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Stock recovery can flash root packages and custom recovery ZIPs but not custom ROMs
This question might seem to be a duplicate of this question but it is different.
But I'd like to have a brief explanation on why we need a custom recovery to flash a ROM. My main points of confusion are:

In stock recovery we have a option to "Install Update from SD card". Why can't we directly flash a ROM from there?
If signature verification is the problem regarding the first point, then how can we root and flash custom recovery using update from SD card?

Why doesn't any signing or verification problem occur while flashing root package or custom recovery package?
Like any other custom ROM package they are also unsigned.
Kindly explain this to me. Thanks.

Related http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/131851/what-specifically-prevents-otas-from-being-taken-on-modified-systems-and-why-c

@beeshyams  Sorry but these are completely different questions. My question is that - How does the stock recovery allow installation of UNSIGNED ROOT AND CUSTOM RECOVERY PACKAGES BUT DOESN'T ALLOW INSTALLATION OF CUSTOM ROM DIRECTLY ?

The stock recovery doesn't allow installation of unsigned packages. Either the premise of your question is flawed or you are confusing your terminology here.

@eldarerathis I've read that the stock recovery present in android doesn't allow installation of any package that is not signed by a particular vendor. In case of custom roms, they are unsigned and hence cannot be installed but when we root our phone then we need to flash a "update.zip" file which is again not signed by the device specific vendor so how come they are installed and not custom roms .

I just pointed out a related question ..I didn't say duplicate question and please quote where you had read, in your reply above to @elderathis. It would be educative

I didn't read this exactly anywhere but this question just came to my mind after reading the procedure to install a custom rom :) .

That calls for an edit of your question to state clearly that it is your belief

Now, you should be clear on 2 things:

All flashable packages are signed. They can be stock OTA zips, root packages or even custom recovery or ROM zips.

So what is the difference between the "signed" and allegedly "unsigned" packages?
It's in the cryptographic keys used to sign the deployment builds, or the zips in this case.
The "signed" zips, e.g. a stock OTA zip, use a private key specific to the OEM for signing the build. This is a "release" key, and the only type of a key a stock recovery will recognize using its corresponding public key when asked to "Install Update from SD Card".
The "unsigned" zips, e.g. , root packages or custom ROMs, use the publicly known AOSP (Android Open Source Project) private keys for signing the deployment build. Even if the build hasn't been explicitly signed, the test-signing is implicit. Any released device with a stock recovery from the OEM does not have or recognise the public key corresponding to the "test" private key. Hence, it will refuse to install such test-signed or "unsigned" zips.
This is to maintain device integrity and security, at least according to the OEMs.
This is the official source: The Sign Builds for Release Page on the AOSP website.

A custom recovery like CWM or TWRP either disables or provides an option disable (which is usually enabled by default) "ZIP File Signature Verification".
This basically implies that it can flash any package, regardless of what keys, test or release, were used to sign the package. To the (stock) recovery, everything is an OTA zip.

So why can some stock recoveries flash a custom recovery zip or root package?
This is probably due to 2 reasons:

The stock recovery has a security vulnerability or exploit, which the flash package uses on being initially loaded to bypass or circumvent the signature verification procedure.
The OEMs private release keys are actually known to the developers of the flashable package, but not to the developers of the ROM. I have personally observed this with Mi and some low-end Samsung devices.

Also, there's another reason a custom recovery is necessary for flashing a custom ROM.
To install the ROM, you must do these steps before actually flashing the ROM zip:

Wipe /data and /cache. On a stock recovery, this amounts to a factory data reset.
Wipe /system. No stock recovery can do this, for obvious reasons (why would a recovery wipe the /system partition if it doesn't support getting it back from somewhere, such as a custom ROM zip?)
Wipe dalvik-cache, usually done after flashing the zip. Again, no stock recovery can do this, but in this case there's no issue with the device getting bricked if the stock recovery did this.

If your stock recovery does not have either of the above 2 "features", you'll need a flashing software which will flash the recovery or ROM images to your phone from your PC. These flashing software use disk image files of the partition to be flashed, and care nothing about whether that that is signed or not. This involves the bootloader of the device, and bypasses the recovery altogether.
Custom recoveries are usually distributed as flashable disk images, not as flashable ZIPs.
A few examples of such software are fastboot(most Android devices), Odin, Heimdall(both for Samsung devices), Smartphone Flash Tool(for Mediatek devices)
Even the bootloader might perform security verifications on the flashed files on some cases, but insofar as much as fastboot is concerned, the bootloader had to have this verification disabled, that is, it needs to be "OEM unlocked"before anything can be flashed to the device. Anyway, the disk images do not contain any signature related metadata in the first place.

A much much needed answer. Thanks alot. Just one thing I'd like to know now. Suppose I need to root my phone, in order to do that I have a root.zip package(unsigned) which won't get flashed by my stock recovery and so I'll have to now add a custom recovery so that I can flash that root.zip file. Now how do I install a custom recovery because mostly all methods on the internet uses a application "Rom Manager" that needs root privileges. So, isn't this a deadlock now . I want to flash root file but to do that I need custom recovery and to get custom recovery I need root. DEADLOCK.

@Tamoghana And one more, Are custom recoveries really flashable directly(*.zip file) or need some other PC software to get installed on the phone.

@Shivamaggarwal either you've got a "flashable root ZIP" corectly signed, or you'll need other means to root the device. And to your second question: Depends. Most custom ROMs come as flashable ZIP, and you only need to get that ZIP to your device: you could download it directly without the need of a computer, yes. Others might require specific software (like Odin/Heimdall for Samsung devices).

@TamoghnaChowdhury yea that edit helped much and soon I'll accept the answer :) . I'd like to ask that as you mentioned earlier about Mi devices, So mi devices come into which category -  fastboot,odin,mediatek device ? Which method do I use to install recovery on my mi device ?

Mi devices use fastboot. Old MiUI versions upto v5 had a recovery which allowed the following of a zip which enabled root, post which an app called Flashify could be used to flash any zip or disk image file from the phone itself. There are guides online in how to do this, so I won't bother dealing with it here. I hope you can find it.

@TamoghnaChowdhury  Yes I'd searched on that. Infact I also found that in Mi devices you can literally flash any zip just by going to its updater app and select a package. So isn't that signing restriction imposed in Mi devices because I can almost flash any package like root.zip, cwm.zip and many more just form its stock recovery without any custom recovery. Kindly reply :) .

The zips you refer to are signed. These signatures have known private keys, as the MIUI ROM is open source. The MI Recovery recognizes anything signed with these keys, and allows you to flash them

Ohh.. So the files that I download from miui.com are signed my mi developers. So here two conditions arise-  1. If I download a zip file from some other source then it won't be flashed in a xiaomi device due to signature mismatch.   2. If I take a zip file from miui.com then it wouldn't  flash on any other non-xiaomi device. Am I correct on both my assumptions ?

Ohh yes sure. For now I'm very much clear from your comments. Can I please disturb you in future in case I find any difficulty :) (that too in chat message itself) .  .

You can get me (or anyone else) on the main Android chat room by @ mentioning me at the start of the chat post you make.

Sorry but I don't know how do I get to main android chat room, please tell me


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Data usage, random number apps
What are these numbers in the Data Usage and Battery Usage screen in Jellybean?
I'm having a issue with apps turning up that use data in the background. I have no idea what the are or where they came from. I have factory reset my phone several times. The phone is a ZTE from straight talk. The link above shows what the apps look like only my numbers are 12437, 12984, 19154. Before I reset my phone there where a lot more of them. About 15. Is there anyway to get rid of them? Are they harmful to my phone? The phone is not rooted. And since the last reset u have uninstalled nothing. Can anyone help? Edit They also seem to be heating up and slowing down my phone due to the fact that so many are running in the back round
Edit the numbers continue to grow.
Edit in now have about 15 is there anything I can do can anyone help or am I just screwed?

Probably related: How to know app name by UID

I'm not even sure what that is

Related http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/131553/mysterious-app-in-battery-screen

Does this answer your question? An unknown app called 10102 shows up in Data Usage graph

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Installing CM13 Nightly as MultiRom in TWRP fails
I've downloaded cm-13.0-2015-1209-NIGHLY-flo.zip and tried to install it as MultiROM in TWRP 2015-06-30 (v2.8.7.0) on my Nexus 7 (2013 wifi):
Advanced → MultiROM → Add ROM → Zip File.
But installing fails:

What to I have to do to make the install succeed?

Nightly ROM s have unpredictable behaviour. Try with a stable ROM and edit your question if problem still remains

Try this workaround:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=63431628&postcount=50
"Delete all the lines after "ui_print("Verifying the updated system image...");" until "show_progress(0.020000, 10);". once you have done it save the file and copy it back into the location inside the rom zip file and flash it on your phone."
Worked for me.

Quoting from official Cyanogen site
Nightlies are not recommended unless you can handle issues arising out of it, since they are not tested

...We have the Nightlies, which are as volatile as a firmware can get. These releases keep coming at an interval of a day or two and if you do end up trying one of these, do not be alarmed if your device goes cuckoo on you. These ROMs are largely untested, and as advised by CyanogenMod, not meant for use for an average user. These releases, are meant to test untested waters that may or may not break your phone

Hence, you should attempt with a stable version, more so when you are trying to install  it on Multi ROM

This may be a good recommendation with Android OS related issues but being a nightly has nothing to do with failure in MultiROM in this particular case. CM13 at this moment doesn't support multirom installation without tweaks. This answer mentions the tweak: Installing CM13 Nightly as MultiRom in TWRP fails. On web, you can see related tweaks for other ROMs based on CM13 as well.

And there are no stable CM13 builds for that device, so far: https://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=flo

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


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Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 charging paused, battery temperature low
I have a new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. I recently bought it online. It was working fine, but now the tablet is not charging and keeps giving the error 'battery temperature low'. I tried charging it by switching the tablet off, but then it gives a yellow error sign.

Try charging in safe mode and report your findings.

