text:
Will Google Navigation work without WiFi on Android tablet
I have a Toshiba Excite tablet with android ice cream that has WiFi only (no cellular) that has Google Navigation (Beta) app on it and also Google map (Beta) app. I want to use the tablet in London England and Paris France. Will it work while walking around the city if I can't stay connected to WiFi?
If you think it won't work, what app can I use offline that will?

Partly. Does your tabby at least have GPS? Otherwise Navigation won't be able to work. How should it know where you are?

@Izzy Your forgetting the map download ;)

Nah, I don't. That could be done beforehand (e.g. at the hotel room), while still having WiFi. It's called "pre-caching" :) But without GPS and without network, there's no way to get the location. So the navi is not more than any paper map then.

It most likely will work, depending on a few facts:

your device must have GPS built-in
you must have the map data downloaded while connected to WiFi (e.g. using Maps (-) Offline Navigation, which fills Google Map's cache)
for navigation, you must have calculated the route in advance

I'm not sure whether Google Maps supports pre-calculation for navigation -- but even if, there's another restriction: once you hit a "closed road" (road works or the like), you're lost -- it cannot do a re-calculation of the route without network.
Also, getting a fix on GPS might be a lot slower (unless you aquire your fix while still connected to WiFi). Background is: To get a fix, GPS needs to know where which satellites are. These data are contained in what's called the Almanac. While AGPS downloads those data from the network (e.g. via mobile data), "plain GPS" does not have this feature, and thus needs to get the data directly from the satellites -- which obviously is not as fast.
If it does not work with Google Maps, there are several alternatives to be found on the Google Playstore. I successfully used Locus Map Free this way, so I know it does work. Locus lets you download map data directly from within the app, from different sources, and also offers pre-calculation of routes. This app is just one example, there are a lot more available.

Answer: Yes you can
(no Google tho...)
Explanation:
There are 8 Toshiba Excite tablets currently in the market, all with GPS capabilities:
┌──────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────┐
|     TABLET FULL NAME     |    GPS CAPABILITIES     |
├──────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┤
| Toshiba Excite Pro       | Yes                     |
├──────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┤
| Toshiba Excite Write     | Yes                     |
├──────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┤
| Toshiba Excite Pure      | Yes                     |
├──────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┤
| Toshiba Excite 10 SE     | Yes                     |
├──────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┤
| Toshiba Excite 10 AT305  | Yes                     |
├──────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┤
| Toshiba Excite 7.7 AT275 | Yes, with A-GPS support |
├──────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┤
| Toshiba Excite AT200     | Yes, with A-GPS support |
├──────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┤
| Toshiba Excite 13 AT335  | Yes, with A-GPS support |
└──────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────┘

This means that any of the existent Toshiba Excite Tablets have GPS and can perform map navigation.
Official Toshiba Excite product page here.

Based on the question dilemma, I've solved the same issue about one year ago with the following setup:
Navfree: Free GPS Navigation

Navfree is a completely free navigation app that offers turn-by-turn directions, spoken and on-screen instructions, offline map use and address search and live search via Google and Microsoft Bing, among many other features.
The maps it uses are available for free download from the Navfree Store. The map data is stored on your device so there is no need for a constant data connection while driving. It also allows you to browse maps anytime, anywhere without paying for data connections, which means no costly roaming charges when abroad.
It uses high-quality, open-source map data from OpenStreetMap that has been created and is continually improved by as many as 400,000 users around the world. If you see a problem, you can help to improve the quality of the maps by signing up to www.openstreetmap.org.

I've highlighted the important stuff...
Steps taken:

Download the map(s) for the location(s) you are traveling to:
You can do this directly from the application:

Touch your device "menu" button;
Touch "Upgrades";
Select the maps you wish to download.

Test you map download by opening the application and plotting a root:
I've done this while in a garage underground, no GPS signal, but still the map data I've downloaded contained all necessary requisites to plot the root, avoid tool charges and stuff...
To best acquire a GPS signal when you're on your destination, what I've done was get to a place without tall buildings around, to have the closest to 360º of clear sky as I could. In about 1min GPS signal was fixed.
From here, GPS was at "poor" while inside city streets surrounded by tall builds, but the navigation was very satisfying with a very small margin of error from time to time (2 to 5 meters).

Be careful. Navfree helps itself to your contacts and phone numbers.

It will not work for 2 reasons:

It would take a very long time to get a GPS fix without AGPS.
You have to be connected to the internet to download the map data.

There are a few offline map options on Google Play - you just have to look for them, this is one of them.
One other thing, make sure the tablet has GPS. Some of the cheaper ones don't.

You can pre-cache maps from within the GMaps app itself (check the "Lab" options). Though the area is restricted. And of course there are other pre-caching apps, as you already wrote (e.g. Maps (-) Offline Navigation). Sure GPS fix will take a bit longer -- but that could also be minimized by aquiring a fix before leaving the WiFi cover (and then keeping GPS on).

@Izzy The GPS fix would soon go, and one wouldn't be able to acquire another fix. Also, what if the pre-caching not far enough?

I've never seriously tested this, but I've never noticed a delay when getting a GPS fix without the network, either; I suspect that the benefit of AGPS is small.

That depends. When a fix is achieved, the current Almanach (with Satellite data) is up-to-date, so it does not need to be re-downloaded. That download is what obviously takes longer done from a satellite than done from the network (which is what AGPS does).

I'd love to somehow delete the almanac so that I could watch it re-download it, but I can't figure out how.  I tried clearing the cache and data for the Maps app, but I assume that didn't delete the almanac, since it deduced my location in about three seconds.

Thanks for the input. Still a little confused. Will any of the free suggested apps work if i'm in the US but the map is for London or Paris? I would like to test the app before traveling to the city.

@offby1 GPS Status & Toolbox does that (amongst other things).


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How can I test the NFC capability of my Android?
I got a Nexus 7 last week, and I love it! It has NFC functionality, and I was wondering how I could test it?
I don't actually have any NFC tags that I can use (have you seen the price of them?!?).
So, how can I test NFC without NFC tags?

Do you just want to check if it can detect stuff, or do you actually want to configure it to do something?

NFC tags are really cheap, Google for Mifare Classic tags, should be a couple of quid tops for a few of them. If someone in your family has a wireless credit/debit card you could test it with that in addition to the other answers, Barclays and HSBC are rolling them out currently, maybe other banks.

Be aware that the Mifare Classic tags are an outdated spec that might not be supported in future devices -- it seems they already won't work with the Nexus 5.

Take any NFC enabled thing to test it out and install this task launching app.
Now create an action using the app to do anything (click the + icon and follow instructions). When it asks you to write the tag, just touch the back of the device to your NFC enabled thing. It may fail to write, but it will still work.
Examples of some NFC enabled things you might just have lying around:

Metro cards
Some electronic keys
Any other NFC enabled phone

I have none of them lying around, and what's a metro card?

@LiamW Metro trains. Subway trains. Dunno what they're called where you live. Or if you even have them.

You can also find NFC chips in most office identity cards. Essentially, any electronic item that acts as a pass code or something, but doesn't have a magnetic strip to be swiped with is very likely to have NFC in it.

Borrowed my Mum's Uni card, worked!

Also many newer Passports (specifically the ones that let you go through the biometric aisle in some airports) now have an NFC chip. Also if you have children that play the incredibly popular Skylanders game, then those toys all have an NFC chip in their base.

The only solution for you is to use another NFC enabled device. Turn on Android Beam and try to beam something to the other device and vice versa. You can find how to use android beam here.
You cannot use apps to check it as they are only capable of checking whether NFC is turned on or not. Also the service menu tests is of no use without a tag.
And by the way, NFC tags are not that expensive. Try eBay and nfctagstore.com

I tested it using the built-in NFC share feature of YouTube application between two NFC devices, namely a Nexus 5 and a Nexus 10.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Application not found
I have a Sony Xperia P, with Android ICS. I have Ingress installed on my phone. Today, I synced my phone, and Ingress got updated. I had an icon on the homescreen. However - whenever I click on the shortcut, the toast message appears and says Application Not Found. I can't find the Ingress icon in applications list too.
I thought that it might get accidentally uninstalled, so I went to Play store to download it again, but I can see that it's already installed on my phone. I clicked on open button and Ingress got opened, and is still working fine.
So what is wrong here? I didn't yet try to reinstall the app, and don't want to do that. Where's the app-icon, and how can I get it back?

Try uninstalling and reinstalling it

This happened on my Nexus - you just have to reboot your device, and the Icon will show up.
Most likely Niantic changed the Launcher activity, so the short cut is no longer pointing to the correct activity, hence the error message.
Rebooting the device/restarting the launcher, and then re-adding the home screen shortcut will fix this.

Ahh, rebooting the device did the trick, I got the application icon, had to delete the old shortcut though. Thanks.

Seems your application points to the app location which was altered or moved with the update.
To solve this, simply delete the existing shortcut icon (by dragging it on to the bin icon which appears after a long press on the shortcut)
Then create a new shortcut icon for the application through the customizing menu. (which appear after a tap or with the press of menu button whipe you're in your home screen)
You may want to reboot the device beforehand.

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


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Samsung galaxy s2 upgrade problem
I want to upgrade my Android version 2.3 to the newest firmware version. I am using Odin v3.04 but when I put file into the PDA section and turned the phone into download mode and started the upgrade process it FAILED. I then tried to reconnect my USB and try again, but now it hangs on SetupConnection:
<ID:0/006> File analysis..
<ID:0/006> SetupConnection..

It also doesn't turn on in download mode. When I turn the phone on it immediately goes to screen with a yellow triangle and computer and will not do anything else.
What can I do to fix this?


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Where can I find the media downloaded from whatsapp installed on a virtual device?
I installed whatsapp on virtual device  :

Where can I find the media downloaded from whatsapp ?

I searched the android directories but couldn't find the media I downloaded.

It will not be on the Windows filesystem.
The emulator makes a .img file that it then mounts as the virtual SD Card.
So, to answer your question, the file is stored in the sdcard .img file in the avd folder.
(You may be able to extract it using winRAR or another unzip utility. Check the C:\Users\<your username>\.android\avd\<avd name>\sdcard.img)
EDIT: This program claims to mount .img files. I am using Ubuntu though, so cannot test sorry.

