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App user data not found in usual directores
Im looking to find the save data of this android rpg game (net.iasolution.fc1sd), but I can neither find its save data folder in /Android/data/ or /data/data. Even though the other apps' folders show up this specific game's folder is not showing up.
Can anyone help me find out whats going on?

If they're not stored on the public storage, then they're probably stored on the app-specific directory that can only be seen and accessed with root access.

please note in the linked duplicate /data/data is not mentioned, in the favour of /data/user/0 and /data/user_de/0


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Is Phone still usable after Google Find my device erase device
well, the question says it all. I was playing around with google find my device and messed up. The worse thing, I was using my father's phone and not mine.
Result-
After i used find-my-device - secure device, there's a screen lock on my father's phone which is long like abc1234. The phone is unlocking with it. But when I try to remove it from settings app, it is asking for a 4 digit numeric passcode. I have tried everything and the password can't be removed. Since my father uses his phone very often due to his work, he doesn't like any kind of password since its bothersome, time-consuming, frustrating and he doesn't have the best eyesight so he messes up with keyboard when without glasses.
What I want to do-
Since the phone can be unlocked and data can be accessed, I have backed up the data in my laptop and planning to reset it. Now, the OEM is locked and asks the 4 digit password to unlock and reset also wants that. So, My only options remains find my device - erase device.
What i want to know-
Since its not my but my father's phone, I want to be and have to be extra cautious. 1 - Is there any kind of risk or anything i should keep in mind before resetting the device from find-my-device - erase device. 2 - Will my father be able to use that phone normally after the reset like he used to earlier?? 3 - Will the screen lock be removed?? (most important)

What you describe could be a bug, settings simply opens the wrong type of keyboard so you are unable to enter the password. Another possibility is the phone is managed e.g. a company that they have set-up the 4-digit PIN code. When performing a factory reset expect the worst - this means you have to set-up most of the apps from scratch with all their settings. Only apps from Google are mostly safe if cloud backup is enabled (exception: Google Authenticator app).

on factory reset device becomes FRP locked and can unlocked with google account. all data is gone. google drive backup can only restored with pin (you obviously don't have)

Ok, so since no one was particularly answering, I took the risk and did it.
As for the answers for anyone who needs it in future -
1 - no that i found anything just make sure to backup your data.
2 - no problem found as well. for personalization and apps, everything was deleted, but i made a list beforehand of installed apps and their settings which took me a whole of 20-25 minutes to reinstall and set up.
3 - yes it was removed.
BTW for anyone wondering which phone it is, it's Vivo S1 Pro.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Bypassing the lock screen PIN on Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 without factory reset
My aunt suddenly passed away with no will as she was young. She has a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 that I'm trying to access for pictures off of it for her memorial service.
I've tried at least 20 different 4-digit pins and now it says "Please wait 40 seconds to try again". And I don't want to be completely locked out of it. And I'm trying to avoid factory reset because we want the pictures she took on it. She was a private person so there are no notes about it. And no one knows her email, password, Google accounts, etc.
Is there a way to bypass the pin in a hack-like way that's not illegal?

yes it's possible to bypass. most likely it's old Android 4 device with no encryption or bootloader lock. but mention device model code first.

If you are the heir (for a legal perspective) you can contact the online services like Google to give you access to the account of your aunt. On this process you need to prove that you are the heir of your aunt.

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


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Offset screen to non-broken area
My android tv is broken and about half the display is invisible.
I followed this answer and tried to offset the display using
adb shell wm overscan 960,540,0,0

This is supposed to move display to bottom left side of screen. But this only works on screen saver and app launcher screen. Youtube and other apps still open full screen.
How do I offset all apps and everything?


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How to get into my child's Family Link phone after forgotten password?
I have my daughter's Pixel 1 set up with Family Link. It should be running Android 10 I believe.
Recently I changed her screen lock password via my linked Parent Phone. I forgot to tell her and since she usually logs in using her fingerprint, she didn't notice the change until she had to restart her phone a month later, which enforces unlocking with her password.
Unfortunately, I forgot the new password in the meantime. If I see this correctly,

I cannot unlock the phone using my Parent Account after the reboot, right?
Also, since the phone has not fully booted without the initial unlock, I cannot change the password using the Family Link app because that has not started yet. I mean, I can change the password on my, it just doesn't change anything on hers.

I tried the suggestion here: How to reset a kid's forgotten phone lock-screen password?, but my daughter's phone does not have Find My Device installed.
Any ideas? The last resort would be to factory reset but I would like to avoid data loss. I think I had the phone set up for Developer Options last time I was able to access it. So if there is a way to do it with ADB or something I might try that although I would like to avoid the installation trouble if there is another way.
It would already help me to verify whether I am right in assuming that the initial boot unlock runs before the Family Link app or whether I may have made a mistake somewhere else. I am wondering whether something else is going on since the login itself seems buggy (I can enter the password once, but then the phone does not give me a keyboard for a second try, so I need to reboot again).

You have to ask with the opposite view: Could an attacker get access to your daughters data by simply having her phone after you enabled debugging options? In a perfect world of course not. And USB debugging still requires to confirm access and adb still runs in the user context, not root context, so I doubt there is a "legit" way to enter your daughters phone.
Using a vulnerability
This is probably your only bet to get into the device without factory reset and since your daughters phone is a Pixel 1 that is out of software support, there is a good chance that it could work.
One such vulnerability was the Pixel Lock Screen Bypass. I'm not sure if the Pixel 1 is (still) affected by the vulnerability, though. So please give it a shot.
There is a video by Seytonic explaining the vulnerability in detail. The steps are:

Boot the Pixel and put in your SIM, so it asks for the SIM PIN
Please make sure that you have the PUK of your SIM card available to not lock yourself out of your carrier service
Enter a wrong SIM PIN purposefully 3 times, so it asks for a PUK
Enter the PUK of your SIM to unlock the SIM
The phone asks for a new SIM PIN, set it

Now the phone glitches and you pass the lock screen of Android. Once you are on the home screen you should be able to reset the password using the Family Link app on the parent device.
Final thoughts
Because of glitches like these, it is good to not use devices that are out of software support (at least when it comes to security patches). No matter the outcome, please invest in a new phone for your daughter, unless you want her at risk of data mis-use, online-impersonation or blackmailing when her device gets in the wrong hands.
In regards of losing passwords, I use KeePass to avoid losing memory of passwords (you can use it for card PINs, passwords, all sorts of stuff). On the plus-side, it allows you to generate unique hard-to-crack passwords that you will never forget. All you have to remember is your (hopefully long) master password to decrypt your vault.
I advice against using an online password manager. It's better to store an encrypted KeePass storage (which is just the kbdx file) in a cloud of your choice, a self-hosted cloud preferably.

Thanks for the extensive answer. I was about to give up and reset the phone when my daughter tried one last time to log in and the phone just accepted her password. Weird. I think my main problem was why I would not be able to alternatively log in with my or her Google account instead. Would that be an additional security liability? Because an attacker would not have a significantly easier time to get into a stolen phone that way, right? Thanks for the SIM hack. I tried other glitches and they didn't work but I haven't seen this one. I'll accept your answer even though I couldn't test it.

Unfortunately if you log in with your own Google account password on someone else's phone, it will let you in as an additional account holder so you won't have access to your daughter's account. (You can set up multiple Google accounts on one android device - see Settings > Google and tap the > on the right of your account name so see what I mean.)

@Cerno I'm glad you get access back. If you are curious the same as I am: You can still test the SIM hack, despite knowing the passphrase already. I also doubt that you can't login into the phone using its PIN when you are problems with your Google account. The phone can dependent you to get into your Google account (2FA), but not vice versa.


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How to chose an Android device for testing software?
The software I produce on Android isn't an app at all. It's a mathematical modelling library, built entirely with the NDK, which is tested with a command-line test harness in the ADB shell. It is licensed to ISVs, who produce apps based on it.
The library (and test harness) are only produced in aarch64 form, so I need a 64-bit device to test them on. I need something that runs as quickly as possible, with at least 10GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage for the test data I push onto it. The device needs to be able to run tests continuously for several days at a time (there are a lot of test cases) without running out of power. It can stay plugged into a host computer the whole time - there's no need for it to be used as a personal device.

The simplest solution is to use a 'phone based on a SoC that uses sufficiently little power that it can stay fully charged while running its CPU full-time. This is much easier if there's no need for the screen to be powered on.
As of early 2023, 'phones based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G can meet this need. The one I've been using is a Vivo X60 Pro, with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. You can monitor the battery state through USB via adb shell dumpsys battery. The advantage of the 870 over the high-end 700 models is that the 800 models have twice the memory bandwidth.
I previously tried doing this with 'phones based on the Snapdragon 888, but with no success. I was unable to find one that could accept enough power to keep the battery from draining while both running at full speed and plugged into a computer via USB. Of the devices I tried:

One had two USB ports, with different charge capacities. If you plugged the high-capacity port into the custom charger, the low-capacity port would not talk to the computer. If you plugged the charger into the low-capacity port, the high-capacity port would talk to the computer OK, but the low-capacity port could not keep the battery charged.
The other had a single USB port and wireless charging. However, putting the device on the charging cradle immediately cut off communication through the USB port.


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Bluetooth Process is Dying constantly
My phone's bluetooth keeps disconnecting and connecting constantly.
I recently built my first custom ROM, Lineage OS 20 for my Redmi Note 9 (Merlin/Merlinx). Lineage OS is not officially supported on my device, so I used the community maintained device tree from here.
The build went smoothly and my phone is running just fine on it. BUT I'm facing this issue bluetooth. I ran adb logcat and in the logs I found this particular line:

Process com.android.bluetooth (pid 3034) has died: psvc PER

I don't know how to fix this. I am a complete newbie at rom development. Any insight into this would be highly appreciated. I am attaching the full 1-min long log in the pastebin. Please ask for any more info if needed. Thanks !

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts. Please note that ROM development is off-topic since Android Enthusiasts focuses on end-users and power users (who are not necessarily developers) solving their issues. Thus, while this community might explain the technicality of Android OS to your queries, coding solutions are out of the scope of this community.

Try running your phone in Selinux Permissive mode and check Bluetooth and if it does work it's just some denials you will have to address:)
I saw your trees and you have the required props for Bluetooth to work on Android 13.


