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My bluetooth keyboard's skip/back buttons don't fast forward/rewind
I recently purchased Satechi's Bluetooth Multimedia Remote Control so I could control my music without looking (i.e. without removing my hands from my pockets and exposing them to winter). Essentially, this pairs as a bluetooth keyboard with media keys, which is why I said "bluetooth keyboard" in title, because I imagine it is functionally the same.
Here's my problem: pressing and holding the skip button does not fast forward as expected (likewise for the back button and rewinding). I noticed that the default music app immediately skips when the button is pressed, while the doubleTwist app waits until the button is released to skip; this makes me think that each app decides how to handle the input from the media keys. Any suggestions for a workaround or an app that will respond appropriately to my input?
I have a Samsung Galaxy SIII (SAMSUNG-SGH-1747) running ICS (Android version 4.0.4). It is not rooted.


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Can I repartition the internal storage of my device to make space for apps?
I have a T-Mobile Concord and it has little memory (probably standard amount).  It is used up by applications that I don't use or don't need.  I would like to partition the OS so that I can increase the internal memory so I can download other apps or play games that I have downloaded.  Is this possible or am I just S.O.L.?

Highly doubt if this can be done, even if it is feasible, it is extremely risky and could render the phone bricked!
Some handsets have the capability to resize the partitions used.
For example:

The Zte Blade is one very good example that can enable through what's known as TPT transfer, where the /system, /cache and /data can be resized conveniently, albeit in a limited fixed way, such as 2Mb /cache, and 210Mb /system. See this example of the alternative layouts that can be used for this handset.

The software used to achieve this, is not easy to find on the internet, known as, testpoint, although it does require specialized knowledge on how to use it, and does involve the risk of overwriting the IMEI number for this to work.
There is one for Qualcomm based handsets and is floating around on the internet.
Now, going back to T-Mobile Concord handset, not sure if there's one for specified handset concerned, as GSMArena indicates that this is a Broadcom chipset...
It might be best to dig around on XDA to see if anyone has achieved it.
If not, then take it as a no-go!

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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How to delete the apps backup created by "Super Backup" app?
I recently used "Super Backup" to backup my apps/data before I flashed a new version of CM10.1 on my rooted Nexus 4 device. After I finished flashing the ROM and booted up with the new image, I restored most of my apps and all of my data.
My question is: There is provision to delete SMS Backups which are created by this app. There are similar provisions for Contacts Backups, Call Logs Backups, Bookmarks Backups but there is NO PROVISION from within this app to delete the Apps Backup.
Is there a better way of deleting the Apps Backups data which is on my local storage than just physically deleting the folders/file using a File Explorer app?

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


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Can I boot into other OS (such as Ubuntu) from an Android OS tablet that have a USB host?
I have the following scenario:
A user have a Android OS tablet that have Android 4.0
The tablet have a full USB port (not the mini USB port)
The user have a thumbdrive that have a boot from USB version Ubuntu.
Is it possible and how do the user goes about booting the USB Ubuntu on an Android OS tablet?
This also apply to any boot from USB version OS.

Two questions: What tablet? and Can the tablet boot from a thumbdrive?

@t0mm13b The tablet is this http://store.archos.com/carbon-android-tablet-p-5031.html. But I would like to know how can I know that if that tablet can boot from a thumbdrive? (is it that I have to use some Apps that will tell me that this particular tablet can boot from a thumbdrive or ???)

Short answer: No.
Longer answer: The thumb-drive version of Ubuntu is for x86 processors. There are ways to run Ubuntu in Android, all of them requiring a Ubuntu port with an ARM architecture. Search for Complete Linux Installer in the Play Store for basic stuff. It will rum on top of Android in a virtualized environment, and you can connect to its environment and everything. Just download the image and put it on your flash drive instead.

What if you have an android tablet with an intel CPU? I have an iView i700  with an Intel Dual Core CloverTrail+Z2520 processor. Which near as I can tell is a 32-bit x86 CPU. I'm frustrated by my inability to move apps to the sdcard (I'm beginning to hate KitKat)

authors: เจ้าชาย โบย่า


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how does auto brightness work?
there is a similar question to this one How does the automatic brightness settings work?
however, I do not think it answers my question. This is more to do with the UI.
I just got myself a Galaxy s3. The phone has under the notifications the ability to change the brightness.

As can be seen from the screenshot, I can both adjust the brightness manually and select auto. Adjusting the brightness manually does visually affect the brightness of the screen even when the autobrightness is checked.
So what does the manual adjuster do when auto-brightness is turned on?

This looks misleading, if 'Auto' is checked, the slider should be disabled, likewise, if 'Auto' is un-checked, the slider should be enabled. Or, more than likely, the slider overrides Auto, thereby leaving you with the choice! :)

That seems weird. In S2, the slider is disabled on Autobrightness. I would flag that as a bug.

@t0mm13b - If it overrides the auto choice, shouldn't it also uncheck the auto feature as well? I just checked, it's also in the settings, so it's definitely not a bug in the widget. The other weird thing is the brightness adjusts much greater when auto is off, then when auto is on.

If auto is checked, and the slider still enabled, I'd expect the slider value as a kind of "base value" for auto adjustment. But your last comment is really confusing -- as it suggests auto is on when auto is off...

The Auto option enables the lightsensor of the device.
On some Samsung devices there remains a slider when the checkbox Auto is checked. With that slider you can set a delta (small change) in the brightness set by the data of the sensor. You can chose if you want it a bit brighter or less bright than the sensors standard value.
In short:
 - Box checked: Sensor defines brightness (+/- delta)
 - Silider in the middle: delta = 0
 - Slider to the left: delta = - amount of steps from the middle
 - Slider to the right: delta = + amount of steps from the middle


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App2SD doesn't work - I don't even have the option
So I got a Verizon Samsung Stellar (it has Android 4.0.2) a few days ago. All's going well, but I don't have the option to transfer an app to my sd card. However, I can move files etc with a file manager, so the phone recognizes the SD card is there.
On my old phone (an ancient MyTouch 4G, it was 2.3.4) there was a button in the Application Manager to move an app to the SD card. If the app didn't have App2SD supported it would be grayed out.
I called Verizon to see why I don't have this option on my newer phone (you think that with a 1GB internal hard drive and an included SD card they would support moving apps to your SD) and the person said that I just hold down the app name and a bar would come up with options. Holding down an app did nothing, no quick vibrations like when you move an icon on your home screen, etc. I've looked and about 80% of apps I have support App2SD so it's not that. How do I fix this? My phone is already full.


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Flash Nexus 7 without USB Debugging
My Nexus 7 32gb WiFi, running stock 4.2.1, is stuck on the Nexus 'X' symbol loading screen after boot. It stays there until the battery goes flat. The issue is that I have not enabled developer or debugging mode, meaning that I cannot connect to the PC via the adb.
Is there another way that I can flash a new ROM? Apologies if this is a question answered elsewhere, but all recovery methods that I have discovered so far require 'USB Debugging', which I currently do not have access to.

You don't need usb debugging to flash. You need to unlock the bootloader and boot in to the recovery.

But how does one unlock the bootloader without having USB debugging enabled?

Related: Nexus 7 stuck in a boot loop - a boot loop is you seeing the "X" forever.

All you need to is boot to the bootloader by holding the Power button and Vol Down at the same time for a while.


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How to find out my Galaxy Nexus' version? (maguro, toro or toroplus)
I have a Galaxy Nexus phone.
I want to install JellyBean manually, but I don't know which one of these I should download. How do I know if my phone is maguro, toro or toroplus?

Go to Settings > About phone > Model number,
and see which one matches:

Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Maguro; GSM/HSPA+) - GT-I9250
Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Toro; Verizon; CDMA/LTE) - SGH-I515
Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Toro Plus; Sprint; CDMA/LTE) - SPH-L700

Edit #1: You can also check the back casing if it has Verizon (toro) or Sprint (toroplus) written on it. If not, then you have maguro.

Model number is just "Galaxy Nexus"

@shift66 What is the Build number in the About phone?

JOP40D I Know that it's jelly bean 4.2.1 actually I've installed the 4.1.1 about 3 months ago (don't remember which of the variants). and then Android updated to 4.2.1. but in last week something happened and now there are some bugs. I just want install fresh OS.

Do you have the phone right now? Does it have a writing at the back? Sprint? Verizon?

No, just google and samsung. It means that my phone is maguro?

@shift66 Then, it's safe to say you have: Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Maguro; GSM/HSPA+) - GT-I9250

Just note-- this is true as long as you know that the back cover is the original! (since one can easily buy an OEM back w/ only Google And Samsung logos on it).

I have an old Galaxy Nexus from Sprint, but the bootloader screen said I had toro, not toroplus. Also, the toroplus Cyanogenmod refused to install because it insisted I had toro.


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Where to get Flash Player for Android 2.2 Froyo
As everyone knows, the development of Adobe Flash for mobile devices was discontinued. I have an external device I want to access. It has a web server installed running a HTML script with an embedded Flash movie.
Since I am not able to download a compatible Flash version on Google Play and have a device that runs Android 2.2.1 Froyo and another device that runs 4.0.3 Android Ice Cream Sandwich, my question is: Where can I get an Android version of Flash Player that may run on Froyo as well as on Android 4.0.3 ICS?
I've downloaded the APK files here. NOTE: I am no way affiliated with chip.de

You can obtain the apks for Flash for all versions of Android directly from Adobe in their old version archives.
http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html
Scroll down a bit and you'll find "Flash Player for Android 4.0 archives" and "Flash Player for Android 2.x and 3.x archives".  These include the last versions of each released before Abode dropped Flash for Android.

Awesome, this helped me very much =) Thank you ;)


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Lost RAM after using phone for a day or two
I have a Sony Ericsson Live with walkman phone (model WT19i), running on Gingerbread.
When I restart my phone, it shows about 220MB RAM as free and 80-300MB RAM being used. After using it for - say 2 days - it only shows RAM capacity of about 200MB (80MB free and around 120MB being used). When I cleared all the running apps, (Settings > Applications > Running services), I do not get the full RAM. My phone gets slow. I am left with no other option but to restart it.
This is my first Android device. Is this a common thing with Android devices, or does my phone have problems?

