text:
How to route local traffic to LAN/WIFI on Android 11 with VPN enabled? (Rooted)
I have a rooted Android 11 device and I use a VPN app with the option Block connections without VPN enabled. This prevents any apps on my phone from communicating with my PC on the same LAN/WIFI network. For example, I can't use VoiceMeeter VBAN or Asus Armoury Crate apps from my phone.
Is there a way I can set up routing rules or firewall rules on my phone so that local traffic bypasses the VPN block and goes through the LAN/WIFI network?
What I have tried so far:
•  I have used the split tunneling feature, but it didn't work.
•  I have used the AFWall+ app to allow LAN/WIFI access for some apps, but it also didn't work.
I appreciate any help or suggestions. Thank you.

Did you ask the developer of the VPN app? I think Android's VPN API allows to exclude subnets from going through VPN.

Dup of unanswered previous question.

@IrfanLatif I totally forgot about that, is there a way to merge this with that one or get rid of the old one and keep this one?

You can delete a question. But better leave it to mods. They can merge.


text:
How to Retrieve Recovery Logs on Samsung A15 4G After Error Message?
After a recent Google play system update, I started getting the following message on boot:
Your phone couldn't start normally.
Despite this, my Samsung A15 4G boots up normally afterward. I want to retrieve the logs from that screen to investigate the issue further.
Does anyone know how I can access these logs or what steps I should take to troubleshoot this?
Thanks!

It is possible that the A/B system saved you. My guess is that the update was installed to the non-active partition and upon next reboot the system tried to boot from it and failed. Therefore the default partition wasn't updated and the system returned to the previous state in the different partition. But that is just a wild guess.

Zygisk somehow caused it and now I just figured out where the logs are I lost them until this happens again.

You forgot to mention that your phone is rooted with Magisk.

Yes, but Magisk wasn't the problem I just couldn't figure out how to get the log from the recovery screen.

The files are located in /cache/recovery. Once you are in recovery mode, you can use ADB to access the device and retrieve the logs by running the following command:
adb pull /cache/recovery/last_log last_log.log

This will pull the log file to your local machine.

Stock recovery ROMs to my knowledge only support adb sideload but not adb pull therefore that the device is rooted has a significant impact.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How Can I Tunnel WireGuard on Rooted Android 14 Through v2rayNG?
I’m trying to tunnel WireGuard on my rooted Android 14 device through v2rayNG. Since the WireGuard client doesn’t support this by default, is there any way to achieve this, perhaps by using iptables or another method?
Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

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


text:
Building AOSP kernel with debug filesystem
As mentioned in android documention,  Android 12 should not use debug filesystem in user mode.
I want to build AOSP 12.1 for some device, but building in user mode results to error below:
files are incompatible: Runtime info and framework compatibility matrix are incompatible: No compatible kernel requirement found (kernel FCM version = 5)
for kernel requirement at matrix level 5, for config CONFIG_DEBUG_FS, value=y but required n
This config (CONFIG_DEBUG_FS) isn't my defconfig. I also added CONFIG_DEBUG_FS=n config to defconfig, but no change. result kernel config (obj/KERNEL_OBJ/.config) after build is same (CONFIG_DEBUG_FS=y)
It seems that Android build system uses a base config from host os  OR  there are some depencencies to this config such that this config is ignored.
How to disable this config in android build system?
UPDATE
I tried "make KCONFIG_CONFIG=arch/arm64/config/vendor/my_defconf menuconfig" so my defconf was input to menuconfig.
I disabled CONFIG_DEBUG_FS by disabling PAGE_OWNER option. because there was a rule that if 3 specific config was set, this config will set automatically.
These caonfigs were PAGE_OWNER  && DEBUG_KERNEL && STACKTRACE_SUPPORT.
if all sets then debugfs will set. so I disabled PAGE_OWNER because two others were Mandatory or useful. Then I saved defconfig. such that so many configs changed. and I start to build kernel but too many errors was in result.

As I mentioned in question, for aosp 12.1 and above, you should unset "CONFIG_PAGE_OWNER" config in kernel config file to build in user mode. unsetting this option will unset CONFIG_DEBUG_FS


text:
Is it possible to encrypt system partition with custom rom?
I have galaxy s9 and i wanted to have lineageos rom.
So i unlocked bootloader and wiped stock firmware of galaxy s9.And then i installed lineageos 15.1 with twrp 3.2.3-0
Then i encrypted phone. I was thinking that by encryption device in adition to data patition, system partion also being encrypted. now i found that just data partition will encrypt and system partition will not encrypt.
so is there any way to protect system partition? in other words is there any way to encrypt system partition?
sorry  for poor english...
thanks
UPDATE :
sorry, It is possible that i am wrong or i don't understand what you mean but
I found from link below Boot verification occures when stock rom is installed and and bootloader is locked. but in my case bootloader is unlocked and therefore verifying not occures.
So i think there is no official way to check integrity of system partition and i should do another things like start a daemon in init.rc for verifying system partition or etc.
Is it true ?
And i should say i put an third-party app in system/app in twrp after mounting system partition and after restart it worked successfully.
Android boot flow

The purpose of encryption is to prevent "private" data from being accessed by unauthorised entities. Anything outside the data partition is public information so it is not a  sensible thing to do to encrypt the whole ROM. Know that encryption doesn't ensure that integrity of the data would remain protected.  If your primary purpose is to ensure integrity of your ROM, see https://source.android.com/security/verifiedboot

... and /system, /vendor, /odm, /product are read-only partitions protected by dm-verity - a very robust in-kernel framework - to avoid any changes to core OS.

Nearly duplicate of If /system partition is never encrypted (even in "full-disk" encryption), how is it protected?

Boot verification (VB or AVB) is a long chain of trust; locked bootloader and dm-verity are part of it. You can't retain it fully on rooted devices but most of the times dm-verity can be retained to make sure some malware cannot harm your OS. It's also a requirement for OTA updates to work (usually on stock ROMs). Bind mounts (Magisk modules) can then be used to system-less-ly modify /system. However as you mentioned you have modified /system partition, dm-verity is for sure disabled.

Android does not encrypt system partition as there is no confidential data on the /system. There are only standard ROM files which are already available in public domain.
The encryption should only apply to the userdata partition /data or SD Card (if mounted as internal storage). Moreover /system is mounted as read-only. So, nothing can be tampered there.


text:
Can I use my spare android phone as a Bluetooth speaker?
Actually, I have a spare android phone which is connected to my old speaker system. I wanted to connect to that phone via Bluetooth as if I'm connected to a Bluetooth speaker.
So that, I can route audio to the speakers using any device connected to that spare phone (Indirectly giving the Bluetooth functionality to the old speaker system)
Edit: I saw the related questions, those questions needed any working method that solves it. I don't want to use any third-party app like a music player or anything. I just want the spare android phone to be connected as an audio source to my phone.
The first image is the screenshot of a Bluetooth headphone connected to my phone. I want the same settings as "Media Audio" when I'm connected to spare android phone.

The second image is the screenshot of Bluetooth settings when connected to the android phone which is currently being detected as a phone and I want that to be shown as a Bluetooth Audio device.

Possible duplicate of How to stream music from one android device to another?

@alecxs I've edited the question with the exact requirement.


text:
Redmi Note 9 Pro Stuck in boot loop
about 2 days ago my phone completely died (battery) so i plugged it in overnight. when i tried powering it on in the morning it was getting stuck on the MIUI animation, just after the powered by android screen. after multiple attempts to restart it by long pressing the power button it entered the boot menu to try a reboot from there... no Joy. so i then tried wiping the data to see if that would help. it gets to about 3% and then the phone reboots again getting stuck in the same place.
I have tried following the instructions here but am getting
no permissions (missing udev rules? user is in the plugdev group); see [http://developer.android.com/tools/device.html]    fastboot
I then tried using the Mi Unlock tool but the device is not showing up in that when I plug it in.
Ive read somewhere then that i need some developer settings set in the developer options but i honestly don't remember if I ever even unlocked them on this phone as i dont do any android development any more but I may have them turned on.
when the phone is plugged in i can see it in device manager as Android with a yellow warning triangle visible.
I could really do, any old devices i have to tide me over have laughably short battery lifes so could really do with getting this sorted.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
NOTE
I followed the above gist on my linux machiene as that is where i had the android dev stuff installed and the Mi Unlock on my windows pc which does not have any android dev tools installed

this question needs more focused to single problem. do you want to fix boot loop, factory reset device or unlock bootloader

@alecxs my only concern is getting my phone working again, so whatever is the easiest means to achieve that.

check bootloader unlock is allowed fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability and unlock with XiaoMiTool v2 (linux build) or set get_unlock_ability 1 manually with edl.py (patched firehose loader and EDL cable required). or flash stock ROM on locked bootloader

@alecxs can you explain 'flash stock ROM on locked bootloader'
I have tried installing the google ABD driver via the android studio sdk manage but this made no difference and the device is still not recognized by the miflash_unlock tool. i have been looking around a lot for miui fast boot drivers and any thing that I've found that might be useful but all I seem to find is questionable looking websites

@alecxs when i say makes no difference, yes windows as thats where i said i had the issue with the driver (yellow triangle), yes the device is on the fastboot screen with the bunny. yes i did install the Get the Google USB Driver via android studio sdk manager as i mentioned in my last comment.
fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability is returning 0.
next break i get i will clean up the comments and refactor the question

okay so you can't use Mi Unlock tool then. try to switch into EDL mode from fastboot (other methods such as deep flash cable or test point exist). if succeed, for windows install Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 Driver (yellow triangle). Your drivers are ready for Xiaomi MI Flash Tool now, it can flash in fastboot or EDL mode (alternatives: QPST/QFIL)

While I don't have the solution for this issue, AFAIK, the Google USB driver should only be applicable for Google devices (Nexus & Pixel series). For other manufacturers, OEM USB drivers may be a more appropriate resource.


text:
Welsh letters with circumflex: example - ŷ
Can these be input via my Galaxy s4 keyboard?
The example is embraced by Unicode hex 0177 and its capital version 0176. The Welsh language is not amongst the language options on this device.