Though I found the image file on the same path, winrar is unable to open it

@SuhailGupta You will have to use a program that mounts and/or converts .img files then. I will edit my answer very soon.

@SuhailGupta No worries!


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Galaxy S3 Error/Crash Log Location
Is there an error log or crash log file anywhere on the Galaxy S3?
My phone is constantly crashing (rebooting or totally freezing requiring a battery pull) at least 4-5 time a day. I've attached the phone to my PC and browsed the file-system using Eclipse but I can't find an error log anywhere obvious.
My phone is NOT rooted so I realise I don't have total access to all locations on the phone's file-system but if anyone knows if such a log exists and where about it is, I'd be very grateful.

use adb logcat or aLogCat from play store, that will enable to save the log to SDCard... other than that, we cannot do anymore until a log is obtained

So with aLogCat, am I able to set the app running, click Save (which then tells me that it's saving to the storage card) and then just leave it, using the phone as normal and just wait for the crash to happen?

Yes, that's Correct :)

logcat might give you some information but that is cleared when the device reboots.
abd logcat will connect you to the "rolling log".
logcat is not stored in a file, only in a memory stream but you can easily dump it to file.
adb logcat -d -v time > logfile.txt
using the options I listed above will give you a time stamp of when events occur. The -d indicates you are dumping to a file, do not "block". -v time formats the log with event times.
Instead of > logfile.txt you could do -f /path/to/logfile.txt.

aLogrec does basicly the same as Logcat, but writes constantly to a log file on your storage card.

As of 2014-10-17, aLogrec does not record logs on KitKat (4.4.2). All log files are 0kib. I'm currently looking for alternatives.

Update: Google changed the READ_LOGS permission in 4.1 (Jelly Bean), which means log reading apps require root in order to read a log other than their own.


text:
scp and rsync to transfer data from Linux to Android
I'd like to be able to push PDF files onto a phone/tablet with a Bash script. Is it possible to transfer data using scp (or even rsync) from a Linux computer to an Android phone over wireless?
Could I even run Unison on the phone?
And is it possible to run Bash (or only POSIX Shell) scripts on the phone remotely?

Many things are possible. Installing an SSH Server app (e.g. SSHelper or DigiSSHD / SSH Server) would give you the possibility to login via ssh, or remote-copy via scp.
Terminal IDE (available only for Android 4.4 and earlier, according to the app description) gives you a quite complete package, even including the famous Midnight Commander, and a lot more useful tools:

javac, java, dx, proguard, aapt, apkbuilder, signer, ssh, sshd, telnetd, bash 4.2, busybox 1.19.2, vim 7.3, nano 2.2.6, midnight commander 4.8, htop 1.0, TMUX 1.5, rsync 3.0.8, git 1.7.8, BitchX 1.1 and a nice terminal emulator are all available.

(emphasis are introduced by me to pick the items your question was for)
So except for Unison, the latter package should cover your needs :)

Vim, htop and git are also very nice. Thanks!

Yepp, exactly! Side-effect is: you get a complete development environment on your Android :) But it will make up a couple of MB, naturally...

@MateuszKonieczny thanks! Couldn't know that back then :)

For your first question. I use the OASVN Android client to pull PDF files to my droid from my private Windows based SVN server.  Works Great!!  I used rsync before and would favored the SVN solution over rsync. NetApp's FX File Manager Plus handles the SFTP protocol over wireless and will cost you $2 for a license.

I took the freedom to add a link to OASVN. Not sure for FX -- do you mean File Explorer (Plus Add-On)?

It would be nice to have a concrete example using rsync here (as it is available via Terminal IDE)


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Any way to get Wi-Fi to auto-connect only to hotspots that don't require a captive portal sign-in?
Often, as I'm walking and using the internet, I'll walk by a Starbucks and my phone will auto-connect to attwifi (which is free, but requires that I open my browser and confirm).  I lose internet access for a little while, for no good reason.
I could turn off auto-connecting to known Wi-Fi networks, but then I'm getting rid of a useful, bandwidth-saving feature.
Any ideas for ways to get the best of both worlds, auto-connecting only to Wi-Fi networks that don't require a captive portal to sign in?

Turning auto-connect to free networks off not only gets you rid of a bandwidth-saving feature -- but at the same time of potential dangers (session hijacking and the like -- just google for DroidSheep to see what I mean).

Sure - I guess what I really want is to remember individual MACs (and check for ARP spoofing) rather than Network Names.

With individual APs this is easy: Turn off auto-detect of "free WiFi hotspots", and simply connect once to each you want to remember. To those your device will auto-connect then when in reach. Take a look at WeFi Pro - Automatic WiFi for how to figure out whether it's a "captive" or not. Does that go into the right direction? Let me know, so I can turn it into an answer with some more details.

Maybe one of the tools in this answer (Open WiFi Cleaner or WiFi AP Whitelist)? /https://android.stackexchange.com/a/79090

5.0 (lollipop) has a "smarter" wifi and bluetooth AI that allows for non connect or non auto connect to "weak signals" networks with "landing pages/signin pages" are considered weak signals "normally".

Also see Security Flaw Lets Attackers Crash Any iPhone or iPad Within Wi-Fi Range. That useful, autoconnect feature could get you pwn'd. And on the Apple devices, AT&T Wifi is hard code. You can't remove it.

I think updating to lollipop will do the trick. As lollipop continues using your mobile data connection if your WiFi connection is not connecting you to the internet. However, I have not tested this with connections that need you to login.

There are numerous apps which might help you auto-connect.(Apps like wifi connect).
But it is recommend not to auto-connect with unknown networks eventhough they may be free.These networks can harm your personal datas.

There are news on the web that unknown networks, evil APs can be dangerous because they can monitor your data, steal it, can do MITM, etc. but how exactly does it harms your personal data? I don't get this. Can you mention the source where you read this? Also, could you please add the hyperlink to the said app which would be good for the reader to continue ahead for the same app.

@Firelord  ,there are tons of articles available ,please have a look on the topic.."Why You Shouldn’t Connect to Unsecure Networks" http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/tech/mobile/the-dangers-of-unsecured-wifi-hotspots        http://mobileoffice.about.com/od/wifimobileconnectivity/f/is-it-safe-to-use-an-open-wireless-network.htm      http://safeandsavvy.f-secure.com/2014/09/29/danger-of-public-wifi/

Depending on your specific Android device there may be an option to disable auto connect for certain networks - on Sony Xperia handsets (including my Z1 Compact) you can press and hold the WiFi network name and untick the "Auto-connect" option - this allows you to stop the Android device automatically connecting to WiFi constantly, but without you needing to remember to delete it on the odd occasion you actually use the same network.

"Best of both Worlds" Since 2012, i've been using WiFi Web Login to automate captive portal logins for this very reason (Phone would stay connected to access point even though it was not logged in, meaning no internet) I tried a few other similar apps first, but my college wifi at the time used a complicated captive portal (three fields to fill, buttons to press, more than one window to click through...) WiFi Web Login was the first app that was able to automate the entire process, so i've stayed with it ever since.


text:
Wallpaper on Kindle Fire
I want to get rid of ads on my Kindle Fire and set some of my pics as my wallpaper without rooting it. Is this possible and how do I do it? I keep looking at different sites but none helps. Any advice?

What does "to root a phone" mean?

As far as I know, Amazon offers you to remove the ads for a certain fee (don't remember how much it was). And wallpapers you can always set as you wish, root or not.

As far as I know, you can't change the lock screen wallpaper.
If you want to turn off the ads, go to Manage Your Devices, and edit your special offers subscription status.


text:
How do I determine which process woke up the screen?
The screen woke up at 4am or 5am at night, and had been on ever since.
How can I find out the process that was responsible for screen-wake ups?
The device is Galaxy S III running Android Jellybean 4.1.2.
Thank you

What device? What android version?

@t0mm13b i9300 Galaxy S3 4.1.2

Running facebook, gtalk, gmail or something that was left in the background?

@t0mm13b yes, fb, gtalkg, gmail are installed

sign out of any of them?

no, never do that before sleep

I've noticed at least once that I plugged my phone into charger (S3 with 4.1.2), and screen was on, but screen just stayed on all night -- just sat there at lock screen. Not sure if it's related to your situation

As "wake up" in most cases has to do with "wake locks", you might also see How to deal with (orphaned) WakeLocks? for additional details.

Download the GSam Battery Monitor (formally knows as Bad Ass Battery Monitor)  it will keep track of the number of times and for how long each app keep the device awake.
Open GSAM and go to the App Sucker view (icon on the lower left). Then change the view to Time Held Awake.  To see the number of time an app held the device awake press on the app.

(click to enlarge)

In Order to determine, which process causing the WakeLock, you can use betterBatteryStats from XDA.
Its proven over periods, the App provides clear list of what are all process causing the wake lock and their count as well.
Hope it helps!

Check "Wakelock Detector" - WLD at GooglePlay (disclosure: I am the author)
Choose "Full wakelocks" option to see which apps are using screen wakelocks!
Currently running processes are shown in Green color, which makes it easy to recognize the suspicious app.
Here is a screenshot, where the Ad Notification was detected. It was waking up my screen randomly.

App does not exist


text:
How to access the internal memory of HTC Explorer
I have HTC Explorer and with Root Explorer put a file into /system/lib directory.
After reset, the phone will not boot. Now I cannot access to the internal memory via the phone and I need to access it via the PC in order to delete the file from /system/lib.
How can I do it?

What file did you drop in there in the /system/lib directory that caused it to not to boot?

I do this http://www.neopeek.com/viewtopic.php?t=7937#p26166

Do not ever overwrite libskia.so! That was the reason that it refused to boot! libskia.so is responsible for rendering graphics and font faces and is tied in directly with the ROM when it was built! Dropping in that on another ROM is simply not going to work! Think of it this way, compiling a library that has dependencies on Ubuntu in-built libraries, and drop that library on Debian is not going to work...

Before the overwriting i renamed the original libskia.so to libslia.so-back against potential problems. Now is there a way to restore it?