It still gives error "charging paused, battery temperature low"

A rather similar question was asked here. Did the answers given there work for you? If not, please edit your question and explain how your situation is different

I can only get min to charge in safe mode. In normal mode it makes the charger connect sound, immediately followed by charger disconnect sound. To start in safe mode simply power down and restart, it will first show static Samsung logo, and then start animated Samsung logo, when second logo starts press and hold volume down. The screen will go slightly grey after a few seconds. You can leave the button then, it will start in safe mode.
Only workaround seems to be rolling back to Kit Kat.


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Recover Android system with TWRP Recovery

Note that I am running Mac OS X.

I tried installing an unofficial version of Cyanogenmod I found on XDA Developers that supports kltemini (SM-G800F). However, I messed up somewhere in the installation, and got a message on TWRP recovery saying:
Can't install this package on top of incompatible data. Please try another package or run a factory reset

And when I try pressing Reboot into System, I get:
No OS Installed! Are you sure you wish to reboot?

In the comments, @beeshyams said that I can install from a trusted source SamMobile, where I did get the SM-G800F Czech version, and downloaded it. However, the flashing fails with:
Error flashing zip /external_sd/Android_Stock.zip

Extracting it on a computer makes a .tar.md5 file, and extracting that gives me a bunch of .img files. I read that I should compress these, and flash, but the same error showed.
Another solution could be to download a custom ROM so I can actually boot into ANYTHING, but most ROMs don't support SM-G800F.
What I can also do is go to Download mode, and download stock recovery, so I can re-install the OS over OTA, however there is a risk that I will not be able to use Recovery anymore.
How can I solve this?

UPDATE:
Trying to flash stock recovery with heimdall prints:
ERROR: Failed to send data!
Releasing device interface...

I am on OS X and I am using the CLI Heimdall to flash

I also made a chatroom for active discussion here: http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/33331/discussion-on-question

Did you try searching for stock on sammobile..trusted source for Samsung devices http://www.sammobile.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29452

@beeshyams Thanks for the trusted source. Definitely will help. Another issue though is gaining access to the external_sd on the phone, as it is not detectable, and the external_sd does not mount. Will try to on my Ubuntu as it worked there before

There isn't really a risk as long as you can boot into Download mode. Flash the stock recovery and do what you want to do with it. When you need a custom recovery, flash it using the same download mode.

@Firelord Ok, I will try. Another issue is finding the stock recovery somewhere. Looking for it now. What I don't want is taking it to a service shop, as I triggered the KNOX counter

The stock ROM zip that you downloaded may be having it, something like recovery.img.

The .tar.md5 file is for flashing via the program, ODIN, not through TWRP recovery.  You have to run ODIN and connect your phone to your computer in Download mode.  How to use ODIN http://samsungupdate.com/how-to/how-to-install-an-official-samsung-stock-firmware-using-odin

@beeshyams I actually use OS X and heimdall. It is detected, but prints ERROR: Failed to send data!Releasing device interface...

Looking at the installation instructions of the ROM you flashed, I am guessing in the TWRP/ CWM options, under Advanced Wipe , one of the options " Wipe Dalvik Cache, Cache, System and Data " (likely data) was missed out leading to the current situation.
[[ Edit
Thanks to OP for confirming that wiping data was missed out by him while installing CM. A couple of other observations made by OP are listed. These are NOT normally observed behaviour of CWM but may be occurring due to incompatibilities of ROM being " unofficial"

CM didn't start normally when data partition alone was backed up
He had to resort to wiping data to get back to normal functioning. This is also mentioned in the installation instructions of the ROM

Flash CyanogenMod:....Note that the recovery might fail to restore the backup when you want to go back to the stock ROM (emphasis by ROM developer)

]]
That aside, as you brought out, there are two options
Option 1 Re-flash CM ROM and subsequently revert to stock if needed
Option 2 Attempt to flash stock directly
Option 1 would be preferred option since your unable to flash stock ROM and get an error message
Suggested steps for Option 1

Boot to recovery mode of TWRP/CWM
Wipe Dalvik Cache, Cache, and Data (inside Wipe -> Advanced Wipe for TWRP)
Install CM ROM
Install the GApps zip-package
Test that ROM is correctly installed by testing minimum functionality of Google play store connecting, camera and call/ SMS working

Now,assuming it is successful,use the ROM for a couple of days before deciding if you want to continue with it or revert to stock
Reverting to Stock from CM 12

Since you are using OS X and Debian, install Heimdall (am not conversant with it so will skip the details)
Flash recovery. This guide seems to explain the process well but you can suggest a better alternative with your experience http://davideddu.org/blog/posts/how-to-flash-a-recovery-image-using-heimdall/

Additional Information that may come in handy for related issues and also to cover points raised in the comments section of question

Windows users:

Flashing Stock using Odin

Odin has different versions and some of the versions have options changed. Hence, the description in guides may differ with options available on the tool. This guide has a good pictorial description corresponding to newer version of Odin
http://androidmtk.com/flash-samsung-stock-rom-using-odin

Extracting Stock recovery from stock image
http://howto.highonandroid.com/samsung-tutorials/how-to-extract-stock-recovery-from-samsung-firmware/2/
Linux users

Instructions for flashing stock ROM ate covered here How to convert .img to .tar to flash using Samsung odin tool?

Command line instructions for backing up stock recovery from image
Can we backup the stock recovery.img in any way?

I have done that, and I made a chatroom (link in question)

Yes, I will award the bounty in 19 hours, once StackExchange lets me. Thanks :)

Seems that you almost everything. The only problem with my flash was that Data was not wiped. You might want to add that if you back the Data partition up, and attempt to restore it, Cyanogenmod will not start as it is possibly not compatible

That was not from a source. It was my personal experience, that CM did not start up when I tried restoring, and worked when I re-wiped Data


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How do anti theft apps deal with the thief simply turning off phones?
https://bestidtheftcompanys.com/2014/top-20-free-apps-to-protect-your-android-device/
There are so many anti theft apps and devices out there, however, all of them can be defeated by a simple trick—just turn off the phone. Any apps that make the phone scream when stolen will just be silent. How do anti theft apps work with turning off phones? Do they make the phone scream when being turned off while being locked?

Yup! :) , you are right about this.But in XPosed Installer there is an app known as APM+ ( Advance Power Menu Plus ). This has a feature known as Fake Power off. By this your phone can pretend to be off, but in reality it would be working stealthily and every approach from real owner can be done.
Like this there are also other option which comes in handy.
As requested:
Anti-theft Helper™
Note: Actual effect of anti-theft is NOT guaranteed.
• Stop anyone from turning off your phone, enabling airplane mode, etc. when the device is locked by hiding any power menu items when the device is locked. In this way no one can stop device trackers like Android Device Manager from locating your phone by turning off the phone, disabling mobile data and so on(removable battery not taken into account)
• Show a warning to deter thieves.
• Fake Power Off - When you have this option enabled, trick your thieves by "apparently" turn off the phone, but the phone leaves running so you can still track the device (various options and strategies available for fine tuning the effect. Result may vary on different devices)
• Password protection - Lock power menu items and/or the app itself with a password. Apart from thieves, it is also ideal when your phone is on display.
Xposed Module Repository For APM+

+1 for a solution. Can you please  quote other options mentioned in your answer? If would  help those  who  don't want to root their devices and link them as well

this requires root? And pressing the power off button for a long time will still turn off the phone?

Nope. It will reboot. I tested it. And as described in NOTE. Any security has weakness and it should be so, because if it won't be then owner even can miss its requirement and a great drawback of that security system will emerge.


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xperia z5 broken screen locked need data
I had a sony xperia z5 compact for about 2 weeks until i smashed the screen. I have searched online to find some help to recover my photos and videos taken with the device. I didnt have any cloud set up so i cant get them from there. OTG cable has to be turned on EVERY TIME from the settings on the Z5, it seems the Z3 was plug and play good to go OTG, but not the Z5.
The screen is unresponsive and barely visible and it has a passcode lock (as fingerprint function is locked, and wont reset after a soft reset). I have until the end of the week to return the phone to my carrier and would like to get the data from it before i send it back. I have no knowledge of scripting ADB or how i can activate usb debugging with a damaged screen.
Is there a script i can download as a zip and paste to the root of an external SD card which can transfer or duplicate the files from the internal to external storage? or a zip that can activate usb debugging?
Thanks in advance.

Turn off the phone with power button and volume+ (hold them together), connect the mouse or keyboard with OTG cable and than turn on the phone. Then you can use the mouse to do everything.


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What is the permission ACCESS_WEATHERCLOCK_PROVIDER?
Some launcher apps uses android.permission.ACCESS_WEATHERCLOCK_PROVIDER permission.
What is this permission for?

Though the name suggests an Android core permission, no details on this can be found in official places (e.g. Android Developers or the code at Github). Still, tons of apps use this permission. I always wonder how devs find out they might need it – guess they're the only ones able to answer your question.

Seems only specific to Huawei devices

@AndrewT. saw that one, yes. But it mostly says census detected it there (strong indicator, though). Doesn't Huawei have its own namespace for perms, like others (Samsung e.g. uses com.sec.android.* – so I thought Huawei-specifics are covered by com.huawei.android, as that census list suggests as well)?

@AndrewT. Good guess, though: Digging a bit deeper at Census, I've figured what provides this permission. See my answer below for details.

this permission is used in microsoft arrow launcher and the weather is displaying in my lenovo device.

Andrew's guess was correct: According to Android Census, this permission is declared by Huawei's own weather app (or rather the data provider behind it). The site further shows it has been found on Huawei devices only (at least by them), covered by different protection levels (ranging from "normal" to "signature|system"), thus it cannot be even clearly said whether its declaration by some user app would have any effect at all.

For clarification: com.huawei.android.weather is a Content Provider, protecting access to its data via the android.permission.ACCESS_WEATHERCLOCK_PROVIDER. If an app requests that permission, it must be granted to it on install – which is done based on at least two conditions to be met: 1) Android knows of that permission (i.e. the app providing it is already installed), and 2) the protection level permits it. For "user-installed apps" that limits it to "normal" and "dangerous" protection levels. Now note the second census link: for some devices, this permission uses level "normal" (so it's available to user-apps), while on others it is "system|signature" (and thus not available to user-apps).


