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Can I run scripts on startup on rooted Galaxy Note 3?
I want to be able to run a shell command (e.g. mount) on startup on my Galaxy Note 3 (stock rooted Android 4.3)
Typically on Linux that'd be done using /etc/init.d but I don't have that directory on my Note 3.
What's the best approach to running a shell script on startup/boot on Galaxy Note 3?

Note: this is NOT a dupe of another - the answers there are not applicable to Note3

You might want to take a look at ScriptManager:

Manage and execute shell scripts and programs in file system.
  All executions run over vt100 terminal accepting user input and esc codes (colors, bel, cursor movement ..)
Run them at boot-up and/or on network status change possibility.
  Schedule at selected time. (cron jobs)

Alternatively, Tasker can be used as well to execute scripts (and other tasks) at certain events – as, e.g., on boot.


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SSH tunnel with two hops
I would like to build an ssh tunnel from my android device (call it A) on port MMM to a machine C on port NNN.  HOWEVER, A and C are not directly connected.  They are only connected through machine B (which is also running an ssh server).  Finally, port NNN is only open locally on machine C (which is also running an ssh server).
So, with openssh in unix, I can use the command line of ssh or the ProxyCommand argument in .ssh/config to archive this:
Host C-tunnel
   HostName C
   Port 22
   Use username
   IdentityFile ~/.ssh/myidentityfileforC.pem
   ProxyCommand ssh -e none -i /.ssh/myidentityfileforB.pem username@B nc -w 120 %h %p 2> /dev/null

I can then set up a tunnel straight from my localhost to C:NNN (through the connection above).
Is there an app for android that supports similar?  I tried connectbot and ssh autotunnel.  The later got close, as I could set up one tunnel from A to B and then another from A to C (through the tunnelled A->B connection), but initiating the latter brought both of them down.  Setting up just the first tunnel and then using connectbot allows me to connect via ssh to C, but I cannot set up a port forward directly to C:NNN.
Any suggestions?  Is there a direct port of openssh I've missed?

Perhaps this is totally wrong, but could you use a virtual machine on machine B and create a tunnel from there to A?

Were I in control of machine B, that might be possible.  However, I cannot open ports on machine B (or if I did, they wouldn't be accessible).  Thanks.

Oh, I see. Well, good luck! Perhaps someone more knowledgeable will come by.

I would like to share info that JuiceSSH has the feature you're trying to achieve with just one click. I'm talking about its feature "connect 'via' other SSH connections." Even local port forwarding from the second server thru the first ssh connection works too.

Outside of stackexchange, I also asked some colleagues.  One suggestion they had did work.  In particular, instead of using ssh autotunnel for the tunnels, I used connectbot to connect and create tunnels.  They can be layered.  The only downside is that I leave a shell open.
More specifically:

I use connectbot to connect to B (ssh, port 22) and then add a forwarding
from a port 2222 on A to port 22 on C.  I leave this shell open.
Then I make a new different connection to port 2222 on A (which opens a shell on C) and add port forwarding from port 2NNN to "localhost:NNN" (which is actually C:NNN).

Now I can connect to A:2NNN (my localhost, port 2NNN) and get to C:NNN as if it were local.  I have to leave the shells open, but it works well enough.

This is based on shelton's comments but they confused me, so here's how to do a "-J" hop using ConnectBot, e.g. via something like serveo:

Add a connection to the Hop host (e.g serveo). This is purely a "man in the middle", and will be used to forward to the real host. E.g: "user@serveo.net". You can turn off "Start shell session".

Save the serveo connection.
"Hold" the serveo connection in your list of hosts, and choose edit port forwards.
Add a new port forward. Type: "Local", source port: "2222", destination "alias:22". This opens localhost:2222 when this serveo connection is made, which will forward/hop your connection to the target host.

Add a new host, matching the port forward. E.g "user@localhost:2222".

The normal usage workflow will now be:

Connect to the serveo host. This will start the tunnel. Close (but don't disconnect), so the tunnel stays active.
Connect to the second (localhost:2222) host. This will run through the tunnel to your remote host. Authenticate as normal and voila!

Thanks.  I did end up using connectbot as you suggested.  The need to "click twice" is annoying, but it certainly works.

Ah I just realised your answer was actually to your own question! I ended up fighting this a bit, your answer helped get 90% of this running but the last parts confused me a bit, so thought add an answer in case anyone else stumbles across the same confusion.

It's a bit annoying, but super cool that this works from my phone. Can trigger some automation while on the move now, easy peasy :)

source: Stack Exchange

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

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Install GApps onto HTC One w/ CyanogenMod 10.2 + ClockworkMod Recovery 6.0.4.3
I'm currently trying to install the GApps onto my HTC One. I got CyanogenMod working using the installer app on the play store, but now I don't have any of the GApps. Help me? How can I install the GApps?

Download and copy the GAPPS zip file to your SD card.
Reboot your phone into CWM recovery mode. To do this, turn phone off, and press Volume Up + Home + Power button together. Your phone would then startup into recovery mode.
Select install zip. Look for the gapps file via choose zip from /sdcard if it's in the internal sd card, or choose zip from /storage/sdcard1 if it's in the external SD card.
After you flash it, reboot your phone (it's in one of the options).

Ensure you have the correct version of GApps also, the 4.4 ones do not work in 4.3 and so on! XDA has a good list of them, and the 'Paranoid Android' ROM maintains every version of GApps very well on their server (they'll work on Cyanogenmod).

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


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How to open SD cards as a drive in Windows 7?
I have a rooted Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini with CyanogenMod 10 and I would like to connect its SD cards (internal and external) to my Windows 7 x64 machine as a harddisk drives via USB cable.
Now when I connect S4 to PC it shows as portable device, but a lot of applications cannot work with that (i.e. Total Commander synchronize dirs).
I tried uninstalling the devices drive from Device Manager, (I also checked "
"delete the driver") but it always uninstalls and again reinstalls the same version of the driver.

Can you uninstall all drivers, and Samsung Kies, then reinstall Kies? Have you tried turning USB Debugging on, or set the mode to/from "camera" on the notification on the device? The S4 is a bit twitchy sometimes. Ensure the USB is formatted to FAT 32.

This app should help.
Since you've rooted your device, it should work fine.

It works only for external SD card. Is there any other solution to mount also internal?

@JoudicekJouda - As far as I'm aware, there is no way to mount the internal storage as a mass storage device.

We can't mount the internal storage because internal storage is formatted in ext3/4 and is shared between Application's data and your data.
Explanation.

The filesystem doesn't matter for the purpose of mass storage (mass storage doesn't care about your filesystem.  You'd just need an appropriate driver to handle it in the OS).  The second part is the dealkiller.


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How to get more space by manually deleting unnecessary system files (rooted S2)?
I keep getting warning that apps cannot be installed on their default location since there is too little space.
However, when I check in system there is a bunch of space, especially for small apps of a few MBs.

Screenshots (click for larger variants)
I tried moving some apps on SD card, but again I got a message that there is not space available.
Is there some system space occupied by unnecessary files which I can manually delete?
Or other way to solve this silly bug?
This is Galaxy S2 with official 4.1 OS. I have root access (rooted phone).

Please check if our insufficient-memory tag-wiki might help you on this. The error usually points to internal storage only, so non of your SD cards (neither internal nor external) should be the cause.

Aside from Izzy's suggestions, I also find Clean Master helpful in cleaning unecessary files / cache. Check it out. :)

does it clean system folders as well (only for rooted devices)?

@AnDroDroo I am not sure, but maybe NO.


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Can't Restore Backup using ClockworkMod Recovery
I wonder can anyone help. I done a backup using Clorkwork Mod before I flashed a new ROM onto my phone. Now when i am trying to restore the backup onto the phone using CWM it completes the task but whenever I reboot the phone it gets passed the first samsung screen but hangs at the second SAMSUNG screen where the text is pulsing.
I have tried Wipe / Data factory reset, Wipe Cache, Wipe Dalvick and fix permissions. None of these seem to make any difference. The only thing that has worked in flashing a new ROM but I do not want to lose any of my apps /configs.
Any suggestions guys would be much appreciated.

Have you tried waiting for at leat 15-30 minutes where it hangs?

Yes, I left it sitting for a quite a long period of time.\

What phone are you using? Is it an S4 with KNOX enabled. Are you trying to downgrade from 4.3 to 4.2.2 with a KNOX bootloader?

S4 i9505. It has 4.3.3 I then flashed with Cyanogen and Android 4.2.2 which worked fine. I now want to restore back to my original stock 4.3.3 backup that I made. But it just freezes at the samsung screen. So I downgraded. But now Im looking to restore back to the original stock.. It had KNOX enabled yes as I use to get annoying error messages about apps getting blocked.

Can you get the stock firmware from Sammobile, then flash back to stock recovery and flash triangle away to get back from 'custom' status. Have you tripped KNOX? You can't flash Stock firware with a custom recovery. Have you followed this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477 Backup your apps with Titanium Backup or Carbon (or other alternatives)

If I flash the stock firmware from Sammobile will I then be able to restore my backup? What is flashing triangle? I have done a backup of the apps with Titanium. Will this have the details for the apps stored such as user accounts, settings etc. ?

Ok you can restore your backups with Titanium, but afaik you'll need root on your stock rom. "Triangle Away" is an appliction that resets your 'flash counter' and changes your status from 'Custom' to 'official'. Titanium restores the full app and data, so for example, your facebook will restore the last backup, logged in already etc! I hope that helps. Don't take this wrong, but before you go flashing like mad read up on a few threads there on XDA and be sure exactly what you want to do and what the risks are! It's very  hard to completely brick a device... but I've a dead S4 here.

When you refer to my stock rom, do you mean my original backup or the one you have recommended I flash to replace it. My backup had root. Ah yes I have heard of this Triangle Away, but never done it. Yes thanks I had read a bit but possibly should have read some more. Had flashed my HTC Wildfire before but that was a much less expensive phone admittedly.Would be nice though if I could figure out how to restore that old backup. Seems a bit pointless having that feature in CWM if it doesnt work :(

The option does usually work. Personally I never use CWM (I used AmonRA back in the day and Philz recovery now). The issue MAY (I'm not 100% sure) but with Samsung's new KNOX bootloader that does not allow a downgrade, i.e. your backup is an older version of android. It's madness and has caused a large backlash agains Samsung in the dev community. I've just put a Google Edition ROM on and I'm sticking with it for now. Maybe 4.4 when it is more stable. I just restored a 4.3 backup in about 3 mins this morning but a 4.2.2 gets bootlooped like you I'm afraid.

