text:
Why wiping "Data" in recovery doesn't wipes my Media in Internal SD card?
My phone doesn't support removable SD card.

When I open Titanium Backup app on my rooted Oneplus One (CM12), I see (at the bottom) in the Overview few specs including System ROM usage and Internal+Media which says 58.9GB (10.7 GB free).
In ES File Explorer I see similar free space.
In DiskInfo, I see under Data:

Used: 45.8 GB,
Free: 10 GB,
Mount point: /data,
Filesystem: ext4,
Partition name: userdata,
Partition nickname: Data, among other things

Diskusage went further and showed under Storage card:

Media: 42966 MiB
Apps: 3001 MiB
Free space: 10262 MiB

Settings -> Storage says that total space is 54.92GB and Available is 10.02GB.

All of the above info makes me conclude that my apps and app data, and other personal files are all stored in one single partition named Data at /data.
But mount says that:
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata /data ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,nodiratime,noauto_da_alloc,errors=panic,data=ordered 0 0

/dev/fuse /mnt/shell/emulated fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,nodiratime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0

I also saw this emulated term under /storage and it seems related.
Question: I mentioned all of the said info because I don't understand, if my Media (personal files) is under /data then why Recovery doesn't wipes it as default unless I explicitly choose /data/media to do so. In case of fastboot, I can delete all apps+media using fastboot erase userdata, but why Recovery and Android treats it as different?
More so, how does Recovery even wipes it then?
Also, what was /dev/fuse in mount's output and if they all are one single partition then why I cannot go up level beyond what is shown as home directory or Internal SD card or 0.

Well this sdcard thingy is kind of tricky for the OPO. For me it seems like the device does not have an sdcard at all(not even an internal). Which would mean that the free space you see is actually an emulated internal sdcard taken from your device flash memory.
For emulating an sdcard a FUSE daemon is used where also your /dev/fuse device comes into play. This is probably the raw presentation of your flash memory made accessable via your kernel. Which is then mounted to /mnt/shell/emulated.
Additional Info about FUSE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_in_Userspace#Virtual_file_system.
To back my assumptions about the emulated internal storage see the storage configuration file for the OPO:
https://github.com/evolve-bacon/android_device_oneplus_bacon/blob/lollipop-5.1/overlay/frameworks/base/core/res/res/xml/storage_list.xml
Now to your question why your /data/media directory is not wiped while doing a factory reset:
This is just a nice feature when there is no physical external sdcard(or even internal) present. So that you don't loose your important userdata like downloads pictures etc with a data wipe.
What Cyanogenmod did here was declaring an external sdcard on your emulated internal sdcard which resides in /data/media.
For full understanding see: https://github.com/TheOldUnas/Bacon-Lollipop-Boot/blob/master/boot/ramdisk/init.bacon.rc
Especially the declaration of: export EXTERNAL_STORAGE /storage/emulated/legacy and the FUSE daemon for /data/media: service sdcard /system/bin/sdcard -u 1023 -g 1023 -l /data/media /mnt/shell/emulated
For final understanding compare on youe device the output between ls -l /data/media/0  and ls -l /storage/emulated/legacy and finally ls -l /sdcard. It is all the same as it is your from emulation, emulated external sdcard :D
For your comparsion between fastboot erase and data wipe through android/recovery. Fastboot is part of the bootloader and does not know about all this emulation mess so it will completely wipe data.

It means that the app data and the media all belongs to one partition named userdata and perhaps that's why fastboot erase ends up deleting all of that said data. Isn't it?

yes you got it exactly right.

is there anything not clear to you according your questions? If yes please ask so i can clarify it. If not please accept this answer as I put quite much effort in explaining everything as detailed as possible.

+1 for covering all the points and I'll accept it after one clarification. How does a custom Recovery clears Data when I tap "Clear Data" and how does the Recovery not ends up deleting "/data/media" unless explicitly stated?

this is highly dependant on the implementation of the recovery. some really basic recoveries do not handle emulation(probably they have no fuse daemon inbuilt) so they just fully wipe the whole partition. some are recognizing the EXTERNAL_STORAGE declaration and have a different wiping implementation for such cases.

still something not clear?

Answer to your question "More so, how does Recovery even wipes it then?"
/data/media is just a link
Wiping /data is for if you install a new rom etc and if you would also wipe /data/media, there might be rom install zip-s, so it's either because of link or security

How to wipe a folder ? I know how to wipe device only

Go to a folder and delete it


text:
Is there a way to bookmark all tabs in Chrome?
Is there a way to bookmark all tabs in Chrome for Android? (i.e. right click and Ctrl functions are not available)
If it helps, I'm using Android tablet.

This is not a direct answer, is an idea. I mean, just like Chrome reads a file with all open tabs list, for syncing or so, it must be possible to make a script or a little program, like a micro app, that reads and copies those URLs.

There is a chromium issue going on for years requesting a "bookmark all" feature for Android; it has been closed at least once (that I know of) but has been re-opened because of demand - please consider endorsing it.

I came across this question while looking for a way to do this as well, and it appears that Chrome for Android does not currently have this option.
The following proved useful to me as a workaround:

Open Chrome on your desktop (logged into the same account as on your
tablet).
In a new window, either hit (Ctrl + H) or go to 'Settings > History &
recent tabs > History'.
From there, it should show your History/Tabs sorted by device.
Next to the name of your tablet, there should be a small box with a
arrow pointing down. Clicking on this will give you the options to
either 'Collapse List' or 'Open All'.
Select 'Open All', and all of your tabs from your tablet should open.
Now you can either hit (Ctrl+Shift+D), or right-click on one of the
tabs and select 'Bookmark all tabs...'.
Select a folder for your bookmarks, and you should be set.

Granted, a bit more leg-work than simply hitting a button, but it is the only real option I've found for when you have 100+ tabs on your tablet that need bookmarking.

This sync to desktop is not very reliable actually. I have around 100 tabs open on Chrome in Android, and on the desktop it's only showing me around half of them. Now that I bookmarked these, it's not showing me any tabs on the desktop anymore (or only 1-2), even though I still have >50 open on my mobile. This was a few weeks ago, so waiting, phone reboot, etc., all doesn't fix it.

This method doesn't show the opened tabs, it shows the history... It's not the same thing

Maybe some day Google Chrome for Android will support extensions, for now Yandex Browser for Android support Extensions from Opera.
Yandex Browser and Opera both based on Blink web engine, same as Google Chrome.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to use PC mic to trigger android google
I have setup many tasker profiles and tasks etc. with AutoVoice to trigger with Google Now. I have recently acquired a wireless headset and I feel it would be more pratical if I could use the mic in the headset rather than my phone's microphone. Is there any way I could achieve this?
Thanks in advance.

Are you trying to use your PC's mic or your wireless headset to trigger Google Now?

If the headset is connected to the computer only, then this can't be done solely via Tasker. You could have a computer program that listens on the headset and sends some type of trigger (SMS, PushBullet, etc.) or an entire command to your phone. Tasker could then detect this trigger and open voice command (though it would be listening via the phone mic) or, if the program sent the entire command, Tasker could then be used to process this command.

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


text:
Cannot individually delete phone number from contact list
I have one or two contacts on the People app's list with two or more duplicated phone numbers.
How do I delete them individually, without deleting the whole contact ?
I don't see this option on the edit button on the top right corner
Screenshot:
http://1drv.ms/1RkfK8K
Android 4.4.4

Click on the menu button at the top, then edit. When it lets you edit the numbers, click on the number you want to remove. Then you should see a minus sign on the right, click on that. It should remove that number. Then save. Hope this helps.
Edit. Here is a screenshot of how it looks on my phone:

Screenshot (click to enlarge)

Yes ! It works. I don't believe I didn't see this button ! Thanks. Problem solved.

Glad it worked for ya. =)

It didn't work for me, it was so annoying that such basic thing will not work. I had to delete the contact and recreate with only one phone number.

Won't work for me either on the contact screen there are 2 numbers the right one and the wrong one, I hit edit and it only shows the right one on that screen to correct!

authors: محمد الفاروق


text:
Facebook app cannot play videos
No videos work on my Facebook App. It says:

Cannot play video. Sorry but an unknown error occured while trying to play this video

Please add more information like your phone model number, Android OS version and how you are connected to the internet (3G / WiFi)?

Try reinstalling the facebook app and check whether it works..


text:
Folder seen as file when connected as MTP
I have Redmi 1S phone running Andriod 4.3 (MIUI v56).  When connected to a PC (Windows 7 32Bit) in MTP mode, one of the folders named Backup (present in internal memory) is seen as a file and effectively inaccessible.
When connected through FTP, that folder is seen and accessible through an FTP client (can be downloaded as well to PC). Folder is accessible from within the File Manager app on phone as well.
I am clueless what is selectively causing this single folder being seen as a file when the device is connected in MTP mode! Any support to solve this would be great. Thanks.

Because of the different way files and folders are handled on Windows when compared to other operating systems, it could be that the folder is corrupted and Windows is seeing it as a file (which it really is in the Android filesystem).  It may be possible to fix this problem by:

Creating a new folder,
Moving the contents of Backup into the new folder,
Removing Backup, and finally
Renaming the new folder to Backup

However, depending on what the underlying problem truly is, this may not fix it.

Thanks for your suggestions Preston159. As a workaround I could access (it as a folder) and download the contents thru FTP. However when as MTP this particular folder is seen as a file of 4KB size. This folder is created by OS and it stores the backup as bunch of files therein.  I will follow the steps you suggested and check if it helps and update you.

'it could be that the folder is corrupted and Windows is seeing it as a file' -- would you please back this claim with a credible source? I would like to know the reason, or at least folks with similar problem.

The trick move-copy-rename as suggested by Preston159 worked indeed!  Now the folder is accessible in windows explorer and data remained  intact. This could have been indexing issue as suggested by ballzak. At the moment I don't have ADT so could not run the adb shell command as such.    Thank you all.

