text:
Installing BusyBox crashes phone
I'm trying to install BusyBox on my rooted stock Droid DNA.
Every time I try the normal install, it fails saying that the program can't be installed in /system/bin. If I do the smart install, it crashes and restarts the phone.
Anything I can do to make it work?
Edit so I looked through the busybox applet manager and about 20-30% are installed/symlinked by the smart install before it crashed the phone. I don't know if this is going to make a difference.
Also, would I be better off not doing it this way and installing through clockwork mod or adb?

Are you rooted?

Yeah. Stock Rom, but I am rooted, and I have superuser installed with BusyBox allowed. Maybe a silly question, but how big is busybox to install? It says I have 450mb free in system.

Should I try installing it to /system/xbin?

I ended up getting it to work by using ES File Explorer to mount system as writeable.
I did a NAndroid backup first in case I needed to start over again, but after mounting system, it appears that it installed like it is supposed to.

I too have a HTC DNA but did not want to root my phone so I just did it the "non-root" way with https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=burrows.apps.busybox.
This way I am not voiding any boot-loaders or warranties.
Required:
✔ Android Terminal Emulator Application
After having a rooted phone for years, I know that there are plenty of applications that allow users to customize their phones; however, when I recently bought a brand new phone this year, I decided not to root it and I realized the main reason for rooting my phone was simply to obtain more linux tools. I made this simple application in order to help users simply install BusyBox without the hassle of being rooted!
All binaries are installed in: /data/data/burrows.apps.busybox/app_busybox/
In Terminal Emulator, Preferences: Initial command: export PATH=$PATH:/data/data/burrows.apps.busybox/app_busybox/
Provided extra Binaries:
✔ add-property-tag
✔ backup
✔ bash
✔ btool
✔ check-lost+found
✔ dexdump
✔ drm1_func_test
✔ hcidump
✔ hcitool
✔ iwmulticall
✔ latencytop
✔ librank
✔ micro_bench
✔ multitouch
✔ nano
✔ opcontrol
✔ openvpn
✔ oprofiled
✔ procmem
✔ procrank
✔ rawbu
✔ run_backup
✔ run_restore
✔ sane_schedstat
✔ scheduler
✔ scp
✔ showmap
✔ showslab
✔ sqlite3
✔ ssh
✔ ssmgrd
✔ strace
How to use BusyBox Non-root:
✔ Step 1: Click on "Install" to install BusyBox
✔ Step 2: Open your Terminal and change directory to the path!
Permissions requested:
✔ Internet: Download BusyBox (make sure you are on WiFi!)
✔ Script: Add PATH to Terminal

Regards,

What is your version? Because version 9.0 a had bug which crashed the mobile it seems. He fixed it in 9.1 and it got to play store on January 29th.

That's a good question... I ended up doing a factory reset and then just restoring the apps, and didn't restore busybox at that time, but the titanium backup date for busybox before the reset was Feb 5th, and I'm pretty sure I had the most up to date version at that time. I may try it again, but I really don't want to go through the hastle of having to factory reset (I was running into problems where the launcher would get corrupted every time I restarted, and if I restorted it from backup it would be gone again the next time I restarted. Also, settings was corrupted and could not be restored)

Well. Give a try :)

I might over the weekend... reloading everything wasn't all that fun. I just wish there was a way to roll it back if it gets part way and dies again.

You should check the following:

Check that /system is mounted as read-write. You can either check the mount filesystem or just try to copy a file with a root explorer to it.
Check that /system filesystem is not full and you have enough space.

As for the install, I would use the smart install in this case, since it won't overwrite all commands present in your ROM. If you find you still can't install it on /system/bin you could try to install it in /system/xbin.
If you find that /system is mounted in read only and you can't install it with that app, then you should install busybox from a flashable zip through recovery.

According to the busybox installer, system has 430mb. Can I free space there somehow? I think it is mounted because smart installer did install some things before it crashed, according to the app some things are installed/symlinked. Would I be better off just using recovery?

If I install to xbin, will it be a problem that some things installed to bin?

You have enough space in /system. If you install busybox to xbin, the app will create links in /system/bin that will point to the executable, so there won't be any problem. Busybox is just one executable file and the app creates links to call it directly.

Ok, looks like I'm going to have to do the flashable zip... Any ideas where to get it? Busybox.net has a lot of options, but I don't know which one is right for my phone. and it looks like it has to be built, which I don't know how to do...


text:
Select music quality when syncing Google Music with Android
I uploaded my whole music library on Google Music (through Google Music Manager) in order to have quick access from the web and sync it with my android phone (Galaxy Nexus). The original size was slighly more than 2GB but when I try to sync after a restore on my phone,  the new size is nearly 10GB since Google performed the match and is now providing me high quality tracks (originally the quality was quite poor). Since I have overall 16GB on my phone, this is a bit too much to keep my whole library there and I would like to have lower quality (e.g. 256kbps or lower over the google default 320kbps) to save some space. Is this possible configuring any setting? If not, is there any workaround based on additional tools?
Thanks in advance,
Michele

Google Music always attempts to stream (when possible) at 320kbps, and I would presume the files are all simply encoded that way on the server. The help page implies this somewhat, particularly for matching. There may not be anything you can do aside from re-encoding the files yourself at a lower bitrate and then copying them to your phone.

Is it your intention to have all of your music on your device (offline)? As I understand it, this is not how it works by default - music is only cached on the device "temporarily", unless you have explicitly specified otherwise in your settings.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's a simple solution.
Your simple options seem to be:

Use Google Music and select a subset of music to keep offline
Don't use Google Music for offline tracks; instead sync them yourself
Use the "fix incorrect match" button on the web interface to force your low-quality songs to be uploaded (you can use gmusicapi to automate the process)
Make enough noise that Google devs take notice (I'm willing to bet their servers support this feature)

One last thing: I was under the impression that matching a song didn't automatically get you access to a 320kbs copy. When uploading, the Music Manager actually provides the bitrate of your copy of the song (here's my code); I've seen low quality (eg 128kbs) local copies matched and then produce a < 320kbs copy when redownloaded.
So, if you've got time to burn, you could conceivably use this to your advantage: re-encoding to poor quality locally and reuploading may result in lower-quality server matches.

Thanks for the answer and your suggestions. I didn't know about the gmusicapi and it's interesting even if it does not solve my problem. I will just select the songs I want to listen each time till I get a phone with more storage allowing me to sync all of them.

I agree, you don't automatically get a 320kbps copy when downloaded. I had previously uploaded an album of 64kbps WMA files (which don't play on Android without additional codecs) - if I download these I get 64kbps mp3 files. Whilst these are now compatible with my device (which is great!), a 64kbps mp3 does not sound as good as a 64kbps mp3 file.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Motorola Defy in a reboot loop
I bought a new Motorola Defy today. The phone switches on then asks to be connected to a Google account, I try to type in my login details and it reboots.
The battery shows 100% but when in switch off it moves from 0-20 and then stays at 60%.
And the phone doesn't work when not connected to a charger. Is it a battery issue?

I would return the phone and get a different one. I doubt it is a battery issue since you say that it reboots and it does it when you go to the login screen.

Since it's a day, return it back and get another one is the best solution, AFAIK.
Update
It's a battery issue and AFAIK, nobody in this forum is going to put fixes on battery issues. And if I were in your shoes, then I would definitely return that phone and bring back a new one from the seller.

"And the phone doesn't work when not connected to a charger.. Is it a battery issue? " - Its a battery issue and AFAIK, nobody in this forum is going to put fixes on battery issues. And If I were in his shoes, then I would definetly returned that phone and bring back a new one from the seller.

Please add that explanation to your answer -- and I'll meanwhile remove my comment :)

@updated :-)....

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


text:
How to transfer installed apps from one account to another
On my Note 2 I have two accounts configured
my.email@gmail.com
my.work.email@company.com
Usually I have the Play Store configured to buy/install apps under my.email@gmail.com but somehow it got changed to my work email a while back. Before I noticed this, I installed ~20 apps using the my.work.email@company.com
Is there a way for me to re-associate those purchases with my.email@gmail.com without manually reinstalling each app? And how will this be different for free vs paid apps that I installed while using my.work.email@company.com?

I have 101 rep here, but apparently that is not greater than the 10 I need to answer here, so I created this question: Transfer Google Play app to another account https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/223912/transfer-google-play-app-to-another-account

There's currently no way to do this. Free apps can be re-downloaded under the appropriate account, of course, but Google has no provision for moving paid apps (or free ones, in bulk) from one account to another. The Google Play support page has their official stance on this:

At this time, it's not possible to transfer apps from one account to
  another.
Some developers are willing to issue refunds for purchases on old
  accounts if you repurchase the app(s) using a new account. You can
  always reach out to the developer of an app, and you can find their
  contact information by following these steps:

Visit Google Play and
  select the app in question
On the app's description page, scroll down
  to the Developer section
Find either an email address, phone number or
  website listed.

Accurate answer.  Google could easily develop a way to do this, but I think they prefer you just spend your money to buy all the apps again.  So much for "do no evil"... again.

While you can't transfer apps, you can sync the appropriate email (with all the apps purchased) to multiple devices so you have access to the apps.  Just be sure to DESELECT all the other things (gmail, calendar, etc.) so the only thing that is synched from that account is the apps (Google Play Store).

Sync how and where? Deselect what and where? What do you mean by the "sync an email to multiple devices"? Could you clarify what you're talking about, please?

