text:
Why Everything has exchanged places on my android Interface?
Well, I don't know how but today suddenly my first (and new) android phone (Moto E) got "sick" and everything on both the sides of the interface switched places. It is like reflection about vertical axis.
I mean everything looks fine except that,...

operations for which I previously used my Right-Hand, Right-Thumb, etc., I now have to use my Left-Hand, Left-Thumb etc.
Things that were displayed Left aligned previously, are now being displayed Right-aligned. Text Alignment changed.
The swipe that worked rightward previously is now changed to Leftward. Swapped direction of swipe.
the signs that were previously on Top-Right (battery, time etc.), now have swapped their positions with signs on top-left (notifications and stuff).
Memory status that increased rightward, is increasing leftward.

And I am also seeing occasional glitches in the graphics here and there. One of such is that only half of the context menu appear within ES file browser, when mobile is held horizontally. It seems that it is because its shape is not getting updated while the interface turns 90 degrees.
Is it due to some virus? I recently allowed app form unknown resources to install adobe flash (that didn't work, btw). I also have changed my runtime from Dalvik to ART.
Please tell me how to fix this...Thnk you!
Edit: I changed from Dalvik to ART 4 days ago and till today morning, everything was fabulous. Today I updated chrome and installed pocketbook app. And out of nowhere doom struck my humble mobile. Also "Mirroring" is indeed there but only of the relative position of elements.

Do you mean mirrored? Could you add a screenshot and link it here? Probably "Force RtL" is set unknowingly/accidentally.

Mightbe due to the fact that you changed your runtime. I am using kitkat (4.4.1), and last time i changed my runtime, i had unexpected errors and had to factory reset the device to solve it

@Wall-e you might want to take a look at this page as it appears you have managed to create 2 accounts.

Thanks guys...I guess before enabling the developer option, I should have gained more experience in "development" first. :)


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“Unfortunately, Google Play services has stopped.” on Android L Developer Preview
I'm running the Android L Developer Preview on my Nexus 5. I'm trying to install the Google Inbox beta, but I can only get to the sign up screen. I always get a ""Unfortunately, Google Play services has stopped" message once I press the sign up button. I'm wondering if there's a way to fix this issue besides reverting to KitKat 4.4. Any ideas?

I have the exact same problem -- Google Inbox, developer preview on Nexus 5, same error. I looked at the log (CatLog) and it's showing a runtime exception "UnsupportedOperationException: Can't convert to color: type=0x2" on AccountPickerActivity.
A friend said it works on his Nexus 5 after he flashed the latest developer preview image, so you may want to either do that or just wait a couple weeks for the official 5.0 update. I've had several problems like this on the preview version that I have.

You might try capturing a log of the app crashing, and google the resulting error.  You may also want to provide it here for people to look at.  (Be sure there's no private info in there such as login info).  You can paste it to gist.github.com or pastebin.com and then just share the link.  Also try IRC or one of the android forums and people might be able to help you out.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Bluetooth not working for Samsung phone when iPod connected via aux cable
Okay so my hands free Bluetooth connection works fine in my car for my galaxy 4 mini when playing CDs or radio. I can make and receive calls no problem at all. However when I connect my iPod via aux cable the phone stops connecting to the Bluetooth. Any ideas?

It sounds to me it's the car that is disconnecting the bluetooth device when it detects an aux cable connection. If that's the case, you can try manually reconnecting with your Android phone.
If you can reconnect, then you could try setting up an automation schedule where the phone tries to reconnect to your car when that connection is lost.
If you cannot reconnect, your problem lies with the car. There may be a setting somewhere in the car settings that lets you keep bluetooth devices connected even if it detects an aux device. Or you may be out of luck; it's all dependent on the auto manufacturer's operating system.

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


text:
Deleted OS from my device
I accidentally deleted all data from my htc one s, including the operating system. I tried to delete photos,apps and downloads, but it was still showing a memory issue (my phone has 16 giga memory and the "others" were using 10GB of it so i couldn't download more apps) and my phone was running very slow and even had some black outs.
I have team win on my phone. I went to factory reset which lead me to team win, and I choose to delete everything and didn't realize there was operating system in it too.
How can I reinstall my Android OS?

Download an image of Android for your phone on your sd card, and boot into Team Win.
There you will find Install button, then choose an image you downloaded on your sd card.

So this is how i can istall an operating system back to my phone? :S

Or should i dowload an os to my computer and transfer it? :P

@helen you should download an image on your computer(well, you cannot install from the phone anyways) and copy the image to microsd card(hopefully your phone has it)

@helen also make sure if you have a backup on your phone, search for TWRP folder, make sure you're able to see hidden files & folders as well. If you have a backup file it will ease restoring so much


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GMail Contacts Synced To Messaging App
On the LG Optimus L90, for some reason all my GMail contacts are synced to my messaging app.
If I type a name into the SMS contact bar, emails show up as well. I didn't want those so I went into the contact book and changed it to only display contacts that are on the phone. Even after changing that and making sure my Google account wasn't syncing contacts, they still show up in the SMS bar.
Any ideas on how to fix this so only phone book contacts show up?

GO to your contact click >go to option >click on 'Accounts'. you will see Sync setting .just click on account you want to remove ! hope next time you will not get any recommendation while messaging .cheers!


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Android device beginning to go out of control when I reboot it
Sometime back I had connected my Android mobile HTC Explorer to a compromised system. It has been about one year since then.
Sometimes my phone tends to react in strange ways. Sometimes(once or twice), calls were made. I tried scanning with my antivirus but no avail. I even factory reset the phone many times, but now a strange thing is happening to my phone.
As soon as I reboot my phone, when it is connected to the power supply, it begins to go out of control. It seems like some buttons are pressed inside and new apps and windows open. New browser windows etc open and sometimes calls are made,and games installed. I have to manually cancel the calls. But it is only on bootup.
I did not notice it some other time. What do you think is wrong in my phone? If malware is present, why does antivirus fail to detect it? I am really worried because I use the phone for transactions. Or is it some hardware problem? What should I do?

Its a very common thing i have seen with HTC (might be valid for others but i have only used HTC)
You should change your "Charger" and the "Data Cable" used along that charger ... the Data cable does this auto opening of apps and touching of buttons .. try borrowing someones charger and putting it in you will notice it gets fine..


text:
Enable screen auto-rotate for specific applications but not globally?
So I'd like to enable screen auto-rotation for YouTube and Chrome, but not for other anything else. How do I do this?
I use a Galaxy S5.

Have you tried a 3rd-party app like Smart Rotator?

Are you tired of switching auto-rotate setting back and forth? This
  tool can help you auto switching it.
You can set auto-rorate/portrait/landscape setting for each app, when
  you open those apps, it will help you set screen orientation to auto,
  portrait, landscape automatically.


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Why doesn't Google+ auto upload all my pictures consistently and in the right sequence?
Google+ doesn't upload my photos consistently, and sometimes it uploads them out of order.
Why would the app not do its job consistently? There are missing pictures, and then a week later they randomly show up (sometimes, sometimes not), and sometimes out of sequence, which is very frustrating.
If I uninstall and reinstall Google+, will it have to reload the last 4 years of pictures? Or worse, lose my pictures from my old droid that died? I have plenty of storage space left (several GB).
It is a new Samsung S5 phone, but I have the same problem on the old Droid Razor. Auto upload is enabled, and if I try the "upload now" option, it tells me everything is already uploaded, when I can clearly see I am missing pictures.

Fwiw I'm having the exact same problem. Auto backup says it's all done when there are clearly some photos not in the backups.

I know when using G+ to look at the photos make sure to select View All, I think it defaults to Highlights.
Also you can view them all via google drive. You should have a folder called Google Photos. I notice from time to time. Photos that dont show up on G+ are in my drive under that folder.

Maybe because you choosed "Only WiFi" when the app asked you if you want to upload photos via wifi, mobile or both...
Try clearing G+'s data and restarting the settings step from zero...
I had a similar problem with a S4 and this was the problem/solution ;)

There is also an option for only when charging, check that too!
Also is your sync always enabled? As far as I know the google+ photo's will only back up when sync is enabled

You can access the site of Plus (plus.google.com) and see if your photos are ok. If everything is fine, you can even reset your phone and your photos will be safe. After check your photos on the site, you can try to uninstall and reinstall the app. Maybe it solve the problem.


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Using Android 2.3.4 (stock) as a WiFi Hotsport
I am using Nexus S on Android 2.3.4 GingerBread. I'm setting it up as WiFi hotspot. I can connect other devices to this phone (they get an IP/subnet/gateway), but they can't access the internet. However, accessing the internet (3G) from my Android phone works fine though.
Any suggestion on how to proceed/analyze this issue?

With which cell carrier do you have a contract?

Cellcom (in Israel), I don't see how this is relevant, since I didn't get the phone from them, so they didn't have a chance to mess with it :-)

Carriers can block tethering if they so desire, so it's highly relevant.  Just ask anyone without a rooted device on Verizon in the USA.

ok, since I am a noob i'll take you word for it. Is there a way I can detect if they did block tethering (some setting I can look at)?

Unfortunately none that I know of.  I'd get in contact with your carrier if I were you, but don't let them know who you are.  Call from a payphone, give them a fake name, tell them you're not yet a customer but you're interested in their service, (however many steps safe you want to be) and ask them what their official policy on tethering is.  If you call from your phone they can ID you, and if you start asking about tethering and they happen to restrict it you may be putting yourself in their cross-hairs needlessly.  I couldn't find their website, so really you just need to do some research.

Possibly related: Tethering an Android 2.2.1 (Froyo) using Wifi (similar problem: IP and ping OK, but no Internet).


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Suddenly reboot
I am still using an old Moto G (2013)
It works quite well.
But sometimes it starts to behave as if a Power button is pressed - Power button menu appears, and then reboot is started, without any activity of mine)
I supposed, there is something about a mechanics in power button.
But, when I press the  button of charging phone it just splashes showing it is charging without a sign the button is working wrong.
The question :
Is it hardware or software problem?
If software, then could you guide me to file, where i can find log of booting
Thanks a lot!!

