text:
How do I make older images in my /sdcard/DCIM folder show up in Gallery?
I've tried a few builds of Android Jelly Bean coming from Android Ice Cream Sandwich, and one common thing that happens is that Gallery will only show pictures taken after the ROM installation. The images themselves are still in the /sdcard/DCIM folder, but they are just not showing up in Gallery.
My phone is a Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Found the problem via http://rootzwiki.com/topic/29214-still-havent-found-a-fix/#entry788587 . I put a .nomedia file in my /sdcard/DCIM/Camera folder and my gallery became populated with images from other folders in the file system. Removing the .nomedia file eventually causes Media to spin up again but it crashes and tries to restart itself. I wonder if Jelly Bean's Media scanner has a problem with too many files or something

the .nomedia is an indicator to the scanner to omit that directory from the index completely (e.g. for a game's media data so that icons, etc. don't appear in the gallery)

correct. by putting the .nomedia file in the /sdcard/DCIM/Camera folder, I was able to isolate that something in that folder was causing the media scanner to crash

The worst thing is that this was not a problem in Ice Cream Sandwich. I always saw my old pictures after doing full wipes and installation of different ROMs. QuickPic does not choke on the things that cause MediaScannerService to restart. I wonder what they changed in Jelly Bean's MediaScannerService

This behaviour is not uncommon, sadly.
I use SDrescan to fix it usually.
Here are some other questions targeting the same underlying problem:
The music player keeps displaying deleted songs. How do I remove them or refresh the library?
Picture Gallery Slow & Won't Refresh on HTC G2 w Android 2.3 Gingerbread

Unfortunately, this isn't the problem. Turns out it has to do with Media Scanner constantly crashing

Can you spot where it crashes? (Maybe use CatLog to view logs) instantly after issuing a rescan. Maybe it's just a single bad file that causes this

Unless I'm doing it wrong, it doesn't look like catlog is catching anything when I enable folders that cause MediaScannerService to restart

Maybe use the bisection method to find the faulty pic? E.g, 128 pics requires 7 steps to isolate a single pic.

This trick didn't work for me. So, I did what the system should have done with the .nomedia file present. I moved all of my photos to a hidden folder (with a . before the name) and removed the DCIM folder. Then, I looked for all instances of the .nomedia file (Root Explorer helped) and deleted them. Rebooted the phone. Started Gallery. Waited for 10 minutes. Voila! Gallery showed every little image file that was on /sdcard. To remove the files that I didn't want to see, I copied the .nomedia file from a random system folder and pasted it into all the folders that I didn't want indexed. Strangely though, moving even one of the original /sdcard/DCIM/Camera files from the hidden folder into the current Camera folder took Gallery down. Stranger that this also made the Internal Storage show a blank window when I connected the phone to my laptop. Almost positive that this has to do with JellyBean creating a /storage/sdcard0 folder that's linked to the older /sdcard folder. Looking it up and will post updates if I find any.
Update: The same trick works for Paranoid Android's JellyBean ROMs (even the latest 2.13) for the Galaxy Nexus. Something to do with the DCIM folder and how it is handled by Media Storage. A Linux-geek friend of mine confirms this has to do with the /sdcard0 symlinking. Although, why we need something like that is beyond my limited knowledge of the OS.

Thanks for looking into this more. I've since ignored the problem but was still hoping someone could find what the problem with Jelly Bean was. I'll await your updated response

I had the same issue. I created a new folder and moved a file that end with a non media format, in my case a .bin file I downloaded and then I unmounted my sd card and then remount it and then used the app rescan to kick media scan opend gallery and it was all there. I did all that you did and then some. Did not even reboot. Just create a new folder at the root of my external sd card  named dloads and look for anything that could be consider a system file like .bin .ini .nomedia and so on, only file was my router system setting back up I did gatewaysetting.bin and moved it. Left all other like PDF files, mp3, picture, gifs and so on.

I also found this issue for 2 days.
I usually like to have both QuickPic and gallery.
As I like Gallery Slide show. For other features i prefer QuickPic.
But for Last 2 two days it stuck at less num pictures. So i tried clear cache/data of app and media scanner. that b'com even worser. i end up with no image shown.
I fixed the problem by renaming the DCIM folder to something else, say DCIMM. Then I started Gallery and all the images showed up. After that, I could rename the folder back to DCIM and everything was fine.

Please do not provide link only answers. You can reference your blog post but the solution should be found in your answer here.


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Google contacts in Google+ that have no profile image
Some Google+ contacts dont have a profile image, but they do have one in "Google Contacts". I think it would make sense if the fallback for those Google+ contacts where their "Google Contacts" profile image.
Is there a way to do this?

I think Google+ profile pictures have to be chosen by the people themselves. Your Google contacts are private to you while their profile picture on their public profile is public.
In their profile information you will see private contact data as well, but it's explicitly mentioned and are additional.
I don't think their is a way to do so because it just isn't meant to be done.

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Block unknown callers at work, but let them through if they try again
I have Tasker for Android but I don't know enough about it to be able to implement this.
I'd like this to occur when I am connected to a specific wireless network:
If someone phones who isn't in my contact list, reject the call immediately (straight to voicemail).
If they call again within a certain amount of time (say, 30 seconds) allow the call to come through.
Frankly, I can't even get the first one working. I know it's possible. The time thing is a kind of added bonus

First time I've ever heard of someone greylisting phone calls.  Intriguing.

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/17529/how-can-i-distinguish-important-calls

Have you tried browsing the Tasker's wiki? There are some good pre-made profiles there you can use.
The easy way to block calls with Tasker is described here:

Open Tasker, create a new Profile and name it "Blockr". Select the "State"
  context menu and the "Incoming Call" context from that menu. Keep this
  screen open and follow the instructions below to indicate which calls
  you would like to block on your phone.
Programming the Blocked Telephone Numbers
You have the option to enter a single number, multiple telephone
  numbers, any number that is not listed in your contacts, or any number
  that is not listed as a favorite in your contacts.  Any combination of
  the above options can be included in the blocked call list.  Multiple
  numbers are separated by the / symbol which indicates "or" in
  Tasker’s pattern match.  You can also use the * symbol to indicate a
  match with any number of characters in the telephone number to create
  area code (or country code) call blocks.  Here are examples of what
  you need to enter in the Caller field of the Incoming Call context
  dialog box in order to create each type of call block list:
To block a single caller with the number 123-456-7890 enter:
1234567890
To block two telephone numbers, enter the telephone numbers with a / symbol between them:
1234567890/1234567891
To block three telephone numbers, enter all three telephone numbers with the / between them:
1234567890/1234567890/1234567892
To block calls from individuals who are using a caller ID blocking feature enter the number zero:
0
To block calls from individuals who are not in your contact list, a pre-configured variable that matches all numbers in your contact list
  is used (C:ANY) with the exclamation point.  The ! indicates "not" and
  is literally interpreted as all callers that are not the number that
  you enter.  In this case, all numbers that are not part of your
  contact list:
!C:ANY
To block calls from both callers with caller ID blocked and those who are not listed as your contacts enter:
0/!C:ANY
To block a number of a specific caller and individuals with caller ID blocked enter the number, the / separator, and zero:
1234567890/0
To block calls from all numbers except for one caller, enter an exclamation point before the number of the caller that you want to
  allow.
!1234567890
To block calls from all callers except those who are in your favorite list, enter:
!C:FAV
To block all calls from an area code, use the * symbol to indicate that any number of characters can be matched following the first three
  digits (US area code) that you enter.  In the following example, any
  telephone number from the 123 area code would be blocked:
123*
Block all calls from two area codes.  Simply use the / symbol to combine the area code match in example 10.  In the following example,
  all calls from numbers with area codes 123 or 321 will be blocked:
123*/321*
Attach the Call Blocking Action
Click Done on the "Incoming Call" context window. Select "New Task" from
  the top of the "Task" selection window that is displayed. Name the task
  "CallBlock". Click the (+) button at the bottom left hand of the screen
  to add a new action.  Select the "Phone" action menu.  Select the "Take Call"
  action from the Phone action menu. Click Done Click the (+) button at
  the bottom left hand of the screen to add a new action. Select the
  "Phone" action menu.  Select the "End Call" action from the "Phone" action
  menu.  Click Done. Click Done again on the "Task Edit" window. Make sure
  that the green check mark is displayed next to the "Blockr" profile on
  the "Profile" screen. Click Apply.
Tasker will close and "Blockr" will begin
  to actively watch your incoming calls for those numbers in your call
  block list.  When an incoming call with one of the matched numbers is
  detected, the call is disconnected and your ringer is silenced.  You
  set the actions up to briefly answer and immediately disconnect the
  call so it is not sent to your voicemail.

You can modify these instructions to add another condition which checks the WiFi network you are connected to.

Is there a way to do it when your device cannot use the Take Call action?

Thanks for pasting the contents of the post; the source site is no longer operational. :)

You don't need Tasker. There is a dedicated App that does what you want: Harass Me

This does not block calls. It takes your phone off silent if you get 3 calls from the same number.

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Phone using mobile data instead of Wi-Fi
I installed Cyanogenmod on my HTC Desire about a month ago and have just received my first mobile bill. Before installing Cyanogenmod, I'd use maybe 200-300MB per month, because most places (home/work) I spend time have Wi-Fi that I can use. I have scheduled downloads of podcasts over Wi-Fi, configured to only use Wi-Fi (BeyondPod)... although I found that this setting had been unset when I changed from having 2 accounts on the phone (one Google Apps and one not) to just having 1 (Google Apps)... so I guess the preferences had been saved under the account I removed.
Have had just received my first bill since I changed to Cyanogenmod and I've apparently used 4GB of data! That's going to cost me over $100 extra, so I'm not best pleased.
Some points/thoughts/questions...

I have Wi-Fi and mobile data enabled all the time.
Podcast downloads were scheduled for 4am so, even with the "only use Wi-Fi" option disabled, it should have downloaded over Wi-Fi at that time as I spend nearly every night at home and therefore on Wi-Fi
Sometimes when I unlock the phone, I see the mobile data symbol on screen briefly as well as the Wi-Fi one.
Is there a setting somewhere that is turning off Wi-Fi when the phone is locked?
Is there a way I can prevent the phone from using mobile data when it's connected to Wi-Fi... and how do I make sure it's connected to Wi-Fi as much as possible?
Anyone got any tips/tricks to share for this scenario?

