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Motorola Moto X Play IMEI=0
I accidentally ran fastboot erase all and now the IMEI isn't being recognized on stock ROM. fastboot getvar imei returns the correct number, but no matter what ROM I try, it doesn't show in settings or when I dial *#06# (showing as 0). I've flashed the stock 5.1.1, 6.0.1, and the 7.1.1, ROM, but to no avail. My device is the XT1563.
Is there any way to get back my IMEI number?

If you reflashed the stock firmware and it didn't return, hopefully you have backup of your EFS partition to restore, otherwise Moto repair is really your only option.

@acejavelin Oh, bummer. I did have several nandroid backups, but I deleted them after hoping to do a factory reset.

where did you got these instructions from?

@alecxs https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x-play/help/moto-x-play-xt1562-imei-0-network-t3541302 and https://github.com/motoxplay/stock

i cannot find 'fastboot erase all' mentioned anywhere

you can buy SigmaKey or another phone (which is cheaper)

@alecxs Oh, no that was when I wanted to factory reset my phone and flash the stock ROM. That was the command that caused the IMEI to not show up. I wasn't supposed to do that.

maybe one of this tools will help i don't know https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3048984

@alecxs Thanks, I'll give them a try.


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How could I make "Do not Disturb" block Facebook Messenger popup?
I have DND (Do not disturb) enable from 8:00 - 17:00 (Priority only), but the Facebook Messenger still can popup, how could I make Do not disturb feature to work on Facebook Messenger?
I'm using Sony Xperia XA1Plus on 8.0 Oreo

Have you enabled "Block when screen is on" & "Block when screen is off" in "Block visual disturbances" in Do not disturb settings?

@reddy: yes, i did. Dnd https://imgur.com/gallery/xEB3D7X

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Called while not using phone, after call, screen stays on, how to fix?
I can understand it staying on for other apps, but after ending a call someone else initiated it should make an exception. Is there a setting to change the default phone app behavior for these cases?

Doesn't it go to sleep quickly, though? I see it staying on for a really short time, it gives you a chance to glance at a few things like how long the conversation was.

Does it stay longer than your screen light time out?

I believe it stays on the same time as the other apps (screen light time out, which I usually set at 2 minutes.) The thing is you'd think there would be an exception when the screen turns on just because someone called you when you weren't using the phone before and after the call, like when you get a call but don't answer it, the screen times out much quicker in those cases.

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


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Stop using an app during work hours
I need to avoid using a personal messaging application in my android phone during work time.
One way is to uninstall the app before work starts, and install again after the work time.
Or use some app blockers ?
Or... what else ?

Disable app, configuration and personal data won't be gone either.

@IrfanLatif Great idea. But I'm lazy :-) to disable and enable on daily basis. Is there any apps available to auto disable and auto enable ?

Automation apps can possibly do but I prefer commandline solutions. I'd run a cron job if I need to. Btw disabling takes hardly 10 seconds. From some launchers e.g. Nova, app's settings can be directly accessed by long pressing app icon.

@IrfanLatif I'm a programmer, but I'm not that much in to android programming. What I need is, I need to feel I like I don't have WhatsApp messenger during work hours. Right now, I'm using App Block to allow me to use WhatsApp only for 15 minutes and I select "strict" mode, which do the job well.

Do you have root access?

@ReddyLutonadio No

You can use "Automate" app to disable the notifications for your messaging app (see question https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/213886/how-to-prevent-an-apps-notification-from-updating-while-the-screen-is-off). I'm not sure if you can set it to disable/enable the notifications on specific times, but if you can't then you can achieve the same by using Tasker and secure settings plugin. But I just saw that you don't have root, so probably both solutions won't work for you. if you have android pie, the Digital wellbeing function might be able to hide the notifications.

Or you could just set up the "do not disturb" mode to meet your requirements.

@mnd Actually, I am not only need to stop notification but the complete app.

then I guess getting root would be your only option if you want to automate the stopping/killing of the app.


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How do I enable DNS over HTTPS on Firefox for Android?
I found the option to enable DNS over HTTPS for Firefox on the desktop but I can't find it on the Android version of the browser. Is it supported? How do I enable it?

I try to complete Dale answer

Open Firefox and type: about:config
filter with: network.trr.* and set the following values:
network.trr.mode value 3
network.trr.bootstrapAddress and set value as one ip from this page
(mine value is currently 104.16.249.249)
now open a new tab to this page used to verify if everything is working. You should have all green except sni. To make all green you should
switch tab and go back to config page
change filter with: network.security.* and set:
network.security.esni.enabled value true
go back to previous tab and refresh. You should have all green.

credits/references:

Dale answer
Mozilla Wiki Page
u/SKITTLE_LA Reddit answer

I needed this because my mobile data DNS is failing for some addresses. After setting network.trr.mode=3 and network.trr.bootstrapAddress=104.16.249.249 it works! Thanks!

This seems either outdated or wrong. Typing about:config in Firefox Android does nothing (the contents of the view does not change)

@RomualdBrunet you have to use firefox nightly version app for android to be able to access the config page

Although I have not been able to prove it's really changing the routing of DNS queries, I have changed the settings on Firefox for Android: network.trr.mode to 2 (fail-over enabled) or 3 (fail-over not enabled) and network.trr.uri to 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 8.8.8.8 (Google) or 9.9.9.9 (Quad9).  This came from this Mozilla page (not specific to Android Firefox).  So you type about:config in the address bar, then search for and change the network.trr* settings.
But as mentioned by Irfan, you can have all your DNS go to cloudflare by using their 1.1.1.1 app, or if you're on the Android Pie, you can go to Settings > Network & Internet > Private DNS and select Automatic (I'm sure that's GOT to be Google's 9.9.9.9) or Private DNS provider hostname with 1dot1dot1dot1.cloudflare-dns.com, for instance (credit to this page on TechRepublic).

You'd have to set the network.trr.mode to 3 to test if it's really working. Mode 2 uses regular DNS as a backup if DOH fails, so you won't really know if you're using DOH if you don't test it in mode 3 first.

For some reason using network.trr.mode to 3 fails to work when I'm on mobile data, but works fine when I'm on WiFi.

Things have changed since the time most of the answers were written so here's an updated version:

The previous TRR (Trusted recursive resolver ) only encrypted the SNI(server name indication) which proved to be insufficient in masking your DNS queries. It has been shown that DNS queries , especially the SNI can still be leaked. So a new draft has been proposed which suggest to encrypt the entire 'Client Hello' message. This new draft (initially called draft 8) has been now referred to as ECH (encrypted client Hello). And it still under development, no browser have yet released it for production. This upgraded version would require all DNS servers to implement it for it to work properly. And as of date not many (I think none) have it working. Meanwhile firefox had removed Encrypt SNI since version 85. It would replaced by ECH in near future.

Though one can still enable DoH (DNS over HTTPS) or TRR(Trusted Recursive Resolver ) as Mozilla calls it.
From the firefox nightly version, go to about:config
then turn network.trr.mode to 2 or 3 depending on whether you want to fail the request if TRR fails to resolve the address or use a fallback default (your ISP) as your resolver.
firefox has cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 set as the default TRR so you don't have to change anything else.
In the absence of Encrypted SNI, it won't be as secure but still be able to access some DNS blocked sites because most of the ISP's still don't have the means to find out.
Some ISP that have advanced DPI( deep packet inspection) means would  be able to detect it though


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Updating google apps on stock Nexus 5 causes bricking
I was on my Nexus 5. I hadn't updated google apps for a long time. Then one day, i thought "why not update hangouts" so I tried to get it through google play. Google Play updated itself. Then updating the rest was a bad mistake. It froze and now won't boot. I used these instructions: https://gist.github.com/deloz/6a9663ca7052fc4acf9c but for hammerhead m4b30z
and could back to stock. But everytime I try to update google apps through wifi, it dies and won't work. I thought I could just live with un-updated google apps, but now, every few days, my phone just freezes up.  Any suggestions would be helpful?

Enable debugging you your device and connect your device via USB to your PC and check adb logcat while a boot that ends up in a freeze. May be you see a useful error message on logcat that helps you to understand what is going wrong.

Thank you @Robert I will try that.  Looks like the end of my Nexus 5 as a daily driver.


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Does manual firmware update needs boot loader unlocked?
I tried manually update my phones firmware but I didn't get any notification after I put zip file to root directory of internal storage.
So does it need boot loader unlocked?

Depends upon what you mean manual here? Which phone and Android version is it? If you are trying to flash using fastboot or a similar low-level environment, bootloader needs to be unlocked. Since firmware updates are official usually, they can be flashed using stock recovery but without unlocking bootloader. Although, you might be talking about inbuilt system updater option in Settings app.

Manual means official firmware updates but not with inbuilt system updater just download zip from official website that's manual.


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Revoking Bluetooth permission from all apps?
I noticed that my phone silently enables bluetooth when screen turns off. When phones remains inactive for few minutes and I click unlock button I can see bluetooth indicator showing up for around 1-2 seconds, then it disappears and Bluetooth is disabled. I have suspicions that some app enables bluetooth programatically when screen is off.
Can I revoke bluetooth permissions from all apps? (eg. using adb) Or at least check recent bluetooth activity events?

Run the following commands:

adb shell
for package in $(pm list packages -3 | cut -f2 -d":"); do pm revoke $package android.permission.BLUETOOTH; pm revoke $package android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN; done

That will list every installed third party application then revoke both permissions android.permission.BLUETOOTH and android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN.
If you need to apply this to all installed and enabled applications, use -e instead of -3.

You can go to System settings⋙Apps, then click on the 3-dots ⋮ icon at the right-top corner of the title bar. Then, click on Reset app preferences, then click on OK.

There's no explicit Bluetooth permission in Android permissions settings - how could this operation help?

Yes, that is true, but the operation can revoke all permissions from all apps. You can give it a try.


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How do get SMS messages off a damaged Android phone (Samsung J2 pro)
I dropped my Samsung J2 Pro and damaged it this morning. Only part of screen responds to touch commands now. So it's almost certainly time for a new phone, but I'd like to get photos and SMS messages backed up first.
Photos were easy; I have uploaded all my photos to my computer via the USB. I'd like to do the same for my SMS text messages, but can't find them in the file system.
I downloaded the app "SMS Backup & Restore", but cannot run it because the "Get Started" button is near the bottom of the screen, and pressing it does not work (groan).
So is it possible to directly access my SMS messages via the USB port, without running a special app? Or is there some other app which makes them visible?