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How to ensure android device is always connected to wifi regardless of its state?
Is there any developer setting option or adb command that forces android devices to always maintain their wifi connection even if the device is idle or locked? Sometimes my devices don't respond to connection requests and that has been a headache.

Is Wi-Fi -> Advanced -> Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep enabled, already?


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How to authorize unauthorized device via Android Debug Bridge (adb) for non-working screen stuck at boot-time pin prompt for Pixel 5a?
Android 13. Basically, my screen doesn't work anymore but it works otherwise. Previously I was able to set up AirDroid cast through a painful process with an accessibility talkback feature.
My device rebooted though and required a boot-time pin. For some reason, I was getting a version mismatch error (from the client having v41/platform-tools_r33.0.3-windows and the server being v40). Now I can't log in anymore due to it being unauthorized.
I used this command to log in I think it wouldn't take my fingerprint initially. Then any unlocks were OK via fingerprint.
I downloaded v40/platform-tools_r28.0.1. While it got rid of the mismatch error, I think in the process my keys disappeared.
Now when I run ADB devices in either version, it says unauthorized for my phone. I tried kill-server and restart-server in both versions.
Is there any way to generate a key via ADB in windows 11? Thank you.

Does this answer your question? Android ADB Key Not Working

Just restore adb keys from a system backup.

@Robert unfortunately I do not have a backup.


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Need to connect to old device that only support 2.4Ghz wifi
I have a router at home where I don't have access to settings as it is managed by the landlord. The router has the same SSID for 2.4Ghz and 5GHz.
I also have a wifi camera that I want to connect to that does not support 5Ghz Wifi. How can I disable 5GHz wifi completely on my phones? I can't seem to find any setting on either of my phones. The devices in question are Sony Xperia 5 II and Samsung S22.
I don't want to throw away a perfectly working camera just because it is not super modern.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Added:
I need to connect to the camera directly from my phone - when I open the camera app it says "Camera does not support 5Ghz Wifi, please connect your phone to 2.4 GHz Wifi". I believe, it is needed to setup the camera's Wifi connection or something.

Looks like the app is using this "obscure morse system"  to transmit initial set-up data to the camera via Wifi even if the camera is not yet connected to the Wifi. Usually the packet length of the encrypted Wifi packets is used to transmit the WPA2 key to the camera so that it can join the Wifi system (Warning: transmitting a secure Wifi key just obfuscated = more or less in clear text over a Wifi network is insecure and may be intercepted by others, revealing your WPA2 key).
To make this work the camera is sniffing for all surrounding (2.4GHz) Wifi networks. Therefore the used smartphone also has to use 2.4Ghz otherwise the camera will not be able to sniff the relevant data.
To solve your problem you would have to temporarily disable the 5GHz Wifi of your router. If that is not possible you can try to force your phone to use 2.4 GHz.
Some Android versions have a WiFi Frequency Band setting (see Wifi -> three vertical dots -> advanced). If your version has no such setting you can try to use pure physics:
Tha maximum range of 5GHz networks is, because of the frequency, smaller than those of 2.4Ghz networks. Thus if you increase the distance to your Wifi router or use other ways to decrease the signal strength, the phone should switch to 2.4 GHz. Make sure that the camera is placed half way between you and the router so tat it can sniff the WPA2 key and then connect to the Wifi.

Thanks Robert. I am going to try today to configure it using an old phone without 5 GHz band. I have not found in my phones which are S22 and Xperia 5 II how to disable 5 GHz Wifi, and I was certain I was doing something wrong. Now it seems the setting is not present in either.

If both 2.4GHz and 5GHz WIFI are available, the camera will automatically connect to 2.4GHz.  It will not even attempt to connect to 5GHz as it does not have an antenna for it.  That is, it can't even see the signal.
You do not have to disable anything.

I need to connect to the camera directly - when I try the camera app it says "Camera does not support 5Ghz Wifi, please connect your phone to the 2.4 GHz Wifi". I believe, it is needed to setup the camera's Wifi connection or something. Sorry for the confusion. However, you gave me an idea - I can use an old phone with 2.4 Ghz wifi only and setup the camera and connect to it with any device afterwards. Thank you!


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full adb backup not creating .ab file for Realme 2 Pro
I am unable to create a full phone backup file of my Realme 2 Pro (model RMX1801) through the ADB. The phone runs stock ColorOS 7 (Android 10). The device is not rooted and I do not want to root it. Doing that would delete my data. Also, my device hasn't had any screen-lock protection days before I ran the very first command (which is several hours amounting to few days before the original-revision of this post) and remaining wholly unchanged to the best of my knowledge till the timestamp of latest-revision.
Here's what I've tried. I launched Command prompt (cmd.exe) and ran:
C:\Users\Dell> OneDrive\Desktop\adb.exe
C:\Users\Dell> adb devices
List of devices attached
86b3470 device

At this point I started to take backup. I have tried a couple of things and I'm categorizing them now.
Attempts when I entered no backup-encryption key whatsoever
C:\Users\Dell>adb backup -all -f -nosystem C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Documents\RMX1801backup.ab
C:\Users\Dell>adb backup -all -f -nosystem -shared C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Documents\RMX1801backup.ab

Both of the commands showed on the UI that backup was taking place. But none of them created the backup file in my PC.
Attempts when I entered a backup-encryption key
C:\Users\Dell>adb backup -all -f -nosystem C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Documents\RMX1801backup.ab
C:\Users\Dell>adb backup -all -f -nosystem -shared C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Documents\RMX1801backup.ab

No change, whatsoever.
I also changed the destination path from OneDrive/Documents to OneDrive/Desktop and repeated all the above commands. That did not work either.
Attempts with double-quotes
C:\Users\Dell>adb backup "-f -all -nosystem C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Desktop\RMX1801backup.ab"
C:\Users\Dell>adb backup "-f -all -nosystem -shared C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Desktop\RMX1801backup.ab"

Did not work.
Changed double quotes position
C:\Users\Dell>adb backup "-f -all -nosystem" C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Documents\RMX1801backup.ab
C:\Users\Dell>adb backup "-f -all -shared -nosystem" C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Documents\RMX1801backup.ab
C:\Users\Dell>adb backup -f "-all -nosystem -shared" C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Desktop\RMX1801backup.ab
C:\Users\Dell>adb backup -f "-all -nosystem -shared" C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Desktop\RMX1801backup.ab

Here's what happened in the case of double-quoted commands: All of the ones ending the double-quotes before the backup file's path appeared to have started the backup process but it did not create the backup file either. The duration of the backup process in the UI was also incredibly shorter, aka literally instantaneous, in these attempts.

As asked in the comments, the versions of adb are produced below:
C:\Users\Dell>adb version
Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.41
Version 33.0.3-8952118
Installed as C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Desktop\platform-tools\adb.exe

C:\Users\Dell>adb shell adbd --version
* daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037
* daemon started successfully
/system/bin/sh: adbd: inaccessible or not found

C:\Users\Dell>adb devices
List of devices attached
86b3470 device

C:\Users\Dell>adb shell
RMX1801:/ $ adbd --version
/system/bin/sh: adbd: inaccessible or not found
127|RMX1801:/ $

here are the [hitherto] unsolicited screencaps/screengrabs/screenshots:

Just to make sure: When executing the adb backup command your phone display has to be on and the phone has to be unlocked, otherwise you won't recognize the screen that is shown where you have to enter the backup password. Anyway for checking if backup works correctly use adb shell and then execute the backup commands locally on the phone using the bu command instead of adb backup. This way you will get all [error] messages bu outputs. See also https://android.stackexchange.com/q/231235/2241

Done as you asked, Mr alecxs! Alas.. My concerns have borne out, once a-gain. As referred to in this post which had direct involvement of "@Firelord". **You may also wish to pay attention on the newly-expanded part of my so-called “WOT”( precisely: the one above/preceding the adb shell part) in the original-post/"question". It has been added belatedly since I felt it was too concise enough, that it may end-up prolly giving wrong idea of my experience; especially for the target-audiences.

@Robert So I did part of what you asked me originally, the one-&-only part of your visible comment hitherto valid. Surprisingly, when I tried to try out the connection of device without switching from the preset-default of “Charging only”. So it didn't connect. There followed the multiple sessions of restarts and shutdowns before I realised that while I didn't turn-off "Developer Options", I had turned-off (voilà!) "USB Debugging".Unfortunately trying out this adb shell sub didn't return with an error — in fact, it didn't even execute the "Full Backup" [G]UI on my phone, no matter variables.

I would recommend to run adb logcat in a second cmd window. I once had a device where the manufacturer pushed a ROM with a defect bu version thus adb backup wasn't functional at all. I could see it on adb logcat where the stack trace of the error always appeared after executing an adb backup command.

Hold on.. I still have to try your belatedly original-post upon the sufficiently “readable” edits by our mutually-respected 'intermediary[?]' Mx "Firelord", Mr alexcs. So address-them-not-chronologically-but-not-entirely-either, your 2nd-/yesterday-latest 1stly: I had covered the matter of backing-up packagewise since my original-edit since get-go. It might not be sufficiently "readable", so to hold-your-fingers, read bullet-point 3 in this first-ever "cleanup", by mod Mr @Andrew T. — germinating tension there. Not exactly C for , but..

Before we proceed any further, Mr @alecxs: About your “ADB version”, it appears you also missed my indication that I've two adb.exe files within the same root-folder. But I dunno whether it's an enigma for computing-based machines supposedly more compliant with binaries than the rest of universe or myself inadvertently causing it by opening the folder from platform-tools out of sheer frustration. But the directly-accessible file has gone corrupt, gives Access is denied. in cmd with the same warning from MSW10 when I try opening it manually. That is why I had to rely on that 32-bit ver.

Ughhhh.. That several-dozens lines of codes within hundreds-of-milliseconds i.e. too quick to follow for an average member of Human Civilisation, Mr @Robert Just to be clear (if it must), I've tried that method and generated at least ~5 screencaps/screengrabs/screenshots of with the consciously deliberate --dividers 2nd optional-argument, so as to make them more readable than any of my "worst" revision — to be rather considerate. From both of horizontal-sized to even vertical-sized windows. Sorry Not Sorry that I didn't opt to create a copy-pasted .txt  out of concern for your health.