Cool. You recommend Philz then? I just read a lot about CWM so figured it was the best. Yea im not convinced its boot loader related. As my backup was 4.3.3 and the version of the ROM which I had flashed was 4.2.2 so surely the ROM would allow it as its a newer version. Perhaps I should have disabled KNOX before capturing backup if thats possible? I had Trust Security Anti Virus stuff installed on my backup too. I wonder could that have been related to my restore issue?


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Note 3 "Security information" notification
I've just set up a new Galaxy Note 3 and I keep getting the following notification:

Security information
An application attempted to access system on your device without
  authorisation. This attempt has been blocked.

I have no idea what's causing this as there is no application listed as the culprit. Some forums point to disabling Knox as a solution, but I've done that and still get the same. (Anyway, the phone only includes a link to download the full app, so I doubt that would have been it.) I also know that I can hide the notification for 30 days, but that's just hiding the problem, not fixing it.
What is causing this to keep popping up and what can I do to fix it?

Have a google of Samsung Knox, and be prepared to get very annoyed. I had this on my S4 and just rooted the phone and flashed a Knox Free google edition ROM out of frustration. It's here to stay I'm afraid, in some cases it blocks WiFi as being not allowed. Official line: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/mobile/solution/security/samsung-knox   and the reality: http://forums.androidcentral.com/sprint-samsung-galaxy-s4/329874-galaxy-s4-strange-security-message-since-4-3-update.html


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The Mystery Of The Disappearing App Icons
If I try to rearrange the shortcuts to app icons on my homescreen, sometimes they disappear. It happens to all apps, bookmarks, and folders, too: even stock apps, like Play Store. I have an LG optimus s that I got about a year ago, new. I'm running 2.3.3. Gingerbread.
Details : app icons often reappear in folders after reboot, sometimes without reboot. I'll say again, for clarity, that this only happens when I attempt to rearrange the icons : no spontaneous disappearances! I use my phone almost 24/7, as I do not own a tablet or a computer with wifi, so I like everything to be in it's place.

are you using the stock launcher?
Clearing all data from your launcher app should sort of reset your app.
You can try that from Settings -> Applications -> (Launcher App) and then hit the "Clear Data" button. You will lose your homescreen settings preferences.
Also, you can try using a different launcher like Nova Launcher or GO Launcher. This should solve your issue.

For me, tapping Menu → Show more icons / Show less icons (this should be "Show fewer icons", but w/e) does the trick usually.


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Will Linux overwrite android?
This is properly a silly question but if I use Complete Linux Installer (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zpwebsites.linuxonandroid), will it overwrite my current system? And if it does, is there a way to dual boot it? Hope you can help me. Thanks!

From the description on the play store Complete Linux Installer is an all in one solution to installing Linux distros on your Android device. Brought to you by the LinuxonAndroid project the app is designed to allow you to install a full Linux distro without touching your Android install.

Looking at the description of the said app on the Google Play Store as referred by the OP:

Complete Linux Installer is an all in one solution to installing Linux distros on your Android device. Brought to you by the LinuxonAndroid project the app is designed to allow you to install a full Linux distro without touching your Android install.

So, it does not really "over-write" the Android installation. The emphasis in the above quote is mine.
It does pay to read the description on the Play Store thoroughly in order to avoid any confusions. If there is a confusion, the said developer would be delighted to receive an email asking for clarification as it shows that you as a customer is interested in the developer's app and might spur them on to improve it etc. :)


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Unknown error code during application install: "920" while installing Google Keyboard
Unknown error code during application install: "920" while installing Google Keyboard on Android ver. 4.0.4

What's your question? Did you try re-installing?

Yes, tried re-installing twice and still when trying to update the apps the aforementioned error message continues to pop up, even cleared the data and the cache in the Google App Store settings and fully re-booted, still same thing.

Funny thing, this error message appeared for me when I tried to install Firefox. I've never seen this error before...

Possible solutions:

Clear the cache several times. Settings > Apps > All > Google Play Store: Force Stop, Clear Data, Clear Cache
Re-add Google account. Settings > Accounts > Google > Click on your Gmail email address > Remove account. Then, add it again.
Restart Wi-Fi connection. Turn off Wi-Fi on your phone, and reconnect.

Sources:

Could not be downloaded due to an error (920)
Android Fix for error 920 or App could not be downloaded due to an error 920

Clear the cahce and data resolve the issue in my case. Thank you

Error 920 seems to be a server-side error.  Just wait 10-15 minutes and try again.  This appears to happen most often if you download a bunch of apps from Google Play at once (like after you wipe your device).
I tried clearing my Google Play Store data and cache, restarting wifi, and rebooting to no avail. (I didn't try to remove and re-add my Google account, because that seemed too annoying.)
Source:
https://plus.google.com/+ArtemRussakovskii/posts/H82TA6h8YQA and experience.

Could be because you added a new google account to your device. It should be resolved in a max of 30 min. If that doesn't work you can try clearing Play Store app data and cache.

I cleared my data in WhatsApp and it worked for me.


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Resize screen for Dead touch zone
I have Star N7189 (5.5") with the lower zone of touch screen dead

The menu and back buttons don't work,but the physical home button works.
I tried to press hard on the edges of the screen, I tried to apply a twist from the short sides as if it were nothing but a wet towel. I did the hard reset but it did not work.
Sometimes pressing dead area, the phone takes it as menu button
As well as replacing the screen what other methods can I try? Is there any app, launcher or trick to resize the screen usable only to the working area?
P.S. a few hours after leaving it in airplane mode suddenly the touch had this problem but I do not remember if I inadvertently placed something heavy in that area of the cell.

You might be able to achieve this by editing the source of a custom ROM to your needs and recompiling it, but if you don't already know how to build your own custom ROM, I wouldn't recommending it.

For Android 11+: Decrease the screen size (not resolution) on Android 11 (wm overscan is deprecated).

For newer android users, sadly overscan doesn't work on android 12+.
I had water ingress and bottom edge was randomly triggering touches. Changing the screen resolution helped me. It is easy enough with adb, not very elegant but works. adb shell wm size 1080x1920
https://stackoverflow.com/a/51807840

A partial but possibly helpful answer, but would not work on Android 11 and above.

Note:

My solution is tested on Stock Android 4.4.2 and Stock CyanogenOS 12 (5.0), and should work for Android 4.3 and above (based on this answer).
I've mentioned wherever root access is required.

The issue in this existing answer is that it reduces the screen output from both top and bottom in my devices while I need to reduce only from the bottom. To do so I used the following  comment as the ground to work on:

The bottom 20% of my Nexus 4 doesn't work. I use: wm overscan 0,0,0,210 to have android WM not draw anything in that area so that I can operate all the drawn areas fully again.. –  Thrustmaster

##Instructions:

Enable USB-debugging in your phone.

Install ADB tools in your PC, connect your device into it, and make sure that device is getting detected in adb devices.

We need to know the resolution and the display density of the device. In the terminal/cmd enter adb shell dumpsys display | grep mBaseDisplayInfo to show display related info. The output could look like:
 mBaseDisplayInfo=DisplayInfo{"Built-in Screen", app 480 x 854, real 480 x 854, largest app 480 x 854, smallest app 480 x 854, 64.29 fps, rotation 0, density 240, 240.0 x 240.0 dpi, layerStack 0, type BUILT_IN, address null, FLAG_SECURE, FLAG_SUPPORTS_PROTECTED_BUFFERS}

The relevant info in my case is:

real 1080x1920
density 480

The most useful commands to be used are:

wm overscan [reset|LEFT,TOP,RIGHT,BOTTOM]

wm density [reset|DENSITY]
My default launcher screen without tweaks looked like:

To reduce the screen output at bottom issue the command:
    adb shell wm overscan 0,0,0,100

Note the I used further reduction by upto 0,0,0,300 and the output was like this:
[![enter image description here][3]][4]

Tweak the value to your desired needs.

You may need to correct the density since the display could look odd. My device's default display density is 480 dpi, so I tweaked it this way:
    adb shell wm density 440

and the resultant screen was like this. An app under tweaked resolution.

Note that you can use adb shell wm density reset and adb shell wm overscan reset to revert back to default density and resolution respectively.

Now that "dead touch zone" has been taken care of it's time to use virtual/soft keys (only if you need it).

Izzy has it already covered in this answer. Otherwise, you can use Gravitybox LP (for Lollipop users) or Gravitybox KK (for Kitkat users). It is an Xposed module, and require root access and Xposed Framework installed.
Install, activate and launch Gravitybox → Navigation bar tweaks → Enable Navigation bar → do a reboot, and soft-keys aka Navigation bar would be found enabled.

Custom ROM like Cyanogenmod and some stock ROMs has the option to enable soft-keys(buttons) under Settings. You can use that option since it doesn't require any root access.

After some further tweaks the final screen of my Android 5.0 looked like:

 Note that the aforesaid solution probably wouldn't be relevant for the OP, but it is written considering the objective of the bounty (offered by barro32).
Next big update possibly would be for Android 4.2.

The adb commands for overscan worked perfectly on my Essential PH-1 and the solution was very simple, without root or apps. I can use my phone again. Thank you.

worked for me Nokia 7.1 broken screen thank you you saved my life

Does it work after a system re-boot?

@MaciekŁoziński For the Android versions I tested upon (mentioned at the top), yes, it did work post reboot.

Is it possible to turn off the "LEDs" of the dead part?

@viyps I have no information on that. Sorry.

