text:
How to enter CWM recovery on an encrypted Galaxy S3?
I'm trying to enter CWM recovery so that I can back up my ROM.
While rooting my S3 I could enter CWM using the instructions I was following at the time (which I no longer have around).
Since then I've used the built-in encryption feature to encrypt the device.
Now when I try to press simultaneously the volume-up, home, and power buttons - the device only turns off, and doesn't start booting again until I release all buttons and press the power button.
What are the exact instructions for entering CWM recovery on an S3, and do these differ for an encrypted device?

Encryption shouldn't have affected it.  That key combo is correct.  Have you tried after a battery pull, or while connected to USB?

I now tried after a batter pull and (on a separate attempt) while connected to USB - still no cigar.

You say that your phone turns off when entering that combination? Are you trying that combination when the phone is turned on? The phone needs to be turned off, then press that combination.

@Siebe initially I indeed tried while it was on but later realized it should be off and tried in that way -- Now I'm getting this: http://cl.ly/image/1w190J0J433f

@GJ. It seems that you dont have CWM (anymore) but the standard Android recovery tool. You should try to reflash CWM on your phone using Odin.

How to get into Recovery Mode
Unplug the USB cable.
Shut down the phone.
Hold down the 'HOME' + 'VOLUME UP' buttons and press the 'POWER' button for about 5 seconds to enter Recovery Mode.
How to get into Download Mode (eg: for Odin)
Unplug the USB cable.
Shut down the phone.
Hold down the 'HOME' + 'VOLUME DOWN' buttons and press the 'POWER' button for about 2 seconds until a WARNING! Screen appears. Press the 'VOLUME UP' button to enter Download Mode.
To get out of Download Mode, simply press and hold the power button until the phone restarts.


text:
"Battery use" information screen not reporting apps
I've got a Samsung Galaxy S (international version) that I've just upgraded to Android 2.2 (Froyo) and now the battery usage page in settings (Settings => About phone => Battery use) only ever reports the following items: Display, Cell standby, Phone idle & Voice calls.
Although I upgraded only a couple of days after having the phone, I'm sure that it originally showed usage of other things like apps & live wallpaper... It's kind of useless how it is now, any ideas on how I get it displaying all usage again?

That does sound odd. Is there perhaps a threshold setting of some sort?

@AlEverett - That was what I thought at first, but even if I play a CPU intensive game for an hour or so, it doesn't register and if I dial ##4636## I can see other things using CPU, etc that I would have thought would be enough...

I've noticed the same thing having switched from Eclair to Froyo on a Galaxy S as well. I thought it was intentional although it does seem like a downgrade in terms of features. Perhaps it ironically caused excessive battery use, so they removed it? Just speculating.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Google Reader Not Available in International Market
I was excited when they announced the official Google Reader app but I can't get it on the market.
I am using my Android Device from Kenya, Africa and would want to know whether being in this region affect availability of apps on the market and if so, how to work around it.
I tried searching on the market as pub:"Google Inc." and this did not help

This question appears to be off-topic because the Google Reader app and service are no longer available.

you can download it from here then copy the apk file on your handset and install it from there.
but I would still recommend Newsrob as a better reader even than the official google reader application

You should move that first sentence into a comment on GAThrawn's answer and keep your answer strictly as an Answer not an Answer + a comment on another persons answer.

According to the announcement on the Google Reader blog it should be avaiable for phones running donut (Android 1.6) and above, so you're covered for that.
The blog doesn't mention any geographical restrictions and I'm in Europe (UK) and I've got it, so it's definitely available outside the US.
If you've got a barcode reader, then you can just point your phone at the QR barcode on the blog and it should take you straight to the Market page for the app (if it is in your Market).
According to Reader's Androlib page, it's currently available in the US, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Dutch, Japanese, Swiss and Russion markets.
There are ways to change the settings on your device so that it looks at the US (or another region's) Market, see this previous question for more How do I use the US Android Market.

if he searched for it on the market and came with no result, the QR scanning thing won't do the job at all.

It removes all doubt of spelling mistakes and similar, but that is why that's only one option I gave. See also where I mention that you can make your phone use the US Market, if that's done then the barcode scanning should work with no problem.

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

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


text:
Can you restart the launcher apart from restarting the phone?
On my Galaxy S Android 2.2 , I just got the 'Activiate Starter took too long to respond . Force close ?', which I did.
Now the home screen is black.  :)
So I killed the starter program, so it seems. I should have looked at the message closer.
Apart from turning off and restarting the phone, is it possible to restart the main program on a phone ?

Did you try pressing the HOME key?

@Sparx: Yes , I'm 99% sure I tried all sorts of combinations, including pressing the home key. But as in all such things, one cannot be 100% sure, sometimes you overlook the obvious. Next time, if ever it occurs again, I will certainly try this.

Just a hint, not an answer: you can reboot the phone quickly by holding the power button until the boot screen appears (about 10 seconds) instead of holding it for a second and choosing "Power off" and powering on again.

10 years later...
The first step is to find the name of your current launcher a.k.a. "Home app". Unless you switched away from the one provided by default, you probably don't know that. The default launcher can be different on every phone. Finding its name also depends on your Android version. Fortunately, there are plenty pages on the Internet explaining that for every Android version so I won't copy/paste them all here. With a recent Android 11, go to Settings -> Apps -> Advanced -> Default Apps -> Home App.
Once you found the precious name, go back to Apps and scroll down until you find it. Tap on it then "Force Stop", done!
If you still can't find your launcher in the list of Apps then click on the three dots and try "Show system (apps)"

Pressing the home key on my Dell Streak prompts me to choose a launcher program if there isn't currently one running after it's crashed or re-installed.

You could probably start the application with the abd shell
in the shell type
am start [DETAILS]

the usage is
usage: am [start|broadcast|instrument]
       am start -D INTENT
       am broadcast INTENT
       am instrument [-r] [-e <ARG_NAME> <ARG_VALUE>] [-p <PROF_FILE>]
                [-w] <COMPONENT>

       INTENT is described with:
                [-a <ACTION>] [-d <DATA_URI>] [-t <MIME_TYPE>]
                [-c <CATEGORY> [-c <CATEGORY>] ...]
                [-e|--es <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_STRING_VALUE> ...]
                [--ez <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_BOOLEAN_VALUE> ...]
                [-e|--ei <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_INT_VALUE> ...]
                [-n <COMPONENT>] [-f <FLAGS>] [<URI>]

Some examples can be seen on this page.
It would require you to know a few details about the launcher in question though. It may be worth reading this thread about am usage from the android-framework google group.

I don't understand, if my launcher application is not running, and my screen is blank, how am I going to be able to start an abd shell ?

You'd have to connect via usb

Note that whatever home screen you use, you can always use am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN  -c android.intent.category.HOME to start your default home screen.

Note that some Home launchers may have the option built into the user space for convenience.  For example, I use Nova Launcher myself, and under the settings you can find this option:

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


text:
Best way to bookmark items on Pinboard.in
I recently changed over from using Delicious to http://Pinboard.in. What's the best way to bookmark a page to Pinboard from my Android phone?

Just a note for those who aren't familiar with Pinboard.in, it's basically a slimmed down version of delicious.com, done right.  It's really worth the $8.53 signup fee for the functionality and ease of use.

Here are 4 free options...
1) The PinDroid app:
It's a port from DeliciousDroid and was just added to the market yesterday.  It looks pretty sweet.  Here's some screenshots.
2) Save the Pinboard.in bookmarklet as a bookmark: (this is still my favorite option)
javascript:q=location.href;if(document.getSelection){d=document.getSelection();}else{d='';};p=document.title;void(open('http://pinboard.in/add?url='+encodeURIComponent(q)+'&description='+encodeURIComponent(d)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(p),'Pinboard', 'toolbar=no,width=700,height=350'));

This works particularly well in Dolphin Browser HD (but it'll also work in other browswers).  Just create new bookmark, name it Pinboard Share and paste the above text in as the location.  When you are on a site you want to save, slide open the bookmarks toolbar and click your Pinboard Share and it'll bring up the popup share window with the URL and Title already filled in.  Personally, I like saving it as a gesture in Dolphin to make it even easier.
If you don't want to have to enter anything in, here's the code for the "Read Later" pinboard bookmarklet that'll just save the url automatically to your "Read Later" list without prompting you to enter tags, or a description.  I find this easy to do in a hurry then go back an organize later on my PC:
javascript:q=location.href;p=document.title;void(t=open('http://pinboard.in/add?later=yes&noui=yes&jump=close&url='+encodeURIComponent(q)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(p),'Pinboard','toolbar=no,width=100,height=100'));t.blur();

3) Download Bookmarklet Free
Go to "Custom Services" and add your own.  Name it Pinboard or whatever you want.  In the "Base URL" field enter http://pinboard.in/add? then in the "Title Parameter" field enter title and in the "URL Parameter" field enter url.  Now when you choose to "Share" from your browser, you'll have all the regular options like Email, Twitter and any of the options you chose in Bookmarklet Free, including your new Pinboard bookmarklet. (note: it actually took a little while for the name to take for me, it was listed as "My Service" for a while in my Share menu.)
4) Post by Email
With your formatted Pinboard email you can choose the share option on any page and email to to our pinboard account.  The instructions to do this are on the Pinboard how-to section.  I prefer the first option I shared but this is a decent last resort.

+1 for PinDroid. I use it daily and contact the developer regularly via Google Code issues and Twitter - great contact!

In Chrome Bookmarklets only seem to work from the search bar, not the bookmarks menu

Save to Pinboard.


text:
Rooting catch 22
I have a Nexus 5 phone purchased from Google, running Marshmallow (MMB29S).
Recently it started misbehaving.  When I try to open the "Data Usage" settings, they hang.  So I asked on some forums and was advised to do a factory reset.
I voiced concern that a factory reset will wipe all my settings and app settings, and it will take me hours (if not days) to get everything to work like I want to.
No problem, I was told, there's this magical app, Titanium Backup, that will back up everything for me and restore it afterwards.  Provided I have root.
So I looked around for rooting information, and got the impression that I need to unlock the bootloader first, which will wipe everything.
Catch 22.
Is there a better way?
Am I missing something?

Partly – depending for which part of your question ;) First, you'd like to take a look at our backup tag-wiki (I agree TiBu is the best, but having no root you might need to go for alternatives first). Second, is the requirement of an unlocked bootloader in order to root something specific to your device? That's unusual for rooting (but usual for installing a custom recovery or custom ROM).

