text:
What are these small 8-4-4-4-12 hexdigits-named files in root dir?
(Post edited to add more info.)
My Android phone contains, in the lowest user-accessible directories of both phone storage and SD card, several small files named xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx where x is a hex digit.
There are three of them in the phone storage /sdcard (all zero size), owned by root:sdcard_rw and mode 664.  And there are six in the external SD card /mnt/extSdCard (some zero size, some 36 bytes long), owned by system:media_rw and mode 775.  Dates range from 2013 to one week ago.
All files are readable, and those who aren't empty contain only a string which is identical to the filename.
I was curious to know what is the purpose of these files and if they can be deleted safely.
Is it a coincidence that they have the same format as an UUID?

What size are those files? Were you able to look into one of them – and if so, are they readable (if unreadable, any readable parts at the start)? At least for the SD card I'd say they are safe to remove, but I'd better check first.

Good questions.  I've edited my original question to answer you.

Thanks for the edit! Looks strange indeed. I'm pretty confident you can safely delete them at least from the SD card (for safety, you can create a temp folder and move them there; so if unexpected issues pop up after that, you can move them back). Not sure what you mean by "phone root dir": can you give a full path for that? Also, if possible, use a terminal app (or adb shell) to run ls -l on that location to verify their ownership, which might give us a better clue (for those not on SD card).

Done, please see edited post.

Ah! I already suspected that. What you call "phone storage" is the internal SD card – "phone storage" is something different (/data and other things, the "phone root dir" would be /). OK, in that case it should be safe to remove all of them (and permissions do not tell us much here, as for SD cards, everything is owned by root:sdcard_rw resp. system:sdcard_rw with mode 755). Again, if you're afraid, you can first move them to a temp folder – and if "nothing strange" happens for a couple of days, delete that folder.

I would not recommend deleting random files without trying to understand what they are or where they come from.

I don't think it is a coincidence that they're formatted like GUID, I believe they are GUID. What the GUID stands for, my guess is a good as anyone's. It could be either as simple as a device tracking cookie used by advertiser, or it could be a recovery identifier for a game account (which may not have required account registration). They could have been anything.


text:
How to revoke "SMS Services that cost you money" permission?
I have an Android 6, Samsung S6 smartphone and today I bought a tram ticket via SMS.  Before sending, a warning popped up asking if I wanted to grant the Messages app the permission "SMS Services that cost you money".  I assume this was because the SMS ("Premium SMS") is overcharged (by the price of the ticket), since the app never asked for this permission before sending a SMS.
I replied Yes, since it was a legitimate purchase, but I was in a hurry and involuntarily I ticked the option "remember my choice".
Now I would like that Android keeps asking me before sending Premium SMSs, since it's a security risk, but I couldn't find a setting to disable this option.  Is this possible?  Or the only way is to hard reset my phone and reconfigure it from scratch?  I can't believe Android doesn't offer this option.

Which messaging app is it? Does any relevant permission shows up in Settings -> Applications/Apps -> your messaging app -> Permissions?

It's the standard Messages app, and the only relevant permission is to send and receive SMS messages.

It appears that there used to be an option to revoke that permission which is not available anymore in Android M, once granted. Related discussion.

Thanks. I found the same exact page while looking for a solution. And here's a related question, but the accepted answer doesn't work: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/125939/reset-the-request-permission-dialog-on-marshmallow

I wonder if this would be an accessible preference to other apps... if so, someone (I'm probably not good enough) could write an app to fix this... I think it would be a shared preference. Did anyone try clearing the cache?

You can choose another setting by going into Settings > Applications > Applications Manager > More (top right) > Show System Apps > Message Service (rather than Messages) >
Tap 'Send Premium SMS' > Select Ask, Never Allow or Always Allow.
On more recent versions of Android (Nougat V7) the setting is at Settings > Apps > Application Manager > More (top right) > Special Access > Use Premium SMS services (may be listed as Use Premium text message services) > Select Ask, Never Allow or Always Allow.

On which Android version and device did you test your answer upon? I'm asking in response to this comment of mine.

On my Android (6.0.1) it just says "No permissions".  There's no option "Send Premium Text Message".

I'm running 6.0.1 on the S7 Edge, but my bad the instructions were slightly incorrect. Once you click into the Message Service app the option will show there - http://i.imgbox.com/xfjn8zwk.png

Did this manage to resolve the issue dr01 and Firelord?

I run Android 6.0.1 on a S6 and there's no option "Send premium SMS", but I'm glad to see this issue was solved in a newer version. Granting +1 and marking this as best answer.

Update: Latest security patch added this option ("Send premium text message") on my S6 too.

Apply the same solution as given in the Accepted Answer to your default messaging app. For example, my default messaging app is Textra. One of these Permissions warnings came up, but was answered by a force other than myself, locking me out of being able to send answer messages to a mobile service I needed to use. I was able to go to the Settings shown above for the Textra App, and change the behavior back to something under my control.

On Android 13 the setting was in: Settings>Apps>Special app access>Premium SMS access.

Well, bad news: It appears to be another of these annoying, huge Android bugs for which there's no solution yet.
The only workaround is to use another app for sending SMS, or to hard reset the phone.
From the discussion linked in the comments:

(...) the particular drop-down setting - for premium sms - you could toggle through back in an app's permissions in previous Android versions starting from 4.2. The case would arise if when using an app that required to send an sms to a 5-digit number, the OS would present a 'You might get charged' warning popup, which would prompt you to Allow or Deny sending the sms. If you also checked the "Don't ask me again" option then this warning popup would not appear again next time.
A user could reset that checked option in Settings> Apps (or Application Manager), going to the permissions section of the specified app and uncheck the premium sms "lock"; With Marshmallow though, there does not seem to be a similar option back in app settings.
The permissions toggles only enable/disable the standard SMS sending and have no effect on a premium sms locked option when they are enabled, leading to a blocking scenario where if a user had selected the "Don't ask again" option initially, he/she will not be able to resend an sms from the particular app.
Even worse is the fact that uninstalling and re-installing the app does not reset that initial selection, rendering the sending of sms to 5-digit numbers impossible and beyond the user's control.

In the discussion you can read the comments of other users which have the opposite problem -- they replied "No" and ticked "Don't ask again", and now they are forbidden from sending Premium SMSs.

Happened the same thing with me. Solution: instal a 3rd party sms app, then make it the default message app. When I tried to send the premium sms it asked for permission again, and I allowed, now it works again in both apps, the 3rd party and the original one!

theres an option to fix it go to applications then select the message app scroll  down to the permission directly cost u money its clickable select ask.

Only option till now in marshmallow android 6 if you are not able to send sms to short code numbers like 12345 or 123 or 1900 or when you try to send them your network towers goes away is to reset all app permissions, by going to settings-apps-click on the 3 dots on the top right corner in the screen and select reset all app preferences. Now send a short code message and allow it.

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text:
BackupManager causing my phone to reboot
I have Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4.0.1 running Kernel 3.0.1-ga052f63. Every 2 hours, my phone reboots itself. It started doing this 2-3 days ago. I may have installed/uninstalled some apps around that time but I don't remember exactly.
I've gotten a screenshot of the logcat the instant after the phone reboots and 3/3 times it has been exactly after the BackupManagerService activates:

I can also cause the reboot by calling adb shell bmgr run as seen here: Google IssueTracker - BackupManager causes reboot when BackupAgent missing
Is there any way to manage or at least see what apps are 'queued' in the BackupManager? Is there a way to completely disable the BackupManager?

Well, I figured out how to disable the BackupManager (I think), in "Settings" -> "Backup & reset" -> uncheck "Back up my data". I would still like to figure out the cause of the problem though.

Izzy is totally spot on with the logcat - the wallpaper - are you running a live wallpaper that could be interfering with the backup by any chance? Switch to static wallpaper and see if that helps?

Googles Backup-API uses the directory /data/backup to queue outstanding backups (which are not yet transferred). So if your device is rooted, you could investigate this directory for any files contained, and probably remove them if they cause trouble (I'm not sure if/how it then will be handled to figure out which backups it has to repeat, though -- so it's your own risk).
But from your LogCat I'd say BackupManager already cleared that directory (the second black line reads clearing pending backups, followed by beginning backup of 3 targets) -- so I rather assume there's some faulty implementation with one of those 3 apps. I'm not a developer, though, so I cannot say.
You can check your history of installed apps (the App Appmonster IMHO offers to see the installation date; I'm not sure where to find this information with stock apps) to see, which ones you installed last, and "roll back" until the problem disappers (or you left the "probable time frame").
EDIT: Do you have some more lines of that LogCat? It stops just when it's becoming interesting. I'd follow those lines belonging to PID 181 here, so you probably can figure out which app is causing the problem. Fifth line from the bottom up e.g. shows a wallpaper being backed up, along with the wallpaper's API call (android.app.backup.WallpaperBackupHelper -- I guess that's rather some Android internal to backup wallpaper settings, but again: I'm not a developer, I can only make guesses). There might be more lines like this, giving clues.

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text:
Sharing internet from PC (reverse-tethering) with hotspot mode
I have a HTC One V which runs the default HTC-supplied Android 4.0, not rooted. I occasionally come across situations where I've got a dialup (or non-GSM mobile internet) or other non-wireless network and wireless would be really useful.
Can I connect my phone to a computer on the internet through USB with USB passthrough - which is supported, then share that through hotspot mode?


text:
How can I sync Chrome's bookmarks to Dolphin?
I have Android and iOS devices, so I use Dolphin's browser for the bookmark sync. Is there any way I can get my Chrome bookmarks to sync into my Dolphin bookmarks at least once?
I'm aware of Chrome to Phone, etc. but so far all solutions I see either keep my bookmarks in a separate app (useless for Dolphin Sync) or they only copy them to the default Android browser which I don't use.
My phone's Android 2.3.3, so I can't use Chrome for Android yet.


text:
Play a live YouTube stream in the YouTube app
For example youtube.com/opener - it won't play via the browser, but I can't figure out how to access it via the app.
Is it possible?

