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Network SIM unlock code not working
I paid to get an unlock code for my Samsung Galaxy S4 Active SGH-I537 locked to AT&T. I have tried to enter the unlock code given when the phone boots with my other carrier SIM card inserted, but get "Network unlock unsuccessful" error message.
I wrote to the company and they responded with the following instructions:
(Samsung Galaxy S4 Only)
Follow these step carefully, as long as you have the correct code it will work 100% (Your phone must be updated to the latest firmware!)
1. Make sure that the phone PROMPTS for the code with a NON accepted sim card and that your IMEI is correct by dialing *#06#

a. Go to the Dial pad and dial *#0011#
b. Please click your MENU button (Bottom LEFT button) and click BACK on the menu that appears, Nothing will happen do not worry please move to the next step
c. Please click your MENU button AGAIN and this time click KEY INPUT
d. When the Key input box appears please input the number "1" and hit OK
e. You will see a number 1 for a while, please wait until it changes into the SERVICE MENU
f. Please click [1] UMTS > [1] DEBUGGING SCREEN > [6] Phone Control > [6] Network LOCK
g. You will see 3 OPTIONS within Network LOCK
h. Please click on number [1] Perso Sha256 INFO, the screen will change slightly
i. Please hit the MENU button then when the menu pops up please carefully hit BACK to return to the previous screen
j. Next Please click on number [2] Perso Sha256 ON, the screen will change again to a one line message
NOTE: If you see ENABLE_FLAG[1], refer to the notes below. If you see ENABLE_FLAG[0], proceed with step k.
k. Restart the phone on the screen by holding the power button and click RESTART
l. When the phone prompts for the unlock code simply enter the unlock code provided to you
m. Your phone is now permanently unlocked!
*If this is not working, go to Solution #2
*NOTE - If it shows ENABLE_FLAG[1]:
Press menu, select back to go back to the Network Lock menu.
Select [3] Perso Sha256 OFF, then select the first item after.
It will say "Menu not exist".
Press menu, select back, press menu, select back to go back to the network lock menu again.
Select [2] Perso Sha256 ON again, it should now show Enable_Flag[0]
You may continue to step k in the previous instructions.

I cannot get pass step e. The Service Menu is inaccessible.
I write to them again and they send me the NCK Network unlock code along with the MCK Defreeze code and the following new set of instructions:
Try Solution #2
Follow these step carefully, as long as you have the correct code it will work 100%
1. Power off and on your phone with different network sim card. "SIM network unlock PIN" or "Enter Network Lock Control Key" screen will appear.
2. Type your Unfreeze code (MCK code) and hit Unlock button. You will get "unsuccessful message" again but don't worry.
3. Now type the Unlock code (Network or NCK code) and hit Unlock button.
*If phone say "Network Lock Succesful" it worked, but if not, proceed to step 4.
4. If you get "unsuccessful" again then hit Dismiss button and type *2767*3855# on phone keypad. (CAUTION! This will reformat all your data!)
5. After phone restarts, type the Unfreeze code (MCK code) when prompted to enter "SIM network unlock PIN" or "Enter Network Lock Control Key" screen and hit unlock button.
It will say "unsuccessful" again, don't worry!
6. Type the Unlock code (Network or NCK code) and hit Unlock button.
7. Your phone should now give you the message "Network Lock Successful"

I tried it, but couldn't get past step 4. After I enter the code *2767*3855# , it doesn't do anything.
Ok, so may third time is a charm? No.
Latest set of instructions:
1.  Make sure that the phone PROMPTS for the code with a NON accepted sim card and that your IMEI is correct by dialing *#06#
a. Go to the Dial pad and dial *#197328640#
b. Please click on number [1] UMTS > [1] Debugging screen > [8] Phone Control > [6] NETWORK LOCK
c. You will see 3 options
d. Please click on number [1] Perso Sha256 INFO, the screen will change slightly
e. Please hit the MENU button then when the menu pops up please carefully hit BACK to return to the previous screen
f. Next Please click on number [2] Perso Sha256 ON, the screen will change again to a one line message
g. Restart the phone on the screen by holding the power button and click RESTART
h. When the phone prompts for the unlock code simply enter the unlock code provided to you
i. Your phone is now permanently unlocked!

This time when I enter the code I am presented withe following screen but the options don't match up. I can not get into the UMTS MAIN Menu.

I have been given the Network unlock code, defreeze, provider and sub provider keys and none seem to work.
I am on Android version 4.3 and have never rooted and don't want to just yet. At least until the warranty expires.
Kernel version: 3.4.02-2244695
se.infra@R0302-03 #1
Build numer: JSS15J.I537UCUBML2
SE for Android status:
Enforcing
SEPF_SAMSUNG-SGH-I537_4.3_0016
Would appreciate any help.


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Do any Android phones support 256GB of storage?
I'd like a phone, preferably Android, with 256 GB of storage.
To the best of my knowledge, no 256 GB microSD cards exist (despite a few scammy Amazon listings).  Therefore, the phone would either need to have (1) a fullsize SD slot or (2) dual microSD slots.  I don't know of any android phones that have a fullsize SD slot, although there are of course tablets that do.  And the only Android phone I know that promised dual microSD cards is the vaporware Saygus V2.
Do any solutions exist that don't involve solder or external devices?

In theory you could connect a Micro-USB stick to your phone that may have 256GB of storage, but you could easily use a Micro-USB to USB cable to connect larger storages (like HDD's up to 6TB), if you are able to supply the auxiliary power somehow.

Thanks. Unfortunately, I'm only interested in internal solutions. I'll update the question.

Just found out: Sandisk apparently sells 200 GB Micro-SD cards in their SANDISK ULTRA lineup, but remember that your phone has to support storage devices of that size (most of the current-gen phones are rated at 64 GB or 128 GB). Although I recommend buying multiple smaller cards, because together they will cost less than one big one.

Thanks! That is very close to what I need. (Multiple cards isn't preferred since I really don't like swapping.)

BTW, the consensus seems to be that SDXC cards over 64GB do work with phones like the Galaxy S4 under newer versions of Android, even if Samsung hasn't formally guaranteed support.

That's true, I know my Samsung Galaxy W was only rated 32 GB but worked with 64 GB. It's just not guaranteed. I'm sure the 200 GB card will work on most modern phones, but again those cards are cutting edge and I don't know if they are supported by your phone.

GiantTree, could you post your comment as an answer so that it can be up-voted and accepted?

Or you could use a HDD of 500GB or 1TB and connect it with you phone using OTG cable. It works fine in most of the phones supporting OTG(usb-on-the-go).

A quick search on Amazon gave a bunch of results.

SanDisk Ultra has a 256GB model (red and pale yellow)
Samsung EVO+ has a 256GB model (red)
Samsung EVO Select has a 256GB model (green)
Other manufacturers also have 256 GB models, e.g. Patriot LX and ADATA Premier
Lexar has 256GB models but I've heard they're ceasing producing storage products

Oh, there's one more thing that I'd like to note: The "maximum supported storage capacity" actually depends on the SoC (chip) and system. So as long as your phone is running on an SoC later than 2015 and Android 5+ (Lollipop) then it should have no problem supporting a 256GB microSD card.

Yep, 18 months makes a big difference :)

Moto X Force is one phone that supports cards up to 2TB.

Expandable Memory
With the option to add up to 2 TB of additional storage space using a microSD card, the Moto X Force offers plenty of room to store your favourite pictures, videos, music and apps.

Original screenshot of the device specs
Though currently, I don't see cards with a capacity of more than 256GB.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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

sort: votes


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How to use USB Keyboard and USB Mouse In Android Tablet Simultaneously
My Android Tablet is having one Standard USB port and One Micro USB port I use Mini for 3G Dongle..... Tablet is not having Bluetooth. I want to know is it possible to connect mouse and keyboard from one standard USB port in Tablet ... Like we use headphone...
I am using this tablet http://bloggerplugnplay.blogspot.in/2012/12/bsnl-701c-penta-tablet-3gplay-store-not.html

Please clarify 'mini'.  Do you use standard or micro USB for 3G dongle?

I would suggest a cable hub.
You should be able to find one that takes only one USB port of device, and provides 2 (or 3) USB ports.
for example:
cable hub ,USB 2.0 3-port HUB with Micro 5P

If your tablet supports a USB hub, you might try connecting both devices to a hub and then connecting that hub to your tablet.

Please use standard english

How to check if it supports hub or not :/ its Penta Tab 701c you search its spec on net

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


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Keeping an app in memory
I once read about an init.d tweak to keep an app in memory. I'm unable to find that tweak now. Does anyone have the link? An alternate method would also be welcome.
Edit : I'm using cyanogenmod 10.

Cyanogen has an option to keep the current launcher pinned to memory (check the CM-menues if that is what you're looking for) -- but I don't know about any option to do that for any other app.

You can do it according to this post on XDA:

Make a file called 99applock.txt
Insert code below and put you messaging service in where it says PPID (that usually can be found in data/data if your using
  aftermakrket sms app) remove the .txt extension and put file in
  ect/init.d and just give it 777 permissions, it works for me.

    #!/system/bin/sh

    sleep 60

    PPID=$(pidof com.your.app)
    echo "-17" > /proc/$PPID/oom_adj
    renice -18 $PPID

Does that only work if the app is started within that 60s sleep period -- or is this init script run repeatedly? I don't see a loop or anything indicating that this would also work for an app started at a later time.

There must be a catch with this? Surely, keeping it in memory will starve other apps of precious RAM and could cause Android to go berserk when trying to manage apps that hit the memory threshold and quite potentially p-off users who are wondering why the app is not loading when that threshold gets reached!

This seems to work well... at first.  but if i watch the oom_adj file i find that pretty soon it is no longer -17, and then my app can be killed again

Upvoted comment of @Michael as this method still does not work (updated to N 7.1). Also tried making oom RO (444), but after the set delay (few minutes), it reverts to previous value. Nothing across the Internet I've found will accomplish the task.


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Voice to text app for Messaging ICS
I am using stock ICS 4.0.4 on my phone and it seems to be missing a utility which I have seen on other Android phones with ICS. It doesn't have the option for voice to text native app for messaging.
How can I activate it?
Note: I do not have an always active internet connection

What phone do you have?

Under input methods do you have google voice typing?

no there is not.

Do you have Google Voice Search installed?

I installed it before but it requires internet access all the time which I don't ahve

Up until Jellybean (4.1/2) Voice typing requires an active internet connection as all of the voice processing is done in the cloud. In Jellybean they added offline voice typing.