Thank you for leading me to this answer which worked for me https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/230374/decrease-the-screen-size-not-resolution-on-android-11-wm-overscan-is-deprec

If your device is rooted, you might want to take a look at Button Savior (Root) – if not, at Button Savior Non Root. Or at Virtual Button Bar:

Button Saviour and Virtual Button Bar (source: Google Play; click for larger images)
What do all the three have in common? As the screenshots show, they enable virtual softkeys at places where you want them. So you can avoid the "dead areas", and still have them present.
Admitted, this does not resize the screen; but at least fixes the problem with the buttons.

Good part of the problem is not solved so, in fact all applications that require that area of the screen, including the keyboard, remain unusable ;(

I was aware of that – but thought better a partly solution than none. As for the keyboard, there are some keyboard apps which allow you "free positioning". I just stumbled upon such a while ago, but do not remember which one it was.

I found the solution!
Requires root and android 4.3+!!!
This app can change your resolution and also add virtual buttons.
You will need to change the height about 1.5cm smaller.(can't see it very good on your picture so check it before applying!) If you have any problems with the app, check the app's description or post a comment below.
Hope my answer helps you!
Download link for app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nomone.resolution_changer

The issue with "am/wm display-size" on which the said app relies is that 1.5cm will be reduced from both top and bottom, shrinking the screen usage to way too less. Correct me if I'm wrong but I noticed this behavior on my device.

Firelords answer  works for Android Versions above 4.2.
For Versions up to (including) Android 4.2 the command to use is am. After enabling USB-Debugging and installing ADB tools, the procedure is:

Detect the current display resolution: adb shell dumpsys window (or better to directly filter the output for the resolution: adb shell dumpsys window | grep cur= |tr -s " " | cut -d " " -f 4|cut -d "=" -f 2) - from here)
Change the resolution to e.g. 540x700 adb shell am display-size 540x700. (Can be reset with adb shell am display-size reset)
If neccessary to change the display density then check the current density with adb shell dumpsys display (or to get a short output: adb shell dumpsys display | grep mBaseDisplayInfo)
Change the density to e.g. 230: adb shell am display-density 230 (Can be reset with adb shell am display-density reset).

If neccessary to enable soft keys/on-screen buttons, this can be done by adding the line qemu.hw.mainkeys=0 to the file /system/build.prop (required root permissons). If this line already exists in the build.prop, on-screen buttons can be enabled by setting the value to 0 or disabled by setting it to 1. As far as I know, this works from Android 4.0 on.


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How to change my Google+ connection in "Me" contacts
When I set up the social connection in Me I picked the Google+ account that I share with my spouse.  How do I change it to my own google+ account.  In messaging, it picking up the photo of the two of us from our shared Google+ account. I want it to pick up the photo from my personal google+ account.
Thanks.

What Google account did you use to sync to your phone? Is it the shared account?

A Google+ account is tied to a Google account. So what you can do is using your own account on the Android device instead of the shared one.


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Various Stutterings on Samsung Galaxy Nexus
So I've had my Samsung Galaxy Nexus for a while now, round about a year, and it has this odd set of problems where some of the core functions of the OS stutter. What do I mean by this? The most egregious and obvious example is while typing, occasionally my keyboard will find it pertinent to, without prompting, close about 95% of the way, stall, then open and close in quick succession many times in an unpredictable fashion. This makes typing very difficult as when I go to type, the phone will sometimes make it impossible to access the keyboard. While it does this odd stutter, the normal "back" button shows the "close keyboard" icon. When tapped, the keyboard will continue its stuttering until it realizes I wanted it to close, when it closes. I've tried reinstalling the keyboard, resetting the phone to factory settings, and different keyboards like swiftkey.
Along with this keyboard malfunction is the unfortunate glitch in the phone itself, where if it feels like it, the phone will mute and unmute so fast that neither me nor the person on the other end can make out what the other is saying.
More recently some of the system sounds, such as notifications, have begun stuttering. In what sounds like a failure to buffer the sounds before playing them, it sounds like a skipping record player.
The reason I'm saying all of these in the same post is that I suspect my OS is to blame. One remedy that may or may not work (extensive testing not yet completed) is to make sure there are no finger smudges on the screen. My screen is in tact but has a very small scratch about half an inch long in the middle. I'd appreciate if anyone could point me in the right direction; either to reinstalling my OS from scratch or towards a new phone.
Thanks in advance.

Most of your symptoms sound like the touchscreen thinking you are tapping it when you're not; if that's it, no software change will help. A drawing/painting app will show you if the screen is "touching itself", as it were.

Hello Dan, in the past few days I decided to give that a shot to diagnose the problem, but no go. Every time it exhibits the symptoms I would bring up the paint app, but nothing happened. I tried to touch the screen as little as possible while changing apps, and even simulated typing to try and trigger it.


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Charge Level Control
Would there be any application or method of controlling the charge level and limiting it for example to start charging at 20% and stop charging at 80% ?

why would you want to do that?

Lithium based batteries get better cycle usage if you don't use the full charge level.  If you normally use 50% then using 30-80% will give you more cycles then 50-100%. If you use the phone plugged in a lot (e.g. developing) then stopping the full 100% charge will help the battery life generally.  The long term life gets worse with charge level and temperature so fully charged and in use e.g. warm is a worst case state for battery life.

I've heard that about Lithium batteries, and I've also heard that it's an "old wives tale".  See http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/29073/battery-life-and-first-time-charging-on-li-ion-batteries-myth?newsletter=1&nlcode=36875%7c8c25.

The battery meter saying "100%" doesn't necessarily mean what it seems.  Check this article: http://phandroid.com/2010/12/25/your-smartphones-battery-gauge-is-lying-to-you-and-its-not-such-a-bad-thing/                   The signal indicator on a phone is similarly misleading, only worse.  The real reading is under about phone>status.

You could use Tasker to make a beep or push a notification when battery level is ouside your safety boundaries, so you can take an action by yourself (ie. un/plug the charger).
Go to developer website, where Tasker Userguide can help you to set that task, taking as context the State of your device.
The following image shows an example of configuring Tasker to take an action depending on battery state:

Application:
No, as for an application to do this, the answer is no since charging on an Android phone is done by its hardware! The software has nothing to do with the actual charging of the phone! (This is why your phone is able to charge even when the OS is powered down)
Method:
No, since the charging is not controlled by the software of your phone, this means it will be very difficult to stop your phone from charging (since there is no software modification that I can think of that will help... I could be wrong!)
However, as pointed out by Francisco Alvarado earlier you could create Tasker profiles to notify you about custom charge levels. Or if you are very paranoid about maintaining battery health you could make Tasker prompt you before automatically shutting down (just a suggestion).

You can hardwire it: 12 ohms in serial still makes the phone be recognized by the computer, yet slowly discharge.

Well one way of doing it would be with a device such as Raspberry Pi or similar (perhaps with java installed on it). With an add on such as Laika it can control devices including relays which could turn on/off the power to a charger. Since Android to PC communication is available over USB https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3803871/android-apps-communicating-with-a-device-plugged-in-the-usb-port then I'm guessing an app could talk to the fruity device, if not it could post to your own hosted web service. The app could then tell the device when to turn on the charger and when to turn it off according the the apps settings.
OK, a bit over the top and would need experimentation, but I think it could be done.
Lets hope that Android Marshmallow (or Maltesers or M&Ms or whatever it is) will have this built in for hardware that can support it.

It looks like RPi/Android USB communication is available, as it has been reported you can use this: http://android.serverbox.ch/?p=262


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How can I split files on the computer and then assemble them on android device?
Would be a simple way to bypass the MTP protocol crap to transfer files to my android tablet. There must be app out there that I can split files in pieces on computer and then reassemble on android device.
Any suggestions?

How would that allow you to bypass MTP? What is the actual problem you're attempting to solve?

Is there a file size limit for MTP? I never used that protocol (my xfers go either via WiFi or via adbfs). I could imagine paradebor wants to transfer e.g. "large video files", and MTP might have trouble coping with them. Just a raw guess.

@Izzy: Not that I'm aware of. I routinely move files that are hundreds of megabytes in size (CWM backups, ROMs, etc). If there is a limit (skeptical), it would have to be fairly high.

Im just a regular guy on windows xp with a cheap Kocaso tablet with no SD card trying to transfer stuff on it.This sounds much easier then learning to use FTP out of the blue.

If you're able to transfer the split files from your pc to your android device, which most probably will, you can use this app to join the files.
Also make sure you split the file using 7zip on your pc.
Hope this helps

Heck yes, exactly what i need, thank you! and for people asking, wifi transfer app works but trial version has a size limit but premium version does not work for some reason.

This was very simple and quick and it works!Thanks again a million!

Glad that helped. Consider voting the answer


text:
Downgrade keyboard back to Jellybean?
I'm wondering if there is a way to downgrade back to the old 4.3 keyboard.  I use the apostrophe almost every sentence, and now it is gone.  Not the worst thing in the world, but it's ruining my flow.
So is there a way to go back to the 4.3 keyboard (I've not yet gotten 4.4 installed), or is there an app that works the same?

CyanogenMod and other custom ROMs still offer it as part of their ROM packages, and some people have posted the keyboard apk online. This version will not update like Google's keyboard and can be installed on pretty much any ROM. You'll need to enable it Settings > Language & input.

AOSP Keyboard (4.2.1)
AOSP Keyboard w/ number row (4.2.2)

Either of these will work and give you back the old layout.

You could try Hacker's Keyboard.

I think I just figured it out, after having this complaint myself: Go to Language and Input in settings and turn off Spell Checker.  The keyboard still suggests proper spellings for me, and it inserts apostrophes automatically again.

There is an app called Jelly Bean Keyboard by VLLWP but there is a pro version to if you want.


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Is there a way I could click photos using the volume button without opening the camera app?
I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 on a custom ROM. (Alliance ROM - ICS)
Is there a way I could capture photos using the volume button without opening the camera app when the phone is sleeping (Locked)

I haven't encountered any app that could do this yet. It seems looks like an uncommon use case even among spy apps.

Its possible to click a photo by pressing Volume button using an App. But how could your OS determine volume button's extra functionality without using an App? OS can't determine other than Just Increase/Decrease volume.

It would take a couple of seconds before the camera app is loaded and a picture is clicked. Is there any app, running in the background would help take pictures by hitting the volume button at any point of time.


text:
Access the real /sdcard
I flash my HTC One with a custom rom, then I access my sd card in my computer all of the files are gone.
But when go to clockworkmod recovery and select install zip on /sdcard
I can see all my files and roms there.
The question is, how can I access my sdcard?