Go into the Wi-Fi settings, press Menu, choose Advanced. You should get options including Wi-Fi Sleep Policy. Sounds like its set to turn off Wi-Fi when the screen is off.

Yes, it was set to sleep when the screen was off - I've now set this to never sleep. Hopefully that doesn't mess up my battery life too much, it was already pretty crappy. I turned mobile data off altogether yesterday and my podcasts updated overnight, so they must have gone over wifi... so not 100% sure this is the cause, but thanks for the pointer, will see how it works out.

That seems to have fixed it, thanks for the pointer. Also battery life has improved a lot with turning this setting on... I guess 3G uses more than wifi...

Thank you so much! I was wondering why I was consuming data around the house (where there is a WiFi connection available). Sure enough... WiFi was set to turn off when the screen shut down unless the 'phone was plugged in.


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Is there a known issue with HTTPS and the Android browser?
I have a Galaxy S2 running 2.3.3, all up to date and not rooted.  On several sites I find that logging in is impossible due to requests sent on HTTPS not returning a response.
I've not tested the issue exhaustively, but the most notable failures for me are my Natwest online banking and signing in to Stack Exchange sites with my Google ID.  In both these cases the response from the server never appears, in the case of Stack sites this happens when clicking the 'Log in with Google' button, I never even get a chance to enter credentials.
I've resorted to using Opera Mobile for now, and since this works fine it seems to be an issue localised to the android default browser.  Is there a way of fixing it, or should I just choose a different browser and set that as default instead?

You mean Android by "droid", yes?

I can't reproduce the issue described with the stock android browser, I think you may have had a "hiccup" in data connectivity or something.

Sorry, I do mean Android, thanks for the correction

@Ryan: it's not a hiccup, it's been a consistent issue since I got the phone in May.

I have this issue with the Power School site for my kids' school. I can't login via any Android device: Droid Inc, CM7 Nook or ASUS Transformer. But I also had issues with FF and that site as well. I was told to uncheck "use TLS 1.0" security protocol and that made FF work but there is not equivalent option for the Android browsers. I also have this issue with Dolphin HD but I haven't tried any other browsers yet.

I don't think there is any widely known issue with this. I am able to sign in to StackExchange automatically on my Nexus S. I looked around at the Android Issue Tracker and while there are a lot of results for "browser https", none in the first 20 or so seemed pertinent.
It might just be a problem local to your phone. I'd try resetting it.

I did do a factory reset in the end as I started to have unusual issues with battery life. After a reset and full update, everything seems to be working fine.


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Samsung I5503 weak Wi-Fi
Me and my friend's galaxy 5 has a weak Wi-Fi signal. Even in a few meters from access point, it has 2 lines of antenna.
Is there any solution for increasing signal?

Sometimes there may be interference from other electronic / microwave equipment.
In your router / access point's settings change the channel and see if there's any improvement.
Also, don't be taken in so much by the bars displayed. Very often, I see only 2 bars, but in the WiFi settings, I see the signal strength displayed as EXCELLENT.
The other usual rules apply - place your router as high as you can. Place it away from other cordless phones or electronic devices that can generate interference.

Thank you very much. I tested it by 5 or 6 access points. If the distance is above 10 meters, it disconnects frequently. But I should test channels.

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YouTube app keeps pausing the video
I am using a Nexus 5 D820 rooted stock Android 6.0.1 MOB30D.  The YouTube app version is 11.x and is the latest as I checked for the updates today.
The app pauses the video at random. I had to tap the play symbol at the center to start it to play.  This is not same as buffering as in buffering one would see a progress and the play symbol does not come up when the video is stopped.

I tried this with my headsets and without headsets to rule out the
press of headset button or something allied to cause the issue.
I also tried this in 3G and in WiFi, both in high res and low res.
I also tried this in offline mode.

In each and every case, the YouTube app pauses the video almost for once for every minute.  I do not want to switch over to another app and I cannot uninstall it as well.
Does anybody have any solutions? Thanks.

Strange, I used it this morning without a problem on a Nexus 6. Not sure if I had the last update but almost positive, so I should rule out the app, but just in case, deactivate the app then reactivate it, this will uninstall every update then update it again. This might help.

I uninstalled the updates and went to play store and installed again.  Now the problem seems to be gone. I am just waiting for few more positive signs to declare this myself as a solution.

This is only my observation, but YouTube pauses the video if there's something taking the focus from the app. Usually it happens when Play Store is updating the apps in the background, but may happen with another apps with similar behavior.

Thanks for your input. It might be. I am sure in my case there was no updates because I went to Play store to see whether there are any updates to YouTube app.  It does not happen always again. Yesterday out of 10 or so videos, two or three paused automatically.

I figured out what the problem is, it's because the phone thinks you keep plugging/unplugging the headphones. Try using another set of headphones and that should fix it.
I used the headphone that came with my PS4 and it caused the problem, it kept restarting but YouTube was still pausing until i changed the headphones then it went back to normal.
Hope that helps.

Thanks that is a possibility, now I no longer face this issue. May be updates solved or change of broadband plans (speed) solved or change of phone might have solved.

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text:
How can I get past somebody's password lock screen without them knowing?
My daughter changed her lock screen password on her phone. She has learned how to keep me from unlocking it. So I am asking, is there away I can get her password with out her realising it? Or can I get inside her phone without changing her current password? Her phone is a "METROPCS Samsung Galaxy Avant".

No theres no actual way of doing it unless you perform a factory reset from recovery mode which would be completely usless if you wanted to see things that shes got on there. Unless she has it all on an sd card.


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How to edit id3-tags (MP3 tags) in Marshmallow?
Ok, so I'm not got to act like I know what I'm talking about, but I've done a fair bit of googling and stuff like 'write permissions' have come up over and over again when searching id3 tag editors.
My question is, how do I edit my music titles? ie album name and song title. Some of my songs have unknown artist or album.
I have a LG G4 with marshmallow 6.0, my old G4 had lollipop and I could edit my music with an app. That phone got run over, my new G4 now has marshmallow. I bought it a few weeks ago.
The apps that claimed to work don't, black music player had a built in editor and it looked promising, it let me edit my music but after exiting the app and going back in, it had changed back to the original title.(two hours of my life I can't get back.)
So is there anyway around this with a simple fix? Nothing too technical please like 'rooting' whatever that is....or I've read you can convert your external sd card to become an extension of your internal storage somehow...and I've heard bad things about that too, like lag and storage issues.
I just want to organise my music....something I enjoy doing.
So any ideas would be great
Thanks,
Beck.

This app should work: Star Music Tag Editor

Unfortunately the app didn't work...I had the same problem as black music player....I selected the sd card before saving...I think it's a developer issue with marshmallow, I had no problems editing with lollipop in file manager, I just don't have that option now with marshmallow.

I'm not sure how those apps operate – but obviously they edit the .mp3 files directly. They might or might not trigger the media scanner afterwards, so it might only appear they did nothing. Have you checked the edited files e.g. on your PC? Or tried to trigger the media-scanner manually after an edit (e.g. by rebooting the device)?

I've been reading numerous post on endless forums and it seems to be a floor with marshmallow 6.0....I had an LG G4 with lollipop and I had no issues editing my music titles (I could do this from file manager) and id3ditor app. Now my new G4 has marshmallow 6.0 and I can't edit anything....I only have the option to move or share now not edit. I just use the music player that came with the phone, the titles haven't changed looking at them on my computer...I can't efit them on my laptop either. Boo0o0o0!

You need not rely on the apps that help you edit the MP3 tags easily.. As @Somberi said, maybe the developers could have abandoned their projects..
There's a very tedious solution anyway, by which you can edit the ID3 tags manually.
Steps:

Download any Hex Editor app for Android.
Open the mp3 file using that Hex Editor.
Scroll to the end of the file..
The last 128bytes over there is used to store the metadata (ID3 tags)
Just note the last 128bytes & try to recognize the tag-names used there by converting each byte to corresponding ASCII. For example, the hex bytes 45 6D 69 6E 65 6D corresponds to the ASCII string Eminem ;)

Just change it as required (by converting your ASCII text to Hex bytes) & overwrite it in the corresponding location. Also note that each tag-name is separated by a sequence of spaces (20 20 20 20 ...... in Hex), or in some cases, sequence of null-bytes (00 00 00 00 ......), which varies for different ID3 versions.
(This might also help: A Quick Study on MP3 file structure )
When you need to edit multiple MP3 files, this process is really exhausting..In that case, you may wait till the app developers update their apps (with proper permissions) for Marshmallow, or you can do it easily on your computer, even using VLC Media Player (Tools->Media Information)

Oh for reals.... I have VLC, that would be so much easier on my laptop, do I need one of those card readers? Or would VLC still be able to edit my tags if I plug my phone into my laptop with the usb?

Lol all that hex stuff is way beyond my capabilities, knowing my luck I'd end up erasing something important, thanks for taking the time to reply.

See: How to View and Edit ID3 Audio Tags Using VLC in Computer. Copy all your mp3's to PC & do it.. Or do it directly using card reader

Oh Gokul your a legend, thank you so much, I still have a few unknown albums that couldn't be edited on my old phone.

If extra software recommendation is allowed, I would really, really like to say Poweramp is good for this. Sometimes Musixmatch is also good.

@iBug Put that as an answer bro if they work.. :)

Because Google put new restrictions on app accessing the file storage in Version 6, many old apps will not work. The solution is to use Version 5 or older devices if you want to stick with the same apps. Or, wait for the apps to get updated. Or, you can search for new apps that are compatible with Version 6.
ID3 tag editing is extremely file IO intensive - it will also waste battery. This is best done on a desktop.

Oh ffs....lol it's all good. I just swapped my sd card over to my old samsung trend and edited it there. Its a bit time consuming.(that's what I get for being OCD with my music) I guess I'll just have to be patient and wait for the apps to catch up. Thanks


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Why can't I receive WhatsApp messages when the app is not in the foreground?
I have a Samsung j5. When I have WhatsApp Messenger open, it can receive messages, but if I leave the app, messages don't arrive any more. My mobile data is always on.