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Default Ringtone automatically resetting to "Silent"
I use a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (with Android 4.4.2), which was working fine.
Recently, the device started resetting the default ringtone to "Silent", no matter whatever ringtone is set to. Because of this, when somebody calls, we cannot hear the ring (but can see the incoming call details on the screen).
I have reset the ringtone of most of my contacts to something other than default. But this is an issue when somebody who is not in my contact list calls.
Any idea why this is happening ? Any help will be greatly appreciated.


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apps fail to access orientation & magnetic sensors
I've just started using a Doogee Nova Y100X Android-based phone (it's android 5.0).
It seems that my apps can only access some of the phone's sensors: accelerometer seems to work, proximity and illumination as well - but not orientation and magnetometer. I tested using an app named Compass v0.1 and then with S Tools+.
Is this a hardware issue? A fundamental software issue due to the phone manufacturer? Or (hopefully) something I can fix with some kind of configuration?

Based from the description of YouTube video review of this device, it only supports "Gravity Sensor Support, Light sensor Support, P-sensor Support", which is the same as your observation.. which makes me believe that this device doesn't have gyrometer and magnetometer. Have you tested it using any sensor tester apps?

@AndrewT.: It would be pretty strange if the device were missing such fundamental (I would think) sensors present on most(?) smartphones... I did use a sensor tester app,  S Tools ; but I'll try finding APKs for the ones you linked to (I don't use Google accounts so I can't get stuff from there.)

Well, from this question about minimum hardware requirement, it refers to Android CDC for Lollipop, and there's a section for sensors. Most sensors are recommended to have ("SHOULD"), but not a requirement ("MUST") (the categorization is defined on RFC2119)...

... and it's not uncommon for Android devices not to have gyroscope and magnetometer. Many low-entry devices don't have (and thus, cannot fully utilize Google Cardboard)

Indeed, as @AndrewT suggested, the device does not seem to have the extra sensors, physically.


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Android internal storage is showing less than actual size
I have a Samsung Galaxy Grand GT-I9082. The phone has 8GB internal storage.
If I go to Setting → Storage, I see that

the total storage is 8 GB and
the available storage is 14 MB.

I have reset my phone (hard reset and wipe), but the available storage hasn't changed! What's the problem?

Seems like a bug in the stock ROM universal to Samsung phones Related article A user suggested that Software update from samsung service centre solved the problem. Alternatively you can restore firmware using ODIN but be sure to take backup prior to both the processes.


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How to make things go through Media channel?
So, with my Galaxy s3 (version 4.4.2), I have a Life Proof case. It distorts my sound, but only my calls. Anything going through the media channel is fine, so I can listen to music or tv shows with no problem. Is there a way I can make my calls use a different sound channel so they don't get distorted? If not, is there a reason why the media channel isn't distorted but the calls are?


text:
Can I use a Bluetooth Lavalier Mic while recording video?
I want to use a wireless Bluetooth Lavalier mic (Like this) while recording a video. I'm open to any configuration or app to get this done.  I have a Galaxy Note 5, is there a way to get a Bluetooth (or any kind of wireless) mic that will record with the video so there is no sync issues?


text:
Free up phone storage Android 5.1 Moto G
I have a Moto G (1st generation) running Android 5.1. Recently, when I put my apps on update the phone refused saying that it had 'insufficient storage'. The DiskUsage app shows that there 9980MB of system data. What exactly is it? How do I free that memory?

Here is a screenshot of other memory usage:

Here is the output of df on my android device:

Your storage card is irrelevant here (see our insufficient-memory tag-wiki for details). What is relevant is shown by df: /data with ~13G capacity is down to ~10% free storage, which triggers the "insufficient storage" error. The tag-wiki also shows what you can do.


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Problem adding user profiles on asus zenpad z380 lollipop 5.0.2
I just bought an Asus Zenpad Z380, running on lollipop 5.0.2. I wanted to add another user/profile- but can't find the function anywhere. From what I read after I googled the question- one should be simply able to swipe down and there should be users and below that- a + sign to add more, only except that there isn't (for me, at least). I get only the one(main) user profile. tapping on it leads me to the profile itself on the contact list, and that's it!
My husband ran the setting up process (It's supposed to be a joint tablet). Could it be that he "took a wrong turn"- A.K.A missed something during the process, or is this a known (and hopefully fixable) problem?

What you read referred to a "pure" Android interface. Asus' ZenUI interface is very far from "pure" Android as it is heavily OEM-customized, and as such most of the instructions you find online is N/A for you, as they will refer to the "common", "pure" Android interface.


text:
How can I control the permissions an app has if I am on a rooted android?
Some apps ask for a ridiculous amount of permissions. Android tends to be you accept all the permissions and use the app or you don't accept all and don't use the app. This is different from how IOS handles permissions. For IOS, you can selectively allow permissions like location, notifications, photos, bluetooth, camera, etc. How can I do this on android. I don't care if it breaks certain apps. Sometimes their is a descent app that just ask for an overwhelming amount of permissions.
Any ideas? Android 5.1.1! No custom ROM. Don't have xposed? But I can install it if I need too.

what version of android are you using? you can check your version by going to "Settings" > "About phone". the version number will be under the heading "Android version". also, since you're rooted, are you using a custom ROM or xposed framework, etc? if you're using a custom ROM, what's the name of it?

@particlewavedelta 5.1.1

srry, i edited my original comment. take a look above for a few more questions.

@particlewavedelta I have been trying to figure that out, from what I obtained. I don't have xposed framework and no custom rom. I have SuperUser though if that means anything

unfortunately, there's no fine-grained permission control in your case. google added this feature to android in 6.0.x marshmallow. however, if you were to flash a cyanogenmod-based custom rom or the xposed framework, you could gain permission controls that way. there may be an app on the Play Store that will do this, but i'm not sure. what device are you trying to get permissions control of?

@particlewavedelta I can get xposed framework installed. But which module would I need to install for complete control. Xposed seems to be tricky with a lots of different modules to pick from.

here's a few to try. some may not work with lollipop 5.1.1. it's a trial and error thing with xposed these days.
[Permission Master] (http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.droidmate.permaster)
App Settings

@particlewavedelta I found Xprivacy works for xposed. Thanks for leading me in the right direction. If you post it as an answer I will be happy to accept it, so others with similar questions in the future can see it.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.


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Update/Reset android firmware by SD Card. Verizon Samsung S4
I have a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 that was rooted on the 4.3 build with the saferoot method (I think, it's been awhile). I had since installed Xposed framework and installer, etc.  I unrooted with the supersu unroot method. Now I can't connect my phone via USB in either Ubuntu or Windows 7 (it shows unknown device).  Another S4 shows up and installs drivers just fine on my computer, and my phone isn't recognized by other computers running windows. Basically, no matter what I've done with ADB and Windows drivers, my phone will not talk with my PC and I cannot connect to Odin. I've factory reset my phone, and I just want to be able to communicate via USB.
I'm looking at taking some of the firmware I've found on XDA-forums and installing that through the stock recovery with the SD card. SCH-I545_VZW_1_20131023084910_v4vth34m5z_fac.zip is the package I have.
My question: is this okay to just push this .zip via stock recovery?  Is there anything else I need to do, like install other packages, etc?
EDIT: After factory resetting both in the android OS AND in stock recovery, trying to take the OTA fails.

I replaced the actual USB port on the phone. Not only is it actually communicating, but it's charging a lot faster. The part is fairly easy to change and fairly cheap as well.


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How to display/obtain detailed app data usage of last 24h?
I know Android has a nice built-in way to visualize the monthly data usage on a daily basis. It also displays the cumulative data transfered data per app per cycle (1 month).
Where are the data usage numbers stored internally? And how detailed are they? More specifically, I am trying to figure out which app consumed data in the last X hours (or between timestamp A and timestamp B). Something ate up all remaining prepaid data last night (oddly while I was on WiFi and with background data restricted).

You've seen the vertical bars in Settings › Data Usage and that you can use them to restrict stats to e.g. those 24h?

@Izzy Yes, I've seen the vertical bars. How do you restrict them to a specific period? The phone I'm looking at is running Android 5.1.1

I'm moving them left or right (tap-and-hold, then move), until exactly the wanted period is covered.

Hmm that does not work for me. I can only move a horizontal data warning bar up and down.

Funny. I cannot test with 5.1.1 (no matching device). Try grapping them at their "lower end" (directly on the X axis) – won't work if grabbed "in the middle". Also, tapping the X axis should reveal their resp. markers to make them easier to handle.

Yeah really odd. I think I know what you mean, and I'm pretty sure I have seen it before, but it's just not there on this device. Thanks though.

/data/system/netstats/ is the place to look for, if only you've got root access. The maximum data you officially can get is from adb shell dumpsys netstats detail.


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Equivalent for Windows + R for Android
It's often difficult to locate the app I am looking for on my Android phone. Is there a way/app which behaves like Windows + R on a PC, with autocomplete, so that I can quickly launch the app I want to use, rather than endless swiping?

Most custom and stock launchers for Android support an "app search" feature. I know that ADW.Launcher, Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher, Google Now Launcher and Google Now itself has this feature. I'll tell you how to access this feature with Google Now (Launcher) and Nova Launcher, because I have those on hand to confirm this procedure.
For Google Now (or the stock Search app):
Enter the app's name into the home screen search box/widget. It should an option for the app, tapping on which should launch it.
If your Google Now has "OK Google" voice commands active and properly configured, saying OK Google, launch <app's name as shown in the launcher> or OK Google, open <app's name as shown in the launcher> to the device should also work from the home screen.
For Nova Launcher:
On the App Drawer page, swipe down from the top, to get a magnifying glass icon on small white circle in the top-center of the page. Pull it down further to get the search bar. Entering the app's name in the search bar should show its icon below the bar, and tapping on that icon will launch the app.
This applies to Nova Launcher version 4 and up. Apex Launcher is very similar to Nova, but I'm not sure this works there too. The latest version of Nova, 4.2.0, also has the "Recently used apps" feature like Google Now Launcher below.
For Google Now Launcher:
Same as Google Now above, but it also has a separate search bar on its app drawer page. It also shows your most recently used apps at the top of the app drawer's first page.
This should get you started. Welcome to the mini-universe of Android's custom launchers!

