text:
change file system F2FS back to EXT4
Xiaomi Poco M3 (citrus) A-only (SAR) system-as-root device shipped with MIUI 12 Android 10 and F2FS (FBE encryption). I don't trust F2FS and want to run it plain EXT4 unencrypted. I formatted EXT4 and changed /vendor/etc/fstab.qcom inside super.img but that doesn't seem to work.
After I change back fstab.qcom to F2FS it works again (unencrypted) so this should not an issue with encryption or AVB/dm-verity.
$ adb disable-verity
verity is already disabled
$ adb shell avbctl disable-verification
verification is already disabled
$

There is no fstab in dtbo magiskboot print nothing.
$ adb pull /dev/block/platform/soc/4804000.ufshc/by-name/dtbo dtbo.img
$ 7z x Magisk-v21.4.zip
$ x86/magiskboot dtb dtbo.img print -f
Loading dtbs from [dtbo.img]

$

How and where can I change the default file system type for userdata?

note: for some reason there is also fstab.qcom in boot ramdisk (but also with no effect)


text:
How to kill an app in LineageOS 18 (Android 11) by holding the back button
How can I kill an app by holding the back button in Lineage OS 18?
One of the first things I've always done when installing a new Android was to enable developer options, then scroll down to the very bottom and enable the toggle for `Kill app back button"

Kill the foreground app by long-pressing the back button

I just upgraded to LineageOS 18, and I was very sad to discover that this option is missing!
How can I replace this functionality on LineageOS 18 so that I can force-close misbehaving apps by holding down the back button?

I don't thin that this is an AOSP feature (it seems to be a LineageOS feature). Based on your recent questions I assume that you were using LineageOS on your old phone? Have you also installed LineageOS on your new phone?

Yes, both are LineageOS. I upgraded from Lineage 15 (Android 8) to Lineage 18 (Android 11) and the option disappeared :(

To enable this feature in newer versions of LineageOS, go to

Settings -> System -> Buttons -> Back long press action = Kill foreground app

It appears it was moved from Developer options section to the Buttons section.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to get a list of all apps that start in Direct Boot Mode (Device Encrypted, not Credential Encryption)?
I want get a complete list including all apps (including system apps) that are running in Direct Boot Mode, therefore they necessarily store their data in the DE (Device Encrypted) area (as opposed to CE = Credential Encrypted Area).
Background: As of Android 7, FBE (File-Based Encryption) was introduced as an alternative to FDE (Full-Disk Encryption). Sadly, in Android 10, FDE was removed and everyone is now forced to use FBE.

https://source.android.com/security/encryption/file-based
https://source.android.com/security/encryption/full-disk

There are some apps that are considered "essential" and therefore they start-up on boot. As such, information leakage can happen if the phone is booted cold by an attacker. Such apps include:

Telephony-related apps
Alarm apps
Accessibility Services
Keyboard app to enter the passphrase
etc

For a given device, I'd like to get a complete list of all apps that are currently permitted to run in Direct Boot Mode, and I'd  like to remove them (Yes, I don't want my alarm to run in Direct Boot Mode. Yes, I don't want to be able to send or recieve calls/messages in Direct Boot Mode)
How can I get a list of all of the apps that are set to start & run in Direct Boot Mode, and whose storage is then necessarily using DE instead of CE?

As direct boot aware apps are identified by a manifest entry <application android:directBootAware="true"  android:defaultToDeviceProtectedStorage="true"> apps that read AndroidManifest.xml of all installed apps should be able to show which apps have this enabled. Not sure if there is already an app to summarize apps with that setting.

Android apps that can run in direct boot need to be declared in the Android Manifest as android:directBootAware="true"
To get the Manifest XML of an APK apktool can be used. https://ibotpeaches.github.io/Apktool/
You can write a script to achieve your result or else, do it manually.
Use adb and package manager to get a list of packages installed
adb shell pm list packages | sort

Find apk directory
adb shell pm path com.king.candycrushsaga
package:/data/app/com.king.candycrushsaga-1/base.apk

Download the APK
adb pull data/app/com.king.candycrushsaga-1/base.apk

Then use apktool on the output
apktool d base.apk

Then search for android:directBootAware="true" in manifest
If it is there, you can remove the APK with adb
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2507960/does-android-keep-the-apk-files-if-so-where
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4191762/how-to-view-androidmanifest-xml-from-apk-file/54874783#54874783

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


text:
Ethernet on Android x86
I have recently installed Android x86 on my computer and I am not able to access my internet via Ethernet, I only have Ethernet I don't have any Wi-Fi
Please help me

What Ethernet chip is on your mainboard? If your chip is not supported by the kernel used by Android x86 it can get complicated to make it work as you have to get the driver source code and build yourself a kernel module. https://groups.google.com/g/android-x86/c/tdp5vy-Ws2Q

My computer has a RealtekRTL8111 Ethernet chipset
Is that thing supported??


text:
How to decrypt android adopted storage without the key?
I would like to know if there is any possible workaround for decrypting the adapted storage. I don't care about recovering my data because I've got the backup already. I tried formatting the sd card several times from the custom recovery as well as from the pc with no luck. Since I've already formatted /data partiton of my phone, I got no way to recover my lost key. So is there any way to make the sd card usable?

