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How to know if a side-loaded app is safe?
How can we be assured that the APK of an app that we are downloading from a website is safe to install on our Android phone?
Is there a way to know that the downloaded file is safe? Is there an app or service that scans the APK file and says This file is safe to install.

If it's a for pay/ad supported app in official stores and the version you're sideloading is ad free and free of cost it's not safe.

It is difficult to know whether an APK is safe or not. Your best bet is to download from trusted or reputable sources (like Google Play, Amazon, etc).
Some (trusted) developers also provide an MD5 (or other message-digest algorithm) hash of their APKs. After your download the APK, you verify if the APK has the same hash. If it does, then it's safe to say it hasn't been tampered with.
You can also check the permissions required by the APK / app, and use common sense (or your own judgement / instinct) to tell if it's safe to install or not.
BOTTOMLINE: Always install from trusted sources. Stay away from pirated APKs; it's possible they may have malware.

Is there any app that can detect if that application has a malware?

@Nesmar No idea, but you can always try an anti-virus in Google Play.

Honestly speaking, I dont have the confident on any anti virus in android because they are not running if you do not tap them, I mean ex in computer desktop, if you install antivirus, upon boot, they already running in background and monitoring your files. I dont know if you can do that in mobile phone also.

@Nesmar I think some anti-viruses can run as a service. Apps like Screebl and Ad Block Plus run when the phone boots.

+1 for the bottom line alone! When downloading from unknown sources, there's no easy way to judge. Even with the MD5: if both files (APK & MD5) are residing on the same server, who tells you they have not both been replaced?

@Nesmar Yes, the anti-virus I ran does run in the background, checking an APK every time I install an app and also when I run an app. The only problem with anti-virus scanners are that they are never 100%. They also eat a LARGE amount of your battery.

is F-Droid a trusted source? I have known apps in Play Store that ended up being malware so not sure that is super safe either.

Google introduced an option Verify apps (Disallow or warn before installation of apps that may cause harm) for side-loaded apps when unknown sources is enabled (both settings available in Settings -> Security -> device-administration).
You can also use an online virus scanner like Virus Total to check your downloaded .apk file.
But this is the same with every scanner service: They're not 100% sure and probably only detect already known malicious apps. Custom tailored malware will probably remain undetected. Also very new malicious apps will probably slip through until after some time they will be detected.

Malware scanners have been found to be easy to bypass (just do a little Google Search), so I wouldn't trust them further as I can see for myself. This includes Google's Verify apps.

Sure. However old malware is regularly found. No malware scanner provides 100% safety, you can even get malicious apps from the official play store (and Apple's Store is no exception to this). Those scanners do improve your safety, if you need to side-load, though. It's like apple's new finger print scanner: Already bypassed, but far better than no pin lock at all (~40% of owners don't have pin-locks for reasons of convenience).

I agree. My fault to not make my point clear: Never rely on them in the way "Nothing can happen, I've got an anti-virus". If you see them but a piece of the puzzle (instead of the whole image), they can be helpful.

If you are downloading the .apk files from unknown/untrusted sources, there's no easy way to judge. Most Anti-Whatever solutions (anti-virus, anti-malware, etc.) are just ruling by "database entries" (i.e. they have a database of known malware, and check whether the package name matches), or only check requested permissions (and not whether e.g. a SMS app only sends the SMSs you wish). I've never heard about a "real" heuristics scanner analyzing an app's behaviour.
Though it might theoretically be possible a "scanner" also verifies a kind of checksum (as the mentioned MD5), this could only work against a "trusted base" like e.g. Playstore. For apps not available there it would fail then (nothing to compare). And even for apps available there, it would need to check against the very same version. Such a solution is hardly practical.
So while my arguments might differ, my bottom line is almost the same as geff's: Only install from trusted sources. While nothing is 100% secure, this imposes the smallest risks possible. The highest risk is with pirated stuff, as that's very likely to have "bad things" injected.

One way to judge, is to compare the certificate to known good publishers (i.e., if you want the latest version of Google's Ingress apk, go ahead and just compare if it's signed with the same certificate as the already installed one). You can upgrade already installed apps (from the Play Store) with side-loading if the certificate is the same. That'll be a safe option (if it is applicable).

Does it automatically compare the certificate if you are upgrading an app via side-loading, or do you have to do something to verify the certificate is the same? If so, how would you verify that?

@LeBleu if the app was already installed on your device, yes. Then the new .apk must be signed using the very same "key" the installed one used, or the update will fail.

is F-Droid a trusted source? I have known apps in Play Store that ended up being malware so not sure that is super safe either.

@luchonacho how did Wired put it once? To Avoid Malware, Try the F-Droid App Store. Also see this PDF: a study made in 9/2017 analyzing the "bigger Android markets" with 2000 apps from each (at that time F-Droid had less than 2k apps and thus was covered entirely). The only place they didn't find any malware was F-Droid. So yes, I'd say it's a trusted source – for me the most trusted source.

You can upload the package to a mobile sandbox to see what it's doing. The sandboxes will execute the binary and you can see the execution resutls. This will also work for some formerly unknown malware as it doesn't have to be in some av-database before.
Examples for sandboxes are MobileSandbox, CopperDroid, SandDroid, TraceDroid, Joe Sabdox Mobile, ForSafe and others.
As always, there is no 100% security, but then again, there is no complete security when downloading from Play store, either...
Virustotal that has been mentioned above recently started to run some samples in a sandbox as well and is of course always a good bet as it tests against a magnitude of already known malware. A similar service as Virustotal but specifically for Android is AndroTotal.

Nowadays, it's not that difficult to find safe APK files. But you have to be careful while choosing the source sites.
Secondly, after downloading any APK from anywhere, scan it through VirusTotal (to make sure that the downloaded app is safe and secure).

I use Lookout Security, it scans every app you install and you can also scan APKs

Scans them for what? Does it actually do heuristics analysis or some other reliable analysis or does it just run a database check for the APK name or MD5?

App Permissions do offer certain level of security.  One can always check for permissions during installation of apk.
When an app doesn't need root permission or any other permission, it can mostly be considered to be safe. There is only very little an app can do with no permissions. But it can trick user to display a malicious link and redirect the user to some malicious site to install something else or some phishing websites. If such app doesn't even use internet, then it can be considered safe.
With increasing level of permissions, the app can be more suspected unsafe. It can steal personal data like contacts, messages, call logs, or any file on your storage etc...  Ofcourse that's only a possibility, not every app is malicious.


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Error installing Xposed Framework
I have a completely successfully rooted Nexus 6p running the tawin project. I checked many tutorials on how to flash the xposed file via recovery, but every time it comes up with an error stating that the updater process has ended with an error installing zip file. I have no idea why this occurs and am pretty sure the correct file was installed. How can I be able do do it?

install error / device details (click images for larger variants)

Why are you not using the official ZIP? http://dl-xda.xposed.info/framework/sdk23/arm64/ Edit: Oh, there's the error: no space left on the device. I had this problem in Nexus 6. It had only 14.xx MB space in system partition, so Xposed didn't install (though it was enough BTW). I removed some unnecessary stuff (APKs) and everything went smooth. Make sure you make backup before removing anything from system partition.

See the last line before the red block: cp: write error: no space left on device. Looks like your /system partition is full.

i don't know why it says that since I still have a lot of space on my device. I tried putting the file into a different location and it said the same thing.

You need space in system partition, not in any other partition. Check the status yourself using df command.

ok so how do I delete the files in the system partition?

That's your homework. Perhaps others can help in that. Begin with a search of this site. There are definite full-blown solutions.

@DevinErsoy How did you solve it?

@RobinWinslow I solved it by deleting some files in the /system partition. I used an app called root browser(https://goo.gl/06aacc) to navigate there and cleaned up some files. You need very little space so no need to delete huge files but I had a large 1gig titanium backup file there so that's what caused the problem.

Based on the screenshot, there's an error saying cp: write error: no space left on device. It seems there's no space in /system partition of the device.

Flashing Xposed Framework would make use of the device's /system partition.
In case there are apps or anything bloating up the /system partition, try removing them and freeing some space from unused apps, and then re-flash it again with a recovery program like TWRP or ClockworkMod.
Before reflashing, do wipe the cache/Dalvik cache first. Whenever the errors appear after flashing, wipe the cache/Dalvik to be sure it's clean before flashing again.

I downloaded 'system app uninstaller' from Play Store, and then uninstalled some Google's apps, it solved it!

Even without system app uninstaller, only uninstalling some "bloatware" apps would do just to make room for some free space.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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Restrict permissons when app is in background
Is there any app, tool, ROM, etc. for Android that lets you restrict selected individual permissions of an app, ONLY when it is in the background?
This should function similarly to the "Restrict background data" feature that help reduce mobile data usage by preventing background apps from using network resources.
For example, you may want an app to have access to your location when you're actively using it, but you don't want it to keep the GPS on in the background, either because it drains the battery and/or is tracking your movements.
Same thing with other permissions like accessing the microphone and camera; because it is very rare for most people to intentionally record audio/video/photos from a background app. Other examples are: send SMS, reading/modifying contacts, write to internal/external storage.

With just a few improvements, this will be a good question to post on the Software Recommendations SE.

While off-topic on this site, I quite like the question in itself. Upvoted.

I think it should be fine for this site. It's not a list question or "what is the best app". The user's looking to achieve a specific goal and explicitly says the answer doesn't have to be an app.

Your device needs to be rooted to modify permissions. XPrivacy and App ops Xposed module are good for this but both lack (AFAIK) any plugins for automation. When the app is in background, limited actions like kill data, location accuracy changes (off/ high accuracy/battery saving/ device only) are possible using Macrodroid Automation app

If you haven't rooted yet, go to your sercurity and see the permissions
If you have rooted, just use Rom toolbox

My way of getting around the problem is as easy as it gets, because there is no requirement of any kind of rooting or installing a custom ROM. All you have to do is:

Open Settings/About Phone;
Then click on build version until you become a developer.
Now, Open Settings/Developer Options;
Scroll down until you find background processes limit - set it to disable background processes.