Are you closing the Application via the "Recent Apps" Menue? Or are you just "minimizing" it by hitting the home button?

@benjaminS Even by closing the WhatsApp tab in the recent apps, the app has a background listener called MessageService, which should notify when a message arrives. If the service is messing up, then it means that WhatsApp programmers are putting less attention in their job. And yes, I'm facing that issue too. Better move out to Telegram, heh.

Are you using hibernating apps like Greenify?

Is background data enable for WhatsApp?

I dnt use such apps

Where it show that background data is enable


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How to factory reset a android sunrise
My Phone is an Lg Sunrise and it wont let me factory rest nor is the volume down and lock button working so what else could I do

Install the correct drivers for your device, and install 15-second adb installer from here.
Right-click in your ADB folder (usually in root of C:) and open a command line and input the following:
adb reboot bootloader

Check to see if the phone is in fastboot mode.
fastboot devices

If it doesn't show anything, wait a few seconds and try again.
Wipe the user data/cache.
fastboot -w


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Android x86 Won't boot up
I am trying to install Android-x86 6.0 marshmallow on Oracle Virtual Box. I was experiencing difficulty installing, but I read elsewhere to change the grub from android_x86 to x86, which I did with little to no difficulty, and successfully installed it.
On bootup, it gives the message: Failed to find cpu0 device node, but it keeps going. When it gets to the A N D R O I D message, it stops, unlike all the tutorials floating around on the internet.

I am a total beginner to android, so help would be appreciated. Thanks!

You can get a little further by using Grubs 'edit, e' key and adding debug DEUBG=1
That will give you a linux shell, and kernel debug messages.
Also, you can force by choosing the resident option and replacing USB_PARTITION=1 with INSTALL=2
http://support.jide.com/hc/en-us/articles/222974048-How-to-install-Remix-OS-for-PC-single-boot-on-hard-disk-

You must choose to install grub with the system.
In the grub menu press 'e' to edit the boot command, press 'e' again to edit the first command which starts with "kernel".
 Append this:
 nomodeset

to the and of the command and press Enter to save, finally press 'b' to boot from the modified command and it will boot up successfully.
I tried this with CM 14.1 and Android 7.1 images and it works after I had the same problem with VMWare Workstation 14.


text:
Restore/enable wifi when turning off tethering?
When I turn on WiFi tethering it disables the WiFi logically. But when I restore it doesn't turn it back on again, so I have to do it manually. Is there any way to do it automatically?
I have a nexus 4 which is rooted and running CarbonROM 1.8.
I tried Tasker, but I found no way to check tethering status.

Just checked the tasker UserGuide: It in fact doesn't mention anything fitting. What you could try, though, is checking whether the %WIFII variable might hold something useful (have it logged or put a notification once with WiFi on, and once with Tether on, and compare – you could do so simply by creating a dummy task and directly execute it manually).

Tried it, %WIFII doesnt hold any thing related to tethering.

Thanks for the feedback. I couldn't tell as I never use Tether, but it was worth a try. Sorry that it didn't work out! If you've bought Tasker, you could contact its author. I wouldn't wonder if he'd consider implementing something for that: to me it looks like it should be there but just was missed somehow.

Newer versions of Tasker now include the %TETHER variable, its now possible to interchange the two (with %WIFI) so you check when either is active or not.


text:
How to change icons on EMUI
I want to change a few particular icons without giving up the look of the EMUI.
I tried IconChanger, but it leaves a water mark on the new icon. I also tried NovaLauncher; however, it doesn't support font customization and I'm not a fan of the elongated font it uses.
Is there a way to change the icon files manually? Is there a launcher that will enable icon changes without changing other aspects of the GUI? Just to be clear I'm not looking for an icon pack. I want to make use of a few specific icons that I've created.


text:
How can I update old Android devices to get fixes? (for issues such as Dirty Cow)
Recently there has been the discovery of the Dirty Cow bug in the linux kernel which allows the unlogged access to superuser privileges:
Dirty Cow CVE-2016-5195 (from https://dirtycow.ninja/) :

Why is it called the Dirty COW bug?
"A race condition was found in the way the Linux kernel's memory
  subsystem handled the copy-on-write (COW) breakage of private
  read-only memory mappings. An unprivileged local user could use this
  flaw to gain write access to otherwise read-only memory mappings and
  thus increase their privileges on the system."

The Guardian - 'Dirty Cow' Linux vulnerability found after 9 years

That also applies to Android: the mobile operating system is affected.
  While top-end Android devices, such as the Galaxy S7 and Pixel,
  receive regular security updates, the vast majority of Android devices
  sold receive few, if any, post-sale updates.
Google declined to comment, but confirmed that Android is one of the
  Linux distributions affected. The company has posted a Partner
  Security Advisory to alert Android partners, one of the steps to those
  partners then issuing a patch

AFAIK Android M is based on Linux 3.4, but I know usually with supported Linux distros running older kernels that compatibility and security fixes can be backported.
My androids devices are running Android 6 (Marshmallow) - most of these are Motorola and got updated from Android 5 (Lollipop) probably about half a year after it was released - but I also know that many people are still using devices running 4 (KitKat) and older.
So to get a newer version of Android which has this (and other issues) patched, do I have to:

...get a new device running Nougat? Apparently updates are supported much better - but only on new devices that come with it (finding reasonably priced ones with Nougat seems difficult in the UK at least)
...wait for a OTA update?
...try and flash updates myself? I think with non-Nexus devices this is difficult... largely due to drivers?

EDIT: Ok for the first part of the answer I found these saying YES (despite searching before posting...):

https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/140430/cve-2016-5195-dirty-cow-on-android (links proof of concept and a article)
https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/140418/what-is-the-possible-impact-of-dirtyc0w-a-k-a-dirty-cow-bug which has answers.

How should I apply updates to older devices?

Unless there's a kernel module that you can load that fixes this (very unlikely), there's no generic way to apply a fix to any device.

Maybe this is more like what you are looking
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-2/galaxy-tab-2-unified/kernel-anykernel-t3484739/post69241933#post69241933
I dont know if this gonna work for you right out of the box probably needs to import the ramdisk files of your device and if its append dtb then you would need your dtb binary
https://github.com/osm0sis/AnyKernel2

For its particular device, this is quite good. I should know, I use it!

@DanBrown you can add support for your device easily

That, and I have a Tab 2 :)


text:
How does NFC Task Launcher toggle Power Saving and how can I get Tasker to do it?
So I've noticed that NFC Task Launcher can toggle the Power Saving mode for the Galaxy s3.
Obviously then, this is not a secure setting that requires root access (eg. turning GPS on / off).
So is it possible to automate this (the turning on and off of power saving mode) in Tasker (without rooting my phone)?  I've tried to use the Load App functionality but the most I can do is open up the Power Saving control panel.
I'm thinking the toggle is most likely an Intent that NFC Task launcher is calling but I don't know what the intent is as I can't seem to find any documentation about Samsung specific system functionality.
My objective is to create a tasker profile which toggles Power Saving mode when I turn the screen on and off, instead of using NFC to trigger this event.

You can create the task in NFC Launcher, install Autoshortcut (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.joaomgcd.autoshortcut&hl=en-GB) and then you can call the NFC launcher task within Tasker via the Plugins>Autoshortcut>Configuration>Run Task.
I just got my unrooted Note 2 setup to disable powersaving when on USB power and enable it again when I unplug it :-)

To make Tasker work with NFC, you can use a NFC Plugin: Locale NFC Plugin does work with Tasker (according to the app description, and as generally Locale plugins do work with Tasker), and should enable you to do what you've described.

Hi Izzy, I'm not trying to get Tasker to work with NFC, I'm trying to get Tasker to execute something that the NFC Task Launcher can do, which Tasker cannot do.

Sorry I'll be a bit more specific, so NFC Task Launcher allows me to turn Samsung's power saving mode on and off, but only if I use bluetooth, Wifi or NFC to trigger it. For me, I would like to toggle power saving mode but when the screen turns on and off

You might want to update your question to make that clear :) So the problem is Tasker not being able to toggle that power saving mode? Maybe it can with the Secure Settings plugin (I cannot test, don't have that device, so it's just a guess)? If you want that app directly supported by Tasker, you might want to ask the dev to implement a specific Tasker plugin.

Secure Settings might be able to do it but I don't want to root my phone. I'll edit my question to make it more clear.

Secure Settings does not require root for all actions. Best I can tell, the Enable or Disable Samsung Modes action only requires a Samsung ROM (which you have if you have a stock Samsung phone).


text:
Do I need ARM or ARM64 Gapps for an asus zenfone 2 laser ZE500KL?
I was wondering if there is significant difference regarding compatibility and readiness when it comes to ARM or ARM64 Gapps?
According to the qualcomm website, the chipset I have supports both 32 and 64bit. I was wondering which one to choose for more stability.
UPDATE: http://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/d8d3356c <----it looks like it is ARM, but on the website of the chipset it say ARM64. Confusing.

Rather than wasting time checking your SoC architecture, why not check your ROM's build architecture instead? The following methods are available for you.

The existence of /system/bin/linker64 indicates that your ROM is built for ARM64 (or more formally, AArch64), as well as these things
File: /system/bin/linker64
      /system/bin/app_process64
Directory: /system/lib64/
           /system/vendor/lib64

If these things don't exist, it means that you're running a ARM 32-bit ROM.

Open /system/build.prop in any text editor and look for ro.product.cpu.abi. If its value is arm64-v8a then your ROM is ARM64. If its value is 'armeabi-v7a' or something else, safely believe it's an ARM ROM.

I suggest checking your ROM architecture instead of CPU architecture, as it sometimes occurs that an ARM ROM is installed on an ARM64 device.
FYI, your SoC, Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 is in fact ARM64 as its core architecture is ARM Cortex-A53, the very first 64-bit core architecture from ARM.