I found Vysor, an app to control the phone from my computer. I had to change settings on my phone to allow Vysor access, but fortunately that part of my phone screen worked! Then using Vysor, I could run SMS Backup & Restore.

So my problem is solved; I might delete the question unless other think it might be useful.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! Good that you find a solution. Can you write it down as answer with the steps you followed. Your answer might be helpful for others who might have the same problem.

It's been suggested I post what I did. Note this is for a partly working screen (i.e. some regions detect touch, some do not). There are answers for a completely broken screen here: How do I backup data (SMS/contacts) from a device with a broken screen?
Anyway, what I did:

Download Vysor to my (Mac) computer. (And "Android File Transfer" if it's not there already). Start up Vysor.
Vysor needed USB debugging to be on. For that, on my phone I went into: Settings -> About Phone -> Settings, and pressed Serial Number several times "to become a developer". Then I could go into Settings -> Developer Options, and turn on USB Debugging. In both of those cases, I was lucky in that I could find a part of my screen which worked to select those options. The link above has a away to do this for a completely dead screen.
Plug USB cable into phone and press "Allow" to allow data access to it. Again, I was lucky that "Allow" was on a part of my screen which worked.
Click "Find Devices" in Vysor, and select the phone. I had to repeat steps 3 and 4 a couple of times for some reason, but eventually it found the phone properly, and an emulator started up on my computer.
Then, using the Vysor emulator to control my phone, and I was able to get my SMS's by downloading and running SMS Backup & Restore on my phone.


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Disable smooth scrolling in Android Chrome 73
Is there a way to disable smooth scrolling in Android Chrome 73.X? It seems like it's now enabled for all sites by default, and setting it to “Disabled” in chrome://flags does nothing.
Motivation: The smooth scrolling behavior makes Ctrl+F-ing through long pages pretty painful (a couple seconds of pointless animation between each result).


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"Parental Control" app or setting for work
I'm searching for an app or settings that will allow only 2 applications to be used on an android tablet.
They would use android and a web dashboard on chrome, on chrome they would get a certain link automatically loaded and I would try to make it impossible to go to other pages.
I want to only allow those two apps to be used.
I've looked in to kiosk mode ( but thats single app usage)
I've tried COSU but that also not a solution.
And parental control apps, but they show advertisement which I can't allow on the work floor.

So are we talking about two Android apps or two web pages in Chrome? Based on your description it is not clear what you want to restrict.

I'm not sure in the resources or references of the last answer but from my understanding their is literally hundreds of Applications on Google's Play Store that are All specifically targeted towards parental and elderly care..
These applications can assist you in doing many things, from identifying communication with a predator online to making sure your grandmother is still walking around the house at least once every so many hours...
Due to Android changes throughout it's evolution it is hard to say exactly what Application will work on your device..
Due to my research as an Android Enthusiast & Independent Developer, I have found that you are Most Definitely going down the path of Launchers..
The Launcher is the Very First application that runs on Android, If you use a specifically designed App Locker in conjunction with a Launcher... You will have the ability to perform a full device Lock Down, So-To-Speak.
Obviously you can find prebuilt Launchers Source Codes online, if you want to implement your own App Selection Screen within the device Launcher.
I hope this at least helps you find a correct solution on your endeavor.

Well there is no such kind of application for parenting control for Android. There are a lot in different applications in Play Store but doesn’t seem anything akin to your requisite.
You can endeavor NORTON FAMILY PREMIER and check if that’s worth.


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Find my samsung notification
When logging into the "Find My Mobile" website, why do notifications appear on the phone that I am trying to locate? I don't really want someone to know if they steal my phone that I am tracking it.
I have tried turning off notifications for "Find my mobile", but they still appear on the phone. I have a galaxy s8 and s10.
Is there any way around this?

I assume that the notification is shown for legal reasons. In a lot of countries it is illegal to track user positions without their knowledge/approval.
Just an theoretical example: Let us assume there are two Samsung devices on your account, your own device and the device of your partner. Now you are getting jealous and start tracking the movements of your parter's device using the Samsung find my device system. Such usage is illegal in a lot of countries.
In your case you just don't want the notification to be visible on the lock screen. Therefore it should be sufficient to configure the notifications of the Samsung Find my Device service to be not shown on the lock screen.

Yes, and if your device is stolen there is almost 0 chance you are getting it back

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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How do I identify on when was an application installed previously. Currently I don’t have the app on my android device
I did explore all the articles and video. But that did not help either. Ideally I want to identify the last time an app was installed on my android device .which is currently not available .
In other words , is there a way to identify installed date of an app in android.

Your best bet is Google Takeout. I'm unsure whether it lists sideloaded and system apps as well. Download the Google Play Store data only. Extract the data from the archive and look for your app in the files Install.json and Library.json under Google Play Store directory. Those two files can be opened in a text editor, such as Notepad++, Sublime Text Editor, etc.
Related:

Where can I find out when I installed an app?
How to export a list as Text of all Play Store Apps that I have ever installed


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App downloads big data again on every start
I have changed many of the permissions (especially by Play Store and Play Store Services). Now many apps works unusual and many doesn't work but doesn't give any understandable error.
One of them is a game "World of Tanks Blitz". Whenever I open the app, it asks for Google account login and then it starts to download the big data like GBs for every tank.
How can I fix or at least how can I understand the problem exactly?

If the game needs more data assets, I don't see how you would restrict it. Let it do its things

But on every start, it was getting the same data assets. I gave all permissions to Google Play Store, for now it looks like working properly. It seems like data assets are stored dependently on the Google account.

What do you mean with "changed many of the permissions"? Anyway this seem to be an app specific problem (bug in the app). Contact the author of the app, describe the problem and ask how to fix it.

I bought the phone a few days ago. I was checking/playing with the permissions. I saw that there are too many permissions for only Google Play Store and Google Play Store Services. I have taken many of the permissions. I don't remember exactly what permissions because I thought: if there is an error, it will show or ask what the permissions are required. But I didn't get any info from Google Play Store or Services. This game and another one did the same thing; asked login on every start, this looks solved now. Also Duolingo app cannot get my voice even though I gave all permissions to the app.


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If I "swipe down to reject", will caller get a chance to leave voicemail?
A few times a year someone who isn't in my address book might call me, but every day I get several spam/scam calls. So basically anytime I see a plain number, I swipe down to make my phone stop ringing.
I've been assuming this sends the call straight to voicemail (so that if it is legit they can leave a message) but it strikes me that "rejecting" a call might hang up completely on the caller.
What happens when I "swipe down to reject" a call from the homescreen? Is there a way I can quickly ignore a call while still leaving the other party a chance to wait for it to go through to voicemail?
This is a fairly stock phone, an "Android One" Moto x4 bought from Google Fi but it does have some extra Motorola tentacles on it.
(I'm also interested in doing this automatically, but only if it uses a built-in feature and not some random app that you happen to trust, sorry.)

Google's Phone app Help implies that I can safely reject the calls:

To reject the call, swipe the white circle to the bottom of the screen when your phone is locked, or tap Dismiss.

followed by:

If you’ve set up a voice mailbox, rejected callers can leave a message.

That combined with some other research leads me to conclude that…

"rejecting"
"dismissing"
"declining"

…a call are all just different words for the same thing. And any of them will both make my phone stop ringing and send the caller to voicemail assuming it is available.
Whereas if my phone had a way to "silence" the call, it will make my own phone stop notifying me (ringing/vibrating) but the other caller will have to wait until it continues to ring for a while before it goes to voicemail.

If you want the phone to stop ringing, without you dismissing the call, I think you have two options: press one of the volume buttons, or enable the "Pick up to stop ringing" moto action (https://support.motorola.com/in/en/documents/MS123802/). At least on my old(er) motorola phone from 2015 both methods stop the ringing and vibration for current incoming call. The link says that the moto action switches your phone to vibrate, though.

@mnd Ah, that's a handy tip too, thanks! I always have my phone on vibrate anyway so that would be fine in my case.


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want to use my phone as a public proxy
I have a rooted Samsung Galaxy S5 running Android 6.0.1. I want to use the phones mobile data as a proxy for my VPS. Obviously they are not in the same network so the proxy needs to be public for my vps to access it. Another problem might be the ISP's, who block the ports. Can anybody help me out on how I do that :D
thanks in advance

Check your MNO contract if such a scenario is allowed at all. Anyway blocked ports are usually not a "problem" but a insurmountable obstacle.

Related: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/205807/218526

@IrfanLatif I cant even manage to access the ssh server on my phone. I'm trying to access it form my pc connected to my home connection per cmd with the command: ssh IP -p 2222 it says either connection timed out or  network unreachable. The phone is connected to 4G Data. The IP shown on the ssh software - SSHDroid, SimpleSSHD etc. - differs from the public IP that I see when accessing sites like whatsmyip. So I guess Im sitting behind a CGNAT? How do I make the ssh server work and where can I run that command? ssh <phone_user>@ -p 2222. Sorry for asking so many questions, newbie here :S

@MeyvisArtur I think all of your queries are addressed in above mentioned answer. See this answer for a more detailed step by step guide. If you are not sure about a certain step, please edit your question to include that.


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Local website unreachable from Android phone
I have a local media player running on a raspberry pi that that provides a web interface via WiFi. This interface is sometimes unreachable (via hostname or IP) from my Android phone while it is still accessible from my laptop and from an iPhone in the same network.
I am posting this here since I suspect a routing problem. The WiFi network consists of 3 access points and a home router that also provides DHCP etc.
How do I analyze this? Any ideas on the issue?

Did you try ping to router and the website host?

Ping and traceroute from the Android device both fail with a timeout. All other devices on the network are reachable, though. What's even more strange is that sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.


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Recovery image without root functionality for an Xperia Z1 Compact
A friend of mines child has a Sony Xperia Z1 Compact and a lot of what I would call Criminal Energy (he proved that on several occasions).
Because he did a lot of stuff on his phone which he is not supposed to do, we want to prevent him of finding out how to boot into the previously installed TWRP Recovery Mode, where he could root his phone and do other uncool stuff.
From what I found out, I am not able to remove TWRP, but could totally replace it with something else.
So my question is, are there any simple, Backup/Restore only, no root option, no File editing (eg. build.props) Recovery images available for me to flash on that particular smartphone or do i have any other options? (We already installed and configured Family Link, but that of course does not prevent booting in recovery mode)

Re-flash the official recovery and boot images of the device.
Lock the bootloader and disable Developers option.