Sudden reboots of old devices often indicate a dying battery (voltage goes down for some milliseconds). How often does these reboots occur? Do they still occur if you are connected to a charger?

Robert, thank you for comment. Reboot occurs couple three of four times a day. Each time it is not a single reboot: system starts booting, then it reboots again while there is os logo on screen. And there can be couple reboots more until home screen appears. Reboot can occur even if device is connected to charger.

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


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system.new.dat vs system.img
Trying to find help in restoring my OnePlus One to factory state, I found quite  a number of websites that have step-by-step instructions.
I'm trying to use fastboot to flash this. Because that factory image (?, the page speaks about update) does not offer a flash_all.bat, I'm following the instructions (which sadly are not for that file, OnePlus does not offer any instructions here) I found which revolve around
fastboot flash partitionName filename.img

All of these have a line I assume is the most essential one:
fastboot flash system system.img

Unfortunately the ZIP offered by OnePlus has no such file. Instead, it has three files named
system.new.dat
system.patch.dat
system.transfer.list

Can I somehow use these files instead, if so, how, and if not, where can I find the correct system.img for my OnePlus One 64 GB?
Context: I bought the OnePlus One for trying out Ubuntu Touch. Now I need to re-install Android because the phone is going to my girlfriend's mom as a gift tomorrow (at least that was the plan, turns out to be alot more diffuclt than expected) :( .

The zip file that you have is recovery-flashable zip, not the fastboot-flashable one. Just use a recovery, such as TWRP, to flash that file.

I don't think TWRP is available for Ubuntu Touch, is it? There is currently nothing left of Android other than adb and fastboot access. Even the Recovery tool on the phone has been replaced by "UBPorts Recovery".

this is a windows tool which extract system.new.dat and as a side effect it converts system.new.dat into system.img just select the whole zip file do not extract the zip https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=79713771&postcount=29

you can flash twrp from fastboot at any time fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.3.1-0-bacon.img https://dl.twrp.me/bacon

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


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How to enforce Selinux (setprop ro.boot.selinux=enforcing)
I have a Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro (raphael, China Version) device.
I set the prop "ro.boot.selinux" to "permissive", by installing this Magisk Module.
Now I'd like to set it back to "enforcing", but didn't find a way to do so.
I tried using the Module to reset the prop and got this Error: "This root method has no boot script support!
!You will need to add init.d support!
!Addon.d not detected. Backup script not installed..."
It further says it installs files and reports a success, but selinux is still permissive.
After a couple hours on google now, I still don't know what init.d support really is and how I set it up. I hope you can help me.
I tried further:
setenforce 1 -> works till reboot
edit sys/fs/selinux/enforce to 1 -> back to 0 after reboot
setprop ro.boot.selinux=enforcing from terminal in twrp -> error: "unable to set property "ro.boot.selinux" to "enforcing" error code 0xb"
flash both, a recovery.img and boot.img with "androidboot.selinux=enforcing" via fastboot
flash stock miui 11
flash stock miui 10 and upgrade to miui 11
getenforce still results in permissive :/
Thanks a lot!
Edit: After reflashing LOS17 and Magisk and using the module again, I managed to set selinux back to enforcing. Now the popup camera comes up on every boot though, lol
This can be closed, thx

consider answering your own question with reproduceable steps

The only step is to delete the module or init.d script which executes setenforce 0 on boot. ro.boot.selinux was abandoned back in Android 6, replacing with kernel cmdline parameter.


text:
Can't run any Python script on my Android phone
I have an Acer Liquid Metal, Gingerbread...
I've tried installing Python on Android (and s4la: http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/) but when I run the hello world script I get:
dlopen libpython2.6.so
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "compass.py", line 2, in <module>
droid = android.Android()
File "/sdcard/com.googlecode.pythonforandroid/extras/python/android.py", line
34, in __init__
self.conn = socket.create_connection(addr)
File "/home/manuel/AptanaStudio3Workspace/python-for-android/python-build/output/usr/lib/python2.6/socket.py", line 498, in create_connection
socket.gaierror: [Errno 8] hostname nor servname provided, or not known."
Any ideas?

Easy peasy:
I was using adaway (an app that blocks ads) and somehow its tweaking of my hosts file was not accepted by Python.
Yay! :D


text:
How do I move the gesture button in Dolphin HD?
Before the Sonar changes, I could move the gesture button by long-pressing it and dragging it to a different corner. Now long pressing brings up a menu to use a gesture or use Sonar.
How can I move the gesture button to a different corner?

I had looked around the settings menus for what felt like hours before I found those button's settings (see Sachin Shekhar's answer below). Glad to hear I wasn't the only one having trouble :-)

Sadly, the current version of Dolphin HD (V8) no longer offers the option to move it. Text is generally left-justified. Why isn't the button default to possibly hide content on the right?

And then they brought it back. While I appreciate being able to move it again, I sure would like if they just stopped messing with it.

Tap the gesture button to bring gesture drawing screen. On this screen, you can find a Gear icon in bottom-right corner. Tap it and you'll find 1st option on next screen for changing position.

On the Nexus 7 it is similarly hidden, you select

The gear
Gesture settings
Scroll to bottom <--
Change entry location
Select from (left,right,hidden)
Enjoy :-)


text:
Music players that can import M3U playlists?
OK, so it seems that (unbelievably) Winamp for Android is so extremely stupidly designed that it can't import M3U playlists.
So, I want a player that can import M3U playlists.  I'm running CyanogenMod 7.  I have copied some MP3s I want in a playlist to a directory on the sdcard, and used the "My Playlist Maker" app to make an M3U file that references the audio files inside that directory.  Does anyone have some ideas for good music or media players that can import this M3U playlist?
An additional requirement is that the player be able to set itself as the default player to be used with Bluetooth - Winamp, for example, has the "Control headset" (use Winamp to control the headset) checkbox setting.

OK, I'll answer my own question on this one because I just came across MortPlayer. It does EXACTLY what I want: it will load M3U files or just play all files in a directory.


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Mail Insists on Being "Push"
Phone: Sprint Nexus S 4G with the ICS update.
I have email accounts (hosted Exchange) set up and working without issue. Well, one small issue: No matter what "Check Frequency" I choose, they insist on being "push" mode. I have one at 10 minutes, the other at 15 minutes -- but the second an email hits that inbox the phone dings.
Drives me nuts -- and wreaks havoc with playing music...
Is there a setting somewhere else or new in ICS that I need to be looking for? Anyone else having a similar issue?

Contact your hosted Exchange provider to turn the Push off. They are enforcing it.
Another way: Turn your email notification off or set its ringtone 'Silent'. But, its inconvenient.

Interesting idea. The hosted Exchange provider, in both cases, is Office365. I'll poke around the admin control panels today and see if anything pops up.

This was, indirectly, the answer.  I had to delete and recreate the accounts. As part of the creation process there were new prompts about sync frequency.  More at http://community.office365.com/en-us/f/160/p/54767/196231.aspx

Install Juicedefender and set it to only allow data connections with the interval you want. You might need one of the paid versions if you need this to work on WiFi as well.


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Adding email address from Gmail to Contacts
Suppose I have a contact in Contacts named John Smith. John's email address is jsmith@gmail.com. I've emailed him in the past, but I've never  added his email to his contact details. Now, suppose I compose an email to John, then as soon as I type js, Gmail guesses that I want to email John and his full email address pops up for me. At this point, I'd like to copy his email address and add it to his contact details in Contacts.
Any way for me to do that easily?
I'm using ICS on the galaxy nexus.

You don't need to copy the email address. Gmail pulls it from an auto-created contact (with only one value). Merge this contact with the contact you created manually.
Procedure: Using stock contacts app, Select the contact in which you want to insert email. Tap Edit from menu. On Edit contact screen, tap Join from menu and choose email address contact.

tip: to view the "auto-created contacts", you may have to change the contacts to display setting in contacts to display all contacts.

@Isaac Isn't this set by default? You would have changed it to "Display Contacts having Phone Number" in past.

@ Sachin: my phone was set to display only "My Contacts" by default.


text:
In what directory does the Dolphin HD browser store its files?
I already have root access and tried to use ES File Explorer to search for "dolphin" but to no avail.

try searching for thunar :) Are you looking for the data files or the download directory?

Okay I'll try that. I'm looking for the data files. I'm presuming that the download directory is the same as that of the default web browser?

Hm - just tried that and also tried mobotap (the parent company). neither worked.

/data/data/mobi.mgeek.TunnyBrowser

I found it on the SD card in the folder "tunnybrowser"...


text:
I want to dispaly internal and external memory seperately instead of mobile name directly on my computer
I have Samsung grand mobile. When I connect it to my computer, it displays the mobile name.
When I click on the name, it displays internal and external memory.
But I want my computer to directly display internal and external memory, not mobile name.

I'm not sure what you're asking here. Can you add some more details or perhaps attach a screenshot of the problem?

Okay I understood the question and I think that is impossible as far as I know.

The internal & external memory won't show normally because their is a hierarchy that is being followed. When you click on My Computer, it shows every device attached to the PC. In order for you to see just one device, you would click on which device you wanted, then continuing till you get to your location.
So the only possible solution to show them first would be to create a shortcut on your desktop, that you would use when your phone is plugged into the PC. Clicking the shortcut when your device isn't plugged in will return a invalid reference error.


text:
sharing 1 blutooth and 2 devices
I have an automotive OBD2 computer reader connected to a bluetooth elm 327 reader. I can see info on my galaxy 5S or my galaxy tab 2 10.1 tablet.
Is it possible to read on both devices at same time? I have the tablet paired to the OBD2 device and the 5S paired to the tablet.

Bluetooth can only connect two devices at once (please correct if wrong). So in my opinion you can't read on both devices at the same time.


text:
Android Wear Bluetooth Version Issue
I recently bought a Moto 360, and whilst waiting for it to arrive, have been prepping my other development gear. I have an Android device running 4.4 (4.3 is required) and the Android Wear app installed, although my device only has Bluetooth 2.0.
Will Android Wear function with the lower level of Bluetooth? I haven't been able to find any definite answers crawling the web (they all say Bluetooth is backwards compatible), but I am wondering if Android Wear requires it?

