text:
Location of saved images from Facebook Messenger app
I don't use Facebook app (browsed on Google Chrome), but I use its Messenger app. Where can I find the saved images from Facebook Messenger app?

Do you use Facebook messenger app or Google Chrome to access facebook? Are you able to see the saved photos into your phone's Gallery?

Facebook Messenger saves photos to $EXTERNAL_STORAGE/Pictures/Messenger.  That variable depends on your device, but on mine it is /storage/sdcard0 which is also pointed to by the /sdcard symlink.

Is there any way to change that? I don't want syncthing to sync all the gifs I get sent.

Computer\SAMSUNG-SGH-I537\Phone\Pictures\Messenger is where they appeared with a USB cable to my Windows 7 desktop.

This helped, but it would also be great to provide a  contextual reference (like version numbers or documentation link) in case this changes.

@ryanwebjackson This answer is nearly 9 years old, so I'm not sure what the app version was back then.  Feel free to report your version here, if it still works.

If you are using Chrome Browser then you can view it in your Downloads folder. If you are using Facebook Messenger App then you should be able to view the photos in you Gallery app. Internally when using Facebook messenger, it hides the downloaded photos inside the system. You have to have a rooted phone to access those hidden files. Its in the hidden root directory,
data/data/com.facebook.orca/cache

you have to copy the folder to a directory and rename the .image files to .jpg files.

Can I not take ADB backup (no root) of this facebook app and then extract it to see these images?

@Firelord Yes that can be another way but the OP's question title asks "where can I find the saved images.." so that's why I mentioned the path to access it


text:
How to turn off overlays if I can't touch the screen?
My cell phone is a Samsung Galaxy Pocket 2 (SM-G110B/DS) running Android 4.4 KitKat. I found the developer options, and "by mistake", I selected one of the overlays. The problem is that the overlay has a bigger resolution than what my screen supports, and it doesn't let me touch the screen (Overlay #1 1280x720).
I have turned the phone off and on again and it didn't work, I took off the battery, pinched it, and tapped on it several times... nothing changed, but that overlay is still there and doesn't let me touch the screen.
How can I turn this overlay off?

Weird, it works on my phone, so I thought it would work on yours as well. Seems to be a new thing added in Lollipop.

@GiantTree So how do I reset it?

Does your usb debugging mode enable in your developer options menu? Related Adb shell commands to change settings

@Lucky  well, I can't see it because you know the overlay thing :D, but when I connect it via USB it appears as phone camera, not USB storage, so I can't access anything in my phone. BTW the only thing I see is the lock screen behind the overlay, sorry I forgot to tag you before

I have just experienced something similar. Have you tried navigating the phone using a physical keyboard (you might need a USB adapter for this) then launching an app that causes your phone to change orientation? What about rebooting into safe mode?

Use the following command to disable the display overlay via ADB
adb shell settings put global overlay_display_devices null

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

I had the same issue. I long-pressed on the overlay#1 window, dragged it down, and then turned off the Developer options.
Hope it helps in a way.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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sort: votes


text:
My android phone location history shows locations not visited
My Android phone is enabled for home WiFi as well as cell tower connection. My location services have been enabled as well to use Google Maps for tracking Location history. Whenever I go to my balcony of my apartment I find lot of secured WiFi connections available in addition to my connected home WIFI. Others are secured and not connected.
The are lots of blue dots for various locations in location history closer to my home where I have not even visited but shows up in the location history.
Is it possible that wrong locations appear in my location history?

Yes its possible because the location tracking is not always accurate. It's based on your GPS reception, Wifi Hotspots etc. Please take a look at the answers for more information. Make sure you set your location settings to High Accuracy for better location reporting results.

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


text:
What does "Archive does not contain 'android-something.txt'" mean?
So I am trying to flash my OnePlus One with CM12s through fastboot on command prompt, but whenever I type fastboot update romname.zip I am presented with:
archive does not contain 'android-info.txt'
archive does not contain 'android-product.txt'
error: update package has no android-info.txt or android-product.txt

the specific build I am using can be found here It is the build ending in 8, or the one submitted on 2015-07-08
What have I done wrong?

I never flashed a ROM using a .zip in fastboot. The proper way I've ever seen is to flash individual files, and some of the important commands are:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash cache cache.img
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash userdata userdata.img // 64GB users need userdata_64G.img

Provided that you do have these individual files in your .zip.
These kind of zips are called as "fastboot zips" or "fastboot images", while those requiring a custom Recovery (as keepclam mentioned) are plainly known as normal recovery-flashable zips.
I'm not aware of custom ROMs providing "fastboot zips", but if you intend to gain an experience of flashing such zips, I would suggest flashing a stock CM12s. You can find the related info on OnePlus Forums here.
About the error, it says you don't have android-info.txt. That's true that you probably don't have it because as I said custom ROMs usually don't provide "fastboot zips" which has this file. And I also said to try stock CM12s fastboot zip since it has that android-info.txt whose content would be like:
require version-trustzone=TZ.BF.2.0-2.0.0109

I think things would be clear for now.

None of these .img's exist for pixel phones at this point.

@IgorGanapolsky I have not flashed a phone using fastboot images in the last two years so I'm afraid I cannot update my answer. Please do post an answer if you have one; downvote mine if you think that would be just; or raise a bounty to seek an updated answer. :)

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

You need to flash custom ROMs from within recovery, not within the bootloader. Detailed instrunctions on how to install CyanogenMod can be found here.
NOTE: those instructions are not for the Cyanogen, Inc. factory images. Offical factory images can be found on the Cyanogen, Inc. website

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text:
phone mounts as media device not usb storage
My Samsung Galaxy SII used to mount normally as a USB drive in Ubuntu until the 4.0.3 upgrade. Now the only two options are:

connect as Media Device (MTP)
connect as Camera (PTP)

neither of the above works properly with Ubuntu 12.04 so I could browse and manage files on the phone and the SD card.
Does Android 4.1 not support the device to be mounted as USB drive anymore?? I tried turning on USB Debugging in developer options but no difference...

Related: Why can't I see Android storage as a partition on PC?

Actually, this is even easier: http://www.computerandyou.net/2012/01/how-to-fix-android-samsung-galaxy-s2-not-recognized-on-linux/
Android 4.0.3 does still have the USB Mass Storage feature, it's just hidden in "Other Network Settings" where one would not really expect it...

UMS (USB Mass Storage) was replaced by MTP somewhere with, at latest, ICS. Some kernels still may contain for UMS, but most won't anymore. So here are your options:

Check the market for Apps which can enable UMS again (I heard mentioned a few who should be able doing so, including AL Mass Storage Manager, USB Mass Storage Watcher, and Usb Host Controller -- but no guarantees whatsoever, as I didn't try any due to lack of ICS devices
install the mtp packages on Ubuntu (apt-get install mtp-tools)

Some helpful information on the second point:

Connect your Android Ice Cream Sandwich
How to mount an MTP device as a drive


text:
Kies unable to connect to Samsung Galaxy S3 after rooting
After I rooted my Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 phone, I was no longer able to connect to Kies to do a sync. Does anyone know why?
I have tried to reinstall Kies on my laptop, performed "Troubleshoot connection error", and deactivated USB-Debugging BEFORE I connected my phone for the first time. But the same issues remained.
When I performed *#1234# to view SW version, the PDA option was not one of the options there.
There are no issues with my USB connections as I have no problem downloading apps from Google Play on my laptop.
Pls advise how I can resolve this issue?

I couldn't connect my S3 to Kies and tried everything other users posted (usb debugging, scanning pc for viruses, etc...) and I stumbled upon the fix that solved my issue and I've now connected with Kies and have full functionality with Kies and no issues with my S3.
THE FIX:
On the S3 device:

Pull down from top of home screen (swipe from top of screen downward) to the screen that shows (across the top) Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc...
Check to see how the device is connected "Connected as a Media Device" should be shown.
Mine said "Connected as a camera" and I changed that to "Connected as a Media Device" and instantly connected to Kies.

Hope this helps!

I realised that the problem lies with a MTP device driver which was not properly installed. All I had to do was delete all the drivers, including Samsung Kies, and reinstall everything again.
One of the other thing I did before the issue appeared, was installing SGS3 Easy UMS. Because I switched my phone from MTP to UMS mode, that prevented my laptop from detecting the phone. Switching it back to MTP, and reinstalling the above applications did help.
However, I would continue to encounter connectivity issues every now and then. For instance, after I plugged my phone into my laptop via USB, and switch to syncing using Kies Air, I would encounter an error message that says my USB is plugged in.
This could be easily resolved by restarting my phone.
I can only conclude that Samsung Kies developer probably didn't do a good job handling socket connections, resulting in the error above.

