text:
Recover data from Moto X with broken display
I have a Moto X (Lollipop 5.1) whose display is broken. I have some files and photos in it which are very important. Unfortunately, I didn't use Dropbox or Google Drive to backup my content. I tried the following ways to recover the data but with no help:

Control a device with a broken screen but unfortunately USB debugging is not enabled. Also, the pc doesn't recoganize the device (I figured that out with lsusb on my linux).
The phone doesn't have any apps like AirDroid installed to allow it to be accessed remotely on a PC.

The phone works and I was able to locate and ring it via Android Device Manager. Is there a way to get access to the phone's data in my current situation?

Good research already I see. Have you checked with our broken-screen tag-wiki also? Some useful links there.

Look at this answer you may find this helpful to atleast enabling the USB-debugging.

@Lucky quote: "the pc doesn't recoganize the device (I figured that out with lsusb on my linux)" – fat chance if it's not even detected by lsusb.

@Izzy I'm guessing the OP hasn't installed the driver software for Moto X on his Linux PC. On my Windows sometimes I need to install the Motorola device manager software to get my Moto G2 detected. But here I can only find device manager for Windows and Mac. So I guess OP has to install the drivers for either Windows/Mac and then enable usb-debugging for further progress.

@Lucky no need for "drivers" on Linux (though one would need some special software to deal with MTP). And think of lsusb here in terms of "device manager" on Windows: even without drivers installed, the device would show up there – and if it doesn't, installing drivers doesn't help (as those drivers wouldn't find a device to "drive").

Archit: does the Moto-X support OTG, and does it have an HDMI port?

@Izzy It does support OTG, doesn't have an HDMI port though.

Yuck. With half a bridge one can't cross the big river. Thought about attaching it to a TV via HDMI, and controlling it with a mouse attached via OTG. Is the display totally broken, or just not reacting on touch events – i.e. can you still use it to "see what's going on"?

Nope I can't see whats happening. The display is totally gone. But that's a nice idea. Would it be possible if I connect it via a USB to HDMI adapter?

If the device supports that (e.g. via MHL – but I didn't see that in the specs; though an AndroidCentral thread suggests it does), yes. But then, where to put the mouse? I doubt it would work via some USB hub (though it can't hurt to try).

I just tested connecting USB Hub via OTG and then connecting mouse to it. That works. But I couldn't find any USB to HDMI cable for Moto X. This reddit thread more or less confirms it. Does MotoX support output via USB at all? If that's possible then I could even try out USB to VGA.

From what I've read so far, I'm afraid there's no way attaching an external display to the Moto-X via USB, sorry :(

Most if not all Android phones will connect via USB cable to a computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) as a mass storage device or media device; either should let you use your computer's file manager to copy the files from the device to the computer's storage.
The device needs to be powered up to do this, but you don't (in my experience) need to make any settings changes in the device, so it shouldn't matter that the display is destroyed -- that is, if it works well enough to ring, you should be able to access and copy your files.
If the device won't mount as mass storage or media on a USB cable, you may still be able to recover files if they're stored on an SD card -- you'll just need to power down the phone and pull the SD card, then insert it in a compatible reader connected to your computer.

A quote for you as well: "the pc doesn't recoganize the device (I figured that out with lsusb on my linux)" If lsusb doesn't show the device, no MTP/UMS/whatever will pop up: the computer doesn't see it at all.

Hence the third paragraph of my answer.  If it won't mount on USB, that's the only way to recover files, short of hacking the phone hardware to read out its internal storage.

As @Izzy pointed out the computer doesn't see the device at all. Also, Moto X doesn't support an external SD card.

I would install AirDroid or something similar via the Google Play website, you can select which device you want to install on.
Alternatively, I would connect it to a PC, copy everything and if there's still something missing I would connect it to a new Samsung Galaxy S7 phone and use that phones transfer features, http://www.samsung.com/us/smart-switch/

I was in a similar situation, find a USB OTG online and connect a USB mouse to it. If you can at least see your screen, you're in luck. If it's a dead screen you'll have to use your muscle memory and guess work to figure out where to click. Good luck!

follow these approaches

PC does not recognize device ? device drivers are missing. Install 'em

3rd party software Easus or  fonepaw might do the trick - they install the drivers under the covers

authors: ارمین جاویدی


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Using USB On The Go files with the stock android music app?
I have a Huawei Accend Mate 2.  I have a flash drive with a micro USB connector (as well as a USB connecter).  I have music files on it.  Is there a way I can get the stock music app to "see" these files?  I would like to include them in playlists etc. without loading them all to the phone itself (micro SD card).

The only name is Music and it is version 4.7.16. The only way I can see the files is with ES File Explorer. If I tap a music file when I am in ES File Explorer, it will play but only after a little pop-up message saying something like connecting to 127.1.1.1 or something like that. It does not seem like the apps on my phone see the files on the USB drive.

I could but I have a bunch of playlists set up in the stock music player. I would also run into the same problem with other files like pictures and video. I expected the On The Go function would have made this a bit more seamless.

The phone does see the flash drive is there since it does power it.  However, I can only access the files with ES File Explorer.  Accessing them from that APP will let them play but I can not access the files without going to ES File Explorer to find them.

After connecting the USB to your mobile via OTG cable, can you see your music files stored in the USB device in your Stock Music App? Can you able to access the contents of the USB device at all using a File Manager?

Moreover: what is the "stock music app"? That very much depends on what the manufacturer put on there (or what ROM you use; e.g. CyanogenMod ships with Apollo, while "googlified" ROMs often use Google Play Music). Does your "stock music app" have a name? ;)

See I accidentally created two accounts; how do I merge them? or contact [SE] (here)for account merging.

I verified the account info and approved the edit in this case, but yes you need to register your account and have the others merged.

If the stock music app is confined to internal storage [sdcard]
and can access any directory in /sdcard that contains media
you can try a bind mount between the [media containing directory]
in your otg-device and a specified new directory in /sdcard
mkdir /sdcard/more-tunes
su
chmod 755 /sdcard/more-tunes
mount -o bind /path-to-otg-device/tunes /sdcard/more-tunes

just remember to unmount the /sdcard/more-tunes directory if you don't need it anymore BEFORE you delete it.
Less stressful option would be a softlink in the same[ish] way.
su
busybox ln -sf /path-to-otg-device/tunes /sdcard/more-tunes

for this approach you can just delete the symlink without risking loss of media files, but i don't know if your default app will follow the symlink.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Stagefright security issue: what can a regular user do to mitigate the issue without a patch?
There appears to be a giant security vulnerability with Android that seems to basically affect all phones. PC World wrote:

The vast majority of Android phones can be hacked by sending them a specially crafted multimedia message (MMS), a security researcher [Joshua Drake] has found.
...
Drake found multiple vulnerabilities in a core Android component called Stagefright that’s used to process, play and record multimedia files. Some of the flaws allow for remote code execution and can be triggered when receiving an MMS message, downloading a specially crafted video file through the browser or opening a Web page with embedded multimedia content.
...
The MMS attack vector is the scariest of all because it doesn’t require any interaction from the user; the phone just needs to receive a malicious message.
For example, the attacker could send the malicious MMS when the victim is sleeping and the phone’s ringer is silenced, Drake said. After exploitation the message can be deleted, so the victim will never even know that his phone was hacked, he said.

What can a regular user do to mitigate the issue? Disable Google Hangouts?

My best guess would be: Disable/remove the MMS APN. MMS's are received using a regular data connection, but with a special APN. Disabling/removing these stop you from receiving such MMS's. (Side note: I think nobody uses MMS anymore so you can safely disable/remove the APN)

How about Blacklisting unknown numbers and as user @GiantTree suggested disabling the MMS is your best bet. Because the Stagefright attacks you mobile just after you receive the MMS onto your phone either your Messaging app or Hangouts app which ever you have configured as default app.

@Lucky Blacklisting would lessen the scope, but it is not a safe approach since you're still completely vulnerable to all those phone numbers you trust, and you can't be sure who would try to play a trick on you for fun or some other reason. And though disabling MMS would be a good option, we do end-up seeing some questions (rare) here related to MMS, so we're still lacking a good approach to use MMS yet remain safe.

For those users who are willing to give up MMS as a workaround (e.g. me), I still think it would be valuable to provide the steps to disable it.

I agree with @FabioBeltramini here: in the 20 years I'm using mobile phones, I've received a single MMS only. That was years ago, and even failed (I was abroad and had that device in airplane mode, using my backup with a local SIM – and when I was back home to check, the MMS was dead; so actually I've never received it). Only drawback here is for people using "group chat" that way, as those SMS are often coverted to MMS. Still, for me personally switching off MMS is completely fine – as is disabling Hangaround, which I don't use anyway :)

@Izzy: I can easily remove the carrier specific MMS configuration by going to default Messages app -> Settings -> Configuration messages -> delete the ones related to MMS. // Alternatively, the table carriers under the database telephony.db (Phone/Messaging/Telephony Storage) has loads of MMS related stuff. Remove the ones specific to the carrier, and you should be good. // You should be knowing it of course, who am I kidding with. :D// But I haven't tested whether my technique would perfectly make the device safe from attack or not? And I can't post it since Giant is yet to comment here.

@Firelord it would not. Here in Germany we have at least one carrier that doesn't care what you set up as APN (at least for Internet): to make it "easier" for their customers, it "simply works". If that applies to MMS as well (I wouldn't wonder about that), you're screwed. Luckily, in my case, you can only receive MMS if you've sent one before – which I never did. So unless they've changed that policy meanwhile, I should be … ahem … a bit safer than the rest – especially as I don't use Hangouts either (it's still called "Google Talk" on my googlified devices :)

See this article on THN to know that destroying the APN or securing your text messenger wouldn't mitigate the issue.