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External keyboard behaviour: "I replaced by Ï and so on
When trying to write using an external (USB) keyboard, any combination of [(speech marks)(letter)] results in conversion of the character pair to the umlaut version, if it exists (if there is no version, nothing happens). Same issue happens when trying to use a Bluetooth keyboard. Turning off auto-punctuate/correct makes no difference. This issue doe not exist when using the onscreen keyboard.
This appears to be global; anywhere I type that kind of thing I get that behavior.
Device: Samsung Galaxy Note II running 4.1.2, not rooted.
I have done some searching, but have not found this issue mentioned so far anywhere, any ideas?


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Can I attach a USB mic to any Android phone?
Can I attach a USB mic to any Android phone?  Which one?
I am asking since I need to be able to shoot video with sound clear of noise.
Hence, I need the phone to shoot good video quality as well(full HD at least).

Never tried with an USB mike – but using one via the "headset plug" should do, as that's what headsets use as well.

You mean the 3.5mm audio jack, right?

Exactly. I just had a black-out concerning the term, sorry.

Np, it was clear but I needed to be 100% sure:)

I've summed it up with additional details in my answer below, for your convenience :)

Android currently doesn't support USB Audio Paths. You can use USB Audio if you have a Nexus 5 with Android L Preview. Otherwise you are out of luck.

Yes, Android supports standard USB audio class devices:

Android 5.0 (API level 21) and above supports a subset of USB audio
  class 1 (UAC1) features:

The Android device must act as host
The audio format must be PCM (interface type I)
The bit depth must be 16-bits, 24-bits, or 32-bits where 24 bits of useful audio data are left-justified within the most significant
  bits of the 32-bit word
The sample rate must be either 48, 44.1, 32, 24, 22.05, 16, 12, 11.025, or 8 kHz
  The channel count must be 1 (mono) or 2 (stereo)

Also, Android 3.1 or higher can support USB audio if you buy an app from eXtream Software, which bundles its own drivers.
Also, your hardware has to support USB Host mode (USB On-The-Go).  There are apps to test whether it does:
How can I determine if my device has USB Host Mode (OTG) support?

I tested this and it works (Samsung S6, Yeti Blue USB Mic)

If you need an external microphone, and your device does not support USB audio (as Hiemanshu's answer suggests): A work-around would be using a microphone with the 3.5" audio jack. As headsets use that successfully, it should work.
I've never tried, so theoretically a side-effect could be sound output gets blocked whith the device assuming you've got a headset plugged in. If that's the case, there are apps available to control where which audio is routed to. You can find some in this list.


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Why does Yahoo Weather limit my wife to 2 locations but not me
Yahoo Weather allows me to add any number of locations.
When my wife, on the very same Nexus 5 phone, tries to add a third location, it asks her to delete one of her existing locations.
What's going on?

Have you checked if you and your wife are using the same version of Yahoo Weather?

I have checked.

This question appears to be off-topic because it is about a transient bug in an app.

And how would I, or anyone else, know that in advance? I mean, go ahead and close, but it seems a strange criterion.

When you say "on the very same Nexus 5 phone", do you mean that your wife also has a Nexus 5 phone, or did you create a second user profile on the same Nexus 5?

A second identical phone.

Could you post screenshots?

No, this was fixed on Aug 6.

Removing and reinstalling Yahoo! Weather on my wife's phone cured this. I guess Cousin Yahoo! has a bug.


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How come I get "This is a 'espresso10wifi'" when I try to flash recovery?
I'm trying to adb-sideload a new recovery (Philz Touch Recovery n5110) I get,
This package is for a 'konowifi.5110.GT-N5110.konawifixx' devices: this is a 'espresso10wifi'.
E: Error in /tmp/update.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted.

The Samsung N5110 is the Galaxy Note 8.  The "espresso10wifi" is a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 (your device).
It's not flashing because you're flashing the wrong file for your device.


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cannot longer share apps on latest version of Google Play Store
Stock Galaxy S4 GT-I9505, latest public version of Google Play Store, now when I open an app I do see the uninstall / Open or Update buttons and a new visual showing nicer/bigger application icon and round icons showing downloads count, rating results, similar apps etc, but unfortunately no longer a button to share the app link via whatsapp / gmail etc...
Is this problem only with me or also others unable to share apps anymore from Google Play Store?
thanks and regards,
Davide.

I am using a Nexus 4 with new version of PlayStore. I can see a "Share" button just below the "Reviews" section. You can check once again if you have missed it :)


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Gmail app doesn't send messages, gives strange logcat message
Recently, Gmail has stopped sending messages, storing drafts, or basically having anything to do with messages I create. Clicking the "send" button does nothing, and exiting the app doesn't auto-save the draft as expected. Instead, logcat shows the following error (every time I click the "send" button, for example):
W/MessageQueue(27786): Handler (com.android.internal.os.HandlerCaller$MyHandler) {4160e070} sending message to a Handler on a dead thread
W/MessageQueue(27786): java.lang.RuntimeException: Handler (com.android.internal.os.HandlerCaller$MyHandler) {4160e070} sending message to a Handler on a dead thread
W/MessageQueue(27786):  at android.os.MessageQueue.enqueueMessage(MessageQueue.java:320)
W/MessageQueue(27786):  at android.os.Handler.enqueueMessage(Handler.java:626)
W/MessageQueue(27786):  at android.os.Handler.sendMessageAtTime(Handler.java:595)
W/MessageQueue(27786):  at android.os.Handler.sendMessageDelayed(Handler.java:566)
W/MessageQueue(27786):  at android.os.Handler.sendMessage(Handler.java:503)
W/MessageQueue(27786):  at com.android.internal.os.HandlerCaller.sendMessage(HandlerCaller.java:86)
W/MessageQueue(27786):  at android.accessibilityservice.AccessibilityService$IAccessibilityServiceClientWrapper.onAccessibilityEvent(AccessibilityService.java:619)
W/MessageQueue(27786):  at android.accessibilityservice.IAccessibilityServiceClient$Stub.onTransact(IAccessibilityServiceClient.java:70)
W/MessageQueue(27786):  at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:404)
W/MessageQueue(27786):  at dalvik.system.NativeStart.run(Native Method)

Does anyone have a hint at what might be causing this? I've uninstalled and reinstalled the app, deleted the /data/data/com.google.android.gm directory, nothing works. I can receive and interact with email fine, it's only sending and saving drafts that doesn't work, afaics.

What device? Is it rooted? What version of Android? Did you install anything recently that could cause this (add on for Gmail). Have you made any changes to the device?

What about a reboot – have you tried that (you didn't explicitely state)? Also: Boot into recovery, and wipe the cache (possible even from stock recovery), maybe some information got stuck there.

@Izzy yes, clearing cache and dalvik did the trick, thank you - if you post it as an answer, I can accept it.

Done – glad it solved your issue! See my answer also for more details and a little background ;)

Things like this sometimes happen when something gets stuck in cache. To solve that, the easiest approach is:

boot into recovery
select to "wipe cache"

Which works for both, stock recovery (aka "3E") and custom recoveries.
Of course, with a custom recovery you can also "wipe Dalvik" – doesn't hurt, just causes a longer first-boot after that. Side effect might even be improved performance, especially when you frequently install/update/uninstall apps, as this wipe forces the entire dalvik cache to be rebuilt cleanly. The important part however is the "normal cache", where it's more common that "things get stuck".

+1 annnnd the easiest solution is the one I didn't even think of! Fair play Izzy, good simple solution!


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Add users not showing in Jelly Bean 4.2 on TF300
I have a Asus T300. After upgrading to 4.2 I added 3 users for my children. I need to add one more. At my owner account it is not showing add users any more. Does anyone know why?

Can you post a screenshot of the Users screen in the settings menu?

I haven't been able to find anything about Jelly Bean having a maximum number of user accounts within stock Android, but it's possible that the manufacturer has imposed such a limit.

From what I can tell it's 8 users. This new Multiple user set up allows Android tablet owners create up to eight separate accounts for friends, family members or significant others, all on a single tablet like the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10.

IT is in Norwegian. But the only thing I miss is add users on the topp right side. It was ther when I add the 3 other users I have add. I have 1 owner and 3 other users now.

I have the same problem in an Asus 176c. I added an extra user and now i cannot add anymore. The link is greyed out. In an exact same machine belonging to my aunt, i can still add users.


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Can't update Nexus S. Stuck at "waiting for download"
I want to upgrade my Operating system (Nexus S I9250) which currently is Android 4.1 . My cell is not rooted and I have never tampered with the android system shipped, always upgraded it though. Right now, it says "Waiting for Download" but the progress bar never goes ahead.

According to the Nexus Factory Image Site the Nexus S was only updated to 4.1.1 there shouldn't be anything else newer available.

yeah.. but why is it showing an  update in the android system update ? plus it could be an updated build of 4.1.1, although the update is of 95.8 MB.

Have you tried restarting your phone?

@ZnewmaN earlier I restarted but it didn't work. Now it works. Thanks for the answer.

Restarting your phone should resolve the issue.


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Try to install Clockworkmod Recovery, always getting stock recovery
I'm trying to install Cyanogenmod on my Samsung Epic 4G.  I've tried a couple of ways to get Clockworkmod Recovery on the phone, but every time I boot it into recovery mode I get the stock recovery program.  I've tried the method listed on the Cyanogenmod wiki here and one using Odin here, but every time it boots, it loads up with stock.
Does anyone have any ideas for how I can get around this?

It looks like the key was holding down volume-down, power, and camera buttons until the capacitive buttons (home, search, etc) lit up, which was longer than until the screen flashed (as stated in the CyanogenMod wiki).

First of all, you need to to flash clockwork mod  recovery over your default stock recovery.
Then get into Clockworkmod recovery.
After that you can flash any CynogenMod roms.
Use this guide to work with Odin.

That was not the issue.  Using various guides I did install clockwork mod recovery "over" the stock recovery, unfortunately the guide you linked does not provide further information from the ones I already linked.  Additionally, the problem was how to get into Clockworkmod recovery, which you didn't address. Apparently the Epic 4G (not the Touch) keeps a copy of the stock recovery somewhere which it boots if you don't hold down the noted buttons for long enough.


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How can i switch to next field in web form using Android browser?
How can i switch to next field in web form using Android browser? There is no tab button, which Im using on my PC.