Official recoveries do not allow to do much i.e rooting, changing/editing build.prop file and other system files. It will buy you time until the child studies enough and figure out that it is possible to change the recovery and root the system.


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Enable data and sms on CDMA network programmed number Galaxy S7 Edge
My Galaxy S7 edge (G935P) sim card slot is broken. It doesn't recognize any sim card I put.
I managed to program my phone number into the phone using CDMA Network. I can make calls, but I can't send sms texts or enable data.
When I try to enable data I get a message "Insert sim card to access network service".
The same thing when I try to send a text "sending failed".
Is there any way to trick the phone to think there's a sim card when there isn't.

No... Why not just get a new SIM card?

(acejavelin) Read the question carefully before writing useless comments. The sim card is fine, it's the sim card slot that is broken.

lol... My mistake, I read to fast apparently and apologize. But my answer is still the same, no, in modern phones the SIM is required. Note you can get a replacement SIM tray for a very small investment, it is available on Amazon, eBay, and I imagine other similar sites depending on your location. https://www.amazon.com/Card-Holder-Slot-Samsung-Galaxy/dp/B01GDMDCYO


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Why is the GPS Chip Not detected on ARCHOS Alba 4?
I am using Android Nougat, but there are no options for GPS in the locations menus (just battery saving >> wifi, bluetooth and cellular network only)
Other GPS apps do not even detect the chip in the first place... why?

Does the phone run an original ROM from the manufacturer or a custom ROM?

Are you sure that tablet has GPS at all? Does it say so in the specs? If it has no GPS chip, it obviously cannot be detected.

The phone has the original ROM, and it definitely does have a GPS chip (its a phone, not a tablet)

Starting in Android 7.0, Location Access menus have migrated under the Security Settings menus.  The exact menu area could be different depending on OEMs, however.

There is no location setting in the security menu....


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Disable back and recent keys while gaming
The title speaks of itself, I keep pressing them by mistake and lose my games progress , is there anything like Samsung game launcher to disable those keys? (I can't install game launcher for some reason)
My device is Samsung Galaxy J7 core and I have root privileges with magisk installed (and automagic if there's some automation trick)
Thank you

SOLVED!
I found a solution, by using Automagic and Tasker Autoinput plugin we can easily Remap everything in the screen.
In the flow below , when a game (brawl stars) starts then do the below actions (disable keys, display ongoing notification to enable keys whenever I want, and a toast)


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Any way to get phone statusbar (battery, wifi, notifications) showing on Harry Potter: Wizards Unite?
Question is pretty self-explanatory, I got a Nokia 8 with Android 9 (not rooted), started playing HP: Wizards Unite and am very irritated that the upper status bar of the phone which shows battery, notifications, clock, wifi etc is no longer visible unless I swipe on it, but then it again dissapears. I tried searching from the phone settings as well as the games settings, but to no avail. I'm looking for a way to get the upper phone status bar to be permanently visible while playing the game, so I can monitor my battery life easily.
Ps. if this is not the right forum for this question, feel free to vote on migrating it to the right one, just thought some android guru might be able to help.
If anyone has a solution to this, I would be very grateful.

Sounds like the app is running in full-screen mode. If there is not settings in the HP app to disable this ask the developers to add such a feature.

hmm yes it could be that it is by default (and not yet possible to change) on full-screen mode. Funny thing is, that the same developer has made Pokemon Go, which shows the statusbar by default on the same phone in question. As HP has been built on Pokemon, I don't know why it doesn't show the status bar. Could be a feature not yet implemented in the game, but if there is a workaround that someone knows, I'd love to hear it.


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How to factory reset phone when I can't find the factory reset option?
I have an old Samsung Galaxy S3 that's been sitting in my desk for years. I wanted to clear it off to give to a friend, but I'm not seeing the factory reset option anywhere. All guides I can find online indicate that it should be in the Settings app, but it's not. (There is no Privacy section anywhere in the Settings app.)
Is there any other way to factory-reset a phone? It's on 4.3 (Jellybean), according to the About Device screen. (I've tried to get to recovery mode with the power/volume down key trick, but it doesn't work; just continues to boot normally.)

Tried this recovery approach?

As Andy Yan already figured out, you just forgot the Home Button, its 3x Buttons for Samsung

Yes, @AndyYan - I had tried that as well, and it didn't work. I did figure out the issue, and posted as an answer in case anyone else runs into this.

Posting this as answer in case anyone else runs into this.
It turns out that I had manually disconnected my Google account years ago, when I switched to a new phone. By reconnecting the Google account, it added the Privacy section (including the Factory Reset option) back into the Settings app. Once that option became available again, the reset worked with no problem.

If you can't go to Recovery Mode, hence go to download mode and use Odin to flash your android device.

Reboot Phone and go to Download Mode. (press and hold Home + Power + Volume Down buttons)
Connect your android device to PC and wait until you get a blue sign in Odin.
Download a good verion of framework which is match with your device (build number, etc).
Add the downloaded firmware file to AP / PDA in Odin.
Make sure re-partition is NOT ticked.
Click the start button and wait few minutes.
After step 6, your phone will start, but it takes a few minuets at first time turing on.

for a simple reset, really?

OK, that's kind of overkill, plus, I couldn't get into download mode either.

Unfortunately, you have to change the internal storage chip.

@alecxs Yes, It's for a device which can't run recovery mode.


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How to save a password in Google Chrome for Android?
I just don't understand how to save a password in android. Please  help me.

Open Chrome, go to the Settings. Click on Passwords.
Enable "Save passwords".
Go to the site you intend to save the password. Enter your credentials.
Click Ok (Login, or whatever button the site uses). A prompt will appear asking if you want to save the password. Click Save. The password is now saved within Chrome.
Go to the Settings, click Passwords. Your credentials for sites will appear under the Passwords section. Clicking on a site will allow to modify the credentials.


text:
SMS archiving and control
I've searched throughout the web with no joy. My background: I've got 16+ years in software (I'm out of it but not before I built some Android apps for myself).
My problem is that I'd like to reduce the amount of space used on my phone for old messages but I'd like to keep them available.
Something like an automated system that prunes old messages to off-site (cloud) storage but makes them available upon demand.
What I want, is a system that lets me keep my chats growing indefinitely while keeping only a specified amount of space used on the phone.
Thoughts?  Suggestions?

sms database is growing regardless deleted messages. if you export all messages, delete database and import back, the size is reduzed. you can do it manually with MyPhoneExplorer

2 options come to mind.

Export sms to text file and upload the text file to a cloud service.
In your application, you would need to recognize when the user wants to load older messages, maybe an onScroll event or maybe a "Load More" button etc...
Store SMS entirely on cloud services.
Only load the sms from a cloud, and upload whenever you receive a message.
The application purely loads the sms list as a ListView from the content returned by the server.

Using PHP and SQL as the server API would work to build your own server.


text:
What exactly happens after rooting a smartphone?
I want to root a tiny cheap smartphone that my 6-year-old grandson uses.
He's a real techie, but he's always changing his password and then forgets to tell me so that I can store it in LastPass. So I want to install a parent protection app, where I'm the Admin, and he's a normal user (as on Windows 10). I already have Kaspersky Safe Kids on the phone, plus he has downloaded a lot of games.
There's no space for a parent protection app, and he's not allowed to use stuff like Chrome, so I want to root the phone to allow me to remove pre-installed stuff.
Here's my question: What exactly happens after rooting?
Is a password still needed for the first login after rooting - because I'm sure he's forgotten it.
Will every app have disappeared? (That would be OK.)
Thanks.

After rooting, you (means the apps and processes on your device) get the ability to get privileges of UID 0 - the super user or administrator. So the system resources which were not available to you (as a non-privileged user), become available. Now you can do everything; remove prebuilt apps from /system partition which you couldn't access before; watch your phone's inside things in more detail, break your phone in a second etc. Password will work as it is, except you will have ability to remove it easily. Will every app have disappeared? No, only those you make disappear.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! This seems to be an XY problem. By removing preinstalled apps you won't gain any additional (user) space – as they are installed on the (read-only) /system partition – while the additional space you need would be on /data. So for that it is sufficient to disable those apps, and then delete their cache and data. That would be all you'd get in free, usable space by uninstalling them anyway. Apart from that: have you seen our rooting tag-wiki?

rooting is generally not a good idea, thats the opposite of what you want. it is for advanced users only, not for childs

Oops! I'm now in the embarrassing situation of having to accept only one of the respected posters' responses, because IMHO, they are saying the opposite as far as "bloatware" is concerned. I followed @Izzy link for "rooting tag-wiki". The accepted answer by @ keithjgrant says "If you have a few unnecessary applications (bloatware) pre-installed on your phone that you cannot uninstall, rooting will give you this ability." To step outside StackExchange, I Googled "rooting bloatware". The first two links were "TechRepublic" and "How To Geek"......

...They both agree with @ keithjgrant on SE, and therefore with @Irfan Latif. Thanks.

@OldGrantonian I hope you didn't miss my warning: Now you can do everything; ... including break your phone in a second

@OldGrantonian yes, root gives you the ability to uninstall pre-installed apps – but you wouldn't gain additional space by that. And space is what concerns you here. // I could write up an answer for your real question, expanding my above comment a bit – but that would answer what you need to know (gaining space), not what you asked here (affects of rooting).

@irfan. Good warning thanks. I actually don't mind frying a £20 phone that has surprisingly lasted a year and a half. Great opportunity to learn about rooting.

@OldGrantonian then this could be a good source if you want to learn in a bit depth.

I re-read all the articles (including link in @Izzy post).
The guys who were linking "bloatware" and "rooting" did not actually say that you gain more space for apps. I apologize for their omissions.
I did a new search: "rooting increases app space". The results mention partitioning an SD. I don't want to create a ball of spaghetti in this thread, so I think I should stop here, and ask a new question regarding partitioning an SD. Or, even better, ask an open question: How to increase space for apps after rooting? Thanks to all.