You don't have to decrypt an SD-card to make it usable again. Once you have deleted all data there is nothing left that can be decrypted. Just delete the entire partition and may be the first sectors of the disc (not the partition) to make sure that the sd-card can no longer be recognized.

From diskpart to ease US partition master, I tried everything. Ease US partition master gives this error ---> "There are some errors occured while writing partition chains on disk". Windows tells there is some problem in my disk. When I try to fix it, it says unable to fix.

That sounds more like a defect SD-card. Windows diskpart tool does not care about Android encryption.

If it were a defective SD card then why would it still get detected on windows. Also, EaseUS partition master shows, there are 2 partitions on the disk.

Because flash memory often starts to fail on write operations while read operations still work. So a defect sd-card behaves often like a read-only memory system.

repartition MicroSD Card from PC card reader with gparted or diskmgmt.msc


text:
Must a device's bootloader be unlocked to temporarily boot into another recovery?
If I want to boot into a temporary recovery by issuing command
fastboot boot my_temp_recovery.img

must the bootloader of the device first be unlocked?

A locked bootloader boots a boot.img (or recovery.img) only if it's signed with OEM's private keys: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/218886/218526

@alecxs It depends on the OEM. I had a Nokia device which used to boot boot.img from factory firmware. Never tested with any other device because the very first thing after having a device is bootloader unlocking ;)

It does indeed look like an unlocked bootloader is a requirement even for temporary boots, the key message found is the Device not unlocked cannot boot
$fastboot boot twrp.img
Sending 'boot.img' (15240 KB)            OKAY [  0.510s]
Booting                                  FAILED (remote: '    Device not unlocked cannot boot')
fastboot: error: Command failed

$fastboot oem device-info
(bootloader)    Device tampered: true
(bootloader)    Device unlocked: false
(bootloader)    Charger screen enabled: false
(bootloader)    Display panel:
OKAY [  0.000s]
Finished. Total time: 0.000s


text:
How to turn off active Zen Mode?
OnePlus offers Zen Mode app for its devices as a system app. It functions more like an app in kiosk mode and gives you access only to one of its activities, the dialer app for emergency calls, and the camera app. The user cannot access anything else.
Works fine. Except that it also means the user is locked out of their device (which the user explicitly agrees to when using the app every single time) for X duration which the user had set in Zen Mode app.
Once in a while I feel the need to immediately access my phone because the objective I have in mind cannot be achieved without the phone. At that point Zen Mode comes in my way because I can't do anything with my phone except stare, in despair, at its countdown to finish.
Here are a couple of things I tried with no success when Zen Mode was active:

disabled Zen mode app using adb.
hid (pm hide) Zen mode app using adb
rebooted the device using adb
force stopped Zen Mode app using adb

If Zen Mode app is disabled or killed or hid when its timer is active, then irrespective of a reboot all I see is the launcher app with status bar hidden. If I try to open any app using my launcher or using adb, it doesn't show anything on the screen at all. It doesn't show any error either. When I re-enable Zen Mode and when the active timer expires then after exiting Zen Mode app I can see all those apps in the Recents View that I had tried to access when Zen Mode was disabled/hid/force-stopped.
I am looking for a way to turn off active Zen Mode in my rooted OnePlus 6 running OxygenOS (v10.3.11) / Android 10. How do I do that?

Note: this answer assumes that your OnePlus device has USB debugging enabled  and authorized already on an immediately accessible PC when you're in active Zen Mode. If not, this answer would be of no help to you.
Here's how to turn off an active Zen Mode. Run this adb command:
adb shell settings put secure op_breath_mode_status 0

That's it. Active Zen mode would turn off immediately and you can access your device to your heart's content.
Tested on a OnePlus 6 running OxygenOS (v10.3.11) / Android 10 with Zen Mode app v2.3.0 (works on earlier versions too).

Great answer. I have only one question: How do people find these settings??

@AleksG thanks. I didn't get your question though. What do you mean by finding these settings? Are you referring to settings as in settings term I used in the command, or the actual setting op_breath_mode_status? If it is the latter, I decompiled the APK of Zen Mode app and looked into its source. Came across that op_breath_mode_status setting at the center of action taking place in that code. Thought to give it a try and it worked out. That same setting was also visible in the output of adb logcat whenever Zen mode became active or inactive.

You answered my question: you decompiled the apk :)

@Firelord I think it means "how the heck did somebody discover that?!"


text:
"Could not find a part of the path 'C:\ProgramData\DroidExplorer\assets\[DEFAULT].png'" error message when trying to run Droid Explorer
I installed Droid Explorer. When trying to run it, I got an error that says

Could not find a part of the path 'C:\ProgramData\DroidExplorer\assets[DEFAULT].png'.

I put it manually at /ProgramData folder, but it doesn't work.
How to fix this?