Remove /system/lib/libskia.so, rename the original libslia.so-back to its original filename and you should be good...hopefully.... am assuming handset is rooted and that you have cwm recovery?

handset is rooted, but what is cwm recovery?

at now i find http://www.clockworkmod.com/rommanager

ROM Manager is not a good idea....

If you had ADB debugging enabled, there is an easy way to do this using the SDK.
All you have to do is connect the device to the computer while it is booting, and type:
adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
rm -rvf /system/libskia.so
mv /system/libskia.so-back /system/libskia.so

To get the ADB binary you will have to download the Android SDK, or Google 'Android Mini SDK'.
If you didn't have USB debugging enabled, then the only thing you can do is flash a new ROM. You would have to install CWM recovery, and find a ROM for your device.
If your device has fastboot you can easily flash a recovery file that has been made for your device by using the fastboot flash recovery <recovery .img file path>.


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How can I watch HD Amazon videos on Logitech Revue?
I'm running the latest updates for my Logitech Revue (according to the check for updates screen), but when I go to the Amazon Instant Video app, it just redirects me to Chrome.  Amazon doesn't support HD in the browser, so I can only watch SD videos.
When I try to play HD videos, Amazon says, I must use a supported device, which the Logitech Revue is, and that I must register it.  Its instructions to register it say to open the "Amazon Video" app on the device, then go to "register device".  As mentioned, my app (named "Amazon Instant Video") just redirects to Chrome.
I called Amazon, and they said it sounds like I'm running "google tv version 1.0".  Since my "firmware" says 3.2 and i apparently have the latest updates, I'd guess that I'm not.  Amazon support says only Google tv v2.0 has the application w/ HD.
Any ideas what I'm missing here?

It sounds like the Amazon rep just didn't know what they were talking about. AFAIK the app (which was released late last month) is only compatible with LG televisions, and not any of the currently existing set-top boxes (see the Google+ announcement). I believe that getting the HD content on your Revue is simply not possible at the moment since it's going through the browser, not an actual app.

Thanks, at least I can take comfort in knowing that there are many other Logitech Revue owners complaining on that thread. I'll keep an eye out for a future release of their app.

It is a problem with the Google TV OS, not the device's firmware.
There was a Google TV update that supposedly came down the stream quite some time ago, but my Logitech Revue never got it.  It was SUPPOSED to have given Amazon Instant an ACTUAL app instead of the link to Chrome which is currently on the device.  Since Logitech is no longer supporting the device, I don't count on ever getting that update, or any updates.
What annoys me about this issue, though, is that I USED to get HD through Chrome on my Revue. I actually bought an HD season pass for Walking Dead at the beginning of the season, and watched the first half in HD.  I stumbled across the inability to watch HD content only a couple weeks ago. There must have been a software update on Amazon's end that created this new incompatibility, and since the Revue isn't getting any more updates, it will continue losing functionality like this.
I am going to try watching Walking Dead via PlayOn to see if it makes any sort of difference.  Though, that only runs through Chrome, also.  It does not have its own app on the Revue, even though it does on a lot of other devices and platforms.
It's only a matter of time before I replace my Revue with a Roku or something now.


text:
vCard sent to my android from an iPhone arrives as text message
Is there any easy way to save a contact which has arrived like
<Subject: PXT> - BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
PRODID blah blah blah

Into the contacts?  I believe it happens when someone "shares" a contact with you from iPhone.  If there is only the number or email there it is pretty easy to dig the details out of the text message, but if it sends a small profile picture that comes in decoded as a massive text message which is quite annoying.  It would be nice to have a way to import that text message into a contact, with the avatar and all.

Yes, I know this.  But vCardIO simply doesn't work for me, I've tried for hours to get it to do what is advertises but it doesn't ..

alright. what about the other?

No, I don't want to pay for something simple as this ..

Did you try vCard Manager Lite? The app looks useful but I haven't tested it myself.

I tried it now, it's all about sending vCards and doesn't help with receiving them.

This seems to be a bug on the OS (src)
You have to use a third party app for this. vCardIO and bizCard Manager/SMS vCard are good solutions. Former one is preferable and it's free.


text:
What can play Ogg Opus on Android?
Opus is a new open source lossy-format that replaces Vorbis and the outperforms all the other proprietary alternatives to it. However, what plays Opus on Android? Thus far the only thing I've found is Firefox! How come my browser can play Opus -- and none of my music players?
I even wrote Alex, the developer of PowerAmp he said,

something like that is planned - you can check for details here:
  http://forum.powerampapp.com/index.php?/topic/1794-poweramp-todo-listfeatures-in-progress/

And, it says nothing of Opus support in the future?

"mx player" is the answer.. ^_^

VLC for Android is reported to support opus format. (src)

I regularly use VLC on a Android Nexus 5 device to playback opus and it does its job very well. It is quite stable, too - even if it is still called beta.

it indeed plays opus files, but I can't believe it doesn't have a shuffle option...

Note that the app is not aware of privacy settings. If you have music in your Private storage, even if it's currently unlocked, VLC won't see it.

According to the Supported Media Formats page Opus is supported natively since Android 5.0, but only in the  Matroska (.mkv) container. The Xiph.org wiki and IETF draft state that the mime-type for Ogg Opus files is audio/ogg. To test I encoded a Flac file with opusenc and changed the extension to .ogg before transferring the file to the device, which made it appear and play in Google Play Music, but without metadata like tags and cover art, just the filename.
Edit 2016-05-20: I just encoded¹ a few test files directly to .ogg again and they play fine in Google Play Music². The basic tag fields I use are detected, embedded album art as well as AlbumArt.jpg files work too.
Edit 2016-10-04: I found information about a draft to encapsulate flac-in-mp4 (probably related to Mozilla's efforts to support FLAC in Firefox) as well as opus-in-mp4. I never thought that this would be possible or considered to be implemented, but it appears that some people in the community are working to bring Opus and FLAC to MP4.

Encoding details: 44.1kHz Flac source, opusenc/libopus 1.1.2 from Ubuntu 16.04, 112 kbps bitrate, file transfer via Syncthing (not required, that's just what I use currently).
Google Play Music Version 6.8.2817A.2862803. Device: Nexus 5 with CyanogenMod 13.0-20160514-Nightly based on Android 6.0.1.

I've found on Android 6 that .opus files are not picked up in the library scans, but simply rename the same file .ogg and it works fine; is picked up, metadata parsed and plays.

Yes, support has been added in Android 6 (marshmallow). You can see it here: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/av/+/marshmallow-release/media/libstagefright/OggExtractor.cpp (compare with Android 5 here: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/av/+/lollipop-release/media/libstagefright/OggExtractor.cpp).
Sadly they seem to have forgotten to add support in the MediaScanner for the .opus file extension. As you discovered, a workaround is simply to rename them to .ogg.

As a side note: Google Play Music CAN play opus files correctly when renamed to .opus.ogg, but it seems that .opus.ogg (or .opus) files can't be uploaded to your Play Music library, as Google Music Manager app (or chrome extension) does not recognize it as a good format. In the "supported uploads formats help page" (http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html), Google says .OGG files are supported. But being OGG a container format, it can embed either an Opus or a Vorbis audio stream, and Google does not tell which of those is actually supported. Maybe only Vorbis is...

I've found GoneMAD Music Player and Neutron Music Player support playback of Opus.
Update:
If gapless playback is an important feature to you try XMMS2 or Rockbox.Both are still in the development stages as far as Android is concerned but they are both worthy of a mention.
XMMS2 is a music player server, so you will also need to download a controller to use it.
Rockbox isn't available via the Play store and it can be a bit tricky to setup so you will have to do your own homework on this one.

is any of those players open source?

AIMP play opus on Android.....

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts, Vadim! Though that might be an answer to the question, link-only answers are discouraged on all SE sites. Mind to include some additional details?

Guys, look at the question.  He needs something that plays the format, this answer says this app plays the format.  There is no other "essential part" of the answer.  If you guys have a problem with the question that's a different matter.

is it open source?

It's an old question but it's hard not to mention Foobar2000 (that has finally been ported to mobile) for Opus support.

Freeamp supports Opus decoding as well from build 119 using the BASS for Android library.

I can confirm that Stellio Music Player and AIMP is able to reproduce (on an Acer Iconia B1-710 Tablet with Android 4.1.2, kernel 3.4.0) a 512kbps 48000Hz audio file with .opus extension encoded with opusenc (included in opus-tools) in Ubuntu 16.10 Terminal Emulator (from a FLAC). Excellent and cristal clear sound (with a proper audio output device). Or you can simply use VLC.

Rocket Player plays opus
Version 3.3.0
NEW: Default material blue theme
**NEW: Opus support**
NEW: 13 new themes
NEW: Theme switcher
NEW: Artist pictures for cloud subscribers
NEW: Show art in the song tab
NEW: Better memory management
NEW: Feature to block car Bluetooth stereos from auto starting music playback
NEW: Live List support for playlist shortcuts
NEW: Folder browser now supports the back button

Droidsound-E (https://github.com/droidmjt/Droidsound/blob/master/README.md) is a player focused on retro games, consoles, and computer systems. I found that it has support for Opus files.
However, it may not be available on Google Play.


text:
Video Player in Galaxy Note 10.1 keeps starting itself when connected to computer through USB
The Video Player app that came with Galaxy Note 10.1 will start at the background when connected to a Windows computer through USB. And there's no option in that app to disable it. It always appear in Task Manager when connected. Is there any way to disable this auto-start?

Most likely the video player registered a listener to be notified on "USB connected". If you want to keep the app but get rid of that annoyance, the only way goes via root. You won't need a custom ROM for that -- just an app like Autorun Manager PRO which allows you to disable listeners of any app:

As the screenshot shows, AutoRun Manager lists up all apps along with their registered listeners. Check here for your video player app, find the responsible listener, and remove the checkmark in front of it. That should do it.
If you do so for some apps, and some day decide to remove AutoRun Manager, your restrictions would persist unless you reset them before uninstalling ARM (the app has a "revert" option, and can even revert all changes at once). If you forgot that, and want to re-enable disabled listeners, the only way is to re-install the affected app (not ARM, that won't help as it remembered its actions in its settings, which are removed when you uninstall the app).

