text:
Is it OK to swap batteries while phone is connected to wall charger?
It takes a few minutes to shut down and restart the phone, it would sometimes be handy to be able to swap batteries without shutting down (i.e. swap in a fully charged battery before going out).     Will the phone operate without a battery while connected to a wall charger?   Is it safe to swap the battery without shutting down?

I just tried this on two phones, a Samsung Galaxy 551 and a Samsung Galaxy S. It doesn't work. The phones typically just shut off. However, one time the Galaxy S didn't shut off right away but I wasn't able to put the battery back in before it shut off. My Google Nexus S is made so that you can't even take the back cover off without unplugging it.
I suspect that this is simply not a supported feature in most phones and that you're not likely to find that it works anywhere. Not to mention the fact that power-loss may damage components or corrupt data. This is one reason why the phone monitors the battery life and shuts down if there isn't enough battery power.

For my moto Droid Bionic, when I removed the battery, it instantly went to the hardware startup screen, and then displayed a missing battery icon.

It's device dependent, if the manufacturer can fit in the circuitry to use the wall charger without the battery then yes you'd be able to do that. Most laptops can run without batteries, I doubt many smartphone does though; phones are primarily designed to be used while on the go, while laptops are more likely to be plugged in.
A safe test is to shutdown the phone normally, plug the phone into charger, and pull out the battery, then try booting up the phone with only wall charger. If you can boot up, then it's 90% likely that you'll be able to pull out the battery while it's running without causing a reboot.

Is it safe to swap the battery without shutting down?

If the phone doesn't have the appropriate circuitry, it will be no less safe than just unplugging the battery. There is no moving parts in a mobile phone and all modern hardware are designed such that complete loss of power will just reinitialize the hardware as if it's just booting up. Therefore the only possible damage you can do is to the file system.
Modern journalled file systems are designed to be able to withstand power loss. If you're using journaled filesystem, e.g. ext3 or ext4, then your data should be safe; if using unjournalled filesystem, e.g. FAT or ext2, then there is a small chance of file system corruption.

Does your user manual have any prohibitions about removing the battery while plugged in? That would be my first point of information. And I probably wouldn't try it myself, but that's just me.
The issue is that you have no idea of whether the folks who designed the charge circuit accounted for this or not, and you don't know how they did the charging circuit, so you don't know for sure whether it's safe or not to try it.
I'm GUESSING that it won't hurt your phone because the designer should be doing something safe for the 'battery goes missing' case. I also wouldn't be surprised if the phone either just cut out, or went into it's 'oh noez, the battery is out of juice' routine and turned itself off right away.

Just re-read the user manual, no information at all on this topic.

This feature is supported on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  I routinely change out batteries while the phone is plugged in to the wall charger.  The only issue I've noticed is that the battery level doesn't update to the new level right away, but instead slowly increases over time.

Just for completeness sake I want to share that I've operated my old LG GT 540 countless times with the battery removed, while the USB cable is plugged in. I can power it up on in these situations (and run CWM). So I guess that there might be more LG Android phones with similar circuitry.
Since I've upgraded to my new Galaxy S2, I've been too reluctant to try it out.

A smartphone's most limited resource is its battery. This means phones are specifically designed to survive power losses. And imagine a hang up with a subsequent reboot would brick with some probability. How many complaints would that cause?
So the answer is simple:
Just try out to switch your battery. If it works: Fine.


text:
Android Market disappeared! How do I get it back?
Since upgrading to FroYo, the Android Market app has disappeared from my wife's Droid X: it doesn't appear on the home screen or in the Applications list in settings. Is there any way to get it back?

In what way has it "disappeared"? Do you mean it no longer appears as a shortcut icon on the home screen?

It's a built-in app and can't be uninstalled.
To restore the icon to the home screen, find the icon in the application list and long-press, then drop it where you want it. Alternately, long-press the home screen where you want the icon to be, choose "Shortcuts", then "Applications", then the "Market" icon.
Update: Okay, it appears that you're not the only one with this issue. See this thread on the Google support forum: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android%20Market/thread?tid=3322620a3c715568&hl=en
One offered solution is to do a factory reset. It's up to you to decide how comfortable you are with that.
Update 2: Several people in this thread said that the factory reset worked for them. Additionally, someone wrote a script (also in that thread) to fix the issue, which you would need to get on the phone. (USB would seem to be your best bet.) Caveat Emptor. Someone also mentioned that if you get the Vendor.apk you can also get the Market back. (Details are a little fuzzier.)

It really seems to be gone, as if the upgrade uninstalled it.

If you are running stock Android I believe you are going to have to do a factory reset.  If you are rooted and running some custom mod, you can probably just install the googleapps.apk or reflash the rom.

I just figured it out, very easy.  The Android Market is now called "PLAY STORE" by Google, and is listed under "P" in your phone (not "G" for Google Play Store).  Just go into all your apps, go down to "P" and long hold the "PLAY STORE" icon to get it to your home screen.  This icon looks like a white shopping bag with handles and a blue, red and tan diamond/pyramid figure on the front.  GOOD LUCK and have a great day.

Please note: This question is from November, 2010. That the Market was just renamed to Google Play is obviously not the answer to this question.

@AlEverett This question will show up in Google searches for people who've just lost the Market icon due to the recent update. For that reason I think this is a valid answer?

My android market icon dissapeared when i clicked on it yesterday on 2.2  i just read today in the news that google changed the name from Android market to Google Play to get more customers focused on its videos and books.  I found a brand new icon in the second apps location on my phone.  It is called google play not called  android market any longer. All you do is click accept and use.....

Note the date of the question.

source: Stack Exchange

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text:
What are the risks to overclocking my CPU?
What are the risks to overclocking the CPU on one's phone?
Bonus Question: What's the max profile I should set on my Motorola Droid 1 to get the most performance (with no regard to battery life) but without making it explode (if that's even possible)?

You can ruin the processor, your data, and possibly your skin (ouch!).
According to "Risks of overclocking your CPU" [aimed at desktop PCs], the risks include:

Success: The processor may overclock perfectly, and run stably for many years to come. There are thousands of people who have done this, and I am certainly not going to deny it. This is the best case outcome.
Immediate Destruction: It is possible to totally destroy a processor by attempting to overclock it. By destruction, I mean that the processor will not boot at the higher speed, and when returned to its normal speed, will continue to not function. This is basically the worst case outcome. This sort of permanent failure is very rare, but it does happen. It is made more likely by using inadequate cooling, and also by being ridiculously aggressive in how far you try to overclock (i.e., trying to run a Pentium 75 at 166 MHz.)
Non-Functionality: The processor may not work at the new speed, but may work fine when returned to its original speed. This is a fairly common outcome when overclocking, and in most cases the processor will not be any the worse for wear.
System Instability: The processor may boot at the new speed, but you may see the system behave strangely. Random hard lockups, parity errors, resource conflicts, strange hard disk problems, beeping, application crashes and [your OS] refusing to boot are just the tip of the iceberg. Particularly insidious are the overclocks that work almost perfectly, because that occasional crash may be due to your operating system, but it may be due to that overclocked chip also.
Electromigration: When the processor is run at a speed that is higher than it is supposed to be run at, there is a chance that the internal components in the processor may break down over time. The internal features of a CPU are sized in the range of microns. It is possible that when the processor is stressed by running at too high a frequency, along with the extra heat that overclocking incurs, that the actual metal lines inside the processor may form shorts or opens and damage the processor over a period of time. How likely this is to happen, and how long it takes is really not known. The system may work fine for a while and then suddenly stop working.

And don't forget that higher speeds means higher heat -- your tiny pocket-sized squeeze-asmuch-as-possible-into-this-small-area has very little in the way of cooling fins. Speed it up, and you might overheat. Probably won't burn a hole in your pants, though.
However, accordin to "Big Lou" @

Modern processors are not harmed by
  overclocking. You aren't altering the
  voltage, just the multiplier. If
  anything, the Droid will not boot or
  may act funny, but once you revert
  back to a slower clock speed, it will
  be fine (and that's for higher speeds,
  mind you).
Anything up to 1.3 is tested to work
  fine on the Droid. Heat may rise but
  the OMAP3 is rated to around 200
  degrees Fahrenheit. You won't be
  getting anywhere near that, and in
  case you do, you can always set SetCPU
  to roll back the clock speed
  automatically.

YMMV. Note how the original text refers to 75 Mhz Pentiums. ha-hah-ha.
this post @ Overclockers.com covers the SetCPU app, which can adjust speed vs battery performance, start times for clock boosting, etc.

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text:
How do I use stock UI on HTC Desire HD?
How do I disable HTC Sense on my HTC Desire HD without having to root my phone?
I looked at a guide for the regular Desire and attempted to follow that but it didn't work (was missing the ability to force close HTC Sense).

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2566/how-can-i-replace-htc-sense According to an answer on that question, it requires root.

You can't :o(
You can install another home screen app from the market if you don't want to use the Sense home screen.
If you want to avoid Sense altogether, you will need to root your phone and flash a non-Sense ROM.

wow that's kind of annoying I was looking forward to having a stock android with decent hardware, thanks for the answer.


text:
How-to unlink the main Google account from android device without a factory reset
While setting up my HTC Hero phone, I have entered my gmail account in the setup. But now I want to remove it (I don;t want to change with another account). How do I do it ?
I have searched a lot on Google and everywhere I found that I have to do factory reset but this is not my favoured option.
If there is another way, please let me know.

A factory reset isn't so bad. I recently did one.

@AlEverett: a factory reset wipes your data, and if you  have no way to backup it than I wouldn't call it "a good thing".

Of course it does. Aren't you backing up to the cloud?

You could try this: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/4570255.
It describes the steps to change the accounts associated with your android phone.
Hope it helps.