Long press on your home screen. (the screen that comes on when you start your phone) You should get a few options. (widgets, wallpapers etc)
Click on widgets.
Scroll until you find Google Search or Google App. When you find either of these, long press on it, and you will be able to drag and drop a search bar onto your home screen.
You can now touch the search bar on your home screen and start typing the app's name. You can then launch the app from the icons displayed below the search bar.

If this does not work, your Google app might be outdated. You can update it here and try again.


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How can I access /sdcard/ when I connect to PC (MTP)
I'm running a Nexus 5 (Android 6.0.1)
Today I have created a WhatsApp backup file and wanted to copy it to a new device. I can confirm the file existence in ES File Explorer.

(Click image to enlarge)
However, I cannot find the file when I connect my Nexus 5 with a USB (MTP).

After further checking I found the file is stored in /sdcard/WhatsApp, while my PC is connecting to /Internal Storage/WhatsApp

(Click image to enlarge)
But I cannot find /sdcard/ in my PC...
To make things more complicated, when I reboot the N5, the file appears again /Internal Storage/WhatsApp/
I've been a long time Android user since Motorola Milestone. I'm not a dev but luckily I have the experience in tackling such issue. But for a normal user without in-depth computer knowledge, this inconsistent behavior is just weird. There's a long way for Android to catch up with iOS in terms of user friendliness.

In your case /sdcard/ (Android's way of naming it) and /Internal storage/`  (Windows way of naming it) are same directory. As for why the file appears after reboot is because of a bug in MTP mode which misses to list files sometimes and a reboot solves that. Further read 1- SDCard same as Internal Storage and Further read 2 -MTP issue

Thanks for the information. Now I understand the issue was reported in 2012 but still not fixed in 2015. That's insane.

Issue 195362: Android not showing files in MTP until device reboot

/sdcard and /Internal storage are same directory.
As for why the file does not appear instantly is because of a bug in MTP mode as MTP cache is outdated until a phone reboot. If you do not wish to reboot the phone,
Possible Workaround:

Settings → Application Manager → All Apps tab → Media Storage → Clear Data
Install SD Scanner app → Open App →  Click on Start Rescan

Tested and Works on Android 5.0 Lollipop

You can Install Sarkie's MTPFix App for a permanent solution which fixes the issue.
This Automates the 2 step process mentioned in the other answer.
It monitors all the folders for new files and then adds them to MediaScanner. When Connected to a Computer, I copied a file to /sdcard from /ExternalSDCard using File Manager on phone and could see the file instantly show up on my Computer's Internal Storage listing.
Install the MTPFix App and Click on Start MTPFix Service
Source


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How can we install the root package through stock recovery in android, even though it is not signed
I've read that for some signature verification and signing reasons in android, The stock recovery doesn't allow us to install a custom rom directly using "Update from SD Card". And so we need to have a custom recovery installed so that no signature problems occur.
My question is that while rooting and installing a custom recovery we install a "update.zip package" from our stock recovery mode. So doesn't any signature verification occur over there?
How does the stock recovery allow installation of unsigned root and custom recovery packages but doesn't allow installation of custom rom directly?

I think some devices can root by installing a forged update.zip. You imply all devices can be rooted like this but that's not true.

@jiggunjer  Suppose I need to root my phone, in order to do that I have a root.zip package(unsigned) which won't get flashed by my stock recovery and so I'll have to now add a custom recovery so that I can flash that root.zip file. Now how do I install a custom recovery because mostly all methods on the internet uses a application "Rom Manager" that needs root privileges. So, isn't this a deadlock now . I want to flash root file but to do that I need custom recovery and to get custom recovery I need root. DEADLOCK.

Not a deadlock, most people use a PC flashing program (odin/fastboot/SP-flashtool) that will install a new recovery over USB. Another option sometimes is to root with a one-click app like kingroot/framaroot, then use some Rom Manager or whatever.

And also this means that if my phone is brand new, doesn't have any custom recovery and is not rooted then I have to have use PC atleast once to either root it or install custom recovery into it.

Depends on the model. Some phones can root using update.zip on the stock recovery (e.g. samsung n7000).

For that the update.zip needs to be signed properly and so I guess it is a matter of the zip file and not phone(here Samsung n7000) . Am I correct ?

Yea I think that's right.


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How do I clear app cache/data on Android without accessing settings?
I actually can't open the settings and desperately want to clear the cache of an app which is not working properly. When I open the settings app, it is forcefully closed down again and again.
How do I clear app cache/data on Android without accessing settings?

Do you have USB debugging enabled or root access? You can easily use pm clear PACKAGE using adb or clear the cache files using a file explorer if rooted.

Firelord, why not make this an answer.

Community bump prevention: this question was closed because the question seems to have been abandoned (OP hasn't visited the network for more than 5 years, 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.

There are some apps that can do that. CCleaner is less intrusive but does not work well with some devices. You might want to try each.
Just in case you want a quick method to clear your app data, and do not want to install anything, you could try opening your "Recent apps" (you can access it by tapping one of the buttons on the bottom of your phone, and it shows a list of all the apps that are open). Then long-press the app which needs to have its data cleared, and select "App Info". This will take you directly to the settings page in which you can clear the app's data.

Use this command with adb:

adb shell pm trim-caches 128G

You don't need root to do this.

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


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Google Now integration with Ford
I am attempting to get my Android Phone (not Google Auto) to cooperate more with my Ford.
At the moment, I can use the phone to connect by Bluetooth to play music, do voice calls and the usual things. I would however, like to be able to hands-free (or using the steering wheel button to) tell my phone to do something whilst I am driving.
For example, if I am navigating. I might like to know when I will reach my destination.
Typically, what will happen is my phone is in my pocket with the screen off. So it cannot hear me say OK Google. However, even if I leave my phone somewhere secure with the screen on, it is torturous to get it to respond to OK Google. I am assuming that the OK Google system is not listening passively through the Bluetooth system.
Ideally, I would like Google Now to be activated with the voice button on the steering wheel. However, OK Google would be great too.
My phone:

Nexus 5
Android Marshmallow 6.0.1
Stock OTA Rom

My car:

Ford Galaxy
Cannot find version of the Ford computer


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busybox doesn't work on marshmallow
The system builtin ip command works correctly with:
# ip route show table wlan0
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/xx dev wlan0  proto static  scope link

But busybox ip doesn't:
# busybox ip route show table wlan0
ip: invalid argument 'wlan0' to 'table'

Looks like busybox failed to read some system settings.

So what's wrong here?
When tried to uninstall, the Busybox Free app froze. Is it safe to manually remove busybox and its symlinks in adb shell?

If they are in /system/xbin/ they are almost safe to remove.


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Can preloaded apps be restored when Factory reset-ed
I have deleted some preloaded apps. If I restore mobile (Factory reset)

Will the preloaded apps be restored?
Will my device remain rooted or will I lose root?

Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 1 (GT N7000)

yes I mean factory reset by restore

Possible duplicate of Will un-rooting return stock apps

There are two parts to your question

Factory Reset.

a) Factory reset removes user data including apps installed by the user on phone. Since your device is rooted, you can see that everything in  /data
and /data/data will be wiped.
b) Factory reset does not flash stock ROM. Since you have deleted preloaded apps, they will not be restored. If you want them restored, you have to flash stock ROM
To understand more about factory reset, please read this
Factory reset to restore performance? What are the disadvantages?

Root.  You will not lose root on factory reset. Your phone will remain rooted

Please read this post to understand more Can I safely do a factory reset without losing root?
Further, unrooting will also not being back deleted apps
Please read this Will un-rooting return stock apps

Additional Information on reverting to stock ROM (asked by OP in comments)

How can I flash stock ROM?

Source for downloading Stock ROM:  Sammobile, you have to register and download ROM specific to your model and region. You can check  here also Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?
Flashing Instructions:  Can be found on many sites. Here is one such link (also having stock ROMs) from XDA. You can also see "additional information" of my answer

how can I flash stack rom????

If the answer meets your question, you can click the tick mark  next to the answer to indicate  that it is "accepted". You can learn more about accepting an answer

Your phone will be unrooted and apps will install again.

and how can I root it again???

@AliHamzaNoon you can root it again if you know how.

A factory reset will not unroot you.


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"Apk Installation failed: ANDROID_BOOT_FAILURE" when installing an APK
I am trying to install Google Play Store 6.0.5 on my PC through BlueStacks APK handler. It shows "Installing APK", but after sometime it shows

Apk installation failed: ANDROID_BOOT_FAILURE

How can I solve this problem?

While it's not the same problem, from Reddit, try installing PackageFileInvalidIssueResolver.apk first.


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Can't set screen lock to other than 'Slide'
I can't switch the screen lock mode to anything other than 'Slide'. Other options (None, PIN, Password, Pattern, Face) are available, but after setting up any of them the label with the selected option keeps showing 'Slide', and indeed nothing changes in the lock screen.
My device is a Xperia SP (C5303). I'm running a stock ROM (12.1.A.1.205) with Android 4.3 which I recently flashed; previously I was running CyanogenMod with KitKat. I didn't wipe user data when flashing.
Looking for solutions to similar problems, I have already tried disabling device administrators; and I couldn't try "Clear credentials" since it was greyed out. Clearing the data for the Xperia Screen Lock app (com.sonyericsson.lockscreen.uxpnxt) doesn't make any difference.
Anything else I could try before wiping all user data?


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What is Marshmallow encryption protecting?
I installed CM 13.0 onto a Nexus 6, which includes Android 6.0.1, and I have set a PIN. The Settings UI reports that my phone is encrypted.
However, my phone is able to boot all the way to the lock screen without entering my PIN. This seems to imply that only /data is encrypted. I was expecting that I would have to enter a PIN at boot time, the way I did with Ice Cream Sandwich and Lollipop. Furthermore, when I go to TWRP, I can see all my files without ever entering a PIN.
My understanding was that Marshmallow required full disk encryption, and that full disk encryption would require a PIN at boot time to decrypt anything useful.
What did I misunderstand here? If someone stole my phone and didn't know my PIN, what would they have access to?

