoops to leave your installed apps intact might be a waste of time.

Basically, it looks like you want to clear everything except your apps.  Is that right?  If so, I'd just use something like App Manager to back them all up, and then do a factory reset.  If you back them up to the SD card they should be safe, but you can always copy the backup to your computer.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
MTK Logger, MTK Android Suite Daemon, and omacp
I've got an Acer E380 running Android 4.2. I suddenly seem to have a load of "apps" in the Settings > Apps > All list, such as:

MTK logger
MTK android suite Daemon
omacp, and others

These all have worryingly high amounts of permissions - all are allowed to send texts, call numbers, access, modify and create contacts, accounts, etc. I have no recollection of installing these, and it looks to me to be some form of virus (and a little research online seems to back this up).
I've run Kaspersky and AVG virus scans, yet they say my device is clean - so I'm now at all as to what to do? Is this a virus and if so, how do I remove it, as there seems to be no APK files that has caused it.
PS. I'm not afraid of a factory reset either!

Seems like system apps. Searching for "MTK Android Suite Daemon" brings to this app info, and searching the package brings a (branch?) source code of it. I won't disable/remove them without more info, but if you're okay with factory reset, try to disable them.

First off, your research is a little incomplete – as there doesn't exist any virus for Android. Second, the "MTK" prefix seems to stand for "MediaTeK" – and indeed, your device seems to be powered by a Mediatek MT6589 CPU. Which seems to suggest those are apps shipping with your device. Could you please go to Settings › Apps, select the "All" tab, and check for those apps? Open their entries, and see whether there's a button labeled "Disable" (i.e. app came pre-installed) or "Uninstall" (not pre-installed or system app).

Well I have a malware on my android which I introduced via rooting process with untrusted apk. Some of the files I suspect were introduced start with MTK (like MtkBt.apk, MTKAndroidSuiteDaemon.apk and MTKLogger.apk). Maybe someone is related to cracked Mobileuncle MTK Tools ?? I don't know...

From the Looks of it, those apps seem to be part of the "bloatware" that comes with most phones out of the box.
In android, apps cannot be installed unless you choose for them to be installed. Even third party apps always show up with a "would you like to install this?" followed by the application and its permission. Then you have a final choice to install or not, based on the permissions it requires.

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


text:
Navigation bar disappears after system update on Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
I just received a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (GT-P3113TS) from school and oddly enough after playing with it just for several minutes, it wanted to update the OS. It ended up updating twice (one larger update and then a smaller ~60MB update) to a final version of Android 4.2.2.
Now, after the system starts up I no longer have a navigation bar at the bottom.  Once I get into an application or the system settings I simply cannot press any button to get out of it.  There is no home or return button or anything like unto that.  Am I entirely misunderstanding how Android's UI works or have these updates completely and entirely broke the system such that I'm no longer able to use this device?
To clarify:

As per request, here is a snapshot of my screen:

From a post in AndroidForums, "The Back, Home, and Recent Apps navigation soft buttons are no longer on the bottom left of the tablet. They are now centered on the bottom of the tablet.", could you confirm that? Or maybe I did misunderstand this statement.

There are simply navigation buttons like these anywhere on the tablet whatsoever.  I cannot go back, home or to recent apps.  When I go into an app, I seem to be stuck in the app.  I was hoping that I just am unaware of some gesture that will bring these "soft buttons" up or such.....

Can you post a screenshot of your screen ?

There you go @sameer.

Well, that looks some what weird to me, it looks like that there had been some error with the update have you tried double tapping over bottom screen to see if anything shows up? I can't understand where thing are going a little wrong! May be you should back up your data and try performing a factory reset !

@GDP2 just for a check try rotating your phone in landscape mode and see whether you are able to find the soft keys

May be you can try a factory reset

Its very easy to bring back navigation bar on any android device.

Download Root explorer or any other file explorer
access root permission and goto /system folder
Open build.prop and add this line    qemu.hw.mainkeys=0
If this line already there than it must contain 1 instead of 0. Change it to 0
Or use Gravity box to enable navigation bar.

Read more at Techorfy

This all assumes he has root.


text:
Unable to install app on Micromax A106
I'm unable to install an app on Micromax A106. It shows sufficient space in storage, but an error comes out as not enough space.

This phone seems to have very little space for files. As you don't mention how much space has left for a user to install apps I will think it is too low to be any useful to any kind of user. The only real choices, that can work in this kind of situation, are the two I am describing in this question.
Be aware that these two solutions have as a requirement for the phone to be rooted. If these two solutions do not fit you, you can always try to uninstall big apps from your phone and install smaller ones that do the same job.

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


text:
Can't find some apps in Play Store while others don't work
After I factory reset my Samsung Galaxy S4, some apps were reinstalled easily, while others didn't work as they used, and some can't be found in Play Store (YouTube Downloader). All Music Downloader won't work. I had Simple MP3 Downloader before, now it doesn't work.
Why can't I find them anymore, and why some of them also don't work anymore?

Some apps may be restricted to some countries, or they may have been removed by Google. Try to browse Play Store using browser to confirm if the apps are still there. Regarding "music downloader won't work", it's unclear what you meant.

TubeMate (and all similar YouTube video downloaders) were removed from the Play Store for violating Google's Terms and Conditions. Simple MP3 Downloader was also removed for this reason. You probably downloaded the apps before they were removed from the Play Store, so that is why you had them before.
You can still install those two apps to your phone from manually installing the .apk files for TubeMate and Simple MP3 Downloader.

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


text:
Reinstall Gallery app on Samsung Galaxy S3
I accidently uninstalled the Gallery app that came with my Samsung Galaxy S3. I installed another gallery, but I cannot choose a photo for lock-screen.
Is it possible to reinstall the Gallery app? If it is, how do I do it?

What android version? And what rom?

Personally I would use the Google Photos app, but yes, you can re-download it.
Here is a list of downloads for the S3 stock apps for Jellybean:
http://www.the-area51.com/2013/01/samsung-galaxy-s3-jellybean-stock-apks.html
Download the gallery apk file on your phone, and open it. A promt will open, click install. Once it's finished, you can delete the file you downloaded, and open the app like you normally would.


text:
Importing WiFi settings from Microsoft account
I have a bunch of saved WiFi passwords on my Windows 8 laptop that automatically transfer from one PC to another when I log in using my Microsoft account. Does anyone know a way to transfer these saved passwords to my Android device (Samsung Galaxy S4)?  I've tried researching the issue to no avail.

If you are talking about a password manager like keepass, then you might be able to accomplish this. If so, what password manager are you using? if you mean they are transferred just because they are stored on your windows device, no, you won't be able to transfer them.

I don't know of any way to view all the saved passwords, but if you are currently connected to a network, you can search "View Network Connections" on your computer, then double click on the network you are connected to. Click wireless properties, and go to the security tab. If you check "Show characters", you can view the password for the network you are connected to.

Thank you but I am looking for an automatic solution, not a manual one.  I have done extensive research on the topic and have found nothing.

Sorry but I don't think that's going to work. I suggest keeping a list of important passwords on your phone, and secure the file with a password so no one can open it.


text:
Cache more tabs to preserve the content when there's no internet connection in Firefox for Android
I've installed Firefox on my Android smartphone. I want to store many opened tabs, but Firefox stores a little number of tabs.
Looks like Firefox only stores a few tabs (about 5 of 25 total), so when I navigate to another tab, Firefox will use the internet connection to load it again. Thus, when there's no internet connection, I will get a connection error page instead. (btw, Opera Mini easily stores about 50 tabs opened)
I've tried to work with about:config settings like browser.cache.disk.capacity and browser.cache.check_doc_frequency but with no success.
I think the problem is with browser.cache.disk.capacity, but:

it's difficult to click too many times (current value is 30720, but I need 100000)
the browser sets browser.cache.disk.capacity back to the default value after some time

What do I need to do to avoid annoying reloads of the page?

According to a blog article by Geoff Brown, the developer of Firefox for Android, looks like you need to disable "smart sizing" feature in Firefox because it sets the cache size dynamically.
I'm now using version 37 and I still don't see any progress in functionality though.


text:
How can I make my phone require a password to open Google Play Store?
I want my phone to require a password to enter the Google Play app, so if I let someone else, such as a friend, use my phone they can't go into the app and snoop around.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S9 with Android 8.0.

It is best if you setup a guest user account for complete isolation from your apps and data.

You can try AppLock.
On its Play Store page, it is stated that:

AppLock can lock Facebook, Whatsapp, Gallery, Messenger, Snapchat, Instagram, SMS, Contacts, Gmail, Settings, incoming calls and any app you choose. Prevent unauthorized access and guard privacy. Ensure security.

Below are the steps to configure the app:

Install the app. After the installation is completed, open it.
You will be prompted to create a pattern that will be used to unlock the app (I advise you use a different pattern than the one used to unlock your phone).

The next windows will ask to enter an email address for security purpose.

Next, a dialog box will appear asking to grant the app usage access. Click permit, then on the list select APPLock and switch on usage access permission.

Go back to the app, click on the Play Store. It will now be locked.

When you or anyone else try to open the Play Store, he/she be prompted to enter the pattern you created.

Disclaimer: I have no relation with those who develop the app.

+1 Maxlock is another good alternative, free software, works with and without root with automation features too. Most importantly, it hides the content of recent view of locked apps to ensure content is hidden from prying eyes

Mostly samsung devices have app lock by default if your device doesn't have just downlaod an app lock from play store and set it up and lock the app you wanna lock

It would terribly help if you could mention where this inbuilt app locker can be located in at least Galaxy S9 (if not the most Samsung devices as you said).

I searched everything and couldn't find it but I figured it out!!!

@NonaBinder can you tell us what you figured out? This could help future askers as well.