Done-dunna-done, Mr @alecxs! Other than Mr "Robert" here, I gave up on creating .txt copy-pasted files of my prior sessions on "whatever" version-&-bits of adb.exe for both of adb backup and adb shell-reliant bu cds, & 3-4 more — given "his" demand to redo what I've had already tried but only-&-only with adb backup. So.. Are those mercifully shorter-lines of text for my phone's each-&-every single gonna do the work for u? Or u would rather insist on creating a .txt which is, frankly, not readable for average Humankind; given there's 0 indication at all that u know whatcha  for.

stackexchange.com is Q&A site (like a wiki) and not the right place for troubleshooting and discussion. you're better off in a forum

Thanks for your clarity, Mr @alecxs — and I see that you've replied to me over there. But alas.. I already have done so since weeks Google's D2D transfer tool( originally named otherwise) in CloudBackup through the Activity Launcher app to open this one-time only app which was successful, just not in transferring much of app-data. Since as noted in the comment below, the device-switch apps are no longer OEM-agnostic — so I already do have a variant of that app on my app which simply treats every phone as "old" be it remaining pre-installed, or you install it on some non-BBK® brands' gizmo.

adb help specifies usage of backup
  adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|-nosystem] [<packages...>]
                               - write an archive of the device's data to <file>.
                                 If no -f option is supplied then the data is written
                                 to "backup.ab" in the current directory.
                                 (-apk|-noapk enable/disable backup of the .apks themselves
                                    in the archive; the default is noapk.)
                                 (-shared|-noshared enable/disable backup of the device's
                                    shared storage / SD card contents; the default is noshared.)
                                 (-all means to back up all installed applications)
                                 (-system|-nosystem toggles whether -all automatically includes
                                    system applications; the default is to include system apps)
                                 (<packages...> is the list of applications to be backed up.  If
                                    the -all or -shared flags are passed, then the package
                                    list is optional.  Applications explicitly given on the
                                    command line will be included even if -nosystem would
                                    ordinarily cause them to be omitted.)

according to usage the [-f <file>] parameter requires second argument <file> which is missing on your command:
adb backup -all -f -nosystem C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Documents\RMX1801backup.ab

correct usage with 2nd argument:
adb backup -f C:\Users\Dell\OneDrive\Documents\RMX1801backup.ab -all -nosystem

Note: full backup is not possible with adb. only apps with android:allowBackup=true in AndroidManifest.xml can be backed up with adb.
one can make test if adb backup is working at all with single package that allows backup, such as Chrome Browser which comes preinstalled on most devices.
example:
adb backup com.android.chrome

this will create backup.ab containing Chrome Browser app data. the location of the file is the current directory.

https://gist.github.com/airtonix/6332922#file-adb-output-L67

Ha! Regardless of the fact that I dunno whether you could figure-out why the ADB version “on your phone” is not showing, in spite of following that hyperlinked thread of "@Firelord" confirming that they could since they are on a rooted device. It turns out, that you were right! As you can skim through the revisions, **the only thing wrong in my command-lines for backup commands( the 2nd-guessing by adding double-quotes not considered) was the position of file-path. When the .ab actually did get created, my light-bulb moment of finding that dir folder-path and turns out, backup-files..

...dating back to as earliest as 10[th of] this month, this year( January 2023) were created. Few were junks like veritable 0B sized to less than 5 KBs or so — and all of them without the .ab extension so they remained altogether null value of files, irrespective of their sizes. But while one was exactly the size that got created in Documents( 6.36 MBs), the largest one was at least 165+ MBs. Thereby, I've marked your reply as the correct-one, Mr "@alecxs". But since my purpose was to use ADB for device-switch purposes given the lack of pro bono OEM-agnostic solutions( in non-rooted

so-called AOSP ecosystems, at the very least) by now — I ran some adb restore commands but since all of those returned with "Restore ended" messages instead of ‘Restore finished’, analogous to “Backup finished” on my very different devices and yes, different forks with even 2-generations gap of public Android builds — should I ask for that as a seperate follow-up question for assistance in that regard, or following-up here is not egregiously contravening of the laws of this fora net, Mr @alecxs?


text:
How do I log denials for offline charging mode
I've been able to fix offline charging animation on my device but it only works in permissive domain and whilst in enforcing it shows me random lines and i can't figure out a way to address the denials for it
Is there a specific way to log denials for charger service?

By "offline charging animation" you refer to the charging animation when the device is powered down?

Yes the one where it shows the percentage

Check for avc denials in kernel log (dmesg -w).


text:
What is the easiest way for me to recover all my Whatsapp messages?
I recently got a new phone and changed my whatsapp number. However, while I was added to all previous chat groups in my new phone, I couldn't see the chat history. Since I changed my whatsapp number on my old phone as well, I no longer have the chat history for my old number.
What is the easiest way for me to restore all my messages?
I followed this link: https://geeknizer.com/read-extract-whatsapp-messages-android-iphone-blackberry/ which i got from https://stackoverflow.com/a/15427040/16197225
I managed to find an encrypted file called msgstore.db on my old android. However, this solution doesn't work for me as I don't have a paid ActiveState subscription and thus can only create public projects, but due to privacy concerns, I would prefer to avoid this method.
Also, I just thought of another question: Is it possible to use one whatsapp account for two phones?

I’m not sure I follow. ActiveState provides lots of products, neither of which should be required for whatever you are trying to do. Your Stack Overflow link goes to a question with lots of answers. Please link to the answer you are trying to work with.

You can run Python programs on your own system, you don't need any subscription. According to the answers to the linked SO question you might get problems with improved encryption.

Login back on your old device and it will detect a local backup
restore the backup then make a google drive chat backup with your email address in whatsapp settings and now go to the new device and make sure to delete whatsapp and all of its data and download it again then login and restore the data from drive :)


text:
How do I automatically disable cellular data when at home?
I do not get service at my house.
The only way I can use my phone is over wifi.
If cell service is turned on, but has no bars, I don't receive text messages properly, they take forever if they come at all. When i turn off the cell data, I get the text messages.
How do I automatically turn off the cell data when im at home, and turn it on when i leave the house?

What phone are you using?  Some phones have this built-in.  Or you can download apps to do it.

i have a TCL 20s. can it be done without rooting?

I am using an app called MyProfiles, but I can't find it on Play Store.
However,  aProfiles will do the job for you.  It is also under development currently, others appear to have stagnated.

You can set up profiles (with what's on or off, sound levels, etc)
Then set up rules to switch profiles automatically (when Bluetooth/wifi turn on or off)
It also supports location-based profiles.

I am not associated with it in any way.

FYI, the "switching mobile data" action requires root access.


text:
How can one configure the default screen recording program to record the audio by default?
I use a Google Pixel 6 with Android 12.  How can one configure the default screen recording program to record the audio by default? I don't want to have to manually activate "Record audio" each time I record the screen.

I understand your concern, but you can't. That UX is a decision from Google's end and toggling it manually every time is the only option as of today.


text:
adb server stutters ubuntu desktop
My environment is:
Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS (xubuntu to be more specific),
NVidia driver 470.103.01,
Android SDK 33
When I start adb server by running some adb commands, the UI, mouse and other things starts to lag and stutter, only terminal keeps responsive. You can see the type of lags I'm talking about on the video. Note that even when the cursor is lagging the terminal still works smoothly. The task manager doesn't seem to register any spikes neither on CPU nor on memory usage. Do you have any idea of how to debug or fix this issue? Probably you faced something similar?
Thanks in advance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YSdN9WtYQU
Edit:
If I use MX Master 2S bluetooth mouse which connects directly to the bluetooth integrated into the motherboard, I see the effect described above. But if I connect cheap bluetooth mouse via its' bluetooth dongle, I don't see the stutter effects, everything runs smoothly. Looks like adb somehow interfere with builtin bluetooth device

Have you connected an Android device via USB? If yes try what happens if you remove it. What other USB devices are connected?

Thanks, but no android devices connected. Even if I connect one and make adb recognize it, nothing changes, it still acts just like on the video

Reader's note: also posted on Ubuntu.SE: https://askubuntu.com/q/1450546/331791

Okay, so I ended up connecting the mouse using a USB dongle instead of built-in Bluetooth. Not a solution to the initial problem, but anyway, this is a note for somebody who faces similar issues.

Try starting your adb server as root with these commands in the terminal window:
adb kill-server        # Get rid of any running server
sudo adb start-server  # Start a new one running as root

If that does not start the stutter, try running your other commands and see if they stutter. In general, ADB works much better on Linux if the server is running as root.
OK, that isn't the problem, which seems to be something to do with the motherboard bluetooth controller. Check if there are driver updates for that, and for the USB controller?