This is most likely cause by the path being incorrectly indexed as a file in the MediaStore. Only files scanned and added to the MediaStore shows up in Windows when the device is mounted in MTP mode. Try rescanning the path, to update the MediaStore with the correct path information.
If you have the ADT installed, use ADB:
adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_MOUNTED -d file:///mnt/sdcard/Backup

It is still relevant in 2021 since I just encoutered the problem.
Simple solution: rebuild media cache.
Go to Applications, tap the three points in the upper right corner. Choose show processes. Find Media Storage. Clear cache and data. Reboot.
So it seems Windows is the culprit?

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


text:
Is there a way to auto-reply to blocked SMS messages?
I wish to block numbers from text messaging me, but with an auto-reply. I tried every single suggestion here and other places and for one reason or another, they would not do this for me. The built in spam filter, or call reject, won't reply to text messages that are being blocked in it's spam list. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Avant.

I tried to answer other question on here but did not know any answers

See if the description of Auto SMS Lite fits your goal. I think it's also doable using Tasker but that's just a theory.


text:
Android Music Player - Does the default "Music Player" program store the timestamp of when a song was last played?
I have a question about the recently played items in the Android (specifically v4.2.2) media library.
Does the default "Music Player" program store the timestamp of when a song was last played? Or does it simply increment a play counter or even just append the song's index to a table? Any explanatory information about the two dynamic playlists: "recently played" and "most played" will be most appreciated.
For background: I am trying to determine the last time an MP3 was played on an Android phone (Samsung Beam2 Android v4.2.2) and any help is very much appreciated. I have rooted the phone and pulled what I think are the media SQL lite databases from here:
/data/data/com.android.providers.media/databases/internal.db
/data/data/com.android.providers.media/databases/external.db

Browsing these with an SQL Lite browser I can see all the MP3 files and the "files" table holds columns for "recently_played" and "most_played". However, these columns are empty, so I may have pulled the wrong database. If I found the correct database, what kind of values can I expect to find here? Flags? Indices? Or timestamps?
Any help is very much appreciated, I am an experienced developer but have little experience with Android.
Thank you.

I have been looking extensively online, and found this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8314288/playcount-for-media-files

authors: ตัว เด็กดื้อ


text:
Media Player shows deleted songs
I had some songs in my phone and then I deleted all the songs and I factory reset my phone but still all media players shows the songs but it can't play only the name and pictures is shown. How do I delete it?

@jatin it worked

Glad it helped :)


text:
defining functions in TWRP
In "normal" android you start up a Terminal emulator or do "adb shell" and then from there you can defining a function by:
function name
{
 #code
}
name #runs "name"

But by using adb shell over TWRP it says the command "function" cannot be found. the command "whereis function" and "which function" provides no outputs and leaves me baffled. Any idea how to define function in TWRP, preferably over adb shell

TWRP does not feature a complete bash. It comes with a very minimalistic shell, but you are able to call a bash shell through TWRP AFAIK.

When in recovery mount your /system using
adb shell mount /system
though twrp can be twitchy otherwise use in-twrp mount function to mount system and you should have full room to do what you need.
In recovery you have a functioning kernel, so after mounting your system you should have every thing at your disposal
adb shell mount /system
adb shell
~ # mount | grep system
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system on /system type ext4 (rw,seclabel,relatime,data=ordered)
~ # export PATH=/system/bin:/system/xbin:$PATH
~ # which busybox
/system/xbin/busybox
~ # which sh
/system/bin/sh


text:
Block SMS without number
In India, we often receive SMSs which do not actually have a number, but instead, have a name like 'VK-AMSWAN'. SMS blockers like Truecaller don't have any facility to recognise such senders and keep asking for a number to block.
When using third-party SMS apps like Chomp SMS, there is an option to show the contact number below the contact name. Guess what it shows for the spam?

VK-AMSWAN (name)
VKAMSWAN (where the number shows up for other contacts)

How do I block such senders? I cannot blanket block all unknown SMSs because even banking information comes from such named senders.
It seems SMS blocking isn't as well developed as call blocking is. Truecaller actually rejects spam calls without you ever knowing about them. No SMS blocker I've seen has this facility so far. All they do is receive the messages and hide them. If someone can locate a method to fully block spam SMS, please do tell. :)

Use DND(Do-Not-Disurb) services of your service provider instead. It will block unwnated sms messages.

I think there is no other way. Try activating DND (Do Not Disturb) from your mobile carrier

Already using it. Problem is, the national DND registry can only block those services which are already registered. What about those that aren't?

did u try clicking the call button ? I do notice they having a seven digit number

Don't see the call button anywhere. Even if it was, how would you call a number that isn't really a number?

Good companies respects the DND policy, but this is not for the bad guys. They still call an user with DND activated.

Since you told DND doesn't block these kinds of messages, you can use Textra SMS from the Play Store, select the message that you received, and select the "Blacklist" message option to stop receiving the SMS.
If you still want those messages to be received but not to get a notification, you can select the "Crossed Bell" icon at the top to not notify on receiving the message so that it is stored in your inbox for future use but will not be notified to you.
Using Textra, I found another feature to find out the number of those LM-*, TM-*, and VK-* series kind of SMS messages. Open Textra and swipe the message to the left to reveal the call feature. Double-tap the call button and it calls the number. So, now you've got the number, and this way you can block those numbers from receiving those text messages. I tried that and showed the numbers to me for every message in my inbox with XX-* SMS messages. ;)

I was looking for a more generic solution present in Android itself, but that seems to be the only way now. Sigh. MANI's answer says Truemessenger can use keywords to block, so I think that must be the most general solution available for now. Android should provide blocking features in the OS itself.

@Andy356 I see. Check my updated answer too. It might be helpful to reveal those unknown senders number incase for blocking. ;)

Did you know that in SMS spec the actual phone number is not mandatory and it is only informative, one could actually send SMS without any numbers revealed to receiver. Even while gateway only requires receiver number it is not required to forward it. And when it comes to sender gateway wont do anything with that. How do I know? As I've developed sw interfaces for those services...

Tried the 'calling through Textra' option. What it does is just convert the letters to numbers through some unknown operation. Checked it thoroughly. The number of digits are always equal to the number of letters.The numbers never exist. So tough luck for me. :(

@SampoSarrala That is the problem here. A lot (A HUGE MANY) services in India use this ability to send spam SMS to people, without them ever being able to contact back, or block, because blocking requires a number.

If you're using the Hangouts app, open the conversation that the sender has sent. Once in it, select the Menu button (3 vertical dots in the top right) and select "People & options". On this screen, you should see the option to "Block VK-AMSWAN" (or whatever the sender's name is).
This article has a more detailed description of these steps with screenshots.

Yes, using Hangouts. Already tried that, but it only mutes notifications from that sender. :( Similar to the Crossed Bell feature in Textra that Lucky's answer is talking about.

Fast forward to 2022, Google Hangouts is not available anymore and has been replaced with Google Chat and Google Meet, which AFAIK doesn't support SMS anymore. On the other hand, there's also Google Message which is mentioned in Flimm's answer.

You can block SMS messages from a specific sender like this using stock Android on a Google Pixel or similar phone, using the app Messages by Google. For example, if you receive a message from "VK-AMSWAN" (with no phone number), you can block all further SMS messages from "VK-AMSWAN". There isn't a way to block messages from all senders without a phone number all at once, though.
Other phone manufacturers have their own SMS app, and they might not provide this functionality.

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

authors: Кирилл Феленко


text:
My screen lock is set to "PIN", and I can't change it to "Swipe". Why not?
I have tried to do the fix as suggested on here however my swipe option states it was disabled by administrator or something like that. Not sure how I even set a PIN in the first place. How do I change this?

Check if you have added VPN connections.
Usually VPN connection requires minimum Pattern/PIN/Password active, and while you have VPN connection created you can't disable it.
To check does you have it, and to delete it go to Settings -> More under Wireless & Networks-> VPN. Keep in mind, this can be different on other Android version, you can search Google for your device.
If there is present connection, after removing them you should be able to change Lock screen settings.

Go to settings-security and clear credentials.


text:
Avoid Security for Outlook app in Android for lock screen
I had a concern recently regarding my lock screen privileges.
I recently installed Microsoft Outlook App for Android and with the installation they asked me to encrypt my phone with either pin, pattern or password which was compulsory and without that the outlook can not be started in the phone. After creating a pattern and logging in my credentials, I went to the lock screen menu from settings and what I find out is that I cannot go back to the normal "NONE" option for my screen lock facility.
I have a dead-end showing as:

Disabled by Administrator, encryption policy, or credential storage.

I am really not a fan of cell phone security and am happy to keep it simple as it looks. Does anyone have a solution for this issue without uninstalling the application?

Why not choose a relatively simple (and relatively weak) password or PIN, such as "987654321"?

Possible duplicate of How can I override the Device Administrator security policy so that I can disable the lock screen?

Depending on your device and version of android you are running. You can goto Settings > Security > Device Administrators. Then uncheck the box for Microsoft Outlook App. That should allow you to go back to "none" for unlocking. Not sure how it would affect the app.

You will NOT be able to use the app any more!!


text:
Android bind obb error?
So, I am on Android 4.2.2
I have the obb file in /storage/extSdCard/obb/ending directory
And want it binded in /sdcard/Android/obb/starting directory
So, I run in my busybox
#!/system/bin/sh
mount -o bind /storage/extSdCard/obb/ending/ /sdcard/Android/obb/starting/

But, I do not know why, when I run
ls /sdcard/Android/obb/starting

I get no output. Why? Any ideas?
Many thanks in advance! :)
EDIT: My external sd is fat32. Tried it on my second partition which is ext2 but still no luck

Please hover on your [android] tag for important information.