You can visit http://g.co/WearCheck on your phone to see if it supports Android Wear.


text:
tablet won't permanently keep or remove apps
I have an 8" android tablet running Android 2.2 (froyo). It works fine, except anything installed will not be retained when you re-start the device. Plus, if I want to remove the one and only app I put on this thing it re-appears after I delete it and re-start the device.
Nothing gets saved and no app gets deleted that is already on there. The app in mention I put on is marble solitaire plus for anyone that wants to know.
I can still find use for the tablet if only I could fix this problem. I have even tried a factory reset and nothing. When I do I get "md5 file error 1. Any ideas would help!

This question is quite long and rambling. You might get more people to read it if you trim out all the unrelated stuff about your other tablets, try to make it easier to see what the problem is, and add a descriptive title.

Can you give us the model of the tablet in question? It is very uncommon for an Android tablet to have 2.2 on it unless it is several years old.

It sounds like you have a tablet with locked system/data. Kind of like a PC with deep freeze, you can make changes but they are reset after a reboot.
You may have just made an unlucky purchase as many cheapo tablets will do this as a sort of self-protection.
What is likely happening is the system reverts to a copy of the image stored in flash so fixing it is going to require finding wherever the source copy is.
The md5 file error likely means the original copy is corrupt. This is the tough way to learn to avoid cheapo tablets because when something goes wrong you are usually SoL.
Depending on the tablet, you may be able to:

unlock the bootloader
install custom recovery
find a compatible rom and flash it

I'd recommend you just cut your losses, sell it as defective on Craigslist or something similar, and use that money to put towards a decent tablet.


text:
Parsing Package & ROM problem
I have a bit of a mixed problem in my Xperia arc s. I started by trying to install apps, and I got that message saying "There was a problem parsing the package". I checked "unknown sources" in settings and made sure that I matched the minimum sdk required or higher and still the same message.
After that I tried to install a different rom, but whenever I flash a kernel I get stuck in CWM and the rom's zip file is not found! Even when I open the sd card from windows explorer it seems that the zip file has disappeared.
I used flashtool to get back to the original rom, but again whenever I try to install an app I face that "Parsing Package" problem again!
So what's wrong here? How can I get my phone working again so I can install apps?

It sounds like you have a bad ROM install. You should try completely wiping the phone and re-installing the ROM from scratch. Make sure to clear the cache, the dalvik cache, and system. Then flash the original ROM back on.

It seems the problem was with the sd-card, any new files weren't recognized on it so when i switched it with a new one the problem was solved though i can't format it till now


text:
Can I charge my AT7-C8 Toshiba tablet with an inexpensive USB charger instead of a Toshiba brand charger?
I don't want to spend 30.00 on a USB wall charger if I don't have to. Can a cheap USB charger work to charge my AT7-C8 Toshiba tablet?

Possibly you can use a cheap charger, but it depends on the tablet as well as the charger.
Many cheap or OEM phone chargers give a low Amperage charge, from 400mA (milli amperes) to 1000mA. However, since tablets have a much larger battery, charging from a low amperage charger will cause the tablet to charge very slowly.
Most tablet USB chargers are designed to give a higher Amperage, in the range of 1000mA to 2000mA. They are generally bulkier due to the electronics needed to properly give more power. And it is also why they are more expensive.
Some tablets aren't even able to get a charge from low Amp chargers. For example, Apple's iPad will detect that you have plugged it into a charger, but it will say not charging if the charger doesn't have a high enough Amperage.
Basically, your tablet may reject cheap chargers, or it will charge very slowly. Check the mA spec of the cheap charger you are looking at; if it is below 1000mA (1A), it will likely either charge very slowly or it won't charge at all.

It's highly NOT recommended. Despite of voltage and amperage, this cheap chargers doesn't have the same components. Some of this components regulate the tension, electrical oscillations and etc. Some of them are very expensive, so, the manufacturers decide to leave it out to achieve a cheap price. Your tablet may show some troubles with this type of charger. You can use another (good) brand, but avoid use this cheaper charger.

Of Course yes(but not recommeded), it will work but if you are using a cheap/duplicate/non-standard usb wall plug then surely it will damage the phone.Damage in the sense like even if u removed the charger it will show charging, touch wont work while charging, annoying notification "High Voltage" while charging please unplug - these things can damage your phone board if you are not cautious.

Sure can! Even old BlackBerry chargers work fine.


text:
Bricked my Xperia SP in CWM recovery
It seems like I have bricked my phone. I have installed CWM recovery, and I accidentally wiped all the data it had. Now I can do nothing with it.
When I choose "mount sdcard" it says "error mounting sdcard". I was trying to install cyanogenmod, but I didn't find any update.zip in the downloaded file (I have followed the tutorials in their official site).
How can I fix my device? I don't want to throw away my brand new shiny phone :(

What tutorials did you follow? Most phone manufacturers don't have an official site where they explain how to install Cyanogenmod.

I mean the tutorial on official site of CyanogenMod. Here is the link
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_huashan

If your phone won't mount your SD card, there are a couple of recourses. Take faith- as long as CWM is working, your phone is not really bricked- just soft-bricked.
If you haven't installed ADB on your device, you'll need to for this method. I'd recommend Minimal ADB and Fastboot for this.
So I have the answer to at least part of your problem. The "update.zip" file doesn't exist- in the instructions any instance of that should be replaced with the version of Cyanogenmod you downloaded- for example, cm-11-20140923-NIGHTLY-huashan.zip.
Per the instructons here:
"Push and install method: Open a command prompt (or Terminal on Mac and Linux) and navigate to the directory holding the package(s) you would like to install. On the device, navigate to the mounts and storage menu. If you see /storage/sdcard0 as a mountable volume, go ahead and mount it. If you do not see this directory, then instead mount the /data directory. Take note of which volume you mounted.
Now, push the package(s) to your device:

If you mounted /storage/sdcard0, then: adb push update.zip /storage/sdcard0/
If you mounted /data, then: adb push update.zip /sdcard/0/

where update.zip should be replaced with the package filename. Go back to the main menu and select install zip. Choose to install from the same directory where you pushed the package(s). If you are installing multiple packages, install CyanogenMod first and then install any subsequent packages on top of it."
If you still have issues mounting the storage, please reply. I'd be happy to help.


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gdb in virtual emulator
I am testing some code for an Android device, emulated with Android studio.
I would like to debug the c code ("POC") with gdb (which is not included in the binaries of the device) to find where it is breaking.
While debugging I will be connected through adb to emu device. My question may sound trivial: Is it possible to install gdb and how without packages like build-essential etc? What needs to be done? Just copying my gdb binary will definitely not work.
I have found something similar, when you are building another rootfs in system, concrete Debian https://github.com/corbinlc/GNURootDebian

Andorid NDK should contain gdbserver for your Android architecture which runs on-device and allows you to connect a gdb instance from your host system. https://source.android.com/devices/tech/debug/gdb


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"There was a problem communicating with Google servers, try again later" error
Yet another occurrence of this when setting up a new phone, in this case a OnePlus 5 with the H2OS (Chinese) OS.  I installed the current Oxygen OS official 9.0.9 from XDA, used the OnePlus transfer, and despite many strategies, could not get rid of this error.
I tried:
Wiping the cache, other data in Google Play
Ditto other Google services
turned off WIFI, turned on, etc.
Reboot
Reinstalled Google play
Installed Google APK from APK store
I had seen these elsewhere working for some folks.

Welcome to StackExchange. So, you are trying to self-answer your post? The parts should be separated into distinct 'Q' & 'A' posts, however. Please see Help for the proper context of each. Possibly also the tour.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! On SE sites, it's perfectly fine to answer your own question (also see here) – but answers should be posted as answers, not as part of the question-post. Mind [edit]ing that out of your question, and move it to a separate answer? Thanks in advance!

Finally the only thing that worked for me was doing a factory reset.
Hope one of these approaches works for others!
Having more potential solutions in your tool box increases your chances of success.
YMMV  "Good luck, Jim!"

I have come up against this problem today, and have found a solution when everything I found online failed to fix it.
The problem I had was that all Google apps weren't working. Chrome would not load pages, I could not add an account (hung on Checking Info and eventually gave the error "
There was a Problem Communicating with Google Servers"), GMail app would load but would not show emails etc.
I found that the version of Chrome I had was a long way behind. I went into Setting/Apps and disabled Chrome. This basically re-enabled Android System Webview, and at this point I could then re-add an account, Gmail and the Play Store started working.  I could then use Play Store to re-enable and then update Chrome, which then worked too. If you want to, you can then go into Developer Mode and set Chrome back as the Webview Implementation.
I hope this helps someone avoid spending the hours I did on this issue!


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ADM (Advanced Download Manager) is not grabbing links automatically
In my previous Android phone, when I to copied any link, there was a popup window of ADM asking whether I wanted to download the specific file or not. It required that ADM should be running in the background.
But now, there's no such pop-up. I've to manually paste links. Although I've enabled the pop-up permission of the app in phone settings.
Is there some other android permission, or ADM setting that I'm missing?
EDIT : I've also checked for auto intercept links, I've enabled it. Still not working.

How to intercept Chrome links with Advanced Download Manager (ADM)?

You can do this:
Choose ADM as your default browser.
When open a link, the ADM editor will open.

I haven't used this feature of ADM before, but what you're describing reminded me of a change Android 10 has for security reasons.
In Android 10 apps that are not in focus cannot access your clipboard, not even Google's own Translate app.
Source: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/10/privacy/changes#clipboard-data


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How to install Regional fonts in Sony Xperia Dual M
How can I install punjabi fonts in my andriod phone? I have a Sony Xperia Dual M.

At least related: How to make an Android device to display complex rendering of Indic characters? / How can I install custom fonts on Android? / How can install a Hindi font in Android 2.1? / and many more. You can find such questions e.g. by hitting the tag you've used: fonts. Good luck!