What do you mean,  by 'delete it' exactly? Your phone needs to be linked to a Google account, no matter what (as far as I know). If you do wish to change the "main" Google account your phone is linked with, a factory reset is the way. I've had to do it myself a few times.
If you just want to stop receiving Gmail notifications, go into Settings > Accounts and uncheck the "sync" option for the account you no longer wish to have Gmail sync with.

Yes, factory reset is the only way to get rid of the main linked Google account to your phone.

Android devices don't need to be linked with a Google Account..

@user931 - "Android devices don't need to be linked with a Google Account" If you only want to use it as a phone and you won't be downloading any apps, then you're probably right. But, if you want to be able to go to Google-Play, then I think you do need a Google account.

There are ways to do it without a factory reset.  However, depending upon the phone, it may not work without being linked with a Google account.  I'm not sure about the Hero one way or the other.  See here.
Another option is that you could just create a dummy Google account, then never use it.

Easy! No Factory Reset Needed.. Go to Settings>Accounts&Sync>Then Click the google account you wanna delete(this also applies to the main account)>then press MENU soft key>then Delete Account
That's it!

That works perfectly.  The MENU button is the little three-square-dots icon in the upper right corner.

Just use Erazzer (requires root).

This program will be very useful if you want to change main Google account on your Android device without resetting it to defaults preferences. Some features:

supported on Android 2.x
deleting Google accounts (2 methods)
accounts backup/restore
quick reboot/shutdown
widget for quick operations

Warning! Function "reboot in recovery mode" can delete all data on some devices, it is disabled by defaults. Don't use it without necessary or if you don't know what is it.

When I pass my phone to other family member, I tried many times to change from my Google  account to another Google account. So far, I know of none, except remove current Google account and then set different Google account. Please note, when you remove the Google account, everything (including all the app) in the phone will be gone, and the phone is reset to factory original condition. Please also note, you can also add another account to your Android. That means your phone will have multiple accounts, but Android always use the first account you entered as default.
To remove Google account:
- settings - Applications - Manage Applications -
left click - Filter - select filter option - mark "All"
select "google Apps"
tap "clear data" button
tap "your account must be updated"
now enter your new Google account info.
Reboot.
In another Samsung Galaxy 3 i8700, to reset Google account, all I need is:
- settings - Privacy -
Under "Personal Data" - Factory Data Reset - erases all data on phone.
You will remove current Google account. Then, re-enter another Google account in:
- settings - Accounts and Sync - "Add Account"

Simply change the password of your Google account using your  laptop and afterwards your Android will scream that he needs the new details and will let you enter a different account

Are you sure it will scream for username also?

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text:
How can I sync photos to a network drive over wifi?
My current workflow is to snap pics on my Droid, plug it in via USB, and sync the pics. I'd like to just run a script to sync the DCIM folder with a shared network drive, if anyone knows of a way that I can do this?
I can connect to the share with a file explorer app, but copying the files is even more awkward that way than plugging in the USB. The tech is there, I'm just wondering if there's a simple one-touch solution.

I asked this question regarding the easiest way to push pictures to a photo site. You may want to use your network drive in the end but if not, I recommend PicPush. Once you set it up, snap a picture and it's uploaded automatically. It's zero-touch. ;)

Try Image Transfer.

Looks good. Reviews mention a free version, but I can't see that anywhere. Anyone know if there is a free/lite version to try it out? Otherwise I guess I'll take the plunge and rely on the Market's 24hr money back.

Upload 2 NAS can do this, and there is also a lite version. I haven't actually used this but it's on my list to try.

I can see uses for scheduled batch upload, interesting find.

Had a play with Upload 2 NAS, but it only seems to be able to upload to FTP servers, not shared folders.

I would always go for rsync
if your phone is not rooted you could use
rsync4android (which is free)
https://market.android.com/details?id=eu.kowalczuk.rsync4android
if your phone is rooted you could offcourse also use the above but if you need more advance stuff I would combine BTEP (Better Terminal Emulator Pro, not free) which has a cli ssh client which can be called from SL4A (scripting engine usefull for BASH scripts, which is free)


text:
Any concerns using LED flashlight apps?
I've always wondered with flashlight apps, especially ones that use the LED light(s): Is there any risk of shortening the life of the LEDs?  I noticed one app ("ASettings") gives a warning that doing so can "harm your phone"... which to me sounds even more ominous than burning out the bulb.  I thought LEDs had a crazy long lifespan to begin with, so do I need to worry?

There's a really good thread of discussion about this on AndroidForums here.
In short, LEDs have a long life span (20k+ hours?).  So the concern isn't really the LEDs burning out (although after a long period of time, they will eventually start losing the amount of output and their brightness will dim).
The real concern is to not apply too much voltage to the LED and overheat it.  Another concern would be overheating your battery (due to heat dissipation from draining the battery from powering the LED).
In short, if you're only using the LED for time periods less than half an hour, you should be okay.  If you need to use it longer, go get a real flash light. :)

Voltage is pretty much fixed for a given LED, the amount of light and the heat are determined by the current through the LED.

@BryanDenny     Time for a necroQA.  You mentioned "after a long period of time...", any idea how long?

@rockpaperlizard it's a very gradual process and you won't really notice it. We are talking about tens of thousands of hours. When a bulb reaches its lifespan (20k, 50k, etc hours), the output will most likely be something like 70% or less of the original (new bulb) output.

@BryanDenny Thanks so much.  Does using it as a strobe (flashing on and off repeatedly at 30Hz-50Hz) change anything, or is that actually better for the LED because it's off half the time?

@RockPaperLizard I'm not sure. Might be a better question for the electronics stack exchange site. I would assume that using a light on strobe would be better since the LED is on for less time.

LEDs do have a long lifespan (35K-50K hrs depending on the type of LED) but the issue is heat.  The LEDs are intended to be used as a flash (ultra short duration) and probably don't have very robust heat managment systems if they have any at all. Each phone is going to be different.  I would say that using it as a flashlight for a couple minutes tops is fine, but beyond that you run the risk of overheating which, depending on the type of LED and where it's positioned in the phone in relation to other hardware could damage the LED and possibly other components.

I use my LED for camera shots and also for lights and I have been doing so for almost every day or so and I've had my phone (myTouch Slide) for about 3 months now. Nothing has happened to it. I think if you're an avid user, you should just take care of it externally.

I have burnt my phone's leds with two of my previous phones. Pressumably because of those apps. I have never used flashlight continously not more than five minutes.


text:
Does access to logcat need root?
My device is already rooted, this is why I'm asking.
Do you need root to monitor the logcat stream on the phone? If I ran the logcat command from within a Terminal on the phone, would that work?

These free apps in the Market claim to be able to display your logcat, and don't make any mention of root. Should only take you a few minutes to try them out:

CatLog
aLogcat
LogViewer

EDIT: Thanks to @mente for reminding me that these apps will only let you view the full logfile in older versions of Android. Android 4.1 brought in a new security model around logfiles that meant that apps could only read their own logfiles and logfile entries, and can't read logfile entries written by the system or other apps.
There is however still both a way for an app's user to generate a logfile of the app's recent log entries to be sent to a developer, and for a phone's owner to grant permissions to allow an app to read the logfile without full root, but this does require you to use an ADB command, which unfortunately takes it out of the reach of most normal phone users:

If you want the user to give you debugging information, you can have
  them generate a bug report with power + volume down + volume up which
  includes the logs and lots of other data, and automatically brings up
  their e-mail app to sent it all (plus a screenshot).  We were just
  discussing that we should have an easier way to generate these as
  well, I am going to look at adding something to the settings app.
I also have started introducing the concept of a "development"
  permission, which read logs is classified as.  This allows the app to
  request the permission, but not get it at install.  You can however
  grant it with an adb shell command once it is installed.  At some
  point later I expect to have a UI in the system for doing this, but we
  are going to hold off on that to be careful about how we present this.

Excerpt from a post on Google Groups by Dianne Hackborn, Android Framework Engineer. My emphasis.
The mentioned ADB command to grant an application permission to read the logs is:
adb shell pm grant <pkg> android.permission.READ_LOGS

This setting should survive reboots and upgrades of the app (but not uninstalls/reinstalls).

Starting from Android 4.1 you need root access to read other apps logs. CatLog developer posted explanation. Assume these apps works for < 4.1 versions

This shortcut doesn't work on mine Android 4.1.2

I created a utility to collect logs from a PC: https://gist.github.com/hrj/5983971

You don't need to root your phone to run adb logcat with the Android SDK, but I did just test it in my Terminal Emulator and I did have to be root (used the su command -- my phone is already rooted) to run logcat in the terminal on my phone.
So yes: if you have root on your phone you can run logcat from a terminal on your phone.

No, you don't need root to get logcat information.
To do it, you probably want to download the Android SDK and run "adb logcat", using the adb tool that comes with the SDK. Alternatively, you could install the ADT Eclipse plugin and use its handy streaming Logcat viewer.

i want to do this from the phone, not from a remote machine with the SDK

No, you don't need root to access logcat. My device (Samsung Galaxy Note, Gingerbread 2.3.6 with stock ROM) is not rooted (yet!) and I have used the following ways to access log on my device:

CatLog app
aLogcat app
Activated SSHDroid app, and connected to the device terminal using an SSH client
Using Android SDK and running adb logcat

However, the Terminal app doesn't allow you to run logcat, and gives you "permission denied". I'm not sure why.

yeah, on Gingerbread... but today's Android does require root.

It seems you cannot run logcat from Terminal Emulator without having root on your phone. In this case you have to su first. AFAIK, it comes from Android Permissions: Terminal Emulator simply doesn't have enough permissions to view device's log. So the system says Permission denied.
On the other hand, as others said, there are plenty of apps that allow you to view device's log just because they request the permission.