@OldGrantonian Good idea. Split it up into "fitting portions". Now that you've got an idea, that should be easier. Note there are already a bunch of questions on how to gain space (root is not necessarily needed), see e.g. what's linked from our insufficient-memory tag wiki – better check them first, so you can be more specific and thus get better answers. For rooting (and the risks/gains), you already got some pointers. Next to the tag wikis, the "Frequent" tab is also worth checking. Good luck!

PS: Hope you don't mind I've closed this one here now. Got too confusing (well, started that way – but no "blames" or accusations for that). Let's continue that in specific, dedicated places. Again, wishing the best success in all areas you just discovered :)


text:
Block my smA10 pro with IMEI
I wish to block phone Samsung galaxy  A10 pro with IMEI. The phone was stolen. I don't want the end user or thief to have access to my data. Also to render the useless and unuseable.

IMEI blacklisting is done by cellular service  providers, not by users. That said, the phone can still be used barring the functions which require cellular services. Your approach with IMEI blocking/blacklisting won't do any good to your data because it has no bearing on data.
If you had Find my Google enabled you can use it to remotely wipe data (subjected to the device connected to internet). If you are a user of a US based cellular service provider, they might be offering a service to report a stolen device for IMEI blacklisting.


text:
Get alarm alert when receiving an email from specific sender
Is there an app or setting in gmail where I can get alarmed for urgent email based on the sender.
From googling, it seems Gmail had a setting to set a ringtone for specific label, but this feature has been discontinued and no longer available in the newest version.

You are correct Gmail no longer allows to select individual sounds for labels. If messages from a particular sender are way too important to miss, then create a filter for that sender using Gmail via the browser not the app. Select a message from the sender, then on the right, click on the 3-dots and select "Filter similar messages". At the bottom, select "Create filter with this search".  Tick "Apply the label", then select "Choose Label" followed by "New label". Give you label a name and click OK. After creating the label, click on "Create Filter".
Open the Gmail app, go to Settings, select the account you have just created the filter and  label from, if Notifications is not selected, then select it. Click on "Manage Labels", select the label you created for the sender, enable "Label notifications" and "Notify for every message".
Go back and Disable notifications for the other labels.
It is the only way for now to get notifications for that sender only until the ability to select ringtones for labels is restored.


text:
Samsung Galaxy tab S3 not receiving power from otg y-cable
Sorry to be a noob, but im not skilled enough to see if this question has already been answered.
Ive watched Youtube videos on how to connect an external HDD to my galaxy tab s3 using an otg y-cable.  The y-cable I bought from amazon for $6, it has a usb 3.0 female splitting to one micro usb male and one micro usb female.
The hard drive is recognized but no power is being supplied to my tablet via the y-cable.
i plug my samsung power cable into the micro usb female.  the HDD plugs into the 3.0 female and im using a micro usb to usb c adapter for the micro usb male end of the y-cable, as shown in videos.
can anyone provide advice or recommendations?
Thank you.

charging will not work. it is of the nature when switching between host or peripheral mode, the charge is for power the peripherals, not the host


text:
How to convert mmssms.db from android to ios database
My generell task was to transfer all my sms & mms from my old windows phone to my new iphone.
I found some solution but I'm stuck half way now. It's workaround via android as there seems to be no solution for direct transfer between windows and ios.
What I already got to manage by now using a virtual android device:
transferring all sms and mms via "contacts and message backup" from the windows phone and "sms backup & restore" to the virtual android device.
But now I'd like to transfer the messages from the virtual android to my iphone.
I wanted to use "backuptrans" to do this, but therefor the virtual android has to be plugged to my mac as a usb device. Somehow this seems to be intricate and I didn't manage to do this.
To bypass this problem I tried to copy the mmssms.db or the backup-xml (from sms backup & restore) from the virtual android to my computer and tried to use this as database-file for "backuptrans" directly but this also doesnt seam to work.
My questions:

Is there any workaround to make my virtual android device connect to my mac and appear as a working device so that "backuptrans" can use it?
Is there a way to transfer the copied mmssms.db-file or the xml-file to a fileformat either backuptrans or my iphone can read as a database file?

I'm using VMware Fusion in macos 10.8 for the virtualization, Android 4.4 in the vm, macos 10.8 or 10.12 for accessing the iphone.


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Can't erase cache using fastboot on OnePlus2
My OnePlus2 (I think using OxygenOS) displays start icons (normal logo and fastboot, depending on how I boot it), however, afterwards the screen always remains black, while the phone responds to key presses.
Booting in recovery mode starts up the phone too, but never displays anything.
I tried to clear the cache using fastboot (following the fastboot-info on here), but get this response:
$ fastboot erase cache
******** Did you mean to fastboot format this ext4 partition?
erasing 'cache'...
FAILED (remote: device is locked. Cannot erase)
finished. total time: 0.020s

When I tried to unlock, following the -help suggestions, e.g.:
  flashing unlock                          Unlocks the device. Allows flashing
                                           any partition except
                                           bootloader-related partitions.

But it doesn't work:
$ fastboot flashing unlock
...
FAILED (remote: unknown command)
finished. total time: 0.006s

And another command I read about seems disabled:
$ fastboot oem unlock
...
FAILED (remote: oem unlock is disabled)
finished. total time: 0.009s

Is there another way I can erase the cache using fastboot or adb? I hope clearing the cache might resolve the black screen issue on my phone.

Black screen in recovery too, doesn't seem to be /cache related. Anyway: On your phone go to Settings > Developer options. Then enable the 'OEM Unlocking' option.: https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/24-06-2016-oneplus-2-how-to-unlock-bootloader-flash-twrp-root-nandroid-efs-backup-and-more.345478/. A little bit search is usually helpful.

Hei, thanks for your comment @IrfanLatif - do you have an idea what else it could be related to if it's not the cache? I've found multiple resources online that mentioned that black screen on startup might get resolved with clearing the user cache, so that's why I've been trying to do that.

Might be the /cache is responsible. But device should boot in recovery mode at least.


text:
Network Locked SIM card on Unlocked Note 9
Have a Note9 on Tesco mobile, they have confirmned it is unlocked. I can use other UK SIM cards in this.
Trying my AIS (Thailand) SIM it asks me for a PIN for the Network Unlock?
Could this be a ROM issue? Is the phone region locked?
Any suggestions?
Cheers

OK Digging around found the solution.
Samsung devices have a regional warranty lock, I needed to make a 5-10 minute call to a local number using the Tesco SIM to unlock the phone for use with networks outside that region.
It is clearly printed on the box, but Tesco helpfully put thier own welcom to Tesco mnobile sticker over this.


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How to get IP address from DHCP running on WiFi AP using adb shell?
I am connecting to my WiFi network from adb shell using the following command:
iw dev wlan1 connect -w WiFi-AP

There is a DHCP server running on the AP as well, but whenever I try to get IP address using dhclient -v wlan1, I get the following error:
sh: dhclient: not found

Is there a way to install dhclient on Android 8.1, or is there any other way to request IP address from the DHCP server over a wlan interface?

Android used dhcpcd up to Lollipop (or KitKat?). Now the client runs as a service inside Java runtime. No native tool available. You can build a static DHCP client binary from source.

@IrfanLatif: Any pointers on how to start with that would be highly appreciated.

Building dhcpcd isn't that much complicated, but it won't be of any use. Linux distributions have simpler network configuration, usually use main routing table and /etc/resolv.conf for DNS. Android has a dynamic routing policy, containing scores of rules and routes, continuously updated by netd with network changes. Plus Android's Bionic libc doesn't use /etc/resolv.conf. So even if dhcpcd gets you an IP and DNS nameserver from DHCP server, you still have to manually configure routing, NATing, forwarding etc.

@IrfanLatif: I have tried to use udhcpc from busybox and when I use it, it returns an IP address from DHCP, but doesn't assign it to the interface. Using some bash scripting, I can extract IP and assign manually to the interface. Did you mean the same by manually configuring?

By manual configuration I mean IP address + rule + route + DNS + iptables rules (if any required). If this WiFi is the only network you are connecting to, then route auto added to main table may work.

Answered here: Connecting to WiFi via ADB Shell


text:
How to auto-sync photos on Android [replicate Samsung Cloud]
On the Android phone Samsung Galaxy you can use Samsung Cloud which will sync your photos to online. Can we replicate this on a personal level to just your computer (and not going through Samsung Cloud). Here is how I imagine this:

You are outside somewhere and take some photos.
You come home and your Android connects to your home wifi.
Then an app or service wirelessly transfers the new photos to a folder on your laptop.

Thank you.

To my knowledge, there is no on-board solution available. But with a little 3rd-party-help, this could be accomplished:
There's e.g. the app PhotoBackup (also available at Play Store if one insists) which does exactly that: automatically backup your photos as soon as they are taken – to your own backup server. For this it needs a counter-part on the server/computer you wish to backup to, which with this app is the tricky part (and described on its homepage).
Some alternatives can be found in my app lists here.
A third one would be to self-build a solution with one of the automation apps like tasker or macrodroid: trigger a sync whenever a photo was taken. As I haven't done that, I cannot provide a recipe here.


text:
msgstore.db nightmare on my WhatsApp
I have a 780 MB msgstore.db WhatsApp file that I recovered when my  phone data was corrupted ( from the available image - data recovery software).
now the issue is that I have the UN encrypted msgstore.db file available and the encrypted files that is dbcrypt or  whatever they go by - those were not recoverable
when I open this 780 MB file with a SQL lite reader I can browse the database so it is not corrupt.
I have yet another 580 MB msgstore.db
which is corrupt and the desktop software cannot read. this is the original file that I recovered from the corrupted image and I had hoped to restore this very file after i wiped  my data and Re installed  Stock ROM

after wiping and new ROM installation
WhatsApp went to the cloud (
Google Drive)
and created A 380 MB  msgstore.db
this file has a lot of my chats missing

so here are my questions please help me I am stranded without WhatsApp for the last two weeks
-- even though msgstore.db can be read on my desktop , if I remove 380 MB msgstore.db & put  the 780mb msgstore.db
in  /data/data/com WhatsApp/data bases and clear cache , WhatsApp gives a message that it has trouble reading my chats please wait while it tries to restore and then it will look for the DB crypt files.
- read about  WhatsApp xtractor
if I use this Python based bat script &
extract  messages as HTML from the 580 MB and 780 MB files,  how can I import them back to WhatsApp so that my chat is restored .
-also read a  method of merging > 2  msgstore.db files. but seeing the fact that a non corrupt 780mb file got rejected , is this a  viable option

you forgot to set file permissions especially uid/gid https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/169607