Disclaimer:
You have to root your phone. I'm not responsible for any damage done to your phone.
Step 1: Root your phone
Step 2: Download SansFallBack.zip
Step 3: Install any Root File manager.
Step 4: Open File manager and the zip file to /System/Fonts, (Also backup the original file)
(Optional) Step 5: Change the permissions of corresponding folder and files, If any error occurs during installation


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Phone won't turn on - Samsung Galaxy S II
My Galaxy S2 won't turn on. It just keeps flashing the Samsung Galaxy S2 screen.
I turned it off, then held the power button and the down volume button and a screen popped up with the green android. It says "downloading do not turn off target". How long does this take to download?

Ha ha..it just a download mode..it wont download anything(Ofcourse..yes it shows downloading but progressing bar will work when you flash the firware/Os using ODIN). Just press and hold power button or remove the battery and try restarting it. I hope you are using the stock Rom provided by samsung. If you dont want any data press Up + Home + Power and do a wipe and try.

Check out this solution: http://www.widefide.com/mobile/samsung-galaxy-sii-not-booting-heres-the-solution
It was written by me years ago and helped a few who had their S2 bricked.
Follow in order: First soft reset, then hard reset and if it doesn't reboot even afterwards, move on to the third (advanced) step.

As mentioned in comments, you are booting the phone into download mode. So technically your phone is turning on just fine but you are not doing it in the way that boots android.
Instead just press and hold only the power button until you see some flashing or the boot logo appears.
Download mode is like samsungs sort of equivalent to fastboot. It will simply sit there indefinitely until you send it something manually.
If you want to enter recovery, it's power + volume up instead.
If you can't actually boot android using the normal power button only boot, then you'll need to fix your install. You're in the best position if you already have a custom recovery flashed. If not, you'll have to do a more complete restore of the stock OS.

SoftBricked!!!!! You need to re-install everything. Checkout How to restore Samsung Galaxy S2 . Go for XDA one


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How to restore cherry mobile quartz messing up the build prop
I just bought my Cherry Mobile Quartz last week, and it is rooted. I edited the build prop name and changed it to Cherry Mobile Flare. After that, I rebooted my phone, and now it's stuck on the android logo.
I tried to repair it in service center, but the stock rom is not available yet. I don't have any backup of the build prop, and the stock recovery didn't work.
How can I fix my phone?

Reboot your phone to recovery.
Use adb to pull (read as copy) the build.prop from ROM/device

adb pull /system/build.prop c:\

Edit it back the way that it was.
Once edited save as normal
Use adb to push (read as paste) the build.prop to ROM/device

adb shell chmod 0644 /system/build.prop
adb remount

.....then

adb push c:\build.prop /system/

Reboot

adb reboot

Or

adb shell reboot


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Different notification tone only for one contact
I want to have a different notification tone for one specific contact, but I can't figure it out.
I can change the tone only for All Contacts, but not for only for one contact.
Any ideas?

You can define a specific ringtone as detailed below. For message notifications you will need to find a messages app that supports that option.
To define contact-specific ringtones:
From the contacts app open the Groups Tab. Create a new group with the phone numbers that belong to the contact (home, work, cellular, etc.). Select Ringtone and choose the tone you want for this contact.


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How to disable street names in android voice navigation?
I'm stuck with a quite simple problem, still can't find the solution.
I'd like to disable street names reading in voice navigation, to keep just simple guidance like "turn right" or "turn left". Can't find an option in settings so maybe configuring text to speach engine somehow would help?


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Nexus 5 Suddenly starts playing music
I have a google nexus 5 which is a year old. I had no issues with it until recently, from around 3 days ago.
Music started playing suddenly from nowhere. It's not from the music player, and it doesn't show any notification, either. I can't even stop the music as I couldn't find out from where it is started playing. I had to turn off my phone to get it to stop.
What can I do to stop this from happening?

I have the same issue with Cyanogen mod OnePlus

@Slartibartfast with Cyanogen mod its probably a Gesture... Go to Settings >> Gestures >> uncheck Music.

Did that, the particular song it plays (Smells like teen spirit by Nirvana -lol!) doesnot exist ANYWHERE in my system. I've scanned the entire device for the song and uninstalled all external music apps. I have to open google play music app and play something else for it to stop.


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Custom Voice Action
Can i make the google assistant of my android phone to perform custom actions?
For example: Ok google. open barrier via "AppName"?
I have tried the system actions, but neither one matches my need. So is it doable to create my custom voice action?

One way to do so is creating  your own commands for your Google Assistant using IFTTT, as explained on https://ifttt.com/google_assistant


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How do I spell out period using Google voice recognition?
While using voice-to-text to transcribe notes to Google Keep, I realized whenever I said "period" it would put out the punctuation mark. This is great 99% of the time, but sometimes I need to say period, e.g. "3rd period," or even "comma."
While a relatively easy workaround is to use the plural form "commas/periods" and edit things later, I'm wondering if there is something in the settings that I missed that can be tweaked. Settings::Language and Keyboard::(Google voice typing or Text-to-speech output) are the two places I looked.

What about spelling out the word "P-e-r-I-o-d" it works for my. Android nougat 7.0. Also maybe use the UK English version with full stop for period instead. Are any of those acceptable?

These both work for me as well. It works for slash, too. For some reason, Android puts the spaces if you try to spell out comma. So it can't be 100 % perfectly generalized. But it works for the two most likely words that voice to text might see as a command. I had tried this for some weirdly spelled words, but I never thought to use it for common words. Thanks so much!


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What the s*!+ do I do to make the 4.2 swipe keyboard stop censoring me?
The new swype-style keyboard on my 4.2.1 updated Galaxy Nexus is great. However, when I  attempt to express myself more colorfully, the swiping action does not yield the word I would like to write. The word is already in the device dictionary though, so it does not let me add it to the dictionary to be recognized, as I have done with other words. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Just had a hunt round myself (also on a 4.2.1 Galaxy Nexus) my "Google Voice Typing" settings does not have "Block Offensive Words" selected. I can type offensive words by tapping the keyboard keys without any problem, I just can't "swipe" them, even if its the exact same word I just tapped out with no problem. Can't see any swipe setting to allow all words.

I what I will call a workaround for the present, as it is not a simple solution as allowing offensive words in voice typing, but it has the same final affect:

Under Settings, choose Language & Input
Choose Personal Dictionary
Click the plus (+) button in the top right
Enter the "offensive word" under the Phrase and Shortcut spaces
Click the back button (system or top left)
Enjoy your custom swipable profanity

You should accept this answer since it's the best and "only" solution I've found that works.

I swear! Often! And somebody should make a personal dictionary app preloaded with all the color language you could possibly want. I'd pay for that.

I have a Nexus 4 from T-Mobile, the Google one, with Android 4.2.2. I've been noticing this same problem, and the fix I found was to go to Settings -> Language and Input -> Then press the settings icon next to the Google Keyboard (English, U.S.) option -> then deselect Block offensive words.
I can now swype swear words, although often times it is not the automatically recognized word, and I have to manually select it from the list of other possibilities that comes up. As for the voice-to-text options, I would suggest trying the same thing (i.e. finding it under Settings and deselecting Block offensive words or some similar option). Hope this helps!

Doesn't seem to allow swiping the word directly, but it does offer auto correct options to the intended profanity.. sometimes.

Some keyboards have a kind of "blacklist" for bad/insulting words. Check if you can find that option in Settings → Language & Input, where you should be able to disable it. I know for sure there's such an option for voice input ("Block insults" in Settings → Voice Input & Output → Voice recognizer Settings), but I'm not sure whether that option also applies to keyboard input.

Can confirm that the Voice typing "Block Offensive Words" setting doesn't apply to swiping. I can't find any equivalent for swiping.


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Is there any way to launch an app (and keep the screen on) when a Galaxy Nexus is docked?
Using the official desktop docking station, my Motorola Xoom (running official Honeycomb 3.2) by default launches the Clock app when the tablet is docked, and keeps the screen on whilst it's docked.
The Settings app on the Honeycomb Xoom has a Dock category with two options "Dock Application" and "Dock Insertion Sound", I can't find any similar options on the Galaxy Nexus.
Is there any (preferably built-in) way to get similar functionality with an (unrooted) Galaxy Nexus using the official Samsung dock?

I've spotted that when I put my phone into its dock for the last few days, it now displays a clock (digital style, with the date below, in ICS blue) on the screen while it's charging.
This has happened since the recent Android v4.0.4 update for the Galaxy Nexus. This has also added a "Dock" category under the "System" section in Settings. This has options to enable a "Dock Insertion Sound" and change Audio settings for the dock.
Exactly what I was looking for!

Sounds like you could use DockAwake! Dock Manager for this. To just keep the screen on you can set Settings -> Developer options -> Stay awake.

Thanks, but DockAwake seems to be Motorola Droid only from the Market comments, and the website, no free version, so haven't tried it. And the Stay Awake while useful, is less useful without an app displaying at the same time.


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Recovering deleted files from unrooted Android device requires factory data reset
I would like to create a copy of the internal drive (not SD) of my Android device (Motorola E3) to recover some deleted files, but it requires rooting of the device. Rooting itself requires bootloader unlocking. During bootloader unlocking one has to wipe the internal drive (text taken from the "Unlock bootloader" menu):

To prevent unauthoritzed access to your personal data, unlocking the bootloader will also delete all personal data from your phone (a "factory data reset").

It sounds a bit contradictory to me. Is there no way to restore deleted files even after rooting the device?
Note: These answers (and many others on the internet) were not helpful:

Moto G -- recovering files after bootloader unlock (wipe)?
Recovering deleted files from unrooted Galaxy Nexus
How Recover deleted data from internal memory of non rooted Moto G device?
Advices like "download <fancy-tool-xy.exe> and root the device" without explaining what that tool exactly does (apart from this that fancy tool would probably contain some malware)

The real problem here is all these tutorials are for back when you could directly access the internal storage via USB, and you just can't do that anymore, regardless of root, instead we use MTP now. All these things your looking require direct drive access which isn't possible in modern Android devices. If you can't download and use a simple recovery tool from the Play Store, your likely just out of luck. And rooting is more difficult than it was back then, you must unlock the bootloader which will wipe the device, and since it uses encryption out of the box everything would be lost forever

Your device is a little aged, I assume it runs with Android 6 or 7. The only chance I see to get root without unlocking the bootloader would be using a root exploit from within an app. I am not sure but I assume that there are some root exploits that work on your old phone that would make this possible and would gain you (temporary) root permissions. Unfortunately using a root exploit usually requires you to run some "fancy tools" you never know what exactly it is doing.