You're misinformed, thanks to some technical terms mostly applicable to PC now used in Android ecosystem. For Google, full disk encryption means completely encrypting all user data (only data partition, often) and that's all. (Source). Have you taken into account that CM13.0 (not stable) might be buggy?

Because I still use Shamu as personal device, I had experience with CM ROMs.
Nexus devices with L or M had forced encryption at first bootstrap - that is, forceencrypt flag is present in fstab.qcom, so your device is automatically encrypted.
In those cases, master key is encrypted with default password, which is default_password
Most probably, when you had set lock screen PIN, you haven't selected Require PIN to start device, hence, there is no preboot authentication.
In regard to FDE, in AOSP ROMs only /data is encrypted; but there are solutions for LUKS or PBE that are not user friendly. Several years ago, WhisperCore was launched and abandoned.

I do believe the password you had entered was Encrypt Device Data which in turn does what is below, not screen lock
If you have gone into settings and encrypted your device please note that IF your device had the function of Mass Storage, that feature will now be disabled as Media Storage will be the only thing you can use(media storage: add videos and or music by computer media software; no adding other folders and or files manually, ect.)
Encrypting a device and or SD card locks specifically 3rd party software and or computer interaction from getting access to the device, device files and or prying eyes let alone access to folders you once could by connecting to your computer.
To undo this that I have found useful and possibly the only way:
Format Encrypted Device
SD Formatting wipes out all user data like a clean slate and or like a new card
Device formatting wipes ALL user account information including all files like Music, Photos, Videos, ect.
It is recommend to backup these files before formatting any of the two (2)
To backup

Settings
Backup and reset

Make sure Backup My Data is checked
Make sure Backup Account is correct
Make sure Automatic Restore is checked
Automatic Restore: Restores user account(s), system data, downloaded system apps, restores system pictures, system videos, system music, and or anything else that was saved to the system only
IT IS RECOMMENDED TO RESTORE OVER WI-FI, IF YOU USE CARRIER DATA CHARGES MAY APPLY

How does this answer the question?

@Firelord this is an answer to his question, long winded explanation, and an only solution in theory. Although I am up for being corrected as it may be reveseable in lollypop and up. Is there a better answer? It will be a learning experience for me as well to know of a better solution, especially when I had this issue myself on an old phone 4.0.4 ice cream sandwich I do believe if memory serves me correctly

Summary of this is: Encryption is Automatic and Ever there for Marshmallow. Especially the CM13 you are operating on.

But protecting your device is your choice. The system wants to give you liberty to do what you like so it won't enforce data security even if encryption is available. When setting lock screen security, there's a question about, liking to protect your device by asking a pattern, password or PIN. This means when device switches off, and this option is on, it runs an encrypting script so as on the next bootup the phone demands the pattern to decrypt. Even TWRP will ask you for a code so as to mount /data. Note that if the whole root partition is encrypted, the device won't even use the boot.img and recovery since they rest at /dev/platform/[memory.name]/by-name/boot.img and /dev/platform/[memory.name]/by-name/recovery.img hence encryption only affects the /data partition, anyway, encryption is for protecting your data from unauthorized access not the system from accessing it's runtime essentials. Failure to agree to that prompt well count your device as decrypted and it's not encrypted on shutdown again hence it behaves like a decrypted device which is put aware to you when it tells you, "device protection features will not work on this device". That's what Android does, if you want a more practical visible type of encryption try BlackBerry 7 OS encryption and it's precedent devices. It will encrypt media, sdcards, and they won't even work on your computer through drag to copy. Unless you send then by bluetooth or any recognized upload.


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How to disable flashlight in lock screen in Lollipop on Xcover 3?
Since upgrading my Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3 phone to Android 5.1 Lollipop, I've noticed that the flashlight keeps getting turned on in my pocket. Apparently, pressing the "Xcover button" on the side of the phone will now toggle the flashlight on and off even in the lock screen.
I've tried to find some way to turn this behavior off, but I'm not seeing anything in the settings that would look promising. My attemps to Google for a solution just yield instructions for enabling flaslight access from the lock screen on versions prior to Lollipop.
Short of getting a more robust case for my phone, how can I keep my pockets from shining in the dark?

Related: How to check if flashlight is activated?

@ Firelord: Alas, I don't think installing CyanogenMod and writing a script to control the flashlight is really the most practical solution here. At least, I really hope it isn't.

I had this same problem, and found a solution!
Download a random app (one that you don't actually need) from Play Store, then go to Settings (Personal / Xcover key) and change the button to open that app. Test that it works, and then delete the app, and now the button does nothing. ;)

Good idea! The only problem is that this also disables the button when the phone is unlocked, which is not ideal, but I guess I can just add the flashlight app to my home screen instead. I did some testing, though, and it seems that if I bind the button to some random game, it will not launch from the lock screen -- it seems that the real problem (to me) is that the built-in flashlight app has some permission that lets it bypass the screen lock. So I think if I found a third-party flashlight app with fewer permissions, and bound the button to that, it should work the way I want it...

Today my girlfriend's father ask me how to solve it.
I've just written an lightweight app (7kB) which does nothing at all.
Download it from here and set as your XCover button app :)

the app should be available within 2 hours from now...

That's... awesome! :D

I have found that this will disable the torch: Go to SETTINGS then ACTIVE KEY press SHORT PRESS and select NO ACTION, this should now disable the torch but leave the camera active on a long press.

I don't see that option on my XCover 3 (Android 5.1.1). Also (possibly related), on my phone the settings item is called "Xcover key", not "Active key".


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Forced into roaming
I have a HTC One M7 that I use on Sprint. My issue is that I am forced to have my phone in roam mode for it to function. I currently have Automatic selected because in Home only mode I have no communications at all. The phone is rooted and also s-off.
Thanks in advance for any help someone can give me.


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Cannot locate recovery image
I have Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo (GT-I9301I). I've installed ClockworkMod and made backup of all files in my device. I had no suitable external memory card for backup, so CWM saved it in phone's memory. I've planned to move that backup to my PC, but I cannot locate it neither looking through "My files" in my device, nor connecting device to PC using USB, although free memory was reduced by 5-6 GB after making backup. The only way I can actually locate the backup is in recovery mode selecting - restore from/sdcard. It says backup image is in /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup', but I cannot find this folder on my device.
How do I find my backup files? If that's of any relevance, my phone is rooted. And I've also enabled "Show hidden files" option inside my device.

@beeshyams You' re correct. I was able to locate my backup using "Root Browser". Still, this does not help to transfer it to PC. Maybe I should just get external microSD card. Or maybe I'll look into those adb commands.

Until Android version 4.4.2 the CWM backups are stored in /data/media/clockworkmod/backup  Reason for this as per the Reddit Post (see source below)

In Android 4.2, backups are placed in a secure directory, inaccessible to other apps

Whether it is TWRP / CWM / Philz recovery, clearing "internal storage", does not wipe this folder, unless explicitly cleared, hence back ups remain safe
You should be able to view the backup by any root enabled file explorer
This backup can be transferred to

External SD card by using a file explorer (to save space on internal SD)
Laptop using  adb pull /data/media/clockworkmod/backup

Source
XDA Thread: CWM Recovery restoring nandroid backup
Reddit Post: Transferring CWM backups to my PC?
`


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How to use two Android smartphones as lavalier microphone transmitter and receiver?
I have two Android smartphones (Nexus 5 and Galaxy Nexus) and lavalier microphone. I would like to connect microphone to one smartphone and connect another smartphone to the mixer console. Then stream audio from lavalier microphone to the mixer console directly via one smartphone to another over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Maybe router should be added to this network, to expand the range.
I work on stage in noncommercial events, so buying real transmitter and receiver will be to expensive for me, or for organization.
Theoretically it can be done through simple call, but there will be latency (it is not direct connection) and it will cost money every time..
I found several similar questions here, but no one was about using one smartphone with microphone, and I didn't found any answer yet.

so basically, you just want to stream your voice to the other end point?

Yep, but directly and constantly over WiFi

Link to the similar questions?

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/128994/is-it-possible-to-use-one-android-as-a-remote-speaker-for-all-audio-on-another-a
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/21861/can-i-use-my-phone-as-an-audio-device-via-wifi
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/33456/video-streaming-among-android-devices-using-wi-fi-without-internet

There is probably an app that will work for you in this situation.

I didn't found one. Do you know any?

I've come up with what is hopefully a better solution. Use the app here. Install the app on both devices. There are many similar apps to this so if this one doesn't work perhaps try another one. The app listed works over Bluetooth rather than WiFi. I hope this is OK and it should avoid latency. I'm not sure why I didn't make the link in my head that what you needed was a voice communication app. The old solution is below:
There certainly seems to be a gap in the market here because I can't see why this would be impossible (actually, thinking about it, capturing all device audio might be an issue [although you would only need to capture audio input which wouldn't be...]). I have a solution but it's a rather hacky one and will require root, I'm afraid.
NOTE: I haven't used any of these apps myself. Be careful when installing unknown applications.
Host a WiFi hotspot on one device and join the hotspot on the other. Make sure to turn off data before doing this. This way, the devices won't have an Internet connection but they will have a network connection.
Install AirAudio on the device that you wish to stream from.
Install Microphone on the device that you wish to stream from (this app may have some latency but hopefully not).
Install UPnPlay on the device that you wish to stream to.
Turn on the Microphone application so it starts recording everything and then set AirAudio to stream all device audio over DLNA and then use UPnPlay on the other device to recieve this stream.
I don't think this will work well in practice but it may be worth a try.
Hope this solves your issue.

I've updated my answer with what is hopefully a better solution

@Shultc Have you tried either of the solutions and did they work for you?

@Shultc Did you get this done? I'm looking for the same.
I've found your requirement 100 percent matches to mine. So Could you get back to us with if you've found the solution?

Unfortunately, I still could not find the time to test this solution. If I will test it, I will write here immediately.
You can do same thing.