Check how you are looking for it in the app you have a couple options you can try:
From the regular youtube.com/opener site subscribe to the channel
or
From the app search for the AlterArt2 channel and subscribe to it
The channel isn't actually listed as opener it is under AlterArt2 so watch that to make sure you are able to find it. I located it on my youtube app and was able to subscribe and view. I'm using an HTC One X ICS.
Hope that helps.

It seems that if you add the livestream to your Watch Later list, you can then view it via this on your mobile device. However, it will start from the beginning of the stream and it seems you cannot forward it. You can pause it, but I found that if I left the application, when I  would go back it would take me all the way to the start again.
Maybe this can help someone somehow.

You can use the browser.
Just type the livestream link, and it will load normally. On the downside, it will lag a little bit.


text:
How to transfer files over WiFi without a hotspot?
I'm looking for a way to transfer files between an Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S2, rooted) and any computer system I may need to interact with (this means preinstalled software on the computer, besides a regular web browser, is not an option) without connecting to an actual WiFi hotspot.
Essentially I'm looking for something that works the same was as WiFi direct (allows two phones to transfer files over WiFi) but that would be compatible with any computer with WiFi.
So far I have tried creating an ad-hoc connection from the phone (as I can't take the computer being ad-hoc-creating-able for granted) using Android WiFi Tether and connecting the computer to the device, testing the different modes it offers (WEXT, Netd & Softap). I have tried to connect to and from the computer over LAN, FTP and SMB without any success.
I feel like I'm missing some small step over here. I've looked through multiple other posts, but I couldn't find any that would show a way to do this without actually connecting to an already available wifi network.

For future reference, this is one of the many things that Bluetooth is good for.

Not if you want to transfer large files.

But, you don't want to use a file sharing website? Those are the simplest ways of doing so. There are a few without any storage limits, so...

@rjt.rockx That would be the equivalent of being already connected to a hotspot.

Oh, okay. I dunno anything about this, but I just wanted to help, that's all. Good luck for your question!

@Nit : Would it suit your needs to make your Android a Web/FTP server and download your stuff on any device that can connect to internet? If the device is in your vicinity then you can always make the server limited to local. But you countered one argument here as That would be the equivalent of being already connected to a hotspot. So I ask you here:- Do you want data transfer without involving internet connectivity at all or is completely about not using Wifi which involves hotspot?

@Firelord The question is about transferring files wirelessly without network connectivity, yes.

If the point is to not to use internet connectivity, then I suggest to use Servers Ultimate Pro. You can make a local FTP server on Android which can be accessed from any common device through browser to download stuff and upload to server via some app (popular OS are supported). There is a catch here. If you don't want external Wifi to be used here then you've to create hotspot. But this app can limit the FTP access to your hotspot's subnet making it virtually inaccessible from outside world.

More so, if the concern is to not to allow the other device to use your internet from hotspot, then either disable Mobile Data for that time or use an app like AFWALL+ to deny any normal request unless requesting Public DNS like 8.8.8.8 manually.

What do you want more in the answer as you opened the bounty?

@SS-3.1415926535897932384626433 Preferably a more streamlined use experience, hopefully provided by some newer app.

I think Windows 10 should start integrating full wifi-direct discovery in the near future, as they have released full API support for it.

Connect your computer with virtual hotspot created by Android device.
Install any FTP Server app on Android device. It'll NOT give you IP of device for sure. :)
In your computer, find IP of Default Gateway of Wi-Fi network of Step 1 (In Windows, you can use ipconfig cmd command). Its the IP of your device.
Use any FTP Client software on computer. Use ftp://IP:Port (Port is generally configurable in FTP server app). Enter username & password configured in FTP Server app. Done!

After some testing with different settings I got it to work flawlessly, thank you very much.
For anyone else looking to do this: I used Android Wifi Tether (linked in original question) to start the network using Softap mode, connected to it with the computer, started an FTP server (some server apps might need you to enable 3G mode, even though 3G data isn't actually used, you can turn data connections off if you're paranoid.

@Nit You could use MobileAP feature of Galaxy S2. Its the easiest way to create hotspot..

I think the reverse answer should also work: 1) set PC as hotspot. 2) share folder (SMB or SFTP). 3) connect to PC hotspot with phone. 4) Use client like ES explorer to transfer stuff. But setting a PC with wifi up as a hotspot is tricky (infrastructure mode).

A simple way (once you're set up) that only requires a browser on the computer side is something like Airdroid, Webkey, or Lazydroid; which essentially turn your phone into a server, and which you can easily access from any browser (even outside your local network - with dyndns you can also keep in contact with your handset if it "disappears", w/o it you'll have to see the phone or find it's IP address another way).
Essentially with a server app on the phone that is linked to a dyndns account, you can walk up to any PC, and access your phone no matter where it is (barring firewalls, no signal, etc) This allows you to sound an alarm, get gps and other sensor info, blank/lockout the screen, view the camera feed, run/interact with any apps on the phone, and lockout the ability to reset (short of a batt pull). Some programs work better than others depending on the device, I have all three on my Atrix for full flexibility. I don't like to waste the processing on it, but you can also set up a persistent fileserv or even host a website.
for full functionality or even for some of these apps to work on some phones you need root access and to make the apps Superusers

You can try the following instead of using FTP:

Install ES File Explorer on your phone
Start a hotspot on your phone
Connect the PC to the phones hotspot
Get the IP address of your PC
Open ES File Explorer on your phone go into the network tab and hit new
Select LAN
In the server box put the IP address of your PC
You will then be able to freely copy or send anything in your shared folders or public folders.

This requires the PC having shared/public folders, presumably SMB shares.

Step 1:
Right click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt(Admin).
Type the following command to check for Hosted Network feature:
netsh wlan show drivers
If Hosted network supported: Yes, go to Step 2 else
if it's No, then you should update your wireless driver or your hardware.
Step 2:
Now to configure the Ad Hoc connection, type this command:
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=your desired network name key=your password.
To start Ad Hoc network, further type this command:
netsh wlan start hostednetwork
If it says Failed to start, make sure your PC/laptop's wireless adapter is enabled.
Step 3:
Right click on the network icon in the quich launch, click on Network and Sharing Center and then click on Change adapter settings. Then again right click on Wi-Fi network and select Properties. Go to Sharing tab, check the box Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection, if there's a drop down menu select the Ad Hoc connection you just created and then finally click OK.
Now you can connect all your Wi-Fi devices such as mobile Phones and other lappys to this Ad hoc network and share files.
On a side note:
If you have Windows 7, then from Set up a new connection or network, one can easily create an Ad Hoc wireless connection through "Set up a wireless Ad Hoc". The above procedure is for Windows 8.1.

Get filedrop (it requires the person that you want to transfer the file to to have it) It works a lot like AirDrop but on any device. I use it often when I have to transfer files between my friends. There are two options on a computer, either their app, or their website

Doesn't support transferring files without already being connected to a wireless network.

SuperbeamPro  has the ability to share file between android and pc through wifi direct

Taken right from the app description: "In order to use this app, your computer and your phone need to be on the same local area network."

@Nit updated the answer

This would be a great tool, but the free version allows you to conveniently move files only in one direction, from the phone to the computer. Also, the amount of ads is ridiculous.

I would suggest you an app named "Xender".
Xender for PC Windows is the ideal choice for all those android users who are looking for best quality transmission app to help them transfer files with blazingly fast speed.
In fact, this app allows its users to transfer files from one android device to another without requiring any of the usual connectivity options such as 3G, Wi-Fi, or even something as basic as a SIM card. Therefore, it can be the best option for transferring files without costing anything for mobile traffic.

Xender uses its own temporary wifi hotspot. I use it a lot and it's a mess, since it overrides the custom hotspot settings under Settings.

Or you can use wifi file transfer pro apk
first create hotspot then open the app and choose the start button it will activate FTP on yoir phone and then just enter ip address displayed in your pc browser after connecting to your network

This solution is similar to #1 but requires no additional software on the PC side. Once set up its easy to use. (...running a FTP server on the PC can also represent some additional risk, unless you use SSH SFTP and its all set up correctly)

Install SMB client on Android. (AndSMB works)
Fire up hotspot on Android (typically an icon on the same drop down as WiFi, but have to first set up (one time) under settings->Wireless&Networks->More->Tethering & portable hotspot->WiFi hotspot->set up WiFihotspot. Adjust network name if desired, and enter a password.
Turn on the hot spot. Typically you will not be able connect to WiFi and have the hotspot on at the same time. When you turn on the hotspot it turns the WiFi connection off.

On PC

Use your regular WiFi to connect to your Android hotpot, using the password you created above.
Run from a command prompt ipconfig /all
Under the Wireless Lan Adapter Network Connection in use, note the IPv4 address, copy the numbers and dots only, not the (Preferred) part if its included.
Be sure you have file sharing turned on. For Win 10 its Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings Under Private drop down Turn on file and printer sharing. This means anyone connected to your local LAN via wire, or via your routers Wireless, can access files and printers on that PC, by logging in (as if they were at that PC).

On Andriod

In the SMB client, add a SMB server
Host - use the above IP number
username - use the username you use when you log in to your PC
password - typically leave blank and enter each time
domain - leave blank
local directory - typically use default
Remote directory - typically /users/yourPcUserNameHere/desktop
Save

Once set up, to use

On Android turn on the hotspot (typically just a button on the same drop down as Wifi)
On PC use WiFi to connect to the hotspot
on Android run SMB client
Use your PC password
Get or put files in both directions

After files are transferred

On Android, turn off hotspot. Typically you turn WiFi back on. It typically auto connects.
On PC, once the hot spot is off it typically auto connects to your regular local WiFi.