You can opt for a one-click root method (I don't find them safe though and among them Kingoroot is horrible, given the type of questions we receive in its aftermath). The benefit it gives is that you don't have to unlock bootloader.

@Izzy, thanks for the link, but the article is a bit old, talking about Android 4 when the current is 6.0.1

@AlexO which article? I've linked to our backup wiki. Tag-Wikis here hold some generic info, basic background, first aid, and possible links to core questions. For the "latest trend" you then can switch over to the questions using the tag and order them by "newest". Fact is: rooting rarely requires bootloader-unlocking (except when achieved via flashing a custom recovery – the corresponding how to root Nexus 5 question using that approach indeed is a bit older, which is why I didn't explicitly mention it ;) // And where's Android 4 there?

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


text:
Mobile data is turned off but provider shows data trickle
I have turned off cellular data on my phone (Nexus 5, Android 6.0.1) but the data usage summary on my provider's portal is still (slowly) increasing.
Does Android still use a small amount of data even when told not to, or is it provider shenanigans?
Provider is Public Mobile.

If you're using LTE, the reason could be, that LTE is causing traffic even if mobile data is turned off.
See here: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/132642/185648

This is weird.  I have a prepaid plan and previously did not have data at all (now I do have data with the same provider), and used LTE.

Two things to look at:

Does your mobile provider count standard SMS as data?

Does your SMS app have a setting (and is it enabled) to briefly enable mobile data when sending/receiving MMS? Ones I know that do are Handcent, ChompSMS, QKSMS, GoSMS, Textra.

Make sure the setting is off, otherwise it will briefly turn on each time you send and receive one (but note, on most carriers, you won't be able to get MMS over Wifi)

Not that I know of, since I had unlimited SMS even before data, and 2. I am using hangups for SMS

Hangups or Hangouts?  I don't think Hangouts will automatically enable data for sending/receiving MMS messages, you'd have to look in the options for that.   However, limited or unlimited SMS wouldn't affect if your carrier counts it as data.


text:
Canadian: No sound when calling US numbers
My Phone is a Moto g7 Play.
My provider is Koodo (a brand of the Canadian Telus), I am dialing from Canada.
My account includes the following feature:

Unlimited Long Distance Pack
Get unlimited long distance calling to 27 countries including the US, China, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Bangladesh, and the UK from anywhere in Canada.

When I dial a US number, the call goes through, but there is no sound on my end. I don't hear the ringing tones, the other party, nothing; though once the call connects the other party hears me.
Accepting calls (from Canada or the US) works fine. Dialing Canadian numbers works fine. Dialing UK numbers works fine. Dialing a number in a country not in the "Unlimited Long Distance Pack" works fine. Dialing a US toll-free (1-800, 1-888, etc.) number appears to work - I don't hear any ringing tones, but I do hear the message from the other side of the line.
It seems that only dialing US non-toll-free numbers has this issue.
But here's the kicker: if I put my SIM in a different phone, it works without an issue.
What can cause this strange behaviour?

Edit:
Turning VoLTE off solved the issue. Then I tried WiFi calling, and it exhibited the same issue.
So it looks like a VoIP issue (as @Robert suggested in the comments).
I now have a workaround, except that I cannot use it when I don't have 3G connectivity.
The question is whether it can be solved in a better way, either on my end or by the provider.

Edit 2:
I had a chat with Telus tech support.
Apparently it is a known problem that affects several phone models on their network.
There’s a workaround: pausing and resuming the call restores the sound (for that call).
They opened a ticket for me too, so maybe a permanent solution will be found.

My guess would be a codec problem. Some US systems seems to use an audio codec your phone doesn't support or that doesn't work correctly, therefore you don't hear anything.

@Robert, that would not explain why I hear them when they call me, it's only the outgoing calls that exhibit the problem.

In VoIP communication there are two streams, one from your phone (through several VoIP servers) to the target phone and the other way around.  I am not a VoIP expert but I assume that for each stream the used codec can be different. And the intermediate VoIP servers can even re-encode the audio stream to use a different codec on both sides of their connection. As you can see there are a lot of weak points where something can go wrong so that you end up with a one-directional phone call.

@Robert, it seems that you were right and it is a VoIP issue. The question is whether it can be solved, either on my end or by the provider.

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


text:
What could cause a page opened on Firefox to have an enormous data usage?
I have opened the rather innocuous page on reputable website Quanta Magazine using Firefox Android 65.0.1 (with NoScript installed) and left it open.
The data usage rapidly burned through 1 GB of data transfer via the mobile network, which is more than I use in a month in general.
I closed the page, stopping data usage. Reopened it, and on it went. It has blown my data usage for the month out of the water.
The graph from "Settings > Connections > Data Usage > Mobile Data Usage" is eloquent:

I have pumped the URL through Sucuri just to make sure whether there is a known evil in that page but it comes up blank.
What could be going on, and do I find out?

It's definitely something from d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net - There is bunch of stuff from that cache being hovered in. When I block that URL in NoScript, there is scant data transfer. Set it to trusted and boom - you can literally hear money going to the mobile operator.

Unprotected Chrome has no problem with the page. Downloads about 10 MiB (the embedded images and the video?) but after that no particular activity.

At home, checked what Firefox Desktop does: It behaves as expect, once the page has been downloaded, it stays downloaded. Firefox Mobile, connected to the WLAN, has another approach: it continuously bursts 30 Mbps downloads over the DSL once d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net has been whitelisted in NoScript.

You have a valid problem. https://i.sstatic.net/BPm7e.png

This is unrelated to No Script because my test was conducted without it. Yes, it would be best if you show your findings or at least my linked image as a proof of a bug when filing it with Mozilla.

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1531380

Do you know what embedded miners are?
https://platform.jsecoin.com/?register=1&utm_source=referral&utm_campaign=aff139531&utm_content
http://join-shortest.com/ref/bdb9481b4c?user-type=new
They are a way for a webmaster to make money off of their webpage without a bunch if banners. The visitors of the website are having some if their computer power used to mine cryptocurrency. That uses data, right?

Absolutely. I do hope that Quanta Mag knows to not get its web pages hijacked though. Plus note: It's just traffic, no CPU usage. I suppose it's some bad interaction between Firefox and the page, but I would need tcpdump to be ready for a debug session.

Miners would more affect the CPU usage, not the data usage.


text:
list disable package feature/component
we can use pm list packages -d to list disabled packages.
but how can I list disabled feature/component inside a package?
for example I disable all fitness related stuff from gms
pm disable com.google.android.gms/.fitness.sync.FitnessSyncAdapterService
and so on
and I want to have an overview again which feature I have disabled

Not as straight-forward as listing packages. Here's an except (Bash code) on how my tool Adebar does it (for all apps on a device, spooling results to a file as pm disable comands in the way your question quotes it), to be found in lib/scriptgen.lib:

  local comps
  local myline
  scriptname="${OUTDIR}/deadReceivers.sh"
  echo "#!${BASH_LOCATION}" > "${scriptname}"
  echo -e "\n#\n# Disabled components for ${DEVICE_NAME} as of $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M')\n#" >> "${scriptname}"
  for pkg in $(adb ${ADBOPTS} shell "pm list packages 2>/dev/null"); do
    pkg=${pkg//[$'\t\r\n']}
    pkg=${pkg##*:}
    [[ "${pkg}" = "android" ]] && continue
    comps=$(adb ${ADBOPTS} shell "dumpsys package ${pkg}" | grep -E -A99999 "disabledComponents:" |grep -E -B99999 "enabledComponents:")
    if [[ -n "${comps}" ]]; then
      echo >> "${scriptname}"
      echo "# ${pkg}" >> "${scriptname}"
      for myline in $comps; do
        myline=${myline//[$'\t\r\n']}
        [[ "${myline}" = "disabledComponents:" || "${myline}" = "enabledComponents:" ]] && continue
        echo "adb ${ADBOPTS} shell \"pm disable ${pkg}/${myline}\"" >> "${scriptname}"
      done
    fi
  done

In short: You'd have to parse the "disabledComponents" section from the output of dumpsys package <package_name> ("comps" in above code fragment). As you can see, that segment is followed by a list of enabled components, in case you want to know where to find those.

nice Adebar and IzzyOnDroid!


text:
Unable to flash anything using twrp. "Cannot mount/vendor"
I updated to the latest version of RR 6.0 (2018-04-05 security patch)using dirty flash. After updating I realised that I was not able to flash any zip. "Cannot mount/vendor" error was being shown. I also lost root (magisk) after the update.  Here is the digest file
Updating partition details...
done
Unable to mount storage
Full SELinux support is present.
Data successfully decrypted, new block device: '/dev
/block/dm-0
Updating partition details...
done
MTP Enabled
Installing zip file '/sdcard/DolbyAtmos_for_Oreo_
20180219.zip
Checking for Digest file...
Skipping Digest check: no Digest file found
! Cannot mount /vendor
Updater process ended with ERROR: 1
Error installing zip file '/sdcard/Dolby Atmos_for_Oreo_20180219.zip
Updating partition details...
done
Please help. It's the same for any zip(I was able to flash SuperSU but my phone did not get rooted)

I remember I once had the same issue. Did you try to update your TWRP to the most recent version?

I am using the latest version. Is there any problem in the 2018-04-05 security patch that can cause it?

same problem here. Did anyone found anything?


text:
How to get Android connect to weak WiFi signal
I have an IoT device (a LifeX Color 1000 bulb) which I'm trying to connect to my home Wifi network.
But to do so, I have to:

Factory-reset the bulb so that it goes into setup mode
Connect to the Wifi Network emitted by the bulb
Tell the bulb the wifi credentials of my home Wifi Network.

The problem is that the bulb's Wifi signal is very weak. It doesn't show up on my Android phone's list of Wifi networks. And when I tell LifeX app on my phone to search for the bulb's Wifi, I get this error message:

But I see no setting in which I can tell my phone to stop ignoring weak Wifi signals. There is no "Avoid Poor Networks" or "Auto Network Switch".
I have tried this on both of the following phones:

ZTE Model Z981, Android Version 6.0.1
Nokia 6.1 Model TA-1045, Android Version 9

How can I adjust my phone settings to detect and show me ALL wifi networks no matter how weak?

How far is the distance between bulb and phone? A second possibility is that the bulb uses a Wifi channel that is forbidden in your region and therefore it is not detected by your phone.