...it sometimes occurs that an ARM ROM is installed on an ARM64 device. - well observed. +1

Qualcomm website says "CPU Bit Architecture: 64-bit" therefore I would flash opengapps arm64, if you get an error during install (it won't affect your system), use the arm version instead.

the trick to check the BUILD.PROP file is pretty neat.
Open /system/build.prop in any text editor and look for ro.product.cpu.abi. If its value is arm64-v8a then your ROM is ARM64. If its value is 'armeabi-v7a' or something else, safely believe it's an ARM ROM.

Checking your phones hardware is easy.
Open a terminal and
$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
The os being 32bit or 64bit is a different question. And ibug answers it well.
Which answers my question. Are arm64 soc's compatible with 32 bit apps.
That is down to the os being 32bit or 64bit & multi-arch.

Where do I find terminal on my phone?..

Download a terminal app in play store.


text:
How do I flash and prepare an ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser for custom ROM installation?
I am tired of the original ROM on my phone and I'll install the resurrection ROM.
I have the zip, but if I am not wrong I need to first do 3 things:
-get root access
-install TWRP
-and adb
Am I right?
I am still in the process of understanding how it works.
Where do I get these files and instructions?
I have found some links, but none of them seems to be easy and well-explained.
Thanks!

link xda: https://forum.xda-developers.com/zenfone-2-laser

thanks a lot. I am confused though. I need to use:
-1st: twrp-3.0.2.0-Z00E-MM
-2nd: ZE500KL_BootloaderUnlock
-3rd the super Su.
all of this using the terminal (since I am using ubuntu).
Can't I just copy these and use the terminal off my phone to mount the above mentioned files?

I have tried flashing only through phone[I haven't tried through terminal or command prompt]. In my redmi 1s, I've flashed miui_root zip, then flashed twrp zip, then installed cyanogenmod rom zip. Completed. I think XDA have descibed everything for installation.

I cant get it work via the phones terminal. Basically the official asus unlock apk wont unlock the bootloader either.
I am trying to use the website you gave me, but when it fastboot mode...the terminal of my PC cant find the device. It can only find the device when it is not in fastboot mode.
It simply says "List of devices attached"..and the list is empty.

You don't need root access on your stock ROM. The step is:
     1. Unlock your phone ROM using official APK or other means (ASUS unlock APK was known to be buggy)
     2. Install TWRP using ADB
     3. Flash custom ROM using TWRP
Your warranty will be void and you might get your phone bricked.
Detailed guide:

Install ADB on your PC c:\adb
Copy TWRP recovery and ROM zip file to adb folder
In your Phone set development option on, enable USB debugging
Unlock your phone using official ASUS APK
Connect your phone to PC, run cmd on c:\adb ".\adb devices" confirm device connected
Run cmd: .\adb reboot-bootloader
Run cmd: .\fastboot devices, confirm device connected in fastboot mode
Flash TWRP: .\fastboot flash recovery twrprecoveryfile
Enter recovery mode
Flash custom ROM using TWRP


text:
Does the installation of the custom rom like "resurrection remix" need root?
I was wondering if root is required or only unlocking the bootloader will do for custom ROM installations?
I already have TWRP installed.

In almost all cases: No.
Flashing a custom ROM is done in the recovery.
The recovery is independent from the system (which you can root) and thus no online/active system protection is present.
Sometimes you need to unlock the bootloader in order to write to the system partition at all (comparable to hardware write protection).
This can often be done in fastboot (fastboot oem unlock).
Many custom ROMs will provide root access (for developers of the ROM, no custom ROM is/will be in a production-ready state).
Thus flashing a custom ROM is way to gain root access.
For the cases where it won't work (weirdly locked bootloader), you need a rooted device to unlock the bootloader from within the running system (because of signatures, for instance).


text:
Why can't I root my Zenfone 2 android device?
I have managed to install TWRP, unblocked the bootloader, but I simply can't root my device.
I have tried this: http://www.asus-zenfone.com/2016/05/how-to-root-asus-zenfone-2-laser-ze50kl-marshmallow.html
I have also tried this one:
http://technoplanners.blogspot.in/2016/02/root-asus-zenfone-2-laser.html
It doesn't work either.
Do I even need root access for a custom ROM installation?
I am trying to install Ressurecition Remix. I was wondering if that grants root access during the installation?

I don't know why can't you? What problem do you encounter? Is it simply not working where it should or does it give an error?

It looks all fine (I mean it gives no error message), but then when I check it with the app..it says the device is not rooted.
I have just tried again from this website:http://technoplanners.blogspot.com/2016/02/root-asus-zenfone-2-laser.html
and it gives this error message in adb:
"downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [  0.669s]
booting...
FAILED (remote: dtb not found)
finished. total time: 0.690s
"

Add that to your question. Your question, as is, very non-detailed and is very hard to answer. Detail it to your best effort to boost your chance of someone posting a good answer that'll solve your problem.

Ok. I'll do my best, but I just simply want to root my asus device and none of the 2 tutorials cited can do so. It's weird. There seems to be no definite solution to rooting asus zenfone 2 laser ZE500KL devices. A bit weird.
I dont get any error messages, nothing....but then when I check it, it is not rooted.

What is the output of adb shell su ? does it change from $ to # ?


text:
Why cant TWRP boot into recovery mode anymore?
I installed cyanogenmode using TWRP and used my MOTO G 2013 without any issues. Used it all afternoon without major problems (let me add that it is a nightly version) After a few hours I decided to create a backup file and then reboot the phone. Now it is stuck at the logo screen and it wont even let me use the recovery mode. What can be the issue?

Maybe because it is nightly? See this http://android.stackexchange.com/a/132046/131553

@beeshyams yeah...you are right. It had to be the fact that it messed something up. I use Ubuntu...so using these three commands:
fastboot erase system

@beeshyams It had to be the nightly that messed something up. I use Ubuntu...and using these three commands below, I cleaned my Moto G from the terminal:
sudo fastboot erase system,
sudo fastboot erase data,
sudo fastboot erase cache (I seriously dont know if I needed all three..oh and sudo was necessary since my phone lost the root access)...
Then using the terminal I reinstalled the recovery (twrp).
Then I wiped the whole thing again and installed the stable version of cyanogemod.


text:
Remove google accounts from Android Market
I have 2 accounts synced with the device, lets call them Account A and Account B.
When I got the device, I first entered A to be the account for the market, for gmail and everything else.
Then, I added B and selected "Sync with Google Calendar" only.
Lately, I've started getting notifications about application updates for B, and when I go to the market each time I have to make sure I selected A (And I did pick A in the market settings).
Can I delete B from the market? I don't want it to exist in that list when you select "Accounts" in the menu.
(Market version 3.3.11)
Thanks in advance.

possible duplicate of Multiple update notifications from Android Market

I don't think so, probably only way to block it would be deleting it :(

But I'm still using it for the Google Calendar :/ There must be a way to add an account just for a specific purpose? (not the Market)

Yes that's definitely a bug, it's been raised on the support forums.
There is a message from Google saying they're working on a fix.
Personally I'd really like to see "Market" as an option in the sync screen, just like Gmail, Calendar, Contacts etc... so we can just turn it off.
I recommend you go vote on the issue to give it more visibility.

What you describe is a bug in the later versions of the Android Market. I believe it has been acknowledged by Google, and they are working on a solution.
Yes, you can delete the second account. You can normally remove any Google account expect for the FIRST one you added. However, you have to remove it completely, not just from the market. So, you will lose access to calendar and contacts etc.
From the homes screen, press "menu", then go to:
Settings -> Accounts & sync
Choose the account you want to remove, and then choose "Remove Account"

OP already stated in comment to @maxorq's answer that they don't want to delete account as they use it for Google Calendar.


text:
Improving Galaxy Nexus's audio quality
I found out about this website through androidguys.com and I'm giving it a first shot. :)
I remember when I had my Fascinate which is Samsung Galaxy S, I had Voodoo Sound Control app which helped to improve the sound quality tremendously. So you can imagine my surprise that when I got my Galaxy Nexus(Verizon), the app wasn't supporting it.
My question is, will we ever get Voodoo Control support? It's been awhile since the phone came out but the app didn't get updated yet. This led me to assume that it's either impossible or the developer dropped its support. If it will not get Voodoo Control, what other choices are there?
I'm currently using Volume+ and have tried PowerAMP, Neutron, and PlayerPro. All these do are some EQ and volume increase. They have nothing to do with hardware level sound modification.

It seems that Voodoo Sound Control on your Fascinate/SGS worked because of three different pieces - the preinstalled Voodoo Control app, a specific digital to audio controller, and a kernel that can allow the two to communicate. As best I can tell the Galaxy Nexus doesn't have the correct DAC nor a kernal that would allow the controller app to work. Sorry, it seems you're stuck with EQ apps for sound quality.
My suggestion at this point, if you're needing more volume from your phone, would be to look into external powered amps.


text:
How to run Cyanogenmod for milestone a853 on emulator?
I've successfully compiled Cyanogenmod for milestone a853 and was following these instructions: http://oldwiki.cyanogenmod.org/wiki/Android_SDK_Emulator:_Compile_CyanogenMod_%28Linux%29
and then I run the emulator with this command:
/android/android-sdk-linux/tools/emulator -kernel ./prebuilt/android-arm/kernel/kernel-qemu-armv7

after the ANDROID_ splash screen, the emulator stuck at a black screen without any response. So how can I resolve this problem?

I'd be surprised if this works. The drivers and their configuration are most likely going to be incorrect if you've built for the Milestone.

@eldarerathis♦  The code are from http://android.doshaska.net/cm7 . That's correct I think. I was only following instructions from the url in the question (official cyanogenmod site)

What I meant was that if your build was configured for the Milestone then that's the only device it's really intended to run on. The emulator doesn't emulate a Milestone, it's a generic set of hardware, so I wouldn't think that a Milestone ROM would necessarily be compatible with the emulator's virtual hardware. I've never tried and I have no idea personally, but that's my assumption.

but, I've successfully run the cyanogenmod for moto dorid on the emulator. so what're the differences?


text:
Chrome crashes on Acer Iconia A200
I'm seeing problems identical to this issue, where Chrome either crashes, becomes unresponsive, or the screen goes black if I switch between tabs.  Logcat shows:

OpenGLRenderer is out of memory

According to the Chromium issue, this stems from bugs in the Tegra video drivers.  For the Asus Transformer, it was fixed by a system update.  (I'm running the most recent ICS update on my Iconia Tab.)
Is there anything I can do to get Chrome working reliably on the A200, and is there any hope of Acer fixing their software?