Did you try with Google's Gboard ? This keyboard has support for several languages including Welsh. Simply touch and hold Y : ŷ, Ŷ

You also need to add Cymraeg to the 'phone if not done already, and this means using the All Languages list as Samsung unaccountably doesn't include it in their selective list (in addition to not allowing for it in their own keyboard even if you do add the language to the 'phone).

P.S. the Google keyboard app is called 'Gboard'.

Thanks for pointing out


text:
s4 turns off when on battery
Hi I have a Samsung s4 I9505 running android 5.0.1 stock
The problem I'm having is that if I try to turn on my s4 while running on battery it never passes the Samsung boot logo, it turns off instantly after the boot process finishes
However with the wall charger plugged in it boots up and works perfectly fine but if I turn the plug off it switches off 40 seconds or so after
Another thing I must add is the power button on the faulty s4 seems abit different to my other working s4, the power button on this one doesn't have to go in that much to turn on or off so little pressure can turn it on. Its a bit more clicky on the other s4. But it still boots up fine with the wall charger so may not be because of this.
Also sometime I can see the s4 at 45% battery and after turning it off and back on after 20 minutes its something like 14%
Funnily though I can boot into recovery with just the battery and leave it there for half an hour and it doesn't turn off
What could be wrong?

First, you might want to see about the battery. See if you can go to your service provider and see if they can swap out your battery for a newer one
If step #1 doesn't work, you might want to power it on the way you been using it and go to your battery usage and see what's currently using you battery, then stop or force stop those apps. After that, backup all of your things you want and save them to a microSD Card, anything you prefer is just alright. Then do factory reset then set it back up
If steps #1 & #2 didn't work, go to a cell phone shop that you can trust or your cellular provider and see if they can fix it for you. Otherwise, visit amazon.com and look up Galaxy's S4 charger port kits and make sure you pick the right one for your phone and fix it yourself.

Thanks happy holidays and newyear to you too as I said I have another s4 that works fine but I'm abit scared to try that ones battery in the faulty phone just in case something happens to that battery. Do you think there would be any risk for my working s4 if I try using that battery on the other one?

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


text:
How to fix "Unable to mount storage" error while trying to root xperia phone?
In order to root a Sony Xperia XA phone (using an Ubuntu computer and USB connection) I follow the steps described here until step 12. First, I am not able to select Micro SDCard. But I am able to copy the zip file to the internal storage of the phone. But when I try to install it (step 13), the process soon stops because of an error displayed on the phone:
Unable to mount storage

How to fix this? What am I doing wrong?
Addendum: I managed to copy the zip file to an SD card and to start the installation from there. No error occurs, but no installation either; the phone is still not rooted...

Is your phone encrypted or has any locking abilities?

How to find this out?

In settings: 1. developer settings >OEM restriction 2. securtiy>if device encryption is greyed out the device is encrypted

OEM unlock is enabled and phone seems to be encrypted (Option Encrypt phone says: Encrypted). Will a factory reset remove the encryption?

A factory reset will remove the encryption only if your device is on KitKat or older Android, on the latest Android versions starting from Lollipop, Encryption is forced just after Factory reset or Firmware Upgrade.

You should go to mount menu and check all the boxes you, thengo to wipe to erase data partition successfully (you should be to be able to Format data partition before skipping to step 13), then reboot the device in TWRP again and again mount all partitions including OTG/ External Storage / SD Card whatever the device you are using to store SuperUser.zip and continue your mission.

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


text:
Lg g3 open an application?
I just go a new lg g3 today, and I noticed a pop-up saying to look at an app which lists all of the features. Now, I was in the app, but when I edited the app, the one time pop-up disappeared, and I want to open it up again.

I have tried searching in 'my apps' in play store, but it's not there. I manager to find it in 'application manager'

I want to reopen this app, and have been trying for a few hours now. Please help.
Thanks so much,
Ruchir

Smart Tips is part of Smart Bulletin - the permanent screen to the left of the other home screens on the default LG launcher.
It can be turned on/off in home screen settings, accessed either via the app drawer (three dots at the top right) or the settings app.

When you turn on Smart Bulletin, Smart Tips is automatically enabled. Occasionally it will notify you of new tips that are available.


text:
Difference between Android ID and device ID
What is the difference between android ID and device ID?
Here's how I obtain them:
Android ID:
String androidID = Settings.Secure.getString(MainActivity.this.getContentResolver(),
            Settings.Secure.ANDROID_ID);

Device ID:
String deviceID = ((TelephonyManager)getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE))
                    .getDeviceId()

I need to uniquely identify my android device. Using deviceID needs the permission to "make and manage phone calls". While using androidID doesn't. Therefore, I'm going with androidID as I don't need any call-management privileges.

What is the exact difference between the two? If there's none, why are there two IDs?
Will both the ids reset if I factory reset my device?
I know deviceID works for all versions of android. Will androidID work for all versions?

While your question targets a development issue (which is off-topic here), the answer is relevant for users as well, so I'm going to answer it:

DeviceID: This is the serial of the device, which should persist even a factory reset.
AndroidID: This will be set at the first boot (either with a brand new device, or after a factory reset). As implicated, it does not survive a factory-reset
There's a second "Android_ID" which is generated and used by the Google Services Framework (GSF), and thus often referenced as "GSF ID". Behaves basically like the AndroidID mentioned before (e.g. doesn't survive a factory-reset), and co-exists with it.
Furthermore, there's the GAID (Google Advertising ID), which can be reset by the user via the Google Settings app.

During "normal operation" (i.e. as long as you not factory-reset your device or reset the GAID), all these IDs can be used to identify the device. When using multiple users (via user profiles) on a device, all except the DeviceID would even identify the user (profile).
To my knowledge, all those IDs are available across all Android versions (at least across those which are currently relevant, i.e. GB/2.3 and up). The last two obviously only if GApps are installed – so on devices running a Custom ROM without GApps, they might not exist.


text:
Reformat sdcard on every reboot in MIU13
I have an Android 12 with MIUI 13, Xiaomi Redmin Note 11 pro 5g.
sdcard works flawlessly, configured as an removable/external memory.
I reboot the phone, and it asks me if I want to use it as an internal or external memory (portable).
If I choose external, the only option I have is to format it and loose all my data.
This is a lot of overhead: copy old data, reformat it and copy again backup up data.
I already hat to do so when I upgraded from MIUI 12 to 13.
I don't desire to do this  every time I reboot the phone.
Any hints to avoid all this fuss?
I've checked with fsck that the partition has no problems.
Related info:

https://c.mi.com/uk/post/12553

UPDATE
Finally I've decided to:

backup all my data
format the sdcard with the phone
extract the sdcard
recopy all the data (a very lengthy process with a 128 Mb card)
reinsert in the phone

and now it offers me to format it again in order to use it.
 sudo fsck.exfat /dev/mmcblk0p1
[sudo] password for david:
exfatprogs version : 1.1.3
failed to get stream dentry. 0
failed to get name dentry. 0
failed to get stream dentry. 0
/dev/mmcblk0p1: checking stopped. directories 405, files 1562
/dev/mmcblk0p1: files corrupted 3, files fixed 0

So you want to use the sd-card as external. Have you tried to remove the card for a reboot? Have you tried to overwrite the first few MB of the card with zeros. You need a PC and an USB sd-card reader to do so (or a rooted phone).

Thanks.  What is the procedure for overwriting the MB?.  I have a PC and a sd card reader.

On Linux you can use dd command-line program. On Windows I would use HxD a simple free hex editor which is capable to open a whole disk, then select a block of a few MB and then overwrite it with zero.

I've installed by compiling https://github.com/exfatprogs/exfatprogs version 1.2.0, as it can repair the filesystem.
Then I run in a Linux PC with a card reader:
$ sudo /usr/local/sbin/fsck.exfat /dev/mmcblk0p1  -p
exfatprogs version : 1.2.0
...
ERROR: /Android/data/com.sygic.aura/files/maps: unknown entry type 0xc1 at 0000420 at 0x2c80420. Delete (y/N)? y
/dev/mmcblk0p1: clean. directories 414, files 3296
/dev/mmcblk0p1: files corrupted 0, files fixed 3

and now the phone accepts the sdcard.
I don't know why so many errors after recopying everything.
Maybe some Android app can do the same, and it will be more confortable to use, but probably it will need root access.

I tried with version 1.1.3. It failed. Version 1.2.1 worked.


text:
bootloop in Ulefone Armor 8 pro
I've installed successfully TWRP recovery, but after installing Magick, in order to root it, I have a bootloop, with this message:

Your device has been unlocked and can’t be trusted.
Your device will boot in 5 seconds

I cannot enter recovery mode any more.
Only I can enter in fastboot mode, and issue fastboot commands.
I've tried to restore the recovery partition with the original one:
fastboot flash boot recovery.img

but even though the flashing terminates with success, I cannot access recovery.
I've downloaded the stock ROM for my Armor 8 Pro, but the SPMultiPortDownloadProject doesn't recognize my phone, when I hit the Scan button. It does recognize the scatter file from the stock ROM.

I've tried unsuccessfully other tools like mtpclient, and SP Flash Tool.

The solutions here don't help, as my phone isn't recognized:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/armor-7-ulefone-twrp-and-roms.4116603/
The phone uses MediaTek chipset (MT6771 Helio P60 (12 nm)), and I've installed the MediaTek USB VCOM drivers.
Specs of the phone
UPDATE:
I'm using Linux and Windows 10 in Virtual Box.  I've made accesible the USB device to VirtualBox.
Only when activating fastboot, I can see the device with the lsusb utility in Linux.
When trying to switch on the phone, also there is a 2 or 3 second period of USB port visibility, but this isn't enough.
Bus 003 Device 028: ID 0e8d:201c MediaTek Inc. Android

Additional info I've found useful:

Similar case
How to unbrick with the SP tool
SP Flash tool

The message is just a warning that the bootloader is unlocked. Afterwards it should continue to boot. I am not familiar with that device or MTK devices but modern phone use a secure boot and as you have modified the kernel image (by Magisk) the boot verification fails. Usually you can fix this by disable DM Verity.