Logcat does not need root. Simples - its a de-facto standard across the board in respect to different Android versions and is part of Android irrespective if you're rooted or not, and is a standard means for diagnosing problems as in for example - you install an app, the app force close, you complain to developer of said app, chances are quite high the developer will ask "send over the logcat" regardless if you're rooted or not!
aLogCat is one way of gathering the information, with the option of logging to webpage layout or plain text, bear in mind, if you schedule it to log at a certain frequency such as every 15 minutes, the SDCard will fill up quite quickly.
Another aspect, usage of logcat will be dependent on the kernel in terms of how much it can store - in any kernel that is used by the ROM, the source for the logging from a kernel level, where it reserves the memory for the logcat service can be found in drivers/staging/android/logger.c using the appropriate defines for example:

DEFINE_LOGGER_DEVICE(log_main, LOGGER_LOG_MAIN, 64*1024)
  DEFINE_LOGGER_DEVICE(log_events, LOGGER_LOG_EVENTS, 256*1024)
  DEFINE_LOGGER_DEVICE(log_radio, LOGGER_LOG_RADIO, 64*1024)
  DEFINE_LOGGER_DEVICE(log_system, LOGGER_LOG_SYSTEM, 64*1024)

Again, mileage will vary, some developers of such ROMs will choose to minimize consumption to reduce memory overheads...

The application Android System Info has the ability to output log info to the screen which as far as I can tell is the same log info as logcat spits out.

Have you got a link to that app, I can't find it in the Market?

@GAThrawn In case you're still interested: homepage and Google Play Store links.

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text:
3G Radio Always on When Screen On?
According to JuicePlotter, my HTC Evo's 3G radio is always on when the screen is on -- even when doing absolutely nothing.  I tested this by turning the brightness down to 1 and opening the settings menu and just leaving it there.  The screen was set to never shut off.  I got pretty significant battery drain.
I ask because I want to improve my battery life when reading downloaded books with the Kindle app.  It seems to me that the radio should be in sleep mode when not in use.  I'd rather not switch to airplane mode because I'd still like to receive calls/texts.
To clarify:

I have a strong signal at all times
When the screen is off, JuicePlotter says the radio is off (and the battery lasts practically forever)
When in airplane mode with the screen on, JuicePlotter says the radio is off (duh) and the battery life is much better.
Android reports that my display only consumes between 5 and 10% of power
Android reports that Cell Standby consumes 30% (and that's with great signal)

I think these tests demonstrate that the display itself is not the problem, the radio is.  So again the question is:  why does the radio use so much power when the screen is on but it's not being used?

Are you referring to the FM radio or 3G radio or Wi-Fi?

I clarified (3G radio)

Good question. I didn't realize how nuanced this behavior was. Thanks for asking. Hope this can be solved.

With cdma phones the data and voice use the same radio. Its going to run all the time anyway because its constantly syncing data, towers, location... If you want to stop it without turning off voice you should turn off the apn. Doing this will not put your radio to sleep but it will reduce your power consumption.  Check into apndroid or quick settings, and tasker to set triggers and automation.

But it is off when the screen is off (yet of course it still receives voice calls, SMS, and syncs).  When the screen is off, the radio only turns on once every half an hour or so for approximately 1 minute. I have carefully set up syncing so that it only syncs at most once an hour.

Are you using juice defender? If so have you run the tests w/ out it enabled? Juice defender by default sets the apn to turn on with the screen.  I'm not sure what the default behavior of the evo is w/o jd enabled. Either way, managing the apn will take care of the issue. You may need to disable jd if you can't tweak the settings to stop the screen trigger. I couldn't figure out how to stop that trigger w/o causing other problems. I recomend using tasker to set triggers, for ex. Have it turn off the apn when you open kindle. You can actually get more specific than that if you need.

+1 I will definitely try this.  I don't use JD though, just the plotter.  And I think I have my terminology wrong.  It seems I should have been saying APN instead of 3G radio.

At the very least if you use the quick settings app you can manually toggle the APN with just a few clicks.

@colithium You misunderstand what is going on.  The radio is active for brief period of time keeping updated with the towers any time that it is not in airplane mode.  What you are thinking of is waking up the application processor periodically to make checks which the radio processor cannot accomplish by itself.

The radio is not "on" all the time.  Just as in any other cellphone, it makes very brief contacts to the towers to update its registration with the network; this consumes a small amount of power, but the power management design of the radio and the coprocessor which runs it are pretty well done, so it can power up the circuity it needs just long enough and then power it back down again.  Without that we wouldn't be getting multi-day battery life even from simple candy bar phones.
The screen in a smartphone itself consumes some power, but any any time the screen is on, the application processor - which runs linux and android - is also going to be on, and that consumes a lot of power compared to keeping the radio processor registered on the network but not actively exchanging data.  With the screen off and nothing holding wakelocks, the application processor can try to go to sleep, and only wake up every few minutes to make quick checks.  That's where your real power savings comes from, and yes, scheduling more or less frequent email polling can change this.

This is what it's probably supposed to do.  However, like I said, there is a huge difference between having airplane mode on vs. off.  That rules out the processor and screen battery drain.

@colithium - by enabling airplane mode, you discourage anything that wants to use the network from periodically running.  But yes, as in any cell phone, being registered with the network is going to consume some average power over time.  That does not mean the radio is "on" - it just means that it turns on for a tiny timeslice fairly frequently to stay in touch - a far more efficient process than the application CPU trying to wake up and do anything.


text:
HTC Desire HD unlocked, cannot connect to 3G
I recently bought an unlocked AT&T HTC Desire HD from an E-bay seller in India.
I'm using a Tata Docomo Sim on the device. Although having subscribed to 3G data, I am not able to use it. Can anyone help me with how I can configure and use 3G with my mobile?
I tried all the APN settings available online, of which none worked. I am able to just use the EDGE (2G) network, which is too slow. Hope someone helps me to connect 3G on HTC Desire HD for Tata DoCoMo India.
Regards,
Praveen

As you are able to use 2G, your APN settings are probably correct (though you might contact your provider to make sure of that). Could it be the area where you are located is lacking 3G coverage? Can you use 3G with other devices there (cross-check)? Then there's always the possibility that you've got a crippled device -- unless it suddenly works with a different SIM card (again, cross-check).

no one here using 3G.. will try to check. Is there any posibilty to check weather my phone's is good or not ?

If you have another device with working 3G and can use its SIM in your phone, this should be a good indicator. Apart from that (and a repair center), I have no further idea how to check. Maybe a look into the system logs gives a clue, and maybe the "test menues" (look for "secret codes": *#4646#* should lead to a field test on some phones, e.g.) might hold something.

@praveenkumar Where do you live in India? Tata DoCoMo don't have a wide 3G network. They don't have 3G even in cities like Mumbai!! Make sure they have 3G coverage is your area. You can try putting that SIM in other phone.

I consulted with Service center, I'm in Mysore. They said not to use DoCoMo.. M switching to vodafone.

AT&T uses 3G frequency bands 850 MHz and 1900 MHz.  From what I can tell from the phones they sell, Tata Docomo uses the 900 MHz and 2100 MHz 3G bands.  They're not intercompatible.  Most often when you buy a US phone for use outside the country you'll want the T-Mobile version. Or a quad-band or 5-band phone which would eliminate the problem altogether.

Yes, the phone is Quadband. Its because of the network problem. Thank you :)

Not according to any spec sheet I've seen (e.g.) but if it works on Vodafone then great!

Hope it will works with Vodafone :)


text:
Need browser with websocket and full screen mode support
I need a browser that supports websocket and full screen mode and where I can set a default homepage.
The device that I am using is Rikomagic MK802 III. I am using a startup program to open a browser in full screen mode with a default URL when the machine is booted.
The default stock Android browser works fine, but does not support websocket. It also does not have a very good support for JavaScript.
Next, I tried with Chrome, Firefox and Opera. All of them support websocket and works fine. But none of them have a provision to set a default homepage and full screen also is not supported.
However I found an add-on in Firefox that supports full screen, but don't know how to make this a default behavior when the browser is opened. Setting default homepage is still a problem.
Please suggest me what option I am left with. Is there any workaround ?

There is another addon, but somehow it is not supported for Firefox 18 and above. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/my-homepage/

Hi Mark, that would be great. You can share the document. Yes, finally I got Dolphin Browser to do the trick and I used "start" (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.niwota.start) to start the browser at boot time. Now to hide bottom bar or system bar, we can use "hidebar" (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=be.ppareit.hidebar). except for hidebar, I tried everything and it works. Hope this helps.

I know that Chrome For Android (not the Android stock Browser) does have Websocket support, and you can set a default homepage, not sure about Fullscreen mode though.

I know that Dolphin was a web browser specifically designed for the Android Platform.
It was so successful it was then introduced for iOS devices.
I don't know if it will accomplish your needs, but if it can't then...
You can get it from Google Play Store.
Alternatively you may like to try Maxathon Cloud based Browser http://www.maxthon.com/

Does Dolphin support websocket ? I do not see this in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebSocket

@user644745: In my answer I stated "I don't know if it will accomplish your needs, but if it can't then..."

It supports websocket and I can set a default home page. trying to find out if i can make it full screen.

@user644745: I hope it works out, as it was specifically made for Android. I know it was highly rated amongst Android users and thats why iOS users wanted a version of their own (which they eventualy got). Hopefully it will :)


text:
System audio files appearing in playlist
I wasn't satisfied with the selection of sounds the phone was giving me for the alarm, so I installed ES File Explorer and picked out some ringtone sounds from the phone's system/media/audio folder. Ever since, those sounds have been showing up in the Music Player playlist.
How do I stop them from doing so?
I'm using the default music player on a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro running Android 2.1.

Just a guess (hence not an answer but a comment): it might be that's some "cached info" somewhere. You could try walking your apps (settings > apps > manage apps) for all fitting things (media player, media scanner, es file explorer...) and delete their caches. Check whether that solves the issue. If not, you could try to delete data for media player/scanner (at least scanner data should be rebuilt on the next scan; the player would lose its configured preferences when deleting data). Please report if that did the job; if so, I'll convert this to an answer.