This is not just about MMS or web surfing, since Stagefright is the library that helps phones to unpack multimedia messages: see Media and this article on Fortune.
So it is about any application (including your web browser) that works with multimedia (video clips and audio records). MMS is just an easiest way to exploit it, because your phone will not ask you before downloading it.
That is why you also need to think about all other applications working with multimedia and never open any multimedia attachments before the fix is not installed on your phone.
For the Web browser, you could switch to Firefox 38 or higher, then you could continue opening web pages with video and/or audio content.
To summarise:

Disable auto-retrival of MMS in your Messaging App (whatever it is)
(Guide with images)
Switch to Firefox 38 or later (find it in your market / app store)
Switch to a filesystem manager hiding video thumbnails, which is the default for Total commander
Switch to a video player that is immune, e.g., the video player MX player (make sure to activate its "HW+" setting for all video formats) pointed out by hulkingtickets
Do not open any multimedia files or draw video thumbnails in any other applications and block automatic opening/downloading of them in all apps if possible. This is very important. If your phone is not patched and you use ANY app with multimedia content, and there is no option to block automatic opening of multimedia in this app (example for browser: if you open some random web page, you browser should preload videos, if they are on this web page), then stop using this app and block Internet access for this app (if you can't - delete the app). If this app is important to you, and you can't update phone firmware or block multimedia in this app, just stop using your phone and buy another one, which is not vulnerable.
Yes, this means that in the worst case you need to change the phone. Stagefright is a very serious vulnerability affecting ~ 1 billion devices, so you could easily become a victim of automated attack, that is not done directly against you, but directed to all 1 billion users.
Install updates, if you have Cyanogenmod 11 or 12 (fixed on 23.07.2015, see commits on github)
EDIT: fixes from 23.07.2015 were incomplete, you may need to update again after fix on 13.08.2015
EDIT 4: Fixes on 13.08.2015 were again incomplete, you need to update one more time after fixes from Google in October 2015 (so-called Stagefright 2.0). If you have Adroid 5.x or 6, you may need to update again after these next fixes from Google in November 2015, since there are similarly dangerous vulnerabilities (CVE-2015-6608 and CVE-2015-6609), that are probably not called Stagefright anymore. Please note, that the time of actual fix from your manufacturer could be later, or at least different. E.g., CM11 got updated on 09.11.2015, while CM12.1 got updated on 29.09.2015.
EDIT 5: 2 more Stagefright vulnerabilities are reported by Google at 01.02.2016, however, they "only" affect Adroid 4.4.4 - 6.0.1
Wait for update from your manufacturer
EDIT2: Similar with Cyanogenmod, an update from your manufacturer could be not enough, due to the issue with initial integer overflow fix, that was reported on 12.08.2015: Original integer overflow fix ineffective. So even after update, it is recommended to check if your phone is still vulnerable using the App from Zimperium (finder of the Stagefright issue): Zimperium Stagefright Detector App
If you already has root, try fix offered by GoOrDie. Also see this howto guide.
EDIT 3. I tried this fix on Samsung S4 mini, and it did not work. So think twice before rooting your phone.

Why is FF safer?  Asked: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/120914/why-is-firefox-not-vulnerable-to-stagefright

Great answer. Thanks. One other addition: the video player MX player has setting that disable the use of the vulnerable parts of the stagefright library with hw acceleration, or doesn't use stagefright at all in software acceleration http://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/mx-player/mx-player-one-vulnerable-3rd-party-apps-t3216523

To mitigate this attack, I've disabled MMSes, since I don't use them anyway. You can do that in the Settings menu. Select Cellular Networks > Access Points Names, select your access point, and remove "mms" from APN Type. I've also cleared out MMSC.
(Click image to enlarge; hover the image to know the instruction)
Order of Instructions: Follow images from left to right in each row

Note that Android converts group SMSes to MMSes, so you might want to disable that too. To do that, go to the Messaging app, open the Settings menu, and disable Group Messaging and Auto-Retrieve.

Does your solution address the concern raised here?

Not having a  SIM card with that German carrier, I cannot check if it works or not in that case. I' ve verified that I'm not receiving any MMS with T-mobile in the USA. I think that disabling the Auto-Retrieve should be good enough (even with the helpful German carrier), but until the details of the attack are released, it's hard to say.

I edited the answer since the gist is in the images and it was a pain going to a different site and scrolling down huge images, not to mention we try to rely less on off-site resources (Imgur is exception). Hope you don't mind it. :)

Sure! And it seems that one can't (at least I can't) edit the APN in Android 4.2.1, but can make a new one. So it would be a pain in the various  organs to copy the original APN with your suggested changes.

The "group messaging" checkbox looks like it controls sending MMS, not receiving.  That shouldn't be a risk.  But turning off "auto-retrieve" seems like it'd prevent the phone from being able to display the contents of a malicious MMS.  What additional protection does the APN change provide?

Turning off "auto-retrieve" should be sufficient, but it's an in-app defense, which means that other apps could still retrieve MMSes and get exploited. Editing the APN settings is an additional defense that covers that case too. If you choose to disable MMSes in the APN settings,  then you need to disable group messaging too, because otherwise your group SMS will be automatically converted to MMS, which the device cannot send anymore.

Why is FireFox safer than Chrome for this? I asked that Here: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/120914/why-is-firefox-not-vulnerable-to-stagefright

The newest version of Hangouts mitigates this issue, it looks like it does some extra checks before passing the media on to the system service.  It doesn't fix the underlying issue in the system, though.
You can also disable MMS auto-retrieve in Hangouts via its Settings → SMS → uncheck Auto retrieve MMS or in Messenger via its Settings → Advanced → disable Auto-retrieve under MMS.  This site has detailed steps if you need them.

Matthew, sometimes a source (could be a ChangeLog) is really helpful to believe the claim.

@Firelord Unfortunately the Hangouts changelog just says "miscellaneous bug fixes"; I can't find an official statement either.  You can really only verify this by testing.

This issue affects web surfing too. Try disabling media.stagefright-related  properties (if exists) in build.prop configuration file.
Mount root partition as rw and edit build.prop. Set media.stagefright.enable-### to false
Note: this requires root access.

http://thehackernews.com/2015/07/android-phone-hacking.html.

Device must be rooted, mount root partition as rw an edit build.prop setting to false the media-stagefright properties. This is not a confirmed mitigation but i did it.

Which device and Android version are you using? I don't have such setting in my build.prop.

It is an old 4.1.2

This is what i did. Nobody is going to tell you to root your phone for that... Simply wait for an update or more info if you can.

I tried this on Samsung Galaxy S4 mini 4.4.2, and it did not work. I rooted the phone, edited file (properties were there), saved it and rebooted. Zymperium app still shows that the phone is vulnerable.

As MMS(Multi-Media-Messaging) is one of multiple ways this exploit can be run, you can prevent this from MMS exploits. Stagefright on its own is not an exploit. Stagefright is a multimedia library built into the Android framework.

The exploit was found in a multimedia tool hidden at deep system
level, so almost all Android variants that have the tool at their core
could be easily targeted. According to Zimperium zLabs’ study, a
single multimedia text has the ability to open up your device’s camera
and begin recording video or audio, and also give hackers access to
all your photos or Bluetooth. Fixing Stagefright would require a
complete system update (which still hasn’t been reported to be
released by any OEM), as the exploit is embedded to a system-wide
tool. Fortunately, SMS app developers have already took the issue into
their own hands and released temporary fixes to avoid Stagefright to
gain automatic access to your device’s camera by stopping video MMS
messages from running as they arrive. [Source - Android Headlines]

You could use Textra SMS or Chomp SMS from the Play Store which claims that it is capable of limiting this Stagefirght exploit. Both apps Textra and Chomp SMS developed by Delicious Inc. have both received brand new updates that limit how video MMS messages run as soon as they are received by your device.
From the Textra Knowledge Base article,

The stagefright exploit can occur when any SMS / MMS app creates the
MMS video thumbnail that it shows in the conversation bubble or
notification or if a user presses the play button on the video or
saves to Gallery.
We have provided a solution for 'StageFright' in Release 3.1 of Textra
out now.
Very Important: In other SMS / MMS apps, turning off auto-retrieve is
NOT enough as once you tap 'download' the exploit potentially becomes active. Additionally you would not get any MMS pics or group
messages. Not a good solution.

According to the developer of both the apps,

the risk of your device being targeted to this new exploit is greatly
decreased by denying MMS messages the ability to automatically run.

How can I protect from Stagefright using Textra?
Turn on the Stagefright Protection under your Textra app Settings.

Screenshot (Click to enlarge image)
So here is what happens if you activate the app's Stagefright Protection and if you receive a Stagefright exploit message,

Stagefright Protected: As you can see below, the message was not downloaded and the thumbnail hasn’t been resolved, so if this video has an exploit targeting Stagefright then it will not yet be able to execute its code. The message has a nice “Stagefright Protection” label beneath it.

Screenshot (Click to enlarge image)

What happens if I click the Stagefright Protected message? : When you hit the Play button on the MMS message: an even bigger box, with an even bigger play button, and an even bigger “Stagefright” label.

Screenshot (Click to enlarge image)

Do you still want to open the Media and get affected? : Finally, clicking the Play button one last time will bring up a nice warning message reminding you that downloaded videos may contain an exploit called Stagefright.

(Note: there is no known exploit, and if there were its name wouldn’t be Stagefright as Stagefright is simply the name of the multimedia library that is vulnerable to being exploited).

Screenshot (Click to enlarge image)
Pressing the OKAY button will then bring up whichever video you were going to view, and that’s it. If said video actually did contain an exploit that targets Stagefright then it would, in fact, execute at this moment.
Source : Phandroid
If you are curious about whether you are already affected and a victim of Stagefright exploit then download this app Stagefright Detector from PlayStore which was released by zLabs(Zimperium research labs) which first reported the issue to Google.
Updated: [18-09-2k15]
Motorola has officially released a security patch for Stagefright security issue on August 10 to the carriers for testing and it's release to the public based on the carrier provider. It is mentioned in the forums that,

As soon as a patch is ready you will see a notification on your phone
to download and install the update. We encourage everyone to
periodically check if they have the latest software by checking in
Settings>About Phone>System Updates.