I noticed there's a slightly different path on /DroidExlorer/ (the error message, without space) and /Droid Explorer/ (yours, with space)

Install Droid Explorer
Copy all the contents of c:\program files\droid explorer folder
Go into c:\programdata folder
Create a new subfolder: droidexplorer
Paste the contents into this new folder

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.


text:
Recovering data from Android 10 (forgotten PIN)
Long story short: I have forgotten the PIN to my Android device, as it wasn't being used for a while.
Steps that I have tried/am trying/planning to try:

Brute forcing - I have been trying to brute force using another Android as a rubber ducky (via Nethunter). But for some reason, despite using the right kernel and everything, I couldn't enable HID support, so it's still under trial.

I tried force-enabling "Use fingerprint to unlock at first boot", and could unlock the screen, but of course, the data was still encrypted. But this did help me tweak helpful settings like: "Automatically unlock when correct PIN is entered". A question in mind here is: Would enabling this feature, indirectly mean, bypassing the time limitations on the entry of wrong PINs?

TWRP brute forcing - I have tried the tool by timvisee: apbf. But it has its limitations and also, again, (maybe I'm not doing it right) TWRP starts entering PINs via terminal, but it does so even if the code is not running on PC. Refer: https://github.com/timvisee/apbf

Most complicated way - I have not tried this in the right way, but I believe, by extracting the hash and salt (somehow), I could recover the PIN. In short, there is a loophole in the FBE (File-Based Encryption) implementation, but again, I don't know the how-to's. Refer: https://bits-please.blogspot.com/2016/06/extracting-qualcomms-keymaster-keys.html (Obsolete for Android 10)!
Edit: Since I now know about CVE-2016-2431, I guess the required info can't be extracted by the old process. But again, I would like to know if there is a way to do it in Android 10

Making an image file - I have also thought of creating a raw image file of the /data partition in order to, either:

Decrypt the partition later by using tools like hashcat (don't
know exactly how) or
Downgrade the Android to a lower version in order to decrypt it (again, don't know if it would work). (This won't work)

Information about Android:

Device: RMX1921
ROM: CUSTOM - ResurrectionRemix
Android Version: Q/10
Root status: Rooted (USB Debugging enabled)

That's all the information I can give right now, and if you could throw any light, I would be very grateful.
Lastly, we have working methods for lower Android versions, so I believe there is a working way for higher Android versions
P.S. - I am willing to try all the possible ways, in order to save my data

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

Does this answer your question? How exactly does FBE's key derivation work?


text:
How do I change temperature units in "Discovery"?
I'm using a Pixel 3a, with Android 11. I have Google Assistant disabled in general, but occassionally go through the articles section that's still available and sometimes stumble upon the "Discovery" tab in other ways.
Recently, a weather/temperature bubble showed up in the corner of the assistant's "Discovery" tab:

Now I don't understand °F and would like to switch the bubble over to °C units. I can't figure out how to do that.

The weather widget on my home screen already shows temperature in °C.

The notifications for "Current weather conditions" are in °C as well.

If I click on this bubble to open full weather information, that also uses °C.

I even have location enabled, letting the weather page guess my current location.
(Although the current-weather notifications do insist that I live in another town a few kilometers away from where I live, with "AGPS reset" only helping for a few minutes, but at least it still gets the city right, so surely that shouldn't be the problem.)

My Play Store country is still set correctly.

Geolocation websites recognize my IP address correctly.

Is there any setting that I'm missing? Do I need to re-enable the full Google Assistant to find it? I don't really care about this weather bubble in itself (it just shows the same thing I already see otherwise), but the inability to change it annoys me every time.

From 3 dots menu

I don't have that menu, I only have the tiny "73° F" bubble shown in the screenshot and nothing more.


text:
Google Assistant working but not showing up
Since a few days, my Google Assistant has a strange behavior: when I long press home button, it works fine and shows himself like in the image

but this window doesn't show up when I say "Ok Google" or "Hey Google". The assistant does work and replies vocally to my commands, but I want it to also show up like in the image. It used to show up on voice interaction until some days ago
Phone: Samsung Galaxy A71
Android version: 11
One UI version: 3.1
Google version: 12.24.10.23.arm64 (updated on 23 Jun)

Just updated Google app and the problem solved


text:
How can I configure Android so that the background applications download and upload as fast as possible?
According to the screenshot below, background applications have a lower download and upload speed:

The screenshot says:

Keep the app open for getting the best and upload speed.

How can I avoid that?
I use Android 10 with Samsung Galaxy S9.

@Robert thanks for the comment, the screenshot says "Keep the app open for taking the best and upload speed"

@Robert  "aggressive battery optimizations that some manufacturer implement. " -> how can I know whether my phone has such optimizations, and how can I  disable them?

@Robert oh wow, sounds like a dev nightmare! Thanks for the information, I wasn't aware of it.