755 & root owns them. Thanks so.much didn't realize that.I will Chown  them to WhatsApp but the symptoms in that post are  different from what i see here. But will give it a.shot & inform.755 ahould still be good for reads .

with root permissions it can not work. look for "userid" in /data/system/packages.xml - most important file on android

ok Thank you again.

sounds.like WhatsApp  uid .& gid aee already copied when u copied over the foles  even though they were owned by root  . i.didnt do any chow  or octal change. I still keep getting the same error message it looks like your chat cannot be read. something else going on

First delete /data/data/com.whatsapp then reboot and check secontext too with ls -Z

there is nothing special from selinux that could call attention . Here goes the o/p ls -Z

 # ls -Z /data/data/com.whatsapp u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 app_light_prefs u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 app_minidumps u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 app_textures u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 app_webview u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 cache u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 code_cache u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 databases u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 files u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 lib <etc> u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 shared_prefs dreameltemtr:/ #

what I did find out was after I added the 780mb msgstore.db it did try and read it ..for a moment I could see the messages after which I got the SQLite error message. Malformed database. But this is NOT a malformed db. I can open  it in  SQLite Browser.Another observation : after sometime , the 780mb file just got deleted. The pre-existing file  being renamed there wasnt msgstore.db around & it tried to do a chat restore again . I then restored the earlier 'valid' msgstore.db  & take it from there

have not solved it anywhere close. still in the same quandry I am missing about six months of WhatsApp message data that I can see on a desktop but I cant put it back on WhatsApp.


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How to unlock bootloader on nexus from bootloader/PC command line
I have a nexus 5X phone, which needs a factory reset to fix it's infinite boot loop. The problem is that the bootloader says DEVICE STATE - locked. Is it possible to fix this?

I can't boot into android, and oem and the bootloader are locked out.

ah ok, i understand. so you can not unlock from fastboot because oem unlocking is not allowed in developer settings. but did you try factory reset from recovery mode?

Tried, but can't even access recovery mode. That too gives infinite  boot loop. Its completely locked into fastboot. I'm looking for a way around that isn't a new phone.

Maybe flashing a new system with a factory signed .img will work.  https://developers.google.com/android/images

@BoLawson can signed img flashed from fastboot without unlocking, or you mean flashing with QFIL or QPST?

Google Nexus is in real LG brand!? Here someone claimed to use LGUP Tool https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=63969457&postcount=10

@alecxs yes a factory signed .img can be flashed from a locked bootloader especially from a developmental device such as a Nexus. Another possible option, there is the Nexus root toolkit from Wugfresh.

@BoLawson so step 4. from the tutorial you posted can just be skipped?

@alecxs should be at least it was like that in the past.I believe that is why it states if necessary. However it also I states if "updated".

Nexus root toolkit looks promising, but i am afraid it is just a gui for fastboot/adb commands

Tried all of these, and contacted LG and google. They both say the phone is probably toast, even in the unlikely event I manage to flash a new img.


text:
Honor 8 bricked after batter replacement
I replaced the battery myself.
After finished, I trun on the phone, it vibrates once and the screen light up a little (hardly see it) but cannot boot. When I press and hold the power button, it turns off but on again automatically with the same phenomenon. What did I do wrong? I can charge the battery (the LED changed from yellow to green).

i guess you have damaged screen when opened the case


text:
How root huawei y7 trt lx1/ switch slot?
I am trying to root my phone,

I unlocked bootloader
I have uploaded Magisk-v16.6 to internal storage
I flashed by many twrp versions (fastboot flash recovery TWRP_3.2.3_TRT-LX1_by_kiruha_21.img/ twrp-3.2.3-4-land /
boot-without-enciphering-data / twrp-3.3.1-0-CRO_U00 /
TRT-TWRP-3.1.1-0818 /TWRP_3.2.2_TREBLE_TRT-LX1_by_kiruha_21 /
twrp-3.3.1-0-whyred but every time when I start phone i twrp mode -
touchscreen not working
I read https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=77597383&postcount=86

And I try to switch slot but when I run fastboot --set-active=a
I get error: Device does not support slots.
and when I run fastboot getvar current-slot I get
current-slot:
finished. total time: 0.002s
my fastboot version fastboot version 1:8.1.0+r23-5~18.04

The safest way to use Magisk is NOT to download other TWRP versions ... You need your Stock Recovery & Boot.img files, The boot.img must be patched with Magisk Boot Patcher ..

Try "Method 2" - Patch Boot Image ... https://www.thecustomdroid.com/install-magisk-root-android-devices/

The bootloader must load the DTBO image that is compatible with the recovery image. in your case Touch is not working because the TWRP version does not support it. There is not much you can do, the TWRP kernel must be compiled with touch support (or maybe binary hex-patched).
Look for dtbo.img or (edit: dtb is appended to kernel for y7)
use the adb shell commands TWRP comes with:
https://twrp.me/faq/openrecoveryscript.html
You can also try to boot TWRP from fastboot instead of flashing it, sometimes this will affect to touch screen work.
fastboot boot C:\adb\TWRP_3.2.2_TRT-LX1_by_kiruha_21.img

regarding switch slots, you can not switch if you don't have A/B device. don't mix up different recoveries.
please note the differences between /etc/recovery.fstab
only in TWRP_3.2.2_TRT-LX1_by_kiruha_21
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata fs: f2fs
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/
vendor, product, version, log

only in TWRP_3.2.2_TREBLE_TRT-LX1_by_kiruha_21
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata fs: ext4
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/
fsc, lksecapp, sbl1, dip, dpo, limits, mcfg, mdtp, mota, oem, syscfg

Please check if your phone has f2fs or ext4 file system, and check if vendor partition is present or not. Select the proper TWRP variant according to your partition layout.
you can check your partitions from adb shell or terminal emulator (one of these commands will work)
ls -d /dev/block/*/*/*/by-name/*
ls -d /dev/block/*/*/by-name/*
ls -d /dev/block/*/by-name/*

for file system type (one of these commands will work)
df -t ext4 /data
df -t f2fs /data
df -T /data
mount | grep "/data "

So, What version of twrp should I use? what twrp version is supported?

the version does not really matter 3.2.2 or 3.2.3 should have minor differences

When I try adb shell twrp backup SDBOM I get error:
System
Data
Boot
Compression is on
Digest Generation is off
Updating partition details...
...done
 * Total number of partitions to back up: 3
 * Total size of all data: 2229MB
 * Available space: 9877MB
[BACKUP STARTED]
 * Backup Folder: /data/media/0/TWRP/BACKUPS/J5Y7N17718005067/2019-07-12--22-53-24
Can not create '/data/media/0/TWRP' folder (Permission denied).
Failed to make backup folder.
Backup Failed
Done processing script file```

/data is mounted? maybe related to encryption? share link to adb pull /tmp/recovery.log (pastebin.com)

you can save backup directly to PC adb backup -f data.twrp.ab --twrp compress data (the message "Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation" can be ignored)

When I run adb pull /tmp/recovery.log
I get adb: error: remote object '/tmp/recovery.log' does not exist

When I run ls -d /dev/block/*/*/*/by-name/* and smilar that You wroten, I get error: ls: /dev/block/*/*/*/by-name/*: Permission denied

The touch screen started working when I moved magisk and supersu from the internal storage to the sd card, Thanks @alecxs

I have one more question,  When I go to backup, a check data, system and boot and I "Swipe to Backup" I got error: Can not create 'data/media/0/TWRP'folder (Permission denied). Failed to make backup folder. @alecxs

The best and safest way is to root it with magisk. First you need to unlock bootloader. It can be done with adb and fastboot commands. Then you have to flash twrp recovery with adb. After that you have to flash the latest magisk available via TWRP. latest Magisk is 20.1


text:
All calls are going to voicemail?
I'm still able to make outbound calls without any issue, however inbound calls are going straight to voicemail.  As in instantly.  Not a single ring or even delay.  Straight to voicemail.  Of course I get the voicemails right away and can call back.  Wondering what setting I might have changed to cause this problem?

A coworker suggested going into airplane mode and then back out.  That corrected the problem.


text:
Cron job over adb possible?
I'm trying to use my phone less. I've managed successfully to remove apps via adb. My question is if it's possible to have apps disable/remove via their package names over adb, and then reinstated on the device at certain times of the day.
So for say the hours 9am to 5pm Chrome app would be completely removed and not on the device, then after 5 it's there again.
I'm not wanting app timers or the app being disabled but app icon still visible. I'm after the full removal followed later in the day by it's full revival. Thanks :)

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/128949
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16747880

IMHO the question is formulated "too specific". You explicitly ask for cron but Android has no cron daemon by default. It would be better to ask how to schedule periodic tasks on Android. In the latter case you would get answers for apps like Tasker.


text:
Samsung's device care app and running services option in developers settings show two different values for the amount of RAM free on my device
As shown by Samsung:- https://m.imgur.com/gallery/yoiOnlS
As shown by developer options by Android:- https://m.imgur.com/gallery/OzNwRMO
Why is it happening? Why is Samsung lying?

Both of your images are removed. Please re-add here in the post. Also, what free -h and dumpsys meminfo | grep -A10 'Total RAM' show?

https://imgur.com/Gus2qzG - Device care @IrfanLatif

https://imgur.com/y8N7Z6G - Developer options @IrfanLatif

What about the remaining part of my query?

