text:
Starting an activity listed under "Settings" from terminal (or adb shell)
I would like to start this activity from terminal: com.android.settings.Settings$PowerUsageSummaryActivity
I tried
am start -S com.android.settings/.Settings$PowerUsageSummaryActivity

and this is what I get:
Stopping: com.android.settings
Starting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] cmp=com.android.settings/.Settings }

The problem is am start command omits the $PowerUsageSummaryActivity part, so basically I'm just getting standard "Settings" menu open.
how can I open that specific "power usage summary" page from terminal?

Have you tried putting it into single quotes, i.e. 'com.android.settings/.Settings$PowerUsageSummaryActivity' -- or escaping the $ like com.android.settings/.Settings\$PowerUsageSummaryActivity -- which is the usual stuff to do on the shell when dealing with literal $ signs not indicating a variable?

How about open Tasker's RunLog activity on top from terminal?
Tasker has a 3 dot menu to open the Log window.

As I wrote in my comment, there are some special characters needing extra care when working at the shell prompt (or in shell scripts). One of them is the $ sign, which usually indicates a variable. If that should be taken literally, you need to escape it (or enclose the entire string by single quotes). Similar rules for quotation marks.
How your command should look like with an escaped $, you can already find in eldarerathis' answer:
shell@android:/ # am start -n com.android.settings/.Settings\$PowerUsageSummaryActivity

Note the "back-slash" in front of the $ -- that's the escape sign. Use the same for quotation marks or blanks, if your command includes some to be taken literally, e.g.
myscript.sh first\ parameter\!
myscript.sh "first parameter!"

both would do the same: Making the string a single parameter. In the example of your am start command, this is what happened on parsing:

command: am
parameter 1: start
parameter 2: -S
parameter 3: com.android.settings/.Settings$PowerUsageSummaryActivity

has a $, interpreting: variable $PowerUsageSummaryActivity is not set, so empty
conclusion: parameter 3 is com.android.settings/.Settings

Note also that if you run this directly via adb shell, the command goes through shell parsing twice, so you need to escape or quote the command again, like this:
user@desktop:~$ adb shell am start -n 'com.android.settings/.Settings\$PowerUsageSummaryActivity'

oh thanks! oh how could i forget to escape $... i'm duly shamed :)

The little things in life... Easy to overlook :) Btw: If that solved your issue, consider marking one of the answers as "accepted" (clicking the checkmark next to it) [and upvote the other :)] -- so it's clear to other people tapping into a similar trap :)

oh i found the checkmark. so this is how i accept the answer... thanks this is the first time i use stackexchange ;)

You're welcome anytime :) Now you see how well it works here: spread the word :)

With bash, in my case, only this worked: adb shell 'am start -n com.android.settings/.Settings\$PowerUsageSummaryActivity'. Don't know why.

Escape the $ in the sub-class name and it should work:
shell@android:/ # am start -S com.android.settings/.Settings\$PowerUsageSummaryActivity
Starting: Intent { cmp=com.android.settings/.Settings$PowerUsageSummaryActivity }
shell@android:/ #

Another option is to instead send the intent that the Power Usage screen listens for:
shell@android:/ # am start -a android.intent.action.POWER_USAGE_SUMMARY

You can find the intents by looking at the <action> tags in the AndroidManifest.xml file for the Settings "application" (which can be viewed on GitHub). As an example, here is the activity definition for the Settings$PowerUsageSummaryActivity:
<activity android:name="Settings$PowerUsageSummaryActivity"
        android:label="@string/power_usage_summary_title"
        android:uiOptions="none"
        android:taskAffinity=""
        android:excludeFromRecents="true">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.POWER_USAGE_SUMMARY" />
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
        <category android:name="com.android.settings.SHORTCUT" />
    </intent-filter>
    <!-- Some other stuff here... -->
</activity>


text:
Unplugged my cable while upgrading via Odin
My cable was unplugged while my Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100 upgrading with Odin. Now, nothing appears on the screen, even when I plug the charger. How can I fix my device?

Have you tried rebooting into the Download mode and trying the upgrade again?

Exactely! But now Nothing appear on the screen , even if I plug the charger

You will have to Switch ON the phone in "Safe Mode" by pressing the Volume down, Power, and the Home button all together. Then, factory reset the phone, and upgrade it through Odin; or on a safer side, use Samsung Kies for upgrading to a new OS.

Thank you so much! but i tried to do this and nothing happen. nothing appears on the screen! I can say that the phone can not turn on. When i plug the charger nothing appears! What could you advise me in this way!!! Thanks in advance!!

Connect your phone to ur PC through kies ! And then see if it discovers the device...download the ROM that is officially launhed for your phone (through sammobile if u have samsung android samrtphone ) and restore that to your phone !

On your phone in safe mode by using ..." Lock +Volume Up + home " for some seconds !!

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
galaxy3 update that keeps updating for 3 days plus!
My Galaxy 3 said there was an update to 4.3 available. So I connected a charger and started the upgrade. It warned me that I cannot use phone while upgrading, even for an emergency, bla bla. Of course, I continued with the upgrade, and it went through a couple of processes and then said android is now rebooting!
After it reboot, it came back on saying was upgrading my apps.
That was 3 days ago and is still saying it. I've taken the battery out, put it in, switched it off then on, etc. As I'm typing this, it's still saying the same thing! I can't do a thing with it now!
Any ideas to what is going on? Or is my phone now rendered useless?

It is unlikely that your phone is useless. From the symptoms you state, it sounds like you have done one or more of the following,

Rooted your phone
Unlocked the bootloader
Installed a custom recovery
Installed a custom ROM

If even any one of these is true, the OTA update will fail and redownload itself because it thinks it was a bad package download.

Thanks for your input,apreciate all the help but unfortunatly iv not rooted the fone,and iv made absolutly no changes at all! i simply agreed to terms&cond and clicked update! im still learning i wouldnt have a clue how to do any of the above. my son pointed out app i was all but out storage?idn any clues as  how i can stop it from continuing to repeat update! as we speak its still going! oh gawd trust me! thanks anyway

Could you ask your son if he did any of these without your knowledge? I'm afraid its peculiar that something of this sort should happen on a normal device. Also are you sure, its the same update package (4.3) and not a update to 4.3 (so like 4.3.1)?

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


text:
How to connect Android mobile with PC using Teamviewer app using Wifi connection without internet?
I know we can use the teamviewer app to connect to PC using internet connection for remote desktop connection.
But I want to know if it is possible to connect the PC with Phone using the Wifi connection. Both the Android device and the computer are on the same network, and I want to connect them directly, without needing internet access.
Teamviewer has an option to connect to PC's within same LAN. But these settings needs to be configured in the systems to be communicated.
I don't know how to change these settings in my phone. Does anyone know how to achieve this or know any better free app that allows remote desktop connection using wifi, without needing internet access?

For that you need the full version of TeamViewer.
reference: http://www.teamviewer.com/en/help/40-Can-TeamViewer-be-used-within-a-local-network-LAN-only.aspx
You can establish Remote control sessions on your local network directly by using IP addresses or computer names. By default this feature is deactivated because software firewalls may open an acceptance dialog when configured this way.
To activate the LAN mode in TeamViewer full version and Host module:
In the menu click on Extras and then on Options
On the General tab activate Accept incoming LAN connections

When selecting accept exclusively it will display the IP-address of the computer in the ID-field.
A connection can now be established using the IP-address or alternatively using the host name.

Lucifer, I think you don't get the point I am trying to explain here. The answers that you posted are all related to PC(Desktop or laptop), I don't have these "Options" menu, etc in the mobile app. May be you should install the teamviewer app in your phone 1st to understand my question...

TeamViewer for Android.  Try installing this app, connect with ur lap using wifi and if you are success, reply with the procedure and I will mark your answer as the "Right Answer". Happy? :P

Did you buy the full version?

First, no need for a commercial TeamViewer license (neither mobile nor PC), the unlicensed versions will do. Second, I believe asker wants to know "how to change these settings in my phone", i.e. how to enter the IP address to connect to. Simple: just input the IP address in the Partner-ID field. To enter the . between numbers, tap the 'Sym' button on the 'phone-style' keypad, and the keypad layout will change to one which has a button with . on it. To continue entering digits, tap the 123 button. Easy as pie.

The 1st thing to do is
1.Connect your android device with your Lap or PC using wifi hotspot.
2.Turn off your mobile internet which was shared with the connected Lap/PC. This makes sure that no internet is shared and only the network connection remains between these devices.
3.Once these 2 steps are done properly, the TeamViewer ID changed from number (Eg:164716358) to its local IP address (Eg:192.168.43.118). So connecting with this IP address connects the mobile and Lap/PC using wifi and this allows remote desktop connection.
But still using this method file transfer was not successful, still remote desktop connection was successful, which solved my issue after lot of research :D

You can establish Remote control sessions on your local network directly by using IP addresses or computer names. By default this feature is deactivated because software firewalls may open an acceptance dialog when configured this way.
To activate the LAN mode in TeamViewer full version and Host module:
In the menu click on Extras and then on Options On the General tab activate Accept incoming LAN connections
When selecting accept exclusively it will display the IP address of the computer in the ID-field.
A connection can now be established using the IP-address.

I am currently looking to do this too, I have done some research this morning and this is the one that seems to do what I / You want:
https://www.mobizen.com/
Google play link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rsupport.mvagent&utm_source=androidtapp.com&utm_medium=Web&utm_campaign=Install
I have not tested it though as I am at work, will check it out tonight.

Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference. Otherwise, your answer becomes useless in case the link dies. For further hints, please see: How do I write a good answer. Apart from that, OP asked specifically for TeamViewer – so I'm not sure how your answer applies.

I found a way to establish a working TeamViewer connection between my android tablet and my windows pc. I use mhotspot to create a wifi hotspot on my windows laptop and connect my android tablet to this new hotspot. TeamViewer is accepting this way immediately.