What options do you have under Settings --> wireless networks --> wifi --> settings --> advanced wifi? What about manually adding the network.


text:
"This app isn't compatible with your device anymore." "Device is not certified"
TL;DR see this Google support post to complain and upvote:

https://support.google.com/android/thread/158332061?hl=en
I have a OnePlus 7 Pro that is an excellent top end affordable phone. It's been working great for a year until a couple apps I depend on stopped working. One example app is Disney Plus. It will not work at all and will not show up in the Play Store. When I weblink to its Play listing, it says: "This app isn't compatible with your device anymore. Contact the developers for more info."
I pestered the devs and never got anywhere and it looks like a device issue because on this round of searching I found a link that said it's because the "Device is not certified" message in Play settings.
There are many, many posts on this issue, just on the OnePlus forum alone. One discussed a device reflashed from or to a Global version, but I dont think that is my device problem, but also dont know how to verify.
I found a post from XDA that talked about the problem related to not being able to use GApps, but that is not my problem, and inputing the device ID onto Google's site didnt help.
Last post I found discussed it being from the bootloader being unlocked, or that its rooted. Is that really the issue? That would be terrible if rooted devices couldnt use certain apps as popular as Netflix, Disney Plus, PayPal and others.
If it's an issue with OnePlus having their devices certified by Google, is there a way around this. I'm posting to the OnePlus forum, but that's as much as I can do.
Here are a bunch of links for reference. The first one shows the error in Play on a OnePlus brand app. This seems like a recent change from Google's security policies. Second one discusses device model. Third one discusses bootloader and root:
https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/this-app-isnt-compatible-with-your-device-anymore-contact-the-developers-for-more-info.1490603/
https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/your-device-isnt-compatible-with-this-version-disney.1314553/
https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/netflix-this-app-isnt-compatible-with-your-device-anymore.1377862/
https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/your-device-is-not-compatible-with-this-version.1389536/
https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/your-device-isnt-compatible-with-this-version.944366/
https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-fix-device-not-certified-by-google-error/
https://forum.fairphone.com/t/unable-to-install-application-since-fairphone-is-not-play-protect-certified/58067
https://komogame.com/en/netflix-blocks-its-app-on-rooted-devices/
"In case your device is rooted, has the bootloader unlocked or the device is not certified by Google, you will not be able to download Netflix through the Play Store" Message only says: your-device-isnt-compatible-with-this-version
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-install-an-app-on-Android-when-it-says-my-device-is-not-optimized-or-compatible-for-the-app-anymore
How To Fix - This App Is No Longer Compatible ... - YouTube Didnt work. Have tried twice.
https://nerdschalk.com/how-to-turn-on-or-off-google-play-protect-on-android/  I cant turn off Play Protect to test this.
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-install-an-app-on-Android-when-it-says-my-device-is-not-optimized-or-compatible-for-the-app-anymore
https://www.quora.com/unanswered/How-can-I-fix-This-app-isnt-compatible-with-your-device-anymore-and-Device-is-not-certified-on-an-Android-device
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/how-can-i-fix-this-app-isnt-compatible-with-your-device-anymore-and-device-is-not-certified-on-an-android-device.4417785/

It seems my device is Play Protect certified. So I'm leaning toward there being a problem with the bootloader being unlocked, and it being rooted. I use Magisk which is supposed to be systemless, so I doubt that is the problem. And if it is from the unlocked bootloader, only Google or a collection of app developers can fix this.
You can check under Play Store > Settings > About > Play Protect certification.
https://support.google.com/android/answer/10248227?hl=en#zippy=%2Ccant-check-certification-status
https://storage.googleapis.com/play_public/supported_devices.html (large list loads slowly) Direct link to csv file: https://storage.googleapis.com/play_public/supported_devices.csv
The Google forum suggest: "If it’s on the list: We’d like more information about your experience. You can start a new thread in the Android Community to help us review the alert."
https://support.google.com/android/search?hl=en&q=play%20protect%20certified&from_promoted_search=true
https://support.google.com/android/thread/153942625?hl=en This suggests "If it’s on the list: We’d like more information about your experience. You can send feedback to help us review the alert." and "If your device uses a custom ROM, register your device." which links to the same "enter device ID" from the XDA post above. I've done that.. dont know how long it takes, but isnt working after a few hours.
https://www.google.com/android/uncertified/?pli=1
Ive added a link to this page in the Google Forum post two links up. Please go there and upvote it and my response. If this doesnt work after a few days, Ill create a new post that can be upvoted specific to this not working.. specific Google thread to upvote:
https://support.google.com/android/thread/158332061?hl=en

Also, it seems like the choice is partially up to the app devs. Many apps are unaffected. Some like PayPal still allow using the app, others tell you to update after a certain type of action, and some wont go past the login screen like Disney Plus.

The message "Device is not certified" may be related to the Widevine DRM system. Not sure if a Widevine certification can end, but when a streaming app complains about missing certification usually it is about Widevine certification. Other apps like Amazon Video in such a case limit stream to SD content, looks like Disney completely blocks everything.

@Robert interesting, but its also happening on apps like PayPal Business and AppOps. That may explain the total lack of login on Disney+ vs Hulu and Prime Video working fine.

If it happens to multiple apps then my guess would be that it is your unlocked bootloader. Google seems to have changed the Google SafetyNet check and now your device does not pass this test. That is the risk of unlocking the bootloader...

@Robert the main reasons I root are for: using a more sane backup than Google's with zero control (SwiftBackup), ability to customize permissions for more security (AppOps), and to remove bloatware that reduces device performance (AppQuarantine or Disable Application) which also allows me troubleshoot suspicious apps, and firewall (AFWall). These are perfectly good reasons to root, and I would not root if I were able to do these without it. In fact, they make my device more secure, recoverable, and performant.

I agree with you that root access has a lot of advantages, unfortunately SafetyNet and root don't play well together. Hiding root status has become more and more difficult and it is only a matter time when the last possibility to bypass detection will fail. I already made the decision to stay on the non-root side as I have too many apps that rely on SafetyNet.

@Robert With the recent removal of even the ability to take a full backup over adb, it does seem that Google is trying to kill functionality (probably in the name of security), however unless they provide these simple, in my view necessary tools mentioned above in some fashion, I believe, if they break that functionality, they will incite a mutiny or an exodus.. and I will be first on that train to LineageOS or whatever. Its a dealbreaker, there is no alternative for me. The use of backups, firewall, permissions and control on any Linux and most other computing systems speaks for itself.

Ubuntu OS on Android devices is starting to work pretty well, so that may be the next plateau. [This $200 phone can do ANYTHING!!! - Pine64 Pinephone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCKMxzz9cjs


text:
`/data` and `/sdcard` use the same block device?
My OnePlus 3 is in a pretty weird situation. I deleted the contents of /sdcard on an adb shell while my phone was running TWRP via:
# rm -r /sdcard*

I also deleted the hidden files files but they are in a different tar ball than the non-hidden ones and are already restored. For this, I pushed their tar file to my phone and extracted it in an adb shell. However, pushing the substantially bigger tar ball of non-hidden files over to my phone failed.
Upon investigation, I found that apparently /dev/block/dm-0 is mounted both in /data and in /sdcard:
~ # df -h
Filesystem                Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                     2.8G     24.0K      2.8G   0% /dev
tmpfs                     2.8G     24.0K      2.8G   0% /tmp
/dev/block/sda3         248.0M    272.0K    242.6M   0% /cache
/dev/block/dm-0          52.7G     36.9G     15.7G  70% /data
/dev/block/dm-0          52.7G     36.9G     15.7G  70% /sdcard

The contents of /sdcard don't make up for 36.9 GiB. It's only TWRP (a few GB) and the hidden folders (about 1 MB).
/sdcard # ls -la
__bionic_open_tzdata: couldn't find any tzdata when looking for localtime!
__bionic_open_tzdata: couldn't find any tzdata when looking for GMT!
__bionic_open_tzdata: couldn't find any tzdata when looking for posixrules!
drwxrwx---    5 media_rw media_rw      4096 Aug  1  1970 .
drwxrwxrwt   23 root     root           720 Aug  1  1970 ..
drwxrwxr-x    2 media_rw media_rw      4096 Jan  6 00:22 .AzPlugin
-rw-rw-r--    1 media_rw media_rw         5 Sep  1 14:22 .appodeal
drwxrwxr-x    6 media_rw media_rw      4096 Jan  6 00:22 .estrongs
-rw-rw-r--    1 media_rw media_rw        72 Oct 19 16:06 .userReturn
drwxrwxrwx    2 root     root          4096 Aug  1  1970 TWRP

The weird thing is that /data – even though the same device is mounted to it – contains a lot of files and folders /sdcard doesn't:
/data # ls -la
__bionic_open_tzdata: couldn't find any tzdata when looking for localtime!
__bionic_open_tzdata: couldn't find any tzdata when looking for GMT!
__bionic_open_tzdata: couldn't find any tzdata when looking for posixrules!
drwxrwx--x   38 system   system        4096 Jan  5 22:18 .
drwxrwxrwt   23 root     root           720 Aug  1  1970 ..
-rw-------    1 root     root             2 Aug  1  1970 .layout_version
drwx------    2 root     root          4096 Aug  1  1970 adb
drwxrwx--x    2 system   system        4096 Aug  1  1970 anr
drwxrwx--x  107 system   system        4096 Jan  5 23:10 app
drwx------    2 root     root          4096 Aug  1  1970 app-asec
drwxrwx--x    2 system   system        4096 Aug  1  1970 app-lib
drwxrwx--x    2 system   system        4096 Aug  1  1970 app-private
drwxrwx---    3 media    audio         4096 Jan  5 22:13 audio
drwx------    5 system   system        4096 Jan  5 23:10 backup
drwxr-xr-x    2 shell    shell         4096 Aug  1  1970 bootchart
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            45 Jan  5 22:13 bugreports -> /data/data/com.android.shell/files/bugreports
drwxrwx--x    2 system   system        4096 Jan  5 22:13 connectivity
drwxrwx--x    5 root     root          4096 Jan  5 22:15 dalvik-cache
drwxrwx--x  245 system   system       12288 Jan  5 23:10 data
drwxrwx--x    3 system   system        4096 Jan  5 22:13 dpm
drwxrwx---    3 drm      drm           4096 Jan  5 22:13 drm
drwxrwx--x    2 system   system        4096 Aug  1  1970 fota
drwxrwx---    2 system   system        4096 Jan  5 22:18 fpc
drwxrwx---    4 system   system        4096 Jan  5 22:13 fpc_images
drwxrwx---    2 system   wifi          4096 Aug  1  1970 hostapd
drwxr-x--x    3 root     root          4096 Jan  5 22:13 local
drwxrwx---    2 root     root          4096 Jan  5 16:08 lost+found
drwxrwx---   35 media_rw media_rw      4096 Aug  1  1970 media
drwxrwx---    3 mediadrm mediadrm      4096 Jan  5 22:13 mediadrm
drwxrwx--t   39 system   misc          4096 Jan  5 22:13 misc
drwxr-xr-x    3 nfc      nfc           4096 Jan  5 22:18 nfc
drwxrwx--x    2 radio    radio         4096 Jan  5 22:13 oemnvitems
drwx------    2 root     root          4096 Jan  6 00:19 property
drwxrwx--x    2 system   system        4096 Aug  1  1970 resource-cache
drwx--x--x    2 system   system        4096 Aug  1  1970 security
drwxr-xr-x    2 system   system        4096 Aug  1  1970 shared
drwx------    2 system   system        4096 Aug  1  1970 ss
-rw-------    1 root     root      11236116 Aug  1  1970 stock_boot_fbcb35a6c03d1c2da5dbb1784d5642fcfda6b4cd.img.gz
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root     100663296 Jan  5 22:15 su.img
drwxrwxr-x   18 system   system        4096 Jan  6 00:19 system
drwx------    2 system   system        4096 Jan  5 22:18 theme
drwx------    2 system   system        4096 Jan  5 22:13 time
drwxrwx--x    6 system   system        4096 Jan  5 22:13 tombstones
drwx--x--x    2 system   system        4096 Jan  5 22:13 user
drwx------   12 system   system        4096 Jan  5 22:13 usf