If this is the stock system, then the only way to change it would be to root it and install a Custom ROM (or remove the stock video app and replace it with a 3rd party video player).


text:
How to Root SpreadTrum SC6830 Kernel 2.6.35.7
Model - Callbar A1
Android - 2.3.5
Kernel Version – 2.6.35.7
Software version – 2.3.001.P1.12065
Hardware version – P1
CPU – SC6820 (1 GHz.)
Screen – 3.5” HVGA
I tried several methods such as Doom Lord, Super One Click, Unlock Root, Z4Root to root the phone but none worked.
Tried ADB to manually root the phone through commands but almost every command returns – “Permission Denied” or “Read Only System”. However files su, SuperUsr.apk, Busy Box were easily pushed into /data/local/tmp. Further steps like making local.prop and onwards could not be executed and returned above stated errors.
Also tried modifications by putting update.zip on SD Card root and running Android Recovery System but this method also returned error “Signature Verification Failed”.
Tried Nautilus on Linux Mint with OpenSSH while running DroidSSH on the phone but could not mount device by any means.
Scanned my device with ‘X-Ray’ app which reported that device or firmware I am using had been patched and is not vulnerable to any of the exploit available at the moment.
I desperately need rooting to remove pre-installed bloatwares and applications to free internal memory which is very less. I am trying to root phone for the last several days but every method has failed. Can any one help ?
I am providing complete details of System Memory Map, MTD Tables, Symbolic Links, Directory Permissions and File Permissions of my android phone.  I hope some one having knowledge of android system can help me by suggesting custom exploit after going through details given below.
## system memory map
00000000-00000000 : sprd-battery.0

00000061-00000061 : sprd-sdhci.0

00000064-00000064 : sprd-sdhci.1

00463000-0047ffff : System RAM

004e0000-004fefff : System RAM

01a00000-0fffffff : System RAM

0452c000-04a08fff : Kernel text

04a24000-04b65a67 : Kernel data

0eee0000-0eefffff : ram_console.0

84000000-840000ff : NK reserved I/O

8e002000-8e002fff : sprd_spi.0

8e003000-8e003fff : sprd_spi.1

9c004300-9c004400 : example.0

a0010000-a0010097 : Mali-300 GP

a0011000-a001102f : Mali-300 L2 cache

a0012000-a0012027 : Mali-300 PMU

a0013000-a0013023 : Mali-300 MMU for GP

a0014000-a0014023 : Mali-300 MMU for PP

a0018000-a00190ef : Mali-300 PP

e0002000-e0002fff : sc8800g_dcam.0

e0006000-e0006fff : sprd-sdhci.0

e0007000-e0007fff : sprd-sdhci.1

e0010000-e0017fff : sprd_nand

e0024000-e0024fff : serial_res0

e0025000-e0025fff : serial_res1

e0028000-e0028fff : sc8810-i2c.0

e0029000-e0029fff : sc8810-i2c.1

e002a000-e002afff : sc8810-i2c.2

e002b000-e002bfff : sc8810-i2c.3

e0036000-e0036fff : serial_res2

e0037280-e00372c4 : sprd-tp.0

e003c000-e013bfff : dwc_otg.0

## mtd table
NAND device: Manufacturer ID: 0x2c, Chip ID: 0xbc (Micron NAND 512MiB 1,8V 16-bit)

Good Block: 4034  Bad Block: 0  Reserved Block: 62

dev:        size       erasesize  name

mtd0: 00040000 00020000 "spl"

mtd1: 00080000 00020000 "2ndbl"

mtd2: 00040000 00020000 "params"

mtd3: 00080000 00020000 "vmjaluna"

mtd4: 00a00000 00020000 "modem"

mtd5: 003c0000 00020000 "fixnv"

mtd6: 003c0000 00020000 "backupfixnv"

mtd7: 00500000 00020000 "dsp"

mtd8: 003c0000 00020000 "runtimenv"

mtd9: 00a00000 00020000 "boot"

mtd10: 00a00000 00020000 "recovery"

mtd11: 10e00000 00020000 "system"

mtd12: 07800000 00020000 "userdata"

mtd13: 03c00000 00020000 "cache"

mtd14: 00040000 00020000 "misc"

mtd15: 00100000 00020000 "boot_logo"

mtd16: 00100000 00020000 "fastboot_logo"

mtd17: 003c0000 00020000 "productinfo"

mtd18: 00080000 00020000 "kpanic"

## symbolic links
symlink("/data/bin/bash","/system/xbin/bash");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.dump","/system/xbin/lop.dump");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.init","/system/xbin/lop.init");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.reset","/system/xbin/lop.reset");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.start.kernel","/system/xbin/lop.start.kernel");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.start.user","/system/xbin/lop.start.user");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.stop","/system/xbin/lop.stop");

symlink("/system/bin/alsa_aplay","/system/bin/alsa_arecord");

symlink("/system/sps/FT5206/firmware/ft5206_fw.bin","/system/etc/firmware/ft5206_fw.bin");

symlink("/system/sps/headset-soc/ko/headset.ko","/system/lib/modules/headset.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/mali/ko/mali.ko","/system/lib/modules/mali.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/mali/ko/ump.ko","/system/lib/modules/ump.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/msg2133/firmware/henghao_fw.bin","/system/etc/firmware/henghao_fw.bin");

symlink("/system/sps/msg2133/firmware/huangze_fw.bin","/system/etc/firmware/huangze_fw.bin");

symlink("/system/sps/msg2133/firmware/oufeiguang_fw.bin","/system/etc/firmware/oufeiguang_fw.bin");

symlink("/system/sps/rda5802/ko/rda5802.ko","/system/lib/modules/rda5802.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/rtl8723as/firmware/rlt8723a_chip_b_cut_bt40_fw","/system/etc/firmware/rtl8723as/rlt8723a_chip_b_cut_bt40_fw");

symlink("/system/sps/rtl8723as/firmware/rtk8723_bt_config","/system/etc/firmware/rtl8723as/rtk8723_bt_config");

symlink("/system/sps/rtl8723as/ko/8723as.ko","/system/lib/modules/8723as.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/snd_dummy_alsa_audio/ko/snd_dummy.ko","/system/lib/modules/snd_dummy.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/boot_must_complete.sh","/system/xbin/boot_must_complete.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/bin/df");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/bin/mkdir");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/bin/rm");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/ash");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/busybox");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/bzip2");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/cp");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/du");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/env");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/find");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/grep");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/hexdump");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/killall");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/md5sum");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/reset");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/tar");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/uname");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/uptime");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/vi");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/which");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/gcom.arm","/system/xbin/gcom.arm");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/gsnap.save_anr_tombstones.sh","/system/xbin/gsnap.save_anr_tombstones.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/ll","/system/xbin/ll");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/localtime","/system/etc/localtime");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.bt.service.sh","/system/xbin/logs4android.bt.service.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.bt.sh","/system/xbin/logs4android.bt.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.sdcard.umount.sh","/system/xbin/logs4android.sdcard.umount.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.sh","/system/xbin/logs4android.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4modem.sh","/system/xbin/logs4modem.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lrz","/system/xbin/lrz");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lsof","/system/xbin/lsof");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lsz","/system/xbin/lsz");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkcached.sh","/system/xbin/mkcached.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkinternal.sh","/system/xbin/mkinternal.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkswapd.sh","/system/xbin/mkswapd.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/preloadapp.sh","/system/xbin/preloadapp.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/strace","/system/xbin/strace");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/tree","/system/xbin/tree");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/uevent","/system/xbin/uevent");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/upnvpropd.sh","/system/xbin/upnvpropd.sh");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwconfig");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwevent");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwgetid");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwlist");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwpriv");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwspy");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/cat");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/chmod");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/chown");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/cmp");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/date");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/dd");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/dmesg");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/getevent");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/getprop");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/hd");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/id");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ifconfig");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/iftop");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/insmod");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ioctl");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ionice");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/kill");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ln");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/log");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ls");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/lsmod");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/lsof");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/mount");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/mv");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/nandread");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/netstat");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/newfs_msdos");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/notify");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/printenv");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ps");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/reboot");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/renice");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/rmdir");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/rmmod");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/route");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/schedtop");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/sendevent");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/setconsole");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/setprop");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/sleep");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/smd");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/start");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/stop");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/sync");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/top");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/umount");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/uptime");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/vmstat");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/watchprops");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/wipe");

## diretory permissions
set_perm_recursive(0,0,0755,0644,"/system");

set_perm_recursive(0,0,0700,0644,"/system/lost+found");

set_perm_recursive(0,2000,0755,0755,"/system/bin");

set_perm_recursive(0,2000,0755,0755,"/system/xbin");

## file permissions
set_perm(0,0,0555,"/system/etc/ppp/ip-up-vpn");

set_perm(0,2000,0550,"/system/etc/init.goldfish.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,06750,"/system/bin/run-as");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/etc/pvplayer.cfg");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/etc/rc.local");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/opl/etc/vt_substitute.jpg");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/boot_must_complete.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/gcom.arm");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/gsnap.save_anr_tombstones.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/ll");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/localtime");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.bt.service.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.bt.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.sdcard.umount.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4modem.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lrz");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lsof");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lsz");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkcached.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkinternal.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkswapd.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/preloadapp.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/strace");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/tree");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/uevent");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/upnvpropd.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/xmlprecopy.sh");

set_perm(0,3003,02750,"/system/bin/netcfg");

set_perm(0,3004,02755,"/system/bin/ping");

set_perm(1000,1000,0640,"/system/etc/bluetooth/auto_pairing.conf");

set_perm(1002,1002,0440,"/system/etc/bluetooth/audio.conf");

set_perm(1002,1002,0440,"/system/etc/bluetooth/input.conf");

set_perm(1002,1002,0440,"/system/etc/bluetooth/main.conf");

set_perm(1002,1002,0440,"/system/etc/dbus.conf");

set_perm(1014,2000,0550,"/system/etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-run-hooks");

set_perm(3002,3002,0444,"/system/etc/bluetooth/blacklist.conf");

I took the freedom to add your question to our "rooting-master-index" (How do I root my Android device?). You might want to check there, maybe one of the methods mentioned can help you. If so, don't hesitate to answer your own question here if you succeeded!