The notification "Keep the app open for taking the best and upload speed" is most likely shown by the app as there are a few known problems when apps running in background that could make the download stop so that the app has to resume (or even restart it if the server does not support resume) it which of course makes the download slower.
The main reason for the different behavior between running in foreground compared to running in background is the battery optimization applied by Android.
As Android is open source phone manufacturer have the possibility to apply modifications to those parts of Android Google does not covered by it's certification. Some years ago phone manufacturer have started to implement additional "battery saving" mechanisms to reduce CPU usage of apps in background (as far as I remember Huawei was one of the first, the other followed). The term "battery optimization" is a brightened description of "app killing when they are in background no matter if the user wants it to run or not".
Of course from a user perspective an app that just stops does not work correctly and thus the app developers have tried to find workarounds for this problem. But as every manufacturer implements the background app killing in a different way developing an app that runs in background can get pretty complicated depending on the phone used. A very good summary of the whole app killing problem can be found on Don't kill my app!. There an experienced app developer has collected information on which manufacturer and android versions affect apps in background in what way and how to deal with this situation.
So as a conclusion: The shown notification is in my interpretation just a suggestion by the app developer to avoid problems. An app running in foreground is usually not affected by those "battery optimizations" and thus can download the file in a nnormal way.


text:
How to get out of TWRP without touchscreen and functions
I am running LineageOS 18.1 on my Raspberry Pi 4 with 4 GB (using this ROM: https://konstakang.com/devices/rpi4/LineageOS18/). It worked, until I tried getting into TWRP to root the device. But, since TWRP is touch and I didn't knew this before, I got stuck since I have no touchscreen. Now, if I turn the device off and on again after a few seconds, it still boots into TWRP and asks me if I want to install it to /system. But how do I get into the normal Android mode again. And since the RPi4 has no buttons like Volume Up, Down and Power, I can't boot normally into the system. So how can I modify the files to get out of there or is there any other way to get out of TWRP without buying a touchscreen?

adb is enabled, use it

I could try that, thanks

I now found something interesting. I can't (somehow) connect to it via ADB, but I could connect the USB-C power cable to my laptop and could somehow control my mouse. Thanks to everybody who helped.


text:
Chrome using a lot of battery without being open
I got a new phone (pixel 4a) and chrome is using a lot of battery without being open. If I pause the app I get much longer battery life. When checking my battery usage by app chrome is always the number one.
For example, over about 8 hours it used 25% of my battery but was only open for 7 minutes.
Is there anything I can do besides pausing the app constantly to fix the battery usage? Should I just suck it up and hope an update fixes this?

May I know if you're browsing some sites with heavy processing, like YouTube (or video streaming in general) or browser games, for example?

I'm not, I only open it for random small things I google and then close it shortly after.  I usually don't even open the full app but just use the embedded single tab version.


text:
Stop outgoing SMS in Android without using operator barring or blocking
I want to block any outgoing SMS from my phone so that I cannot send SMS to anyone without using operator barring or blocking. I also want incoming messages to still work, but not outgoing.
Is there any way I can do that by an app, or hard coding, or ADB commands, or anything of sorts?

You should edit your post to include manufacturer/model/OS version of your device. Also include if you allow for rooting and/or custom ROM.

type *#*#4636#*#* in dialer, select SIM slot, save some invalid SMSC number (used for outgoing messages)


text:
How do I get "My APK" app to find my APKS file
I have installed My APK app on BlueStacks. It is very small but just barely readable.
I enabled its access to the local computer. The app is supposed to handle APKS, but in the APKS tab, it says no APK file found. I tried looking in the scan folder but it is unclear where it is actually searching in regard to Download.
How do I get "My APK" app to find my APKS file?

Sorry but I don't understand what you are trying to ask. You should edit your question and give more details what you are trying to do. In case the question is about a self-developer app please use stackoverflow.com as development questions are off-topic here.

It is App usage question. Some sent me a APKS file and I can't open it.


text:
Talkback speed is very fast, how can I reduce it in Samsung S21
I have Samsung S21 5G Android 11 mobile. This device Talkback talking speed is very fast that I am not able to catch it.
How can I reduce speed ?

On Pixel 3a, there is a Setting inside TalkBack menu about Text-to-speech, and there's a Speech rate slider inside it. Not sure what Settings are available on Samsung.

@AndrewT. Its working in Samsung too.


text:
Rebinding installed apps with Google Play
In order to carry out a country change, Google support told me to uninstall the updates of Google Play (which I see as a downgrade, to version 17), to change the country, and let Google Play update itself (back to version 22.4). It worked for the country change, but now Google Play will not propose any update for my apps. It seems that since the downgrade of Google Play, all my apps have been seen as third-party apps, although most of them were installed by Google Play. (I do not think the country change is responsible.)
Now I have all my apps without a link to Google Play. When I open the description of an app in Google Play, Google Play sees it is installed and shows the buttons "uninstall" and "open". But it is not in its list of installed apps, hence it will not carry out updates on these apps.
How can I have Google Play track my apps again?
With one app, I tried to uninstall and reinstall it (both inside Google Play), but it erased its settings and data... Do I have another options than lose my apps data (imagine with Signal...) or keep them without updates?!

Via adb you can uninstall an app but keep the data. https://android.stackexchange.com/a/66735/2241 Alternatively you can wait that the apps get an update. The last time I had apps not recognized by Play Store they got listed after installing an update via Play Store.