What do you see if you use a file browser (e.g. ES File Explorer) on the device to look at /sdcard?  Also, is this the new One or one of the other devices called "One"?

The new HTC One, I flash it to 4.3 Google Play Edition.
I have ES File Explorer, I only see the sdcard folder icon with a small arrow icon on the lower left

The arrow just indicates it's a symlink.  Do you see anything if you open it?  How about if you open /storage/sdcard0?


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Is it safe charging a Galaxy Nexus through a USB 2A port?
This is a newbie question. While travelling, I need to recharge my Galaxy Nexus and my digital camera, both of which are meant to be charged through a micro-USB port, ie. 0,5A.
To reduce charging time, I have an 1A AC adaptor but it only has a single USB port.
Google shows a number of two-port AC adaptors:

one port is 1A, the other is 2,1A (it looks like Apple devices expect 2,1A)
this one delivers 2A when using a single port, but 1A when using both ports

In case I only need to charge a single device, is it safe to have it fed 2 or 2,1A? I read that a device only uses the intensity it needs, but will it fry if it's fed too much intensity?
Thank you.

Yes, it is fine to charge a device with a higher current charger.
You can think of current like the device pulling rather than the charger pushing.  The device will only take as much current as it wants regardless of how much the charger is capable of supplying.

Thanks for the confirmation. Is there some waste (heat?) when using a charger that outputs more amps than a device needs?

There's always waste heat (no transformer or converter is 100% efficient), but a oversized charger doesn't increase the waste. The charger will only supply as much current as the device pulls, and the charger in turn will only pull as much current from the wall as it needs to supply that current to the device.


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Playing Music From PC
I want to be able to listen to songs on my phone via my pc at work.
I want my headphones to be plugged into my pc.
Is there any application that works with Google Play Music on the pc?
Like when you ply an iPhone into itunes and can play music
Thanks
** Edit 20/11/2013
At work we can't stream music.
Also I'm not guaranteed to be sitting at the same machine so don't want to copy all my songs to the pc each time

This question appears to be off-topic because it is about PC software and isn't related to Android.

@DanHulme Is there no other way to stream the audio to the PC using an Android app? I'm voting to Leave Open this question.

What about a DLNA server (e.g. BubbleUPnP) on the Android device, and some DLNA client on the computer? As long as both are connected to the same network, that should do.

Why would you want any of that? You can stream music from Google Play straight to any PC by logging in through the web interface. The phone doesn't have to be involved at all.

Do you have a bluetooth device on your pc?
You probably have one if you have a laptop. Or you could buy a bluetooth dongle through which you can play music from your android device and listen with your pc output(speakers/headphones)

http://play.google.com/music

At work we can't stream music. Also I'm not guaranteed to be sitting at the same machine so don't want to copy all my songs to the pc

You have two options, assuming your using a windows pc:
There is this nifty windows app for the pc:
Google Music Desktop Player for Windows:
http://apps.codigobit.info/2011/10/google-music-desktop-player.html
The web UI:
http://play.google.com/music
https://play.google.com/music/listen
Just a matter of preference, the web UI is easy & accessible from any pc with a internet connection or the app if you prefer a more permanent solution on like your daily pc or something you use frequently...

I'm in Australia this unfortunately this doesn't help. Also I can't stream music

If you have uploaded your songs from your Android device unto Google Play Music (not sure if it does this automaticly) then you are able to play the music by logging into http://music.google.com from your PC.
The sweet side effect of this is that it doesn't drain your Android's battery. :)


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transfer custom itinerary from Maps on PC to Android
I have a custom itinerary I prepared on maps.google.com on my PC (forcing some routing) and I would like to transfer it to my android smartphone, then use the navigation features of the Maps app.
The only thing I managed to do is to open this itinerary in a browser (on maps.google.com via the link I get on the PC) but not to transfer it to the Maps app. Is there a way to do this? Does the Maps app even supports custom routes?

Install Google Maps Engine.

Google Maps Engine on Android enables you to view your custom maps
  anywhere, anytime.

I'm not sure, but Navigation will probably not work as described here:

For navigation, searching for local places, etc. please check out the
  Google Maps for Mobile app.

I tried but I do not even know how to bring in my custom maps inside (it is bound to my account but does not see my maps, only a few public ones).


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Volume too loud at the start of every music track
This is on a Moto X with Android 4.2.2. Not rooted, no EQ installed or enabled.
I primarily listen to music through DSub (streaming audio from a Subsonic server), but I've talked to their devs, and they don't perform any volume changes of any kind. Likewise, the Subsonic server doesn't make any volume changes, and I haven't experienced this volume issue when streaming to other devices.
Every time a song starts, it plays very loud for a few seconds, then drops slightly to normal. If the song starts loud, it can be quite a jolt for a few seconds before it drops down. It's almost as if it starts at max volume, then drops to the volume level I have set, but I haven't tested that.
As far as I can tell, there are no Equalizers enabled. Turning off the "Audio Effects" settings panel doesn't seem to have any effect on music playback.
Any idea what would be causing music playback to start off at a different volume?


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Keyboard Macros
Is it possible to have keyboard macros? Like on iPhone if you type lol it automatically converts it into laugh out loud? Couldn't find it on my phone for multiple hours.

possible duplicate of How do I get quick access to common text snippets?

@AlEverett Quite a different scenario, but I suppose the answer could also be useful. Leaving this Open, just in case.


text:
Unify volumes for global volume control with the rocker
My android seems to have different volume levels for alarms, ringtone & notifications, music and games.  This is annoying/confusing for me and I'd just like one global volume control by using the volume rocker on the side of my phone.  It has happened several times that my phone would make sound when I was sure I'd silenced it, and when it happened in a job interview the other day that was the last straw!
How can I have just one volume control?
Installing apps is OK, rooting or changing firmwares is not.
My phone is a stock Galaxy Nexus:


text:
Should the sdcard support case-sensitive files?
I've been testing one of my apps to see how it handles filenames in UPPER-CASE. I thought the Android libraries and system was case sensitive for filenames, however I eventually discovered that files on the SD card are matched without case-sensitivity.
Here's an example taken from a Samsung Ace phone (my Nexus 4 behaves similarly)

adb shell

$ pwd
/mnt/sdcard/testDaisyReader/casesensitivebook

$ echo "" > NCC.HTML
$ ls -l
-rwxrwxr-x system   sdcard_rw        1 2013-11-19 18:57 NCC.HTML
$ ls -l NCC.HTML
-rwxrwxr-x system   sdcard_rw        1 2013-11-19 18:57 NCC.HTML
$ ls -l ncc.html
-rwxrwxr-x system   sdcard_rw        1 2013-11-19 18:57 ncc.html
$ ls -l
-rwxrwxr-x system   sdcard_rw        1 2013-11-19 18:57 NCC.HTML
$

I would have expected the commands ls -l ncc.html wouldn't find the file I created, however it seems to do so. My Android app also matches files without case-sensitivity.
Do any of you have any counter-examples? I'd like to know whether it's safe to assume filenames are matched on the SD-Card in Android, like Windows, without case-sensitivity.
Notes:
1. the filesystem on the SD-Cards are FAT32
2. I've found 2 related posts that imply files on the sdcard are case-sensitive:
How can I open an HTML file I have copied from PC to SD Card of Phone?
How can I determine the SD card's path?

Android itself is based on Linux, which is designed for case-sensitive filesystems. Internal storage is usually on an ext or ext4 filesystem, which is case-sensitive. SD cards are usually formatted with FAT 32, which is a case-insensitive filesystem. Although Android can support using other filesystems on the SD card, Windows PCs can't, so it's unusual to format your SD card with a different filesystem, and if you do this, you can't use the SD card in a Windows PC (via a card-reader), nor can you have the phone act as a USB mass storage device when connected to a PC.


text:
How do I record a ~45 minute 1080p video with external mic?
I am currently using the camcorder function that comes with lgcamera because it allows me to use the microphone as the source of sound input. But I found that it stops when the recording size reaches 1.9GB (or 2.0GiB in the linux world, or about 16 minutes). I believe this is an arbitrary limit set by Android for apps? I googled and found some people reporting the same file size limit problem.
Is it possible to get around this file limitation problem (I have nexus 5)?
or is there a recording app that would break down the video into smaller sizes? The external mic is a requirement for me though.
If you know how to use external mic that with the native video recording app (1 hour recording limit), that would be even better. soundabout did not work for me.
Reference:
People complaining about the limit:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1714021

Please be careful about asking for app recommendations. They are not welcome here. Instead, focus on the problem that you're trying to solve.

Changed the question a bit.

How is your memory card formatted? FAT has a 2GB limit, whereas FAT32 supports files up to 4GB.

@onik There is no memory card slot for Nexus 5.

I've recorder 6 GB videos on Sony Xperia. Must be the filesystem limit.

I emailed Google about this here is the response I got:
"Thank you for contacting Google. I appreciate your patience with me as I look into this issue. It seems as though the limit placed on the video data file of 2gb is written into the android operating system. This is in effect on all types of android devices.
I have researched a few video control apps, they follow the same rule and stop at 1.9-2gb. At this time I do not believe there is a work around for this issue. I do not have software update information available either. Some of the research I have done points to a possible legislative law that limits the video recording time of mobile devices as it takes away from video recorders."