Thanks @Robert for your explanation.  How can I disable DM Verify?
What I can do is to use the fastboot tool.

I don't like this solution, but I've sent it to external repair service.


text:
Badge icons disappear when clearing notification
I have a Samsung Galaxy S22. Overall I'm happy with it, but there is this one annoying feature. After I clear a notification, my badge icon which shows the nunber of unread emails for example disappears too. I'm using Nova Launcher Prime. But I think this is rather a Android / Samsung issue.
I've seen this asked in the past for older phones, but couldn't find any useful answers.
Can this be solved with a 3rd party app?

Possibly related/dupe of Keep showing unread mail notification in Gmail (but not answered yet).

The main problem is because the notification counter reads directly from the notifications tray - even though in the app, you may have unread messages/notifications etc.
It's the way Android handles things in most cases. You can get an app that can log your notification history, to see if you've missed anything.
I've used Nova Launcher on lots of devices (Samsung,LG, Oneplus, Xiaomi) and they all behave this way. I cannot be 100% however, that ALL android phones do this.


text:
Remove Google Find My Device Password
A few weeks back I lost my Samsung Galaxy S7.  I came home and immediately did a Google Find My Device.  I added a message to the finder and a password to lock it.  Great.  That worked.  The phone was handed to the Police.  However, there is simply NO way at all to remove this password now.  The phone had no password before either.
Every possible solution I have tried but nothing removes this annoying password.
Maybe only a Factory Reset but thought I would see if anyone here has an answer.  I have searched high and low and can find no answer surprisingly to my question.

What happens if you enter the password? Have you checked security settings if the password has been set as regular lockscreen password?

Has anyone ever succeed in unlocking remote secured device at all? afaik google broke this feature years ago

As per google on their page:

Secure device: Locks your phone with your PIN, pattern, or password.
If you don't have a lock, you can set one. To help someone return your
phone to you, you can add a message or phone number to the lock
screen.
Erase device: Permanently deletes all data on your phone (but
might not delete SD cards). After you erase, Find My Device won't work
on the phone. Important: If you find your phone after erasing, you'll
likely need your Google Account password to use it again.

As the last line suggests - the password has to be Google Account Password
If you are looking at completely remove the password option from phone again you can do this...
Procedure

Open Settings.
Tap Security (on Samsung phones, tap Lock Screen)
Tap Screen Lock. Note: If prompted, enter your current password, PIN, or pattern.
Choose your screen lock preference: none, swipe, password, PIN, or pattern. (Choose None here)
Tap Done.


text:
Charging problem. Please help
My phone (Note3, CustomOS: Phronesis) got a charging problem last night. It does not charge properly when running or if the screen is off now. Usually the LED went on while charging but it stays off now. Tasker is able to detect a power source (i had my Tasker icon change to a battery when connected) but the phone seems to cut off the charging current - like i assume it does it when it hits 100%, If connected now and i use it then the discharge is exactly comepensated, i. e. if i use it for 30 minutes, it stays at 78% the whole time....in fact my power bank led is flashing parallel to power consumption actions... Hardware problems can be 99,99% ruled out, since it charges normally if i shut it down completely.
Last night i had a SuperSU update (automatically) which was asking for the permission for SuperSU itself (i think, also confusing) and for the zygote process... (Expert info: shell, ps ...grep: just 1 process), which surprised me... i think i didn't grant them... (it's not in the app list- didn't ask again)
I also tested the QI - same thing: the phone detects it (effect:visual "smoke rings" on the screen) and immediately it says "wireless charging stopped" (in german)

Did i accidently lowered the cut-off charging from 100% to a much lower number ? If so , how to revert ?
Beside USB-Mode (MTP/PTP,Charging/etc.) and USB Fast Charging....anything else affecting USB handling ?

Hints (even for for Kernel Auditor Mod settings) are welcome.
I found something similar How do I override charging current on Huawei Honor 6?  and i need the files for my Note3...
EDIT: a faulty version of the app 3c was the culprit...

Write an answer. How were you able to find out that the app was the problem? How did you change it? Etc.

i saw the changelog of their next version "fixed charging...." , where it was mentioned - so i was very lucky


text:
Pixel 3 stuck in Fastboot mode with "no valid slot to boot" when trying to install factory image
I was trying to install the factory software image from https://developers.google.com/android/images#blueline on my Pixel 3. I downloaded the image as well as the platform-tools with adb and fastboot.
After plugging in my phone, I ran "adb reboot bootloader" which put me into Fastboot mode. After this I tried to run the flash-all.bat file, but it was just stuck on the "waiting for devices" prompt. I'm not sure what I did at this point, but I must have really messed up the phone, because now I can't even boot from Fastboot, where clicking "Start" just puts me back in fastboot with the reason "no valid slot to boot." Any idea how I can get my phone working again?
I tried putting my phone in recovery mode, but I just got "error booting boot.img"

In this state I was just able to run "flash-all.bat" - which let me load. Not sure why it wasn't letting before.


text:
Are these app permissions normal?
Can it be used to steal personal data or intercept/view online activity?

Apps with Storage permission (Read the contents of SD card) can read all of your personal data in /sdcard i.e. photos, documents, music , downloaded data etc.

@IrfanLatif what about viewing online activity?

Depends on you. This app well required Storage permission for Download files for your app new levels but if you think if i get permission and your (personal & private)data leak then you can not do to access permission.
they well risky for you.


text:
Should I update Android OS on 1.5 yrs old phone?
Will it make it slower or faster?
My phone: Moto G Play (XT1607)
Not rooted.

Your question is unclear... Do you mean official OTA updates or something else? If your device rooted or modified in any way? And updates likely will not make it faster or slower, at least not noticably.

@acejavelin not sure what OTA is. Phone not rooted.

OTA - Over The Air...

If you are talking an official update provided by the manufacturer (in your case Motorola/Lenovo) the answer is nearly always yes.

I would agree, there is rarely any reason not to accept official updates from the manufacturer on a stock device.

Yes you should go for it. Software update always optimises phone performance improvement in Security , Bug Fixes and may other things. I hope this will help


text:
Storage setting not loading. What do do?
When looking on the storage option it just loads forever, and can't view the setting option. What do I do?
I have a Moto E.

What works for me is first going to Settings >  Apps & notifications, and clearing the cache for as many apps as I can.

I have found a solution to this problem. Just put your 'Sleep' functionality to 'After 10 minutes of inactivity' and then open storage.
It will take approx 6 to 7 minutes to open. Once opened it will work fine.
With Regards,
Asif


text:
Anyway to make blue light filter App include the notification swipe-down area?
From initial Googling it seems that it's an intentional issue in later Android OS versions, that blue light filters (Apps) cannot have any effect on the swipe down notification area. I was just wondering if there's any latest news or fixes on this?
For Android OS 8, non-rooted phone.

Are you referring to the blue light filter functionality in the OS or are you talking about an app providing the blue filter?

@Robert an App. Added to question

AFAIR Android 9 includes a system option for reducing blue light. Therefore on Android 9 there is need to use an app for that anymore.

The following article explains the background and that this restriction is present since Android 8 and will not be changed: https://www.xda-developers.com/android-o-is-breaking-apps-that-overlay-on-top-of-the-status-bar/

@Robert I have Android OS 8

Figured out a solution which can be ised with Moto devices that have Moto Actions. One of the features is Night Display, which is a built-in blue-light filter which covers the swipe-down notification area.


text:
How to close a malware tab in chrome?
A webpage got redirected to a "virus alert" malware page and I can't close it.
Deleted the cache, both the general tablet cache as well as the chrome cache, deleted the "unimportant data", did "force stop", restarted the tablet, but chrome still automatically opens that tab where I left off.
Google should make an option to close all tabs on exit or otherwise.

Run anti Malware app and see if that fixes

Deleted cache, data of chrome(Have you stopped[force stop] chrome before this operation). Try reinstall chrome  .

Yes, did force stop.

And "delete data"? Another thing to try: the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen has an entry for "tab overview". Tapping that, the screen looks like "recent apps", just showing the tabs of Chrome. From there you should be able to close the tab (just saw the same thing on another device a couple of days ago, and while not even the "back" button had any effect, this approach worked).

Well you can try entering a different address in the chrome address bar

@anurag No you can't

Can you post a screenshot of the screen with the tab in chrome.

Issue Resolved:
Clicked on a link in another app that opened in chrome, and then by pressing X on as many tabs as fast as i can, was able to close that tab.
(PS Chrome should make a feature whereby you can close all the tabs automatically all at once instead of individually each one.)


text:
Format android to join internal memory partitions?
I have searched around the net but not really finding exact problems nor solution related to mine.
I have a tablet which should have 8gb of internal memory but the problem is that it have divided memory onto 2 partitions as data storage and internal storage and i have lack of space on my data storage as its only 1gb while other partition uses rest of the internal storage.
So i cant install any more apps as my data storage is full while second partition is almost empty.
I have actually tried to flash emmc and new android but i got the same partition sizes.
My device is BlueBerry Netcat M-28, this should be rebranded chinese Cube tablet as i know. Anyway the model is from 2014 and uses:
Android 4.2.2
Baseband version MOLY.WR8.W1315
Kernel version 3.4.5 build Jan 2014 HKT(i guess this is hong kong time)
Mediatek ARM Dual Core MT8312 1.2GHz
Mount points in the screenshot below

Click on the image to enlarge
Just for the note:
I don't know much about android except that it's based on linux, at least the same kernel? But i do know my way around the linux, still android is unfamiliar to me. I had a same problem with space on my mobile phone Nokia N900 which runs on linux maemo, the phone have 32gb memory which was divided into 2gb and 26gb and 2gb was not enough. But on Nokia there was no problem, i was easily able to find flash tools, new firmware, modified kernel. It was just needed to ,modify file with hex editor and flash emmc with new settings od 8gb and 20gb partitions.
Why isn't possible something like this on tablet too?

What device & ROM (or Android Version) are you using?

As far as I know, the applications, app data and internal storage are present in the /data partition. So, space will be shared by both app data & internal storage. Maybe your device model is somewhat old I guess, in which app data & internal storage are different partitions.