Just to clarify: The updates have to be installed manually the first time, afterwards Play Store will again recognize the app.


text:
Fastboot gets stuck on waiting for device trying to access Fairphone device on Arch linux
Basically through the fastboot "API"  i cannot access/see the Fairphone 3+, while theandroid debug bridge is working.
Using adb devices lets me see the device and adb reboot bootloader reboots the phone.
My steps so far are:
On Arch linux:

installed:  android-tools; android-udev and android-file-transfer

setup new udev rules for the device following this article.

SUBSYSTEM=="usb",ATTR{idVendor}=="...", MODE="0660", GROUP="adbusers", OWNER="..."
SUBSYSTEM=="usb",ATTR{idVendor}=="...",ATTR{idProduct}=="...",SYMLINK+="android_adb", OWNER="..."
SUBSYSTEM=="usb",ATTR{idVendor}=="...",ATTR{idProduct}=="...",SYMLINK+="android_fastboot", OWNER="..."

tried running fastboot as root

On Fairphone:

enabled Developer mode
Get the IMEI and SerialNumber to unlock the bootloader code
Enable OEM unlocking
when fastbooting (through adb)

i select START and continue with the boot process

** Connection attempts**

Trying both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports on my laptop
(The USB-C cable i am using is an official fp cable)

When now using fastboot oem unlock or any fastboot command i get stuck with <waiting for device>
Maybe fastboot cannot access the USb devices?
What do i have to do to actually be able to use fastboot?

What does sudo fastboot devices show?

"adb reboot bootloader reboots the phone" and "i select START and continue with the boot process" indicates you haven't entered fastboot mode, therefore fastboot commands can't work. enter fastboot mode with Vol Down + Power


text:
Lost Android phone. Google will not reveal IP
Is there any way an Android phone can be pinged or tracked by the IMEI number? My phone has been missing for 7 months now and Google tells me the phone got synced. It tells me the date and time and says Google knows this via IP address. But they won't reveal the IP to me. Does anyone have a way around this?

Yes, but whether you can do this, remains to be seen. Phones can receive commands through the phone network (not what you would see as the "phone's internet connection"), what is called the OTA channel. Whether they do is another matter.
Samsung phones can be remotely controlled via the KNOX subsystem, but your phone needs to be registered and you need to be its Knox controller (usually this is done for branded phones - i.e. Stark Industries purchases 1,000 phones for their employees, but makes it so they can't change the logo, or use a different SIM, or can be tracked if needs be). The same applies for iPhones. On both systems (I suspect all systems), what is seen by the user as "the OS" is actually a guest that lives at the complete mercy and sufferance of the underlying secure module, which always has complete control.
Unfortunately, while the owner can request for a remote factory reset, data wipe, and sometimes even a total system lockout (what is commonly referred as "bricking", but isn't a definitive bricking), locating the phone through OTA requires uploading a bespoke app to said phone, and this feature is not available to the average Joe for obvious privacy issues. It can be done and is routinely done in response to police requests, for example. If you denounce the theft, it is possible that such a request might be made. Whether the police will be able to pinpoint the location and recover the phone is doubtful, but once I saw this done for a tablet, so...
Another thing that can be done (and is routinely done too) is locate the phone by triangulating through the network carrier cells. This too isn't available to the average Joe, and requires much more hassle. It's only done to track criminals (or if you lost a phone with the missile launch codes, I guess :-) ). You can request from your vendor (with appropriate proof of purchase) for the IMEI to be blacklisted through the global database. Once that is done, the phone will be unable to connect to any carrier.
A more worrying issue though is that "Google tells me the phone got synced". What got synced? Your Google account? Because that would mean that the phone is still logged with your password, and you certainly don't want that. I'd disconnect the device and change my password ASAP.


text:
How can one paste to markdown in Android?
I would like to be able to copy some text (e.g., from a website viewed in Google Chrome) and paste it so that the pasted text uses markdown, e.g. to contain links. On Microsoft Windows + Chrome, I use the Google Chrome extension  Paste as Markdown
. How can I do that on Android?
I use Android 10 with Samsung Galaxy S9.

As you can see from this Stack Overflow post, Android does not support markdown (Markdown support in Android TextView)
You will need to use a third party app like Markdown X (you have many others in Play Store or from lists like Izzy's)


text:
Did Samsung disable the option to keep apps in memory?
In the last few days, I have noticed that the option to lock apps and keep them in memory seems to have been grayed out. This occurred after downloading an OTA update. I am using the SM-9981, with One UI 3.1 and Android 11.
Has Samsung eliminated this option in a recent update? Can it be re-enabled?

I  only heard stories that Samsung now aggressively kills apps since Android 11 though.