This should do the trick!

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HTC Thunderbolt Killing the home app?
Something that has been extremely aggravating me recently is that my HTC Thunderbolt seems to be automatically killing the home app whenever it needs space in it's ram.
I notice that this happens when I do something processor intensive like downloading a new app. When I press the home button, it will just display a white screen that says "HTC" on it, and then go to the home and open up a toast saying "loading" just like when the phone first boots up.
At first, I thought it was some of my other apps that were causing it, such as "advanced task killer" and "juice defender ultimate", but I uninstalled Advanced Task Killer, and disabled Juice Defender, and it is still happening.
Is there a way to stop this?

If your home screen is dying like this, check your debug logs (if you have adb installed). My guess? You're running out of RAM and Android is killing the home screen process to get more RAM.
You might want to stop some services (or root & remove stupid carrier bloatware).
CyanogenMOD and some other custom Android builds will allow you to "lock" the application in RAM, but honestly that can cause as many problems as it solves.
On my older phones (HTC Dream / HTC Magic) the culprit at the time was K-9 mail.


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Samsung Galaxy S4 only boots for 5 seconds, then dies
Yesterday I was using my phone, and suddenly it shut off. I tried the power button, but it wouldn't turn on again. I then took the battery out, and put it back in. Immediately, the phone vibrated, and displayed the Samsung Galaxy splash screen (this happened without me pressing the power button). After about 5 seconds, it shuts off, and I have to start the process over again. I tried booting in safe mode, and recovery mode, and the same thing happened. Interestingly, If I take the battery out, plug the phone in, then put the battery back in, the phone doesn't automatically start, but it still doesn't boot either. I tried changing the battery, but that didn't seem to make a difference. Initially I thought it might be something wrong with the power key, however, I would expect that if that were the case, it should be constantly restarting, not shutting off and staying off.
What could possibly be causing this? Is this more likely hardware or software, and is there any way to fix it that isn't just replacing it?

I think you're right about the power key problem. Samsung phones don't restart like that unless you let go of the power key. I've had this problem myself - although the issue disappeared after sixteen hours.


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How can I get a list of files in a directory as text?
I have a folder containing a large number of MP3 files. I want to export a list of all the filenames of files in that folder, so I can then send it by email, etc. This can be achieved either by copying the list to the clipboard or saving it to a text file.
A couple of very crude suggestions come to mind:

I could try connecting via USB to my (Windows) computer and running dir > listing.txt at a command prompt
Install Terminal Emulator/IDE and run ls > listing.txt

However, I tend to think there must be a better way to do this. Does anyone know of an app which has a feature to do this, for example? (Preferably, the solution should not involve connecting from a PC, although it could do.)
NOTE: Most of the MP3 files do not have correct ID3s. So I'm really after the filenames as opposed to any way of exporting the media information.

Should you choose Tasker, you can follow this method: Get list of filenames via Tasker or use Code -> Run Shell to try the command-line method.

The besy way is Method 2 you mentioned. It's easy enough if you make an alias in shell.

There is a simple method for getting a list of files in any folder in Android -
Create an FTP file connection between your Android phone and Windows PC version of FileZilla.
In the FileZilla interface, select your desired folder from the Remote Site pane and drag it to the bottom pane of the file transfer status.
Now in the Queued Files pane, choose the Export option. It will by default save in XML format. Once the exported XML file is created, use Office Excel to get the proper format for edit.

The answer by @the-garret helped me, but I wanted to add one thing. As of November 2024, WinSCP allows you to select a list of files and copy the file names as text.

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


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SDHC memory card only readable while booting my phone
I have a 32GB SDHC memory card. It cannot be mounted normally, it says Blank SD card , SD card is blank or has unsupported file system. I have tried chkdsk on it with windows 10 which results in "RAW Drive" crap. But When I reboot my Samsung E007h in recovery mode and select "apply update from external storage" or similar option, it shows the contents(Folders) That I had created before. So why it cannot be mounted/formatted on Android and Windows? I can see all the folders from bootloader means that data is safe in there but I just can't access it, what should I do to mount it OR format it someHow to make it usable? Is there a way on windows to format it from bootMenu?
I can observe Manufacturer and all other details with sd insight android app.
I just want to be able to use my card normally weather I have to loose all the data or not. Doesn't matter. I can even have root access for that.


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App2sd compatible email app
I have a Casio G'zOne Commando C771 phone. It only has 400 MB of internal storage (!!!). I want to connect to my email, but if I use the built in email app, it will very quickly fill up what little storage I have left.
In most cases, I have to use "App2SD" apps and never use the built in apps that come with the phone (outdated, and if I even download the updates they will immediately take up that little bit of space - so I only updated the Play Store and nothing else). I have tried downloading other email apps but have been unsuccessful. None of the ones I have tried have the "Move to SD" button enabled. Alternately, if an app is minimal in size (< 10 MB) and allows me to store the emails on the SD card, that would also be acceptable.
Here are email apps I have tried so far: GMail (maybe it would work, but since it comes as a system App I can't move to SD), myMail, Aqua Mail, and "Mails" (by Apyfie).
I have a Roundcube server, so I have also tried the Roundcube app, which IS surprisingly app2SD compatible - unfortunately it's broken in almost all other aspects - for instance, I can only see my last 5 emails and no others - so I still can't use it.
I also tried to locate "K-9 mail" but it says it's not compatible with this version of Android.
This phone has Android version 2.3.3.
I am aware that I could probably root the phone and do it that way, but I would prefer not to.


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How do I clean up the "search people"/new message contact list?
I recently purchased a Droid Incredible, and linked it to my Google account. Now the list of contacts to choose from when creating a new message is huge (click the "contact" icon next to the To field of the message, which seems to be the same as the "search people" app).
It appears to be including every contact from every aspect of my Google account, mixed in with everything on my phone: every email I've ever contacted, plus everyone on my GTalk contact list, plus everyone in my phone contacts.
Is there any way to cut this list down? In its present state, the list itself is useless (forcing me to rely on typing the name in). Ideally I'd like to see only a specific group by default. Also acceptable would be limiting it to only phone contacts, or only contacts in my Gmail My Contacts list.
Update: It seems that this feature is available in the default Android contacts app (the sync groups setting supposedly allows you to only synchronize contacts from specific groups), but not the HTC Incredible's version of Sense (http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=0ff2b08f98943ccb&hl=en).
Is there a simple way to get back to the stock contacts app? Or a solid replacement that includes the sync groups feature?

This answer may help if you don't mind sending messages via the Contact app.  I was able to go to my Contacts app, hit the Settings button, then go to More -> Display options and check Only contacts with phone.  From Contacts you can still search, and you can still access your recent contacts.

Thanks, Chance. I've actually seen that setting already (see my comment on Daniel's answer)... Unfortunately there are a few instances where that doesn't help. The main example that gives me issues being cases where I need to send a text to multiple recipients.

yeah, you're right.  It's only good for sending messages to one person.

If you're creating a new message it might be easier to just go into the Contacts/People app, set up your desired filtering there (as others have already pointed out).
Then instead of going into the Messaging/Email/GMail app to send your message stay in the Contacts/People app, find the person you want to send the message to and just press on the relevant contact detail (eg phone number or email address) to send to them. This should give you a much more manageable list.

Unfortunately there are a few instances where that doesn't help. The main example that gives me issues being cases where I need to send a text to multiple recipients.

It may depend on what phone you are using.  For the HTC Evo (and most likely any other HTC phone with Sense) it seems you can't change the the list in "Search People" but you can change the list in your "People" app. If this is what you want to do open the "People" app and you'll see all your contacts.  The open the menu and select "View" - here you can change some of the contacts that will be viewed in your "People" app.
I tried changing my contacts list this way and then checked if the "People Search" app would also remove the same contacts but it would seem it doesn't work that way.  For example I added and removed Twitter contacts but either way they still appeared in the "Peaople Search" list.
Hope this helps

Mine is the HTC Incredible (for now, at least) and seems to behave the way you describe. I was hoping I was just missing something :/

@AceCalhoon One thing I do is used Gmail's Contact Groups and group some of my contacts in that way (Family, Work, etc.) then when you in the "People" app you can slide to the "Groups" section and have a smaller set of contacts to view - not sure if this will actually help with what you want but it may be helpful to someone. You can also add a contact to a group directly from Android but doing this in Gmail should be faster.

@Daniel Thanks, I saw that one... You can also set the People app to only show contacts with phone numbers via the menu hardware button. Unfortunately those settings don't seem to apply to the search people app :(

@AceCalhoon Bummer - sorry I don't have a better answer. Good luck though

@AceC I have noticed that HTC's customized apps have a bug where they show you all  messaging types for all contacts from every app, where the built-in apps (on a non-HTC phone) only show you the relevant contact types. Eg in the EMail app you're only shown email addresses from contacts who have them, and from the Messaging app you're only shown phone numbers from contacts who have them. While on other people's HTC phones I've seen them go into the text message app to send a message and they're offered all contact details for all contacts, which is crazy.

@GAThrawn That's good to know... If I could switch to the default ones, it'd solve the problem then. I guess I need to get around to looking into rooting at some point soon.

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Is it normal for Android System to be the top battery user?
Over the past couple of days, the battery usage of my new phone has been as follows:

34% - Android System
  28% - Cell Standby
  21% - Phone idle
  10% - Display
  03% - Google Goggles
  02% - Angry Birds
  02% - Majesty

This feels very off to me. I would have expected the games and display to rank much higher in terms of battery use. Could the high usage of Android System indicate a potential problem, or is this fairly normal?
Additional information:
I typically end up with around 15:00 hours uptime and 3:45 hours awake by the end of the day. Daily use so far includes short bursts of playing games and Internet use, but no listening to music. I haven't had a day of heavy calls/texting with the phone yet.
These numbers are all from the built in battery use screen under settings.