I updated my question with the info you asked. I read about in the net that it's possible that this is because android 4.2 version, in later versions 4.4 devices have one big internal partition. At least that's on my brother's phone lenovo.

Is your phone rooted?
Is there a custom recovery for your phone?

It's rooted, i unlocked it with some app from google store, i can't remember, and there is only basic backup restore app that came pre installed from android. I don't care about losing data, i don't keep anything important on the phone and i copied all the photos to pc already. I am just worried not to brick it in process.

Is there a custom recovery installed?

Nope, i don't have any recovery installed.

since  I don't know this device I CAN'T TELL FORE SURE ,is the data and internal storage on the same physical partition ? and is app2sd an option for you (note app2sd is not link2sd) it when you mount data folder on another partition ,any way can you please post the output of the command "mount" on you device ?

As i noticed app2sd doesn't do nothing more than moving some apps to second partition. But in that case not only that app lose some of their functionality like notifications, some apps don't want to start anymore if i move them. I will update my question with screenshot of mount command so you can take a look

from the mount output ,I can tell that the /data and the sdcard are not on the same physical partition (/system /cache and  /data are on the same parttion) ,so merging data and sdcard is impossible why ? because they are not on the same physical device for example you can't merge 2 partitions from two different physical hard drives on a pc ,your best option here is app2sd (the deep one which requires a root , init.d and system can mount rw ) if you are open to the option I can post a more detailed answer

Wait i understand that these are different partitions, but you are telling me that those are even different hardware inside the tablet, that i have 2 different memories? I think it's only one emmc inside divided into partitions and storage/sdcard0 is only mount point to partition. At least that was the case on my Nokia N900 i had before. If you think link2sd would solve my problem i am up for trying the solution if you post it. Thanks.

An Advanced Solution: Use the 'parted' binary in the updater-script (to format your partitions as required (check the manual for usage)) of a flashable zip and flash it from a custom recovery. Then edit the boot.img's ramdisk accordingly to create the necessary symlinks and flash the new boot.img and try.. (I don't know if there's a custom recovery for your device.. And somehow try to get the boot.img .. Make sure you have flashable firmware for your device if something goes wrong)


text:
How to enable debugging in ASUS Zenfone Selfie Pro 4 without seeing the screen (touch works BTW)?
[The similar questions are related to other devices and I don't intend to do factory reset.]
I cannot see what is being 'shown' on the screen, only interact through fastboot or randomly touching the screen.
The wifi is also working.
If I could enable debugging, I could use scrcpy to see and interact using mouse on a linux computer.
I suppose I can use fastboot to root/unlock/install apps. But I have no experience doing that. The only command I succeeded was this:
fastboot -s H7AZCY5468078HN oem device-info
...
(bootloader)    Device tampered: false
(bootloader)    Device unlocked: false
(bootloader)    Device critical unlocked: false
(bootloader)    Charger screen enabled: false
(bootloader)    Display panel:
(bootloader)    Sysconf ssn: H7AZCY5468078HN
(bootloader)    Sysconf adb enable: 0
(bootloader)    Sysconf reboot reason: 0
(bootloader)    Sysconf isn: N0CZ1738MB0033372
OKAY [  0.110s]
finished. total time: 0.110s

Also, touch-guessing until enabling debug seems impossible in practice.
ps.
My ASUS Zenfone Selfie Pro 4 graphics chip burned and the screen is completely blank after boot.

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/159551
you can't use fastboot this will factory reset
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/212832

Duplicate of Enable ADB and/or change USB connection mode on Galaxy S7 w/ broken screen and Is there a way to enable USB debugging from fastboot?.

i am not sure where you have information that graphic chip is burned, but anyway i would try to connect a TV with USB MHL/HDMI adapter

When the screen is on, it is very hot (untouchable) at the top left corner, and a blue spot appeared there due to heat. It can be something after the graphics chip as well, since this kind of device is usually a SoC.


text:
How to boot if the graphics chip is damaged and the screen is permanently blank?
My ASUS Zenphone Selfie Pro 4 graphics chip burned and the screen is green at boot, becoming blank after a while.
Since I cannot see what is being 'shown' on the screen, how can I make the cellphone connect to wi-fi?
I guess the boot process is halted at the gesture request screen.

I succeeded to boot by guessing the moment to enter the security gesture.
Pressing the power button for 10s flashes green on the screen.
If the touch doesn't respond, pressing again for 10s flashes again, and the gesture must be done timely.


text:
How to recover from recovery boot loop in Galaxy A20?
Everything was fine on my rooted device with magisk, until I flashed a custom recovery (TWRP) on RECOVERY partition.
That didn't work, resulting in a message "recovery error validating footer vbmeta" during boot into "download mode".
Perhaps the device was still ok after that.
However, trying to fix the message and put TWRP to work, I flashed a vbmeta.img on VBMETA partition.
This resulted in the current boot loop, I suppose because of some checksum regarding vbmeta and the (stock) root partition.
Is there any hope for this device?
I am still waiting for the battery to drain, but so far all the attempts with using the buttons/USB failed to be able to communicate with the device in any way.
I does anything other than just rebooting.

Following @alecxs advice, I managed to exit loop and enter download/odin mode:
1) Just drain the battery until it turns off.
2) Hold vol+ and vol- while connecting usb cable.
3) Press vol+ to enter download/odin mode.
ps. The fix of the system is subject of another question.


text:
How can I get the Android app store on the kindle fire?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I get the Android Market installed on my Kindle Fire?

How can I get the Android app store on the kindle fire?  Google searches for the solution seem to find S.E.O. fud from Amazon.com.

It may indeed be a duplicate, however it may be helpful to keep this question with this wording , because searching with those terms on the magical google yielded very poor results.

That's the entire point of marking questions as duplicates - so they act as "sign posts" to other questions. I didn't say we should delete this.

So closed questions aren't deleted?

To do this, you'll need to root your Kindle Fire. To do that, you'll need to follow the procedure created by Justin Case at Android Police.
Once that's through, you've got to install the Android app store, along with all the other Google stuff it needs. You'll find those instructions here.
With that, you'll be all set. Good luck!


text:
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc randomly reboots
I realise this might be a repeat question, or discussed at length in some related posts, please don't hesitate to discipline me if I'm being redundant.
I just really want to know not only if anyone else is experiencing random reboots on their Xperia Arcs (or any similar phone), but also if they've successfully resolved the issue? This is driving me completely insane, and I'm really disappointed because I really love my phone!
I've done a hard-reset, deleted everything off the SD card, and updated the phone to the latest available software from Sony Ericsson (Android v2.3.4). I've installed only 1 application, the logcat application mentioned in this answer, but that was after my phone rebooted TWICE today, and I also have no idea what log information I'm looking for...
I've read this post by Zano, as well as this one by ninjaPixel with no avail.
I refuse to believe that 'jimmy-ing' in a piece of paper to make the battery make contact better is the solution - as the battery in my phone is pretty tight already, and I've witnessed my phone reboot while simply lying on the desk - but I've tried that too and will continue to monitor...
ANY help will be greatly appreciated, and I'll continue to research and post back any additional information I find. Thanks in advance!
UPDATE #1:
So far so good, no additional apps have been installed, and I've removed the logcat app that was on there as it wasn't helping assess anything. I've also installed a very professional piece of paper between the battery and the outside cover to help keep it more secure than usual. Holding thumbs..!
UPDATE #2:
Almost 2 weeks after my previous update, and still no reboot. It seems that although I wouldn't believe it to be as a result of the battery not connecting properly, it didn't mean that it wasn't the battery...I'll make this the last update, and say, in my case, the problem was because the battery wasn't connecting properly and adding a small piece of paper between the battery and the outside cover has done the trick. Thanks all for reading, and for your time and patience!

In my case it didn't seem to have anything to do with any software configuration or combination on my phone and was purely hardware related. This is not to say that in some cases the software you may or may not have on your device would be causing a memory leak / stack overflow and causing your device to reboot as a result.
I couldn't, and wouldn't, believe it, but after adding a small piece of paper between the battery and the phone under the back cover, my Xperia Arc hasn't rebooted for 3 weeks, whereas before it would reboot around twice a day.
Once again, thanks all for the suggestions and comments. I'll continue to monitor my phone, but I don't foresee any future reboots...related to the battery anyway...

Has your phone always rebooted, or is it something you did yesterday specifically that's causing it, such as installing a new application or dropping it? Sorry if this seems strange, but reboots on the Arcs seem to be so specific..!

You need to update your phone to the latest firmware 4.0.2.A.0.62. I bet yours is 4.0.2.A.0.58
If you can't update the phone over OTA or PC Suite, use WOTAN to update the phone to 4.0.2.A.0.62. The reboot problem occurred on nearly all SE Xperia Models.

Thank you so much for your suggestion! I've actually got version 4.0.2.A.42, and after running the update service I was informed that I already have the latest version running and I don't need to update. I suspect it's possible global region version limitation...thanks again for the help though!

I had this problem and even sent my arc to a service centre for repair who said it's fine.
I was about to send the battery in for examination when I noticed black marks on the gold contacts. I cleaned the contacts and it's never restarted since (in around 7 months)

Awesome, good tip and good to know...thanks for the answer Callum!


text:
Why SManager can't wake network from sleep?
Here's the situation: I'm using SManager to run a very simple shell script on a regular schedule; all it does is run a ffmpeg command line to save an audio stream from a URL. If I run the script manually, it works great. If I schedule it for, say, 15 minutes ahead, then put the device to sleep, it works great. But if it's been sleeping for hours, like overnight, the script runs but ffmpeg reports that it can't access the network. Only difference that I can see is how long the device has been asleep, but I haven't done enough tests yet to figure out how long it has to be asleep before the network becomes unwakeable.

I've configured my scripts in SManager to get a wakelock and to run as root.
Wifi is set to never sleep.
I've tried deleting the wifi network and reconnecting.
Added sleep 30 at the top of my script in order to give SManager plenty of time for its wakelock to wake up the network.
Added ip link set wlan0 up to top of script to wake up the network.
Tried to install Kernel Audiutor to see if has any useful mods, but for some reason it fails to start on my device.
Tried a Wifi-keepalive app.
I have no "battery saver" apps of any kind installed.