Have you tried contacting Acer? I'd see if you can find a reproducable way to make it happen with the built-in apps, then report it to Acer as a bug. Might not get anywhere, but you won't know till you try.

I'm on an A200 as well; I'm not having that crash. I'm getting other crashes, tho', with Chrome. The recent build is better than the older one.


text:
64 digit Hex WiFi passphrase doesn't seem to get accepted
I use a 64 digit hex passphrase on my router that I want to use with Android. However Android (CyanogenMod 7) doesn't seem to accept the password (no errors, just nothing happens when I enter it). I have also tried manually entering the information into the wpa_supplicant.conf file but to no avail.
What could be the problem?

Why are you doing that? It sounds like a protected wifi network, and by peeling off the hex passphrase from a windows machine, you think you can get on the network. Is it your wifi network? If it is, surely you would have the passphrase. this sounds iffy?

Since the question was edited, what router is it in question? This is a case of a mis-configured router.

you should see the old revision by clicking on 'X mins|hours|days ago': http://android.stackexchange.com/posts/25259/revisions PS: I don't think it's a misconfig, more a typing problem with colons included or so.

That has worked fine when I recently tested it with CyanogenMod 7 and 9 (and also stock HTC/Samsung/Motorola).
Just enter it into the usual passphrase input box but without any colons. Just type in only the 0-9,a-f letters. This should work then.
Here's a sample wpa_supplicant.conf entry with a fake key/AP:
network={
    ssid="insecureAP"
    key_mgmt=NONE
    auth_alg=OPEN SHARED
#   128 bit key:
    wep_key0=0123456789abcdef0123456789
#   64 bit key:
#   wep_key0=0123456789
    priority=90
}

Note: 64bit correspond to 10 hex digits and 128bit correspond to 26 hex digits (with WEP standard)!

TIL! Never knew you could do it that way... :D Nice... should be part of community wiki for the top gems /tips 'n' tricks for others to submit :)

Try replacing this:auth_alg=OPEN SHARED for this: auth_alg=OPEN
It just happened to me that my phone was trying Shared Key Authentication (SKA), which is seldom used in favour of Open Authentication.
By doing this my connection started working.


text:
Is it possible to intercept and override sensor events in Android?
I want to intercept sensor events in Android and override (fix) transmitted data. Is it possible?
The solution should work for all applications using that sensor.
UPDATE
I need to override magnetometer and accelerometer.

What sensors are you talking about? The GPS? Cell signal? Accelerometers? GPS can be faked, not sure about cell, and accelerometers (and most other sensors) would likely require a kernel modification or a custom driver.

I need to override magnetometer and accelerometer.

Is this a development question? Rather, as dymutaos pointed out, a custom kernel/driver would be needed to override the sensors, with the current Android API, its dubious if you can do so.

Then tell something about custom drivers. Is this require rooting? Or such drivers can normally be developed and distributed by third-party designers?

Drivers are written by the hardware manufacturers. They are the only ones who know exactly what is needed for their particular hardware. If all you wanted to do was emulate hardware, you could probably write your own driver (similar to how some remote desktop clients write their own mouse and keyboard drivers). Blocking or intercepting existing hardware, however, would involve reverse engineering the current driver. At any rate, all options require programming, which is outside of the scope for this site.

@dymutaos pls direct me to the site which is in the scope

No, you cannot natively override the magnetometer and accelerometer sensors. Android does not have an API for this (as opposed to GPS), and faking these signals would require programming a custom driver or kernel. It isn't a simple matter of getting root and changing a simple config file somewhere.


text:
If a paid app stops working, can I get my money back?
For example, the application Say it right! is using the Forvo third-party service. I guess the app can stop working eventually (for example if the API changes, or if the third-party service terms change)
Are paid apps purchased from the Google Play store supposed to work for lifetime?
Edit: The previous example costs 1 euro, and obviously if it stops working that would be no big deal. But the same applies for apps that cost 20 euros or more. I wouldn't be happy if an expensive app stops working after 3 months, and I'm curious if Google has a policy for this on its Play store.

Yes. For the lifetime of the app :) Sorry, Pere, but for the one buck you pay per app, you can't expect the dev to support it for his or your lifetime. When the dev decides to stop updating the app, that ends its lifetime sooner or later. And no, no money-back then. You don't get your money back in cinema either when the film ends :)

If your automobile stopped working, would you expect the dealer to refund your money? For a lifetime? If your  tie or shoes go out of style, do you expect a refund?

The legalities of this depend on what laws are applicable when / where you purchased the app.

@Pere - Software is as tangible as a tie, shoes, or an automobile. You determined its value, and bought it in an arms-length transaction - the determinant characteristics of fair commerce. Value received for perceived equal value spent. You own it past the agreed return time period.

Help section of Google Play Store (accessible from Google Play Store menu button on left > help and feedback> search for returns and refunds> Apps and games refunds) relevant to your question, says (emphasis mine)

After 2 hours or more,Contact the developer
  If Google Play's 2-hour return period has passed, the developer is responsible for deciding if you are eligible for a refund. Contact the app developer directly and ask for a refund. You can find an app developer's contact information listed on an app or game's detail page on Google Play. For instructions, go to help with an Android app or game.

(Edit: 11 Mar 20 - just saw that it is 48 hours not 2 hours to claim the refund. I don't know when it changed)
So, it's obvious that the refund request approval rests with app developer and if the developer doesn't respond, it further says

Optional: Contact Google
  If the developer hasn't helped, Google may be able to. Contact our support team for help solving your problem.

Reading between the lines, there is no obligation for developer to refund. Further, no where does a developer give a "life-time" guarantee, for that matter no software can guarantee that. It is simply not possible to do that for obvious reasons.
To sum it up, I don't think you are within your rights to assume and ask for a refund as in your case
Edit: In response to your edit, the answer still is the same, but the developer may be more inclined (guessing) to work on an update and release that to fix the problem occurring in three months, since other users would also be affected and would adversely impact his rating on Play Store, which they are quite sensitive to. Mailing him in this case may be the best option, with app /system logs and crash logs if any


text:
How do I distinguish apps with in-app purchases from completely free apps on Google Play?
As far as I can tell, Google does not provide a mechanism for searching for completely free apps in Google Play.  When using the FREE filter, you get both completely free apps and apps with in-app purchases, where some elements are unavailable without paying, so they are not completely free. In some categories, most of apps' content is available via in-app purchases only, so it's misleading to have such apps in the free list.
In the Google Play application, I am able to detect that an app isn't completely free If I open the details page and see "In-app purchases" on the left side.  It is inconvenient having to open every app page just to verify this, but at least it's a workaround.  Is there some way to include that criteria into the search function?
Additionally, when searching Android apps through a desktop browser (Chrome) instead of the Google Play app on the device, "in-app purchases" does not appear to be displayed, even in the details page of the app.
The question: How to detect or filter out apps that are not completely free, on Google Play?

Why would such functionality be in Google's best interest?

You'll probably need to use an alternative marketplace, if one even has that functionality. (I see that AppBrain does not.) What are the alternative Android app markets?

I wonder what your motivation for filtering out app with IAP is. Different apps uses IAP differently, while there are some IAP app which is unusable without making any purchase, there are also many IAP apps which are fully featured, essentially the same as a free app, where IAP used only for minor things like removing ads or even just to show support to the developer. A crude IAP filter will miss you many great, completely free apps.

@LieRyan, the motivation is very simple. In some categories, almost all apps with IAP are useless, yet they are listed as free. I think this is not a fair approach. A user should have an option to filter out hidden payments as well. Leaving the paid apps in the free category doesn't honor Google.

@Lie One reason would be that when installing apps with IAP, Google wants me to set up payment options within the app store, which I have refused since I have my phone.

What is the FREE filter you mention?  How do you use it?

@RockPaperLizard, there was a button FREE in the search form in the Google Play app at the time of asking the question. Currently I don't see it anymore (may depend from Android and app version). User can only filter on top rated free, top rated paid etc apps without search query. Looks like the things become worse and worser.

I'd say we've waited it out – as meanwhile this issue seems solved:

Screenshots (click to enlarge)
As the first screenshot (top of the page when visiting with the web browser) clearly shows: If an app offers in-app purchases, it is marked such (look where my arrow points to). At the bottom of the page, you can even see the prices per item (second screenshot).

Yet how one could search for apps without IAP (without digging into every single product page)? For example, if I searched for "Fixies", I don't see any mention about IAP for your example in the result list.

I cannot offer you a complete solution to it, as Google doesn't provide it. The answer would be looking for apps not requesting the vending.BILLING permission. For a limited selection of apps (currently ~11,500) this can be done here on my site – but not for all the ~1 Mio that do exist on GPlay. For details, please see How to search the Play Store by permissions? – and also watch out for "StripSearch" there :)

With App Finder, you can filter for free app, apps without in-app purchases, and also apps without ads. Also, directly in the result list it is indicated for each app if it contains in-app purchases.
It has 2,380,000 apps from Google Play indexed currently.
Available from Google Play here.
For more information see the thread on XDA, and here.
Disclosure: I am from Skyica LLC, the developer of App Finder


text:
How do I semi-automatically guess Wifi passwords?
In some travel destinations, free wireless APs with simple WEP or WPA PSK passwords are common place. Every hotel, cafe, and so on has one. However, language barriers can make it difficult to communicate the password. Common mistakes include "A" vs. "a", "y" vs. "i", "c" vs. "z", "1" vs. "7", "O" (letter) vs. "0" (number). Frequently, you'll find travellers guessing and discussing passwords. Is there are more efficient solution than manual trial-and-error?
I'm looking for an app or other solution, that

saves the hassle of retyping the same password and variations thereof by remembering previous guesses,
gives faster, better feedback if the connection with the current password fails (weak signal or wrong password?),
can efficiently try a number of passwords (variations of the password I entered or default passwords from a dictionary).