The battery usage meters reset each time the phone is plugged in. Was your phone unplugged for the entire 15 hours?

@Gary Comtois Yes. The above is after approximately 15 hours unplugged.

Ocasionally I notice my battery dying quicker than normal and it will show Android system as the top user. If I shut it off and turn it back on it usually fixes it. I am still not sure what is causing this though.

Those seem to be awfully high numbers for Cell Standby and Phone Idle too -- what's your signal strength like?  Being in an area with poor reception can cause your radios to use a lot of extra power.

@afrazier Reception seems decent. It varies from 1 to four (full) bars. It's good enough that I don't notice it (no dropped calls, static, etc.). Going to the details for Cell Standby, it shows that "Time without a signal" is 0%.

It all depends on your usage.  Android System includes Sync, so if you're not using your phone a lot then I would assume Sync and Standby would use the most battery -- so your details make sense.
Edit: As per the comments, I think the battery usage is being recorded wrong.

I think I'm using my phone a fair amount. You can see Angry Birds and Majesty on the list there. I typically end up with around 15:00 hours uptime and 3:45 hours awake by the end of the day. Does that still fit with your answer?

Hmm no, I don't think that fits.  How drained is your battery after that?  I am thinking the battery use is not being tracked properly as well, what app are you using (or is it built in)?

15:00 hours is about when the battery dies. It's a potential problem for me, since that isn't quite all day. I'm using the built in battery usage meter (settings->About Phone->Battery->Battery Use).

OK.  Well I do think the usage meter is wrong, but 15 hours is about normal without any tweaks.  I recommend the XDA forum if you want to find a custom ROM that will give you better battery life (http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=638) and you can also take a look at http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/476/what-can-i-do-to-increase-battery-life-on-my-android-phone

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


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Upgrading android on device with small memory
Hi I have an android Core Prime with 8GB internal storage and a 16GB sd card
Currently it has andriod 4.4.4 installed
It has downloaded an upgrade to 5.1.1
It says it requires 3gb of space for the install of which I currently only have 718MB.
Currently the storage is not unified and I have moved as much to the SD card as I can.
I am guessing that to update I will have to do something like

backup with kies
uninstall as many apps as I can
do upgrade
reinstall apps
restore backup

and hope I don't lose too much.
Will any data on the sdcard be corrupted erased?
Should I move applications back to the internal storage before I start?
Is there a better way?
Thanks

If you read the description of the tag you used for [android] by  hovering over it, you will see your question is off topic. I have voted to migrate this to the [android.se] site where your question is on topic. Please don't double post.


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How to reroute all traffic from Bluetooth tether to a VPN app
Today i tried to use a Bluetooth Personal Area Network to connect to my phone from my laptop because my phone had a VPN on it. When i went to test my IP address i found that android was not rerouting my Bluetooth traffic through the VPN app like i thought but it was instead going through the WiFi normally.
So how can i make Bluetooth tethering work with my VPN app?
Android version - 4.4.2
VPN App here

Related answer helps?

@beeshyams Thanks but that solution is assuming that you have access to the settings for the vpn, since my vpn is made using an app it does not show up in the vpn settings tab, thanks though.

Looks like this could be a leak in your VPN app or even in that specific version of android itself.

Suggest you link VPN app used by you in the question to clarify which app

@ionree I will try another vpn app and update the question with my android version.

@beeshyams Updating now


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Android messages deleting themselves/ Not showing up!
All my messages were working fine until a few weeks ago when i could message everyone and receive messages.
Now one of my contacts can receive messages from me and can send messages successfully to me, on my phone the message shows up in notifications but whenever i go into the app they aren't there also, when i message my contact they receive the text fine but i can't see it on my phone.
The only odd thing i have seen is that the time stamp is the 8th Nov 2016, today is the 7th.
How can i fix this so i can see inbound and outbound messages?

Well, it is 8th November in parts of the world, right now, as we speak, (so to speak). It is all dependent on the relevant timezone to dictate that. Have you checked that? Also, have you changed from automatic time, automatic date, and automatic timezone to self-settting? Do you have the settings correct?

@wbogacz I am in the GMT zone so it is 6:15 over here and the time is set to Network provided date and time.

You might need to clear the data/storage for SMS.  Do you have much free space on your device?

@MatthewRead yes i have plenty free space. By clearing the database i take it you mean "Clear data" under settings?

The problem was that the "date" i had sent it on was in the future.
I must have been getting coins in a game or something, so the messages where, according to android, in the future so i could not receive messages from that contact until the 8th.
To fix this problem if you have it either:

Wait for the date to arrive
Delete the messages from the "future" (Not tested)
Set the time on your phone to past the time stamp on the messages

Side note - You can still receive messages in the notifications bar, just not in messages.
You can also send messages, they just don't show up.


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2 folders of same name in internal storage of Oneplus3
Currently on my phone, i have 2 folders of the same name. The content of both folder shows 0 bytes. EDIT : They are exactly the same. And the subfolders and files are also same with 0 bytes content. When i deleted the 2 folders with same name, then other new folder was seen with the same name of an existing folder. I know it sounds confusing and impossible. But could this be due to storage problem?
I only want to ask, is this a known problem or has this happened with someone else before ?

What exactly is the name of those duplicate folders? How are you looking at them? I mean which app you are using?

I am using 'FX file explorer'. Initially it was Whatsapp. Then after deleting 2 folders of Whatsapp, it was Viper4android.

May be a problem with File Explorer or Media Storage. Filesystems don't support multiple files/folder of identical names in same directory. Try some other explorer or Termux to see directory names.

@IrfanLatif i checked in termux too. It was still the same. All my pictures in whatsapp folder were gone from gallery.


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Creating a multipartition bootable SDcard manually
I'm trying to create a bootable sd card for an embedded board from Android images for various partitions (bootloader.imx, boot.img, recovery.img, and so on). Each of these images has to be written to specific partitions on the sd card with various filesystem types. Using a traditional disk copying programs like Win32DiskImager only allows to write to the whole disk at a time. I can use dd to write the images to the partition, but I'm not sure how to actually create the partitions on the sd card which range in size from ~1 MB (for the bootloader) to ~800 MB for the system image
Is there a way to create these partitions (with size and offset information) and write individual .img files to each of these partitions? Thanks in advance for any help.

You can use dd to write images into individual partitions.

@Firelord, thanks for the help about dd, I didn't know about it. I'm also having trouble creating the partitions themselves (see modified question above). I'd really appreciate any pointers about that.

I recommend you to take a look at parted or gdisk tool for this. It allows to create partition from specific sector with desired size. Then you can use dd command to copy the .img into these partitions.
If you are looking for an partition app. for rooted device, you can try parted4android.  Disclaimer: I'm the dev.


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Nexus 9, no recovery, no USB debugging, OEM locked in Settings
I've got a pretty complex problem.
At the moment:

Nexus 9 WiFi Tablet, USB Debugging not enabled
Normal Startup: Android laying on the floor
Startup with Power+Volume Down:

Fastboot Bootloader LOCKED
Recovery doesn't start
Factory Reset crashes as well

fastboot oem unlock → permission denied

Question
I want to know whether I can completely reset/wipe my device through fastboot or whatever I can use to do it.
I am not able to fastboot boot boot.img or something similar because USB Debugging and OEM unlocking aren't enabled and I can't start the device to do so.
The device has no microSD card slot.
EDIT:
When I choose HBOOT → RECOVERY I get the Android laying on the floor with a red triangle.
It is the device of a colleague of mine. He restarted the tablet and it happened. Don't have more information.
[SOLUTION]:
I could find a solution for my problem.
adb.exe sideload volantis-ota....zip
With the help of an OTA-Image, I could reset and recover the tablet.

I also have a Nexus 9, what's your Android version? And forgive me for asking, but how did you manage to get it into this sorry state? Please [edit] these pieces of info into the question.

What do you mean Recovery doesn't start? What happens when you choose Recovery mode from bootloader?

When I choose "HBOOT" -->"RECOVERY" I get the Android laying on the floor with a red triangle.

Try pressing 'Power' and 'Volume Up' for a few seconds, that should allow recovery to start.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60713211&postcount=17


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Checking for SIM card defects
Short question:
How can I obtain detailed information about my SIM card, using Android apps and/or adb (possibly root)? I'd like to diagnose mobile data connection problems possibly caused by SIM card defects.
Extended context:
I just changed my mobile operator and got a new SIM card, and everything seems to work fine except that I cannot access Internet using mobile data: whenever I try to go to any site or use any app which requires network access, a "Login required" notification pops up. Activating it opens the browser in my mobile operator's homepage, and every other site is redirected to this one.
The thing is, I do have mobile data credit, but my provider seems to be blocking it. I suspected an issue on their side, but after explaining it to technical support, they dismissed it as "probably a faulty SIM card" and told me to get another one (free of charge).
However, I can still make calls (local calls are included in my plan) and access EDGE/3G antennas (they are detected, and I can access my provider's homepage via them). I do not understand how could a defective SIM card allow this kind of behavior.
I had Wifi disabled during my tests. The APN has been configured as defined in the SIM card and checked twice to match the one suggested in their website (resetting the APN or putting the SIM on another phone reverts to the prescribed settings). Indeed it's a captive portal, intended for when you run out of mobile data (so that you can top up using your mobile and credit card), but in my case I do have available data.
I would like to know if there are apps or some adb commands which could provide more details about what's actually happening.
Note: the issue is not Android-specific (e.g. an old Symbian Nokia phone exhibits the same behavior), but I hope that a (rooted and unlocked) Android phone can provide me more detailed information about this situation.

The connections you seem to get are running via a captive portal, most likely WiFi. Check the APN settings (of your mobile connection, not the WiFi ones), and ask the service staff to send you the related settings as service SMS (and optionally in readable format to either compare or setup manually).

This is why I am almost sure it's a problem on their side, but I need stronger evidence to make their technical support understand it.