What Android version is it running?

As part of my query already, its Android 2.3.5. Device Build Date is October 2012 and has been patched for commonly available exploits.

@Izzy Thanx. May be, it can catch some one's eye there... some one, with proper solution.

That's another helpful possibility, of course :) Good luck!

SuperOneClick, and other one click root methods use a rootkit exploit that has been patched in the newer versions of Android.
To root the newer versions of Android, a new exploit is needed. You would have to find a way to install the binaries, and set the permissions.
This can be done using the stock recovery - it just needs to be signed correctly, and as such, could be quite difficult.
Other ways include flashing a custom boot.img file using the bootloader. If your device doesn't come with a flashable bootloader then you are really out of options sorry.

Thanks a lot for reply.
I am new to android so don't know much.  However I can tell you that my handset can start in FastBoot Mode apart from Android Recovery System.  In Android Recovery System, there are only three options viz Wipe Cache Clean, Factory Restore and the Update from SD Card.  Kindly guide me keeping in view myself being new to android.  I can try your suggestions and report back.

I had signed update.zip as per procedure explained on one of the forum but it didn't work.  May be being leaner, I may have done some thing wrong.  However, during signing procedure no error had occurred and had completed successfully.  Any Way, end result of Stock Recovery was "Signature Verification Failed"

Please tell me, if I can use commands on ADB to custom exploit my phone???  There must be some way out...

Liam, Can u give me one method to root...??? Atleast one... but with specific guidelines.  Your above answer is general opinion and does not provide any specific solution.

@MSA You cannot sign the ZIP in a way your device will accept it -- it has to be signed with the manufacturers key in most cases, especially in your (and my) case this method thus will not work. The fastboot method Liam mentioned however could succeed (not sure, as this is also device-dependent).

@Izzy - Thanx, for providing insight.  You are correct as I had read it some where else also but didn't know that this applies to my device also.  Any way, I've edited my post to provide complete system details of my phone.  Kindly go through and suggest commands for ADB terminal to exploit my device.  Liam has suggested some methods but none is specific or detailed.  Being new to android, I can't understand any thing in brief.

Most manufacturers secure their devices this way. Few exceptions exist, though. And sorry: If I knew a working exploit for your device, I'd have answered and mentioned it already; speculations are reserved for comments :)

@MSA It can be very difficult, and sometimes impossible to root some devices. Most rooting exploits rely on bugs in the Android OS to work, however these have been patched as of late.

@Izzy OK Dude, I'll report back in case some one finds a solution.  Even though, my question has not been resolved, still I appreciate quick response by both of you.

As you are still on 2.3, you might want to check for Gingerbreak (might still work), zergRush, & co. EvilZone has a good summary on that.

@Izzy they are simply rootkits. The OS has been patched for them.

If the updates are applied, yes. If not, they might still work. Remember, he's still on 2.3.5 -- do you know with which exact version what exploit stopped working? Both exploits I mentioned say to work for 2.3 (but none mentions up to which 3rd digit).

@Izzy : Liam is right.  Even though my device is running with 2.3.5 but device build date is 30th October, 2012.  Devices manufactured during 10/2012 (even prior to that) had been patched whether or not running with latest android.  I already had tested ZergRush through ADB which failed and reported that 'Blue Hellions Found!'.  I had read script of DoomLord and Super One Click, both of them also apply ZergRush exploit.  As told to you already, both these methods had also failed.  Gingerbreak is much older exploit... wont work.  X-Ray app too has reported that Gingerbreak wont do.

OK -- that's proof enough (+1 for that comment ;) If I had been sure of the opposite, I'd posted it as answer -- it was just a "guess" for a possibility. Sorry it didn't work out.

@Liam : Any insight please.  Can custom script be written or commands executed through ADB to copy binaries and apk files in desired directories???

I have pulled system folder from my phone and uploaded at the following link.  Can any one dig it to suggest possible method for rooting???
http://www.sendspace.com/file/uvmb8n


text:
Cannot Connect to internet via WiFi on Galaxy Tab
I enabled my laptop as a hotspot and connected my tablet through WiFi. Then I turned WiFi on and it shows me the network but it tells me I'm not in range.
After that it shows network disabled and poor connection. How do I get over this?

It would help to know what you used on your laptop to create the WiFi hotspot. Could it be the software used only provides Ad-Hoc access? This is currently unsupported by Android, though it's on the wishlist for years...

If the hotspot ssid shows in your Android device means, definitely it wont be an Ad-Hoc network. Most probably the the problem would be getting DHCP ip from your laptop. Try giving static ip to both hotspot network and your android device.

Go to Wifi Settings > Advanced > Uncheck the option titled "Avoid poor connections".
That will probably get rid of the "Poor connection prompt."


text:
Can't exit airplane mode
I sometimes have this weird behaviour

My phone has zero mobile network
I decide I should "reboot" the GSM service, and go to airplane mode
I want to disable the airplane mode in order to return to normal state. After a long press on power button, I do have the "device options", however nothing happens when I press Airplane mode (airplane mode enable). I am stuck in airplane mode.

However this option is not disabled (greyed out). Of course, I have a SIM, and it will be detected after a reboot.
The other options from "device options" behave normally (I can turn of sound, turn off device or reboot). It just seems this part of the screen cannot be touched anymore.
Have you experience this? Is it a known bug? How can I disable airplane mode, but rebooting?
Samsung galaxy SII with latest official Android 4.0.4

Have you tried disabling it from Settings (i.e. the device configuration)? Does this yield the same problem?

Did you try throwing it into the air? There is a chance it might transform into an actual airplane O:)

@Sid lol! maybe attach a plywood with glue to make wings, as paper wings may not work... :P  xD

I think I've seen this once or twice on either a Nexus 7 or a Nexus 4.  Not sure how I got around it; I doubt I rebooted the device.

how long did you wait? Exiting an airplane mode can sometimes take around 3-4 minutes to get a usable connection.

The solution for me: Settings / Apps / Phone / Advanced Settings / Modify system settings: set to off. My case: Motorola G 2014, Lineage OS

This problem usually occurs when, for whatever reason, your phone is set to only use WiFi to make calls in the call preferences menu. On Android, with Jelly Bean upgrade, some apps will alter this setting apparently. Here's the fix. Enjoy!
From home screen, access Apps/Settings/More Settings/Wifi Calling (Press the part to the right of the on/off button to open another menu)/Connection Preferences. Choose either "WiFi Preferred" or "Cellular Network Preferred". Make sure the phone DOES NOT have "Never Use Cellular Network" selected, or every time you shut down your WiFi or go out of range of it, you'll be listed as in Airplane Mode in the on/off menu, but not in the apps/settings/.. menus, because your cellular transceiver is disabled by that setting. Note: These instructions and menu layouts are specific to my Samsung Galaxy S2 with Android 4.1.XXX Jelly Bean, but can easily be adjusted to other phones.
Hope this helps, and my best to all!

Is it a known bug?

Yes, it is. And it seems that it's not fixed yet.
Here are some advises from me:

Try to change SIM card and see what happens.
Backup all your applications (data) and do a hard reset.
Backup all your applications (data) and flash unofficial (custom) firmware. Also try newer version of Android (4.1.x, 4.2.x).

Thanks for your answer. However, the issue 22503 seems a bit different. My phone does not go to airplane mode itself. And the menu is not greyed.
However comment #19 is very close from what I have

Correct me if I am wrong, but status New means nobody at Android thought it deserved to be Opened.

@rds anyway these bugs are connected with each other (maybe it's even the same bug). And I don't get your second statement. New issue means new issue. I don't know how to explain it. Anyway have you tried my tips?

I am with the official ROM now. What unoffial 4.0 ROM is known to fix this? As for Jelly Beans, I have recently searched, and failed to find an unofficial ROM which more advanced than "beta" for 4.1.

there are many stable roms here.

I found the only solution without deleting the System Cache and losing everything was to change to a different SIM card.
There must be some parameter that gets corrupted in Android that is associated with the SIM card. By changing the SIM must use a different set of parameters that are not corrupted.
I tried putting back the original SIM card and the problem returned. I also tried putting my original SIM card in another Android and it also worked OK.

I had the exact same problem since yesterday, this post was the solution
http://www.inflightmagazine.co/?p=351
The author refers to two steps to solve the problem, I would add the following steps between Step 1 and Step 2

Install BusyBox from the play store
Open BusyBox after rooting, grant it superuser permissions
Click install on the left bottom corner of the screen
You'll be asked to use Smart Install vs Normal Install.. I chose the first option, not sure if it makes any difference if you pick the second one
Proceed to step 2


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Flashing Cyanogenmod9 - Kernel via Odin
EDIT: I think the question is more confusing than helpful. I leave it up simply because something else has been closed as a duplicate to this.
My problem was finally solved by flashing a completely fresh stock android.
With my Galaxy S i9000 (galaxysmtd), I can only access download and recovery mode after flashing some recovery kernel via odin.
The latter was done to escape the boot loop that my installed cyanogenmod 9 was stuck in.
Installing the cyanogenmod cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip from the sdcard from within the recovery mode gives me an error 7.
This is supposedly because the recovery kernel I flashed was unfit.
My idea now is to flash only the kernel of the cyanogenmod-9.1.0-galaxysmtd as an odin-pda file, boot into recovery again and to then install the full ROM that is still on my sdcard, which should be possible then.
Because I can't boot the phone normally, I don't know how to put anything on the sdcard manually and have to use odin.
I have been reading though a lot of threads now, but the nomenclature seems to be used in such an inconsistent way that googling the right thing is almost impossible. I hope I expressed myself in sufficient clarity.

Are you talking about extracting a kernel from CM, and to flash that with Odin? Am not sure exactly what your question is....

No, I assumed that there exists a seperate kernel for CM9?

There's a reason why you got the error code 7, its not just kernel is "unfit" for the handset, could be the wrong fingerprint,out of space,existing ROM's fingerprint mismatches...check the recovery.log file in within the recovery partition, it will clue you in on the exact reason!