I followed the instructions for the  applock and now I have to put a password in to get into it!!!!! It worked perfectly!!!!


text:
My Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Doesn't Show an "Allow USB Debugging?" Prompt. Is there a fix?
Around this morning, I had the idea to transfer all my whatsapp chats(from android to ios)
Not so complicated, right?
Well, I was in for a rude awakening. Not only did I spend literally 7 hours trying to fix it... I couldn't fix it!
That's basically why I'm reaching out to you. My last hope. My knight in shining armor.
Here are the more technical details:

Before you say it, and I know you will, I'll tell you - I restarted my phone about 10 million times
I've enabled and disabled usb debugging around 10 million times minus 1.
I haven't played with adb so I don't screw with my android system. However if that's necessary, I'll do what must be done.
I'm specifically using my own samsung galaxy note 8 since I previously tried on another phone(LG v20) and it didn't work either.

So, I must ask you, are you up to this challenge? Can you fix what seems unfixable?
P.s. Here's a preview of what should be showing up on my own android device but is not:

By the way, I tried using these articles to solve the issue, but to not avail.

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/101933/galaxy-s4-does-not-show-authorize-usb-debugging-dialog-box

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/144507/cant-authorise-android-device-in-usb-debugging-mode

It's not yet mentioned, but the first thing to check is if the USB cable you're using is a data cable, not only a charging cable, i.e. that the device is detected by the computer first and you can browse the content of the smartphone's external storage from the PC. Also, you haven't mentioned the OS of the computer, but assuming it's Windows, then you probably need to install OEM USB drivers.

Thanks for sharing the info about the data cable, appreciate it. I actually figured out the cause of the issue: It seems like the profile of the computer(perhaps the RSA key fingerprint) was automatically recognized by the android device and so it didn't ask for any permissions. From there, I'm still kind of trying to understand it. But basically, as soon as I reset(factory reset) my computer, it started prompting me for authorization again. I'm sure the factory reset was on the extreme end of options, but it worked in the end.

Hello. I appreciate that you found the answer yourself, but please note that this is a Q&A site so we keep questions as questions strictly. Consider posting your solution as an answer in the space provided above the bottom of this page. As for others who visit this question in the future and finds the absence of a solution, visit this edit from OP.

Alright, thanks for letting me know.

There's an option called "Revoke USB Authorization" within the Developer options. Click it and it'll revoke the auth key.

It seems like the profile of the computer(perhaps the RSA key fingerprint) was automatically recognized by the android device and so it didn't ask for any permissions. From there, I'm still kind of trying to understand it. But basically, as soon as I reset(factory reset) my computer, it started prompting me for authorization again. I'm sure the factory reset was on the extreme end of options, but it worked in the end.


text:
I have added many photos from Camera to Album X for sorting. Is there any way to automatically add all remaining photos in Camera to Album Y?
Album X is supposed to be a "best of" album. However, I keep on noticing very good photos that I previously missed, and am adding them to Album X in an ad-hoc manor. It would be better to add all photos not already in Album X to Album Y so that I can go through them again as a group and promote more to Album X as necessary. Is there a way to automate the process of adding the thousands of photos in Camera which are not already in Album X to Album Y?
NB, as an alternative to automatically adding all photos to Album Y which are not already in Album X: Is there a way to view all the photos in Camera alongside some kind of identifier of whether they are also in Album X? Even that would make the sorting process much easier.

I have a solution if you are happy to use windows tools, which doesnt involve copying all files down, just the ones you move, one at a time

@Rohit Gupta I may be happy to use Windows tools


text:
Primary Zygote (64-bit) only starts the System Services? And all Android apps are 32-bit?
As far as I know Zygote is started by app_process64 and app_process32 where 64 is for primary zygote that starts system services because of start-system-server flag.
As we can see below in static void main method of frameworks/base/core/java/com/android/internal/os/ZygoteInit.java, it checks for start-system-server flag, run the forked System Server and exits due to return; statement below it, and never running the runSelectLoop that actually goes into infinite loop listening to connections that request to launch new applications. Only app_process32 without start-system-server flag will not enter the control statement to run the forked System Server, and instead, runs the runSelectLoop. Does it mean that all system services are inherently 64-bit while all Android apps are inherently 32-bit?
This code is from AOSP branch: Android-14.0.0_r21:
// redacted above code

zygoteServer = new ZygoteServer(isPrimaryZygote);

if (startSystemServer) {
    Runnable r = forkSystemServer(abiList, zygoteSocketName, zygoteServer);

    // {@code r == null} in the parent (zygote) process, and {@code r != null} in the
    // child (system_server) process.
    if (r != null) {
        r.run();
        return;
    }
}

Log.i(TAG, "Accepting command socket connections");

// The select loop returns early in the child process after a fork and
// loops forever in the zygote.
caller = zygoteServer.runSelectLoop(abiList);

// redacted code below

Are you sure this is not a misinterpretation? May be 64 and 32 means can execute only 64 but and can execute 32 (and 64) bit software. This would make sense as system services are defined by the manufacturer so on a 64 bit device I would assume all system services are 64 bit. But user apps can be 32 or 64 bit so the run in app_process32 (assuming the used CPU and the platform still has the 32 but capability which is not true for Google's recent Pixel phones).

The runSelectLoop will actually be run by app_process64 as well and not simply exit.
Let's take a look at this excerpt of the forkSystemServer method, called in your code snippet when startSystemServer is true, to see why:
private static Runnable forkSystemServer(String abiList, String socketName,
        ZygoteServer zygoteServer) {
    // ...

    int pid;

    try {
        // ...

        pid = Zygote.forkSystemServer(
                parsedArgs.mUid, parsedArgs.mGid,
                parsedArgs.mGids,
                parsedArgs.mRuntimeFlags,
                null,
                parsedArgs.mPermittedCapabilities,
                parsedArgs.mEffectiveCapabilities);
    } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
        throw new RuntimeException(ex);
    }

    /* For child process */
    if (pid == 0) {
        // ...

        return handleSystemServerProcess(parsedArgs);
    }

    /* For parent process */
    return null;
}

I removed most of the code and kept only the relevant part for clarity.
As you can see, the method will fork the current process and return some data in the child process, while it will return null in the parent process.
This means that both the child process (system_server) and the main process (zygote64) process will continue execution in the code snippet you included in the question:
Runnable r = forkSystemServer(abiList, zygoteSocketName, zygoteServer);

// {@code r == null} in the parent (zygote) process, and {@code r != null} in the
// child (system_server) process.
if (r != null) {
    r.run();
    return;
}

Now, in the forked system_server process, the call to forkSystemServer returned some object. The process will therefore enter the if and execute r.run() before returning. zygoteServer.runSelectLoop(abiList) will therefore never be executed in the child process (system_server).
However, in the parent process, the call to forkSystemServer returned null. The process will therefore not enter the if and continue, executing zygoteServer.runSelectLoop(abiList).
This is also what is mentioned in comment in your code snippet.
In case you are not yet convinced, listing the running processes on your device will clearly show you that both zygote64 and system_server are running alongside the 32-bit version of zygote:
# ps -e | grep -E "zygote|system_server"
root           979     1 6102692  65188 do_sys_poll         0 S zygote64
root           980     1 1754948  18020 do_sys_poll         0 S zygote
system        2164   979 14310660 308548 do_epoll_wait      0 S system_server

So to finally answer the question:
No, Android applications are not inherently 32-bit.
zygote64 will be used to run 64-bit applications.

You are correct. In modern Android versions, starting with Android 8.0 (Oreo), the system_server process is started by the zygote64 process. This change was introduced to support 64-bit architectures while maintaining backward compatibility with 32-bit architectures.

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.


text:
Cannot take pictures without SD card inserted. Any solutions?
I have no SD card in my Android phone's SD card slot. Therefore I cannot take any photos or upload any. I have tried installing other camera apps to see if one of them might have its own storage but really none of them have worked (all need an SD card to store their files on).
Does anyody know any apps for taking pictures that do not need an SD card and have self storage? Or is there even an option?

Oh and if possible I would like apps to be free! Thanks.

Camera apps can make use of internal sdcard or internal storage.

@Kristen can you elaborate by what do you mean by self storage? Do you mean internal phone memory?

@KirstenStickney Check with your camera apps options. Some offer a "storage" option where you can chose where to save images (internal memory or SD-Card). If your device shipped without SD-Card, it should offer such an option. But if it provides a slot for SD-cards, consider buying one (they come cheap these days): you probably do not have too much internal memory available (it would help if you provided some specs on that).

Which phone do you have?

Every app that wants to make files publicly available to other apps on an Android device has to save to known shared location with read/write permissions to everyone (or at least the apps that need to). This designated location is /mnt/sdcard on Android and this is where the SD card or an internal equivalent (eMMC) is accessible.
Reason:

If multiple apps want to access some file (e.g. pictures like G+, upload service, Gallery viewer) they need appropriate rights to do so
Each app has its private storage section in /data/data/[App's Package Name]
This section is private, i.e. /data/data/[PackageName] is not accessible to any other package for security reasons
/mnt/sdcard or /mnt/emmc are the only sections with world read permissions (and write permissions for those apps with an appropriate permission)

Conclusion:
An app that takes pictures to save them in its private area would not be beneficial for other apps. It needs to write to /mnt/sdcard where other apps suppose shared data that is accessible to them.
Solutions:

Buy an SD card, it's cheap
I you have root, you could fake mount a tmpfs file system (mount -o tmpfs none /mnt/sdcard), this solution and all the data on saved to it will however not survive a reboot of your phone

For the record: Above said is not 100% correct but I think suitable for answering the question.

And having said that about faking a mount point: couldn't the same approach could be used to map some internal directory? If not, following your tmpfs mount, some symbolic link ("dcim") could be made to point there. This way, though the content (including the symlink) would not survive a boot, the saved images would.

You could oft couse do a BIND Mount to an int. directory, and give permissions accordingly. I just see no point in doing that instead oft just buying a cheap SD card.

@RichardBorcsik see ce4s comment: having root permissions, things would be possible (you could change folder permissions as well). But I agree with ce4 on another point: it would be much easier and effordless to by (even a small) sd card for 10 bucks then to mess with the system and the good chance to break things.