I use the default Android keyboard and it has a Tab key that pops up beside the space key.  It looks like this: –>|

This depends on the page as well, since some pages don't supply information about the order of the fields (tabindex), therefore no "next field button". Occasionally it's annoingly sporadic.

@onik True. I assume there are other keyboards with a dedicated tab; I wonder how the browser handles it.

If the "next" button isn't available, you can use the back button to close the keyboard, then tap on the field you want to go to to reopen the keyboard.

My Samsung Ace inserts tab to input and doesn't go to next field

Depending on the phone you use (mine has an arrow-pad), you can use physical navigation to switch between fields. You can also often press "Next" when typing using the virtual keyboard with fields if your phone offers that feature.

Depends on the phone as well. If you have a phone with a central trackball, e.g. HTC Desire, the trackball can be used to navigate through links and form fields while browsing.


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Galaxy S keeps accidentally taking screenshot
Galaxy S on 2.2 supports taking screenshots by holding the back button and tapping the home button simultaneously. However I find my phone occasionally doing it when I only tap the back or only the home button (which I do a lot).
This is inconvenient, but I don't mind too much it taking screenshots, but the bigger problem problem for me is the fact it makes a camera sound. This makes it sound like you just took a picture, and in public spaces it can land you in some embarassing situation. People might think you're a stalker, creep, or in some situation I think you can accidentally got into a fight or problem with police (I haven't landed in any of these situations, luckily). But it's quite dangerous.
Does anyone have the same problem? How to stop this or at least turn off the sound (other than putting my phone on silent mode)

I've had this happen a couple times.  Sometimes when the phone lags button presses get delayed, so pressing back then home can get smushed into being back PLUS home.  I wonder if using a custom ROM with TouchWiz removed would help.  That might remove the functionality entirely, actually.

As suggested here:
Go to the phone application on your phone and enter the following:
*#*#2663#*#*

It will take you to the Touch screen version screen.  Click on the "Touch key FW update" button on that screen.

what is this supposed to do?

It updates the Touch Key firmware.

from where? directly from Samsung?

Sorry, but I don't know where it gets that from.

can you cite a source? so that I can be sure I won't be breaking my phone..

Sorry, I should have done that earlier:  http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s/341718-return-back-soft-key-not-working.html

One guy in the thread says it worked, one other says it broke his keys entirely.  That doesn't sound promising.

Well, I performed those steps on my phone, when I had that problem, and it worked perfectly.

Go to Settings -> Applications -> Running Services and click on ScreenCaptureService to end it.  You'll have to do this every time you boot up your phone, unless you get a task killer or can remove it somehow, though either of those may have other side effects.


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Can I use a separate profile for corporate security requirements on KitKat?
I tried adding my corporate Exchange user to my KitKat tablet, so I can sync email and calendar. The security policy page that came up states the admins in my company will be allowed to block my device, remotely erase it, change my password, etc. - if I accept the policy. Proceeding without accepting the policy is impossible (obviously).
Since this is a private device that I intend to use personally as well, my question is: can I create a separate user on the device, create the Exchange account under that user, accept whatever policy is required - but not have it applied to the entire device, only to that specific user profile? Or is a policy applied to one user applicable to the entire device?

No. You can only do what you describe on Samsung devices with their "KNOX" feature. This uses special security hardware to provide separate, isolated environments on your phone, so there's no way that information can leak from the "business" environment to the "personal" environment. It's present on their high-end phones since the Galaxy S3, and you can learn more on the official KNOX website.
A similar feature, but for all Android devices, is said to be coming in Android L, but it's not ready yet.
Normal user profiles on Android don't provide enough isolation for corporate security purposes. It's still possible for the profiles to share information, and for rogue apps with the right permissions to access data from all user profiles. If your device is stolen, it's still necessary to wipe the whole device to prevent an attacker getting access to the private data.

Thanks for the detailed reply! Which devices support this KNOX feature, and is it being picked up for support by IT orgs, AFAIYK?

@TravelingTechGuy Obviously I can't maintain an up-to-date list, so I've added a link to their website. Your second follow-up question is really too vague and broad for me to give a useful answer.

thanks. Will take a look, although I suspect my tablet won't be there. Also, this looks like an initiative that Samsung wants companies to buy into - which means my second question will be answered in the negative :(


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How to remove sleep screen from Galaxy family?
I have a Note2 and there is this annoying screen that turns my screen on just to show some purple bubbles, the clock and number of calls and messages. After a feel seconds it turns off again.
I understand that it consumes certain battery but I don't use it. I searched everywhere but couldn't find any tip on how to remove it.
Anyone could help me?
Thanks

When does this happen?

This is Samsung's "Quick Glance" feature, which triggers when a hand is waved over your sleeping phone.
You can turn it off in Settings -> My Device -> Motions and Gestures -> Air Gesture -> Quick Glance.

@EASI does it look like this: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B6vPfDdVU50/UKCTteFoU6I/AAAAAAAAH4I/00BDJ2gmgZQ/s1600/SAM_0836.JPG  That is quick glance, but it may be a glitch. It is still possible the desk clock, or a similar looking day dream is being engaged.


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Provision/Availability of Android Updates
My Nexus 7 receives Android updates directly from Google, regardless of the cellular service provider of the SIM card in the device.
My Galaxy S3, with a SIM card in it, receives updates when my cellular service provider releases them.
I have a Galaxy Note, running Android 4.3, without a SIM card in it. Where/when will it receive updates?
I did recently insert a SIM card into the Note. Will the device now receive updates according to the timetable of the SIM service provider?

Android updates have nothing to do with what network the phone is currently on, or what SIM card is inserted. The updates come from whoever you got your phone from.
If you bought your phone from a carrier, they almost certainly customized the OS to include their special apps (a.k.a. bloatware), and sometimes to limit features like Wi-Fi hotspot. For that reason, the updates have to come from them, and of course this adds some delay to the process: once the manufacturer has the update ready, they supply the new source code to the carrier, who has to update their special features for the new version, and go through another round of tests and QA. Carriers don't have the same software expertise or resources as OEMs, so this takes longer.
If you didn't buy the phone from a carrier, then it'll be running an OS provided by the manufacturer, so updates will come from them directly. For Nexus devices, this means the updates come straight from Google.
In your specific case, if your Galaxy Note came without a SIM card, I guess you didn't get it from a carrier, in which case you'll get the update from Samsung, as soon they make it available for your region. If you did get it from a carrier originally, you'll get the update from your old carrier. Either way, your new carrier has nothing to do with it, because they didn't provide the OS in your phone.


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Bootloop in Xperia L when the bootloader is unlocked using sony's flashtool
I was trying to install AOSP rom for Xperia L provided by Sony. So i tried to unlock my device using Flash tool. I tried unlocking the device, it replied "failed" first and second time I tried, it ran some commands, said ok and requested for a Restart. And when i restart it displays SONY, XPERIA and gets caught in a loop displaying a image.
Is there something I missed before I unlock my device or there is a problem with the device?
thanks.

I finally installed cyanogenmod 11 in my xperia L. Cyanogenmod added a developer release only now to their collection and it works smooth. Just followed the instruction presented in their website i was able to install CM11. I suppose the are problems with AOSP version of sony for xperia L.

It always happens, you will have to reflash your stock firmware using pc companion.

This should not happen after unlocking the bootloader.

Yes we can flash the stock ROM but how to install cyanogen mod 11 in my phone. I already tried the XDA Dev links.


text:
How to start root shell with Android Studio?
I just installed Android Studio. How do I get into root shell on my phone? Or do I have to download ADB separately?

Android Studio does not contain ADB, you need Android SDK / Android SDK platform tools for it (it is installed on first run of Android Studio).
If you don't want to use Android studio, just download standalone Platform tools and extract to some folder.
ADB is by default located in sdk\platform-tools:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe.
It's possible to add to PATH in Windows and use Terminal inside Android Studio only by command: adb shell and after use su get root shell.

Locate the SDK platform tools folder (e.g. %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools\)
Open Enviroment Variables in Windows (See http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000549.htm)
Add the platform tools path (e.g. %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools\) to the PATH variable
(optional) Reopen Android Studio
Use Terminal with adb shell command

When you don't want to use it inside Android studio, you can use it just in command line / terminal by: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe

WINDOWS: In the current version of Android Studio, ADB.exe is located in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools\. Earlier versions of Android Studio have it in %LOCALDATA%\Android\sdk\platform-tools instead.
MAC: Find the ADB executable in ~/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools.
To open the ADB shell: Ensure Android Studio is installed. In the command line interface (CLI) for your platform -- Command Prompt for Windows or Terminal for Mac -- navigate to the location of the ADB executable as described above (you can copy/paste the strings as shown and don't need to type in your actual username) and do the following:

Type adb devices and press Enter.
Locate the name of your device in the list.
Type adb -s XXXX shell and press Enter, replacing XXXX with the name of your device from the previous step.

On a Mac Android Studio installs adb there:
/Users/<your username>/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools

To use it in your shell, you can add it to your .profile file:
export PATH=/Users/<your username>/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools:$PATH

Please open a fresh terminal window after you did that, or load the changes by typing this in your terminal:
source ~/.profile

Once you have Android Studio set up make sure you can connect to an emulator or a device where it will be listed in the AVD (Android Virtual Devices). If a physical device is connected confirm that debugging mode is enabled and access is allowed to Android Studio. A separate ADB is not needed as all the build tools are part of the IDE.
Now you are ready to access your device's shell!

Access the terminal at the bottom of the IDE by selecting the Terminal button.
In the terminal issue adb devices. This will list the all devices currently connected to Android Studio. Find and use your device's name for step 3.
Now issue adb -s <device-name> shell. Now you are in your device's shell.

On a side note, if you want to access the shell of an emulator with root access installed from Android Studio, issue a adb -s <device-name> root before accessing the shell.

After "adb -s  root" how to exit then get in again with non-root user?  Getting in again with shell the user is still root.

@jw_ adb -s <device-name> unroot :)


text:
Basic Server for android
I want to set up a server on android. Anyone know how to do that? I do not have root. I do know about I-jetty. So any other ideas. Preferably where I learn how to make a server program. I can program in C, bash, etc. for android. I want to be able basically to run a "basic" server program (like Apache). All the program needs to do is host one page on port 8080.

The App your looking for is kWS. It will serve any html file you have on your phone to port 8080 (or other unused port), and it doesn't require a root.
If you want to run a custom server (i.e. with sockets), you'd need to develop your own app with sockets, although you'll need to know Java.