And if you using Motorola and still din't get the security patch you can read the following to avoid the security risk of under attack,

What can I do to protect myself if my phone does not have the patch?
First, only download multimedia content (such as attachments
or anything that needs to be decoded to view it) from people you know
and trust. You can disable your phone’s capability to download MMS
automatically. That way you can only choose to download from trusted
sources.

Messaging: go to Settings.  Uncheck “Auto-retrieve MMS.”
Hangouts (if enabled for SMS; if greyed-out, no need to take action):  go to Settings > SMS. Uncheck auto retrieve MMS.
Verizon Message+:  go to Settings > Advanced settings. Uncheck Auto-retrieve.  Uncheck “Enable weblink preview.”
Whatsapp Messenger: go to Settings > Chat settings > Media auto-download.    Disable all video auto downloads under “When using
mobile data,” “When connected on Wi-Fi” and “When roaming.”
Handcent Next SMS:  go to settings>Receive message settings.  Disable auto retrieve.

Read more on :
How to protect from stagefright vulnerablility?
What are the other attack vectors for Stagefright?

Heh! The Game has just begun: New Ways to Trigger Stagefright Vulnerability -- 1)  Trigger Exploit from Android Application, 2) Crafted HTML exploit to Target visitors of a Webpage on the Internet.

Yeah Right! As said in the post StageFright is an exploit and it not only can be triggered from MMS but also using anything which uses the android's core Media Framework which has this vulnerability. So my answer is only specific to MMS message exploit. But there are lot of other possibilities too. Unless Mobile OEM's take up this issue seriously and release an update for all the android phones its like all phones are vulnerable.

"there is no known exploit, and if there were its name wouldn’t be Stagefright as Stagefright is simply the name of the multimedia library that is vulnerable to being exploited" : these are now wrong on both accounts: PhK links an exploit for a bug CBS named stagefright

Zimperium, the company that reported the vulnerability, has posted additional information about the vulnerabilities related to Stagefright.. In the Google Play Store, there is an application that will detect whether the vulnerability is present on your device. Apparently Samsung has also posted an app that will disable MMS on Samsung devices, though this is not in the Play Store.

That's a good update you posted.

The ad-ware MX Player claims to play videos without stagefright-related bugs. You need to select all grayed buttons and all blue-checked buttons shown on these images:

You will also need to clear defaults of all Video Player apps, then select MX Player as the default Player app.
Disclaimer: This App comes in two versions: one free with ads, and the other "Pro" for 6.10€. I am not related to its authors. I will get no revenue from this post. I may only get a certain amount of rep points.
Thanks to hulkingtickets for the idea of this very answer.

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


text:
How to root ZTE Zinger (Z667T) running Android 4.4.2?
I've tried looking around, but I can't figure out how to root my ZTE Zinger (Z667T) running Android 4.4.2.

Towelroot is a good rooting app with no need of a computer.
SuperOneClick uses the computer but still reliable.
Can't 100% guarantee that it will work, but it has a possibility. Good luck rooting your phone!


text:
How to stop Sony Xperia Z3 Compact making noise on using camera button?
I've got a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact running Android 5.0.2, and is not rooted, which has a button that instantly wakes the phone going straight into the camera app.
One problem - unless Media Volume is at zero, pressing the camera button makes a distracting and annoying tinkling sound.
It does this despite the fact that:

I already have "Sound" turned off in Camera settings. This turns off noises like the shutter sound, but doesn't stop the camera button sound. It seems the phone thinks "camera sounds" and "camera button sounds" are completely unrelated things.
I've turned off all the Sound options under the phone's system settings.

How can I turn off this specific "camera button" sound? I've looked through the system settings but can't find anything relevant.
Right now my "workaround" is to always turn media volume to zero after every time I do something which uses it, but this is far from ideal.

Just a side note: there used to be (and perhaps still is) a push to require a phone camera to make some sort of noise when taking a picture. Privacy reasons.

Yeah I'm aware of that debate, but to be clear, this isn't when taking a picture, this is when starting up the camera app (and only when doing so using the physical camera button, and only when media volume is not zero). It's definitely not a privacy feature.

Damn.... just keep finger on speaker and turn your camera on. This worked for me several times :D.................

Are you using Lollipop, or is the device rooted? I can try to make good use of my answer here. Tasker can trigger an action if the Camera button is tapped, so I would activate Zen Mode immediately. Since I don't have any Sony device I'd primarily rely on your feedback.

It's Android 5.0.2, and it isn't rooted (and I'd prefer not to root if possible)

@user568458 Please use '@firelord'. I didn't get your comment notification in my inbox. Anyhow, that answer I linked can also work for non-rooted devices. I did mention it at the bottom. Did you try it? It could work.

@firelord not able to test currently but will try it if no simple solution emerges

I agree with @Firelord, Tasker could be a good option. You'd have to test, though, to see if it's quick enough to mute the Media volume before the tinkling. You definitely don't have to root or run a shell command just to mute the volume when an app fires.

I know you said you prefer not to root if possible. So throwing my rooted option out there just in case you end up having to root. Found this on xda. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2492852

@jer3my thanks, and the fact that someone went to the trouble of making that tool makes me suspect this is not possible without rooting :-( dammit, why do so many hardware companies make basic UI mistakes when they make software, like "don't make unnecessary sounds that can't be turned off"...

@user568458 Well in some states(USA) its illegal to take photos with a device that doesn't make a sound when taking pictures.

In those countries and states it's the shutter sound that can't be turned off. Not one specific shortcut to the app that only exists on one company's phones. This question is not about the shutter sound and has nothing whatsoever to do with those laws which don't exist in my country.


text:
My Internal storage is being apparently not internal, and cannot move apps to sd
I am running CM10.1.3 and have some form of error:
When I go to install an app, and it is too big, it comes up with the storage error – but it says "external storage", even though I have NEVER used an sd card, so apparently, my internal storage is external, even though it says it's internal on the stock ROM
So, I thought "Well, I needed an sd card anyway" and brought a 2GB on to tie me through until I get a 32GB through. However, upon insertion, it mounts, allows me to use it as a normal sd, but I CANNOT move apps to it using Link2SD: It does just not pop-up on the apps screen, and Link2SD seems to not actually do anything (I don't even get the option to move it).
Can you tell me why my internal storage is not internal, and why I cannot move apps to the external SD, and how to fix both?
My current setup
On my (external) SD card, I have a really small partition (about 30mb) and main one (1.9gb) set up, both are using FAT32. Looks like the 30m partition is pretty useless, so I probably need to re-format the card?
Progress
INTERNAL STORAGE- Honestly,  I don't know where to start.
SD CARD-I have try configuring Link2sd again, to no avail. I also changed the format of the sd to several well used ones.  They either had no effect or came up as "damaged, making the system reset it to FAT32

Apps and their data, yes. And "internal storage" (especially with the error "insufficient") always refers to the /data (or /data/data) partition. But from the OS point of view, everything else counts as "external storage" – follow the reference link from my first comment if you don't believe me :) And that fact stands even with the "internal (emulated) sd card" being FUSE mounted into /data. So it might help to [edit] your Q and point out (step by step) what you're doing with Link2SD and where it fails.

@Izzy OK man,  just don't blow up you answer :)

Summing up from the comments what proved to solve the issue:
Some background
From the system point of view, everything that's not "internal" storage is counted as "external" storage. Especially this includes the external-sd and also the internal-sd card:

Note: don't be confused by the word "external" here. This directory can better be thought as media/shared storage. It is a filesystem that can hold a relatively large amount of data and that is shared across all applications (does not enforce permissions). Traditionally this is an SD card, but it may also be implemented as built-in storage in a device that is distinct from the protected internal storage and can be mounted as a filesystem on a computer.

(Android Developers; emphasis mine)
Moreover: if an internal sd is available, that becomes the "primary external storage" – and the only place app2sd moves apps to.
Link2SD
(I have just updated our link2sd tag-wiki to make this information easier to find)
When setting up link2sd, the (external) SD card must be partitioned correctly – as described by the instructions on the Link2SD site. In short, the card should have the following partitions, both primary:

first partition, using FAT, to be utilized as-usual for your media etc
second partition, using ExtFS (ext2/3/4), exclusively used by Link2SD

You should have two partitions on your SD card and both should be primary.
  The first FAT partition is your standard SD card storage. The second partition is used for application files and can be ext2, ext3, ext4, f2fs or FAT.
You need to use a non-FAT file system (ext2, ext3, ext4 or f2fs) on your second partition in order to link app's private data files. Because the FAT file system (FAT16, FAT32 or exFAT) does not support UNIX file ownership or permissions and will cause a security breakdown of app's private files.
Link2SD does not create the second partition, you need to create it yourself.

(Link2SD; emphasis mine)
Your SD card was partitioned differently (and using FAT only), which will have caused most of the problems you've encountered. And as we've figured: After setting that up correctly, everything seems to be fine.
So enjoy a working installation now!


text:
Connect Samsung Galaxy Heart Rate Monitor to fitness apps
With the fitness tracking revolution, I'd like to pair my heart rate to tracking apps. Is there a way to do this? It works with "S Health" but I want to EXPORT that data automatically or put it into another app.
For example, if I could upload my heart rate number into a Nike app, then use IFTTT to upload that to google spreadsheet, then use Zapier to connect it to beeminder, then I could be charged $5 if I don't work out that week, as PROVEN numerically by a heart rate sample from my android.
Or I guess I could just use gympact, but that doesn't user the heart rate monitor =/

http://forum.beeminder.com is a great place to ask this! Lots of similar Quantified Self nerdery discussed there.


text:
How do I root my Azpen A727 tablet?
How do I root my Azpen A727 tablet?

I learned how to do this from here
I did this from a Linux PC with ADB installed.  It may be possible from a Windows PC with ADB installed but I could never get the tablet to connect as an installer over USB on Windows.

Turns out it was dead simple, really, it came rooted. Here’s how I
  installed Superuser on it so I can use apps that use root.