Here is some information I've collected on how to move forward with this problem. As instructed, I've added quoted information from the pertinent pages in case the links expire:
What about if an account has been hacked or is the ongoing target of a phishing attack? Is there no way to transfer apps under these circumstances? Where do I complain to Google about this?
From a Google Support Search (https://support.google.com/mail/search?q=transfer+app+account):
How do I transfer all data between two Gmail accounts? https://support.google.com/mail/thread/10761789?hl=en
Transfer my apps and Play store balance to a different Gmail account. https://support.google.com/googleplay/thread/37917054

This Forum is for assistance with Gmail issues.  Answers to Google
  Play questions including the impact on purchased apps will be found
  here: Google Play Community

The first link has the most upvotes, but is locked. The second refers the question to Google Play Support, so search (https://support.google.com/googleplay/search?q=transfer+app+account):
Transfer Playstore app purchases to my new account https://support.google.com/googleplay/thread/16840581?hl=en
Is it possible to shift a purchased app to my account? https://support.google.com/googleplay/thread/15924856?hl=en
How to transfer purchases from one google account to another https://support.google.com/googleplay/thread/9838585?hl=en

How can I transfer these purchases? I don't want them existing in both
  places. I will NEVER go back and want them there (this is a very old
  yahoo-email based google account -- before marrying, I created a gmail
  account that would have my maiden name, if you are worried about
  divorce). I want to be able to open up my google play, and see
  anything and everything I can download. I don't want to repurchase the
  items, because I already bought them and I own them already.

The first two are locked, and the last question has 165 upvotes and is a very legitimate situation. You can Subscribe to get updates on any official development, and upvote as well.

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


text:
SGS3 I-9300 Android 4.2 - why can't I disable these system apps?
nb. I can disable them using 3rd party root apps without any discernible negative effects.

Are these networking protocols default? They seem to be harmless but everything I read about sit0 seems to suggest it's no longer used.

This looks like some serious networking issues to my layman's eye. Yes or no?

(click image to enlarge)
I have 100s or 1000s of logcat messages where a request for Neighboring Cell IDs is denied. Is this some kind of worm attempt being blocked by policy?

(click image to enlarge)

The last image, is the Radio event log RILJ which is Radio Interface Layer - methinks there's some jumping to wrong conclusions... :)

"Why" is not a question well suited for our site, as it probably is a speculative question and such off topic (see our [FAQ]). Although, a short technical explanation: The company building your ROM decided such.
"How can I disable them" would be better fitting, and even has answers:
If you cannot disable them from Settings→Apps→Manage Apps, you will need to root your device. Having done that, there are several apps available allowing you to "freeze" unwanted system apps. The most well-known of them is Titanium Backup which, as a side-effect, provides you with a powerful backup solution. Another candidate for that is App Quarantine ROOT/FREEZE.


text:
What is the podcast/music syncing experience on android like for OS/X users?
I have been an Iphone user for a long time but I am now considering moving to an Android device (Samsung Galaxy S2). The only thing that is giving me cause for concern is the convenience of the syncing experience.
I use my IPhone largely as a media device that accepts phone calls, so syncing is important for me. I subscribe to podcasts and manage my music using ITunes on a Mac. I then attach the Iphone and press the sync button. Everything else is then automatic, new music is copied to the phone, new episodes of podcasts are downloaded and old ones removed. I then listen to this media in the car using a bluetooth connection. I could not be much happier with that experience at all.
I appreciate that the Android experience will not be as slick as the IPhone one and I can accept that so long as I can get to the same goal, however I do not want to find myself copying files/podcasts manually on to the device.
How do other OS/X users rate the Android sync Experience, and what application do they use to achieve what I am doing with my IPhone.

Asking people their opinions on the user experience is not generally the kind of questions we want here. Please review the [FAQ].

@AlEverett. I do not believe I am merely asking for opinions I am asking people to describe the syncing experience and asking for details of appropriate software to achieve the desired result. There does not seem to be a definitive place on the web where the android to mac sync process is described, I was hoping this might be the place.

No, and there's enough else in your question that it didn't get closed out of hand. Still, this site is mostly for concrete problems with definite solutions. While interesting, your question is not a very good fit.

For things like Podcasts, the experience should be far more slick than the clunky Apple need to plug into a PC and use iTunes. Most services on Android are about the device itself doing all of the syncing directly with the internet, not needing to have a PC in the middle that you have to plug into to get updates.
For Podcasts, you can use something like Google Listen, this keeps the list of your Podcast subscriptions in Google Reader, and syncs and downloads new episodes wirelessly throughout the day (though if you're concerned about data usage you can configure it to only download when you're on a wifi network). I haven't personally used it, but other apps like DoggCatcher keep your subscriptions on the device and wirelessly sync throughout the day in similar ways.
For music syncing, there's nothing built-in, but apps like WinAmp allow you to do a wireless music sync with a PC running WinAmp, again other apps also allow that, but I haven't used them.

What future does Google Listen have now that Google Labs is no more? Also I am using a Mac so WinAmp is not an option, is anyone aware of Mac solutions for automatically syncing music to an Android device.

Sorry, missed the fact you're on a Mac, WinAmp is available for Mac if you want to try that, otherwise DoubleTwist is one option for syncing with a Mac's music library https://market.android.com/details?id=com.doubleTwist.androidPlayer (their non-free AirSync app handles a wireless sync). According to http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/more-wood-behind-fewer-arrows.html "many of the Labs products that are Android apps today will continue to be available on Android Market" we don't know anything specific about Listen, except that at least one update has been sent since that announcement.

I've heard good things about DoubleTwist from Mac users, allows you to continue using iTunes to sync your music. Haven't tried it myself since Spotify does enough for me, and iTunes isn't really pleasant on a PC, had enough of it when I had an iPhone.


text:
Sync mp3s between 2 android devices?
I've a galaxy and a Samsung tablet. I download many mp3s on the tablet and I'd like to be able to sync them with the phone and vice versa. Any app for this?
I am talking about lots of files, so Dropbox and Google drive are not what I have in mind. The I'd like something that works over wifi

I recommend Google Music if it's available in your country. It allows you to sync 20.000 music files for free. Or even more if you pay.

Google music doesn't let me upload music straight from device!

Any file syncing service like Google Drive or Dropbox should do the trick, I believe.
Install the apps on both devices and move the music files to a folder from within the apps.

That could do. The problem is that they won't sync straight away, but only when I try to open the file. This is bad for data plan reasons and because I use the tube a lot.

Do you prefer that they sync right away but ONLY on WiFi? Google Drive has an option to auto-update ONLY on WiFi. That should suffice.

Also see - http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/6961/is-there-a-way-to-copy-files-directly-between-two-android-devices-on-the-same-wi

Also, WiFi Direct might be a good idea if your devices support it - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smarterdroid.wififiletransfer


text:
com.google.android.trichromelibrary causes many Android apps to crash
Recently, apps that are fine an hour ago now crash when I open them. The crash report message seems to be caused by a null pointer exception (NPE) in com.google.android.trichromelibrary.
Apps affected for me:

Gmail
Dashlane

Is it just me, or is there actually something wrong with the library? How can I fix these affected apps?
Crash report:
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Build fingerprint: 'Xiaomi/polaris/polaris:10/QKQ1.190828.002/20.9.4:user/release-keys'
Revision: '0'
ABI: 'arm64'
Timestamp: ...
pid: ..., tid: ..., name: com.dashlane >>> com.dashlane <<<
uid: ...
signal 11 (SIGSEGV), code 1 (SEGV_MAPERR), fault addr 0x0
Cause: null pointer dereference

    ...

backtrace:
    #00 pc 00000000038621f0 /data/app/
com.google.android.trichromelibrary 438909034-YaxP9ttrIDcQBfleP5vm7Q==/base.apk!
libmonochrome_64.so (offset 0x646000) (BuildId: ... )

(click here for the screenshot of the bug report)

This library is an integral part of Chrome and therefore shouldn't be the cause. However try uninstalling updates to Chrome and web view to see if crashes stop //If they don't the problem could be with those apps like Gmail and uninstall their updates to cleck

Follow-up by Google regarding the issue: Google explains why WebView crashed Android apps last month and upcoming mitigations

It was a WebView issue and it has been fixed as mentioned here:
https://www.google.com/appsstatus#hl=en&v=issue&sid=1&iid=aa75515d184a2423be444d676b7ebf45

Updating Android System WebView and Google Chrome via Google Play
should now resolve the issue for all users.

Navigate to Play Store app
Search for Android System WebView (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.webview)
Select the "Update" option
Repeat these steps for Google Chrome (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android.chrome)

For more information about updating Android apps please see:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/113412

This assumes you can get WebView to update itself. I've tried several times and it just spins and says it's "pending" :( I "uninstalled" it (updates, that it) and all my crashing apps went back to working fine, but it still won't update itself. Maybe tomorrow...

@FreeMan you can sideload an update for an app. Download the newest apk (using Raccoon or APKMirror.com) and install it. That's it. If the APK carries the same signature the installed app it would install (confirming that the downloaded apk is indeed genuine and not compromised by a third-party), otherwise, the installation would fail.

This answer assume the user has registered an account with Google. It would be better to provide instructions on how to get the APK from public sources.

Downgrading "Android System WebView" (which seems to be related to the Trichrome Library) solved this problem on my phone.

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


text:
Samsung galaxy S freezes while upgrading to gingerbread and doesn't want to turn on?
and the pc doesn't even recognise it (i've tried the volume and power buttoms but sure it didn't work because the phone didn't turn on) when i connect it to pc using kies it gives me a black screen on my phone with the drawing of my phone and pc with "!" between them but as i mentioned b4 the pc doesn't feel a thing plzz help me

I'd try removing the battery and plugging it into USB.  Then, while holding both Volume Down and Home, insert the battery and wait.  This should get you into Download Mode (screen with yellow triangle) and Kies should be able to update you.
If this doesn't work try other key combos -- both volume buttons, or VolUp+Home.  If they don't work either, disconnect from USB and put the battery in.  Then while holding one of the key combos, click the Power button and wait.  Yank the battery and reinsert to try a different combo if need be.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S4 play edition and exFat
Does the Play version of the Galaxy s4 include support for exFat in the sdcard reader? Or is exFat support one of the extras that Samsung adds to the device (presumably since they made the licencing agreement with MS)?
This question is specifically about the version available from Google's Play store that comes unlocked and without touchwiz.