Why is this?
When I looked for what took the storage space, I found that there are files which used to be on the (emulated) SD card but which I deleted (which is why /sdcard is so empty) before trying to push the tar ball over to my phone:
/data # du -h . | grep '[0-9\.]\+G'
4.3G    ./media/TWRP/BACKUPS/8b32aa5/2016-09-25--16-41-47
4.3G    ./media/TWRP/BACKUPS/8b32aa5
4.3G    ./media/TWRP/BACKUPS
4.3G    ./media/TWRP
4.0K    ./media/Android/data/com.google.android.GoogleCamera/files
8.0K    ./media/Android/data/com.google.android.GoogleCamera
2.7G    ./media/Download
1.3G    ./media/MEGA/MEGA Offline/Music
1.1G    ./media/MEGA/MEGA Offline/Documents/Uni/Modules
1.2G    ./media/MEGA/MEGA Offline/Documents/Uni
1.2G    ./media/MEGA/MEGA Offline/Documents
2.5G    ./media/MEGA/MEGA Offline
2.5G    ./media/MEGA
15.8M   ./media/Pictures/9GAG
1.4G    ./media/Pictures
1.8G    ./media/TitaniumBackup
32.0G   ./media
4.0K    ./data/com.qualcomm.qti.GBAHttpAuthentication.auth/cache
4.0K    ./data/com.qualcomm.qti.GBAHttpAuthentication.auth/code_cache
12.0K   ./data/com.qualcomm.qti.GBAHttpAuthentication.auth
4.0K    ./data/com.oneplus.GpioSwitch
4.0K    ./data/com.google.android.GoogleCamera
12.6M   ./app/com.google.android.GoogleCamera-1/lib/arm
12.6M   ./app/com.google.android.GoogleCamera-1/lib
12.2M   ./app/com.google.android.GoogleCamera-1/oat/arm
12.2M   ./app/com.google.android.GoogleCamera-1/oat
47.4M   ./app/com.google.android.GoogleCamera-1
3.8G    ./app
36.9G   .

What can I safely delete? Can I wipe "Data" in TWRP without apps malfunctioning? What happens when I delete the contents of /data/media? Are those hard links of the files I deleted on /sdcard?
I pushed that tar ball several times over to my phone, today, extracted it, deleted it, messed up, deleted the contents of /sdcard, and started over. However, this time, which thus far appeared to be the last time, such weird behavior occurred.
Edit: This question was closed as a duplicate but linked question is entirely different. Just like... Read my question before you close it, please? The linked question is about someone who doesn't know what a symlink is. Mine is about how it can be that data in two locations that have the same device mounted to them can have different contents. The question was closed by someone who doesn't know about symlinks nor about mounting.

Does this answer your question? What is /storage/emulated/0/?

read the answer before claiming it doesn't fit your question please? the link perfectly explains the reason: in android /sdcard is a symlink to /storage/emulated/0 which is a fuse mount of /data/media/0 (emulated sdcardfs with similar characteristics of vfat) - in TWRP simplified /data/media/0 directly bind-mount to /sdcard (ext4) with fallback /data/media (in case /data/media/0 doesn't exist) - what is your question please?

from the linked answer: "In short, /sdcard and /storage/emulated/0 - which represent a FAT/vFAT/FAT32 filesystem - point towards /data/media/0"

Does this answer your question? How do I backup media, game data (internal storage) using TWRP?

from TWRP FAQ linked: What is a data/media device? Another "feature" of 4.2 is that when you "update" to 4.2 it may attempt to upgrade your /data/media to multi-user. If you're running an older version of TWRP than 2.3.2.0 or newer, a factory reset may trigger multiple upgrades, causing your "sdcard" to get moved to /data/media/0 then /data/media/0/0 and then /data/media/0/0/0 and so on depending on how many times you "upgraded". This may cause backups to not be visible in TWRP. - that's the reason why TWRP uses /data/media as fallback for /data/media/0

The questions are: 1. How come that files that were deleted are still there? Both if you traverse a bind mound and if you traverse a symlink, if you delete files, they still get deleted in their original location. 2. How come /data and /sdcard can have different content? If files are present in one location and you bind-mount that to somewhere else and then sym-link from a different location to the location where you bind-mounted it, the files can still be found in the symlink location.

you probably have some misunderstanding of bind-mount. please compare the content of /data/media/0 and /sdcard. which file is still there in one location if deleted from other location?

cut -d' ' -f4,5,9,10 /proc/self/mountinfo


text:
How to revert to Google Hangouts from Google Chat?
My close relative have a phone which have both Hangouts and Chat installed. Chat does not have integrated Voice and Video call function. IMO, Chat is significantly inferior than Hangouts. So I still prefer Hangouts over Chat to communicate.
It used to be a blue banner that says "Hangouts is being replaced by Google Chat". Today, when trying to use Hangouts, it just say that Use Chat in Gmail. This is even after uninstalling Chat and reinstalling Hangouts from Play Store. There seems to be no way out of it. For the time being, it can still receive calls. But since I have no way to bypass that "Use Chat in Gmail" splash screen, I cannot do hangouts.
Am I being force migrated? Is there a way to rollback?

Am I being force migrated?

Yes. This happened to me too, starting yesterday.

Is there a way to rollback?

Not that I'm aware of. In addition to reinstalling Hangouts, I even tried using an older version (com.google.android.talk-35.0.327050771.apk). The older version didn't work either; it forces an upgrade to the latest version of Hangouts.
The only workaround I've found is that https://hangouts.google.com/ is still accessible, but if you're accessing it on your phone you have to use the desktop version of the site. The mobile version of the site redirects you to the Play Store.
You can also use Chat directly in Gmail. It doesn't have video calling per se. What you have to do is create a Meet link, send that to the person that you want to do a video call with, then join that call yourself. So three steps instead of one .
In case it helps searchability, the exact message of the screen is:

It's time for Chat in Gmail
Hangouts has been replaced by Google Chat. Your conversations and new features are ready in Chat in Gmail. Learn more
Open Chat in Gmail
Prefer to use Chat separately from Gmail?
Get Google Chat


text:
Rooted, cyanogenmod. How to get back Sense UI from Titanium Backups?
Similar to Rooted the phone and installed cyanogenmod. How to get back Sense UI? but with the addition of full backups of the old Sense UI packages.
I am running Cyanogenmod 7 on a rooted HTC Incredible 2. I have Titanium Backup copies of all the original HTC Sense UI packages. When I try to restore some of them, Titanium Backup brings up the "Restoring  ..." dialog but it just sits there with the message up. It never goes away, Android does not try to Force Close it, and the message also stays in the Notification bar until the app is manually closed via a task killer. (The system still responds; just Titanium Backup that seems to hang.)
How do I restore these system packages to get the Sense UI and widgets back?

It is impossible. You can only use  Sense UI  on a ROM that incorporates it. To regain it you will either need to return to your stock HTC ROM or see if there are any other ROMS that support Sense.

Just to expand on this answer. HTC's Sense, Sansung's TouchWiz, Motorola's BLUR, etc., are not just simple Launcher replacements. These overlays are very deeply integrated into base Android OS in such a way that they replace many (if not most) internal functions, apps, and framework. CyanogenMod ROM is based on AOSP, which doesn't have any of the internals required by Sense, and is therefore incompatible with it. By the time you incorporate these internals into CM, there would be very little of CM left, and you'd be back to Stock Sense ROM.


text:
Save txt messages to PC?

Possible Duplicate:
How do I backup and restore SMS Messages?

Is it possible to move/backup txt/sms message from my phone to my PC?  I have Android 2.2  If this could be done via a usb cable, that would be ideal.

Use Backup & Restore application on your mobile. Take the Backup of your messages only. Its going to store in SDCard/data/backup/.sbf.
You can copy this file into your PC using a Cable or using Bluetooth.
Anyways I prefer SMS Backup+ which syncs your SMS, Call Logs, etc with your gmail.

Thanks, is a .sbf file a text file which can be opened on a standard pc to see the messages?

It is not a txt file.Its a binary file. As far as I know there are some editors available to open this file.


text:
How to change the account for Android Market?
I use two Google accounts and add them to . Let's say acc1 and acc2. When I try to buy an app in the Market, it chooses acc1's Checkout account, and I don't see an option to change to acc2. Can I use acc2 to pay this? And I still want acc1 as the main account for other purposes. (i.e. Talk, Mail, contacts)
Possibly related question: How Do I Know Which Google Account is Used for the Market?

I'm pretty certain the first Google account you add to your phone is the one that links with checkout.  As far as I know, you cannot change it (aside from removing both accounts and re-adding them in the opposite order).

As of mid-2011 the Android Market supports multiple accounts.

To add another account... Press menu button –
  select settings – Accounts and Sync – tap on “Add account” and add
  your another gmail account. To activate or use another gmail account
  in the market, open the new market app (v 3.0.26) and select
  “Accounts”. A list will pop-up showing all your gmail accounts that
  you’ve added in “Accounts and Sync”. Select the one of your choice and
  you’re good to go.

From http://www.theandroidsoul.com/multiple-accounts-sign-in-logins-supported-in-the-latest-android-market-v3-0-26/

How is this accomplished on KitKat Google Play account?