There's another android application, named Bluetooth Remote PC, which will give you the remote connection to your laptop by using either your android cell phone's bluetooth or wifi connection.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! Please avoid txtspeak. We have many non-native English speakers here already having difficulties reading it without that. Moreover, without a link to the app, the answer is not very helpful.


text:
camera has stopped unexpectedly
I have a Micromax A25 running Android version 2.3.6. The camera no longer works on it. When I open up the camera app, it closes with an error message saying .com.mediaket.camera has stopped unexpectedly.
What should I do?

Can you access the gallery app? Did you install any apps that restrict the use of the camera? Are you rooted? Do you remember what things or steps you did, prior to the camera app FC'ing?

Clear App Cache/Data
The first thing you should try is clearing the cache for your camera app. In the phone settings, go to the applications manager and locate your camera app (the same screen you would use to uninstall the app). If your camera app is built-in, you may have to navigate to a tab that shows all apps installed, not just ones installed by the user.
There should be a button called Clear cache. Click this and then try opening the camera app.
If it still crashes, go back to the same screen and click Clear data. This will not delete your photos; it will reset the camera app settings and return it to the initial state when it was first installed.
Use a different camera app
Try installing another camera app from the Play Market. There are plenty of free ones available. If those work, perhaps your camera app is simply buggy or doesn't work with your device.
If other apps still can't access the camera, you may have a deeper problem.
Factory Reset
As a last resort, you can reset your device to factory settings. Make sure you back up any important data to your computer or to an external SD card.
Re-flash Rom
If a factory reset doesn't do it, you'll have to delve into deeper waters. Look around on XDA Forums or other places on how to flash a Rom to your device.
Replace Hardware
There is always the slight chance that your hardware is physically damaged. In that case, you'll just need to replace it or live without a camera.

There are two fixes main to this problem that I know of.
1) The first is restarting the device.
2) The second is factory reset. (If you choose this you may want to make sure you backup anything important.)
Other fix:
Clear your device cache. (Sometimes this works, doing it differs from device to device.)


text:
Android kernel decompiling?
I want to decompile kernel to add features like OC. I extracted ram disk, dts (device tree source) and compiled kernel from boot.img. I also have other files like recovery, system, data, etc. How to decompile this kernel or add features other way?

Why do you need to decompile the kernel? The source is already available.

Here i manage this kernel dissembling .
http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=582284&view=findpost&p=82274775

Decompression games, objdump and a lot of fun cross referencing strings to identify pieces of code by what they printk()

I am bit confused, why do you want to decomplie something that is open source? You only need to grab the kernel sources, make your edits and compile it for your device.
Here some links to get you started:

Setup the build environment
Building Kernels
Kernel Source Repository

This answer is a bit naive.  While all vendors of a Linux kernel (Android or otherwise) gain the right to distribute copies only by agreeing to provide complete corresponding source, that sadly doesn't always mean that they will.  With a few leading brand exceptions, generic sources won't typically work on the physical device in front of you, and even to the degree that they might it is sometimes necessary to take apart the existing binary kernel to figure out how to adapt and configure generic sources to work on the hardware.

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


text:
Can't delete "Layar" app from rooted Samsung 551
I rooted my Samsung 551 with Android 2.3.6 to delete some useless apps such as Orkut, Midnight Bowling and Layar. In trying to delete the Layar app (from /system/apps) I couldn't find it there and there is no layar.apk file or even another file name with layar's icon. Is there another path where Layar is installed? Should I config something to find its de-installation path?

Are you using adb or a file manager? That's a bit what it sounds like. Using Titanium Backup to uninstall might be easier since it will give you a nice GUI and such.

Solved (at least Layar is not being showed as installed anymore). On this site I found that I could also remove the /data/app/com.layar.apk file. I did it and now I have +8MB of free space on my Galaxy.


text:
ASUS Transformer TF101 freezes on many ROMs
Problem:
I have this TF101, which freezes in virtually every ROM I've tried. When I'm playing a game, refreshing Twitter timeline by dragging down, or sometimes even simply viewing settings, the screen freezes. The sound and logcat however continue. I can also turn the screen on and off by pressing the power button, but the lockscreen does not show up. When I press the volume buttons, sometimes logcat says it's registering the presses, but ignores them: I/InputDispatcher(141): Dropped event because input dispatch is disabled.
Here's a Youtube video showing the problem.
Analysis:
As said, logcat continues while the freeze is happening. Here are two logcats of the freeze and a traces.txt:
Device info: Stock ROM
Android version: 3.1
Kernel version: 2.6.36.3-00011-g3eb19ec android@Mercury #1
Build number: HMJ37.WW_epad-8.4.4.11-201107011
S/N: B70.........
Problem: Freeze as mentioned before.
Logcat
Device info: Stock ROM after 2 ASUS updates
Android version: 4.0.3
Kernel version: 2.6.39.4 android@Mercury #1
Build number: IML74K.WW_epad-9.2.1.24-20120503
S/N: B70.........
Problem: Freeze as mentioned before, but now the device reboots itself short time later.
Logcat
Device info: Prime! 1.8 ROM flashed using NVFlash
Android version: 2.3
Kernel version: 2.6.36.4-g565dea1 roach@nimda #20110816
Build number: HTJ85B.prime_epad-1.8-20110821
S/N: B70.........
Problem: Freeze as mentioned before. This is the ROM in which the freezes less frequently happen, but they still happen.
Traces.txt
Solution:
I have no idea. That's why I came here. Any help is appreciated.

I have found a ROM that does not have this problem, the newest AOKP ROM.

The t101 is getting long in the tooth. Not sure what version of android you're on (as you probably know kitkat is supposed to be better for older devices) but I expect that many recent ROMs coupled with recent apps, which are much more resource intensive than the apps of 2010 or 2011, are bogging down the tablet's aging insides. If suggest researching 2014 ROMs others have had success with on the T101 and installing one of those and also being vigilant about killing apps you're not using to free up RAM.

I think apps going a bit slower because they're resource-intensive on older hardware is somewhat different from the screen freezing completely. Also, killing apps to "free up RAM" is counter-productive and makes your device slower: see our many other questions on that subject.


text:
How do I re-use my account information on Kindle app?
I downloaded the Kindle app from the Play Store but I uninstalled it after trying it out because I went tested other ereaders as well. The problem is, when I decided to settle for the Kindle app. I downloaded it and there was no option to log in. Only an option to Register. Thus, when I "Registered" again with the same account information I used before, my device was dubbed "My Name's 2nd Android". I also lost my first @kindle.com email and it has now been appended with some numbers. Is there any way to get around this?

I think "Registering" is essentially akin to logging in, but it attempts to tie your device to your account using some kind of identifier so that Amazon can keep track of how many mobile devices you have accessing your account. You could try going into your Amazon settings (on their website) and removing all of your devices, then re-registering. You can do this from the "Your Account" page by clicking the "Your Apps and Devices" link (it's in the Digital Content section).

Yes, you "Register" the device as an authorized device for your Amazon account

To get back your @kindle email address (assuming someone else hasn't acquired it in the meanwhile), browse to Amazon.com and navigate to Your Account > Manage Your Kindle > Manage Your Devices > Personal Documents Settings (this last link is rather less than obvious, below the panel showing a photo of a KF).  There is a link there to edit/change the KF's email address.  You can do this from any computer; it doesn't have be done on your KF.

Thank you so much! However, what I needed to do was instead, go to Your Account > Manage Your Kindle > Manage Your Devices and Deregister "My Name's Android" which I think I failed to do before uninstalling it before. Then clear the data on the Android app then open it up to setup again. Everything is now back to normal. Your post helped me get to that section of the website. :P


text:
My Android tablet seems to be "read-only"
I got an iView 7" Android tablet about a week ago, and it's been doing fine until today. This is the product on NewEgg
In short; it seems my internal storage just won't accept any changes of any kind, which is causing all manner of odd errors.
I have gone to the extent of trying a Factory Reset; powering off, holding Vol-Up, Home and Power; waiting for the prompts, and choosing the Factory Reset option. But it did not work - after rebooting, everything is just like it was before; My ADW Desktop is still there; all my programs and data, everything.

Of course, it's not usable as is, though; Programs don't work as intended. Some (Like Facebook and Calendar Storage) Force Quit as soon as I unlock the home screen. Others will Force Quit during operation - usually, one can tell, when it's needing to save some data. Yet others appear to operate, but don't save their data; the program apparently just 'swallows' the error.
Some system functions don't even work; for instance, I can't connect to WIFI; when I turn it on, the WIFI item in the settings area just shows "Error".
I can't even uninstall programs. Well, I can; But as soon as I reboot, they are back.
Via the file manager, I can not modify any of the files on the user area of the internal SD Card.
The tablet is rooted (it comes rooted; I did not do this myself), and using ES File Explorer I can go to /system/app/ and I can, for example, rename APK's and it appears to take effect as you would expect, but then as soon as I reboot, the program is back in the state it was in before.
All I have done with root access on this device is installed Superuser and ES, then mounted the system so I could rename the Phone.apk and Telephony.apk files so they would not run, since this is a tablet with WIFI only. I did that as soon as I got the table last week, and it hasn't given me any other troubles. Now, those files can't be renamed back to their original permanently.

So, I'm wondering if perhaps my internal memory card is fried or something? It seems odd that the behavior would be so predictable with a hardware error like that, but who knows?
Anybody have any idea?

Well, I have solved the issue, though I have no idea why or how it occurred.
What I did was flash the ROM, including reformatting the internal storage. In the process, I've updated the tablet to ICS.
I won't accept this answer right away because I'm not sure if someone might have experienced this recently and knows a bit more about it than I do.

I am facing the same issue with my VOX V81 tablet. I formatted its internal storage and did a factory reset. But when I rebooted it, it came to its previous state.
I suppose that it is due to the Avast Mobile security I installed on this tablet; after installing Avast, this problem started. So I suggest you to uninstall any antivirus or mobile security application.