Device is a rooted 5th generation Amazon Fire tablet with Lollipop Nexus ROM (which predates Doze, so that's not the issue).
Does this make sense to anyone; ideas about how to solve it?


text:
How to flash custom or stock ROM with Odin mode working? (from a bad flashed Galaxy A20, see image)
The current state of the device is shown bellow.
I prefer using heimdall to flash each partition directly from command line if possible. Unless it is mandatory to put all images inside a tar and flash them at the same time.
Top left corner of the Download mode screen:

More details of the previous (and solved) problem here: question

Flashing the correct img solved the problem:
heimdall flash --RECOVERY TWRP-3.3.1.0_A20_V1.2_by_Agrim720\[Black-themed\].img.img

File was found here: XDA-forum
Device: A205GUBU4ASK2
Previously rooted with boot.img patched by magisk and vbmeta flashed:
heimdall flash --BOOT magisk_patched.img
heimdall flash --VBMETA vbmeta.img

I highly recommend to avoid Samsung devices. Motorola ones, e.g. are better for custom ROMs.
If device complains about "official binaries", bypassing KG state is needed.

However TWRP worked only the first time. After I formatted Data and restarted, the device started with puritanism about "official binaries".

I needed to bypass KG state. answer updated. thanks.

For Heimdal:
I refer to the Developers read me file for linux command line instructions:
Flashing Firmware from Command Line:
1. Fully charge your phone (use the wall charger as it's faster).

2. Download a decrypted device ROM or a Heimdall Firmware Package
   and extract everything to the one directory.

3. If the ROM is not a Heimdall Firmware Package it may instead be provided
   as multiple archives (nested or otherwise), extract them all to the same
   location.

   NOTE: If you want to use the CSC then extract it last.

4. Put your Galaxy S device into download mode and plug it in..

5. Open a terminal and navigate to the directory where you extracted
   the ROM/firmware files.

6. Type the following to list all the functionality Heimdall supports:

        heimdall help

7. Before flashing, you must first know the names of the partitions you
   wish to flash. These can be obtained by executing:

        heimdall print-pit --no-reboot

   The inclusion of --no-reboot ensures the phone will not reboot after PIT
   file has been downloaded and displayed. After executing a command with
   the --no-reboot argument, the next command should include the --resume
   argument.

   NOTE: You can still safely reboot your phone manually (with the power
         button) after executing --no-reboot commands.

8. Use the help and print-pit output to construct a command with all the
   files you want to flash.

   Here is an example that does a full flash and repartition on a GT-I9000:

        heimdall flash --repartition --resume --pit s1_odin_20100512.pit --FACTORYFS factoryfs.rfs --CACHE cache.rfs --DBDATA dbdata.rfs --IBL+PBL boot.bin --SBL Sbl.bin --PARAM param.lfs --KERNEL zImage --MODEM modem.bin

9. Heimdall will display the progress as it flashes so that you know things
   are working as they should.

How to Create a Heimdall Firmware Package:
Firstly, Heimdall's firmware package format is just a regular TAR archive
compressed with gzip. The only two real requirements are that a valid
firmware.xml must be included (refer to Appendix A) and you can only
include files (no directories, links etc.) As such if you'd like there is
nothing preventing you from creating Heimdall packages manually. Of course
Heimdall Frontend provides a simple user interface that takes care of all
the hard work for you.

There are two ways in which you can create a firmware package. You can
create a package from scratch, or you can load an existing package, apply
modifications and then save the package. Creating a package from scratch
is the preferred approach, by taking this approach you're far less likely
to run into file name length limitations.

Before you can access Heimdall Frontend's firmware creation functionality
(available from the "Create Package" tab) you must first specify which
files will be included in your package, as well as a few flashing options
i.e. Whether or not users should repartition when flashing. This
information must be filled out from the "Flash" tab in exactly the same
fashion you would provide information to flash your device (see "Performing
a Custom Flash with Heimdall Frontend"). As mentioned above, it's not the
preferred means, but you're able to load an existing package as a starting
point for this information.

Once you've specified the files/partitions you wish to include in your
firmware package the "Create Package" tab will become available. Clicking
this tab will display additional information that you can include in your
package. In order to continue you must fill out all sections except for the
URLs section, which is optional. The following is a break-down of what all
these options mean.

For Odin:
Depending on what Odin version you are using it can be slightly different. A newer Odin version it is pretty simple:
Make sure your bootloader is current with the devices firmware or updated. Check the u# within the firmware zip/tar name.
1) unpack the .zip of the official firmware.
2)  Start Odin.
3) connect your device through USB. Once connected a device should show up within the com box.
4) select AP,  within the selection go to your unpacked firmware and select the tar.md file or tar file.
Make sure you do not select/enable anything with the pit option.
5) Once loaded push the start button and let it so it's thing.
It should take a bit or got to twenty minutes or more to boot. Once booted you should be good to go with the firmware.
If you have more than just a single tar or tar.md5 file then:
1) unpack the .zip of the official firmware.
2) the zip might include a variety of things (files) such as AP,  BL, CP, CSC.
3) start Odin.
4) connect your device through USB. Once connected a device should show up within the com box.
5) select each of the different boxes and within the selection put the associated files in the correct box. The AP (system), BL (Bootloader), CP (Modem), CSC (Device Variant).
Make sure you do not select/enable anything with thepit option.
6) Once loaded push the start button and let it so it's thing.

link to heimdall support thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=755265


text:
How to pull data from internal memory on an unrooted phone?
Yesterday, I suddenly discovered that I had lost all the user files on the internal memory of my android phone. All my photos, my music, my PDFs, audio recordings, everything. I will explain the events leading up to this in a separate paragraph below.
I have a Lava Z90 phone and I do not use an external SD card, so I must work with my phone to recover all data. I've been googling and following stuff I get from the internet(including Stack Overflow). Here's what I have done so far.

Tried using photo recovery apps available on Play Store. None of them worked.
Decided to go more technical. Enabled USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking from Developer options in my phone. Then I used ADB pull command, pull /dev/block/mmcblk0 /home/data.img to try create an image of the entire internal storage so I can analyse it using PhotoRec. It says pull: not found
I assumed this is because my phone isn't rooted?  I tried to root it with the KingoRoot apk but that didn't work. I have Ubuntu on my PC and there is not KingoRoot for Ubuntu. My next step would be to use Wine to run KingoRoot on my machine and try to root my phone that way.

I have the following questions:

How can I create an image, a data dump of my entire internal storage that i can later analyse for my data?
Can I do it with an unrooted phone? If not, how can I root my phone with ADB?
Am I going about this right? Is there a better, easier way to recover data that I should use instead?

Thank you very much.
How I lost my data
I recently uninstalled the TikTok app from my phone. Yesterday I connected my phone to my PC over mtp and found that there were certain leftover folders on the internal memory. One was a folder with Chinese name, one was a folder called ByteDance and one folder called Thumbnails. I assumed that the first two were leftovers from the TikTok app and the third was mere thumbnails. So I deleted them to save space. Nothing happened that day, except that I couldn't access any of my WhatsApp images through WhatsApp(they were still accessible through the gallery). However, when I woke up the next morning, all my data on the internal memory was gone. I still have contacts my messages and my settings, just that everything that was accessible through the file explorer has disappeared.

Does the free space indicate that all files are deleted (just to make sure)? // pull isn't a command, you need to do adb pull. // Rooting with apps doesn't always work, neither it's a recommended method. See this: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/205707/218526 // All of your three questions are answered in the linked question.

Does this answer your question? How to recover a deleted file from /data partition?

Irfan Latif, there is free space shown in the file manager. I think that means they were deleted. I am running the pull command inside the shell, which I first type adb shell, and then run all subsequent commands inside of that.

pull is implemented inside adb, not a separate binary. See usage in linked answer.

Alright, I fiddled around and ran adb pull /dev/block/mmcblk0 /home mmc.img instead. It says, remote object '/dev/block/mmcblk0' does not exist. I either need to figure out where the phone is mounted or a way to mount this mtp device as a normal drive so regular backup applications can take care of it.

it can be /dev/block/sda13 or something, check with ls -l $(find /dev/block -name userdata)

for Mediatek devices do following:
if your device is encrypted

get a temp root shell with mtk-su
dump your decrypted userdata partition /dev/block/dm-0
(this will take ~25 GB/h)
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb extundelete testdisk
adb push mtk-su /data/local/tmp/
adb shell chmod 0755 /data/local/tmp/mtk-su
adb shell /data/local/tmp/mtk-su -c "cat /dev/block/dm-0 2> /dev/null" > userdata.img

if your device is not encrypted

switch off device, remove battery (if possible)
install VCOM preloader drivers (Windows)
find a scatter file for your ROM
download SP Flash Tool (Windows)
do a read back of userdata partition (SP Flash Tool)

once you have a ext4 disk image of userdata:

open userdata.img with testdisk (linux)
copy deleted files, or
scan the whole userdata.img with extundelete (linux)
testdisk userdata.img

[Proceed ]
  [None   ] Non partitioned media
  [ Advanced ] Filesystem Utils
  (press Enter 3x times)
  [  List  ] List and copy files
  (deleted files are colored red)
  a to select all files
  Shift + C to copy the selected files
  (select destination folder)
  C when the destination is correct

extundelete userdata.img --restore-all

(check folder ~/RECOVERED_FILES/media/0/)

if you don't have scatter file create your own https://forum.hovatek.com/thread-21970.html

turns out adb exec-out for linux only works with busybox dd and dos2unix while adb shell works for linux only. no success for windows, yet. funny thing is cat and dd produces different output for built-in (toybox/toolbox) and busybox variant https://pastebin.com/Z5ptLhqM


text:
Is there an Android phone without proprietary code?
I want to buy an Android phone.
However, with everything that is happenning in the IT world today (all the backdoors, "Carrier IQ" stuff and so on), I am more and more convinced I want a trully open OS - that means, without proprietary applications, without proprietary drivers/"binary blobs" - or, at least, with at least of this as possible. (Stallman-style!)
I know that one fully open phone is OpenMoko phone, but that's not an Android and it has very outdated hardware. Is there another possibility?
(I see that this question on Android SE was marked as unconstrictive for some reason; I hope this won't be too)

Have you looked into CyanogenMod?  It's a ROM that has versions for most phones.  It doesn't unlock the device but has a version of Android without all the bloatware and model/carrier specific software.