P.T. details how to accomplish this by simply adding another account to the phone and then selecting it in Google Play Store settings.
It's worth noting that originally the only way to change the Google Account associated with the Google Play Store was to do a factory reset of your phone and set it up again from scratch.

Here are three option, but 2nd and 3rd maybe works better xD

You can go to Settings/Applications And CLEAR DATA to Android Market app and  Google Services Framework
Or you can try to go to Settings/Accounts & Sync click on your account and hit on Remove Account Button
Or try to clear data in the Gmail program, it should ask for a new account xD

That should unlink your account from the system and will ask you again for an Account to link to the system.
But take care on this because can be erased/lost some of your data as Conctacts associated with the previously added accout, also Email and Talk
Mainly because you are changing your linked account and those services use info from that linked account.

"Or try to clear data in the Gmail program, it should ask for a new account" - no I tried that... Apparently, the Gmail app just asks the Android Market app or Google Services Framework for the account name again...


text:
Flash is not working with Firefox on Android

Possible Duplicate:
How do I make Adobe Flash work with Firefox?

I installed Firefox on my android from the market app, then I installed flash from the market app, and Firefox still does not display flash on sites like charlierose.com for example.
Any idea what it is I need to do in order to get flash to work on Firefox?

Current version of Firefox for Android does not support Flash content.  Mozilla developers said that they are working on it, and eventually Flash will work in some future version.  No ETA was given though.


text:
Can I make a full backup of my phone with Odin and without root?
As a follow up to this question, is it possible to use Odin (or Heimdall) to save a complete image of my phone without root?
Odin already allows me to completely overwrite pretty much everything on my phone without root.  Can Odin be used to read the entire contents of the phone over USB without root?  Ideally, I'd expect the output of such a read to be something I can write in the future with Odin.
While this question is somewhat general, I'm guessing that by asking about Odin and Heimdall I'm limiting it to Samsung phones (though I may be wrong).

Better to do Nandroid backup...

Odin is Samsung-only, you're right.  (And as far as I know it isn't for all Samsung phones either, though I could be wrong on that.)  Since Heimdall is, as far as I know, just an unofficial port of Odin I would assume it's the same, but I've never used it.
Odin3 has a "Dump" function that I had never used.  It seems to be disabled in v1.8x and v1.7, but not in v1.52.
I just tried it in v1.52 and it didn't work.  You hit the Dump checkmark under Option, select an output file via the Dump button under File [Dump], then hit Start.  Odin will say "OneNAND Dump Start" or similar as it backs up the device.  It only backed up 1 KB of something before halting, though.  Odin just sat there without giving an error message.
You might have different results with a different device (I have a Vibrant).  I'm also wondering whether my Ext4 lagfix might be affecting this.  Perhaps later I'll flash to stock 2.1 and try again.  Edit: No change on stock 2.1 JFD.

Did you ever try this after flashing to stock?

@NathanFellman I tried just now, thanks for reminding me.  The behavior was the same.

Heimdall (open-source alternative to ODIN) also allows to dump data from the Phone, maybe that is something you're looking for: https://github.com/Benjamin-Dobell/Heimdall/blob/v1.3.2/heimdall/source/Interface.cpp (See Action "Dump")

Check the Nandroid Backup application

Doesn't this require root?


text:
Screen recording tool for the samsung galaxy tab

Possible Duplicate:
Is it possible record videos of my screen?

IS there an available video screen recording tool for the samsung galaxy tab, or any other android device, Thanks

There is a tool called Ashot, but the device has to be connected to a PC and it has a pretty low framerate.

I tried it and didn't install correctly on my pc

I think it uses Java, so make sure you have a proper version of JRE installed. EDIT: instructions here: http://www.mightypocket.com/2010/09/installing-android-screenshots-screen-capture-screen-cast-for-windows/


text:
Where does Google Drive cache metadata on my device?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Google Drive appears to download thumbnails and other metadata from the web service. Where does it store this metadata on my device? I assume it would be in a Sqlite database, but I'm not sure. Any suggestions on where to look? Or does Google Drive pull the metadata through the API to the service every time the screen changes?

base directory:
/data/data/com.google.android.apps.docs/

files explicitly stored on device:
.../files/fileinternal/<filehash>/<file>

cached files and thumbnails:
.../cache/diskCache/

metadata:
.../databases/

the drive-supported files (like docs, spreads, presos) are in com.google.android.apps.docs.editors.<foo> datadir


text:
Android 5 lockscreen does NOT timeout
When I receive notifications, plug in power, or manually turn on my phone display, the lock screen stays on forever (until battery runs out). My display timeout setting is set to 15 seconds (the lowest). The normal display times out correctly, just not the lockscreen.
A month ago I enabled developer mode, but only used it to enable usb debugging and made an adb backup of my phone. The lockscreen still timed out after that and I have made no other modification to the settings since then. The phone has not ever been rooted. Developer mode is currently off. Virus protection is on, and I've only downloaded authorized apps from the store.
I tried turning on/off gestures, smart stay, removing phone from case, cleaning screen, etc. I have no idea what is causing the lock screen to stay on and not timeout.
Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900T
android 5.0

IDK whether this is true but a user in a comment (here) mentioned this : If smart stay is enabled, the lock screen will not turn off as long as you are looking at the screen. Do you have such setting? Try tweaking it and tell us if it worked.

I have it off actually. I mentioned this option as 'face detector' in my question. I'll reword now.

Just now I got a flood of app windows opening into a state I had them in (clock app with schedules I had previously deleted, magically back) days prior to this problem with the lock screen starting. Something screwy is obviously happening here. Anyway to do an android cache reset or w/e. Not a factory reset. Just a system restore kind of thing?

Depends on whether your recovery supports it: Boot into recovery mode, see if there's a "wipe cache" option. This is present in all recoveries I've seen – but there are many I've not seen :) Would do exactly what you're asking: Emptying the cache, no data loss.

Tried just now,  did not fix issue.

I also tried removing Lookout and Android device manager from the authorized admin list, as they apparently can control how and when the lock screen happens. No fix.


text:
I accidentally uninstalled viber but I cant now re install it on the same device
I accidentally uninstalled viber but I reinstalled it again. Now I cannot setup the old account on the same device. The viber version used by me is 5.3-the latest version. I previously used viber on samsung galaxy tab 2 with os jeally bean -4.0.4.  I send email to the viber forum but that did not solve my problem. I previously used the same version on my tablet. Every time I enter my phone number error message pops up. I was tninking of activating my viber account on another device and deactivate my account . And then using the same number and device I wish to setup the viber account once again. Will that help???

Guys please answer I am extremely in need to set up my account once again

was is registered to your mobile number ?

Go to settings clear cache, etc, n uninstall. Then reinstall as usual. :-) hope this helps.


text:
Samsung I9300 - Network unlock fails
I recently flashed a custom ROM on my Samsung I9300. Everything is working fine, except I have to enter a 'SIM network unlock PIN'. I assume, that this is not the usual 4-digit PIN code. If I enter the correlating correct 4-digit PIN, it says 'SIM Network unlock request unsuccessful'.

I tried different SIMs from different providers which are working in a different mobile phone.
The problem appears with Slim 5.1.1 and 4.4.4, CM12.1 and OmniROM 5.1.

My phone was running stock firmware Android 4.3 and I never had this problem (even if I once changed my provider).
There are plenty of tutorials about how to unlock the I9300, but none worked so far, there are also many non-free services for unlocking which seems rather untrustworthy to me. It would be new to me, if the phone is or was ever branded.
There is the possibility to unlock the phone by using the service menu by entering the secret/hidden code

##197328640##

like shown in this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1hzeBEeO_k.
Why is the code (or others) in Slim not working?
Could you please verify too that the only possibility to unlock the SIM is to buy a specific unlock code?

The video you've posted was of someone taking advantage of a software vulnerability in the stock TouchWiz-skinned Android 4.1.1 for the S3 - it was patched soon after. Upgrading the software after the unlock seemed to work, but no idea how it will work with flashing a new ROM.

Okay, thanks for the comment, I didn't know. I just watched to video until I realised being unable to use the code. If so, it is useless and I will remove it from my original post. Where do you know from?

I had used the vulnerability several times with previous devices to get network unlocks. Samsung smartened up fast with that and patched it in their OTA updates to 4.1.2 or 4.1.3.

I understand. What happened when you flashed a newer (custom) ROM, did you have to unlock again? If not, what do you think about the possibility of flashing an old vulnerable stock ROM, unlocking it and later using an actual ROM? I'm not sure yet what I'll do. Maybe I go to a local handy shop to get it unlocked, there I have to pay some Euros too, but at least I have the security that it works. As far as I found out they are cashing 15 - 40 €s for that, which is ridiculous much.

The device was "retired" suddenly (I dropped it and broke it) so I couldn't tell you if the network unlock persisted through a ROM flash. I do hope someone can offer more insight to this.

Thank you anyway. :) BTW: There are several "unlock" apps for this phone available in Google Apps, some of them are free too, but none of them worked actually. I guess I tried four apps. What a shame.

I got the phone unlocked at a local mobile phone dealer for € 20. This worked.
Generally I'd say it is interesting how this network SIM lock comes from, because my phone never has been locked or branded by a provider. The stock firmware worked with different providers. The problem only appeared for the custom ROMs.
And be aware when changing your SIM card! I broke mine 2-times only by exchanging it (probably scratching the chip's surface) and had to buy a new one and get the old number transferred to the new.


text:
How to remove balloon/ripple effect while entering pin on lock screen?
Recently I updated my phone to android lollipop. When I type my pin in lock screen a balloon/ripple effect or a circular thing is observed near the key which I pressed/touched. I don't want that effect in my mobile. Can I remove it without rooting my phone?

Do you mean the ripple effect ?

yes, I guess that is what it is called technically. Added it to my question :)

That is a doubt, because it is present in the device's framework. You can't remove it unless you modify it, and you can't modify it unless you root your phone. So ... You can't without rooting.

huh :| I wanted it to be removed so that my screen lock is bit more safe. I mean when I type a key others can see the ripple effect and guess the password. Ripple effect it making my pin less secure :(

Well, if you want safety, you can root your phone, install Xposed, and search for randomized pin lock or something. So, if your keypad is like 123 456 789 0 , that will make it like 681 294 375 0 . That would be extreme security, because the layout randomizes each time. Nobody can guess it.

Or you could use other modules, which allow the creation of 9x9 grid squares for pattern lock, and things like that.