Download superuser.zip
Unzip superuser.zip
adb root (to run adb as root user on the tablet)
adb remount
adb push Superuser.apk /system/app/
adb push armeabi/su /system/xbin/su
adb shell chmod 6755 /system/xbin/su
adb shell ln -s /system/xbin/su /system/bin/su
wget https://github.com/koush/Superuser/raw/master/init.superuser.rc
adb push init.superuser.rc /

This worked for me, host is an Ubuntu 16.04 installation. I had to do everything as root though, ADB would not see the A727 as a user.

I just finished rooting my Azpen A727. It was super easy.
I used 'Kingo Android ROOT' (https://www.kingoapp.com/android-root.htm) for Windows; It was literally as easy as one click and took all of 60 seconds.

Cool! I could never get mine to connect to a Windows PC.


text:
How do I unlock the screen when forgotten password?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. My daughter put a screen lock on and doesn't remember the code. How do I unlock it?

Welcome to stack exchange! Try not to explain the problem in the title(your title could have been "daughter locked out of Samsung galaxy 2") :)

If you log on to android device manager, you can send a lock request, allowing you to change the password. Just be sure to change it after!
As a alternative, keep getting it wrong until "forgot password?" and login in via google. It will then let you reset the password

First off the tab. Then
1. Power key
2. Volume up key
3. Main key
Press same time. After come option then select wip aLL  data . Your tab will reset.
Rember. After reset you lose all data . Which have in your tab memory.

There is no "main key" on the tab. Other than volume and power, all keys are software keys. (part of the systemUI)


text:
Bought a phone from asia
I live in the UK I bought the new htc one m9+ from asia andy data doesnt work it says service is unavailable please if anyone has any ideas

You can check the phone specifications and accordingly contact your service provider. Phones are manufactured keeping in mind the cellular network operating specifications of a particular country/region. Probably the following link might help you understand about the cellular network operating frequencies: Wiki - Cellular frequencies


text:
How to get back accidentally deleted `wpa_supplicant` file?
I was trying to get Ad-Hoc working on my Konka i127 Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 phone, and I accidentally deleted my wpa_supplicant file. Now, I cannot turn on my Wi-Fi connection anymore.
How do I get my wpa_supplicant file back?

Finished factory reset, and it added a new file right in it's place. But I still cannot connect to Wi-Fi, any ideas?

Well that's a different question which should be asked as a NEW question. As for this question, I believe it is answered. So should I post an answer, or you would do it for us? :)

Done, I have asked a new question, here it is. http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/116785/need-help-wi-fi-problems

The wpa_supplicant.conf resides at the location /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf. Since it is inside /data/, rest assured that it is not lost for eternity. It would take factory reset to bring it back from scratch.
Also, that file contains device specific and your once connected Wi-Fi's specific information. So, there is no point for us to upload it for you.


text:
How do you enable Hotspot Wifi Sharing on Nexus 5 Android M version on Sprint, Tmobile, and AT&T?
I just loaded the Android M preview version as of July 2015. I'm also on the Sprint network and my phone is rooted. How can I enable wifi hotspot ability on Android M?

I just tried it, and this worked for me:
(Nexus 6, Android M Preview 3, Sprint)

With root browser go to /system/ and open build.prop in a text editor.
Add net.tethering.noprovisioning=true to the bottom.
Save and reboot.

In Android L, I also had to do the tether_dun_required thing, but now that database just doesn't show up for me in Android M.

You can easily do this by connecting your rooted Nexus 5 phone to a computer and run the command in the command prompt or terminal: adb shell
After it connects to your phone run the command:
settings put global tether_dun_required 0
Then reboot and it should work!

does not work on android m preview 3 -- i get this error: Tethering or Hotspot Error -- Unable to connect to data network; You may not be subscribed to Tethering or Hotspot service; please contact your phone company.

After Android M (Mashmallow) Preview 3 -- You need to do the following to get tether / wifi hotspot to work:

On your Windows computer open up a terminal and type: adb shell
In the terminal window, type: " su - " (check your phone to approve)
echo "net.tethering.noprovisioning=true" >> /system/build.prop
Run this command: content insert --uri content://settings/global --bind name:s:tether_dun_required --bind value:i:0
Reboot

Verified; working on Android M preview 3 as of 9-21-2015.

cant get it working on nexus 6 with android M stock rom. the content command fails when trying to do an insert. this is for sprint too.


text:
Can Samsung patch security faults on their devices by an update?
There was an exploit that turns Samsung Galaxy phones into remote bugging devices (reference: ArsTechnica)

As many as 600 million Samsung phones may be vulnerable to attacks that allow hackers to surreptitiously monitor the camera and microphone, read incoming and outgoing text messages, and install malicious apps, a security researcher said.
The vulnerability is in the update mechanism for a Samsung-customized version of SwiftKey, available on the Samsung Galaxy S6, S5, and several other Galaxy models. When downloading updates, the Samsung devices don't encrypt the executable file, making it possible for attackers in a position to modify upstream traffic—such as those on the same Wi-Fi network—to replace the legitimate file with a malicious payload.

Is there a way for Samsung to patch this security fault by an update? Also, how can I find out if the Samsung phone I'm using is affected by this fault?

While a valid argument, I'm afraid we cannot answer what Sammy can or will do, or whether your provider goes along. You'd have to contact them to find out.

Heads up, since Samsung seems likely to provide regular Android security update about once per month


text:
Turn off automatic loading of MMS messages
A new exploit is said to exploit MMS loading.

For now, there's not much end users can do to protect themselves other than to install a patch as soon as one becomes available for their specific Android device. People can also prevent MMS messages from automatically loading in Google Hangouts or other text apps. That will prevent malicious code from being automatically loaded [...]

How to disable automatic loading of MMS messages?
If it depends on the app, the procedure for the most popular apps would be appreciated.

Nicolas, possible solutions very much depend on how far you will go (and partly, how far your carrier goes along). There is no 100% cure, but a few items you might consider:

Say Goodbye to Hangouts. If you can live without that app, make another one the default SMS/MMS handler and don't use Hangouts – at least not until Google fixed that "autoplay". I'd expect an update there soon where you can at least disable that autoplay feature.
Disable your MMS APN. This of course you can do only if you can live without MMS altogether (I can: didn't get a single MMS in the 20 years I'm using mobiles – and the only one sent to me never reached my device because of carrier policies: to receive, I had first to send an MMS, which I never did). And apart from that, this might or might not work: I know of providers ignoring APNs, at least for the normal Internet connection (which then works even if you have no APN at all configured – they somehow fix that at their end).
Ask your carrier if MMS can at least temporarily "switched off" somehow from their end. They should have those capability: If you e.g. send an MMS to someone having a non-MMS-capable dumbphone, they'd send that person a link to where to read the MMS with a browser. You then could use a web browser at your PC to read the MMS – where Android-specific exploits had a hard time dealing with OSX, Windows, or Linux :)

Afraid only few of us can hope for OS updates to really fix that. Though, when under warranty, one might try pressing them: depending on how one uses the device, this bug might very much "render it unuseable" for daily use without the user's fault – which in my eyes is a case for warranty: fix it or have it back. Enough people with this argument, and some with good lawyers … might make them think twice ;)

Don't use or disable autoloadind MMS in hangouts (Don't know the procedure myself since I don't use it). The patch was already commited in AOSP around two weeks ago so for a fix for this "new exploit" if you use an OEM rom, you should contact your carrier/vendor.
Any custom rom like Cyanogenmod should already have this fixed.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+CyanogenMod/posts/7iuX21Tz7n8

I asked because I expect many people to have this question. Many of these people have carriers who don't care about pushing updates.

@NicolasRaoul carriers should neither sell phones or push updates. BYOD like land lines and PC's


text:
Is my android when turned on constantly sending radio data to my provider?
Is my android when turned on constantly sending radio data to my provider so he can track me, or only when i am actually using the network by surfing or calling someone?

No your mobile signal communicates with your network providers' nearest tower all the time you are active on the network. No matter whether you make call or surf or not even do anything your mobile sends signals that it is active on the network and you'll always be tracked by your service provider. Only way you can evade is to enable the airplane mode. I guess this topic has nothing to do with android and related to mobile communications which is off-topic by the way.

True i notice now that the question  is off- topic, thanks for the reply though.

Not an Android specific question, but in short:
Unless you're enabling Airplane mode, the provider will be able to always track you. He can tell where you are at what day and time, at least with an accuracy of ~100m or better.
Why? In order to be able to receive calls (even if you don't want to make a call yourself), your device needs to connect to a cell tower. And in order to ensure you will receive that call even when moving (you might lose that signal), it needs to contact at least one more cell tower so it can easily "hand you over". That makes 2 cell towers. Based on network signal strength, it's possible to calculate rawly how far away you are from each tower at any time. With two or more towers that offers the possibility of Triangulation:

Triangulation (source: DoctorsDisruption; click image to enlarge)
As the image shows: with three towers it's pretty easy to tell where you are. Even with two that can be narrowed down to a small area.
And btw: That's how Google's "network based location" works, too – only that it additionally considers WiFi access points.


text:
My gallery shows nothing
I've searched high and low and cannot find a solution to this problem. The other day I wiped my phone for various reasons. Ever since I did the wipe the gallery does not display any of the images that are already stored on the device. If I take a new picture it will go right into the /sdcard/DCIM/Camera directory and it will display in the gallery. Same thing happens if I download a picture it will go into /sdcard/Download and will display in the gallery.
However, any of the images that are already in any of the folders on my sdcard do not show up in the gallery. Is there a way to force the gallery to scan the sdcard or something? Thanks in advance.

The media-scanner is usually triggered at each boot for the entire device, or whenever a medium is mounted for that medium. So you could try to either reboot (which you probably already did), or go to Settings › Storage and first remove and then "mount" the sd card again. Please let us know if that helped; if not, we might have further ideas. Good luck!


text:
How do certain apps record everything we type in android?
Certain apps like Type Machine claim to be able to record everything you type. You have to install it and activate it from the device's accessibility settings, then it can somehow record typed text.
How is this even possible? It is not a keyboard app , so it is not directly accessing the keystroke information. Also, according to the android documentation "Only the system is allowed to directly access an IME's InputMethod interface" and 'Only the active client's InputConnection will accept operations'.
Given that a 3rd party service like Type machine is neither a  system app or the active client, how  is it able to record typed information?