@IrfanLatif dang sorry I forgot to mention the results. The first one shows that 2.6/2.6 gb of RAM is being used and the second one says "grep" is not recognized as an internal or external command.


text:
Backup WhatsApp from NANDROID
Hi guys: refering to this:
Restore Whatsapp
Get the same issue.
I just reset all my phone after an OTA bricked.
I made an nandroid backup, but, i dunno how to acces - on my phone - the "data/data/com.whatsapp" file to read owner and group.
I think for the nandroid its going to be ok.
Cheers

Hint: Linux Shell: Use the Tab key to autocomplete long names of directories and files while in the command line (you can also use * as wildcard)

install WhatsApp, then boot in TWRP and look from adb shell

show the folder attributes with the ls command
ls -dln /data/data/com.whatsapp

example output:
mint@debian ~ $ adb shell
/ # ls -dln /data/data/com.whatsapp
drwx------   13 10104    10104         4096 Jan 15 04:15 /data/data/com.whatsapp

next, restore the backup (or part of it)

download open-gapps-pico.zip for your platform (ARM) to PC
extract the tar binary (tar-arm for ARM) and push it to phone (in TWRP)
adb push C:\adb\tar-arm /tmp/

open adb shell and make the binary executable (TWRP)
chmod 0750 /tmp/tar-arm

example output:
mint@debian ~/Downloads $ adb push tar-arm /tmp/
387 KB/s (427448 bytes in 1.075s)
mint@debian ~/Downloads $ adb shell
/ # chmod 0750 /tmp/tar-arm

in TWRP look for the location where your (internal/external) sdcard is mounted
df

example output:
/ # df
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                  1010636        44   1010592   0% /dev
tmpfs                  1010636        28   1010608   0% /tmp
/dev/block/mmcblk0p19   253920      2380    246300   1% /cache
/dev/block/mmcblk0p20 11608792   9847780   1728244  85% /data
/dev/block/mmcblk0p20 11608792   9847780   1728244  85% /sdcard
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1  31150720  22588512   8562208  73% /external_sd

find the backup folder with the ls and cd commands

example output for cd change directory:
/ # cd /external_sd
/external_sd # cd TWRP
/external_sd/TWRP # cd BACKUPS/CUBOT_KING_KONG

example output for ls list files and folders:
/external_sd/TWRP/BACKUPS/CUBOT_KING_KONG # ls
2019-03-20--03-44-24_CUBOT_KING_KONG_7081C_V16_20180517
2019-04-16--08-03-32_CUBOT_KING_KONG_7081C_V16_20180517
2019-04-21--07-15-28_CUBOT_KING_KONG_7081C_V22_20181228
2019-06-18--20-30-44_CUBOT_KING_KONG_7081C_V16_20180517
2019-06-23--05-37-30_CUBOT_KING_KONG_7081C_V16_20180517
2019-06-26--08-30-17_du_s3ve3g-userdebug_712_NZH54D_engroot20180

enter the latest backup folder (you can also use * as wildcard)
/external_sd/TWRP/BACKUPS/CUBOT_KING_KONG # cd 2019-06-26*

list ls the backup file names inside. the interesting is the data.ext4.win* backup
/external_sd/TWRP/BACKUPS/CUBOT_KING_KONG/2019-06-26--08-30-17_du_s3ve3g-userdebug_712_NZH54D_engroot20180 # ls
boot.emmc.win          data.ext4.win002       recovery.emmc.win.md5
boot.emmc.win.md5      data.ext4.win002.md5   recovery.log
data.ext4.win000       data.ext4.win003       system.ext4.win
data.ext4.win000.md5   data.ext4.win003.md5   system.ext4.win.md5
data.ext4.win001       data.info              system.info
data.ext4.win001.md5   recovery.emmc.win

Before unpacking, find the required file name(s) which contains your whatsapp files. use the tar-arm binary with parameters -t (test) and look into each file -f data.ext4.win*, while the error output is filtered out with 2> /dev/null and the the file list is filtered for folder name /data/data/com.whatsapp with the grep command
/tmp/tar-arm -tf data.ext4.win000 2> /dev/null | grep /data/data/com.whatsapp

example output: (no result for data.ext4.win000 data.ext4.win001 data.ext4.win002)
/external_sd/TWRP/BACKUPS/CUBOT_KING_KONG/2019-06-26--08-30-17_du_s3ve3g-userdebug_712_NZH54D_engroot20180 # /tmp/tar-arm -tf data.ext4.win000 2> /dev/null | grep /data/data/com.whatsapp
/external_sd/TWRP/BACKUPS/CUBOT_KING_KONG/2019-06-26--08-30-17_du_s3ve3g-userdebug_712_NZH54D_engroot20180 # /tmp/tar-arm -tf data.ext4.win001 2> /dev/null | grep /data/data/com.whatsapp
/external_sd/TWRP/BACKUPS/CUBOT_KING_KONG/2019-06-26--08-30-17_du_s3ve3g-userdebug_712_NZH54D_engroot20180 # /tmp/tar-arm -tf data.ext4.win002 2> /dev/null | grep /data/data/com.whatsapp
/external_sd/TWRP/BACKUPS/CUBOT_KING_KONG/2019-06-26--08-30-17_du_s3ve3g-userdebug_712_NZH54D_engroot20180 # /tmp/tar-arm -tf data.ext4.win003 2> /dev/null | grep /data/data/com.whatsapp
/data/data/com.whatsapp/
/data/data/com.whatsapp/cache/
/data/data/com.whatsapp/code_cache/
/data/data/com.whatsapp/lib
/data/data/com.whatsapp/app_minidumps/
^C

now you can extract the folder /data/data/com.whatsapp (as last argument) from the file(s) -f data.ext4.win003 with the tar-arm binary with -x and additional parameters --selinux --xattrs -p for file attributes, while -P will keep the leading / which will restore everything to /data and -v make the whole thing more visible for you. handle each data.ext4.win* file for its own:
/tmp/tar-arm --selinux --xattrs -vxpPf data.ext4.win003 /data/data/com.whatsapp

example output:
/external_sd/TWRP/BACKUPS/CUBOT_KING_KONG/2019-06-26--08-30-17_du_s3ve3g-userdebug_712_NZH54D_engroot20180 # /tmp/tar-arm --selinux --xattrs -vxpPf data.ext4.win003 /data/data/com.whatsapp
/data/data/com.whatsapp/
/data/data/com.whatsapp/cache/
/data/data/com.whatsapp/code_cache/
/data/data/com.whatsapp/lib
/data/data/com.whatsapp/app_minidumps/
^C

finally, change the owner and group
/ # chown -Rh 10104.10104 /data/data/com.whatsapp

Hum... So, as a Windows user: - reinstall Whatsapp - reboot on TWRP - on computer, go in my ADB Folder, open a CMD, and go for a -> adb shell - check with -> ls -dln /data/data/com.whatsapp - take a note on group number and owner number
Next: how to restore my data/data/com.whatsapp ?
Then: - go back on my ADB shell, and change group and owner - reboot phone
Am i right ?

so your question is, how to extract a single app from nandroid backup - i will update my answer in a few hours

hi @alecxs and thx for your help. That's huge. Unfortunately, after the chown -Rh 10238.10238 /data/data/com.whatsapp, i reboot to android, and when i try to launch WhatsApp, i have a really quick message (have to take a video screen and look at it slowly): WhatsApp immediately stopped. Any idea ?

maybe the secontext must also changed, or folder permissions. try chmod 0775 /data/data/com.whatsapp or chcon -Rh u:object_r:app_data_file:s0 /data/data/com.whatsapp

My GOD: LOVE YOU SO HARD BRO !!! Works perfectly with a 0775 <3<3

Let just get my MMS back, and i'm full ok after that. And for sure, i'm going to check about all my cloud backups seriously now xD

try just one single file /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/smsmms.db

Yeah. Ive extract this one and made a backup. But no attachments


text:
How do you enable MTP on Android 8.0.0?
Developer options on. Select USB Configuration is MTP (Media Transfer Protocol). When I plug the USB into my Windows 10 computer it does nothing.

First of all, I'd check if the USB cable is actually a data cable, not a charging-only cable. Like, can other smartphones/devices be detected?

It had the charging icon while telling me that the usb cable was not connected so I already did switch out the cable to one that I know can handle data. Same thing. That's when I enabled developer options. Now if I do settings > "usb" I can pick between Connected Devices > USB (it's grayed out and says not connected even though it is connected) and Select USB Configuration under developer options, which when I go to that is a very long list of options but MTP is selected. But I still don't see the phone's file system in Windows Explorer.

Hmm, you didn't mention the phone model, but you'll probably also need to install OEM USB drivers for Windows. The Select USB Configuration in the Developer Options doesn't seem to always work though, based on my experience.

I tried it, along with a third usb cable but once they told me to navigate to the usb driver folder in the android sdk I stopped going down the rabbit hole. These are pretty extreme lengths to go to to transfer files. I'm pretty sure it used to work on this phone (motorola e^5). I guess I'll try another way LOL.


text:
Chrome Remote Desktop with external mouse?
I've been googling for hours and all I can find are a few years old pages saying the only way to do a right click is double touch on the screen...
Has anyone found any better solution since? Maybe with External Keyboard Helper or some similar app??
Also, there seems to be no way to scroll. I've tried the browser version on Android tablet, and it works faster and you can scroll, but there is absolutely no way to press a right click.
It seems imposible that google would not adress this issue for years, since it's really frustrating.

I found an acceptable solution on my Huawei tablet... if I switch to "desktop mode", right mouse click starts working like on PC, so I then connect throug browser client. I don't know if that is possible on other tablets.
Hope this helps anyone.


text:
Connecting a headphone to an Android via bluetooth
Please excuse a novice if the following questions are too simple are even stupid.
Question#1 As far as I know, *.aac generally achieves better sound quality than *.mp3 at the same bit rate. Even if I have an *.mp3 converted into *.aac, the sound quality will not be better. Is that correct? If it will not, why some take the extra effort in making such conversion?
Question#2 When I rip a CD track, I can choose the resultant format in either .mp3 or .aac. Is that correct?
Question#3 Suppose that both my phone and my headphone support {SBC, AAC, aptX}. How do they match? Do I have a choice to ask for a specific connection? [A simple answer (that does not include too technical info) will do.]