I had the same problem after rooting my S3. The solution is easy: just unroot your phone and like magic your old driver will work correctly.


text:
Disable incoming gmail/Talk calls
I occasionally use the gmail on my computer browser to voice chat with friends, however when they call me though their gmail my device picks up the call rather then my computer. more precisely ever since I got my device and synced it to google, the "Talk" application intercepts the call, rings in, and asks to answer/reject.
how can I disable this feature so that the gmail on my computer would catch this call as it used to?


text:
Samsung's Pen applications under CyanogenMod 9
Anyone run Samsung's pen based applications for their Galaxy Note running under CyanogenMod 9?  Are there any kernel driver difficulties with doing so?

It appears http://androidcommunity.com/galaxy-note-cyanogenmod-9-build-adds-s-pen-support-20120501/ points to a long XDA thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1627854 that gives more details, but chaotically enough that I haven't found the answer yet.


text:
How do I backup data (SMS/contacts) from a device with a broken screen?
I just broke the screen of my (unrooted) Galaxy S.
How do I get back my SMS and contacts?
PS: I tried Kies but it won't detect my phone for some reason. (Kies works fine with another Galaxy I possess but not this one)

See also http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/12834/broken-screen-cant-adb

A root method for contacts: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/215426/218526

All of the solutions above require USB Debugging to be on. If it is not and you are using Android 4.0 then you can press power and volume down buttons simultaneously to obtain screenshot. If USB is not connected it will be placed somewhere on the SD card (e.g. \Pictures\Screenshots). Then you can connect USB to see the screenshot, then disconnect, navigate further and so on till you navigate yourself to enabling USB Debugging.
When USB Debugging enabled it is all easy as pie.

Provided you have SDK installed you can use ddms.bat from tools folder to get screenshots fast and convenient, adjusting any options you need and even installing apps.
Classic way - adb
I've found Moborobo to be very convenient way to make full backup

I understand this is very late and hardly helps OP, but I hope it helps someone else lurking here for the way to save data, like me.

Screenshot idea is brilliant.

I am trying this in a Nexus 4 and even though the button combination takes the screen shot, nothing happens when I connect the USB cable afterwards.

Does your device has HDMI or TV out facility? If so, you can connect it to another display device (monitor/TV) and install applications to backup your stuffs.
Another solution you could try is to install an app called Remote phone access via adb and control your device through PC.  But the catch here would be that if have to configure the app for remote access, then you are in trouble as you cannot see what is happening as your screen is dead.

I think your idea just saved all the data on my hubby's htc phone with a dead screen. thanks for throwing it out there even if the galaxy s probably doesn't support that feature.

@JessicaBrown, I will be glad and rest like you might be benefited if you shed some more light on which procedure you adopted and how you did it (in brief).

Well, I'm still working on it, but in short I hooked the phone up to the TV with the HDMI output cable, enabled USB debugging by touching the black screen in the right places. Then I hooked the phone up to the computer and am using Android Screen Monitor to watch the screen, and side-loaded ShareKM to use the keyboard/mouse on the computer (laggy, but at least accurate), so I can install the appropriate apps to backup all the important data on the phone

+1 The "Connect it to another display device" idea is awesome , just saved me thanks

I confirm, this worked for me wonders : https://github.com/adakoda/android-screen-monitor/blob/master/README.md

These are located in
/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

and
/data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts.db

Edit: I couldn't get adb pull working (requires root, can't remember how to call adb pull with root) but I just opened adb shell and used cp as root to copy it to /sdcard.
Edit2: I found this thread and it looks like your directories might be different.

You can use adb root to gain root access. However, this only works with rooted phones and emulator images.

damn! my phone isn't rooted :/
Any other option?
Can i use adb to open up contacts and fire an intent to Export my contacts to SD card?

adb has no bearing or relation to controlling the GUI aspects of Android what-so-ever.

what version of Android does your Galaxy S run on? You can dissect most exploit kits to run their parts manually via adb and also get root. When you get that you could use android screencast as a remote vnc like solution to install Titanium Backup. Last resort : install a CWM recovery via heimdall and do a full backup. TiBackup can extract data from that

I've been successful at exporting my contacts to SDcard with the help of 'adb shell input keyevents xx'.
The first thing I'm going to do, after that fscking screen is repaired, is to root it and install android screencast. :)

I had the same problem with my S3 (broken screen, locked phone, Kies doesn't let me access it, etc).
Solution: Get another working S3 from a friend, take off the backs of both phones, take off some screws, take the motherboard out, put your motherboard in the phone, turn it on, back up, done).
Your data is saved on the motherboard, so you can just put it in another phone and back up from there.
Just go to youtube and type Galaxy S3 board swap. It's easy and works.

"Get another working S3 from a friend [but make sure they don't know that you are going to rip it apart ]"

I had the same problem trying to get contacts off my Galaxy S3 with a broken screen. The solution was a program called "My Phone Explorer" from http://www.fjsoft.at/en/ It's free. You DON'T have to be rooted, modded, or anything to use it. I had tried everything I could find on the web, plus the people at my Verizon store, but couldn't find a solution that worked for retrieving contacts AND SMS messages from a phone with a broken screen.

Hummm... I saw this identical answer posted on the other question Are you affiliated with this app?

I tried this, but connection didn't work. If you don't already have USB debugging on and the screen doesn't respond to touch, you're effed

Useless. Requires ADB turned on.

Have you not thought of considering using DroidExplorer as the alternative to using Kies instead? It might help you pull in the contacts?
Using Kies can be quite obnoxious and not exactly on-the-ball...

DroidExplorer is
"A tool to manage your rooted android device with the simplicity of Windows Explorer."
I don't have root access and I am on Linux (Debian sid amd64)

Install mono and run it!!

I didn't know the Mono port is already that far? On his website, Ryan still states he's looking for help with that. Are you using DroidExplorer on Linux via Mono, @t0mm13b ?

@Izzy yes, very occasionally, it works... you'd be surprised how under-rated Mono is on Linux - provided there is no iffy Win32API used, you can actually run Win32 dotnet exe's under mono! :)

OK, so I will see to give it a try as soon as time permits -- thanks for the feedback, @t0mm13b !

I suggest using MyPhoneExplorer and its desktop companion:
In my case, debugging was not enabled on the phone. MAKE SURE THE PHONE IS ON AND PLUGGED IN!!!
You have to make sure that the driver is installed and that there is not an exclamation mark next to the device in device manager:

right click My Computer
left click Properties
left click Device Manager

If there is an exclamation mark next to your phone:

go to Samsung's website and download the correct driver., there is one for sprint, Verizon, google, etc...
Install the driver by double-clicking the downloaded file.
go back to device manager and double click on the device
click on update the driver
click on browse my computer
click let me choose from a list of device drivers
click on adb interface
click on the newest android interface
click on whatever is necessary to keep the driver install going.
It will say complete.

Get MyPhoneExplorer from the Playstore and install it (it's well worth a donation if you can afford it, if not it is free). On your PC, download and install the app's desktop companion.
From this app, read the help file and sync!!! It's very easy to use.

Remark: This solution requires a Windows computer (to my knowledge, there are no versions of the desktop companion for other OSses). Should be fine for the OP, as using Kies implies a Windows machine :)

I don't get down-votes for this. This app with its companion is great (I have been using it for years) and it was exactly what helped me save my SMS messages while my phone was locked and not accepting Unlock Pattern. One thing thou, to run the app you should do "adb shell am start -n com.fjsoft.myphoneexplorer.client/com.fjsoft.myphoneexplorer.client.MainActivity". Then you can connect to the client from PC and backup your SMS messages.

Moborobo and Mobogenie both do great job of backup/update apps etc. (Windows)
Do not worry about downloading drivers etc. Both do the needful. Both are free.
http://moborobo.com/
http://www.mobogenie.com/
FYI I use Moborobo.

Can you install it and backup without having to interact with the Android device's screen?


text:
Can video recording on an Android smartphone be paused?
I've got an HTC Wildfire with Android Froyo 2.2.
When I record videos with it, I want to be able to pause the recording, in order to pick up recording at the exact place where I paused.
This is not supported by the built in video recorder. Is this common for Android phones, or are there phones out there that support pause in video recording?

It looks like this is either specific to the hardware of the camera or even the software the manufacture using on the device.
I have a samsung galaxy s (Vibrant) and I can pause and resume video recording. My previous device, the HTC Dream (ADP1/G1) could also pause and resume (from what i can remember).