That sound very, very improbable to me. Which state's limits would apply to global OS? What if my country banned taking photos as it takes away from cameras? I don't believe that a bit. Thanks for sharing though.


text:
Why can't i see any files from SD card in Android System Recovery <3e>
so I'm a bit confused. I'm going to try to organize my question here and not create a wall of text so please bear with me.
Problem - I have a Samsung Galaxy Exhibit 2 that I'd like to save the data from. no sim card, pattern locked. I don't know the pattern to unlock, nor do I remember the google account information to unlock it. USB debugging is NOT turned on so I cannot reach it via ADB, and it's not setup as a disk drive so simply attaching to a PC isn't a solution either.
Possible Solution - After lots of research, I've found a possible solution where I A - install CWM via the "Update from SD Card" feature in Android System Recovery, then B - Flash a Pattern Unlock to the device. This "should" in theory work, or at the very least if I get CWM installed, open a host of other possibilities to try.
Reason the above is not working - I've downloaded each file, placed them on a micro SD card via an adapter, and put them into the phone. After booting into the recovery console and going to the Update via SD Card option, I do not see any of the files on the SD card. I've gone as far as to boot the phone into recovery without the SD card installed and I literally see the same data. in short - I cannot get the SD card files to show up in the recovery console (this is a stupid problem to have and I'm hoping I'm just missing something).
What I'd like - some advice on how to get the files from the SD card to show in the recovery console. I'm assuming it must be easy. If not - perhaps an alternative method to get around the pattern lock that does not involve a factory reset. thanks.

Under the Option "install zip from SD card", do you have an option to "Choose zip from external SD" or only the default "Choose Zip from SD-Card"?

I have had issues flashing from an external SD card due to the format of the card.
I was unable to detect a card when it was was NTFS.
After reformatting as FAT32 there was no issue. So try that, if possible.

If your recovery supports adb sideloading, you can flash ROM from your computer using the command adb sideload path-to-file.zip.
You have to choose the option flash zip from adb sideload then execute that command from your computer.
Make sure you have adb drivers beforehand.


text:
Any text in desktop and menu is unreadable
My girlfriend owns an HTC Desire X running Android 4.1.1 with HTC Sense 4+.
The phone was working fine but suddenly yesterday any text in desktop and menu has become unreadable. Instead of letters (european character, spanish) text is now made of white squares. Something  like having an issue with fonts. You can see a picture below.
My troubleshooting was:

Asked her if she installed any update: she did not install any new app or software update.
Restarted the phone but the issue was still present after reset
As suggested in comments, verified that language is properly set

Today she installed 3 updates: Twitter, Chrome and Dropbox. Suddenly fonts in desktop and menu came back to normal and text is readable again.
Did any of you have similar issue? Any idea what could be the cause?

That is odd. Have you at least turned it off and back on?

Yes, I tried restarting the phone but it had no effect. It keeps the same after restart.

In Settings > Language & Keyboard check the language that is set. May be language has got changed.

Language is set to Spanish. It did not change.

Maybe try changing the language to something else and then back?

Had the same problem after rejecting installation of HTC sense keyboard (I chose 'later'). Nothing seemed to help, until after some random opening and closing of apps (specifically, I went to messages) the app-choser had the icons visible again.
Went to settings on this menu, and simply exited settings and the problem was 'solved'. (not really solved of course, I don't know why it occured and it may happen again).
Btw: exactly that one: the HTC desire X!


text:
Android - shell utility to perpetually disable headset device?
I have an HTC Desire HD device that has some schmutz in the wired headset jack, and the output from 'logcat' (http://pastebin.com/cNZC8Wwc) shows it vacillating between 'Headset=true' and 'Headset=false', when there is in fact nothing present in the headset port.
I/HeadsetService( 1977): Headset=false; Bluetooth=false
I/HeadsetService( 1977): Selected configuration: speaker
I/HeadsetService( 1977): Headset=true; Bluetooth=false
I/HeadsetService( 1977): Selected configuration: headset
V/WiredAccessoryManager( 1746): Headset UEVENT: {SUBSYSTEM=switch, SWITCH_STATE=0, DEVPATH=/devices/virtual/switch/h2w, SEQNUM=12164, ACTION=change, SWITCH_NAME=Headset, SWITCH_TIME=9817830244064}
V/WiredAccessoryManager( 1746): newName=Headset newState=0 headsetState=0 prev headsetState=1

This makes the handset almost impossible to use for calls without workarounds.
I understand that this is a common problem and that it has been addressed by more than one application in the Market store.  Still, those applications I have tried have not worked correctly to eliminate this problem.
I can't physically clean the port at the moment, and I would like do do this 'manually' via the shell.
Isn't there a straightforward way to do this?  I have tried with the activity manager and package manager search and try to get and set relevant data, but I haven't seen a way to say something like:
    localhost / # am kill HeadsetService
    localhost / #

-which does not stop the flip-flopping device detection.
Can I just echo something to a file like '/sys/devices/virtual/switch/h2w/state' and then use chattr to make it immutable?  Is that even the right file for the wired audio headset?
EDIT:  This doesn't work:
    localhost / # chattr +i !$
    chattr +i /sys/devices/virtual/switch/h2w/state
    chattr: reading flags on /sys/devices/virtual/switch/h2w/state: Not a typewriter
    localhost / #

Why not just clean the port?

I'd like to know how one does so (disables such a device) at the OS level.
Anyway, I have tried to do so without taking the thing apart.  I don't currently have access to a tool with which to take it apart.

That's very probably not possible*. The root cause is identified so I'd suggest you just fix the root of the problem (dirt) and not apply band aids in the wrong place (trying to disable it at the OS level). (* It may of course be possible using mad haxor skillz, but i don't think it'll be worth researching and applying them to this type of problem)


text:
Does Google take any of my file data on Android?
I read about syncing photos with Google on Android somewhere, and got a little concerned.
It is probably just a special Google service you have to sign up for, but just in case, I want to relieve me of this concern.
Does Google send my photos(files in the gallery) to their servers?
I under no circumstance would like automatic syncing of picture and photo files.

Google supports photo syncing, but you can disable this.

If you have Google+ installed, disable Auto Backup. Open the app's settings, and go to Auto Backup > OFF.
Disable Google photo sync. On your phone's settings, go to System settings > Accounts > Google > username@gmail.com > Sync Picasa Web albums. Make sure sync is disabled.

UPDATE 2013-11-22: As per Damien Golding, it is also worth noting that the settings of the camera must be checked. In his case, Google photo sync was ON in the Albums setting.

Thanks. You're right, my photos and videos are automatically backed up : /
Don't are about photos I publicly show, but photos I privately take with my Nexus camera are sent? Surely that is pushing the boundaries.

@DamienGolding Try to check your camera's settings if it also has a setting to share the picture you take. Disable that. Then, please don't forget to upvote and accept the answer if it has helped you. :)

Thanks, the settings can actually be found from the "Albums" Settings page.
"Google photo sync is on" : /

The second setting you mention doesn't automatically upload photos. It downloads pictures that are already in Picasa (the old Google photo service) so you can see them on the device.


text:
is it possible to restore back to an earlier date on my samsung tablet 2?
My app crashed. So I uninstalled and reinstalled it thinking that the progress would still be saved on the game, but it wasn't. Is there a way of going back to an earlier date like you can do on a normal PC?

You mean like a Windows Restore Point that is created automatically? Android doesn't have this feature. What is normally done for Android devices is to create a manual backup that can be done using nandroid or a third-party application like Titanium Backup. Then, you restore those back-ups.

In short: the save games are gone.


text:
Upgrade FreeLander PD80 Vogue QuadCore 9.7 inch Android 4.0 tablet to Jelly Bean
I'm about to buy a FreeLander PD80 Vogue QuadCore 9.7 inch Android 4.0 tablet, but it has ICS. Can I safely upgrade to Jelly Bean? The website where I am buying from says that the warranty will be void if I upgrade to another Android OS.
I am a complete novice. So, I'd be grateful if you can help me.

Unfortunately it is a common policy for resellers to cancel the warranty if the buyer upgrades the ROM. Several manufactures though allow upgrading for their official ROMs, but I am afraid this is not the case for Freelander, for which unfortunately I have not found any official ROM (at least not in Chinese). I am not sure what are the legal aspects of such policies. In any case there is a risk involved when upgrading a device that the device may be 'bricked', ie be rendered unusable if something goes wrong.
Now regarding the ROMs for the particular device, I believe I have found mainly two alternatives.
The first is to use a ROM from a similar Ainol device. The link for the ROM is http://pan.baidu.com/share/link?shareid=352175935&uk=420337580 (use Google translate to identify the download button which should be the second at the right hand side).
The update procedure along with some testimonials can be found on:
http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/82866-android-422-on-freelander-pd80-wise/
According to those testimonials, the only thing not working properly after the upgrade is the front camera.
The second alternative is to use one of the Cyanogenmod ROMs (10.2 or 11) for Allwinner A31 device. In the above links you can find all relevant information, along with whatever may go wrong.
I have not yet evaluated any of these but I will eventually as I own such a device and the existing ROM is nonsense. Please provide any feedback when available.


text:
Set an alarm for tomorrow
On my Nexus 5 I want to set an alarm for tomorrow but for the life of me I can't figure out how to do this with the build in Clock application.
I'm sure it's me because I'm sure this couldn't be an oversight by the developers?

Stock clock app doesn't have date reference like today or tomorrow. You can however set alarm for the particular day like Sunday or Monday by clicking the particular days.

While there's no Date specifically in the Clock app, if you set an alarm without repeat, it will automatically set it as a one-time alarm. So if it's after 7am today, and I set an alarm for 7am, it will happen tomorrow and not repeat.

So, setting an alarm on Monday for the coming Friday means I need to set a repeat for Friday and once the alarm has triggered (on Friday) I need to delete it. Clumsy but could work..

@Luke, or you could set a reminder in Google Calendar - but that's definitely not a very intuitive solution. If you use Google Now and say/type "Set an alarm for 5:00am on Friday", it will automatically create a Calendar reminder. Still, it would be nice to have it all contained in the Clock app.

Use voice and say 'Wake me at 7am' and it should set a one time no repeat alarm for the next instance of 7am.


text:
Keypad not working very often
Phone: Samsung Galaxy S i9003
Android: 2.3.6 (Gingerbread)
All of a sudden, the keypad stops working and after sometime it works just fine. When I try to type, I get the tapping sound. Letters pop-up, but nothing gets typed. Voice input also doesn't work at same time. Copy-paste, Whatsapp smiley, and Dialer number pad works.
I have tried clearing cache, but it doesn't make any difference. I have done factory reset many times, but the problem persists. This is the trace using CatLog at the point keypad doesn't work.


text:
Log off animation in Pac-man rom
How can i change the default log-off animation in my nexus4(PAC man ROM). I was able to change the boot animation in data folder but unable to find the logoff animation.