Thanks for the update! Those facts are too important to the issue to leave them in a comment, hence I've integrated them with your question directly. I agree with your reasoning, but am afraid you won't convince them. Keep the proof, though, as when the new SIM shows the same issues you'll have something to show them then. I'd say if the SIM were faulty, it's unlikely you can connect to that captive portal but not to the regular AP – either it works or not. I'd rather bet it's on their end not accepting your account on the regular data line (missed to activate it there).

Thanks for the edit.
I did try to point that to them several times, but it must be simpler to just send another SIM ("follow the procedure"). Now, they are actually an MVNO and their own technical support needs to contact the actual provider's technical support, which complicates things. And also, even after making calls my "remaining local calls" counter does not move. In theory I could have unlimited local calls, or it's a glitch on the web interface. Anyway, having more information about the SIM card from my mobile phone would also be useful for curiosity's sake.

In that case: Say nothing, get a second card for mobile data – unlimited calls is nice :) Good luck with it!

Can multiple SIM cards related to a single phone number be all active at the same time? I thought the old one was always deactivated in this case.

It is. Separat contract, dual-sim would do. But we're exceeding the comment limit here, and this is not a discussion forum. Feel free to drop into chat.


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Uninstalled app reappears after boot
I have a problematic LG P715 which keeps randomly rebooting every few seconds after boot, and I'd like to remove some sensitive data before sending it to a random technician.
I cannot factory erase it (usually it reboots before I can reach the button, but even when it does reach it, after confirming that I want to erase, it simply does nothing), so I tried uninstalling each application individually to at least progress somewhat.
I was able to go to Setttings -> Applications, choose some applications, click on Uninstall, then confirm, wait for it to finish uninstalling, then click Ok, then return to the phone. Even after doing all that, after rebooting the phone, the same applications still appear on the list of Downloaded applications.
I wonder, how is this possible? They had disappeared from the list before reboot. Are they never actually erased after uninstallation? Is there something I can do to force them to be erased?
Edit: It's actually worse than I thought: I managed to get an ADB shell (no root) for a few seconds, so I deleted some files in the sdcard folder (where I had permission) via rm inside the ADB shell, but again after rebooting all those files and directories were there. It seems there must be some issue between some temporary storage and the permanent one, but I am at a loss to what happens in there, how can these commands execute and seem to produce some result when they actually do nothing.

Try to use the volume button combination to factory reset it before the android system itself boots up.

I tried what I found in several sites, one of them leads to an "Emergency mode !!" yellow screen that seems written by a 4-year old, the others lead to some partial reset where it asks my settings again (time zone, language), but after that it reboots back into the previous configuration with everything as before the attempted reset.

Also, it is so buggy that it actually seems to reboot while doing the factory reset: the green android animation with the geometrical shape in its belly only appears for a couple seconds, before the phone reboots. So I gave up on that, but what I'm really curious about is how it manages to claim the application has been uninstalled but afterwards it comes back from nowhere.


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Editing the built-in autocorrect dictionary in AOSP keyboard
I'd like to remove some words from the built-in dictionaries* in my AOSP keyboard (Cyanogenmod 11), to avoid autocorrect from suggesting/applying them.
Is there a dictionary file that can be edited to remove such words?
I suspect it might require root do be able to change it, but I don't mind if it does.
Note: I'm not talking about words added to my personal dictionary, which can be erased using the appropriate interface. I'd like to remove, for instance, the word Said from the French dictionary, which often appears when I mistype sais (a quite common French word). I never intend to use Said, but since it is already in the built-in dictionary, there is no standard way to simply delete it, AFAIK.
* Including languages other than English.

There is a workaround mentioned in this answer. It doesn't help in editing the dictionary but gets the job done.

That question seems to be related to user-added words, not the built-in dictionary. I tried with some words and there is no "Replace..." popup, unless the word has been added by myself. In any case, I edited my question to clarify that.

This other SE answer might be of help if your phone is running under CyanogenMod. That answer, in turn, points to this article where author shows the location of built-in dictionaries on the phone filesystem, as well as the location of built-in dictionary source files in Android open source project.
The rationale (all to be tried) should be grab the source of a builtin dictionary you want to edit, modify that, generate a new APK file out of that, and finally substitute the original dictionary APK with the custom APK.

Seems like a good start, but how do you generate a new APK from the dictionary source file, and how to you substitute the original with it? Edit: this might be helpful http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1027207


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Phone turned off for empty battery. Now it gives "No command"
My non-rooted phone (Morotola MOTO G5s Plus, bought just 2 months ago) just reached the 1% battery and automatically Powered Off.
I charged it for some hours. Tried to turn it on but just the flash icon of charging kept staying.
Disconnecting the charger didn't make the icon disappear.
So I pressed the Power button for 10 seconds till it turned off.
It automatically restarted, but now it doesn't load anymore. I wait for a while and the I get just the "No Command" recovery mode.
I tried to "Wipe cache partition" already. No luck. I tried to "Run the Graphics Test", but it gave quickly *"Installing system update" -> Error -> "Erasing" -> "Installing system update" (and a really graphical animated logo; so graphic looks fine) and then comes back to the menu. After that it still doesn't load, and running the test again does the exact same thing.
What just happened? Did my phone broke just because of empty battery?
How do I resolve? How do I prevent data loss?

I didn't really solve the problem, but I just tried to be sure that the phone was rebooting really from scratch (the purpose of resetting).
I went in recovery mode and I tried choosing "Power off" this time. After that it didn't try to reboot automatically as all the previous times.
I waited a little and then powered it on. Magically it booted correctly and without any issue


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Why are most of my Pre-Installed apps that connect to Google not working?
Okay, I am using a Huawei m865c (Ascend II), running Android 2.3.6.
I am trying to open Google Play, but it tells me that there is no connection. I am connected to a 20 mb/ps with all bars. I tried connecting another account, but it would load for 5 minutes and tell me that my phone has no connection or isn't provisioned for data services (duh, that's why I have WiFi). Help! I've tried everything in my book to fix it, but it doesn't help.

Do Gmail, etc. give the exact same error that Play does?

Actually, they don't even give me an error code. When I try to connect to Google play, it says "No Connection" and gives me an option to try again, which ultimately leads me back to the error screen.When I try to downgrade my Google Play Store back to the Android Market, the old version gives me the same thing. It does the same thing as well with Google Talk (or Hangouts, whatever floats your boat). The only Google products that work on my phone are Gmail Voice Search, and Maps.

We're getting tons of questions about this sort of issue at the moment, across lots of devices and Android versions.  I wonder if Google is having server issues.


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How to root Huawei Ascend Y550?
I've been trying to root my Huawei Ascend Y550 but I had no luck since many of the rooting programs say "Rooting failed".  Is there a way to root this phone?  It is running Android 4.4.4 and the kernel is from September 29th, 2014.


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Rooting and uprading Galaxy SL GT-I9003 to ICS or Jelly Bean
There are lots of howtos online but most of them are old with rotten links (to the downloads). In addition to how to root and upgrade and where to download the files, I'd like to know the following:

Is the (ICS or Jelly Bean) kernel I need to download trustworthy (i.e. open source)?
Are there any bugs associated with the kernel?

My phone is not rooted and is running firmware version 2.2.1 and kernel version 2.6.32.9.

Reza, not sure you've picked the right identification: Are you sure it's an "S2" and "GT-I1003*? The 1003 looks a bit weird here. We've got 2 links in our rooting index for the S2: Galaxy S2 GT-I9100P / GT-I9100G, and one for the Galaxy S2 plus. Does any of those match?

Ah – OK, but isn't that the "Galaxy SL" then? S2 is 9100. Check: Yepp, here you go: Galaxy SL GT i9003


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Is it possible to use two dictionaries at the same time in swype?
I type in two languages regularly - depends on who I communicate with, in perhaps 60:40 or 70:30 ratio. Sometimes I even use words from both languages in the same text. Both languages are supported by Swype. But I can only select one of them at one time, so when I need to type in the other language I have to change the settings, which is quite inconvenient. Can I merge two dictionaries or activate both of them at the same time?

you can long-press on the letter Q to quickly change language on Swype

wow you're right.. you can post that as an answer imo.

It's still inconvenient, multiple dictionaries active at the same time would be a neat feature.

agreed. Still this is better than having to change the Settings.

I also recommend suggesting this to the Swype people.

you can long-press on the letter Q to quickly change language on Swype

You could also try to just add the words you use most of the time, even it is from a different language.
That is what I do. When I'm using one language, and I need a word that is available in the other language, I just type it and add it to my personal dictionary. Over time I will have two dictionaries who will probably both have the words I use the most.

Swype from swype symbol to q to quickly change between two most recently used languages.
Easy language change on the keyboard

Another Stackoverflow question about using multiple keyboards on Android: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20197421/adding-a-second-dictionary-to-the-spell-check-in-android-4-3/44033793#44033793
Here is how for example to have a French keyboard with French dictionary + French keyboard with English dictionary
Go to Android settings > Language & Input > Gboard (Google default keyboard).
Then in Languages, you can tick all the keyboards you want. In my case, French (France) and English (UK).
This will give you the usual AZERTY French keyboard and the usual QWERTY English keyboard.
If you want the English dictionary with a French AZERTY keyboard, you can go to Preferences > Personalised input styles and create a new keyboard Language: English (UK) Layout: AZERTY, then in the Languages menu, you will have a new keyboard in the list, English (UK) (AZERTY). Tick it.
You now have 3 keyboards in your list: French (France), English (UK) and English (UK) (AZERTY).
While using the keyboard, you can then switch from one keyboard to another either with the special button or by holding the Space bar. The Space bar also shows the current language being used.
Using multiple dictionaries at the same time: In Text correction, there is an option called "multilingual suggestions", this will use several dictionaries at the same time, recognising as valid all words from the selected languages. If active, the Space bar will show something like FR-EN, to indicate that several languages are active at the same time. I personally don't like it.