It installs an Accessibility Service. These services are usually used as screen readers (like TalkBack), and thus have access to on-screen text. It is thus able to record on-screen information. If you install the app, you'll notice it prompts you to register it as an accessibility service so as to collect input information.
However, one limitation of this is it's unable to collect data within password fields.

As far as I know, no 3rd party app can record your "keystrokes" when installed on a non-rooted android phone. When an app gains privilege and is given root access, only then it could act like a system app on a rooted phone. This is why Google has never given root access  to users. It's too risky. Anybody can install a spyware "keylogger" app on your non rooted phone and take advantage.

I see a lot of opinion here. The question needs to be addressed technically, explaining what Accessibility Settings is capable of, what devastating things apps can do using it, if possible. Then you might have to deal with OP's claim of Android documentation regarding IME's InputMethod interface.

Thanks for the reply, I'd like a few more technical details on how exactly the app is able to access the keystrokes, like through which API , class etc though


text:
How to root Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0?
I have been trying to  root my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 (SM-T217S; Firmware version T217SVPUBNH4).
Since the September update I can't re-root my tablet, I have tried apps like Vroot(app), towelroot, and pretty much all the rooting apps available for Android.
I also tried programs like Kingo Root, one click root, vroot for PC, and many alike. I haven't tried flashing the TWRP or ClockworkMod Recovery. I tried a while back with TWRP but it failed.
How do I root my device?
.

Here's a way to do it using TWRP

Put the superuser.zip file in your tablet and Boot into Download Mode (Hold Vol Down +Power to turn on the Device).
Unzip the TWRP Recovery Image after downloading it below.
Connect your tablet to your PC, unzip and run Odin, click the PDA button and select the TWRP md5 file you just unzipped.
Begin holding the Volume Up button on your Tablet and hit the start button in Odin (this will ensure you reboot into the new recovery)

Once in TWRP if you select the reboot option under advanced you should be prompted to root your device if it's not already rooted. If that doesn't happen for some reason you can use adb to sideload the SuperSU zip I've attached, or put it on an sd card and find the flash zip from sdcard option in TWRP to flash it.
Download files

 Odin307.zip
SuperSU-v1.93.zip
TWRP-2.6.3.0-recovery.tar.zip

it's simple, flash TWRP using Odin, boot into recovery and TWRP will prompt you to root.
1.Boot into Download Mode (Hold Vol Down +Power to turn on the Device)Unzip the TWRP Recovery Image after downloading it below.
2.Connect your tablet to your PC, unzip and run Odin, click the PDA button and select the TWRP md5 file you just unzipped.
3.Begin holding the Volume Up button on your Tablet and hit the start button in Odin (this will ensure you reboot into the new recovery)
4.Once in TWRP if you select the reboot option under advanced you should be prompted to root your device if it's not already rooted. If that doesn't happen for some reason you can use adb to sideload the SuperSU zip I've attached, or put it on an sd card and find the flash zip from sdcard option in TWRP to flash it.
odin.zip
SuperSu.zip
hope I helped..

If you put a space between X. and your content, then you would see a numbered line. E.g. 1. Begin contrary to 1.Begin. That would help us in readability and help you to present it in pure numbered list, even if you mistake in the number system would correct it. :)


text:
Why don't the percentages on the battery chart add up to anywhere near 100%?
I'm trying to figure out what's using my battery life by looking at the battery page in Settings. (I don't know if this screen is Cyanogen specific, or a stock Android feature.) Here's a recent screenshot of that page:

Transcript:

Current battery level: 67%
Use since last full charge:

Android System: 3%
Screen: 2%
Cell Standby: 2%
Ironclad Tactics: 2%
Google App: 1%
Android OS: 1%
Google Play Services: 1%

(It may not be clear from the screenshot, but that's the end of the list: there's nothing off-screen.) I don't know whether those percentages are supposed to add up to 100% (logical) or to 33% (the amount of battery used so far), but either way, they actually add up to 12%. No amount of rounding error can explain that. At best, 2/3 of my battery usage is totally unaccounted for.
This is a common occurrence. I have another screenshot where my battery level is 18%, but the sum of all the used apps is only 44%.
What could be using up so much battery that wouldn't show on this list? Or alternately, could some battery usage pattern could cause this screen to grossly underestimate usage of a particular app? Or could a faulty battery, that drains more quickly than it should for a given load, cause this?

We already had this here: Battery percentages per app nowhere near total: 1) the list is incomplete (everything below a threshold (1%?) won't appear), 2) values are not "accurate" but "rounded".

Izzy, I don't see how that's relevant to my situation. Rounding errors and a few more apps with <1% usage might add a few percent, but more than half of my battery usage is unaccounted for. Based on the linked post, I would need over 75 extra apps, all with just barely under 1% battery usage, to explain the difference! (Or 150 apps with an average of 0.5% each, or 300 apps with an average 0.25% each... it seems very unlikely.)

Also consider that some stuff there is no app (screen, Android OS, etc.), plus if that's really all in your screenshot ("nothing off screen", as you've put it), it's definitely incomplete. The linked post contains all we currently know about that issue; but feel free to [edit] your question with a link to that one plus an explanation what makes your question different (or the other not fully apply), to have it re-opened.

I've seen the same but even worse.  Battery nearly empty and only a cumulative total of 6% usage reported in chart.  Would be nice if we understood if there's ways apps might consume power without android detecting it.

Since you have last charged your device, its displaying the ratio [usage time/time since charged] * 100 of that service
It might be that you didnt use any service and the screen was off most of the time
If you use many apps simultaneously (consider using 4 apps at a time) using these all the time till your phone gets discharged will show the time for these apps to be 100% but if you add these %ages for all the apps it will be greater than 100


text:
Kindle Fire query - snapchat and Google Play
I would like to know how to get my snapchat working. Everytime I go to sign in to my snap chat it says "This app won't run without Google Play services, which are missing from your phone." so therefor I went onto the Kindle App Store to try get this but once I installed it, whenever I tried to launch the app it crashed.This means my snapchat still isn't working I would love to know if anyone knows a solution for this please?

If your Kindle Fire is rooted, install the Xposed Framework and install this mod to allow you to use SnapChat without Google Play Services. If you don't have your Kindle Fire rooted, please specify which Kindle Fire model you own, and search for tutorials on how to root your phone. However, this WILL void your warranty so please root at your own risk. I am not responsible for any damage caused on your device. Anyhow, good luck trying to get SnapChat working!


text:
Where can I find the Chrome bookmarks stored locally in Samsung Galaxy S6?
I'm freaking out as my Chrome browser on my rooted Samsung Galaxy S6 got reset after using Datasync, and when I opened my Chrome browser it showed as a fresh install. Like never used before.  I had months of research in my bookmarks which I now see did not get backed up.  Now would the bookmarks be stored locally on my S6 somewhere so I can access that info???
And I didn't sync my Chrome bookmarks to the cloud since before I kept losing bookmarks by synching across devices.

If you haven't synced your bookmarks in your mobile chrome but you have signed in with your gmail account you can find the website you visited in https://history.google.com/history/

@Lucky if i sign in through settings in Chrome is that syncing or just signing in? I get so confused.

@Lucky  Is there any way to get the history from june 2015 from the link you gave?  I see a download archive option ...what does that do?

You can't get your hands on them locally without root access. Chrome stores bookmarks in /data/data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Default/Bookmarks. // It is a different matter if you end-up finding your old bookmarks or not, but that's the place to look for.

@Firelord   I AM rooted. ☺  How do I search?

Signing in to Chrome app and Syncing is two different things. You can signin and turn off syncing of chrome stuffs. Visit the history.google.com url and click see more link at the bottom of the page to visit to the particular date until you reach there.

Use Root Browser or ES File Explorer to visit "/ -> data -> data -> com.android.chrome -> app_chrome -> bookmarks".

@Firelord  I'm not too sure what EXACTLY to type to search..I type "data" then "data" ..?

It is the location you have to visit by first going to root directory (/) then go to data directory, then a data directory in it, and so on.

Did you get the file?

@Firelord Battery died! Have to try later. I'm to download search archives on my S3 but everytime I try to download and open nothing opens.

@Firelord  Is Root Browser or ES easier to use?

@Firelord   I downloaded  "ES File"  since it's maintained and opened it but unsure how to search still. How do I find the root directory?  The other issue is Google web history for Searches ask for my password every 5 min and then I have to start from the beginning to go back to the day of the month I was browsing.

You'll have to wait for few hours (not at home) to get proper screenshots for going into the Chrome Directory. You may try this until then: tap three horizontal lines at the top bar, go to Tools and enable Root Explorer. At the top bar, next to those lines, tap the entry and got /device -- the root directory. // That History part was suggested by a different user so I couldn't be of much help here other than to open the Google History page in new tab, and keep reloading it after 1-2 mins or so. You're probably observing session time-out.

possible duplicate of where are Android Chrome bookmarks?


text:
Phone seems to have WiFi connection, but loses connection to internet
It's a Cat B15Q, with Android 4.4.2, with most recent update as issued by Cat.
I think it started with the most recent update. Unfortunately, Cat's support site doesn't work (you can't submit questions), so maybe someone here knows.
The phone always has a decent connection to WiFi, according to the icon. But after a while (it can be an hour or just 5 minutes), it no longer connects to the internet. I observed this on three different WiFi networks. Disabling and enabling WiFi fixes the connection, for a while. I disabled all sleep and battery saving options, but to no avail. It's driving me mad!

Even in the middle of a WhatsApp conversation, after sending a message, this happens. So annoying.

The utter unpredictability is what makes this so annyoing: the connection can last for a few hours, and suddenly, it will only last a few seconds, every time after reconnecting. I see the following options now: 1) throwing the thing out of the window; 2) waiting for Lollipop; 3) waiting for Cyanogen Mod; 4) FORMAT C:

The behavior is also network dependent: at home, I never have this problem. But at work and at other locations, I have. Maybe because at home I have only one WiFi station and at the other locations, the network uses different ones and the phone has trouble switching between these stations? Just a wild guess.