In my case, factory reset also did not work. I needed to actually flash the ROM and completely reformat the thing. I still have no clue why it happened in my case; I didn't have any antivirus/security apps installed at all. But this might help someone else with the same problem, so +1


text:
How to enable USB mass storage feature on newer Android devices?
As a Linux user, it sometimes gets too tedious to get MTP working. So I want the USB mass storage feature back. The main reason is that my TV doesn't support MTP. I used to watch movies and videos from my old Android device via USB mass storage on my TV, but I can't do that with MTP anymore. I am also ready to root my phone or install a custom ROM.
How to enable the USB mass storage feature on newer Android devices?

Are you fixed on UMS – or would you also be open to other solutions to the issue behind? I never use MTP (unless I cannot avoid it), but using ADB it is possible to "mount" the Android device's storage into the local file system. No root needed, but ADB and command-line. Once mounted, you can of course also access it via graphical tools like file managers. Would that be acceptable? Then I'd provide an answer with more details.

@Izzy I don't know about the OP, but I would love to know how to do that.

@acejavelin doesn't fully answer the question as it currently stands – but take a look at adbfs-rootless (ADB file system in user-space). Using it for some years now and am quite happy with it.

@lzzy I am open to other solutions too.

@Izzy This is amazing, but I doubt you could get that to work on your average smart TV.

@confetti There's that, I cannot try as I have no such. But then, why not? There are ADB clients on Android as well. But then, before it's clear whether it works I rather do not put this as an answer. voldemort: could you take a look at it and see if it works for you?

@lzzy  adbfs-rootless isn't working on my TV

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

AFAIK this is not possible, but maybe some custom ROMs allow it through some hacky stuff, so correct me on that if I'm wrong, but....
There's an app called DriveDroid - It's primarily used to boot your PC from an Image-/ISO-File that's stored on your android, but you can also use it for what you're after. It needs root.
Once you open the app, hit the menu button and go to Create blank image.

This is from their page about a tutorial on how to make a bootable partition, you can choose any name here and any size you want your removable media to have. Leave MBR unchecked.
Once you created the image, you can tap on it in the app's main screen and choose the first option to make the image mountable as a writable USB drive. After that, plug the phone onto your PC, it will detect an unformatted drive.
On Windows, you can simply hit "Format" in the popup it should show, asking if you want to format the drive. FAT32 will work fine as partition type.
On Linux, find out the drive letter using the lsblk command and then run mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sdX1 (replacing sdX1 with the drive letter and partition number of your drivedroid image) to format it. (Or use GParted for example as GUI application)
After that you can copy/move/whatever files on there as you wish, as if it was a normal USB drive, and your TV should detect it just like that.

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


text:
Open .ts files on Android
I am trying to open .ts files on my Android tablet, but it's prompting me to open with any Video Player installed on my device. .ts files are TypeScript files, just like .js JavaScript files but TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript.
I am trying to open and edit them in an app called AIDE Web.

If I change the extension, I am able to open the file and edit the text, but I don't want to do this.
So how can I open these files to view or edit them?

Device details (if relevant):

LineageOS (Android 7.1.1)
Rooted

.ts is a container for video files (Transport Stream) that is why Android tries to open them in a video player. Since you device is rooted you may be able to change this file association, but I have no idea how.

@Alex.S then any work around you know of

Try this https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/remove-change-set-default-apps-android/

I believe that it depends on your file manager how a file will be opened. So here's a workaround. Download a file manager called Amaze, find the file you are looking for, press on the three dots next to the file name, and select "open with" this will allow you to open the file in any app you want to.
I only tested this with amaze file manager, but I would imagine that the same options exist in other file manager apps.

Now i am able to open the file only in note editors, still AIDE app is not supporting it.....but anyhow thanks for the workaround :)

If you press on "other" (second screenshot) and select AIDE app, and it tells you that it's not supported, then It means that the app was not made to support that kind of file.


text:
Drag to change route in Google Maps
In the web version of Google Maps, we can use "drag and drop" to get a custom route:

How can we do this on Google Maps for Android? I tried to drag, but it doesn't work. It provides several alternative routes, but none of them is what I want.

You can't drag in-route points of a given Google Maps for Android route, you can instead drag departure and arrival spots 'A/B' spots. Drag in-route points is indeed a very interesting feature, but not available in Google Maps for Android yet.
You can drag the markers by doing:
(click images for larger variant when needed)

Open Google Maps and tap "Direction" icon:

Select either "My location" or a point in the map:

In the example, I selected a point in the map:

Same step with destination:

You touch wherever you want the point in the map:

Tap the button to get the route:

When you see the departure/arrival green markers in the screen, you can just tap and hold to drag them to other locations. The route will get auto-updated to new locations.

Thanks, but how can I drag the departure/arrival spots? It doesn't work on my phone.

Answer updated with step-2-step instructions, btw, my phone is in spanish.

I think the new Maps version doesn't support this yet. I have the A, B buttons but can't hold and drag. Thanks for your answer anyway.

Note: As of current, Google Maps has been updated so many times, and this answer doesn't reflect the current interface/logic.

Looks like this still isn't possible :(

still impossible. worse, sending directions from web to android removes dragged waypoints.

I figured out that the only way to get around not being able to drag and change your route on the Google Maps app for Android, is to add multiple destinations. This is how you do it (according to Google support, with my CORRECTIONS added in)! ;)
Add multiple destinations:
Open the Google Maps app maps.
Search for your destination or tap it on the map.
In the bottom right, tap the blue circle. It'll show a car, bus, bike, taxi, or person walking.
Start the navigation.
In the bottom right, tap the little icon with the three dots in a column, and "search along route". Then "search for more places."
The search bar will appear at the top, and you will have to type in the intersection where you want to stop or "detour" to. You can also add a specific place, like a restaurant, for example.
Touch the location on the map when it pops up, and then "add stop" at the bottom right.
Now it will alter your route to include that stop along the way! PRESTO! :)
Notes:
You can (EDIT: are SUPPOSED to be able to) add up to 9 stops (but I haven't figured this out yet because it won't let me add any more than ONE STOP)!
Directions to multiple destinations, or waypoints, aren’t available for public transit or rides.
To change the order of your stops, find the destination you want to move and then touch and hold Reorder  and then drag the destination.
You can search for places along your route.
I HOPE THIS HELPS! "HAPPY MAPPING!!" :D

If you use browsers that support "request desktop site" (e.g. FireFox), open Google Maps and request it. All the normal PC controls including drag route will appear.

I need it in the Maps app, since I want to use the route for navigation.

Update your Google Maps android app it has now got add stops option.  You can add as many stops as you want.  After that press direction button, then you also have alternate route options black-gray color roads where you can tap and select.  Made easy.  :-)

Recently have the situation, when Google Maps route wasn't optimal, but I want to change it and save on the phone. Actually the only way I could do that via Google apps was only via My Maps https://www.lifewire.com/make-custom-route-on-google-maps-4126536 then open Android app My Maps, and my custom map. Not a quite easy way :)

That's an interesting idea, but it seems like more work than just adding extra stops in the Maps app directly.

U cant drag the travelling blue line into desired route if in Lite Mode. Switch to full google maps mode.
https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3031966?p=litemode&hl=en&visit_id=1-636428057481232693-2574483336&rd=1

Well, I've never answered an online question before, but here goes nothing. Pretty much all you have to do is start from your location then press the three vertical dots next to where it says "Your location" and click "Add stops". After that, you will be able to add the stops where ever you need them. I believe you can add up to 9 stops (the most I've ever needed was 4, so don't quote me on that). This feature is one I find very helpful if you are kinda sure where you're going but not 100% sure, like myself when going to any place over 30 mins away. I really hope this helps!! :)

An option would be to make a route on your desktop and then share it to yourself via email, and then open the link when you were ready to use it.

You can drag and change the route. Simply right click on the white circle and choose "Add Desitnation".
After this these white circles become movable.
Now getting used to these changes takes time but one tip is if you want to choose a straighter route than a route with twists and turns then simple drag a circle on the twisty route to the straight route but remember to drop it on straighter path rather than on junctions. In this way it will have no other way but to align it with the straight route alone.
I hope this is helpful.

The OP is asking how to do this on Android (which doesn't have a 'right-click'). They already know how to do it on a desktop computer.


text:
How to enable 3G video calls on Android smartphone?
re.:
How to enable video calls on Android smartphone ?
In pre Android times it was easy to make video call on a standard phone, featuring small screen.
Today video call functionality is not supported by most of makes, models of Android smartphones, for unknown reason.
Ok, you need to establish 3G/ LTE data conectivity for video streaming as extra add-on- communication channel.
Ok, I have 3G data transfer enabled and still no support for making video calls.
I am not interested in third party video calling apps.
I am aware, few smartphones by Samsung support video calling functionality.
Is it due to licencing or for another reason.
If video calling was supported by default 10 years ago and promoted at Barcelona Mobile Congress, so why today video calling in Android smartphones is not supported or disabled by 99% default.
I read a lot on this subject on the Internet but all I need is to have video calling enabled in my smartphones
and I can pay extra fee.
Let me know your opinion and solution ( not interested in third party apps supporting 3G video calling)
thank you
BTW
I was told (need to test it first) that Samsung 3G video calling enabled smartphone can video call my smartphone to enable 3G video calling on-the-fly, showing camera icon to click to pick up a call.
If this is the case, so in theory, any Android smartphone can support 3G video calling ( 3G connection established and paid by third party)
BTW2
I read related questions and answers
one asked 8 years ago
Questions regarding receiving 3G calls on my IDEOS
another asked 3 years ago
How to video call
and still clear why no 3G video calling support on newer Android smartphones,
since what is claimed:
\
"
 what you are looking for is the operator backed 3G-324M solution that is available on most 3G phones (not including iPhone or Android).
"

thank you, great 3G video calling by
[Tsahi Levent-Levi is Director of Technology and Solution at Radvision.
No discussion
"Be the first to comment.
Ok, but I really need 3G video calls on my Android smartphone.
Some models by Samsung still support 3G video calls and was told, can initiate video call to my Android smartphone, so all I need is to activate group 3G video call initiated by Samsung once in a time, to activate 3G video call in my phone.
Let me know your opinion
and thank you for the link provided by you
Long Live 3G Video Calls ;)

not sure why the comment providing this great link

https://www.slashdata.co/blog/the-past-present-and-future-of-mobile-video-telephony

has gone ??????