You can use WeLine, Connect PC or recently Xender, Transfer & Connect PC both created by  Anmobi.inc. It's a free app and uses wifi direct. Xender transfers everything you need between your phone and your computer, be it PC, MAC or Chromebook.

HIGHLIGHTS
☆ Simple way to connect your phone to computer by scanning
QR code. No cables!
☆ No need to have your phone and computer under
same WLAN as long as both are online with internet access. And you can transfer files both ways(i.e., Phone -> PC/MAC and PC/MAC -> Phone) wireless.
☆ Compatible between your Android phone and your PC or MAC
☆ Full access and management of phone resources including pictures, music, videos, documents, applications, files and folders.
☆ Supports management of phone SD card from your computer.
☆ Two way file transfer between phone and computer with high transfer speed under direct link mode.
☆ Play the music in your phone on your computer.
☆ Cast pictures from phone to computer and supports full screen display.

The question asks specifically for solutions for which you don't need to be connected, this doesn't satisfy the requirements.

I know this is too little too late, but...
I tried to connect my phone (LG Motion on Stock 4.0.4) and couldn't initiate a Ad Hoc network from the phone to my PC. I wrote this workaround using 'Fast File Transfer' app to establish the Ad Hoc network and proceeded from there.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2272529
With a little tinkering (maybe the wpa file hack or a custom ROM) I'm sure I could get it to work through Airdroid alone, but I find the stability of the stock ROM as inherently better and this is a quick workaround.

No, it's not too late, but you've also not provided any information. Answers on Stack Exchange are expected to be self-contained. Without the information at the other side of that link, there is nothing of value here. At the very least, consider what happens when that link no longer functions. Also, please don't "sign" your posts. Please read our [FAQ].

authors: صلاح الدين صديق

authors: ณ๊องฝน คาร์เนชั่น


text:
How to create a soft link between root partition and ext3 partition(on SD)
I am trying to create symbolic links of /data/sdext2/app/* on /data/app.
This is what I did in adb shell
ln -sf /data/sdext2/app/* /data/app/
But it is telling "link failed No such file or directory".
Note that none of the partitions are of FAT32 format.
And without -f option it says "link failed File exists".

ln only takes 2 arguments at most (not counting options), the ../* wildcard however expands to all filenames in the folder. Just do place an echo before ln to see what happens.
Do it one by one this way:

cd /data/sdext2/app
  for i in *; do ln -s /data/sdext2/app/"$i" /data/app/;done

or

for i in /data/sdext2/app/*; do ln -s "$i" /data/app/$(basename "$i");done

EDIT
Ok, this is how it works on my device:

me@workstation:~$ adb shell
  shell@android:/ $ id
  uid=2000(shell) gid=2000(shell)   groups=1003(graphics),1004(input),1007(log),[...]
  shell@android:/ $ su
  shell@android:/ # id
  uid=0(root) gid=0(root)   groups=1003(graphics),1004(input),1007(log),[...]
  shell@android:/ # cd /data/
  shell@android:/data # ln -s /data/sdext2/app/banana.app /data/app/cucumber.app
  shell@android:/data # ls -l /data/app/cucumber.app
  lrwxrwxrwx root     root              2012-11-06 22:30 /data/app/cucumber.app -> /data/sdext2/app/banana.app

Will that link hidden files/folders?

Hehe :-) Of course not, but the original attempt wouldn't do that either (so I didn't bother).

still same problem.. i can use other apps like root explorer and link2sd to create soft links.. wonder how it is done..

See my update, also read more on the ln command here.

so.. what do u exactly want me to do??

I made it this way
cp -a /sdcard/olivetree /sdcard/sdcard-disk/olivetree
rm -rf /sdcard/olivetree
ln -sf /sdcard/sdcard-disk/olivetree /sdcard/olivetree

But for wired reasons it didn't work or me in android 'Terminal Emulator' but smoothly worked from my PC via Putty and android 'SSH Droid'.


text:
Why didn't my Android auto adjust to daylight saving time and how to fix it?
My Galaxy Nexus, Jelly Bean, was set to Automatic Date & Time, Automatic Time Zone, and the correct Time Zone was shown: "GMT -03:00, Brasilia Time". Here in Brazil Daylight Saving Time begins today. Android didn't detect that.
To be fair Microsoft for many years also made the DST start in the wrong week in its Windows products. If I recall correctly, it required a new law from our Government to make the DST more predictable, so in the last few years Windows got it right.
I don't know if Android will make the DST start in the wrong weekend or if it won't work at all. How can I correct it?

Doesn't your clock get auto-adjusted by your carrier?

@AlEverett Apparently no, is there anything I can set to make it happen?

It could be that the Telephony layer does not understand the semantics of NITZ which is transmitted over the cellular network... this is highly dependent on the RIL layer to handle this for you.

You will need to research how to set this on Galaxy Nexus and Jelly Bean, but ..

You are currently using "GMT -03:00, Brasilia Time", and this does not include Daylight Savings by default.
You need to instead use (one of):
 America/Bahia
 America/Sao_Paulo

These all use UTC -2:00 for DST.
See:
Wikipedia: Time in Brazil

When I use "Automatic Time Zone, use network-provided time zone" it gives me "GMT -03:00, Brasilia Time".
When I set it manually, there's only one option with Brasilia in its name: "GMT -02:00, Brasilia Time". Using that corrects the issue and gives me the proper time.

It could be a bug in JB, as every country seems to have its own rules for Daylight Saving Time. Brazil changed the rules in 2011.
Not all regions in Brazil observe DST, so you can try a to specify a city/region that does observe DST.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time_by_region_and_country#Brazil

the problem is that you're getting your clock updated directly through your router configs.
you should change the clock settings in your router in order to get this fixed, as your time and date configurations come directly from it because Nexus 7 doesn't have a SIM card from which it would obtain local time.
Best wishes.

I haven't mentioned Nexus 7. I said Galaxy Nexus. It has a SIM card.

Android like most popular mobile OS has 2 options as has been indicated above
 1. Manual time setting.(by not selecting auto Time and Time-zone option)
 2. Automatic time/time-zone setting from connection/network provider.
You would get these under setting(under system tab/category), if you search for time.
Now for 1 as is obvious. You have to set it back/forward during DST/DST over days. For 2 you have to select both automatic Time and Time-zone option from network provider. It does not work if you select just automatic time.
However even with both of them set to auto, some network provider don't have enough towers to handle and distinguish between 2 regions one which has DST and which does not.  The only solution in this case to manually set the time-zone based on your knowledge of what it should be.
This should help.


text:
How can I make RUU 4.0 update on HTC Desire S?
How can I make RUU 4.0 update on HTC Desire S?
After downloading the zip file, I don't know which are the next steps in to the update process.
Please give me detailed instructions.
Thanks!

It is an very easy process.

First make sure that you have the driver installed. If not install this simple driver http://downloads.unrevoked.com/HTCDriver3.0.0.007.exe by downloading and running the file.
After this unzip the RUU zip file you downloaded. You'll see one pdf file and one .exe file.
If you want you can read the instructions on pdf file.
Connect the phone and run the exe file and follow the step by step wizard.

Things to watch out for:

Make sure your phone has at least 60% charge.
This process will take around 10 minutes to complete, don't unplug the phone until the wizard says the process is complete.
Your phone will reboot during the process which is normal.


text:
Using OTG cable, transfer file from cardreader to external harddisk, is it possible?
I will be going on a holiday and I want to be able to back up my photos to my external harddrive.
Usually this means bringing a laptop with me.
However I have :

Galaxy Nexus, rooted and unlocked
OTG Cable
Powered USB hub
Standard, fullsize SD card reader

So I hooked up everything. Nexus-> OTG -> USB Hubs with power supply -> External Harddrive and SD card reader
Nothing happens.
I can connect a Logitech wireless mouse to it and I can use my phone via the mouse. So everything are connected, with power.
I read that I need to mount the external drive and the SD card reader. So I opened Astro but it doesn't seem to auto mount.
I searched and I found StickMount, an App which mount USB storage devices for you. I tried that however it will not mount my external drive nor my SD card reader.
Can anyone help please?
EDIT: I downloaded a Root Checker and found out that my device is not properly rooted, perhaps that is why StickMount could not mount my drives. Does anyone know how would I mount the drives without root access? Is it possible?


text:
Filling in the blanks in a Kindle book
I'm considering buying a Kindle version of a workbook which requires a lot of blanks to be filled. I'm aware of "Note" feature in Kindle app for Android but texts that are entered this way do not show on book pages (in blanks) as they would in a paper version of the workbook  (there are only icons indicating notes) and this limits their usefulness.
Any ideas how to work around this and make Kindle workbooks as usable as the paperback ones?


text:
Why is my 16GB SD card not being read in my Samsung Galaxy S?
Why is my 16GB SD card not being read in my Samsung Galaxy S?
I've tried to format it several times but nothing happens.

Have you installed Total Commander? If so it might tell you something about the mount point.

Have you checked the filesystem format on the sd-card? The Galaxy S only supports fat32 formatted sd-cards. It might help to insert the card into a PC and format it manually to fat32

Start by reading:
xda developers >. [Help] Changing Around Mountpoints for sdcard and extSdCard?

Excerpt: Some previous Samsung devices had no external storage at all but still mapped the biggest flash partition to /mnt/sdcard.
  The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 has a Micro SD card slot on it (one of the reasons I bought the thing!), but I guess for compatibility they still mount an internal flash storage partition to /sdcard. The actual micro SD card gets mounted to freaking /mnt/extSdCard.

First you need to find out where it is being mounted (on Galaxy S), and whether the command you are using is for internal flash OR the microSD card ..