I would assume YES.
From allaboutgalaxys4:

The device supports the FAT and the exFAT file systems for memory
  cards. When inserting a card formatted in a different file system, the
  device asks to reformat the memory card.

That link doesn't mention if the exfat feature is also available on the Play edition.


text:
adb restore not working for shared
I have a Nexus 4 with Android 4.4.1 … I've read that we could root it without wiping the data …  well didn't work for me!
I wasn't scared, because I made a full backup using:
adb backup -apk -shared -all --nosystem

Two things I forgot

SMS are not restored
Google Authenticator data are not restored (the
same week I switch all my accounts to two-step auth, like MtGOX …)

However, the problem is this :
Almost everything is restored, except the Pictures ..
Here is a part of the logs from log cat during the restore process
 adb shell logcat

I/BackupManagerService(  605): File in shared storage: 0/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20130731_170638.jpg
D/BackupManagerService(  605): [discarding file content]
I/BackupManagerService(  605): File in shared storage: 0/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20130731_170235.jpg
D/BackupManagerService(  605): [discarding file content]
I/BackupManagerService(  605): File in shared storage: 0/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20130731_170116.jpg
D/BackupManagerService(  605): [discarding file content]
I/BackupManagerService(  605): File in shared storage: 0/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20130731_170110.jpg

My question is, how to restore the pictures ?
There is no "adb restore -shared" option ..
In addition, it seem that all the android backup extractor solutions abe, perl, and the last version Titanium Pro, are not able to open encrypted android 4.4 backups …
Any ideas ?
UPDATE
Got a reply from Android Backup Developer (abe.jar) and this change + recompilation fixed the problem of extracting the backup. But this is not answering my initial question, why the photos are not restored using adb restore.
Full discussion here: https://github.com/nelenkov/android-backup-extractor/issues/7

This is the result of the change described here:
  http://android-developers.blogspot.jp/2013/12/changes-to-secretkeyfactory-api-in.html
and can be probably treated as an Android bug, because restring
  backups made with 4.3 will most likely fail on 4.4. File one at
  b.android.com if you can confirm this.
The fix is to replace
  PBEParametersGenerator.PKCS5PasswordToBytes(pwArray) in
  AndroidBackup.java:413 with
  PBEParametersGenerator.PKCS5PasswordToUTF8Bytes(pwArray). There
  probably needs to be some flag to switch behaviour for 4.4 and prior
  versions.

I was just about recommending those "backup extractors". Have you been able to use them before (so it's something changed with Android 4.4 causing the trouble)? They should be able to work with encrypted backups in general.

I tried backupdecrypt.pl abe.jar and Titanium Backup PRO, they all failed like I have the wrong password. But with either perl or abe, the messages are different (verbiage) when I put the wrong password.  Keep in mind that the restore is working (except pictures), so my password is right :)

Yes, I've noticed that. My point was rather if there were changes concerning encryption, introduced with 4.4 (if you have a <4.4 encrypted backup to verify), so it's not a generic encryption problem, but one specific to 4.4+.

Sorry about that then. I don't have any adb backups from before 4.4.1

NP. Maybe somebody else has a possibilty to check? Or even better: A solution?

just added an update from android backup extractor developer


text:
Prevent phone from automatically lowering media volume
I have a Samsung Galaxy SII Skyrocket. Everytime I unplug my headphones/auxiliary cord from my phone and plug it back in, the media volume gets lowered to about 60%, system-wide, regardless of media player. As much as I appreciate that Android is looking out for my hearing, I don't want it to do this. Any way to prevent the phone from lowering the volume of its own accord?

Maybe have a look in the settings of your media player. And more details would be helpful like: which media player? which phone?

Updated with more detail.

There is a setting "Limited Headphone Volume" or something it should prevent too loud sound. You can toggle it in Settings->Sounds, i'm using CM10 but i'm not sure if it works on other ROMs(ie Touchwiz)

@wayback no such luck on default ROM.

I'd say this is solvable with an automation tool like Tasker, Llama & Co. Rawly described profile:
Condition: Headphones plugged
Action: Set audio level to X
Where "audio level" in many cases (at least with Tasker) can be defined more specific (e.g. different levels for notification, alert, incoming call...) -- and "X" being the specific level you'd like it to have.
This done, everytime you plug your headphones in, you'll have the same media volume you've defined.

Here is how to fix the problem without root and without setting the volume to some predefined volume (such as 100%).
This "feature" is controlled by a System.Global property audio_safe_volume_state, which is also reset automatically every 20 hours (this is why the volume periodically gets lowered all of a sudden even without plugging / unplugging the headset).
This excellent tutorial shows how to prevent volume lowering by changing the value of this property.
I cannot repeat the tutorial here, but the main points are:

Install Tasker and AutoTools
Grant AutoTools WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS permission (no root required, but this is to be done from a computer via USB debugging with ADB; the command is adb shell pm grant com.joaomgcd.autotools android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS)
Create tasks in Tasker (using AutoTools plugin) for start and for every several hours; you will probably need also to catch the event of plugging in a headset
In this task, set System.Global property audio_safe_volume_state to 2.

The value of 2 tells the system that it has shown you the "Do you REALLY want to increase the volume?" dialog and you have agreed.

Hey Guys ive had this problem... volume decreasing to mute and youve got no control of it, even when going to settings of media player.. volume goes to mute, its was a simple solution in phone settings.
I went to settings/ my device /Sounds & notifictions. There youll see option for sound mode/ Make sure its set to sound and not vibrate or mute. Fixed my Problem with galaxy S4 . Dont know how the setting got changed but it while my phone was connected to my laptop via USB & the internet was on, Sum bug may have changed settings Possiblaly. Fix now

There's an Xposed module to fix that: http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.pyler.nosafevolumewarning
It does the trick for me on the Galaxy Nexus I have plugged into my sound system.

This is not correct. Even with the mod installed the volume is still reduced. You're just not prompted when you try to raise it.

There's no hardware issue.  It has a software issue. Problem can be solved in this way

Install an anti-virus software on mobile. I recommend AVG.
Scan device and delete threats apps.
Problem solved

And how did you reach to this conclusion? Consider mentioning the source which lead you to this answer.


text:
What programming languages are used in Android OS development?
I know we can develop Android apps in Java and also that the base of Android is Linux. However, I don't know what programming languages are used in the Android Open Source Project.
I try to find out the answer to this question many times but was still unable to find out an answer.
Any idea?

As mentioned on its Wikipedia page, Android's core is developed in C and C++, and Java is used for the UI. You can see this for yourself if you browse the Android source code. For example, Google Git provides the source for browsing without the need to download gigabytes of data.

As you told in question itself, Android is Linux based.
So obviously the core is developed using C.
On top of this, Java is used for UI (ie: Android).


text:
`adb backup` doesn't work even with `allowBackup=true` (e.g. Chrome)
I noticed that for some system apps (for example Chrome, which is preinstalled by default on my device), I can't do adb backup. Doing so results in the 47 bytes dummy .ab file. I checked in the manifest and they have allowBackup="true".
E.g. for Chrome, the content of the manifest is
allowBackup="true"
backupAgent="org.chromium.chrome.browser.ChromeBackupAgent"
extractNativeLibs="false"
fullBackupOnly="false"

Why is this happening? How can I backup such apps' data without root?
P.S. Helium backup doesn't show system apps.

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/143367 https://android.stackexchange.com/q/83080

I found the reason in logcat while performing a backup:
BackupManagerService: Package com.android.chrome is key-value.

By default, for abd backup, key-value backups are disabled:
"/system/bin/bu" (the command that is called on-device by adb backup) help text:

 -keyvalue|-nokeyvalue: include apps that perform key/value backups.
     (default -nokeyvalue)

Therefore, you need to include the -keyvalue option to create a Chrome backup:
adb backup -keyvalue -f chrome.ab com.android.chrome

This creates a backup file that contains only the Chrome settings (no cache files, cookies, local data, ...)

Any way to find out before the backup failed that this parameter is needed? Or is it safe to always provide it just-in-case, and "normal" apps will still be backed up as without?


text:
Accessing favorite/hearted images when choosing an image with Samsung's Gallery app
In the Samsung Galaxy Note 9's Gallery app, there isn't a separate Favorite Photos folder. Instead, a button on top of the albums page labeled Favorites opens up hearted photos.
The problem with this is my favorite/hearted photos don't appear as a separate folder in WhatsApp when I try to attach a photo. For example, I press the attach button, Gallery, and there is no separate folder for my hearted/favorite photos.
How to quickly access those photos?

@Robert Edited the question. Please try now.

I've done further edit based on my understanding of the question. If there's something wrong or missing, feel free to [edit] and fix it/add more detail. Thanks.

You can reach you installed gallery from within WhatsApp by either longpressing the "gallery"-button within the attachement-menu or by clicking it, then clicking the three dots in the upper right corner.

Old Answer with the assumption, that you were asking for WhatsApp-Favorites:
The starred messages are no seperate folder in the gallery, but a list within WhatsApp.
To get to this list follow these steps:
1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Tap More options. (The three dots)
3. Tap "Starred messages".

I just changed the question text. Please try now.


text:
Steps necessary to update a custom ROM to its latest version?
Many a time when I watch YouTube videos regarding people rooting and flashing custom ROMs on their Android smartphones, they show you how to carry out the procedure both in their respective videos and perhaps also in written dialogue on their main website.
However, as far as I'm aware, most custom ROMs do not include OTA updates, therefore one would generally have to check the XDA website, for example, to be notified of a newer version to whichever custom ROM for the particular device you are using becomes available. (I believe however that the CyanogenMod Installer recently introduced may be an exception to that general rule).
It is also the case as outlined in my first paragraph that those people who have YouTube videos about rooting and flashing custom ROMs fail to do a follow-up video showing how you can install the latest version of a custom ROM they are showcasing from a previous version.
For a beginner, this may be very daunting if you would like the latest version. I would therefore like to know: what are the necessary steps that one must undertake to update a Custom Rom to its latest version from a previous version?