"3G video calls was indeed included in the dumb phones dialler in the early days of 3G. That has changed with smartphones. "

from
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mobiledevices/forum/all/how-do-i-make-video-call-using-3g-by-lumia-625/0ca179d1-dde3-4720-8209-a9fb1fa8a7cb?page=1

Ok, I  need to go back to old dump phone to get 3G video calls supported

This article on the history and future of mobile video telephony from 2010 covers the challenges of mobile video telephony at that time.
The author lists out the then existing landscape and practical issues regarding video call adoption. Perhaps more importantly is to what the author sees in the future:

What’s next?
We do have mobile video telephony, with all of its benefits and faults. But where are we going with it? The next step will be a migration of the service from circuit switching to packet switching – to become all-IP. This will require two major changes:
Migration from WCDMA/HSPA to LTE, where an all-IP network will be the norm and network capacities and bandwidths allocated for each phone will increase.
  Replacement of 3G-324M with a different standard that runs over an IP network. Probably as part of IMS (IP Muiltimedia Subsystem).
  While Apple just came out with their front facing camera and FaceTime service on the iPhone, it is still quite limited: it runs over WiFi, only between iPhone 4 devices and uses a protocol that Apple plans to open. For mobile video telephony to become a valid solution it needs to use an open standard, run everywhere and be interoperable across devices.
When will that happen? At the very least 8 years from now it will require the creation of the necessary ecosystem of companies who care. The problem is that these companies are currently focused on providing the basics of the LTE infrastructure. This requires them to rethink their voice and SMS technologies in initiatives such as VoLTE (Voice over LTE).

So

To get mobile video calling operators/carriers were mandating handsets support 3G-324M (a 3GPP specification), at least until the iPhone arrived.
Operators/carriers switched focus to providing the basics of LTE infrastructure.
Apple hasn't opened up Facetime
Android itself has no requirement to support the 3G-324M, and Android Compatibility Definition Document shows no support beyond standard audio and video codecs so any support would have to come from manufacturers or carriers building it in themselves.
In the US, AT&T and Verizon have announced end of 3G support, In Europe Vodafone has announced that 3G will be turned off throughout Europe between 2020 and 2021, and Deutsche Telekom plans to do the same in 2020 while in other regions/carriers it is still TBD.

So while older devices, like the Samsung mentioned had some type of 3G video calling support, should the associated carrier end 3G, support for 3G video calling will probably end as well, as the future lies with VoLTE which removed the circuit switch requirements.
If you are looking for older devices which does support 3G-324M,
from: https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/android_video_calling

The only modern smartphones known to implement 3G-324M video calling are the Samsung Galaxy range:

Samsung Galaxy S4 +s5 +s6
Samsung Galaxy S3
Samsung Galaxy S2
Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy S I9000

Note that the most recent device that appears to have supported 3G calling on a carrier like Telstra AU is the Samsung Galaxy S5 whose last official update is Android 6.0.

"    Android itself has no requirement to support the 3G-324M, and Android Compatibility Definition Document shows no support beyond standard audio and video codecs so any support would have to come from manufacturers or carriers building it in themselves.
In the US, AT&T and Verizon have announced end of 3G support
So while older devices, like the Samsung mentioned had some type of 3G video calling support.
"
Great, but all I need is to buy dump phone or model of Samsung still supporting 3G video calls
for private use and tests to recall old good Barcelona Mobile Congress days

@aa You don't mention what region you are in or what carrier you use. You also excluded 3rd party apps in your original question. So if it works for you great, but on Android it would be a carrier(or perhaps region) specific dialer or 3rd party app. Also if the answer is acceptable, please mark it so.

Your answer is great but not tackling my question fully, since I need to get 3G video calls enabled loco Europe for personal use. I can switch between carriers (Orange or one another). My friend sells used smartphones so we can perform tests to succeed.
3G video calling was great and discovered by me 10+ years ago, so it's part of my life and need it get back and enabled on Android or any dump phone I can get at pocket price.
Since I get today unlimited phone calls, 3G data transfer for a pocket price, 3G video calling matters
__
Let us wait for one more answer to come

You should update your question to include your carriers and region where you want support. I would also check the Google Play store for region/carrier specific apps which would enable support for 3G video calls, but I fear that it is unlikely as this XDA post indicates it is a framework modification and carriers & manufacturers were focused on selling the new Android phone of the month, in addition to keeping up with Android releases over the past 10 years.

For the last months (since 01.01.2020) I worked with my friends from China on coronavirus epidemic. We have developed free  predictive precognition test whicch can be run remotely. 3G video call can support transfer of test parameters to local contact point, so I am not restricted by carrier or region. As a back up I try to  build ad-hoc mesh network made of 10-100 wifi smartphones, if local carrier fails. Test results should be delivered as images until image processing target app is readily developed. It's hard to deliver dump phones to patients at remote locations world-wide.

The last comment is off-topic. Open ended discussion should be done on an appropriate forum like reddit.

Is exactly on-topic, by your suggestion
"You should update your question to include your carriers and region where you want support.
"
I exactly know what what I need and what I should do since I have reported President Trump, VP on coronavirus epidemic development in China since 01.01.2020
Today we need 3G video calls urgently to run tests remotely.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

ok, thank you, my dear friend

you are invited to continue our chat at reddit, as suggested by you
https://www.reddit.com/r/3GVideoCalls/comments/g4ifwp/3g_video_calls_on_dump_and_android_smartphones/
r/3GVideoCalls  group created


text:
External Hard Drive to Smartphone without additional power supply
I) Goal
Use external hard drive without power supply - no hub either - to backup smartphone directly.
II) Configuration

Huawei Mate 20 Pro, this - I own this.
USB C male to USB A (3.0) Adapter (i.e. OTG adapter), this - I own this.
any of the following external hard drives:

WD ELEMENTS PORTABLE 4 TB WDBU6Y0040BBK-WESN - I think about buying this.
LaCie Rugged Mini 4 TB LAC9000633 - I own this, brand new & ExFAT formatted.

III) Problem
I don't know the power output of my smartphone or the power requirements of those hard drives exactly and am therefore not sure if my goal is achievable. When I connect my LaCie 4TB to my phone - via said USB-C-A-Adapter or directly via a USB-C-cable - the drive is not recognised and doesn't seem to spin.
IV) Known information / How I am trying to solve my problem
According to this and this my goal is achievable, according to this (Android Enthusiasts) maybe not.
I searched the web, but didn't find any official/trustworthy information from the manufacturers, from sellers or from users about the power in or output of either of those devices. The following information regarding the HDDs I found seems somewhat ambiguous:

WD = 1 watt (WD on Amazon, somewhat trustworthy, but only info about 3TB version, here).
LaCie = max. 2.9 watt (quite trustworthy actually, here).

My smartphone is able to supply an Apple Keyboard (wired) and an Apple Mighty Mouse (wired) at the same time over said OTG Adapter and a USB hub (hub power supply not plugged in!)... But I don't know the power consumption of those peripherals.
V) Main Questions

A) Is my goal really achievable? How?
B) Is my assumption right, that my LaCie HDD won't spin because of power supply issues?
C) Will the mentioned WD HDD do the job? If no, other suggestions, please.
D) How do I have to format my drives to be read by Android? (I've read ExFAT should work...)

VI) Additional, optional Questions

E) What are the actual power requirements (in watt) of those drives? What is the actual power output of my Smartphone over OTG? Maybe someone with experience (and/or who has these drives) knows those numbers? Don't bother looking into the spec sheets of those drive, there is no information about the power requirements in there.

VII) Disclaimer
I know, these aren't questions directly regarding Android. But,

first, there is no Stack Exchange Site about Smartphones,
second, I was sent here by the people of the Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange Site after posting this very question there (and deleting it now),
third, my smartphone is an android device,
forth, this might be a Android-ExFAT format problem (?),
and fifth, the Android community is really competent when it comes to tech questions,

so this is the right place for this, I think... Please don't hate on me for posting my questions here - I shall kindly migrate to another Stack Exchange forum if you know a more suitable one.
Many thanks.
VII) Update

Confirmed by Huawei support: The Mate 20 pro has 1 Ampere / 5 Volt output.
Confirmed by LaCie support: Said LaCie Drive - and as it seems every thing hooked up via USB 3.0?! - needs 0.5 Ampere (no voltage info) to function properly. - So why doesen't this work? Too low voltage?

One suggestion is to connect via adb over WiFi and see if the logcat provides any info about USB connection status.

Can't answer your question fully, but just to confirm, I have used Western Digital Elements SE Portable Hard Drive (WDBPCK5000ABK) - 500 GB formatted with NTFS on Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (mido). But the power consumption was high enough, might be causing discharging of battery at harmful rate.

A) Is my goal really achievable? How?

Unsure, see the answer to the second question of item E.

B) Is my assumption right, that my LaCie HDD won't spin because of power supply issues?

Yes. The HDD isn't spinning up because the power supply isn't sufficient.
Another reason would be the HDD being broken otherwise, but this is unlikely the case given your very detailed description of your problem.

C) Will the mentioned WD HDD do the job? If no, other suggestions, please.

For the same reason as B, this is unlikely. 2.5" HDDs nowadays have a fairly similar power consumption, regardless of brand. Older HDDs and HDDs with higher capacity tend to draw more power, but not making a huge difference.

D) How do I have to format my drives to be read by Android? (I've read ExFAT should work...)

Nothing. You're done it correctly - exFAT is the right filesystem for them.

E) What are the actual power requirements (in watt) of those drives?

As given in whatever you've read. Those claimed power requirements are usually correct.

What is the actual power output of my Smartphone over OTG? Maybe someone with experience (and/or who has these drives) knows those numbers?