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How can I stop Hootsuite from trying to send this failing message?
So I try to send a tweet from hootsuite about this really nice beer I had. It was a nice beer, and a nice tweet, and nothing weird about it at the time.
The message send failed -- see screenshot, below.
The message cannot be found in hootsuite --  the message doesn't appear in my twitter feed, nor in "sent messages" (of course) -- the "Pending" tab is empty.
The message send KEEPS failing -- even though I've posted other messages from Hootsuite to Twitter since then. The message keeps trying to resend (and fail) every few minutes [no idea of actual frequency, but if I dismiss the message, it reappears sooner or later].

Have you tried clearing the data for the app?  Or uninstalling then reinstalling?  Or does Hootsuite cache unsent/failed tweets to the cloud?

I'm reluctant to uninstall, because I don't want to have to reconnect the three accounts. But if that's the only option.... [and "clearing data" clears all account data too, right?]

Yeah, clearing data will be like starting the app anew.

"clearing data" made me think some more... what could be done to reset?, without being destructive? REBOOT! Once restarted, the offending message was FINALLY visible in the pending messages. I deleted it. Thanks!


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Can I configure more than one gmail account in the gmail app without syncing everything?
I have two gmail accounts, think of them as "work" and "play". The phone is registered on the "work" one, but most of the mail I get on the "play" one. Is it possible to add both of them to the gmail app but have the phone pull contacts and everything else only from the "work" one, that is only use the "play" one for reading mail?

When you add the account through the gmail app, you will enter your account info, it will verify the info, and then ask you what you'd like to sync, if anything at all. If you don't want anything to sync from the account, then nothing will be. If you change your mind, you can go into the settings -> accounts and sync, and the change it up.

Yes (if I understand you correctly). Just go into Settings - Accounts and Sync, then modify what things are synced per account. In other words, work@gmail.com can be set to sync gmail, contacts, calendar, etc. But you can set play@gmail.com to just sync gmail (not contacts, etc). There are checkboxes once you add the account.


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"No item could be found" error when installing app
I receive 'no item could be found error' when I try to install some apps such as:

Busybox
Gems miner
Springpad

All apps are listed in AppBrainer or on their webpages but not on Market.
What is causing it?

I think that AppBrain lists all apps irrespective of the phone you are using to browse it, whereas the market seems to filter apps to show only ones that are supported by your phone or version of Android (not sure which, but seems most likely version of Android).  Since Wildfire is still on 2.1 I guess the apps you are trying to install are 2.2+.  As far as I am concerned this makes AppBrain pretty useless for the Wildfire.

I have encountered this before when I try to cancel an install from within AppBrain. If you have the FastWeb Installer loaded then it sees that as an indication of wanting to uninstall, even if the application is not really loaded on the phone.


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Reset permissions of app versus Google Play Game Services
When installing an app using Google Play Game Services (GPGS) on Android and booting the app first time, we give the app permission to do this and that with the user's account (or similar) on GPGS. How can I reset that permission, so that when the user accesses GPGS from the app the next time (using the same account as first time), it will ask for permission again?

Within the GPGS service (leaderboard) inside the app itself, there was a button to access settings for the user vs the GPGS. I could disconnect the app from the account by digging around there. With that the permissions were revoked.


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Dropbox on Samsung Galaxy - where is the Settings button?
On a Sony Xperia, the settings button in Dropbox is top right.
On a Samsung Galaxy, there is no settings button top right and I have been unable to find it anywhere else. Where is it?
・On a HTC device, the settings button is right up there as well.

What is version of your Android OS ?

If your phone has a menu hard key, like most Samsung phones, the three-dots icon for an overflow menu won't appear. Press the menu key instead, and Settings is the bottom item on the menu.

Right. There was a menu key that was invisible until I pushed it. Hmm...


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Android 5.1 update, Motorola X (1st Gen) and "Skip" NFC tabs (Really: disable "swipe" step before unlock)
I've just upgraded my gen 1 Moto X to 5.1. I've managed to get the NFC "Skip" tabs working again to unlock the phone, but the overall behavior is worse than with the prior release.
Before 5.1, when I'd power the phone on I'd be immediately prompted for a password. Now, I have to do a "swipe up" gesture in order to get the password prompt to appear. That seems trivial but it kind-of ruins the Skip convenience. Before, I could hit the power button and wave the phone over the Skip magnetic tab on my watchband, and the phone was ready. Now I have to add in that (pointless) swipe gesture.
Is there any new configuration option to disable that, so that the password unlock UI is ready to accept a password (or the trusted Skip device) as soon as the phone is powered on?
edit — I've noticed that, swipe or no swipe, the Skip device won't unlock the phone at all if it's been some unknown amount of time (I think) since the last time I unlocked the phone.
edit more — more reading suggests that this is simply the way Android 5.1 (and the "Smart Lock" trust agent from Google) works.  The NFC device, which formerly (thanks to some special Motorola software, maybe?) unlocked the phone directly, now is just treated as another "trusted device" by the trust agent and it works like any other such device — which is to say, not as well as the NFC device used to work. (It may be more secure, but it's certainly less convenient.)


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Connecting ZTE Axon 7 to Ubuntu via ADB - doesn't work with some cables, does work with others
I've edited the question title and I'm adding this prefix. The problem of my computer (via ADB) not seeing my phone at all seemed to entirely depend on how I was physically connecting the phone to the computer. Via three different USB-A (old big rectangular plugs, computer side) to USB-C (phone) cables, the phone remained invisible. When I plug any of the same USB-A to USB-C cables into an old USB "extension" cable (USB-A female on one end, male on the computer end), everything works fine.

I'm trying to get my ZTE Axon 7 to connect to an Ubuntu 16.04 installation via ADB. I've actually done this before, but for whatever reason it simply does not work now.
The relevant output from lsusb is
Bus 003 Device 032: ID 19d2:0306 ZTE WCDMA Technologies MSM

I've tried the phone in every USB connection mode it offers, all with the same non-operational result.
From the Ubuntu machine, I run
adb kill-server
adb start-server
adb devices -l

The phone is plugged in via its stock cable (and I've tried two others). Running adb devices lists nothing.
The "USB Debugging" option is enabled on the phone. I've restarted the phone multiple times.
Again, I've done this before, and it worked without incident. I'm probably just missing some important step.
I'd connect with MTP if I could, because all I need to do is transfer files, but it doesn't work; mtpfs just hangs indefinitely when I start it. I've read that Ubuntu should be able to deal with MTP without any additional tools, but I have no idea how that's supposed to work. When I plug the phone in, here's what I get in kern.log:
Apr  5 23:02:44 turandot kernel: [ 7858.845536] usb 3-2: new SuperSpeed USB device number 34 using xhci_hcd
Apr  5 23:02:44 turandot kernel: [ 7858.862996] usb 3-2: New USB device found, idVendor=19d2, idProduct=0306
Apr  5 23:02:44 turandot kernel: [ 7858.863005] usb 3-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
Apr  5 23:02:44 turandot kernel: [ 7858.863009] usb 3-2: Product: Android
Apr  5 23:02:44 turandot kernel: [ 7858.863013] usb 3-2: Manufacturer: Android
Apr  5 23:02:44 turandot kernel: [ 7858.863016] usb 3-2: SerialNumber: 293baffd
Apr  5 23:02:44 turandot kernel: [ 7858.864244] usb 3-2: Enable of device-initiated U1 failed.
Apr  5 23:02:44 turandot kernel: [ 7858.864594] usb 3-2: Enable of device-initiated U2 failed.

I've tried ADB with my older Moto X Pure, and ADB can connect to it without issue from the same Ubuntu laptop.
I'm really not sure what the next step is; I've followed the exact same notes I used last time I transferred files to the Axon but it absolutely doesn't work now.
edit — well progress. I had in the past been plugging my phone into the computer via a fairly old USB "extension" cable. Today I was plugging the USB-C to USB-A cable directly into the laptop. When I returned to the old extension cable, the phone was recognized. I'll leave the question here because maybe somebody knows why that might happen.

I found following this article https://www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/how-to-connect-your-android-device-on-linux/ to setup your linux installation for mtpfs file system.  In a nutshell:
1) On your Ubuntu Linux:
    sudo apt-get install mtpfs
    sudo mtpfs -o allow_other ~/mnt
2) On your phone:
   Under Settings -> Connect to a PC, select "Media Device MTP"
This should immediately allow connection (with whatever cable in usb) to your Ubuntu 16.04 (which I use with my Axion ZTE 7 Mini) and allow access to phones internal storage and SD storage with file manager.

Does mtp_connect actually work for you?  For me, it sits there for a long time and then fails.

Oh wait no it did seem to work. Really slow though. Nevertheless, thanks very much.


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Copying files from PC to "external" SD card
I've got AirDroid and SSHDroid installed on a ZTE Axon 7 running 7.1.1. The phone has a micro SD card in it, and it can access (read from) that card successfully. What I can't do is copy files onto it. I can log in via ssh and see the file system, but I can't touch it.
I've had a Moto X Pure for the past year, and via SSHDroid and AirDroid I can readily copy files to the SD card.
Is this just a "security" (ie, "pay somebody") thing in the more-proprietary OS on the ZTE phone?
Obviously I can mount the micro SD card directly on the computer, but juggling those tiny cards is kind-of a pain. If there are other solutions, I'd be grateful.
edit — I've tried MTP with the Axon. I plug in the phone and tell it I want to connect as a "media device" with MTP. I then run mtpfs (I'm running Linux on the laptop; Ubuntu 16.04) and I get:
Listing raw device(s)
Device 0 (VID=19d2 and PID=0306) is a ZTE V790/Blade 3.
   Found 1 device(s):
   ZTE: V790/Blade 3 (19d2:0306) @ bus 2, dev 98
Attempting to connect device
Android device detected, assigning default bug flags

Then it just sits there. (I've never had much luck with MTP.)
edit again — ADB seems to work. I don't move files that much (mostly music and audiobooks) and while ADB is a pain it's easier than fiddling with the cards.