Assuming there isn't an OTA it is usually the same process as the last one. Use something like Titanium Backup for your User Apps. Make a nandroid backup. Wipe data / cache etc. Flash new zip file. Restore apps through Titanium Backup. I usually suscribe to the topic on XDA and check in every now and then to see if the version has gone up on the particular thread. SOMETIMES you don't need to wipe data, but they will tell you that on the thread. I find in Android as in life, a thorough wipe is always a good idea!!

@RossC So its basically the same procedure as with how a custom rom was flashed initially from the default rom on the handset/tablet ?

That's correct. At least, that way it works for all ROMs (and of course some of the initial steps might be skipped; e.g. you won't need to re-install a custom recovery). Some ROMs might provide "patch updates", but again, they are mostly installed the same way.

Yeah exactly. As an example MiUi ROMs update via OTA, but CyanogenMod nightlies must be flashed from scratch! Just to say this again: BACKUPS!! I have forgotten many times and it is a pain!

@Izzy Yes that right ClockworkMOD/TWRP recovery will already be installed. What happens in relation to GApps (if they are not included within the Custom Rom itself), would you have to reflash them separately again ?

Depends on the update. If it's a full ROM, yes. If it's a "patch update", probably not. Easy to find out: If they're missing, you need to install them :) And as RossC wrote: BACKUPS!!! You have no ideas how many cases pop up here (and on other places) from people having forgotten those. Being "a pain" is an understatement! Though with flashing, troubles are rare, it never hurts to have a cold beer in the fridge :)

@Izzy Like I said in the question its all a bit daunting to me, hopefully the CyanogenMod Installer technique will come to the Nexus 5 (as I believe its not currently available) and that will ease my anxiety into my first venture with Rooting, Flashing & Updating.....

@Izzy Alternatively I might just checkout out Xposed Framework instead, as that appears to be gaining popularity recently !

Not only recently. But that's a completely different topic (so if you've got questions towards that, please don't ask them in this post here, but use a new / check a different one :)

@Izzy I wasn't planning to. For this question I purely want to know about updating a Custom Rom to the latest version from a previously installed version, plain simple (or perhaps complicated).

Summing up from the comments:
This very much depends on...

the ROM used
the update format chosen for a specific update

Some ROMs (e.g. CyanogenMod) come with their own "updaters", where special rules might apply. Specifically, they might deliver "patch updates", where only some files will be replaced. In those cases, no further action is required (except for, maybe, a reboot).
Some other ROMs ship in specific formats, and might require special tools to be flashed (e.g. odin or heimdall for Samsung devices).
Again other ROMs are delivered using the update.zip principle, where a custom recovery is needed to install them. This update.zip may be a complete ROM, or also just a patch. Instructions usually are to be found where the updates are offered for download.
In all above cases, some "initial steps" required for the first ROM install can be skipped and must not be repeated, including...

rooting your device (custom ROMs usually come pre-rooted)
unlocking the bootloader (unless you've re-locked it)
installing a custom recovery (when it's already there, no re-install is required; though there might be updates to this as well, and a newer custom ROM might require a minimum version here as well. Again, instructions should say so)

It's always a good idea to perform a backup before installing updates (or tampering with system stuff in any other way). Points to check for include:

nandroid backup: a full "sector-wise" copy of all the important partitions. If things go wrong altogether, this enables you to revert to the exact state of when these backups were created
logical full-backup: this is performed by tools like titanium-backup, and usually includes all your apps and data. So if something is missing after the ROM update, you can substitute the necessary parts. (note that Titanium Backup also can do that with Nandroid-Backups)
adb backup: quite similar to the previous one (see the backup wiki for details and differences).

Note also that an ota-update is quite unlikely to happen with custom ROMs. Some even include an app named fota-kill to "silence" the related update check. They either bring their own updater, or none altogether. In the latter case, the user has to check himself whether and when updates are available; often a "reminder" can be setup by subscribing to the corresponding thread on XDA (or wherever the ROM comes from), but actions have to be taken manually (as described above).
As I've shown until here, videos on updating your ROM most likely do not exist as the process already has been described as part of the initial video; though a few words like "for updating, skip to index ab:cd" would be a good idea (and could be suggested in the comments).

A special case are the google-apps (short: GApps). Whether you have to re-install them or not mainly depends on whether it was a "full update" (complete ROM), or the update just replaced some files. But it's easy to figure: When finished, just check if they are there and working. If not, you obviously have to flash them again. As a full-update replaces the entire partition content, GApps would be gone with that; a "patch-update" would just replace/add some files, and not touch the GApps, so they'd still be there. GApps are never part of a custom ROM (if they are, the "ROM cook" is in trouble due to license issues).

Excellent summation. I've been doing this for years and I still forget certain things, a nandroid, or backup app data for something I need. I've installed the wrong recovery, forgot to check MD5 and so on. It's easy to panic a bit when an expensive piece of hardware goes blank, or into a bootloop. This guide is excellent reference. I would like to add: I've always been able to fix it, so stay calm folks and just start at the very start!

I may add that my worst case was a "broken copy" (removed SD card a little early, or rather the indicator went off to fast). Result was, the "update" erased all partitions and then found nothing to flash. Unfortunately, I decided to reboot. No life signs (except ADB was able to connect "something"). Even that was recoverable (bootable SD card). Seems hard to really brick a device these days, except when flashing a radio image (maybe :)

@Izzy In terms of backing up before flashing to the newest version, would titanium backup suffice, or do people (or yourself) undertake all three of the ways you mentioned ?

@Simon I usually make a Nandroid backup in addition. Makes a restore-to-previous-state a lot easier in case flashing fails (or the ROM proves "unfitting").

@Izzy So the Nandroid backup is undertaken before backing up with Titanium Backup ? (Out of interest what do you make of this App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.h3r3t1c.bkrestore&hl=en ) ?

I use TiBu on a regular basis (scheduled backups). Nandroid backups I take occasionally, but always before flashing a new ROM. Never used Nandroid Manager, so I cannot talk about it from my own experience.

@Izzy Ok thanks (sorry for late response, I never got notified)


text:
How do I reset the Logitech Revue to factory defaults?
I rebooted my Logitech Revue today by pressing ctrl+alt+delete, which I have done a number of times before. After it went through the normal boot up it went to a blank screen. And just stays there, unresponsive. The remote does nothing for any of the other devices either as it seems that the "universal" part of the remote is actually software based, not in the remote itself.
I figure that I should be able to reset the device back to factory defaults but not sure how to reset it. I am hoping that a reset will get the device working correctly again.

You can try to press and hold the Pair/Reset button on the back of the Revue for 10 seconds.
Source

Using the hardware button
Press and hold the Pair/Reset button located to the left side of the left HDMI port on the back of the box for about 10 seconds. The Revue will then restart with factory default settings.
Using the menus
  1. From the home screen select Applications.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Select About.
  4. Choose Factory data reset.
  5. Select Reset device.
  6. Select Erase everything.

The Pair/Reset button is the one identified by number (1) on page 3 of the Logiteh Revue manual.


text:
Do I need to root my phone before installing CM on my S3
Previously I've needed to root my phone before flashing any ROMs on it. Now I have a new s3 and I'd like to install CM on it.
However, this installation guide does not mention the need to root the phone as other installation guides have in the past.
So do I need to root the phone before slashing this mod?

Very similar: Can I install CWM without Odin or root?

Technically no, you don't have to root your current ROM before you can flash CyanogenMod on your S3. Instead, you will simply gain root when you flash CyanogenMod itself.
This is due to the way in which Samsung's bootloaders work in comparison to the ones on other devices. Samsung devices effectively have unlocked bootloaders right out of the gate, but they don't have a way to use the fastboot utility that other devices use. Instead, you can use the Odin utility (and a third party, cross platform implementation: Heimdall) to reflash the device from its "Download Mode" at any time, as the CM installation instructions describe.
Therefore, since Download Mode is accessible to the end user without any sort of modifications to the device, you don't need to "root" beforehand in order to install a custom recovery (and, by association, custom ROMs). The reason why you need root on many other devices is because it's the only way to write to the recovery partition and get the custom recovery installed. Often this requires unlocking the bootloader in the process as well.


text:
Can I use usb OTG for serial connection between nexus 7 and Arduino?
I got myself an OTG cable for Nexus 7, which works just fine. Now, I am wondering if I can connect the Nexus 7 with my Arduino for serial communication between the two.

Yes, according to this blog post. It involves Android programming, something I'm not very familiar with.

There are reports that what you want to do is achievable. (src)
I think you alteady know that peripheral devices can also be hosted on your USB port. (more info)
There are several apps specifically made for your arduino in the Play Market


text:
Video Player in Galaxy Note 10.1 keeps starting itself when connected to computer through USB
The Video Player app that came with Galaxy Note 10.1 will start at the background when connected to a Windows computer through USB. And there's no option in that app to disable it. It always appear in Task Manager when connected. Is there any way to disable this auto-start?

Most likely the video player registered a listener to be notified on "USB connected". If you want to keep the app but get rid of that annoyance, the only way goes via root. You won't need a custom ROM for that -- just an app like Autorun Manager PRO which allows you to disable listeners of any app:

As the screenshot shows, AutoRun Manager lists up all apps along with their registered listeners. Check here for your video player app, find the responsible listener, and remove the checkmark in front of it. That should do it.
If you do so for some apps, and some day decide to remove AutoRun Manager, your restrictions would persist unless you reset them before uninstalling ARM (the app has a "revert" option, and can even revert all changes at once). If you forgot that, and want to re-enable disabled listeners, the only way is to re-install the affected app (not ARM, that won't help as it remembered its actions in its settings, which are removed when you uninstall the app).