So, this is the most tricky part...
I haven't used any Huawei phones, but from my past experiences phones don't output much power (usually less than 2W) to OTG devices. It's likely that your phone is doing the same - not supplying as much power as needed by the HDD.
From previous news (in my local language Chinese - sorry), Mate 20 / Mate 20 Pro is capable of running as a power bank, or "reverse charging". I'm guessing that the claimed 5V/1A output is only achievable in reverse charging, not OTG.
The conclusion is not quite delighting - you have to get some kind of external power supply before you can use your HDDs with OTG.

Many, many thanks for your in depth answer! I guess I have to use a memory stick then... :) About D): I formatted a Stick yesterday to FAT32 via computer (Mac) and it wasn't "read" by the phone; instead it asked me whether I wanted to format it via said phone, which I did. It was formatted to ExFAT and was "readable" by my Mac. But - as I wrote in the original post - when I format something via Mac to ExFAT it doesn't seem to be "readable" by the phone... Strange...?!

EDIT: Your answer to my last question makes my following comment redundant...: [About E): Well, according to my info - see "update" above: Phone output 1A/5V and 0.5A/na.V needed input by the LaCie eHDD - the connection should work properly, if the unknown needed input voltage of said LaCie isn't insanely high... Also strange...]

Ok, I'll try reformatting the HDD via phone to ExFAT now over a Hub. But it seems that I really have to bring along said hub or buy a stick - which isn't a problem, but I hoped this would work as demonstrated by a user (https://bit.ly/2F0ISWO - do you know what eHDD this is??) and as the background picture of the backup app suggests (https://bit.ly/2UsHT6R - kind of mean...), because there is so much more storage space on a HDD. Also, a hub defeats the purpose of a one cable eHDD... Thank you for clarifying this for me, though! :D

I use a Sundisk Dual flash drive (https://www.sandisk.com/home/mobile-device-storage/ultra-dual-drive-usb-type-c) for my backups now, which works fine with Huawei's preinstalled backup app - the only thing is, that the drive can wiggle somewhat and then disconnects... So in the end, the problem above is not solved but I've a workaround; I'll marke the answer above as solution and might test another external hard drive I have which is powered by a separate USB cable (separate from the data USB cable) a try one day. Thanks to all contributers!

This is a wild guess but may be worth a try.  On my Mate 20 Pro, if I go to 'Developer Options' in the Settings, there is setting for 'Select USB Configuration'. The default option is 1) Charging (which I presume means power on the way in to phone) but there are also options for 2) MTP (Media Transfer Protocol), 3) PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol), 4) RNDIS (USB Ethernet), 5) Audio Source and 6) MIDI.
Perhaps if you try one of these other options with the OTG cable, it may do something?
Like I said, a wild guess based on poking around in Settings since I've had the phone.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! None of those options will unfortunately help with powering up an external HDD.

I conform Reddy Lutonadio's comment. But thank you for your idea! :D


text:
I Have an LG P769. I am trying to root it and it is not working
Forewarning: I am not exactly an expert on this type of thing.
I have tried several things, but the problem seems to be that I cannot get into the bootloader via "adb reboot bootloader" or by pressing any of the physical buttons.
I have gone through most of the steps I can find on the internet, but all of them require that I first get into the bootloader. Here is what I am getting:
(ME): adb devices
List of devices attached
338A000600000001015D7E810201F01?        device
(ME): adb reboot bootloader
(PHONE): reboots, but not into bootloader
(ME): [any of the following:] "fastboot OEM device-id"; "fastboot reboot"; "fastboot devices", and so on
< waiting for any device >
[crashes, and I have to reopen the PowerShell]

As of right now, I think it might be an issue (or intended 'feature') that the phone has. If anybody can help me out with this, I would be very grateful. Thanks!
[I will be sure to update this with any details I remember or am asked for, and with updates.]

For Lg devices you must use a flash tool similar to Samsung's  Odin. A good site to download required files is enter link description here. If you can't figure it out from that site just google search those tools and there's plenty of tutorials.

Is this just to unlock the bootloader, or to fully root it? I really need to get into fastboot mode.

It can be used for either. One thing to be aware of is your screen will remain black when entering into fastboot, the only way to know if the button press method worked is by connecting via usb to computer and then running the fastboot devices command. Lg's tend to be fairly tricky to root.


text:
Need help in connecting my Samsung mobile
I use [TP-link Archer AC1200] as my primary router (according to my phone, I think my router’s IP address = 192.168.0.1) with SSID-1. Connected to it is the [TOTOLINK A2004NS] (whose LAN IP = 192.168.31.103) with SSID-2. It is followed by another router [TP-link WR1042ND IP] (IP address = 192.168.31.8 ******) with SSID-3.
I have three cell phones:
  (A) Redmi 6 plus
  (B) LG Stylus 3
  (C) Samsung A6-2018
Both (A) and (B) can access all those SSIDs, but (C) can access SSID-1 and SSID-2 only. It can detect the signal from SSID-3, but reports that there is no internet connection.
Below. The pictures on the right show that All three can be interneted via SSID-1. Those on the left show that Samsung alone canNOT be internet to SSID-3 while the other two can. [The meaning of those Chinese words shown on the Samsung means "internet option may not be available".]

Are there any other extra settings that I need to fix the Samsung phone?
Additional info:-
This incident happens when I have added the AC1200 as the new primary router. That is, before that I just had the A2004NS and the WR1042ND but all three mobiles worked well.

Why do SSID-2 and SSID-3 have the same IP addresses?

@ReddyLutonadio My post was edited (but wrongly). Fixed with additional info.

If SSID-1 and SSID-2 are off or down, is the phone able to connect to the internet via SSID-3?

@ReddyLutonadio Since SSID-1 is the primary router and therefore is the main passage to the internet, it must not be down. Tried just shutting down SSID-2 alone, all of the phones were down; including the computer (through  network cable).

@ReddyLutonadio I have added some pictures to clarify my question.

I am sorry but the image quality is so bad that I can't see anything of that photos. Use the screenshot function on the affected device to create images and upload them separately. Does the affected device really has no Internet access (sometimes Android is wrong) - ehich IP address does it get? BTW: Your network design is really strange. Why 3 routers? Are they cascaded -if yes why? Which router is the one that has really Internet access? Which one is active as DHCP server?

@Robert  The facts I want to show are (1) (Pictures on the right) Phones are placed side by side on the same spot & the result is all 3 can be interneted w/o any problem. (2) (Those on the left) The Lan, Lg, & Redmi can be interneted thro the same router (SSID-3) but the Samsung cant. I think the explanation is:- (1) I just have my  broadband changed from 500m to 1000m recently. That router (150 m only) is too old. (2) The checking for a good internet connection by Samsung is too strong & therefore it doesn't let go while the non Samsung's have lesser requirement. Will take away the old.


text:
Why restarting the phone fixes the problem of Google Keep of not syncing the notes?
That was the question only, because that happens to me a lot.
I work with keep in pc and android, and sometimes even if a have an Internet connection the notes are not syncing. And I wonder why this problem is fixed only by restarting the phone. Or better explained...
Why the process of restarting the device fix the syncing error?, so what's happening internally in the phone that's fixing the problem
Is this an app related issue?

Have you tried manually going into Settings - >Accounts >your Google account > Sync now instead of restarting the device?

No but maybe I formulated my question wrongly. What I mean is "Why the process of restarting the device fix the syncing error", so what's happening internally in the phone that's fixing the problem


text:
How to disable SIM notification telling you your number?
When I reboot my phone, I always get this message from Android:

Your number: +XX XXX XXXX XXXX

I'm on Android 9. How can I disable it? (I'm not changing SIMs or something, just plain reboot.) To clarify, this is not the usual notification that you get from other apps, but a simple popup (from the SIM card I presume). There is only one SIM card slot.

What do you mean by "get this message"? Is it an Android notification? If yes from which app does it come from? If your device a dual SIM device and do you have two SIM cards inserted?

@Robert Fixed. No it's from the system and my device only has one SIM card slot.


text:
Amazon Fire HD 10 (7th Generation), two profiles and non-working installation of Google Play Services on 2nd profile
I have an Amazon Fire HD 10 (7th Generation) with the latest version of Fire OS (5.6.0.0) installed. I would like to use two adult profiles, both should have access to the Google Play Store.
I had no problems installing the required Google APKs and apps from the Play Store in the primary profile, i.e.:

Google Account Manager
Google Services Framework
Google Play Services
Google Play Store
And then apps within the Google Play Store app.

But now, when I try to do the same procesure and install the Google Play Services APK above below the secondary profile, I get the following error when trying to install:

App not installed.

Nothing more; no error text, no error code. I've already tried rebooting the device and uninstalling the Google Apps and installing them in a different order. The crazy thing is: It already worked with two profiles before I factory resetted the device. The reason why I factory resetted was that I incorrectly added two Google accounts to the first Fire HD profile. That messed up Gmail and other apps. This is driving me insane.
Does anyone else encountered that problem and know how-to fix it / workaround it? I will not factory reset my device again, installing all apps and entering all the credentials takes hours. I am also afraid to uninstall the "Google Play Services" below the first profile, since I do not know if a new installation would work.

I've figured out the cause of the problem and post the solution here, so it may be helpful to others.

tl;dr: Avoid version mismatch (due to automatic updates) between Google Play Services and Google Play Store apps in Fire HD profiles.
The two apps Google Play Services and Google Play Store seem to get automatically updated, no matter whether automatic updates are enabled inside of the Google Play Store app.
The original versions (as listed in the questions) manually installed from APKs were:

Google Play Services: 11.5.09 (240-164803921)
Google Play Store: 8.4.40.V-all [0] [PR] 176415973

Some time after installation I checked the version information for both apps by doing the following:

Open the Settings app.
Select the Apps and Games button below the Device group.
Select the Manage All Apps button.
Select the All tab.
Scroll until Google Play Services and Google Play Store are visible in the list.
Select the list entry for each app.
Check and compare the version information (at the top).