@Robert If exploit code for priv. escalation is public it would be ok too


text:
Encryption on SD card. Not recovering data after crashing
My SD card on Nokia 5 suddenly stooped being recognized one day and all my apps and data was lost. I switched off the phone and reinserted the card, but no use. Then I took the card for recovery with a data recovery company - Stellar Data Recovery in Gurgaon. They inspected and told me that all they can see on my SD card is garbage and it could be encrypted or its logical drive could have completely been wiped. I had encrypted my phone but I haven't encrypted my card. Any pointers on what should I do next? The data is very precious to me and I need to recover it.
This is a SanDisk SD card 64 Gb, class 10 used with a Nokia 5 with Android 9 version
Update:
Thanks for all the answers people. The data recovery company I gave my disk to were unable to proceed with these steps because I suppose they were not as technical to try these steps. So, they returned my card stating that my card is encrypted and also has physical damage so they can't do anything. That left me heartbroken because this data is important to me.
I am planning to do all these steps myself.

Meanwhile, can I insert another card in my still-unrooted phone, which still has the old corrupted card as an adoptable storage in its settings?

2.Can this new card be made adoptable? Will doing so make the old card's vold keys disappear from the phone?

Can I make this new card partly adoptable and partly removable through disk partition on Android 9? Will this also affect my old card's vold key?

I just need to know that I will not permanently lose all my old cards vold keys if I insert a new card and make it adoptable as well.
Thanks.

you say apps and data was lost - implicates apps are stored on sd card, which is in fact only possible when sd card is formatted as adoptable-storage (which is encrypted)

You should ask it in another community.

@alecxs He's said the logical drive could have completely been wiped.

Please edit your question to clarify if you formatted your external SD card as Adoptable or Portable Storage. Is your device rooted and/or bootloader unlocked? Did you perform a factory reset after SD card corruption?

Hi,
Thanks for all the comments. The recovery company is saying that the disk is encrypted and hence data is not being recovered. Since I was storing apps on it, I think it was being used as adoptable storage. My phone is not rooted and I did not format the card or factory reset my device after corruption.
Is there anyway to recover the data now? Also, what should I do in future to prevent such mishaps? How does one select between Adoptable and Portable Storage on Android 9?
Any answers will be appreciated. Thanks!

first you need keys from /data/misc/vold. this directory is not accessible without root. you need to find a exploit to access the (encrypted) userdata partition (which can only decrypted on device itself). rooting is not an option because this usually requires unlocking bootloader (which will reset the device). once you have the key, you can decrypt and try to recover files. nothing is impossible, but its very hard

the proper way is give your sdcard + device + screenlock pin to the expert
the Nokia 5 is listed as exploitable. someone with skills can do:
on the device itself

make a full ROM dump of all partitions including encrypted userdata partition and encryption key using the read command in EDL mode
downgrade the bootloader to make bootchain vulnerable
flash avb/ dm-verity disabled vbmeta from EDL mode
flash (unsigned) magisk patched boot/recovery or twrp custom recovery from EDL mode
get root access to (decrypted) userdata partition
extract the encryption key of adoptable-storage from /data/misc/vold

on linux machine

dump the corrupt sdcard with ddrescue
decrypt the sdcard dump with extracted key
recover files with testdisk photorec extundelete binwalk etc

Important: scroll down and read Qualcomm-EDL-Exploit-and-Encryption also read Exploiting-Qualcomm-EDL-Programmers(2):Storage-based-Attacks&Rooting i post in comments until i have time to improve answer because just-link-answers not allowed


text:
Samsung S Galaxy II (i9100): possible with stock Google Android OS?
I'm in the market for a new Smartphone. Except for iPhone's, I'm new in the field and probably have some misconceptions.
My first choice was the Google Nexus S, but I was offered a great deal on the Samsung S Galaxy II (i9100). The only issue is that I read that it came with an "enhanced" version of Android. Being familiar with PC's, I know that these enhancements are almost always bloatware: I always do a clean install of Windows to get rid of it.
My question is fairly simple: is this possible to use the stock Google Android OS on the Samsung S Galaxy II (i9100)? That was the killer feature of the Nexus S for me: coming directly from Google, easily upgradable. Would that be possible and if yes, how?
Thank you for enlightening me.

...?
Can you please be more specific about your question?
You talk about Samsung graphic customizations?

Basically all I want is to use the unmodified Android firmware, just as they do on the Nexus S. Moreover, the Nexus S has guaranteed software updates (2.3.4 is out for it right now, who knows when it will be available for the Galaxy II).

@Pitto The Galaxy S II comes with Samsung's TouchWiz 4 interface and app customizations, this has its own launcher and modifications to various apps including the Contacts, Music and Video apps. This is similar to how HTC's phones come with their Sense UI and heavily customized apps.

Oh thank you for giving info!
So a cooked rom sounds like what you need, right?

Yeah it does. But is this 'official' or is this like jailbreaking an iPhone? I know how to jailbreak or root a phone, but I don't like the idea that for it to be 100% usable, one has to 'hack' it.

@Jean that does depend what you mean by 100% usable - my phone is a Galaxy S running the stock Samsung 2.2.1 Android OS with their TouchWiz 3 customizations, and I've never felt the need for a custom ROM, I haven't needed that for anything I've wanted to do. That said, my previous phone an HTC Magic ran stock Android with no modifications, and I think my next one would too, so will probably be a Nexus, I just prefer simplified over pretty most of the time.

It is very unlikely that Samsung will ever release an unmodified Android firmware for the Galaxy S II. They've never released one for their Galaxy S family of phones without their TouchWiz "enhancements".
Historically the only Android devices that have run the stock OS have been the very early phones released by each manufacturer (before they'd written their own customizations) and the Google Nexus series of phones. If you stray away from that you are going to get modified firmwares, interfaces and apps.
One of the big downsides to using a phone that has extensive manufacturer customizations is that this means that they will generally be a lot slower in pushing out updated versions of the Android OS to you. Phones with manufacturer customized OS's are normally updated months after the Nexus devices, if ever. This is because the manufacturers have to do lots of work and testing to re-integrate all of their changes and customizations back into the OS every time the base OS changes. Factor in the fact that phone companies often drag their feet in certifying the updated OS's on their networks and you have a huge set of delays before the updates reach your phone.
The big upsides to a customized OS is that the manufacturer will often add a lot of features that aren't available to stock OS phones, eg Samsung's TouchWiz offered built-in wireless tethering well before it was added to the stock OS in Froyo, both HTC Sense and Samsung TouchWiz add remote phone tracking and wiping features to the phones (in most geographic regions), their media players can generally play more formats, and the interfaces often look "nicer".
Your main option for "clean" firmwares running the stock OS for non-Nexus phones is to use unofficial custom ROMs. Many of these use the stock Android interface and apps, with only minimal changes to either. See these questions for more on custom ROMs: What is the difference between: Rooting, Jailbreak, ROM, Mod, etc, and What is the meaning of “flashing a custom ROM”?
Also see this previous question: Android phones without custom UIs
UPDATE: Since this answer was written one things has changed. In mid-2013 Google started offering "Google Play Edition" phones for sale on the Play Store in certain regions in addition to their own Nexus line of devices. These "Google Play Edition" phones tend to be some of the more popular, higher-end GSM phones and are offered with the plain Android OS with Google Apps, and without any manufacturer or carrier modifications, just like Nexus phones. So far these phones have been getting OS updates much faster than their manufacturer modified brethren.
So far the phones available on there in "Pure Google" versions include the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, LG G Pad 8.3, Sony Z Ultra, and Motorola Moto G.
As these are generally the exact same hardware as their manufacturer branded siblings there are often fairly simple ways to apply these "clean" OSs to branded phones (but do check that you really do have the same hardware, some of these phones have variations with the same name, but different hardware in them, eg they may be available in GSM, CDMA, LTE versions with totally different radio hardware and SoC CPUs).

Great answer.  I'd just like to add that as an original Galaxy S owner, I prefer TouchWiz to the default Android interface.  They're mostly the same anyways, and TouchWiz is much less bloated that MotoBLUR or Sense.

@Matthew good point, there's no way I could use a Sense phone, it's a much heavier customization and (to my mind) they've messed up a lot of things with their messaging apps, when stock Android works perfectly anyway.

OK, thanks for clarifying the issue. I'll order two Nexus S i9023. I like being up to date and hate vendor customizations. Let's hope for an unification in the future (or at least official options to use the stock firmware).

If what you are looking for is an “official” way of having a clean Android installation in a Samsung Galaxy S II, then I have to tell you that this is not possible. Samsung provides some added functions in his firmware (proprietary launcher, mail app, synchronization app with the PC, etc…)
There is the possibility to install custom ROMs on the Samsung Galaxy S so probably this will be possible for the Galaxy S II too, but this void the warranty.
If what you want is a powerful phone which will be the first to update to every new version of android with no added software or modifications, you are looking for a Nexus S.


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Android phone<->Google contacts - usage model and best practices?
I am finally forced to admit that I'm completely flummoxed by the communication between my android phone and my google account's contact list.  I have tried various usage models and experienced lost/deleted contacts, edits made on my phone overwritten with unedited version from google account, random entries appearing on my phone(i now have 5 different entries for MYSELF)....everything BUT what I'm trying to do.
What I'd like for it to do is for my google account to be the system of record for my contacts, and sync with my phone...simple as that.  If I edit/add on my phone, I'd like for that change to be sync'd to my google account automatically.  If edit/add using my google account via the web interface, I'd like that for that change to be sync'd to my phone.  Obviously this is NOT the way that it works, and it is obvious that, after weeks of trial, error, and fruitless searching,  I do not understand how it SHOULD be used.
Does anyone know how Google wants us to use this?  How is it SUPPOSED to work?  Has Google published a guide for this?  FWIW, I have no problem going back and reorganizing everything  and adapting to a different usage model as long as I understand how it is supposed to behave and as long as it behaves as published.