If this is the stock system, then the only way to change it would be to root it and install a Custom ROM (or remove the stock video app and replace it with a 3rd party video player).


text:
Sync MP3 Ratings on Android, with MediaMonkey / MusicBee on Windows
Both MediaMonkey and MusicBee, as music players let you 'rate' songs from 1 to 5 stars.  I would like to have this functionality as well in an Android app.  The main problem is syncing these ratings.  Android apps like NRG Player do have a rating, however if I rate songs using NRG Player, they are not 'understood' by neither MediaMonkey nor MusicBee.  Also, any ratings I give to songs via MediaMonkey or MusicBee are neither understood by the NRG Player.
Is there any app which reads/writes ratings in the same format that either MediaMonkey or MusicBee do?  Or any app which syncs such ratings?

After I posted this question, I found out that 'PlayerPro' music player allows you to choose the type of ratings it saves to.  MediaMonkey is one of them, so this basically is what I needed. Unfortunately, it is not a free app, but for me although this is a tiny feature, this is something I'm willing to pay for.

For your purpose, I'd recommend: Use Media Monkey on your desktop and PlayerPro on your Android mobile.
And if you change ratings or other data while listening to music on mobile (PlayerPro), then export the Music ratings etc in a Songbird XML file (from within PlayerPro>Settings> Music Library> Export Ratings in songbird format) in the mobile and copy that XML file generated to any one particular location on your pc. Then get a MM script named 'Import Music Stats XML' for MMWindows and execute that command from the tools menu. It'll ask for the songbird XML file location and that's it. Both MM and PP will remain in synch. You can change anything in any of these.
Also, if you want to sync/send your chosen media files from PC to Mob automatically, then install MM on your android mobile also, and then you can transfer your chosen music to mob with 1 simple click/synch command. (you can sync the music back to PC also, but then your PP ratings and play count won't sync back. In this case, your android's ratings and play count will synch back to PC).

Simple answer
You can do this with Media Monkey remote app

That doesn't let you play songs on your Android phone.  It lets you see what is playing on the desktop, and control it via your phone.  While this is extremely cool and I will certainly be using it - What I need is a music player for Android, which will allow me to play music and rate them on the phone, and then I can copy them back to the PC and the ratings are read by MediaMonkey.


text:
Synchronisation of contacts and calendar suddenly stopped working
While working fine for almost a year now (since I've installed CyanogenMod on my device), a couple of days ago synchronisation stopped all of a sudden: Network indicators turned white (no longer green on Gingerbread / blue on ICS and up), which indicates the device is not "in-sync" with the Google servers.
First I thought it might be some Google Server outage (as all of us know them), I waited a couple of days. But it didn't solve up within a few days, so I decided to take a closer look. logcat then showed: Always when trying to sync, the network connection timed out.
Further side-effects: Google Playstore app did no longer open ("network timeout"), Google Talk insisted on a "username/password failure".
That's where I got stuck: What to do? Reboot didn't help, shutdown/restart didn't help either, nor did clearing cache/data from the contactssync app. I couldn't log off GTalk (which would be the next logical step), as GTalk immediately insisted on that username/password error.
Now what?

Related questions/answers: http://android.stackexchange.com/q/2709/16575, http://android.stackexchange.com/q/6220/16575, http://android.stackexchange.com/q/37357/16575

Concerning the "network indicator colors", also see eldarerathis answer here. Also related: Android not syncing anymore

Analysis
Luckily, logcat gave the IP address along (in my case: 74.125.93.113). On my PC, I first checked with the browser ("https://74.125.93.113/") -- and in fact, connection timed out. Next I checked what's behind the IP:
host 74.125.93.113
113.93.125.74.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer qw-in-f113.1e100.net.

Didn't tell me anything. But checking with /etc/hosts on the Android device, I found the entry:
74.125.93.113 android.clients.google.com

A lookup of that host reveiled: The IP 74.125.93.113 no longer belongs to it -- which explains the trouble.
Solution
The solution requires root, unfortunately, as /etc/hosts is owned by root and read-only for everybody else. Furthermore, /etc is just a symbilic link to /system/etc, which means the entire file system is read only.
What you need

root
a terminal emulator app (e.g. Android Terminal Emulator)

What to do
Open the terminal app, and follow these steps:
# make yourself root
su
# SuperUser/SuperSU may require approval at this point. Give it.

# check how /system is mounted:
mount | grep system

#output will look similar to this:
/dev/block/mmcblk1p21 on /system type ext3 (ro,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered)

#remount /system read-write, using the values obtained:
mount -o rw,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system

#edit /etc/hosts
vi /etc/hosts
# put a comment-sign (#) in front of the line containing the bad IP, e.g.
# 74.125.93.113 android.clients.google.com
# save the file

# re-mount /system read-only (or simply reboot, that will do it as well)
mount -o ro,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system

Now just wait a short time -- or simply call up Google Play to check. It shouldn't take long for the lights to turn green again.

I'm curious -- how'd that entry get into your /etc/hosts in the first place?

Not me :) The device in question is running CM7.2 (a Motorola Milestone 2). As I never manually changed anything in /system (this fix was the first time I really mounted /system read-write), I can only guess that either CM or the one adjusting the ROM (chillje) had placed it there. Not sure who, but either way: I'm not the only one running this ROM, so others might be affected as well -- which is why I posted this howto here.


text:
Can't mount /sdcard while doing a NANDroid backup!
I just got root with Unrevoked and S-OFF with AlphaRev. I partitioned my SD card in GParted as following.
Part 1: 4096 MB ext3
Part 2: 25842 MB fat32

The card is a 32 GB SD card. I intended to have 4 GB reserved for apps and such. Now I am trying to do a NANDroid backup using the new ClockWorkMod AlphaRev Recovery 2.5.1.8. But it keeps failing and says that /sdcard can't be mounted.
I tried to navigate to Mounts and storage, and then Mount /sdcard but it gives me an error.
CWM-AlphaRev Recovery v2.5.1.8
E:Can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 (or /dev/block/mmcblk0)
(Invalid argument)
Can't mount /sdcard

//I attempted mounting it manually here.//

E:Can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 (or /dev/block/mmcblk0)
(Invalid argument)
Error mounting SDCARD:!

I noticed that, after partitioning the SD card and rebooting the phone and loading Windows, when I clicked to do a safe unmount of USB drive in Windows there was a message in Android that said it was safe to unmount the SD card now. ????....
And then I went into recovery mode in Android and found out that it couldn't do a backup because it couldn't mount the SD card. Is my SD card damaged or what? Do I have to do some kind of data/cache wipe first?
I had the phone shut down since the last attempt, just to make sure that the SD card really gets mounted when booting up. But that didn't help at all.
Update:
I tried a solution I found over at XDA forums.

In CMD, go to dir C:\Android\android-sdk\Tools Type: path
  C:\Android\android-sdk\Platform-tools)
Input "fastboot oem enableqxdm 0"

But I tried this and it says < waiting for device > in my CMD prompt and nothing happens. Does the phone really communicate with the computer in this mode? My ClockWorkMod screen has changed to an icon of a white software box with a blue android mascot next to it. So it looks like it is in this so called fastboot mode now.
C:\>adb devices
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
SH08KPL03467    recovery

C:\>fastboot oem enableqxdm 0
< waiting for device >

So it looks like the daemon was not running but the phone definitely communicates with the computer. Do I have to press some button? I tried mounting the SD card again and it still doesn't work.

You need fast boot drivers and 2. the main fat partition should be partition 1 :-)

Do I have to use GParted again for this? Can I use some app instead? Over at XDA forum I've read different reports, some users suggest that this problem might be cause by the use of GParted for partitioning of the card. But I will go ahead and give your suggestion a try.

Just to check "fast boot drivers" are the drivers published by Unrevoked and on various sources like XDA forums, the package is called "android-usb-driver.zip" right?

@LiamW Thanks! That really helped. I reformatted the SD card in GParted and made the fat32 partition the first partition (/dev/sdf1) and the ext3 partition the last partition (/dev/sdf2). The CWM-AlphaRev Recovery is now making the backup. If you want you can write your comment as answer so that I can mark it as a solution to the problem. Maybe you can expand that a little? I still wonder what fast boot drivers are. And why this even matters...

Recovery images are hard coded to use the first partition of an SD card are the main FAT partition.
As such, you need to ensure that the first partition on the card is the FAT partition, or recovery will try to mount the ext partition as the fat partition.
You can use any partition tool to modify the card.
You also said that fastboot wouldn't work - this is most likely due to lack of fast boot drivers.


text:
Google play disappeared from my phone
While uninstalling some app I may have accidentally uninstalled Google play app.
But even then I have updated Google play app before and while uninstalling it should remove only updates from my phone not the complete app. I should have been able to use default app.
But I am unable to do so.
Yesterday while clicking app's icon it was showed an error, that app isn't installed.
I tried to find it on my app library but it's not there.
What should I do?
I am using Samsung galaxy fit (GT-S5670)

Try rebooting. As per you your phone is not rooted and its not possible to delete system app without root.

@roxan I tried but still no luck

I have posted link for downloading apk as answer.

Yes, downloading and installing the APK should work as long as you have the Google Framework Services -- basically if the Market worked before, then it will again unless you removed system services.  (Those can be replaced as well but it's more hassle).

How can I check I have system services or not?