@AndrewT  In this case, the option is there but grayed out and impossible to click.

you can downgrade ROM back to same bootloader level only


text:
Recovering data from formatted sdcard in Android
I have a rooted android phone running android 10. My 128gb sdcard with filesystem exFAT, had data of about 100GB. When I inserted it in my phone. My phone did not show the sdcard contents and asked me to format it. So I formatted it and sdcard worked normally.
Then I tried to recover data by creating raw image of sdcard using
dd if=/dev/block/sdd  of=/mnt/meda_rw/BACKUP/sd.img

But this created sd.img of size 8MB which is equal to the size of current contents in sdcard(which android created automatically after formatting).
After that I looked up the mounted sdcard entry using df -h command, shown as :
/dev/block/vold/public:179,1    119G  8.6M  119G   1% /mnt/media_rw/AC8C-9FF9

Ran :
dd if='/dev/block/vold/public:179,1'  of=/mnt/meda_rw/BACKUP/sdd.img

This time, it created a raw file sdd.img of size 119GB.
I tried to recover data from the generated 119 GB sdd.img using testdisk, photorec, r-studio, disk drill etc. But none of them detected any file and showed 'Found 0 files & 0 directories'.
Note. My sdcard is stuck now in the slot & I cannot remove it as doing so might damage the pins.
Why dd cmd is creating sd.img of size 8MB only from /dev/block/sdd ?
Has the sdcard been completely wiped by android (during formatting process) due to which it is not possible to recover data now?
How can I recover data from sdcard now?

It is not possible to remove sdcard now.  Is there any low level data recovery method within android ?   I have chrooted linux in android phone. May be any linux utility could help ?

For Linux, as specified in the comment, Foremost can be used. For the dd image Sleuthkit with Autopsy can help. Another option is to use SIFT Workstation, in a virtual machine, which contains tools that can also be helpful.
Note that the data can be recovered only if the SD card was not trimmed:
If I reset my phone, will it also TRIM the fragmented eMMC?


text:
Chrome removed from launcher after update
I run EMUI 9.1, which completely supports Google Play Services (bought it before the ban). However, I used to update Chrome normally, but starting with version 91.xxx, it just updates fine, but the app icon is removed from the launcher, and can't start it.
Any solution? or I have to quit Chrome?

Are you using the stock launcher? Have you tried using a 3rd-party launcher? Or otherwise, uninstall and reinstall Chrome?

I tried stock launcher, and 3rd party launchers as well. Even trying to open a link won't give Chrome as an option although it is shown in installed apps list in system settings. I also tried both clearing data and disabling re-updating chrome. Nothing worked.

If it is listed in Settings->Apps & notifications, try setting it as Browser app.

Tried so. No luck.


text:
Updating rooted android through OxygenOS Updater
Forum,
I am trying to update my rooted OnePlus6 from Oxygen 10.3.9 to 10.3.11. For this I am trying to use the OxygenOS updater app, which is a handy software updating utility tool. When doing this, I can select an option "Keep my device rooted". Under this option the following description is provided: "When you select this option, you may specify a root package which will be installed after the update is installed. This ensures that your device stays rooted. Please note that this root package must be compatible with the NEW OxygenOS version you are going to install!
I have always used magisk to root my phone. I would like to keep it rooted, so therefore I was thinking to provide Magisk-23.0.zip as a root package.
My question is: How do I know whether magisk 23.0 is compatible with OxygenOS 10.3.11?

Install Magisk Manager in your current OS. The preferred way of installing Magisk as recommended by its developer is to load the stock boot image in the app so that it can be patched, and then flash that patched boot image. In Magisk Manager, tap on Install, Select and Patch a File -> load the boot image from to-be-installed OS (10.3.11 in this case) and see if Magisk successfully patches it or not. That's how you know whether Magisk would work with target boot image or not.

Thanks. Is this also the easiest way to update a rooted phone?

That said, everything you're doing seems overkill to me personally. Just use Settings app to update the System. It would remove your recovery and Magisk patches of course, but that's okay. This way, you would have a pristine working new OS build that you can manipulate without hiccups. Once update is successful, just use fastboot to flash Magisk patched boot image fastboot flash boot magisk-patched-boot.img. Reboot, and your device would have new OS build with root access.

Just 3-4 days ago I moved from 10.3.5 to 10.3.11 following the process I suggested.

Awesome, thanks. Am a bit new to rooting. The method with the app I just described unrooted my phone, So am now in the process of re-rooting it. Next time I will upgrade using your method. Related to this I have two small questions

where did you find the 10.3.11 boot image? I cannot find it on the official oneplus website, 2. Can I also use TWRP to flash this image? Not used to flashing images that reside on phone by using fastboot

Do some backup to PC although its not needed. You can delete it afterwards

@Psychotechnopath I didn't find need to find boot image. I applied the whole OTA using Settings app's default System update functionality. Once I confirmed that new build was working fine I downloaded twrp image, booted into it using fastboot, then copied (using dd) boot partition into a file (boot.img). That boot.img is the boot image I needed. // Yes, you can flash the boot image using TWRP.


text:
2nd Gmail account syncing only once per day
I am using the Gmail app on a Samsung Galaxy S8+ on Android 9 with 2 Gmail accounts and a Yahoo account. My primary Gmail account and my Yahoo account sync very frequently and I get notifications about new emails within 5 minutes.
However my secondary Gmail account gets far fewer emails and it only syncs once per day, in the middle of the night.  I've seen a lot of questions about this happening to POP accounts, and potential solutions to increase frequency by increasing the number of emails received. But this is a Gmail account and I should be getting push notifications with instant syncing, right?
Is there a setting to check? Or even though it's a Gmail account, do I need to write a script to send myself messages every 5 minutes?