A couple of days ago, Cat came out with a system update for my phone. One of the items was something about fixing WiFi issues. It seems to be working!

why don't you try to get your phone back to the factory settings. i would suggest you to back your data prior going ahead with Factory Reset.

Well, this is indeed what Cat Support (after I had finally been able to make contact) recommended: "do a factory data reset followed by a software update"
Hmm... let's see... this will take a lot of time and there is no guarantee for success. I'll wait a bit, maybe someone here has a better idea.

A couple of days ago, Cat came out with a system update for my phone. One of the items was something about fixing WiFi issues. So far, it seems to be working... If I don't see any problems within the next few days, I'll answer my own question.


text:
How do I get MyBackup Pro to back up Chrome bookmarks and not the stock browser?
On my S6 I thought my Chrome bookmarks were being backup to the cloud using MyBackup Pro only to find it just backs up stock browser bookmarks.  Other backup apps in the Play store back up so many things like SMS etc. but how do I backup just the Chrome bookmarks locally or in the cloud?  Google's own sucks.

Just one single query: Does this MyBackup Pro needs root access or not? If not, then it can't backup Chrome bookmarks since they are located inside Chrome's data directory and an another app cannot access them unless it has quite high privileges, or an alternative and explicit way is available (I've never seen one). Even ADB would fail since Chrome for Android  disallows its backup. You'll have to rely on what I said here.

But the device is rooted, so why use MyBackup Pro when the champion of backups is here?

@Firelord  Seems to have bad reviews and bad interface. I remember looking into Titanium. Can it back up.Chrome  bookmarks?

It can backup the whole Chrome data, but not the bookmarks explicitly.

I tried this pro app, and I found that it doesn't give the option to backup any system app (which includes Chrome),  so you won't be able to backup your bookmarks using it. It's too bad because the app has root access. On a side note, don't go for the review on TitaniumBackup since it seems to be first choice amongst the users here. Plus, ask a question about it if you don't understand or has problem doing something in it (though many have been asked already here). I'm certain about my info about that Pro app. So, should I write my answer or you need something more?

Wait, I have something different to add now. I deleted my stock browser long time ago, so I've only Chrome and Firefox. When I backed up my bookmarks using that MyBackup Pro app, I found that Chrome bookmarks were actually backed up, and then restored well. So, if you don't use stock Browser, then simply disable it and then try this app.

So, did the comment work for you?


text:
Recover wiped NANdroid backup - is it possible?
Before wiping after a long time I moved the TWRP folder on my PC. I realized only later that the backup was an older - a lot older - one, because now it seems the backups are hidden in the normal USB Storage mode.
Is it possible to recover the most recent, but wiped, NANDroid backups, or at least part of the data pre-wipe?
Thanks for any answer.

The possibilities for this will definitely vary depending upon the phone model as Android phones differ in hardware and what is affected when the phone is wiped/formatted/overwritten. If the phone is rooted, and/or if a new ROM was flashed to the phone, that will make things yet more uncertain. If it is a Samsung, older model Motorola or older model HTC, there might be a chance of recovery. It is less likely with LGs due to hardware. The only way to try and recover the pre-existing data is to have a tool to be able to image the phone's entire memory and then scan it. Cellebrite offers a tool that can do such imaging but it's quite expensive so you'd be better off contacting a data recovery company with strong mobile device capabilities. Many offer free evaluations so you can hear back if they think it's recoverable and how much it would cost before anything else.
Bottom line is that yes, from the little information here I can say there is a chance it's possible, but from your description it may be slim. That's as far as I can guess without actually having it looked at by one of our engineers.
It sounds like a tough situation so good luck!


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Add a screenshot as attachment in Gmail android 5
How can I use a screenshot as an attachment in android 5?
I really don't get why this is so hard, I can only select files from my drive.
To find the screenshot I had to go to Photos -> menu -> device folders -> screenshots (what?)
Here I can't move the image to my drive folder
And no I don't want to enable auto backup for my screenshots
(even if I do I can't find this auto backup folder in my drive)
How can I fix this?

In your Gallery app of some sort, locate the screenshot image you want to send. Then there will be a share button and a dropdown list of applications. Find the app that says "Drive" and your image will then be uploaded. From there, you can go to your email app and select your newly uploaded image from your drive for you to send whomever

when I want to add an attachment, I can only browse my drive folder, I should be able to browse my entire phone, thanks

Can you upload a screenshot of when you're adding attachments

just found out I can use attach file -> menu (open from) -> photos -> device folders -> screenshots

Ah yeah that seems like an easier solution.....oh well :D


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How to change the user in ES File Explorer
I use ES File Explorer on my Android phone (Lollipop).
When I connect to my NAS, it prompts me for a user name and password. I enter this, and I connect. However, I now need to connect as a different user.
I'm not prompted again for the user name/password, ES File Explorer and remembered these settings but, I can't find how to clear this.

Open ES File Explorer.  Head to cloud,  or FTP (Depending on which you are using,  and hold on the server.  An option along the bottom called "edit server"  will show up.  Click it, exit as necessary,  and press OK.


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How long can I reasonably expect security updates to be supported?
In light of the recent "stagefright" MMS vulnerability, I understand that while Google may release fixes to security vulnerabilities, it requires co-operation from the handset manufacturer to deliver those fixes to handsets.
As the owner of an aging Samsung Galaxy S2, I'd like to know if I'm ever going to get an update. No-one ever told me that my handset was no longer going to receive updates. Maybe it still is but Samsung are still working it out.
How long after a handset has been made should I reasonably expect security updates to be pushed out? At what point should I seriously consider replacing a handset if these updates are important to me?
Related: https://windowsphone.stackexchange.com/q/10068/13848

Do you really want an exhaustive list of the nearly 20,000 distinct Android phone models?

@Huey - I've changed my mind and rewrote the bulk of the question to simply ask "how long after manufacture is reasonable". Hope whoever voted-to-close will reconsider.

This is up to the manufacturer and carrier, and you (if you are willing to install a custom ROM, for example).  There is no fixed guideline.

It depends on your manufacturer and carrier to deliver the update.  My guess is that it would only be the newest models or this past year's flagships that would be updated in a reasonable amount of time.
If you have the understanding and really want the update, I know many of the custom ROM's will be updated well before any of the carrier stock images. I checked yesterday and my phone received an update in a nightly build about 2 weeks ago.  Check and see if your device is supported by Cyanogenmod.

For a smartphone, you can expect security updates to be supported for 18-24 months. Google says Nexus devices receive updates for 18 months.

Nexus devices may not receive the latest version of Android if they fall outside of the update window, which is usually around 18 months after a device has been released.

The Nexus line is nominally supposed to get better updates from Google because it uses a version of Android that is unmodified by the carrier. The Galaxy S2, released in 2011, is almost certainly no longer supported by Samsung.
Sadly the economics of phone contracts and replacements has made the lifetime of a phone 2 years. The phone manufacturers simply expect you to get a new phone when you renew a phone contract, so they do not bother spending money on continuing to support older phones.
You may be able to find a third party ROM like CyanogenMod that has updated software for the Galaxy S2.


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Cannot install Google Camera on Nexus 5 running CM 12, neither from Play Store, nor with ADB
I need to reinstall Google Camera, and I tried to remove it via Settings -> Applications. Everything went fine, but when I tried to install it back via Play Store, it said:

Unknown error code during application install: -505.

I've then attempted to install it's APK via ADB. It showed the error  INSTALL_FAILED_ALREADY_EXISTS. But I'm pretty sure it's removed, I've checked /system/app, /data/app, and /data/data for any residual files, but there's none.
Installing APK with -r key yields INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE.
Package manager  pm list packages doesn't list Google Camera, which is only logical, since it's removed. But then how could it "already exist"? I wonder what to do and how to bring Google Camera back.

Ah, yes. Uninstalling via pm also fails with internal error, probably because there's no such package.

Was Google camera a system app? Did you install it at first along gaps in a fresh cyanogenmod install or before from Google play?

No, it was installed via Google Play after CM installation.

Have you seen How do I deal with unknown installation error code -505? (hint: our google-play-store tag-wiki has a list of errors with links to the corresponding questions ;) Running CM you've got root, try a pm uninstall <package_name> to get rid of potential remains – and also check your SD card (yes, the internal, I know it's a Nex) for such.

Yeah, I've already tried to remove it via pm, but it fails with an internal error (as far as I understand, that means such package is not installed, which is confirmed by pm list packages that doesn't list Google Camera).

Actually, I've just rolled back to last backup and there's both good and bad news. Good - camera app has returned. Bad - I've checked Play Market and Google Camera appears to be not installed. But it's actually there. Trying to install it results in same Error -505. I won't try to remove it any more, but I wonder what could cause such behavior and whether it could be fixed completely.


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Front camera is reversed
On my LG G4, the front (selfie) cam is working like a mirror: if I touch my left eye, the image will display the finger touching the eye on the left side of the picture. With the back camera, it works like a normal camera: the touched eye is on the right side.
That means also, for instance, that text is reversed when using the front cam.
Is that behaviour standard ? Is there a way to have the front cam behave like a normal cam ?

For default google camera app. theres no settign to mirror the image. So we have to use an app to do this. I searched, and many of these apps are photo editing apps, which is very huge. Atlast i found one app
Flip Image - Image Flip (Mirror Image) :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rectfy.flip
This app just do what we need, flipping image and also its size is very less. I am using this app for mirroring my photos. Its the best.

Found the reply here.

While the camera app is open and the front camera is selected,
  tap the 'settings' icon (the geared wheel) and you'll see an icon that
  looks like two heads in profile. They will be both facing the same
  direction by default. Tap them so they are facing away from each
  other. Now, while the image will still appear on the screen mirrored,
  the resulting picture will appear normal.

[2

This varies by phone and probably by version of either Android or the phone's OS (MIUI in my case) but probably all or most Android phones will have a similar setting accessible when using the Camera app.

in camera setting there is an option
"save as flipped" turn it off


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How to disable touch during a call
When I call with the smartphone (HTC one M7) I often click the screen with the cheek.
I have notice that on Samsung Galaxy tab 8.0 when I call is there an option that disable the touch. Is it possible to import/install this feature also on HTC One?