As @Matthew Read suggested I search for an apk over net and found one.
Here is a link: Google Play Store 3.9.16
Note: After installing apk to your device if app started force closing

Clear data from app i.e go to settings->manage app->play store->clear data
If it is still force closing reboot your device

This works for me hope works for others as well

If your phone is rooted, then you of course have a chance that an app could have flashed something that could remove the GAPPS and Google FrameWork Services, but if you don't know what I am talking about then your phone is not rooted, and you simply need to download Google Play Store.
On the other hand, if you are missing GAPPS, then you can re-flash it depending on your version of Android: http://goo.im/gapps/

No my phone was not rooted. I checked the link you provided but I don't understand how to download and which one.


text:
Factory reset a device - settings app does not work
How can I factory reset my Arnova GBOOK tablet/e-reader?
It runs android, and now everything force closes when the device boots, inluding the settings and launcher applications.
I need to use my device - I only bought it today.
Please can someone tell me how I can get my device back? I think resetting may help...
So - how do I reset without the settings app???

if you just bought it, it should all be covered by warranty

I can't find the factory-reset instructions for a device with this specific name. Arnova's devices are named in confusing ways, so perhaps several names are used for the same device in different markets. But can you find a pinhole somewhere at the botton of your device? It should be on the left. Does it say "reset"? Then insert a paperclip and see what happens.
If that doesn't work, you could try the instructions on Arnova's support page:

"If your tablet freezes often or if you get error messages during the start up of your tablet, you can use the recovery mode to reset your tablet to its factory settings, removing all installed applications as well as any data or content.
Your tablet must be up to date with the latest firmware – downloadable from the downloads area of this website.

To access Recovery mode on the ARNOVA 10bG3
To access to the recovery mode:

Hold down the volume button + and press the ON/OFF button.
Once the boot logo ARNOVA is displayed, release the volume button +.

The ANDROID green robot is displayed.

Once the ANDROID green robot is displayed, press simultaneously the volume button + and the ON/OFF button.

The Android system recovery screen is displayed.
a. Use the volume buttons to navigate
b. Use the ON/OFF button to select an option
To restore the default parameters of your tablet:

In the Android system recovery, select Wipe data/factory reset;
Select Yes –delete all user data.
Select Reboot system now.

Your tablet reboots. Redefine your parameters through the wizard.
Your tablet is restored to its default settings.

To access Recovery mode on the ARNOVA 9G3
To access to the recovery mode:

Hold down the Home button and press the ON/OFF button.
Once the ARNOVA boot logo is displayed, release the Home button.

The ANDROID green robot is displayed.

Once the ANDROID green robot is displayed, press simultaneously the volume button + and the ON/OFF button.

The Android system recovery screen is displayed.
a. Use the volume buttons to navigate
b. Use the ON/OFF button to select an option
To restore the default parameters of your tablet:

In the Android system recovery, select Wipe data/factory reset;
Select Yes –delete all user data.
Select Reboot system now.

Your tablet reboots. Redefine your parameters through the wizard.
Your tablet is restored to its default settings.

To access Recovery mode on the ARNOVA 8cG3/8bG3
To access to the recovery mode:

Hold down the volume button – and press the ON/OFF button.
Once the boot logo ARNOVA is displayed, release the volume button –.

The ANDROID green robot is displayed.

Once the ANDROID green robot is displayed, press simultaneously the volume button + and the ON/OFF button.

The Android system recovery screen is displayed.
a. Use the volume buttons to navigate
b. Use the ON/OFF button to select an option"

I could, but you would do well to notice that my device is not listed. As such,  none of those combinations work.

@liamwli: Have you tried them? The problem is that Arnova's naming conventions seem a bit confusing, so the same device could be sold under different names in different markets. And the same method may work for several devices, since they have so many. But I have added another method that may apply to your device (pinhole), see above.

Hi, I finally managed to get to recovery! Power and Vol + until recovery loads :)

@liamwli: See? I'm glad you got it to work!


text:
Installing Android apps from Samsung store to non Samsung Android device like htc phone
I have a htc phone, I want to install few apps from Samsung market.
But users of htc can not download apps from Samsung Market, Samsung Market is only available to Samsung devices.
Does anyone know how to install applications from Samsung store to HTC mobiles.

I've successfully modified the build.prop on my Samsung Vibrant to mimic that of the i9000, allowing me to get i9000 apps from the Samsung app store.  So something similar might work for you.  See How can I modify the phone model in build.prop to get unsupported apps?

Don't understand. I paid for an app from the Samsung market but the app has no Samsung specific functionality, it's also available in the Google play store. I'm not paying again for an app I already own, short of just copying the files off my tablet (via adb, the display stopped working) what am I supposed to do? I can't even find the Samsung Market!

@Michael You should post a new question with details specific to your situation.


text:
How to get back colored app headers in recent apps list on Samsung devices running on Android Oreo?
Before, in recent apps list of my phone (Samsung Galaxy Note8), headers of apps were colored.  Now, they are all white.
I am not sure whether it was caused by the transition from Nougat (7.1) to Oreo (8.0) or by a change in some Android settings. They are white for several months.
I would like to return to colored ones for faster navigation using app colors. Is it possible?

Related: Changing/reverting Samsung's “Recent tabs” color theme to Nougat (based on app's theme) on Oreo device (not yet answered)

It looks to me that this is not possible, because Oreo re-used the color coding for different purpose:

white header: standard app

and here, the original coloring concept is partially present in text color (instead of bg color)

light cyan header: app pair on split screen

I think that this new coloring purpose implies that the original coloring is gone.


text:
Samsung - Update to Android 10 Changed Keyboard Layout
I received the Android 10 update for my Samsung phone. Unfortunately, this seems to have updated my keyboard layout by placing an ugly and almost empty bar at the bottom of my screen below the keyboard. There is a button on the left to select a specific keyboard and another on the right to hide the keyboard.

The problem is that I've already got muscle memory to hit the backspace at a specific place on the screen, but the changes have pushed everything upwards which prompts me to hit the new line/submit button instead. The same goes for almost any other key actually, but the former is the most irritating. I am also losing screen estate because of something that I would never use.
I can see an option in Settings -> General management -> Language and input -> On-screen keyboard that is titled "Show keyboard button" and is turned on but the slider is disabled and I can't turn it off.
Also, if it matters, I am using a third-party keyboard (neither the Google one nor the Samsung one). The bar is there regardless of the chosen keyboard though.
Any help on getting rid of the bar would be greatly appreciated.

This is caused by an option for navigation bar with full-screen gestures on Samsung devices with One UI 2.0 (Android 10). The setting can be accessed from Settings - Display - Navigation bar - Full screen gestures - Show button to hide keyboard
According to Gadget Hacks - Enable Android 10's New Gestures on Your Samsung Galaxy with One UI 2,

You can also enable the "Show button to hide keyboard" option so you can switch keyboards at any time when using these new gestures — the keyboard icon appears in the lower-right of the screen.
(Emphasized added)

Based on OP's observation, looks like this option is enabled by default after updating to Android 10.


text:
What is the meaning of an "eye" system icon on Samsung devices?
This is a Samsung device showing an "eye" system icon on the notification bar.

What does it mean?

AFAIK, it is the Samsung feature which keeps the display turned on for as long as you're looking at it. This is helpful if you're reading something off the display and don't want it to sleep.
The setting/feature can be disabled in Display Settings of the phone.

thanks, does this mean that display knows when u look at it and when not? and how is this possible? what technology is used?

AFAIK, it's just the front cam looking at your face and figuring out if you're looking at it or not. Samsung explained a bit here - https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/mobile-devices/what-is-the-smart-stay-feature-on-my-samsung-galaxy-s4/


text:
Android Market app throwing "a server error has occurred" error message
I have Samsung I5500 Galaxy 5 running on Android 2.2. I don't know when this error started, but when I open the Market application, it throws the following error:

A server error has occurred. Retry, or cancel and return to the previous screen.

I have tried a factory reset, but it didn't solve the issue.
How to fix this issue?

TL;DR: Google has ended the support for the Android Market app. Users need to migrate to the Play Store app by installing the compatible version (skip to the last section).

Background
According to Android Authority, Google has ended Android Market support for Android 2.1 Eclair and below:

On June 30, devices running Android 2.1 Eclair or lower will no longer be able to access, or install other apps from, the Android Market.

In a different article, they also stated an opinion that the Android Market app would no longer be supported on "newer" versions:

Google also mentioned that it will continue to support “later versions of Android Market for as long as feasible.” Exactly what that means is anyone’s guess, but I think it’s safe to say that the company will eventually end support for Android Market on other versions of its operating system — and probably sooner rather than later.

The Play Store app is supported on Android 2.2 Froyo, and by default, the Android Market app should be automatically updated on supported devices when it's opened:

If you still have the Android Market on your device for whatever reason, it’s probably best if you upgrade it to the newer and much improved Google Play — provided you are running Froyo or newer. As soon as you open the Android Market app, a window will pop up saying that a new version is available for download. Then just follow the directions on your screen, and in a minute or two the Android Market will be replaced by Google Play.

The issue
However, according to some reports (1, 2), the Android Market shows an error message "A server error has occurred. Retry, or cancel and return to the previous screen." since at least 8 March 2018, preventing it to be updated to the Play Store app, and thus making it dysfunctional.

The fix
While the Android Market app cannot update itself, users are still able to install the Play Store app by downloading and installing the APK.
APKMirror listed all variants for the Play Store app, including for Android 2.2 Froyo. The latest version available on there is 4.9.13.

Version: 4.9.13 (80290013)
  Package: com.android.vending
  Min: Android 2.2 (Froyo, API 8)


text:
Why is the SD-card mounted to "/sdcard/external_sd" instead of "/sdcard" (or "/mnt/sdcard")?
I recently upgraded my phone to an LG Motion 4G (Android 4 ICS). I see that the sdcard is mounted at /sdcard/external_sd. I also noticed that this appears to be the same with some other newer models. Apps expect the sdcard to be at /sdcard. I assume the manufacturers want to include a lot of internal storage, but why mount internal storage at /sdcard? Shouldn't this be against some form of Android specification standard?

As to the "specification standard", this should rise no problems: As you can read in the developers documentation on External Storage, apps should determine the location/availibility using API calls (here: getExternalStorageState()), not using hard-coded paths.

Good point Izzy, but apparently some manufacturers are wrongfully redirecting apps to the internal space via getExternalStorageDirectory(). http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11281010/how-can-i-get-external-sd-card-path-for-android-4-0

Ah, good point as well -- as a non-developer I was not aware of that. But I see Flow provided a very good explanation -- again with points I was not aware of...