How could I do that? I mean, how to read out the recovery.log ?

See this question in which I answered, to save repeating, boot into recovery, use adb pull recovery.log from that and that should give you the answer you're looking for. The OP in the question of that linky I enclosed was confused about his scenario... this will shed some light into understanding why the error 7 occurred.

@t0mm13b This here is my full recovery.log: http://pastebin.com/vrEPBcfE

There's your answer! Your existing ROM's fingerprint does not match! What existing ROM did you have running prior to attempting to flash?

@t0mm13b I had Cyanogenmod9.1.0 running, which suddenly didn't boot any more. Then I flashed CWM Recovery v2.5.1.0 SOK ULFK, which I am using now to boot into recovery.

Why did CM 9.1 suddenly didn't boot any more? What did you exactly?

The only thing I can think of is that I removed my battery with the phone not switched off. I was on a flight back from holidays, so I haven't been doing anything hacky with it in quite a while. This guy here seems to have the same problem (in german): http://www.android-hilfe.de/root-hacking-modding-fuer-samsung-galaxy-s/280516-cm9-ploetzlicher-bootloop-mit-cyanogenmod-2.html#post3785877

Sounds like a buggy kernel! Try flashing a different kernel, there's a few from XDA site.... :) Do let us know how that goes for you :)

I have trouble finding my way on XDA. Could you give me nudge into the direcction of a page there where I can find suitable kernels?

XDA thread for i9000

I can see the stock roms but is there something that would make my CM9 work again? I mean, I flash a kernel and can boot into CM9 again?

@t0mm13b, I finally solved it by figuring out how to flash stock rom and doing it. I am thinking about deleting this whole thread since it is probably only going to cause confusion among future googlers.

The key lines to understand why Error 7 occurred is from the recovery.log as shown here:
-- Installing: SDCARD:cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip
Finding update package...
I:Update location: SDCARD:cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip
Opening update package...
I:Update file path: /mnt/sdcard/cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip
Installing update...
I:Trying update-binary.
script aborted: assert failed: getprop("ro.product.device") == "galaxys" || getp
rop("ro.build.product") == "galaxys" ||
       getprop("ro.product.device") == "galaxysmtd" || getprop("ro.build.product
") == "galaxysmtd" ||
       getprop("ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000" || getprop("ro.build.product")
 == "GT-I9000" ||
       getprop("ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000M" || getprop("ro.build.product"
) == "GT-I9000M" ||
       getprop("ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000T" || getprop("ro.build.product"
) == "GT-I9000T"
assert failed: getprop("ro.product.device") == "galaxys" || getprop("ro.build.pr
oduct") == "galaxys" ||        getprop("ro.product.device") == "galaxysmtd" || g
etprop("ro.build.product") == "galaxysmtd" ||        getprop("ro.product.device"
) == "GT-I9000" || getprop("ro.build.product") == "GT-I9000" ||        getprop("
ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000M" || getprop("ro.build.product") == "GT-I9000M"
 ||        getprop("ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000T" || getprop("ro.build.prod
uct") == "GT-I9000T"
E:Error in /mnt/sdcard/cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted.

The fingerprint on the existing ROM, by way of the property ro.product.device or ro.build.product which is found in /system/build.prop did not match the expected one of the following:

galaxys
galaxysmtd
GT-I9000
GT-I9000M
GT-I9000T

In theory, you could edit the build.prop, and change it for this to work, but comes with a big fat juicy warning - "The actions in changing the build.prop's two properties could result in a soft-brick" :)

I do have a i9000. So it is NOT in kernel, but in the ROM? I guess the best would be to flash something via Odin?

Can you pull in the build.prop, you may be able to get away with changing it to make this work...? Disclaimer: you are on your own and am not responsible for any soft-bricks... ok? :) Paste it and let's have a looksy :)

my /system -folder contains only "ls" and "bin" and is empty otherwise. Shouldn't the build.prop be there? Looks like this: http://pastebin.com/nDgXrNmg

That looks like to be a recovery's own /system, can you not mount the real /system where android fully boots up into?

I don't quite understand, how should I mount that and where should I find it?

Is there not a mount option on the menu from within recovery itself?

There is such an option, but it says: Can't mount /dev/block/st19 to /system[...]


text:
Can I change the gmail account associated with google play store?
When I got my android phone I had a gmail account, gmail-1, but have now created another account, gmail-2. Is it possible to transfer my play store info (i.e. app download history) from gmail-1 to gmail-2 and set gmail-2 as my primary email?

Google has this to say on transferring data between accounts.
It lists certain types of data that CAN be transferred and certain types of data that CAN NOT be transferred. Unfortunately Google Play Apps falls into the NOT category.
It's conveniently titled Moving Product Data.


text:
some apps, no problem loading on 2 devices. Not this one - help
I have loaded a free app (imediashare) from Amazon store onto my Kindle Fire. I want to put the same app on my Samsung phone, but when I go to the app store from the phone and try to 'buy' it, I'm told I already own it.
I have had no trouble doing this same action with some other apps, nor with any books (putting them on both devices)
I think I may be able to reload it from my apps library, but I cannot find it, navigating from the Samsung.
Any help would be much appreciated.

This article should help:
How to install paid apps on multiple Android devices
Also you can try to install application using web version of Play Store (in the Send to list select needed device, for example, your phone).


text:
How do I add another keyboard layout to my ICS phone?
I speak English as my first language, but I also am fluent in French and I'd like to occasionally write in French on my Android phone. I have ICS, and whilst I can easily change my language to French, I cannot change the keyboard layout to an AZERTY or QWERTZ layout.
How do I add another language keyboard layout to my phone?

Long press on the letters to get the alternative letters of the alphabet...?

Actually it's very intuitive, open the App Drawer, look for Settings, then follow below:

Language & Input > Keyboard & Input Methods > Android keyboard (AOSP) Settings > Input Languages
And in this list tap to put a check-mark for both English and French.

You can achieve this using third-party keyboard apps. Try MultiLing. I like it particularly for 2 reasons:

It's highly customizable: from the look to keyboard layouts to languages to sounds to effects to emoji icons to tablet layouts and much much more.
It supports my native language =) (Uzbek - a minority language) with the autocompletion dictionary.

And the best part? It's free!
Background Info
Although I don't need French and I only use the QWERTY layout, I tried adding French and the layouts you mentioned and it worked and I was able to do that pretty quickly.
Note that you won't be able to change the keyboard layouts as quickly using a shortcut as you would change languages (swiping the space bar). However, I'm assuming one doesn't need to change layouts that often since it's a matter of typing preference.
Setting up Languages and Layouts
Once you install the keyboard, follow these steps to add languages (the app will actually present a very convenient step-by-step set up wizard when you first run it):

Settings (not Android settings, but Multilang keyboard settings - there is a key for that on the keyboard. This will open a popup) > Languages > tick off the languages you want.
To install the autocompletion dictionaries, go to "Install Dictionaries" on the same screen. This will open developer's website with links to download dictionaries from Google Play.

To change the keyboard layouts:

Settings > Keyboard Settings > Themes, sizes and layouts > ABC Layouts > select the layout you want.
Press back several times to go back to the input screen and you are good to go.

Switching Layouts
If you want to use QWERTY with English and AZERTY with French, there are two ways to achieve this:

Changing the MultiLing keyboard settings where you have English and French set up - following the steps above (total of 7 taps or 4-5 seconds).
Using the stock Android keyboard with English language and QWERTY layout, and MultiLing with French and the layout of your choice. In this case keyboard switching is done through the notifications screen (as far as I remember on ICS - I'm on Jelly Bean now).

Bonus Information
Here's a promo video for the keyboard which shows the different languages, layouts and styles. You will see my language on the 33rd second :)


text:
Are Memory Cleanup Apps for Android Good or Bad?

Possible Duplicate:
Do task killers actually work?

I was just going through this article on Lifehacker.
Do these kind of apps really help in performance, or do they create more problems?

In short! Do not even contemplate that as Android is smart with memory management! Those task-killer subjects have been discussed countless of times, and do no justice either! IT would have been true for versions < Gingerbread, i.e. Froyo, Eclair. Gingerbread upwards are better at managing memory....

Thanks. My understanding about the article was correct then. I will be using the built-in task manager always.

There have been multiple questions here on this very topic. Look at some of the questions in the [tag:task-manager] tag.


text:
Shortcut for email to a specific person
I am new to Android, and would like to know whether it is possible to add a desktop shortcut so that when I press it, I can send an email to a specific person, and I just need to put the subject and send it.

It does seem weird this is lacking, as every phone/ROM I've had has had Direct Call and Direct [Text] Message shortcuts, so yeah, where's Direct Email?

Not for a specific person -- but still a shortcut, which simply opens the "compose new mail" screen: Compose Mail Shortcut. There's also Send Mail Shortcut which, from the name, sounds to exactly fit your purpose -- but as it helds no description at all, it's hard to tell. Last but not least: Mail Linker even seems to fit right from its description.
Unfortunately, as already mentioned, there's no such thing provided by the Android core system by default.

I don't believe there's anything built in to do that, but an app like Mail Widget will allow that.

For anyone looking for this, the Email Yourself app does this. Contrary to what the name suggests, you can also use it to create shortcuts to send emails to other people or groups of people.

Thanks. It's not free, but €1,09 is as good as free, and it works perfectly...

From this discussion I found that Speed Dial application can do the trick.

I think Speed Dial only works for smses and calls, but I could be mistaken. I tried that one a long time ago, but it can of course be updated in meantime.

The "Contact" widget allows you to add a shortcut to a specific contact on your Home Screen.  Once you visualize the contact, you just have to click on his/her email address to send the email.
This is not exactly what you asked as it requires an additional step, however it's a feature available on all Android versions without requiring installing any external app.


text:
Email app: how can I change the sender address?
I'm using the Android Email app and IMAP/SMTP (not the Gmail app). How can I change the sender ("From") e-mail address? I know how to switch between accounts when sending mail, but I can't find a setting for the e-mail address of each account. Currently, when I send an e-mail, only my username appears in the "From" field (which makes it pretty hard to reply to my e-mails).
The version of the Email app is 4.1.