By doing that I've noticed that the version of both apps has changed to the following:

Google Play Services: 11.9.51 (234-177350961)
Google Play Store: 8.5.39.W-all [0] [PR] 178322352

After I've downloaded the APKs for both versions from apkmirror.com (see links above) and installed them in the second profile the installation worked flawless.
I am now able to use Google Play apps in both the primary and secondary profile.
In conclusion the cause of the problem was a version mismatch between the Google Play Services and Google Play Store apps in the primary (newer, automatically updated versions) and secondary (tries to install older versions) Fire HD profile.

Worked like a charm! Attn novice users - APKMirror.com is where you find the Play Services and Play Store versions you'll need.

I found it difficult to find an exact match for the Google Play Services and Google Play Store apps installed on the first profile, so I just used a tool to get the APKs for what was already installed (I used File Manager, but there are many apps that can be used to do this). To share the files in between the two profiles I connected the Kindle to my computer via USB, copied the files to the computer while in the first profile, then switched to the second and transferred them back.

Thanks a lot, that helped (Fire HD8).
Had the problem that I tried to install Google Play on the second user, but it always said "Download Pending".
Solution thanks to your steps:

Install for first user on tablet
After Google Play Services and Google Play Store are updated on first user, write down version numbers
Install on second user:
3.a Google Account Manager
3.b Google Services Framework
Find same versions of Google Play Services and Google Play Store from first user on APKMirror and install on second user

Glad it helped. Consider upvoting my question and answer then please.


text:
What is this icon that looks like a battery with recycle symbol inside it?
I see this battery with recycle symbol icon to the left of the alarm icon for about 3 days.

I'm afraid it's a malware app. I tried to find it but couldn't. Also, Bitdefender anti-virus says your phone is safe.
What is this icon? How can I find what the icons shown in notification bar are for?

It is the Power saving mode active notification icon on Samsung devices. Find out more at Android Central.
Answer to second question: Just swipe down from screen-top. You can see notifications, tap on it, it will open that application. This link shows list of major  notification icons for Samsung devices.

It is a Power saver icon. If you want to disable it, just go to settings and disable power saver.


text:
How to force audio output?
I'm looking for a way to force audio output when i call someone :
I have a galaxy S7 connected to a bluetooth earphone and a bluetooth smartswatch.
When I call someone with the smartswatch, the output is the smartswatch, but i'd like to have the sound automatically on the earphone without having to switch it on the phone.
Any solution ?


text:
Automatically turn off bluetooth discoverability
Bluetooth discoverability is meant to be active only when in the Bluetooth settings. But somehow Xiaomi MIUI changed that so it is always active. Is there some tool that will turn off the Bluetooth discoverability automatically? So whenever Bluetooth is activated, phone restarts or similar it will turn off discoverability?
There are tools like Bluetooth Settings but whenever the phone is rebooted or Bluetooth is restarted the discoverability is activated again.
Maybe there is something like Macrodroid (did not find an option in there) that could do this?
//edit: as comments cannot hold only few characters I am adding my unfiltered log output here that is written when I change the settings via the above tool (only lines that are not clearly from something else/repeating).
[ 11-01 23:41:57.281 23646:23646 D/BluetoothAdapter ]
enable(): BT already enabled!

[ 11-01 23:41:57.288   666:  666 D/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
SerialClockVote: vote for UART CLK ON

[ 11-01 23:41:57.289  1925: 2052 D/AdapterProperties ]
Discoverable Timeout:120

[ 11-01 23:41:57.289   666:  666 D/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-wake_lock ]
Acquire wakelock is acquired

[ 11-01 23:41:57.289   666:  666 I/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
DeviceWakeUp: Writing IBS_WAKE_IND

[ 11-01 23:41:57.290  1925: 2052 D/AdapterProperties ]
Scan Mode:20

[ 11-01 23:41:57.293   666: 2642 I/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
ProcessIbsCmd: Received IBS_WAKE_ACK: 0xFC

[ 11-01 23:41:57.294   666: 2642 I/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
ProcessIbsCmd: Received IBS_WAKE_IND: 0xFD

[ 11-01 23:41:57.294   666: 2642 I/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
ProcessIbsCmd: Writing IBS_WAKE_ACK

[ 11-01 23:41:57.298 25175:25175 V//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:1006: remote_handle_open: Successfully opened handle 0xffffffff for '":;./\createstaticpd:sensorspd on domain 0

[ 11-01 23:41:57.337   666: 2642 I/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
ProcessIbsCmd: Received IBS_SLEEP_IND: 0xFE

[ 11-01 23:41:57.339 25175:25175 D//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:989: Error 0xfffffffb: remote_handle_open_domain: dynamic loading failed for chre_slpi on domain 0 (dlerror unknown error)

[ 11-01 23:41:57.339 25175:25175 D//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:925: Error 0x2c: remote_handle_invoke failed for handle 0xffffffff, method 5 on domain 0 (sc 0x5020000)

[ 11-01 23:41:57.339 25175:25175 E/CHRE     ]
Failed to deliver timestamp message from host to CHRE: 44

[ 11-01 23:41:57.379 25175:25176 D//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:989: Error 0xfffffffb: remote_handle_open_domain: dynamic loading failed for chre_slpi on domain 0 (dlerror unknown error)

[ 11-01 23:41:57.379 25175:25176 D//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:925: Error 0x2c: remote_handle_invoke failed for handle 0xffffffff, method 2 on domain 0 (sc 0x2000000)

[ 11-01 23:41:57.379 25175:25176 E/CHRE     ]
Failed to initialize reverse monitor on SLPI: 44

[ 11-01 23:41:57.379 25175:25176 D//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:1925: Error 4b: adsp current process handle failed. domain 0

[ 11-01 23:41:57.381 25175:25176 V//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:1006: remote_handle_open: Successfully opened handle 0xfbc6d8c0 for adsp_current_process on domain 0

[ 11-01 23:41:57.383 25175:25176 D//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:1925: Error 4b: adsp current process handle failed. domain 0

[ 11-01 23:41:57.386 25175:25176 I/chatty   ]
uid=1000(system) chre identical 1 line

[ 11-01 23:41:57.389 25175:25176 D//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:1925: Error 4b: adsp current process handle failed. domain 0

[ 11-01 23:41:57.416 25175:25175 D//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:989: Error 0xfffffffb: remote_handle_open_domain: dynamic loading failed for chre_slpi on domain 0 (dlerror segment 0 failed hash verification(0x0 B))

[ 11-01 23:41:57.416 25175:25175 D//vendor/bin/chre ]
vendor/qcom/proprietary/commonsys-intf/adsprpc/src/fastrpc_apps_user.c:925: Error 0x2c: remote_handle_invoke failed for handle 0xffffffff, method 0 on domain 0 (sc 0x0)

[ 11-01 23:41:57.416 25175:25175 E/CHRE     ]
Failed to start CHRE on SLPI: 44

[ 11-01 23:41:58.297   666: 2648 I/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
DeviceSleep: TX Awake, Sending SLEEP_IND

[ 11-01 23:41:58.297   666: 2648 D/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
SerialClockVote: vote for UART CLK OFF

[ 11-01 23:41:58.300 23646:23646 E/bcr      ]
run

[ 11-01 23:41:58.302 23646:23646 D/BluetoothAdapter ]
enable(): BT already enabled!

[ 11-01 23:41:58.332 23646:23646 W/IInputConnectionWrapper ]
getTextBeforeCursor on inactive InputConnection

[ 11-01 23:41:58.343 23646:23646 W/IInputConnectionWrapper ]
getSelectedText on inactive InputConnection

[ 11-01 23:41:58.345 23646:23646 W/IInputConnectionWrapper ]
getTextAfterCursor on inactive InputConnection

[ 11-01 23:41:58.356 23646:23646 W/IInputConnectionWrapper ]
getCursorCapsMode on inactive InputConnection

[ 11-01 23:41:58.367 23646:23646 W/IInputConnectionWrapper ]
beginBatchEdit on inactive InputConnection

[ 11-01 23:41:58.367 23646:23646 W/IInputConnectionWrapper ]
endBatchEdit on inactive InputConnection

[ 11-01 23:41:58.380  1941: 1941 I/KeyboardViewUtil ]
systemKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000; userKeyboardHeightRatio:1.000000.

[ 11-01 23:41:58.382  1941: 1941 I/AndroidIME ]
LatinIme.onDeactivate()

[ 11-01 23:41:58.383  1941: 1941 I/AndroidIME ]
LatinIme.onActivate() : EditorInfo = Package = by4a.bluetoothsettings : Type = Text : Learning = Disable : Suggestion = Show : AutoCorrection = Enable : Microphone = Show : NoPersonalizedLearning = Disable

[ 11-01 23:41:58.383  1941: 1941 I/Delight5Facilitator ]
initializeForIme() : Locale = [de], layout = qwertz

[ 11-01 23:41:58.400  1941: 1941 W/KeyboardModeManager ]
setInputView() : inputView = com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.libs.framework.core.InputView{9975614 V.E...... ......ID 0,0-1080,2135}

[ 11-01 23:41:58.400  1941: 1941 I/ConversationToQueryExtension ]
Conv2Query not enabled due to current app [by4a.bluetoothsettings] not in whitelist

[ 11-01 23:41:58.400  1941: 1941 I/ConversationToQueryExtension ]
onActivate() : Disabled by unsupported host app

[ 11-01 23:41:58.407  1941:24909 I/FederatedC2QExtension ]
Already registered manifest.

[ 11-01 23:41:58.407  1941:24909 I/FederatedC2QExtension ]
model for de/glowg_click_20190522 is not yet available

[ 11-01 23:41:58.407  1941:24909 I/FederatedC2QExtension ]
requesting model 'federated_conv2query_triggering_de_glowg_click_20190522'

[ 11-01 23:41:58.408  1941:24909 I/FederatedC2QExtension ]
no valid model for inferencing found, switching to baseline.