There are multiple things involved with your question. I know this topic is hard to put in exact words, especially for someone new to Android -- so it gets a little unclear what the real issue is. I'll try to cover all I think is related, but will redirect to other questions here for details.
First: How RAM is used.
There is no such thing like "useful free RAM". As soon as there's "free RAM" available, it will be put to use: buffering and caching are the most interesting features in this context, as they speed up the system. As soon as an app requires additional RAM, and there's no free RAM available, the required amount is dropped from caches and buffers, so this is entirely dynamic and should have no negative effects.
More details:

Why is my Samsung Galaxy S not utilizing all of its RAM?
Why is my device not utilizing all of its available RAM?
Does Android hide some amount of RAM from the User?
Are there guidelines on how much free RAM a phone should have - specifically Samsung Galaxy S?
Android ROM, RAM, Internal storage, External storage and Battery utilization

There are a lot more questions here dealing with this topic. To find them all, just follow the ram tag you already used for your question.
Second: Your device slowing down.
This might have many different reasons: Some app might be hogging ressources is the most likely reason if the problem is not there right after a reboot (but starts only a few hours/days later). If the problem persists after a reboot, reasons might be different (or the "hogging app" got auto-started). Your caches (on internal storage) could be messed up, for example. If you installed/uninstalled a lot of apps for testing, it could as well be the Dalvik-Cache (pre-compiled code of your apps).
Good starting point to investigate this issue:
My device is getting slow, apps start misbehaving/crashing. What can I do?
See also the "Linked" and "Related" section of that question, which will provide you additional ressources.


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Problem syncing Gmail contacts on Android tablet
I have a Teac tablet (classic101) with Android 4.0.
After signing in on Gmail and Drive and everything, my contacts won't show up anywhere. It doesn't show when I start writing an address in Gmail. It doesn't even show after I downloaded contacts+ (the contacts are empty).
When I go to sync it, it suggests syncing email, calender and drive. But, there is no contacts!
How do I sync my contacts so that they will appear on my Gmail on the tablet? I have over 2000 contacts on Gmail.
It works fine on my phone, just not on the tablet.

Does the tablet have the "People" app? because if sync settings doesn't ask you to sync contacts, my guess is that there isn't a people app, or at least there isn't the "stock" people app.

thanks for the help, but yes, it does have people on it, and that doesn't sync with my contacts either although it shows that it's connected to my Gmail


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Increase touchscreen sensitivity on Nexus 7
Is there a way to increase the touchscreen sensitivity on a stock Nexus 7? I ask because I find that there is no stylus that registers movement or even touching quickly and reliably. that means that it's useless for scribbling handwritten notes. Perhaps this is a stylus issue, or even on that can be solved in software. But the obvious solution would be something general that increased or tweaked the sensitivity of the screen. Does that exist?

In my experience, using your fingers or a stylus does not make any a difference in responsiveness.
On Skitch, the drawing matches with what you swipe / touch / move, but the responsiveness is slow. Quill is faster (try it, if you still haven't), but it slightly changes what you draw; still faster than Skitch though.
All in all, I think this is probably a hardware issue; could be software too. Nevertheless, we both agree that there is an impedance mismatch!


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Where is the precmd command in android?
I'm kind of used to linux. I'm using Busybox from the Busybox Free installer, with Busybox 1.21.0-Stericson. Trying to chance my shell to the Busybox shell using busybox ash gives the following error after every single command:
ash: precmd: not found
echo $PS1
$(precmd)$USER@$HOSTNAME:${PWD: -?} $

I tried to go back to the normal shell and find out WHERE precmd is:
which precmd

It just changes the prompt to have "1|" in front of it, without giving me WHERE it is. I found a solution here, but have no idea where to put it. I'm basically trying to do the same as this question (make Busybox shell the default).

precmd is a function, and as far as I understand ash doesn't support it.

There was a solution here: http://blog.bstpierre.org/zsh-prompt as I said. I need to find out where to put the code.

If you are using Connectbot: according to an article at XDA-Developers, this is nothing but a cosmetical error:

Connectbot seems to set shell variable 'PS1' to "$(precmd)$USER@$HOSTNAME:${PWD:-?} $ ".
  It means your shell (the busybox's ash applet) will try to use output from 'precmd' as a part of a command prompt.
  So when 'precmd' was not provided, error messages will be generated wenever a prompt was to be shown.

To fix this, mentioned post says you can use PS1="> " (or simply unset PS1) to work around that error.

Looking for further references, I found you already cross-posted this to stackoverflow and got an answer there. It would have been fair to update your question here accordingly, as you obviously got a solution there (the same, it seems) which solved your issue.


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Skype Android use headset but record sound from phone's microphone
Environment: Skype on Android 4.1
Hardware: Galaxy S2 + earplugs without microphone
Is it possible to use phone's built-in microphone while using earplugs during a skype call?


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How do I choose a wired headset whose buttons work?
I'm switching from iPhone to the Nexus 4 (yay!) and I know that the Nexus 4 doesn't come with a headset. I also know that for simple audio playback, any stereo headset can be used -- but I also want to use the headset to:

adjust volume with in-cable +/- buttons,
start/stop music playback with in-cable middle button,
start/end calls with in-cable middle button,
telephony with in-cable microphone.

The Apple headsets provide these abilities on iPhone so I'm assuming that something similar would work on Android as well (and specifically on the Nexus 4).
I've tried connecting the Apple wired headset to a borrowed Nexus 4, but the in-cable buttons didn't work. I'm not really surprised because I assume that the buttons send coded signals that are proprietary.
How can I select a wired headset that is compatible with the Nexus 4?
I can't very well buy one and test it, buy another if it doesn't work right, and continue until I succeed.
Surely, there is a solution here that I have been too Apple-brainwashed to see?
Alternatively, if this isn't possible on a stock Android: Is there an add-on package to Android that catches the signals from an iPhone headset and sends appropriate commands to the system?

Summary from my comments, as requested, as an answer:
There are plenty of other headset controller apps on the playstore if you're worried about the permissions. I tried Jays once, but it only worked partially (in 9 out of 10 tries, I had no luck to adjust the volume -- instead, other actions were triggered, as e.g. pause/play).
Having a Philips headset, I tried Philips Headset -- and am quite satisfied: Volume control, play/pause/skip, accept/refuse/hangup call, all possible smoothly.
Most of the headset control apps want to make calls. As my device is rooted, I control such things with the LBE app: Neither Jays nor Philips Headset abused this privilege.
Most headset control apps seem to work with most headsets, more or less. As my example with Jays and a Philips headset shows, some features might not be available/working. But you cannot break anything trying. So I'd suggest to give it a try first: If one app doesn't work out, try another. If none works the way you need it, you still can go for another headset; having checked some of the control apps, you then already know which companies have a specific app. As said, my Philips headset works fine with the Philips app -- others reported the same for Jays. Reading the comments will give you more details and help you finding a good combination.

I use an Android specified Headset with 3-button for my Nexus. Works brilliant.
Not only does it deliver 3-button action, but also very good sound and a really hard hitting bass. Anyone enjoying Rock or Electronica will not stop listening ;-)
The headset is specifically made for Android's lower voltage spec from Google and will NOT work on an iphone (the way I like it).
3-button Android spec headset with flat cable
Sabotage Royale from Degauss Labs
Webpage: http://www.degausslabs.com
Edit: 3-button headsets.
I hope anyone reading this debate understands there are Android hardware spec headsets and iPhone hardware spec headsets. They dont change in hardware or technical specifications just because you start using some software app.. (Just make them more programmable).
So if you are an Android user you should use a 3-button Android spec headset. A 3-button iPhone headset will not work 100% (up down buttons etc) and most likely the mic dont do the proper job making whom you speak to hear you bad or "from far away" or "talking in a coke-can". There are 100 times more iPhone spec headset out there, dont ask me why.

I guess this got downvoted because it's a specific product recommendation? I upvoted because it's actually useful :-)

My initial research is confusing. Some say that this kind of commands just aren't available on Android. One source says that at least one product (Klipsch S4a (Android), £50-90) actually works as desired when also installing an application from the vendor.
As for add-on software to handle the in-cable buttons, HeadsetButton Controller (€2,29, free trial) seems to do the trick although I really don't understand why it needs to "read data about your contacts stored on your tablet, including the frequency with which you've called, emailed, or communicated in other ways with specific individuals."
With that add-on software, perhaps a cheaper headset could work just as fine (example).

There are plenty of other headset controller apps on the playstore if you're worried about the permissions. I tried Jays once (it wants to make calls oops), didn't work out for me. Having a Philips headset, I tried Philips Headset -- and am quite satisfied: Volume control, play/pause/skip, accept/refuse/hangup call, all possible smoothly. Permissions? Yeah, it wants to make calls. But in the past 6 months, it never did this on its own ;)

@Izzy so you're saying that most apps work with most headsets? I had gotten the impression that most apps only work with a specific (set of) headset(s) that they've been specifically written for. Yes, on Android I'm a n00b :-)

More or less they do, yes. Specific ones work best, of course (like in my case the Philips app with a Philips headset). With Jays I had trouble adjusting the volume. But you can't break anything, so just try which one fits best with your headset.

@Izzy - if you write that in an answer, I'll accept it! That would mean I could keep my iPhone headset and use a suitable app, which would be great.

Done :) As written: If no app works out with your current headset, you still can buy new hardware. But if you find a suitable combination, it will save you some bucks ;)

When I switched over to Android I started looking for a three button headset compatible with my phone. I found that there are a couple of brands that do earphones for Android but you usually have to use an App to set the functions for button controls.
I love good sound in my ears and probably use my earphones 2-5 hours per day.
I have tested a couple, I find many of the earphones lack durability and break quite easily.
Some recommendations below, all with three button control:
Nocs NS200 - Good sounding earphones. Comfortable. Lacking mids and bass is too impendent. However they broke. Three button function works well with button control App.
Bose MIE2i - Nice earphones is you're not into in-ear heaphones. Comfortable and good sounding. I think they are slightly overpriced..
Klipsch S4a II- Really well made earphones. Good sound and well balanced. Button control work well with App.
Degauss Dual Driver, the best pair of earphones I have owned so far. They sound like the equivalent to a couple of Shure earphones for 290EUR, but only cost 110EUR. The button control works well. I downloaded Degauss App. I have been using them for a couple of months. I found them in a store in Sweden. Think you can buy them from Degauss Labs website. Would like to try Sabotage Royale as well..
Maybe this post helps...