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CyanogenMod vs rooting Cyanogen OS
Background: I want a rooted Android phone, but I have never dabbled with rooting etc before. I own a YU Yuphoria device (which comes with Cyanogen OS).
It seems to me there are two ways to get root access:

install CyanogenMod on the phone, or
root the stock Cyanogen OS that comes with the phone

What are the pros and cons of either option over the other?
If I install CyanogenMod, will I get quicker updates to the OS (including new Android releases)? Does the update happen automatically (or at least very simply), or does it involve some procedure (using the PC to flash/run commands etc) to be followed each time?
Currently I am tilting towards CyanogenMod because I think (though I might be wrong) that it will allow automatic regular updates without having to re-root each time. On the other hand, I have read that rooting the stock Cyanogen OS will require the re-rooting each time after updating the OS.
Any differences in stability between CyanogenMod (the stable releases, not nightly) and Cyanogen OS?

CyanogenMod is a custom ROM for your phone and CyanogenOS is stock ROM for your phone. The difference between updates should now be clear. The difference between persistent root should also become clear now. Note that CyanogenOS is simply a commercial version of CyanogenMod, a bit toned down hence. Yureka supports flashing using bootloader. Use it to flash a recovery and then root your stock ROM. No need to switch ROMs just to root.

Unfortunately nothing that you thought would become clear became clear :/ I already knew the difference (and relationship) between the CyanogenMod and CyanogenOS.... but I am extremely new to the whole rooting business.

It has nothing much to do with rooting here. I've mentioned the keywords. Use them to make things clear. For example, COS (stock ROM) ships updates a lot later than CM (custom ROM). There updates differs. Official CM receives regular updates. COS12 would most likely use block based update and in that case it either wouldn't update or you would lose root access.

Pls read my question again (I've edited for some more clarity), and answer the specific questions. In particular, I feel CyanogenMod (being an official distribution with root access) will keep updating itself without needing to be re-rooted each time it updates (which will also be more frequent than the updates on Cyanogen OS  hopefully?), while the stock CyanogenOS might need re-rooting each time it updates? Is this a valid reason to prefer the CyanogenMod?

Ah, just saw your comment above. So I guess CyanogenMod does make more sense... both because it'll get faster updates and coz I wouldn't lose root access each time. Any issues with stability in your opinion?

Sorry, I only use COS so I can't comment on that part.

If your aim is stability, prefer COS and root it.. It's not that hard to root. Just unlock Bootloader, flash custom recovery & install SuperSu. But CM natively supports root (no need to flash SuperSu), but eventhough, to install CM, you require unlocked bootloader and custom recovery.. So it's completely your choice.

If you're looking specifically at the stable builds of CyanogenMod (CM), then you would be better off rooting Cyanogen OS. Otherwise you would likely be reverting to an older Android version or waiting months for the stable release of the current version of CM to be released. In my experience, the stable release typically comes at the end of the development cycle for a particular Android version, e.g. around when the new version is being released. On the other hand, for the OnePlus One the comparatively stripped out CyanogenOS build would come a few weeks after the release of a new version of Android.
The obvious pro for CM is that it is much more recent and updated. New features are being added constantly, so by the time it reaches a stable release it is much more fully featured than the comparable Cyanogen OS release. The obvious downside is the time that it takes to get to that point.
The obvious pro for Cyanogen OS is that it is built specifically for your device under contract by the manufacturers. It's already on your phone and is supported officially. Being an OEM ROM, it often comes with additional Cyanogen OS-specific apps and themes that aren't available to CM, CM-based ROMs, and AOSP-based ROMs. Although from my experience with the OnePlus One, this point is insignificant.
Between those two options, there isn't likely to be any significant difference in stability. With CyanogenOS, you WILL have to reroot the device every time you flash an official update. You would not have to deal with the steps of the root process that revolve around drivers, which is most of them, but it will also overwrite your recovery so you would have to flash that again as well. With CM the update process involves rebooting to recovery and installing the .zip file. The more I think about this, the more I'd recommend CM. You've changed my mind.
If you are interested in some of the additional features that a custom ROM has to offer, you should browse the lettuce xda page here for custom ROMs. The only people that will be able to answer your stability questions are other people on your same device running these ROMs. A CM 13 build was just released last week so it may be too early to consider that a daily driver but the CM 12.1 build has been around for a while. There are also plenty of other ROMs out there if you want to go down that route.
The rooting process for your device is the same as many others and is very straightforward. Here is a detailed guide. These steps will be common to both rooting CyanogenOS AND installing CM, which is only four additional steps: download ROM zip, reboot to recovery, flash the zip, and wipe cache and dalvik. Reboot.

Thanks for the detailed response.

what do you mean by 'downgrading versions and waiting months for the stable release of CM to be released' and 'The obvious downside is the time that it takes to get to that point'
Don't the stable versions of CM come out more frequently than Cyanogen OS? So what's the downside with CM in this respect?

It's true I am mainly interested in root access. But isn't it the case that Cyanogen OS will need re-rooting each time it updates (which, since I've never done it before seems like a scary process fraught with all kinds of risks like bricking etc :D)

"Don't the stable versions of CM come out more frequently than Cyanogen OS?" To be honest that depends on how much your phone manufacturer is paying them. I'll update my answer.


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How to install Android from scratch
So I bought a phone from Aliexpress.  It's a J5 Mini phone with Android 4.2.2.  Problem is that it doesn't have Google Play services installed on it.  When I open settings and try to Add Account, nothing happens. I click on the Add Account and it flashes, but that's it.  It looks like I may have to do a clean install of Android on this phone.  Any thoughts how I can do this?
I've downloaded the Android Update.zip file, saved it on a micro SD card to try to side load it, but no luck.  I unzipped the Android update.zip file and tried to install individual apps but the errors I get state that "this installation doesn't support Google Play Services.  I'm assuming because Google Play Services aren't installed.

Related: How can I install the Google Apps Package (Play Store, …) on my Android device? // How do I update Android on my device?

First of all, that you shouldn't unzip the file.. cause it is a flashable zip.. next, since you said its cause of google play store..
1) go to settings>apps see if any google product is installed already.. If it does, you need to remove it.. If its installed as a user app.. you can uninstall right away in settings.. If it's system app.. Then you need to root your mobile first and download and install any system apps remover..
Note: If you root mobile, your warrenty will be void.. Since you are using samsung, rooting is against their mobile laws..
2) if the google apps are not installed, search google as "4.2.2 gapps" you will get lot of links.. download anyone you want and flash it in recovery..
Note: it is highly recommended to use custom recovery like clockwork mod, philz touch recovery or twrp to flash files.. google it, you will find one if someone ported it for your device..!


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Some songs don't show up in Google Play Music on phone?
Before I start, no this is not a duplicate of this question. They just happen to have similar titles.
Anyway, I wanted to listen to music on my Moto X smartphone. So like I have always done with every MP3 player and old phone I've had in the past, I just connected the phone to my computer with a USB cord, and then used Windows Media Player to sync the music files to the phone.
As far as I can tell, Google Play Music is the only app on the phone that allows you to play music files. So I opened the app up and set it to "Downloaded Only" in the sidebar menu. Then I went to "My Library," but to my surprise many of my songs weren't there!
With the phone hooked up to the computer I can look in the Moto X's "Music" folder, and all my songs that I synced are there. But inexplicably some albums don't show up in the Google Play Music app. Can anyone tell me why this is and/or how to get it so I can play these files? Thanks!

What format are those files? Check https://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html to see if your codecs are supported. WMA (Windows Media Audio) is NOT supported.

@GiantTree Oh no, searching through the ones that come through and the ones that don't, it looks like they ARE Windows Media Audio files...
Oh dear, please don't tell me this means that I'll have to convert them all to different file types before transferring them to my phone..

If you don't use a player that features a custom decoder like PowerAMP, you need to convert them to another format, preferably MP3.

@GiantTree Uhg, okay. I'll see if I can't find a way to make Windows save ripped CD files as a different default file type that isn't WMA. You can put your comment in an answer and I'll give you credit if you like.

Android does not support many formats by its MediaPlayer library.
 Check http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html to see if your codecs are supported.
If you don't use a player that features a custom decoder like PowerAMP, you need to convert them to another format, preferably MP3 or FLAC if they are lossless.
Windows Media Player does have a way to change the default Media Copy format:

Go to Organize->Options
Switch to the Copy Music tab
Select the format you'd like from the drop-down list.
Select your preferred quality setting (in kBit/s, I recommend 256 kBit/s, because 320 kBit/s does not really add more quality for the bigger size)
Hit OK
Copy all the music!


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Difference in partition size
I have 32 GB sd card with two partitions. First is FAT partition has size 29 GB, second is ext4, nearly 3 GB (counted by Linux computer). But Android is showing that:
root@htc_a51ul:/storage/ext_sd # fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk1

Disk /dev/block/mmcblk1: 31.9 GB, 31914983424 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3880 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

              Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks  Id System
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1               1        3554    28545024   c Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/block/mmcblk1p2            3554        3881     2620416  83 Linux

First partition have 27,21 GB on Android and second only 2.49 GB.
When I sum up blocks of both partitions (which are bytes) it's equals 29,72 GB. But sd card is 32GB. Why the difference?

Not clearly an Android question, but rather about storage media: reserved blocks to protect your data in case something "breaks". See e.g. Formatting a new SD card (Ctrl-F and enter "reserved" ;) Affects usually ~5% of disk space.

FAT file system doesn't support reserved block. Link that you provide is related to ext3 file system, not FAT.

All file systems need reserved space for management. Sorry I've not checked first the one in use here; but e.g. when bad blocks occure, their data must be saved somehow. And the Metadata must be stored somewhere. Find out about reserved sector areas for FAT at Wikipedia.

But why on computer I see different values (the right ones)?


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Flashed a new firmware, now wifi won't turn on
last night I installed SlimKat on my rooted S3 (SGH-I747M, Canada Bell) and I had no network connection, so I donwloaded the Samsung original firmware from SamMobile.com. I flashed it on and everything is working now network wise. However, when I enable the WiFi it doesn't turn on at all. Not sure what to do at this point, do I need a different firware or what? Eventually I would like to have a custom rom, but I know I need to re-root it and then install it using CWM, but I don't want to do anything until I know that I have Wifi working.
Another weird thing is that I'm currently in Prague, Czech Republic and I was able to connect to my network here (Vodafone CR) without any problem. I thought it would be locked into Bell again (This is a very good thing obviously, just don't really know why...)
Thanks in advance

No it was rhe firmware for Bell in Canada.... where the phone is from . @beeshyams

@beeshyams ok... how do i find the modem only, and do i use Odin to flash it ??