Answer with only link isn't considered helpful. If the link doesn't work in future this answer will be useless.


text:
Galaxy S3 - email notifications not working for emails going to subfolders
I have set up my GS3 to receive my work emails from Outlook exchange server all works fine, I found the subfolders, (not as easy as you would hope) I am using the defaul email app ( our security protocols are too hard to try to find new apps!)
Q1: I can't get the subfolders to stay up to date without going into each folder and synching. Can anyone give clear instrcutions relevant to my phone to resolve this?
Q2: I don't get a new email notification when an email goes directly to a folder. I only know about emails going into the normal inbox trays only. This was an issue with my old Blackberry too, but did get resolved eventually by setting up folder access rights. Does anyone have a resolution to this. In the account settings there is no way to change notifications for folders only the whole account so this is turned on and working if limited to the in box only.
thanks

I don't know about the default email app (didn't use it anymore in the last 2 years), but I don't see how to fix that there: to my experience, automatic checks are limited to the inbox. Which also is the default for most other clients; with K-9 Mail you can configure it for any folder.

While you're in each sub-folder go into Settings->Sync Options and change to sync automatically or on the schedule that you want.


text:
Is it possible to use an Android phone as network disk, so I can browse it on my TV?
Is it possible to connect an Android phone to my TV with a USB cable, and then browse a network disk instead of the SD card?
To answer comment questions: HTC Desire HD, TV is able to browse USB storage devices. At the moment I go to my PC, connect to my phone with the USB cable, and put a video file on the SD card. Then I walk to my TV and plug the phone into the usb port. Then I browse the SDcard to find the video file, and open it. Every once in a while I connect my phone to the TV, and then find out that I need to go upstairs to my PC again, because there are no video files left to watch. And then I think "If I only could use a network file explorer (like ES) and use it to browse it on my tv"...
The TV supports none of the protocols since it has no network connection (no cable/WiFi). It has a USB port to browse usb storage devices.

I'd say that very much depends on your Android phone, your TV, the operating systems and version used, and maybe some more criteria we'll never know before you tell -- as it currently stands, your question is hard to answer. Would you please fill in the other details?

OK, to answer your questions: HTC Desire HD, TV is able to browse USB storage devices. At the moment I go to my PC, connect to my phone with the USB cable, and put a video file on the SD card. Then I walk to my TV and plug the phone into the usb port. Then I browse the SDcard to find the video file, and open it. Every once in a while I connect my phone to the TV, and then find out that I need to go upstairs to my PC again, because there are no video files left to watch. And then I think "If I only could use a network file explorer (like ES) and use it to browse it on my tv"...

Give your TV specs for more answers. Is it Android TV? Does it support DLNA?

By the way, @dymutaos' answer will work.

The TV supports none of the protocols since it has no network connection (no cable/WiFi). It has a USB port to browse usb storage devices.

@spambas - On Stack exchange sites is is better to edit your question with information requested by comments. That way the question stands on its own and the comments can be tidied (deleted) later on, hence my suggested edit.

It should be possible. You would certainly need root.
If you could mount your network share onto your phone, you could mount it under /mnt/sdcard/network_share. Then your tv would simply browse that folder. To your TV, it would simply look like another folder on your SD card.
This post shows how to mount nfs on your phone. You may need a special version of busybox.
busybox mount -o nolock,ro,hard,intr,vers=3 -t nfs 192.xxx.xxx.x.x:/your/nfs/share /mnt/sdcard/network_share

mm. My HTC Desire HD is not rooted. Is it hard to do that? never had the need to look it up.

Ah, it took me a while to understand how this answer related to the question, but I see what you are suggesting. Can you think of any way of doing this without root?

The longer I think about it the less sure I am this is going to work. If I connect the phone to the TV as a diskdrive, the sd-card will be unmounted from the phone, or am I going at this the wrong way?

As dymotaos wrote, all possibilities to mount remote drives on your Android device probably require root. But you don't have to deal with the command line and parameters, as the Playstore offers some apps which can help you with this.
One of them is CifsManager, which can deal with Windows shares1, a second one would be Mount Manager, which additionally supports NFS2:

While CifsManager is completely free, while Mount Manager in its full version costs you about 3 Euro.

When the SD card is unmounted, and connected to my TV as a storage device, how will these mounts stay there?

What do those mounts have to do with the SD card? The mount points are more likely to be created in the internal storage (most probably in the root file system). I don't know why the CifsManager screenshot shows them below /sdcard; but check the second screenshot (Mount Manager), here they are located below /mnt/cifs, which definitly is not on the sdcard. So it's rather a question of configuration (where you create your mount points).

So this doesn't do what I (topicstarter) need at all...

You wouldn't need to "go upstairs" again with the "upstairs" file systems already mounted on your device, would you? To access those network drives directly on your TV, you might need to mount them on your TV. I'm not sure whether they become accessible via the device's USB connection, but you might give it a try.


text:
Voice announcement of phone calls?
When my phone gets a call it announces either the number or contact of caller. Where can I turn this off or on?
I am using Galaxy S3 / Android 4.0.4.

I don't have the awesome phone like yours but I guess its in Settings - Accessibility.

I checked that, nothing there.

This happens when you have Driving Mode enabled on the S3. Pull down the notifications bar, scroll to the right, and disable Driving mode.
That being said, on my S3, when I reboot with driving mode on, it comes back with it still enabled though the menu says it's not. Just enable it and disable it to make it go away then.


text:
How to reinstall Android on my HTC Explorer using a different language?
I have just moved back to England from China where I bought a HTC Explorer.
It has issues with Google Play, and its market place is a Chinese version so I want to reinstall the OS to an English version.
What is the best way to go about doing this?

You are having a XY problem, what if a solution wouldn't involve reinstalling Android? See this question.

Are you using a Chinese sim?

You could try changing your system language and then see if play store takes the cue. But if the system language has been coded into the build.prop then it would be of no use as your play store would still show Chinese version and apps specific to China. The only alternative you have is try to flash a European/WWE RUU for your phone. Read up on what RUU is else you could possibly brick your phone.
You problem is similar to this. Try this thread on XDA


text:
PC Companion won't update my computer past 1.6
A couple years ago, I picked up an Xperia X10i secondhand.  The phone itself has been working great; no problems whatsoever.  It's a real workhorse.  I unlocked it almost instantly, and followed some steps I Googled way back when to open it up completely.  I can't quite remember what it was, but it was supposed to root the phone.  I don't think I managed to actually root it, but it's been working fine, regardless.
Lately, I've been wanting to update the firmware on it.  Every time I use the Sony Ericsson PC Companion or Update Service, though, to try to update the firmware, it just tells me I have the latest version.
How can I go about updating this to 2.1 or higher?  Are there steps a technically-savvy, but Android newbie could follow to update the firmware?
I'm willing to blow it all away if I have to, although I'd really prefer to not have to do that.

To me this looks much like Sony abandoned support for this device. If that's true, your best chances are making sure the device is rooted, and go for a custum ROM (I guess CyanogenMod does support it, check their devices page and this XDA thread). This Google Search might also prove helpful.

If SE has dropped support for your device (which seems likely) your only way to upgrade your phone is to take root control over your phone and install a custom ROM, a third party version of the Android operating system.
There's a huge modding community, largely centered around the XDA developers forums. There's actually a subforum there for just your device, and the subforum for your device that you want (there's also Q&A sections and whatnot) is XPERIA X10 Android Development.
There's plenty of informative threads in that forum, including:

[HOW-TO]UNLOCK bootloader for X10
Help for Newbies, All questions & Answers for X10

As for what specific ROM to use, I'll leave that up to you. Your first step however should be unlocking your bootloader, getting root and getting CWM Recovery installed on your phone. When you have that installed, you can always create a complete backup of your phone, so if anything breaks you can always restore to that backup via the recovery, since the recovery remains untouched between ROM installations.
If you want to venture into rooting your phone and trying custom ROMs, I wish you good luck! It's a learning experience :)


text:
Bootloop after flashing TWRP (Also lost recovery)
So I was going to root this (previsouly healthy) BQ A4.5. Unlocked the bootloader and flashed TWRP from here:
$ fastboot oem unlock
(bootloader) Start unlock flow

OKAY [ 32.954s]
Finished. Total time: 32.960s
$ fastboot flash recovery downloads/twrp-3.3.1-0-dendeone.img
target reported max download size of 134217728 bytes
Sending 'recovery' (11342 KB)...
OKAY [  0.378s]
Writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [  0.335s]
Finished. Total time: 0.727s
$ fastboot reboot bootloader
rebooting into bootloader
OKAY [  0.003s]
Finished. Total time: 0.058s
$ fastboot reboot
Rebooting...

Finished. Total time: 0.058s

The first reboot to bootloader didn't do anything.
Now it's on a bootloop which states:
Orange State
Your device has been unlocked and can't be trusted
Your device will boot in 5 seconds

Pressing Volume Up + PowerOn used to work for recovery (that's how I got into fastboot mode).
Now, pressing Volume Up/Down/Up+Down + PowerOn doesn't do anything, fastboot stands indefinitely < waiting for any device >, and adb always responds with error: no devices/emulators found regardless of when it's run.
If I press Volume Up+Down it turns off. Plugging in USB it turns on. Nothing else seems to respond.
dmesg states:
[32774.364937] usb 2-7: new high-speed USB device number 59 using xhci_hcd
[32774.514434] cdc_acm 2-7:1.0: Zero length descriptor references
[32774.514450] cdc_acm: probe of 2-7:1.0 failed with error -22
[32774.554519] cdc_acm 2-7:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
[32777.142205] usb 2-7: USB disconnect, device number 59

The disconnect happens before the bq logo appears.
Trash bin time?

Orange state is just a warning shown by bootloader on unlocked devices which implement Android Verified Boot. All that you need to do is find the proper key combination to boot into bootloader mode, which is definitely running.