The question was asking how to choose, not for actual recommendations.

If you are willing to sacrifice volume control feature, pretty much most of the stock headphones that come with android phones will work for you.
Long press, double press of the button are mere interpretation of software like the music player or the call manager. Hence you should get this feature natively or if not it can be supplemented by apps.
If volume control is badly needed, then the only option that I can think of is Bluetooth stereo headphones like Jabra BT3030, which can do all those you ask for.
I am not an audiophile and do not like heavy bass - just saying this because I recently purchased a headphone from LG service centre just for INR200 (about £3) and I am completely satisfied with its cost vs benefit ratio that it offered and of course had all the feature you ask for except volume control.


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How to determine cause of boot halt in Samsung logo screen?
The apps kept crashing on my phone (even MIUI Home) so I shut it down using the long power press and selecting shut down/power off option.
When I powered it back on, it just stays stuck on the Samsung logo boot screen with the yellow warning sign (which has been there ever since I rooted it).
Here's what I tried which didn't work:

List item
cleared cache, dalvik, fixed permissions - FAIL
with above, it means booting into CWM works fine but booting into OS fails
reflashed with MIUI i9100 ICS 2.12.14 (still downloading 3.1.25 as I type this) - FAIL
removed micro SD and SIM and tried booting - FAIL
earlier today, it started doing the crashing thing too but after reboot, it went into Safe mode. I rebooted again to get out of safe mode. After booting back normally into OS, all my non-system apps were out of there arranged folders and just listed in the next home screens like they were all reinstalled.

So I got to backing up my data with CWM and did a data wipe and it now boots successfully.
I need to restore my data. Can't work with a fresh wipe.
With this, at least I know it's not a HW problem. Or is it? :O

First of all, it always a good thing to have USB Debugging on. It can help you check your phone and even recover it if something is wrong.
When your phone is on a boot loop and won't start correctly, you can use adb to check where might be the problem. Connect your phone via the USB cable to a PC with adb and then type the following:
adb logcat

Power your phone and you should see, as your phone starts the boot secuence, a lot of information in the adb window. That is the current log of your phone boot secuence (like the one you can see in linux for example). If the phone ends in a boot loop, you should be able to see what is trying to do and then try to fix it.

It's working fine now. But I will keep this answer in mind when it happens again. Thank you!


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Google Now is not able to call one of my Google contacts
Google Now can call all of my contacts... except for one: James P*****. See the following screenshot:

Screenshot: Call James (click image for larger variant)
What? Who the hell is James A. Kellam? An attorney, apparently, but I don't know him.
Let's try a similar name, also in my contacts: Jimmy P***** (same last name, different contact):

Screenshot: Call Jimmy (click image for larger variant)
As you can see, that works as expected. I find this strange because they are both Google contacts. They both show up on http://contacts.google.com and they are both marked as Google contacts on my phone.
Why can't I call James through Google Now, but I can call Jimmy?
I am running CyanogenMod 10.0.0-d2vzw on a Samsung Galaxy S III.

Is the voice recognition correctly getting the last name you are saying? I can never get it to understand my last name, so it usually does a google search for what I thought it said, instead of trying to call a contact.

Yes, I blacked it out but the last name is correct.

I have several contacts that act the same way. Sometimes when I append the contact's number's label to the end of my spoken command it helps; something like, "Call John Smith, mobile" or "Call John Smith, home."

"Call James P*****, Mobile" just comes up with "Contact not found." There is an option for "find contact." I press that and select "James P*****" and then press mobile and it calls. If I say "Call James P*****, Mobile" again, however, it just comes up with the same "Contact not found" screen.

Does adding "on" help? E.g., "Call John Smith on mobile"

Adding on did fix it. Strange.

Strange indeed. I only do it as a hold-over from a previous phone that required voice commands be given in a specific way. I'm glad it helped solve your trouble.

It gets stranger: "Call James" works now but not "Call James P*****."


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Motorola Bionic and OG have bad audio jacks
Both my Motorola Bionic and OG have bad audio jacks that require significant jiggling around to get a constant connection almost every time I plug them in. Once it's "good" I can leave it alone and it works great but if I bump the connection it could disconnect again.
Is there any resolution to this? Is this true for other phones as well? It doesn't matter what OS version, it's the hardware connection itself.

This may be too localized to you, as I had no problems with my OG Droid. However, are you sure it isn't your pair of headphones? Did you try different headphones with the devices? Or was it the same headphones between both phones?

Many different cables/headphones that all work fine on the other end or on other devices. It's the jack itself.

The jack is probably dirty, or the wires could have loose connections in the phone. Try cleaning the headphone jack.

Using a compressed air can is all I can think of which I've tried already to no avail. My guess is that the connectors are not pushed forward as much as they should be. Is there a way to replace the connector or do I have to get a needle/pin and try to bring them forward?

There was dust that was compressed and stuck all around the edges which was impossible to see or get out with compressed air. The connection is solid now though.


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In what version of Android was process caching first implemented?
Android can cache app processes to improve start-up times for subsequent app executions.
You can see this capability on some devices by going to Settings->Applications->Manage Applications (or just Settings->Apps on others), going to the "Running" applications tab, and either pressing the Menu button or another button on the UI marked with the option to Show cached processes.
Here's a list of devices I've looked at to see if this "Show cached processes" menu item is available:

HTC Hero (Android 2.1-update1) - No
HTC T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide (Android 2.1-update1) - No
Samsung Dart (Android 2.2) - No
HTC EVO 4G (Android 2.3.3) - Yes
HTC EVO Shift (Android 2.3.4) - Yes
HTC EVO 3D (Android 4.0.3) - Yes
Samsung Nexus S 4G (Android 4.1.1) - Yes
Samsung Galaxy S3 (Android 4.1.1) - Yes

Based on these devices, it looks like process caching became visible to the user in Android 2.3.
So, the question:

In what version of Android was process caching first introduced (even if its not visible to the user)?

Any answers with strong evidence (e.g., Android documentation or AOSP source code references, 1st person observations of devices) are appreciated.

Am not 100% sure, but this looks borderline... ?


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Opera mini v12 automatic clear cache history & cookies
Is there a way to get rid of all cache, history and cookies automatically.
Preferably each time I shut down or start up the browser Opera mini.
If this one doesn't anyone know another browser that does?
Manually deleting each privacy setting all the time is a pain in the ass.
And if no mobile browser supports this is there another way to get rid of
all this data automatically?

Maybe you try two avenues:

Dolphin Browser (Which does prompt for to clear cache, etc on exit), there's the Mini version, this version as linked to the Play Store, and the HD version.
History Eraser - this clears all the history of SMS, Calls, Browser history etc in one swell foop.

about this History Eraser.... seriously... i wonder why ppl would install if you checkout what this "so-called-app" permissions wants to have: edit and read my SMS or MMS, My personal information ( read browser history and bookmarks ), Full internet access (why the hell for?)... seriously??

That's what it does, barring internet access (can block  it with firewall) it does wipe sms, mms, call logs etc..

The PC / desktop Opera version has that feature. Unfortunately, it's not available in mobile versions.
You can try the following browsers instead:
Dolphin

Settings > Exit Settings > Clear Cache When Exiting
Settings > Exit Settings > Clear History When Exiting
Settings > Exit Settings > Clear Cookies When Exiting

UC Browser

Settings > Clear Data > Clear data on exit
Settings > Clear Data > Cookies
Settings > Clear Data > Form
Settings > Clear Data > History
Settings > Clear Data > Cache

As of this time, I prefer to use UC Browser, because Dolphin is giving me a lot of issues on my Samsung Galaxy S2, running CM10.1.

Dolphin i tried and looks surprisingly nice if it has a no-script add-on or option that its better than chrome or firefox. No-script is a firefox addon that blocks all JavaScript except for the domain you manually allow.


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How to find and remove spy software on phone
My girlfriend has an admirer which started out as a good friend. He confessed his love for her some time ago and started to become more and more aggressive while being rejected. He recently started to show some stalker like behavior and started to appear near her flat at late nighttime.
He also hinted, that he always knew when she was chatting with me through WhatsApp. I'm therefore afraid that he might have installed some Spyware on her Android-Phone (HTC One X+)
Is there a way to identify Whatsapp Spyware and to remove it?

The long and short! Go and report it to your local law enforcement authorities.

BTW Relevant linky about Whatsapp, in plain and short, don't use it! :) There was a recent report about it sending IMEI numbers in the clear...

Format the sd card and flash the stock rom again. This would guarantee clearing out any spyware. Here is a tutorial describing how to take it back to stock.
"…I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure."

I'd suspect that there's no spyware on her phone. Whatsapp shows when a contact is online or has last been online, so it's possible that the person assumes that when she's online, she's chatting with you. You can prevent this by opening Whatsapp and going to Menu -> Settings -> Contacts -> Blocked contacts and adding the stalker to the block list on her Whatsapp account. This should prevent him from seeing her Whatsapp activity.
Otherwise, designerWhoCodes's answer is the only certain way of removing spyware.


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Turn on auto-correct when using a Bluetooth keyboard
I have been using my Nexus 7 for schoolwork and I love it. One problem, however, is that when I connect to my Bluetooth keyboard I no longer get auto-correct suggestions. I then decided to install Swiftkey 3 and discovered that if I had SwiftKey set as the default I could see a prediction bar, but there was still no auto-correct/auto-completion.
How can I have auto-correct enabled when a hardware keyboard is connected?

Looks like it has been reported as a SwiftKey bug for the Nexus 10 as well.
Your best best is probably wait to get this fixed. I suggest you click the Vote button in their support site to increase the bug's priority. I just added 3 votes for you!
NOTE: I don't use SwiftKey. I use GO Keyboard.

I guess I'll just have to wait. I just tried Go Keyboard but it doesn't support shift/ctrl/caps on a physical properly.