I'm not interested in cracking a network with strong security. I want to  get connected quickly if the waiter tells me "It's just oh, one, two, a, be, zee" while he's on his way to the next table. An efficient WEP or WPA2 cracker would get the job done, but for this purpose it's not required to crack strong passwords.

Please note that questions asking "is there an app that does X" are not a good fit for this site. Please review the [FAQ]. However, if you can transform this question into a "how do I do X" it has a much better chance of staying around.

What's wrong with just asking the staff to write it down?

EDIT:
There's now a project that got monitor mode working on the Galaxy S2 and the Google Nexus One.
See http://bcmon.blogspot.de/
As far as I know there's currently no WEP/WPA cracking app. The fact Android is open and Linux based would allow this basically, however most (all?) wifi chipset drivers don't allow the necessary monitor mode and solutions would be tied to single makes/models with supported chipsets. Using known working USB wifi adapters with OTG ready devices would allow to circumvent this restriction but there has not been a project to do so yet. Update: There's  some effort by the author of Kismet.
This is not covering your question but is somewhat related:
You might however have luck using these 2 tools (root required):
Element53 and ProxyDroid
Background:
Many paid access points allow DNS resolution. Element53 is a TCP-over-DNS tunnel app (DNS has port 53, hence the name) to exploit this. The free version has 10MB traffic limit, here's the explanation from the Google Play:

Element53, the DNS tunnel for Android.
Element53 is a ready-to-use DNS-tunnel for Android. It can be used for
  penetration testing (other uses are not supported).

This sounds like a nice tool to steel Wifi from paid APs requiring login/payment via s captive portal (HTTP intersecting proxy). However, it does not answer my question.


text:
Opening PDF drawings with comments
On some of my PDF drawings the Engineers review stamp block is covering a portion of the drawing.  I am using Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 -7.0 with ice cream to view this drawing.  I did not have any issues viewing the same drawing with the same "Engineers approval" stamp on my Windows 7 desktop. Can someone tell me if there is a solution or if this is an issue with Adobe Reader 10.2.1?

This sounds like it could be one of two things: either it could be a problem with the PDF reader on the Samsung Galaxy Tab or that the different screen resolution is just making both images appear on top of one another (more likely). Since the tab has a smaller screen it could be "warping" the image to appear differently when in actuality there's nothing wrong with the PDF. You'll need to shrink that PDF.
There are many PDF viewers on the market that will allow you to view PDFs accurately if the PDF reader is the problem. A simple market search for "PDF" should turn up a number of readers. You can try this approach but it's also likely that the reader on the tab is merely warping the image and that there's nothing inherently wrong with the reader itself.
More likely, you can try shrinking your PDFs down to an appropriate size if they're too large. From what you're describing this may very well be the problem, your exact problem may be occurring because the images within the PDF are extremely large.
They can be trimmed down. This will also reduce the overall file size of the PDF (desirable). For more information see: http://www.ehow.com/how_4937702_reduce-pdf-file-size-easily.html

Use ezPDF Reader to view that file.

+1, it does just about everything for PDFs


text:
How can I upload photos from my Android (4.1) to Picasa without resizing to 2048 resolution?
I am paying for additional storage, so the storage limit doesn't concern me.  I would like to upload full-resolution pics from my phone to my Picasa albums, but when I choose to upload a picture from my Android to a Picasa album, the picture ends up being resized to 2048 pixel max resolution.  Is there any way to disable this or bypass it without using something like Dropbox instead?
Using Nexus S running Jelly Bean.

That is described at the Google Support page for Picasa as a limitation, even if you're currently paying for extra space, that doesn't allow you to have image files larger than 2048 pixels on their longest edge:

Picasa and Picasa Web Albums - Free storage limits

Free storage limits
Photos up to 2048 x 2048 pixels and videos up to 15 minutes won't count towards your free storage.
Automatic resizing
All photos uploaded in Google+ will be automatically resized to 2048 pixels (on their longest edge) and won't count towards your free storage quota.
All photos uploaded from the Picasa software or in Picasa Web Albums over the free size limit will count towards your 1 GB of free storage. When you reach your storage limit, any new photos you upload larger than the free size limit will be automatically resized to 2048 pixels (on their longest edge).

Picasa and Picasa Web Albums - Account upload limits

Maximum photo size: Each image can be no larger than 20 megabytes and are restricted to 50 megapixels or less.
Maximum video size: Each video uploaded can be no larger than 1GB in size.
Maximum number of web albums: 10,000
Maximum number of photos and videos per web album: 1,000
Total storage space: Picasa Web provides 1 GB for photos and videos. Files under certain sizes don't count towards this limit.

You can refer to the How Google storage plans work, to confirm that what you pay only affects the space you have, not the service characteristics.
As a side note: Try and talk to their customers service to work a solution.

Thanks for the quick response.  This doesn't make sense, though, because when I use the picasa program to upload the photos are not resized (so it has nothing to do with the 1GB limit).  It's only when I upload from my phone that I get trimmed to 2048 pixels.  I'm not uploading via google+ so I wouldn't think that rule would apply.

@KdawgUD Don't kill the messenger ;) You can read from Google's support page: All photos uploaded from the Picasa software or in Picasa Web Albums ... will be automatically resized to 2048 pixels This happens if you've already overcome the free storage of 1Gb. Follow my advice, contact their support and ask for clarification on this subject. Ps: I'll be doing the same because I agree that is an absurd limitation. :)


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How do I get Youtube Links to open in the YouTube app and not a browser?
Everytime I click a link to a Youtube clip I have to choose which browser to open it in. I'd like them to open in the YouTube android app. Is there a setting somewhere that I can change ...?

If you're on a device with a newer HTC sense version (3.6 and up), there doesn't appear to be much you can do about it without root (and even then it breaks browser links to phone and maps)

If you have YouTube installed, the YouTube app should be one of the options you get to open the video. When you see this prompt, checking the "Set this option as default" checkbox will make every YouTube link open with the app (you might have to check the option again when opening from multiple browsers, I've had this happen).

To change the option later or if you accidentally chose the wrong one, you'll find the setting under 'Menu->Manage Applications' then find the browser or YouTube app (whichever you set as the default) and choose 'Clear Defaults'.

in my 'Manage Applications' the Browser app doesn't have any defaults set.  Does anybody know where those defaults are stored?


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ASUS Slider Sl101 Driver letter access? rather than MTP in Android 4
I know that Android 3 and 4 use MTP on Windows to allow access to the storage, I have tried the developer switch and the only connection you get is still MTP.. I really need a drive letter to enable several programs that I want to use with my ASUS slider (this question has a good chance of being needed on many Android 4 systems). is there any app or driver that will allow mass storage / drive letter access to Android 4

Unfortunately, it's a big problem. Google apparently decided to go MTP only route since it does not require unmounting the storage from the Android side when you connect it to your computer. So:

You cannot assign a drive letter to an MTP device. Here's my answer on superuser.com explaining why.
There is a program named Alt Mounter that supposely solves this problem, and it requires a special software both on the phone and on your computer (Windows/Mac). It is beta and I never tried it.
If your phone is rooted, you can install a Samba Server on your phone, and simply map a network location to a drive on your computer. No USB is needed, simply access your phone using a drive letter via Wi-Fi. This is the method I use, and it works fairly well for me.


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Unable to view videos - Message: "sorry, video cannot be played"
I have a strange issue. I have downloaded some WMV files on my Android to watch them while offline. I watched some of them and now all of a sudden I see "sorry, video cannot be played". None of the videos work any more, not even the ones I watched.
How can I fix this? Please don't suggest WMV players. It worked, now it no longer works and I want to fix it. Reboot didn't help either.
Any clues?
(HTC Wildfire S)

Have you installed an OS upgrade recently?  Downloaded any new video apps?

No, as far as I know nothing changed

Though you say "nothing changed", maybe your video player app got a "silent update" (can happen if you have your playstore app configured to allow auto-updates, so you might not have noticed). So it might be worth checking with a different app which explicitly states WMV support -- at least you then can tell whether its the app's fault, or your files "got broken".

You could try to clear the app data of the videoplayer app and see if this works. Although you don't want suggestions for other players: Is this problem tied only to the default player or do other apps also have problems with those wmv files?

This happened to me a month or so ago. I gave up and used a 3rd party player instead but it would be a real treat if there's actually a fix for this.

Sometimes, it because you are not downloaded the full video file.The video is 4:15, your done downloaded just 2:45 so it will displayed "sorry,this video cannot being played" at the end of 2:45.
Another cause is the type of your videos sometime are not supported or you have a corrupted video file.Did you have try send the video to another phone and pc and try to view the videos on your pc?

I had this problem with videos that used to play and then simply don't anymore.  It's not your video player or the video format, its something screwy with Android's file system.
Solution:
Download Rescan Media app from Google Play store.  Install and run, but do not enable the auto-close feature; just run it then minimize.  Your files should play now.

! discovered MP4 videos from an external sources sometimes have too high of resolution.  You need a converter (many free versions on-line) to reduce the size to an acceptable size.

Wait for the next update, or download VLC Player in the meantime.


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How to get rid of voice bar over keyboard in Android 6?
I want to remove the horizontal bar with the microphone button (voice input) showing over Android 6 keyboard (marked with the red border).

I know which settings are supposed to control this behaviour and I'm able to accomplish the task in Android 5. Yet in Android 6 this seems not working as expected anymore.
Here is my Language settings (including Voice typing):

And here is my Ok Google settings:

Most interesting part is that while the Voice typing option is off, its summary does actually read "automatic" (which is suspicious and illogical). Yet in Android 5 it works the same way, and the voice input bar is not showing over keyboard.
One more thing to note is that in Android 6, with the given settings, the voice input does not function - that is pressing the microphone button has no effect at all. Yet the horizontal bar wastes valuable space.
I've sent a feedback to Google - no responce. I've tried to send a message to a couple of public Google's emails (including published in Google Play as contacts!) and got responces from robots that those are no-reply emails. So there is no support from Google. I hope the community can help to solve the issue. Thanks in advance.
PS. Should we have Voice typing tag (which I'm unable to add)? google-voice-actions is most close from existing tags, but still not completely correct.

I think you forgot to check on Settings - Language & input - Google Keyboard - Preferences - Voice input key?