But, rooting is a must for the above methods. Rooting, and Installing Xposed framework, and then doing so. Moreover, with Xposed, I think you can disable that Ripple effect too, with a module like Monster UI or something.

Ok.. Will give it a try. Thanks for your the help :)

@rjt.rockx May I suggest the strong warning against Xposed framework for Lollipop. Its alpha release and its known to cause boot loops and other issues. I consider myself lucky, so I didn't had one in my lollipop. OP here might miss such warning on Xposed framework or could ignore such in a hurry to resolve the issue.

@Firelord only on some devices. I have been following rovo89's Xposed Framework for Lollipop on XDA, and some manual fixes have been released for prevention of Bootloops. You can look there and use them if you want to. But, thanks for mentioning it. // Abhishek, sorry, I forgot to mention that. What Firelord is saying is right, so be careful. REALLY CAREFUL. Xposed for Lollipop is still in Alpha, so, if you don't know your way around a bootloop, I'd strongly dis-recommend it.

got it! Thanks.. Will make sure I read all the instructions carefully :)

Without rooting there are 2 ways at least. Neither are that great, but they do produce the desired behaviour.
Developer Settings

Activate developer settings by tapping the build number 7 times
Adjust the animation speed (Animator Duration Scale). Either make it much faster or disable it completely

This has the downside of disabling all the lovely material design animations universally :/ Fortunately, transitions can still be preserved so it isn't all that terrible.
Power-Saving Mode
This is essentially toggling power saving mode as required because this too will disable the lockscreen ripple animation. Whilst it also disables all animations, this may be preferable as it's easier to toggle (fewer taps) than digging into developer settings.
Rooting
Rooting and installation of xposed for Lollipop is of course much more preferable, and opens up many more options, but without that, you still have the above two options.

Power-saving and developer settings options didn't worked :|

The circle will still appear, but it should appear instantly (not with the grow and fade out)

oh..k. So, there is no way to  remove circle without rooting?

I believe so. Wouldn't your finger generally be obscuring the circle in any case?

They will, but when I move to next key the circle doesn't disappear fast. :|

I know you asked if it can be done without root. I don't think that's possible. I tried creating a theme for cm12 that would disable the ripple system-wide but it seems "ripple_material_light" and "ripple_material_dark" is ignored in android/res/values/colors.xml (works fine when set directly for each app, that definitely is possible).
Instead I have created a simple patch to disable the ripple effect altogether (but it requires root): https://github.com/luv/android5_noripple


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How to I undo deleted shortcut from chrome new tab in android?
Currently my android google chrome new tab looks as follows,

It used to show twitter as well. I made the mistake of long pressing twitter icon and removing it. Since then I'm seeing times of India shortcut, as seen in the above image. I've visited twitter multiple times after that, but looks like chrome is brining it back. On desktop, I can use Edit shortcut and change the url. But how do I do similar thing in android?
Note: I'm on Android 10 (Oxygen OS v10.0.1). I don't have root access.

If you have root access, open the file /data/data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Default/Top Sites in an Sqlite editor. In the table top_sites, you would find many columns. The relevant colums are url and rank. Rank starts from 0. Chrome for Android show only top 8 ranks as top sites on new tab page.
If your twitter row/entry is not there already, than add it and make sure to give it a rank between 0-7. Further make sure that no other row conflicts with your specified rank. At last, make sure you do all of this when Chrome is force-stopped using Settings app.
This, however, does not guarantee that the changes would persist for long. As you would interact with Twitter and other sites in the future, Chrome would tweak the ranks again per the interaction it analyses and processes.
Tested on Chrome for Android v76.0.3809.132.

By any chance do you know, how to do it for non-root device? Edited the post accordingly.
Yes, I understand google can change the ranking, that is fine with me :)

No. A known way to tweak Chrome is to use its flags, but I don't see a relevant flag either, so I don't think non-rooted device users can do anything in here.

Ok. Thanks. Looks like I'm stuck then :(

Regarding preventing Chrome's automatic rank tweaking, perhaps is it possible to freeze the database by making it read-only? Not sure if it may break any since I can't test it currently...


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How to upgrade Samsung galaxy A5 to lollipop without using Kies?
I'm on Manjaro Linux can't use Kies, I tried it in virtualbox, didn't work as expected. I live in Lebanon, so no A&T version or anything like that, I need standard firmware.
I have galaxy A5, current version 4.4.4, I want to upgrade to lollipop. Isn't available from settings > software update. I want to download it and do it manually, my device isn't rooted yet, will root it soon.

Model Number: SM-A500H

Found one here, first one, but I don't know if I can trust the source and it's Uzbekistan, I don't know if I should use it.Note that Kies in virtualbox detected some firmware, I just couldn't install it, so there is a firmware out there.

I downloaded this and flashed it using odin (windows running in virtualbox) and it worked. Using the Uzbekistan firmware should work too, from my own experience. But don't root it using CF-Auto-Root it will break your phone and you'll have to flash it again.


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How to access build in explorer in android 5.0.2
I would like to know how i can access the build in explorer as we can from android 6 like This way setting>storage and USB>explorer but in android 5 no explorer is there, i can access through pictures, audio, misc only there is there any app which let use build in explorer, i am willing to download any app to access the totally stock build in explorer.

On older Android devices and versions, there is no stock file explorer at all. Even Nexus 4 and 5 didn't have one. It depends if the manufacturer preinstalls one.

But am able to access with like open WhatsApp select documents send option and there it was shown and some feature in setting>storages>misc


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Zoom In And Zoom Out In Clash Of Clans Running On Android X86
Hey guys am running Android x86 9.0 r2 on my pc and its running great, i am playing clash of clans on it and it works great but i can't zoom out as we do on phone as pinch like with two fingers, I don't have touch screen am looking for a way to do this as bases are wide its hard to move through mouse so looking for zoom as second of time waste to move in base with mouse ruin my raids following are things i tried :-

I tried a app called assertive touch still no success.
I tried all shortcut keys found on Google search like double click then hold and move up mouse or move down.

but none of work if anyone knows something let me know and be safe.

Have you read this topic and the answers? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10023554/not-able-to-pinch-zoom-on-emulator

Ya i have tried that mentioned in second point that keys referred in your attached thread

That shortcut keys only work to zoom in and out on pictures not in application like game


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How to fix the problem of offline packages not downloading in Google Translate?
I'm having a problem with Google Translate and downloading offline packages for any language. I tap the download button next to the language, it says "Starting download" and the indicator is spinning, but nothing happens and the language pack is not downloaded. The app has the permission to use the storage.
My setup: the latest version of Google Translate (v5.20.0.RC10.199570264), on an Xperia L1 with Android 7. I should stress that with previous versions this used to work.
What I have tried:
1) Clearing cache and data of both the app and Google play (also the
    services).
2) Unistalling and reinstalling.
3) Rebooting.
4) Unistalling, rebooting and then reinstalling.
5) Moving the app to SD. Also the opposite.
6) Checking the permissions (everything is allowed).
7) All combinations of all of the above.
I'm about to try a factory reset, but before going nuclear I'd like to try some alternative.
Any hints/ideas are welcome!

The issue was solved by clearing the data of download manager as confirmed by OP .
Go to  Settings → Applications → Download manager → Clear data.
The download should proceed as normal.

This fixed my issues not only with the Google Translate app (which at least have some reasonable error code that brought me here), but also with the download functionality of the NPR One app which failed to download just some specific podcasts (which then appeared as incomplete in the downloads app). Thanks!

Solved turning off VPN... Never thought about this been an issue here.
Thanks for suggestions!

My problem was solved by turning off my Adguard VPN.

Uninstall Google Translation (with the memory card on your mobile).
Turn off  the mobile.
Remove the memory card.
Turn on  the mobile.
Install the Google Translation from PlayStore and give full permisions to application.
Install ALL the languages you want to use offline.
Turn off  the mobile phone.
Insert the memory card.
Turn on the mobile.
Copy the entire folder from the internal memory  Android\data\ com.google.android.apps.translate   to the exact same location on the memory card (if prompted, replace the same files that the memory card holds in the same slot).
Restart the mobile.
Now everything in  Google translation works well.

Never mind, it was because no space in sdcard !!

Google translate offline the audio doesn'twork when you're trying  to imput using audio ....the microphones is  blanked out
and also the output there no audio ...... input is English and the output is Vietnamese I downloaded the file no problem
You can try to import in and afterwards you can get audio on the input but not on the output

I had this problem too. I changed wifi to cellular data . It solved!! Google couldn't downlad via wifi


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mount in shell as user or root with different output
I have a rooted Android Phone and a native service which detects if the system partition is mounted read-write or read-only.
If I run the mount command in the user shell, the partition is mounted read-only.
mount | grep /system

I can open a different shell, login as root and run the command
mount -o remount,rw /system

In the root shell, the system is mounted read-write, but in the previous opened user shell, the system partition is still mounted as read-only. Even if I switch back in the rooted shell with Ctrl+D to the normal user shell, the system partition is mounted read-only. It is only read-writeable in the root shell.
So it is not possible to detect as non root, if the partition was remounted in a different context. Why is that? As it is of my knowledge, in Linux mount points are handled globally.
Update: Android 5.0.2, Samsung SM-A300FU and SM-A300M

I suppose it is happening because of mount namespaces.

Device and Android version might be relevant here. I've read about such cases several times, but never experienced them myself.


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SELinux context init_shell in boot.img permission denied with Android 5.0.2
I'am used to start a service in the android boot image with inherited context of the init.rc script (u:r:init:s0).
In Android 5.0.2 (Samsung), my service does not inherity the init context anymore, it has to be set explicitly.
The tool sesearch allowes to find the corresponding domain to the filetype. This is an output of a rootfs executable search:
allow init_shell rootfs: file { ioctl read execute open ... }

This means that the init_shell context is able to execute rootfs labled files.
-rwxr-xr-x  system  system  u:object_r:rootfs:s0  my_binary

But if I set the init_shell label of my service in the init.rc script (running as init) , I still got permission denied in the dmsg output.
service my_service /my_binary
    user root
    seclabel u:r:init_shell:s0
    oneshot

Does this error refers to the executing of the service, meaning the init_shell context does not have permission to execute a rootfs file or does it mean that init is not allowed to set the init_shell context?
I've already tried other contexts like "shell" > "shell_exec" with the same result.
If I do not set the context, I receive a warning about a missing selinux context, but the file will be executed, unfortunately without the needed permissions.
UPDATE:
Injecting the permissive statement to the init_shell context works. Is there no other way to use existing contexts to stay enforced? my_binary should run as deamon with init_shell context to hand over its context to other processes.