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How can I know if the rooting files have malware?
I'm learning about how cellphone rooting works. Every procedure I've seen this far asks you to install a series of files that you download from random websites. Is it possible to know for sure that the files you are downloading will only root your phone, and that they are not 'trojans' or other types of malware?
Thanks,

Simple answer! Go to reputable sites where the developers are acknowledged such as XDA, Modaco and not from some un-trustworthy site.

@t0mm13b So how do you know which sites are reputable?

@MichaelHampton Read from reliable sources such as Modaco, XDA, Reddit's /r/Android, and last but not least, here also! ;)

Also, you could check the MD5/SHA1/etc. (if provided) if you trust the creator but the link might be iffy.

Checking an MD5 is inadequate these days. It's not that hard to come up with a different file with the same MD5 has. SHA-1 is a little better but still relatively weak.

There are two possible counter possibilities:
First possibility:
In case the rooting is done by scripts and certain binary tools you can check if the binary tools are standard tools, and e.g. included in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). In such a case you could compile the tool yourself or search the net for multiple sources. In the ned use the one from the most trustworthy.
Second possibility:
Use a virtual machine for executing the rooting software. Using a virtual machine like VMware you can connect an USB device like an Android phone into the guest OS. Therefore rooting the device from within the guest OS is usually possible and does not affect the host OS.

Rooting from inside a VM doesn't stop the toolkit installing malware on the Android device you're rooting.


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App2SD with root?
So I just rooted my Samsung Galaxy Stellar phone (it's 4.0.2)
I want to be able to move apps to my SD card now, something that has been disabled in 4.0 (at least as the people in the thread here said)
How do I do this? I have never rooted a phone before so I have literally NO experience with this.

That's nothing root-specific. Just search the playstore for "app2sd" and take a look at the results. If none of those work out (which would make me wonder), an alternative to look at would be Link2SD.

App2SD apps don't work for me - It gives an error and won't let me move anything.

Which App2SD? One of the playstore apps -- or the native one? Did you describe that problem in a question here, including the error messages? Might be solvable. And if App2SD really doesn't work for you, did you take a look at the second option I mentioned (Link2SD)? That's a separate approach, independent from App2SD.


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Updating ADW Launcher for Cyanogenmod 7
I'm running Cyanogenmod 7.2.0 Sholes on Motorola Droid with the ADW Launcher. The free version on the Market is an updated version of the one in my system's mod. Is there anyway to update it in the mod itself, instead of having to download it and have them be two separate apps?

If it's the same app (same package name, correct signature) it should simply update fine, and not appear as "separate app". Otherwise you could always install it, make it a system app (e.g. using Titanium Backup), and after being sure it works simply freeze/remove the "old" one.

System apps are always installed in /system but when system apps get updates, they are downloaded to /data as an update to the /system app.
If you download an app from the Market that its already installed in /system, it will upgrade the one you already have, but it won't install it as a duplicate.
In your specific case, if you find an updated version of ADW Launcher in the Market and you download it, you will be able to use the updated version of ADW Launcher if its the same app as the one in /system. If Cyanogenmod has a modified ADW Launcher on /system and you install the original in the Market, you might end with two different launchers (I haven't tested this part, so I don't really know if it will be an update or another app the one it installs).


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On Galaxy S3 with Jelly Bean, how can I make long-pressing the home button activate Google Voice Search?
I have a Verizon Galaxy S3 with Jelly Bean on it.
What I want is to long-press the Home button and hear a beep to prompt me to provide a voice command.
I had it set up this way before I installed the official Verizon version of Jelly Bean.  I had Cyanogenmod before.
I know that I can long-press the "Menu" soft-key to open up Google Now, but that's not what I want, especially since it doesn't even activate the voice search.

You could install an alternate launcher like Nova and assign the buttons to do different things. Alternatively you can flash a ROM that has the home button going to Google Search by default.

Galaxy S3 stock ROM has S-Voice on home key double press (do a double click like with a mouse), its not Google's app but its not so bad at all.
If you want to launch another app (like Google's Voice Search), you need to decompile, edit and recompile the framework.jar of your phone to add that function. I would suggest you ask about the change in the Cyanogenmod forum, since it should be fairly simple.

Stock roms hardly comes with enhanced options. IMO you should switch back to Cyanogen based ROMS or any other custom roms. I prefer/rely Cyano as I am using it past 3 years and has lots of revealed options which is good and bad as well. Currently I own a OnePlus One with cyanogen 11S. Alternatively you can root your phone and look for any such app that will help you in modifying the internal stuffs like JRummy Toolbox etc.


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Flash player issue on CM 10.1
I recently flashed my HTC ONE X ATT with CyanogenMod 10.1 and noticed that Flash Player is not installed. I tried to find it on Google Play, but it says that Flash is not compatible with my handset.
How can I install Flash Player on my handset, so flash content works on all my browsers (Browser, Dolphin, Firefox and Chrome)?
I manually installed Flash Player 11.1.115.36 for Android 4.0, but it's only working on Firefox.

Chrome for Android doesn't support Flash Player (and it's never going to), so you're kind of out of luck there.

Download flash from here: http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html.
The stock browser is best but if you can't use that Firefox is 2nd when it comes to

as I mentioned, I have already installed one and its working on morzilla only and it doesn't mean I have to use morzilla only. For my different purposes, I have to use several browsers, i.e. not only morzilla or only browser

@hsuk Have you checked that plug-ins are enabled on the stock browser? Menu>Settings>Advanced>Enable Plug-ins if you haven't.

yeah, its enabled.

The following browsers does not support Flash:

Chrome (as mentioned by eldarerathis)
Dolphin (because it crashes the browser)

I think UC Browser no longer supports flash video as well.

Dolphin is considered as the efficient browser for android and how can it be now without flash player...

@hsuk Go to Settings > Web content > Flash player. It will say "Adobe has officially discontinued support for Flash Player on Android. Playing Flash will crash Dolphin so we have turned it off to ensure the most stable browsing experience. Read more on the Adobe website, or change to iPhone User Agent to watch videos on HTML5 websites."

thanks for the info but they should have fix the bug instead getting it discontinued.

@hsuk It's not a bug. It's just the way it is. We're moving towards HTML5, instead of Flash (which is quite outdated). Flash is also useless when you're trying to do Search Engine Optimization on websites.

That's fine but what about the those websites which are already using flash player.

@husk That's their problem. If people can't see their site, it's their loss. Hehehe.

:) that could be loss for us too


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What is the difference between system memory and internal storage?
I am using LG Optimus L3.
When I look into the app manager, there is a system memory of 157MB and an internal storage of 1GB. I can't install all the apps on internal storage. It's something like internal SD card.
Can I somehow extend the system memory and shrink internal storage?

You can't simply change the sizes. Butt you could use App2SD to move apps from "phone storage" to the card.

Are you suggesting that by "extending the system memory" you could install apps on it?!

@Izzy: that could easily break the app, though.  Most modern versions of Android (Froyo on up) automatically install on SD card unless the app has to be installed in system memory.

@Logos if the native App2SD offers to move the app, it should not break the app -- unless the dev made errors compiling his Manifest to state it should not be moved. If you force incompatible apps to be moved, that's a different case -- but I was of course not suggesting that.

Ah. There is an app called App2SD, which is what I assume you were referring to.  I don't think I've ever seen anyone use that term for Android's built in app manager's feature before.

"System Storage" is where the OS and the System Applications are installed. This could also be considered where the User application are installed (based on your question). User installed applications are installed in /data/apps, settings and app data is stored in /data/data, and then application cache data is stored in /cache. These are all part of the "System Storage".
Internal Storage is an area that is used like an sdcard. As far as the Android OS is concerned, it is an sdcard. Some applications may save data to it, but it is mainly used as direct storage for your stuff. Like pictures taken with the camera, music, ringtones, things like that.
You cannot just adjust the size of system memory. Is it technically possible, yes. But doing so could require you to have knowledge of linux tool, rooting, custom roms, recoveries, and even possibly having to compile your own linux kernel and ROM or other information that I am not thinking of at the moment. Which is well beyond the scope of this site.

Ryan is correct - I've done something similar on my old G1 to increase system memory enough to install Froyo, and it is not a simple task even for an experienced user.

@Logos, I agree. But still some kernel developers are now implementing pain free ways of adjusting system partition thru recovery or simple kernel flash. XDA forums has plenty of guides on how to do this.

@forums: the problem with XDA forum guides is that they are often geared at a higher level than the average noob, and assume background knowledge that might not be present.  I'm no noob, and I've found them confusing myself.  Plus there's often multiple guides posted, with different methods, and no way to discern which is the best/correct method between them for a more naive user.

Fair enough. It really depends on ones technical understanding for it to work. But what I'm pointing out is that, compared to the earlier generation, today's guides are more noob friendly :P


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Starting the Google calendar sync in Samsung Galaxy S Duos
I have Samsung Galaxy S Duos and had a issue of calendar sync. While trying to clear data, I mistakenly force-stopped the Google Calendar Sync app. Now, the calendar sync is not working. It gives an error: Sync is currently experiencing problems. It will be back shortly.
How do I start the Google Calendar Sync app again?

Have you tried restarting your phone, and starting the sync again?

yes. but didn't solve the issue.

Download and install the Google Calendar from the Market.
Source.

i already had the Google calendar app installed earlier. i uninstall and re installed the Google calendar app but the same error pops up.. :(

@Rifky After you uninstall, and re-install it, make sure you clear the data before you start the sync. Settings > Applications > All > Calendar (or calendar storage) > Clear data.

:-( no success. still the same error when trying to sync in Settings->Account and Sync. no calenders are listed in Google calendar app.

now it started syncing. we need to clear the cache before we re install the google calendar app.

@Rifky Glad it finally worked for you. :) So Clear data was all you had to do? Or did you do something else?

i uninstalled the Google Calendar app first, then cleared data. then it started working. after that i installed Google Calnedar app and that's also syncing fine. :-)


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HTC ONE x HDMI fixed at portrait during rotation
I have a microUSB - HDMI adapter bought off of ebay, and an international Quad core HTC ONE X.
I tried connecting the adapter (power and signal cables were both attached) but the orientation is fixed to portrait. If I set the autorotation on the mobile to on, and rotate the landscape, the input on the HDTV is rotated as well but the picture stays within the portrait viewing area. So, I have huge black bars all around the picture.
i'm running CyanogenMod, on the latest nightly.