Thanks for the answer, but unfortunately sudo doesn't make any differense, the same stutter, no changes

I've added more info to the question, looks like this is somehow related to the bluetooth device

Added another suggestion.


text:
Running executable files using Termux
I previously posted on the Linux stack exchange about my problem:
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/731882/termux-bash-permission-denied
Suffice to say I've realized that executable files can be run in Termux's home folder (at least that's what I assume ~ is), as well as in ~/storage, but when I move my compiled file hello and hello.cpp into ~/storage/shared the files no longer have permission to be executed:
~/storage $ clang++ hello.cpp -o hello
~/storage $ ls -l
total 60
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347    24 Jan 15 12:21 dcim -> /storage/emulated/0/DCIM
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347    28 Jan 15 12:21 downloads -> /storage/emulated/0/Download
-rwx------ 1 u0_a347 u0_a347 53544 Jan 16 14:44 hello
-rw------- 1 u0_a347 u0_a347    88 Jan 16 14:44 hello.cpp
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347    26 Jan 15 12:21 movies -> /storage/emulated/0/Movies
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347    25 Jan 15 12:21 music -> /storage/emulated/0/Music
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347    28 Jan 15 12:21 pictures -> /storage/emulated/0/Pictures
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347    19 Jan 15 12:21 shared -> /storage/emulated/0
~/storage $ ./hello
hello world
~/storage $ mv hello hello.cpp shared
~/storage $ ls -l
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347 24 Jan 15 12:21 dcim -> /storage/emulated/0/DCIM
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347 28 Jan 15 12:21 downloads -> /storage/emulated/0/Download
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347 26 Jan 15 12:21 movies -> /storage/emulated/0/Movies
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347 25 Jan 15 12:21 music -> /storage/emulated/0/Music
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347 28 Jan 15 12:21 pictures -> /storage/emulated/0/Pictures
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a347 u0_a347 19 Jan 15 12:21 shared -> /storage/emulated/0
~/storage $ cd shared
~/storage/shared $ ls -l
total 150
drwxrws--- 2 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Aug  9 21:45 Alarms
drwxrws--x 6 media_rw media_rw  3452 Oct  4 19:30 Android
drwxrws--- 2 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Aug  9 21:45 Audiobooks
drwxrws--- 3 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Oct  4 17:58 DCIM
drwxrws--- 6 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Jan  4 20:33 Documents
drwxrws--- 2 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Jan 16 13:13 Download
drwxrws--- 3 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Aug  9 21:45 Movies
drwxrwsr-x 4 media_rw media_rw  3452 Aug  9 21:45 Music
drwxrws--- 2 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Aug  9 21:45 Notifications
drwxrws--- 3 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Aug  9 21:45 Pictures
drwxrws--- 2 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Aug  9 21:45 Podcasts
drwxrws--- 2 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Aug  9 21:45 Recordings
drwxrws--- 2 u0_a234  media_rw  3452 Aug  9 21:45 Ringtones
-rw-rw---- 1 u0_a234  media_rw 53544 Jan 16 14:44 hello
-rw-rw---- 1 u0_a234  media_rw    88 Jan 16 14:44 hello.cpp
~/storage/shared $

I've heard that external sd cards are mounted with a noexec flag, but this is internal storage on my Galaxy Tab S7 FE, so I haven't found anything related to internal storage.
What I'm hoping to be able to do is write C/C++ (and other compiled languages) in another app (say, Acode) in any folder, then using Termux, compile them, and run them. So far I can run HTML/CSS/JS files natively in Acode and I can run Python files stored in ~/storage/shared, but I'm hoping to increase the flexibility of this setup more.

In Android's storage model, two apps cannot have a shared directory with executable file permissions. See How do I access $HOME/storage outside of Termux (with a file explorer)?.

In some Android versions it was possible to store and run executables in /data/local/tmp/. That directory misses the x flag so you can't list it's content but the files were accessible if you knew the path. Not sure about latest Android versions.


text:
How to upgrade VMOS or Virtual Android to Android 12?
Both VMOS and Virtual Android was updated recently to support Android 12 (instead of Android 7 as both were limited to before). However, I don't understand how to update them. I have found several YouTube-clips, e.g.,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsr-eqEWOns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiZmKx3v5f4&t=34s
claiming to described the process but they are just confusing. Besides, they want me to download APKs and other files from places like Mediafire and Mega. I don't want to install files from places like that on my work phone!
I am looking for a comprehensive written description for how to upgrade my existing installations. It would also be very helpful if it included a background and overview of the process. E.g., describing what the difference is between VMOS and VMOS Pro, which of these you find on Google Play, the source for the APKs that you download from shady places like Mega and Mediafire, the principles behind the whole process etc, e.g., why isn't 12 included in the version on Google Play?

A common reason for apps not publishing updates on Google Play Store is that over the years Google has increased the restrictions (like latest targetSDK has to be used which means other restrictions). Under these restrictions some apps have just become impossible so they are not updated anymore in Play Store (well-known example: Termux).


text:
How can I change my location without using fake GPS app?
I am using a fake GPS app on Redmi Note 11 for changing my location, but now the apps are reading that I am using a fake GPS app and they show me a notification like "we are finding a fake GPS app in your phone. Please uninstall them, then you can use the app".
I want to know how can I change my location without using any fake GPS location app or without activating any mock location app in settings?

Assuming those apps simply scan for the package name of known GPS spoofer apps you could change it's package name: decompile the app using apktool, change the package name and the recompile and resign it. As the package name is personally chosen by you the apps can not know it and the GPS spoofer scan should show no results.

Physically move to a different location


text:
Getting "E: The repository '... Release' does not have a Release file." error message when installing package on Termux
I've tried installing numerous different packages on Termux but keep getting roughly the same error: E: Unable to locate package
$ pkg install iwyu
Checking availability of current mirror: ok
Ign:1 dl.bintray.com/grimler/game-packages-24 games InRelease
Ign:2 dl.bintray.com/grimler/science-packages-24 science InRelease
Ign:3 main.termux-mirror.ml stable InRelease
Err:4 dl.bintray.com/grimler/game-packages-24 games Release
  404 Not Found
Err:5 dl.bintray.com/grimler/science-packages-24 science Release
  404 Not Found
Err:6 main.termux-mirror.ml stable Release
  Redirection from https to 'ww38.main.termux-mirror.ml/dists/stable/Release' is forbidden
Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'dl.bintray.com/grimler/game-packages-24 games Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Metadata integrity can't be verified, repository is disabled now.
N: Possible cause: repository is under maintenance or down (wrong sources.list URL?).
E: The repository 'dl.bintray.com/grimler/science-packages-24 science Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Metadata integrity can't be verified, repository is disabled now. N: Possible cause: repository is under maintenance or down (wrong sources.list URL?).
E: The repository 'main.termux-mirror.ml stable Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Metadata integrity can't be verified, repository is disabled now.
N: Possible cause: repository is under maintenance or down (wrong sources.list URL?).

$

Solutions?
Software details:

Samsung Galaxy S20
Android 13

Make sure you are using the latest version of Termux which can not be found in Google Play Store. Get it e.g. from F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.termux/

Checking all the repository links, looks like all of them are already down:

Bintray repo has officially shut down since May 2021
termux-mirror.ml redirects to suspicious pages

The issue has been known and documented on the Termux' GitHub issue, Issue #6726 - [README] Bintray repository hosting shut down | Error 403 Forbidden | Error 404. The gist is to change the repo sources, either by using termux-change-repo or by editing sources.list file.

What you should do as Termux user (only for Android 7+)

You need to pick a one of the available mirrors by using utility termux-change-repo or manually edit sources.list by replacing the Bintray URL with value obtained from Termux Mirrors List.
Beware of third-party scripts claiming theirselves as repository fixers! They could install untrusted GPG key and redirect your Termux installation onto malicious repository. Official tool for changing repositories is bundled within Termux and called termux-change-repo.
Usage of termux-change-repo is simple:

Select one or more repositories for which you want to change mirror by tapping "space" and navigating over list by up/down arrow keys. Tap enter to confirm the choice.
Pick a mirror, it is recommended to begin with mirror hosted by Grimler. Same as previously, navigate over list by arrow keys, pick mirror by space key and confirm choice by pressing "enter".

Highly recommended to run pkg upgrade after changing mirror.
If you get E: Repository .. changed its .. value from .. to ..
Package manager can show you a notification with prompt which look like this one:
E: Repository 'https://grimler.se/termux-root-packages-24 root InRelease' changed its 'Origin' value from 'Bintray' to 'termux-root-packages-24 root'
E: Repository 'https://grimler.se/termux-root-packages-24 root InRelease' changed its 'Label' value from 'Bintray' to 'termux-root-packages-24 root'
N: This must be accepted explicitly before updates for this repository can be applied. See apt-secure(8) manpage for details.
Do you want to accept these changes and continue updating from this repository? [y/N]

It is completely normal. Answer "yes" to this prompt. It will be shown only once per repository, so package manager will ask you to confirm for game-repo, science-repo, etc separately but you will need to confirm them only one time.


text:
Resetting Samsung A13 without PIN & reset PIN
I have a Samsung A13 phone that has been used, but have no PIN code. The phone is turned on, but locked. To reset the phone I need to shut it down, but to shut it down I need the PIN.
The battery is at 100%. I want to fix this before tomorrow. (I could turn on the flashlight, so I'm doing that to drain the battery.)
This unlockjournal about the A13 mentions that I repeat entering the PIN to get alternative options to unlock the phone. The only thing that happens is that I get a 30 second time out.

Update
As @Robert suggested, I could restart the phone after holding Power + Volume Up + Volume Down for about half a minute. Then I could restart in Boot menu while holding Power + Volume Up. Then I did a factory reset and rebooted.
Guess what! The PIN is still needed, so this is not a reset to factory settings. Wiping the cache partition didn't make a difference.
Samsung knows the phone and expects an ID of some kind. It offers the option to login using a previously used Google account, but what if that is not possible?
Question
How do I reset the PIN?

Next to every Android phone can be forced to reboot by pressing and holding the power button for 10-60 seconds.

That worked with all three buttons pressed, but still I cannot reset the PIN. See my update.

How did the device enter this "PIN required" state? Where do you got the phone from? How long do you have the phone?

Phone is used by a colleague who is unavailable. The PIN he gave me doesn't work. I cannot use his account or reset his password to use his account to login to the phone.

Is there a SIM in the device? Try removing the SIM and see if the result is the same.

SIM is removed. The phone offers the option to login using a previously used Google account. The colleague is back and has tried this, but it doesn't work. I've tried with my account, but it doesn't work. Colleague tried the PIN, doesn't work. I'm going to call the shop for support,

you are talking about FRP. can be bypassed with samfw

@alecxs, that worked and I could reset the phone, can start it up and do stuff. But.... I still can't login Google/Gmail? Each time my account login is refused, just like before the reset.

well, why should it work without knowing pin?

Problem solved, see my answer

Pressing all three buttons and keep them pressed until the phone restarts.
At restart press the Power + Volume Up buttons and keep them pressed.
You enter the boot menu, where you can choose to reset to factory settings.
Complete the reset by rebooting.

Solution
The account has 2FA with Yubikey/Webauthn. When I log in, I press the key against the back of the phone, and I see a checkmark that the key is recognized and accepted. I then remove the key, after which the login is rejected.
It turns out that I need to keep pressing the key to the back, until a redirect follows and the login is completed. Apparently Google says the login is accepted before it is actually accepted.

I have a Samsung A51 and this doesn't work for me.  Just reboots as normal, even if I do those button combinations.

This method is not working on my A13. It just reboots.

The process to reset an A13 is extremely finicky. The timing matters.