The Music Player i'm using is the default phone/system one, so it's not present under installed apps in app manager, neither is the Media Scanner. So i don't know how to delete their caches or data. I deleted the cache for ES File Manager, and using ES Task Manager cleaned the whole cache. I just restarted the phone and the specific system audio files still show up in the playlist.

You probably look in the wrong section. System apps do not appear under "downloaded". I cannot remember how it looked in Eclair (too long ago), but there must be an option to "show all".

I found a way to display them. I deleted the Music Player data and the Media Scanner data. But not only did it not solve the problem, now there's a new bug where each song in the playlist has a duplicate. I restarted the phone, and reinserted the media card to no avail. I'm open to further suggestions, but maybe at this point it would be best to do a factory reset.

I remember we had a question dealing with those duplicate entries -- I just cannot remember which one. But check e.g. The music player keeps displaying deleted songs

So apparently i cleared the data from the wrong app, which wasn't the Media Scanner. I found the Media Scanner app, cleared the data and it fixed both the duplicate entries and the original problem. So your advice was spot on. Thank you for being so forthcoming and helpful, both you and @SurajBajaj

@Izzy You can add that as an answer so Stefan can accept it. It will be useful for future viewers. Meanwhile, I'm gonna clean up my comments.

@SurajBajaj Done, thanks for the wake-up call :)

As my suggestion in above comment seems to be relevant, I hereby convert it to an answer as promised:
It might be that's some "cached info" somewhere. You could try walking your apps (Settings → Apps → Manage Apps) for all fitting things (media player, media scanner, es file explorer...) and delete their caches. Check whether that solves the issue. If not, you could try to delete data for media player/scanner at the same place (at least scanner data should be rebuilt on the next scan; the player would lose its configured preferences when deleting data).
Keep in mind to check all apps (not just the downloaded section: the latter only applies to the apps you've installed yourself, while the former also includes system apps).
When you've cleared cache and data, you library might appear empty at first. This is no bug or problem -- it's just the Media Scanner needs to rebuild its library. This happens on certain events:

after a reboot
after a re-mount of the sd card (e.g. plugging it into your computer via USB, then disconnect it again)
when another app triggers it (take e.g. a look at SDrescan for this).

Add a blank file named .nomedia in the folders containing music that you don't want to be seen in the music player. Media scanner ignores files in the folder with .nomedia file. I have never tried this on Eclair, but I guess it should work.
And yes, you may have to restart the device after this is done.
EDIT:
The restart is to trigger the Media Scanner to do its job. You can also trigger it by unmounting and remounting your SD card (which can be done from Storage Settings or by connecting it to your computer), or by using one of the "trigger-happy-apps" like e.g. SDrescan

The restart Suraj mentions is to trigger the Media Scanner to do its job. You can also trigger it by unmounting and remounting your SD card (which can be done e.g. by connecting it to your computer), or by using one of the "trigger-happy-apps" like e.g. SDrescan.

I can't do that. Like i said in my initial post, the files that are showing up are from the phone's internal system folders, they aren't on the media card. The phone won't let me a copy files into it's internal system folders. Even if i could put a .nomedia file into the correct internal folders, i'm not certain how it would effect the functioning of the phone, and if the media files in those folders would still be visible and available to the phone to use as ringtones and such.

I appreciate the help guys, but you haven't addressed the greater problem, which is that the phone won't let me copy files into it's internal system folders.

@SurajBajaj When you update your answer, feel free to integrate the information from my previous comment. Makes it easier to catch.

@SurajBajaj Right, i'm not rooted. I'm using the phone's default music player, the phone is an X10 Mini Pro.

That's exactly right. Ever since i used ES File Explorer to pick out some non-default sounds for the Alarm from the system/media/audio folders, those very sounds have been showing up in the Music Player playlist regardless of rescans.


text:
CM10 on Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 n8010 missing things
I installed CyanogenMod 10 on my WiFi Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. However, some things are missing.
First of all, I want the S-Pen handwrite keyboard, as well as the S-Note app.
Also, if possible make peel work (very unlikely, but just in case anyone had make that work)
I tried to install these from an unzipped stock ROM but (as expected) it didn't work. Do I have to install any library? If yes, which?
BTW: Please do not recommend other ROMs. I want CM. Maybe alternative apps.
If I find the libraries and APKs, I may create a flashable zip.

"make peel work" What's peel?

the remote control program. (n8000 & n8010 have infrared)

These apps won't work with custom ROM's, as they are designed to be run with the Samsung software, and require libraries etc from the Samsung software.

any alternative apps?

@ttouch AFAIK, the s-pen doesn't work with CM10, or any custom ROMs because it requires specific drivers that Samsung has not released source for.

can I find the required libs and do it manually?

@ttouch The Samsung libs are closed source, and they will only work on Samsung ROMS.

Is it a coding problem or a license problem?

License, also the fact that Samsung have not released the source.


text:
Using a fully charged Galaxy Note
Is it safe to use a Galaxy Note that is fully charged and at the same time it is plugged in to the wall socket? I'm worried that the battery might be charging and discharging at the same time and it will tremendously produce severe stress in the battery. Thus it will shorten the lifespan of the battery.

Yup, It is perfectly fine. I do it regularly while playing games.


text:
Are there any ways to prevent 'com.htc.bg force close' issues?
I have a HTC Legend, and on occasion, I get an error "Process com.htc.bg has stopped unexpectedly".
According to other forums, this could be caused by issues with internet connectivity relating to updating Facebook contacts.
I have removed the syncing of Facebook all together (only syncs when I force it to), but I am still getting these errors.
Has anyone else worked out what is causing these issues, and how to resolve it? The processing crashing is usually just a popup, the process restarts ok without any issue, but on occasion the entire thing locks up, restarts, or the home screen reloads (as if coming from a restart)

I have also experienced this problem with an Exchange account.  My solution was to remove the account completely and re-add it.

I don't have a Legend, nor HTC, but some googling turned these out:

http://androidforums.com/htc-droid-eris/59163-process-com-htc-bg-has-stopped-unexpectedly-please-try-again-wtf.html
http://www.incredibleforum.com/forum/htc-incredible-help/224-error-message-com-htc-bg.html

apparently it's related to Facebook Sync.

I have found this as well. After the first few syncs and a few restarts, the issue has not occurred again.

I had this while using "go launcher ex notifications" seems it was running two notifications at the same time, made a conflict, so I uninstalled and it seems fine. HTC desire.


text:
Copying applications between phones?
Is it possible to easy copy applications between phones (eg. two HTCs via bluetooth) and get them running fine? Or apps just need to be downloaded from AM each time because of some installation routine that comes right after downloading?

Android 2.2 introduces the App Sharing app which is installed by default. I think this might be what you are looking for, however you will need a FroYo device.
For earlier versions you could use the app "Bluetooth File Transfer" to share the APK files, if you have these available on your memory card for example.

Can you explain how to use the native app sharing in froyo?

I use an app called App Manager by Amazing Droid (search pub:"Amazing Droid" on market) which is free and allows you to do batch backups to SD and batch installs from SD (and also batch uninstalls).  The backup places the .APK files into a known location on your SD card so you can copy them off to another device.


text:
Android phone lost, what data can I get onto new phone?
Sorry about the clumsy question.
My Android HTC Magic was lost/stolen last night. I had an unlock swipe code, power-on SIM code and have called the phone company and had it blocked, so not too concerned about the phone itself being used by someone else.
What I am thinking about is when I get a new phone, what data/info can I get back easily as I can't just copy it from the old phone now? Obviously GMail/Contacts/Calendar are all stored on the web, any purchased apps are linked to my Market login, and I'm not concerned about photos, music etc that were on the SD card.
What I'm more concerned about are my preferences, settings, SMS texts, list of installed apps, prefs, data from those apps, etc. Are those all gone?
Addendum: I was thinking of rooting the phone, so did take a standard Nandroid backup a week ago that I have a copy of on my PC, if I get an identical model of phone and restore that, will my data come back? Also what happens if I try to restore that onto a different model of phone (I'm assuming bad things would happen)?


text:
How do I properly install a system app given its .apk?
I removed a system app (com.android.mms) and I have the .apk needed to restore it, however it won't install through the standard channels (running the .apk gives me "application not installed"). What's the proper way to install a system app's .apk?

You will need to push the .apk to the phone to the System partition to the folder /system/app or /system/priv-app when using Android 4.3 using adb. You can find more info about adb here: http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=ADB.
In order to write to /system you likely have to remount it read-write:
adb shell
su
mount -o rw,remount /system

Or, do it entirely from the host's ADB:
adb root
adb remount

Now you can place the .apk:
adb push my-app.apk /sdcard/
adb shell
su
cd /sdcard
mv my-app.apk /system/app
# or when using Android 4.3 or higher
mv my-app.apk /system/priv-app

Afterwards if the flags are not already set change the permissions. All System-Apps need to have the permissions rw-r--r--. You can also change them via ADB with the command chmod 644 /path_to/your_file. Though it's quite old, this may help
After you have placed the .apk you need to reboot your device. For example with adb reboot.

Yea I figured this would be the way to go, tried it, says bad signature. I used the Mms.apk that is part of the .zip rom I used to install the current android running.

Beautiful answer. Thanks. One comment, I was not able to "mv my-app.apk /system/app". I got an error "failed on 'XXX.apk' - Cross-device link". I was able to CP and RM the apk as described in http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/75920/failed-on-cp-file-to-system-cross-device-link

Consider using cp instead of mv because you are moving between different file systems and it's not supported in all mv versions

this doesn't update the android permissions with the location of the apk, which is required for packages that use the apk

Carl Parker writes about it on Android Authority:
(partly reproduced here in case the original post goes down)

For Apps Installed on the Device

Assuming you have installed the app on your device, go to the app’s
  Google Play Store link and take note of the words after “?id=” and
  ignore the rest.
Connect your device to the computer via USB
  cable.
Open the command prompt on your computer and type the following
  commands:

adb remount
adb shell
su
cd /data/app/

Type the command ls appfilename* (where “appfilename” is the app’s ID on Google Play
  Store; make sure you include the asterisk at the end).  This command
  will display the app’s complete APK filename.
Enter the following command:

mv apk_full_filename_here /system/app/apk_full_filename_here
exit
exit
adb reboot

The device will now reboot. Your app is now saved as a system
  app.