Are you using the default image viewer, or a specific app?

It's quite possible that the output is fixed to what the adapter is capable of displaying. Who knows what the specs are if you bought it off ebay, do you know for a fact what resolutions are supported?


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WiFi stopped working (dhcpd times out) after enabling device encryption
On my Samsung Galaxy Nexus running AOKP 4.2 JellyBean, WiFi has worked without issue before on this exact same hotspot, and it is currently working for other devices, so I'm assuming the error is in the phone. After trying another hotspot, I could see that the WiFi is definitely dead. But after enabling encryption on my device, it gets stuck in a loop. It detects the actual network, but it goes like this:
Saved with X authentication > Authenticating>  Obtaining IP address >  (Repeat)
I also tried deleting the network and adding it again without success, thinking it had something to do with the cached WPA key.
Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot before I just wipe and reinstall? Is this some kind of known issue?

Try to connect your device with ADB and have a look at the adb logcat for error messages. You don't need to install the entire SDK for this: The ADB Guide on AndroidForums contains a "MiniSDK" (Linux, Mac, Windows versions) to download which should be fully sufficient for this. Report back then with conrete error messages.

I found something interesting, not sure what else to look for as I don't feel like posting all of the 9k+ lines I got would make sense, also there's some personal info in there. Anyway, I found this: E/DhcpStateMachine( 1029): DHCP failed on wlan0: Timed out waiting for dhcpcd to start

Here's some more from the logs, tried to clean it up as well as I could: http://pastebin.com/LL9vFhL0

That looks like your router does not want to talk to your device. Might be a MAC filter. Try looking up your device's MAC address, and check whether this is permitted to connect to your WiFi (who knows, maybe encryption also encrypted your MAC address ;)

@Izzy it most definitely is not, exactly the same on two separate hotspots that have previously worked. I think the DHCP negotiation is timing out extremely fast for some reason. Oh well, time to wipe I guess.

Also worth a try. But if your router provides a log, I'd check that first (maybe something wrong with the lease, or whatever).

Are you seriously assuming that two different routers at two different locations that have both worked before have produced the same error on the same day, rather than something has happened with my phone?

Not likely, true (I obviously didn't sort the "two hotspots" from your comment into the correct context, sorry for that) -- but the logs could provide you with other useful information. It was just a suggestion, a shot in the dark. Do as you please ;)

Might be some interoperability issue with a particular hotspot. If it is a DHCP time-out, you can try assigning a manual IP address to the particular network.
Or if it is a rooted device, you can try the below command inside adb shell:
dhcpcd wlan0

It's not related to the particular hotspot, read my post again.

+1 for the terminal command. Helped me to find out the file permission problem.

From the 4th revision of the OP's question,

Re-locked and unlocked bootloader, flashed recovery via Galaxy Nexus Toolkit and pushed a new AOKP via ADB, installed it and everything is working fine now. No idea what caused it, but I'm pretty sure the full device encryption screwed something up. However, since CWM doesn't even support full device encryption, it feels like a bug relating to it is kind of low priority since people shouldn't encrypt their devices with customs ROMs anyway and expect a smooth ride.

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


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Check and fix SD card errors within Android itself?
Sometimes my SD card gets "corrupted" and this leads to many read/write errors. Usually, connecting the SD card to the windows 7 and selecting the "Error Checking" (Right click the drive > Tools > Error Checking) option finds the corruption and fixes it.
How do I check SD cards for drive errors and fix the same from within the android itself?
I'd also like to mention that I'm on rooted froyo with busybox installed.

If you repeatedly have errors on your SD card, you should make sure that it is really of the stated capacity using H2testw (link only in German, software in German and English. I believe this is the official home despite appearances to the contrary). Bad SD cards will automatically corrupt.

You can fix this with the help of root and a terminal emulator (e.g. Android Terminal Emulator (or, alternatively, using adb shell). The binary to do the job is called fsck, and usually located in either /system/xbin or /system/bin. Sometimes you need a special variant of it, which might e.g. be called fsck.exfat or the like. So first let's make sure we find the right binary:
cd /system/xbin
ls fsc*

If not found, repeat with /system/bin. I will assume here it was found in the first place, and is simply called fsck (adjust the following correspondingly if that's not the case).
As fsck comes from the "Linux core", we can consult its man page for the syntax. Though there might be some options not working on Android, the most basic ones should. See the linked man page for details (or run a Linux VM and use man fsck in case that page disappears) -- I will stick to the basics here:
First we need to find the device your SD card is bound to. If it's mounted, the mount command will assist us:
mount

That's it, basically: Check the output and see where your SD card sits. Usually this is something using vold, but it's different between devices. Output may include something like /dev/block/vold/179:17 on /mnt/storage/sdcard -- in that case, the first part of my quote is our device. In order to repair the "drive", you need to unmount it first. This can be done via the settings menu, or, as we're just in the terminal, by issuing
umount /dev/block/vold/179:17

Now we can go for the repair job. Basic syntax is:
fsck [options] [-t fstype] <filesystem> [fsoptions]

So we first try the simplest approach and hope fsck figures out everything itself:
fsck -C -r /dev/block/vold/179:17

Which basically means: Show progress (-C), and always ask the user to repair (-r) any errors on /dev/block/vold/179:17. If this does not work out, check with the linked man page for further options.

You can also save yourself the cd steps if you want by using ls /system/bin/fsc* and ls /system/xbin/fsc* from whatever your current working directory is. You could even combine the two into one command with ls /system/xbin/fsc* /system/bin/fsc*.

on some systems the command may also be named e2fsck, such as on my stock Australian Galaxy Nexus.

@LieRyan Sure you don't confuse things? e2fsck is the file system checker for extFS. So if it has a different name, it's rather fsck.fat or fsck_msdos (the latter a real world example from an old 2.2 ROM off my Moto).

No, I don't confuse things, what I wasn't aware of is that this question is actually about SD card. So yeah, I actually did confuse some things. Well strictly speaking, you can format your SD card as ext as well, so that might apply to people that does that.

Point taken. Though the "average user" (or the one "in doubt") might better stick with FAT, at least for interoperability. At least until ExtFS is supported on the majority of OSs easily and by default without additional drivers required (guess Windows is and will remain a pitfall here, as usual).

I only got unknown option -- C but tried running it with just fsck.exfat /dev/block/vold/179:9.
Worked like a charm!

Thanks for this answer, I think it is what I need. I got an error on the umount, do you have to be root?

@OrganicMarble yes, of course – for all the above commands, or you don't get access to devices (everything starting with /dev) that way.

Thanks! I was confused about root on the PC vs on the tablet.(I tried to do adb shell su). This answer and the one about fsck_msdos helped me fix my tablet.

While other answers are correct (at least partially), just to add some extra notes. On recent Android releases you don't need to run filesystem check manually as vold handles this automatically. See When should I run a consistency check on my removable MicroSD card?
If you want to do this manually, you need a rooted device because it's not possible to access block devices on un-rooted devices. Also you need to un-mount the filesystem before checking for errors. Since Android 6 external SD card is mounted at /mnt/media_rw/[UUID] and then emulated on /mnt/runtime/[VIEW]/[UUID]. A VIEW is then bind-mounted to /storage/[UUID]. See details in How to save files to external SD card?.
After un-mounting SD card fully, run respective fsck.* binary on the block device. Usually init enumerates SD card block device as /dev/block/mmcblk1p* (p* denotes partition number, usually it's only 1) while vold creates another device node in /dev/block/vold/[MAJOR:MINOR]. You need to find the correct block device (may also check by mount | grep /mnt/media_rw before un-mounting filesystem).
For FAT[N] family of filesystems you can use fsck_msdos (or fsck.fat), and fsck.exfat for exFAT. If these aren't built with your ROM (exFAT was closed source until recently, so there could be license issues), you can use external binaries. Or build from (dosfstools or exfat) source code.
To run filesystem check:
~# fsck.exfat /dev/block/mmcblk1p1

thank for this, it saves my day :)
root@android:/ # mount | grep -i sdcard
/dev/block/nandk /mnt/sdcard vfat rw,relatime,fmask=0000,dmask=0000,allow_utime=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=ascii,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro 0 0

root@android:/ # /system/bin/fsck_msdos -y /dev/block/nandk

I've found an app called AParted on the market that can "repair some damaged sdcard and scan for bad blocks" etc.

If I'm not mistaken you can force Android to fsck both the internal and external storage on reboot by doing the following depending on your ROM.
run terminal app and type
su
touch /forcefsck

Then reboot.
If your phone is not rooted, this will definitely fail.
Source: XDA Forums - [Q]How to fsck /data or /system?

What do you mean by "depending on your ROM"?

That trick might not work on all phones. different phones may fail to do anything. Also your phone needs to be rooted.

Once I've rebooted, how can I know whether or not fsck actually ran or not?

I'm not sure is andoid has a /var/log/fsck you can check but you can guess that it is workign if the bootup takes a little longer then normal

-1. I have downvoted your post. Here's why: I've spent more time looking into the matter. Your suggested technique is probably 100% mistaken. It may deceive readers into thinking that it helps, but the technique actually does nothing.

touch /forcefsck will only work on a device with an init script which checks for the presence of a /forcefsck file. I don't know of one single Android device which has such an init script. So, although your technique will likely work on Debian, Ubuntu, and Mint devices, I highly doubt that it will work on any Android device. If anyone ever finds even one single Android device with an init script which checks for /forcefsck, please let me know! Simply reply to this comment.

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


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UMS protocol on Android Tabs
I'd like to have a android tablet on ics which allow UMS (usb mass storage)
I saw that some of the current models didn't propose UMS (like galaxy tab 2 or google nexus), only MTP. It sounds like a problem for me because I have to retrieve the file programatically from a c# application.
do you know some models compliant with UMS ? or a way to activate UMS on my already bought Galaxy tab 2 10.1'.
Regards

euuh an answer disappeared .. don't know why. it sounded like a good idea http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12851303/writing-files-to-an-android-in-c-sharp/12852330#12852330

Because I was turning it in to an actual answer instead of a comment.