I thought that's what it did?  I've never had any problems that you've mention...  The first thing I did when I received my Android phone was merge all duplicated contacts inside of gmail.  Other than that, I haven't really done anything, but I don't often add/edit/remove contacts a lot.

I bought the original Droid on the day it was released (Nov 2009?) and have never had any problems with this. Editing is perfect both ways. Any changes made to a contact on my phone are instantly reflected in my google account, and vice-versa. What phone do you have?

Yes, the behaviour you desire is exactly what Android normally does. However, different phones running non "stock" Android may have different contact apps that interact differently (though I've had no problems with either stock Android or HTC Sense devices). It would definitely help to know the device model & Android version.

Thank you all for the comments.  I'm glad to know that it should be working like I expect.  FYI my phone is an evo from Sprint, which came preloaded with facebook, which I had originally chosen to sync with as well.  Although I had felt certain that my contacts were intact while using that, I have since turned it off.  Perhaps somewhere between that time it overwrote some things that I did not immediately notice.  I'll get my google account contacts in order again, wipe the phone contacts, and begin sync'ing from scratch and see what happens.  Thanks!

This depends on where you save your contacts. When you add a new contact it asks where to save it (Google, phone, SIM). If it doesn't, you have specified it in the settings to remember the destination. Check Contacts -> Menu key -> Settings -> Save new contacts to... or similar and change it to Google or Always ask. Then contacts saved to Google will be synced to Google contacts on the next sync.

Mine's working the way you expect it should.
I had a problem with duplicates when using services to help keep my contacts "clean" and to import from other services. In particular Soocial kept giving me dupes. So, the first thing I'd do is make sure you're not using something like that.
I suspect that something is "out of whack" (to use a technical term) with the synchronization data. I'd try the following:

Make sure the data in Google Contacts is in tip-top shape. Merge duplicates, get everybody in the right group, etc.
Export all contacts (just in case)
Then, delete the contact data on the phone. You'll probably want to turn off synchronization before you do this.
Then turn synchronization back on. Everything should be copacetic.

The comments so far have somewhat restored my faith that it should work like I expect.  As such, I will do exactly as you suggest and start from scratch(on the phone) and see if everything starts behaving.  Thanks!

What is the best way to delete contacts on the handset?  I did it one by one, but is there a bulk delete?

@shambleh: There's no way that I know of to bulk delete contacts on the device. There may be a third-party method. You should ask that as its own question.

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


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Can I install non-market apps on my AT&T phone directly (without a PC)?
I've installed non-Market apps on my AT&T Captivate using adb, but it'd be nice if I could download an APK directly and install it locally.  I've heard of "App(s) Installer" and about a hundred variations on similar names, but it looked like those were just intended to work on devices with a working package installer (e.g. not one that's had the ability to run unsigned apps stripped out).
I've rooted the phone -- is there some way I can either replace the existing package installer with one from e.g. another Galaxy S phone on another carrier, or maybe just an app that asks superuser permission before installing the APK itself?  Is this something I could just do directly from (su'd) terminal on the phone?  I'm sure somebody has thought of this already but I'm having trouble finding an answer on the web... maybe I just don't know exactly how to ask.
ETA: please note that this is original AT&T firmware. The carrier is blocking non-market app installs, I think by modifying the package installer.  I'm aware of the setting to enable unsigned apps, but on my phone it has no effect.

How was the package installer "stripped out"? On my Galaxy S, you can just use a file manager and click the .apk file, and you'll be prompted to install. Do you not have the Unknown sources option checked in Settings -> Applications?

See comment above about AT&T; short version, they're jerks and go to great lengths to cripple app installation. Hence, my question.

Turns out I was right to suspect that this has been done before. The fix I was looking for was  Super One Click. It has a fix to allow non market apps. I think what it does is to change the config file that the settings dialog ("Allow Non Market Apps") normally sets. My guess its that AT&T just took out the UI for the option.
Anyway, works perfectly and I strongly recommend it for anybody stuck under AT&T'S thumb!

I don't own a Samsung Galaxy S, and certainly not a user of AT&T, but on my Samsung Spica (Samdroid Mod), if I dropped an .apk file in /data/app/ or /system/app (warning: you need to be rooted to write to these locations, so you will need Terminal Emulator or Root Explorer) Android will immediately recognize and install the apk. Assuming AT&T has not blocked this method of side-loading, then it probably will work on SGS as well.

I'm pretty sure this is what I was asking for.  From the phone, it sounds like I can run e.g. Terminal Emulator and put the .apk in that dir to install it. Will try ASAP.

No, on stock AT&T ROM you cannot install applications from unknown sources. You have to root your phone, and install a 3rd party ROM. This is because AT&T removed the "Allow Unknown Sources" option in the settings.
The only way around this is to install a ROM that allows unknown sources. (or you can use ADB as you mentioned in your original question)

Well that sucks :-/  Was hoping maybe somebody had worked out a way to e.g. replace some libraries with ones from a non-crippled phone... Without flashing a whole new ROM.  That's probably my next move

Well, technically, you can probably replace /system/app/Settings.apk from a rom for your phone, if you have root access. That is where setting is that AT&T removed.

If the app you want is in the Market but blocked by AT&T, you can do this:

Turn off your phone.
Pop out the SIM card.
Turn your phone back on and connect to a Wi-Fi network.
Open the Android Market, search for, and install the previously carrier-blocked app.
Turn off your phone.
Pop the SIM card back in.
Turn your phone back on.
Enjoy!

(source: http://lifehacker.com/#!5758134/how-to-easily-install-carrier+blocked-apps-like-pdanet-from-the-android-market)

Yes, you can, as long as your phone has an option called “unknown sources" under the option "Applications" of the "Settings” and the option is marked.
Go to the Application launcher, click on Settings then on Applications and then check the option "Unknown sources" to activate this functionality.
If your phone does not have this option, then you can't install applications from outside the market.

AT&T is infamous for disabling that option, so your answer isn't really helpful.

By "outside the market", does that mean only the official Android market? Can other Android app markets be used?

To use other markets you need to install the app that give you access to that market so if your phone does not come with that app and does not have the option of "Unknown sources" enabled this will be impossible.

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


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Delete individual cookie on andriod phone?
I have an android phone (Samsung s3 mini). Can I delete an individual cookie?
I can see how to delete all cookies, but this isn't what I need to do.

The cookies form the default android browser are stored in /data/data/com.android.browser/databases/webview.db. The problem is that other applications, for security reasons, do not have access to this file.
Since the Browser application hasn't implement this functionality, it is not possible.


text:
What are possible consequences of not installing updates
I've a many-years-old android phone on which I've never updated the OS, never logged in to Google Play.  I haven't had any google accounts for years.
I deleted nearly all apps that came preinstalled on the phone, and have never installed any apps (other than firefox directly from mozilla, with some privacy plugins/addons).  Further I've never logged into any website (i.e. no email, no banking, no purchasing, etc).  Further, my address phone book doesn't contain any sensiteve contacts, such as my financial institutions.
I never connect to wifi other than my home.  My online phone activity is limited to checking the weather forecast and reading mainstream newspapers (and that is only at home. I don't have any data on my phone subscription plan).
What harm am I open to?

i don't aggree with @Robert and would not spread fear. the practical consequences may: 1. battery life (updates can have negative impact, consuming more power, battery drains faster) 2. apps like google maps stop working one day (even old previously working apk) 3. https websites unreachable (outdated ssl certificates)

Even if you don't use the phone for many things you may still get a victim of an attack.
The first security problem are apps that are no longer updated because your Android version is too old and is no longer supported. App updates some times not only add new features but also fix vulnerabilities. Not getting the update can make your device even more vulnerable to attacks.
Especially an up-to-date web browser app and WebView component is crucial, because malware was even found on large well known web sites - or to be precise it was found in advertisements shown on these pages. Nowadays ads are are sold via real-time auctions, therefore the owner of the web page has only limited influence on what ads are being displayed. The ad companies try to prevent such "malvertising" (malware advertising) campaigns but in such a dynamic market you can't filter out 100% and one banner with malware may be enough.
A second problem may be the Android Media Service which automatically processes every file you download. In history this service has shown dozens of vulnerabilities that enable root access. Now again Google has managed to put some more vulnerabilities in this service. Therefore from my point of view this service is one of the major risks on your device - but you cant disable or remove it and even if you could so apps would stop working like the USB PC connection or the photo album app.
Once an attacker has managed to take over your Android device the attacker can scan your home network for other vulnerable devices such as Smart TVs (often contain microphones), webcams, and so on. Depending what you have installed the effects of an attack can have an significant impact on your life.

It's your last paragraph that I'm wondering about.  I keep firefox uptodate, and all sites are toggled 'restricted' in ghostery, and all sites in privacy badger are blocked.  My only intentional download has been firefox, direct from mozilla. Only thing on the network are the phone, a couple printers, a win7 and linux computer.  No smart TVs or webcams. So I am still wondering what harm I am open to.

I just looked into my version. Although it's quite old, it was the final release before the major version number incremented.

@user312990 Firefox currently requires Android 4.1+ but earlier or later this limit will rise and your device will not be able to install newer Firefox versions. Additionally the effects of a vulnerability in Firefox (e.g. a 0-day exploit) are more severe on your device as the attacker can modify the system because of existing vulnerabilities and therefore directly escape the app and compromise the whole Android system.


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Does the IR Blaster on an Android phone receive as well as send?
Is the IR Blaster communication two-way or only one-way? I have seen many remote control apps for my Android phone but none that learn from an existing remote.