I'm afraid you can't senarvi, it's a fairly basic setting left out by the android developers to push people towards using a gmail account.
You can setup the gmail account to 'pull' email from another and also send using a different address (set these up online, rather than through the device).

Why not change the account name?
NOTE: This is for Email 4.2. Instead of having something like geffchang, change it to geffchang@email.com. In the Email app: Settings > Added accounts: [account] > Common settings: More settings > Account name.

You can add more than single account in Android Email App(hope you know how).
When you are inbox you at top you can find a drop down list with all your accounts names.
You can choose one which you want to sent mail from.
Then just compose that mail and send it.

I have several accounts and, as I said, I know how to switch between them when sending mail. The question is, how to set the e-mail address for a particular account.

you are adding an account by setting an email address. And configuring it based on that email account. How can you configure an email address and send from different email with that configuration? or you can edit an account with desired mail address.


text:
Reduce time it takes for device to power on when pressing power button?
I recently got my Nexus 7, and I love it.
There is only one thing that is bugging me: The amount of time you have to hold the power button to turn the device on.
Most of time I have to hold it for around 30 seconds - this is not ideal at all, as number 1, my finger starts hurting as I am pushing it in and 2 my finger easily slips meaning I have to start again!
SO, my question is this:
Is there any way, without flashing a custom ROM, to reduce the amount of time I have to hold the power button to power the device on? Flashing a custom kernel is ok.

It could be by hardware design, not related to kernels or anything... maybe the gap between the power button and the spring-coil to trigger the signal is big.. And yes, Nexus 7 is known for that (check android subreddit about that!), flashing won't work either!

@t0mm13b There must be some way to change it. It really bugs me, and is a design bug in my opinion...

Read this discussion: http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-7-tablet-forum/219910-normal-time-you-have-hold-down-power-button-turn-please-help.html

Unless you're prepared to dismantle it, no flashing or software is a substitute for it! unfortunately!

When you push in the button you can feel the switch click, it's just holding it there - it is exactly the same with the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 4, it's just something I have become accustomed to now

All my other devices power on within 5 seconds :(

"Most of time I have to hold it for around 30 seconds", whoa, really? I have a Galaxy Nexus and it's nowhere close to 30 seconds. Is this normal?

@bigbadonk420 Yes, really. It does vary, however sometimes it takes 3 seconds of holding it down to power on.

Short answer: No.
Long answer:
This is something set at a really low level and I have never heard of this as being something that can be modified.
It's definitely nothing that can be resolved in a custom rom, maybe a different bootloader, but I have a feeling it's at a lower level than that.


text:
How to enable selective app permissions on CyanogenMod?
One of the big reasons I installed CyanogenMod (10.1 latest Monthly) was to be able to have the ability to selectively deny apps certain permissions (most importantly the network and device ID ones). However, I am not able to find it in the settings, in spite of there being blog and forum posts from several months ago mentioning that CM will have this feature.
Does anyone know if this ever made it to the main ROM? If I want to include it myself, is there a specific source tree I can merge into the CM main repo code?
Thanks.

This was available in CM7, but got removed in CM9 and above, for reasons I do not know myself.
It is possible that the maintainers of CM couldn't find a way to make this compatible with Android 4+ and so left it out.
There are apps on the market that can do this, such as Permissions Denied however this is now a paid app, and I am unable to report whether this works.
EDIT: Ad eldarerathis pointed out in the comments, there is an open feature request to add this to CM10 and later. I suggest you follow this request for updates.

Thanks for this folks! As per this comment on the issue, "On the title of this Enhancement/Feature request: The ability to revoke per app permissions is an active request and something are considering bringing back/implementing. End of this particular request's status. " :)

There's also LBE Privacy Guard as a free app for up to ICS. Be aware however that the playstore version has issues with Jelly Bean (head to XDA for solutions).

This isn't an answer as such, more of a work-around.
The other poster mentioned paid apps that can revoke permissions. I suggest to try using SRT AppGuard, I've used it to install apps that aren't supposed to be on a tablet on my Nexus 7 and other wifi-only devices (most notably WhatsApp) by revoking the device ID permission.


text:
Clearing Notifications/Downloads
Recently bought the Samsung Galaxy Ace and I'm having issues removing the notifications of a download that claims it is still in process, and notifications about messages that are not sent...
Any idea  how to remove both these things?
Restarting phone hasn't help, nor has "force-Stop"-ing the downloads manager.

Did you try long-pressing the notification? How about clearing the data on the downloads manager? Are you downloading apps via Google Play? If so, have you tried clearing data/force stopping the Play app?

If the download is still in process, click the Notification, select the download and Select the 'Cancel' button.
If the download has finished, then reboot your device.
You can clear un-sent message notifications by clicking the notification.


text:
Is it possible to specify multiple home pages for the default android browser?
That is, I want my browser to start with two tabs open, set to two different URLs.
I have tried putting "google.com | facebook.com" into the URL but that does not seem to achieve the intended effect.

No, it's not possible.
How did I get such result? As always I started to google this possibility but found nothing interesting. So I decided to check Android Browser source code. If you want you can download it by typing in console:
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/apps/Browser

After 5-10 minutes (I'm not new in programming) of looking repository I found 2 facts:
1) The homepage is saved as one String (Java type).
2) The homepage is opening by calling this function (in Controller.java):
@Override
public Tab openTabToHomePage() {
    return openTab(mSettings.getHomePage(), false, true, false);
}

So as you see (If you know programming a bit) it returns one tab, not several (like List<Tab>).

Kudos for taking the time to read the source. I should have done that but wasn't familiar with Android source tree to quickly find the browser code.


text:
Synchronisation of contacts and calendar suddenly stopped working
While working fine for almost a year now (since I've installed CyanogenMod on my device), a couple of days ago synchronisation stopped all of a sudden: Network indicators turned white (no longer green on Gingerbread / blue on ICS and up), which indicates the device is not "in-sync" with the Google servers.
First I thought it might be some Google Server outage (as all of us know them), I waited a couple of days. But it didn't solve up within a few days, so I decided to take a closer look. logcat then showed: Always when trying to sync, the network connection timed out.
Further side-effects: Google Playstore app did no longer open ("network timeout"), Google Talk insisted on a "username/password failure".
That's where I got stuck: What to do? Reboot didn't help, shutdown/restart didn't help either, nor did clearing cache/data from the contactssync app. I couldn't log off GTalk (which would be the next logical step), as GTalk immediately insisted on that username/password error.
Now what?

Related questions/answers: http://android.stackexchange.com/q/2709/16575, http://android.stackexchange.com/q/6220/16575, http://android.stackexchange.com/q/37357/16575

Concerning the "network indicator colors", also see eldarerathis answer here. Also related: Android not syncing anymore

Analysis
Luckily, logcat gave the IP address along (in my case: 74.125.93.113). On my PC, I first checked with the browser ("https://74.125.93.113/") -- and in fact, connection timed out. Next I checked what's behind the IP:
host 74.125.93.113
113.93.125.74.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer qw-in-f113.1e100.net.

Didn't tell me anything. But checking with /etc/hosts on the Android device, I found the entry:
74.125.93.113 android.clients.google.com

A lookup of that host reveiled: The IP 74.125.93.113 no longer belongs to it -- which explains the trouble.
Solution
The solution requires root, unfortunately, as /etc/hosts is owned by root and read-only for everybody else. Furthermore, /etc is just a symbilic link to /system/etc, which means the entire file system is read only.
What you need

root
a terminal emulator app (e.g. Android Terminal Emulator)

What to do
Open the terminal app, and follow these steps:
# make yourself root
su
# SuperUser/SuperSU may require approval at this point. Give it.

# check how /system is mounted:
mount | grep system

#output will look similar to this:
/dev/block/mmcblk1p21 on /system type ext3 (ro,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered)

#remount /system read-write, using the values obtained:
mount -o rw,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system

#edit /etc/hosts
vi /etc/hosts
# put a comment-sign (#) in front of the line containing the bad IP, e.g.
# 74.125.93.113 android.clients.google.com
# save the file

# re-mount /system read-only (or simply reboot, that will do it as well)
mount -o ro,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system

Now just wait a short time -- or simply call up Google Play to check. It shouldn't take long for the lights to turn green again.

I'm curious -- how'd that entry get into your /etc/hosts in the first place?

Not me :) The device in question is running CM7.2 (a Motorola Milestone 2). As I never manually changed anything in /system (this fix was the first time I really mounted /system read-write), I can only guess that either CM or the one adjusting the ROM (chillje) had placed it there. Not sure who, but either way: I'm not the only one running this ROM, so others might be affected as well -- which is why I posted this howto here.


text:
Uses for more than 2 finger multitouch?
I am planning on get a new android phone, and one of my options is the Xperia Miro. I know it is not big deal, but it fulfills my needs.
But one of the specs that got my attention is that it says here, that it only supports up to 2-finger multitouch. I've seen other phones, like Xperia J, and they also say that.
My question is, how much could i need more than 2 finger support?
For my experience, the majority of apps really don't use more than that, because the most common use of multitouch is simply pinch to zoom, turn pictures X degrees, etc, and they only need 2 touches. Even games mostly only use 2 touches max (afaik), for example shooters, typically use only left side for moving and right side for shooting, besides they are meant to be played using thumbs, so 2 fingers is enough.
So, if I get such phones with only 2 finger support, what will I be missing? What kind of apps NEED more than 2 fingers and what do they use them for? (Real examples would be nice).
I really can't think of any app that needs that, but i don't know.
Any thoughts? Thanks.

I never used more than this either. But there are apps around where you can (not must!) use more, e.g. for gestures. But though this makes much sense (allowing for easy gestures with less strokes, especially if you need many), I never missed it.

I think that three or more touches are useful on tablets because actually it's hard to do so many touches on the small screen. From my experience I know these two applications:

Simple keyboard. Yes, sometimes you can put tablet on the table and print with two hands like on real keyboard to improve writing speed.
Any Piano Emulator. Same situation as above.