Same problem with my BQ M8. Here is how I solved it:

With the phone connected via USB, launch CMD to run ADB and test as many times as needed that the PC and terminal can talk to each other with the command adb devices. Eventually, after several attempts, it will return the device and number. Possibly stating the work "recovery".
Go into bootloader with the command adb reboot bootloader. As before, try it as many times as needed until it works (that means you will have to re-run the ADB, and un-plug, plug the phone).
Once on bootloader (you can verify because the phone screen is in "Fastboot..." state), you have to launch in your PC the FLASH TOOLS (hope you know how to use it)
In FlashTools, select only BOOT and RECOVERY tickmarks, and leave the rest unmarked. Then Press on the DOWNLOAD green arrow
Now back in ADB window, use the command fastboot reboot. This will restart the phone, and FlashTools will immediately kick in, flashing the BOOT and RECOVERY files back in your phone (it takes milliseconds)
The phone will restart and this time you will have it all in STOCK (you'll also have the bootloader locked again).


text:
How can I cancel and delete OS Software update of Andoroid KitKat?

Initially I would like to update my Android OS from KitKat to Lollipop. Unfortunately, it will decrease around 950MB it internal memory/RAM. Then I decided will not continue to update it. But, how can I canceled it and delete all the dawnloaded files (548.71MB of OS software)? Only INSTALL button available.

I think you will have to factory reset your device in order to delete the downloaded OS.
As it was downloaded with intention to install, So I don't think there's any other way to delete it (other than rooting and finding it).

'system' is mounted read-only. Downloaded updates are written to /data or possibly /cache. Factory reset also doesn't touch /system.

Yeah, I forgot that. Edited my answer. Thanks

That very horrifying if I can not cancel it. If I have to continue to install, it will make my phone very slow.

I believe software updates don't consume all of your internal storage space. There must be at least 1GB of it left for user. This should not slow the device anyways.
if you still don't want to install the update, you will have to factory reset it.


text:
Google Messages: Contact names are not displayed
Recently, I've found that Google Messages doesn't show a contact name for most of the messages. It's just a phone number displayed. When I click on Details, there is no contact information. When I go to contact via Contacts (Google) app then the number is here.
It doesn't show contact both on the phone and at https://messages.google.com.
The app has permission to allow Contacts.
App version: messages.android_2022101_01_RC02.phone_dynamic
Mobile OS: MIUI 13.0.15 / Android 12 SKQ1.210908.001
Any ideas on how to fix it?

This has been fixed in the messages.android_2022107_04_RC02.phone_dynamic version.

I had the same issue.  Uninstalled/reinstalled, did not fix.
Some contact did not have a 1 in front of the number - adding a 1 made them appear.
Even easier - I changed the current country from "automatically detected" to US in the messages settings.

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.

It has already been fixed, over a year ago, the OP said it was software update


text:
Samsung Galaxy S6: Back button presses by itself
On my Samsung Galaxy S6 (Android 6.0.1), sometimes the back button starts firing by itself, hence closing the current app or going back on a page. Other times it's like a ghost press on other parts of the screen, so that e.g. the menu opens by itself. Often this happens in bursts, making the device unusable.
It's a common problem, as seen here:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s6/help/s6-pressing-button-self-capacitive-key-t3146253
https://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s6/519860-galaxy-s6-capicitative-back-button-spamming.html
https://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s6/556632-back-button-issue-ghost-pressing-constantly-how-can-i-fix.html
https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/Smartphones-Tablets-Wearables/S6-back-button-self-pressing/td-p/160823
https://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-edge/help/random-screen-presses-button-presses-t3599821

Users report as possible causes:

Device overheating
Use of data connection (perhaps causing #1)
Hardware problem (interference from speakers on the capacitive touchscreen)
Moisture (triggering false contacts on the capacitive touchscreen)

In my case, I've noticed it happening especially when I use the Twitter app, which makes large use of the phone capabilities. Running Smart Manager and closing all running apps sometimes solves the issue, so it might really be #1.
Users suggest possible solution (none of which are working):

Factory reset and/or cache reset
Let device cool down
Disable data and/or WiFi connection
Lower volume speakers to less than 75% (?)
Dial *#2663# and do a TSP FW Update (General)

Anyone found a definitive fix for it?
I've had this happen to me on 2016 (hence the post), then the problem disappeared by itself, now in 2019 it's back, more annoying than ever.
Note: Related to an older Galaxy model: Galaxy S4 back button pressing itself

 I faced the same problem. Tried everything but nothing completely solved the problem. Finally visited the service centre and had it fixed. They said some fault in the diigitizer  under the back button  which started going on  like the back button was pressed when the device hits a certain temperature.
 One thing you can try : (If you are rooted) Enable the on-screen navigation buttons and disable the normal sensor buttons and see if the problem persists. Mine was just a month old so i went to the service centre.
 Good Luck hope this helps.

Had same problem. I did a factory reset which solved nothing, i tried the code which resets touch screen sensortivity.  No joy.  It's hardware. If your phone is under warranty take it back.  My cell was not so took it too local repair shop. They replaced a strip that runs around perimeter of my cell. This strip contains the sensors on the bottom of the cell and the side as well as the charger port.
Problem solved. Hope this helps

I wouldn't think of it as a software problem really because if you did a factory reset that should iron most kinks in the OS. And this isn't restricted to the S6 only as it had been reported as early as the S4. It had been attributed likely to a hardware problem caused either during packaging/ transportation/ mechanical damage e.g during a fall read here
If your device is fairly new take it back for repair or to an authorized Samsung repair center. In opening the phone they are likely to ease pressure on the plate that makes the the contact between the back button and the mechanical hardware component.

This worked for me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsuiIF8CbvA
ie *#2663# and press the button 'TSP FW Update (General)'
UPDATE Problem returned after 30 minutes.

Tried this too, did not work.


text:
Calendar does not refresh when deleting contacts
When I delete a contact, its birthday continues to stay on the default Calendar app, in the Birthdays calendar. (FYI, this calendar automatically gathers events from contacts' dates.)
How to update/refresh the Calendar in this case?
I went to the app settings and clicked on Clear Cache, with no result. Should I do a Clear Data too?

I managed to do what I want via a combination of:

removing the Birthday calendar from the web account
removing the Birthday calendar from the calendar app
doing a Clear Cache and Clear Data on the calendar app
forcing a sync of my Google account on the phone


text:
How to disable multiwindow icon
I have an old Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet (GT-N8010), Jelly Bean 4.1.2.
Since the last firmware update, a multiwindow icon appeared in the lower right corner.  Its purpose is to switch the current app from fullscreen to windowed.  I don't use this feature, and the icon is right over the virtual keyboard -- very annoying.  How can I disable it?
Thanks in advance.

For the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the MultiWindow function is part of the Display Settings. Most likely similar in your device.
Settings > Display > General > Multi window
Disable by unchecking the feature.

I believe your solution is valid for the phone version of Jelly Bean 4.1.2.  Looks like the tablet version offers no way of disabling this feature.


text:
Can't delete any files in my download folder
asus sl101 slider running cyanogenmod 10
This problem actually started around when I upgraded to cm9.1 and I think I got an error that my android profile had changed or something. from that day forward I have been unable to delete anything in my downloads folder.
The following did not work

rm /sdcard/download/filename
removing with rootbrowser
adb shell> rm /sdcard/download/filename
remounting the sdcard

I get the error that the folder is read only and when I try to change permissions it wont let me.
I was able to
mv /sdcard/download /sdcard/download.back
mkdir /sdcard/download
but still cannot delete from the old download folder.
Eek!

can you paste here the output of ls -ld /sdcard/download; mount | grep sdcard ?

u0_a37@android:/ # ls -ld /sdcard/download; mount | grep sdcard
drwxrwxr-x root     sdcard_rw          2012-09-30 00:27 download
/dev/fuse /storage/sdcard0 fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0

is it possible that a program like titanium backup is somehow rotecting them even above root?

Did you try the full real path ? rm -rf /mnt/sdcard/download

I just tried it now and got the error, "read-only file system" the trouble is, it's not true. other things on sdcard delete fine.

What is the output of df /mnt/sdcard/download ?

I think the only fix would be to somehow reformat the sdcard and somehow nvflash a rom, but the sbkey is not available for my device. it is rootable but not nvflashable. I can boot ubuntu on it but for some reason inside of ubuntu im not able to mount the sdcard

Any reply to my question ? =)

255|u0_a37@android:/ $ df mnt/sdcard/download
Filesystem             Size   Used   Free   Blksize
mnt/sdcard/download     26G    25G   762M   2048
u0_a37@android:/ $

Just an update but I'd never found a solution to this problem. Ended up wiping the system and starting from scratch. Problem files , gone.

I'm not sure if you're still having this issue or not, but a couple of things that come to mind:

In the output you paste in your responses, you mix terminal output with $ and #. You need to be root all the time which means that you should always see a #.
If I were you, I would first check the permissions on the old download directory with something like ls -alh | grep <foldername>. Who owns the directory, what group?
Try changing ownership with chown, changing chmod to 777 recursively (just throwing stuff at the wall here to see what sticks). After setting yourself (root) as the owner and giving everyone full rights to the directory recursively, I would try rm -rfv <foldername> and see what output I got.

Hopefully this might help someone else. Also, when you do ls -alh it should show you if it's a symlink, and if so to where. If it's a mounted folder, I would run something like mount | grep <foldername> to see what's going on.

Thanks for trying to help. The -h flag does not work in the android terminal. All the files already belong to root user and group seems to be 'sdcard_rw' . chmod 777 * returns no errors but does not change anything at all. Permissions remain rwxrwxr-x

Note that /sdcard is just a link. You may need to make your changes in the actual location of the data at /data/media. An answer to a similar question was given here.