For transmitting, a single Infrared LED and resistor are needed. For receiving, an IR receiver module with internal bandpass filter is needed.
There are remotes that will send and receive. Universal remotes will sometimes have a "learning mode" to mimic another remote.  An example of this at the bottom of my answer.
But a receiving IR isn't a standard feature on Android devices, as of this answer I haven't heard of or have found any online of that can. But with a PC program and Android app you can mimic remotes. The link below is one such program.
Unified Remote. There is a free version and a paid version with more features.
The link is just for the feature list of the app. There is a server (PC) side as well as Android side.The amount of remotes that you can map over to your device is staggering, I think you can even design your own remotes. By using one of the remote templates, your device is effectively "learning/receiving" the other remotes codes (you don't even have to have another remote physically there). You would still be accomplishing your goal.

example
I had a Yamaha Natural Sound home theater receiver and the remote had a "Learn Mode". So you switch it to learn, place the "other" remote in front of it. Press the button on "other" remote, then press a button on the Yamaha remote that you want that command mapped to. You now have control of the other devices functions. You can also clear mapped button commands and enter new ones as needed.

But the IR Blaster on a phone is send only? I like the idea of a remote control on my phone but none of them seem very good so far. If it could learn it would be a better way to completely replace the remote.

Read the features on the link that I posted in my answer.

Please answer "yes" or "no" and only use links to confirm what you wrote here. What happens if your link goes dead? Does the IR Blaster on an Android phone receive? I had a look but I couldn't find anything about the Android version learning, only the PC version.

As a standard feature NO you can't receive a signal from the IR . What happens when the link I posted goes dead, well that's just life. I don't control the actions of others. The link was just for feature list of the app. There is a server (PC) side as well. The amount of remotes that you can map over to your device is staggering, I think you can even design your own remotes. By using one of the remote templates, your device is effectively "learning/receiving" the other remotes codes (you don't even have to have another remote physically there). You would still be accomplishing your goal.

The point I was trying to make is that if your answer relies on information from a link (i.e. the reader has to click on the link to fully understand the answer) and the link goes dead, the answer is no longer helpful. Someone may read this question in five years time and all the relevant information should be on this page. I'm on several SE sites and people always ask that answers that rely heavily on links be edited to contain the information in the page. If you put the information from your comment into an answer I will accept it. Currently, your answer does not answer my question.

My Honor 8 pro both sends and receives infrared signals. Its remote control app has learn feature and a special app(I don't remember the name) allows me to connect to old Nokia devices via infrared to transfer files.

LG Phones also come with a quick remote app to learn.


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Reopen app to last activity
If I open an app from a link (e.g. a notification or a link from an SMS), every subsequent time I open the app from the history, it goes back to the same link, performing actions I don't want it to and making me have to shut down the extra page / press back to clear the subitem(s). It becomes necessary to force-close the app and reopen it from the apps list to get the default behaviour back.
It there a way that when an app goes to sleep and is woken up again, it resumes from where it left off, and not from the last link used to open it?
EDIT
Some people are having trouble understanding the issue, so step by step:

Open an app from a notification or a link
Read the message, take any appropriate action, etc. then use the app normally, navigating away from the notification area
Wait half an hour or long enough for the OS to put the app to sleep
Open the recent tasks list
Select the app again to wake it up

Instead of the app remembering its last state (which it does when opened from the installed apps list), it reopens as if the notification had been clicked again.
I haven't noticed any apps that don't do this. Opera, Facebook, Duolingo, etc. It's on Android 7.0.

Apps will resume from sleep in the manner programmed to them. If the app is designed to forget its progress and stopping point upon resume, then that is what it will do. It CANNOT deviate; to do so would impart it with some form of AI, to which we will then have to battle for domination of the planet.

@wbogacz I don't believe that it's app dependant. I believe it's the OS that provides the way for the app to wake. Otherwise, starting it from the app list would exhibit the same behaviour, when it actually behaves differently.

@CJDennis wbogacz is right. Android has several different entry points for apps according to whether it was started from the task list, from a notification, from the launcher, etc. The behaviour also depends on how long it is since you last ran the app. It's up to the app developer to test all these different ways through the app lifecycle to make sure they do the expected thing each time, and it sounds like this app has a bug. What app is it? What Android version? And can you clarify "open the app from the history" - do you mean the recent tasks list?


text:
Does my screen have burn in or is it something else?
My Samsung Galaxy S7 appears to have burn in, just like in this image:

(Not my phone. Image from Android Authority)
The difference is that no matter how hard I look, I can't see any icons or any other irregularities in the white bar. It appears to be perfectly uniform. It's exactly where my notification bar is in portrait mode, but I use my phone in landscape mode a lot too, and there is no colour/brightness difference at the side.
Also, the white bar is brighter than the remainder of the screen: I would expect burn in to make it duller.
What is causing this?

burn in
hardware
software

Most likely you are right, your display is affected by a burn-in effect.
One indicator for a burn-in is that a pattern (or ghostly image) is always visible on screen but if you make a screenshot using the Android built-in screenshot function the created screen image does not show any indication of the pattern. And if you reboot the phone nothing changes.
The Galaxy S7 is equipped with an OLED display, this means that every small pixel is a small LED based on organic chemicals that can be individually lit.
The problem of OLED displays is that the longer and more often a pixel is lit, the pixel is aging and getting very slowly darker and darker.
Based the screen shot I would agree with you that this was caused by the Android task bar which is usually black (not lit pixels means no aging) whereas the rest of the screen above the task bar is usually not black and therefore is affected by the aging effect.
May be you often accidentally activate the screen when the phone is in your pocket (and therefore in portrait mode)?
Usually modern OLED displays should have implemented counter measures to reduce the effect that different parts of the screen are aging in different speed. However it looks like in your case this mechanism wasn't able to fully compensate this effect.
What you can do: The pixels aged pixels that have lost a bit of brightness can't be restored. Therefore the only way is to force the remaining usually black pixels and increase their aging.
This can be done by displaying an image that have all pixels black except for the area that is brighter (the area below the red arrows on your image). If you display this image on your screen for some hours a day you will see that the pixels will slowly will adapt their brightness to the pixels on the rest of the screen.

I've updated my question as it was not clear that the "burnt in" area is brighter than the rest of the screen, which is counter-intuitive.

@CJ: No that matches exactly. Areas that are usually black/dark don't age as fast as areas that are usually lit. Therefore the "burnt in" area (the lower part) is brighter than the rest there is no contradiction as the task bar is mostly black. The only thing that is "counter-intuitive" is your definition of "burnt-in".

My notification bar is white and the brightest part of my screen. The rest of my screen varies in colour, often dark or black, sometimes bright or white. Some of my apps change the notification bar colour to something other than white, but most don't. When the notification bar is dark, so is the rest of the screen so the entire screen should age slower when in that state.

@CJ: The notification bar is the upper most part of the screen. I was assuming we are talking about the lower part, right? Please add a screenshot and a photo of your phone, otherwise your description can be very misleading.

Unfortunately I can't take a photo of my screen since my camera is embedded in my phone... I assumed that photo was taken with the phone upside down.


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CyanogenMod, why doesn't Market self-upgrade?
I've bought a used HTC Magic with CyanogenMod 5 on it. It has Google Market. The market version is 1.713 - which is nowhere near the latest IIRC. In-app billing, for one thing, is not supported.
Isn't Google Market supposed to upgrade itself when a new version comes out? Why doesn't mine do so? Probably some kind of CyanogenMod interference. Any good way around that, please?
EDIT: debugged the situation a little bit. I happen to know that market updating happens out of the main Market process - the Market (com.android.vending) downloads the update, then fires a broadcast intent UPDATE_MARKET to a receiver in another app (com.android.vending.updater), which in turn installs the package. Here's what I got in the LogCat:

02-01 02:34:16.155: W/ActivityManager(121): Permission Denial:
  broadcasting Intent { act=com.android.vending.UPDATE_MARKET
  dat=content://downloads/download/31 } from com.android.vending
  (pid=1762, uid=10006) requires
  com.android.vending.permission.UPDATE_MARKET due to receiver
  com.android.vending.updater/com.android.vending.updater.UpdateMarketReceiver

So it looks as if the Market app lacks a permission to invoke the updater. The manifest file of Vending.apk, however, does have a
<uses-permission android:name="com.android.vending.permission.UPDATE_MARKET" />

line. How is it possible for an app to have a <uses-permission>, but receive a permission denial message?
EDIT2: the permission com.android.vending.permission.UPDATE_MARKET is marked as "signature" in the MarketUpdater manifest. Meaning only apps signed by the same certificate as MarketUpdater are granted that permission. That could be the reason Market is not granted the permission - could be signed by a different certificate.
EDIT3: that's exactly the case. The public key is different. The one on Vending.apk seems to match that on various versions of Vending.apk that are floating around the 'Net.

CyanogenMod 5 is also very old. The newest version of the Market may not even run properly on it, so I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't upgrade itself because your Android version is unsupported.

I'm not that worried about getting the very latest; as long as in-app billing works. Officially in-app billing is supported on Android 2.1 (all the way down to 1.6), and I hope Google will detect the running OS version and offer up something relevant. Now about that permission thing...

So the problem was: Market and Market Updater were not signed by the same key, no idea why. As a result, the Market wasn't able to send an intent to a receiver in the Market Updater that was protected by a signature-level permission. Here's what I've done.
I took MarketUpdater.apk from the device. I took it apart with apktool:
apktool d -s MarketUpdater.apk mu

I then opened the AndroidManifest.xml. I changed the package attribute under <manifest> to
package="com.android.vending.updateralt"

That was to avoid a name clash with the vanilla Market Updater app. Changed the <receiver> element's header to this:
<receiver android:name="com.android.vending.updater.UpdateMarketReceiver">

See - no permission attribute. No longer requiring that the intent sender is signed by the same certificate. Spelling out the Java package name in android:name was necessary, since the APK package name no longer matched the Java package name of the class.
I then packaged the APK back:
apktool b mu MarketUpdaterAlt.apk

I signed the APK, using the jarsigner tool, with an arbitrary key that I had from another project:
"C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_02\bin\jarsigner.exe" -verbose -digestalg SHA1 -sigalg MD5withRSA  -keystore c:\Path\MyKeys.ks MarketUpdaterAlt.apk MyKey

Uploaded the APK to /system/app, registered with pm:
adb push MarketUpdaterAlt.apk /system/app
adb shell pm install -r /system/app/MarketUpdaterAlt.apk

And forced a Market self-update. Removed the preferences file:
adb shell rm /data/data/com.android.vending/shared_prefs/*

Then restarted the Market, waited for five minutes, and closed the Market. The update went through like a charm. Now I have Market 2.3.6, in-app billing and all.
Good thing the permission-based coupling between the Market and Market Updater was not two-way...
EDIT: the alternative updater APK is available for all at http://www.jishop.com/temp/MarketUpdaterAlt.apk

It probably has nothing to do with CM; the Market is just really, really bad at updating itself.  Sometimes clearing the data for it will help, but sometimes you'll additionally need to install a newer version manually before it will start updating itself again.
I've installed the 3.4.4 Market from Android Police a few times, if you're looking for a safe file.  Just put it on your SD card or internal storage (make sure it has the .apk extension) and install it via a file manager.  Settings -> Applications -> Unknown sources needs to be checked for this.