I don't know java. And I dont know networking.

@yuxuantim You dont need to know Java, install this app, and put an html file on the directory you set in the app.

@yuxuantim Check out this tutorial using kWS

If you know PHP, then you may use PAW Server for Android. It requires the installation of PHP plugin. Here is the official site.

Another alternative is Palapa Web Server. It can serve both static and dynamic content as it has PHP and MySQL embedded.


text:
How install python interpreter on an android device
I cant download the  http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/ because in my country is block this URL. Where can I install the python app for android

Check out QPython - Python for Android. This appears to be an IDE and Python script runner for Android.

I use a android tablet in cuba, i cant download the app from my device I need a link direct from my computer


text:
YouTube videos all choppy
Has anyone seen this behavior when playing videos in the YouTube app?
I've tried clearing both the cache and data for the app, but it did not help.
Note in the screenshot how the video is all choppy and blocks that are all mixed up.
It is happening on ALMOST all videos, but every rare one will work fine.
Running on a stock Verizon Galaxy S3.

Just for sake of trouble shooting, could you try another app other than Google's official app? For instance you may try "TubeMate".

Have you tried lowering the quality? Does this happen on both wifi and mobile data? Are there other programs running at the time?

I'll have to check some of those once I'm back on their phone. Will report back when I have answers.

Why don't you Disable the app once by clearing all the updates of YouTube and re-enabling (and updating) it again!

I had exactly the same problem. The only way I found to 'fix' it was to uninstall all updates back to factory defaults. So far that seems to have done the trick.

Tried this, uninstalling all the updates... and then reinstalled them, and then it worked perfectly. Played through a whole bunch of videos to make sure, and no issues on any of them. Woo! :)


text:
Display viewport only at the right bottom of the screen
I have a Geniatech ATV1220 android set top box running android 4.2.2 and am using an arduino with motion sensor connected to it to modify content on a website when someone is in front of the sensor via NodeJS.
This works great, but what I would like to do is to manipulte the complete system viewport of the android system. For example if someone steps in front of the sensor, the whole system should be displayed in a reduced size like 1/4 original at the bottom right side of the screen while the other area should just display black or basically nothing.
It is really hard to find something because of the pretty common keywords like display, viewport, size and so on. I could probably do it dependent on individual applications but I also want to use it in third party applications, which I cannot modify.
Currently I am sometimes using commands like this:
echo 1 >/sys/class/graphics/fb0/blank

to modify the actual content that is displayed, in this case it all turns black/blank and I wonder if there is a similar way to achieve what I want to do. Any help is greatly appreciated.

What worked in the end was using the Xposed Framework and installing "One-handed mode" like explained here: How to get a one-handed mode on almost any rooted Android device.


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Why won't a fine-tip stylus work on my phones/tablet?
I've been using my tablet/phone for sketching with my finger for a long time.  Over the last year or so, I've been trying to find a fine-tipped stylus to make drawing easier, as fingers are unwieldy and imprecise.  I've purchased a few but none of them work with my Nexus 7, SGS2, LG G2, iPad, iPhone, etc.  The styluses with the fat, rounded, mesh-like pencil eraser sized tips work, but they have the same problem as my finger: they are too fat to see exactly where the tip is touching the screen.  Many styluses come with both ends, and I am left using the fat end every time.
I've searched up and down for a reason but I've not been able to find any sort of explanation really at all.  Can someone break down why the fat, pinky-like stylus tips work but the skinny, pen-like tips don't on (what appears to be) most touchscreens?   Am I simply out of luck, or is there a screen/stylus combination that will work for me?

Capacitive and resistive touchscreen technologies
Today's multi-touch screens are capacitive, unlike the resistive touchscreens from a decade ago. They work a bit like the way you can feel a static charge with the hair on your skin. The screen has a charge inside it, and when your finger comes near it, the capacitance of your finger attracts this charge. The screen can tell all the points where the charge is disturbed in this way, building up a picture of where you're touching it. That's why it can tell different fingers, and the more sensitive screens can tell fingers apart by their shape, and make a guess at how hard you're pressing.
The older resistive touchscreens just had two flexible conductive sheets with a gap in between them. When you apply pressure, it makes the sheets touch together, and the touchscreen hardware can find where that contact point is. Because of how it reads the contact point from the sheets, it can't understand more than one contact point, or a bigger area of contact.
So what?
This has two implications for a stylus. Styli for resistive screens need to be small for a precise touch, and can be any material (because they just need to apply pressure). A stylus for a capacitive touchscreen has to conduct electricity, but be covered with an insulator, to give it the capacitance (like your finger). They're commonly a conductive foam core covered with thin rubber. Usually the part you hold also needs to be conductive, to connect it to the greater capacitance of your body, but there are ways around this.
In addition, the tip needs to be wide enough to generate enough capacitance for the screen to register. In addition to the requirements of the hardware, most touchscreens also have some filtering in software, to avoid getting confused by sensor noise, tiny droplets of water, and other things.
For these two reasons, you can only use a stylus designed for capacitive touchscreens.
Foil hat time
You can make your own by sticking a small ball of aluminium foil to the end of any pen-like object with insulating tape. You just have to make sure your hand is in contact with the foil for it to work. This way, you can experiment with different sizes, to get the narrowest tip that works on your particular device.
Other options
If you still want something more precise, you'll need a phone or tablet that's designed to use a stylus. These phones have extra sensors in addition to the capacitive touchscreen, and they come with a special stylus that works with that sensor. Usually they detect induction fields (like a Wacom drawing tablet), and the stylus has an inductor built into it, but the details are different for different devices. Samsung's Note range of phones and tablets works this way, and Lenovo has a tablet (marketed at digital artists) that has a pressure-sensitive stylus like this as well as "palm rejection" software to avoid reacting to the bottom of your hand when you're drawing.

The banana plug on a set of headphones worked for me.
Just hold it from the rubber area and don't scratch the screen.