I could see Camera ICS, a free app in Google Play Store.
It's feature list says "Configurable storage source (Internal/SD card)" (IMHO meaning "Internal Storage / SD-Card") which is what I think you want.
UPDATE: Please read the chain of comments for this answer. For clarification on what the developer of this application meant by word "internal", I got the following as a reply:

Thanks for asking. No, this feature is only for new devices that have /mnt/sdcard on internal memory and also have an external SD card.

Thought it will be useful for some one

Thanks, but I understood the '/' between the words Internal and SD card mean as 'or', which in turn was understood as internal storage.

@Narayanan Maybe you edit your answer to make this more clear. I understood it the way you meant, but some people tend to overlook the '/' -- and it could in fact be misinterpreted to mean "(Internal or external) card" by people not familiar with the terms. I'll do that for you -- you may change it again if you don't like it ;)

Thanks.  I took the string literal straight off the application's feature list in Google's play. Since I want to quote it literally, I thought of putting it with in quotes. I am sure @Richard was only trying to clean things up.

I sent an email to the developer of the app to confirm and here is the reply: "thanks for asking. No, this feature is only for new devices that have "/mnt/sdcard" on internal memory and also have an external SD card."  Thought it will be useful for some one.

@Narayanan thank you for your engagement! Maybe you edit this information directly into your answer to make sure it isn't missed.

@RichardBorcsik I didn't want to attack you -- it's just that others might get confused, so it cannot hurt to clearify (but to be honest: Yes, I thought you were "one of them", as your answer didn't include that detail ;)


text:
Why does my Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc LT15a reboot itself and not even load the home screen?
I have Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc LT15a and suddenly the phone started to reboot itself. I'm assuming it's the memory is too low to load the OS main screen. Now, I have important data on the phone internal memory under the app called NoteEverything and I'm desperately trying to retrieve it somehow. Is there a way to start up the Xperia Arc in safe mode and delete some apps to free up memory? OR should I open the phone and disconnect some hardware maybe this will free up memory? How can I copy the ROM info which is the internal memory of the phone to another device or extra storage?
What should I do, what do you suggest? I am willing to do the impossible to have it up and running so at least I get my data backup!
p.s., I don't want to use the PC companion and delete my internal ROM coz it will delete everything and I don’t want this in the first place.

I'm a little shocked that the app doesn't have a built-in way to back up its data.

I'm not familiar with this device. Does it have an SD card? Were you storing your data there? If so, you can probably drop that into a SD card reader (or another phone) and pull the data off that way.

@user267 NoteEverything has backup functionality included, and does backups to SDCard. At least with the Pro version. As I went straight to buy it, I cannot speak for the free version.

@Sam Did you try the safe-mode? It is available for your device (just google it: hard to find how to enter it, most people are concerned to get out again): when booting, simply hold the left and right button below the screen and press on until it loaded. (source)

Try:

Removing SIM
Restart phone then go to setting -wireless networks-more-mobile n/w-n/w operator
Here you select search mode manual then select your network in 2G mode(ex. Vodaphone 2g or Airtel2g etc). Make sure not to select a 3G network.

Please, use proper spelling. It improves the readability of your answer.


text:
Can anyone explain to me what the % really refers to in the Android system, battery usage?
I am wondering what the different percentages really refer to in the battery usage section. I mean...in total I see more than a 100%. So it is easy to presume that it doest mean a certain percent out of 100%.

On my phone (ICS) the apps seem to use less than 100% in total. These must be rounding errors: if you had three apps each using a third of the total, that would be 33.3..% for each one. Android would round this to 33%, so the total would be 3*33%=99%.


text:
Reset battery history after unplugging charger?
As far as I can tell, the stats on the Battery page of Settings records the time from when the battery is booted up onwards. What I'd rather want it to do, is to reset that counter whenever I disconnect the charger so that I can monitor more accurately how long a full charge lasts.

I am aware that there are 3rd party apps like Battery Monitor widget for these things but I'd really want to use the pre-built in options that came with Android.

Why not just use third party apps? They are easy enough to install. Otherwise the most you can do is to estimate graphically by looking at the rate of descent of the graph. Battery remaining time is impossible to estimate accurately, and measuring battery life time only makes sense when you collected data over multiple charges. Any simple measurements you collect yourself is most likely going to be misleading.

One thing that comes with Android is the dialer. Try to "call" *#*#4636#*#*. On most devices, this gives you the choice between "since boot", "since last unplugged", and more. Admittedly, the graphics is not that nice as with your screenshot :)

Erm, I can't see the Battery History option. :o https://www.dropbox.com/s/zktglwmhr6l89nd/Screenshot_2012-07-24-16-26-52.png

I too cant see "Battery History" option in my rooted LG Optimus One (P500), running stock ROM 2.3.3 as well.

Oh. So your phone (or rather the used ROM) is one of the few that dropped that point (or was it dropped somewhere in Gingerbread? I just notice it's gone on my phones as well (CM7), and it has been there before with stock Froyo) -- sorry for that (btw, you didn't state your device name and Android version used -- maybe that proves helpful in this case, so you might want to add it to your original question).

I just did some research: That option has indeed been removed with gingerbread (read here and here)

Ahh I didn't think it was necessary, anyway this is an ST17i running on pure Ice Cream Sandwich

Your question tells otherwise -- as you seem to miss exactly that. Moreover, stats on wake locks are gone as well because of that, and they were quite useful.

Take a look at this setOnBatteryLocked method from Android:
        // We will reset our status if we are unplugging after the
        // battery was last full, or the level is at 100, or
        // we have gone through a significant charge (from a very low
        // level to a now very high level).
        if (oldStatus == BatteryManager.BATTERY_STATUS_FULL
                || level >= 90
                || (mDischargeCurrentLevel < 20 && level >= 80)) {
            doWrite = true;
            resetAllStatsLocked();
            mDischargeStartLevel = level;

If your phone is rooted and also if you flashed a clock work mod, then you can clear battery status by
1.Reboot into Recovery-->
2.Advanced-->
3.Clear Battery Status


text:
adb push and mount problems
I'm using Android 2.3.3 and I want to copy the iwconfig file to /system/xbin.
First I tried doing it with adb push using this:
adb push iwconfig /system/xbin
But in return I had: failed to copy 'iwconfig' to '/system/xbin/iwconfig': Permission denied
So I made my research and finally found this mount command that actually worked (most of them returned the usage: mount []... line)
mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system
But even with that I'm still having the "Permission denied" line.
I also tried
mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system/xbin
Buth it returned "Invalid Argument"
Any ideas?

if you are trying with an emulator, then you can first use 'adb remount' which remounts the system partition for read-write.  Also, see similar question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6066030/read-only-file-system-on-android

First use mount command without any arguments. This will list all the mount points and its name.  Search for '/system' and it might have different mtdbblock#.  For instance, in my device it is '/dev/block/mtdblock1 /system yaffs2 rw,relatime 0 0'.  Hence I have to correct the mount statement to appropriate mtdbblock# number in order for the command to work.

I'm using a real device, I saw that question already, but it didn't helped, it accepts the mount command, but when I try to push the file, it still tells me that permissions are denied.

if your device is rooted, probably you can push the file to /mnt/sdcard and then on the device, either use a terminal emulator or file explorer (with root access) to move the files. That's what I did when I replaced two files in /system/bin.

@Narayanan, I did what you tell, I saw this:
/dev/block/mtdblock1 /system yaffs2 rw,relatime 0 0
So I tried:
mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock1 /system
But when i try to push the file, it stills tells me that permissions are denied.

I finally got to run iwconfig, what I did was copying to SD card and made a link with
ln -s /mnt/sdcard/iwconfig /system/xbin/iwconfig
I just have a problem now, I can't run it, because of the permissions, but when I do chmod 777 iwconfig it does not returns an error message and does not change permissions, how can I change a file permissions without chmod? or which is the correct way of using chmod in Android?

Is adbd running as root?  What happens when you issue the adb root command?  Also, try simply mount -o remount,rw /system.  If that fails, try su first.

First, make sure adbd is running as root:
adb root
If you get an error that says something like "unable to run as root on production builds" it means that you must always issue su command in the adb shell to gain superuser privileges.  You will need to enter the shell before any mount commands will work.  You will need to push the file to the SD Card, then mount /system partition as read-write, and then copy the file to the /xbin directory like so:
adb push [path-to-iwconfig] /sdcard/
adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
cp /sdcard/iwconfig /system/xbin/
mount -o remount,ro /system
exit
exit

As you said, it returned "unable to run as root production builds", then mount -o remount,rw /system returns: usage: mount[-r][-w][-o options] [-t type] device directory. I solved this using: mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock1 /system. cp /sdcard/iwconfig /system/xbin/ returns: cp: not found

Try busybox cp instead.

Or use cat - that works quite well as a useful alternative cat [source] > [destination]

I have a rooted device, and get root access with SU command in shell, but when I want to cp a file to /system/lib/ , I get this: Read-only file system

@Mr.Hyde Did you mount /system partition for read/write access?

@Chahk It's work. I had to type 'su' command. Thanks.


text:
How to update my Vodafone 858 Smart?
I have a Vodafone 858 Smart, a branded Huawei U8160 running Android 2.2 Froyo.
If possible, how can I update its firmware to Android 2.3?

See also: Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

From my favorite forum xda-developers, a step by step guide to apply the port of Cyanogen 7.2.0-RC1 (based on Android Gingerbread 2.3.7) for the Vodafone Smart VF858 (Huawei U8160).
This is not to take lightly, read and understand everything before proceeding. So please read the introduction from the famous question:

How do I root my device?

Assuming that you've read it and took note about VOIDING YOUR WARRANTY FROM BOTH THE CARRIER AND THE MANUFACTURER, and that you did understood and have read the contents provided by the first links!! Then, lets continue:

First, backup all your data

How to backup an Android device?

Pre-requisites:

You will need the ROM Manager by ClockworkMod:

Must have app for any root user. Make backups, flash ROMs, and own your device.