I have to admit, I don't really know that much about Android and I thought you have to root your phone to install CyanogenMod, possibly breaking various warranties and such. If it's possible to install without any fuss on mobile phones, my problem is solved. EDIT: oh yeah, it voids the warranty on almost any phone. Well, I will think twice about that.

It voids your warranty, but is easy to install, and awesome. I've done it before, and it's easy to revert back if needed, too. It also meets all your requirements. I'd consider it.

Geeksphone started off with the premise of a completely open software and hardware stack.  So far they released two handsets, One and Zero.  Although both models are severely outdated specifications-wise compared to today's high-end models, the "Zero" model is quite comparable to current mid-range devices.
The company provides source code for the kernel and drivers of their "One" model on the web site.  I couldn't find the sources for the "Zero" model, but I'm sure they will if you reach out to them.

That doesn't look that bad; however, the site seems a bit abandoned until 2009 and the wiki - http://wiki.geeksphone.com/en/index.php?title=Main_Page - is quite spammy. But thanks anyway! I will think about that

Yeah, their wiki has been defaced quite regularly according to the history.  I haven't heard a peep out of them since they released the Zero model, which most likely didn't do so well in sales figures.

According to this thread - http://forum.geeksphone.com/index.php?topic=1767.390 - and poor Google Translate, they plan another model maybe in march 2012. It would be good if it happenned.

Geeksphone is making a new phone now, as you can see on their site.

There are at least 2 different free OSes aimed at smartphones - the replicant project and the SHR project - both of which are aimed at bringing free-as-in-Stallman software to smartphones.  I haven't used either of these yet, but it looks like Replicant is more strict about their definition of free software.  Both of them appear to be actively under development:
http://replicant.us/
http://shr-project.org/trac
Your choice of free OS will have a list of recommended hardware devices, so it may be useful to check out their supported hardware lists before making a decision.  It looks like the Nokia N900 and the Geeksphones are listed in both, and the Nexus series from google is at least partly supported.


text:
If I root my phone, can my service providor tell if I am using my phone for USB tethering or as a WiFi hotspot?
Looking at the responses to this question, it seems that a mobile service provider can't automatically detect whether or not a phone user is tethering their phone or not. Though they can infer it by the type of activity a user does.
However, my service providor charges extra for both USB and WiFi tethering. They can provide accurate usage statistics and charge by the data packet, so they must have some deliberately set up way of monitoring this. I believe the most likely way of doing this is they likely have some kind of software built into my installation of Android that reports whether or not I'm tethering.
So, does that mean if I root my device, and then presumeably that software is gone, they won't be able to tell anymore?
I'm weighing the risks and rewards of rooting my phone, and whether or not I could bypass their nickel-and-diming by charging extra for tethering would be a deciding factor.

It won't make much difference for the scenario to whether your device is rooted or not; the service provider will have the same inspection level of observation (http headers and User-Agent fields, etc.) to detect your device being tethered or not, which is- as stated- a rare possibility.

@SamSPICA: I don't think that's quite accurate. I don't think my service providor is currently just analyzing usage. I believe they have a specific process on the phone which manages the tethering process to monitor it. They can monitor it by the data packet and charge accordingly.

The tethering app that the carrier provides is modified to call home and keep track of your usage (or validate if you're even allowed to tether, depending on the carrier). If you root then you can install a different tethering app. Is that actually what you're asking?

@Dave M G: eldarerathis may be right. The tethering app itself might be monitoring your usage, with statistics being sent to the service provider. Try using a different tethering app- if that might help. But again, I say, it might not make a difference whether the device is rooted or not.

@eldarerathis: Ah... I'm starting to see this a little clearer now. I guess at least part of what I'm asking is whether or not it's possible to use a different tethering app without rooting the phone... which is something I hadn't thought of until your comments, but I think that is an essential part of the question.

@SamSPICA: As per my comment above, I hadn't started out thinking in that direction, but nonetheless it's a good suggestion to use an alternate tethering app that might circumvent the carrier's monitoring software and charges. You should put that as an answer, and even if it's not a direct answer, it would at least get you some rep. :)

If you're rooted install SSH Tunnel to route all your traffic through it. they can't detect anything from your encrypted tunnel.

Encrypted VPN tunnel would be fine too.

Technically they can inspect the HTTP Headers and look at the User-Agent field to determine browser and OS; but imagine the millions and millions of HTTP requests for web pages and applications in a given day.
They can do trends, and data mining techniques to find out - but is it worth all that effort for them just to track down someone using a few more MB of bandwidth? Probably not.

Some tethering solutions may also allow you to alter the headers, besides of course that you can change your user agent in many browsers :)

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I hope they wouldn't want to make an example out of me... ;)

Their firewall can block such traffic without any hassle..

eldarerathis may be right (from his comment). The tethering app itself might be monitoring your usage, with statistics being sent to the service provider. Try using a different tethering app- if that might help. But again, I say, it might not make a difference whether the device is rooted or not.

My current search seems to indicate that most, maybe all, tethering apps require a rooted phone. If anyone knows one that doesn't, please post a link. :)

@DaveMG: Check this one: ClockWorkMod Tether. However, this app needs a virtual network adapter to be set up on your system. Another one you may try is this one: FoxFi. Let me know if it helps. :)

Nice tip! I'd give you another +1 if I could.

Is the app from the carrier itself? If you root your phone and install a custom ROM you are erasing the phone and anything that was pre-installed by the carrier. It should work fine after that, or if you have a international version of the phone. Also, they can only see how much data you're using, and they just make it slower if they see you're using too much.


text:
False "low on space" (internal storage) warning on HTC Incredible
A while ago, I posted another question here when I had plenty of free internal storage but was getting the following warning:
Low on space: Phone storage space is getting low.

The problem was apparently a bug during the upgrade to Gingerbread, and following the steps in the accepted answer to get the hotfix resolved the issue for several months.
However, recently I've been getting that same message again. Even though it complains about low internal storage, clicking on the warning brings me to a screen that shows me:
Internal storage: 348MB used, 400MB free

I'm using a Verizon HTC Incredible running Gingerbread. I have followed the steps in the other question (clearing system cache) and rebooted the phone several times. I have moved many apps to the SD card which seems to resolve the issue for a few days, but then the warning comes back. It seems like 47% full should not be triggering a low space warning (which has other ramifications, like my email not refreshing).
Any ideas what's wrong this time?

This error could be from your /cache, /data, or /datadata partitions being almost full. Even though you have 400MB free total, these locations do not have access to all that space. YOu can try moving some of the larger apps to the SDCard, but if it is /cache or /datadata the only solution would be to remove some of the apps or deleting their data.

@RyanConrad: Is there any way to figure out the used/available space on each of those partitions without being rooted?

@jrdioko - To my knowledge you must be rooted to see storage on those partitions. On my dinc I've got chronically low space in my /datadata partition. I use DiskUsage and a terminal command to keep track of space (both require root to see /datadata).

@Mr.Buster: What exactly is stored on those three partitions? I believe I've already cleared /cache (using the steps given in the other question linked above), what about /data vs. /datadata?

@jrdioko - Found a fantastic guide to Android partitions and basics here via WIW's XDA post. /data is all your personal settings, messages, and information, while /data/data is specifically for your apps' private data. My guess is that wiping /cache as described above does not wipe /data or its child directories (otherwise you would've lost all your apps and settings).

@Mr.Buster: Interesting, thanks. So I wonder when you click on the low space warning and see used/free what exactly that is reporting (and what percentage triggers the warning). I just don't see why I'm getting the warning (despite having moved almost every app possible to the SD card).

@jrdioko - I don't believe I've ever run against that particular error - when mine has trouble I just get tons of force closes :-/. However, my app settings screen shows me what must be the /data usage (never close to full, numbers match /data size reported by DiskUsage) even though my apps are actually constrained by the much smaller /data/data (where I run out of room often). I think it's giving you an error because of /data/data but showing you details from /data instead. That's confusing as hell.

@Mr.Buster: Ah that probably is it. Do you have any idea how big /data/data would be on a HTC Incredible? That would at least help me figure out where the mystery limit is.

@jrdioko - My dinc's /data is 748 MB and my /data/data is 149 MB. Sounds like that should be the same for yours (and others').

@Mr.Buster: Thanks! You should work all these comments into an answer :)

@jrdioko - FWIW I was just fighting again with this same issue and found that telling Dolphin (my browser of choice) to Cache to SD Card really helped free up some space.

To consolidate comments:
I've found a fantastic guide to Android partitions and basics here via WIW's XDA post. /data is all your personal settings, messages, and information, while /data/data is specifically for your apps' private data. My guess is that wiping /cache as described above does not wipe /data or its child directories (otherwise you would've lost all your apps and settings).
I don't believe I've ever run against the particular error you're seeing - when mine has trouble I just get tons of force closes :-/. However, my app settings screen shows me what must be the /data usage (never close to full, numbers match /data size reported by DiskUsage) even though my apps are actually constrained by the much smaller /data/data (where I run out of room often). I think it's giving you an error because of /data/data but showing you details from /data instead. That's confusing as hell.
My dinc's /data is 748 MB and my /data/data is 149 MB. Sounds like that should be the same for yours (and others'). Until you give in to the dark side and root your Incredible (and are then able to see specific usage) you'll want to keep things below 149 MB (ish). FWIW, my biggest disk-hogs are Facebook and Dolphin Browser.

if you have rooted then what's the solution?

I was never able to find a solution. That is, I never found a way to fix the small /data/data partition. Rooting gives you access to see the usage of that partition that is otherwise hidden, which is helpful in trying to manage things, but it doesn't solve any problems. When I wrote this back in 2012 I researched the idea of enlarging that partition but decided it wasn't worth the risk.