Press VOL DOWN + POWER and hold for exactly 10 seconds
While keeping POWER held down, release VOL DOWN and and hold VOL UP
When the Samsung logo appears, immediately release both POWER and VOL UP

If this process doesn't work, connect the phone to a USB C power source and try again.
This video may help with the timing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1VHVQd3M6o


text:
Boot image blocked by OEM lock
I'm attempting to root a Samsung Galaxy A20s (Android 10).  I've already patched the boot image with Magisk and enabled "OEM Unlocking" in Developer Options.  I ran
adb reboot fastboot

However, when it reboots, fastboot devices shows no devices.  Looking online, I found the odin4 utility and attempted to flash the phone by
tar cf boot.tar boot.img
./odin4 -b boot.tar

However, it failed with
Check file : boot.tar
/dev/bus/usb/001/120
/dev/bus/usb/001/120
Setup Connection
initializeConnection
Receive PIT info
success getpit
Upload binaries
boot.img
Close Connection
Fail request receive -5
FAIL close
Fail Close Connection

On my phone's screen, I see
OEM LOCK: ON (U)
...KG STATUS: CHECKING # I can't read the beginning of the line because it's in the round corner of the screen.
QUALCOMM SECUREBOOT: ENABLE (CSB)
AP SWREV: S1, T1, R1, A2, P2
AP SWREV: K 2, S 2
SECURE DOWNLOAD : ENABLE
DID : <hex>
download mode !!
    Custom Binary(boot) Blocked by OEM LOCK

How do I unlock the OEM?

Following these instructions did it for me.  In summary, after powering off the phone, you have to hold down both volume buttons and then plug the phone into your computer via USB.
Eventually, a screen will appear which will allow you to press the Volume Up button in order to unlock the bootloader.
From the reference:
1. Tap "Settings" Menu on Galaxy A20s, then you have to tap "About" option.
2. Tap "Software Information" option.
3. Tap "Build number" option several times until you see "You are now a developer" message.
4. Tap "Settings" Menu again.
5. Tap "Developer options", then activate "OEM unlocking" option.
6. Now you have to activate "USB debugging" option.
7. Switch off your phone.
8. Download and install Samsung USB driver on desktop.
9. Connect your phone with computer via USB cable while pressing Volume down button and Volume up button simultaneously. Your Samsung Galaxy A20s (SM-A207F, SM-A207M) will enter into download mode.
10. Long Press Volume up button for a few seconds to enter Device Unlock Mode.
11. Press Volume up button again to unlock bootloader.

the steps written lead to exactly situation of question: Custom Binary Blocked. you are missing important step (12. finish initial setup) 13. = repeat 1.-5. to actually disable VaultKeeper (and step 6. usb-debugging is not needed for Odin btw)


text:
When using TWRP, attempts to install ROM return error this package is for X; this is a ""
I have an old NVidia Shield Tablet (AFAIK, the "original" one, not K1 rebrand, not TV one) that I decided to dug out and find some use. Unlocked, loaded TWRP... but when I try to ADB Sideload a ROM from TWRP in Recovery Mode, even this stock one I found, I get the following error:
This package is for "shieldtablet" devices; this is a "".

Considering trying to Google for TWRP this is a "" is absurdly impossible, I'm reaching out for help here.
I'm not an expert in Android stuff, but this seems like TWRP in Recovery Mode hasn't correctly detected what device my Shield Tablet is and I was also unsuccesfull in attempts to search for a solution that way.
I'm able to attempt ADB sideloads, I'm able to ADB push files into the tablet. But no ROM I found so far seem to get through because of TWRP seeing the device as "".
When I push a ROM like https://download.lineageos.org/foster_tab and try to install from within TWRP, I instead get an "Updater process ended with ERROR: 255"
I'm also unable to flash Lineage's own recovery image. When I attempt to fastboot flash recovery lineage-18.1-20221212-recovery-foster_tab.img, it returns the error FAILED (remote: (InvalidSize))

Ok, looks like the problem is TWRP being "too updated". Version 3.7 wouldn't work, but following this advice on XDA forums, I installed TWRP 3.1.1 and could install Stock rom again.


text:
Is AndroidManifest necessary after app installation
As I understand during app installation the Java dex code is converted to native code (oat)
which is basically native .so library.
Is the manifest file still needed/used after that, or not?
Can you point me to android code that loads this library, or makes it if it is not present in cache?


text:
Unpack/Repack ROM for SM-G930S (Samsung Galaxy S7)
I want to unpack/repack the Samsung Galaxy S7 (SM-G930S) ROM. I downloaded the ROM from this link. I use simg2img to unpack/repack on Ubuntu. I execute these commands:
lz4 system.img.lz4 system.img
pc@pc-virtual-machine:~$ ./android-simg2img/simg2img system.img system.raw.img
pc@pc-virtual-machine:~$ ./android-simg2img/img2simg system.raw.img system.new.img

Result: the file system.img loaded successfully, but the file system.new.img received a FAIL result when using Odin.
I noticed something unusual when comparing 2 files:

Check file info:
pc@pc-virtual-machine:~$ file system*
system.img:     Android sparse image, version: 1.0, Total of 1075200 4096-byte output blocks in 5625 input chunks.
system.new.img: Android sparse image, version: 1.0, Total of 1075200 4096-byte output blocks in 3469 input chunks.
system.raw.img: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data, UUID=57f8f4bc-abf4- 655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b (extents)

Check simg_dump.py:
pc@pc-virtual-machine:~$ ./android-simg2img/simg_dump.py system.img
simg_dump.py: system.img: The file header size was expected to be 28, but is 32.
pc@pc-virtual-machine:~$ ./android-simg2img/simg_dump.py system.new.img
system.new.img: Total of 1075200 4096-byte output blocks in 3469 input chunks.

Open with 7z:

File system.img

File system.new.img

I used many tools: ext2simg, make_ext4fs to repack, but it didn't work.
How to unpack/repack the ROM?

issue #28 unresolved. you should add 1. + 2. there


text:
Pointer on map apps wrong by multiples of 90°
I have a Xiaomi Redmi 10C running Android 12 SKQ1.211103.001 and MIUI Global version 13.0.0 Stable. I bought it new in Malaysia about 8 months ago in early/mid 2022.
This phone does not have a built-in compass, neither did my two previous phones, both also Redmi phones that did not have this problem.
The problem is that map apps including MapsME and Google Maps started pointing the arrow indicating my position in the wrong direction after I'd had the phone for roughly three months.
In this screenshot I'm actually walking towards the destination marked by the flag. But the phone thinks I'm facing the other way so mainly shows the area behind me, making it look like it's in front of me:

At first I only noticed it pointing backwards, exactly 180° opposite the direction I was facing and moving. But later I noticed it would also sometimes be 90° to the left or right. Initially I thought it was a bug in MapsME which I use most of the time, but it definitely happens just as often in Google Maps.
Is this a known bug with Android, or with Xiaomi or Redmi phones? Maybe a regression on Android phones without compass as this never happened on my previous Redmi phones without compass running older Android versions.
I've tried to search for this problem using various wordings and failed to find anything similar to my problem, so I turn to the Android experts here.

If this is a temporary occurrence then it's quite normal.  When you/the car pause, the error in the GPS can make the app think that you are displaced.  Then it would show you as going in a different direction.  But this soon corrects itself, especially if you move.

For example, GPS-enabled smartphones are typically accurate to within a 4.9 m (16 ft.) radius under open sky (VIEW SOURCE AT ION.ORG). However, their accuracy worsens near buildings, bridges, and trees.

From gps.gov
More discussion at gis.stackexchange
Without a compass -

Google maps uses gps, so it will work fine. The actual direction your phone is facing is the only thing unknown. So if you are standing still it can't tell what direction you are facing.

From androidhiro forum
Meaning that if you are still, it can't tell, there is no compass.  In this case, the calculation of direction from GPS can only come from movement.

No for me it doesn't correct. It persists pointing in the wrong direction and I have to rotate the map since it shows more of the region it's pointing to than where I'm actually going. Sometimes it will pick a new random direction out of the four possible ones if I've had it in my pocket for a while or use another app for a while and come back, but I can't figure out the exact conditions in which it does that.

Updated the answer for movement.

Added a screenshot. I don't have a compass but I am moving when this happens. It may only happen when I'm walking on foot, about 5km/h. Now that I think of it I don't remember it happening when in a car.


text:
adb pull not honoring trailing slash, push ignores permissions
If I use
adb push mydir/ /sdcard/Documents/

the result is as expected: all files from within mydir/ end up inside /sdcard/Documents/ (just the permissions are not kept, even not when using -a; on the internal sdcard everything is turned into 0660 while on the external sdcard everything is set to 0771 – which might be a limitation of sdcardfs as not even chmod 0764 on the device has any effect). But the other direction is weird: using
adb pull /sdcard/Documents/ mydir/

results in the files showing up inside mydir/Documents/, which is rather very unexpected. I've played with all combinations of trailing slashes (including without any trailing slashes), no dice. Even tried different versions of adb (thinking the one used might have a bug). Same happens when using the external sdcard, so it's not the symlink (/sdcard -> /storage/self/primary) fooling it.
So any clue what could be wrong here? When I search on the net, all findings suggest it should work as I expect, but it somehow does not. How would I need to adjust above adb pull command so all files from inside /sdcard/Documents/ show up locally inside mydir/, but not the Documents/ directory itself as subdir? And: How to keep permissions as they are?

adb for some reason doesn't accept wildcards, though they should be processed from shell. nice find for the dot trick ;) https://stackoverflow.com/q/23242004

@alecxs credits for the dot-findings go to Nicolas (see the link). And as for permissions: for the example given I agree the FS is the cause. It's nasty though, and one must be aware of it. If you use a spare old device for backups that way and rely on the permissions to stay correct, this could be quite an issue. I've not tested how it would work with ADB running in root mode and the target being e.g. inside /data (say, /data/data/mybackups).

you could use tar adb shell "tar -ch sdcard | gzip" > sdcard_backup.tar.gz

@alecxs Nope, I should not. That might be a work-around for copying, but doesn't work with rsync ;)