Also the GooManager Beta by Snipanet Apps:

Getting started with ROM Manager & ClockworkMod
Is your backup done? Apps, contacts favorites, pictures, etc? Yes, then continue.

Rooting your phone

Go to Settings -> Applications -> Development. Enable the option USB debugging, and wait for the debugging drivers to be automatically installed onto your PC.
On your PC, download the latest release of super1click:

Read about it and take note of special considerations at this XDA thread:
[APP]SuperOneClick v2.3.3 - Motorola Exploit Added!.
Access to the download at http://shortfuse.org/]5.

Run super1click and click the Root button. Follow all of the prompts given by the application, but make sure that you choose yes to the prompt on whether to install busybox.
Continue to the next part when your phone is successfully rooted.

Installing ROM Manager & ClockworkMod

Install ROM Manager from the Google Play store.
Backup your current ROM, select "Backup current ROM". More details at eldarerathis♦ answer.
Open the ROM Manager application. Choose the option Flash ClockworkMod Recovery, and confirm the phone model as Huawei U8160.
After downloading the recovery image, a Superuser prompt will ask you for permission for the application to have root access. You should Allow this action.
ClockworkMod should now be flashed to your phone.

Installation (first time/new users):

Open the GooManager application.
Navigate to psyke83 -> roms -> u8160.
Click on the build you wish to install from the list.
If needed, click the Download Gapps button to download the Google Apps package. The most recent (and most suitable) version will always be selected for you automatically.
Click on the Download button to download the rom.
Once the download(s) are complete, reboot into recovery and install the update package, followed by the Google Apps package.
Important: if you are updating from a stock or custom ROM, choose the data wipe option before rebooting.

Before anything else, read:

What to do before root and flash my phone?
The Always Up-To-Date Guide to Rooting the Most Popular Android Phones
How to backup an Android device?
Are there any risks to rooting a device?

Ps:
Sorry about the redundancy on some information, but one must be sure that readers understand the risks and are taking measures as to prevent data loss by performing a backup of personal data as well as the current ROM in use.


text:
Changing settings values in an Android ROM
I have just started to cook my own Android custom ROMs, and I am wondering how I can change the settings values in the "About" screen in the default Settings app.
I have taken Cyanogenmod 7.2 and I am modding it. So how can I change the mod version, for example, from "cyanogenmod 7.2.0 p990" to, for example, "mymod 7.2.0 p990"?

While not expressly off-topic, I don't think your question will do well here. This site is primarily for users of Android devices. You'll probably do better at a site more geared toward Android modding.

You need to modify the ro.build.display.id= field in the file called build.prop within your ROM.

Thats problably the line i have been looking for, thanks, i'll check it out later today


text:
Will Android read any other non-FAT file-system on SD card?
I use Sound Juicer to rip all of my music. I have a lot of songs that published in a different language, and moreover that use different characters. I find the native file system doesn't support much in the way of file names...
cp -R /home/ecarroll/Music/Tom\ Morello\:\ The\ Nightwatchman/ .
cp: cannot create directory `./Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman': Invalid argument

It just doesn't like a lot of characters,
mkdir "foo:bar baz"
mkdir: cannot create directory `foo:bar baz': Invalid argument

cp: cannot create regular file `./Rebel Diaz/Otro Guerrillero/1 - Which Side Are You On?.flac': Invalid argument

Currently the device is mounted as VFAT
/dev/sdc1 on /media/87B0-1816 type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush,uhelper=udisks)

Can I possibly reformat my SD memory stick, and put a different non-FAT FS on it that the Android can read? For reference I'm running on Ice Cream Sandwich but wouldn't object to rooting the phone if required to get around this crap. I even pay for these songs...

The Theory
I guess this very much depends on your device and the ROM used. Searching the net, I found people using different file systems on their sd-cards successfully:

NTFS seems to work at least on a Transformer, according to this post
A post on XDA mentions an app to be used with the Samsung Galaxy tab (and S2) which made NTFS usage possible
According to this German post, CyanogenMod supports EXTFS on sd-card
different sources mention what sounds logical from the Unix/Linux standpoint: on a rooted device, you can format the sd-card with any file system supported, and adjust the fstab accordingly

Praxis: What does the Playstore say?
So following that Google-Search of mine, I checked the Playstore for hints -- as there was that mentioned app for NTFS in one of the threads. And indeedy, there were some reasonable findings:

Ntfs Mounter (requires root) claims: Automatically mount and dismount NTFS/FAT/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 formated USB Sticks, USB HDD, SD Cards
NtfsSd (root) claims to be able to mount SD Card using NTFS

Conclusion and final thoughts
To sum up: If rooting your device is an option, above hints should offer you a selection of alternative file systems you could use on your sdcard. Which of those might be your choice will probably depend on some additional thoughts -- such as other devices you want to use your sdcard on. If those include a Windows system, you better stick with NTFS (as Windows is not easily convinced to read EXTFS). If not Windows systems are involved, you're probably better off with one of the EXTFS versions.


text:
Should I disable mobile data while I'm connected to WiFi?
If WiFi is activated, the phone expends energy trying to find WiFi connections, even if I'm not using the internet. Is the same true for mobile data? Does the phone expend any energy trying to keep a good data connection even while it's connected to the internet via WiFi? If so, I'll set Llama to disable mobile data while WiFi is connected. Will that make a difference to my battery life?

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/28529/is-wi-fi-always-favoured-over-other-data-connections/

When Wifi is activated, all data is pulled down via the Wifi. It is a mutually exclusive/flip-flop mechanism. That is to say, if Wifi is off, 3G is used.
And yes, regardless of whether one or the other is activated, battery is being used likewise :)
No discernible difference in terms of battery consumption.

I understand your first paragraph, but I'm not sure about the other two. Your second appears to be false. If Wi-Fi is activated it will use more power, regardless of whether you're actually connected to/using the internet. My question is if the same is true for mobile data.

using 3G does use battery, think about it, either way, battery juice is used! Look at the masts you see out there, 3G continuously hopping and scanning for the nearest mast...that's what happens when using 3g mobile data... and expensive operation on the battery may I add!

That's my thinking, but I wondered if perhaps Android was intelligent enough to not bother scanning for a good signal when it's connected to WiFi.

Android does not care nor discriminate the lower-level base-band radio scanning (we're talking about telephony here), that is left to the actual radio firmware to deal with :)


text:
Transferring  files directly between Tablet and Phone
I want to copy files between my tablet (Toshiba AT100 with Android 4.0) and phone (Samsung Nexus S with Android 4.1) using the USB cable.
The tablet has a USB host port and once connected, the phone senses the host and asks to go into USB Storage mode. All looks good, select copy on the tablet, navigate to the mounted USB0 and to the desitred folder on the phone. However, selecting paste gives an access error. I assume it is a permission error. How do I fix this and allow the transfer. Do I need certain file explorer apps or is there a setting?

Are any of your devices rooted? (It might help if the requesting part is)

I have not rooted either of these devices.

If there is bluetooth on both devices, by using bluetooth you can choose what to copy using this tool called DroidCopy Disclaimer I am associated with this app :)

You nay also want to try using a variety of file transfer programs like Soft Data Cable or ES File Explorer File Manager; both of which should be able to transfer via Bluetooth, or over Wifi (ftp, etc) if you connect them on the same network.
Another alternative may be using a USB hosting app such as stick mount but requires root access!


text:
ICS - no internet, but access to network drive possible
I've set up wifi on an ICS phone.
I can connect to a network drive in the system, so the connection seems to be OK. However when I try the browser I get the message 'problem loading page'.
I used static IP and I just copied the settings from my laptop that can access internet fine with these settings (of course I used different IP adresses for laptop and phone).
Also e-mail and other apps that need internet connection don't work. If enabled 3G connection works OK.
Apart from the 'problem loading page' message there a no other error notifications.
Maybe a know issue for somebody?

Looks like you forgot to add DNS or Gateway.

Did you copy the same IP from the laptop? Or used a different one in the same subnet?

Is there a reason you can't just use DHCP on your router?

Finally found out the problem. It had to do with the network prefix (an option not present in the setup of the laptop, so I used the default of -24- on the phone). Thank you all for your comments

@Wilson would you mind to describe your solution in an answer (and accept it when this becomes possible after 2 days), so people can see there's a solution and what it is? Thank you in advance in the name of the community!


text:
Remove Unlock Pattern in Motorola Razr i?
I bought a Motorola Razr i in the web but It turns out that the phone has an unlock pattern and now I can't contact the seller. I have read some tutorials of the web talking about the "Hard Reset" which consist in something like this:
http://www.smartmobilephonesolutions.com/content/how-to-hard-reset-an-android-phone
When I try to do it I never see the Menu that I souposed to.
I really dont know If im doing well the process so I need someone to help me with specific instrucions of how to do this or with another solution.
Thanks.

hard reset: press vol down + power for 20 seconds. the device will start to boot and you can release the buttons. this probably won't clear the unlock pattern. to clear the unlock pattern you'll want to do a factory reset.
factory reset:

power off device.
press and hold vol down + power until you see the BOOT OPTIONS screen.
press vol down until RECOVERY is highlighted, then press power to select.
when the screen shows an android on its back with an exclamation point, press and hold vol down for 5-10 seconds then tap vol up while still holding vol down. the screen should now display the recovery mode menu.
press vol down until Wipe user data/factory reset is highlighted, then press power to select.
press vol down until Yes - delete all user data is highlighted and press power to select.
the device will wipe and format the data and cache partitions. when that's done, press power to select the Reboot option.

the device should boot into initial setup and you'll have a fresh razr to play with and no pattern lock.
motorola help article

Just tried it on my Motorola Razr i (4.1.2 Retail en GB):
To get into fastboot menu.

Turn off device.
Hold "Down Volume Button" (for a few seconds) and
    then "Power Button"
When phone vibrates/Motorola logo shows up/Green light goes off
    release "Power Button" but continue to hold "Down Volume Button"
Device will enter fastboot menu.