[ 11-01 23:41:58.411  1941: 3426 I/SP       ]
Syncing federatedc2q (20190522) with slices: [], metadata: false

[ 11-01 23:41:58.413  1941: 3426 I/SP       ]
Sync for federatedc2q succeeded in 4 ms: no changes

[ 11-01 23:41:58.413  1941: 3426 W/SP       ]
isDirectory returned false while listing files for /data/user/0/com.google.android.inputmethod.latin/files/superpacks/federatedc2q

[ 11-01 23:41:58.413  1941: 3426 I/SP       ]
GC for 'federatedc2q' (10) with ttl of 0 ms took 0 ms (0/0/0)

[ 11-01 23:41:58.414  1941: 3426 I/FederatedC2QExtension ]
Got no packs for locale: de

[ 11-01 23:41:58.447  1459: 4999 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
mCompatibilityFlags - 0

[ 11-01 23:41:58.447  1459: 4999 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
applicationDensity - 440

[ 11-01 23:41:58.447  1459: 4999 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
applicationScale - 1.0

[ 11-01 23:41:58.447   666: 2440 D/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-wake_lock ]
Release wakelock is released

[ 11-01 23:41:58.460  1459: 4999 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
mCompatibilityFlags - 0

[ 11-01 23:41:58.460  1459: 4999 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
applicationDensity - 440

[ 11-01 23:41:58.460  1459: 4999 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
applicationScale - 1.0

[ 11-01 23:41:58.708   666: 2642 I/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
ProcessIbsCmd: Received IBS_WAKE_IND: 0xFD

[ 11-01 23:41:58.709   666: 2642 D/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
SerialClockVote: vote for UART CLK ON

[ 11-01 23:41:58.713   666: 2642 D/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-wake_lock ]
Acquire wakelock is acquired

[ 11-01 23:41:58.713   666: 2642 I/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
ProcessIbsCmd: Writing IBS_WAKE_ACK

[ 11-01 23:41:58.734  1459: 1543 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
mCompatibilityFlags - 0

[ 11-01 23:41:58.734  1459: 1543 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
applicationDensity - 440

[ 11-01 23:41:58.734  1459: 1543 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
applicationScale - 1.0

[ 11-01 23:41:58.755   666: 2642 I/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
ProcessIbsCmd: Received IBS_SLEEP_IND: 0xFE

[ 11-01 23:41:58.755   666: 2642 D/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-ibs_handler ]
SerialClockVote: vote for UART CLK OFF

[ 11-01 23:41:58.797  1459: 2397 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
mCompatibilityFlags - 0

[ 11-01 23:41:58.797  1459: 2397 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
applicationDensity - 440

[ 11-01 23:41:58.797  1459: 2397 D/CompatibilityInfo ]
applicationScale - 1.0

[ 11-01 23:41:58.905   666: 2440 D/vendor.qti.bluetooth@1.0-wake_lock ]
Release wakelock is released

[ 11-01 23:41:58.980  1459: 1469 I/system_server ]
NativeAlloc concurrent copying GC freed 160321(7MB) AllocSpace objects, 30(1272KB) LOS objects, 36% free, 41MB/65MB, paused 276us total 182.281ms

[ 11-01 23:41:59.527  5981: 5981 I/PowerKeeperBackgroundService ]
onStartCommand()

In my OnePlus 6 running Android 9.0, changing the value for the system key  (for Settings) bluetooth_default_scan_mode toggles the discoverability of bluetooth. Value 21 to disable, 23 to enable.
MacroDroid has a trigger named System Settings under Device Settings category, and after selecting System in the list there, you can set the key-value. Unfortunately, for some reason I didn't investigate into, MacroDroid failed to work in this case. In turn, I resorted to Tasker which also allows changing custom settings.
In Tasker, the action under a task should be: Settings → Custom Setting:

Type: System
Name: bluetooth_default_scan_mode or pick a related one using lens icon and test it out
Value: 21 or 23 or whatever you found

Save the task and assign it to a profile of your liking. A profile is a trigger in MacroDroid terms.

I used logcat to find out the key-value corresponding to the discoverability of bluetooth. You can use it if you fail to find the key-value for your device. Here's what I did:
adb logcat  SettingsProvider:V *:S -v long   # to find the key
adb settings get system KEY                  # to obtain the value of the key. You would have to get the value for both cases

Wow - thank you for this detailed explanation and steps to find out more details! Will give it a try - and maybe I can find even more nice things to setup.

Ok, finally managed to test this. But I had no luck with Tasker (nor MacroDroid or some settings finders).
[ 11-01 23:30:20.173  1459: 1459 V/SettingsProvider ]
Notifying for 0: content://settings/global/bluetooth_on

@Eleasar I tested with a Redmi Note 5 Pro device running Android 9 (MIUI 10) and noticed that there is no toggleable option for bluetooth discoverability in Bluetooth Settings. If a user cannot control discoverability from Settings, it is highly unlikely my answer would be of any use to them. Sorry!

ok thanks! Guess for now I need to use the app whenever I restart my phone or turn the bluetooth on or off.

This is only a thing on [some?] oneplus devices (it's literally a class named OPBluetoothDiscoverablePreferenceController inside of their settings app). That may be related or incidental to the ble_scan_background_mode property that AOSP has (it's global and not system though) but the only passive setting there should be -1.


text:
Lg Aristo 2 Fastboot flash recovery - FAILED (remote: 'unknown command')
I've recently been trying to flash twrp on my Lg Aristo 2, when I ran the code to OEM Unlock a device it came out with the same "FAILED (remote: 'unknown command')".
I started my phone back up and it came to a set up screen, I set up my phone and it said it was OEM Unlocked. When I try to flash a custom recovery, or run any command with fastboot at the beginning  i get "FAILED (remote: 'unknown command')" and it doesn't work. Can someone please help?

adb devices and fastboot devices does show the phone serialno?

Seems fastboot is broken or disabled since Oreo.
First you have to downgrade ROM to Nougat. You can flash *.KDZ files with LGUP or LG Flash Tool.

Then it should work as usual:

Make sure you have enabled
System Settings > About Phone > Developer Options > Enable OEM unlock,
and
System Settings > About Phone > Developer Options > Enable USB debugging
check adb is working
adb devices

check fastboot is working
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot devices

WARNING: Factory reset, all data lost!

unlock the bootloader (one of these should work)
fastboot oem unlock
fastboot flashing unlock

if unlocking was successful, you can test recovery without flashing
fastboot boot <path>/recovery.img

then reboot into bootloader and flash recovery
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot flash recovery <path>/recovery.img

if you fail on one of these steps, make sure you have installed latest drivers and platform tools https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-windows.zip

fastboot flashing unlock comes out to:                                                                              (bootloader)                                                          Device already : unlocked!
OKAY [  0.003s]
Finished. Total time: 0.008s                                                                                fastboot boot recovery.img comes out to:            Sending 'boot.img' (16954 KB)                      OKAY [  0.555s]
Booting                                            FAILED (remote: 'unknown command')
fastboot: error: Command failed

check path is quoted correctly for example fastboot flash recovery "C:\Users\My Name\Downloads\twrp-recovery.img" edit: ok then your recovery.img might be corrupt, try a different one

Did that got same error, also downloaded the recovery.img again

Downgrade your firmware to the LMX210MA https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3805141

Well I need TWRP to do that and the comment to flash TWRP fails, I also couldn’t find any app to root, and I cant use TWRP to root

use LGUP see page 2 XDA scroll down post #20

So, after an eternity of research, I was able to get LGUP to recognize my device. I flashed a stock KDZ file, and booted it into fast boot mode, I got the same FAILED (remote: ‘unknown comamnd’). I just need a KDZ file with the correct partition layout, would you be able to tell me which firmware update/downgrade will let me do this from the link you provided?

tecknight recommend 10K or earlier
http://lg-firmwares.com/lg-lmx210ma-firmwares/#tab=firmwares
X210MA10c_00_MPCS_US_OP_1207.kdz is oldest available on this site


text:
Power button no longer turns screen on/off - apps don't fix this properly, cannot turn off phone to root it, help!
I dropped my phone into water the other day and the power button has stopped working. What is odd though is that I can force restart the phone by holding power+volume down, it's just the power button on its own that doesn't seem to work.
I have tried various apps to remap the function to the power button but they are insufficient in one way or another (usually that it just stops working after a couple minutes of inactivity).
I have seen methods to remap the power button to the volume button directly, but this requires root access. Of course, this is a problem because I need to power down the phone completely (which I could do with the Tasker app), but I'm not sure if I will be able to turn it back on again after that.
Is there then a way to force the phone to boot into Download mode with the Tasker app? I can see that I can reboot with the types "Normal", "Recovery", "Bootloader" and "Shutdown". Is the "Bootloader" type just another name for Download mode?
Forgot to mention to phone - it's a Samsung A6

Most likely not. The bootloader should typically issue the standard reboot bootloader command. However, in case of Samsung, the command needs to specify the reboot download instead. An XDA thread mentions that the following adb command brings to the download mode - adb reboot download. Maybe you can use that instead?
As per this answer, Samsung phones do not support Fastboot mode. Most of the times you'd be living off ODIN, but can also use heimdall. Don't forget to follow its commands cheatsheet as it does seem to not support the standard fastboot commands.
Also, I just wanted to remind you that if you are able to reboot the device with the Power + Volume Down combo, the same should also work when you shut down the phone but then fail to turn it back on.


text:
How to block sound notifications of certain apps at a certain time?
At the moment I use an app called Nights Keeper that automatically blocks ALL sound notifications for me during the time I sleep.
The problem is that this blocks ALL sound notifications and I would like to block all sound notifications except for notifications of one particular app that reminds me to take my medicine at night.
I am not looking for a way to do this manually, that is easy, but I don't want to change the notification settings for all apps manually every time I go to bed.
Is there any way to achieve this?
Thank you in advance for your answers.

i think you can do it with phone setting
Tap Settings > Sound > Do not disturb > Priority only allows, then pick some options. For example, you can set "priority only" to include incoming calls and texts from contacts, reminders, event alerts, and repeat callers. To restrict call and text alerts to your innermost circle, make sure Calls and Messages is set to Starred contacts only, then go through the Contacts app and star only those contacts who really, truly matter to you. Finally, a Repeat callers setting will allow a caller to get through if they've called twice within 15 minutes.
To enable Priority mode, flick down from the top of the screen to reveal Quick Settings, tap Do Not Disturb, then make sure the Priority only tab is enabled.
Finally, sit back and give your full, undivided attention to a (grateful) friend.
Note: Android's version of Do Not Disturb boasts three different modes: Priority Only, which blocks specific alerts for apps, calls and texts; Alarms Only, which blocks all alerts except for the Android alarm clock; and Total Silence, which blocks all alerts, no matter what. While the Alarms Only and Total Silence modes will guarantee you a peaceful lunch hour, they may also block critical alerts, calls or alarms. In general, you should stick with Priority Only mode unless you're certain you don't want any interruptions, period.
if you are looking for app that blocks notification :

Notification Blocker & Cleaner & Heads-up Off.
360 Security – Antivirus boost.
Notification Cleaner

Thank you for your effort, but unfortunately none of the apps does the job.


text:
How to change the font without root in HTC Explorer?
I would like to change font in HTC Explorer(2.3.5) without root.
I saw some tutorial on the internet but those are only Samsung galaxy series.
Is there anyway to do that?


text:
Lockscreen on capacitive touchscreen?
My phone (SE Xperia X8) has a capacitive touchscreen, which, I'm told that only reacts to fingers.
So does it have a point to have lockscreen enabled?
I use Cyanogenmod so I can easily disable it.