@fixer1234 I am on mobile and it gets my on an Android feed


text:
Android 5.0.2 x86 on laptop problem
I would like to get info about an issue..I installed lollipop on my laptop (through unetbootin) and everything 's fine except one thing..videos on YouTube app do not play..they keep loading and loading..and if I set a lower quality,all I get is that screen..!!

Can anyone help on that issue??

Can you please send a link to this android iso?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4VR-WNTOX0qVnkyWExEZHdLTms/view


text:
Some APKs are autoupdated from Play Store while some are not
A have option on my Play Store account - always auto update apps. Thus I see that some installed apps require update. Mainly Google apps are autoupdated in first term, but I see that even some of them are hung in the "need to be updated" list for some time. But still not Google apps reside in this list for much longer time. How much time will it take to update the apk on my device after a new version is published in the Play Store?

Some apps wont update automatically because the permissions they require (camera, storage, etc.) changed.
Thats why you have to manually update them, so that you can accept oder decline the new app permissions.

authors: Антон Ищенко


text:
I can't configure my tablet's USB-to-ethernet IP setting manually
I have Lenovo A7-30 A3300 (A3300-GV) tablet on Android 4.4.2 which has USB ethernet support. My device is rooted but no application before root or after rooted work. I use a micro USB-to-ethernet adapter and it works fine with my router.
Where my internet is provided by local cable operator ISP Siti broadband or Alliance, IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, DNS must be set to PC ethernet IPv4 property or in a router. But when I directly connect it to my tab via USB ethernet, I can't configure it manually and the internet not working.

How to make Ethernet work on Android over OTG?

To display Ethernet settings in Android parameters you can edit build.prop file and search for "ethernet" word. On my Haier E701 Tablet, I've found the line:
ro.rk.ethernet_enable=false

I've replaced the "false" value by "true" and Ethernet settings are displayed.


text:
How to record a game music in Android?
I failed to find the background soundtracks for some Android games, so I thought I could just record their music when the game is active but I don't seem to have any solution to do so.
I first thought of using some Android apps but all I see in Play Store and forums are links to apps recording voice of the user or the external environment (using mic) while I'm interested in audio I hear from speaker or earphones.
I also came to know of screen recorders but my default screen recorder records sound using mic and using screen recorder is an overkill since it tends to use a lot of CPU which is needed for the game. But I'm open for any suggestion.
Then I thought to find a file or something under Android which may be redirecting output to earphones or speaker or may be grab that final end and save it using ADB, but I seem to have no idea how to do that.
I would like to draw attention specifically to the said ADB part i.e. anything related to Android that could solve the problem since the other parts or even the title might be considered off-topic for being Android Independent.
So, how exactly do I record my favorite game's music?
Note that the question can be extended to any app, be it a media streaming or lecture app, or anything that plays sound and user wants to record it.
I'm using OnePlus One running CM12 and is rooted.

If you have a computer and Bluestacks then it will be easy to record the sounds since recording sounds in a computer is much easier than in mobile. I'll keep posted if I find anything mobile specific too ;)

Arch, if you could be more specific on what game/app sound you are trying to record you'll get more response.

@Lucky Valiant Hearts: The Great War, The Bard's Tale.

Both the games would have downloaded extra game data. Look for where the game data is downloaded. Most probably it will be in you Internal memory-> Android -> data directory. Look for mp3/wav files inside the corresponding packages of the games. Use FXexplorer app and search for sound file. It will be under some directory like assest or sounds directory etc.

@Lucky I already tried such things before posting this question. The pure extensions are not used be Games anymore, instead, developers uses their in-house proprietary extensions. But thanks for the info. :-)

Possibly related, but the existing answer seems not correct: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/20230/is-there-a-way-to-record-internal-audio


text:
Do OTA updates accumulate if you let them be? Or are they strictly incremental?
I'm on a Nexus 5 running 5.0. I used to get a system update notification for 5.0.1, but since I have Xposed, I decided to wait. After a while, I started getting an OTA notification for 5.1. What will happen if I choose to update? Will it automatically first install 5.0.1 and then 5.1? Or do I need to search online for an OTA zip for 5.0.1, install that and then proceed with 5.1?

I never encounter this "problem" (well, I'm rooted and always flash the full image file when it's available), but I somewhat believe you don't need to search for previous OTA for reasons: it's not user-friendly at all and very troublesome for casual users, when Google is trying their best to make it available for all. I don't have any references at the moment though.

The OTA zip size for 5.0 to 5.0.1 is 13.27MB. 5.0.1 to 5.1 is 220.68MB. But 5.0 to 5.1 is 220.81MB. o.O So what should I understand? It's clearly not A + B = C.


text:
Using Android phones with two antennas to programmatically transmit wifi and bluetooth at the same time
I'm trying to see if there are any phones that have separate wifi and bluetooth antennas. I know that certain phones such as the galaxy S5 have two antennas for use in MIMO (2x2MIMO), which helps them get better wifi performance. However, is it possible to use one internal antenna for bluetooth and another internal antenna for wifi? I'm wondering whether the manufacturer might have restricted it to one function only / maybe if I can get around this via root.
Also, sorry if this is the incorrect place to post this. Just let me know where I should move it and i will do so.
Thanks!

I guess this will depend whether Wifi and BT share an antenna at all in the device. If they do and it is MIMO I doubt you can use one of the MIMO antennas for Wifi and the other for BT.


text:
Moving apps to SD Card to free up space
I recently bought an Alcatel OneTouch phone and put in a 64gb sd card, but now I have insufficient storage?? How do I get my apps to the SD CARD (there is no "Move to SD Card" option) and free up some space?
I already went to Settings -> Storage -> Default Write Disk -> SD Card but that doesn't seem to do much of anything.
Why would someone create an android phone which an SD Card did nothing?
I understand I can move pictures to it, but the apps take the most amount of space.
Thanks.
I have Android 4.4.2

How to free Internal Storage by moving data or using symlink / bind-mount with Adoptable Storage?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.a0soft.gphone.app2sd
Download it...Enjoy moving apps to SD cards.
Note: moving apps to SD will not FULLY move the file - It simply allocates the majority of the file size to the SD card and leaves behind a trace amount (not entirely sure why) - so even if you move EVERYTHING to the SD card, you will notice that your phone memory is still lower than it would be if you have no apps..but still leaving much more than if the apps were on your phone memory :)
edit
For clarity...I have no association with that app or its developer(s), it's just simply the app I selected to use many moons ago and often recommend it, there may be better or sleeker options, but I am far too lazy to look when this one does the job just fine! :D

Does it do anything extra that Android does not offer? Their FAQ states: "Moving app to SD is handled by Android. App 2 SD app only provides an UI for you to manage it."

That wording is quite vague...What that is basically saying is, that although Android does actually complete the task, App2SD actually gives you a GUI to be able to access that function.  On my phone (HTC Desire HD) I have no menu options to be able to do this without the use of an app like this :)

I actually tried this app and it says push the "Move to SD Card" button but that button does not exist, so sadly this app does not help. Thanks though.

No idea then.  It has worked for me without fail on both the HTC Desire HD and a Samsung Galaxy Europa.  Maybe you missed something, or maybe the phone simply doesn't allow it.


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Add to home screen not working
I am trying to add a bookmark to my home screen on my android device, but it is not working.
I tried both Firefox 38.0 and Android Browser which both have this option and none of them was able to create the shortcut. I also tried various websites to confirm that it is not a website problem, still nothing.
Is there something wrong with my phone, what do I have to do to get this working?

How are you adding these bookmarks?

@zain.ali depending on the browser, for firefox you can add a bookmark then long-tap it and tap add to homescreen or another way is from the menu page > add to homescreen

Try doing it this way  http://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/adding-one-touch-bookmarks-to-your-androids-home-screen/

@zain.ali well all devices also have a bookmark shortcut in their menu but I want to know why the browser functionality is not working and if I can fix it.

Which Android device, version, and launcher are you using? That feature is working absolutely fine in my Android 4.4.2 and 5.0.2.

I have found that this feature will not work when 'Easy Mode' is turned on..

Same proble here on my ASUS Memopad. Can add shortcuts to the homepage from Chrome but when you click on the link, Chrome re-opens but it doesn't open the website


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Tapping Back button for closing Chrome always redirects to the same website
Every time I want to close chrome with the back button I am redirected to same website. I want to get rid of this website but i cannot.
I cleared the browser history but the website keeps reappearing everytime I go back with backbutton before chrome is closed.
I have googled but could not find any solution to the problem. I ran multiple anti malware tools but none of them fixed it.
It is a particular website namely http://jamesclear.com/confirmed?__s=1bueuwtvop3g6ssfsutv which then redirects to jamesclear.com.
Can anyone help me out?

Hover the android tab for important information

What do you mean by same website? Is the term 'same' in context of any website that you open, and when you tap back button you get redirected to that same website, or is it a particular website which is the cause of trouble?

It is a particular website namely http://jamesclear.com/confirmed?__s=1bueuwtvop3g6ssfsutv which then redirects to jamesclear.com.


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copying all files from android to microSD

Phone = moto g
OS = Android 4.4.4

I was going to back up all files on phone to microSD card using EZ file explorer. However, I have been reading that latest 4.4 will not allow this due to new security.

Is it possible to copy all files from phone internal to external micro SD?
Will this capture People, Chats, Photos, etc and be restore-able?

Hover the android tag for important info

if you have rooted your device, of course it is possible. application data lies in /data, also backup your /storage/emulated/0 I think
if you have rooted the device, then you could also boot up a custom recovery like twrp and do a nandroid backup, afterwards move it to the external sdcard
if you don't have rooted the device you only backup your internal sdcard. this also means that you may loose very much
if you don't have rooted the device, there is also the possibility of using adb backup from a pc.