The version of the market that you've uploaded requres SDK level 10 (Android 2.3.3). CMv5 is level 7 (2.1).

@SevaAlekseyev I totally missed that it was CM5, my bad.  It can't require 2.3.3 though, since I use it on 2.2 with no issues.  CM6.1 is 2.2 and available for the Magic, I would recommend upgrading.  The permissions issue is intriguing, though.

The solution of creating a new MarketUpdater did not work for me. I'm a newbie at rooted Android devices so maybe there's something that would be evident to someone who has more experience with it. I ran into an INSTALL_PACKAGE permission issue, and yes I did put MarketUpdaterAlt into /system/app/ and it was signed with my key, but that did not do the trick. The whole permission thing seems a bit finicky (see for instance this discussion).
At any rate, I've found an alternate way of getting the upgrade:

Grab a relatively recent version of the Market app. (I used an apk titled Market-3.4.4.apk. It needs to be reasonably new but having the very latest does not matter since it will upgrade itself after a bit anyway. I have 3.10.9 now running.) Verify that the package is signed by Google.
Clear Market data. (That's what I did back then but now I think pm uninstall, without the -k option, will accomplish the same thing.)
adb shell mount -o remount,rw /system
adb shell rm /system/app/Vending.apk
adb shell pm uninstall com.android.vending
adb push [Path to your new apk] /system/app/Vending.apk
adb shell pm install /system/app/Vending.apk
adb shell mount -o remount,ro /system

If you got an older version than the latest, any necessary upgrade will occur after a while. It may take a bit before the web interface to Google Play gets is view synchronized with what the local app says.
That's how I got the latest version of Google Play up and running on an old rooted myTouch 3g running CM 6.1. Someone with more foresight than I have could presumably integrate a newish version among the Google Apps when they do their initial flashing.


text:
Latest version of Play app on Android 2.1
I've got a device (HTC Magic) with Android 2.1 (rooted, with CyanogenMod). It has Google Market app v2.23.6 - pretty old. I wonder, what's the latest version of Play that runs on Android 2.1?
In the past, this device once had trouble with updating the Market. I wonder if this is the same trouble all over again, or Market 2.23.6 is the latest I'm going to ever get?
EDIT: more about upgrading Market to Play here.
The app still calls itself Market, not Play. This might be relevant; probably Market->Play transition changes the package ID or something.

Have Froyo here running on Samsung Europa, latest version on this is, 4.1.6.
Perhaps you need to let the old Market run for a bit, then back out of it, it should auto-upgrade itself, provided you have a valid account and signed in.

That's Froyo, mine's Eclair, 2.1. Waiting for someone with 2.1...

Should not make a difference unless Google blocked updates to Market on the older eclair... give me a while and I'll reflash eclair and see what happens ..

I'm not so sure. I've reverted Market to the very original version (1.7 something), then forced an update; I've got 2.23.6 again. The linked XDA thread says you have to upgrade to Play via play.google.com somehow; I couldn't figure out how exactly.


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Find out which app is pushing ads in my notification bar?
This may be a duplicate question but it seems the bad guy has improved its technology and known methods don't work so far. Anyway, started recently, my phone shows a notification every few days. Addons Detector and AirPush Detector didn't find anything related. Using:
adb shell dumpsys notification

I got this:
NotificationRecord{40c413b0 pkg=com.google.android.gsf id=1 tag=null}
  icon=0x1080077 / android:drawable/stat_notify_chat
  contentIntent=PendingIntent{40d4f178: PendingIntentRecord{40d62628 com.google.android.gsf startActivity}}
  deleteIntent=PendingIntent{40d4f148: PendingIntentRecord{40d45710 com.google.android.gsf broadcastIntent}}
  tickerText=xoxbellejenxo37@jabber-chat.com wants to be able to chat
  contentView=android.widget.RemoteViews@40cd0b38
  defaults=0x4
  flags=0x1
  sound=content://settings/system/notification_sound
  vibrate=null
  ledARGB=0x0 ledOnMS=0 ledOffMS=0

My question is what else can I do to find out which app is pushing ads? I don't want to try airpush opt out for two reasons:

I wouldn't trust people doing this at the first place.
I want to find out which app is doing this and add the company/developer behind it to my black list.

UPDATE
My phone is a rooted Samsung Captivate Glide, Android 2.3.
UPDATE
Updated to 4.0.4
Thanks

You might want to ask this also in stackoverflow.com Most of us here are only enthusiast that has limited programming/scripting knowledge to tackle your problem.

@forums this question is perfectly fine here, as it's an end-user's Android issue. It's not about programming (even though that might be the idea one gets due to the quote ;), so it would rather be OT at SO.

@Codism Could you please add the Android version you're on? Starting with JellyBean, you can follow the "ad" to its origin directly from the notification bar by long-pressing the notification and following the menu. You can even forbid specific apps to push ads there this way.

More and more developers are using these "marketing" methods of push notifications now that Google has their GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) service. The easiest way is to ask yourself the following questions:

What Apps have I installed prior to receiving these notifications?
What Apps have had updates around the time I started receiving these notifications?

Most of the time you will be able to figure out which app is doing it based on those questions and uninstall it.
If you cannot figure it out from that, you would have to start uninstalling apps one by one until you notice the notifications stop. If your only receiving them once every couple of days, this could be a real pain.
You MIGHT be able to get more information on which app is doing it by pulling the logcats off the phone, however I think the phone would need to be plugged in to a computer watching the logcats while it happened (I could be wrong on this, perhaps Android keeps the logs while not plugged in, but I do not have a for sure answer on this)

Beginning with 4.1 Jelly Bean, you can long-press the notification itself. This will bring up a menu with a single item, "App Info". Touch this item and you will go straight to the offending app's management page, where you're just a touch away from "Force stop" and "Uninstall".

... and, at least on 4.2, have the option of unchecking 'show notifications'

This should be marked as the correct answer to help future readers of this post.


text:
Phone stuck in fastboot mode, can't boot into OS or Recovery mode and flashing stock rom doesn't help
When I tried to reboot my phone a few days ago, it booted into CSC fastboot mode and it couldn't boot into the OS. I tried Vol down + power off combo to boot into recovery but that doesn't work and after showing the Android Phone screen, it just powers off again.
The CSC fastboot screen is the same as on this image of another phone (same model) having the same issue:

I unlocked the bootloader using fastboot and now it shows FASTBOOT instead of CSC FASTBOOT.

fastboot getvar all shows 'unlocked: yes', so the bootloader is definitely unlocked.
Then I flashed the stock rom for my phone and even after successfully flashing all required img files, I still cannot boot successfully. I tried this procedure multiple times but nothing works.
I also can't boot into recovery after flashing stock recovery.img or even compatible twrp versions. Flashing works successfully but it shows FAILED when trying to boot.
After leaving the phone alone for a day, I connected it to the pc using the usb cable this morning and the battery charging animation showed up and it showed the Bootloader unlocked warning with 'press power off to pause boot'

I got excited or something and pressed the power off button. It then booted into the fastboot mode again as usual. But now it briefly shows the battery animation when I connect it to the charger when it's switched off, and it boots into fastboot mode again.
I tried re-locking the bootloader and trying it again, same with locking it and nothing works. Neither does trying to flash or boot recovery/twrp, or flashing the stock rom again.
The volume buttons are working fine and there was no problem with them before as well. I also opened the device and tried pressing the buttons manually and got the same result.
fastboot getvar all output:

its good you unlocked bootloader, keep it unlocked! can you boot twrp from fastboot?

No. I can't boot either twrp or stock recovery from fastboot.

fastboot format:ext4 cache userdata worked successfully, so did flashing boot recovery, system and vendor.
fastboot --set-active=b returned error: Device does not support slots.
I've also tried 4 different usb cables but it's the same result. The phone is also a little less than 2 years old.

I believe so, yes. I've added the output to the question.

Seems as if flashing to partitions like boot, vendor, recovery, mdtp isn't being successfully done even though the flashing runs fine. I manually tried to flash boot.img using fastboot flash boot boot.img to see if the partition shows up in fastboot getvar all:
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending 'boot' (46561 KB)...
OKAY [  1.117s]
writing 'boot'...
OKAY [  0.031s]
finished. total time: 1.189s
but the only partitions mentioned are cache, userdata and system, like before. Flashing this rom worked for other people who had the same issue.

I got the device to finally boot. fastboot boot boot.img or fastboot boot recovery.img never worked but the flashing worked. Now, I just flashed boot.img and entered fastboot continue and it finally worked! I still don't know why it couldn't boot the image after flashing normally or show the partition in getvar. Thanks for pointing me to the missing partitions, it really helped!

Although I guess this way I'd have to use fastboot continue to boot up whenever I have to restart my phone.

try fastboot flashing unlock_critical or something and try to flash all partitions again

No luck. Either there's some issue with the volume button or something's just wrecked. For now, I'll just stick to fastboot continue whenever to restart, and back up everything using twrp (just in case) which I can run by flashing it as boot and fastboot continue and then doing the same with the original boot image when I'm done with twrp.

What is your cell model so we could help with stock or twrp backup