Try this: How to Change Shutdown animation
As it says, you'll find the location of the animation is "/system/media/video/shutdown"

But i cannot find /system folder in my root

Is there not a video/shutdown folder structure just where your boot animation exists? Both of these are supposed to be at the same location. If not, I'm not sure where else to find the same, as I have not used the PACMan ROM.

I'm not sure about your device specifically, but the structure i have is a bootanimation.zip & SHUTanimation.zip


text:
Android forgetting default launcher every few minutes
Starting last week, my HTC One running ARHD 31.5 keeps forgetting the default launcher. Every few minutes, it will forget the setting and ask me for a launcher when I hit the home button.
So far, I haven't found a pattern yet. Here's what I've tried so far:

restarting the phone
removing the default setting via Settings > Apps and setting it fresh
tried different launchers to rule out the launcher deleting the settings
updating the ROM (seriously)

It happens both when the phone is locked, or when I keep it unlocked and basically not doing anything but keeping the screen alive. After a few minutes, the default will be gone.
Any ideas how to debug this are welcome.

when you say it forgets the default launcher, what other launcher are you using?

It's forgetting Aviate. But I have also tried setting Nova Launcher or the default HTC Sense launcher as the default and it forgets them as well.

I just got the tip to try looking at "adb logcat" to see if something comes up and I get this log message:
Result set changed, dropping preferred activity for Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.HOME] } type null
I'm just trying to get the context of that to see if this helps find out what is happening.

When it asks you to select a default launcher, do you select Always, instead of Just once?

Yes, I select "Always".

As far as I understand the message, the list of applications providing the home button intent is changing (or the system thinks that it is changing).
To narrow it down I have just removed Aviate and switch to Nova Launcher. The problem still exists, so I'll now try removing Nova and reinstalling Aviate.
Removing both probably won't help because then there will only be one launcher available and nothing to choose from.

Last update: Disabling/removing either Aviate or Nova Launcher does not help, the setting will still get lost.

If there is no more Aviate or Nova, what do you mean by setting will still get lost? I would assume there will only be 1 launcher left.

Sorry if that was unclear: I only removed one of them at a time so I always had HTC Sense plus one custom launcher to choose from.

It's still unclear what is causing this to happen and I have found only one other mention of the problem so far. In the end I simply disabled the stock launcher by freezing it using Titanium Backup and also disabled all other custom launchers. Soon as only one launcher is available, the dialog goes away. More of a workaround then a solution, so if anyone has an idea how to continue debugging, then I'm open to any suggestion.

I'm having the same issue likewise on Nexus 4 and on Nexus 7 (2012), with Android 4.3 and persistent after updating to Android 4.4.
As I don't have rooted devices, the only 'solution' I've seen was deinstalling the nova launcher. Nova launcher was the only alternative launcher I've had installed and with only the default launcher left, the dialog is gone.
A pity, though, as Nova enhances the user experience considerably.

There was one similar report here link. One commenter tracked his issue down to the app MoboPlayer, but this didn't seem to apply to the thread starter and the other respondents. Also I don't have that app installed. So the issue is possibly related to an unknown setting which can be influenced by apps.

Yes, I read that thread as well. Unfortunately I also didn't have that app. Good to hear that the problem showed up with the 4.4 update for you as well.

Is strange, I also go the same problem. But then, I used titanium backup to move the default launcher from a system app to user app. Only after that, I am able to set other launcher as default.

Try the "Fix Permissions" option in the custom recovery. Also try wiping caches and Dalvik Cache. If they didn't work try disabling any cleaners, taskers, etc. Also check "Accessibility" in settings to see if there are any services that could potentially be causing the problem.   I would recommend doing these sequentially (but not necessarily in any particular order), so  you can isolate what was causing the problem in the first place.

Scan all the applications installed to see if there are any android:proprity="-1" in intent-filters. (I know com.taobao.taobao breaks)

Go to Settings -> Home. If there is any non launcher app (E.g. Times Job), then remove it and select the launcher you want as default. That might solve the problem.

Is "Settings -> Home" available in 4.3 JB? I'm aware of Kitkat having it, and JB 4.2.1 doesn't have such entry.


text:
Is there a Bluetooth earphone that can control the Music being played?
I'm looking for a bluetooth earphone set, or a device compatible with it, so that I can control the music (play/pause & next/previous) without actually touching the phone.
Is there any hardware that does this? The reason is, I'm getting home from work, in a crowded bus, standind, trying to hold on with one hand, and the other hand cannot reach into phone, unlock the screen, find the next button and press it. It's too hard :)
Or any way to use the volume button for previous / next ? This would be much cheaper, and fancier :)

This sounds a bit like a shopping question, which is off-topic here, but as a general answer: Yes, it's possible to change tracks from Bluetooth headphones.
Almost all headphones that support A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile), which is required for better quality music streaming, can also handle AVRCP (Audio/Video Remote Control Profile) which handles controlling the playback.
As an example, I have a Samsung SBH-170, which has buttons for play/pause, next/previous track, volume up/down and call answer.
Just check that the headphones you're going to buy support A2DP, and most likely they support AVRCP as well.

Alternatively, there exist bluetooth dongles for regular headphones/earphones, like this one, which are much cheaper and allow the use of whatever existing audio gear you have.


text:
I can't find launcher on my apps
I cant find it in the drawer. I've been experiencing errors and I've found the solution. Problem is, my launcher is missing and I cant clear the data because I can't find it.

(1) What is your phone? (2) Are you using default launcher, or 3rd-party launcher?

I'm just a bit puzzled: How did you get into the drawer when there's no launcher?

If the launcher icon is not visible in the application drawer, go to System Settings > Apps > Running select the launcher.
From there you can perform your fix.


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Cannot find option to edit people in Nexus 4
My device is Nexus 4 with custom PACman ROM installed. It got into a bootloop while taking a pic,So I swiped the dalvik cache and system files using TWRP.
It booted up finely But since then i couldnt find the overflow button in people. Anybody have any idea...?

I'd say this is a pac specific issue.  Where did you get the ROM?

xda developers pac_mako_nighty_20130921

Then I'd suggest asking on the thread where you got the ROM.  It's either a known bug or someone with specific knowledge about the ROM will be able to help you.


text:
Forward button functionality in the Play Store
l was watching one of the Play Store app videos on Note 3 and accidentally touched the back button twice. And That's when I realized HARD one more time that I can not do a forward (back to what I was watching). As a result, I could not locate that app again.
This ( not being able to go forward ) becomes an issue on many other situations too..
So, forward button is definitely has its own place in the UX. ( Imagine not having the forward button on the internet browsers, that's exactly the situation here. )
Is there a history of visited apps on the play store on the device that I can navigate back and forward through?

That's an interesting question, and I agree that it would be nice to have a forward button in the play store. Browsers, however, actually do have forward buttons if their devs allow it. Here's an example using Chrome.

thx dotVezz. The reason I brought up the internet browser's forward button talk into my question was to make a point about the forward button's place in UX world in general. There, I tried to say how the life would have sucked without that functionality in browsing the Internet. I knew that the internet browsers on the device (not just chrome but all) have their own little back & forward functionality . Thank you for the screenshow anyway though. I appreciate it. I think an overall ( device level ) forward button functionality has to be somehow worked out.

An OS-level forward button would almost certainly not be a good idea in a practical sense. The idea of it is good, but the functionality is up to the app developers for a reason.

For me, your rant about wanting a forward button really detracts from what would otherwise be a useful question about seeing your Play Store history.

Dan, I agree. That rant was not necessary.


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Can I reduce app space by deleting unwanted files?
Specifically, I'm an artist and use PicsArt photo studio a lot, which is a great app. The issue is that my phone is ALWAYS low on space (thanks a bunch, sprint bloatware!) So this app is awesome, but they add around 10 MB of extra crap like clipart, most of it stored on the SD card. I've googled this multiple times, but I've only come up with results like "how to delete apps" which are useless to answer my question.
I'm scared to go around deleting things casually, so I'd love to hear if any of you Android enthusiasts have tried the type of app customization I'm proposing.

What do you mean by 'reduce app space'?  Yes, you can delete unwanted files and free up space on your memory card or internal memory.

@shanabus - I think they mean to delete some of the files from a particular app (the clip art files from the PicsArt app).  About the only answer I have for this is to make a backup of the files in question, delete the originals and see if the app still works or not.

Can't figure out how to reply directly, but yes, @Compro01, that's right, and I suppose I'll just take your advice and test it out after backing up the files. I guess I can always uninstall and reinstall if I screw the app itself up somehow ...

All apps store its data @ /sdcard/android/pacage name.  you can delete from there.


text:
Terminal not showing any output?
I have succesfully root and unroot my device but my terminal doesn't show any output only error messages of missing command.
I'm also unable to re-root my device. I copied psneuter to /data/local/tmp but the terminal doesn't give an error.
I have verified it by createing  a file in /data/local/tmp and copied it to my sdcard. The file doesn't exist. Gingerbreak doesn't work and gives an error Couldn't extract asset.
I have an orphaned su on my device but it has only user rights. Is there a way I can fix my terminal and re-root my device?

You may want to mention what device you're having problems with.

@onik:I used a modified boot.img and psneuter or zergrush. My device is a Pioneer Gionnee 100


text:
Google Maps runs GPS in background even if the GPS radio is off - how do I fix?
I have the T-Mobile version of the LG G2, running Android 4.2.2, everything stock except the keyboard. I'm not sure what version of Google Maps, but the Play Store says it's up to date.
Yesterday I noticed that the G2's battery was draining a lot faster than it had been. I had thought it was just because I had been listening to music a lot more that day, but then when I checked the battery app that night it said that Google Maps was responsible for half the battery drain. I had used it earlier that morning for directions and it had apparently run the GPS in the background for 11 hours straight. I thought it was a one-off, but it happened again today. I've attached a screenshot.
The GPS on my device is off as far as I can tell (i.e. the visual indicator in the tray is dark), so I don't know whether Google Maps is turning it on stealthily and forgetting to turn it off, or whether it's trying to find a GPS signal, can't because the radio is off, and gets stuck in a loop looking for it. I'm assuming the former because there's no CPU activity, just GPS. When I click the "Location Services" button, these are the settings:

Access to my location: ON
GPS Satellites: OFF
Wi-Fi & mobile network location: ON

So it shouldn't be happening. Why does this happen and how can I fix it? I suppose I can just remember to force stop Google Maps every time I use it, but I'm hoping for a better solution.