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Android browsers blocking Youtube preroll ads natively
I was wondering if anyone else noticed that Youtube preroll ads are automatically blocked when browsing on Android Chrome or Android Firefox. This is without any adblocking features enabled (no Adblock Plus installed, no Adblock installed in Firefox, no Firefox tracking protection enabled, etc.). I'm not complaining by any means, because I do everything I can to block ads, but I was wondering if anyone knew why this happens (I'm curious from a technical/networking standpoint).

I guess you can't simply add ads to a <video> tag for mobile users; media players will try to play a file as they can't handle chunked streams (as in YouTube's HTML5 player).

Can you clarify and explain a little more?  I don't understand.

Imagine you want to display ads, but the media player (stock one, no special features) only supports playing plain video files. Now you have no chance to add any (skippable) pre-rolls, mid-rolls or small banners. It's literally impossible to rerender a video for every user to fit ads for that single view. Thus YouTube simply doesn't implement a way to gain minimal revenue from a small amount of views (most of the views come from TVs/Smartphone apps that feature usual ads).

So when a video is played in Chrome Android or Firefox Android, you're saying it's actually using a media player?  Because the videos I'm talking about are being played within the browser.  But maybe they're using a media player.  Is that what you're saying?

Yes, they are using an inline media player. And that one is not able to display pre-/mid-rolls or banners.


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Disable Notification Vibration for Specific Apps
I would like to change a setting for my Android (v5.1.1) to make my YouTube app show notifications (on the Lock Screen and Status Bar as it currently does), but without vibration and sound.  That is, I want to override the default notification volume/vibrate settings.
Looking at other Android StackExchange questions such as this one, it appears that this might be a feature I would need to rely on the developers of the app to implement.  Assuming this is not the case, is there is any setting that would allow app notifications while disabling the volume/vibrate only for that app?

Via https://www.xda-developers.com/stop-vibrations-android-apps/ :
Vibration can be disabled per-app with an adb command:
adb shell
cmd appops set [package] VIBRATE ignore

The [package] is usually something like "com.somecompany.someappname". There are a various programs that will let you see the name of apps (the page there suggests one), but
adb shell 'pm list packages -f'

should do it as well.
More detailed info about installing and using adb is listed at the top link or in other answers on SE.

Seriously, this is the only way?

@0xC0000022L: If there is another way, I don't know of it. I agree that it seems excessive for this to be necessary; the ability could easily have been made revokable via GUI in Android's per-app "App info" settings, just as various app permissions can be slid to "off" and "Manage app notifications>Block all" can be set to "On", but it is what it is.


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Connecting Android device to a basic TV
How can I connect my Android KitKat to a basic TV (not smart TV) with the cable of CD player or other? Any trick or tips?

Do you mean connect it to the tv, to play video? Or just connect the audio part?

Could you explain more clearly what do you want to achieve? With "the cable of CD player", you're giving a hint of using TV for audio output, but is that what you really want to do?

Depending on the Android device you are using, this will connect to an old TV:
RCA Compact RF Modulator
What are you using for the video out on the Android device?


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What is the difference between Tesla, Tipsy and Validus builds?
I want to flash Validus ROM on my OnePlus One. I looked up at the website of Validus ROM and they have not mentioned the difference between those three builds. When I checked some XDA threads I found that at least Tipsy and Validus builds  seem to have Status: Stable.
So what is the idea behind the naming scheme? They don't seem to be like nightly, milestone and stable which CM follows.
I want to download and flash a build but I'm confused which one to download.

The difference is in the project they are based on (i.e., their parent ROM).
Validus is based on CyanogenMod, Tesla is based on Slim(Kat/LP), Tipsy is based mostly Android Open Source Project (AOSP) with some Slim(Kat/LP).

Could you please add some citations to verify your claim?

I originally gleaned this from google+, but can't find the reference, but here is the same info in a post from xda developers forum

Tipsy is Slim base with full OMS support. It is still WIP. No build rolling yet
Tesla is GZ-AOSP (Fancy name of AOSP-CAF?) base with full OMS support and has handpicked useful features.
Validus is GZ-AOSP based too with a dark wolfie theme with full OMS support too and have a lot of features.

REF:https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-max/development/gzr-team-tipsy-tesla-validus-t3526087

authors: Стоян Стоянов


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Is SlimROMS one thing or many?
I was looking at some threads to download a custom firmware when I noticed one thing as a thanking gesture, developers or maintainers were thanking SlimROMS team. I went to SlimROMS website and its forums as well but I couldn't pin point:
1) Is SlimROMS one thing or many?
2) I found somethreads featuring names like Slimsaber or Slimkat which shares some common features. Are they SlimROMs? It's really confusing to me. Are there other ROMs with naming convention Slim[XYZ]?

I think I found my answer after a bit more search.
I don't know why they use 's' and calls it SLIMROMs but Slim + Jelly Bean = SlimBean, Slim + Kitkat = SlimKat and Slim + Lollipop (LP) = SlimLP.
SlimSaber on the other hand is an unofficial build of SlimLP. I suppose 'Saber' comes from custom toolchain Sabermod.


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I can't install any apps when I don't have a SD Card in my phone!
I've a problem on my SM-G350. I once set my install location to extrenal via ROM Toolbox Lite. I took out the SD card one day and the other day I tried to install an app and it said that I can't install it to my standard install location, which was fine. I connected it to adb and typed in pm set install-location 0 I got no error message (I got no message at all), and so I thought it worked, but it didn't. I also entered the command so that everything will be installed on the internal storage but that didn't help either.
What else could I do or what could be the cause of this problem?
Samsung Galaxy Core Plus (SM-G350)
Stock ROM (4.2)

You missed a dash: adb shell pm set-install-location 0 it is. See these posts :)

Also, try reinserting the SD card. If it works, try using Rom toolbox to reset the install location.

@Izzy, yeah, right, but only in the question. After the 5th time I typed it in I always triple checked what I was typing in the command line :D
@DanB, I installed rom toolbox after a couple of tries but that also didn't work. Reinserting the SD card didn't help. Also a restart didn't work.

Try checking with get-install-location if it took the new setting. If it didn't, try again with root powers.

It says 0 (automatic).

Okay, I changed it again with ROM Toolbox and install location was on ´1´ (internal). I tried to install a app and I got the same error message as always. Yes, internal storage is mounted.
I also got it to 2, but no success either.


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Can not access Internet on N9100 Android 4.4.2
I bought  a smartphone (N9100) which is running Android version 4.4.2 (kernel version: 3.4.67).
When I plugged the SIM card in the smartphone, I set Data connection to the name of the company that provided it to me.
I went to Settings -> WIRELESS & NETWORKS  and set Wi-FI to ON
I see now : 3G h+(with three vertical bars).
I open the browser and type any page but it says I have no connection.
Also, when I check in Wi-Fi -> Advanced , I see that I have no IPv4 address assigned to me.
How to resolve this problem?

WiFi has nothing at all to do with the SIM card. Can you see the company's WiFi network name in Settings › WiFi? If so, tap it and provide the network key. It then should connect to this WiFi network.

Now you're talking about mobile data – and yes, that's connected to the SIM (other than WiFi). Usually, when plugging in a SIM Android tries to automatically configure the network corresponding to your provider. If your provider is relatively unknown, that might fail. You will need to check the APN settings then. If no APN is configured, contact your provider for details; they might send you a service-SMS for auto-configuration.

OK, with that verified, time to check the logs – something's going wrong here, so the logs should give at least a pointer to what that might be.

sorry for a stupid sounding question. But have you actually turned on your mobile data switch? From the question you were mixing things up when your were asking. So you could just have not turned on your mobile data switch.

This questions needs to have a better description - please rephrase your original question with the newest information - include which service provider your sim card is from, include screen shots from the APN settings. Otherwise we can only guess but can't help you that much.

Turn off wifi (and vpn , firewalls if any). Turn on mobile data. Restart phone.

Mobile data means  mobile internet(2G, 3G, etc ). It can be toggled from the notification area.

@Begueradj So did you get it to work?? Your comment was a bit ambiguous.

@Manubhargav convert your comment into an answer and I will accept (APN settings were the problem)

@Manubhargav yes, indeed

This behavior (3G/H/H+ shows up in notification bar, but no internet connection) usually occurs when APN settings are not configured properly.Also since it's a new phone, recently purchased you might need to configure APN settings pertaining to your network carrier (service provider)
APN settings can be obtained by calling up the customer support,asking them to send the APN setting through message(sms) or by googling even.
Some have found a workaround for the issue by simply changing preferred network type to 2G only
Also working on mobile data(2G/3G) does not assign any IPV4 under WiFi settings because that section shows IPV4 address assigned only by WiFi connections.

Click to enlarge


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How to recover Nexus 5 data from memory chip
Edit 2:
My Nexus 5 doesn't boot up the OS or the Recovery, but it boots the Bootloader. The service people speculate that the power IC isn't able to supply enough power for the first two but it's enough for the bootloader. I have flashed a new 5.0 image using fastboot, and all fastboot operations report success. So I'm pretty convinced the internal memory is fine.
How do I recover my data? I don't know any fastboot method to do it.
Is there a way to connect the motherboard to an external power source so that adb works and I can read the data?
Is there a way to remove the memory chip and read it using a card reader or something?

in normal cases an OTA update does only update the system partition and does not update the bootloader. Of course I have no insights what google is doing with their bootloader for the nexus devices but IMHO it is normally not needed to update the bootloader for a step from 4.4.4 to 5.0 as also the old bootloader should still work as the hardware which needs to be initialized prior calling the kernel will ofc remaijn the same after an update. Although it can be needed if there is a signature check for the called kernel or something.

Umm, did you make any head way? Did you get the device to power down? Are all the keys unresponsive or just the volume buttons?  As far as the flash-all.bat script did it complete? There was a lil bit of tunnel vision on the bootloader what about the rest of the system?  Minus the exposed it's doubtful  it's hard brinked the majority of the time that requires hardware damage.