A rather simplified explanation of lossy and lossless conversion.
Images: BMP and PNG are all lossless image formats. JPEG and WebP are lossy image formats. JPEG/WebP discard quality to become smaller. How? say a background is all black lossy duplicates RAW Data over the entire pic once rather than a continuous representation of 9 zeros. Instead 8 are missing but are still represented by the digit 9. MP4, WMA are lossy conversions for film, usually used for the Web, creating a small compact file using the fore mentioned data loss, by replicating the background rather than leaving it RAW.
Audio conversion:
WAV, is a container file often used to contain lossless audio, although it is capable of containing lossy audio.
FLAC is lossless, MP3 is a lossy audio format.
Lossy audio files use the same premise as JPEG/WebP,MP4 WMA image conversion; 9 zeros can be compressed by discarding/throwing out 8,then using the digit 9 to represent all the zeros. Lossless files contain all 9 zeros and fit into the file size with out discarding/throwing out any of the zeros representing the RAW data.
Ex< a FLAC file only supports 24 bit audio conversion. A WAV 32 bit PCM audio file converted to FLAC would result in discard/throwing out some data.
ACC/MP3 like FLAC and MP4/WMA are lossy. No lossy Audio format is great according to my Audiophile roommate, I don't really hear a difference in quality between lossy and lossless other than decreased volume in the prior mention format. In Film it's clearly evident by poor quality in movement/pixilation.
I hope I haven't confused you more, LifeHack or howtoGeek.com have a plethora of info on this one format VS format/conversion.
As for your Bluetooth pairing/compatibility query. 4.0 needs to pair with 4.0 and so on. Follow manufactures pairing instruction. Ex; Its a myth that BEATS SOLO 3 wireless won't pair to Android devices and pair only to iPhone, simplifying it they discover one another because the "pairing Frequency" is the same, as in  4.0 to 4.0
https://www.howtogeek.com/200698/benchmarked-whats-the-best-file-compression-format/
https://www.bing.com/search?q=geek.com+audio+and+film+compression&FORM=AWRE1
https://www.reference.com/Bluetooth Pairing
Author: Chris Hoffman

PS by no means am I an expert, I've researched  the web to provide you with this explanation. Hopefully following StackExchange guidelines.

Though not answered all of my questions, did give an analogous comparative view to clear some of the doubts. (+1)


text:
WiFi and Bluetooth not working on android-x86_64-8.1-r1
I have install Android (android-x86_64-8.1-r1) on my HP Pavilion G4 Notebook PC. For few months, it worked very well (except Bluetooth). But now it can't see Wi-Fis around me and the Bluetooth didn't worked from the installation. I have tried a previous version (android-x86_64-7.1-r1) and PhoenixOS (based on Android-x86) but the same problem. Is there any solutions?

A log would help if you could throw the command adb logcat -v long and paste it to pastbin or some other such site and then edit your question with the link.

@BoLawson How can I throw the command? I have tried to executing adb logcat -v long on terminal emulator. But it show a error message /system/bin/sh: adb: not fonud

From a terminal emulator you are throwing commands from a shell. Soo, just remove the adb part and only throw logcat -v long. All should be good and you can keep on trucking.


text:
Clock resetting when battery is removed
Every time I turn off my phone and remove the battery the clock on it gets reset and it causes problem for some apps I was wondering if there is some other way to sort out the problem
like is it possible somehow with a script to rewrite the default time/date
or like to set the time/date before any app loads up

Have you enabled Automatic date & time?

@ReddyLutonadio that won't work if your phone is on the flight mode and it takes a while for it to update time and some apps just reset there license


text:
Connect Android to OTG cable and PC
TLDR: I'm wondering if it's possible to connect a android device to a device(lets say usb flash drive) while staying connected to the computer.
I'm developing a app that requires a ftdi chip to be connected to my device via USB. I connected a OTG cable and everything works just fine. The problem is that I want to do some debugging(i use android studio) and i need the PC connected to the tablet at the same time.
I tried multiple ways to connect to a adapter using a otg cable and normal cable
At this point i'm wondering if it's even possible to do that.

See How to debug in Android Studio using adb over WiFi

Thanks for the workaround.


text:
Pixel 3 / 3 XL icons change
Is it possible to change the pixel 3 / 3 XL icons to 3rd party icons on the stock launcher?
I understand its possible to change icons sets by installing new launchers. However, I would like to know if its possible to change icon set in stock launcher which comes with Pixel devices.
Thanks.

For the moment you camt. However, there is a modified version of the Pixel launcher, Rootless Launcher that can use icon packs

Features:

Search bar at the bottom
Wallpaper based theme selection
Regular Icon Packs
Adaptive Icon Packs, such as my Google Icons
Icon Shape selection on Android 8.0


text:
how could I store Big file (30G of like) on an external SD?
I need to store on an android tablet or phone some big file : about 30G. To be read by an app as a database.
but because of Fat32 simple copy just fail after 2G.
Could I format my external SD under linux ext2 ? is NTFS format recognized ? Do I have a chance to carry such a file on an external SD ?

Generally this is not possible, external storage in most android versions and devices must be Fat32... Can you be more specific as to the device and Android version?

hi, I am not locked in a device or android version. I need to use kiwix with some ZIM database on some place were no internet is accessible. I can chose a stecific device but I can not reduce the size of the ZIM.

rooted phone can mount ext4 formatted MicroSD Card

nice @alecxs , I am not sure a rooted device will fit. still need a hardware guarantee

i can only guarantee its definitely not possible without modifications. the phones internal storage however can be extended with external sdcard (adoptable storage) but you must not remove this sdcard

@alecxs is an external USB disk a possible solution ?

the problem remains the same, you must place the ntfs binaries somewhere. i have found only this without root but does not work for me http://techapple.net/2016/08/how-to-readwrite-to-ntfs-disks-on-usb-otg-in-android-no-root-enable-ntfs-mount-without-rooting https://www.paragon-software.com/free/exfat-ntfs-fat32-hfs-android

@alecxs it looks a good solution to transfer data. my problem is that I do not have enough space on internal storage so I need a system wide enabled external space. I guess I have to root a tablet. thanks for the links.

As you mentioned you're developer? of a app, there is a Tutorial about adoptable storage shared from @yoloxolo you might be interested. You should be able to access adoptable storage from your app, this gives you enough space on a ext4 file system https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/213312

I am not a dev. @alecxs

Did you try exFAT? On which Android version and ROM you are? exFAT was natively added to Android Pie (not through FUSE): https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/vold/+/refs/heads/master/fs (kernel must have exFAT support). Some custom ROMs do have NTFS support added to vold through FUSE. If your device doesn't support exFAT, you can try this module which replaces stock vold binary with a custom one: https://github.com/Magisk-Modules-Repo/vold-posix (requires Magisk root). Also with root access you can manually mount any removable storage with ext4 filesystem.


text:
How to make full backup?
My phone is a Nokia 6.1. I'd like to do a factory reset, but preserving:

my personal files
the settings of all apps
the data saved by all apps (e.g. the alarms saved by the stock Clock app)
the collection of apps (I want them to be reinstalled after the reset)

Does the "Settings -> Advanced -> Backup" Android feature do all that? If no, then what part does it do?

And no, Google backup doesn't cover all. Especially when you consider restore.

Found the answer here:
If you back up to Google Drive, here's what's backed up:

Google Contacts data
Google Calendar events and settings
Wi-Fi networks and passwords
Wallpapers
Gmail settings
Apps
Display settings (brightness and sleep)
Language and input settings
Date and time
Settings and data for apps not made by Google (varies by app)
Note: Not all apps can back up or restore all settings and data. To find out about an app, learn how to contact its developer.


text:
Receive whatsapp notification only between a certain time
I want to receive all WhatsApp messages only between 11-12 p.m everyday.How to do this? Can tasker app help in this.Or a script which can be used. Also please note that only messages should be queued but video/audio calls should function all day.

you can disable notifications for 1 Hour/1-day etc. through WhatsApp Web. Check more details at the official Whatsappp FAQ here https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/web/26000051/?category=5245251


text:
How do I bring back the Spotify lock screen controls?
I accidentally permanently dismissed the play/pause/skip controls for the Spotify app on my lock screen. I've looked all over trying to find how to bring them back to no avail. How is it done?

There's a setting in the spotify app. From the spotify home page on your phone, open the settings (top right) and enable "Device Broadcast Status".

That didn't do it, thanks though. Still no controls after restarting app and phone, not that that should be necessary.


text:
How to open keyboard in Wine app?
I would like to use Notepad++ on Android, if possible. The only thing I found was this app, which, unlike the regular Wine, seems to emulate an entire Windows system. The only problem: I can't enter text. Surely I could connect a Bluetooth keyboard, but at that point I might as well take a laptop with me. I've also tried simulating a press of the Alt key using the app "XPosed Edge", but that doesn't open the keyboard, unlike in some other situations. Even when I let XPosed Edge enter a preset text, it does not appear in the console window in Wine.
So how do I enter text in this app? Alternatively, is there a different way to get Notepad++ running on Android (or is there a proper app with all of its features)?

This thread suggests installing extra software just to open the keyboard, which I not only find strange, but I also doubt that it works, since entering text with XPosed Edge didn't work.

Not related to question, but notepadqq is a linux alternative and for android try DroidEdit

Not a full replacement, but "QuickEdit" has syntax highlighting, persistent state, regex search+replace, optional word wrap, undo/redo, autocomplete, line numbers, style options, autosave, …: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rhmsoft.edit


text:
what would happen if there as a rooted device from the factory?
Would it be feasible to see some manufacturer of devices launching a device that comes rooted from the factory?
If the user of said device accepts the responsibility and the power of getting a rooted device would that work?
Who can be against such products?
Would Google care about it?

the whole security concept is based on user accounts (each app is a user) - basically every app developer is against manipulating their stuff from root (especially banking apps)

The problem with shipping rooted device by default is that it may increase the load of customer support for the device manufacturer and possibly on other user support forums. If the manufacturer are willing to accept that, then there's really nothing really bad with shipping rooted device by default.
Google really wouldn't care about it. They may have their concerns based on security risks, but ultimately if the user is willing to accept the responsibility and risks, they shouldn't have any issues with it. The extent of Google's objection to this is that they may reject the device as non compliant according to Android Compatibility Document and therefore refuse the device from running Google Play services. It probably would be possible for manufacturers to side step this issue and still comply with the Compatibility Test Suite (and therefore eligible for Google Play), by allowing the user to easily switch root mode in developer setting, like CyanogenMod did.
The application vendors that would be the most staunchly against such this would definitely be vendors that uses and develops DRM applications and media. Their business model relies on hijacking the user's device to prevent the user from having full control of their own device.
Regular application vendors shouldn't have problems with it. They may have concerns if the security of their apps depends on the restrictions their apps will not be able to protect the user's data properly. Ultimately though, since applications vendors manages user's data, if the user is ok with it and the user accepts the risks and responsibilty, they shouldn't have any real objections.
The companies that may be wary of preinstalled root are companies that requires that their employees installs a device adminstrator service in their devices. They may simply decide to ban such device from being used in their company network.


text:
Backup app data from Android 4.1.1
I need to backup app data (some games) from Android 4.1.1 (Xiaomi Mi2S) and than restore them on Android 9 (Xiaomi Mi9T). I have tried using adb backup, but current version is not compatible with Android 4.1.1 (creates 41 bytes file). When I tried using older ADB (as suggested here: link), I couldn't get adb devices to recognize my device.
Is there any way to backup app data without using adb backup? I have access to root on Android 4.1.1 but not on the new Android 9.0

Have you tried using Helium app?