For Apps Whose APKs Are on the PC Hard Drive

Open a command prompt on your computer and navigate to where the APK
  file is located.
Enable USB debugging on your device and connect your
  device to the computer via USB cable.
Enter the following commands:

adb remount
adb push apk-filename-here /system/app/
adb shell chmod 644 /system/app/apk-filename-here
adb reboot

Your phone will automatically reboot. Your app will now be saved as a system app.

note that when playing with adb you will install apps via their package file name (meaning, at the command prompt you will type >adb install myFile.apk)
but you will uninstall them via their package name (>adb uninstall com.this.that.otherthing)
You won't be able to install a package until you've uninstalled its predecessor.
It'll help to add adb to your PATH so that you can just go to the directory where the .apk file is and type adb install myFile.apk.

Thanks! Didn't know about the uninstall mechanics :)

Have not tried with system apps, but for usual apps /system/bin/pm (Package Manager) utility worked for me. Like pm install -r myFile.apk (-r for "replace"). This way you don't need to uninstall and to know package name.

You need to have the Android SDK installed (or at least a tool that's called adb).
Further you need to allow "Non Market installs" on your device.
After this is done you change to the folder that contains the file with a console.
Then connect your phone (via USB) and run adb install appname.apk

See other answers' comments. Already have non-market installs enabled since I had swype installed :)


text:
Can I Update my T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream so it runs Android 2
Can I Update my T-Mobile G1 (Also known as the HTC Dream) so it runs Android 2?  Is it possible to do this without rooting the phone?

No.  You must root your phone and install a mod such as CyanogenMod to get your phone running a semi-equivalent of Android 2.1+.  There is no stock rom for Android 2.1+ for the G1.  Additionally, if you do go with CyanogenMod, not all features are fully supported due to hardware limitations, such as LiveWallpapers.

+1 gotta love CyanogenMod.  I believe they support 15 devices now with CM6.

There's no need to root the phone, it's possible to flash a non-rooted image of 2.x to a phone.

@Arda Xi can you post how that works?

You can run CyanogenMod 6.0, which is Android 2.2 aka FroYo.
A few tipps of mine:
If you don't want it to be terrible slow, disable dithering and all effects in the settings. Maybe enable the just in time compiler (jit).
With the app titanium backup you will be able to remove some "garbage" apps which come with the cm release which is also helpfull.

I've seen that, but you can't run havet google applications like gmail I thought

They won't come with the mod itself, but you can install the gapps package (a link is present at the installation tutorial of cm) after flashing with cm and then you'll have google apps also.


text:
I've rooted my phone.  Now what?  What do I gain from rooting?
This is a common question by those who have just rooted their phones.  What apps, ROMs, benefits, etc. do I get from rooting?  What should I be doing now?

Things that Require Root
Root File Explorers
You can remount your /system/ directory read-write, which will allow you to remove carrier-shipped applications you don't like and so on.  Root file explorers can allow you to view all folders on your phone, such as /data/ which is normally protected.

Mount /system RO/RW
Root Explorer
ES File Explorer

Patching Apps
With root access you can patch other apps to gain special access to functions, or removal of self-protection for some apps.

Freedom - Get iAP (in-App Purchase) for free! Buy diamonds, rubies and Pro unlocks without real money. Note: Legal restrictions may apply depending on your country/region.
Lucky Patcher - Patch apps so that they don't require Google Play Services / displays no more ads / automatically become Pro version / work at certain DPI... There's many you can do with Lucky Patcher and there's even a bunch of patches provided already.

Moving & Removing Apps
Access to /system also means you can move apps or updates to system apps from /data to /system (with caution!), if the partition has enough space.

Titanium Backup - Back up all of your applications and data.  Also allows you to uninstall or freeze system apps, integrate updates into your ROM to save space, move apps to SD, and more.
apps2rom - does for free what the pro version of titanium backup does: lets you move apps to the system partition.
Bloatfreezer - Freeze or remove system apps
Link2SD - Move (system) applications to a second partition in SD card, liberating loads of free space in /system partition.

Note that moving apps to the sdcard has risks and cons, and should be undertaken only if space is needed. Most modern devices have enough memory for many apps (16GB+), providing that photos/videos/music are stored on an external sdcard.
Tethering
Some devices already have Wi-Fi tethering out-of-the-box, like the Samsung Galaxy S, so this isn't such a big deal on them unless the carrier charges for the feature.

Android Wi-Fi Tether
Wireless Tether

Screenshots & screen recording
root is needed for screenshots before 4.0-Ice Cream Sandwich.
Most pre-lollipop screen recorders also require root.

ShootMe
Drocap2

Backups

Titanium Backup - Back up all of your applications and data.  Also allows you to uninstall system apps, integrate updates into your ROM to save space, and so on.
ClockworkMod Recovery (ROM Manager) - Usually requires root to install via ROM Manager.  Allows you to backup the entire device, including your ROM, as well as flash new ROMs and other advanced tasks.

There are also many apps that claim to make a full nandroid backup.
Application/Network Control

AdFree - Removes ads by changing the hosts file (so both ads in apps and in browser)

Adaway - Also blocks in-app adds.

Droid Wall - Firewall application.  Got an app that's using up all your data when you're not even using it?  Block it with this!

Orbot - Tor app

Cache Mate - Clear cache of all apps

Droid VNC Server - Connect to your phone via VNC

LBE Security Master - Selectively revoke permissions from app

Button Savior - Helps to add on screen button to compensate a failure of a physical button.

ClockSync - to automatically sync the device's time with few predefined atomic clocks.

Xposed Framework
The Xposed framework allows apps with advanced tweaking functionality to be installed.

GravityBox (for Android 4.2 4.4 5.0 5.1 6.0) - An app that provides many system tweaks.
XInstaller - Various tweaks for Package Installer.
XHangouts - Improved version of google hangouts.
XWhatsApp - Mod for the popular whatsapp messenger.
XPrivacy - Finegrained app control.

CPU Control

SetCPU - Control the processor speed of the phone, can also setup profiles.  It allows underclocking based on conditions, e.g. underclock to 125mhz when screen is turned off. It dramatically increases battery life without affecting performance (when you're actually using apps / the phone) or can improve performance via overclocking.
Overclock Widget - Similar to SetCPU but less functional

Enable swap file / partition

ROEHSOFT RAM-EXPANDER (SWAP) - Use SD card for more RAM.

Memory Swapper Free - support swap file.

Advanced and Miscellaneous

ROM Manager - Facilitates installing new ROMs with ClockworkMod Recovery, and allows you to back up your entire device (ROM + apps + data) and other advanced tasks.
Quick Boot - Allows you to reboot into recovery or the bootloader / Download Mode.
LED Hack - Disable LED on phone (no longer available on Android Market)
Lag fixes - Various tweaks and filesystem changes to speed up your phone or prevent issues with your phone pausing / freezing temporarily.  These are particularly useful on some Samsung phones that use an RFS filesystem.  An Ext4 lagfix like Voodoo is recommended, but there are also Ext2 lagfixes like RyanZA's One Click Lag Fix which also allows you to change advanced memory, Wi-Fi, and disk scheduling options.
TRIM - Some older kernels do not have TRIM.
StickMount - Automatically mount USB flash drives, keyboards, mouse via USB OTG cable.
BusyBox - Makes terminal emulators feel more like linux.
Sideloading apps.  Most carriers/phones allow this option but AT&T does not.

ROMs
Though root is not required for flashing new ROMs, many apps that make it easier do require root.
CyanogenMod is a very popular rom that many people put on their phones.  It is also easy to install via the ROM Manager app.  First install the Clockwork recovery.  Then run a backup before you flash any roms.
Also check out "Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my device" or the XDA forums for other custom roms.  Most devices have a specific "Android Development" sub-forum where ROMs are posted.
Always do a nandroid backup before installing any rom or mod!  You may also need to wipe all data and cache from your phone before installing or upgrading a ROM.
Custom Kernels
One popular set of kernels is those provided by ChevyNo1. You can also download them via the premium version of the ROM Manager.  Make a nandroid (ClockworkMod) backup before using these kernels! You'll also want to get SetCPU to make the most out of these kernels.
Start with the low voltage kernels at the lowest speed and work your way up to the 1.2GHz.  If your phone is stable up to the 1.2GHz range, then try some of the ultra low voltage kernels.  If you start getting force closes, then switch back to a low voltage kernel.
Basically each phone (of the same phone brand/model) varies by which kernel it can handle due to the manufacturing differences between processors. So I may have a Motorola Droid that can run ultra low voltage kernels and yours may not be able to run them.  These phones weren't necessarily designed to run like this.

Ohhh, the VNC Server is making me seriously consider rooting my phone!

You've forgot Terminal Emulator with su command..

You could also add the ability to join ad hoc wifi networks.

@SachinShekhar said: "You've forgot Terminal Emulator with su command" -- See http://android.stackexchange.com/a/13349/13117 .

There is also wifi adb (which allows you to push and debug applications over wifi). Also, there is another benefit to Titanium Backup. If for some reason, a new app version removes key existing functionality, or increases the area an advertisement takes, Titanium Backup allows you to revert to the previous version of that particular application. And sometimes, rooting is great for installing unsupported features (for instance, the Note 1 initially didn't have support for NFC, although it had the chip for it, and a few years ago, very few official ROMs supported Netflix, etc).