text:
How to fix Android file system error
There's a corrupt file on my (rooted) Android device
at /data/anr/traces.txt
when I cd to this directory with adb shell, or try to do cat or rm on this file I get I/O error
Most importantly it prevents me from having a TWRP backup, as it fails at reading this file,
How can I either delete it or fix it?
Deleting anr folder with ES File Explorer or Cyanogen Built In File Manager results in error, also these file explorers don't actually show any files inside anr folder
update on comment:
running fsck.f2fs outputs
```
~ # fsck.f2fs -f /dev/block/mmcblk0p48
Info: Force to fix corruption
Info: sector size = 512
Info: total sectors = 50454272 (24635 MB)
Info: MKFS version
  "Linux version 3.10.84-perf-g329ac5f (hudsoncm@ilclbld30) (gcc version 4.9.x-google 20140827 (prerelease) (GCC) ) #1 SMP PREEMPT Wed Apr 20 17:03:52 CDT 2016"
Info: FSCK version
  from "Linux version 3.10.84-perf-g0ec7138 (hudsoncm@ilclbld87) (gcc version 4.9.x-google 20140827 (prerelease) (GCC) ) #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Nov 3 05:01:11 CST 2015"
    to "Linux version 3.10.84-perf-g0ec7138 (hudsoncm@ilclbld87) (gcc version 4.9.x-google 20140827 (prerelease) (GCC) ) #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Nov 3 05:01:11 CST 2015"
Info: superblock features = 1 :  encrypt
Info: superblock encrypt level = 0, salt = 00000000000000000000000000000000
Info: total FS sectors = 50454272 (24635 MB)
Info: CKPT version = 10de4e
Info: checkpoint state = 5 :  compacted_summary unmount

[FSCK] Unreachable nat entries                        [Ok..] [0x0]
[FSCK] SIT valid block bitmap checking                [Ok..]
[FSCK] Hard link checking for regular file            [Ok..] [0x0]
[FSCK] valid_block_count matching with CP             [Ok..] [0x2beeaa]
[FSCK] valid_node_count matcing with CP (de lookup)   [Ok..] [0x723f]
[FSCK] valid_node_count matcing with CP (nat lookup)  [Ok..] [0x723f]
[FSCK] valid_inode_count matched with CP              [Ok..] [0x69ed]
[FSCK] free segment_count matched with CP             [Ok..] [0x12ca]
[FSCK] next block offset is free                      [Ok..]
[FSCK] fixing SIT types
[FSCK] other corrupted bugs                           [Ok..]

but next ls -l /data/anr/ reveals that file is still corrupted
i know exact inode of the offender
|-- anr <ino = 0x476b>, <encrypted (0)>
|   |-- traces.txt <ino = 0x3c19>, <encrypted (0)>

Any ideas? I dont want to format /data i have stuff on it I want to backup with TWRP

Did you try fsck ?

@GokulNC please see update

You wrote cat gives you an error as well – but didn't specify which way you've used cat. I assume you've already tried something like echo foo > traces.txt? Not that I give it much hope, but worth a try I'd say. Apart from that, this answer on our sister-site might be helpful – if debugfs is available on your device.

@Izzy no, echo gives same error, debugfs is not available on my system :(

OK, sorry for that – but was worth a try. I'm out of ideas then. The only thing I rawly can think of is finding out what block the iNode belongs to, and mark that as "bad". But I've got no idea how to do that.


text:
Wildcards in proxy bypass list
My LG LS840 Viper 4G LTE (Sprint) recently upgraded to 4.0/ICS. Under 2.3/GB the proxy settings had been disabled entirely, but I am now able to set up per-network proxy settings for the various WiFi networks I attach to. Except—
Is there a way to add wildcards to the proxy bypass list? On (say) “Work WiFi” I can add example.com to the proxy bypass list, but not *.example.com. If any of the entries in the list have an asterisk, the Save button is disabled.
Is this a limitation in Android, or one which Sprint & LG have imposed on me? Is there a work-around?
ETA: A coworker running into a similar issue wit Cyanogenmod suggested .example.com (leading dot, no asterisk); this work-around works for him, but my phone rejects this form as well.

Looking at this CyanogenMod source code (which, according to the file history, does not actually have any CyanogenMod-specific changes), I see that the initial dot in proxy bypass list elements is just ignored, and an initial wildcard is implied — that is, you can write either example.com or .example.com in the list, and this entry will match example.com, a.example.com, a.b.example.com, … (note that any number of subdomain levels can be matched, unlike, e.g., with *.example.com in an SSL certificate).
If your phone does not actually work this way (e.g., you add example.com to the proxy bypass list, but www.example.com still goes through the proxy), either this code was modified by the phone vendor, or a particular app is using its own implementation of bypass list matching instead of the system-provided code.


text:
How do I connect to a jabber.org account with Chatsecure?
When I set up my jabber.org account in Chatsecure it doesn't connect. Another account on jabber.ccc.de works.

You have to remove the automatically added server "hermes.jabber.org". Just leave the field empty.
See https://dev.guardianproject.info/issues/2803


text:
How do I actualize the visible files in File Explorer on Windows browsing SDCard of Sony Xperia Ray?
If I browse my SDcard on Windows 7 I can see only the folders that where there the first time I connected the phone via USB.
When I create a new folder on the device later, It is not visible in the Windows Explorer.
these are the steps to reproduce:

connect the phone via usb to Windows
open the sdcard in windows explorer
use ES File Explorer to create a new folder on the sdcard

now the new folder is not visible in Windows. Even a refresh with F5 doesent make it visible in Windows.
How can I solve this problem?

How does the topic match your post? What are you trying to delete/modify? Can you give an example path? You won't be able to touch the /cache this way, as it's not exposed to the computer. And maybe you are dealing with different locations (internal versus external SD card)?

"Connected via USB" is still a bit unspecific. Does it use USB Mass Storage? In that case, it's no longer accessible on your Android device. Done via MTP, it might require a refresh (F5) in Windows Explorer to tell it something has changed. If Explorer caches the remote directory, it might be stupid enough to stick to that cache even after a re-connect; a refresh should do the job in that case as well. Otherwise remember the message: "You moved your mouse pointer. Please reboot for the change to take effect."

You are just wrong. See my answer, the only solution i found was to reboot Windows. It would be interesting though if there was another solution. I desconnected and reconnected a few times, still the new folder wasn't visible in Windows.

Just disconnecting and reconnecting the phone is not enough.
You have to restart Windows. Then the freshly created folders will appear in your filebrowser n Windows too.


text:
How do I connect Nexus 5 on Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro for USB-debugging
When I connect my device to my Linux laptop (debian-Ubuntu) I don't get any output in
adb logcat

If I connect it to another laptop it works fine
in KDE I can open the Directory and copy files, so USB is working
it seems like
adb devices

finds the device:
List of devices attached
042some_numbers00   device

but it stays disconnected somehow

Have you setup ADB accordingly on that KDE machine?

thats the question: what is "accordingly"?

See e.g. here.

I tried, but still.

I created a file
sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/99-android-mtpfs.rules

and added
# Nexus 5 (alias Nexus 4) "sudo lsusb" shows: 18d1:4ee2
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="18d1", ATTRS{idProduct}=="4ee2", MODE="0666" GROUP="androiddev", SYMLINK+="android%n"

and I added:
echo 0x18d1 >> ~/.android/adb_usb.ini

then I rebooted Ubuntu and it worked!!!


text:
Do I lose pixel information if I use landscape mode?
I thought the camera sensor has a defined maximum resolution.
But in landscape it records a photo in 16/9 format, while in portrait it takes 3/4 ratio.
So is it better to force portrait mode and postprocess the pictures into landscape, if desired?

I don't know about the HTC One, but it's usual to include a setting for the aspect. Is there a setting you can set to use full-frame for both?

The orientation you take the photo doesn't affect the pixel information in the image at all. The camera still records an image of (for example) 3456x2304 pixels, whichever way up the phone is. It also sets a flag in the JPEG file to note the correct orientation of the photo. Then, when the photo is displayed, it's losslessly rotated when reading the file, so that it appears in the correct orientation.
A few years ago, this would lead to some image viewers showing the photo in the wrong orientation, because they didn't understand the flag, but almost all photo software (and even embedded software, such as in smart TVs and digital photo frames) can use the correct orientation today.
If you like, it's still possible to postprocess the image. A special tool (such as exiftran on GNU/Linux) can read the image and the flag, apply the correct rotation, and write out the rotated image. It uses a special trick to rotate the image without having to decompress and recompress the JPEG file: this way, there is no loss of quality.

i edited my question, cause at my cam in the htc one, it records in different ratios


text:
Photo Goo App to squeeze and twirl the camera input
Is there a way to use the camera on Android like  with the old built-in Photo Booth app on iOS?
Photo Booth can apply effects on your photos like mirror, squeeze, twirl, kaleidoscope, light tunnel and stretch:

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


text:
How do I prevent my phone from syncing contacts with Google with xPrivacy?
I have installed xPrivacy on my phone. Which rights for which app do I have to set?

Why that complicated? There's no Xprivacy or other tool required to prevent your device from syncing contacts with Google. It's rather a question of your settings:

If on account creation you decided to "Backup your data with Google", you might want to re-consider this, as this might include more personal data than just your contacts
in Settings→Accounts & Sync you can define what should be synced with your online accounts (not restricted to Google). Switch off what you don't want to be synchronized.
in your contacts app, you can chose the "default storage". Using something other than "Google" here would also keep new entries from being sync'ed with Google. Note, however, that you cannot move existing entries between the several possible storages directly; you might need to export them, remove them, and (after switching your default storage) re-import them.

Btw: Same applies to your calendar. Except there I don't know of any export/import feature in the calendar app, so for this part you probably need a 3rd party app.

The first two points were exactly what I was doing, but still it "somehow" happened that all my contacts were synced into my Gmail Contacts nevertheless! So next time I want to be really sure that cannot happen again with the correct xPrivacy setting.

+1 still for option 3.. I should do this before doing anything on my new phone


text:
How can I get an infinite callhistory in CyanogenMod 10.0?
I would like to have all calls I ever called or called me in the history.
Is this possible?

Does the current call history have a limit? Sorry, I don't have CM here. [Just asking]

Try BearContact on Google Play. It can keep unlimited call logs.


text:
Cannot install any Custom ROMs on Xperia Ray ST18i: assert failed: getprop Status 7
When I try to install any of the roms of that page: http://get.cm/?device=urushi I always get this error:

Finding update package... Opening update package... Installing
  update... assert failed: getprop("ro.product.device") == "ST18i"||
  getprop("ro.build.product") == "ST18i"||  getprop("ro.product.device")
  == "ST18a"|| getprop("ro.build.product") == "ST18a"||   getprop("ro.product.device") == "urushi" ||
  getprop("ro.build.product") == "urushi" E:Error in
  /sdcard/cm-9.1.0-urushi.zip
  (Status 7) Installation aborted.

This sounds to me, that the prop doesen't get the right string "ST18i" which is strange, cause that's exactly my model.
Do I have to downgrade or install something else first?
I also tried to install the old image Xperia Ray (ST18i)_4.0.2.A.0.42_CE.zip again, but there is just sais "installation aborted".
Are there different Rescue Menues? I read, someone tried reinstalled his rescue menu with Odin.
I installed my Recovery Mod with the app x-Parts from Google Play that app installs the CWM.

Using a program like 7-zip, you can open the script in the META-INF folder and remove that if or assert conditional which is preventing you from installing this script, or, on the actual device itself, even modify your /system/build.prop so that it reflects the requirements of the script.

You have to install the boot image that is included in the Cyanogenmod ZIP file an flash that in fastboot:
Connect your device with Vol-Up While plugging in the USB-Cable
fastboot devices

Seeing your serial number means we know all is good.
Now type these commands:
fastboot erase system -w
fastboot erase boot

then copy the boot.img in the same folder as fastboot.exe and type
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot reboot

Now press the Vol-Down Button to enter the Recovery Mode again and install your image


text:
Turn off syncronisation of contacts in LineageOS / CyanogenMod
I want to use my phone with the google calender, but I don't want to upload all my contacts from my phone to google.
How can I achieve this?
I said in the contacts App under Settings that the App Synchronisation is off, but then I deleted some test-contacts online in Gmail and they were also deleted on my phone.
I also tried the App "Root Firewall" and forbin access to internet to the contacts app, but still, there was this sync going on.