@Firelord Thanks, it actually worked, I had to find APK online, as the one on Play Store won't install on Android older then 5.0, but than it worked flawlessly.

@Firelord one of you two should write up an answer :)


text:
Facebook app appears twice in "Open With"
I was trying to open a link to a Facebook post sent in Facebook Messenger recently, and I got an unexpected "Open With" dialog, asking whether I wanted to open it with...

Facebook
com.facebook.katana
Facebook
com.facebook.katana

The exact same app entry repeated two times, like so:

This looked suspicious to me. Is this possibly a sign of some malware that's masquerading as Facebook on my phone? Or is it just an innocent bug/confusion within the Facebook app or Android system?
Are there particular steps I should take to fix it?
Facebook appears only once in my "App info -> All apps" list.
I'm running Android version 9 on a Google Pixel 2. My Facebook app is version 232.0.0.35.115 - I'm happy to dig up any other diagnostic information that might be useful, just please let me know in a comment what needs to be added/clarified.

That's because Facebook app registers itself for different intent types that it can handle. When opening the link (you tapped), two of intent types are matched by Android's activity resolver, so the app appears twice. A little more detail here: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/218441/218526

@IrfanLatif Thanks for the info! Post that as an Answer and I'll happily accept & upvote it. :)


text:
Android tablet disconnects from wifi every ten minutes
I have a Galaxy Tab A Wifi only version (SM-T580), running Android 8.1.0. It is unrooted.
Every ten or fifteen minutes or so, the wifi drops out. After about 30 seconds or so, it reconnects. No other device on my network has this issue.
Less frequently, the Bluetooth connection drops out, which I suspect might be an associated issue. I usually have the tablet connected to Bluetooth speakers, and every now and the sound will cut out for about twenty seconds, then return.
I have searched online for solutions, and the general advice is to switch from DHCP to static, which I have done. Beyond that I can't get any more specific information.
Is there any kind of test I can run to determine why this is happening?

Logs should help find information about whats going on. Through a command prompt throw the command: (linux) adb logcat -v long > ~/Desktop/logcat.txt (windows) adb logcat -v long > %userprofile%\desktop\logcat.txt thats a standard verbose logcat. Radio logs might also show some insight witht he command: adb logcat -b radio -v time -d > logcat_radio.log along with adb shell dumpsys wifi those commands should put a file on your desktop if not just copy the terminal and paste it to any pasting site such as pastebin, hastebin, or whatever then edit and attach them to your post for feedback.

@BoLawson, thanks for these commands, but I'm unsure where to run them. I no longer have a Linux computer, only Windows. Is there a way I can connect my Android to my Windows computer to run these commands?

Ye yo can, i included the windoes commands too. You just have to install adb through the Android SDK-Platform-tools onto your pc. Then you can open a cmd prompt to throw the above mentioned commands. https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools

Windows commands: (windows) adb logcat -v long > %userprofile%\desktop\logcat.txt  thats a verbose logcat. adb logcat -b radio -v time -d > logcat_radio.log radio logcat. adb shell dumpsys wifi thats a dump of wifi stuff.

@BoLawson, Thank you for your help. I've downloaded the Android SDK and connected my tablet by USB, but when I run any of the commands, I get error: no devices/emulators found. Is there something else I need to do to create the conditions to run a test that will reveal some answers?

You need to enable USB Debugging if you have not done so yet. You so by going into Settings --> About Phone --> scroll to the bottom --> tap Build number seven (7) times. A short pop-up in the lower area of your display saying that you're now a developer. 2. Go back and now access the Developer options menu, check USB Debuggingand click OK. The when you connect to your computer and an RSA pop-you should appear. Now just press OK ad you should be good to Go.

@BoLawson, thank you for your instructions, and sorry that I'm going slowly on this, but I just can't seem to get any kind of connection. I've enabled USB debugging as you described. Then at the command line I start one of the adb commands, and it says waiting for device. I've tried connecting and reconnecting my tablet a few times, and turning USB debugging on and off, but nothing seems to happen anywhere. Is there some driver or something I need to install or some other missing step?

Just a stab in the dark, but according to one site, you can try turning off the "disconnect on sleep" option.

Check your Keep WiFi on during sleep options. These allow you to specify when to disconnect from WiFi.
Go to Home > Apps > Settings > WiFi > more >Keep WiFi on during sleep. Hopefully you can stop it from disconnecting at all by choosing an option .

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/280849/Tablet+loses+wifi+connection
There are other models that lose connectivity based on how you hold it or due to an old update, but these are significantly different models that shouldn't anything to do with your model.

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, on my tablet's interface there is no option for controlling "sleep" mode.

Hope this helps!
Settings>Connections>Data Usage>Restrict Networks
Select your wifi connection
Select not metered
Done


text:
Android (Galaxy S8) not showing Bluetooth "Available Devices" screen
My Galaxy S8 is no longer showing "Available Devices" screen when I enable Bluetooth. I used to be able to see a list of available devices when I enabled Bluetooth.
Can this be fixed? Thanks in advance.
https://www.techjunkie.com/samsung-galaxy-s8-and-galaxy-s8-bluetooth-pairing-mode/

The problem is still there of not getting the auto-pop up, but I am closing this since you can still work around it by going to Settings > Connections, and clicking on Bluetooth (next to its On/Off toggle) to see the list of available devices.


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The issue with the Fingerprint unlocking
I've got this Android device I bought recently. It is Huawei Y9 Prime. But I discovered yesterday there is an issue with the fingerprint ID. The lock can be unlocked by anyone!!! the device unlocks for all the fingerprints of all the people. So what should I do now? Is this a common error?

Can you edit your post with the version of software (in settings)

Assuming you bought the Huawei Y9 Prime, the phone is so new that its possible you have found a software bug/flaw or have a malfunctioning unit. Or it could be user error.
Based on your post history, the purchase is a few days old. I have a few options:

Contact Huawei and notify them that there is a problem. They will probably recommend...
Returning it to the seller for exchange with another unit. If you bought it in a physical store, you can show the clerk who can then verify that the fingerprint sensor is behaving incorrectly.
If the second unit is bad, you can either return it for refund, or live with PIN lock with the hope that it is a software problem that can be patched.

Personally before returning/exchanging the unit, I would record a video setting up a freshly reset device, show the software version in the video, setup a fingerprint unlock and have a different user unlock it. It may just a manufacturing defect in the early production run or the software itself isn't the final consumer version. Either way, video proof can improve the odds of a fix if the problem is real.


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Can I flash update.zip of titanium backup to non-rooted device
I was searching for an answer but I couldn't find any explanation if I'm able to flash update.zip of Titanium backup to non-rooted device.

Only if that unrooted device has an open/custom recovery, like [tag:twrp].

I adb sideloaded update..zip through twrp and I got bootloop, then sideloaded Magisk and sideloaded update.zip again and it fixed. So, don't you think it has to be rooted or this is the problem of my phone?

make sure the issue is not related to secure boot https://source.android.com/security/verifiedboot/dm-verity

TWRP has root access. And to what @alecxs wrote: that would explain why flashing Magisk solved it (Magisk does deal with dm-verity, as I know first-hand from one of my devices).


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How to fix Hangouts not working for one gmail account
My Hangouts had two email accounts associated with it. One stopped working. I tried deleting and re-installing Hangouts. I tried deleting and reinstalling the email account that was not working with Hangouts.
Now when I try to add this second email account to Hangouts, I get the error message that the account already exists on the device.
I did delete that email account and before adding it via the phone's accounts manager, I tried to add it from Hangouts. It then added it as an email account but not associated with Hangouts.

Sorry - I got it fixed. I tried deleting the email account and then before re-adding it, I restarted the phone. Then when I added the account to Hangouts it worked.


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Read adopted and encrypted SD card with external SD reader?
My Moto G5 sd reader doe not work anymore, and does not read the SD card that was adopted and encrypted. I want to access the sd card to save the data/pics etc.
I thought that I could use an external SD reader, and that the phone would recognize that this is the "internal" card, and hence give access to the data. It does not seem to work: using a file reader like amaze, I see the OTG option, but nothing happens? Which steps could I do? Note my phone is not rooted.
Thanks!
PS: an alternative would be to read the SD card in my Linux machine, and follow the instructions from this page, this one or this guide. My understanding is that I would need to root my phone, and hence potentially loose all data anyway.

you are right, you will lose data when rooting with common bootloader unlocking method. you need root access to get a copy of /data/misc/vold. try to root with Kingoroot (with locked bootloader) or try to get backup with QPST +  HDDRawCopy (no root required) https://forum.xda-developers.com/general/rooting-roms/how-to-backup-qualcomm-phone-root-t3570178

OTG mounts are different from block mounts. the card reader will work with other MicroSD Card, but it can not handle encryption of adopted storage

@alecxs, getting back to this after trying ohter solutions, could you elaborate a little on the Kingoroot vs QPST + HDDRawCopy methods? I'm a very beginner, so a few detailed steps would be very welcome as answer! I am also confused as some posts say roooting would not destroy data? https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/44574/does-rooting-erase-anything Thanks a lot!!!

unlocking bootloader will trigger factory reset, so you need to find a solution with locked bootloader (Kingoroot for rooting / QPST for backup)


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Camera folder displayed as empty, but contains 20GB data
My Lenovo Moto G5 Plus' internal storage ran full, and now there appears to be a problem with the photos that are saved on its internal storage. The internal DCIM/Camera folder is displayed as empty when I

open the gallery app
open the folder with the Solid Explorer app
open the folder on my PC (file transfer mode as well as PTP mode).

BUT the app "DiskUsage" says that the folder has got a size of 20GB, and luckily I was able to do a backup of its contents using adb pull.
What can I do to make the content visible for the phone again? Using a scanning app like "SD Card scanner" did not help.

Try clearing data of Media Storage app: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/209119/218526

delete .nomedia files