Do you insist on wireless, or would using an USB cable be fine? In the latter case, there are several options – like using MTP or ADB.

@Izzy I can't get MTP to work on this phone; I'll extend the answer.

@Izzy ADB works. Thanks for the suggestion! If you want to type in a brief note to that effect I'll upvote and accept.

Alternatively if you also plan to do it via wifi please see File transfer with linux pc through mobile hotspot

If you're not insisting on a wireless transfer, using an USB cable would give you at least two options:

Using mtp
Using adb

With MTP, on connecting the device to your computer you should usually get the option to open it in some file explorer (does so on Windows and on Linux at least). For ADB, you could use adb push to push files to your SD card – or, for your convenience, use an ADB GUI (some are listed here at my site.
For the latter, once connected via USB cable you could make it switch to TCP mode if you need it wireless. Without root, this must be repeated after each boot – with root, there are ways to initiate it without a cable.
Details can be found e.g. via the corresponding tag-wikis: adb and mtp.
Disclosure: The first two links lead to my Android website.

Do you have any links on your site as to how to get ADB to start working? I've been trying to reproduce my success from the other day but I cannot. I start the server on the Linux host but adb devices -l never shows anything.

Sure @Pointy – second to last line of my answer. The corresponding tag-wiki has some, and more can be found in the posts using that tag :) If adb devices doesn't show anything, start with those links to configure ADB for your device, e.g. How do I get my device detected by ADB on Linux?

thanks :)  It turned out that my problem involved using the USB-A to USB-C cable directly from my computer. When I used an old USB "extension" cable like I was doing the other day, it immediately started working. I have absolutely no idea why that was the case, but it was about midnight by the time I tried that so I was asking few deep questions. I will probably start looking at rooting the phone because not being able to scp files to the external SD card is just silly. Thanks again!

For those of you dealing with this problem on the Mac, install Android File Transfer.
This was by far the fastest and easiest way to get 30GB of data from my external SD card to my laptop. It can write to the card was well. This software is Mac only!


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Stop Facebook using GPS
I have set location to off but I can see it is still trying to use GPS from the icon in the top left corner.
Where in the settings can I switch this off for Facebook only? Despite Messenger location servvices being set to Off, everytime I open the app it tries to get a GPS lock.
I am running the latest stock Nexus 4 firmware and Android 4.2.

Are you sure it's facebook app? What happens when you remove it?

AFAIK, the location services option in FB settings is for "Facebook Messenger" only. The GPS notification appears for me whenever I go to pick a location, or "Check in", regardless of whether I have "Messenger location services" enabled or disabled in FB settings. But otherwise the GPS notification does not seem to appear for me (Nexus 4, FB 2.2.1).

Go into Settings > Location Access, Look for Location Sources, uncheck GPS Satellites and Wifi&Mobile network location.

@t0mm13b: But won't this disable location services for the entire phone?

@w3d Yes and the OP asked "Where in the settings can I switch this off?" despite having it turned off from within Facebook app... just saying :)

@w3d As soon as I open the application, the GPS tries to get a lock.

@t0mm13b Sorry I will rephrase, I want this off for Facebook only.

Are you rooted?

The only thing I can think off is to selectively disable the GPS/Request Location permissions in the app itself - think CM has that feature...

Is it possible that a "Facebook App" (installed in FB itself) is requesting location services?

Unfortunately, there's no way to do this in the app settings. You can turn it off for messaging, and you can always turn off the alerts for "friends that are nearby", but the check-in functionality needs to call the GPS. And let's not forget that they are working toward creating targeted ads, which in many cases require knowing (approximately) where you are.

AFAIK PDroid is the best solution. (Except you need to be rooted) You could even set a custom GPS location per app.
Permission Explorer is a good alternative.


text:
Found a not-so-locked Moto G5S Plus - need help to unlock & return it
I've been to a concert three weeks ago and found a Moto G5S Plus there.
I've waited for the owner to call - but they didn't.
The phone is not so locked. It has a (stock) screen lock, but it doesn't seem to be encrypted - I can reboot it and the apps start.
All I can see in the lock screen are app notifications, but with their content hidden.
I managed to check that there's a Google Play Services notification stating the Google account of the owner, but I've sent an email there without reply. My guess is they've just created the Google account for the phone, but use a different email address (if they check any, at all).
I see WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Behance, Messages & Uber notifications (there may be some others, I don't recall right now), but with their content hidden.
How can I unlock the phone to be able to access WhatsApp/Messages/Contacts to contact someone who can contact me with the owner?
I've tried calling their service provider, but they weren't able to find the IMEI on their users database. They've suggested me on the phone to try going to an actual store since they may have better info, but I didn't have the chance yet.
The phone doesn't have an SD card - so no luck trying to get something out of there.
There are no Emergency contacts set up.
I can access the camera without unlocking the phone. That allowed me to take a picture to a message stating a way to contact me, just in case there was any cloud backup setup - but I have not been contacted yet.
I was able to connect to a WiFi using the Camera to read a QR code. I wasn't able to connect to a password-protected WiFi network via the WiFi menu, but I could using the QR code. May there be any other QR action that I could exploit to help me?
It's a Movistar phone, from Argentina, if that makes any difference - but I'm expecting any workaround at the phone/OS level.
From the recovery mode, I could get the Android version is 8.1.0/OPS28.65-36-14/63857. It also says motorola/sanders_retail/sanders, if that helps.
I've just found in HIBP that the user e-mail was part of the Canva breach - but I couldn't find the actual leaked data on a really quick Google search.
Connecting via USB, adb devices won't show it. I managed to get fastboot devices to list the phone when I reboot it and stay at the bootloader - but I haven't found how that may help.
I also tried putting a working SIM card in the phone and calling it from another phone. The idea was to use the conference call option to try to access the phone's contact list. Even though the phone said it had cellular signal, the call didn't make it - so it may already be blocked at the telco level.
I'd appreciate any suggestions to try.
(Just in case: I really want to return it back to the owner. If I was trying to keep it for myself, I'd just factory reset it and call it a day. I also don't intend to violate their privacy - just to contact them)

Was worth a try. Thanks for being that thorough; might be worth summing al up for the tag wiki later (or for an answer here we can link to from the tag wiki; I think of the lost-phone tag wiki in this context).

i have done this one times, but it took me days and turned out the girl already buyed a new one. it was a 4 digit pin and she was not so happy that i had bruteforced it

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3954855

in case you do factory reset https://www.techeligible.com/2019/10/12/bypass-frp-moto-g5s-plus

anyway it's time to set up our own emergency details - everbody who read this, just do it NOW :)

It is possible that some useful contacts are saved in the SIM card, so I suggest you insert that SIM card in an another phone to access those contacts and attempt to contact them.

I feel a bit stupid for having tried everything else but this. It worked. Hopefully "Mum" will help us return the phone.

Summary: It sounds like you've done well more than expected of you, and should hand it off to the cell provider or other authorities. Not doing so might risk legal consequences.
How do you normally handle lost property in (I presume) Argentina?
Here in the US, for example, the concert venue often has a "lost and found" where you'd turn it in. And that's the first place the person who lost the phone would look. Beyond that, the cell carrier or the local police station. Again, those are places that someone who lost a phone might contact.
It sounds like you've gone above and beyond trying to find the owner. It's probably to late to give it to the concert venue, so I'd suggest just give it to the carrier (presumably even if they can't locate the owner immediately at the store, they'll hold it for a while and see if the owner contacts them). Which if the IMEI has already been blocked ("blocked at the telco level", as you put it), someone has already contacted them, presumably if you had turned in the phone immediately, it'd already be back with its owner.
I have no idea how naive that all sounds from Argentina; maybe it's obvious there that the store employee would just pocket the phone (I really don't know). But even if that's the case, there is another problem, for you:
I think your current approach risks getting you in trouble. Think of what it'd look like to a cop who for whatever reason doesn't like you: you took the phone from the venue, that looks an awful lot like stealing it. Now you're trying to break into a device you don't own, sounds like hacking... Will the cop believe you about trying to find the owner, or think that's just a story you're making up?

Thanks for the suggestions. I wouldn't call those ideas "silly", but maybe "naive", yes. I've been to lots of concerts here, and I don't know what the official lost&found procedure is - I wouldn't trust giving someone a cellphone, and I probably wouldn't start by checking there if I lost mine. Regarding police, I don't think they would care, either (to help, nor to "prosecute" me). But thanks for the framing, anyway

@derobert nothing personal, just a lot of text basically about - how should i say - morally admonition? in germany police will laugh at you, they won't give back phone to owner. you created more problems (fear) mgarciaisaia wasn't aware before than help breaking the lockscreen ;)

Although this answer doesn't address the question on a technical note, it does make a useful point with respect to the intent of the asker -- to help the owner find their device -- and suggests directions that can be taken. I think the answer does not  warrant a downvote from a user just because the user's country has no sound rules/regulations with respect to lost & found property. For the record I am not criticizing any country. My own country has shitty R&R with respect to lost and found goods.

Just keep it online and make a note on your door/mailbox how one can reach you. Wait for the day the owner located the GPS position. if one can unlock the phone in front of you he/she qualified as verified owner

reboot was basically bad idea, you can't unlock sim pin now owner can not call his own number anymore

It didn't have phone service already by the time it ran out of battery (I forgot to charge it). So I have a SIM but I can't use it. And the show was in a city ~80kms away, so the owner may live on the next door, or in a different province.

can you connect to wifi? sometimes there exist some weird paths from emergency call screen > keyboard search button > talkback > settings (but i really don't know) you could create a guest wlan in your router where you leave a message as bssid name, and connect to this wifi ;) i know you did already send email so this makes less sense https://i.sstatic.net/FpNuO.png

I can connect to WiFi, but it hasn't helped so far. I can try setting the SSID to something like "Call me at 555-5555", just in case. I don't think they check their Google account, but it's a nice try


text:
How do I get Google Now's Package Tracking to Work?
In Google Search settings -> Google Now, I have "Show cards based on Gmail" checked. "Packages" is on, and the description says "when an order confirmation email is delivered for an online purchase"
Since turning that on, I've used mutt's bounce feature to deliver two Amazon shipping notices to my gmail account. The email notifications showed up on my phone, but (even a day later) I still haven't been able to get the Google Now package tracking card to show.
How do I get it to work?
Here's the message in gmail:

Update
I'm now on Android 4.2, and (after the 4.2 upgrade) received an email from the Google Play store with a tracking number this morning. Still no delivery status card from Google Now. Will check the Amazon soon again, too (once they ship me something).
Nexus 10
I've got a Nexus 10 as well now (also running Android 4.2, stock, not even rooted), and package tracking also doesn't seem to work there, either.