Instead of trying to get something to work on the tablet, that doesn't by default, I would suggest to look at how to retrieve the file over MTP with C#.
MTP allows the internal storage of these devices to be formatted to a native linux format, like ext4, instead of FAT32. If you were able to get UMS working, chances are you wouldn't be able to mount it in a windows machine because it doesn't know how to handle ext4. This allows the android OS to actually handle how the files are written to the storage.
MTP is also a safer protocol because it doesn't "mount" the device like an actual drive. So there is less of a chance to corrupt files or the disk if you just unplug. Mounting via UMS also makes that storage unavailable to the Android OS which could cause other concerns.
There are lots of models of tablets that still support UMS, but most of the "current" ones support MTP because it is a safer way to handle the storage. IIRC, devices that do not have an slot for external storage will not (should not?) support UMS. And when they do, only the external storage will be mountable from the "Client OS".

well it sounds very complicated.


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Issues with mDNS on an Android device
I'm running a local testing environment (MAMP) on a Mac (Mountain Lion), and Im having having difficulty accessing these sites on my Galaxy S3 running 4.1.2
Everything works fine testing using windows laptops, iphones etc ... on the network, except the android device does not recognise the name of the machine (mDNS)
There is a work around by using the machines IP address but this has its problems and isn't an ideal solution.
Is there a solution I could use to get mDNS working on the mobiles browsers?
Cheers

Is this a development question? Are you trying to use the zeroconf APIs from Android?

Im testing websites hosted on my Mac

Have you tried both the bare hostname of your machine, and the fully qualified domain name? I find most mobile devices (including non-Android ones) don't resolve the hosts on my local network unless I use their fully qualified name.

@GAThrawn I'm not sure that I know the difference between the two? I use 'compname-imac.local'

You might need to try the IP instead -- unless the nameserver your DHCP server (on WiFi) offers can resolve your local hosts. This domain for sure won't work via 3G, as your provider will certainly not resolve your local names ;)

@noelmcg In that case it sounds like you're already using the FQDN (bare hostname would just be compname-imac).

Using the IP is be a bit of a pain Izzy, as it isn't fixed, and I'll also have probs with things on the local environment, like wordpress multisite, typekit etc ... @GAThrawn thanks for the clarification, can you use a FQDN on an android device on a local network?

See newer question: https://android.stackexchange.com/q/230644/22600


text:
Changing input format for Android calendar
I have a Nexus 4.  For the calendar, you have to scroll to enter a time, which is inconvenient for events starting at :30 (30 minutes past the hour).  On the same phone, for the alarm clock, you manually enter the time using a keypad-type display.  Is there anyway to use the keypad-type display rather than scrolling for the calendar function?

When creating the event click on the time that you need to change:

Then when the set time pop-up comes up press on the number instead of scrolling.


text:
Sending calls to voicemail when I am in a meeting
If my aCalendar, or any calendar for that matter, has an appointment, I would like the phone to recognize that I am in a meeting and the call then vibrates or is silent etc.
For instance:

If I am in church, I want the phone to register this and then direct the call to voice mail.
If I am in a meeting, I would like the option to have calls come through or go to voicemail.

I do not want a blanket approach, but I would like to be able to set this on a meeting by meeting basis. I have looked at the Llama app and may try to Tasker app, but there must be something built into the phone that will allow this.

I use Tasker for this. As far as I know there is nothing built in to Android to do this.

@ZnewmaN could you post an answer detailing what exactly you do with tasker to do this. I am interested in this as an answer.

@RyanConrad I posted an answer to the pushing calls while in business meeting to voicemail. I can do the same for location awareness if you would like.

Using tasker you can accomplish this and more fairly easily once you know how to use it. To solve the whole phone ringing while you are in a meeting you have a few options with how to do it in Tasker. You can choose to silence your phone while in meetings, set it to vibrate, block all phone calls (probably not the best choice) or send them all to voicemail. I will go through how to create a profile for the latter.
First, Create a new profile:

Next select State, then App, and then Calendar Entry

For the Calendar entry settings you need to make sure to select No for availability and then you can click the magnifying glass next to Calendar to select which calendar it should be referencing. Then click the check mark.

Now to create a task to do during that meeting. Select New task and then click the plus (+) sign in the lower left corner.

For the action select Phone and then Select End Call and then the check mark

Once you have done that you can click the check mark to close and save the task. Go to the Profiles tab at the top, then click on your Profile you created and long press on the Context below it (the Calendar setting on the left). This should bring up a Context menu. Select Add and then Event.

From Events select Phone and then Phone Ringing.

Now you have a Profile to push phone calls to voicemail when you are in meetings.

Am curious, did you have to edit the images first before-hand to illustrate... its neat...

@t0mm13b Nope, in Android under Settings> Developer Options there is a "Show touches" check box and if you hold the touch while taking screenshots it gets captured.

Clever!!!! That's a bloody useful tip!!!! +1 from me!!!

You might have a look at Silence.
It primarily turns off audio alerts/ringtones on schedule but can also manipulate wifi and mobile data and is pretty granular. It also recently added the ability to use events on Google Calendar.
I use it to turn off the ringer (I like to sit in the quiet car) and wifi (there's none to connect to) during my commute on the train, and also to set the phone to vibrate during a meeting.

I wrote an app called Free Busy Silent Mode. It does not direct the call to voicemail, but you have an option to set the phone to silent


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What RUU do I need for my HTC phone?
I would like to download the RUU for my phone but I can't figure out which one to get. There are several options on sites like shipped-roms.com. Can you help me figure this out?
The phone is a HTC Desire (GSM). Here is some additional information.
Android version
2.2

Baseband version
32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27

Build number
2.29.405.2 CL263770 release-keys

Software number
2.29.405.2

And here's some info from the HBOOT menu.
BRAVO PVT3 SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-0.93.0001
MICROP-051d
TOUCH PANEL-SYNT0101
RADIO-5.11.05.27

First of all, do I pick the Bravo or the Desire link at the website? I know that Bravo was the codename of HTC Desire before it was released, but then why are there two categories? And why does it say BRAVO in the HBOOT menu?
Bravo: http://shipped-roms.com/index.php?category=android&model=Bravo
Desire: http://shipped-roms.com/index.php?category=android&model=Desire
If I look at the baseband version in the Desire group I find these two.
RUU_Bravo_Froyo_HTC_ARA_2.32.415.3_Radio_32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27_release_157343_signed.exe

RUU_Bravo_Froyo_HTC_WWE_2.29.405.14_Radio_32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27_release_224699_signed.exe

What's the difference between ARA and WWE? Is that Arabic and World Wide English? What about European sold devices with Scandinavian (and English) localization?
Also the 2.29.405.14 seems to be a too high number, or highly developed version that may not be available in my region. The highest update number I have been offered to install is 2.29.405.5 and it was 4.82 MB (incremental update?).
There are many more options in the Bravo group. There are special versions for Vodafone and other operator specific versions. My phone is not re-branded and is not locked to any network operator.
The ones that I most likely would need (in the Bravo group) are these two:
RUU_Bravo_Froyo_HTC_WWE_2.29.405.5_Radio_32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27_release_159811_signed.exe

RUU_Bravo_Froyo_HTC_WWE_2.29.405.2_Radio_32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27_release_151783_signed.exe

Do I really have to match the baseband version and the build number? Can I get a higher build number even if it is a different radio version? Will it work? Is radio version something you can upgrade?...
Long version short...

Do I have a Desire or a Bravo?
Do I have to match the baseband version and the build number?
Will the WWE releases include Scandinavian languages or only English?

Too many questions asked here, the general consensus of this site, is one question per post....

I believe the name "Bravo" was the "codename" for the HTC Desire

Both.  Bravo is HTC's internal codename name for the Desire.  They do this as they want a constant name for internal purposes as they often sell the identical device in multiple markets under different names (e.g. the HTC Magic is also sold as the HT-03A, the myTouch 3G, and has the codename Sapphire) or multiple devices (e.g. GSM and CDMA versions) under the same name (e.g. both the Marvel (GSM) and the MarvelC (CDMA) are both sold as the Wildfire S).  HTC does it with names, Samsung uses model numbers, same basic idea.
No, not unless you want to stay at your current version for some reason.  RUU means ROM Update Utility.  For most purposes, you most likely want to go with the newest not-carrier-specific RUU to have the latest update so you have the latest Android version and radio firmware.  The RUU is the master update-everything.  Android, radio firmware, and h-boot.  It does it all.
WWE is World Wide English.  It includes all languages they translate for.  The English bit indicates that English is the base language and all other languages included are translated from English, rather than being written directly in those languages.  The ARA bit indicates the same thing, but that the base language is Arabic.


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Pop up message when sending large amounts of SMS messages
When I send a relatively large number of text messages using GoSms, I get this pop up after I send a message:

I have seen this on other forums but I have yet to see a way to get rid of it (that is, without rooting the device, something I want to try to avoid). Anybody have any ideas to prevent this pop up from popping up?

This is a feature not problem.

IMHO it's a pretty stupid feature. There are a dozen other ways to exploit a user if he/she gives the correct permissions to an app without checking. It just causes extra clicks and comes without a big benefit.

@Flow: It's a good feature, maybe they could have done the implementation better. Think of apps with a piggy backed malicious sms spambot feature. That has actually already happened with pirated apps, which sent as much as they could and the user was charged. just can't find the source atm. This nag screen is the price for a sms spam free experience in the mobile world for all users.

Smilar question with automation solution - it should work for you unless you don't want automation as solution

You could try this app - well rated and recently updated

The other alternative (or probably the best one too) is to use ADB shell which may work on a non-rooted device as well:
zeroflte:/ $ settings put global sms_outgoing_check_max_count 999999
zeroflte:/ $ settings put global sms_outgoing_check_interval_ms 900000099

didnt do anything for me

do i have root the phone for this to work?

@jim I personally tested it on a non-rooted Lenovo phone and it worked for me. The problem you have might be somewhere else.


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How do I make wi-fi calls from a cell phone with no number now associated with it?
I recently got tired of paying $65+ a month for cell service when I get mostly email. So I dropped my Sprint service in favor of $20 a month, no-contract phone and a Nexus 7, because WiFi is seemingly everywhere. It works great! I have all the service I need, and it's much cheaper.
I still have this nice cell phone, a Nexus S. I enabled the WiFi on it. I'd like to make free WiFi calls on it but it no longer has a number associated with it. I ported that number over to my $20 a month phone. Is there anyway I can get a number associated with this old phone so I can sign up for a free voip service?  Is there anyway I can make voip calls without a number?
Thanks.