I'm just wondering... is the modem only for the mobile data ? Because i have mobile data , its just the WiFi that isn't working . Apologies if that's a dumb question ...

@beeshyams will do it tonight. Or tomorrow and let you know

@beeshyams if i root it now. Install cwm and install a custom rom and i can't connect to my network (like what happened the last time i put slimkat on) is all i have to do is flash the modem and it should fix it ?

@beeshyams yes i did that before the slimkat install . Is that why i couldn't connect to the mobile network?

@beeshyams Ok . Thanks for rhe answer. What options do I choose in Odin to do a clean flash ? I can probably Google it so i understand if you don't answer

@beeshyams Now when i turn my phone it only goes into ClockWorkMod. I  have no idea what to do, but it's completely useless. Please help me. I hope it's not a brick.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

@beeshyams Ok. I don't know how to do that though. I don't use stack exchange ever. Message me please :)

Please see chat

Based on our chat, you did not do a "clean flash" ( Factory reset + wipe Dalvik cache + wipe, preferably format /system) of stock ROM using Odin.
Clean flash is always recommended if you are switching between ROMs from different sources for same Android Version or switching between versions. This is to ensure that /system does not have remanants of the earlier ROM.
What you did while switching ROM from Slimkat to stock is a "dirty flash", (see Clean flash Vs dirty flash  which could have resulted in your Wifi problem.
Suggest you first clean install stock ROM and check WiFi connectivity. In case that doesn't work suggest you update modem to the latest version from complete modem list for S3 either flashing by Odin or custom recovery


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Cortex-A53 cpuinfo'd as ARMv7?
I picked up a used Samsung Galaxy Core Prime offered by MetroPCS in the US for testing. The device is powered by Android 5.1.1. Testing requirements are a 64-bit ARM processor, but I'm not sure if I have met the requirements.
According to cat /proc/cpuinfo (see below), I see Qualcomm Technologies, Inc MSM8916. That's a Cortex-A53, which is ARMv8a/64-bit architecture. But I also see ARMv7 listed, which is a 32-bit architecture.
Can anyone explain why I am seeing conflicting results?

$ adb shell cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor   : 0
model name  : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
BogoMIPS    : 38.40
Features    : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt vfpd32
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part    : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 0

processor   : 1
model name  : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
BogoMIPS    : 38.40
Features    : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt vfpd32
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part    : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 0

processor   : 2
model name  : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
BogoMIPS    : 38.40
Features    : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt vfpd32
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part    : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 0

processor   : 3
model name  : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
BogoMIPS    : 38.40
Features    : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt vfpd32
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part    : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 0

Hardware    : Qualcomm Technologies, Inc MSM8916
Revision    : 0006
Serial      : 000009f200000001
Processor   : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)

Some more testing reveals the following. I've done this procedure hundreds of times, so I know the results are an ominous sign.
I'm guessing it is a Cortex-A53/ARM-v8a processor, but its configured in 32-bit mode.

$ aarch64-linux-android-readelf -h ./cryptest.exe | grep -i 'class\|machine'
  Class:                             ELF64
  Machine:                           AArch64
$ aarch64-linux-android-readelf -h ./libcryptopp.so | grep -i 'class\|machine'
  Class:                             ELF64
  Machine:                           AArch64

[Push test program to /data/local/tmp, open a remote shell]

shell@cprimeltemtr:/ $ cd /data/local/tmp
shell@cprimeltemtr:/data/local/tmp $ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=./; ./cryptest.exe v
/system/bin/sh: ./cryptest.exe: not executable: 64-bit ELF file

What you have there is a 64-bit CPU running a 32-bit Android kernel. The kernel maintains /proc/cpuinfo and reports on what it is using rather than what exists. The boot code of the device will have put the processor into 32-bit mode before starting Android.
The 32-bit OS can recognise 64-bit executables, because there are identifying numbers in the file header. It knows it can't run 64-bit executables, and tells you so. There are several kinds of mixed 32/64-bit Android:

This one, with 64-bit hardware and a 32-bit Android. Devices like this were presumably produced to take advantage of new hardware before the vendor had finished updating their version of Android.
64-bit hardware and operating system, but 32-bit Android RunTime ("ART"). This setup will run 32-bit and 64-bit native code, but Java/Kotlin code runs in a 32-bit environment. I've encountered one device like this, a 2017 model of the Amazon Kindle Fire HD.
64-bit hardware and operating system, capable of running 32-bit and 64-bit native code, and with 64-bit ART. This has been common for several years as of 2023.

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


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Rooting HTC One M8 fails using KingRoot
I am trying to Root my HTC M8. I have tried using KingRoot to get it rooted, but I lost root and couldn't get it to get rooted again. Do you have a better way of rooting the device?

Yeah! Your phone was rooted but there was no change in recovery. So, It would be told that stock recovery has some scripts that sets all back. I have been through it already.
So, I have solution which helps in permanent rooting.
It can be applied nearly all devices over the globe -->

Download a custom recovery and flash it.
    You can find its tutorial and requirement based on your model on some searches.
Now, find a flashable zip file of SuperSu and flash this one using recovery.
 This zip file can be found by just searching these highlighted keywords.

This process is permanent for rooting as there is no one to check system changes for SuperSu binary. And as recovery has already root access. So, it can share it with you. I hope it may be helpful for many people.


text:
Galaxy S Duos 2 - No OS installed currently
Well I started with CWM to get Cyanogenmod 12 but all I did was remove any OS present.Now no OS is currently installed, and I cannot install any ROM as any installation fails with error 7. I tried to fix it with many possible solutions, none of which worked.

deleting assert,
updating binary file for patch,
replacing set_metadata with set_perm.

Now what to do? It will be great to get the stock ROM back.

Try ODIN-flashing the stock ROM

You could try installing a factory firmware through ODIN. You can find instructions here.
For the latest firmware, you can look on SamMobile.

well at last that is what i m doing now.... :( nd luks like i cannot get a custom rom now.... tell me one more thing... cant i do flash a custom rom using ODIN..??

No you can't flash a rom using ODIN. The zip you download will have a factory image which contains all system files which ODIN flashes over your existing system. So if you an get a stock image somehow, it'll be easier to get your phone back up and running again.


text:
Restore Playlists
I carefully crafted music playlists in the "Play Music" app on my Android.
I deleted some songs from my library, but the song titles still appeared in my playlists.
Now the titles are gone, and I need the proper tracklisting for these playlists. Please help.
How do I recover the songs, or at least the titles?


text:
New LG G3 randomly crash
I have bought a new LG G3 (D855, 16GB Flash, 2GB RAM), and rooted and flashed CM12.1 on it.
The phone works great (somewhat), but sometimes the screen turns itself off and the phone gets stuck in this state. Holding the power button neither turns the phone on nor off, and I have to remove and reinsert the battery to turn it on.
It has happened 7 times since Sunday.
I thought it might be due to overheating (a hunch), but could not find anything to confirm this.
How can I solve this problem?

Have you tried a different kernel?

I have not. What can you recommend?

I can't recommend anything. it is up to you to find and decide. I've read about this issue somewhere and people reported success by changing the kernel.

Sounds like the fairly common LG bootloop issue, which Google (and I) attest also happens on the G3.  Some had success with a new battery, or using a heat gun, or tightening screws, or soldering.  I haven't tried all those, but did find that it worked best in cold weather.  Surprised there's no direct question about it here on ASE, as the forums suggest it has hit quite a many.

Had the same issue. Solced by connecting to external power supply. Did some searching and apparently, thus cyclic crashing can be due to a bad battery...


text:
How to enable Diagnostic(DIAG) Mode in ZTE Engage N8000
How to put ZTE Cricket Engage N8000 in Diagnostic(DIAG) Mode. I want to use it in DFS CDMA Tool.

Related SO post - Android Diagnostic Mode - How to Enable it?

You can do it only if your phone is rooted.
Make sure Qualcomm drivers for your phone are installed in computer.
Enter this in Terminal Emulator in your device:
su
setprop sys.usb.config diag,adb

Note: This will work only if your phone's ramdisk has the appropriate configs enabled for the 'diag,adb' property.
If that didn't work, better open /init.xxxxxxx.usb.rc (xxxxxxx represents your device's codename or chipname or whatever) and check for properties related to 'diag'.

How did you conclude that OP's device is rooted?

@Firelord Just a guess ;) Anyway, edited the answer to mention it needs root :)


text:
How to restore files on SD card protected by NQ vault?
I changed my Android mobile phone from one carrier to another. I installed Vault app from the Google Play store, and placed the old SD Card from the previous phone into this new phone. After installing the vault software in the new phone, I am unable to restore data (photos, videos) from old SD card.
My old phone isn't in working condition so how do I restore these files?

There is a related post here which indicates that vault app is phone specific How to restore files on SD Card that was protected by Vault app? which indicates it is not possible, more so since your old device isn't working
Even for premium vault members it appears to be the same (need to use old phone)
https://help.nq.com/entries/24327737-I-just-got-a-new-phone-how-can-I-transfer-my-Premium-Vault-service-to-the-new-device-
But both these are time lined 2013 so it's best to reach out to nq vault help and post your outcome here for benefit of others
Edit
Short answer : NO, unless you are a premium subscriber and made a cloud backup
Long Answer : I mailed NQ, since I had the app on my previous cell and
was debating to go premium. Their reply, you can quote  request (#239838) to follow up

Carrie (NQ Mobile US, Inc.)
  Dec 23, 09:28

Thank you for contacting NQ Mobile Customer Support.