Have you checked what sync date/time is displayed in the Android settings -> Account -> 2nd Google account -> Sync?

Do you mean "Days of mail to sync" setting? That's 30 days. Or are there other sync settings I can't find? Under "Data Usage" in the account setting, I see 1) Sync Gmail (checked), Days of mail to sync (30), Download attachments (checked), Images (always display), Enable dynamic email (checked)


text:
How do i move a folder to the root of my Android Device?
I'm trying to install a GPS apk (igo primo), I have the apk and all the files i need but i cant access the root folder the instructions specify.
The instructions say this :
"Move this folder to the root of your Android Device and install the iGO app inside."
Do i need to install the apk and then move the files, or the other way around?
Can anyone give me a hand, I'm not very good with this.
I apologize for my English
Thanks!!

i don't think they mean root directory. 'adb push app.apk /data/local/tmp; adb shell pm install /data/local/tmp/app.apk;'

I assume "root" is in this case from the perspective of a PC the Android phone is connected to via MTP protocol. Then the root folder would be the sd-card section /sdcard. To move a certain folder there would make sense for Android devices prior to version 10. After installing the app it could use the files stored in this folder.


text:
`mkbootfs` command not found while trying to build AOSP kernel
Followed guide here: https://source.android.com/setup/build/building-kernels
mkdir android-kernel && cd android-kernel
repo init -u https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/manifest -b android-msm-bonito-4.9-android11-qpr2
repo sync
build/build.sh

It runs for ~7min then fails @
Creating initramfs: build/build.sh: line 967: mkbootfs: command not found

I found the mkbootfs binary, in many locations actually, and all of them, when executed, say "command not found"!

I tried chmod 777 & chmod +x, but same issue.
Tried sudo as well.
I tried adding $HOME/android/aosp-kernel/build/build-tools/path/linux-x86 to my PATH but same results.

build\build.sh Line 967 is not where the mkbootfs cmd is, but it does appear on line 980:
mkbootfs "${INITRAMFS_STAGING_DIR}" >"${MODULES_STAGING_DIR}/initramfs.cpio"

What is the expected result when mkbootfs is run without parameters??
I'd think this would be easy. For some reason, I can't find anything helpful on the net.
Please help.

What about the system you are building AOSP on? Is it a regular x86_64 Linux PC or something different?

It is WSL2 running Ubuntu 20.x. I've successfully compiled several ROMs & kernels, LineageOS, without issue, so didn't think much of that. But I did try the mkbootfs binary on a raspberry pi 4 (debian) & still got "command not found".  Is that expected when executed with no parameters? I wouldn't think so.

You can't transfer a binary from an x86 platform to an ARM[64] platform, that will never work. You should execute file mkbootfs on the binary to see for what platform it has been compiled.

Thank you Robert - you sent me down the right path.  At first I was simply trying to determine HOW to validate the mkbootfs file - in the end, executing it should issue the error: "error: no directories to process?!".  I have no idea why my binaries in my AOSP directory, that compile just fine, dont work.  You actually taught me a few things as well about how to troubleshoot - and in the end, my continued search to find these binaries is what helped me fix it.  Now...how to report this bug to Google!?!

Issue:
Cloning the repo doesn't include these folders:

/aosp-kernel/prebuilts/build-tools/path/linux-x86/
/aosp-kernel/prebuilts/build-tools/path/linux-x86/bin
/aosp-kernel/prebuilts/kernel-build-tools/linux-x86/bin/[mkbootfs] (& more)
(maybe a few more)

Note: kernel-build-tools URL/Repo is on https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/prebuilts/build-tools/+/refs/heads/master/linux-x86/bin/
Band-aid Fix: (x86 Linux)
cd ~/
mkdir kernel-build-tools
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/prebuilts/build-tools
ls -l kernel-build-tools

Add build tools you just downloaded to the path: (this will work as the current user, NOT SUDO!)
nano ~/.profile

Paste the following lines at the end of your ~/.profile file.
# add Kernel tools to path
if [ -d "$HOME/kernel-build-tools/build-tools/linux-x86/bin" ] ; then
    PATH="$HOME/kernel-build-tools/build-tools/linux-x86/bin:$PATH"
fi

Refresh your shell environment: source ~/.profile
VALIDATE: mkbootfs -> "error: no directories to process?!" (This is good!)
I was able to compile it after this.  FYI, ~/aosp-kernel/ is where I synced the Android kernel to.