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


text:
How to "report" a mis-behaving app?
I purchased a very popular IM app from the Marketplace, as it was the only one that was able to connect to my company's Jabber server, and I've been using it successfully for months now.  On November 30th or December 1st it stopped working, I assumed due to an issue on my company's server, since they're always tinkering with it.  Late last week I started looking into it and I found out, much to my utter horror, that it wasn't my company's server that was at fault, it was the IM app's server -- I have been logging in to my company's server through their server for months now, meaning that their server had access to my password (which can be used for just about every system I use at work).  I verified this by rooting my phone, installing WireShark and looking at the network traffic.
I've asked for my money back, since I paid for the app, but I really want to get the app removed from the marketplace, as it's a huge danger to anyone using it.
Please note that I have no proof that this company was harvesting anyone's password, but they could be doing it.  Regardless, they're transmitting my login credentials in the clear (though they are encoding the password, which I'm sure will deter all but the most hardened hackers -- not!).

A lot of the IM apps that allow you to connect to more than one IM service at a time work this way. If anything a lot of users are going to see this as a benefit as it means you can connected to Jabber, MSN, GTalk, AOLIM, etc all with only one network connection using up your battery and data limits.

@GAThrawn - that's an interesting point; I hadn't looked at it that way.  OK, so maybe nothing malicious is happening, but it's still dangerous.  Not sure what to do, now.

and you're right that it's the sort of thing that any app should definitely warn you that it's doing. I'd be concerned too about apps sending my logins to their own third-party servers without any warning. Obviously as we don't which app you've had this with we don't know whether they do warn or not.

When you uninstall an app from the Market, it asks you for a reason.  If you choose "It's malicious", it will prompt you for a report.  And you can leave a comment on the app (before uninstalling) to warn other users.
Since you have no proof they did or intended to do anything wrong with your info, there's nothing else you can do.  You won't get the app removed from the Marketplace.

Not all apps ask for a reason when you're uninstalling them. I believe this is something that a developer needs to include of his own volition.

App developers don't ask for that information.  (Actually, as a developer, I wish that I was able to see that information.)  I think it only happens when you uninstall via the Market app instead of another App manager.

@shmuelp Exactly.

The Market app no longer thinks that the IM app is installed for some reason, so I don't have the option to uninstall it. (sigh)

Install it from the Market and then immediately uninstall ;)

You can do what Matthew Read mentioned but if you visit the app details page in the Android Market and scroll all the way to the bottom there is a Flag as inappropriate link that will allow you to report the app.

Ah, I missed that!  That does seem to be more oriented towards reporting obscene or malicious content, however.

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


text:
Is there a weather widget/app that has both very good location support and supports multiple locations?
Is there a weather widget or app that has good location support (Central Europe) and support for multiple configured locations?

WeatherBug (free) seems to meet your criteria.  Has nice widgets, multiple location support, and tons of weather stations.
There is also a pay version (WeatherBug Elite) which removes ads and adds several additional features such as radar in motion and detailed hourly forecasts.

There's also The Weather Channel official app - which some users claim is more accurate than WeatherBug. Try both and see which suits you better.

This app requires calling permissions, I'm not installing that.


text:
Export Google Calendar App Data
Is there a way to export all the data from the google calender app? For whatever reason, my google account has been suspended, and while I desperately try and sort this out I'm seeing what my phone can do for me. Because of this, I'm unable to to access the calendar online, but the apps cache still has quite a lot of events and data - if I could back this up some how that would be awesome!

You can try using iCal Import/Export. It looks like it should be able to export your calendar data. It will allow you to export your calendar(s) to iCal files. I haven't actually tried the application, so I am not sure if it uses the local calendar database on the device, or it it attempts to connect directly to google calendar.

It didn't occur to me, but my suspended google account means no access to the market. Gutted. +1 though, it looks like a perfect app to do backups in the future.


text:
When phoning, is there some way to 'say' the digits to a menu system in stead of having to enter them on the keyboard
On my Samsung Galaxy S (running Froyo) I was phoning my voice mail system, where I have to press 1 to hear the message, 2 to erase the message ... you know what I mean.
When choosing a number I constantly have to remove the phone from my ear, enter a digit and than (quickly) put it to my ear again to 'hear' the new menu options.
I was just wondering: is there any way to say the digits , in stead of having to type them ?
That would be handy no ? Maybe , you have to press one button to start the system, but even that is preferable to the current way.

as a workaround, you can also use earphone on these sort of situations.

Have you considered using a visual voicemail app?

Basically, the problem with this is that your phone cannot distinguish between what you want to say and transmit to the other end of the conversation, and words you want to be commands to the phone.  What if you call an automated system that says "Say 'one' for X.  Say 'two' for Y."?  When you say 'one' or 'two', there's no way (without very advanced AI) for the phone to decide whether you intended to transmit that speech (e.g. "two") or intended it to be a command for the phone to dial ('2').
You could possibly have a custom dialer app where if you press a button on your phone, it stops transmitting your voice and accepts commands, and pressing again stops accepting commands and resumes transmitting your voice.  I'd bet a lot of money that no one has made such a custom dialer.
Of course, there are many phones where you can enter "pauses" into the dialer, followed by menu choices.  For example, 555-555-5555-PAUSE-PAUSE-PAUSE-2-PAUSE-1 will:

Dial 555-555-5555
Wait for the call to connect
Press '2' (for a menu option)
Wait for the next menu
Press '1' (for a menu option)

This might serve your needs if you know the menu layout, but otherwise I think you're stuck (unless you want to use headphones as Lie Ryan suggests).

Yes, I know the problem. I did mention in my question a button to be pressed before the phone knows what you mean when you say one, two .... You know: Star Trek's log system starts recording when you say 'Computer Log' or 'Computer resume', it doesn't record everything ... :)


text:
What is the official Android repository containing APKSIGNER?
What is the official source for apksigner as referenced e.g. in this answer? People are citing Android Studio, Android SDK Build Tools/Platform Tools/Command Line Tools etc. (as well as some shady archives on Google Drive), but non of these contain the program. I've downloaded, installed and searched them all.
Alternatively, what is the official source for Android SDK Build Tools 24.0.3, which allegedly contains the apksigner?
I've found an apksigner.jar and apksigner.bat inside a private Google repository, but running
apksigner verify --verbose --print-certs <APK file>
apksigner.bat verify --verbose --print-certs <APK file>
apksigner.jar verify --verbose --print-certs <APK file>

doesn't work (no output). This is the content of said batch file apksigner.bat:
@echo off
REM Copyright (C) 2016 The Android Open Source Project
REM
REM Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
REM you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
REM You may obtain a copy of the License at
REM
REM     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
REM
REM Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
REM distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
REM WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
REM See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
REM limitations under the License.

REM don't modify the caller's environment
setlocal

REM Locate apksigner.jar in the directory where apksigner.bat was found and start it.

REM Set up prog to be the path of this script, including following symlinks,
REM and set up progdir to be the fully-qualified pathname of its directory.
set prog=%~f0

rem Check we have a valid Java.exe in the path.
set java_exe=
if exist    "%~dp0..\tools\lib\find_java.bat" call    "%~dp0..\tools\lib\find_java.bat"
if exist "%~dp0..\..\tools\lib\find_java.bat" call "%~dp0..\..\tools\lib\find_java.bat"
if not defined java_exe goto :EOF

set jarfile=apksigner.jar
set "frameworkdir=%~dp0"
rem frameworkdir must not end with a dir sep.
set "frameworkdir=%frameworkdir:~0,-1%"

if exist "%frameworkdir%\%jarfile%" goto JarFileOk
    set "frameworkdir=%~dp0lib"

if exist "%frameworkdir%\%jarfile%" goto JarFileOk
    set "frameworkdir=%~dp0..\framework"

:JarFileOk

set "jarpath=%frameworkdir%\%jarfile%"

set javaOpts=
set args=

REM By default, give apksigner a max heap size of 1 gig and a stack size of 1meg.
rem This can be overridden by using "-JXmx..." and "-JXss..." options below.
set defaultXmx=-Xmx1024M
set defaultXss=-Xss1m

REM Capture all arguments that are not -J options.
REM Note that when reading the input arguments with %1, the cmd.exe
REM automagically converts --name=value arguments into 2 arguments "--name"
REM followed by "value". apksigner has been changed to know how to deal with that.
set params=

:firstArg
if [%1]==[] goto endArgs
set a=%~1

    if [%defaultXmx%]==[] goto notXmx
    if %a:~0,5% NEQ -JXmx goto notXmx
        set defaultXmx=
    :notXmx

    if [%defaultXss%]==[] goto notXss
    if %a:~0,5% NEQ -JXss goto notXss
        set defaultXss=
    :notXss

    if %a:~0,2% NEQ -J goto notJ
        set javaOpts=%javaOpts% -%a:~2%
        shift /1
        goto firstArg

    :notJ
    set params=%params% %1
    shift /1
    goto firstArg

:endArgs

set javaOpts=%javaOpts% %defaultXmx% %defaultXss%
call "%java_exe%" %javaOpts% -Djava.ext.dirs="%frameworkdir%" -jar "%jarpath%" %params%