@Vanderberg well, now I know where all my missing Google Now cards are: you have them. Maybe we can arrange a trade... :-/

To use those new feature when informations are being pulled from gmail you are going to need the new gmail app there is a flashable zip on xda-developers but its reporting to break some stuff so your best bet is to wait a week or so to get the Jellybean update from google.

That's not true. I don't have the new version of the Gmail app and package tracking is working just fine for me on my galaxy nexus and nexus 7.

I think I had the new gmail app (at least, there was a new version in Play store recently). And now of course I have it as part of Android 4.2. Still no luck (see question update)


text:
Why does Android drop files I transfer to SDCard while in recovery mode?
Here's my situation:
I have a Sprint Samsung Nexus S 4g.  It is rooted, unlocked, and loaded with CyanogenMod 10.1.
I am attaching it to a Windows 8 machine via USB cable.
Recently, the phone went into a boot loop, and thus I can only do anything with it in recovery mode.
I'm trying to transfer the stock ROM to the phone for loading.  I follow these steps

I boot into Recovery mode
I go to Mounts and Storage
I mount the USB card
In Windows, I open up the phone in explorer, and copy the update.zip file to the root of what is now the G: Drive on my phone.
I  try to load the ZIP file for processing.  Recovery says "Can't open file /sdcard/update.zip"
I reboot into recovery again to 'refresh' things.

At this point, the file that I loaded is gone!  It's not on the SD Card anymore.  I can't find it via Recovery mode, and if I remount the USB disk, it's not visible in Windows either.  Weird, huh?
One other thing to note:  I've wiped and reformatted everything I can via Recovery (Cache, system, data, Dalvik, everything) and yet when the phone occasionally manages to boot all the way to the OS, I can still see my wall paper.
How can I get the files I copy over to actually stay on the phone?  Any ideas on what is going on?
I just want to wipe this phone and start over, but I can't seem to make that happen.
Thanks.
More:
Okay, I formatted and wiped everything that I could.  And now the phone only boots to fastboot mode.  I mount the USB card, move a ZIP over, and double check it in Windows.  I can open the file on the phone.  But when I unmount the USB card (I have no choice), the ZIP is there, but the phone won't read it.  It says "Can't open  (bad)".  This is trying with CM9.1 and I'm 100% sure it is the right version for my phone (crespo4G)

which recovery do you use on your phone?

Wait a second: You wiped system and data, and the phone still boots up? That's impossible if the wipe really worked, as there is no system to boot. The only logical explanation to that is a misbehavior of the controller in your FLASH chip, which does no longer obeys write commands (including wipe). If that's the case, there's nothing you can do; you'll have to turn it in for service, which will either replace the FLASH chip or (cheaper for them) the device. And most likely make you pay for it (if you're living outside the EU), as you voided your warranty :(

When you say stock ROM, it will not work just by dropping it into your SDCard and use the recovery to handle it - you either need the appropriate software for your device or if its compatible with ODIN for flashing. Another aspect, consider this - you say you've wiped and reformatted everything the phone cannot physically boot, unless recovery is "mis-leading you" @Izzy pointed out that it could well be the NAND Flash chip is misbehaving, thus recovery, did not really wipe it. Best to hunt for the original stock firmware that is Odin compatible and use that instead...

@izzy --- yes, that is correct.  I wiped everything, and the phone still boots.

Alok -- I have ClockworkMod Recovery v5.0.2.0

@NickHodges in that case, it really looks like a case for the service center. After having wiped everything (as you wrote) except recovery and boot, you should not be able to boot into "normal mode". There's something terribly wrong. Either on the hardware side, or your CWM is nuts (never heard it was). Maybe you could use fastboot or adb sideload to boot a different recovery (e.g. TWRP), and give it another try? I never tried that, so step-by-step advice I must leave to somebody else.

Try downloading the update.zip again to ensure it's not a bad download.
Try updating your version of ClockworkMod Recovery, i think the latest version for your phone is 6.0.3.1. Get into fastboot mode and ensure you have the drivers installed. You can flash this by downloading the relevant file and running the command
fastboot flash recovery <recoveryfile>
(replace  with the filename of the recovery you downloaded (eg recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.1-crespo4g.img)

If that fails you could try flashing the factory image again. Download the factory image from here and unzip. There should be a flash-all.bat which will restore your phone to stock. Note that this operation deletes all user data by default. (although i guess you've already wiped so nothing left to delete!)

How do I run flash recovery?  adb doesn't ever see the phone.


text:
Where are Messages and other data like Application caches or even Applications saved?
Where are the Datas like Messages or Applications exists, i have looked at many stackexchange's Android questions and found that its in data/ location, but when i tried searching for data/ but find data/ in android/ folder i.e Android/data/**, i did'nt find anything in it like .APKs, and even i tried formatting both internal and external(SD Card) storage, but after opening "Messaging App" it shows every messages, even tried restarting my phone because i thought the messages should be loaded up already in the memory, and the applications still exists in my phone after formatting internal memory and removing external memory card, are they installed on a other disk where the OS is installed, because even 3rd party apps can be seen in the Apps list like Hike and WhatsApp, where are the 3rd party Apps installed other than SD card and Internal memory, i have'nt done anything like rooting, i have Micromax Canvas 2+ A110q (Jelly Bean OS), Can anyone tell where does my device installs those third party Apps.

In short: I have formated my Internal SD Card on my PC through USB cable, and removed the External SD card, and restarted the device, but still Messages and Apps can be seen even 3rd party Apps messages(i.e hike's and WhatsApp's Messages).
Thanks in advance!!

You might wish to see Android Folder Hierarchy, where the locations in storage are explained.

You might wish to see Android Folder Hierarchy, where the locations in storage are explained. Basically, you need to distinguish between different partitions:

System partition (/system): This is were the Android system resides, together with the "pre-installed" applications.
Device internal storage (/data): This is were your 3rd party apps go by default. All your user data (including data from all apps) usually go here as well (/data/data/<package_name> for apps' data)
Internal and external SD cards: They serve as "external storage", mostly for your music collection and documents. Apps might place data here as well, and – depending on device and ROM – you might be able to partially move apps here (e.g. using app2sd).

So it's pretty clear: Even if you formatted all the "external storage" (your SD cards), most apps would remain – as they are installed on either internal storage, or in system space.

And i was searching data\ in my int. and ext. cards, but can i access the system\ and data\ Partitions through my PC? i mean is it possible to get into those partitions even through my phone, but through PC would be better, thanks for your intrest!! it really helps...

Whether on the device or from the PC, that's only possible if the device is rooted – as Ash-Ishh already pointed out. Though you can access the partitions also without, you can't access the directories you're interested in (e.g. /data/data).

Messages are stored in /data/data/(apps package name) folder which you cant access since your device is not rooted.
There are built in options in these app to delete conversations
( e.g in whatsapp go to settings>chat setting>delete all conversation)
You can also delete this data by going to settings>apps>App  which you want to delete data e.g:Whatsapp>clear data
(NOTE: If you will clear data you have to log in agian in app(whatsapp/hike) and dont select restore conversation in whatsapp)

Oh so it means i have to root my device to get the data\ folder??, but i dont want to do such a thing to my phone, but as many developers(No matter of which platform) knows every apps needs to load their datas on startup of the application, so there must be a disk or storage device where the applications and the OS is installed, becase i found that hike and whatsapp applications can still be opened after formating and removing bothe int. and ext. cards, so where is the applications placed in the device??

if not in the inernal SD card and External SD Card??

Its not in Internal or External Sdcard there is seprate space for this in ./data/data directory.
If you want to delete you can also follow other option available in answer.

I dont want to delete any thing but just want to know how to get into it and copy it, im not an Android developer, i will use my PC to get into it, as the SDK i heard provides ADB, which can be used to talk to my device thorugh my computer...

You need Rooted device  to access it without which you can not do it even through adb


text:
How to flash Mts Blaze 5?
I would like to flash my Android Phone because it appears to be corrupted;  whenever I switch on my phone it gets stuck on the MTS logo (splash) screen.
I have recently downloaded a 'flash tool,' but it is not detecting my phone.
Please Help.

Personally I'd send it back if it's new. Can you see it when you plug it into the computer. Ensure you remove Sim/SD card if you've put those in before you reboot it and also plug it in when you do.

its searching for some drivers and after that driver not found.

Have you taken the sim and the SD card out?

yes i taken our both sim+ sd_card

I'd send it back then, assuming you've not modified it since you had it? What did ZTE say, if anything?

ZTE says the there is not software available for this phone

Try http://www.mtsindia.in/blaze5.0/ (I meant MTS not ZTE) drivers there. Did you modify the phone?

but i don't know the procedure of how to re-install new android Operating System in Mobile Phone.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S4 [GT- I9500] - Android 4.2.2
Currently working with Android 4.2.2.
I'm a bit curious if it is worth the upgrade to Android 5.
How can I know the improvements related to 4.2.2, - I'm currently not having any problems with it.
I don't want to mess things up; is the upgrade worth it? Could it include new bugs?
What are the downsides of higher versions than 4.2.2?