So, I went on a crazy wild adventure dealing with all this, and sorry to say, it hasn't led me anywhere fruitful yet. Current status is, phone is being moody. Seriously. Most of the time, it stays in a Qualcomm emergency download mode: 'Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008' with Windows having a proper driver installed. There is an awesome guide over at XDA which shows how to restore boot images using this mode. My tries fail at 'Serial port open FAILED' every time. But, after fiddling with the buttons for a long time (sometimes 10-15 min) the bootloader loads up. And miraculously, it works now.

Since last time, it had failed at the reboot-bootloader step, I skipped the flash-all script, and manually flashed the system image. I ignored the radio because it was already the correct version. Everything happened perfectly, like before... until the reboot. Something is wrong with the boot process. The partitions seem to be hale and hearty (I can access bootloader, flash files properly). The most evident appearance of a problem is that the screen blacks out after the appearance of the Google logo, whether booting up the OS or into recovery (stock or custom, it doesn't matter).

@BoLawson Thanks for asking, I've updated the question.

@Andy356 could you link the XDA guide?


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Google Play services not working
I just rooted my S4 using KingoRoot. After rooting I am not able to access any of the Google services.
When I try to open any of the Google services, it says

Unfortunately, Google Play Services has stopped

I am not able to open any app. When I try to open an app, it says,

[App Name] has stopped.

I tried clearing cache data of Google Play Services, reinstalled and reinstalled it, but to no avail.

First you need to factory reset your device from recovery.
Download GApps from xda-developers. (You need to search it xda). Download pico or mini version of gapps.
Copy zip file on your device and flash it via recovery.
Mostly, this will work. If not, then try to switch from dalvik to ART or ART to dalvik. (This applies only if you have 4.4+ Android OS)


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Reverse Tether Android Tablet without Rooting
What are some ways I can use an Android Tablet's USB cable to leech off a PC's wired internet connection?  I have a PC with fast and unlimited internet and I want to connect an Android Tablet to it without using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
Additionally, I do not want to "root" the Android Tablet.

Based on the answers on this question, I'm afraid you do need root. Hopefully there's another way...

You certainly don't need to root it. Unless you're a farmer.
On your PC go to start >control panel.
Go to Networking and settings Center, and then clicking Manage network connections. Right-click the connection that you want to share, and then click Properties. There should be a share option.

the question is about reverse tethering. i.e. being able to use the internet that you computer or laptop is using from an android device via USB. Not sharing your mobile data connectivity with your computer


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How can I use an Android phone as a media player?
Is it possible for me to have a central Android phone connected to my old stereo that will let me cast media from any iOS or Android device on my house? If so how?

This is entirely possible via mDNS/uPNP/DLNA. You don't even have to use a phone for that. Cheaper variants exist, such as dedicated android-based microcomputers with size of a bigger USB stick.
All you need to do is to install an app that will act as a media player with DLNA support. There are plenty of these available, one such app can be DroidUPnP or Yaacc, both available via F-Droid. You can then setup the app as a player and control it from a remote controller software, such as ControlDLNA, also available from F-Droid.
Setup is automatic, you just need to fire up a few servers as media sources. These can be computers, xboxes, other phones and pretty much anything that has a DLNA logo on it.

If you want to send music from your devices to your home speakers, check out the new Chromecast Audio.


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OTA update limitations with custom ROM?
I want to do some experimenting with an Android TV stick and want to ask some questions beforehand -- that I couldn't find answers to already here on SO.
Any advice is appreciated!

Is it possible to flash the ROM, to start with my customized Android TV launcher? i.e. like Android TV Launcher
If YES to the above, could I have the OS periodically check for updates on my OWN CUSTOM SERVER, to prompt to update the OS / launcher itself?

I am a little confused, because as I understand it from the official documentation, flashing the ROM places restrictions on OTA updates.
Surely I can update my launcher or over-write certain files fetched from my own server?

It would not seem to make sense to flash a ROM for a customized android TV launcher - all you need is something to automatically start your app when you boot - maybe something like https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.autostart
If you build your own ROM you can make it do whatever you want - including check for updates on your own server - this is probably not trivial, and anyway, where would the upgrades come from.
If you flash your ROM you will no longer get OTA updates as you are no longer running the software associated with the OTA updates.

It highly depends on the ROM you are going to use.
You won't get any OTA updates from the manufacturer. However there are ROMs out there, which use the original (hacked) OTA interface to provide their own OTA updates. So it's definitely possible, but I highly doubt, that you can easily modify that. I've had that functionality on my HTC One for example.
Also some custom roms provide a client from where you can update.
All those updates however are not really "OTA", as they will always have to boot into your custom recovery and install it from there.
If it's just for having a kind of automation I would go for an app like Tasker, AutomateIt or Llama, which provide a great benefit if it comes to automation of things like start up behaviour.


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How to choose where to install an app either to sd card or device?
I have a samsung galaxy tab 4, i have already changed the download location to sd card, but i want to download an app and it says it can't be downloaded on the sd card, that it must be on the device. how can i revert it to download on the device, without taking the sd card out? Help its annoying to take out the otter box cover out, everytime.

See the answer from Paulmz. Alternatively you can also download (I know...contradicts your question) and migrate applications to and from your Phone. Just a comment. :)

You can  unmount the SD card from the settings. To do this: Go to Settings -> Storage -> Unmount SD card.
Removing the card  physically is not needed.
You can later remount the SD card whenever you need it back by using the settings again, still without actually removing and inserting the SD card.

In the same settings menu where you changed the download location to sd card set the download location to device.

There isnt a dowload location. Thats why im asking this question. what i did the first time was copy paste the download file in the root menu to the sd card. then all new downloads go to sd card. i have looked everywhere for that option, because my galaxy note has them, so does the s4. But the galaxy tab 4 im having trouble with doesnt seem to have that option. I have checked storage options, task manager, dowloads, everywhere and cant seem to find it. Can i upload images to show u my menus

I have also tried the unmounting sd card. And it still wont download

What i actually want to download is a game, and i cant download it to the sd card because it says it cant be downloaded there. Thats why i wanna download it to the device, and it still wont download. And i know its not the size its only 34mb because i got curious and i downloaded another one 87mb and did fine

You probably have just changed the preferred install location (I'm not aware of a setting that enforces a location for app install). So IMHO you don't need worry, simply install that app.
Background:
Developers must declare their app's preferred install location in the Manifest of the app. There they basically have 3 choices: internal storage, external storage, let-the-OS-decide. On the OS side, again there's a corresponding setting: internal, external, default (usually internal). You altered the latter to "external" I assume.
Now what happens when you've set the OS side to "external"? Depends on what the Manifest of the app-to-be-installed says: if it says "let-the-OS-decide", things are clear: the app goes there (in your case, the external storage AKA SD card). Everything else overrides the OS-side setting: If an app offers services/widgets, it must go to internal storage, hence the developer will declare such – and the OS will obey.
So: No need to change anything. If the app must be installed to internal storage, the dev should have taken care for that in the app's Manifest. If you're still running into trouble, see my answer here on how to change the default.

Some apps need to be installed on non-unmountable device-memory because they depend on an app-s service that must run continuously without beeing stopped if sd is unmounted/ejected.
The developper of the app can declare that the app must be installed on device memory.
You can try to install the app in device-s memory and later move it to sd-card via settings/app/move to sd.
If the developper does not want the app to be installed on sd this option is not available.
You can also try to use the android app app2sd for this.


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Restrict Data consumtion by playStore Over WIFI
My Google Play Store application has gone haywire.It is downloading heavily without even notifying anything about what it is downloading and the rate has gone up by 2.5 times in past 2 days.I tried everything to stop it.I selected do-not auto update apps in play store settings and turned off all kinds of Sync.But it still isn't working.
Is there any way i can restrict data consumed by my google play store on WiFi?
I have a rooted device.

How's the speed of your Wi-Fi? Are the Google Play Services and Play Store running latest update? // You can consider AFWall+ in combination with Tasker so that Play Store would  connect to Wi-Fi if only it is in the foreground.

you can start clearing data cache for play store app in .. settings>apps>all apps>play store>clear data.
It would probably solve your issue if it still lingers than remove your google account from settings>accounts>google account>remove this account.
Add again the same account with your credentials.. it would solve the issue.


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Nexus 5: How to automatically toggle Live Display in Cyanogenmod 12.1 nightly at a specific time?
I have a Nexus 5 with the last CyanogenMod nightly (12.1 20150917). I have a bug with the live display. Since the auto mode doesn't switch automatically, I have installed Automate, an app that uses the Android API to do tasks.
To fix the bug, I would like to create a task to switch in the night mode at a specific time, but unfortunately, there isn't the Live Display in Automate. Is there a way to set the night mode through the terminal?

A user named r3t3ch provided the following solution on Reddit which I'm reproducing. Their answer was tested on a Moto X with CM 12.1.
To change [night/live] mode (Auto=2, Off=0, Day=4, Night=1):
adb shell settings put system display_temperature_mode 2

To change color temperature:
adb shell settings put system display_temperature_day 6500 settings put system display_temperature_night 3400

To change color calibration:
adb shell settings put system display_color_adjustment "0.8991 0.8689 1.0"

The Night mode set block should be able to toggle night mode.
There's no block for changing Live Display, but it might be possible to change the system settings for it, using the System setting set block, see the Reddit post here for the possible setting names and values.


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How to connect an external hard-drive to a tablet
Is there a cable which connects my (normal/usual) external hard drive (which I use with my PC) to my Samsung Galaxy Tab S with a Lollipop Android operating system? If so, should it have an external power supply?
How about a memory stick?
Are tablets basically constructed NOT to connect to external hard drives?

I have a cable Micro-USB to type A jack for this purpose. I can connect USB-sticks, small USB drives as well as a hub for keyboard + mouse. You must be living in the past.