It did take a few tries to get the timing right.

authors: АЛЕКСЕЙ Алексеев

authors: Дмитрий Пузырьков


text:
Google account doesn't accept app password
While setting up a Google account on a Cyanogenmod 12 mobile phone, the app specific password that I generated is not accepted, but my real password is accepted.
Since I have enabled two factor authentication, entering my real password would be bad because -

This is phone will have the same number to which Google sends 2FA codes. Storing the password on the same device as the one getting 2FA codes defeats the point of 2FA.

Is it possible to set up a Google account with app specific passwords only?

Cyanogen OS version 12.0-YNG1TBS103
Android version 5.0.2
Steps to repro

Go to Settings -> Accounts -> Add account -> Google account
Enter email
Go to https://security.google.com/settings/security/apppasswords using another device
Generate an app password with other(custom name) option.
Type the generated passcode on phone.

The passcode is rejected as invalid

Typing my actual account password succeeds - It sends the 2FA code to the set phone number(currently, this phone has no SIM)

It is perfectly possible to use app-specific password on Android and I use it too, but could you mention what steps did you follow to achieve the objective? Please be detailed and don't miss anything.

@Firelord, added steps to repro

Wow! I tried the steps and the issue has arisen on my side as well (Cyanogen OS 12.0, Build 0YL). Some answers I read suggests to reset your account password, or remove all accounts from device, or factory reset, but that will be too much without knowing what's actually wrong. Sorry, can't help as I need to look for the reason first. Good luck though.

Same for me 2.5 years later, using android 6.0. I use google authenticator for TOTP, but that code is available on the same device I am logging in to. I would prefer if (when 2FA is enabled) if add account required an app-specific password, since full account access should be at least as secure as single-app access!

Apparently, Lollipop supports 2-step verification natively so it doesn't accept app passwords any more (as they are infinitely less secure). If you don't have access to authenticator app, change the associated phone number to the one you are using now and security token can be automatically verified via SMS.

This still defeats the point of 2FA. The main account password and the 2FA step both take place on the same device.

Obviously, 2FA doesn't make much sense in this case, but it spares you from having to generate an app password, which could theoretically be used on some other device, thus making it less secure.


text:
This account already exists on your device - Huawei Nova 2S
I bought a Huawei Nova 2S while in China.  Installed Google Play Services 14.3.66 (com.google.android.gms_14.3.66_(090408-213742215)-14366030_minAPI26(arm64-v8a,armeabi-v7a)(480dpi)_apkmirror.com).
I then downloaded many google apps (Google, Drive, Music, Gmail, Sheets, Keep, Maps, Hangouts, Youtube) but not all of them.
** Problem **: After downloading Google Contacts I cannot use the app.  It asks me to sign in and when I attempt to do that I get "This account already exists on your device"
I have now upgraded to (com.google.android.gms_14.5.73_(040408-219655168)-14573021_minAPI23(arm64-v8a,armeabi-v7a)(480dpi)_apkmirror.com) but still no luck.  I am going to post this on Google's contacts support website so will update this if a solution is found.
-I also checked the permissions for Gmail, Play services and Contacts.  I selected "Trust this app" for all three to avoid any possible permission problems.
-Cleared app cache & data for Contacts. Re-started the phone but still no luck.
Some of the resources I've visited:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/GO4l2n3k-1o;context-place=topicsearchin/gmail/This$20account$20already$20exists$20on$20your$20device$20contact - same issue but never solved.
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/USU0RXKwNds - again, unsolved
Next update:
Removed google account, was able to sign in to contacts, but once in it didn't sync any data and acted like I never signed in at all with the sign-in button appearing at the top of the menu again.

I FOUND THE ANSWER!!!!
I needed to download Google Contacts Sync, which I got from apkmirror.com.  It asked to manage my google account and access and modify contacts, which is exactly what I wanted.
I really hope this helps those other frustrated people who are experiencing the same problem (perhaps who bought a phone in China :-))


text:
How to change the ink colour and size of the pen tool in the slideshow of Microsoft PowerPoint in Android version?
I have Microsoft office paid account.
And it's for Android.
So I am using it in my samsung tablet.
I am using it for teaching purpose, so I must use the pen tool in slideshow. But the pen tool in slideshow gives me fixed colour. There is no choice in choosing the multiple colours. And there is also the fixed weight of the pen.
I want to use multiple colours and want to make my pen thicker by increasing its thickness. But there is no option in it.

How can I do that?

Which app is shown in the screenshot? MS Office contains a bunch of apps, so please provide the link to play store of the app you show in that screenshot.

@Robert - this is Microsoft PowerPoint


text:
Bootloop after lpunpack super image and repack with lpmake
I have a Poco X6 Pro phone, I wanted to edit the device partitions to remove some bloatware apk.
I backed up the super.img partition with dd in termux. If I flash the super.img with fastboot flash super super.img it works perfectly, so the partition is ok.
I wanted to extract the internal partitions, mount them and edit them, but whatever I do, it seems I corrupt the super.img and flashing it makes the device go in bootloop.
So I tried to do NO MODIFICATIONS at all, simply convert the sparsed super.img to unsparsed with simg2img tool. This worked well.
Then I extracted the super_unsparsed.img with lpunpack tool, returning me the raw .img files, here is the list with the block size:
mi_ext_b.img 656302080
odm_b.img 645382144
odm_dlkm_b.img 31739904
product_b.img 3548254208
super_unsparsed.img 9663676416
system_b.img 1080905728
system_dlkm_b.img 43270144
system_ext_b.img 942575616
vendor_b.img 2614239232
vendor_dlkm_b.img 80011264

And now I try to repack using lpmake command, without touching the partitions:
lpmake --metadata-size 65536 \
--super-name super --metadata-slots 2 --virtual-ab \
--device super:9663676416 \
--group xiaomi_dynamic_partitions_a:9663676416 \
--partition=mi_ext_a:none:656302080:xiaomi_dynamic_partitions_a \
--partition=odm_a:none:645382144:xiaomi_dynamic_partitions_a \
--partition=odm_dlkm_a:none:31739904:xiaomi_dynamic_partitions_a \
--partition=product_a:none:3548254208:xiaomi_dynamic_partitions_a \
--partition=system_a:none:1080905728:xiaomi_dynamic_partitions_a \
--partition=system_dlkm_a:none:43270144:xiaomi_dynamic_partitions_a \
--partition=system_ext_a:none:942575616:xiaomi_dynamic_partitions_a \
--partition=vendor_a:none:2614239232:xiaomi_dynamic_partitions_a \
--partition=vendor_dlkm_a:none:80011264:xiaomi_dynamic_partitions_a \
--image=mi_ext_a=mi_ext_b.img \
--image=odm_a=odm_b.img \
--image=odm_dlkm_a=odm_dlkm_b.img \
--image=product_a=product_b.img \
--image=system_a=system_b.img \
--image=system_dlkm_a=system_dlkm_b.img \
--image=system_ext_a=system_ext_b.img \
--image=vendor_a=vendor_b.img \
--image=vendor_dlkm_a=vendor_dlkm_b.img \
--sparse \
--output ./super.new.img

Here is the output of the command:
lpmake I 03-27 20:48:45   475   475 builder.cpp:1093] [liblp]Partition mi_ext_a will resize from 0 bytes to 656302080 bytes
lpmake I 03-27 20:48:45   475   475 builder.cpp:1093] [liblp]Partition odm_a will resize from 0 bytes to 645382144 bytes
lpmake I 03-27 20:48:45   475   475 builder.cpp:1093] [liblp]Partition odm_dlkm_a will resize from 0 bytes to 31739904 bytes
lpmake I 03-27 20:48:45   475   475 builder.cpp:1093] [liblp]Partition product_a will resize from 0 bytes to 3548254208 bytes
lpmake I 03-27 20:48:45   475   475 builder.cpp:1093] [liblp]Partition system_a will resize from 0 bytes to 1080905728 bytes
lpmake I 03-27 20:48:45   475   475 builder.cpp:1093] [liblp]Partition system_dlkm_a will resize from 0 bytes to 43270144 bytes
lpmake I 03-27 20:48:45   475   475 builder.cpp:1093] [liblp]Partition system_ext_a will resize from 0 bytes to 942575616 bytes
lpmake I 03-27 20:48:45   475   475 builder.cpp:1093] [liblp]Partition vendor_a will resize from 0 bytes to 2614239232 bytes
lpmake I 03-27 20:48:45   475   475 builder.cpp:1093] [liblp]Partition vendor_dlkm_a will resize from 0 bytes to 80011264 bytes
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
Invalid sparse file format at header magic

In the end, I flash the super.new.img with fastboot flash super super.new.img
But results in bootloop. (Also, fastboot set_active a or b does not change the result)


text:
Coolpad Note 3 (8676 I02) Boot Issue on Fastboot
This is the First Display On the Screen When I on the Mobile.

Its Automatically Move to the Second Screen, It Shows Only Up and Down , If I Press The Volume Key, There is No Response From The Mobile
I found this on Youtube, But i am unable to Connect With ABD Shell..
https://youtu.be/stxsRF3v2fE?si=TCtg4hXziZ_BSClK
PLease Help me!!..

Can you navigate up and down using the volume keys?

Sorry but the text on your photos is not readable, it seems to be too bright for the camera to capture it.

Thanks for the reply, on the 1st Image: Up and Down, In the 2nd Image: =>[FACTORY] and =>FASTMMI MODE, I can't Use any Key (Volume Button), Their is No Reaction from the Mobile

Then one possibility could be that one of the volume keys have a hardware defect and are detected by the phone as permanently pressed. On most phones holding vol down at boot is the way to enter fastboot or other manufacturer specific debug download or test modes.

Actually the Volume key is not on the right side, it's on the left, but the Screen shows its on the right.