Lollopop OS doesn't allow certain toggling apps like Power Toggles to toggle data/airplane mode etc..With root its possible to allow those apps work properly

With Lollipop out and Android M around the corner, I think this answer could use a revamping. Some of the links are down, and I think the answer itself can gain a lot by coming from a more neutral point of view.

FYI, ES File Explorer is not my go to anymore.  FX file explorer is maintain much more often. Same with Droidwall. AFWall is the new Droidwall.  AFWall is maintain often.  My primary reasons for rooting, have always been for Adaway, AFWall, and FX file explorer. EX Kernel is also great too  Apphider also comes in handy and is not just for those dating apps either. Good for hiding apps (Banking apps) from phone so a guest can use my spare Nexus 5x for casting.

I'd really love if we updated this answer to reflect more secure and maintained apps.  Droidwall has not been updated in years. AFWall is the droidwall but better and has recent updates.   Side note:VLC player on Playstore is outdated. You have to either get it from an apk mirror or xda full version.

If you're going to link Lucky Patcher you should correct your link. You can see ChelpuS tried to take down links to the fake site:  https://www.lumendatabase.org/faceted_search?sender_name=ChelpuS

The first link is broken.

In few words, rooting an Android system means overcome the limitations that were imposed over it by the manufacturer. People may want that for different reasons, but the main one is freedom. Having a rooted phone means you've got all the control over your device.
The main reason people root phones is to install a custom ROM. Custom ROMs are often known for improvements in performance and exclusive features that are not present on manufacturer ROMs, like installing apps on sdcard or taking screenshots. Custom ROMS can also become a system update alternative for those devices that were abandoned by their manufacturers. You can see a review of popular ROMS, as an example, here.
Rooting Android also allows you to uninstall stock apps that you don't use or don't want, besides those that violates user's privacy (see CarrierIQ). Another main reason for doing that is to gain more space on internal storage.
A rooted device lets you install almost any app that requires root access. Those apps generally aim to do something that would not be possible without that privilege. A lot of useful apps were shown on the previous answer, but you may find a lot more available on Google Play. You can find a list of good apps here.

Google is trying to reduce the need for rooting by improving the permitted system services. Nowadays screenshots, screen recording and tethering typically don't require root.The reasons I can think of to still root:

To uninstall and/or backup default apps.
To move files and apps around without restrictions.

Copy/paste/unzip anywhere with a root explorer.
Integrate/migrate apps from your /data partition to the /system partition in order to save space and preserve them from factory resets.
Edit your system hosts file to block ads (adaway). Edit your icon resource file (txt) to include a launcher icon for your favorite app. Etc.

To run programs with more power:

More Tasker functionality
Better power management with apps like Greenify.
Hook into any app or resource with Xposed.

Ricing (gravitybox)
Adding unofficial features to the Youtube (or other popular-) app.
Fine grained app permission management with Xprivacy.

Run command line utilities (busybox) like (re)mounting your filesystems, or scanning all partition files to see what takes up space.
Reverse tethering (use my laptop/desktop internet via usb or wifi)
Change CPU performance policies.
Online flashing of a new image to storage, or make a full backup. The non-root way involves recovery/fastboot methods.


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How do I use voice input in Google Maps on a HTC Desire?
I have an HTC Desire phone running Android and I use the Google Maps application. I can search for locations using text entry but I would like to be able to use the voice entry feature which was added last year.

You can now search Google Maps for Android simply by speaking your query and Google Maps will search it for you.

I have the latest version of Google Maps from the Android Market but I don't see how to activate this voice search feature. I have tried opening Google maps, pressing the search key at the bottom-right of the phone, and then saying for example 'London' into the phone's microphone, but nothing happens.
How do I use the voice search in Google Maps for Android?

Updates
There is no microphone icon next to the search bar.
Version Information

Android Version: 2.1-update1
Google Maps version: 4.4.0 (#4414) gmm-android-htc

I have a Samsung Galaxy S on T-Mobile, so YMMV.
To use voice entry, I start the Navigation application, not Maps; one of the menu options it displays is "Speak destination".  Navigation wasn't available on the phone when I first got it; I first noticed it about a week ago (I noticed Latitude and Places arrived at the same time, so might all have been part of the same push).
EDIT: To get voice entry in Maps, press and hold the Search key, which gives you a general search.  To search for a location, I use Menu > Search, then there's a microphone icon on the search bar.  In Menu > Directions, you can focus on either the From or To input boxes, and again you'll get the search bar with a microphone icon.  If I use Menu > Directions to speak a location, it works as if I'm doing a map search, so I have to go back and select the location again in the Directions input box.

I don't use the Navigation program. As far as I know it only supports driving directions which isn't useful to me since I can't drive. I want to have easy access to train/bus timetables and walking directions plus other features that are available in Google Maps. Thanks for your answer anyway, but I don't think it's what I'm looking for.

@Mark: I believe you're right about Navigation only giving driving directions.  You can use voice search in Maps, but it's not perfect; see my update.

@Niall C.: This looks much more like what I am looking for thanks. However I cannot see the microphone icon on the search bar. Do I need to download some special version of Google Maps or an add-on package to add the voice search functionality? Sorry for asking such basic questions... I have tried to Google for information about this but I cannot find anything about how to do it - only a lot of pages saying that it is possible.

By the way, if I select "Google Maps -> Menu -> About" it tells me "Version 4.4.0 (#4414) gmm-android-htc".

I also have an application called Voice Search.  I believe I was prompted to install it the first time I used the "Speak destination" option in Navigation.  IIRC, the prompt said it's an optional plug-in.

Ah, great thanks. Now I found an article (http://nimbu.amorvi.com/2010/04/add-voice-search-to-htc-phones/) saying that the Voice Search has been removed from the market for HTC phones but can be downloaded and installed. I wonder why... thanks for your help!

After adding Voice Search using the package from the above link it works. Thanks so much for the hint!


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What effect does tasker/locale have on battery life?
Locale and tasker look pretty cool. How much effect will they have on battery life?

For Locale, Both GPS and Wifi triggers can drain the battery more quickly.
Locale's built-in location condition can consider cell towers without GPS if you set the diameter of the location condition to about 2km.
There is also a Locale condition plugin, "Location (energy-saving)", which uses cell towers to determine location.  It takes advantage of the fact that the phone is already listening for towers.  The biggest potential drawback for using the energy-saving location is when you are in an area dense with cell towers, like a major urban downtown with lots of tall buildings (especially if you work higher up where lots of towers are visible to the phone).

I am the developer of Locale.
Battery life is a key metric that we test extensively.  The only feature in Locale that has any real effect on the battery is the Location condition.  At the time of this writing, the Location condition in Locale 1.4.3 can accurately detect 100-meter location changes within 4 minutes on average, while using 3% or less of the battery.
If you've configured Locale to turn Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on/off, then battery life may actually improve depending on the exact configuration.

What do you mean by "3% or less of the battery"? Is this 3% of your battery for each fix, 3% more draw above the background idle processes, 3% per 4 minutes, 3% an hour, 3% per day or something else?

We test battery life on a G1, Droid 1, Nexus One, Nexus S, Evo 4G, and a Tattoo (plus other handsets from time to time).  We set Locale up using all of the built-in conditions and settings, including about 5 different locations that are 100-meters in size.  We turn Wi-Fi off, Bluetooth off, 3G on, GPS on, background syncing on.  We turn Locale on and leave the phone alone for several days but move it between locations.  In this test, Locale uses 3% of the battery total.  If you're actually browsing the web, making calls, etc, then Locale's battery usage would be essentially 0%.

I am a long-time user of Locale and a fairly new user of Tasker. I find both to be very helpful tools in managing my device automatically.
I use Locale for all GPS-related tasks. Vibrate when at work between work hours. Silent when at home between sleeping hours. When I first installed Tasker I ported over these profiles and found that my battery life was decreased dramatically no matter how I tweaked the polling settings.
Tasker is more of a action/response application in my setup. When placed in the Car Dock, Tasker autokills the Car Home application, enables Bluetooth, and launches Google Navigation. When headphones are plugged in launch the Cubed music player. Disable vibration on all notifications when the computer USB cable is plugged in.
I don't mind running both or having paid for both but I was disappointed in that I couldn't accomplish everything in Tasker. The dual setup gives me at least 30% more battery life than running Tasker alone.
If you do choose Tasker, be sure to experiment with the polling frequency of GPS and network-based location. That also helps vary the battery usage dramatically.

If you trigger events by GPS co-ordinates (and possibly wifi), then they'll drain your battery significantly, like any other GPS app would do.
If you trigger events by date/time, etc. then you'll experience minimal battery reduction.  Often the benefits of these apps weigh beyond any downside, i.e. turning your brightness down or screen timeout down when your battery is getting low.

Yep. I use tasker to turn off my phone's sync feature when it's on battery power; that extends the battery's life noticeably.

As Locale, Tasker tries to minimize battery drain. Of course, if using GPS location, it needs to check GPS -- which itself consumes a lot of battery when permanently updating the current position. But there's an easy solution to this issue.
Combining location conditions is where saving can kick-in:

If you only need a raw position, stay with the Cell Near condition. As cells are either known to the system for telephony issues, this needs no "extra power".
If Cell Near is not exact enough, going with network based location is a little more accurate -- though this requires a little more battery power as well.
If you need an as-accurate-as-possible location, combine conditions. E.g. put a Cell Near condition for the raw location, and add a GPS position for more accuracy. Tasker then would use GPS only when the Cell Near condition matches. This way you have the best of two worlds: Energy saving while not close to the configured locations, and accuracy for triggering the desired action.

I've been using Locale to turn on WiFi and to switch to 2g based on location and have seen battery life improve. This was on my Rooted g1/CM5 and also on my g2/CM6.
On my g2, keeping WiFi on at home and turning to 2g when at work improves battery life a lot. I also turn off Sync while at work.