It's not possible to have the same number on two different phones.
On your Nexus S, you could install Skype. That will give you FREE VOIP for Skype-to-Skype calls. You don't need a number for this, just an internet connection (and a Skype account, which is free). Take note, however, Skype to mobile / landline is not free.
For other alternatives, search for voip in Google Play.
Edit #1: I looked around and found IPKall. It gives you a FREE Washington number. Is this the kind of service you are looking for?

It's not possible to have the same number on two different phones. Sure? I'd say it depends. There are special services for that, at least over here in Europe. You can get a second SIM card, responding to the same number. Of course, this means a little extra fee -- but it is possible.

@Izzy That's interesting to know. I haven't heard of that kind of service here in the Philippines though. In any case, it's probably not common practice.

I don't know whether this would work with CDMA devices (where you cannot simply insert a SIM). I just know that at least one provider here in Germany has it in his portfolio, so you can get a second SIM encoded to your phone number. Useful e.g. for devices "fixed" to mobiles (car equipment etc.). Or to have a "deputy" picking up if you don't. You can even configure whether it should ring simultaneously, or only if the "master device" didn't react for X seconds.

There must be someplace on the web I can find/buy a phone #.  I though I might be able to get one off Google Voice but I can't figure out how to associate the # with this phone.  Any ideas?

@Joe See my Edit #1

Let's get this right the first time, shall we? : )
Several options that are offered so far seem to indicate a third-party app will be doing the dialing. However, dependent upon your geographic location, you may be able to activate the native dialer in the Google Nexus S.
Before proceeding, you will need to:
1) Be based in the United States (there are ways around this...!), and;
2) Have a phone number registered for use within the United States (required).
3) Grab a BEvERage of choice.
4) Not be busy for the next 45 minutes. Tell everyone to PFO (please fone others).
5) Remove your SIM-card from your Google Nexus S.
Let's begin!
I: GET GOOGLE VOICE VIA WEB SIGN-UP
1) Get a Google Voice account. When going through the setup portion, you need to confirm a secondary number with the account. Use your phone number that you have with your $20/mo phone.
2) Grab an area code that you like (as GVoice calls currently are free throughout USA & Canada, but this may change).
3) GOTO Settings, and enable Google Chat as a client that can make and receive phone calls.
What if I have a US-based cellphone, but I'm in country other than USA?
Use a proxy or TOR-based service, cloak your exit location with a US-based proxy, and sign-up for the service. BTW, your welcome.
II: GET GOOGLE VOICE VIA ANDROID MARKET
1) Find "Google Voice" in the Android Market. Alternatively, you can also find the *.apk with a quick Google search if you can't access the installer via the market.
2) Install "Google Voice."
3) When asked about how you want Google Voice to process calls, select "As every time I make a call." You can use other options, but just stick with this.
III: GET SIPDROID (I-P-TEL GMBH) VIA ANDROID MARKET
1) Find and install Sipdroid via Android Market.
2) Open the program. Upon first run, you will see the magical button at the bottom of your screen, which may be covered by a keyboard. Get rid of the keyboard by pressing the back button or hide keyboard button.
3) Tap the "New PBX linked to my Google Voice" button.
At this point, you will be linking a free SIP account with your Google Voice account. Also, as passwords must be the same between accounts, the following situation happens:

You're based in the United States
The pbxes.org servers are in Germany (?), and will ask permission to use your credentials to login to your Google accout via their servers

This causes Google to think someone has hacked your account in Germany. If you get this, do not worry.
4) Get details for your SIPdroid account credentials.

Username: it will be username-200@pbxes.org. (The "-200" comes right after your username)
Password: whatever password you used to register for the service. (BTW, my pw is hunter2, but you should see stars. HAHAHA.)

5) Uninstall SIPdroid
IV: CONFIRM ACCOUNT VIA pbxes.org
1) Login to pbxes.org with your credentials (from section III, step 4).
2) After login, go to "Personal Data" (on the left-hand side). If you don't want your account deleted in 1 week, fill this out. Fill out with your details, or use dummy data if you wish. I'm sure Alice, Bob, John and Jane Doe have multiple accounts... : )
3) GOTO Extensions, then Sipdroid <200>. In Device Options, you will see a password field. The password HERE has to match your Google Voice account. That way, pbxes can login to Google Voice. You can also set up your caller ID here, so go crazy.
4) Optional, but strongly suggested: make sure that the password to login to the web interface of pbxes.org is different from the one to your Google Voice account.
V: PUTTING THE SIP SERVICE ON YOUR NEXUS S
This is where it get's serious. Actually, it's pretty easy.
1) Go to your phone dialer.
2) Tap the menu button to get Settings.
3) Scroll down to INTERNET CALL SETTINGS, and tap Accounts.
4) Check Receive incoming calls. Yeah, you can be a jerk and only use your phone to call out, but what about the people who want to phone you? Just check it. Unless you don't want anyone calling you. And if that's the case, why are you even following this guide?
5) Tap the menu button and tap Add account.

Username and Password is what was listed in section III, step 4.
Server is pbxes.org
Check Set as primary account
Tap Optional settings. At this point, check to make sure Transport type is TCP, and that your Port number is 5060. You can probably use another port, but it seems to work. Oh wait, port 5060 is the official SIP port. Go to:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_TCP_and_UDP_port_numbers
and search 5060. SO YOU USE 5060, AND LIFE WILL BE GOOD. Don't be smart and say "I'll use port--" NO! This is not a storm, you are not a sailor going to another port. You will use 5060, and you will be happy with the choice. Alternatively, port `5061' is SIP over TLS, but I've never used that and I am not sure if it would work.
6) SAVE the account.
VI: TESTING THE PHONE
If you've gotten this far without errors or crying, then try calling a number.
1) Dial your number. From now on, dial with the following format:
1 - areacode - XXX - YYYY

That way, you don't have to worry about whether or not it's a local call or long-distance call.
At this point, a nifty popup will show. It will state Complete action using. Select Mobile Data, and tap Just once. That way, you can make it permanent after it works properly.
2) Now you get something that pops up saying [warning triangle] Place call. You will tap 'Internet call', as you (i) don't have a SIM card in Nexus S.
At this point, it will dial the number. When connected, there will be a bit of an echo. Why? Well, your call is probably routed the following way:
Nexus S >> Yankee-land (via Google Voice)

Yankee-land (via Google Voice) >> Deutsch-land (via pbxes.org, via internet)

Deutsch-land (via pbxes.org) >> Yankee-land (internet-phone bridge, not sure if it's the right word...)

Yankee-land (internet-phone bridge) >> Person that you are calling

It sound like there's a delay and echo
Yeah, because you're voice is going half-way around the world. Always pause to let the other person finish. Do this on your side by waiting 2 seconds before and after any speech.
But I don't want delay
It's free for North America (US+CAD). Icing on top? If you have a VPN based in either Canada or the United States, have your Android use that connection. That way, you can be in the UK, have a VPN connection to the US and phone someone in US or CAD.
Friend: "Where are you?"
You: "In whatever country via VPN connection"
Friend: "Aren't you paying a lot?"
You: "Yes. Can you wire me USD$100? I'm in central Australia right now, and the wifi from this wild dingo sucks."
Friend: "..."
You: "Yes, the dingo has wifi. It's got a coin slot in it's butth--"
Friend: "I've got to g--".
You: "OK, Bye."
Friend: "Bye."
THE END

Viber is a free call and messaging app. Both parties should be on wifi to make this work.

Dell voice AKA Fongo gives you a number. Set up your number, log in, and run the app from any device.


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Tablet won't connect to any WiFi network anymore, always shows "saved"
My tablet will not connect to ANY WiFi network anymore. Everything was working perfectly for about a month. But now, the WiFi icon has disappeared, and every time I try to connect to a network it simply shows "Saved." I figured maybe it was an issue with my network, so I went out and tested it with other WiFi connections. It can scan and detect everything, but the same thing happens while trying to connect to anything. My Nokia phone and laptop are able to connect to everything perfectly, but the tablet will not, even to the networks which it has previously connected to.
Things I have tried:

Deleted all networks by using the "Forget network" option and tried connecting again.
Tried "open" type networks without any passwords.
Rebooted the tablet several times.
Done a factory reset, twice.
Tried to analyse logcat data.

Here is a screenshot:

I also tried connecting to my laptop using Ad-hoc (with the laptop using a wired ethernet connection and transmitting it to the tablet wirelessly) but no use.
As you can see in the screenshot, the WiFi icon which turns blue and gray is GONE from the notification bar. It never shows up anymore. And the "Saved" result is what comes up every time I try to connect to a network.
I switched the WiFi on and tried connecting to the network while logcat was running, here is the text: http://pastebin.com/9pUba6Tt
The D/CommandListener(   79): Clearing all IP addresses on wlan0 is what happens every time I attempt to connect to any network. Always the same thing.
I have gone through dozens of XDA threads and such with this issue. Many people have gotten the "Saved" problem, but it's only been for people who have UPDATED to ICS 4.0.4 from Gingerbread or something. My tablet CAME with ICS 4.0.4.
P.S: My tablet is a cheap one, it's a Ubislate 7C+ from Datawind.
ANY help would be really, really, appreciated. I've been trying to fix this for about a week now. Thanks.

Could it be a hardware issue?

@LiamW The device seems to scan and list the wireless networks.. So I doubt it being a hardware issue. The wifi module must still be working.

Yeah, it does scan and detect networks. Turning off a network results in it disappearing from the list. So that's working.
It would be nice if someone who is good at analysing logcat could be here.

@Cyber-Logic Post the logcat up (the whole thing), and I'll take a look.

I did. The link was in the question too: http://pastebin.com/9pUba6Tt

The strange part of your logcat is lines 249ff, which point to some problem with your WiFi hardware or driver: faied to read proc/net/wireless (repeated multiple times) while initializing the wifi module (insmod wifi driver), repeated across the log. Also check line 272ff plus especially 282ff. Your device really seems to have trouble with the WiFi hardware.