Unfortunately, if you no longer able to access the device, it will be difficult to recover your files and information from the Vault at this time. This is because the Vault files are saved locally on the device itself and the only way to either backup, restore, or move those encrypted files would be by using the Vault application on the original device. There is no other way to do so via a computer for example, unfortunately.
If you ever made a backup with our premium Cloud Backup (Vault Online) feature in the past, you should be able to restore your information to the last backup on a new mobile device by tapping " Cloud Backup (Vault Online) " in the application, signing into your NQ Account, and then tapping the green "Restore" button. If you have never made a backup or were never a Premium User, unfortunately the files are lost and there's no other way to recover them. I do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
If you had Premium Service on your old device, however, I can assist you in transferring that Premium Service over to your new phone.

There is a lesson to be learnt here, before trusting sensitive data to such apps, evaluate all contingencies before you do that

I imported pics and videos which were in my SD card to vault, then inserted my SD card to another phone and all the pics and videos are available.
If you import data from sd card to vault so what vault does is it copies the data to vault in internal memory
And 1 original copy is still in the SD card.

I imported pics and videos which were in my SD card to vault, then inserted my SD card to another phone and all the pics and videos were available.
If you import data from SD card to vault, what vault does is it copies the data to vault in internal memory and 1 original copy is still in the SD card.

Try to read your sdcard using the PC , the Vault is a form of programme that move you files to hidden. Use of find the folder, your files are there.
That's how I do last time.


text:
Check which app triggers WIFI on
I have a Oneplus One device with Cyanogen OS 12.1.
The issue is that my battery history shows that my wifi is always on gets on after sometime and then never closes.
I did not turn my wifi on manually nor is the option "SCANNING ALWAYS available" is set on.
So I think that there must be some app which is triggering it or it may even be a CM issue. How to know what is causing this?
There are similar questions on this forum but none of them answers my query.
I have tried adb logcat | tee wifi.log  to check what is triggering the wifi but couldnt find anything. Any help would be appreciated.

Check in advance setting option of wifi. There may be auto on-off. You need to change it as you pleased.

Is your phone rooted? If yes, you could use Tasker app to set off your WiFi whenever it becomes ON.

Use a permissions checker app or command-line to determine which apps can toggle Wi-Fi in your device. That may help you to focus on specific apps only.

ok i have factory reset the device, but it is still happening. Once i restart the device the wifi turns off but again it when i toggle wifi on/off it wont turn off


text:
BlueStacks 2 WIFI MAC Address
How do I change BlueStacks 2 WIFI MAC Address to a specific WIFI MAC Address. For example I want to specifically change it to 11:22:33:44:55:66?

I guess you'd have to root it first. BTW, why do u want to do that? Maybe for using same WhatsApp number on PC & phone?


text:
Nexus 5 can't connect to Bluetooth Headphones
My headphones (Philips SHB9150BK) used to work properly with my Nexus 5 until version 6.0.0. Since the last update to 6.0.1, it isn't even discoverable anymore. I still can connect the headphones to other devices, though, and it's working as always.
Has anyone experienced this before? How can I troubleshoot this?


text:
Google Apps error - Can't communicate with google servers
I'm having trouble with everything that pertains to google. I've read what you people have recommended and I'm still having troubles with Google Play and the Google Apps. I removed all my accounts and restarted phone. When I click on the Play store, its giving me an error saying Can't communicate with google servers, please try again later.
 I've tried everything I could think of. I don't know what to do.

If clearing the cache does not work then you might need to check your APN. Is it a new phone? Do you have any type of data access at all on the device?

Please link what relevant info you've read on this site and precisely mention what you've followed so far.

you can stop the Play Store faltering just by emptying the app's cache. The cache is a storage area that temporarily holds data so it can be quickly retrieved without needing to be reloaded. To empty the cache:
Go to Settings > Apps. Tap All > Google Play Store then finally tap the Clear cache button.
Clear out your Play Store data
Deleting your data from the Play Store works along the same lines as our first tip, but is more drastic. It sets the app back to square one and gets rid of your saved information, hopefully including whatever glitchy data was causing the problem.
As with the previous tip, go to Settings > Apps > Google Play Store, but this time tap Clear data


text:
Unable to root Falcon running CM13 (6.0.1)
I have always run the nightly cyanogenmod builds as I've never found any major bugs. My device was rooted when running CM12, and since, I've received an update to CM13 through the inbuilt updater. However, I have noticed that since updating, I cannot get root access and have tried (multiple times/ways) to reroot my device, and I have not been able to.
Should I be able to root my device, or is this some feature of CM13 that I am as of yet unaware of?
If you want build.prop or any other information, please just ask. Thanks!
PS. The methods I've tried:

http://www.android.gs/root-moto-g-any-android-firmware/ (using a rooting boot.img)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2639583 (Philz Touch)
Using Clockworkmod Recovery to install root ("Root access lost, fix root (/system/xbin/su)" dialog)
Clean wipe and reinstall of the latest CM13 nightly

EDIT: Yes, I've enabled root access in Developer Options (to both apps and ADB) and yet when apps request root access, no dialog shows up and they just fail. I've tried root checkers, I tried to install CWM using the app rather than flashing through fastboot... Neither worked.

Have you gone into your settings and enabled root access? It has changed in CM13. It should be in the developer settings now, I believe, but there is no longer a Superuser application. It's all integrated into their permission management system.

I agree with eldarerathis. I recently tested a CM 13.0 build and that was the way to go for root access.

This is weird.. Did you try flashing SuperSU.zip from custom recovery like Philz or CWM or TWRP?? That should really work. I don't think we need a customized boot image for rooting CM13.

No... I'll try it, thanks. And the boot image was to make the su executable, I'm pretty sure. It didn't overwrite my boot image, I just booted off it once (as per the instructions).


text:
can't do hard reset
I have Nexus 7 from 2012. Some time ago I had problem with it and did hard-reset.
For several months it worked fine, but now it just restarting all the time.
I can't even go to Recovery Mode, pressing Volume Down and Power doesn't have any effect.
Do I have any other options before throwing it out?


text:
Unbrick Lenovo ZUK Z1, after every partition was formatted
Bricked my phone trying to install Cyanogenmod on it. Formatted every partition, including /boot and /recovery.
The phone can't:

Boot into home screen.
Be reached by ADB.
Have it's bootloader rebooted.
Flash a new recovery.

The phone can:

Get stuck in a boot loop.
Enter ZUK Recovery.
Enter Download Mode.

Additionally, using adb to look for devices while the phone is in Download Mode returns this:
????????????    no permissions

Any idea on how to solve this? Or am I stuck with a brick from now on?

Yesterday we ended up in the same state after trying to flash CyanogenMod 13 on the phone: loop trying to boot CyanogenMod 13 (cyan robot head with circle waves) and no way to get the phone to put itself into adb or fastboot mode.
Here's how we solved the issue and got the phone working again, just if it's useful for somebody in the future:

Reboot to the (factory) Zuk recovery firmware: press VolumeUp+VolumeDown+Power continuously. The phone will reboot (keep pressing). Unplug the phone USB cable. Choose "English" and then "Power off". Let it power off.
Get TWRP from twrp.me. Try to flash it using fastboot with the USB cable disconnected (it will wait until you connect the cable, don't do it yet, let it wait):
fastboot -i 0x2b4c flash recovery twrp-3.0.2-0-Z1.img

With the phone switched off, press VolumeUp+VolumeDown (not Power) and plug the phone to the computer with the buttons pressed. This was the magic required to put the phone in fastboot mode. Fastboot will do its job and TWRP will be flashed. It worked for us, but this flashing step might fail for you. Only if it failed, what I would do would be to return to step 1 and try to boot directly from TWRP like this, and then go to step 5:
fastboot -i 0x2b4c boot twrp-3.0.2-0-Z1.img

To boot the phone into TWRP, press VolumeUp+Power until the phone reboots (keep pressing until TWRP boots).
To get the phone to a working state, flash CyanoGen OS 12 (this archive) once TWRP is loaded:
adb push cm-12.1-YOG4PAS7DF-ham-signed-c4eecafcd7.zip /sdcard/

On TWRP: "update", select the zip file you copied with the previous command.
Reboot, and you have a working phone again.
Thanks a lot to Gonzaman for the "Poweroff your device hold vol+ and vol- and connect it to pc" trick. You saved our day! :-)

sir(eocanha) i too got same problem,
I've followed all of your steps all went fine but ended with Boot Loop Again
waiting 4 ur reply soon


text:
Dictionary not learning new words
Since the last firmware update, my Android 4.3 phone is unable to learn new words.  It is not suggesting to me any new word that I previously typed, so I deduce that new words aren't being added to the dictionary.
From googling around it looks like it's a common problem, but I haven't found any solution so far.

here you would find the same issue:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/sprint-samsung-galaxy-s4/364298-samsung-galaxy-s4-keyboard-can-t-remember-added-new-words.html
The solution is in the same post. I would cite it here:

I think I may have found a solution. I recently had the same problem w/ my samsung galaxy s4 Active. I went into settings. I then hit the settings tool icon beside samsung keyboard. Made sure predictive text was on. I actually clicked it off then back on. Then I clicked on the word predictive text and under personalization there are a few learn options. I clicked learn from messages and learn from contacts. I just sent a message and it seemed to fix it! Please let me know if this helps any of ya'll!

Hope it help

I had tired the sane few days back...It works for a couple of messages and then back to the same problem


text:
Samsung Galaxy S3 cannot be accessed by pc after root
I did this to my samsung galaxy s3 and it cannot be accessed by a pc using usb.

Rooted android 4.2.2 using kingo root
Installed TWRP
Installed LiquidSmooth for galaxy s3
Installed GAPS
Apparently LiquidSmooth comes with SuperUser
Tried unrooting
Soft-bricked my device
Factory Reseted
Still cannot find phone on pc

Can anybody help?

Did you swipe down the notification bar to see if "USB Charging Only" was selected and not "MTP Mode" (not quite sure if it is worded this way, gotta be close)?

Recently, I had a problem that flashing CMMod failed, so my OS was missing. Will the answer to my question be useful to you? http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/132033/recover-android-system-with-twrp-recovery Also, some ROMs (like CM) come with a built-in root function, so you cannot unroot them, but you can just not enable or disable the root function

It doesn't show.