There also exist tablets (mostly Windows ones, such as the Surface tablets, but also a few Android ones) with full-sized USB ports.

I realise that I am very late posting this, but it may be useful to others who are looking for information on the subject. I thought it might be worth adding that there are apps on Google Play that enable your Android device to read NTFS-formatted hard drives. The one I use on my Samsung tablet is Paragon exFAT, NTFS & HFS+. I've used it for a good few years and would recommend it, although there are others that I have not tried that may be equally as good.

To my knowledge, (testing this myself now), it depends how the drive is formatted. According to my research: A drive you've been using for storage with Windows, formatted to NTSF default, won't be seen and Android most of the time won't see the external hard drive if it isn't formatted in exFAT. It depends on your tablet's manufacturer whether or not it is capable of viewing exFAT formatted storage devices.
Whether you use a power source cord of any kind for the external hard drive all depends on if the device normally requires one to function. Unless provided with the external storage device by the manufacturer or stated by the manufacturer to use something for power, the USB hard drive should not require outside power source to function. Small laptop hard drives or external small sized USB hard drives require only the power of the USB port to function. Most external USB hard drives are like this. Some larger 2-in-1 tablets come with a standard USB port and you may not need a "converter-OTG-cable" A.K.A. USB standard female to micro USB male cable.
My tablet is the RCA Maven pro 11.6 2-in-1 tablet, which has standard, as well as mini USB ports, so I'm experimenting now with a laptop platter style external HD to see if it can be read, and written to formatted in exFAT. From what I have read, if exFAT formatting the external hard drive with Windows doesn't work, then try FAT32 (backup, or remove everything on the drive before reformatting, because a reformat will erase all files).
Like I said I'm not an expert, but I read a lot, I love Android devices, and - If your tablet has both standard and micro USB ports like my RCA Maven Pro has (large tablets like Chromebook, MacBook, etc, usually have both standard and micro USB ports, if your device does as well, try using one or the other, so try using the micro USB port if the standard doesn't work, by using an OTG connection cable. If your system sees the drive, but says it needs to be reformatted, then make your tablet reformat the drive, and then it's bound to be able to read it.
If neither of those USB storage drive formats work, then your manufacturer did not include their capabilities. If it reads it but won't mount the USB device. or checks for errors, give it time (from what I've read) depending on the size of the drive, is how much time it will take to read it.
BTW if your device has a standard USB port, note that most tablets with one are usually  USB 2.0, with tablets. If your external hard drive is over a certain size then USB standard 2.0 won't be able to see it, or all of it. Then you'd need a USB standard to micro USB conversion cable to be used plugged into your tablets micro USB port, in order to see the external's higher capacity. Make sure your micro USB port isn't just for charging, and will read outside devices. Some versions of Android require you to switch it in settings.
The only other alternative for an external hard drive being seen and utilized by Android (that I can think of) is to purchase a wireless USB storage hub to plug the hard drive into, to then wirelessly transmit files from the hard drive plugged in to your Android device.
Anyway that's what I know. I'm going to try this right now too with a 500GB, and see what happens. Good luck.

What you would need is an OTG cable...its not very pricey...one end of it acts an USB port for your external hard-disk, while the other end is micro-USB compatible, so can be easily connected to your smartphone or tablet

The feature you are looking for is called USB On The Go.
Your smart-phone or tablet has to support it otherwise your device won't be able to talk to the USB device.
There are ways to find out whether your device supports it. If it doesn't support it, rooting your device may make it possible.


text:
Roll back Google App after update
Is there an easy way to roll back the Google App to a previous version?  It really looks awful with the new colors and font.  Is a factory reset the best way?

You can do this in the system settings (steps may be a little different depending on your device):

Menu button.
Manage apps.
Google App.
Uninstall updates.

Also go to the Google App in the Google Play Store to uncheck the "Auto-update" option for the app.
(Click image to enlarge)

Ah :) There was the missing link. "in the Google Play Store" refers to the app, not the website, right? ;)

Nobody here realizes that you can't uninstall updates for the effing Google App.

@amt528 - On my Galaxy S3 the option exists to uninstall updates for the Google App. Since you did not [originally] specify your device, I can only suggest what would be an typical solution.

You don't really need a factory reset.
Here what you can do :

Open System Settings and uninstall the Google App you want to downgrade
Search the applications version you want to use on ApkMirror, download it and install it.

For Google Application that can not be uninstall in system settings (you will need a root access) :

Download Titanium Backup
Open Titanium, backup and uninstall the Google App you want to downgrade
Search the applications version you want to use on ApkMirror, download it and install it.

Do not forget to disable auto-update in Google Play Store :
Google Play Store > Settings > Automatics updates > Do not automatically update applications.

When done, wait ~24h – and you'll have that update back. Google apps usually update themselves automatically (not all of them, though – but e.g. Playstore and GServices do).

OP mentioned "the new colors and font" so I don't think he is talking about GServices. But thanks for the clarification.

Agreed it's not the GServices. Confusing is that "Google app" could mean any app made by Google – and that there's one of them in fact just named "Google" (the search app) as well. For the most of them it's true you can keep them from auto-updating – but others (like GServices and GPlay) do not even appear in "my apps". Though I have to admit I didn't try TiBu on those :)

Google Pixel XL, 128gig, black, on Verizon.

Dragged down top menu
Clicked on Gear
Clicked on Apps
Scroll to and select Google App
Clicked Tripple Dot in upper right corner
Selected only option Uninstall Updates

Working better, but not perfect.

Worked, but it also reset the home screen to factory default, meaning all icons are deleted and have to be manually restored from the apps screen, which is at least annoying, and possibly scary if people think all their apps have been deleted and they don't know how to find them.


text:
Get image of android OS without rooting the device
As part of my academic project, I want to get the image of a whole Android OS of a non-rooted device in order to do forensics activity.
Can I do this using SCSI commands as SCSI directly communicates with hardware and does not need root permission?
I got information that SCSI interaction is possible with Android non-rooted device from
Implementation of an Android Framework
for USB storage access without root rights

Similar question: Android device information Ref: Build & Build.VERSION  You haven't told from, where you need to access the data. (development is offtopic here)_  Asking

I want to access the complete ROM of android device without rooting it, Searching if there is any way to do that.

There are different ROM's(stock & custom) available for different devices. Could you please edit your question and add the device information and Android version. Look for this related post Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?


text:
How to transfer Android contacts to iPhone?
I want to move contacts from Android phone to my new iPhone. Do you know how to move Android contacts to iPhone?

A.SE mods - The answer here is a bit of software that runs on android, while there's an IOS system involved. Annoyingly, its a newer, more up to date answer than the potential dupes. I'll drop this on your lap, but I almost moved it to ask different instead

Please mention your phone model and Android version.

You can use the Android application made by Apple : Move to iOS.
The applications will let you easily transfer your contact and a lot of other data (messages, photos, Google account, bookmark) from your Android phone to your iPhone.

Read this article from google support website on How to Sync contacts with your Apple device,
Google recommends you to use CardDav.

To sync your Google contacts with your Apple device (iPhone, iPad,
  iPod touch, Mac), we recommend using CardDAV, which is an Internet
  open standard. When you sync your Google contacts using CardDAV,
  you’ll be able to edit, add, and remove contacts from your device and
  keep them in sync everywhere you use them.

iOS 7+ steps:

Open the Settings app on your device.
Select Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
Select Add Account.
Select Google.
Fill out your account information in the following fields:
Name: Enter your name
User Name: Enter your full Google Account or Google Apps email address.
Password: Your Google Account or Google Apps password. (If you’ve enabled 2 Step verification, you’ll need to generate and enter an
  application specific password.)
Description: Enter a description of the account (e.g. Personal Contacts).
Select Next at the top of your screen.
Make sure that the "Contacts" option is turned ON. The switch should be green.
Select Save at the top of your screen.

After you've completed setup, open the Contacts app on your device,
  and syncing will automatically begin.

I think you could try an application to transfer your contacts to PC first and then you can use iCloud or the application to put contacts into your iPhone.

authors: Николай Кузнецов


text:
Deleted my only Launcher and APK - Black Screen. Please help!
I have a Lenovo A806. The device was rooted and I downloaded a root uninstaller from the PlayStore to uninstall some apps that I couldn't otherwise.
In the process, among other apps, I deleted the only launcher I had on the phone (Lenovo Launcher) and I might have deleted the APK (not sure about the APK). The result was a black screen without any apps.
When turn on the phone I can see the home screen (same one you see before you unlock keyboard) and I also have some of the functionalities (eg messages, can make calls etc). However, if I open one of these functionalities and I click on the "back" button, the screen goes completely black and the phone goes unresponsive.
I tried to,

reset factory settings by holding the Volume Up + Down + On/Off button which opened the "Lenovo Recovery" screen and I choosing the "wipe user data (both fuse format and fuse wipe data).
install update package option and I rebooted the phone. Nothing of those worked.

Could anyone direct me towards the right way?

Copy the zip file to phone/sdcard, get into "Lenovo recovery" and install the zip.Try Zipped Google now or any other launcher(.zip) .

Open play store in your pc
Install any launcher app like this
When installed you will get a prompt in notification
Clicking it will take you to play store
Click open which will give a launcher

If you can go to Settings of your phone (which I think you can - when in messaging or phone UI you should still be able to use the notification shade), turn on USB Debugging from there, connect the phone to your PC (assuming proper drivers have been installed), and sideload a launcher onto the phone with "adb install".
As for the sideloaded launcher, get whatever you like from APKPure, APKMirror or other trusted APK sites.


text:
How can I install e2fsprogs on my device?
My phone has the "Monkey Test" virus and there is solution in here, but when I try to execute this command:
chattr -iaA providerCertificate.apk

I receive the error "chattr : not found".
I found a solution here, which is to install e2fsprogs, but I don't know how to install it using ADB. How can i install it?