UPDATE: As suggested, I've now tried apksigner from Android Build Tools. Here is the output:
Verifies
Verified using v1 scheme (JAR signing): true
Verified using v2 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v2): true
Verified using v3 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v3): false
Verified using v4 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v4): false
Verified for SourceStamp: false
Number of signers: 1
Signer #1 certificate DN: CN=Unknown, OU=Unknown, O=Fiducia IT AG, L=Unknown, ST
=Unknown, C=DE
Signer #1 certificate SHA-256 digest: 53a6afa8f0d219bba2fe84154f256ecec85b34175f
fee5b7387fda0afcc12605
Signer #1 certificate SHA-1 digest: addb5ed43a27660e41acb1d39e85ddd7b9c9807c
Signer #1 certificate MD5 digest: 1be8c130e83eb6b36e4aff93bcdd1b28
Signer #1 key algorithm: RSA
Signer #1 key size (bits): 2048
Signer #1 public key SHA-256 digest: 671eafb570fa9e82cb7a8d5c435dad3d86990a09d5b
20f41b42e3152b3cd5a6a
Signer #1 public key SHA-1 digest: c021e779e6086e20a7c60b05a0c30b94c59c83ba
Signer #1 public key MD5 digest: d42dc7a6bcb0ace30d8ac316bc321c9c
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-fragment.version not protected
by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected.
 Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.camera_camera-camera2.version not protected by signat
ure. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete o
r move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.customview_customview.version not protected by signat
ure. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete o
r move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/services/ya.k not protected by signature. Unauthorized modific
ations to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside
of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.room_room-runtime.version not protected by signature.
 Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or mo
ve the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.camera_camera-lifecycle.version not protected by sign
ature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete
 or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.browser_browser.version not protected by signature. U
nauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move
 the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/com.google.android.material_material.version not protected by
signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. De
lete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.savedstate_savedstate-ktx.version not protected by si
gnature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Dele
te or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.activity_activity-ktx.version not protected by signat
ure. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete o
r move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/kotlinx_coroutines_play_services.version not protected by sign
ature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete
 or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.slidingpanelayout_slidingpanelayout.version not prote
cted by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be dete
cted. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.dynamicanimation_dynamicanimation.version not protect
ed by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detect
ed. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.exifinterface_exifinterface.version not protected by
signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. De
lete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.sqlite_sqlite-ktx.version not protected by signature.
 Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or mo
ve the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-extensions.version not protected
by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected.
 Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.versionedparcelable_versionedparcelable.version not p
rotected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be
detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-livedata-ktx.version not protecte
d by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detecte
d. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.preference_preference-ktx.version not protected by si
gnature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Dele
te or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.preference_preference.version not protected by signat
ure. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete o
r move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-ui.version not protected by sig
nature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delet
e or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-runtime.version not protected by
signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. De
lete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.room_room-ktx.version not protected by signature. Una
uthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move t
he entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.appcompat_appcompat-resources.version not protected b
y signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected.
Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.appcompat_appcompat.version not protected by signatur
e. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or
move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-livedata.version not protected by
 signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. D
elete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-runtime.version not protected b
y signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected.
Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-runtime-ktx.version not protect
ed by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detect
ed. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.window_window.version not protected by signature. Una
uthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move t
he entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.cursoradapter_cursoradapter.version not protected by
signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. De
lete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.savedstate_savedstate.version not protected by signat
ure. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete o
r move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.fragment_fragment.version not protected by signature.
 Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or mo
ve the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.vectordrawable_vectordrawable.version not protected b
y signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected.
Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.fragment_fragment-ktx.version not protected by signat
ure. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete o
r move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.sqlite_sqlite-framework.version not protected by sign
ature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete
 or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.core_core.version not protected by signature. Unautho
rized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the e
ntry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.vectordrawable_vectordrawable-animated.version not pr
otected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be d
etected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.localbroadcastmanager_localbroadcastmanager.version n
ot protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not
 be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-viewmodel-savedstate.version not
protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be
 detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.security_security-crypto.version not protected by sig
nature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delet
e or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-common-ktx.version not protecte
d by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detecte
d. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.biometric_biometric.version not protected by signatur
e. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or
move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-livedata-core.version not protect
ed by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detect
ed. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-common.version not protected by
 signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. D
elete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/kotlinx_coroutines_android.version not protected by signature.
 Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or mo
ve the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.legacy_legacy-support-core-utils.version not protecte
d by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detecte
d. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.viewpager2_viewpager2.version not protected by signat
ure. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete o
r move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.transition_transition.version not protected by signat
ure. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete o
r move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.print_print.version not protected by signature. Unaut
horized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the
 entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.documentfile_documentfile.version not protected by si
gnature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Dele
te or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.core_core-ktx.version not protected by signature. Una
uthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move t
he entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.emoji2_emoji2-views-helper.version not protected by s
ignature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Del
ete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.recyclerview_recyclerview.version not protected by si
gnature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Dele
te or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.tracing_tracing.version not protected by signature. U
nauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move
 the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.startup_startup-runtime.version not protected by sign
ature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete
 or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-fragment-ktx.version not protec
ted by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detec
ted. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-livedata-core-ktx.version not pro
tected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be de
tected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.arch.core_core-runtime.version not protected by signa
ture. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete
or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.emoji2_emoji2.version not protected by signature. Una
uthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move t
he entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-viewmodel-ktx.version not protect
ed by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detect
ed. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-runtime-ktx.version not protected
 by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected
. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/services/ta.z not protected by signature. Unauthorized modific
ations to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside
of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/INDEX.LIST not protected by signature. Unauthorized modificati
ons to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of
META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.activity_activity.version not protected by signature.
 Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or mo
ve the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.drawerlayout_drawerlayout.version not protected by si
gnature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Dele
te or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.interpolator_interpolator.version not protected by si
gnature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Dele
te or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/com/android/build/gradle/app-metadata.properties not protected
 by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected
. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-viewmodel.version not protected b
y signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected.
Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.camera_camera-core.version not protected by signature
. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or m
ove the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.swiperefreshlayout_swiperefreshlayout.version not pro
tected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be de
tected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-service.version not protected by
signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. De
lete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-process.version not protected by
signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. De
lete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.loader_loader.version not protected by signature. Una
uthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move t
he entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.viewpager_viewpager.version not protected by signatur
e. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or
move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.cardview_cardview.version not protected by signature.
 Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or mo
ve the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-ui-ktx.version not protected by
 signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. D
elete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.coordinatorlayout_coordinatorlayout.version not prote
cted by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be dete
cted. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/kotlinx_coroutines_core.version not protected by signature. Un
authorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move
the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.camera_camera-view.version not protected by signature
. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or m
ove the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.annotation_annotation-experimental.version not protec
ted by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detec
ted. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.sqlite_sqlite.version not protected by signature. Una
uthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move t
he entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.core_core-splashscreen.version not protected by signa
ture. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete
or move the entry outside of META-INF/.

What is the meaning?

You forgot to include the error message(s) that you get when you try to execute apksigner. Without them it is difficult to guess what is going wrong. jar files have to be started by the command java -jar apksigner.jar arguments_to_apksigner. The recommended Java version is at the moment 11.

Cross-posted from Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/q/72876327/2821954

@Robert But that is precisely the issue: There is no error message from apksigner, just a blank line in the CLI

I have extended my original answer by a section how to get apksigner without installing Android SDK or Android Studio:
Apksigner is a Java tool and Google provides for start-up a batch file apksigner.bat(Windows) respectively a shell script apksigner.sh (Linux, MacOS).
As mentioned before it is included in each build-tools version of Android SDK. If you don't want to install the whole Android SDK (with or without Android Studio) you can directly download build tools and extract and execute apksigner. Links to the all build-tools are provided on this website (the provided links go to the original Google download locations).
I prefer apksigner from build-tools v30:

build-tools 30.0.1 Linux
build-tools 30.0.1 MacOS
build-tools 30.0.1 Windows

You only need the file lib/apksigner.jar from the archive (thus it doesn't matter for which platform you download the build-tools package). Extract it  and open a shell in the folder. Then execute java -jar apksigner.jar.
To execute you need Java 9 or higher (best one of the Java LTS versions 11 or 17 - e.g. the Eclipse Adoptium OpenJDK release https://adoptium.net).
Using this direct approach the command to execute apksigner is
java -jar apksigner.jar verify --verbose --print-certs "Signal-website-universal-release-4.49.13.apk"

...that is a much more rounded answer now. But it leaves one important aspect unanswered: What about official sources? Is the Google repository that you linked an official source, i.e. can it be trusted? If so, on what basis? On first glance, it could be someone's private Google drive with malware-loaden files. And we're lacking an official source, there is no way for us (at the moment) to verify the authenticity of any of those files from that Google drive. Remember that this question relates to software authentication issues - you can't authenticate software using compromised tools

(The unspoken assumption here, of course, is to consider Google Inc. itself a trusted source - which it is not, as exhaustively proven. So strictly speaking, we're still talking about relative security with the metric "authenticity of software relative to its original".)