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Linux on Android - viewing file structure
I have installed Linux (Ubuntu distro) on my Android tablet, a Nexus 7 (no SD card at all), in a so-called CHroot install.
I am a Linux beginner, so my understanding is quite limited.
When in Linux (using a terminal emulator on the SSH service, logged in as root), I list the contents of the top level "/" directory and can see 18 directories, including: bin proc sys mnt srv home srv ..... and others
When using the Android app "ES File Explorer" (aka FX), I can only see 13 folders.
There is some overlap, but some directories are unique to the FX view, and some are missing.
For example, the folder '/vendor' is visible in FX, but not on the linux terminal.
Also, the folder /mnt shows different contents when I check it in FX versus the linux terminal.
I created a new test directory on the linux terminal, but cannot "see' it when I use FX.
I should note that my Android tablet has been rooted (verified), and I have turned on the Root option inside ES File Explorer, which allows me to successfully browse the "/" directory and subdirectories.
Why do I see a different directory structure when I view it via linux terminal versus the Android File Explorer?
Hours later:  Having read up more on Linux Deploy, it seems to me that use of the "chroot" feature is part of the explanation - the root level and tree structure for the Linux environment is located at a lower level somewhere within the Android 'main system's tree structure - a "virtual" root so to speak.
However, that still means I should be able to "see" it using FX, shouldn't it?  And how do I know where this virtual root is located within the Android tree?

Thank you Stephen Schrauger for your detailed answer (see below).  I have not been able to find the "*.img" file that contains the file structure for the installed Linux, but your answer explains why I would see a different structure once inside the Linux sandbox.

It might not be a '.img' file, but it would probably be something like that. You could try using DiskUsage to find large folders and files; it may help you pinpoint the location (find a folder/file with the same size as the Linux "hard drive").

And how do I know where this virtual root is located within the Android tree?: execute mount and look for the directory where Linux loop file is mounted.

This is due to your CHroot install. The entire Linux hard drive is probably contained inside of a binary file or disk image.
When you start Linux, you have to use the Android app. It acts like a virtual machine controller. The app mounts the Linux disk image in memory and loads Linux. Linux can never see outside of this sandbox virtual filesystem, and native Android cannot see into it either. Since Android sees it as a single file, ES File Explorer can't view the contents directly (it would see a file named something like Linux_HD.img).
The reason some folders are the similar is because Android OS and Linux OS share a similar codebase. Both Android and Linux (and Mac) have some default folders, such as /mnt, /etc and others. But the naming is purely coincidental for your purpose; changing files within the folder on the virtual Linux install won't modify the Android files.
Depending on the app you use to install and run Linux, it may have an option to mount parts of the Android folder within the Linux file structure.

Linux can see outside of this sandbox virtual filesystem: ls /proc/1/root (unless chroot is inside a PID namespace). Native Android can also see into it: ls /path/to/mountpoint or use any GUI file explorer app (unless chroot is inside a mount namespace, so nsenter is also required).


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Installing Google apps; "Google Services Framework has stopped" after installation
The following are the steps I took to get Google apps (Playstore mainly) on my Galaxy Mega 5.8

Root
Downloaded APKs for: Google Services Framework, Google Login Service, Google Play.
Using Root Explorer, I moved all three APKs to the system/app folder.
I changed the file permissions to match other items in the folder.
Reboot. (Saw "Optimizing apps 3/3")
Opened the Play Store and was prompted to log in.

During the process of logging in, a message, "Unfortunately, Google Services Framework has stopped". This message appears periodically, until eventually "Unfortunately, Google Play Store has stopped". When I try to open it again, I get a server error.
This phone did not come with any Google apps including the Play Store.
Can anyone tell me what I might have done wrong?
Thanks in advance!
Update: I'm not using any custom ROMs. I'd appreciate instructions on how to flash G-apps as well! My current software version is 4.2.2
I can't seem to boot into Recovery mode. Pressing the Power Button + Volume Up + Home Button simply boots up the device normally.

No, I'm not using a custom ROM. I'm using the original Samsung firmware. Can you provide instructions on how to flash G-apps? Thank you!


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Android studio - connect to device - Sony E2003
My old phone connected to Android studio but new phone doesn't. I've spent a couple of days searching forums and sites to try to help but whatever I try, studio just isn't recognising the device.
I've enabled debugging in developer options, but the device isn't being seen. I can transfer files from the device as normal, but when I click run (to run the app), there is no device available in 'Choose a running device'. Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thank you,

I was writing answer to your question in Stack Overflow :).

It might help if you'd name your device, Android version, and exact OS you're running on your computer. Also include whether you've installed the correct drivers for your device (when using some kind of Windows), or included the corresponding UDEV rules (Linux).

It seems your computer is not recognizing your device or not able to download the device driver of your mobile phone Sony E2003
Possible solution is to download and install moborobo from this website in your computer
http://www.moborobo.com/
It will install the required device driver to connect your phone with the computer and then your device can be easily detectable in Android Studio
Hope this will help!!!

Hi Ali, Moborobo doesn't recognise the device, but sony pc companion recognises the device and is transferring files, I can also transfer just by connecting via USB and opening the device files.

Actually for transferring files you don't need to have device drivers, For connecting your phone in Debugging mode you need to have the  device drivers are you able to sync your device with the PC using sony pc companion?

Moborobo will download and install the driver have you scanned the QR code? what error it has shown while installing the device driver?

Hi Ali, Thanks again for the response. Moborobo doesn't recognise there is a device connected at all. In connect device it tells me to connect device first, even though I'm already transferring files.

I managed to fix this myself, the developer settings were turning themselves off after I would enable. A reboot fixed the issue, for now.


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How to lock network operator or to never go on roaming, or get out of roaming as soon as possible
I work really close to a country border, and I do NOT want my phone to connect to other operators than mine.
Sometimes the operator from my home country will be unavailable for a brief period of time, and the phone will go on roaming. (and it's useless. no phone, no sms, no web. pointless)
When I'm back in a zone where my home country operator has coverage, the phone will stick to roaming for a good while (hours), and I have to notice it and manually select my operator.
Unfortunately when the phone reboots the "choose automatically" option is re-set, so if I reboot the phone (or when it reboots itself), I have to do this again.
I have tasker, but didn't find a way. I am also ready to root the phone if needed.
I just don't know how to select a network operator and prevent the phone to switch to "choose automatically" at every reboot. It's not about apn and roaming charges, I just want it to never go on roaming ever ever ever.
Any suggestion?
(device info: OnePlus One, android 5.0.1, cyanogenmod cm12)

Setting the operator manually would just be the thing to do – it shouldn't revert that on boot. Could you please [edit] your question and include your device and its Android version? As for Tasker: According to my flowchart (scroll down on that page), there should be something in Action › Settings › Network Operator. Can you check that?

I am quite sure that the operator setting revert on boot. At least until my last upgrade to CM12 (I was in CM11 and I rebooted it so many times that I am sure that that was the problem). Now in CM12 it connected a few times to roaming even if I switched manually, so I think it's due to reboots that revert my options.
Also: on tasker when I choose the "network operator" action, I have a screen with "If   +   Label" and I don't know how to set the operator from there

running the tasker "network operator" action triggers the "choose network" application, where I have to manually choose the operator. This is severely suboptimal, but if only I could trigger it when the phone detect that it is going on roaming..

ok. a (severely suboptimal) workaround is to use tasker, detect if %ROAM equals "on", and launch the action "network operator" that opens the opeator selection setting page.

You might utilize the "execute command" action here and run setprop gsm.sim.operator.numeric <value> (not tested, but worth a try). To get the wanted value, set the operator manually once, and then run getprop gsm.sim.operator.numeric (you can do so e.g. via adb shell). Not sure about the effects, but worth a try. References: 1 | 2 | 3.

PS: If that works, also see here

No: I tried in every possible way. The operator cannot be set by setprop gsm.sim.operator.numeric in any way. The manual selection reverts on boot. There's no solution to this problem, yet.

If it's just the "reset on boot", you could put that statement into a shell script and place it in /system/etc/init.d to be executed on boot. Might also work with a build.prop modification – though I'm not sure whether that'd be a wise decision (what if you're planning vacation abroad?)

It seems that Android M Marshmallow does fix this bug.
I am now running Android 6.0.1, CyanogenMod version 13, and the operator does not revert back to automatic-selection anymore after reset.
The exact CyanogemMod version I am running is: 13.0-ZNH2K-20160430-STABLE-Sultan-bacon.


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Lost Phone - Enable Secure Erase
So I lost my device today and it was a Samsung Galaxy Prime. I went onto Google's "Find my device" and there were only 2 options: "Start ringing" and "Enable Secure Erase."
I pressed the Secure Erase button, then I searched online for what that meant. It turns out that it will wipe all of my data away. I wanted to undo that option but it turns out I can't.
So will all of my data be erased and will I be able to get all of my data back?

Please update us if you were able to find your phone!

The “enable secure erase” button does not actually erase your device. Instead, what it does is reach out to the device to and turn on the Device Admin permission for the Find My Device app. So if that's all you've done, your data is still fine, and you can undo it by going into settings and removing Device Admin permission. Despite that, I'd still go with acejavelin's paranoid approach if I had any un-backed-up data.
After you press "enable secure erase", Google contacts your device to enable the feature (not erase your device) and once Google gets an answer back, you should see two new buttons — "lock device" and "erase device". If you then hit "erase device", your device will be erased. And since it was probably online (otherwise the two buttons wouldn't have appeared), it's very likely too late — the device has already been erased.
Google does make it very clear what this button does:

Unless you pressed that button, you should be fine — but again, there is no harm in following acejavelin's paranoid procedure, so I recommend being paranoid!

I had to assume the command had been issued... Better safe than sorry. :)

@acejavelin Understandable, and I hope I've emphasized enough that I recommend the OP follow your just-in-case guide.