Took me almost a full day to find a partly solution rather by accident. While adding a wildcard (adb pull /sdcard/Documents/*) just leads to an error, adding a dot leads to the intended result:
adb pull /sdcard/Documents/. mydir/

has the files (and sub-directories) from within /sdcard/Documents showing up in mydir/, but not the Documents directory itself (found here when writing my question and checking suggested "similar questions").
Also helpful in this context: adb push supports a --sync option (to only transfer newer and updated files) – and while not documented, adb pull supports it as well¹ (but needs -a in addition to keep timestamps intact). So the rather complicated work-arounds or external tools of the past are no longer needed.
adb push --sync local/ device/
# adb pull --sync -a device/. local/

No --delete feature, though (as e.g. supported by rsync – if someone needs such, maybe give 3rd-party-tools like better-adb-sync a try).
As to permissions, it seems keeping them is not possible. I gladly stand corrected on that point if someone has a solution to it.
¹ Update: running a few tests it seems --sync is simply ignored silently with adb pull even if no error is thrown: newer files on target have been overwritten. Not sure if implementation is planned, but with r27 (the first version adb pull no longer complained --sync would be an invalid option) being released in 2018 I'd not place a bet on that. With push it works as advertized, though.


text:
install app without sim card
I need a phone to use as a wireless monitor for a go pro camera. The go pro quik software only works on android 9 or later and is only available from google play. As far as I know google play only works on android phones with a working sim card. Does anyone know, if I buy an UNLOCKED Samsung Galaxy S9 and got a temporary sim card could I download the app and would it continue to work after the sim card expired? This is the only thing I will use the phone for. If you know or have any suggestions please let me know.

Creating a new Google account may need a phone number for account verification, but installing apps from Play Store doesn't need a SIM card.

There are still Android devices like some tablets that don't have a cellular modem at all, they can only use Wifi and Google Play Store works without any problems on them (of course some apps that require cellular may not be visible in Play Store on such a device)..

You don't a SIM card to access Google Play on an Android device, locked or unlocked, you only need a Google account and Internet access (like WiFi, mobile data isn't required). You should have no issues installing apps from the Google Play store at all.

That's the problem, it won't let me enter my google account or make a new one with wifi only, I believe I have to have a sim card

Guess I have never heard of that... Even when setting up a new phone out of the box, you can do it without a SIM card and connect to WiFi and setup a Google account (but not create one on the phone in some cases), and update and install apps... I have done it with tons of phones, both unlocked and carrier locked. Perhaps try a factory reset?


text:
How do I have a Mediatek USB driver for Linux to flash a smart phone?
I am a Linux beginner, I just wanted to know how I properly download and use a "Mediatek USB driver".
I am using a Linux Mint MATE, and I cannot turn on the USB debugging of that phone because it was locked via FRP. When I open it and go to the settings, I cannot activate the Developer options.
I wanted to fix (or flash) phones for free, but I can't because I am not able to download the MTK USB driver, which is needed to help my PC communicate with the phone. It seems that all MTK USB drivers are perfectly fine for Windows, that's what I saw on the internet and tutorials on YouTube.
The phone I currently reviving is; Vivo y69 with a MT6750 chipset which suffers from FRP lock. I have 2 working properly with "SP flash tools" with different versions, an official auth file, a scatter file, and a DA file. I just need an MTK USB driver.
Every time I attempt to flash the phone, nothing happens. It doesn't show any lights it doesn't boot up and the progress bar on my PC does not show any changes.
I hope you can help me because I have already searched the web and downloaded different files but nothing has worked so far. I'm desperate to fix the phone(s) to give them new value.

You can't install/use Windows specific drivers/software on Linux without a compatibility layer named WINE. That can be a pain for new users. Use your package manager to search for and install software/drivers first.   Distro-maintained packages are usually easier to get working than Windows drivers through WINE.

Is "USB debugging" enabled? Otherwise, AFAIK the device cannot be detected even with correct UDEV rules.

If I remember correctly the leaked MTK/SP Flash tools are only available for Windows. Using flashing tools with an emulation like Wine is not recommended as it increases the chance to totally brick a device because of problems while flashing.

sudo apt install libusb-1.0-0

https://community.linuxmint.com/software/view/libusb-1.0-0

Update: I fixed the phone (vivo y69) via ADB but I would still try your suggestions

A bit curious how you managed to do it with ADB but USB debugging was not enabled, or was there some progress in-between?

he probably meant fastboot (not adb)

@LinuxNovice1 No need to apologize! We all have to start somewhere. I don't know much about your specific device, so I wouldn't know what to suggest. Learning more about ADB will probably be useful for years to come. Learning a bit more about Linux (devices/drivers/shell/networking/etc) will also be helpful. Learning and troubleshooting several things at the same time while trying to get stuff done can often test people's patience.


text:
Change default camera lens for all apps
I'm using realme x2 pro and have damaged my main camera lens (Because I mounted it on a bike holder) . I got it repaired once and it cost me about 15% of phone's value. But it got spoiled again.
However, the ultra wide lens and telephoto lens are working as they used to before and surprisingly are not damaged unlike main lens.
Since I'm not a photogenic guy I don't really want to spend more money on getting the main camera repaired again. However, I am not able to scan any QR codes and it's a big deal because of UPI payments everywhere. Also, it's impossible to use whatsapp web.
So I was wondering, and i haven't found the answer anywhere:
How do I change the default camera lens (preferable system level), so that when an app needs to scan something it uses the Ultra wide or telephoto lens?

Not sure if it's possible since some camera features/APIs may be proprietary to prevent other apps from using it.

What if I flash the phone with a new ROM? is there any light in that direction?

I guess that's one of the possibilities, though it also depends on how the ROM is configured (ref: Change default camera to USB camera)

So sorry to learn you aren't photogenic. :)


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Samsung phone stuck in Download mode with "vbmeta partition read failed" error
The Samsung phone is not starting up. It shows the error message in the picture.

<!>
Partition boot
Reason avb_slot_verity.c:143: ERROR: [...]
[...] Error loading data from partition.
[check_secure_boot] vbmeta partition read failed
[check_secure_boot] partition read failed

Screenshot of the error
I tried flashing it with Odin, it works for a moment then switches off and comes back on with the error message.
Can anyone help me with this problem?

Could you please include the error message as  text into your question? The quality of the image is so bad that I can not really read what is written on your screen. Also text inside images is bad for search engines so other people having the same error will not be able to find your question potential answers.

Try a factory reset

you tried flashing it with Odin, or you flashed successfully with Odin? what works only for moment but fails, flashing or booting?

I flashed successfully with Odin then the phone works for a moment and switches off, fails to boot and shows that same exact error message. I flashed with Odin 3 times same results. At this point I'am guessing it has something thing to do with the hardware being faulty.


text:
List of apps on Google Play ever installed by me on any Android phone
I am running Android 12 on a Realme 8 5G Android smartphone.
I am wondering about the Google Play app that came preinstalled.
There used to be a place on my older phone in this app where I could see all apps I ever installed from Google Play, including paid apps and free apps.
However, now I just see a list of installed apps there and must remember to remember what apps I used to use on my older phone (which broke while this one was being used by another user, an now I'm the user of this phone and my username appears in the Google Play app).
Thank you for your feedback and help.

The recent Google Play App don't seem to be able to show the complete list of apps, but the Google Play web site still does:
Visit https://play.google.com/apps to get a list of all your apps had have or had installed.
The link above is intentionally not clickable for the reason that if you click it in a web browser on Android you will be redirected to the start activity the Google Play Store App (which does not show the app list.
Instead you have to manually enter play.google.com/apps into the address bar e.g. of Chrome for Android. In my test when manually entered I was not redirected to Play Store App.

My experience is that if you've installed many items via the Google Play Store, you need to keep clicking/scrolling to show them, perhaps hundreds of times.  Does this match your experience?

@RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket Indeed it requires a little effort to get the full list of apps as the list is loaded incrementally and some times even require clicking a button. For citizens of the EU may be the full GDPR data export is an easier way as it also should include the full list of apps you have or had installed (not checked how complicated it is to find the list in the data export): https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3024190?hl=en


text:
How to root Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300?
I'm using Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 with Android version 4.3. For some reasons I need to install TWRP, which requires root.
My question is How to root my device.
I've used ODIN, Kingroot, and Kingo Root. But none of them could root my device.
I need your help to root this device successfully.

Have you enabled "OEM unlock" in developer options?

https://autoroot.chainfire.eu

Flash UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip with built-in stock recovery. You don't need Odin or to flash some ROM.

@Robert I couldn't find OEM Unlock in developers menu.


text:
Accessing full Android storage
What was the last version of Android which allowed apps and user to have full read and write access along with all copy move or delete operations of everything inside the internal storage?
Currently, I am using a Samsung Galaxy S8.

The last Android version that used what is now called the legacy external storage system was Android 10. In that system all apps could request full read or full read&write access to the shared internal storage.
Starting with Android 11 apps have to use scoped storage by default. Only older apps targeting Android 10 are able to request access to internal storage using the legacy storage system. Storage updates in Android 11. And I think I have read that it also makes a difference if your phone has been upgraded from Android 10 to 11 or if it was originally released with Android 11.
On Android 12 and newer it doesn't matter which Android version the app is targeting, they all have to use the scoped storage system without any exceptions.

I bought a pixel 7 during black friday did i make a mistake by buying a lemon phone ? If scoped storsge is so limited compared to android 9 on my galaxy s8 is it even worth keeping it ? I really really am disliking and forming hatred towards my pixel 7. Is rooting the pixel 7 going to make any difference ?

@anmac1789 The scoped storage is a bit challenging for developers, but it can be handled. In the end it is not a bug but a feature: Apps only get access to folders they really need, so not every app you install for testing can upload all your private photos to some shady server unless you really want it. Scoped storage will stay, so get used to it or don't use Android anymore.

I dont like the idea of scoped storage at all. Is there any lesser storage difference between android 9 and android 10 ? I am using a webdav server app on my galaxy s8 which enabled me to see all the files and folders on the whole android system that I can use to backup my phone with. I want to retain this level of full access
I am worried if this will affect whatsapp, telegram, snap, IG and others and file manager interchangeability because I use these social media and file manager apps very often

@anmac1789 There are certain apps excluded from the scoped storage rule. File managers can still get full access using the new MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission. As far as I know only apps where the main functionality requires full storage access are granted this permission (respectively make it through the Google app review process).