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How do you remove pre-installed apps on a rooted phone?
I have a rooted Nexus One and want to remove some of the pre-installed applications, like Amazon MP3, for example.
What is the best way to do this?

Yeah, it annoyed me that there was no way to remove the amazon mp3 app

possible duplicate of How to remove pre-installed apps like Peep and Friend Stream from my HTC phone?

Check out the "Barebones" page in CyanogenMod's wiki.


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Running an over/under-clocking app without rooting
Can it be done?  I'd like to be able to set clock limits based on a number of conditions, such as battery temperature, charging/not charging, and what radios are turned on.  I'm aware that there are apps for rooted phones that will allow me to do this, but I'm wondering if there are any that don't need my phone to be rooted.

Sorry, but this simply isn't possible.  You have to have administrator access to your phone to control the processor's speed.

Shucks.  Looks like I may be rooting my phone in the not too distant future.


text:
Ways to improve battery life on Droid Incredible?
Out of the box, I noticed my Incredible has a lot of stuff running/turned on by default.  Besides the basics of turning off WiFi, GPS, and BlueTooth when I'm not using them, are there more steps I can take to make my battery last longer?

In general, I believe reducing use of vibration helps save battery life on a phone. So for the Incredible, I even disabled the feature of vibrating when entering keystrokes.
Here are some good tips from wikiHow.

FYI, for HTC, keyboard "haptic feedback" is found in the sound/display settings.

Switching to 2G when there's no need to use 3G networks is also increasing the battery life.

How do you switch?

The biggest thing I've seen is to dim the backlight as much as possible (while remaining comfortable for your eyes), as well as lowering screen time-out length. Another big killer is to stay connected to wifi or 3g with a very weak signal. If it is at the point of losing connection and reconnecting repeatedly, it will eat through the battery very quickly.


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"invalid download uri" from Play Store on a Huawei phone
I have a g350-u00 device that was shipped with JB 4.1.2 but without Gapps. To add Google account, I rooted the device and copied .apk files to /system/apk from gapps package http://goo.im/gapps/gapps-jb-20121011-signed.zip. After a couple of hard resets I have a working system with Gmail and Play Store. The latter fails to install any app with toast "invalid download uri". How can I cure the system?

Try "all apps in play store" xposed mod

Just to clarify, xposed mod has an all apps in play store feature?

Yes it does :p try it


text:
How many Intel CPU devices have Nougat or later?
From the official dashboard or other resources, I cannot derive how many (if any) real commercially available devices with Intel CPU have Nougat or higher installed (or preinstalled).
As Android developer, I want to know how many regular users may suffer if I choose not to support these devices (due to ffmpeg text relocations in assembly, if you want to know why).
I don't care about the emulators, or android-x86 deeply respected community. These people have much better alternatives for video recoding.

It isn't quite easy to tell whether this question is off-topic

"deeply respected experiments" - the questions we get about android-x86 show there's actually quite a determined community who play mobile games or use messaging apps on their PCs. Whether those people are relevant to you is another matter, of course.

I've previously written an answer for What Percentage of Android Devices Runs on x86 Architecture? - you should be able to get a rough idea.


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HTC Magic with OpenEclair: Factory reset doesn't work!
today I got an old HTC Magic phone with OpenEclair (Android 2.1-update) installed on it. Unfortunately there is still the Gmail account of another person linked with it, which I'd like to remove. However, for doing so, you need to do a "factory reset" on the phone. So did I, the phone rebooted, but the data (apps, settings and the account) was still there. Nothing had been removed!
Anyone has an idea what could be the problem and how to fix that?
Thx a lot!

You didn't do a factory reset then, but probably a soft reset. To perform a factory reset from the Home screen press Menu > Settings > SD card & phone storage > Factory data reset > Reset phone > Erase everything. That should take you back to square one. Reply back with a comment if not.
Update:
Boot into the bootloader: Completely power off the deivce. Then hold down the Back button and press the Power/End Call button to restart your phone. Keep the back button held down till the bootloader menu appears. From here do you have an option to wipe, reset, or factory reset (or something along those lines)? If so try it.

ehm... "SD card & phone storage" doesn't contain a "Factory data reset". What I did is "Menu > Settings > Privacy > Factory data reset > Reset phone > Erase everything". That didn't work however

Huh, I pulled that from HTC's website. And if you search there are plenty of other sites that state the same method for factory reset. Try the following update in my answer above...

Yes, I've seen the wrong path on many websites as well...Just did a reflash :) I was lucky and the OpenEclair update zip was still on the SD card. So that works for sure. (+1 for your help)

So you are running a custom ROM? Wiping Data, cache, and Dalvik cache before doing a reflash usually fixes most problems. If you have any future questions it helps to post that the phone is rooted. I probably would of suggest to just reflash.


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time/clock always on?
I need to have the time/clock on for about 30 mins. Just the time I can see in dark. The screen doesn't turn off.
Is there any application or way I can have the time on for xx minutes in case I need it?
HTC Desire on Android 2.1

Keepscreen can let you choose some applications and select a specific screen timeout for each of them. So you could just set the Clock application with the "no timeout" option.

cool, let me try ....

There's a ClockView App. in google play store.
It's a best-efforted always on clock.
Please read the App. descriptions.
Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kimscom.clockview

What's your relationship with this app? Are you the publisher, or just a happy customer? (Either answer is fine, as long as you're honest about it.)


text:
Is there a direct repo for various Android Build Numbers' update.zip
I am looking to wipe my phone. I have a motorola droid currently running one of the first Nexus One 2.2 builds (no mod) that could be rooted to the droid. I tried downloading a version of Froyo and using sprecovery to update using the update.zip method; however it wouldn't pick up on there being an update.zip to use, and it would not allow me to specify which file to use (since it wasn't in .tar format; ie not a backup).
According to phandroid (and no anger in the comment section), the two versions I downloaded should have worked. I did not MD5 all three copies, but downloading three copies and not having one of them work due to corruption seems unlikely considering nandroid spits out corrupted copies.
Anyway, I did a factory reset/wipe and I am back to the basic install of the 2.2 build I started with. However, I want to implement the official motorola droid version (either FR22* or FR33*). I would be willing to put up a ROM (likely CM6).

Where can I download this from?
What did I do wrong?
Should I use a .tar ROM or a .tgz instead?

As a follow up, ROM manager is fantastic. It basically provided the functionality I was looking for in various stock builds as well as the bonus of having different modified builds.

Some questions, and hopefully some answers:

So you are currently rooted, running one of the earlier leaks of Froyo for the Droid?
You are willing to switch to a mod CM6?
Or do you want to go back to plain vanilla stock without root?

If you are currently rooted and willing to try out a mod like CM6, then go to the Market and downlaod ROM Manager.  Make a Nandroid backup of your phone before you do anything.  Then download and install CM6 via "Download Rom" -> CyanogenMod.  You want 6.0, not the RC version.  When you download and install it, make sure you include Google Apps and wipe your data and cache.
If you are wanting to go back to plain vanilla stock, be noted that apps like EasyRoot (one click root access) will not work for the latest version of Froyo for the Droid.  You'll have to downgrade to 2.1 to get root access back if you go this route.
With that said, if you are rooted, go get ROM Manager.  Under Download Rom are "Stock Images".  One of those options is 2.2 FRG01B with the option of root/unrooted.  This should put you on the right path of plain vanilla stock.
Hope this helps, let me know if I misunderstood you and I'll try to clarify.

Thanks much; im playing around with the different ROMs now. Tried CM6, but the google apps zip was corrupted so I decided to go after a stock image. Downloading it now...


text:
Restricting Web Access to a single domain on Android tablets?
Our sales team came to me earlier with a question about Android OS. I've never used Android, but I do know it is a Linux-based OS.
Frankly, I don't have the time to research for myself the capabilities of the Android OS. What I need to know is:

Is it possible to restrict web access to a single domain (domain.com, .domain.com, domain.com/)?
Is it possible to launch, on boot, the browser with a specific URL or perhaps if the home page is set, have it launch on boot to the home page?
Is there a 'Full Screen' mode for the browser that could be the default for whenever the browser is launched?
Can SMS/MMS/Email be disabled (if the tablet has those capabilities) but still maintain a 3/4G and/or Wifi connection?
Can I use a custom boot screen?

Since it's a Linux-based OS I imagine I could restrict the web access with IPtables or hosts files, but that of course means the OS has to support that, and I'm not sure if it does.
We hope to use a tablet running Android to tie in to our internal systems. The tablets will be in the hands of operators, who we do not want to be able to use the data connection for anything but our web-based application. Hence the need for browser-launch-on-boot, full-screen mode, and restricting web access.

The web access is simpler to accomplish with a firewall/invisible proxy server, but that assumes the tablets are only on wifi.

I was about to say the same thing. Is it a WiFi-only tablet? Just place restrictions in the router. It is far easier than trying to hack up your Android.

Yes all this is possible but you'll have to root the tablet and whether or not that is possible will depend on the tablet.
Here's the answer to each request:

Yes, you have to edit the hosts file for which you'll have to root the device.
Yes, any browser (I recommend Dolphin HD) will let you set the home page, so just set this to the page you want it to launch with.  With the Launch After Boot app (~$1.60) you can set the browser to launch on start-up.
Yes, the aforementioned Dolphin HD Browser has a "Full Screen" mode under settings.
Since you are rooting the device you can just uninstall the messaging (SMS/MMS/Email) apps.
Yes.  This app requires a rooted device (and dropping $2): Boot Animation Changer Pro

All in all this is possible assuming you can root you device, and while it won't be easy, it also wont require you programming any custom solution.
Edit: I should have mentioned that going "Full Screen" on the browser will not prevent people from navigating away from the browser screen to other parts of the device but you can basically uninstall every single app that you don't want your people using, and uninstall the market so they can't install more apps.  You can also Password protect apps that you don't want people using with an app like App Protector Pro ($2).  Any enterprising person will be able to get around anything you do with some work but that can be said about any workplace restrictions.
Edit #2: Don't quote me on this but I'll bet you could use Tasker to furhter restrict access to the device and/or services.  Assuming you guys operate during set business hours and are at one bricks & mortar location, you can set location and time based restrictions so when they are in the store during business hours only certain things are possible. You would just need to password protect Tasker after setting it up.