As for the tag: I think the voice-recognition tag might be what you were looking for (the opposite of "text-to-speech").

@AndrewT. I don't have such an option there. There are only 3: Auto-capitalization, Double-space period, and Sound on keypress.

Seems like the only solution is to install a 3-rd party keyboard - they are numerous, provide much more options than Google, and work without its issues.

authors: Κωνσταντίνος


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Android WebView upgrade/degrade issues
I'm using an Android application utilizing system WebView. After Android OTA upgrade up to 6.0.1, WebView's major version was 47. As far as I have had some issues with this version (specifically, webview sporadically hangs, and there is a similar issue logged - Android WebView stops loading pages), I decided to look for a fix.
According to WebView beta community, there was available more recent release of 47 major version (47.0.2526.99) than I have had (I do not remember my former minor version exactly, but it was older than 47.0.2526.99). Then I decided to try to update webview in Google Play. Indeed it shown me that an update is available for System WebView and I made the update.
As a result I received "newer" WebView with major version 46! This is just illogical to me. So I'd like to know: how is it possible to receive version updates which are downgrades in reality?
Unfortunately, in this "new" version I encountered another bug similar to what described in this issue ('javascript:' urls not working). So I'd like to make a rollback to my previous version. I noticed a menu in Google Play that says something about uninstalling the update for the webview. I clicked it, and as a result, I'm currently have webview with version 44!
Isn't this a mess? Shouldn't they prompt the user about exact version he will receive?
So the main question is: how one can ensure upgrade to the latest stable (or, at least, specified) version? If Google Play can provide outdated versions and even do not check if the device's already installed version is newer and overwrites it silently, then I just don't know what to think. Specifically I'd like to get the mentioned latest stable major version 47.
The 3-rd and the last question about the beta channel is voided now. It was absolutely unclear from the WebView Beta Community site, if stable WebView and beta WebView can live on the same device side by side, and if it is so, then how to embed one or another into an application. The answer is that installation of beta version means that the stable WebView will be replaced completely with the beta. This affects all applications using WebView, and this is definitely not how Chrome beta channel works (Chrome beta can work in parallel with stable versions and they do not interfere each other).

I'm sorry the question seemed too broad, but it was a single streamlined use-case, as you see: upgrade (the result is a mess), rollback (the result is even more mess). I'll edit just for clarity.

BTW, I don't remember I ever have had a notification about the question was closed. Not sure, if this is normal.

Did you leave the beta channel for WebView? If you left the beta channel, then Play Store will try to update (possibly downgrade) to the latest stable version. Otherwise, there might be a confusing version naming (alphanumeric) since Play Store and Android actually use version code (digit only) to decide the update. But to answer the main question: you can't. Play Store will only try to update to the latest version that is compatible (based on manifest and other Play Store filter) with your device. You can sideload the latest APK from alternative source manually though.

That said, Chrome Beta is not Chrome's beta channel, but a completely different app, so they can work in parallel. And also, OP is never notified when their question is closed/deleted.


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YouTube to XBMC using Airplay
Does anyone knows a method to send YouTube videos to XBMC using Airplay? The functionality I'm looking for is similar to the one available on iOS devices.
I know that AirSync can send videos but not YouTube videos.

"similar to the one available on iOS devices" That's not a very specific description. If you add more details on what steps you want to take and what result you want, you might get more specific, more helpful answers.

Community bump prevention: this question was closed because the question seems to have been abandoned (OP hasn't visited the network for more than 5 years, and no answers have score above 0). If anyone can evaluate the existing answers, feel free to vote accordingly and reopen the question (or mod-flag the question requesting for reopening). For anyone else having the same issue, please post a new question and refer to this question as additional context.

hmm.. I don't know if that suits you, but you can send youtube videos through web protocol. From your pc you can add an extension to chrome.
And for android there is yatse
You still have to install youtube plugin for xbmc.


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Is there a way to log into and root my device without using ADB?
With the Android SDK it is possible to run the "adb shell" command to shell into an Android device plugged in via USB. I would like to know:

Is there another way to log into an Android device and gain root access
to all its files and folders without having to install the Android SDK,
for instance using Putty somehow once the device is connected via Wi-Fi
to a router on a common network?
On Unix there is a program called "last" allowing you to see the most
recent logins and the associated times. Is there a similar utility
that can be run on Android once root access is gained that would
allow you to view the most recent times when the device was used
or unlocked?

These seem to be rather unrelated questions. You may want to consider separating them into separate posts. Also note that your rooting options are very much dependent on the device you own and its currently installed firmware (although for the particular scenario you seem to be describing I believe the answer is "No", there are other ways that don't require ADB).

@JohnGoche I answered your first question below. As eldarerathis already suggested, so do I: Please separate your second question.

regarding the 2nd question: This is most probably up to the app only. There's no virtual tty you use or anything as it's a phone/tablet OS where all is stripped down.

There are several ways to achieve root access on an Android device -- and they differ a lot, depending on manufacturer, device, Android version, and even Linux kernel version running. Unfortunately, devices don't ship with "root" accounts (as we are used to from our desktops and laptops) -- but there's no common way to "root" them.
Rooting is mostly done via Exploits. Some require ADB installed and an USB-Session established. Others do not require ADB. And again others ship as a single .apk to be copied to the device and started there (so-called "one click root"). And again another method might involve a custom recovery being flashed...
So many methods. But to explain them all in detail, this is not the right place -- while your question should be answered already, as it required only a "yes" or "no" :)


text:
"Read Later" for Twitter posts with fewest taps possible
Most Twitter apps I've tried require at least three taps to even get to "share", which then makes me select the thing I want (I never share those links on FB or G+, I just want to save them for later, when I have a bigger screen).
What I want is something similar to Tweetbot on iOS: hold the link, tap "Send to Pocket". Is there some technique I'm missing? Is there an app that can let me save with fewer taps?

Not sure if this helps, but Slices for Twitter will let you tap on a link to open it up in the built-in web browser, then tap on the share button to bring up the list of targets for URLs, including Pocket.
You don't have to wait for the page to finish loading before sharing the link to Pocket, which allows this process to be fairly quick.
That's 3 total taps to save something to Pocket. I admit, a built-in method of saving a tweeted link to Pocket/Instapaper would be much better. Tap & hold on a link to bring up options, then tap on a Read Later link.


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Why does HTC Incredible S on Android 4 not always switch the screen on?
I have a HTC Incredible S shich was recently updated to Android 4 and Sense 3.6. After that, it began to not always switch the screen on after pressing the power button. In 20% of the cases, it just turns the backlight of both the screen and the buttons on, but doesn't "turn on" the image on the screen, so it stays black. Pressing power button 2 times (1 to switch off again and 1 to switch on) does help, but it's annoying.
What can be the reason? How do I troubleshoot it? My phone isn't rooted.


text:
Leave ear-speaker active when using headset (cable/bt)
Is it possible to just use a headset's mic but keep the phone's ear-speaker active?

Welcome to android.stackexchange.com. Usually the jack tells the phone to direct the sound to it only. Can you specify the device you have (brand and model)?

Thanks zuul. The phone is a Samsung Galaxy Nexus but i hope there is a OS-dependent solution, rather than phone-specific hacks.

You can refer to this recent answer to a similar issue. Basically: If a wired headset is plugged into the phone, it replaces the phone's built-in earpiece.

After some further research I think it's not possible.
At least on a level where one is not modifying the OS.

Definitely not possible, the audio routing is something of a mutually exclusive/flip-flop principle.
If the headset is plugged in, the routing goes to the headset and is taken away from the in-built ear-piece. Vice-versa, if no headset is plugged in, the in-built-ear piece is used.
Likewise, for when during in-call without headset, audio routing goes to both ear-piece and mouth-piece, no other mp3/music cannot be played. For vice-versa, when no calls are happening, audio is routed to the speakers...
That shows what is actually involved in, what is known as "Audio routing" and is very complicated process hence the emphasis on mutual exclusivity/flip-flip operations of the audio fundamentals.


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Unable to boot Android in a multiboot PC configuration
I installed "android x86 4.0 rc1 asus_laptop iso" on /sda3 (NTFS partition created in Windows 7) of my Advent Verona recently. I already run Windows 7 and Linux Mint 11 so was dual booting with GRUB.
When I installed Android it took over the Mint bootloader and would not show Mint in its bootloader, but I was able to correct the problem, thereby getting the Mint loader back, through this site.
However, this caused Android to disappear from the bootloader. I tried to get it to appear so I could load it from there and was able to do so using this information.
I've been able to edit the file that makes you see all the OS on the laptop and I see all the three OSes now. I can load into Windows 7 and Linux Mint without problems but when I try to boot Android I get these errors on a black page:
[numbers] VFS: could not find a valid V7 on sda3
[numbers] kernel panic - not syncing: vfs: unable to mount root fs on unknown block (8.3)
[numbers] Pid. 1 comm: swapper not Tainted 3.0.8 android x86 asus_laptop

Then it reboots after a few seconds. What am I not doing right?

think this question is more of a fit for superuser as its governing bootloader and grub....

I'm inclined to say that this is alright here for now. Although Super User would likely take it as well, this is probably a pretty standard procedure for anyone who wants to install Android x86 in a multiboot configuration. The answer may well lie in the GRUB config, but I think that just creates overlap with SU here and doesn't necessarily make this off-topic for us.

There's this: http://www.webupd8.org/2012/03/how-to-dual-boot-android-x86-and-ubuntu.html

The one thing that sticks out from your question is that /sda3 is NTFS-formatted

on /sda3 (NTFS partition created in Windows 7)

and thus the Android's Linux kernel panic's due to not understanding NTFS.

I have a similar issue and excluded the posibility that NTFS is the problem since I tried everything on a FAT32 partition.
I think it has something to do with the drive geometry not being aligned properly thus the errors. (in my situation, everything else (OSes) work fine)

This should be comment rather than an answer.