But how do I know which apps have this permission ? I mainly use solid file explorer and File Manager+ those are very dependable for me. How do I know which apps are being limited by scoped storage ?

@anmac1789 Just look at the Play Store comments of each app. If it would no longer work on Android 11, 12 and 13 you would find plenty of negative comments there.

What about rooting would that make a better difference?

@anmac1789 Apps that use root permissions bypass all restrictions of the Android Java API. But to me it seems like you are thinking too much about restrictions that don't affect you. Just make sure the apps you use has been updated in the last two years and check their Play Store reviews. All apps that has been updated should be aware of scoped storage. Just try it out yourself before making unnecessary changes to your system.

The main one I find useful is File Manager+ which ironically since version 3.1.0 supports android 13 and is in 3.1.3 of its latest version (Checked since Jan 22 2023)


text:
Japanese SIM not registering on Oppo f19 pro
My sister lives in Japan and has recently started using OPPO f19 pro. However, her sim is not registering on the device. She inserted her old Pakistani sim and it works but she obviously can't use the sim for texting or calling the people living in Japan. She can't even call on whatsapp. How to make the Japanese Sim work on this device? There is no problem with the SIM, it's just not registering on that device.

If the phone has been sold by the Pakistany network operator together with the telephone/data plan (contract) it may be SIM locked. Usually if the contract has ended (the run-time mentioned in the initial contract) devices can be unlocked by the network operator for free (usually after 1-2 years). Before you often have to pay an unlock fee.

Without knowing which SIM card provider, it might be better for your sister to also contact/visit customer service to troubleshoot it. Let us know if there's any update.


text:
Path of "Documents & other" in Google Pixel 4a "Files" app
I copied, via USB file transfer, a small folder (3 small files) into This PC\Pixel 4a\Internal shared storage\Documents.
I thought that using Files by Google (version 1.0.459878599) > Documents & other, I could access the files in that folder using my smartphone when disconnected from PC.
I was surprised not to see neither the folder, nor the files:

If I scroll down that app's windows to Internal storage, then select Documents, I can then see my subfolder along with the 3 files. But this is inconvenient.
What is the path to Documents & other in Google Pixel 4a's Files app?
Update: I currently workaround this by marking the 3 files as "Favorite". They then show up in the Favorites collection. Single touch only (but still need to scroll down).

I have the opposite situation: My "Documents" folder is empty Documents & other on my device shows a list of PDF and ZIP files on the shared storage without any directory structure. Not sure what other file extensions are also considered as "Document". But it is clear that this section is totally unrelated to the "Documents" folder.

Thank you @Robert. I am still confused as how do I transfer files from my PC so that they are visible in Documents & other. Any idea? Could it be dependent on some daily service that searches internal storage and populates that mysterious Documents & other?

Android has the internal MediaStore database which "indexes" all documents on shared storage. See also my answer here: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/202739/2241 Depending on what you transfer (and how many files) it may take some time until the file are indexed by the MediaStore database. One known problem of this database are defect files (on some devices/Android versions the indexer can stop or crash). So make sure not to upload defect files.

What kind of files are they? Observing my Files on Pixel 3a, only CSV and PDF files but not folders are shown there (I rarely store files though, those are the only limited files I have on the phone), but the paths can be anywhere (e.g. Download folder, /BarcodeScanner folder by ZXing Team, etc.).

What is the path to Documents & other in Google Pixel 4a's Files app?

Files app when selecting Documents & other does not show a specific path/folder at all. Instead it uses the Android internal Media Store database for all files within the shared storage that have are recorded in this database and that have a certain file type (respectively file extension).
File Types that are shown in the Documents & other:

TXT
PDF
CSV
ZIP
ODP
DOC
DOCX
EPUB
...

If you want to look at files within Documents folder in your shared storage folder you have to scroll down and select Internal storage and then Documents (or use the Favorites workaround that you have mentioned).
The following files are For example files like PDF files, CSV


text:
Default browser is automatically reset to Chrome
Firefox is my default browser since forever, until as of a sudden it stopped to be, and Chrome is set as default. I can set it back to Firefox but it eventually lasts only for some time.

Suddenly when I open a url I will open again in Chrome. This is a very annoying behavior, and I don't know how to fix it. I want Firefox as my default browser.

Phone Model: Galaxy S10+
Android Version: 12
OneUI: 4.1

I have never had that issue.  Mind you I use Brave as the default browser for the last 3 years, I use to use Firefox.  Maybe it's because it's Firefox Beta.  I am guessing that its signature changes on every build.

well it even changes the same day i.e. no updates of FF take place

@Rohit you might be right at all. I switched to FF non-beta and the issue seems gone. If you answer my question I happily vote for it

I think it's because it's Firefox Beta. I am guessing that its signature changes on every build.
Recommended fix: install Firefox (non-beta)


text:
Unable to turn screen on unless charging
So, my dad recently had his Pocophone F1's USB port replaced, but now we have a very different issue.
When the screen turns off, due to pressing the power button to lock the phone, or waiting for the timeout, the phone is unable to wake up again by pressing the power button. The phone is still powered on, as it can make notification sounds.
If plugged into a charger, then the screen turns back on and the power button works normally, all the apps that were open are still there so the phone was clearly not powered off.
If not plugged into a charger and the screen is off, pressing the power button does nothing. You have to long-press the power button to cause the phone to reboot, then it can be used again until it is locked again.
Is this a hardware issue, or a configuration problem? We already tried sending the phone back but the repair person was unable to fix this behaviour.
OS: MIUI Global Stable 12.0.3 (stock ROM) on Android 10.

Not sure if it's related, but I had a very old Nexus 5 on Lineage OS 14.1, and sometimes the screen completely shut off while sounds were still playing. In the beginning, it was due to faulty screen brightness, thus I could still turn the screen on by blindly swiping down the quick panel and swiping the brightness bar. Later on, it worsened and sometimes the screen just didn't want to turn on even after pressing the power button. I believe both were due to software issues or perhaps related to OS/driver/kernel specifically. Didn't have time to research/fix before the mainboard totally died...


text:
Android 10: how to get write permissions on external USB drives
I've just bought a TvBox with Android 10 in it, and i've soon discovered that no app can write on the external HDD/flashdrives i attach to the USB port (seen as /storage/<long_number_here> ).
This is a problem 'cause the internal storage of the TvBox isn't enough for the apps i want to use (KODI is a good example: it generate a lot of thumbnails, taking up much space, but i can't configure it to use the HDD folder 'cause it can't write to it) or 'cause i'd like to use a wifi connection to update the files in the HD (the file manager which provide the connection cannot do anything on the HD).
While i'm not an android/linux expert, i'm not afraid on using ADB, rooting the device if necessary, etc, so i'm asking what should i do to obtain writing permission on every external device i may plug in the USB port.

https://gettechsupport.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Force-allow-apps-to-write-in-external-storage.jpg.webp

Sadly, i don't have any of that options in my developer options.
I have one that says (translating from italian to english, sorry) "do not keep activities (delete any activity once interrupted by the user)" and "Force autorisation on external memory (allow the installation of whatever app on the external memory, no matter manifest values).

"Force autorisation on external memory (allow the installation of whatever app on the external memory, no matter manifest values)"

@alecxs, This does not work. File manager still can't write on external disk.

What file systems are on the external media you're trying to use?

@ChanganAuto: tried both NTFS and FAT32. The device creates automatically an Android and a Media folder on everythng plugged in it (the Media one is to record DTV on it), so the problem is really just on permissions, not on incompatibility of some sort.

stupid file manager? OTG usb-storage is provided only by uri not by path https://i.stack.imgur.com/a37p1.jpg

@alecxs: NO APP can write on the external drive(s), not just the file explorer (which is Xplore). Even the internal file manager.
I've never seen that dialog in this TvBox (even with my trusty old version of ES File Explorer, which i use from years on every cell i own): i was expecting it, but it never appeared.
Seems that i fall in the case mentioned here: https://www.lonelycatgames.com/docs/xplore/known-problems/write-external-storage
I have no "files" app (as mentioned in the "Why writing doesn’t work" chapter).

I don't have com.android.documentsui, too (at least not under that pkgname) https://i.stack.imgur.com/QDEqw.jpg


text:
How to make side scroll bars appear when I scroll on all applications? For example on NYT, and Globe and Mail apps, scroll bar never appears
My understanding is that Android makes the scroll bar appear on the right side of the screen only when you're scrolling, so you have an idea where you are in page.
For example if I go to my Settings app, when I scroll, a grey scroll bar appears to the right of the window, indicating to me where I am on the page, and how long the page is. (See screenshot.)
However, on the New York Times app, such a scroll never appears on my phone, making it impossible to know where I am in an article.
I thought this was a bug with the New York Times app, but I now realize that the Globe and Mail app is the same. The Guardian app, on the other hand, does show a scrollbar.
Is there a way I can reinstate (through some Android setting) the scrollbar, or does the problem lay with the apps themselves (NYT and Globe and Mail), in which case I will open a bug report with each of the apps. I find the latter unlikely, as it is highly annoying to have no indication of where you are in relation to a full article, and an online search yields no reference to this bug related the apps themselves.
I am using a Galaxy A9 with Android 10 and "One UI version" 2.5, with versions 9.77.0 of the NYTimes app and 7.5 of the Globe and Mail app.

Most likely those apps that don't have a scroll bar don't show their content in the native Android UI, instead the use a WebView, a web browser element shown by the app. According to some entries on Stackoverflow.com it seems like scroll bars in a WebView are disabled by default and you explicitly add code to enable them. So may be you should contact the NYT and give feedback how they could enhance their app.


text:
Torify an arbitrary application?
After setting up a self-hosted Nextcloud over tor, I am trying to synchronize an Android Calendar app with it. On Ubuntu I was able to torify vdirsyncer and run khal as a terminal calendar. However, on android I would prefer a GUI, and I have not yet been able to install vdirsyncer in termux.
I tried installing Nextcloud developer app and connecting it directly with the some_onion.onion server, however, as expected that did not work. Hence, I would like to ask:
How can one torify an arbitrary application on Android (using e.g. LineageOS or /e/OS)?