Related: How to stop "Monkey Test" and "Time Service" apps

Read carefully: That e2fsprogs link and anything related to it is irrelevant to your problem. If you're having issue such as "chattr : not found" then most likely either you didn't install Busybox or you did install but didn't open it and followed the binaries installation. I've it installed and chattr binary works fine. Follow that XDA thread carefully.

Also, please keep this in mind: "If people are seriously copying any command they don't understand on the internet and pasting it into a shell to see what happens, they probably aren't going to last very long.", because you need to know what you're doing.


text:
What are methods to play audio/video files from a tablet onto a media center?
I need to have my kodi-based entertainment platform account for android tablets to play high definition media files (audio and video) located on the tablet. Kodi runs on an ARMv7 board, such as the Orange Pi and is connected to a large screen (24-27 inches). So far the possibilities that I have encountered are:

audio/video streaming
Android screen casting (with audio)
accessing the tablet through USB/Bluetooth/Wifi as a hard drive
an audio/video sharing application (either existing or to be developed)

Note that the tablet is also to be used as a remote control for Kodi through Yatse – I've just discovered that app, I don't know its features thoroughly yet.
I'm not sure screen casting can occur with a non-android node however; for example, I have seen Android TV do support receiving media content from tablets and smart phones. As for streaming, I assume it would imply a high bandwidth usage. I know VLC can do that but I'd like to spare the user from any configuration/preparation manipulations. Finally I'm not sure any tablet can be shared as a disk drive, be it through USB, wireless or Bluetooth.
Does the above make sense? What possibilities are available along with pros and cons?

If you're already using Kodi at your Pi – why not doing the same on Android? See e.g. DLNA server and client all-in-ones for some goodies in that area. You will notice an app called "Kodi" being top-ranked ;)

Sounds interesting indeed. Just that I have no clue how DLNA works :ashamed: ...

That explains. But that's not a topic suitable for this site. In short: an app can be a client, a server, a controller, or any combination of that. BubbleUPnP e.g. does all 3 parts. A controller can pick a file from a server, and tell another client to play it; this way I use BubbleUPnP to play stuff from my server on my stereo (or TV). Give BubbleUPnP a try, might spare you using two apps (and you can skip Yatse ;)

Thanks a lot. I'm not sure I can skip Yatse though as there's no keyboard nor mouse attached to the media center so I do need a remote that also provides a virtual keyboard and Yatse does that.

Glad I was able to help! As I wasn't sure how you use Yatse, I've put the "might" :) Still, the combination "might" prove useful. Enjoy playing with DLNA!

Yatse is indeed a really nice app and allows you to stream any content from your phone to your Kodi enabled device. You probably have to buy the pro version.
Alternatively you could just install an (S)FTP or NFS server on your phone and add the remote drive in Kodi.

I didn't know Yatse could stream to the media center. I will investigate that, as I mentioned to @izzy.

I see your problem lies in some missing background, so let me give you a starter:
DLNA was made for stuff like that. To put it simple, a DLNA network can have the following elements:

DLNA server: stores media (audio, still pictures, video) to be accessed by …
DLNA client: accesses DLNA server(s) and plays content available there
DLNA control points: while not strictly needed, these can be quite useful. A DLNA control point can access DLNA servers and clients as well, to e.g. grab a movie and tell your TV to play it. The client (here: TV) must support being accessed by the control point; network enabled TVs and amplifiers usually do.

I'd recommend you taking a look at my list of DLNA server and client all-in-ones, especially at BubbleUPnP – which is what I use from time to time: using this app, I can access my media server (Kodi in your case), and play media on my TV (Samsung) and amplifier (Onkyo) just fine. In that list, you'll also find Kodi for Android: as you're already using that on your Pi, you might prefer something you're already familiar with.

I will definitely have a look at that and compare with @pluto's answer. Both suggestions seem quite interesting and I now have at least a concrete choice, thanks a lot again.

Yes, I just checked that: pluto is right, the paid version of Yatse can act as control point – so you might go with that and only have to use one app. And of course a file server has additional advantages (you could use it to access your Android device's files from your PC).


text:
How do I disable HTML5 player for Chrome on Android?
Whenever I click on a video link, it automatically takes me to the HTML5 player and doesn't even prompt me as to which player I want to use.  Is there a way to force a prompt by altering the application files or something?

I'm stuck with the same issue.
A workaround is to use another browser: I tried Firefox, Dolphin & Opera so far.All of them use embedded video playback.
Only "Opera Mini" asks for external playback app.
See download link below:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.opera.mini.native

Try Clearing the Defaults for the app.
Since I don't know what version of Android you're running, I'll explain generally.

Head to Settings -> Apps

Click on the Google Chrome App, then scroll until you see "Reset Defaults"

Now it should prompt you again what type of media player you want to use when opening videos.

If that didn't work, you can try to reset the app to factory defaults. To do that just Clear Cache, Clear Data, Force Stop, then Disable the app. Restart your phone and re-enable the app.
You could also, of course, try disabling Chrome and using a different browser (such as Firefox, Dolphin).

Nope, doesn't work on Chrome 45.  I tried both clearing the data/cache and the defaults. It's still the same issue. Actually, it's different from what OP wrote. If I tap a video link then I do see the "Open with" dialog but if I open the link in a new tab then the default HTML5 player kicks in.

@Firelord If it's different than what the OP wrote, and you're not the OP, your problem could be different than his and you don't know if it works for him or not. (Unless you refer to yourself in the third person)

Fair enough. I didn't consider that point.

authors: มิ้ว ตัวตั้ง


text:
Will changing password of a Google account revoke access to it on a lost device?
I had a Samsung Galaxy Star Pro Duos with my Google account logged in to the apps (Google+, Gmail...). Now it is lost. I can remotely remove all my accounts from the web browser, but I do not know how to remove it from the device without having it turned on and sync enabled, as sync was disabled and it is currently switched off .
I was thinking if I change my password, my account on that phone would stop syncing and request for the password to be re-entered. Once someone turns it on, and tries to sync, the account must stop.
Will this plan work?

Changing your password will require all devices to reauthorize (log in) before syncing any new data, however information already on the device, like bookmarks and such, will remain.
Locking the device with Android Device Manager would be the better option.

The answer to your problem is already provided by the tool Android Device Manager by Google. You log in with your Google account and will see all the devices connected to that account. There you can lock it with a password: if someone tries to turn it on he will be prompted to insert the psw to use it. Since lollipop even a factory reset shouldn't be enough to bypass this lock, because the phone remembers the account it was connected to. But on this point I'm not 100% sure.

If you report it stolen it will have a blacklisted ESN. Someone can easily reflash your phone like brand new out of the box. and phones with a bad ESN don't bother people in South America.

This doesn't appear to address the question at all.


text:
Import .vcf files from old Nokia fails
I have to transfer 50 contacts from an old Nokia phone to a Motorola running Android 5.
I managed to Export an nbf backup from the Nokia and Export all contacts vcf files from that nbf file.
But now every time I try to import those vcf files from the default contacts App, Theres a notification "will import 1.vcf soon" and then "finished importing 1.vcf".
But the imprted contacts wont show up in the App.
Further more I can only import single contacts as when I select more than one it will say importing but never finish
Thank you for your help :)
Edit: Just tested the import on my note 4 with stock Samsung OS and it worked just fine

This post might be helpful.

Thanks but the APP mentioned there didnt work

Got it to work with the app Tranfer Contacts by Maine Avenue Technologies SL. It's pretty much self-explanatory and easy to use but works only with Bluetooth devices.

Ok sry will update it

Note: If you have less than 100 Contacts, operation is 100% free. else fee is about 1$, depending on your region and currency.

Well as I said in my post normally every mobile device is capable of importing vcf files

No, I'm not saying it's not supported by all mobiles. But you forgot to mention that limitation of the app in which the import work free only if the contacts numbered less than 100. More than that would be no free of cost. ;)

I just wanted to make sure that its just the way I got it to work (after 2 hours) and that I dont want to get people to buy that app.

I just wanted to update my question for anybody coming to this and wondering how I solved it, I didnt even know it would cost for more contacts

You are welcome to add your own answers. And I just wanted to mention the limitations of the app if someone is gonna import more contacts without knowing its cost. No criticism intended, but added the comment as a sidenote for future readers.

Yeah sure, it was constructive critisism I just dont See why my answer got downvoted(I think it will misleed future readers into thinking its wrong while it clearly worked for me.. :))

FYI: I didn't downvote. But someone who downvote should have commented the mistake in your answer. Anyway, will upvote it now. You can accept your own answer after two day of posting it.

I dont know who did either, btw thank you for correcting my answer if it was you. I will accept it tomorrow :)


text:
How to stop "Couldn't sign in" notifications?
I have my Nexus 9 (on 5.x) connected to my iCloud account for email. It works fine, I even get notifications for new email. It can connect to the server just fine.
However, I get notifications from Gmail around every 15-20 minutes saying "Couldn't sign in" with my iCloud email address.
I don't like my tablet and wrist vibrating that often with useless notifications. How can I turn these off (or, ideally, fix the problem) without turning off notifications for real email?

What app do you use to fetch emails from iCloud?

Did you try to disconnect and connect again the iCloud account with Gmail app? If the problem is still there, you could try to use a different app: with your setup you should have (maybe disabled) a so called 'Email' app.


text:
Unable to delete old calendars from Microsoft Outlook Android App
Software:

Microsoft Outlook App on Android
Microsoft Outlook for Windows, version 2007

I currently have a work account which I have synced with my Android, and for some reason, all of the calendars I've ever accepted on my work's account (and deleted on my desktop) are still showing up on my Outlook App on my Android.
Aside from being annoying (given that all their respective reminders are still popping up), I have on many occasions accidentally added a new reminder onto an old calendar which, if isn't a "shown" calendar, ends up hidden and I never know about it.
How to delete old calendars from Microsoft Outlook Android App?