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Download manager with support of password protected sites and Content-Disposition: attachment
I've already tried almost 10 most rated download managers and browsers (including latest Chrome and Dolphin) to download content from a password protected site. Neither one works.
The site serves the content for download via file.php script (via GET request), which returns http header Content-Disposition: attachment;. It seems such scenario is not supported by popular Android apps.
Could someone suggest a download manager which supports such a thing?
Thanks in advance.
Appendix A
According to this blog post Android and the HTTP download file headers:

"Another defect of the Android Download Manager is its inability to
  handle basic authentication. If you use authentication to control
  access to your download script, your downloads will fail with all
  browsers that make use of the ADM (e.g. Android stock browser and
  Dolphin)."

AFAIK, many others do use it as well, including Chrome.

Have you tried Boat Browser? Maxthon?

@geffchang Tried both. No success.

Close voters: While this question has language which requests an app, there is a very well-defined problem to be solved. This question is fine for this site.

@Stan: Some people are a little overzealous with our "no app recommendations" rule. This may be helpful: How do I ask a question that may require recommending a product?

The download manager is something that is lacking very badly, the standalone version as supplied is pretty poor, so I think this should be left alone until Google somewhat puts out a more updated version of download manager on the play store.


text:
Do I have any chance to recover this video?
Using Samsung Galaxy ACE s5830
Android 2.3.6
Well I made a mistake. I was recording an important video with my smartphone (the default video recorder) and then I put the cellphone close to my chest. I noticed later that the video stopped but i thought it was saved. seems like somehow the jacket touched a cancel button (not delete) and then ok. odd but it happened.
now i dont find the video.
My question is if anyone knows if i have any chance to recover the video from a place in the SD memory, probaly using an forensic tool to recover deleted files. I mean if the data was being created somewhere in a temp file until its done, It could be recovered but as this is android i dont have idea.
The video was important so I'll try anything.
NOTE: checking in windows, it shows the modification date in the folder DCIM\Camera, corresponding to the moment i was recording. So at least there was access to that specific folder.
thanks

Have a look at http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/15869/how-can-i-recover-a-deleted-file-on-android and try one of the answers there.

If the video is recorded, then it will be saved to your phone. But for your case, what I guess is that the video is not recorded.

Check out a [linux] tool called foremost - that ought to do it.

Please leave an answer why this tool is helpfull in the context of the question asked.


text:
"fastboot -l devices" returns nothing
I'm a newbie trying to learn about what alternative firmware I could use to upgrade my Nexus Galaxy from Android 4.2.1.
After connecting the phone to my Windows PC with a USB cable, I followed this video on YouTube to start the Nexus in Fastboot mode, clicked on the right button to proceed, and once Android was up and running, ran this from Windows...
[c:\Android-adb]fastboot.exe -l devices
... which returns nothing.
Any idea why, and what to do?
FWIW, the phone is also running an ADB server since it's used by the MyPhoneExplorer application to sync Outlook with Android.
Thank you.

Edit:
The computer already had the Samsung driver since I'm using MPE to sync Outlook with the Android phone.

Next, on a new computer, downloaded and installed Galaxy Nexus Toolkit 11.1.0, and rebooted as prompted by Windows7. With phone plugged in, Windows7 detected the phone allright.
Rebooted, left in Fastboot mode: fastboot-toolkit.exe says nothing, and Windows7 complains with "Device driver software was not successfully installed".
Couldn't uninstall GNToolkit, as it's not listed in Programs. Downloaded and unzipped Android SDK in c:\Android-adb\, edited PATH, rebooted, and with phone still plugged in and waiting in Fastboot mode, ran "fastboot.exe -l devices": Still nothing.

Edit:

On new computer, downloaded and installed Galaxy Nexus Toolkit 11.1.0, rebooted as prompted by Windows7
Without rebooting, plugged phone: Windows7 complained with "Device driver software was not successfully installed". Followed this howto to manually update driver.
Rebooted with phone still plugged: Phone detected OK.
Rebooted phone in Fastboot mode, and rebooted Windows7: "Device driver software was not successfully installed" followed by "Google Galaxy Nexus BootLoader Interface: Failed".
Device Manager shows faulty "Android Device > Google Galaxy Nexus BootLoader Interface", but telling Windows to look for driver in C:\GoogleNexusToolkit ends with "The best driver software for your device is already installed."

What could be the problem?
Thank  you.

Could you explain a little further what you mean by "clicked on the right button to proceed, and once Android was up and running"? Booting Android leaves fastboot mode, so you shouldn't expect it to be visible to the fastboot tool then.

Ah, makes sense. I thought I should proceed with booting Android. Still, while in Fastboot mode, "fastboot -l devices" returns nothing. I notice that XP displays the familiar "Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard" message. Is there something I need to install?

How about drivers? :) On Windows, everything needs drivers. Never heard of the famous error message: "Mouse driver not found. Spank the cat?" :D

@Gulbahar I don't know, I've never used fastboot on Windows. You should add that information to your question so that other visitors will see it.

You might want to post your PATH, as you may not have edited it correctly.  You can also try opening a command window and dragging the fastboot executable to it from Windows Explorer, which should expand out the full path to it, and then running it with  "-l devices".

Thanks, but the issue is with faulty drivers, not with the PATH. See edited question for more information.


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How to recover my files from memo and mobilse note after format factory?
I have Samsung galaxy s plus i9001. i have format factory my phone recently but i had some important notes in memo and mobisle Note and i didn't backup them before formatting, is there a way to restore them? i think they were stored in system storage.
i have a full copy of my usb storage, but i don't have copy of system storage, and i just need memo and mobisle note data, is there any copy of them in usb storage?

I think you cannot get your data back...if you haven't created any backup.
But For now you should download some apps and create backup for future use.. All these apps are available on Google Play.
1. Avasti  Mobile Security
2. Helium - App Sync and Backup
3. Ultimate Backup
4. Super Backup : SMS & Contacts


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After enabling some xposed modules, my LG G2 (AT&T) is stuck in a error loop
Whenever I boot it up it says "Unfortunately, System UI has stopped.". It does allow me to hit ok, however when I hit ok I have about 1 second before it pops up again. Due to the passcode lock on my phone I am unable to get past the lockscreen as it wipes the input box everytime the popup box pops up. Despite the System UI apparently failing everything does seem to be functional behind the pop up. In the 1 second periods between pop ups I am able to interact with it. The status bar and the buttons on the bottom are not visible, however the rest of the lockscreen (including widgets) is.
The phone is rooted, however I had not gotten around to installing a custom bootloader yet. Debugging is enabled, however the device is listed as "offline" according to "adb devices". Due to this I am unable to install TWRP so as to flash the zip to disable xposed.
All of the above is still true in safe mode, the exact same thing happens.
Does anyone know how to fix this? I would prefer to keep the data on it, however if nothing else a factory reset would be fine.

It would be helpful to know what xposed modules you enabled.

I faced same problem: after a xposed module update I restarted and it got stuck in the Samsung logo (I'm using Samsung Galaxy Core ). I've been digging everywhere on net and digged in XDA too.
What solved my issue:

I got into safe-mode (removed battery and put it back in then turned on the device and kept on pressing volume down button till it got into safe mode).
Went straight into Settings->application manager->all and uninstalled Xposed installer,
then did a restart.

BINGO that's it, Everything came to normal. Just had to uninstall xposed installer (Better than wiping cache and restoring factory settings).

Follow these two threads
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2432476
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2475045
If u still have Problem post here Will Help u .....
EDIT:
1.Turn off the G2 by holding down the power button and keeping it held down until the screen goes black, then continue to hold it for a few seconds after it goes black to make sure it shut down.
2.Plug the G2 into the computer via the USB cable while holding Volume Up at the same time to put it into download mode.

I can't seem to get it into download mode. Is safemode the same thing?

See my Edit.If it is helpful Tick it ...

Answers that contain only links are discouraged. Instead of saying "Follow this thread", please summarize what the thread is saying. Your answer should be complete by itself (without links), but having links as support is helpful.


text:
Quickly connecting to Wi-Fi with Android
I'm having Android Froyo (2.2), in Archos 32.
The only way I found for connecting to a Wi-Fi wireless network is through
Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Wi-Fi Settings -> "Wi-Fi networks" list

Very cumbersome! Isn't there a faster way to do it? After all the only internet connection Archos 32 has is the Wi-Fi...

Do you have it set to alert you when there are open WiFi networks available?

@AI I do. But it's not so convenient, as I can't control the exact time it's checking for new networks. Thus I can't easily adapt my position to gain enough reception for a WiFi network.

Are you connecting to a known network or a new network?

Here are a few ways to do it on a Samsung Galaxy S.

drag down from the notification area. Wi-Fi on/off is one of the controls.
long press on the home screen, select widgets then select Power Control.  This widget also has a Wi-Fi on/off control.
long press on the home screen, select Shortcuts, then Activities, expand Settings in the list that's displayed, then select Wi-fi settings.  This will take you directly to the page with the list of available Wi-Fi networks.

Hopefully one of these will help.

I think the Power Control widget came in Android 2.2 by the way. Older versions won't have that, but there lots of apps that do the same thing for older versions of Android.

@mufasa: I have Android 2.1 and have the power control widget.

Another option is Beautiful Widgets, which provides a wifi toggle widget.

I'm not sure why you thought so, but I really don't need any way to toggle the WiFi connection.

I was probably projecting my own usage patterns, where the main operation is toggling wifi. When it’s on, it automatically connects to networks I’ve used before, and if there are new unprotected networks, a notification appears, so I rarely open the wifi settings proper.

A "Quick Settings" application by Sergej Shafarenka. It allows quickly toggling WiFi as well as a quick access to a bunch of other settings. It stays in the notification bar for a convenient access. Probably the most used application on my N1.

You could also setup Locale or Tasker to turn on the wifi during certain times of the day.  So if you know for a fact you might be using your tablet during a certain time period, it could auto-turn it on during that.
Or if you look at it the other way, you can have it turn the Wifi off when you know for a fact you won't be using it (i.e. sleeping).

A possible option is to download a WiFi app from Market; many are free.
I use WiFinder.
These seem to integrate pretty well with the Android Wifi and doesn't conflict (unlike the PC, in which you have Dell's Wireless Utility AND the Windows wireless, which you cannot run at the same time).  When I installed WiFinder, it knew that I was already connected to my work network, and it remembered my preferred network.