The reason is the history of Android: The first generation of Android devices only had a small amount of internal storage (around 100-400MiB) which was mounted under /data.
Next, devices with a, at that time external, SD-card came out. The SD card was mounted under /mnt/sdcard.
After that, devices with large internal storage came on the market. This storage was portioned, because /mnt/sdcard had become the default place for big data chunks from apps, pictures and such. So the Android environment had to have a /data and /mnt/sdcard directory. Therefore one partition was for /data, the other for /mnt/sdcard. This is the reason why you storage space could become low (the /data partition) even if there is plenty of space on /mnt/sdcard.
This situation was improved with Android 3.0: /data and /mnt/sdcard are now pointing to the same partition. Good job Google, that could have been done versions ago. Which is also the reason why app2sd is no more needed on Android 3.0 or higher: You would only move the data within the same volume.
Now we come to the answer if your question: Since /mnt/sdcard is already mounted on the internal storage, an external SD-card has to use a different mount point. And this mount point is not specified by Google. It could be

/mnt/sdcard/ext_sd
/mnt/external
/mnt/extSdCard
/mnt/sdcard/external_sd
etc.

The API call getExternalStorageDirectory() usually points to the internal storage directory. This behavior is documented. There are open source projects that provide tools to find the external SD-card directory in a canonical way.

Does that mean there is no "transparent way" for apps to determine the SD card? Of course, there's isExternalStorageRemovable() to see if the "external" storage is removable, plus one could determine the mount points (using the mount command) and check for mount flags etc. But if I'm not taken wrong here, this still means each developer needs to figure out for his app himself, and there's no simple API call to do that for him?

That's correct. There are the libraries that I linked that try to add that feature, but there is no official API call to do so.

If both the external storage and the /data partition are merged, how could I safely mount/unmount my SD card to plug it, say, in my PC? It seems to me that having separate partitions is logical and I don't see why all that had to happen.

It's not the external storage, it's the, so called, "internal SD" and the /data partition that get's merged.

This situation was improved with Android 3.0: /data and /mnt/sdcard are now pointing to the same parition. Just FYI, that's NOT true on at least one phone running Android 4.0 (Pantech Burst), where /data is a 1GB ext4 partition and /mnt/sdcard is a 12GB FAT32 partition.

All statements are with vanilla Android in mind. Manufacturers are free to leave the path Google has set.

Shame on Google for not providing an API call to unambiguously detect the mount point, or at the very least specify a "recommended" mount point (rather than leaving manufacturers to each invent their own). The Environment2 project on GitHub (thanks for linking to it) does ease the pain, but too bad the (extensive) documentation in the code is all in German.

Just as an example, I'm using Android 6.0.1 and my external SD card is mounted at /storage/{random numbers, e.g. 3430-3234}, which Astro renames to /storage/SD card.

Forcing external SD mount away from /mnt/sdcard has no technical merit, it is Google's way of helping hardware vendors to create a differentiation point for phones with more internal memory.
There is no reason why applications have to find a way to locate the external card when /mnt/sdcard was clearly the place the sdcard should have been and Google's undefined way of loading external SD card is another less than consumer friendly plot to make external SD card less useful in newer Android devices. There is NO reason why /data and /mnt/sdcard had to be merged into the same partition on newer version of Android except for manufacturer to differentiate phones with larger internal memory from lower cost units with less internal memory. Even if the merge had to be done, Google could have clearly defined a STANDARD new mounting point for the external SD cards instead of leaving it completely vague. This is completely working against preventing further "segmentation" of the Android eco-system by a clumsy design to help vendor differentiation of higher end phones against lower cost units with less built-in memory.
Android app binaries are tiny, phones with 1-2 Gigs of internal memory should have way more than enough space for hundreds of apps, and all the large data could be safely tucked way on an external SD card. But then vendors realized they had to have a way to differentiate their higher end product, and claiming a higher internal memory become part of that scheme and crippling the usefulness of external memory is the other integrated part this scheme required for this to work fully hence the less helpful API to find external sd cards and the unstandardized mounting points.
So: No, mounting SD card at a place other than /mnt/sdcard is nothing but a business strategy for selling higher priced new phones under newer version of Android, nothing more than that. Just imagine, if the Nexus 4 8GB and Nexus 16GB can both use 64GB of external sd card for application and media, is there a reason for anyone to buy the 16 GB version? That extra 8 GB of NAND memory is not surely not worth $50 price difference if external SD cards are involved.  Since most components in a smart phone pretty much has to be the same (RAM, processor, radios), the only area left for more profit margin is the internal memory space, and hence the weird external memry mounting point.
Also has everyone also noticed the absence of external SD support from current crop of "Google" branded android devices? This trend will keep expanding in "top tier" Android devices. External SD card support was a key differentiation for Android devices to overtake iPhone's dominance in mobile market. Now with Android ruling supreme in the numbers game, there's little need for this profit sapping practice to be up kept for much longer.
I won't be surprised by Android 5.0, the external SD card support would be a thing of the past. Because if it's hard to apps to find externals SD card, then most program will just simply use the known /data and /mnt/sdcard locations, with most apps use more and more stored data for its operation, a vibrant product mark up strategy is created out of "thin air" simply by not mount external SD card at /mnt/sdcard.

Now, that is what I call a wall of text. Seems also a bit ranty. Please add some paragraphs to your answer. Also I don't get why there is "no reason to merge /data and  /mnt/sdcard", as I clearly see a reason: Avoiding the fragmentation of the internal storage.

That was definitely a rant, Deecee, but regardless, I appreciate your input. Cheers

And there's one thing more to it: with devices placing the xternal SD card inside the internal one (e.g. /sdcard/external_sd on the LG P880), backing up "shared storage" includes both, and creates a huge archive. No way to backup the internal SD only in an easy approach. Which doesn't make much sense, as there are much easier ways to backup the external card. A fact which makes me crazy, as I have the mentioned device...

You should be aware (if rooted) you can go into /system/etc/vold.fstab and swap the mount points for /sdcard and /mnt/external_sd....this will allow your sdcard to be on /sdcard as you expect and the remaining "internal storage" will be mounted on /mnt/external_sd or if you prefer /sdcard/external_sd/

This works with some models of phones, but not all. It doesn't work for my LG Motion 4G, Android 4.0.4. Thx


text:
How to flash a ZIP file with Odin?
I can't boot my Galaxy Tab 8.9 / P7300 anymore, but Odin still detects a USB connection. So I'm trying to flash a new ROM onto it using Odin. However all I can find on the web are ZIP archives containing boot.img, META-INF etc, while Odin apparently needs .tar or .tar.md5 files.
Can I convert one into the other, or is my idea completely wrong?

.zip files are generally flashable from recovery, Odin's .tars are indeed a completely different format.  If flashing a kernel you can convert them relatively easily (thought I won't get into it here) but it won't work for a whole ROM.  You'll need to find an Odin package.  XDA is your best bet, but see also: Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

(to OP) If you want to have a custom Rom running Jelly bean you can look over here: CWM recovery, Cyanogenmod 10 Jelly Bean nightly builds are here

If you don't want to get into it here, maybe a short link would be of help for many people. See what ranking this page has in search engines.
I guess a tool like 7zip is well capable of unzipping and making a tar of it. Unfortunately, i have no clue of how the md5 sum can be calculated and packaged with 7zip.

Anyone reading this that is also late to the discussion: If you found the Zipped Rom in question on XDA, it was probably originally a tar file that someone renamed zip in order to use a file hosting website with a restriction against tar files. (As this simple rename just worked for me.)

You should definitely verify the file type and structure if you think it's misnamed.  Assuming otherwise is a good way to brick your phone.


text:
Why does Kies say that there is no official release for my Samsung Galaxy Mini (GT-S5570)?
Why does Kies say it does not support updates for the firmware on my Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570 as it is "not official release". On the phone it says android version 2.2.1 and
Kies calls it:
PDA:KC1
PHONE:KB1
CSC:KC2(CPW)

Will I ever be able to upgrade?

If Kies tells you that you have a unofficial release it usually means that you have an unofficial release. :) This is usually the result of flashing the device with heimdall/odin and an prerelease firmware that was never official released for you device and/or region. But there can be other reasons for this too.
You could flash an offical ROM, which can be obtained for example from samfirmware.com. Instructions on how-to flash and what release is the current offical for your region can be found on this site too. Be aware that flashing can leave you device in an unusable state and it will do a factory reset, so save your data prior flashing. Also you may lose your warranty.


text:
Keep YouTube Vanced playing in the background when closing the mini-player
I'm using YouTube Vanced. When I close the picture-in-picture by tapping the "×" of the mini-player, the video stops and I have to click the play button in notifications to continue playing it in the background.
How can I make the video automatically continue seamlessly in the background?
Environment

Android version: 9
YouTube Vanced version: 16.29.39-Builds-01.54.00

Change Settings -> Background & Downloads -> Playback to Always On.
Then, while watching, it will just not stop when switching apps or returning to the home screen.
If Picture-in-Picture is on it will switch to the mini player, but tapping the mini player and then pressing the headphone symbol will switch to background/audio-only mode.
Tapping the X from PiP/mini player will always stop the video, even with these settings done properly.


text:
Manually upgrade Magisk on Samsung Galaxy S10 without losing data
I had a working Samsung Galaxy S10 which was already rooted with Magisk (v20.*). Due to a Magisk update (v24.1), my root got broken... So I need the manual way.
I successfully patched the stock "recovery.img" through the Magisk "Select and Patch a file" method since the "Direct Install" is not working anymore for some reason I don't understand ("Installation Failed. Unable to detect target image"). The official website recommends flashing the "recovery.img" through "fastboot". But then I discovered fastboot is not available for Samsung phones. So I need to use Odin. But Odin is not accepting *.img files.
I do not want to lose my current Android installation because it's very customised. But I need my root back. I searched and searched for days for a working solution to manage this. So this request is my last hope as I can really not find a way to manage this.
How can I safely flash this "magisk_patched" "recovery.img" to my "Samsung S10" without wiping any data? And does this Magisk patched "recovery.img" contain my existing TWRP recovery? Or do I need to reinstall it after the upgrade? I remember when I first rooted my phone, it was quite complicated to do this since the Samsung Galaxy S10 does not have a ramdisk, so the recovery partition is shared with TWRP and the Magisk su.
Does anyone have any good advice on how to manage this without losing my data (and Android 10 installation)? Magisk delivered me a 6.2GB "magisk_patched-24300_8m9cQ.tar" file, but I'm scared to flash it through Odin as I don't want to lose my data on my "512GB SD card" internal storage.
I know this is a complicated situation but any help would be highly appreciated as I really don't know what to do anymore to manage this.