Check this answer to a similar problem. Basically delete from /data/log. Before you do, if you have the chance (phone still operational) then check the files to see what the errors being logged are.

The total space shown in memory is not all being used for apps. Android might have allotted a part of your internal memory for installation of apps. When that allotted space is over you can't install new apps and get low memory warning. You can try following:

Uninstall Apps
Move apps to external storage or money card. You can do that by going to app settings. You may be able to move some apps by app settings option.
If you're still getting low memory issue, then you use This app. This is only app I found on play store which can move those apps to SD card which android app settings couldn't. But to use this, you need to be rooted.


text:
Create sdcard0 symlink on 6.0.1 for WhatsApp compatibility
I recently switched from a Galaxy S2 running CM 10.2 (Android 4.3.1) to a Nexus 5 running 6.0.1 (stock rooted).
My goal was to migrate all my WhatsApp data (history, media, etc.) over to the new device. Restoring the history was no problem using WhatsApp's builtin backup/restore functionality.
I then proceeded to copy all the .../WhatsApp/Media/ folders over to the new phone, however, I still got an error message stating that the file could not be found when trying to open any (old) received images or videos from within WhatsApp.
Upon further investigation, it seems like WhatsApp is (or was?) storing the absolute path to every individual media file in its database, e.g. on my S2: /storage/sdcard0/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images/IMG-20140813-WA0020.jpg
It just so happens that the /storage/sdcard0 symlink doesn't exist on my Nexus 5 and hence WhatsApp can't access older files since the links are broken.
So I figured all I needed to do was create the /storage/sdcard0 symlink, like this:
ln -s /sdcard /storage/sdcard0

Confirmation:
root@hammerhead:/ # ls -l /storage
drwx--x--x root     sdcard_rw          1970-07-07 17:59 emulated
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              2015-12-30 16:26 sdcard0 -> /sdcard
drwxr-xr-x root     root              1970-07-09 08:57 self

Unfortunately, WhatsApp still couldn't access my old media files (not to mention that the symlink was gone after a reboot).
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks!
EDIT:
I did some more testing and noticed that the /storage/sdcard0 symlink is still there in versions prior to Marshmallow (I tested factory images of 5.0, 5.0.1 and 5.1.1 plus a friend's N5 running 4.4.4).
For now I have downgraded to 5.1.1 (with an intact /storage/sdcard0 symlink) and my old WhatsApp media now works as expected.
It's still very odd that the symlink didn't exist/work on 6.x though.

In my Android Lollipop: sdcard is a symlink to /sdcard/emulated/legacy && sdcard0 is a symlink to /sdcard/emulated/legacy && legacy is a symlink to /mnt/shell/emulated/0. There are other things to consider, such the group of the directories and the files.


text:
How can I tell if I need to replace my battery?
I have a refurbished Galaxy S3. Sometimes it charges to 100% while powered off, but reports 51% as soon as I start it up. Lately, it goes down to 50% or lower even right after charging.
I haven't installed many apps or used the phone extensively yet.
I find lots of links for determining battery drain, but nothing so far on how to tell if I need a new battery.
I'd like to be relatively sure it's a bad battery before replacing it.
Update:
I have eliminated the problem, but have no idea why what I did worked ;(
1) I bought an inexpensive charging-only cable. Using this, the phone charges very nicely.
2) I turned on Power Saving.
3) I bought a more expensive version of the battery.
Now the phone charges fully, lasts a long time, and keeps the charge when turned off.
None of this makes sense - especially the fact that it used to drain when turned off (not suspended). Changing the cable shouldn't have done much either because the old cable did charge the phone - or at least - the phone said it did.

I had a similar galaxy phone. I noticed that the battery had bulged out a little. And a few days later it grew enormous and I got a replacement. Is there a bulge on yours?

No. It looks fine. I ordered a couple of spare batteries anyway (and an external charger.)

Just one, and maybe two, tops, is all you need.

Li Ion or Li Po batteries don't die suddenly - their performance degrades in terms of :
a) Short Term: Ability to hold charge and deliver expected performance
b) Long Term:: Deliver upto 80%  capacity upon being charged / discharged over a period of time (in other words life of battery). The battery is considered to be technically dead if it delivers less
There is no sure way of determining and saying this battery has gone bad, but there are a couple of things you could try:

Spin Test: Since your phone has user removable battery try this. For details, see this nice answer with embedded video.

Vbatt: This app should give a fairly good indication, since it simulates discharging under screen on condition . When you charge your battery to 100% (irrespective of the reading it shows on disconnecting ), activate this app widget and it will tell you the voltage level and how long it should last under screen on condition. Let it ruin till the battery nearly runs out and compare the predicted Vs actual. Simple. From app description

Vbatt is a simple battery widget for Android smartphones and tablets. It displays the current battery voltage (Vbatt) and  the remaining battery capacity (percentage) and optionally logs these values to a CSV-file.

The main reason for developing Vbatt was the differing behaviour of replacement batteries while discharging them in daily use ... For a better estimation of the remaining phone runtime the Vbatt widget displays in addition to the remaining capacity (percentage) the battery voltage

While battery voltage is arguably not the best indicator of health of battery, running this app can help you in a couple of ways
a) Giving you the current performance which you can compare with earlier performance as you recall or from Screen On Time (SoT) which you can gather from internet or forums
b)  If you can lay your hands on a new or properly performing battery from your friends, running this app on both batteries, you can easily judge for yourself. You can even ask your friend having the same phone to install this app, run it and compare.
Since your phone is refurbished, there could be another factor at play for deterioration in performance- date of manufacture of battery. Li Ion batteries (for that matter all batteries) suffer from Self Discharge At the rate of 4% every month, which means if your battery, even if it is original, but kept on the store shelf for say an year before being sold, it had already affected the longevity of battery and it shows up in performance
IMO, looking at the battery figures shared, I would recommend battery replacement (assuming no other reason like hardware issues). It would help you to decide by running tests mentioned

After I use the provided info, I expect to accept this answer. Followup: How long might it take for vbatt to get it to 5%. I'm not sure I want to let it go to zero. Wouldn't that hurt the battery? I know you can't answer precisely. I just want to plan how long I have to babysit the process. I just ordered 2 spare batteries and a charger anyway. That video of the spinning battery was funny. That's a new diagnostic method.

You are right on not letting the battery go below 5%, I would even say 10% but didn't stress that since your battery seemed to be a goner anyway. I am guessing it should take less than 4 hours but you can surely make a reasonable estimate if you can't stay that long. Yes, the battery sounds because of the bulge. It isn't new. You will find you tube videos Did yours spin? Mind you, this is a good indicator most of the times. I had a spinning battery that lasted me a few months. Vbatt app methods is hardly mentioned .it hit play store in ' 14. All the best

wondering if you did the test?

I tried the Vbatt app and watched it drain the battery.  I did not know how to use the information it gave me any further than that. See forthcoming update to my question for more details.

You now have performance of your bad battery with the time taken to drain From a certain level. Now this test needs to be repeated with  a good or new battery to compare. If you the read app description, it stresses the replacement battery performs as mentioned in second bullet point in the answer

Saw your edit - doesn't make sense as to why this should happen

It could be a bad calibration of the battery.
Charge your phone to 100% and then use it as normal, without charging. Eventually you'll hit 0% and your phone will turn itself off. Then without turning it back on, charge it until 100%. That can often reset the calibration.
Also take note of how long your battery is lasting. If you're not a heavy user you should easily get a day out of a good battery. If your getting to 0% before the end of the day your battery might be on it's way out. My samsung battery was going from 100% to 30% in an hour and then draining quickly. A couple days after getting those symptoms it just died.

Note: Running down to 0% is poison for LiIo (and also LiPo) batteries, it shortens their life times. I'd take 5% as lowest limit. But as usually the battery doesN#t last as long as the day with smartphones, just a full, uninterrupted charge at that point would do for calibration – so most users calibrate daily without knowing it :)

@Izzy I've read similar conclusions, but I'm having trouble finding credible references to verify it.  Do you have any good references for those conclusions?

@RockPaperLizard Have you checked with our charging tag wiki yet? :)

@Izzy Even though I sometimes write the wikis, I often forget to check them.  Thanks Izzy.


text:
Forward tethered device?
Alright, so I have a raspberry pi (192.168.42.53 on rndis0) that is tethered to an android tablet to access the internet. The tablet is connected to my home LAN via WiFi (on wlan0). How do I forward the raspberry pi so that I can access all of it's services through devices on my home LAN? Could this work through iptables?

If SSH is on the default port, then allow port 22 incoming? Just a guess...

Have you tried using the terminal to change your iptables or what it's called?

@ionree yes, but I am not sure how to use iptables exactly

I found an answer to my own question that is a really easy fix.  Turns out, iptables is not at all needed.  There is an easy to use app on the play store that solved my problem: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.bherbst.net&hl=en


text:
Packet forwarding between USB Tethering and Wifi on Android
I have Toshiba notebook with embedded wifi adapter 2.4Ghz, desktop without embedded wifi adapter and Samsung Galaxy smartphone with Mobile HotSpot feature also on 2.4Ghz. Smartphone is connected to Internet through mobile operator. I need provide internet access for notebook and desktop through smartphone and combine them in network, so I will be able to ping notebook from desktop and vice versa.
I have bought TP-Link Archer T1U usb wifi adapter for my desktop and found that it supports only 5Ghz bandwidth. Yeah.. shit happens. But also I have old rooted Samsung Galaxy SM-T211 tablet with USB Tethering feature. So I   switch on Mobile HotSpot on smartphone and connect notebook to smartphone through wifi. Then I connect tablet to smartphone also through wifi. Finally I switch on USB Tethering feature on tablet and connect desktop to it through usb cable. Network schema is shown below.

All devices have internet access. Seems good, except I can't ping desktop(192.168.42.56) from notebook(192.168.43.24).
Forgot to mention, I use ArchLinux on both desktop and notebook.