Screenshot (click for larger variant)

Also, I just discovered that the GPS drain doesn't stop when I force kill the process. Could my GPS just be broken?

Google Maps does that. That's why I froze it, and only unfreeze it when I need it. Is your device rooted? Is Google Maps installed as system-app, or did you install it yourself?

Came pre-installed. And, no, as I said, everything is stock - not rooted.

In that case, I'm afraid there's not much you can do. Rooted+UserApp would give you the option of using Greenify. Without the two, you could go to Settings→Apps, scroll to Google Maps, and "disable" it – but that can just be done after uninstalling its updates, which is not quite convenient (as whenever you need it, you'd have to "enable" it again, and wait for the updates to be re-installed or use the old version; plus switching on/off requires too many steps). Of course you could disable it, and use a different maps/navigation app altogether.

So this is a known issue? Can you point me to the bug report, because I can't seem to find it. I'd like to track the progress.

I don't know about a "bug report" on this. But yes, it's known behaviour. First app I freeze is Maps, because otherwise it permanently runs in background without me ever having started it. And I know I'm not the only one with this. Sorry I cannot point you to anything to track.

Well freezing it seems to be a solution, and I'm honestly not sure what you mean by that, so why don't you elaborate in an answer? :)

Done. Hope it's not too technical, but at least understandable :)

Google Maps is known for situations like this for years. It doesn't happen all the time and on all devices simultaneously with all versions of maps, but comes often enough. For me, the decision was to disable/freeze Google Maps, and use other Map apps (Locus Map, OruxMaps) instead. But let's go into details how an app (in your case Google Maps) can be "put on ice":
On a rooted device
A rooted device gives you the most alternatives. Say you want to use the app from time to time, you could use the following approach:
Dynamic freeze

convert Google Maps from system-app to user-app. This can be done e.g. with Titanium Backup – and is of course not necessary if Maps didn't ship with your device (but was explicitly installed by yourself, which already makes it a "user-app")
Greenify Maps. This way the app is kept from running unless you explicitly start it. You could think of this as a "dynamic freeze"

Static freeze
If you do not need the app anyway, and rather use another replacement, you can freeze it permanently. A freeze marks an app as being "unavailable", so it can no longer be started. There are multiple apps which can handle this, as e.g. before mentioned Titanium Backup or App Quarantine. Using Titanium Backup would give you an advantage here: TiBu let's you place a shortcut on your homescreen to freeze/unfreeze-start an app, basically emulating the "dynamic freeze" described above. No need to convert the app into an user-app for this.
Disabling Auto-Start on certain events
Many apps register so-called "broadcast receivers" to be notified on system events they are interested in. The best known certainly is boot_completed for apps that want to become active right after the device has booted up – but there are a lot more. Examples include the change of network status (true for our Google Maps candidate), battery-low, or the SDCard being mounted. On a rooted device, you can disable those "listeners" with so-called "Autostart managers". One of the best is Autorun Manager in its Pro-Version. If using those, take care to not disable too much, as that might render an app unusable.
Without root
Without root, I know of only one way to achieve something comparable:

Go to Settings→Apps
Select the "All" tab
Scroll to the app in question (here: Google Maps), and tap its entry
If you don't see a "Disable" button, but "uninstall updates" instead, it's a system app. Tap "uninstall updates", then "force stop".
Tap the "Disable" button

Now the app is de-activated, and should no longer run. I explicitly made "should" in italics, as to my experience often this is only a partial working solution: though the app is removed from the drawer, it seems it's still not completely out-of-reach for certain frameworks.
Pros and Cons

Disable: Only available solution if your device is not rooted.

Pro: does not require root
Cons:
app not always completely disabled
no dynamics
requires multiple "taps"
requires to always uninstall updates first (if there are any)
not applyable to all apps (manufacturer/carrier can "lock" apps against this)

Static Freeze:

Pros:
Works on all apps
Partly dynamic (using TiBu and its "shortcuts" on your homescreen)
Con: Requires root

Dynamic Freeze:

Pros:
Dynamic
app icons remain in the drawer/on your home screens (so from the user's perspective, handling remains unchanged)
Cons:
requires root
doesn't work on system apps (though there are "experimental features" for this AFAIK).


text:
Is there a way to cast video from one Android device to up to 2 other devices?
Lets say I have the following Android devices:

An Android smartphone running 4.1 with Wifi capabilities
(2) Android tables running 4.1 with similar Wifi capabilities

Is there an app that makes it possible to have the 2 tablets play a video file that is hosted on the smartphone?
The app or another app working along side it, would have to allow the devices to establish an ad-hoc wifi network.
The use case is that I would like to setup the tablets on the rear headrests inside my truck.  This way, the passenger can control the video being played to the 2 slaved tablets from a network-connected smartphone.  Are there apps out there that do that and if so, what are they?

Please note that recommendations like Is there an app for X are off-topic here (see our [help/on-topic] for details). You might wish to consult Where can I ask questions that aren't Android Enthusiast questions? to find a fitting place for your question.

Ugh. This question is fine. There is a well-defined problem to be solved. That an app is being asked for is secondary.

Thanks @Izzy, I followed your links.  The Help center suggests this question follows the guidelines.  It says "Using a particular app on your Android device" is ok. I don't see "Is there an app for X" anywhere in the discouraged section.

Having read it again, I agree with Al. Consider my comment as non-existing and never made ("Mu"); I'll still leave it there to keep the context to Al's comment (so we can learn from my mistake).


text:
Can I change what the button on my earphone does?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Young with Gingerbread. I also have a pair of Samsung earphones. Is there any way I can change the pause button so that it functions as a previous track button?

I don't think an app can recognize the pause button alone because the button also has the functionality assigned for Play button too. You can try double or triple click to change next/prev tracks. But is based on the heaset/ phone compatibility. My phone supports triple click for the previous track. :)

this app is able to change your earphones button function to whatever you want( open apps, toggle flashlight, control volume...), here's the the link https://apkpure.com/jays-headset-control/se.jays.headsetcontrol

I know it's too late to answer it now.. I hope it will help someone else..
Try Button Mapper.. With this you can remap ALL hardware buttons! Remember to turn off battery optimization for this app else no hardware keys will work if this app is killed and you'll have to reboot it or open the app again..


text:
disable autocomplete on galaxy s4
I have the Galaxy S4. Is there a way to turn off the Autocomplete on the dialpad so that the numbers that I dont have saved in my phone won't pop up?

I'm assuming from the way the question is written, you may want Fixed Dialing Numbers (FDN).
The Samsung Galaxy S4 can be set so that it may only call certain numbers from a set of specified prefixes. This is useful if you only want to call people on a specific network to save additional charges on inter-network calls. To do the restriction, you may need to follow these procedures.
Phone > Menu > Call Settings > Additional Settings > Fixed Dialing Numbers > Enable FDNFollow the prompts to supply the rest of the information needed.
If you have FDN already enabled, and the number list is too broad, you can try disabling it, and using dialing presets instead.

I don't think melissa wants to restrict the numbers she can call. My guess is rather she wants to get rid of the "advertisements" of local shops etc. introduced with KitKat. The new dialer makes a look-up (using Maps AFAIK) for numbers not found in the user's contacts.


text:
Ad-hoc support in Cyanogenmod 10.x?
I flashed Cyanogen 10.1.3 to my Samsung GT-P3113 (the P3110 version which is compatible) in the hopes of getting IBSS ad-hoc support that was added in CM-10.1 alpha2. (see the release note item for it here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2214042)
However I can't see my ad-hoc network in the wifi list. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

That thread is a changelog for a different device. I don't know that CM has ad-hoc networking on every device they support, so the changelog there is probably not indicative of general CM features/changes. Commits to their review system imply that IBSS support is dependent on the WiFi driver, which will vary by device/kernel: http://review.cyanogenmod.org/#/c/33728/

Alright! Thanks for the help. You should have answered, I would have given to the credit. (you still can ;)

So just a dumb Q, but I assumed that Cyanogen included their own kernel and device drivers. I mean the kernel had to come from somewhere first off. Are they basing their device builds on the manufacturer provided rom/source/kernel? And how can you confirm if your device doesn't support something like this? (said it was a dumb Q)

I'm not really sure of an easy way to check (for that reason, I can't say for certain that your device does/doesn't support IBSS ). CM does have their own kernel repos, and they are generally based on the kernels released by the manufacturers. Different devices typically have different kernel code, though some similar ones may share (e.g. the espresso kernel is used by several variants of the Galaxy Tab). Consequently, features that require kernel driver modifications may not necessarily be available to all devices.


text:
Internal storage is used up by Android
My Xperia J has 756 MB of internal storage. After 2 months of use I hardly can install anything as my system directory is 600 MB. It seems that in system/apps I have 200 MB of not used apk files (system apps that could be activated I guess), and 400 MB of the system with its core and its installed apps. So basically 756 MB is around 200 MB at the first instant of starting the using of my phone.
I use Clean Master to delete 10-20 MB of cached data now and then but as my phone is not rooted, I am stuck. I moved every application to the internal SD card (I can't use the external SD card - because it is not listed in the application settings as an option)
What can I do to install more apps?

First, I very much doubt your /system directory's content changed at all (unless you've got an OTA), as it's read-only ("ROM"). Finished splitting hairs, my suggestion is taking a look at our insufficient-memory tag-wiki, which not only has some explanations, but also links to helpful questions/answers to help you solving your issue.

What do you mean by my system directory is a ROM? It has a very large size (530 MB). What directory should I check for changing in the internal storage?

/data is "internal storage". /system is read-only (Read Only Memory, at least during normal operation; it becomes read-write on some rare conditions only, e.g. on system updates) and contains the OS stuff. For details, please see Android Folder Hierarchy.