@kerstin92 Please have a look into the URLs they are dl most likely for download so the host should be unrelated to Google Drive. As far as I know these are the same URLs use by Android SDK for download. If you are unsure about authenticity then please just use the official Android SDK with Android Studio download link from Google web pages.

So these are official Google repositories?

"If you are unsure about authenticity then please just use the official Android SDK with Android Studio download link from Google web pages." - Android Studio doesn't contain apksigner. If you think it does, you may point towards the exact folder

@kerstin92 Android Studio itself doesn't contain apksigner, but it should contain the official Android SDK Manager that users can use to download any version of build tools from there. The download location will be the same as the location of the Android SDK Manager. Also, yes, dl.google.com is the official Google repo; the linked URL is the same as the one used by the Android SDK Manager.

@kerstin92 If you download and install Android Studio at the end of the installation Android Studio will start, you have to accept the Android SDK license and automatically build-tools for API 33 is downloaded. If you modify the installation and don't start Android Studio at the end the installation is incomplete and thus you don't have apksigner. After a full installation Apksigner can be found here: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\build-tools\33.0.0\apksigner.bat

@Robert That is super weird. I ran the installation with all options enabled, but didn't immediately start Android Studio but closed the installer first. Does that mean that Build Tools only get installed if Android Studio is immediately launched after installation, directly from the installer, and never if the installer is closed (without any notification indicating this and no option to install it afterwards)? That would be some truly bizarre behavior

@kerstin92 I assume that build-tools are always automatically installed on first start of Android Studio. As Andrew already mentioned you can install all SDK components at any time using the Android Studio integrated SDK manager.


text:
How to verify Samsung/Android firmware files - has Samsung published MD5/SHA256 hashes?
I've soft-bricked my Samsung Galaxy A40FN running Android 9.0 Pie while attempting to disable bloatware via ADB and I'm currently searching for a solution to recover my data and get the system back running. The phone is stuck in a boot loop, but I can get into recovery mode and download mode.
FRP lock is off (no Google account registered on this device) and I didn't activate any encryption on my part.
I didn't try wiping/factory-resetting yet as I need to rescue my data first. One possible solution for this could be to flash the original firmware using Odin while leaving the /data folder untouched:

Question: Does anyone have experience with retaining personal data during a firmware flash and know how to verify the authenticity of the files downloaded from unofficial sources such as SamFW?
I.e. does Samsung publish MD5 hashes of official firmware updates and would comparing these hashes/checksums be a reliable method to verify that the files have not been tampered with, considering that firmware files are typically 4-5 GB large?

Flashing the system image will not help you because you have not uninstalled the apps but only disabled them. Modifications to the system partitions is not possible unless the device is rooted (but if I remember correctly your device is not rooted). So all apps are still present but the config files from the user data partition tells Android they are disabled which causes your device to not boot.

@Robert So doing pm uninstall only removes the apps from the "standard (non-root) user", but they're physically still on the device (I watched the apps disappearing one after the other from the apps list)? Are you suggesting that I need to root the device first in order to get access to the data folder? If yes, is this possible without accidentally wiping everything?

Rooting does not accidentally wipe the device, it does so by definition. When you unlock the bootloader everything is wiped as this opens a big back door on the encrypted user data.

@Robert ...and I guess this behavior is hardcoded in some chip and cannot be modified on software level? Or is it?

Of course not, this would be a disastrous security vulnerability for the Android ecosystem. In the early days of Android 4 there were a few devices which had implemented bootloader unlock factory reset in a defect way, but since that time it is known as a crucial point and thus the manufacturer have this functionality on their checklist.

@alecxs Yes, I'm also looking into combination ROMs as suggested, but couldn't make a decision yet on what to try first: Combination ROM or stock firmware using HOME_CSC instead of CSC. The main goal is data recovery

@alecxs By the way, would you recommend the combination ROM for everyday use, i.e. is there any reason one could or should not use it instead of stock firmware? Does is lack any functionality or is it less secure (maybe due too root privileges)?

Okay, I can answer my own question: You can download firmware files directly from Samsung using open-source tools such as SamLoader.


text:
Soft-bricked A40 after uninstalling apps ADB
I may have just messed up my smartphone and really need your help. I wanted to get rid of some of the bloatware on my A40 and read online that one can actually uninstall many apps via the Windows command line. So I looked up a list of apps supposedly safe to remove and ran a batch file to uninstall them. This is as far as I got:
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.android.app.samsungapps
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.camera.sticker.facear.preload
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.android.mimage.gear360editor
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.smartmirroring
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.htmlviewer
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.android.provider.badge
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.sharedstoragebackup
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.simplesharing
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.themecenter
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 android.autoinstalls.config.samsung
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.enterprise.mdm.services.simpin
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.stickercenter
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.android.mimage.avatarstickers
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.knox.analytics.uploader
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.enterprise.knox.cloudmdm.smdms
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.camera.sticker.stamp.preload
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.factory.cameralyzer
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.sdk.handwriting
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.android.app.fm
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.enterprise.knox.attestation
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.mdm
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.android.widgetapp.samsungapps
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.spage
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.drivelink.stub
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.wsomacp
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.game.gametools
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.game.gos
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.dsi.ant.sample.acquirechannels
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.dsi.ant.service.socket
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.dsi.ant.server
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.egg
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.android.easyonehand
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.android.app.launcher
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.mateagent
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.watchmanagerstub
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.android.daemonapp
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.social
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.wellbeing
Success
a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.da.daagent
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.bips
Success
1|a40:/ $ pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.authfw
Success

Right before that, I had moved apps related to "Knox" and "MDM" and everything seemed fine. But even while the last commands were running, the "desktop" disappeared (the home screen with all my app shortcuts) and some kind of "busy notification" was running instead (I think it said something like "starting up apps" or "launching apps"). But the phone didn't reboot, it just seems that the homescreen had crashed. I then noticed that I might have slipped in apps for deletion that I actually needed or was using, such as
com.sec.android.app.launcher
com.samsung.android.wellbeing

Since the phone seemed to be stuck in this "busy loop", I decided to restart it by long-pressing the power button and selecting restart. But from this point, the phone wouldn't restart and got stuck in a reboot loop, where only the Samsung logo pops up, followed by a short vibration pulse, then reboot etc.
At this point I panicked and started searching online for solutions (which also brought me to this forum). I've read about using OEM unlocking, firmware-flashing using Odin, Samsung Tool Pro, TWRP etc. but quickly got lost in the woods and didn't want to risk breaking things more.
There are log files I can access from the boot menu which might contain a lot of useful information regarding the cause of the problem, but it's way too much to type it:
/cache/recovery/last_log
/cache/recovery/last_kmsg
/cache/recovery/last_history
/cache/recovery/rescueparty.log
/cache/recovery/last_avc_msg_recovery
/cache/recovery/last_log.1
/cache/recovery/last_kmsg.1
[...]
/cache/recovery/last_log.9
/cache/recovery/last_kmsg.9

Is there a way I could somehow read these log files via a USB connection? For example, in rescueparty_log, there is some "serious-sounding" stuff:
!@*** FATAL EXCEPTION IN SYSTEM PROCESS: main
java.lang.RuntimeException: There must be exactly one installer; found []
?at com.android.server.pm.PackageManagerService.getRequiredInstallerLPr(PackageManagerService.java:4422)
?at com.android.server.pm.PackageManagerService.<init>(PackageManagerService.java:3954)
?at com.android.server.pm.PackageManagerService.main(PackageManagerService.java:2856)
?at com.android.server.SystemServer.startBootstrapServices(SystemServer.java:985)
?at com.android.server.SystemServer.run(SystemServer.java:762)
?at com.android.server.SystemServer.main(SystemServer.java:762)
?at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
?at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:494)
?at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:945)
Error reporting crash
java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke interface method 'void android.app.IActivityManager.handleApplicationCrash(android.os.IBinder, android.app.ApplicationErrorReport$ParcelableCrashInfo)' on a null object reference
?at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$KillApplicationHandler.uncaughtException(RuntimeInit.java:144)
?at java.lang.ThreadGroup.uncaughtException(ThreadGroup.java:1068)
?at java.lang.ThreadGroup.uncaughtException(ThreadGroup.java:1063)
?at java.lang.Thread.dispatchUncaughtException(Thread.java:1955)

Also, some more information from the boot screen output:
Android Recovery
samsung/a40eea/a40
9/PPR1.180610.011/A405FNXXU3ATA4
user/release-keys

#Reboot Recovery Cause is [system_server:7340 RecoverySystemRescueParty]#
Support SINGLE-SKU

Block-Based OTA
Supported API: 3

MANUAL MODE v1.0.0#

Is anyone perhaps familiar with this problem and knows of a way how I could get the phone to start up properly, so I can at least recover all my personal data?
My impression is that I might have deleted some important system app, since the problem occurred right in the middle of the uninstall process (see shell history above), and I'm a little bit hopeful that maybe it's possible to just reinstall it somehow. I haven't tried the "Wipe data/factory reset" option in the boot menu as I don't want to lose all my data.
Thank you so much for your help, any advice is super-appreciated!!
Update/additional information:
...from the downloading mode information text:

FRP LOCK: OFF

OEM LOCK: ON(L)

Secure Download: Enabled

Also, I never registered a Google account on this device.