There's is a similar question and I was thinking about answering that for quite some time. It's good that you have come up with a well explained solution. I suggest you move the answer part from this question to an answer to that question, and leave only the question part here (it's a Q/A site).

yeah, it has sense. What if I divide Q and A parts here and post link to this question in thread you mentioned?

duplicate questions are discouraged and highly likely to be closed. So better answer to previously existing question.

@Irfan Latif, ok, thanks

I have found the solution.
First, I add routing for 192.168.52.0/24 net via 192.168.53.224(tablet) on notebook:
$ sudo ip route add 192.168.42.0/24 via 192.168.43.224 dev wlp5s0

Second, flush all the chains in ip table on tablet through Android Terminal Emulator. Tablet is rooted, so it is not a big problem:
$ su
# iptables -F

That is all. Now notebook can ping desktop and vice versa.


text:
Use phone's built-in Visual Voicemail on T-Mobile USA?
Is there any way to get Visual Voicemail working using the Phone (dialer) app on T-Mobile in the USA?
I have two open-market phones - one a factory unlocked handset from China (Unihertz Titan) running Android 9, the other a formerly-locked (to Telstra, if that matters) Galaxy S10+ running Android 10 - and neither can access visual voicemail through their in-box Phone apps. I've never had this problem before, with older Androids (back around the Android 4 days) or with the Windows phones I used until EoL (everything from WP7.x through W10M, VVM worked out of the box perfectly).
T-Mobile has a VVM app on the Play store, but even aside from the inconvenience of needing a separate app for what all my previous phones had integrated, it is... bad. It's rated 2.5 stars, and it earns it (not all voicemails showing up, generally clunky and unreliable).
I've been on the phone with T-Mobile, Samsung, and even Telstra; none could help. On the Titan, the VVM screen always says "Visual voicemail is not activated yet, please try again later". On the S10+, the VVM toglle is just outright missing from the built-in phone app.
I haven't rooted either phone, and they're both running stock ROMs. I have ADB installed, if that's needed.

Sorry, I don't have experience with T-Mobile nor VVM, but looks like there are many who have the same problem with T-Mobile's VVM

Thanks @AndrewT. I'd seen some discussion of the problem but it was older than that thread. Unfortunately I've already tried the things it mentioned (installing and uninstalling the TMo VVM app, calling the operator and manufacturer) but like others mentioned it didn't help me. :-(  Very frustrating, coming from a tiny market share and long-deprecated OS where this feature worked perfectly to the most common mobile OS on the planet and a flagship device, and finding it doesn't.


text:
How to start application automatically when bluetooth device is connected?
Whenever I enter my car, bluetooth is connected. What I would like is my speedcam alert application to be started once BT is connected and ideally terminate application when disconnected. I am using LG G6 with Nougat.

For such automation purposes, you can use any one of the following-

IFTTT (if this happens then do this)
Automate
Tasker (paid app)

Takser is somewhat difficult to use and paid app so I will recommend you to use IFTTT or Automate.
IFTTT has supports for a variety of products such as Phillips Hue lights etc. But Automate is the easiest to use for your purpose.

Great! do you have any experience on which one is using less resources? Are they going to run as background service, eating CPU time or the system will run automation app whenever certain event is fired?

I have used automate which is not very resource hungry and I am not sure about working of it but I think it checks at regular intervals.

Turns out terminate part is impossible unless my phone is rooted, which is not possible at the moment...

Well every automation has its limit without all the privileges :)

For LG phones specifically you can use Smart Settings to automatically open apps when a specific Bluetooth device is connected, among other things.
To get to the Smart Settings, go to the Settings app, navigate to the General tab, then tap on Smart Settings.

wow, I missed that function. It does half of the job indeed, will try it. Sadly there is no option to kill the app. Maybe I use automation for killing it when BT disconnected...


text:
How can I enable the internet on other apps other than the web browser?
The wifi that I am using requires me to input a username and password for it to work. I can successfully do this on the web browser (chrome) as it brings up a webpage (ie 192.168.1.1/login). However, I can't access any other apps as I believe that I haven't inputted my username and password into those corresponding apps(and I don't think I'm actually able to either (like with gmail or spotify)).
So I was thinking that a solution to this would be to find an app that would allow me to globally access internet to all apps. Any suggestions?

It doesn't make any difference which app you use. Logging into the Wi-Fi from Chrome makes it work for your whole phone, not just for Chrome. What symptoms are you actually seeing?

This indeed sounds like a "captive portal". For details, see Wikipedia. As Dan wrote: once logged in, your device is authorized – not just the browser. That "portal soft" stores your "access permission" based on your device's MAC address – though maybe for a limited time (usually a few ours up to a few days).

You normally can login in your browser i.e: http://1.1.1.1 (or any local address)  and put your credentials, user and password.
If are valid, your mobile its accepted to use the network for all apps, until you disconnect.
Otherwise you can set a proxy for some apps, as social apps or browsers.


text:
Galaxy Tab S3 suddenly can't support SD cards
After the Sept Update (now shows "Software update to T827VVRU3CSH4), my Verizon Galaxy Tab S3 stopped "supporting" the SD card that I've been using for the past year or so.  It now does 1 of 2 things for all SD cards:

Displays a message "Unsupported SD card".  "This device doesn't
    support this SD card.  Tap to setup in a supported format".  I've tried formatting the same, previously working SD card a few times now, but no luck.
I've also tried 2 other SD cards, but they too cause the same, repetitive formatting prompt.
Doesn't recognized at all

Has anyone else experienced this recently?  I'm wondering if it might be a bug in the recent update, or something specific to my tablet + SD cards.

Have you tried a different SD-card? Or at least remove and re-insert the sd-card to make sure that the cause is not hardware aging of the connectors.

I tried rewording the description to better clarify, but yes, I've tried several SD cards, and they all cause the same, endless prompts for formatting.


text:
Why Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i shows only a battery icon instead of booting?
I've got a used Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i smartphone - it had basically no issues, but when I attempted to turn on (it was charged almost all night), what appeared is only a battery icon with no boot.
It has already happened some times before, but in those cases, taking out battery and putting back always solved the case.
This time, it didn't. What's the possible reason and how can I fix it?
(if that matters, the mini-USB end of the cable I use for the charger also has some issues, with only making proper contact in some certain positions)

Either your battery has failed (internal connection failure or shorted cell), or the battery contacts in the phone are no longer making contact with the battery terminals.  Most smart phones (including Samsung models, in my experience) will refuse to boot until the battery has a certain level of charge (around 15%); and if the battery won't accept a charge for some reason, the phone will never start up.
If you can, see if the phone will work with a different battery; if so, replacing the battery will solve the problem.  Otherwise, it may be possible to rebend the contact springs, clean the contact surfaces, or otherwise restore good contact to resolve the issue.

"Otherwise, it may be possible to rebend the contact springs, clean the contact surfaces, or otherwise restore good contact to resolve the issue." And how can I do that?

I don't know that model specifically, but in my S4 (and every other phone I've had the battery out of in the past few years) the phone's battery contacts are little spring leaves.  Carefully bending them so they press a little harder on the battery terminals is the general method; specific for that phone I can't help with.

Another way that worked for me, is to fold aluminum foil into a thin strip and wedge it between the bottom of battery and casing. This pushes the Battery upwards and forces connection

@beeshyams That's a good way to check if battery contact is the issue, and may be useful longer term if the contacts aren't accessible to adjust, but it carries a hazard of the foil strip getting loose when you have the battery out and, if you don't notice it before reinserting the battery, potentially shorting the battery (possibly leading to a fire or explosion).  At the least, I'd use something non-conductive, like a layer or two of masking tape on the non-terminal end of the battery.

You are right. I should have clarified. Aluminum foil I used was the food wrapping type, which has a butter paper surface on the other side, so that can be used..but yes as you pointed out, long term risk is still there..thanks

@ZeissIkon thanks! Strangely however, when I took out the battery, left separated for an hour or so, and then I put it back, the phone worked perfectly. Any ideas, why?

@ZoltánSchmidt That may be a safety feature in the phone's firmware: if it decides the connected battery is bad, the phone may refuse to enter a high-draw mode (like starting up the full OS) to prevent a battery fire.  I'm not certain that's the case, but if it is, leaving the battery out for an extended time is likely to reset it, and a bad connection at the terminals could cause the "bad battery" detection in the first place.


text:
SM-T320 randomly fatal crashes then bootloops for a bit

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 Wi-Fi (SM-T320 or mondrianwifiue)
Rooted with cf auto root using superSu v2.82
custom recovery TWRP 3.1.1-0
Android version stock 4.4.2
Kernel version 3.4.0-4441590

Within android OS the tablet randomly crashes and then bootloops when disconnected from the charger. Intrestingly though during the bootloop sometimes the screen flickers before shutting down and rebooting.
The bootloop stops after being shutdown for a while or if the charger get's plugged into the tablet.
Oddly however, when booted into the custom recovery TWRP there is no issue. Even if entering TWRP during the bootloop. The bootloop stop until trying to boot back into the system.
I recorded a logcat of an initial crash.
As far as kernel logs here is the Dmesg after the bootloop. The last_kmsg was blank.
I suspect the battery connection is the culprit but I do not know why there is no issues within TWRP.
Does this look like a software issue or a hardware issue?
Thank you

You are right about the battery connection; try this trick: 1. Hold down power button for 10-15 sec while keeping it plugged in 2. When the tablet powers down and shows charging indicator, remove the cable and it should simulate removing the battery.
There was a constant error with sec_fuelgauge which is a process that regulates battery on hardware level. Check to see error at line 955 and so on later.

That trick for simulating the battery pull trick did not work but thank you for your response. What make you think it is a battery connection issue? Was it from the logs or my explanation?

The logs. There was a constant error with sec_fuelgauge which is a process that regulates battery on hardware level.

Great and thanks, it has been a bit since I have read kernel logs. I slightly remember that error -110 ment a lack of power for usb but I was not totally sure. You should put the part about the logs in your answer.

Edited the answer. Maybe backup your data and factory reset? It works wonders for most problems which you can fix. If it is a hardware problem, you might be out of luck (I really don't think it is)