This is exactly what the orbot app does.
To download the app from f-droid one:

First installs the f-droid apk from f-droid.org.
Next, in that f-droid app on the phone, one can go to: settings> (My Apps)> Repositories> (Enable) Guardian Project Official Releases.
(Update the repositories with: `back> Updates> pull the window down to do an update of the repositories).
Next, search in the market place search for: orbot and select the one that literally says: Orbot: Tor for Android. If that is not in there, verify you enabled the Guardian Project Official Releases and that you updated the fdroid market place/repositories.
Install the Orbot app.
Open the Orbot app.
Enable "VPN Mode"
Select "tor enabled apps" and choose which app you want to go over tor.
Back in the main Orbot screen/window, press/hold "start" until you see a green onion.
Now you can go to your app, e.g. Nextcloud and enter your https://some_onion.onion domain, to make the Nextcloud connect to your self-hosted Nextcloud server.

This is marvellous work by the Guardian Project I think. I am amazed by how well it works, and have not automated this yet through adb.


text:
How to install vdirsyncer on Android?
I would like to use vdirsyncer on android. To do so, I first installed termux and than ran:
apt install python python3
pip3 install vdirsyncer

However, that throws the warning:

Warning pip is configured with locations that require TLS/SSL, however the ssl module in Python is not available.

Then it tries that 4 times, after which it says:

Could not fetch URL https://pypi.org/simple/vdirsyncer there was a problem confirming the ssl certificate: HTTPSConnectionPool(host='pypi.org, port=443)
Error: could not find a version that satisfies the requirement vdirsyncer (from versions: none)

So it seems to me I should either ensure ssl module is available on Python, or reconfigure pip with locations that do not require TLS/SSL. I have not yet found out how to do that, hence, I would like to ask:
How can one install vdirsyncer on Android?

This answer mentioned that openssl needs to be installed on Termux.

Also you should use the F-Droid Termux as the one on Google Play is no longer supported

Thank you, installing openssl indeed resolved the issue. @MorrisonChang thank you, that was the one I used, and I updated the link accordingly.

As indicated by Andrew T. and in this answer, a solution was found by installing openssl with: pkg install openssl. The full script looks like:
pkg install python python3
pkg install openssl
pip3 install vdirsyncer

This code can be ran within Termux and installs vdirsyncer.


text:
can't give permissions to apps to access sdcard, I got the message "To protect your privacy, choose another folder"
I'm trying to give access to the sdcard (like the stock file explorer), but if I try to select the root of the sdcard I get the message "To protect your privacy, choose another folder", and if select a folder it says it was not the correct folder and ask to give permissions again. The weird thing is that it was working at some point because I was able to create and delete folder at the sdcard, but now after trying again after several month I'm facing this issue...
I'm in a Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro (M2102J20SG), under miui global 13.0.8 with android 12, 2022-10-01 update, unrooted.

"You can no longer request access to the root directory of SD card".


text:
Android game detects gamepad when no gamepad is connected
Some time ago I played this game (Coach Bus Simulator or something) that worked perfectly with touchscreen controls.
But now, for some reason, it will detect a GamePad. There are two problems:

I can't play this game because touch controls get disabled when a GamePad is connected

I don't even own a GamePad or Controller or Joystick or Whatever™.

Any help would be appreciated.
The phone is: Xiaomi Redmi Note 9
System: Android 12, MIUI 13.0.3 (Global)

What Bluetooth devices do you have paired with the phone that runs the game? May be one of those devices is detected as gamepad even if it is something else.

I have paired a Bluetooth Android Auto device (car), but no devices connected

Moreover, the Bluetooth is now disabled


text:
I turned Airplane Mode on, yet someone was still able to call me
I turned Airplane Mode on, yet someone was still able to call me. How was this possible when Airplane Mode supposedly shuts off all airwaves?

What phone do you use and what Android version and security update state is installed? On Google Pixel phones that have installed update December 2022 Air plane mode now only affects cellular mode. Wifi is no longer disabled (stays as it is). If your phone and provider supports Wifi-calls and you are connected to a Wifi then it you can still be called.

Ok, Airplane Mode was turned on first, but then I turned on Wifi at home, which appears on the left-side. Is that all it takes to receive calls still with Airplane Mode on? I also notice that there's an icon for "Wifi Calling" that I enabled on the right-side

If that Wifi-calling icon appears then you the connection to your mobile network provider is established via Wifi and calling is possible no matter in which state the cellular system in the phone is.

But doesn't the SIM card (being on) supposed to process any calls to my 10-digit number? How can WiFi possibly process a call to a 10-digit number? And is Wifi Calling a work-around for global cellular roaming so that no roaming charges?

@Robert is talking about Voice over WiFi.

As mentioned by Karthik, its probably WiFi calling.

"When using Voice over Wifi the SIM card is active because it performs the authentication and transmission protection when communications over the internet with the mobile network provider. What you mean that is not on is the cellular radio." Is this statement true

That is VoWi-Fi. VoWi-Fi doesn't necessarily require your cellular radio to be "ON" in order to make calls. The SIM card being "present" in the device is enough
The content below is from a comment I wrote on the same question as a reply
The SIM card serves as an "identification module" which enables your "smartphone" to process phone calls, either via cellular radio, or via VoWIFI. Your SIM card being present and working (working as in it sort of informing the phone that you "are" subscribed to a plan) indicates your phone can make phone calls using your Telecom provider's exclusive network services, the device depending on the circumstances/configuration decides how to proceed with the call- either via VoLTE or HSPA or Edge (these three uses cellular radio) or via WiFi (VoWIFI aka WiFi calling)
Which means nothing is "bypassed" here. Your phone can't make/receive WiFi calls while in airplane mode if your SIM card isn't present or if your SIM card is present but you don't have any active subscriptions

When using Voice over Wifi the SIM card is active because it performs the authentication and transmission protection when communications over the internet with the mobile network provider. What you mean that is not on is the cellular radio.

All it says is "Wifi Calling". No one has ever heard of "VoWiFi". shrug emoji

Yes @Robert I meant cellular radio. Let me amend the answer. Thanks.

@user610620 VoWIFI is the technology behind WIFi calling

"Wifi Calling" appears on Android phones. "VoWifi" does not. No matter what it's called, if they're one and the same, please address how it is able to bypass the SIM Card, when it is the SIM Card that possesses and processes all transmissions to the 10-digit registered number!!!!

@user610620 the SIM card serves as an "identification module" which enables your "smartphone" to "posses" and "process" transmissions, either via cellular radio, or via VoWIFI. Your SIM card being present and working (working as in it sort of informing the phone that you "are" subscribed to a plan) indicates your phone can make phone calls using your Telecom provider's exclusive network services, the device depending on the circumstances/configuration decides how to proceed with the call- either via VoLTE or HSPA or Edge (these three uses cellular radio) or via WiFi (VoWIFI aka WiFi calling)

@user610620 which means nothing is "bypassed" here. Your phone can't make/receive WiFi calls while in airplane mode if your SIM card isn't present.

So doesn't that mean that Wifi Calling has rendered International Roaming plans obsolete? Who would want to pay for an International Roaming plan, as long as they stay within suburban proximity to city wifi wherever they're travelling? Furthermore, Does the use of Wifi Calling bypass your SIM provider telco's knowledge of your call activity?


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Opening notification with ADB and notification ID on Android
I am trying to open a notification on my Android device using ADB and the notification ID, but I am getting the following error message:
Starting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.VIEW cat=[android.intent.category.DEFAULT] dat=24 } Error: Activity not started, unable to resolve Intent { act=android.intent.action.VIEW cat=[android.intent.category.DEFAULT] dat=24 flg=0x10000000 }
I have used the following command to try to open the notification:
adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -c android.intent.category.DEFAULT -d 24
I am sure that I have entered the correct notification ID and that the app that sent the notification is installed on my device. What could be the cause of this error and how can I fix it?
I have tried the following steps to troubleshoot the issue, but I am still getting the error message:
I have checked to make sure that I have entered the correct notification ID. I have used the adb shell dumpsys notification command to get a list of open notification IDs and made sure that the ID I have entered is valid.
I have made sure that the app that sent the notification is installed on my device.

I don't think ADB can interact with notifications directly, but at least the command on the question won't work because am (Activity Manager) is for opening an activity.

Also posted on Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/q/74996481/2821954


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How to backup a rooted Samsung into a csc file
Essentially, I have a Samsung Tab A7 that I rooted with Magisk, and it got damaged due to me dropping it, however, I have warranty and they will fix it for me. I was wondering if there is a way to save all the data into a single file, the csc one used when flashing the firmware, so that I can flash it to the new device after unlocking the bootloader and easily keep all data and root, without having to go through the hassle of rooting reinstalling and restoring data.
Also, I do not have a custom ROM, only magisk.

Since ~ Android 8 all user data is encrypted bound to the device. Thus creating backups on partition level is useless as the encryption is bound to the hardware. If your device is rooted creating an unencrypted data backup should be possible. But restoring data without root is impossible. Also apps that use AndroidKeystore are also bound to the hardware and can not be backup.

Ah, ok then. What would be an easy way to backup my apps data? because FlashFire apparently doesn't work on newer version of Magisk, and TitaniumBackup seems to not work as well, so what could I use to easily transfer my app data, installed apks, and other data?

Sorry I don't need backup on rooted devices so I can not answer you this, I only know what does not work.


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Unable to connect to Google One VPN
When I first set up Google One, I was able to connect to their VPN with my android tablet but it stopped working shortly after and hasn't been able to reconnect since. The following messages just keep cycling:

"VPN is connecting..."
"VPN has disconnected. Trying to reconnect VPN..."

I have tried:

restarting
disconnecting from the VPN on my other devices before attempting to connect with the tablet
reinstalling Google One
clearing the Google One app cache

The VPN works fine on my android phone.
It seems to be impossible to obtain any useful help from Google. Would appreciate any advice on how to resolve this.
Device type: Samsung Galaxy Tab A
Android version: 11 - no further updates currently available

FYI: There is a limit of 6 devices per family group: https://blog.google/products/google-one/common-questions-vpn-google-one/

Thanks for sharing that.  I'm only trying to use 2 devices at the moment.