Did i used a wrong TRWS Recovery??, Or did i damaged the Inbuilt ROM

If I may connect to ADB debug from my system, i can make it work, but I am unable to connect

ADB only works if the system is next to fully booted into the regular system. If the device is in bootloader, fastboot or similar state adb never works. Only some special recovery ROMs allow adb access.


text:
Reset settings when the screen is broken
My device runs on my own android build based on LineageOS 19.1
Not so long ago, I accidentally turned on an experimental feature for my phone and the entire screen went blank.
When turned on, the system flashes for one second and the screen turns off.
I need to copy my files from my phone or disable the feature in the settings.

The touchscreen is working.
The bootloader is unlocked.

But all my data is encrypted, and the phone rejects all USB, while the system is running. Everything works in the bootloader and recovery.

I tried to use TWRP, but it can't decrypt the data after Android 8.
I also tried to use USB debugging, but it doesn't work without disabling the USB restriction.

Does the phone have a lock screen? If yes which type? For enabling adb you could try to modify the system partition. This should work as only the user data is encrypted. https://xdaforums.com/t/lineageos-how-to-enable-adb-via-twrp-recovery.4636665/post-89109547

Yes, It does. a PIN code.

So you could enter it using an usb keyboard. Afterwards the user data files would be accessible (decrypted). If you would manage to enable adb by default you had full access then.

Does not work. The terminal writes "adb: inaccessible or not found"

Have you modified your system Android system as shown in the xda post? A similar approach was shown some posts below by alecxs: https://xdaforums.com/t/lineageos-how-to-enable-adb-via-twrp-recovery.4636665/post-89110290

I can't do this. Android does not decrypt the system.

The system partition is never encrypted. Thus Android doesn't has to decrypt anything if you want to modify it. On normal devices modifying the system partition is prevented by the locked bootloader and the vbmeta signatures from Android Verified Boot, but as you are running LineageOS both shouldn't be a problem.


text:
Creating multiple user accounts on the same terminal with Android 4.4.2
I need to create different user accounts on the same Android phone.
Is it possible to do that with the Samsung Galaxy note 3 with Android 4.4.2. If yes how can you do that ?

multiple user accounts on Android itself

possible duplicate of Support for Multiple Users on same device


text:
wifi hotspot client list does not list all wifi clients
I have an embedded device that I am connecting to a Samsung GS3 hotspot. It connects fine, but does not show up in the "Connected devices" list. It does show up in /data/misc/dhcp/dnsmasq.leases.
Can anybody point me to the right section of android code that creates and displays the "Connected devices" list? I want to modify the DHCP client in my embedded device so that it shows up in the list properly (it's the easiest way to get the assigned IP address). Do I need to change more than just the DHCP client?

I figured out my problem. I am using an ethernet-wifi bridge module, which means the wifi client mac does not match the dhcp client hwaddress. This is why it does not show up in the client list.
I have a static IP address assigned to the bridge, and when I use the wifi mac in my dhcp requests (and set the broadcast flag), then the IP address assigned to my embedded board shows up in the android client list.


text:
Cannot connect Nexus 7 to computer to see internal storage after flashing Cyanogenmod
I've managed to flash Cyanogenmod 12.1 onto my Nexus 7 2012 to give it a new lease on life, but now I can't connect it to my PC to view it as a storage device!
The Nexus 7 shows up as a "media device" in Devices and Printers and does not show up as a drive in My Computer - the driver for it is shown as the Android ADB Driver. The Nexus 7 is only charging when connected to my computer, there is no notification to choose the connection type. I have tried re-installing the driver, but Windows says it's already up to date. ADB and Fastboot both locate the device in Recovery and Bootloader, so the driver is obviously working. Connecting the Nexus 7 to a different computer that hasn't been used to flash images shows up as a storage device with no problems.
What am I missing/doing wrong with my computer that won't show my Nexus 7 as a storage device?
Clarification: Running Windows 8.1. Connected with MTP mode shows my Nexus 7 in my Devices and Printers (but Unspecified), but not as a Media Device in My Computer:
Connected with PTP mode works as expected:

I don't have a Windows 8 to troubleshoot, so in case you may want to see an alternative you may try my answer here.

Ran into the exact same problem: Nexus 7 wouldn't properly connect as MTP device on Windows 10 after flashing CyanogenMod 12.1. The driver I had installed was the "Universal ADB driver" (not "Android ADB Driver" as OP). It was needed during the flashing procedure.
Solution was to uninstall the ADB driver: Right-click on the device in the Device Manager and select "Uninstall". Then unplug USB cable and reconnect. Device now works as expected.


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remote: Permission Denied Asus Zenfone 2
I recently (dumbly) removed my internal through TWRP on my Asus Zenfone 2 whilst trying to flash SuperZen from xda. So now I'm attempting to go back to stock, and I've tried doing a factory reset with the stock recovery, but with no luck. I'm currently trying to flash boot.img, recovery.img, droidboot.img and system.img via fastboot on Linux and Windows, but I get:
$ fastboot flash system system.img

target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
erasing 'system'...
FAILED (remote: Permission denied)
finished. total time: 0.136s

for each one. This is when trying to flash using version WW_2.19.40.22. The interesting thing is, is that when I flash twrp.img or recovery.img(stock) it still gives me that same error, but when I boot into recovery, I have either TWRP or stock recovery, which shows that it did work. Sadly, this is not the case with system, so if I reboot into the system, it does not work properly and hangs on the "Powered by Android" splash screen.
EDIT:
just tried using fastboot update -w Zip_Name.zip and it gives me:
archive does not contain 'android-info.txt'
archive does not contain 'android-product.txt'
error: update package has no android-info.txt or android-product.txt

EDIT 2:
booted into TWRP and used "Install" to try and flash the .zip I put on the SD card, I got the logs copied to the SD, and here is the relevant section:
minzip: Missed a central dir sig (at 0)
E:Zip file is corrupt!
MtpServer::run fd: 13
E:request read returned -1, errno: 5, exiting MtpServer::run loop
Error flashing zip '/external_sd/UL-Z00A-JP-2.19.40.21-user.zip'
Updating partition details...
I:Data backup size is 0MB, free: 55424MB.
...done

Basically, it gave me E:Zip file is corrupt! and ended up with "Failed".

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

To solve you problem execute the following :

Boot your Phone into TWRP Recovery.
Plug your phone to PC and make sure it is recognized by adb you can run adb devices command to check.
on you Phone TWRP go to wipe > advanced wipe  check data ,cache and system then swipe the swipe zone in the bottom
Now go back to the home of TWRP and navigate to Advanced >> ADB sideload swipe where it is written Swipe to Start Sideload
go to you PC and fire up a terminal or a cmd (depend on your operating system) and type this command adb sideload path/to/you_firmaware.zip
Your phone will start flashing the zip wait until it's done and then reboot your system.
the first boot may take awhile be patient.

Switched my SD card and I found out the root of the problem was the SD card reader, changed that and it no longer corrupted the zip. I'm back up and running now after flashing it through TWRP, but because this will most probably work to fix this issue as well, I will Accept your answer.

Glad to hear that ,I answered with adb sideload method when I saw the log showing file system errors ,adb sideload will work even with no SD card

I was having some issues with sideload when I tried it prior to flashing with TWRP, so it may not work and you might need an SD card regardless. I know I'm not getting a device that doesn't have an SD card slot!

I have an HTC one ( no sdcard ) and I use adb sideload normally

I have answered a similar question here:
Fastboot permission denied error in Asus Zenfone 2
Basically, you just need to remove all pin/pattern unlock on your phone first.


text:
How does Samsung implement SD card encryption?
My Samsung Android device just stopped working. I still have my SD card, but all data in it is encrypted. Encryption has been performed at the file level, so I have the directory structure and filenames in plain text, but file contents are encrypted.
I remember the key I used to set up encryption, but I need to know what algorithm did Samsung use for encryption and how they generated an encryption key from my passphrase.
Does anyone know if I can recover my data without the original device, using OpenSSL or a similar program?

Does this answer your question? How do I decrypt files on SD card that I encrypted on a different device?

Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on [meta], or in [chat]. Comments continuing discussion may be removed.

Samsung uses its own solutions for SD card encryption in Android devices at the file level.
Only the device which encrypted the SD card can decrypt it because when the SD card is encrypted, an encryption policy file is saved into the device and SD card.
If you insert an encrypted SD card into another device, then you will only be able to see the encrypted contents of those files.
So, if you have the same device which encrypted the SD card and you know the lock screen which was used to encrypt it, then you can easily decrypt the SD card by navigating as below:
Settings -> Security -> Encrypt External Sdcard -> Disable/Turn off
A notification pop-up will appear for decrypting SD card on your device.

The first paragraph contains the info which we can already see in the body of the question. The rest of the content doesn't really address "Does anyone know if I can recover my data without the original device" and "I need to know what algorithm did Samsung use for encryption and how they generated an encryption key from my passphrase".

Seems like an answer to me, it's just not using the best technical language for the crucial point: The device has a unique hardware key that is used in encryption, and thus decryption is impossible without retrieving that key from the original device (which is not made accessible anyways).


text:
Transfer Boom Beach account to another Android device
I had Boom Beach on my phone and I have leveled up a lot. Now I wanted to download it and continue to play it on my tablet. I thought I had signed into my Google Play account on my Boom Beach on my phone, but I hadn't. When I went to sign in on my tablet, it saved the new game on my tablet instead of transferring the game info I had on my phone.
How to sign out of Boom Beach on my tablet so I can sign into it on my phone?

Try to follow this article. According to that, if you haven't upgraded your HQ to lv. 4, you may have a chance to reload from the old account. Try uninstall-reinstalling the game on the tablet.


text:
Disable default lockscreen notifications on Micromax Canvas A74
I'm using Micromax Canvas A74 running Android Jellybean. Recently I searched for a locksceen notification widget and found "NiLS Lockscreen Notifications".
But now the problem is, how can I disable the default "New Message" and "Missed call" notification on my lockscreen, which jumps and vibrates for sometime each time I unlock my phone? I have already unchecked the "Show notification" checkbox from the app info section, but it's still there.