You have a special mount point* for /mnt/sdcard/download, so

umount it with umount /mnt/sdcard/download
remove the directory rm -rf /mnt/sdcard/download

And try to figure out what cause your Android to use this special mount.
If you just want read-write access, run this command : mount -o remount,rw /mnt/sdcard/download and then you will be able to rm anything inside.
*figured out by the discussions in your question thread

u0_a37@android:/ $ umount /mnt/sdcard/download
failed: Invalid argument

1|u0_a37@android:/ # mount -o remount,rw /mnt/sdcard/download
Usage: mount [-r] [-w] [-o options] [-t type] device directory
1|u0_a37@android:/ #

i wonder if some parental software i installed a long while back or titanium backup or some software is causing this. but i deleted all the data and cache before flashing this rom. several times...

You should be root to do it

sorry, copy pasted the wrong line.     -----------------------
u0_a37@android:/ # umount /mnt/sdcard/download
failed: Invalid argument

Strange, no idea.

thanks for all your help sputnick. If I ever find the answer I'll pass it your way. I've had nothing but trouble with this device since day one and will never recommend it to anyone ever again. I wish I'd gone with the tf101.


text:
Samsung Galaxy III screen turning on by itself and draining battery
Even though I haven't received any notifications, the screen on my Samsung Galaxy III keeps turning on and draining my battery. What's causing this?

I'd guess some app. Anything you recently installed before this issue came up?

Izzy is right, uninstall any software which you installed after the last time your phone was OK, and check if it turns on automatically again.

Have you found a solution? I'm experiencing the same issue. I'm afraid it's a hardware issue.


text:
I can flash Cyanogenmod though my bootloader is locked
I am using a Samsung Galaxy Nexus and CWM as recovery. Even though I locked my bootloader after installing the recovery, I can flash Cyanogenmod 10 using CWM without any errors. Now I am wondering why this works?
When I unpack the Cyanogenmod 10 .zip on my computer, there's also a boot.img, so I guess it also replaces the bootloader? Maybe when the bootloader is locked, this step is skipped (but no error shown) and the stock ROM bootloader is also OK?
This ends up in my final question: While it works, am I maybe missing a bootloader update when flashing Cyanogenmod while my bootloader is locked?

The boot.img file is written the /boot partition, not the bootloader partition. They're different.

Thanks! Hmm, then in which case do I actually have to unlock the bootloader? What about changing the recovery, I guess this is also not the bootloader partition?

Correct, the recovery image exists on a separate partition. From what I know (but I'm not 100% positive) you really only need to unlock the bootloader on the Galaxy Nexus to be able to flash unsigned images via fastboot.


text:
Docking Asus Transformer Prime back-to-front?
Is it possible to dock the tablet in a sort of "back-to-front" way such that if I were to close the tablet whilst docked, the front screen would be facing up?

Sorry, I'm totally confused: No, I don't think the tablet will turn around when you are getting close... Errm, surely that's not what you meant -- so maybe you can re-phrase your question to make it a bit clearer?

Sorry for the confusion, let me try again.
Suppose I have the tablet docked, facing it I have the keyboard in front of me and the screen.
I've seen somewhere that I can turn the screen around such that it is back to front... Reversed, so when I close it, the front screen is at the top and the rear of the screen rests on the keyboard. I've seen it before but only once...
I just want to verify this before I buy.

No, the tablet only fits into the Transfomer keyboard/dock one way, with the screen closed against the keyboard when folded shut.


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Is it possible to do a complete image backup of an Android device via USB connected to a Windows PC without the Android device being rooted?
I recently purchased a Nexus 7 tablet from Google and I also have a Samsung Skyrocket from AT&T. Neither of the devices is rooted. I'm not too enthusiastic yet about rooting either of them, especially since it voids warranties and severely limits support options. Is there a way to obtain a complete image backup of either (or both) of these devices via the USB port on my Windows computer? If so, how? Thank you!

If you're on ICS or JB, adb backup might be the way to do this!

@t0mm13b that will not be an issue, cuz Nexus 7 is JellyBean originally.

Most articles I have encountered where people wish to undertake a complete image backup of their device requires root. However I have come across an article written in How-To Geek entitled "How To Create a Full Android Phone or Tablet Backup Without Rooting or Unlocking Your Device".
The Article will take you throught the steps of :

Installing the Android SDK
Device Setup
Testing ADB
Backing up your device
Restoring a Backup

http://www.howtogeek.com/125375/how-to-create-a-full-android-phone-or-tablet-backup-without-rooting-or-unlocking-your-device/
The article concludes by saying the complexity of using the Android SDK to create and restore backups is a bit much for the average user.

This might help:  [GUIDE] Full Phone Backup without Unlock or Root
Although it is talking about Galaxy Nexus, but this method is completely compatible with your Nexus 7.


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Is it possible to sniff HTTP packets of Wi-Fi through firmware?
Regarding privacy matters, I wonder if it is possible, by a party, including myself and mobile telco provider firmware (on stock distributions), to sniff all the outgoing HTTP requests of a Wi-Fi network without the need of the device to be rooted? If such is possible, can you give me an example or two of how could they do it?
I know there are similar apps like Shark for Root, but they all require the devices to be rooted.

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! This site is for users of Android, which means that questions about development/programming are off-topic here (see the What topics can I ask about here?). Development questions are on-topic on our sister site Stack Overflow. // And guess why all those apps require root: In order to "sniff", the NIC must be switched to "promiscous mode", which is not possible without root. So you can write a sniffing app, but it cannot access the packages to be sniffed.

I think this question could be okay if it approached the issue from a security standpoint. For instance, could an app I've installed sniff my HTTP packets if I've never rooted my phone? In fact, this question isn't necessarily about developing such an app at all, now that I re-read it.

Rephrase question so it doesn't get closed.

@geffchang I have rephrased my question

Oops, I meant to say that I rephraseD the question so it doesn't get closed. But I suppose your edit is still OK.

If you have a compromised kernel, then it doesn't matter whether you have root or not. Packet sniffing app goes through the kernel's public interface for sniffing packets,  which is why they're subject to security restrictions; a compromised kernel can simply bypass all that and read the packets directly from the kernel internal data structure or directly from the hardware. Kernel code runs under supervisor mode which gives them direct access to the hardware including being able to read any parts of memory of any program running on the system.
If it's a branded phone that had been customized by your telco, they build the device image for your device, including the kernel image. In non-branded phone, it is similar situation except it's with the manufacturer. Additionally, manufacturers can also install malicious hardware.

in other words, I want to know if a provider can sniff HTTP requests through firmware, for devices that are connected to the provider's fixed line (ADSL, for example) and access the internet through a WI-FI router (for example...). Please, disregard the use case of the providers 3g/4g network. If you will, please edit your anwser so I can mark it as accepted :)

@lalalalalala: if your telco provides you with a compromised system image, then yes they can read anything in the system including Wifi communication and even encrypted traffic (since the kernel have access to the data in memory before encryption). If you don't have a compromised system though, they can only read unencrypted communications that goes through their mobile network, i.e. it is impossible for them to sniff Wifi traffic nor any data that uses secure end to end encryption on an uncompromised system.

@LieRyan: Be careful with the term "impossible" - ISPs use the defense of "network management" to justify what are essentially MITM attacks to decrypt and inspect customer SSL traffic (see Blue Coat's SSL Visibility Appliance as just one vendor example of equipment capable of seeing your SSL traffic). As soon as your traffic leaves your LAN it should be considered vulnerable to attack.

@Mr.Buster: I'm not intricately familiar with the BlueCoat appliance,  but from the limited reading I did, it seems the only way it can create an MITM connection is if you have BlueCoat's root certificate in your device, otherwise you'll get security warning from the browser (and is really your own fault for ignoring the warning). I would consider this situation as you having a compromised device.

Thank you all for your comments! When you mention that a compromised kernel is needed the reason is because that, in order to put a network device into promiscuous mode, the device's network interface driver must implement the function "promiscuous mode", right? Because, in Android, even if the driver implements it, the operating system has to be configured to access it, which it doesn't in stock distributions. So without an operating system compiled to access the driver, and maybe including a custom driver, and a phone/tab with the right radio chip, it isn't going to happen. Correct?

@lalalalalala: promiscuous mode is only needed if you want to capture other device's connection on the same network (ala wireshark or firesheep). It isn't necessary to switch to promiscuous mode to capture the device's own Wi-Fi connection (for that only system app privileges is necessary, since system apps can set global proxy setting). With that said, if your device update is managed by your telco (as is the case with most on-contract devices), they do have the ability to modify your kernel and do practically anything possible.

@LieRyan: Great! Thanks once again! Much clear now! Just one more thing.. when you talk about setting global proxy settings are you referring the android's global settings, right? (as in http://developer.android.com/reference/android/provider/Settings.Global.html)

If you're only interested in looking at HTTP requests, then it's possible to do that by installing a web proxy and configuring Android to use it. However, that's not completely reliable, as not all apps respect the central proxy settings: Firefox is an example of an app that doesn't.
A web proxy doesn't require root, but the user has to set it up by hand: you can configure it automatically only if you have root. If that weren't the case it would be a bit of a security problem in Android: a normal app could eavesdrop or otherwise interfere with other apps' network communication.
Of course, even for real packet sniffing, you only need to root the device if you want to install the sniffer on the device. To see the device's network traffic, it's much easier and more convenient to install a sniffer on a desktop Linux machine acting as a (Wi-Fi) router.

Hint for those not seeing the connection: This answer was made on a previous version of the question, which was modified after the answer was posted. // Chin up, Dan! :)

then this answer should be removed as not relevant

@MarianPaździoch it is not the fault of Dan that OP didn't give a thought to when editing their question and changing the intent upon which an answer is to be based. They invalidated the answer by changing the intent of the question, which is a bad etiquette because one is disrespecting the efforts and time of somebody that were invested into answering the question. The solution is to not delete the answer, but either revert the changes in the question (provided that does not invalidate another answer) or to accommodate both the earlier and later revisions in a single revision.


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Global Address Lookups on Samsung Email app
I have set up my Exchange Mail using the default Samsung Email app. Mail and calendars work great, but I am not able to do Global Address lookups.
Is this possible? How can do this?