Is your M7 rooted? If so, you might wish to check this post on XDA for a possible fix.

You're looking for "proximity sensor" settings.  If your proximity sensor is enabled and your screen doesn't go black when the phone is to your ear, the sensor (looks like a tiny camera lens, usually in the upper screen frame) may be covered by a screen protector or case, or may have failed.  If you can't find proximity sensor settings, your provider's tech support should be able to help.

I had this problem, used the #0# thing to test the proximity sensor, it seemed to be fine (screen went green whenever my hand got close to the screen).  Went to phone -> setting -> call and disabled the "turn off screen during calls" thing, power off, removed the battery, blew into every hole I could find, reinstalled the battery, powered on, went back and re-enabled the "turn off screen during calls" thing and now it works.  Go figure.


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Can I receive security updates without upgrading from KitKat to Lollipop?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablet, and it's currently running the stock Android 4.4.2. A friend of mine had her Galaxy S5 upgraded to Lollipop, and i personally don't like the way it looks, especially with no dark theme available. So i simply ignore the software update notifications my tablet keeps giving me, since they also promise me that upgrade to Lollipop.
Considering the yesterday's statement from Zimperuim about a critical vulnerability in the Stagefright library, I'm really concerned about getting a security update for it when it comes, but still I really don't want to jump onto Lollipop for the sake of it.
So does anybody have an idea how to stay on KitKat while keeping the security up-to-date?

Best way to keep secure is installing updates. Refusing to do so keeps you in a circle, you want security updates but don't want updates.

I doubt that very much (edit: targeting the question, not the previous comment posted almost similar to mine). If Samsung already has rolled-out a higher Android version for that device, they won't support the lower version with "security updates" anymore. Feel free to ask their support, though – they are more likely to know than we ;)

@xangua, in the PC world, one doesn't have to get the latest version of the OS to get the security updates. It's enough to have the version that's still supported. Are you suggesting that it's not true for KitKat?

@Izzy, thanks for suggesting that it might be a vendor-specific thing.

Not the PC world here, you'd probably have better luck with a custom rom either because you want to stick with kitkat (cyanogenmod will provide a bugfix for their kitkat build) or because you lack of a dark theme (lollipop CM build has a theme engine).

@xangua, another great suggestion, thank you.

@Semisonic Not just vendor specific (though with most vendors you can be lucky if you receive updates at all a year after the device rolled out). It's simply to cost intensive for them. Btw one reason Google tries to out-source components of the OS to separate packages which you can update via their Playstore, as it was done e.g. with the webview browser component. But that doesn't work for everything (though it should at least for Hangouts, with the current "big MMS thing").


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AdAway and Xposed Framework unable to edit system files in a rooted Huawei Ascend Y330
I rooted my Huawei Ascend Y330 using King Root (verified it with Root Checker). The problem started when I was trying to install AdAway and Xposed Framework. They both are unable to edit files. I already tried to change permissions with Root Explorer / Root Browser, but I keep getting the same error.
Screenshots of the errors (Click image to enlarge)


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Does adb pull verify files automatically?
Does adb pull verify files automatically? For instance, does it check the hash/checksum of pulled files to see whether they were pulled correctly? I'm guessing it does, but I haven't found an answer online.
If not, I can write a bash script (Linux) for it and post it in an answer.

This link about verify your file's MD5 checksums! might be helpful for verifying your file integrity  after the adb pull command. As mentioned on that post, You can actually view a file's MD5 checksum using Astro File Manager (i.e., via viewing a file's details) and the command adb shell md5sum FILE also seems to be helpful to check the checksum of a file. Read more on the above mentioned link for other methods too ;)

I wrote a Bash (Linux) script that runs adb pull and then compares the md5sums of the pulled files with the original files. If the md5sums don't match, the script will automatically remove the corrupted pulled files and then retry adb pull again. I put the script on Pastebin here (thanks to the tip from GiantTree).

Could you upload it to pastebin as well, so users can see the script instantly without downloading it first?

Hey I can't believe I didn't think to do that! Sure!

From what I have seen so far (and I use adb pull very often), there is no verification process going on.
If a file, that has been pulled, is corrupted, you will get no notification about it whatsoever.

Even if there is no verification in the UI, that doesn't necessarily mean ADB isn't doing a verification behind the scenes, so I'm curious if you mean that you have indeed had files corrupted on download, that when redownloaded were fine? (Thank you if you have sometime to reply when next you log on.)


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ADB Wi-Fi connection disconnects when device goes to sleep in Moto G 2014
I can connect the device via USB and manage to play the app from Android studio without issues. Then I do adb tcpip 5555 and adb connect <IP_ADDRESS:PORT> without problems. Same goes for running the app.
But for some reason, when the device goes to sleep (screen shuts down), so does the connection to ADB.  I configured the Wi-Fi settings to be "Always" so that shouldn't be the problem. I tried restarting the device and the PC, even re-installing the drivers but no luck.
Here's what I get from Logcat in the last seconds before the screen shuts down:
07-28 20:23:17.924     997-1222/? I/PowerManagerService﹕ Nap time (uid 1000)...
07-28 20:23:17.924     997-1222/? I/PowerManagerService﹕ Going to sleep due to screen timeout (uid 1000)...
07-28 20:23:18.477     997-1222/? D/bsthal﹕ activate, handle: 2, enabled: 0, index 5
07-28 20:23:18.490     997-1219/? I/DisplayManagerService﹕ Display device changed: DisplayDeviceInfo{"Schermo incorporato": 720 x 1280, 60.0 fps, supportedRefreshRates [60.0], density 320, 294.967 x 295.563 dpi, appVsyncOff 0, presDeadline 17666667, touch INTERNAL, rotation 0, type BUILT_IN, state OFF, FLAG_DEFAULT_DISPLAY, FLAG_ROTATES_WITH_CONTENT, FLAG_SECURE, FLAG_SUPPORTS_PROTECTED_BUFFERS}
07-28 20:23:18.496      997-997/? V/ActivityManager﹕ Display changed displayId=0
07-28 20:23:18.551      317-317/? D/SurfaceFlinger﹕ Set power mode=0, type=0 flinger=0xb7459550
07-28 20:23:18.557      317-317/? D/qdhwcomposer﹕ hwc_blank: Blanking display: 0
07-28 20:23:18.796      317-804/? I/qdhwcomposer﹕ handle_blank_event: dpy:0 panel power state: 0
07-28 20:23:18.800      317-317/? I/qdhwcomposer﹕ enable_dcabc: Done setting OFF mode
07-28 20:23:18.800      317-317/? D/qdhwcomposer﹕ hwc_blank: Done blanking display: 0
07-28 20:23:18.801      317-317/? I/SFPerfTracer﹕ triggers: (rate: 26:893) (compose: 0:2) (post: 0:0) (render: 0:16) (19:9416 frames) (20:12477)
07-28 20:23:18.801      317-317/? D/SFPerfTracer﹕ layers: (5:10) (FocusedStackFrame (0xb74da368): 0:156)* (DimLayer (0xb756f868): 0:19)* (DimLayer (0xb7572170): 0:7)* (StatusBar (0xb755f198): 2:8497) (com.android.systemui.ImageWallpaper (0xb7564e30): 0:499) (com.teslacoilsw.launcher/com.teslacoilsw.launcher.NovaLauncher (0xb7592e58): 0:195) (NavigationBar (0xb7562cf0): 0:18) (ColorFade (0xb7568e60): 20:22)
07-28 20:23:18.805     997-1347/? D/SurfaceContro
device not found

And when the screen shutdowns completely, the device simply disconnects mid transmission.
It seems I can connect to it after it had disconnected and went in IDLE. This is the log i managed to get by connecting to the device the second it disconnected:
http://pastebin.com/afqpA0Ch
EDIT: I tried creating a new user on the phone and connecting it via wi-fi to adb, and it seems the problem does not present itself with this new account. I'll try factory-resetting the device and see if I can solve the problem for good.
I have a Motorola G 2014, XT1068, with Android 5.0.2, and running Android Studio on Windows x64 Home Premium.
How do I stop the device from disconnecting from ADB?

You might find this question helpful and related. See if any of those solutions work for you.

Have you installed any Battery saving apps? I had the same problem in Moto G2 and the problem was due to the Battery Doctor app that I used to kill apps and improve performance on screen lock, which also disable the wifi and restricted my whatsapp communications. Make sure you change the settings or uninstall those apps and try. These apps block your wifi network even if you have set your wifi mode to stay alive when your device screen is locked.

A few days ago I installed Qualcomm's "Snapdragon BateryGuru", though in less than 24Hours i uninstalled it. I don't have any other applications that do this. I'll try and re-install it and reset the settings from it.DCHP settings shouldn't be a problem. I had the leasing time set to 24hours for a few years and didn't give this problem a few months ago.  I did set a static IP for the specific MAC address of the device, though that doesn't change anything.

If you have uninstalled it then it wont have any effect on your wifi mode. Don't reinstalled the app again.!! This will make it worse since you dont want to have one more app that may chage your settings. Look for some other apps related to battery and performance which do these things normally. If not then it might be your routers problem so try using the adb using a different network and see if the problem persists.

Check if this tiny app Wi-Fi keep Alive from google play store helps.

Wi-Fi works ok (i still get real-time push notifications only using the Wi-Fi network). Tried Wi-Fi keep Alive but to no avail. As soon as the screen goes black, it disconnects from adb. I'll paste a more detailed log for logcat in a few minutes

So it seems the problem was with the settings of the device. Having a Screen Lock (even if SmartLock is enabled, and you are in a "safe location") disconnects ADB on device idle. Only way around it for me was to disable the device screen lock.


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Writing 'partition' Failed (remote failure) error, when flashing from fastboot
A couple of days ago, I got an error on my phone (Motorola Razr HD xt925) saying that it cannot load the home screen. So, I restarted it in order to resolve the issue. However, it didn't reboot and since then it has been stuck in the Motorola logo.