Thanks for the clarification. Here are the sizes: system: 584 MB, sys: 38 MB, data: 5.5 MB. I have 110 MB of free space and I can't install updates for Google Search, Google Chrome and Hangouts. I think, I have to buy a bigger phone.

Question is: 110 MB of free space – where? On /data?

How can I tell? I see 110 MB of free space in Settings->Storage. My Total Commander can only show the size of a directory and can't tell how much is left.

Doesn't your Settings→Storage tell the values for each "storage unit" separately – like "internal storage", "SDCard", etc? You could also use a terminal app (or adb shell), and run a df -h, which should list up all details.

I have 3 values: Size: 754 MB. Applications: 609 MB. Available: 110 MB. It doesn't contain any more detail.

Then you will need to try the terminal/adb trick I've mentioned to figure out. I'm pretty sure available space on /data will be low.

And what can I do if /data has low space? It contains the applications' data, I can't delete random files from there.

In my first comment I've mentioned our insufficient-memory tag-wiki. Did you follow that link? If so, which of the recommendations there did you try, and what was the outcome?

Unfortunately this is a common problem for all xperia J users, including myself. I have installed many recommended apps for moving stuff from internal to external SD card but after doing this, pictures, music, videos etc I have moved cannot be played/viewed meaning you have to move them back in order for them to be viewed/ played again, however adter moving them back my files still didn't work. I have not yet come across the answer to solving this problem but I can recommend not downloading apps that move stuff to SD card as they won't work, just clear your cache as much as possible to relieve it of some memory. Hope this helps a little bit


text:
Creating a custom launch action on the menu
I am trying to cerate a simple icon on my Android tablet to launch, say, the browser, with a specific URL. Under Windows, this is simply creating a shortcut. Under Ubuntu, this is just creating a .desktop file with a couple of parameters, including the actual command line to execute. But I cannot seemto be able to do this under Android, and although I don't mind command line on a desktop computer, this is not a viable option under Android.
Can this be done with the stock launcher that comes with Android, or should I use a special one. I registered a couple of those.

Sure it can be done. I never used this feature, so I'm not sure whether there's an option for "a simple icon", but you should take a look at the "bookmark widget":
First, start your browser and create a bookmark for the page you want to link to. Second, go to your homescreen, long-tap on a free space (where you want the link to be), select "widgets", and then watch out for the "Bookmark widget". Tap it, select your bookmark, et voila! there should be a shortcut on your homescreen.
Alternative to the second step: while still in your browser, go to "bookmarks", long-tap the bookmark you created, and select "add to homescreen" (source: AndroidCentral).
More alternatives:

Is it possible to create a URL link to a website on the home screen?
Pinning Web Sites to Android Homescreen
check the many bookmark widgets available at Google Play
use the Tasker app to create a shortcut (not that easy when trying Tasker for the first time, as it is quite complex – but here I'm pretty sure it will be an icon. And as side-effect, you've got the mightiest automation tool available for Android :)

To do the similar thing to open a file with an associated app, depending on the launcher used, explained using an example:

Go to your homescreen
Long press an empty space where the icon should be placed
In the opening menu, select "shortcut"
Select your file manager (this won't work with all file managers; in my example, I used ES File Explorer, which perfectly serves this case)
Now navigate to the file you want to create a shortcut for (in my example, I selected an EPUB ebook)
The icon should appear on your homescreen.

Now, tapping that icon, either your ebook reader opens directly (if only one is installed, or you've made it the default to "always use"), or, as in my case, a popup asks you to chose the app to be used (e.g. Aldiko, Moon+ Reader, FBReader).

What about starting another program, say, a media player, or ean ebook reader, with a specific file ?

Just create a shortcut for that file; the associated app would be started along then. If you had e.g. 2 ebook reader apps, you might get a selection popup to chose from – unless you declared one to be "always used".

And hw could I do that, say, from the root file manager, or whatever other file manager that comes with my iplementation of Android ? I know that those implementations vary from one hardware maker to another.

It rather varies with the apps installed. I just did the following from Apex Launcher: Long press empty space, select "Shortcut", then "ES File Explorer" (the file manager I use), navigate to the wanted file, select it. Now I have a new icon (in my case, an EPUB book) on my desktop. Tapping that asks me which app I want it to open with: Aldiko (came pre-installed), or Moon+ Reader (my favorite).


text:
Start Skype voice call from addressbook in ICS
I have ICS and Skype 4.4. Some of the contacts in my Android addressbook have a "Chat" contact of type "Skype".
When I have Skype open, is there a way to start a voice call to this Skype contact directly from the addressbook, i.e. without switching to the Skype app?
EDIT: By voice call I mean a call via the Skype network, i.e. to the Skype contact, not a Skype call to the contact's phone number.

Have you tried to simply initiate a call? Unless you've set another app as default, there should be a popup to let you chose the app to continue with: Dialer, Skype, and whatever else you've installed. As long as those apps have registered for this, that is – but I cannot imagine Skype didn't do that, so it should work.


text:
how to fix grey wifi icon (no internet), and how to track what caused that?
[SUSPENDED. see P.S. at end, any good way to deal with this suspended state?]
My phone have the grey wifi-icon problem, where you do not have access to internet.
Yesterday it was working fine, I changed nothing.
Usually it always connected grey and a few moments later it gets colored, but now it is forever grey...
I followed these tips from other questions that did not work:

turn wifi-off/on
turn air-plane mode on, wait 1min, turn it off (and wifi on)
forget/remove the wifi config and recreate it
reboot the phone
reboot wireless router
shutdown the phone
(NO) I got a tip to lower my router security from TKIP+AES to only TKIP, but it was working perfectly yesterday; so I will not do that for obvious reasons..

I can ping my phone from my PC.
I can JuiceSSH from my android into PC (intranet is ok).
I can do nothing internet related...
My phone is not rooted, should I?
My connection drops from time to time when I see "obtaining ip address" if I leave it on the wifi config page, but it was like that already before the grey icon problem..
Where I can see wifi log to try to understand what is happening?
PS.: my phone is working again, I did nothing either to fix it; my PC was connecting to internet while my phone not... now both are ok; I will keep the question as the problem may happen again and I wasnt able to track what caused and how to fix (if ever possible); just that it is not urgent for now... thx!

Logs can be viewed wither with one of those "logcat" apps from Google Play, or using adb logcat from a connected computer. You might wish to check some of the other logcat questions on our site for more details.

thx, finally I managed to see the adb logcat (required sudo to all commands..), now I need some time to examine and filter what is important related to wifi..

If you could ping your computer then your phone's traffic to the internet was being stopped somewhere on your LAN. I'd take a look at your home network the next time this happens.

@Mr.Buster I have a wireless router; my only guess was that some rule on the router internal firewall could be preventing the IP of my phone to connect to internet, as my PC was ok, but after checking I saw no rule; I am seriously puzzled.. Unfortunately, when I had a chance to keep the logcat on a file, I didnt do it, I thought the problem would bother me longer... so I cant even check just out of curiosity :(

Grey icons don't mean that you don't have internet connectivity. eldarerathis's answer explains:
It has to do with whether or not you've currently got a good connection to Google's servers for sync services and the like. From page 27 of their Android 2.3 Users Guide:

Network status icons turn green if you have a Google Account added to
  your phone and the phone is connected to Google services, for syncing
  your Gmail, Calendar events, contacts, for backing up your settings,
  and so on. If you don’t have a Google Account or if, for example,
  you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network that is not connected to the
  Internet, the network icons are white. I'm not really sure why it
  bounces back and forth between green and white sometimes. I've noticed
  it on my phone but everything works fine (I run CyanogenMod, though,
  so perhaps it has to do with that). It could also be that green means
  it's currently in the act of syncing, but the wording in the document
  is a little vague, in my opinion.

In the case of Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich, the colors are blue/grey instead of green/white, but they still have the same meaning.

Well, that is what happens here: if the wifi icon is grey, it wont access the internet. About "good connection", that is confusing, because it should be able to sync with a bad connection, just that it would be slow, but NOT prevented from connecting and syncing.. it must mean something else..; IMHO it means there is no internet connectivity, despite my PC was able to connect flawlessly :), but my cell phone could not browse internet but could browse intranet w/o problems.

I get that the two are associated with regards to your issue, but what is probably happening is the reverse: something else is preventing you from connecting to the internet, which does not allow the device to sync to Google's servers and thus the icon is grey. While this doesn't help directly in your end resolution, I thought I'd share what I had found when I was having a somewhat similar issue so that you would know where to troubleshoot and investigate further.

indeed, thx; anyway I think I will only be able to track this again if the problem ever happens again; what is most puzzling is being able to access internet from PC at that time..

I was getting the same issue with my tablet. Grey icon for wifi and SSL error on my Chrome browser. No internet whatsoever, started happening when i tried clearing cache files on system.
I was searching and googling for answers abt this issue with my wifi, then I finally tried fixing it myself. This was happening to my Lenovo ideatab A3000-h, then I looked on every settings I could see, to check if there are any changes on anything. I was almost about to give up, then I saw the time was incorrect. I checked the system date and time and I saw it was set to 8am 01/01/09. I then set the right date and time (automatic setup via mobile network), then poof, everything went running again. I see my blue wifi icon now..
The other guys are correct, grey icon means that there was an error on google sync, and in my case, since the time was all messed up, the syncing part was getting confused. Grey Icon for wifi doesnt always mean 'no internet'. just means, syncing is not successful

cool! btw I had to set my date/time manually as the automatic seems to not work long ago; I will surely look that first next time it happens :)

After my suffering with a Android phone last week ... I found the solution is certain for the emergence of the network in gray .... which in turn prevents communication with the Android market---
The solution is very very simple and without any programs all you have to do is :
Only change to Moscow Time Zone...  Then, change the device language to Russian Then wait less than a minute will automatically change the signal directly to the color blue then, return your phone as it was.

Switching to "Moscow time zone" might help when in Moscow (but is unlikely to help in Wladiwostok, Sydney, or New York). Though, you might have hit some clue here: if your time settings are too far off, that might cause trouble with SSL handshake (and thus keep Google Services from connecting to their servers correctly). So adjusting the time manually could indeed help.