Do you mean you want to disable the notification on the lockscreen widget, or the system notification bar? Also, could you mention your phone model? I didn't experience vibration when unlocking the phone with missed call...

Thanks for the reply,
My modal phone is Micromax Canvas A74 http://goo.gl/sxD371
I was not talking about the notification in the notification bar.i was talking about this.http://goo.gl/U63mFt Please see the screenshot. and the vibration i said, was about the icons vibration(or may be a jump).I'm sorry if i gave u some bad idea. :(

No problem, no need to apologize :) We're trying to help, but previously, there is not enough info (e.g. missed call notification on lock screen, which is apparently a featured on Micromax device).

But I have found Solution for this. I have a check box in Display - Lock Screen notification (a check box). It fixed my problem.


text:
Does using USB 2.0 or 3.0 cables affect charging speed with same adapter?
I have Samsung Galaxy Note 3. If I charge my phone using the same adapter but with different cables, does that affect the charging speed with the USB 2.0 cable or 3.0 cable, supposing the 2.0 cable is of best quality, so both cables are good themselves?

i am not wrong by supposing the 2.0 cable is of best quality because sometime 3d party cables comes in bad quality which affects the charging it self. so that sentence serves to eleminate that claim as i am talking in a theoratical approach

To check the amount of current (in mAh) received by the mobile, use app called - CurrentWidget.
Only High Quality Cables will give you high current from the adapter. For example, when your adapter has max output of 2A and using high quality USB 2.0, you will get around 1900mA which is almost equal to Battery Output. On the other hand, when the cable is bent (due to frequent usage), the current transferred via the cable is less.
Also, USB 2.0 and 3.0 cable does not result in fast charge. Rather, USB 2.0/3.0 port on PC provides high current output as well as data transfer rate. On PC, USB 3.0 gives you around 2000mAh current with good cable, whereas 2.0 gives approximately 500mAh.

It won't make any difference , if you are charging from a wall adapter (assuming both cables are fine as mentioned)
But, if you are using your laptop, things change.  USB 3.0 port compared to a USB 2.0 port, the former has a maximum rated capacity of 900mA, whereas latter has a rating of 500 mA (80 % faster). In this situation

USB cable 3 connected to laptop USB port 3.0 (your phone has USB 3 port ) will charge faster at 900 mA
USB cable 2 connected to laptop USB port 3.0 and your phone , which has USB 3 port will charge  at 500 mA (since USB 3.0 port  is backward compatible and can accept a USB 2 connection)
USB cable 2 or 3 connected to laptop USB port 2.0 and your phone , which has USB 3 port will charge  at 500 mA

Also see related question from SE superuser Will a mobile phone charge faster if plugged into a USB 3.0 port
Note: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (OP's) phone, is the first phone to have USB 3.0 port, subsequently discontinued in later models of Note series

authors: Роман Легкий


text:
Can App Ops run on 4.4.4?
I have installed and tried several of the "App Ops" starter apps from the Google Play store. When I run any of them, a dialog pops up saying "Unfortunately, Settings has stopped." and my only choice is to tap "OK". So, I still have not been able to get to the App Ops settings.
However, this app claims to work on 4.4.4.
I am running on the stock Moto G (2nd gen), Android version 4.4.4. Not rooted.
Are unrooted 4.4.4 users generally restricted from running App Ops or is there something wrong with my setup? If it is as simple as getting another app to run App Ops for me, can someone point to one that works in 4.4.4 without the error?

App Ops can be activated using Xposed Module, but for that you need to root your device. And an alternative to App Ops is XPrivacy.

App Ops can't be run without root privilege. If someone tell you the opposite, it is most likely a lie, or if it is real then the whole Android OS is worthless because what makes Android secure is the permissions. If you can bypass them with a regular app, then why bother making permissions?

Actually, it's not the app that I download that would do the work. The downloaded app is only a shortcut to a hidden settings app/activity already in Android. So I think App Ops already has privileges, like how the user can "force stop" an app without needing to be root.

as from android 4.4.3 app ops has been removed by google and need root permission to be used
http://www.cnet.com/news/why-android-wont-be-getting-app-ops-anytime-soon/

Unrooted Verizon Note 3 user here.  Not sure why, but App Ops Starter works for me on 4.4.4 even though it didn't on 4.4.2 (I think I had the same or a similar crash-out issue that you have described).

Hi, thanks. For some reason, though, the "App Ops Starter" just launches my standard Settings page where I would access all the normal system settings. No "app ops" anywhere to be seen.


text:
Changed device DPI now stuck in a bootloop

Device: OnePlus One
ROM: MultiROM with CM11s as internal, and CM12 nightly as secondary
Recovery: TWRP
Backup location: USB OTG
Backup method: Online Nandroid Backup application

So I have quite a dilemma on my hands. I wanted to try something, so I installed a root DPI changing app. I must have set it incorrectly because when I rebooted, everything was so large that I couldn't even unlock the device.
So I followed the application's advice, I copied the build.prop backup to /system. And I went into a boot loop. Then I tried copying the stock build.prop for my device to /system, but it didn't help any.
Everything else seems to work fine. I have TWRP installed, and I have a good backup, but it's on a USB drive, and the data partition is ~6.5GB, so it won't go back on my phone. So here are my options, as I see them:

Fix build.prop, of which I don't have the original file.

Problems:

I have no idea how to do that.

Restore from my TWRP backup.

Problems:

I have the backup on a USB drive.
TWRP doesn't seem to want to recognize that there is a backup on the USB OTG.
The data file is 6.94GB (over Android's 4GB file size limit), so I can't move it back.

Dirty re-flash the OS while keeping my data.

Problems:

I don't know how to do that.
I've heard that problems persist if that's done.

Wipe everything and start from scratch.

Problems:

Obviously, I don't want to do that.

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

The reason for a boot loop after editing build.prop is its permissions.
Just go to TWRP > Advanced > File Manager and navigate to /system/build.prop. Select it and change its permissions to -rw-r--r--. To do that, enter 0644 in chmod and reboot your device.
If you cannot see build.prop in /system folder, go to Mounts and select System in the TWRP home menu.

If the build.prop is the problem, you could try fixing permissions:

Restore build.prop from backup
Go to TWRP/Advanced and choose Fix permissions

If you want to restore your TWRP backup:

In TWRP, do a factory reset
Boot up the system and copy the TWRP backup to the internal SD card (if you got enough space). That should be formatted with ext4 or something like that, not FAT32.
Boot to recovery and restore the backup.

or

Just reflash the ROM.zip. That should fix all problems without deleting /data.

Maybe this problem is solved but for future reference, I will post these two options:

Push the original build.prop via ADB when on TWRP

Plug the device into your PC
Open a CMD or a terminal (depends on your OS)
Write this commands
adb kill-server
adb root
adb remount
adb push original-build.prop /system/build.prop

Or

Grab the current build.prop, edit the density, and then push it back

Grab it by using adb pull /system/build.prop /path/to/build.prop
Edit the build.prop
Then push it back
adb kill-server
adb root
adb remount
adb push edited-build.prop /system/build.prop

So, I actually ended up flashing only the system.img and boot.img files, and that let the device turn on.
There were a few problems I ran into, though. Settings kept force quitting, for one thing. But I was able to make a fresh Helium backup, so then I wiped everything and started over. After spending a bit of time restoring some files, my One is running well again.


text:
How do you remove words from Swype's dictionary?
I know how to remove words from Swype's user dictionary. I want to know how to remove words from Swype's built-in dictionary. I get very frustrated with all these random words that I know I'll never use! I can't tell you how many times I've had the word "Getty" show up instead of the word "get".
If there is really no way of removing words from Swype's built-in dictionary I'll probably need to find an alternative. That's probably another question though.

Swype uses a separate dictionary. You can access the settings for both from within the system settings:
From the homescreen, open settings → language & keyboard

for Swype continue: Swype → Personal dictionary
for the default keyboard: My dictionary

There you can edit/add/remove words from your user dictionary.

And this is the user dictionary, not the built-in dictionary. I, too, would like to remove words like "Getty" that I would never ever type.

I've tried this on Froyo, I can remove the unwanted Swype words by:
1. Swype the word.
2. Select that word.
3. Hit the 'Swype' key.
4. You will get a confirmation to delete the word from Swype dictionary.
On latest android version, you get a list of words on the top of the keyboard.
If the unwanted word comes on top, long tap it.
You will get an option to delete it.

Also I had this problem, and I talked to the Samsung through Facebook. I was told to clear the cache partition, and I think it worked. The unwanted words I removed don't appear to be coming back.


text:
Reverse tethering Android to Mac via Bluetooth
I'm trying to let my Android (4.1.1) phone use my Mac's (10.8.2) wifi connection via Bluetooth. This is what I've tried:

Paired devices successfully; PAN interface created on the Mac
Enabled Internet Sharing from Wifi to Bluetooth PAN
adb shell; pand -c XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

After running pand, I briefly see that Bluetooth connection established, but it quickly drops after a second. Running adb logcat, this is what I see:
I/pand    ( 4876): Bluetooth PAN daemon version 4.93
I/pand    ( 4876): Connecting to XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
D/BluetoothEventLoop(  300): Device property changed: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX property: Connected value: true
E/pand    ( 4876): Connect to XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX failed. Permission denied(13)
D/BluetoothEventLoop(  300): Device property changed: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX property: Connected value: false

How do I get this to work successfully?