Capacitive or not, the default Android behavior is that the touchscreen is disabled when screen is off so you always need to press a physical button to wake up the screen. If the physical buttons in your device cannot be easily accidentally pressed while the device is in your pocket/bag/wherever-you-usually-put-your-phone and you don't need the security of a password/PIN/Face-Unlock, then there should be no issue to use no lockscreen. FYI, this option is available in stock Android 4.0.

Additionally, the X8's power button is a good engineered one, i.e. it's hard to trigger a butt call with that device if all three front buttons are configured to not wake up the phone (and besides this the touch screen is not too responsive on this device either). I find that a big issue one many devices.


text:
Bad ROM flash - Kindle Fire stuck in boot
My KF won't finish booting.
I started to root my KF from my iMac using these instructions and with the files it points to.  I got as far as flashing it with FIREFIREFIRE which appeared to complete normally but at the fastboot reboot following, the device hung with its splash screen displayed ("kindle fire").  I waited 3 min and restarted it - same behavior.  I tried a hard reset and got the same behavior.  The KF has Android 2.3.4 and Kindle Fire 6.3.1.  A copy of the terminal output (with comments obviously inserted later):
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb kill-server; adb devices
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
1836002600000001    device

###  Neato - iMac sees the KF.
###  Into and out of the shell:

jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb shell
$ ls
config
dropbox
cache
sdcard
acct
mnt
vendor
d
etc
ueventd.rc
ueventd.omap4430.rc
ueventd.goldfish.rc
system
sys
sbin
proc
init.rc
init.omap4430.rc
init.goldfish.rc
init
default.prop
data
root
dev
$ exit

### Push fbmode utility to KF and run it:

jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb push fbmode /data/local/fbmode
4976 KB/s (510876 bytes in 0.100s)
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb shell chmod 755 /data/local/fbmode
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb shell /data/local/fbmode
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb reboot

### Flash the KF with FIREFIREFIRE:
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ pwd
/Users/jeff/Downloads/Kindle/RootingTools/android-sdk-macosx/platform-tools
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ fastboot -i 0x1949 boot u-boot.bin
creating boot image...
creating boot image - 210944 bytes
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [  0.055s]
booting...
OKAY [  0.003s]
finished. total time: 0.059s
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ fastboot reboot
< waiting for device >
^C

###  At this point, the KF hung, as the instructions said it might,
###  displaying its splash screen: "kindle fire".  After 3 minutes,
###  I forced a shut down and restarted it. It displayed the splash
###  screen and hung again.  I tried a hard reset - held the power
###  button down for 60 seconds, and restarted it.  Same behavior.

###  adb and fastboot get no response.
###  The power LED stays green.

jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb devices
List of devices attached

jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ fastboot reboot
< waiting for device >
^C
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb shell /data/local/fbmode
error: device not found
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb shell /data/local/fbmode
error: device not found
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb devices
List of devices attached

jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb reboot
error: device not found
jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$ adb kill-server; adb devices
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached

jrobert@Gacrux platform-tools$

###  Growl on the  iMac responds to my unplugging the USB while
###  the KF is powered up ("USB Disconnection  kindle").
###  Growl doesn't respond to my plugging in the KF's USB
###  with the KF powered up.
###  Growl responds to my powering the KF up or down with the
###  USB connected.  The KF file system does not get mounted.

adb and fastboot client get no response, and neither lists a device.  Growl on the iMac responds to my unplugging the USB while the KF is powered up ("USB Disconnection  kindle"). It doesn't respond to my plugging in the KF's USB with the KF powered up. Growl responds to my powering the KF up or down with the USB connected.  The KF file system does not get mounted on the iMac.
I can power it on and off with the power button (it requires a push-and-hold to shut down) and the power LED lights and goes out when I do.  I've tried push-and-holding the power button as soon as the LED lights; the unit shuts down after 10 seconds or so, just as in any forced shut-down.
I've ordered parts to make into a factory-cable and hoping I can recover it with that.  Is there anything else I can try in the meanwhile?

@eldarerathis: Thank you! That appears to have been exactly right - it's running now.  Please make this an answer so I can accept it.  But now I'm curious about its boot behavior - during boot up, the "kindle fire" splash screen blinks out briefly - twice - during boot, during the time before the "fire" animation begins. It doesn't seem to be an issue but I don't remember that happening before I messed with it.

Mine does that, too, assuming I understand what you mean correctly (the static logo appears, then flickers a bit, then the animated logo appears). I don't know if it's always done that or not, to be honest.

There are the two things of note that I see in your data:

The instructions indicate that you should use fastboot -i 0x1949 boot u-boot.bin. This is actually not correct, because the fastboot boot command is intended for hotbooting a boot.img, not a bootloader (they are different). The original XDA instructions give the proper command, which is fastboot -i 0x1949 flash bootloader u-boot.bin. This will install FIREFIREFIRE on your device, overwriting the stock bootloader.
Generally, if your KF hangs at the boot splash screen, it's stuck in fastboot mode. You can reset it to the normal boot mode by connecting it to a PC and executing fastboot -i 0x1949 oem idme bootmode 4000 and then rebooting. If you have FIREFIREFIRE installed you can leave off the -i 0x1949 flag because it uses a different vendor ID.


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What is Plain Vanilla Android?
I have an HTC Desire (which I enjoy a lot). However, HTC hasnt updated the device to ICS (they say they will update this year, no specific date).
Can I get a plain android version from Google and install it? What is the difference between the Google Android and the HTC (or other brand) Android?

Technically, yes, you can build the "plain version" of Android: http://source.android.com/source/initializing.html
However, it is difficult to do this for all but a handful of devices (official "Google" developer devices, such as the Nexus line of phones) because every Android phone requires its own drivers and these are not freely available.
This is where projects like CyanogenMod step in: they take the vanilla build of Android, add a few minor features to it, and then try to release it for as many devices as possible. Typically way before any manufacturer gets around to updating the phones (if ever). CyanogenMod 9 is the ICS version of Android, and is tba.
In short, the difference between HTC and Google is that HTC takes the vanilla Android version and then "skins" it with HTC Sense. This is one of the many reasons there is a bit of a delay between when Google release a new version of Android (for example, ICS) and when the manufacturers get around to doing it, because they have to fix their changes/skin to the new version of Android.

First of all HTC will not be releasing ICS for HTC Desire.
You can get plain vanilla Android experience, i.e. Android built for HTC desire using ICS source from here. This ROM is built directly using the code from Google. But Google isn't building it. Awesome guy by the name Sandvold is building it. Please note that this is only a beta version and USB tethering, video and panorama aren't working yet.
I've been using this ROM from past few months and its awesome. Its fast and smooth.
In case you want to follow the development, the development thread is here.
As noted by @Brian, you need to root your phone before you can install this.

No you can't.. Google creates the "plain android version" or vanilla, specifically to work with only a couple of phones (Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus), for the other phones the manufacturer has to customize the Operating System to work with their hardware, and the Carrier (AT&T etc) usually has to pay the manufacturer for that OS version and at the same time asking to have their bloatware put in as well.
Your best bet is to buy the most popular phone or the Nexus line of phones.
For your current phone you should check out http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=628 and see if someone has ported over ICS in a custom rom, you'll need to root your phone, but it's worth it :)


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Can applications be downloaded without a Google Account and without disabling security features?
If I wish to install applications such as Skype, DropBox, etc however without registering for a Google account, is that possible? If so, how do I install them without a Google account?

Use ADB to install the applications.
Install the Android sdk ( https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html ).
Enable USB debugging in Settings>Applications>Development.
This process can be done even without enabling side-loading of apps. Open a command prompt window and type:
adb install app_name.apk

Thanks Ruben Roy. Do I have to disable any security features such as Installation of Non-market apps?

no you dont have to

@PeanutsMonkey: you only need to have non market apps install enabled while installing them. You can disable it again once you've finished installing. Enabling USB debugging is a much bigger issue security wise than enabling non market app install.

You could use other App stores like Amazon App Store or GetJar, but you would also need accounts on those.
You can side-load apps via downloading APK files on PC and then installing them from your SD card. Just try opening the APK files with a file manager like ES File Explorer or ASTRO File Manager which would give a option to open it with Package manager or Install.
But I assume from your question that you don't want to enable Installation of Non-market apps, then you don't get much choice. Even Amazon App store requires that feature enabled.

one can download APK files available on Google Play Store, without a Google account, by using APK Pure.
it also allows downloading previous versions which may be helpful for people trying older devices, which need older app version for compatibility reasons.
additionally, one may choose to use a region-specific build.


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Samsung Galaxy S2 takes a long time to get GPS signal
My Samsung Galaxy S2 takes a long time to get a GPS signal (maybe around 5 minutes). Anyone know why and what can I do about it?

Install FasterFix from the Play Store and follow the prompts.