I think I got the bloatware list from one of these two sites: hxxps://rootmygalaxy.net/remove-bloatware-galaxy-s20-s20-s20-fe-s20-ultra and hxxps://androidflagship.com/40011-learn-to-completely-remove-bloatware-on-your-galaxy-s10-no-root-needed

With a Linux system, I would simply mount the hard drive to another PC, decrypt it if necessary, and rescue my data by copying the files. Is there something similar that can be done on Android (since it seems to be based on the same architecture)?

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

I'm proposing a possible way to solve this issue.
There is an interesting comment below the answer to
Can system apps be enabled/disabled directly from the filesystem? :
"It is also safe to simply remove the package-restrictions.xml file — a new 'clean' file will be recreated on next reboot." – ccpizza Oct 3, 2021 at 16:43
As far as I understand, Android 9.0 switched from Full-Disk Encryption (FDE) to File-Based Encryption (FBE), which means that encryption is done on a file-by-file basis by default.
If it's possible to locate package-restrictions.xml on the internal storage, deleting the file (instead of modifying its content in order to restore individual app settings) will cause the stock version to be restored on the next reboot. Any problem due to a prior misconfiguration of package-restrictions.xml by pm uninstall will then be magically gone.

encryption is hardware-backed therefore userdata can decrypted on device itself only. to get adb access you need combination ROM + DID token.
Still userdata is not accessable unless device is unlocked/decrypted with lock screen credentials (might not possible from adb in current boot state).
Factory reset device from recovery and unlock FRP with samsung or google account afterwards.
Next time backup your important data before trying to disable system apps

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.


text:
Why does the app Automate require ADB?
I need to set up an app-killing service for unrooted Android 9 devices using Automate. The service has to launch automatically at device start and keep sending kill commands to selected system (!) services at regular intervals unless said services are in focus/in the foreground.
Unfortunately, setting up and running Automate seems unnecessarily cumbersome. I have used adb extensively, so no problem there. However, step 5 in the setup manual says

On the PC, execute the shell command adb tcpip 5555. This step has to be repeated after every device reboot.

Also:

Once paired/authorized the service will start automatically when it’s first used, e.g. by a block using it, then run in the background until the system kills it, the device is rebooted, or the app is uninstalled or updated.

Having to hook up a mobile device to a PC after each and every reboot (e.g. due to empty battery) is completely impractical and contradicts the use of Android itself. Is there a way to set up Automate either 100% locally from within Android, or at least only once from a PC at the very beginning and then have the app run automatically even after a device reboot?
I have already set up a simple Automate flow as a minimal example and granted all necessary privileges, such as access to the SD card, executing shell commands, and access to Samsung accessibility service. Also, USB debugging is enabled in the developer options. But when running the flow, I get the following errors in the log output:
Flow beginning
Delay
App in foreground?
App kill
Failed to start privileged service
java.util.concurrent.CancellationException: Please execute: sh /sdcard/Android/data/com.llamalab.automate/cache/start.sh
java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException: Service startup timeout
Stopped by failure

Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on [meta], or in [chat]. Comments continuing discussion may be removed.

Automate does not require ADB nor a rooted device, but some features do, e.g. the App kill block to kill the processes of other running apps.
Setting up ADB is indeed a bit cumbersome since it's an app developer feature, it's not designed for easy use by app users or by the apps themselves.
Setting up Automate "100% locally", i.e. without needing a USB connected PC, can only be done on Android 11 or higher by using the system "Wireless debugging" feature. To do so simply choose the "Android Debug Bridge (ADB)" option as the "Privileged service start method" in Automate setting, then follow the on screen instructions to enable the "Wireless debugging" option and pair Automate with the device. The pairing process only have to be done once, but enabling "Wireless debugging" has to be done manually after every reboot, unless you automate the procedure.
The logged error message means Automate can't access/start its "privileged service", e.g. that the App kill block rely on, and tells you to execute the shell script to do so, this means you've selected the "Manually" option as "Privileged service start method". Try the "Android Debug Bridge (ADB)" option instead.

"Setting up ADB is indeed a bit cumbersome" => As I wrote, no problem here. I've been using adb a lot. With "cumbersome" I mean the requirement to hook up the device to a PC after every reboot. This is an impossible demand for mobile device usage.

"The logged error message means Automate can't access/start its "privileged service", e.g. that the App kill block rely on, and tells you to execute the shell script" => Can't Automate itself execute the shell script? There is explicitly an option to permit Automate to execute shell commands, which I've already enabled in the system app permission settings!

"Automate does not require ADB nor a rooted device, but some features do, e.g. the App kill block to kill the processes of other running apps." => This only seems to be the case for Android 14+, but not for Android 9+ which is what this question is dealing with.

@srhslvmn As said, a PC is not needed on Android 11+ when using the system "Wireless debugging" feature. Automate will execute the commands in shell script when using the "Android Debug Bridge" or "Superuser" option as "Privileged service start method". Regular apps could only kill background processes prior to Android 14, i.e. the App kill background block.

Sorry, but there seems to be a misunderstanding. "Android 9+" in the question means that a solution for Android 9 and higher is required (i.e. including version 9).

What happens when you force-close apps from the app info menu in the settings? Or kill background apps from the developer options? Does the touchscreen (i.e. user input) run with root provileges? Wouldn't it be possible to just emulate the force-close button press programmatically? Why all the hassle of trying to make adb work in the first place (to paraphrase the question topic)?

@srhslvmn When the buttons are clicked the the Settings app will call the System API that kills an app, so does the App kill blocks in Automate. The system, its touch screen component and the Settings app have "root" privileges. Yes you can simulate clicks on the "Force close" button, e.g. using the Interact block, but that requires that the Settings app is shown on screen, calling the system API directly does not.

"Yes you can simulate clicks on the "Force close" button, e.g. using the Interact block, but that requires that the Settings app is shown on screen" => Is this possible without first unlocking the screen, either using built-in Android methods or some shady workaround/hack?

@srhslvmn No, the device has to be unlocked and the proper Settings page visible on screen.


text:
Internal storage fills up
I had a Sony Xperia C with a 16GB memory card. My internal storage kept filling up which made it unable to update or download any apps. The only apps I had were WhatsApp and Instagram. Sent my phone in. Had to pay for repairs, was in for 6 weeks, and got the phone back but still the same errors.
I got a new phone Huawei G6, a brand new 16GB, and a new Google Play Store account. The phone is set for the default storage location to SD card. Moved all app that I could to an SD card. I only have 10 songs and about 100 pictures. I clear cache every day, probably 500 every day. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong.
Please help.

What is the free memory left in your phone out of usable 16gb? and Have a look at the Storage view in your settings..Settings-> Storage would give you how much memory each media is using and shown separtely as applications, video, songs, photos etc..you can analyse which area is occupying most memory

Sounds like the insufficient-memory tag is a hit here (just added it). Please follow up to its tag-wiki for first-aid and useful links. Then return here and either answer your own question (when solved), or [edit] it and point out what you've tried and where you're still stuck. Good luck!

Related: How disk space is used on Android device?

It seems your internal app partition is full. Check it on Settings> Storage> under phone storage what left as available on app section. If it is full (150mb free is not usable) you have 2 options:

You can swap your external SD. You can read full note here: (NB: it works if you have a MTK device, I don't know what if other devices) How to swap phone storage with SD card
Partition of external SD. read it here: How to Partition SD Card and Use Link2SD in any Android Phone with Screenshots

Hope it helps.

I went to the T-Moble store yesterday and asked them about this. They said that with updates and only 8 gigs of memory, my phone will fill up. I will just have to buy a new phone with bigger internal memory because some programs can't be shifted to the SD card. A 16 gig internal memory is good. I wish they would have told me this when I bought the phone.


text:
Bricked phone during root process
So, I was in the process of rooting my phone and when it was rebooting, the PC lost connection to the USB (had a faulty driver). The phone is now completely bricked, no recovery mode, no download mode, and flashing with SP Flash Tools did nothing. Luckily it was just a cheap China phone, so no huge loss!
But if the phone was bricked before the root was completed (in the process), would it be identified as rooted? Just interested as to where in the stage the unlocked bootloader, etc. is applied.