How can I achieve this in CyanogenMod? In the standard Android 4.1 it worked fine: there was nothing synced.
Or do I need another contact app to achieve this?

It's not the apps. Depending on the Android (or CM) version, the location might slightly differ – but somewhere in the sync settings you can explicitly say what to sync, with separate entries for calendar, contacts, and other things. It doesn't help to block the contacts app, sync is done by the GSF (Google Services Framework).

I cannot say not to sync there, I can only press on each one of them and say sync now.

Are there no checkmarks next to the entries? If not, what happens if you short-tap the sync symbol – does it switch colors (to gray and back, where gray should say "sync off")? Maybe you could add a screenshot?

no checkmarks, no sync symbol. when I tap on calendar, a syncsymbol appears.

And when you tap it again, the symbol disappears (so if it's there, it could mean "activated" – if not, "deactivated")? Again, a screenshot would be helpful.

In the syncronisation screen you have to turn Synchronisation on global. Only if that is on you have checkboxes next to each category inside the google account. you can uncheck the box at Contacts then.
If the global sync is OFF you don't have this option.
I think it is a bit dangerous the first time you enter that menu, because you have to be sure your internet connection is disconnected. Otherwise the first time, when all sync boxes are still ON it will start right away to sync everything before you have the chance to disable the sync-box for contacts.
If you are offline you can setup everything like you wish and then it's fine.

To make sure that none of my contacts get synychronized to google (Setup: Cyanogenmod 10 with Android 4.1) I deleted the GoogleContactsSyncadapter.apk in folder /system/app/. After restarting no contacts got synchronized, if I add a new contact I also get the information, that the contact will only be stored locally.
Google Calendar synchronization works normally.
See also this thread.

How did you delete it? I couldn't. But I could deactivate the app in the Apps list

I found out: I used ES explorer and enabled Root explorer there. Then I could uninstall system apps


text:
Connect to iOS iMessage Messages Chat
iMessage uses an internal messaging system (similar to WhatsApp) that is independent from SMS so you can chat from iOS to iOS without SMS and without having a SIM card inserted.
Is it possible to chat from your Android device with someone on an iPhone that only uses the iOS iMessage Chat client?

iMessage automatically uses SMS messages for contacts who don't have an iPhone, so the answer is yes: you chat with them by sending an SMS message.
Apart from using SMS, there's no way for non-Apple users to get messages into iMessage. The protocol is closed and Apple does not have clients for other platforms, nor an interface for other apps to communicate with it. They designed iMessage not as a chat system in itself, but as a way to quietly redirect iPhone-to-iPhone SMS messages to use their servers instead of the SMS network.

I don't understand what you mean. iMessage is already an SMS app. If you send an SMS to an iPhone user, it shows up in iMessage.

SMS have a lot of disadvantages: often you have to pay a few cent for each SMS and you cannot send them from devices without SIM card

If your friends want you to chat to them from a device that can't send SMS, they need to not use iMessage. Apple doesn't offer a way for chat systems to post messages into iMessage.

"Apple doesn't offer a way for chat systems to post messages into iMessage." - that's a pitty. So
Is there an iOS app then, that my friends could install so they get those messages integrated into their iMessage Messages then? Or at least as push notifications? Jabber XMPP chat client for iOS with push notifications

No, Apple doesn't offer a way for chat systems to post messages into iMessage. I'm not sure how I can make that any clearer. They could install the app for a real chat system, such as Skype or Google+ Hangouts, but it'll be completely separate from iMessage.


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Installing Gmail Material Design APK
I have the APK File to the pre-release of Gmail Material Design. I went to Google Play Store and uninstalled my current, up-to-date Gmail package. When I install the material design APK, it tells me that an app with the same signature already exists. What app? I just uninstalled it,  it should just install, no? After all, I even went to ES File Explorer >> App >> Gmail >> Uninstall. I am not rooted and I use Blu Studio 6.0 HD.

Did you try to reboot your device after uninstalling Gmail?

NOTE: The Gmail 5.0 apk is currently causing a lot of issues and force closes on numerous devices, and without root I doubt this will work. Proceed at your own risk.  As a non-root user I would wait until Google roll out the update.
The signature already existing means that you already have something with the same package installed: Gmail! Gmail may well be a system app on your device and is not being unistalled properly. The actual /system/gmail.apk may remain despite it seemingly uninstalling, especially on a non-rooted device. The conflict is happening as you are trying to install an app you already have.
The easiest way around this is to uninstall Gmail. root users can simply uninstall the application, and install Gmail 5.0. You could disable your existing Gmail application Settings > Applications > Gmail > Disable and try to install the apk, but as I said at the start there is a very high chance you will get endless force closes.
One of the workarounds on XDA  for ROOT ONLY:
I am showing this less as a guide, and more as an illustration of the issues at the moment.

Rename old gmail.apk Pushed/renamed new Gmail.apk Change permissions
Then clicked on the app in Root Explorer and installed it --- this
time it installs successfully.
Then I deleted all app cache and app data.
Changed the r.build.type=userdebug
Saved.


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Cannot get MTP to work unless USB debugging is enabled
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 (i9300) running Android 4.4.4 (CyanogenMod 11-20141008-SNAPSHOT-M11-i9300).
If I have USB debugging disabled and I plug it into Windows 7 then:

I get a connection sound in Windows
Device manager reports "Google Galaxy Nexus ADB Interface"
The phone reports "Connected as a media device"
but the phone is not shown in Windows Explorer.

If I have USB debugging enabled and I plug it into Windows 7 then:

I get a connection sound in Windows
Device manager reports "SAMSUNG Android ADB Interface"
The phone reports "USB debugging connected"
The phone is shown in Windows Explorer
and I appear to also be able to copy files to and from the device.

This seems completely backwards to me and, given that I'm doing some development with MTP, I would really like it to work how normal people will have it work (as I seriously don't expect that everyone has to turn on USB debugging just to get it to work).
How can I fix this?

Do you have Samsung Kies installed? Samsung phones don't use the generic Google-provided driver for MTP in Windows, but if you install the correct Kies version it'll also load the relevant driver. This post on XDA-forums explains more about the cause, just don't forget to substitute the Samsung driver for the Google one when following the steps.
If you don't want to mess with Kies you can obtain just the Samsung driver portion here.

Typical, I post the question and then immediately find a solution (of sorts).
One way to resolve it is to go into Device Management, right click on "Google Galaxy Nexus ADB Interface", select "Uninstall" and make sure that the tickbox for removing the drivers is selected.
Once that has completed, install Samsung Kies (ugh) and you'll find that it is now reported as "GT-I9300" under "Portable Devices".
If someone has a solution that doesn't involve installing 72MB of software just to get a driver, then I'll mark it as the best answer.


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Stop vibrations
How do you stop the phone from vibrating when you use those system buttons (back, home, recent apps) in kitkat.
I tried perusing the settings,  but could not find any information relating to the same.
Or is this something in the design of the phone?

Go to Settings > Sounds and uncheck Vibrate on touch.


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Prestigio PAP 7500 rooting
recently I bought Prestigio 7500 for testing reasons and what is stopping me from doing it is that I can't root it (I want to install custom rom such as CM or Ubuntu touch). I was searching CWM (ClockworkMod) - there is none , other alternative mods and I found also nothing. I was also searching for any forums related to this device ,I found some in Czech and Slovak (had to use translator) but how I understood they didnt succeed also and this situation really frustrates me because I found almost nothing about this device.. Maybe some of you were sucessfull rooting this device or know where to find any explantion or how-to or any forum ? Any suggestions is really appreciated.

Have you tried Towelroot? Should support all phones < jun 3 2014.

Will try this  :)

Rooting is the easiest part, but it still may be impossible. Some of the methods I would try:

You can try to log in through ADB, see if you're already logged in as root.
You can also try universal root exploits, one of them may work.
Also you can try to obtain an original ROM for the device, root it on the PC and flash it on the device.

What is very hard (handfuls of experienced developers are spending months with each device) is porting custom ROMs (CM, Ubuntu Touch) to a previously unsupported device. Since you've found no existing recovery for it, let alone a ROM, you will have to do the porting yourself which will take a lot of time and if you aren't careful, you can easily brick your device.

I will try this method with ADB. By the way the question is for those who maybe had the same issue and could share it with me :/

Rooting this device is very easy. Just search for Framaroot app on jellydroid.com, install it on phone and run, choose install Super SU and Barahir exploit, reboot phone and your done. Tested and working.

Here is the link, that you did not mention http://www.jellydroid.com/2014/10/how-to-root-prestigio-multiphone-7500-smartphone/ and the Framaroot Apk http://www.jellydroid.com/framaroot-1-9-0-apk/

@JustMe Thanks , I had successfully rooted my device with Framaroot. Do you know any working custom roms or recoverymods? I have managed to install cwm but I think its because of mine poor knowledge its full of bugs and very laggy .. Any suggestions ?


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Check if Google Play Service is up to date
I have a Sony Xperia Z3 compact, and when I trying to broadcast my video live on YouTube from Xperia , I sign in with Google+ account and I received "Error when trying to sign in, please check if Google Play Service is up to date",what to do? ... When I buy my phone I updated all applications.

As a workaround you could sideload the last Google Play Services app.
You can check your version under Settings > Apps > All tab > Google Play Services.
Here in the Google Play Store you will find the latest version number or alternatively here at Google with some more in-depth info.
As a resource you could try and trust (hopefully) androidpolice.com and search for Google Play Services, download the app, allow Unknown sources under settings and sideload (install) the app.
/Update: APKMirror is the 'new' service from androidpolice where you find all apk's. Search here.
But usually after a short time Play Services should update automatically.

Check installed version via terminal:
adb shell
pm dump com.google.android.gms|grep version

You can install ApkTrack from F-Droid which checks periodically for updates to the installed applications. It uses multiple sources for checking if the applications have an update.
Just install it, open and tap on refresh button.

Open Google Play.
Tap the profile picture at the top right corner.
Settings.
About.
Play Store Version.


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CyanogenMod 11 installer for Xperia SP
I downloaded the CyanogenMod installer from the Google PlayStore however on installation it says my device is not supported and if i should wish to continue, it will be at my own risk. Is there any harm if I should choose to proceed with the installation??

If your device is officially supported by Cyanogen, you can at 99,9% run the installer without any issues. But if you would like to go the "secure" way, I recommend the manual method.


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GPS not working on Samsung after Android 10 update
Since the update GPS stops working most of the time.
I have an A6, but it's a widespread problem on many Samsung devices.
I only found a workaround so far:

work-around until Samsung fixes it.  Download and install "GPSTest".   Once installed, turn off mobile data, open GPSTest and it will get a GPS signal with coordinates.  Turn mobile data back on, then hit the home button and open whatever app you want.  Basicaly GPSTest keeps the GPS alive and it will allow other apps to function as well.  I have to do this almost every time I need to use a GPS app.  It works, but is a pain...

Source: https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S9/GPS-not-available-after-Android-10-update/td-p/1101309
But this works only sometimes.
Is there a better way to fix GPS? Or is there a reliable way to apply that workaround?


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Android “fake having a locked phone” - Galaxy SII
I have a work-mandatory email-app on my phone that won't work unless it detects that you have a passcode locked phone.