I would definitely recommend you upgrade to Android L / 5.0.2.
There a numerous changes relating to performance, new features, and battery life. Android L gives a completely different (better, in my opinion) feel to the phone and fixes many of the bugs from previous versions.
To answer your question about including new bugs; it's inevitable. But if they are addressed, it's highly likely they will be fixed in the future.

Is there any place the summerize new features in each version+ major bugs added?

Take a look here and here for more information of the new features of Android 5.0


text:
Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900F / klte) Date/Time Issue
I've recently upgraded from a Samsung Galaxy S3 (i9300) to a Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900F / klte). The device seemed to be working as desired so I decided to go ahead, root, and install a custom ROM for enhanced functionality and customisation. Root process went smoothly, just running a simple CF-AutoRoot with Odin3 (voids KNOX, but no other problems), then installing PhilZ Advanced CWM Recovery.
From there I decided to install an unofficial build of 4.4.4 CyanogenMod 11. Flashing worked perfectly (and took rather little time!), but upon installation I noticed a strange problem. If I hard reboot (power off, power on) the device, with Wifi & Mobile Data off, the time and date are reset to incorrect values. Usually 01/01/xxxx and the time offset. Same problem occurs even if when I turned off Network-allocated time and and set time manually. I've even tried applications from the Playstore to attempt to sync the hardware clock.
The same problem occurred with other similar CyanogenMod based builds such as [AICP] and [AOSB]. I decided to restore back to the stock ROM and noticed that the clock and date were set correctly on reboot (and also works normally on custom versions of 4.4.2 such as SpeedROMv7).
I checked with the terminal the value of the 'hwclock' (from BusyBox) and it reported an odd date somewhere in 1970, but different to the ones in found on CyanogenMod and other custom roms etc.
Does anyone have any idea what could cause this kind of problem and how to fix such an issue? If anyone wants any additional information about my device, please don't hesitate on commenting in this post. Would be grateful for any feedback. Thanks!
TL;DR - Time/Date resets on hard reboot, (with no internet/data connection). The issue  only seems to occur on Android versions > 4.2.2. As stated in detail above, custom 4.2.2 ROMS are fine. The issue persists in all of the 4.4.4 and 5.0.0 builds i've tried.

Timezone is correct; it's not a timezone related issue.

*Edit: Problem does not occur with > 4.4.2 ROMs on the Galaxy S3; does anyone have any citation that this could be device-chain related? I would be very grateful if somebody with the same device could test this issue and drop me a line. Thanks.
Alfie.

Added information of behaviour on my older device. (Samsung Galaxy S3 i9300).

I conducted serveral months of research and didn't make any considerable progress/findings.
I'd like to report that current-generation 5.0.2 ROMs based on CM-12 appear the have fixed this issue. One can conclude that it was most likely device-chain related.


text:
How to mount an Android sdcardfs formatted microSD card in Linux?
Suppose I take out the microSD card from my Cyanogenmod 13/Android 6 phone, put it in a card reader and want to access it within my Ubuntu desktop. The first partition (16M) mounts automatically, guess its FAT32 but as soon as I want to mount the second partition (64G) it tells me that the filesystem is unknown.
Now I learned that my microSD card is likely to be formatted with sdcardfs, so I wonder how to get access within Ubuntu?

If you had formatted the sdcard as internal storage in marshmallow, then you cannot use that sdcard in any other device since it gets encrypted.

SDCards are not formatted as sdcardfs. sdcardfs is a FUSE-like filesystem to emulate /data/media on /sdcard. Android's supported filesystems must not be "unknown" to Linux distros. If it's so, the partition must be encrypted as @kp91 mentioned.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S3 notification bar style changes
I currently have Android 4.1.2 on my galaxy s3 from Verizon and I am having issues with the notification bar. Seemingly at random it changes how the notification bar works. I had recently updated the gmail app to allow messages to be archived from the notification bar. However later the bar changed back to the old style where it no longer showed snippets of the email in the notification bar and I can no longer take actions for new email. At the same time I noticed new notifications are tacked on to the right side of the list instead of the left side when the new features where working.
Has anyone else experienced this issue or figured out a solution for it?
This is still happening after I upgraded to Android 4.3

Do you have more than one email (or other) notification listed? This seems to compact the notifications, so you don't necessarily get the options, unless you tap one of the notifications to expand it.

Before the change happened I could see the snippet text and actions for the top email notification as long as it was the only new email but now I never see it. If its just one email now I am just seeing the subject without all the extra features.

Randomly just switched back to the newer style of notifications and I am able to see snippets of email and respond/archive them from the notification bar again. Noticed it when all of a sudden new email notifications where appearing on the far right of the notification bar again.

I had the same problem and couldn't find the answer anywhere.  Via the technique, commonly known as 'mucking about with my phone', I found that the new actions can be revealed by swiping down on the notification with two fingers. Likewise they can be hidden again by swiping upwards with two fingers.

I believe you can drag down with just one finger.

The issue I am having isn't that they are hidden but that the notification style for emails and other messages has completely reverted to an older style where the new features are not available.

Do a restart. That fixed mine when I had the same issue

I have restarted my phone multiple times due to battery drain issues and the notification bar is still reverted to an earlier state.


text:
how can I tell if someone has read text message?
Does delivery report mean that the person reads the message on android phone?

Delivery reports mean that the message has been delivered to the recipient, not that it has been read.

thank you for the answers, then what is the difference between delivery report and if the message was sent?

Why is this tagged "text-prediction"?

No, delivery reports generally just tell you that the message has been delivered and is sitting on their phone. It does not necessarily tell you that they've been read. There isn't a way to tell if its been read as far as I know.

In fact, there is nothing to prevent anyone from just deleting whole text message threads without reading them. If the sender asked for a confirmation, it is that it was delivered, only.

Thats ....what i said.

Right, but I was going for something along the line of "No one cares if you don't read your messages - but your carrier will certainly ding you for delivering it anyway, if your contract allows, including a fee for the receipt."

Point noted. The bit about the carrier potentially charging you is important.

There is a functionality for MMS messages that will give you a read report (distinct from delivery report, so you can get both a delivery report and a read report), but AFAIK, carrier and software support for this functionality is limited.

Numerous Messenger apps provide the possibility to see if a person has read your message.
For text messages though, it is not possible to get a read status as it is not part of the SMS protocol.


text:
remapping volume up to power button on nexus 5
my power button is half broken. I have rooted my phone and installed xposed framework and xposed additions. I have successfully remapped my volume-up so that when the phone is on I can switch it off or unlock it with volume-up. But I don't manage to switch on my phone. Can anyone point out the correct configuration of xposed that allows this? or suggest an alternative route?


text:
My yu Yureka is bricked now I tried installing nougat with cm-14 but there is a error being displayed while installing cm 14 (comparing tz version)?
error 7 looks like the both the firmware's are not compatible(googled). now the only solution available online was to flash with twrp recovery which needed the phone to start which is not possible for me.
P.S  currently i have installed  CWM recovery
i  have attached a picture or the error.
so is there any other easier solution to this problem?
can you please also mention the steps?
thanks

Ain't this obvious already? New ROMs require new base components. You need to update your stock firmware first, so that TZ can be updated as well.

no for me it isn't that's why i came here.
so what you are saying is i can't go from cm 11 to cm 14 i need to install 12 or 13 to get to cm 14?

Not even 12 or 13, you need to flash a newer stock firmware first as a base for anything new. That's not something you can just skip.

thanks for the reply. but i am still confused.
my phone came with  cm11 and 4.4.4 kitkat 32bit. as i have understood u are saying i have to reinstall this base kit(as these files got corrupted during brick) before i do anything else.
P.S u have to understand i am not a techie. so please mention clearly as it would make things more clear for me

Well I don't own this phone myself so I can't get it down to the details, but I meant you to install the latest factory firmware available. For Yureka, that's Cyanogen OS 12.1, not CM11.

thanks now i understand i was directly jumping to the last step.
last question,
now the thing is my phone is bricked means i can't start it(it was on kitkat cm 11 at that time), if it was working i would have installed the latest factory firmware as you said. so now to unbrick it i have to install cm 11 with kitkat 4.4.4 32 bit, then i would have to install Cyanogen OS 12.0(because 32bit to 64bit jump) only after that can i install Cyanogen OS 12.1, or can i directly install  Cyanogen OS 12.1 in order to unbrick it.
i read many articles online about everything so not everything is clear.

The link I gave you offers fastboot packages. With proper driver installed you should be able to flash it directly via fastboot, but it does require a PC.

I'm moving this to an answer for future reference.

The error

Comparing TZ version TZ.BF.3.0.R2-00034 to TZ.BF.2.5.2-00005
assert failed: cm.verify_trustzone("TZ.BF.3.0.R2-00034") == "1"

is quite obvious: it means this ROM requires a new version of TrustZone. You will not be able to install anything sufficiently new until you update that.
Such base components can be upgraded via flashing a factory firmware. For Yureka, the latest Cyngn offers is Cyanogen OS 12.1. Flash it via fastboot using the guide offered on YU's forum. After that, flash a custom recovery again, then finally load the custom ROM you wanted.
Additionally, I have downloaded the package and verified that it does have the TZ component inside:

... and the version is right:

thanks a lot,
i was able to somehow start my phone last night by flashing it with cm11 as it was bricked, yes i could have just flashed it with cm12.1 which i understand now due to ur answer. currently i am downloading the cm12.1 and will flash my phone with it. Forgive me my knowledge about all this stuff is just 24 hrs old(i started yesterday morning). There are so many fake videos out there saying it could be done directly from cm11 which were the cause of my confusion.
thanks again for clearing all that.


text:
How to use google assistant on an emulator?
Is it possible to use Google assistant on an emulator?

Which emulator are you using?

I want to use google assistance but I don't have an android phone, Any emulator will be fine as long as it runs google assistance

@Maysara For only trying google assistant try this guide

@xavier_fakerat I am using Linux so it will not work for me