Perfect, that's what I was looking for. Not worried about anyone getting around our lock-outs; these will be in the hands of people who are generally anti-anything-computer.

You will have to modify the OS to support most of this, since it doesn't incorporate this by default, but since Android is fully open-source this shouldn't be too much of a problem. It's always better to put restrictions like these as near the kernel as possible so they are hard to bypass.


text:
How to prefer networks from a specific country to avoid roaming charges?
I've recently moved to the Geneva area on the border between France and Switzerland. I live in France where I have a French mobile (and home) phone contract, but work just over the border (within a mile of it!) in Switzerland.
The Swiss networks are stronger near my work than French ones, but I can usually get a French signal. I can use several French networks without incurring roaming charges for phone/SMS/internet use, but any of the Swiss ones will cost me a small fortune.
In Android (actually Cyanogenmod versions based on Gingerbread and ICS is what I've tried so far so far) I seem to have two options:
a) Only allow to join my home network and ignore all others, both French and Swiss. In this case I often have no connection at all.
b) Connect to any network, in which case the phone will often choose to connect to a Swiss network and hence incur costs. (And in practice will render me unable to use the mobile data connection since I've disabled data roaming).
Is there a way that I can rank networks in order of preference so that French networks (if joinable) will be preferred to Swiss ones, even if there are Swiss networks with a stronger signal?  I've looked for settings and apps to do this, but without success... other than some rather dangerous looking stuff with the Preferred Roaming List (PRL), which doesn't seem to be exposed to the normal UI.
I guess most people don't live/work on borders so this feature hasn't been that much in demand -- but the network operators unfortunately don't have any cross-country deals to help frontier-dwellers either, so a technological solution is probably needed!

How about using manual network selection method? One downside is that you have to change the network manually when moving to different area, else it will drop your network signal strength to zero and your mobile will be offline.

@Narayanan Of course, but it results in being frequently offline (and usually not aware that that is the case). I accept that sometimes I'll need to use a foreign network, but I'd like my phone to prefer a native one whenever possible, regardless of (non-zero) signal strength.

no, the phone will choose the strongest signal and there are no options since the phone doesn't know where it's connected and this scenario is so rare that it's unlikely to get fixed, maybe consider free roaming or using the work wifi if there is one.

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


text:
Unable to download/ install font apk
I made a font, but I didn't build it, instead I used this website to do it. The apk install seemed fine. I wanted to try it out on SG2, so I sent it to my Gmail account in an email, I tried to download it and the file install couldn't go through because of the parse error pop up. If its an apk file, why isn't this working? Is there something wrong with the font? (Lookout scanned and said it was a safe apk).
I even put it on my 4shared account and tried to download it that way, still get parse error. Did Gmail corrupt it perhaps?

The web app hasn't built a correct APK.
To install a font, you don't need font-to-apk converters. Just put ttf file on sdcard and use a Font Installer from Play Store. For this, rooted device is required. If you aren't rooted, font-to-apk converters are useless.

I don't know how to even begin to root my device. But thank you so much anyways.


text:
Excess in use of Packet data after updating Google play store
I have been using Samsung Galaxy Y Duos.
Last week I've updated the version of Google Play Store. From that time on, the internet packet data usage has hugely increased, it is consuming a lot of packet data in background and even the battery time had reduced to half of what it was before.
I would like to know if there is some issue with the newest version of the Play Store.

It would be helpful if you could add Play Store version number.

There was a notification that a new version of play store is available and then i updated to that version. Is there any way to find the version number manually

Play Store >> Settings >> Build Version

Have you disabled automatic app updates in the Play Store settings?

I've heard anecdotally of people having excess data downloading by Android OS recently, but I haven't heard that Play Store was the cause. Chances are people are still figuring this out.


text:
I have rooted my phone, but why can't I Telnet?
I have a T-Mobile G1 and rooted it using AndRoot. I've confirmed that I have root by using Wireless Tethering, I get all the required request superuser permission dialogues.
However when I go to the Telnet application and try to telnet it refuses to let me, I get:
Error While connecting to server localhost/127.0.0.1:23 - Connection Refused.
I've tried various different connection strings (e.g. just 127.0.0.1, 0.0.0.0)
I read that you might need to reboot the phone after rooting so I did and then confirmed again that I still have su by using wireless tether and superuser permissions app.
Is there anyway I can get this working as I'd like to flash Amon Ra's Recovery mod and start playing around with the Roms again.

AFAIK, mostly port 1-1024 on android phone are reserved for system, so the application other than system must use port > 1024.
I never use telnet, but I used ssh frequently to remote my phone, I use SSH server on phone using http://teslacoilsw.com/quicksshd maybe you can use ssh as an alternative to telnet.

I am using ConnectBot but it is quite the same functionnality http://code.google.com/p/connectbot/

In the end I used connectbot and set to local then localhost and it connected fine, I su'd up and logged me in as root.

Another option is to telnet over USB debugging, using adb forward

Digital,
You need to be more clear about your intentions. What are you trying to telnet to/from? If you want to telnet to your phone, it's not as easy as running telnet on your computer by entering your phone's IP address. You have to run a telnet server on the phone -- otherwise the connection is refused. The best way to tell if you are actually rooted is by using Terminal Emulator. When you run Term you will see a "$", this is a user prompt, where you type in commands. The "$" means you are a normal user, not root. HOWEVER, if you type "su" and hit enter and you end up with a "#" prompt, that means you are superuser (root). If you can successfully get a superuser prompt, you are properly rooted. (You might get a superuser permissions request for Term when you first run "su").
Once you are on a superuser prompt you can run a telnet/SSH server (telnet is not recommended, as it is insecure).
To see if you have an SSH server installed on your phone (you should already if you run a mod, otherwise you will probably have to install one manually), type the following command (as root) in Term:
find / -name dropbear

It should return "/system/xbin/dropbear", unless your mod has a slightly different filesys structure, in which case it might return a slightly different string, or error out altogether.
If you do have dropbear, you can continue reading (otherwise install dropbear first, then continue from here).
Now, as root in Term (make sure you have the "#" prompt, or type "whoami" to see what your username is), enter the following commands one at a time (stop if any give an error). Be VERY cautious when entering commands as root! Make SURE you type everything exact including proper case.
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system
mkdir /system/etc/dropbear
cd /system/etc/dropbear
dropbearkey -t rsa -f /system/etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key
dropbearkey -t dss -f /system/etc/dropbear/dropbear_dss_host_key

IF THE ABOVE COMMANDS WERE SUCCESSFUL enter the following commands to complete the process:
sync
mount -o remount,ro -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system

You now have SSH server capability on your Android device. Note that this does not mean you are running and SSH server at this point, only that you are capable.
To run your SSH server, first enter the following (again, as root) in Term:
dropbear -p WANIP

(Replace "WANIP" with the external IP of your phone -- the IP you want to SSH in to)
Your SSH server should now be running. You can check this by typing:
ps|grep dropbear

It should return a line that ends with the word "dropbear"
NOTE Depending on your version of Android or mod, some of these steps may vary. If you encounter a problem (dropbear doesn't run, or you can't SSH in), first check if dropbear is still running (above command) and then run "dropbear -E" to see why it won't start if it is not running.
I'm more than willing to answer any further questions you may have. Happy hacking!

Hi thanks for the great reply. I've confirmed I have SU now. When I first rooted my phone over a year ago I could use the app Telnet fine, I guess things must have changed since.

That's correct, in earlier Android releases, telnet was more accessible. They (the Android developers) were quick to lock it down a bit better once custom ROMs started making the rounds.

First off, read this thread on XDA Forums to make sure you are properly rooted. If you are positive you are properly and fully rooted then what app are you using? I have never heard of the app Telnet. Try SwiFTP. It is easily configurable and has always worked on my rooted devices.

I mentioned the app in the op, AndRoot. I've read that guide the first time I rooted my phone and while it is a good guide I thought I'd try it a different way.

No what app are using to attempt to telnet into the phone?

Telnet isn't an app, it's a protocol. The OP needs Terminal Emulator or ConnectBot - or to telnet from their desktop.


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How to install Android completely as new to ASUS Eee pad transformer?
I have ASUS eee pad transformer.
I used OLife to use Ubuntu on it, it worked but it crashed Ubuntu. Now when i boot it always goes to APX mode, so i have black screen only. No Android, No Ubuntu i got. Nothing shows up on the screen. But when i connect the device using USB to my PC i can see its showing
Bus 003 Device 077: ID 0955:7820 NVidia Corp.

(Which means its in APX mode.)
Now, I dont want to use Ubuntu on it.
How can using APX mode, completely install the Android as new on the device from my PC?
Is there any OLife like package available to install Android straight quickly on it?

possible duplicate of Can I install Android on my non-Android device?

@Izzy except that this was originally a n Android device. It's more like "How do I return to the stock image"

@GAThrawn Ooops... That wasn't clear from the post. And one cannot be familiar with all devices (/me apologizes) In this case, rather send the OP to Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device? then?

If you can access APX Mode, you can restore a stock ROM using Easy Flasher.
The steps are the following:

Check if your Asus Transformer is supported.
Download Easy Flasher
Download the latest stock ROM from Asus website.
Copy the update zip to asusupdate folder (inside Easy Flasher folder).
Open Easy Flasher and hit Flash Asus stock zip

The application will install the stock ROM back to your Transformer, so from there you can root or install a custom ROM without problems.