So what I've discovered so far,
Android doesn't have this functionality yet and you'll need to install a 3rd-party app to get this. An app that I found works is 'Swift Contacts'.
What's nice is I am able to type the name of the person right in the 'To:' field and it does a lookup and completes the email address. The only problem is I think this app will stop working after a period of time if you don't pay for it. I haven't found a free alternative for it.

It'd be better if you could provide the link of the app on Play Store. Just now, I couldn't find the app you mentioned.


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Answering Machine on Android
Playing audio to telephony uplink is possible, but the microphone input data is also transmitted.

How to switch off microphone on Android devices?
Is there a possibility to play audio to telephony uplink while call on mute?

possible duplicate of How can I play an audio recording over an open phone conversation?

@GATHrawn,
NO,the suggested solution is related to recording which in fact quite opposite to Answering machine feature.

The question is about playing back a piece of pre-recorded audio over the phone conversation, which is exactly point 2 of your question. Currently the only answer (which hasn't been accepted) is giving a workaround of playing pre-recorded audio whilst letting the inbuilt microphone pick it up during a call. It's not a good solution, but it is a solution. Things may have changed since that answer was posted June, if so anyone is welcome to post another answer which the OP could accept. Disregarding any answers that question is still very, very similar to this one.

well more precise, point 2: is all about playing an audio to uplink while MIC on Mute.. Recording is w.r.t to Downlink/MIC which is not the case here. please note that Playing and recording are two different issues here while point 2 just playing.And Recording(MIC/Downlik only) which is indeed achievable via android API on some hardware.

The other question isn't about recording, it's about playing "a recording", i.e., an audio file.  You're right that the other question doesn't mention anything about muting the mic, though, so I think they are fine to stay separate.  I'd encourage you to answer the other question, since it sounds like you've discovered how to play audio over the call without using the mic.

Thx Mr.Read, I have updated the other question with answer hope thats help. although its 8 months old post hope someone finds useful.

if you mean via code, you can mute the microphone with AudioManager setMicrophoneMute(boolean on) but this is not a development site and I don't know if you can still stream (like you posted in the linked question) when the mic is muted or not. if you do mean via code, then this question should be moved to stack overflow.

Not via code. any 3rd party app or any settings on device,

I have been developing my own answer machine application and hit two major stumbling blocks. One is that setMicrophoneMute(boolean on) simply doesn't work. And the other issue is playing an audio greeting down the phone line.
This isn't possible due to hardware restrictions and it doesn't even work if the microphone is switched on and the audio is played through the speakers.

Have you found the solution ?

@mark Have you found the solution?

@Jack - it's possible, but both cases require rooted ROMs to work, thus one of them (ALSA-based) depends on Qualcomm chipsets.

@Hunt, wondering what you have found in that time

Are there any news?


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Cannot get Lynx browser to work
I downloaded a compiled lynx binary from XDA and everytime I start lynx it tells me that it is unable to connect to remote host. I changed the lynx.cfg to use localhost and it loads, but when I enter an URL, nothing. I tried it with 3G, 2G, and WiFi, and had no luck. What should I do to get it work?

Firstly why? I can remeber using Lynx back in the mid-90s, not something I'd ever want to go back to! Secondly, a few of the people on that XDA thread also mention that exact error, have you tried asking there, the user that created the Lynx binary seems to be trying to help with the problem but no one's taking him up on it.

I am using vim in Terminal IDE and need to copy some URLs.  I am unable to copy the URLs from android into Terminal IDE.  So my only other alternative is to use lynx, links, or elinks.  I found this lynx, but if you have a better option, I am all ears.  Also, my phone is not rooted.  I tried registering with xda but I need to answer other people's questions before I can reply in that thread, and seeing as I do not know anything about this stuff, that option is sadly unavailable to me.  So my options are learn how to copy into Terminal IDE or get a bash based browser.

"copy some URLs"?  Do you mean, paste the literal URL ("foo://bar/etc") into the terminal?  If so, just select and copy the URL in some other app, and use the menu in TIDE to paste them.

Yes, the developer added that feature.  Works great!

I'm afraid this has become an XY-problem. This question is valid, but the accepted answer is in no way answering the question, but to the question in the comment. Meanwhile, from a recent answer, it seems that TIDE itself has links-2.7, which seems to be the alternative method. Consider to update the accepted answer if it helps you.

The problem is that DNS binding support is different on Android. Lynx, wget, etc, if statically compiled by standard GCC under Linux, will not be able to lookup the domain name, but would work with a numerical ip address. You can see that problem in many of the busybox implementations for Android.
There is some discussion of this at Kevin Boone's KBOX2 Project

I found it !
Download Terminal IDE, it is an awesome shell for Android.
Installs the additional packages from within the app to get :
GCC, make 3.82, ssh, sshd, telnetd, bash, busybox, vim, mc, htop, TMUX, links 2.7, rsync, git, and more !

So much good in this software. rsync on my phone is plain awesome for backups.


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Why does Wake On Wireless (WoW) wake Android only once?

Android is connected to a WiFi network

The device sleeps:
 <6>[ 7917.653293] PM: Syncing filesystems ... done.
 <4>[ 7917.660344] Freezing user space processes ... (elapsed 0.02 seconds) done.
 <4>[ 7917.681675] Freezing remaining freezable tasks ... (elapsed 0.00 seconds) done.
 <4>[ 7917.683022] Suspending console(s) (use no_console_suspend to debug)
 ...
 <4>[ 7917.701339] Suspend for wow mode
 ...
 <4>[ 7917.855690] Wow enabled. Not allow to send tx data
 <4>[ 7917.957487] Setup WoW suc<6>[ 7917.653293] PM: Syncing filesystems ... done.
 <4>[ 7917.660344] Freezing user space processes ... (elapsed 0.02 seconds) done.
 <4>[ 7917.681675] Freezing remaining freezable tasks ... (elapsed 0.00 seconds) done.
 <4>[ 7917.683022] Suspending console(s) (use no_console_suspend to debug)
 ...
 <4>[ 7917.701339] Suspend for wow mode
 ...
 <4>[ 7917.855690] Wow enabled. Not allow to send tx data
 <4>[ 7917.957487] Setup WoW successfully
 ...cessfully
 ...

I ping it from remote:
 <4>[ 7917.958113] ar6000_pm_resume: enter status 3
 <4>[ 7917.959225] android_ar6k_check_wow_status: WoW resume from irq thread status 0
 <4>[ 7917.959377] Resume WoW successfully
 <4>[ 7917.960300] WoW does not invoked. skip resume<6>ES209RA Audio Jack Driver : es209ra_audio_jack_resume START
 ...
 <4>[ 7918.144031] Restarting tasks ... done.

The device wakes up (without turning the screen on) and responds on the network.

But then (after about 2-3 seconds) it suspends again:
 <6>[ 7918.240298] suspend: exit suspend, ret = 0 (2012-01-15 11:48:35.684507919 UTC)
 <4>[ 7918.967615] save exit: isCheckpointed 1
 <6>[ 7918.972936] PM: Syncing filesystems ... done.

Now it does not resume on wireless.

When I press some hardware button, the phone resumes, sleeps and I have one more opportunity to resume it from WiFi. But only once.
Why does it fail to resume from WiFi every time?

WoW has to be set every time you go in suspend mode.
After it wakes up the first time your WoW configuration will not be set unless you set it again.

How to make it auto-set WoW every time it goes in suspend mode when Wi-Fi is on?


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Can I USB-tether my Android tablet to my Android phone?
Is it possible to USB-tether my WiFi-only Galaxy Tab to my Galaxy S?
I know how to WiFi tether but it is a huge battery hog. Is there a mini-USB version of the Galaxy Tab cable? If so, can it be used to tether?

I highly doubt it, the wifi access point mode that android has built is what everyone uses.

That's a shame because I use USB tethering with my laptop and it's faster and uses less battery.

I would argue that usb would not noticeably faster, we are talking about 3g data connection yeah? haha But sure you may have a point with battery usage on wifi vs a usb connection, but hey now you dont have to carry around a silly usb cord ;)

There is a bit tricky method suggested by one of the XDA members. Rooting is required.

Download & install a Terminal Emulator on your Android tablet.
Run the Emulator & enter the following commands:
dhcpcd usb1
setprop net.dns1 8.8.8.8

The Android phone from which the internet connection is to be sourced must be connected via a USB cable, and then enable USB tethering on that phone.
Now you can access the internet on your Android tablet using your Android phone as a USB modem!

Only for the sake of completeness: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=16182227&postcount=6 . It seems as if the kernel module USB_WWAN must be enabled.

Yes! First, attach an OTG cable to your tablet. Then, attach a MicroUSB and connect both devices. Now download one of the numerous apps which make tethering possible and you're done!
If your devices support Bluetooth tethering, you can use it. It doesn't consume too beach battery also. :)
P.S. isn't creating a WiFi hotspot a better idea?

This wont work unless the tablet supports USB-OTG, which not all devices do. And depending on the version of the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab, if they are the "first" versions of those devices, they do not support USB-OTG. - Also the asker says they don't want to use wifi because it drains the battery on their device(s).

@Ryan Yes but most devices nowadays do

For completeness of the answer though, not all devices do. Especially the devices listed in the original question.

Often you download an app on the device that has an Internet connection. What do you do on the tablet? Is it something generic?  @rahulbasu

I did it by connecting an ethernet dongle to each device and an e-cable to the dongles. I imagine it would use less power than wireless, and I can place the hotspot device away for the best reception.


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Getting "not enough space" error even i have enough space in sd card
I have a android jellybean phone [model - ETEl-I4] .i cannot install any apps anymore.i have installed lot of apps before.i can see i have enough space in sd card and i have set default write device to SD card.but when i try to installs apps like skype,viber..etc.i'm getting this error.i read some answers but i think i don't have any cashes problem i have enough space in sd card.
please help me how to fix this issue.
error

I have set default write device to SD card.