What worked for me is in this answer.
Are there any Android phones that allow Bluetooth PAN off the shelf?
Having enabled internet sharing via bluetooth on the Mac, which doesn't need command line on recent versions at least, pair the devices and then go to bluetooth settings on the Android device, select the Mac, tap the settings gear and enable it for internet access.
It seems to matter that the internet sharing is enabled before pairing the devices, but that may have been a one-off.
The reason I needed to do this, is for hotel internet access where you have to pay per device, and the signal was poor so only my laptop could get a decent connection.  Now Mac, iPad and 2 android tablets all online, so kids happy :-)


text:
Changing 3D Gallery with virtual device 2D Gallery
I have a ZTE Blade which reboots everytime I open the 3D Gallery.
I am using the official stock ROM (Froyo) rooted.
I realized that the android emulator which SDK brings has a lighter 2D version of the gallery, so I extracted Gallery.apk from /system/app through ADB.
I put it into my Blade /system/app, I changed permissions, restarted the phone and nothing. There is no new gallery inside the app drawer.
What am I doing wrong? The emulator is running Froyo.
I've tried different galleries from Google play but none suits me, specially due to Picasa integration.
I've tried different Gallery.apk from other forums with the same luck. I even tried to install them but it end with an "App is not installed" message.
Thanks.


text:
Reinstalling Android after mobile has been erased by DBAN?
I was curious if a Android mobile is erased using DBAN, then can the Android be reinstalled on the mobile or it becomes useless ?

Well unless there's an Android version of DBAN I can't imagine it would be able to affect the OS files. You can't readily access /system as a block device on a PC (I guess there might be some way to do it, but it's probably not easy), so there's really no way you could mount it to a computer for DBAN to access it.

well...connect android to pc using usb cable. DBAN detects two memory devices, i guess one for sd card and one for internal storage. I think it will wipe if selected. Btw, is internal memory SSD ?

The "internal storage" is still not the partition that /system lives on, though, it's a partition that is world-writable and acts as an external storage device in the absence of a physical SD card (unless it's using MTP in which case it's most likely moot still because that's not block-level access). The internal memory is flash memory, so technically yes, as SSD's are generally NAND flash.

So are you implying that even if dban is able to delete both the storages, android os will not go ?

@JohnWatson yes, Android is designed that way to protect you from accidentally deleting the OS while you're just trying to sync music. All that running a secure eraser like DBAN on your external and internal storage mounts will do is securely erase your personal files like music, pictures and app settings. You'll just be doing a more secure version of the Factory Reset option.

i just run DBAN on my micro SD card. it has become blank but not readable by mobile or laptop. Mobile says"SD card blank or has unsupported file system". formating does not help. Laptop does not open the card at all. Anyhelp ?

@JohnWatson if your card can't be read in any device, then DBAN may have wiped it a little too securely! You might have more luck asking about this problem on our sister-site http://superuser.com as your current SD card problem is more of a general computing problem, than anything Android specific

As the question already is answered with the line of comments to it, I'll take the freedom to sum up the details to make them easier to find:
What is DBAN?
My first point was that I never heard of DBAN before, so I had to look it up. Luckily, my first hit was Wikipedia (which article I linked here), and it answered this question quite compactly:

The program is designed to securely erase a hard disk until data is permanently removed and no longer recoverable, which is achieved by overwriting the data with pseudorandom numbers generated by Mersenne twister or ISAAC.

So we are not talking about some "remote attack" destroying your device, but a willful wiping of the "drives".
What could DBAN wipe on an Android device?
This question was answered by eldarerathis and GAThrawn in the comments: Unless there is an Android version of DBAN which can be executed directly on the device, DBAN is limited to the SD-Card and internal storage (the storage devices offered to the computer via UMS). It cannot access e.g. the /system partition for two reasons: 1) it is not made available via UMS, and 2) it is mounted read-only (unless the device is rooted, and you explicitely mounted it read-write -- which cannot be done without rooting). Similar reason (not made available via UMS) applies to all other partitions.
So what about restoring the Android system?
Nothing. No need for this. As described in the previous section, DBAN at maximum can access two of the data partitions. But it cannot access /system (where the Android system resides), /boot (where Android is bootet from), or even /data (where your apps and their data reside). Since nothing is lost from the Android System itself -- there simply is nothing to restore, it's all still there.

You will need to install a custom recovery software TWRP or CWM onto the android device to wipe /System /Data /Boot and other partitions.


text:
Unable to upgrade firmware from Samsung GT-I9000
When I try to upgrade the firmware of a Samsung Galaxy S using Samsung Kies, it tells me "initialization not supported". Therefore I'm stuck with the original firmware.
Here's the details:
phone: Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000
android version: v2.2
No SD card installed
Samsung Kies: v2.3
Anyone can give a clue on how to solve this?
Many thanks beforehand.

Have you looked into upgrading the firmware using Odin?  A factory reset might help your Kies problem as well.  Both options would wipe your data so backup if necessary.

I can only recommend cyanogen-mod stable on the Galaxy S. It's unlikely that Samsung will release any other update then Android 2.3 and CM runs very stable on my SGS plus all the Samsung bloatware is removed.

Thanks. I did think about using a 3rd party firmware, but the phone is not mine and I'd rather not go that way. In any case, what I find strange is the error message, doesn't necessarily mean that there are no firmware updates available and offers no clues about to solve it :(


text:
Galaxy S3 Tmobile - Can't boot into Clockword Recover?
I hold down power up + home + power and it brings me to a screen that says Android System Recovery - I can't get the Clockwork Recovery.
What could be the problem?

Do you have a ROM or kernel that has CWM installed?

I have d/l and installed clockworksmod recovery. nothing beyond that.

You will need to flash an other package after you install CWM. The Galaxy SIII has checks in its start up scripts that if the recovery has been modified it will replace it with the stock recovery.
You can try this Root Package and flash it after you flash CWM. Besides installing SU and superuser, this removes the scripts that does the Recovery Check.
The actual scripts that are responsible are :

/system/etc/install-recovery.sh
/system/etc/recovery-from-boot.p

The package, that I linked, will install root, busybox, and it renames these files so they don't execute.
When the device boots, these scripts run and check the recovery, if you modify it, it replaces it with stock. The only way around it is to stop these scripts from running.

Anyone out there have any suggestions??

what do you mean by suggestions?

Ryan thanks for the reply. (Ignore the online line msg I wrote it before seeing our reply and tried to erased it but I guess I didn't.)
I went to link you posted. I took the TeamEpic-Root-from-Recovery-v*.zip copied it to the phone.
But the instructions on the site is:
-Copy TeamEpic-Root-from-Recovery-v*.zip in your phone's internal storage.
-Boot into Recovery.
-Flash TeamEpic-Root-from-Recovery-v*.zip.
but I only get into Android System Recovery and there is no option there to Flash anything.
Here is where I'm stuck.

Ryan, sorry the format is all messed up, I am new to this site and don't know how to work it better.

once you flash CWM with odin, you need to boot directly in to recovery, without rebooting the phone first.

so I missed that step? then do I just do over the odin step? will that hurt anything?

yes, redo the process from the beginning. no, it will not hurt anything.


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Is there anyway to speed up or replace the Sense UI dialer?
I have a droid eris running android 2.1...the dialer for it is awful.  I dont know why they chose to put the end call button and send call button in the exact same area.  It is also very laggy.  Sometimes I will try to call someone and the send button gets hit twice which will initiate the call and then end it immediately.  Is there anyway to speed up or replace the Sense UI dialer?
Note:  I do not wish to completely remove my sense ui...only the dialer.

There are quite a few replacement dialer apps in the market - just search for 'Dialer'.
There are quite a few, both paid and free.  I've only tried one (Dialer One) just to confirm that it can indeed replace the default dialer, but I don't think it's sensible to go into any particular dialer's merits here.

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


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Delete the "Phone" part of a contact whilst keeping the "Google" part?
HTC Hero with HTC Sense - Android 2.1.
Contacts can be either stored on "SIM", "Google" or "Phone". Many contacts are duplicated on "Phone", but I want them all in "Google" so I can manage easily. I've managed to copy all "Phone" to "Google", but now want to remove from "Phone".
However, whenever I try to delete a contact (e.g. Bob), it deletes Bob from "Phone" AND "Google". I can't find a way to delete Bob from just "Phone" - any ideas? Factory reset is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and not a great technical solution...

To answer my own question - here's a different approach to achieve this (Google-only contacts)

Ensure all required Android contacts are synced to Google
Export the contacts to CSV on a computer
Delete all contacts from the Android (that'll be both "Phone" and "Google")
Import the contacts from CSV to Google
Google will then sync to the phone

Kind of obvious in hindsight. Hope this benefits the community in some way!

I'm confused, does HTC Hero not come with stock Contact apps? The stock Contact apps should sync two ways between Gmail address book and Android's address book (i.e. if you add contact in Google, it should show in phone, and if you add contact in Android, it should show in Gmail contact; all without any more work)

This is the procedure I use on my phone; hope there's something similar for yours:
On the Samsung Vibrant (also Android 2.1) when I open the contact, there's an entry for Linked Contacts that shows both the Google contact and the Phone contact (and a SIM contact if you have one).  If you select that, you get a new screen showing the linked contacts; each one has a - button next to it to unlink it from the others on that screen.  Go back to the main contacts list and you should have two entries for that contact -- delete the one with the phone icon next to it.

Yes - unlinking the two contacts, and then deleting the Phone one works. Unfortunately HTC Sense's "Contacts" app doesn't seem to have icons (so I have to change the view), and I have to unlink every contact manually. Thanks for the tip though!

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


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Android gmail app
In micromax canvas, i am unable to find account settings in gmail app . I need to add recovery mobile number to my gmail account in my mobile ? how to do it in specified mobile?

Gmail app for android have no option to change your account settings. Instead you should add a phone number using a web browser. Inorder to set up a recovery mobile number or email address:

Sign in to your gmail account.
In the "Personal info & privacy" section, select "Your personal info".
Choose "Phone".
If adding a phone number, select "Add Recovery Phone".
  Or, if editing a phone number, select edit .
Follow the onscreen instructions.

Note: You must use a mobile phone with text messaging turned on.

I need to do it in  my micromax canvas set

Navigate to the https://myaccount.google.com section of your google account with your mobile web browser of your micromax canvas.

its not working ,its asking for login password in browser. i dont know my password, that is why i need to add recovery mobile number.Is there any solution?