China phone and locked bootloader? I don't think so.
If it was a locked bootloader and if you tried to flash some other kernel, I think it's bricked (permanently). And as you said, you were in the process of rooting your phone. That means I can say you had already unlocked the bootloader.
If the phone restarted and it got disconnected, it means the issue might be related (rarely) due to the root process because you saying it's not showing up anything. It might be possible that your battery is low. Also, try some other key combinations and try to plug in your phone with some key pressed (sometimes it's the process to unbrick the phone).

I've tried all key combinations etc. Whatever the issue was the phone is now bricked and flashing to stock won't work. Not planning on doing it because it would cost too much to send back and be too much hassle but would the manufacturer even be able to tell I had tried to root?

Yes they can get to know that you have tried to root it... But as in your case you might trick them... Just day that the phone is not turning on and they will recover it with their firmware and tools.... ;-)

"China Phone and Locked bootloader?" -- I think you meant a Mediatek device and locked bootloader. I have OnePlus One which is a Chinese non-Mediatek phone but comes with locked bootloader. I think Yu phones which are also Chinese comes with locked bootloader.

@LokeshJain ah ok :P To be honest I doubt that for a phone that cost $140 they would be so bothered to check and at worst, surely they would just reinstall the firmware for a small fee?

@Firelord Yes I think he meant MTK Phones. Mine had an MTK 6582 Quad Core Chip

There is a method that may work.

Buy or get a second cable.
Follow these instructions (more to buy, and it should work)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/help/guide-how-to-make-usb-jig-reset-binary-t1604707
It should have booted into download mode. Install the stock ROM.
Done!

Hope it helps

Thanks but it looks a bit complex for me :P

Its your only method, man. Unless you want to try getting lucky by blaming a "manufacture error", but I doubt It'll be believed


text:
Trying to fix bricked Samsung Note 8 (N5110) with `adb sideload`
I have a soft-or-hard bricked Samsung Note 8 (N5110) and now would like to rebuild it to a somewhat workable state. The device has a flaky power-charging system and may not be worth repairing.
I use an Ubuntu 14.04 system with ADB to talk to the device and can get to the apply update from the ADB dialog. From the Ubuntu side, I use adb sideload <filename> where some filename is a small text file. The file is copied to the Android device. But of course, this fails. The device expects an update file. And this is where I am stuck.
What is this file and where do I download the correct version? And, is this what I need to do to rebuild the system?

None on the internet works. However, I did get this information while searching. Here's the link: http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/id-1818822/galaxy-note.html

Firstly, download and install the suitable USB drivers for your device, you can download Samsung KIES for verifying if the suitable drivers are installed on your PC.
Secondly, download the Official Jelly Bean 4.1.2 XXLT6 Firmware file and save it in your PC.
Now, download Odin app and save it in your computer, after the download is done extract the ODIN archive on your desktop folder PC and install the ODIN app.
Extract the downloaded update file on your PC.
Open Odin.
Power off your Note N7000 device.
Boot it into Download Mode, for entering into Download Mode for Galaxy Note N7000 device, you have to press and keep holding the Power + Volume Down + Home buttons on the same time.
Now, with your device booted into Download Mode, connect the device using its USB cord.
Verify into ODIN app and make sure there is a notified “added” message and the ID:COM zone colored on yellow or blue color.
In case there isn’t the added message or is different, you will have to safe remove the USB cable from the PC and to change the USB port for connection to the PC and also re-install the drivers on your computer; After you have done all these operations repeat the steps from the starting.
Now, from the Odin app select “PDA”.
Browse and select the update file from your PC.
Important: make sure that the Re-partition option is unchecked and also don’t perform any other change into ODIN interface.
Next, when you want to beginning the installation process, press the “Start” button from ODIN app, now the flashing process will start, and you need to wait.
After ODIN app will say “pass” message you can disconnect your device from the PC.
Reboot your device.

Thank you.  Some useful hints, though I've had better luck on ubuntu system than with Odin and Microsoft PC.


text:
Will deleting a photo on device, also delete the synced photos on Google?
My SD card and internal storage are full, and I want to free up some space. Is it safe to delete photos if the photos show that they are being synced to my Google account?

Google Photos synchronize your photos to your online storage (your online storage is limited to 10Gb if you choose synchronizing the original size of the photos ,and unlimited if you choose the high quality upload size , this setting can be edited under Photos >> settings >> backup and sync >> upload size ) now when Photos app synchronize you photos you end up with two copies, one on your local storage (sdcard) and the other one on your google photo storage so deleting the local version of the photo will not delete the one on your google Photos online storage.
However if you had chosen the high quality option under the app's settings the app will not synchronize the original size of the photo
but it will re-size it and then upload it so in this case you have
two copies of the photos one with the original size on your SDcard
and one re-sized on the server deleting the local copy will make
you lose your original photo but your re-sized photo will still be on
the server.
Saving space on SD cards is one of the purpose of Google sync photo.


text:
Play Store asks for existing account and waits for better connection
When I enter the Play Store, it asks for an existing account. I put it in, and it says that I need to have a better connection. I would sit right next to my router, but the same thing happens.
How to fix this?

Did you try a better connection?

Yeah still dosent work

Did you accidentally erase com.android.Google.gsf.login or similar? Have you wiped dalvik-cache and cache in recovery? Did you try deleting data and cache for Play Store and Play Services in applications? Please edit your question with further details (ROM, rooted/not, what steps you tried, things you may have deleted, and anything else useful) and edit your question title.

You might have to do a factory reset after all that's what Google customer service told me to do after the same problem happened to me. It should work fine after that though.

That's one example, but on the extreme side. You also don't mention to make a backup at all.


text:
Wet phone, charge symbols shows, but won't turn on
My Galaxy S6 got wet and I dried it out as much as possible. When I plug it in, the charge symbol shows up on the screen and it shows that it's fully 100% charged, but when I press the power button, it doesn't turn on.
What's the possible cause and how to remedy it?

Not going to beat around the bushes here - take it to a repair shop as soon as you can.
The problem with water damage is that it's impossible to diagnose the extent of the damage by just seeing what the average user can do (ie. turning it on and off). It needs to be opened up and inspected by someone who knows what they're doing so they can let you know if it's salvageable, if parts need to be replaced, or if it's a goner.
If the battery icon shows up on screen but doesn't turn on, that tells me that there could be some damage to the board. Best case scenario - it can be saved if the internals are dried out properly (it may need to be taken apart for this). Worst case - the main logic board has some irreparable damage to it from the water and it's either a hefty repair bill and loss of data, or you may want to look into replacement options.


text:
How to keep my old number in WhatsApp having the old SIM deactivated?
I have a new phone number and a new phone, but I want to keep my old number to use in WhatsApp but I don't have that SIM card anymore.

If you had a deactivated SIM card on the phone, my guess is that you should still be able to use your WhatsApp through WiFi. But if you have taken out the SIM, it is not more possible as the new SIM will require an SMS-based validation. Better to port your number and then you can use it on WhatsApp.


text:
Connect to a device with WiFi, but use 4G for Internet
As the title states, is there a way to connect to a WiFi device (my drone), yet use another app on 4G? Right now when I'm connected to my drone using WiFi, I can't use 4G, but is there a work around?

what is your android version ,there is a stock feature to do this when the wifi hotspot your connected to have no internet access but this feature is only on new versions only I can't tell for sure which version

Samsung devices have a direct connect with option via Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi Direct), it acts as a hotspot for your other devices but uses your mobile data for internet. Other manufacturers and carriers offer similar features also, take a peek in your settings and see what you've got.

It's Android 5.1 on a Motorola Droid Turbo. I browsed the settings but don't see anything that stands out. Would it be under cell data or wifi?

http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-117249/

I see the wifi direct but cannot connect to my drone using it. It doesn't find the Drone once it's powered, but my wifi scan finds it fine. Is there something else I need to do?

Your drone may not be capable of seeing it, if it functions for other devices you're looking at a problem with the drone, not your phone.

Well dang. Any other ideas?