Community bump prevention: this question was closed because the question seems to have been abandoned (the question was migrated and OP didn't join the site, and no answers have score above 0). If anyone can evaluate the existing answers, feel free to vote accordingly and reopen the question (or mod-flag the question requesting for reopening). For anyone else having the same issue, please post a new question and refer to this question as additional context.

I found the discussion on Microsoft Community helpful:
What worked in my case was:

Deleting both Outlook account from account settings and Outlook app
Creating a Microsoft Exchange account according to instructions from the link above
Installing once again Outlook app, but this time using not Outlook settings but Microsoft Exchange settings


text:
What is the point of having KNOX?
I'm about to use Odin to root my S4 running 5.0.1, but I'd just like to know, what is the point of KNOX and is it really important? I know it's not just the software I'm not authorized to use, and it'll set my KNOX warranty flag to 0x1 and burn the e-fuse, but I'd just like to reassure myself that I'm not missing out on something here.

Samsung knox is, beside some device hardening, a container or dual persona solution for Android. Think of the knox container as a second completely independent instance of Android running on your phone with own apps, data and settings. It is mostly used by companies to implement bring-your-own-device solutions. However, you can also use it as a private user, but I am not really aware of any great use case for this... so you need to decide whether you want to use the container. I guess the most users can safely ignore it.


text:
i9505 Firmware upgrade question
just a quickie:
I just updated (i9505) from XXUEMKE to XXUHOH2
Location Germany - dbt running CM12.1
So far all ok - no problems.
My Question:
After Flash (BL + Modem + WLAN) it´ll still Show XXUEMMKE as Baseband. Using APP "Phone Info": It shows the same XXUEMKE as baseband except under latest Firmware installed  it Shows XXUHOH2 installed.
So, why does the new Firmware not Show under Information - Baseband? What am I missing? And even that Odin said all ok. Is it really installed and running? (maybe I forgot something?)
greetx 2 all you out there.....

If I remember correctly - you need to flash the modem a second time to actually change the values. No idea why but when I had a galaxy S4 it was a common question in lot's of forums.

yeah, forgot to mention - did that ... same result. so that is not it.


text:
Broken Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge won't be replaced
About a month ago I got a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge bought off from Swiss carrier Sunrise. It's a 32gb model, with European region lock. My brother didn't open it in Switzerland,  and he gave this to me as a gift when he arrived by airplane in Romania.
Anyway as soon as I boot the phone,  I do initial setup. When I connect to a Wi-Fi network it enters a boot loop. The only way to get it back to normal is to hard factory reset it. It happened multiple times,  on different Wi-Fi networks. First I did an software update with mobile data to 5.1.1 Lollipop,  it didn't fix the problem. Then using the smart switch app for PC I downloaded a new original firmware,  guided through live chat by a Samsung official helper,  still didn't fix the boot loop issues.
Then he takes the phone back to Switzerland,  where there was no problem when connected to a Wi-Fi network.  He sends it to warranty for repairs,  they find nothing wrong with it,  after 15 days he gets it back. Just as he was about to send it back to me to Romania,  he does a test and finds out that the phone entered a boot loop for the first time in Switzerland. He left the phone in a boot loop so the guys at the shop could see that the phone was definitely flawed and make sure it's going to be repaired or replaced. After another 15 days,  results came back as if the phone has no problem.
They can't make it enter a boot loop so they have nothing to repair or replace,  however I'm not sure what I can do. I might have just wasted 800$ and the phone is still broken
Any ideas?

I'd take a video of it and put your name and repair ticket number (assuming you got one) on a piece of paper so they cannot say you did not create the video. Show the problem, upload it to Google drive and attach it as a link in your next email to them. They won't be able to deny that there is an issue that way.

I sent it back for a 3rd check.  After that I will


text:
/system cannot be remounted as RW, even when rooted (Sony Xperia E3)
I rooted my Sony Xperia E3 (D2203) a while ago using Kingroot, which worked flawlessly.
Before rooting my device, /system could be accessed, which is how root was installed in the first place.
However after rebooting the phone, I now cannot mount /system as rw, as the kernel mounts it as Read-Only and gives me a Operation not permitted error whenever I try to remount it as rw. Apparently the kernel on Sony devices detects root and mounts /system as Read-Only.
I cannot flash a new recovery as the bootloader is permanently locked.
What can I do to mount /system at startup as rw, or mount /system when the device is online?
A non-destructive method would be great.
Here is the command I'm using to try and mount /system:
mount -o remount,rw /system
Yes, the terminal is in root mode.

mount -o remount,rw /system

I've noticed someone say that mount -o rw,remount /proc /system could work. Would this work?

Why should it? If /proc were mounted r/o, many processes would fail (so it's obviously mounted r/w already). So no difference to your previous approach. I rather assume there's some SE_Linux safeguard actively preventing the command – but as I've never played with that, I cannot give any hints on how to deal with that.

Using Total Commander to remount the / directory as RW also remounted /system as RW.
Howto:

Enable Root Functions Everywhere in TC settings.
Proceed to add a new button to the toolbar with Function Type Internal Command.
Press on the >> button, and select the 119 Remount option.
Press OK/Apply
Navigate to root (/) directory.
Press newly created Remount button and accept any prompts.

Edit: I've found that when I'm using Kingroot to manage root, mounting works correctly. When I migrated over to SuperSU however, I could not remount / or /system as RW.
If the above steps don't work for you, Kingroot might be worth a shot.
Another edit: While I do recommend Kingroot as an option to allow access to your /system folder, you should exercise caution with Kingroot, as it is known to gather information about your device. I would save Kingroot to be a last resort, should you cannot find any other method of remounting /system as rw successfully.

Could you add some details on how to remount drives using Total Commander? Also, a link to the app is encouraged, which has been provided.


text:
Unable to update Chrome, even after setting SD card as default installation path
I have an Alcatel Fierce 2 phone with Kit Kat. Even though I have an 8 GB SD card, when I try to update Chrome I keep getting "not enough memory check storage". I have the box checked to use my SD card as default, but no luck. Any resolution?

Unfortunately the only real solution is to clear up some space on the system 'drive' - uninstall things you don't need, media files and so on.
I typically plug my phone into a computer, move as much stuff out as possible, and try again.

Try uninstalling it first, then downloading the latest app from the play store.
I'm not sure about this but it would explain the insufficient storage:
I think while updating the app becomes bigger (incremented with the new update or a whole new app?) and cleans itself up at the end of installation. So you will need more room than the size of the app.
If you uninstall the app first you will not need this extra storage.


text:
Broken, unresponsive screen: how to recover data on this otherwise working phone?
today my Huawei Ascend P7 has met its sad end, falling 2 meters to its screen-death. The phone still rings, turns on and off, and the volume buttons still work, but the screen doesn't work at all. It will not let me transfer data without accepting the connection in the phone, so I can't just go in with Android File Transfer. I have found guides for Samsung phones and Motorola phones, but I can't find one that will work with my Chinese Hauwei phone.
I do have Google Play activated and it lets me remotely install apps, if that helps.

Is there a generic method of recovering data from the phone with a broken screen?

Other notes: I my phone should have Android 4.4. It does not have an SD card, but I can find one if that would help. It does not have any special settings on, just standard Android.

I considered buying a new screen, but it is ~40 dollars in parts and looks as hard as replacing an iPhone screen. I think I'd rather just get a used phone, since I can get a used G2 for 100 dollars.

Also, I do not know if this applies to me, I do not have Samsung:
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/25646/how-do-i-backup-data-sms-contacts-from-a-device-with-a-broken-screen?rq=1

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! As you've already picked the right tag, have you checked our broken-screen tag-wiki – which contains some first aid and links? Indeed it even has a section on data recovery, which might help you.

@Izzy Hello and thank you for your comment, I will try checking that out later when I have more time. Thank you!

I would try plugging the phone into your computer with a USB cable and copying all the files you can to your computer.  Then transfer the files to your new phone.

I can't do that because my phone will not connect to my computer unless I grant the computer permission from within the phone


text:
Adding uninstalled apps to wishlist in Play store
There is something in the Play store app that bugs me ever since I found out the problem exists: I cannot add previously uninstalled apps to the wishlist.
I made my research and found this thread on XDA where they acknowledge the problem, then this suggestion on Reddit which didn't even get a response and this useless thread on the Google Play help forum. I didn't find any other direct reference to the problem.
I tried to clear cache for the Play Store, but like with the guy that opened the XDA thread, it didn't work. I made sure to delete the app from the 'All apps' on all my devices. The web interface still shows 'Installed', I think this can be related. I think the problem lies in the Play Store, without anything the user can do to overcome the issue.
So my question is: does anybody know of Google acknowledging/addressing the issue in the future? Or, if there exists a workaround?

Seems the root cause of this issue got worse...


text:
USB device exceeds power limits
OK, the android studio really drive me crazy.
At first, AVD cannot launch and I have post my issue here to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33417842/avd-not-running and failed to create new virtual device https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33419733/throwable-failed-to-create-the-sd-card
After install Android SDK Tool from sdk manager and HAXM installer, it finally can lunch but https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33527421/emulator-cannot-start-up.
After I increase the emulator memory, my emulator works fine but I cannot use real device to run my project.

Error: Power Surge On Hub Port: A USB device has exceeded the power
  limits of its hub port

I'm not sure whether the error exists is due to the emulator setting because it can run before  the emulator memory get increased. Anyone can help? It totally frustrating.

The error message seems to be a general error message on Windows, thus this doesn't seem to be Android related issue (more like your PC issue). Consider asking this on [su] instead.

Before that, it seems there is already a case like this on Super User. Please read it first, and if it doesn't help, then consider asking a new question with detailed info.