I tried to do recovery or factory reset, but all the options lead to the same Motorola logo with no luck.
The only option that is working is AP Fastboot.  I managed to unlock the bootloader by getting an unlock code from Motorola's website and using the mfastboot command. So I assume that the fastboot command is working since it detects the devices; however, I couldn't make ADB command to work since it give the error: 'device not found'.
Anyway, the second step is to flash the phone. According to this question, I should be able to do that. However, when I am running the command fastboot flash partition gpt.bin, I am getting the following result:
(bootloader) Variable not supported!
target max-download-size: 30MB
sending 'partition' (32 KB)...
OKAY [  0.022s]
writing 'partition'...
FAILED (remote failure)
finished. total time: 0.154s

I have been searching for days to solve this problem, but nothing yet! I don't know which part I am doing wrong.

I just want to verify that there nothing else in the command prompt and the word error  was not present followed by a reason? Another issue is when at the Motorola website the mfastboot command was use. At the second step running the command fastboot flash partition gpt.bin  is that correct? What was the file name of the mfastboot software and where did you get it? What type of PC  are you using? did  you set a path? Which command prompt did you use? Did you run it with elevated privileges? Oh and what version of android did you have before the crash? That s

Have you made sure that this - low battery is not the case? 2) Is the bootloader unlocked? 3) Could you consider flashing only a custom recovery using fastboot? We can then flash a zip file from Recovery mode.

@BoLawson: mfastboot is same as fastboot but for Motorola phone. I found it at xda-developers.com and also at sbf.droid-developers.org. I have tried both on Windows and Linux machines with elevated privileges. The android version was originally v4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) but I had upgraded it to v4.4.2 (KitKat) using OTA.

@Firelord: 1) Yes. 2) Yes. 3) How should I do that? Sorry for asking, but I am a newbie here!

I'm assuming that you've not messed up your system yet. In that case, try erasing userdata and cache first. Do fastboot erase cache then fastboot erase userdata. Report any error here. Reboot and tell us the result. // Otherwise, find a custom Recovery for your device like TWRP, and flash it as fastboot flash recovery <YOUR_FILE>.img. Now power-off and reboot into recovery mode using button combinations. Tell us the results then.

@Firelord: running the command fastboot erase cashe gives this error:
(bootloader) Variable not supported! erasing 'cache'... (bootloader) Failed to erase partition FAILED (remote failure) finished. total time: 0.047s

Looks like we need to Google more. Try that custom Recovery stuff I said in the last comment, though success seems to be slim.

I have also tried it. No luck! Do you know what would be the problem?

This would sound strange but is it  confirmed that the bootloader is unlocked? Post the output of  fastboot getvar all.

`(bootloader) unlocked: yes
(bootloader) iswarrantyvoid: yes`

What was the file name you were trying to flash?  Also file name for the fastboot? The thing is you can't downgrade android versions with bootloader Motorola uses It has to be the same or higher. Different variants use different software and can be carrier specific. As far as fastboot to mfastboot the protocol  is slightly different sometimes one will fail when the other does not.

Lets say I just want to run fastboot erase cache to erase the cache. Why am I getting the error?

Sina, just give that mfastboot thing a try for the purpose of trying since we don't have any lead as of now. At least @BoLawson's concerns can be resolved in that way. Also, I remember that somewhere somebody said the same thing to use that mfastboot, though it's odd to think why it would be any different from fastboot.

this is what's going on sorry I should  mentioned it earlier. There are  checks the system  does and some of them android are verified. If everything is as stated in post then without the error. the process was aborted before it begins because and failure to pass those checks. Things that can cause it outdated version of fastboot, drivers, multiple copies of a program creating issues with the path variable. If unrooted then it has to be official firmware from manufacturer. The wrong variant firmware sometimes can cause this or the bootloader thing not being able to downgrade and so on.

Did you manage to solve it? I had exactly the same issue earlier this year (albeit with a first gen Moto G), and I ended up having to buy a new phone because I tried absolutely everything, even erasing partitions gets you a remote failure

No I couldn't manage to solve the problem. I also bought a new phone and my old phone is still in my closet waiting to be rescued!

Use Motorola root toolkit.
From here, give a try to mfastboot-v2, then post your results.

the tool kit is not working on my windows 10

This step is not necessary just leave it and continue other steps if more steps fails then you should use your lastly updated ROM version... You can't flash lollipop ROM on marshmallow bootloader...flash stock marshmallow ROM or your current rom using mfastboot v2...

The Remote failure is simply causing for flashing an old/incompatible gpt.bin file.

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


text:
Same Number, different area code
I know there was a similar question asked earlier
Same phone number with different code problem
But none of the answers are of any help and it is now 4 years and several versions later. There was even a bug report opened on the issue that is now marked as "obsolete" but I am still having the issue.
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=18684
Phone: Samsung galaxy s4 i9505
Version: 5.0.1 Lollipop
Issue: two different contacts with the same number but different area code
eg
Larry: (411) 123-4567
Sarah: (909) 123-4567
When a phone call comes in from either number, Larry's contact info (picture, name) is displayed in caller Id.
Any suggestions?


text:
Resetting SMSC for Lollipop 5 SMS bug
Ok, so I tried to do this tutorial to fix the SMS bug that was keeping me from texting my buddy in Switzerland (I'm in the US using AT&T on a Samsung Galaxy s6 Edge with Lollipop v5.0.2);
I followed it, did the *#*#4636#*#* and brought up the screen. Hit "Refresh" and it displays "1",0
So I hit update "Update" and reboot. Now not only does my texts to him fail, but all the local US people I can normally msg fine fails as well. Could someone show me the light? Thanks!

Sorry for the trouble. I'm the writer of that fix. Well, I was able to get it right on Nexus 5, Unite 2, Galaxy S5, LG G2, LG G3 and MOTO G as well. So, if you've come across a different problem try doing a factory reset. And, keep a backup of your data before formatting it.

Thanks, I finally got it resolved via at&t support although I couldn't tell what they technically did to resolve it. Cheers!

Great! And sorry again haha.. Do check out our site more often (if you like the content). We're students so can't really update 24x7 content :-D


text:
How can I see what specific times my phone has connected/disconnected to wifi?
How can I see what specific times my phone has connected/disconnected to wifi? I would like to see at what times exactly in the last week (for example) my phone connected to wifi. In fact I would like to be able to see an activity log of some kind? Would you be able to see location history if your location services were switched off, for example? Any help would be great :)

Do you want to see logs from now on when you would be using Wi-Fi (because that would be easy to do), or do you want to see the past connect/disconnect info?

I would like to see past connect/disconnect infor please.

You can check the internal Android log logcat to see WiFi connectivity changes (and many different events) from the last few hours or so.
To do that, you'll have to enable USB debugging, download ADB, install an ADB driver for your phone on your computer, connect the phone with a USB cable and run this in a terminal:
adb logcat -v threadtime ConnectivityService:* *:s

To dump the whole log to a file, run:
adb logcat > log.txt

However, if you need older data, the most bulletproof way is to create a custom app that would log the events you're interested in.


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How to view my Google Searches archive on my S6?

I downloaded the SEARCHES archive from Google web history but when I open it with a HTML viewer or any other app it looks like a bunch of gibberish/code on the screen.  What am I doing wrong?

Use this to understand that Gibberish or download a JSON viewer to make the stuff understandable. Take a look here or here. On a side note, this is JSON.

@Firelord  Any viewers for Android though?

The first one I mentioned is an online viewer.

Use an Online JSON beautifier or JSON to HTML converter. You can also convert it to xml or csv if you wish.

Any leads here?


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How to disable or remove the predefined setting for long press Home button in Samsung Galaxy S4?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 running  Lollipop 5.0 update. The phone's OS has designated the long Home button function (hold it down) to access the task manager.  I want to disable, remove or change this function.
I have tried eight different applications for Home buttons and none of them work as they only work for one or two tap functions.  While this may not sound major, it is very major to me and my needs.  I only need to be able to access the task manager from settings.
Samsung has advised that I can't change it.  I have searched the internet and forums high and low with no result.
I have never installed a new OS or anything like that, but I will have to get rid of my phone if I can't fix this problem.

Do you not have the related settings under "Settings -> Buttons"? Is the device rooted?

No, there is no button option under settings.  I am not sure if it is rooted or not?  I have never done anything to the phone or changed the OS.

authors: Ива Пантелић


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Xposed Framework removed after manual CM update?
I'm currently running the official nightly of cm12.1 on my LG G3 AT&T (model d850) with the Xposed Framework installed. However, every time I manual update Cyanogenmod (as I don't have a compatible recovery for automatic installation), the Xposed Framework gets removed/disabled, forcing me to locate the downloaded framework zip file (xposed manual installation because of reasons). This is not really a big issue for me and doesn't greatly affect myself or my phone in anyway but it will be glad if someone has found a 'possible' solution for this minor bug

Pretty sure updating destroys the system partition, which Xposed is installed to. Could be wrong though.

Yeah I was thinking that too... At one point I thought the updates would just overwrite files not folders (referring to /system), unless the xposed framework modifies system files (e.g. build.prop). But idk tho...

You need to check the updater script in one of the zip files.

@jeffery-lin ah yes I found a function called 'install_overwrite'. So um...yup. That's enough said....but thanks btw!

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Ok so this isn't a bug but in the updater script of the xposed framework, a function called install_overwrite is called upon several occasion and, hence the name overwrite, will replace pre-existing file in the /system folder. So in order to install the xposed framework, it's necessary to reinstall it with each update.

That's true – as Xposed replaces a part of the system's framework (one file) to "hook in and expose its interfaces" (hence the name), which an OS update again would overwrite – effectively disabling Xposed.

This script will automatically reinstall Xposed after dirty-flashing a ROM (i.e. flashing it without wiping userdata). The linked post includes instructions to download and how to install it, and describes how it works.
https://www.reddit.com/r/xposed/comments/3u2xw9/release_xposed_addond_backup_scripts_it_keeps/
Try to search "xposed script after updating cyanogenmod" with your search engine

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