As you can see i have 5GB space and apps i'm trying to install are less than 50mb.

You can't place/move apps to SD card from settings, you can do it with apps like link2sd or apps2sd, but your phone has to be rooted

Have you ever been able to download apps directly to your SD card? I believe the reason for this is that you can only install apps onto the internal memory; not any SD cards. I think you can only move apps after you've downloaded them. If someone can confirm that this is the case, see if you have any images or videos that you can move to the SD card to allow for more space inside the internal memory? Let me know how you get on :)
p.s. I also think the write disk system only works for pictures and the sort.

Yes, you might have abundant storage on your sd card but that does not mean you can install many apps. Some part of the app (i.e. may be data or other stuff) are only transfered to sd card. The core part is to remain in internal. Hence, this might be causing problems in your app installs.
Try clearing out some of your internal storage.
Hope this helped.Good Luck!

Many apps has their own cache. Try to clear cache data in the application manager for each application, which collects a huge cache data.
Note: applications are cached after installing, so required size may be greater minimum of 2 times.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Export Truecaller data such as messages, call history
I would like to uninstall Truecaller but obviously be able to retain access to my call history, messages via e.g. the default apps. Is that possible, or is all data received while truecaller was installed & set to be the default app "locked in" by Truecaller? I have scoured the web, this is my last hope...

Thought about messaging the developer.

@RohitGupta no word from them yet. Based on moderate research this is by design and infuriating, I'm interested to know if someone somehow had overcome that hurdle and wants to share how.

There's no obvious method from their side. I'm in the same boat, I did contact their support, and the only solution they provide is using their Google-backed backup and restore feature, which only restores data to their own database, and not the Android providers for contacts and telephony.
The current solution is to extract your data yourself manually. You can find their SQLite database in /data/data/com.truecaller/databases/tc.db, which you can read for data.
You can use an ADB browser to easily pull and push files. No root required.
The main idea is to read from their database, map the records to Android's format, then insert these records into mmssms.db's sms table. It'd be better if you truncated the table to avoid duplicates.
I'm currently writing a Python script that automates this migration, but it's only for SMS. I'll update this answer with the code if you're interested, or still need your data. (Provided the database file still exists!)
If you want, I can also write a script for contacts and call logs.

This is interesting information, thank you very much for sharing a solution. I don't have the data anymore, but it would be great if you shared the script for other users who probably suffer from trucaller hijacking their data.


text:
Handsfree profile sniff mode
I recently connected a bluetooth module (BTM511) to my Android phone (SG2 running android 4.0), using both the handsfree and the headset profiles.
I notice that the Bluetooth device never goes into Sniff mode to save power. As far as I understand only the master (the SG2 in this case) can put the slave into sniff mode. Is this not implemented in the handsfree and headset profile implementation on Android? Or do I not understand the master/slave role in sniff modes? I sure cannot force the BTM511 in sniff mode, it is nowhere to be found in the datasheet.


text:
Android custom factory apps
I want to protect my phone in case of stolen, so i want add an app which will install after factory reset. I have root acces. I want to that app be automatically installed, and factory reset won't remove it. What do i need to do?

You don't mention the app you will install. Is it a homemade app? If it is something developed by someone else, even if the app were to be reinstalled, you would need a way to configure it. Of course, if you built the app, you could hardcode the phone-home address.

The only downside is they could still flash another custom rom which would circumvent this

I used Avast! for this but the "rooted" installation of its anti theft function disappears when I install new ROMs and wipe, so I'm not sure I trust it.

Basically what you need to do is to install a custom rom on your phone. Tweak the rom so that your app is included as a system app. If the user does a factory reset, the systems apps go back to their default state.
You'll want to test it out, though. I don't know if a factory reset wipes all the data for system apps (clean slate) or if it resets it to how the app was when the rom was installed.
On top of that, though, a user who steals your phone may install a rom of their own. In that case, you are out of luck. As far as I know, there does not exist a custom recovery that can be password protected (to keep people from installing another rom).

Even if there was a custom recovery with password protection for flashing ROMs, there is nothing preventing a knowledgeable thief from flashing a different recovery over it.

I was assuming the rom would have some protection on it as well, like a password or pin. And you can set up the rom so that ADB is only enabled on demand. With that, I can't think of how a thief could overwrite either the rom or the recovery.

Reboot to recovery/fastboot and all ROM's protections are ignored since the ROM itself is not running.  As a rule of thumb, when a device is physically in the hands of a determined thief, all bets are off.

I was continuing the train of thought where the recovery would, in fact, be protected by a password - boot to recovery: password; boot to rom: password. True, you assume the thief could get control, but so many people brick their device because they lose access to the phone via recovery or rom (which would be the case with our hypothetical phone and thief). If the thief can unbrick using a serial cable or other method, then sure there is nothing you can do to stop them.

Although if the thief can't access either the rom or the recovery, then they would also be unable to do a factory reset. So perhaps my scenario is no longer within the realm of the original question.

I agree that the passwords would be enough of a deterrent to a "regular" thief.  However, a knowledgeable person can easily work around such restrictions. For example, most Samsung devices provide a "Download mode" which is separate from Recovery console and can be used to flash ROMs in their proprietary format.  HTC and most other Android manufacturers have a "fastboot" mode that is again separate from Recovery and allow for flashing  firmware over USB.


text:
Will I lose root with the AT&T OTA 3.0 update?
I have the option to do the over the air 3.0 update from AT&T for a HTC Inspire 4G.
Will I lose root?

Didn't you miss to put an important information in your question? The device for example?

Why would there be a Honeycomb update for a phone, since it's only meant for tablets?

@onik: The 3.0 probably refers to the at&t/htc version (and not android)

Generically speaking, if you've only rooted the device and haven't actually installed another ROM, you should be able to apply the OTA update, but you will lose root because of it. You can always root again.
This is mentioned on several forum threads:

XDA-Developers Thread: Root and OTA updates
androidforums Thread: Rooted GNex - What will I lose if I OTA update

As one can see by the posts on each one of the above threads, there's a device agnostic consensus. Users report that OTA updates are possible on rooted devices, but root is always lost.
The reason behind this is that updates essentially replace or add system files, and the permissions on these files that the rooting process has changed to give you root access, are changed to the ones that come with the update, that don't allow root access.

You can also try using an app such as Voodoo OTA Rootkeeper to protect your root. On supported phones, it can preserve root through an OTA update. It must be installed and set up before you apply the OTA update.


text:
Backup Android to PC over P2P WiFi connection
I want to automatically backup my Android (at least the media files) to my PC over a WiFi connection when both the Android & PC is connected to the same WiFi home network. It should probably be possible to transfer the files directly P2P without needing to store them on some unknown server somewhere. Preferably, I want it to happen fully automatically when it connects to my home WiFi & I have my PC running, so I don't even have to think about doing backups anymore.
I have been searching for the solution, but the closest solution I have found so far is some apps that create a local FTP Server on the phone, where I potentially can manually pull the media files out of the phone from my PC, but I haven't managed to establish a working connection with any of the apps so far.
Is it possible to backup Android to PC over P2P WiFi connection automatically?
Edit_1:
Android 8.0.0 (not rooted)
Windows 7

There are some peer2peer solutions like SyncThing where you can keep data in sync across devices. And there's also FolderSync which understands many protocols including e.g. SSH and CIFS so it can talk directly to your PC (you didn't tell us what OS it runs there). With FolderSync you can even define automatic sync whenever a given WiFi is connected, so that might be your solution. Not sure if you'll need the paid version for that.

I woudl try to minimize the on-device software, e.g. by using adb-sync in reverse mode (device -> PC). As it works via adb it should also work via adb over IP/Wifi. Therefore your PC could regularly try to synchronize the data from your smartphone to the PC. If the smartohone is present in your Wifi it works.

Progress report: I tried SyncThing, and I managed to make it TECHNICALLY work, but it stops syncing after some seconds & you have to fiddle around for +10 minutes, and when it "works" it can be syncing with the amazing speed of some BYTES per second.... So it's not the kind of "fire & forget" solution I was hoping for. (yes, I also disabled the firewall & the whole security program just to be sure)

Progress report 2: I tried an app called: PC to Mobile transfer. It connected, BUT it defaulted to the android folder: / that is forbidden. And I found no way to move to an allowed folder.

Progress report 3: I tried FolderSync, but it seams to sync trough external servers, like DropBox or Google Drive & such. I would prefer a p2p connection if possible. (Also, it's wierd, it "claims" that it can sync files, even before I have set up a sync-destination...)

@Izzy I tested some of your recommendations as you can see in the "Progress report" comments. I really appreciate your suggestions, I wouldn't have found them myself. (also, I updated the question to include my OS's)

Though FolderSync can use Cloud, you haven't to do that. I use it via SSH/SFTP directly with my Linux machine just fine, same should apply to CIFS for Windows. All depends on how you set it up. So first set up your connection (to your Windows PC via CIFS – I have no Windows, so I cannot give details on that), then configure "folder pairs" to match a directory on your Android device to its counter-part on your PC. In that pair, you can also configure sync conditions (only on WiFi, only with the given SSID etc).

Just out of interest, you tried this : How to auto-backup my phone internal storage to my PC (not cloud), using WiFi? this method uses SMB protocol

I was looking for the answer to this and found this question. I went with a simpler method compared to most of the above and it seems to work well. I already use Syncback FREE for my home computers to back up everyone's machines to a central media computer I use as a semi-NAS.
By installing SyncbackSE on the media computer and putting "Syncback Touch" on my phone, I'm able to choose my phone as a source device in the Synckback profile and use it as a backup system just like with my computers. The only differences are that SyncbackSE isn't free (but it's cheap) and all the configuration and management is done on the computer, not the phone (bonus for me, but maybe not for someone using a NAS without an OS and GUI.