It's kind of nice to be able to use 3 fingers in Fruit Ninja sometimes, although you need a decent size tablet to really make use of it.  I highly doubt that you will miss out on anything if your device only supports 2-finger multitouch, however.

I never thought this was possible, but I was really surprised when you could slice using 3 fingers. :D

In the moron test app, one of the challenges needs 4 finger multi touch. Can't remember if this is available on Android however.
Mainly only games would use this I believe.

tl;dr: 2 fingers is more than enough!
There is no real need for more than 2 fingers on your screen. But there are some apps that allow more than 2 fingers (like already said in other answers: piano apps, keyboard apps etc). But I don't think that the number of allowed fingers should be one of your criteria not to take a phone. Especially if it is a phone, more than 2 fingers will not be necessary.
Although, some phones have added a special meaning to more than 3 finger actions. For example if you look at the HTC One X, this phone can attach a special meaning when you push with 3 fingers on the screen (start Media Link TV is the default behaviour).

its very useful for advance users to quickly control system interactions.
I use 3 and 4 finger actions for things like:

3 finger swipe down - same as pressing the back button
3 f swipe up - for menu button
4 f swipe down - to turn off the screen
5 f tap 3 times -  to kill an app, force close it
4 f tap once - to switch/ toggle between the most recent apps
4 f pinch - same as the home button
4 finger swipe left to right - shows the volume menu so i can change any of the volumes.

The app i use to control all this is called,  GMD Gesture Control - on a galaxy note 3.
It depends on your preferences, but i use all of the above every day and very rarely do i get any issues or false triggers. Of course the more gestures there are  the more false triggers may occur.

Guess you mean this app? Then maybe you should also mention it requires root? ;)

yeah it would have been better to mention so,  but i assumed the user would not require more info which was not directly related towards the question. next step would be to want to use more than 2 fingers :-P

Well, the requirement concerning how many fingers you must have to use them is rather obvious, I'd say :)

Excelleent answer! I didn't know such kind of apps, I might try that one. Gestures are definitely a good use for more than 2 finger input. thanks!

You may need to use three or more fingers for cross-platform games, the ones that require an emulator(Eg. PSP emulator, Game Boy Advanced, etc.)
Their controls usually require two, three or even more buttons to be pressed simultaneously.
If you don't play such games, two will be enough. Otherwise I would suggest atleast 5.

Competitive Multiplayer games that are played with you on one side of the screen, your opponent on the other. On a phone, the screen is usually too small to enjoy that kind of gameplay anyway, so you don't really miss that much.
Finger gestures will be limited, though most apps that provide gestures usually provide multiple other mechanisms to access the features.
You don't miss that much really. At the moment, I only have one application that requires more than two finger: Magic Piano.


text:
Web Page Not Available on StraightTalk Android ZTE
I have a StraightTalk ZTE Merit, and the browser keeps on saying "web page not available".
Data enabled and Data roaming are both checked under Mobile network settings. For some reason, it will not let me edit the APN settings.
I cannot use any internet-based apps.
This is the third day it has been like this.
Any help would be great.
Some troubleshooting results:

Cellular network is AT&T, MVNO is StraightTalk.
Voice/Text still works.
No installation of apps prior to the issue
Have cleared the Browser's cookies and cache
It has worked on previous occasion
Disabling data roaming did not seem to help
Does not work over Wifi
APN is set to:

Name is WAP.

APN is att.mnvo
Proxy is proxy.mnvo.tracfone.com
Port is 80
MMSC is mmsc.cingular.com
MMMS proxy is proxy.tracfone.com
MMS port is 80
MCC is 310
MNC is 410
Authentication type is none
APN type is default,mms,supl

Am suspecting the proxy within the APN setting, could be the fault, or that the service provider has changed something somewhere.

OP was advised to check with their cellular network's web-site to see if there's a page somewhere, (it would require registering details such as name/email/number) and perhaps a button to send the APN details via SMS.

Proxy.mvno.tracfone.com  make sure that the letter P is on upper case
and this is an old apn settings
your internet is slow on this kind of apn
use the current LTE one

Hostnames are not case sensitive. Can you suggest the specific APN settings the OP should be using?


text:
How can transfer my game progress from HTC Legend to Samung Galaxy S3?

Possible Duplicate:
How to backup Angry Birds saves/data?
New phone: How to transfer game progress?

I don't really want to root either phone. But if I absolutely had to, I could root the HTC Legend, but definitely not the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Why can't you root the Samsung Galaxy S3? Is there any specific reason why?

It's a brand new phone that is quite expensive and I don't want to be stuck if it develops any problems or bricks itself.

If it were safe, would you do it? There's a noob-friendly guide for rooting the S3 here (from a reputable source too): http://www.xda-developers.com/android/how-to-root-the-samsung-galaxy-s-iii-xda-developer-tv/

No, I am definately not going to root the S3. It can't really be flagged as a duplicate can it since they are different phones and most likely different android versions.

There must be a way to access the /data/data folder on the HTC Legend without rooting it since those apps that modify Angry Birds saves can access it. Once I aquire the data could I just use the restor feature in the S3 application settings.

You need to be rooted to access that /data/data folder - plain and simple :)

@t0mm13b if I did root my HTC and copied the data out of that directory, would it be possible to add them to the S3 without rooting it.

You need both handsets to be rooted for that to pull off! Try using Google Backup to the cloud on HTC Legend (what android version is on that?) and restore on the SGS3.

The HTC is on Android 2.2

Have a look at this question about Angry Birds...

Since this question is about angry birds data save/restore, it should be flagged duplicate as per the linky in my previous comment...

Ive read through that link, but I'm having trouble getting it to locate the sdk files. I've tried numerous times typing it but it simply isn't there.

If it's just about AngryBirds: Why not use AngryBirds Backup (there are at least two more backup apps for those birds)?

angry birsd is one app I need to transfer but the one I'mmost concerned bout is Jetpack Joyride.

As long as none of the devices runs JellyBean (Android 4.1 and up), and it's just about those Angry Birds (as the comments suggest), take a look at AngryBirds Backup:

As the screenshot shows, the app supports a variety of the AngryBirds games (I don't know if it's complete, as I'm no "gamer", but it looks pretty much). So use this app to backup your AngryBirds data from the old phone to SD, copy the data to the SD card of the new phone, and use the very same app to restore them there.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S2 battery gets hot
My Galaxy S2 is less than a year old. The battery sucks! I have to charge it more than once a day.
Tonight, while on the charger, the battery life is actually going down. It's also way too hot to touch. Any inputs?

What did you do with it while it was on the charger? Download HD video from Youtube via 3G while watching it with display brightness set to 100%, while uploading a life-stream captured via the integrated cam? That's the best combination I know to make you need wearing gloves if you want to touch it. In other words: If you run something with a lot of "hunger" while charging, it might be normal for the battery to get hot. And there are components consuming it faster than it charges (e.g. video recording).

take the battery out and put it back in, do you have any shady, recently installed app/service running in the background that can be the cause of this? have you tried calibrating the battery?


text:
Keyboard shortcut to enter commonly-used email address
Is there any keyboard shortcuts on Android? I want to enter my commonly-used email address  easily, because most apps require an account.

Amen, brudda.  I wish this capability were built right in to Android.

There are apps providing shortcuts for exactly this, take e.g. a look at Mail Linker.

What I use is clipper+ (free, on the market) which provides snippets for reusable fragments like email addresses. It also stores everything you put on the clipboard, as ditto does on Windows, which is very useful, too.


text:
Adding apps in the unlock screen
I have a Samsung tablet (not sure of model), running Android 4.0.4.
When I unlock my screen, I have four default options that I can choose from, or I can use the empty area to unlock the main screen. How can I add apps like my favorite games to this menu so I can go directly into those games?
If you need more information, please let me know. Please provide steps for getting the information also.

Have a look at Go Locker. It provides you with custom lock screens that can be themed. Cant remember if compatible with tablets though.


text:
Google music player is missing some settings options
In my Nexus 7 in the Google Play Music when I open the app and choose settings from the menu, only  2 things will show:

source licenses
music version

Where are the other settings?
According to the help menu, you should be able to change things like "automatically cache" or hide "unavailable music"

Could you post a screenshot please?

You should see them. This is what I see. The first picture if the menu you should be clocking:

I had a similar, if not exactly the same, situation.
In my case, in the limited settings menu there was an item labelled "Google Account" which listed multiple accounts. As soon as I chose one of those accounts all of the normal settings menu items appeared.


text:
Text displayed as hieroglyphs on website
On my mobile browsers, the text just shows up as hieroglyphs in this site. The menu items also do not show up as well.
Does any one have ideas where this comes from?
Screenshots (click to enlarge):

(1) What Android version are you on? (2) Are you using stock ROM? Or custom ROM?

Text is readable on my Samsung Galaxy S2, running CyanogenMod 10.1

(1)(2) no idea. i just got a hint from the customer and looked it up on http://www.browserstack.com. The thing is the text problem is one thing, but the disappearing of the menu item another which could not be a text-problem i think.

Does your screenshot come from an emulator? Or is that an actual Samsung Galaxy S2? Browserstack? [yes, I noticed you mentioned that, but I'm not familiar with BrowserStack]

Just an emulator, but people who have an actual device told me about both errors.

And are you the developer of that website?

The menu is also black for me.

yes i am. thats why i am asking. on all devices i tested the site the menu problem and the font problem did not appear.

In that case, this question should be moved to StackOverflow.com. Programming / Development-related issues are not discussed in Android.se. I will flag this question for move to StackOverflow.com :)

nobody is answering there. so i thought it might be an android problem. thats why i posted it here.

Probably has something to do with your CSS or JavaScript. I think you probably should describe in StackOverflow the code / libraries you are using.

Although this question is asked from a developer who sees this problem, I don't think that we should close it as off-topic as a user could ask the same question.

@Flow Point taken. The answer would most likely be development- / implementation-related though.

This is due to a lack of font support on the device.
On my Nexus 7 I see this:

this is ok. i mean the site takes Arial. Just have to reset the font size. but on the other on i posted its not even a font, even if i activate Arial only.

@Max it is device and Android version dependant sorry!