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

After some great help from @alecxs I managed to fix the problem, without losing any data, all the googled tutorials tell to use fastboot, which is not available for Samsung devices, so this is the guide for Samsung S10 users who have a working twrp recovery installed but are unable to preform the automatic update from within the Magisk Manager app. (of course you need adb and developer mode enabled on your phone)

first of all, for just in case, make a backup of all your partitions in twrp, also make a backup of your personal data stored in /sdcard

in twrp, use the following adb commands to get an image from boot, recovery and vbmeta partitions from a terminal window on your computer:
adb pull /dev/block/platform/13d60000.ufs/by-name/boot *:\Magisk\Unpatched\boot.img
adb pull /dev/block/platform/13d60000.ufs/by-name/recovery *:\Magisk\Unpatched\recovery.img
adb pull /dev/block/platform/13d60000.ufs/by-name/vbmeta *:\Magisk\Unpatched\vbmeta.img

make a tar archive of these 3 images (you can use 7zip for this)

boot back into Android, transfer the tar to your phone, start MagiskManager, next to Magisk, tap Install... with Options, be sure Recovery Mode is checked (since Magisk on Samsung S10 starts it deamon trough recovery as there is no ramdisk), tap Next, Select and Patch a File, select the tar, and let Magisc do its Magic.

check the log file, if it says: Magisk patched boot image detected you're good to go...

go find the magisk_patched*.tar in your ~/Download, copy it to your computer, extract the tarred images to a folder on your computer, for example: *:\Magisk\Patched\, remove the '.img' suffix from the three image files as adb can only manage them without the '.img' suffix!

boot back into twrp recovery, connect your phone trough usb and transfer the MagiskPatched images back to your phone trough the following adb commands:
adb push *:\Magisk\Patched\boot /dev/block/platform/13d60000.ufs/by-name/boot
adb push *:\Magisk\Patched\recovery /dev/block/platform/13d60000.ufs/by-name/recovery
adb push *:\Magisk\Patched\vbmeta /dev/block/platform/13d60000.ufs/by-name/vbmeta

now, very important, delete the old Magisk configuration by removing the /data/adb directory, from within twrp terminal: rm -r /data/adb

wipe the cache partition from the twrp gui (advanced wipe)

boot back into Android and start the Magisk Manager app, it will tell you it needs to do some additional configuration and reboot your device... (if this step gives an error you did not succesfully delete the /data/adb folder)

once your device is rebooted, you'll have your root back!

have a good bottle of wine and reconfigure your Magisk settings/modules in Magisk Manager.

enjoy to be the owner of your own device again!

Hey I have the exact same problem. Same phone I also get the "patched boot image detected" when I backed up the "boot.emmc.win" 64mb image with twrp.... So then.... can I flash the that patched boot image with twrp into.... will it be the boot partition and will it work of I remove the old magisk data in twrp? Or am I gonna get a bootloop? That part scares me-i backed up my rom with twrpbut in unsure if its enough

just follow the guide exactly and you'll be fine ;)


text:
How is it possible to hack/steal the data of a stranger's Android phone by holding it by hand for a while?
Several years ago, I saw in my university a demonstration that someone wearing a special finger ring can transfer the data of a stranger's (Android) phone to somewhere without the owner of the phone knowing anything.
How is it possible? Is it possible to somehow check whether a phone is compromised in some way in this way?

Over the years, there were some vulnerabilities affecting the Android Bluetooth stack (sometimes on all devices, sometimes only on devices with a specific chipset). If the vulnerability allows remote code execution, then this can lead to information extraction.
Technically, a vulnerability in the NFC stack could also allow an attack as described in the question. But the NFC stack is much more simple which makes vulnerabilities less likely.
If that special finger ring contained a Bluetooth chip triggering such a vulnerability, it could make the phone execute code that connects to a server on the internet, receive more code from this server and then allow to remotely control the phone.
Once such vulnerabilities are found and reported to the device/chip manufacturer, they usually get fixed. The main problem is that the number of used Android devices that receive regular updates is too low. Some devices never get security updates, some only every few months, and the period all devices are getting updates is still shorter than people are using their devices.

Is there any way to check whether a phone is compromised in such a way? Or is it possible to disconnect to such a server after being attacked? (e.g. restarting the phone)

@Aqqqq For forensic experts sure, but I don't think regular users are able to do so. So the only chance is to not get infected. Disable Bluetooth on old devices and make sure you don't install unknown apps.


text:
How to open FTP URLs on Chrome for Android?
I can open the following link in Chrome on my PC, but my phone browser, which is also the latest version of Chrome, doesn't open it: ftp://tchdata.eili.ir (can only be accessed from Iran)
How can I open such links on my phone (Huawei P smart, if relevant)?

Chrome initially planned to depreciate support for FTP from version 81 but paused it because of COVID-19 (to help hospital staff access FTP resources) . In version 86 (currently latest on Play Store) , support to FTP has been depreciated for 1% users and by Chrome 87, it will be  depreciated  by 50% (Source).
So if you are lucky (not in the 1%), enable FTP flag by pasting chrome://flags/#enable-ftp in the address bar and launching Chrome again by pressing the prompt at bottom right.
Verified with this FTP site ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/   since link in OP can be accessed only from Iran.
If you can't access using browser, see this for other methods
How to connect an Android device to an FTP server?


text:
Why is "Meet Attendance" icon not enabled in Google Meet?
I (seem to) have installed the Meet Attendance Chrome extension for Google Meet by claycodes.org from Chrome Web store from my Android phone. The site responded by messaging that it has been added to the desktop.
But I find that the feature is not enabled when I start Google Meet on my Android phone, because I can not see the checkbox icon representing "Meet Attendance" during the Google Meet session.
Can I have this feature enabled so that I can use it on my Android phone?

You'll need a desktop to use that extension as it needs the desktop version of Chrome, and attendance will show up only when you join a meeting, given you are using a desktop.
You can still use the Google Meet Android app (which lacks important features from the web) and you can't add features that are not available there.


text:
Stop GMS Firebase Indexing from collecting all of the personal data
When I was playing with settings on my Nokia 6.1 Plus running a stock ROM Android 10 with bootloader unlocked and rooted with Magisk v21+, I noticed that Firebase App Indexing that comes under Google Account Preferences was collecting all of my personal data. Of course, GMS was the culprit.
Here's the proof: This was the message that I received from the bank for the transaction that I made yesterday.

Every message that I sent and received had been collected in this given format. Also, many apps that use Firebase API sent these kinds of information.
I'm a guy who thinks about user privacy all-day, so I've used:

Nuked_Script Magisk script that is used to disable trackers and ad services.
AFWall+ for Firewall (root).
Bouncer - Temporary App Permissions.
AdAway for nullifying ads (root) - ads on Gmail, Twitter, Instagram still exist though
Bromite webview and browser (Webview Switcher module).

When I turned the developer options off, Firebase App Indexing options also turned off (I mean hidden). So, does it mean that it stopped collecting my data? I still doubt that.
How can I stop this from happening?
P.S: I'm used to using Google Apps. But I don't want to give them such personal data.

You can add stronger measures , since your device is rooted

First is Xprivacy Lua which does an excellent job of protecting your privacy and also Firebase Analytics amongst other trackers (XPrivacyLua needs EdXposed. For EdXposed installation on 10, see How to install EdXposed on Android 10 without triggering safety net)

Next, download Warden App from F-droid or Izzy's repo. It is specifically aimed at killing trackers and loggers (with a few exceptions). You can selectively use the app to work on your apps or apps plus system.

By turning developer options off, you are only hiding what's happening w.r.t Firebase.
In addition, see answer here How can I make an Android app "forget" that it installed on my phone before?

as you are rooted why not to try old brute way: block all Firebase through /etc/hosts?
I think that Firebase now is one of the hotest hole in mobile security..
this channel actively used not only for leaking personal data but also for C2 connections.
yes, you should clearly understand that by this way you are blocking although debug and performance monitoring streams from your device..

By blocking all the firebase, I believe that it also blocks essential services that is required for an app to communicate. For example, Signal Messenger uses FCM to deliver push notifications. Blocking firebase blocks access to that which is not what I need.


text:
Hide USB debug mode from app without rooting
How do I hide USB debugging mode from an app without rooting? Is it possible? I need to automate an app, but it has a USB debugging mode restriction. Please give me advice.

The Automate app do not have any "USB debug mode restriction", but it do include some optional features that rely on the system "USB debugging" or "Wireless debugging" developer options, i.e. the Android Debug Bridge. It's impossible to hide that either of those optional are enabled from other apps.

The only way to bypass a debug mode check on an unrooted device is by manipulating the app itself.
However apps that check debug mode usually contain other protection measures like app signature self-checks, app integrity checks, or use an app obfuscator and protector or are even bound to Google Play Integrity.
What type of app are we talking about? An app you need for corporate access? Then it may be easier to talk to your company administrators if this restriction is configurable. Debug mode checks are often left-overs from old Android versions. Before Android 4.2 debug mode and Android Debug Bridge were very insecure and could act like a back door bypassing all security restrictions configured by the admins. At that time blocking adb was important for device security but nowadays that isn't necessary anymore as adb does no longer accept unauthorized connections.