Since you have already initiated the Erase procedure, the only solution is to prevent the device from contacting Google so the wipe command to Find My Device (the Google Device Administrator service on your phone) is not received or executed. Once the erase is initiated from the website the command will go out, it cannot be stopped from happening, although it can sometimes be mitigated.
Assuming you find the device and it is powered off or the battery is dead, DO NOT attempt to turn the device on. Remove the SIM card and disable any WiFi that may be in range device, such as turning off your wireless router and any network it may automatically connect to, if it connects to the Internet and Google, it will wipe all data immediately.
Once you have removed the SIM and disabled WiFi, power on the device. As soon as you are able to do so, turn on Airplane Mode. Then go to Settings - Security - Device Administrators and disable Find My Device's administration capabilities. Important things here are usually photos and video in the DCIM folder.
Now backup any data via USB to PC, SD card, or OTG flash drive. Do not attempt to backup to any cloud service, install apps, or anything else requiring network access.
Verify again that Find My Device does NOT have permissions as device administrator by going to Settings - Security - Device Administrators.
Now enable the network access (WiFi or reinstall SIM) and verify you can access the Internet and your Google account such as Gmail, and continue to use the device for a few minutes. I would suggest backing up anything you needed an app or the cloud to backup that you couldn't earlier, such as text messages via SMS Backup & Restore app.
Now reboot, and make sure everything is working as expected. After 5-10 minutes, go back to Settings - Security - Device Administrators and authorize Find My Device again.
In many cases the wipe event has "passed" and the device will not reset, but in some instances it still does occur. Either way, realize it could still happen, but if it goes 24 hours the wipe event most likely will not occur.
Also note that if it does get wiped, you must log back into the device using the same Google account and credentials that were on the device previously as it will likely be in Factory Reset Protection (FRP) mode.
There are a few articles, mostly dated, on the Internet regarding this, most are fluff so be careful... This answer is largely paraphrased from this one which I have used before.
BTW, next time something like this happens... Research on the Internet first, then press the Doom and Gloom button after you know what it will do, not before. :)

THANK YOU SO MUCHHHHH!!!! I've been worrying a lot for the pass few hours and I couldn't concentrate on my studies with my phone getting lost. This is super helpful and if I hopefully find my phone then I'll will carefully follow these steps. I am forever grateful for your reply! :)


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How do I get split screen apps to both stay active
I am trying to run 2 apps in split screen with both staying active at the same time. Most results on google are saying this is not possible and they blame the app for it not working. Below is some detailed testing I have done.
This is an android issue/setting, not an app issue. The reason I know this is because I have 2 phones both using split screen. One can/will/does keep both apps active at the same time while one pauses whichever one is not in focus. The apps are identical across both phones.

Apps for testing: Pokemon Go (Pogo) + Jurassic World Alive (JWA) (both AR games that use GPS and real time location constantly).
Phones for testing: Moto X4 and Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus (I have previously tested on the Axon 7 and the Nexus 4-5-6, both behave the
same as the Moto X4 currently does).
Android versions: Redmi5 - Android 7.1.2 (MIUI 9.6.2.0) | Moto X4 - Android 8.1.0
One item of note: On the Moto I had to enable developer mode and turn on 'Force activities to be resizable' before either app could be
put into split screen. On the Redmi5 this was not needed as it was
already enabled.
Test method: Open Pogo normally. Use the 'intents' (app switch) button and at top click the section titled "split screen" (both
phones have slightly diff wording here). Drag Pogo up there and it
takes up the top half of the screen. In the bottom section, select
previously running JWA (or start it from home screen) and it will
take up the bottom section of the screen.
Wanted outcome (Redmi 5 Plus): Top portion continues without pausing and bottom game loads and works without pausing. Both apps
continue to run as if they were running in full screen and were
active
Unwanted outcome (Moto X4/Axon7/Nexus(4|5|6): Top app freezes
or pauses when you load the bottom app. To unpause it, click on it,
but this pauses the bottom app. Whichever app was last clicked on is
active.

Since the apps I am using to test are identical across 3 of the phones I am testing (never tested JWA on the nexus phones) this cannot simply be an issue with the apps not supporting it. There has to be some setting that Xiaomi or MIUI enabled to allow this to work.
Another note, I am not trying to get only these 2 apps working, but these are 2 I would like to have working and made for good test apps due to how they run.
I realize my ask here may be unclear. I want to know how to duplicate the functionality from the Redmi 5 Plus on my other devices (Moto X4, etc).
'Duplicate' edit: I do not feel like the question listed as duplicate answers mine other than "you cant", but obviously MIUI or Xiaomi did. Also that answer seems to point to some side effects I should be experiencing on my Redmi that I am not (apps not pausing when minimized/unfocused).


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Android Read recent SMS messages from command line
I have recently broken my Android's screen. (Again)
Its a T-Mobile G2
Trying to keep up with my busy technology related life is hard enough without losing my link with everyone.
I have rooted the phone and have the USB Debugging already turned on.
Does anyone know how I would check my recent SMS Messaged from the adb shell so I can keep up with work while i save up to get a new phone or a replacement screen.
Thanks for anyone that has any information regarding this.
EDIT
Response to eldarerathis
C:\android-sdk\platform-tools>adb shell
$ cd /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases
cd /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases
$ sqlite3 mmssms.db
sqlite3 mmssms.db
sqlite3: permission denied
$

cant chmod the file.
do you know actually where it is ?
$ chmod +x sqlite3
chmod +x sqlite3
Bad mode
$

su leaves me with only basic commands
$ su
su
# cd /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases
cd /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases
# sqlite3 mmssms.db
sqlite3 mmssms.db
sqlite3: not found
#

Corrected
sqlite was not installed
C:\android-sdk\platform-tools>adb shell
$ cd /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases
cd /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases
$ sqlite3 mmssms.db
sqlite3 mmssms.db
SQLite version 3.6.22
Enter ".help" for instructions
sqlite>

Also to Access the database I needed to be root.
C:\android-sdk\platform-tools>adb shell
$ su
# cd /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases
cd /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases
# sqlite3 mmssms.db
sqlite3 mmssms.db
SQLite version 3.6.22
Enter ".help" for instructions
sqlite>

Thanks a lot eldarerathis
This Link Helped

It looks like you don't have the sqlite3 binary on your device. The first link in my answer has instructions to help you install it to /system/bin. Here is a link to the binary itself.

I know this is 10 years old, but if you're looking for a cleaner answer, look here: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/241439/how-to-access-texts-on-rooted-android-device-from-terminal/241440#241440. Might need to modify the script slightly to get new messages as opposed to messages based on conversation name.

This is really ugly, but you can read them from the command line by using sqlite3 to view the database entries. You'll probably need to dig up a binary for this unless you have a custom ROM installed. There are some instructions for installing said binary in this Stack Overflow question, and SuperOneClick comes packaged with it (a copy of the binary itself can be found here).
If you do need to install the binary, use mount (with no parameters) to determine where your /system partition is physically located (mine is /dev/block/mtdblock3, for example). Then follow the instructions in the first link above, and start by remounting it in read/write mode with the command:
mount -o rw,remount /your/system/partition /system

Once you have sqlite3 you'll want to open an adb shell, switch to root with su, and then do the following:
# cd /data/data
cd /data/data
# cd com.android.providers.telephony/databases ***
cd com.android.providers.telephony/databases
# sqlite3 mmssms.db
sqlite3 mmssms.db
SQLite version 3.7.2
Enter ".help" for instructions
Enter SQL statements terminated with a ";"
sqlite> SELECT * FROM sms WHERE read=0;

This will pull up all of the rows from the table for all of the unread messages. The columns in the table are defined thusly (so you can trim the SELECT):
CREATE TABLE sms (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,thread_id INTEGER,address TEXT,
  person INTEGER,date INTEGER,protocol INTEGER,read INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
  status INTEGER DEFAULT -1,type INTEGER,reply_path_present INTEGER,
  subject TEXT,body TEXT,service_center TEXT,locked INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
  error_code INTEGER DEFAULT 0,seen INTEGER DEFAULT 0);

***Note for the marked line: this may be slightly different depending on your device and version of Android which is why I have included this cd command separately. I think it used to be com.android.providers/telephony/databases on older devices but I don't quite remember. Use ls to look around for the proper pathing here.

Alternatively, you could try copying the .db file onto your SD card (or pulling it with adb pull) and then reading it on your computer with sqlite.

@Jason: You need to be root to read that directory (just execute su beforehand).

@Jason: Hm, use chmod 0755 sqlite3, then. Maybe the stock chmod binary doesn't like the +x parameter.

@Jason: Most likely /system/bin if it's already installed, otherwise you can put it in /system/bin yourself.

Thanks to the beautiful hint above from eldarerathis, I just do
DB=/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db
echo 'select address,body from sms;' | ./sqlite3 -csv $DB

to read my SMSes from my root prompt.
Since I didn't have sqlite3, I first had to download it with
curl http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16958605/sqlite3
chmod a+x sqlite3

Or see SQLite3 installer on Google Play (if you don't trust the dropbox source).

A dl.dropbox.com URL for that binary doesn't feel safe. Can you supply an official source?

In case you're interested in more details than just sender and message (as in this answer), I've just found a nice article on the topic: Read SMS directly from Sqlite database in Android. Also see: The message data structure.
Even better, take a look at Github: ANDROID-SMS is a tool written in Python which recovers all SMS messages and organizes them into SMS Conversations with statistics provided. It also recovers all MMS messages and organizes them into MMS Conversations,
with the respective files. I've not tried it (yet) myself (just found it a few minutes ago), but it sounds pretty neat.
Of course, this program doesn't work on the Android device directly – but instead on your computer (where it requires Python 2.7 with SQLite3 for Python). So you will need to first pull the database from the device. All required steps are described on the project's Github main page.

Another solution I invented utilizes an app on the phone that reacts on SMS and saves it to a file that you can read with ADB.

Install any Tasker-like app, I made it with E-Robot
Create new command
Add event Contact=>SMS
Add action Memory=>Write file, there you can save SMS to a new file every time or to the same one with separator. Anyway save it to /sdcard or any path accessible via ADB.
Monitor that path with ADB and read SMS contents.


text:
Unlocked Galaxy i7500, Reset Will Remove it?

Possible Duplicate:
Will resetting my unlocked phone to factory settings lock it again?

I just purchased and unlocked a Samsung Galaxy i7500 using FastGSM's system. (It cost $20 and it's used up; I can't redo it.)
I know my phone has an option to "reset" it to the default/factory settings. Will doing so re-lock my phone? Is the lock hardware-level or OS/software-level? Can I upgrade the OS now that it's unlocked?
I noticed my app running a bit more slowly after unlocking, too... I just want to understand what level locking is on.

@MatthewRead possible. I would still like sn answer specific to my phone if possible though.

According to the FastGSM page: "Congratulations! Your phone is permanently unlocked and can use it with different network SIM card. It will never relock again even if you do software update." (source)
This means that even a factory reset won't relock the phone. I assume this is because Samsung phones use the /efs partition to store the IMEI and other network data, and the unlock modifies these files. The partition is not modified by updates/resets.

Okay, thanks for interpreting that for me. I had read that prior to unlocking, but I'm not clear on software vs. hardware as it pertains to locking.