Oh, well... I figured the WiFi hardware was fine, since it is able to scan and detect networks. Another weird thing is that: people who had exactly this issue after upgrading to ICS, were able to fix it by doing a factory reset. I did a reset twice... but it was no use.

Have the "Saved Problem" on a cheap tablet that came with 4.1.1.
Tried 3 different WiFi networks without success: ZyXel P2601HN, Tomato and DD-WRT.
I was about to return the tablet but, as a last resort tried connecting it to an Android phone in tethering mode. That worked - so the WiFi in the tablet was working?
Then I tried a fourth Tomato WiFi router using 802.1b mode - also successful.
It seems this version is picky about the WiFi routers? Could it be the channel assignments - maybe some banned channels due to legislation?

Hmm, that's interesting... but what's weird is that my tablet was actually connecting to the networks previously. I've even tried changing the channels... I know ICS supports upto 11 or 12, but I tried everything from channel 1 anyway.

I faced the same issue. After struggling for a few hours, I found the solution.
Login to your Wi-Fi router and change the Wi-Fi channel to anything between 5-11/13. The problem is due to conflict of channels. (I did Google but no help. Then from my experience, I figured out this solution)
One more thing, if your router allows you change data retry and RTS retry settings, then change them to 128. For some reason, at times ubislate 7C+'s Wi-Fi adapter does not respond on time and the router thinks that it has gone out of coverage. So, the device doesn't get connected.

http://mhotspot.com/blog/fix-obtaining-ip-address-android-wifi-problem/
The above static IP solution is a workaround.
The real solution involves changing file permission on a root file.
Fortunately, my ubislate had root access, with help of x-plore file manager, was able to change permission of dhcpcd-run-hook file to read-execute(no write) in the /system/etc/dhcpcd directory.
Works like a charm. More details in the below URL
http://androidforums.com/avail-all-things-root/583407-easy-real-wifi-fix-obtaining-ip-address-loop-found-me.html

sjec, please add an excerpt of the instructions from behind the links. Once the links die, your answer will be useless otherwise.

I had the same problem with my Asus tablet. Everything was working fine until one day it stopped connecting.
Not a geek so I tried everything that you have done (all of that!!!) and as a last resort went to my router settings and turned of the "lock". The Asus connected immediately. Turned the lock back on and it still connects. The only issue I have now is that any time that I turn off the tablet or take it away from the network, I have to go through the same process as before.
Tell me if that works through this website.

Lock? What do you mean by lock?

I think he meant to turn off "wifi security" (open wifi)

The tablet is fine, it's your router that's the problem. Chances are that you're using a cheapie like a Belkin or something similar. If its something that you bought from a discount store for about $35 then you're going to have issues with it with the tablet and other wireless stuff. Upgrade to a real router, a high-quality dual-band one. The tablet will work without any connection problems after you do this.

I recently had this problem with my Nexus 7 running KitKat 4.4.2.  I fixed the problem by rebooting my router (Netgear DG834GT)


text:
Is there a way use an RDP to configure a continuous offset from GPS calculations?
Is there any way to configure a location offset in such a way that my phone's GPS data would still be used to set a location, but an adjustment value would be applied to the base value? (e.g. all values adjusted 6.5m SW). Two cases where this would be useful are when using programs that have base maps with bogus offset data, but you want your phone to think it's in the right place on top of the bogus data. Also, sometimes the coordinates calculated from the GPS system on a given day are just simply wrong, and usually on a given day they are wrong by a fairly fixed amount. Rather that spending the entire day with my phone marking me 30m north of where I actually am, I'd like to correct the values automatically based on a known RDP location.
Ideally I would like a way to 'zero' my GPS by calculating an offset based on my current location being a set of known coordinates, then allow the GPS to adjust my location based on that. I would enter "I am currently at X", at which point it would figure out that number is 4 meters off of the GPS readout, and thereafter sets my location to be always 4m offset.
I realize there are lots of programs to set a mock location of my choice and even ones to follow recorded routes. These sort of things that entirely replace the output of the GPS with fixed or otherwise pre-programmed output are not what I'm looking for here. If it matters, my devices are all rooted and running CyanogenMod 11 M2 so root only solutions are acceptable, although if there is a non root way to do this that would be good to note.

In the UK we have trig points all around the country at well known and well characterised locations. It would be really nice to be able to go to one of these, and tell your phone 'I am at this trig point right now, please use this information to correct your position'.

i may have a solution if your phone is rooted. But i am not very confident that it would work on all models/versions

@MananMerevikSharma Could I suggest that you add your suggestion as an answer. As long as you mention "This will only work if rooted" at the top, it would help distinguish it from answers which don't require root.

@MananMerevikSharma Rooted is fine! I'd love to hear your solution in an answer.

Those offsets are normally used in differential gps. A fix point (station) knows it exact location (from manual measurments), calculates from the gps data the requred offset for correction and send this (quasi constant) offset (ex. 2.5m SW) to you.
The  assumption is that if you are close to this station the atomospheric error (=offset) is valid also for your position in some distance.
Im not too familiar with android, but you could send manipulated D-GPS data maybe?
For radio those are send with RTCM (Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services), (you can get down to 2cm accuracy) - for mobile phones you need to stitch to Ntrip (Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol): http://www.rtcm-ntrip.org/home most of them are non free/paid, so you need to look around (if you really want there a ways to make your own low cost server (raspberry pi..))
would you still need offset if the accuracy is already very good? Boosting accuracy seems easier!
Have a look at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lefebure.ntripclient
==> ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION - Used for routing external position data to other applications. but this solution has also it downsides :-(

This is interesting stuff although it isn't a final solution. I see an port in the country near me has an NTRIP server, and I can probably rig up one of my own pretty easily. The data doesn't look complicated. Assuming I had a server that gave out the right data, now I need a program LIKE Lefebure's that allows me to connect to an arbitrary server instead of their BT device and adjust the GPS location stream (mock location is ok although not preferred!) Am I tracking you here?

For the server looks to me like lefebure apps lets you insert arbitrary ip/port (but havent tried it by myself to be honest).
Having non-mock data seems complicated to me without root, as googles code already tries to handle gps as best as possible with surly very sophisticated algorithms^^ But strange that they dont add NTRIP support out of the box in their A-GPS mode (maybe patents/licence fees?)
Try to contact the app-developer, im sure they are willing to help, also they seem to be very professional in this specific topic =)

i made a feature request for android. If you like, give it a star to push the idea. (This native implementation would be the ideal solution, but it will take the most time from all solutions)
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=65071&thanks=65071&ts=1390314248

This is application specific. For example, car navigation apps generally would snap your position to the nearest street when driving around.
I'm not aware if there's any way to set an offset for all applications, a rooted application would probably be able to do that.

This is not application specific. The OS provides the API that gives a location (and estimated accuracy and other data). Some apps do choose to DISPLAY this data differently (e.g. snapping an indicator graphic to the closest point matching their data set) but that does not change the fact that they are being fed raw location data. I want that raw data to stream as usual, plus an offset.


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How to record FM radio
Is there an app which can record
audio (to mp3) from the FM radio (NOT internet-radio).
I want to record some shows while listening to the radio and store them in my SD memory card but I can't seem to find any suitable application.
My phone is a Huawei U8150 and I'm using Android 2.1.

Why not play the radio over the speaker (with headset acting as antenna) and record it with another device such as microphone... really in short, the FM radio facility is not de-facto standard and will vary upon the manufacturer's chipset integrated into handset. What's wrong with using TuneIn (Internet radio)?

Weird. Far as I remember my S3 Mini was able to record FM Radio with Stock radio app.

Android's doesn't have an integrated FM radio functionality (API), if a device features FM support, it was added by the manufacturer.
Because of that there's no standard way to access it via 3rd party apps. You can try this app but your mileage may vary.

The Spirit FM Radio Unlocked has slight support for recording. Most of it is experimental however.
There are no other tuned FM radio apps on the market, that run on all devices.
The only way to get full FM recording facilities, is if your OEM puts this feature into the stock FM radio app.


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Unrevoked: Is my firmware too new?
I'm trying to root my phone with Unrevoked recovery reflash tool and it all goes well - it installed the needed service and the root tool - up until it's supposed to actually do the root process.
It reboots the phone and then says "waiting for system to settle" and then it says "running root". Then it gives me the message "error: failed to get root. Is your firmware too new?"

But how do I tell if my firmware is too new? Do they mean the Android build number? And where can I see what versions are supported? Or is it my HBOOT version that's causes the problem?
Some info about my device.
Android version
2.2

Baseband version
32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27

Kernel version
2.6.32.15-gf@5a401c
htc-kernel@and18-2#1

Build number
2.29.405.2 CL263770 release-keys

Software number
2.29.405.2

BRAVO PVT3 SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-0.93.0001
MICROP-051d
TOUCH PANEL-SYNT0101
RADIO-5.11.05.27
Aug 10 2010,17:52:18

Is this thing compatible with Unrevoked or not?
If not, will it help to downgrade to Android Eclair 2.1 RUU and then try to root?
Update: Downgrade attempt failed
I just tried downgrading from 2.29.405.2 to 2.10.405.2 using the RUU_Bravo_Froyo_HTC_WWE_2.10.405.2_R_Radio_32.44.00.32U_5.09.05.30_2_release_142828_signed.exe file but the process failed. I get error code 140 - "bootloader version error".

So much for plan B...

I used the Revolutionary tool and it worked like a charm!

One click root methods use a simple rootkit exploit package to gain root permissions to the Android kernel. Once this is done, they modify file permissions to make the rooting permanent.
These exploits have been patched by Google and device manufacturers for a long time now, and the vast majority of one click rooting solutions are outdated and no longer work.
In other words - your firmware is too new. It has been patched against rootkit exploits.

And Unrevoked reflash tool is also one of these one click root methods? Will it help to downgrade to an older RUU? If not, what other options do I have?

It was not possible to flash an older RUU than the current one used. I'm not sure if this is a general rule or policy (like with iPhone) or just an anomaly. But I managed to flash with the same RUU version as the one that was currently on the phone. And after doing that I tried Unrevoked again and it worked. I'm not sure if the RUU (with the same version number) that I downloaded was modified in any way, or if it was just my current ROM (although same version) that was messy. I would say it was most likely patched up by updates and blocked Unrevoked.