Try changing the encryption type of your Wi-Fi hotspot, your drone may see it if you set it to wep or open


text:
Read more about system incidents in Diagnostic application?
Long story short, we bought a new phone: Sony Xperia M4 Aqua dual SIM 16GB version. The phone is on with Android 5.0 and is pretty new, but he doesn't stop keeping restarting itself. (he just blink 2 times the red LED then restart)
I tried to read some debug data with aLogrec app but without success. At this point, I can clearly see that Android is recording all the incidents data.
Question is: Is there a way to read more verbose info about this incidents? The only thing I can see if I tap over that voice is the actual date and time of each incident only :(
PS: even if this phone is made for a dual SIM usage, we are still in need of change the microSIM to a nanoSIM so we are using it without any SIM card.
Refer to below screenshot

Without superuser access and access to logcat and the kernel logs, you are pretty much out of options.

wow :\ really nice of google, this way you can't try to figure out what's happening without rooting the phone and lose warranty.. also for this phone there's no still rooting options available >_< thanks anyways

The problem is: Those logs contain sensible information (usernames, tokens, ids etc.) so only system apps or higher (every user id <10000 IIRC) can access those logs. It's not Google, but The Android Foundation (funded mostly by Google) and Linux (the kernel part) who decided that you need to have appropriate permission to access this sensible information

Possible duplicate of How can I view and examine the Android log?


text:
Android M Preview 2: "Error: Cannot Load System.img"
I am trying to update my Nexus 9 to the M developer preview 2, and when I try to run the command fastboot flash system system.img, I get the error

error: cannot load 'system.img'

I've tried re-downloading the image from Google and reflashing many times, but it gives the same error. I am able to flash other system images from Google, but not this one. I didn't see this listed as a known issue on Google. Anyone else see this issue or have any suggestions?

This reddit thread might be related. Some of worth mentioning: flash using Ubuntu, update ADT (I didn't test any)

Of course, it's not guaranteed that the reason for your "cannot load" error is the same as the one I experienced (fastboot's error reporting isn't very detailed, so I wouldn't know), but if it is, applying the adjustment described below should solve your problem.

For whatever fastboot flashing command is giving you a "cannot load" error, use fastboot's -S file-sparsing option (along with a size argument to that option that is smaller than the size of the largest image being flashed).
So, using your example, I would suggest trying the following:
fastboot -S 512M flash system system.img

The size I chose (512M) equates to roughly half the size of the image you attempted to flash.

I faced the same error. Error cannot load system.img. I figured it out after few attempts and a few images. It turns out I had an older version of ADB and I could only install old factory images.
If you want to install Android Marshmallow, make sure to install the latest ADB version.

I hit the same problem flashing Nougat (7.0.0).  Fastboot does not seem to report a version number, and I can't find a way to get the version of the SDK, but for reference, the version of ADB which comes with the right version of Fastboot is 1.0.32.  (1.0.31 does not work.)

To be honest, this is a bit of a mystery! Here are a couple of things to try from around the web:

Run 'adb kill server' and then 'adb start server' and try again.
Make sure you're using the latest version of adb and fastboot and try again.

Someone over on XDA also mentioned that this issue is to do with device encryption and that erasing and formatting the data partition would help (this will wipe all your data). This doesn't quite seem to link up but you never know...

Note: If you don’t have either one of the bootloader or radio .img
  files, don’t worry, not all devices need them
  **You must go in this exact order
1) type fastboot flash bootloader [name of your file].img
2) type fastboot flash radio [name of your file].img
3) type fastboot reboot-bootloader
4) type fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
5) type fastboot flash boot boot.img
6) type fastboot flash system system.img

Source : http://www.talkandroid.com/guides/beginner/how-to-install-the-lollipop-factory-image-on-your-nexus-device/
Works fine on Marshmallow too!


text:
Accidently deleted the device calender? Can I recover or add new?
My device is an Xperia Z2 D6503 running Android 4.4.4. I was using iCal Import/Export CalDAV to import .ical files into my device calendar.
Using this same app, I accidently deleted my device calendar. I cannot see the 'device calendar' anymore in the list of calendars in my phone's default calendar app.
Can I recover this calendar or add a new device calendar? I am guessing iCal app has deleted com.android.calender.

are you rooted ?

@lord-ralf-adolf nope mate...

then how come an app uninstall a system app ? it's theoretically impossible ,may  be the stock calendar is just deactivated ,go to settings > applications > all and find the calendar app see if it's there if it is then click on it an click on activate

The calendar app is available and is enabled, but I cannot find the device calender in the list of calenders shown in the built-in calender app, it was there before it got deleted. I contacted the developer of the iCal app and he said if it got deleted, there's no way of recovering it. Now I am wondering if I can add a new calender to the device.

then may may be you hid the stock callender from the app drawer try installing a new launcher just to see if the new launcher shows the stock calendar app

@lord-ralf-adolf the "device calendar" is rather a kind of "special account", not an app. No idea how to re-create that natively, but e.g. MyLocalAccount is able to provide an equivalent (there might be others, but that's the only one known to me).

@Izzy oh ,I see ,the opp should edit and clarify ,he explicitly said "I am guessing iCal app has deleted com.android.calender " com.android.calender is the stock calender app

@lord-ralf-adolf Yes, and a system app. So how likely is that? And then what should the "phone's default calendar app" be the OP is still using? I bet there's another way to restore the "device calendar" (maybe clearing cache+data from "calendar provider", after having backed up all calendar entries?), but I've never been in that situation – and while a factory-reset would definitely cure that, it's probably not what one prefers :)

@lzzy, I thought of factry-resetting which will definitely restore the device calender, but as u said its not the best thing to do.

I ran into the same problem. Even if you install a new calendar. Some apps try to create events to the default calendar and if it doesn't exist then it fails silently.

I guess you have to download a new calendar.
I recommend you get Google Calendar.

Check 12 of the best calendar apps available for your Android smartphone today, See if that helps.


text:
Nexus 9 stuck in endless reboot loop
I tried rooting my Nexus 9 and have ended up getting it into an endless loop of it trying to optimize apps.
I saw an answer on Nexus 9 stuck in endless reboot loop after trying to root it, but being new, what I don't understand is how do I get that file into the Nexus 9 if I can't get it to stop the boot cycle. I am pretty good at following directions if there is some step-by-step way to get out of this mess.

When you say 'endless', how long have you waited? If it gets to the "optimizing apps" screen (or it begins optimizing apps) and stays there for a while, that's normal - first boot on an Android device will generally take longer than subsequent boots. If it goes back to the "android" splash screen, then there's an actual problem.

the rebooting goes through the optimizing process of apps then goes back to the Android screen and the color balls each time and then starts the process over

Bear in mind the following will wipe your device data:
To flash the firmware to your device:
While boot-looping, hold the power button until the screen goes blank. As soon as it does, hold the volume down button and your device will reboot into fastboot mode. From here, follow the instructions on the Nexus Factory Images to flash the firmware by flashing the bootloader and then the rest of the system using fastoiot on a connected PC. After this, you can run fastboot reboot if you're device doesn't automatically boot into Android.


text:
Can't get rid of one text message
I have had this single text message on my phone since June. It simply won't delete. It comes through my Twitter account and is sent to my SMS, but all other such texts delete easily.

Maybe edit your answer to include your phone's make and model. Since every phone is different. But if you cant deleted it. It might be listed as a protected text or locked text. You might have to change the settings for it before you can delete it.

Press your finger down on the message text until a menu comes up.  Unlock the message - that's how I was able to delete a message that would not delete the regular way.

Deleting the cache and data of messaging app should help. Also, clean the cache of other SMS apps including Hangouts if you have installed them.
Is this SMS is moved to SIM for some reason? I always backup and then clean and never keep in SIM.

Try to send something on the same number/contact. It will add to the message thread. Then try to delete it.


text:
Recovering Wifi Password without Root on Galaxy Note 3
I am trying to recover WiFi password without rooting my phone. There are 2 ways I found online. One using a file explorer and the next is using ADB. I tried using ADB but I failed in doing so. I'm really not sure if I did it right but then I just followed the instructions here from Quora. Anyway, I have pulled the wpa_supplicant.conf and this is the only thing I see:
update_config=1
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1

I should be seeing this instead of the one above:
network={
ssid="NETWORK_NAME_HERE"
psk="PASSWORD_HERE"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
priority=1
}

Is there something that I missed or it's just not really applicable? I have Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N9005.

Just want to confirm, are you also using Cyanogenmod ROM? The fact that you could pull the file using ADB shown that you have root access (which probably was provided by CM), since normally you can't get system file without root.

I was wondering exactly the same: trying to pull that file without root gives you a "permission denied". So as that proves you've got root, you could also try apps for WiFi Password Recovery. Apart from that: Yes, you should see the second part (network block) as well – unless the device had never connected to any network, that is.

@AndrewT. No I'm not using cyanogenmod rom and I did not root my phone.  :)

@Izzy well some say that we can use pull and push without rooting a device. Well I have tried that app but it just scans for wifi. I have been using my phone since 2013 and I'm pretty sure it's not like that. I'm just wondering why there is no network block in my .conf file....

Of course you can pull and push without root – but not everything (some files and directories are protected). And I agree, with that block missing in the file, the recovery app probably won't find it either.

So there's nothing I can do to see the network block without rooting my phone? :(

If you are still connected with wifi than you can recover wifi password by going to your local host in the browser like 192.168.1.1 and than in the password section tick on show password or just click in password field your password will than be revealed to you hope it helps .