I have a rooted Galaxy S2 Android phone (Cyanogenmod 10) and am wondering if there are any apps or ways of tricking my phone into thinking it has a 4 digit pin code when it doesn't.
Thanks!

Why are you trying to bypass your workplace policy? Wouldn't it be better to have a chat with the sysadmin and see if you both can arrive at something that both of you are happy with.

If you enter your pin code wrong too many times, it factory resets your entire phone... which happened to me 3 days ago. It was one of the Sys Admin that suggested I could do this (I know him as a friend... he would not have said it while at work).

"Don't do that" :P

CM's profiles may work for you. I use it for circumventing the mandatory lockscreen if a certificate is installed (CaCert's regular SSL root CA here).
To set it up tap disabled in:
settings->profiles->default->lockscreen
For others: This only works with the alternative CyanogenMod aftermarket firmware.

Thank  you very much! :) settings->profiles->default->lockscreen->disabled does the trick.

Thank you so much! I went with the "insecure" setting, because I like having to swipe to unlock. I just didn't want to have to enter a PIN.


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Can't Restore Backup using ClockworkMod Recovery
I wonder can anyone help. I done a backup using Clorkwork Mod before I flashed a new ROM onto my phone. Now when i am trying to restore the backup onto the phone using CWM it completes the task but whenever I reboot the phone it gets passed the first samsung screen but hangs at the second SAMSUNG screen where the text is pulsing.
I have tried Wipe / Data factory reset, Wipe Cache, Wipe Dalvick and fix permissions. None of these seem to make any difference. The only thing that has worked in flashing a new ROM but I do not want to lose any of my apps /configs.
Any suggestions guys would be much appreciated.

Have you tried waiting for at leat 15-30 minutes where it hangs?

Yes, I left it sitting for a quite a long period of time.\

What phone are you using? Is it an S4 with KNOX enabled. Are you trying to downgrade from 4.3 to 4.2.2 with a KNOX bootloader?

S4 i9505. It has 4.3.3 I then flashed with Cyanogen and Android 4.2.2 which worked fine. I now want to restore back to my original stock 4.3.3 backup that I made. But it just freezes at the samsung screen. So I downgraded. But now Im looking to restore back to the original stock.. It had KNOX enabled yes as I use to get annoying error messages about apps getting blocked.

Can you get the stock firmware from Sammobile, then flash back to stock recovery and flash triangle away to get back from 'custom' status. Have you tripped KNOX? You can't flash Stock firware with a custom recovery. Have you followed this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477 Backup your apps with Titanium Backup or Carbon (or other alternatives)

If I flash the stock firmware from Sammobile will I then be able to restore my backup? What is flashing triangle? I have done a backup of the apps with Titanium. Will this have the details for the apps stored such as user accounts, settings etc. ?

Ok you can restore your backups with Titanium, but afaik you'll need root on your stock rom. "Triangle Away" is an appliction that resets your 'flash counter' and changes your status from 'Custom' to 'official'. Titanium restores the full app and data, so for example, your facebook will restore the last backup, logged in already etc! I hope that helps. Don't take this wrong, but before you go flashing like mad read up on a few threads there on XDA and be sure exactly what you want to do and what the risks are! It's very  hard to completely brick a device... but I've a dead S4 here.

When you refer to my stock rom, do you mean my original backup or the one you have recommended I flash to replace it. My backup had root. Ah yes I have heard of this Triangle Away, but never done it. Yes thanks I had read a bit but possibly should have read some more. Had flashed my HTC Wildfire before but that was a much less expensive phone admittedly.Would be nice though if I could figure out how to restore that old backup. Seems a bit pointless having that feature in CWM if it doesnt work :(

The option does usually work. Personally I never use CWM (I used AmonRA back in the day and Philz recovery now). The issue MAY (I'm not 100% sure) but with Samsung's new KNOX bootloader that does not allow a downgrade, i.e. your backup is an older version of android. It's madness and has caused a large backlash agains Samsung in the dev community. I've just put a Google Edition ROM on and I'm sticking with it for now. Maybe 4.4 when it is more stable. I just restored a 4.3 backup in about 3 mins this morning but a 4.2.2 gets bootlooped like you I'm afraid.

Cool. You recommend Philz then? I just read a lot about CWM so figured it was the best. Yea im not convinced its boot loader related. As my backup was 4.3.3 and the version of the ROM which I had flashed was 4.2.2 so surely the ROM would allow it as its a newer version. Perhaps I should have disabled KNOX before capturing backup if thats possible? I had Trust Security Anti Virus stuff installed on my backup too. I wonder could that have been related to my restore issue?


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"No Backup account is currently storing data"?
When I checked backup & restore options in my settings it shows "No Backup account is currently storing data"  , but I'm currently signed in to my Google account. Why it is disabled?

(Click on Image to See large preview)

Sorry this might sound silly but did you turn it on when you first logged on? It's usually on by default, but some ROMs have it disabled by default. It can also conflict as some ROMs appear as a new device on your account and it has, in the past for me, caused this to happen. Frankly (and this is not a popular opinion) I find CyanogenMod riddled with issues on any Samsung device.

I checked this by reinstalling my ROM and also selected backup to This account option. And while I'm searching lots of Nexus devices also reported same issue.

It is working for me on Nexus 4, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S4 Google Edition. 2 of them are running 4.4.2 ROMs, none running stock. My first bet is CyanogenMod to be honest. I've tried it and used to love it, the Samsung builds are very, very patchy especially CM 11 which to me, isn't even a beta build yet. I'd try another ROM to confirm/refute this, and proceed from there.

The backup transport is the part of the system that takes backed-up data from the phone and sends it to some provider's backup storage. This is a manufacturer- and carrier- replaceable component, to allow (for example) Samsung to make their phones backup to Samsung storage with a Samsung account, instead of backing up to Google, while remaining compatible with apps that use the Android backup system.
Possibly the Cyanogenmod ROM you've installed simply doesn't have a backup transport.

Just want to add some more details.
I am using Galaxy Nexus with CM11 Snapshot M4 (latest available) and still have this issue. This issue was present from the first CM11 build which I have installed in this device.
Out of curiosity I have checked couple of Nexus devices and this is what I could find.

Nexus 4 - Upgraded to stock 4.4.2 - Doesn't have this issue
Nexus 5 - Stock 4.4.2 - Issue is present.

In accordance with Dan's answer above, Since the backup transport is a manufacturer/carrier customizable component, in CyanogenMod it may be a reason. In CM, at the time of device setup, it asks for an optional CyanogenMod account (which I didn't create) and they may be using this CM account for app data backup (not sure, yet to verify this).

Checked with Paranoid Android 4.1 beta 1 and there isn't any issue in it. It displays my gmail account as backup account.


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Samsung Galaxy Note 3 won't sync with google play
I just got my new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N900, but I've already got problems:
First, everytime I sync my phone with google it always comes up with sync error, I don't know how to fix this. I've tried removing the account then putting it back on but it still doesn't work.
Second is that my phone doesn't even have the google play app. When I go onto the website and try download an app it says that I don't have any devices – which I think is due to the sync error.
How can I resolve this?

What is the error message for the sync error? Is there a code / number? Why does your phone not have Google Play? Did you change the ROM of your phone, or is it like that by default?

when you goto accounts through setting and then click onto google it says sync error, i don't know why it doesn't but it has google games, gmail, google settings. i don't know what the ROM is but i didn't change anything

Wait. If you can sync with Google (or at least have the corresponding settings), Google Apps are installed. That includes the Google Play Store app. According to the contracts ("MADA", Mobile Application Distribution Agreements), manufacturers must either install all GApps, or none. Did you a) cook your own ROM, b) installed some custom ROM, or c) played with "root powers" and deleted stuff? I cannot think of a d) option at the moment, but admit I might have missed something.

Here is what Google Suggests to sync your phone:
Change date & time settings
You can try to force sync your account by manually resetting your time settings.

Open your device's Settings app Settings app.
Tap System and then Date & time.
Turn off Automatic date & time and Automatic time zone.
Manually change the date and time so that both are wrong.
Tap Home Key.
Open your device's Settings app and then System and then Date & time again.
Manually change the date and time so that both are right again.
Turn on Automatic date & time and Automatic time zone.

(Excluded 'deleting and re-adding your account' here as you already did this.)
Here are all possible options available by Google Support: Fix account sync issues
Google Play Store
In case you don't have Play Store App, you can download it from apkmirror , choose a version and install it after downloading.
You will be ask to enable 'Unknown Sources' to be able to install Google Play Store, follow this to enable:
Open Settings - Security Settings.
Scroll down to 'Unknown Sources' check the box.
After installing Google Play Store successfully, uncheck the 'Unknown Sources' box.
This will prevent everything (except the Play Store) from installing apps.

Go to Settings -> More -> Application manager. Scroll down to Google Play, and hit "Force Stop". Start Play Store, and it should start up.

I had the same issue.  Once I turned off Google 2 Step Verification, it worked just fine.

Its not an answer as to what has Google 2-step verification got to do with sync issues?


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Identify Unlocked Device's Carrier
I bought an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S3 I9300 a while ago, this phone was imported by an independent store and not any of the local cellular carriers.
And my phone is not getting firmware updates, I suspect the carrier is not releasing the updates but I can't check it because I don't even know what carrier my phone is set to.
How can I tell what carrier my phone "belongs to"?

If you're adventurous and know your way around Odin (Samsung's firmware flashing tool), you can go here to get the correct regional firmware for your S3. You can also download Odin from the same site and use it to manually flash your device with a new firmware. Doing it this way, the firmware you installed will be the "Vanilla / bare-bone" release from Samsung that does not have all the crap if you installed using a carrier's custom Android firmware.

Galaxy S3 I9300 is international version.

Look at the S3 variants.
S3 belongs to specific carrier has specific model numbers according to Country and Carrier.
Are you sure about it was an unlocked version??

I'm not sure about anything, both the Settings->Device Info screen and the sticker behind the battery say "GT-I9300", I didn't buy it from a cellular carrier or the official Samsung distributor so I assume it's a "gray market" unit. it got a firmware update once, my wife has the same model (bought from the same store but at a different time from a different shipment) and got 3 updates in the same time


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Xperia M2 Ring Volume Drops
On my Sony Xperia M2, running Android 4.4.2,, two or three times a day, the sound volume of the ringtone and notification alert drops to a barely audible level.  When this happens, calls can be missed as the ringing may not be heard.
The volume setting does not change, just the volume itself.  If the phone is powered off and back on, then the volume is restored to normal.  No earphones / headset is connected to the phone at any time, either by pluggin in or by bluetooth.
It is possible that the volume drop occurs because the ringtone is being diverted to the internal, i.e. in-call, speaker.
I am trying to work through all the installed apps to see if I can isolate one which is hijacking the sound but without success.  Is there a known issue here?  A known faulty app?

I believe I have tracked this to an app.
Three In Touch (version 3.4.5) is a pre-installed VOIP app from the service provider (Three) that uses Wi-Fi to route calls if there is limited signal.  After disabling this app the volume drop went away and re-enabling it has brought it back.
This is unfortunate as the app is otherwise very useful.


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How to see download count of an Android app on Google Play store?
I cannot see the download counts of one app on Google Play.
How can we know that number of one app?

As an end user, there is no way to know the exact number of downloads. But you can see a range if you scroll down the app page and look at the Installs section within Additional Information.


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Tar.gz not working (Segmentation fault) on ext4 partition
I have a strange problem with tar gz compression.
I used to have SD card mounted as a fat32 partition. However, now I changed it so that external sdcard is being mounted under /data/media/0 and is formatted to ext4 (or f2fs - makes no difference, because this error happens on either).
In the old setup, I could run
tar cvzf

on a folder in this partition without any issue.
However, in this new setup if I run it, I get
tar cvzf
Segmentation fault.

I discovered, that if I remove the z parameter, it proceeds just fine. But he resulting tar file is not gz-compressed and hence unfit to my applications.
I confirmed this behaviour on two different ROMs so far: CarbonRom JB 4.3.1 and CarbonRom KK 4.4.4.
Does anyone have any idea what could be amiss here? Is android unable to tar.gz files on non-fat32 partitions, or is it cause by some other problem?

Where is your tar binary from? Likely the zlib library wasn't compiled in properly or is missing.

From the rom itself. As I said, the command TAR works just fine when used on a folder on a fat32 partition mounted under /storage/sdcard1. The very same TAR binary and system exhibits this issue when trying to do the exact same operation on the ext4 partition mounted at /data/media/0.

I still have no idea what is causing the problem, but I did find a solution / workaround, which does the same thing.
Instead of directly calling gzip from tar like so:
tar cvzf

I pipe tar's output to gzip like so:
tar -cv directory/ | gzip > archive.tar.gz

and the segmentation fault is no more.


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I bought a rooted LG g2 phone on ebay should I be worried?
As the title says. I bought a new lg g2 from eBay. After playing around with it for about 2 weeks I noticed that it is rooted and has a Chinese superuser app installed. I heard a while ago that some phones bought from eBay had viruses on it so I am wondering for what other purpose would the phone come rooted other than to install certain programs that I wouldn't notice. Also, is there a way to unroot it and remove all rooted permissions that might have been added without having to delete all data on my phone? Thank you.

You didn't write in which area you live, and from which eBay domain/seller location you've bought the device. But assuming you're not living in China, I'd be worried. Not for the device being rooted in general – but a Chinese superuser app sounds pretty suspicious.
Now other answers suggested unrooting and wiping. But I'm afraid that might not be enough: Once rooted, the "rooter" could have installed other malicious apps as system apps (see: system-apps and its tag-wiki for an explanation). Neither unrooting nor wiping (or performing a factory-reset) would remove those. So to really be on the safe side:

Get yourself a fresh ROM image to flash (see: Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?) This can be either a "stock ROM" (the official one from LG in your case), or – as the device is already rooted – any custom ROM (the latter having the advantage of being more up-to-date in most cases).
If you decided for a custom ROM, this might require a custom recovery (see: recovery-mode and its tag-wiki for details). Check whether that's already installed (boot into recovery, and see if the "title line" reads something with <3e> (which indicates the stock recovery), or some other name like "ClockworkMod" or "TWRP"/"TeamWin Recovery" – which are the two major custom recoveries). If not, do so.
Flash the new ROM. This should basically overwrite everything except for user-data and cache.
From the recovery menu, chose to "wipe" /data, /cache, and (if offered) also Dalvik-Cache. That should remove all remaining stuff from the device.
Optionally: Deal with your SD card, if there was any inserted. Malware could have placed something there, so best is to format this as well.

Now you should have "wiped off" all potential evil from the device – as far as you can do so yourself. The only remaining part is the radio-firmware; but I doubt anyone would have tampered with that. If you want to be "absolutely sure", check above link for a radio image as well, which you optimally should flash before the other parts.

Thank you for your guide. I will definitely follow these steps.

Good luck, elsa! If any questions arise during that process, you're welcome to consult us again!

I said wipe by formatting the system folder. Thus, the phone stays without operative system at all. There is absolutely no chance to left any software installed. Did you try sometime to format that folder? I did and when booting the device stays on the first screen (usually the brand screen at the very begin)

@joaquin I don't agree, for reasons pointed out above. A real evil guy could have placed something in the radio image, on the /boot / /recovery partitions, on SD card, or somewhere else. While maybe "unusual", it's not impossible – and was found in the past in all of the mentioned places (yes, including radio – though in that case it was the manufacturer himself placing "evil things"; but who knows who did it here? After all we know, it could be a "China clone" instead of a genuine device.)

Well, I think you are right. But why we are bad thinking about Chinese people? I'm losing part of the big story

I'd say because of "news" like this: Xiaomi Phones Secretly Sending Users' Sensitive Data to Chinese Servers. I know, it sounds like prejudice – not meant it that way. But still, it always raises suspicions.

@Izzy Stack Exchange gives a lot of ideas... LOL, thanks for the data!

Definitely. SE is always my first address when looking for (computer-related) information. It never let me down :) Enjoy your stay!

You could try supersu from play store to unroot your phone. If you are afraid of viruses after this you can use standard antivirus to scan whole phone(without root there is not much to be afraid of viruses) to be sure you can do factory reset what will delete your files but you can backup them with various programs.
You should always do factory reset/wipe after purchasing used phone (especially if rooted)
Read more info from http://www.xda-developers.com/

I wouldn't unroot it. I'd just install a custom recovery and from there I'd format system, data, external sd folders. I'd clean all the caches and I'd install a fresh new copy of cyanogenmod. Then, the phone would run nicely and without absolutely any risk at all.


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Is there a way to get a disk image of the user storage space on modern Android devices?
I want to know if it's possible to get a "disk image" of the storage space on Android devices when they don't use external storage like SD cards.
I'm mostly interested because my kids factory reset my Kindle Fire HDX and I was hoping I could get a disk image (using something like dd in Linux) and then try to recover some of the user data like photos and videos (using something like PhotoRec, http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec).  I've done this lots of times with SD cards and hard disks by simply mounting the storage device in a desktop running Debian, and executing something like:
# dd if=/dev/sdb1 of=image.iso

Then you can use PhotoRec and/or TestDisk, depending on what you want, to get useful stuff out of the image file.
Even some of my very old Android devices seem to allow mounting a storage device in this way (without removing SD card from the phone) and following this process.  Unfortunately, it looks like many new devices that don't have removable storage (like my Kindle Fire HDX and my Nexus 5) only allow you to interface with a computer using Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) and Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP).
Can I use these protocols to get a bit-by-bit copy of the storage in the device?  Is there a way to add the older storage device capabilities to new phones?

Related: How to recover a deleted file from /data partition?.

After doing some more research, I think I've found a partial solution here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2450045

First, you need to get ADB set up on your computer.
In Linux it's pretty easy.  Something like running
# apt-get install android-tools-adb
or downloading and extracting a directory.
Find your partitions.
Run something like:
adb shell
cat /proc/partitions
There are other options in the link for how to find and identify all the partitions.
Copy the data
The dd tool should be available.  You can run something like
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p9 of=/sdcard/image.img

Unfortunately, I have two problems with this. The first is that the permissions on partition devices might require root access. The second is that the Kindle Fire HDX and many other modern devices that don't have "USB Mass Storage" also don't use SD cards. So there is no easy location to write the image you want that isn't already used for something else on the device.
I'm trying to find a way to mount network devices or transfer data over USB between the device and computer (adb push and adb pull won't do what's needed as far as I can tell). I'll update this if I can find a good solution. Otherwise I'll ask some other questions about it.
Edit: This page has a great description along the lines of what I have above: http://www.df.lth.se/~jokke/androidfilerecovery/
As noted below, root is necessary, but there are usually lots of ways to get that easily. Unfortunately, I was working with the Fire HDX 8.9. Halfway through my copying data to an image file, the thing auto downloads an update to 4.1.1. Next thing I know, root access disappears and I don't think there's an exploit out for it yet. I probably lost any recoverable data after the update was written to the internal storage anyway. I'm so frustrated with Amazon lately...

You're correct: No way to get a dd dump without root access. As for the copying, AFAIK there are ways to "bridge" it via USB to the other end: I've seen an article describing that somewhere, but don't remember where that was :( Basically: re-directing the output of dd like adb shell "dd ..." > /localdir/file.dump, where localdir resides on your computer.

Thanks. That looks like the ideal solution.  I've updated my answer. There's a great page on this process at: http://www.df.lth.se/~jokke/androidfilerecovery/ (I still can't believe how long it took me to find it).

Yes! Exactly that was what I had in mind. Glead I could at least provide the correct pointer :) // Btw: as it is preferable to include the essentials with your answer (the link might die one day), mind to do so with your answer? Or would you prefer I put a separate answer doing that?

It would've been nice to include the exact procedure from the link, instead just linking to it. Links die sometimes. Also, the update goes to the system partition. There's no reason why It'd have overwritten the data partition as well.

Joshua pretty much answered the question. However, Izzy gave extra insight to tackle them odd/rare variations of the same problem.
I would like to contribute (my first contribution post in over 10 years) for those who would stumble into the very same scenario as I did. Anyways, 24 hours later, with persistent and determination, the following command will shed some light (assuming you've intermediate/advanced skills already).
Btw, I won't be explaining it, as the command itself is pretty obvious.
adb shell "dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p37 of=/dev/pts/0" > part37-img-dump.dd

These are the tools I used to get the job done.
C:\HTCOneRoot\
 |--\adb.exe (version 1.0.31 21/05/2013, latest was buggy)
 |--\fastboot.exe (version fc2a139a55f5-android 24/04/2016)
 |--\AdbWinApi.dll
 |--\AdbWinUSBApi.dll
 |--\part37-img-dump.dd (output from the 'adb' command)

Note:

dd will output stats to stdout after completion (BusyBox related)
find a tool to trim the unwanted offsets at the EOF (not a must to do)
mount the image using the preferred data recovery software or whatever
/dev/pts/0 should work straight up, but if you happen to be running multiple adb shell command from multiple console/terminal, then be careful of the dev pointer ref number as it will be different. By using the following command, you can simply figure out which one: pts:0, pts:1, ...

adb shell "ps -l"

In my case I've used adb shell su -c "dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0" | pv > backup.dd ... if haven't pv... apt-get install pv or remove of the line

This line: adb pull /Dev/block/device-by-name/userdata data.img should work. I didn't test it out but should be close.  This would pull the whole image which you could flash or maybe push later in the process of restoring. It only works if you're rooted. I won't work when you aren't. Permissions error. I am guessing if you did fastboot with TWRP and not rooted, if you get decrypt working, you can copy the image that way. I am avoiding rooting right now. Seems to be more stable with Android 10


text:
ERROR : Unknown error when installing the application "-24"
Every time I try to download an app called icoron on my Galaxy note 3 an error message appears,
Unknown error when installing the application "-24
Can anyone please help me?

Go to /data/data/
search for your app com.cfinc.iconkisekae
(If you wish to keep the information that it contains for the app, Recommend making a copy of it first.)
Delete it
Install the application again.

DONE!!!!
source

how do i go to /data/data/ ? in the browser?

Use File manager.


text:
Unable to boot phone after deleting folders in SD storage
Am using a Samsung galaxy duos. I recently deleted everything from my sd card/usb storage and when I restarted my phone, it just keeps displaying the Samsung start screen but it doesn't boot up.
please help,need advice.