The procedure above also works for the following error: "build/build.sh: line 885: soong_zip: command not found"


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Android with USB C Hub and charging not working
I would like to have my Android device (Alldocube iPlay 7T) to be charged and simultaneously have a few USB devices connected.
Note - I'm new to Android - but needed this setup for a specific purpose.
I purchased a USB C hub with power through, it charges the device but the hub doesn't work. It's verified to work on PC/Mac.
Then i read that an OTG adapter is required for USB Hubs, so got one (USB C to USB 3) and I can connect an FTDI based serial port to the OTG adapter and a flash drive - but this doesn't work through a USB hub, powered or not (belkin) - these are also verified to work on PC/Mac.
I read about a guy in this forum that seems to have it working but he needed to update the OS, but he's hardware setup wasn't described.
Can anyone share what hardware setup and software setup is required? Is it required to brick the device and update the android version? (currently installed 9, kernel version  4.4.147)

Does this answer your question? USB C hub and charging at the same time

You need a custom wired you can find several instruction to do so on line !

@alecxs - thx for your comment - i did read that post, catfoxes didn't mention he's hardware setup. Also it indicated that you need to root your phone and install another android version. I was hoping that i didn't have to root the device (i'm new to android). I have seen a youtube video of an LG V30 where it seems PnP - even without OTG adapter. So wondering what the best (easiest) solution is to get it to work...

https://i.stack.imgur.com/x1eEf.jpg


text:
Not able to access /dev/block/sdbx in system app?
is it possible to copy /dev/block/sdax to /dev/block/sday in c++ with using system call,
example this should happen
dd if=/dev/block/sdb20 of=/dev/block/sdb43 bs=4096

without using system()?
I am not able to access /dev/block even though handled avc denials in repective .te file and running in permissive ?
01-01 00:00:04.259  4173  4173 I update_engine: type=1400 audit(0.0:319): avc: denied { read } for name="sdb43" dev="tmpfs" ino=13472 scontext=u:r:update_engine:s0 tcontext=u:object_r:block_device:s0 tclass=blk_file permissive=1
01-01 00:00:04.259  4173  4173 I update_engine: type=1400 audit(0.0:320): avc: denied { open } for path="/dev/block/sdb43" dev="tmpfs" ino=13472 scontext=u:r:update_engine:s0 tcontext=u:object_r:block_device:s0 tclass=blk_file permissive=1
01-01 00:00:04.259  4173  4173 I update_engine: type=1400 audit(0.0:321): avc: denied { write } for name="sdb46" dev="tmpfs" ino=1142 scontext=u:r:update_engine:s0 tcontext=u:object_r:block_device:s0 tclass=blk_file permissive=1
01-01 00:00:04.259  4173  4173 I update_engine: type=1400 audit(0.0:322): avc: denied { getattr } for path="/dev/block/sdb43" dev="tmpfs" ino=13472 scontext=u:r:update_engine:s0 tcontext=u:object_r:block_device:s0 tclass=blk_file permissive=1
01-01 00:00:04.146


text:
Can't install an APK from OneDrive on Android
Installing an APK from the Google Drive app on Android works fine for me after setting Google Drive on the "Install from external sources" list under Security settings to 'yes'. But the Microsoft OneDrive app does not appear on the list (even though it is installed), so I can't set it to yes. When I tap on an APK in OneDrive it just downloads it, it does not install it. There is also no permission for the app to "Install unknown apps" under app settings.
From the search references, I found OneDrive is included as a source from where an APK can be installed (sideloaded) and have not found any search reference indicating it is not, but I cannot get it to install from there. Have tried on three different Android devices.
What am I missing? Can anyone here install an APK from OneDrive on Android?

If you enable your file manager as an 'external source', you should be able to install the downloaded apk.

It could be a corrupt upload /download which is causing this

as @Neeraj say's download the file from Onedrive insted of install it from just install locally ! ;)

This is really frustrating, don't know what's the problem.


text:
AOSP Android 11 Kernel build for Pixel3a/Sargo Touchscreen not working
Intro: I had an issue getting the build to compile, but finally got it to successfully build/compile, & installed on my phone, as covered here: mkbootfs command not found while trying to build aosp kernel I followed the guide here: https://source.android.com/setup/build/building-kernels
BUT... I made NO CHANGES to the kernel as I want it to work first.  My phone boots fine, but the touchscreen doesnt work!  Am I missing something?
To say it again if I wasn't clear, I have vanilla AOSP Android 11, made no changes, compiled the kernel, flashed it to my phone, and the touchscreen doesnt work.
If I can't figure this out, at least I'm sharing a complete guide on how to build this...without a functional touch screen!
Here's exactly what I did:
PREREQS:
Unlock bootloader (not covered here)

Install kernel-build-tools (not included in repo for some reason):
cd ~/
mkdir kernel-build-tools
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/prebuilts/build-tools
ls -l kernel-build-tools
nano ~/.profile
Add lines to path: (this will work as current user NOT SUDO!!)
# add Kernel tools to path
if [ -d "$HOME/kernel-build-tools/build-tools/linux-x86/bin" ] ; then
    PATH="$HOME/kernel-build-tools/build-tools/linux-x86/bin:$PATH"
fi
Refresh environment: source ~/.profile

Install/Setup adb & fastboot
Download adb & fastboot & unzip:
wget https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-linux.zip
sudo apt-get install unzip
unzip platform-tools-latest-linux.zip -d ~
nano ~/.profile
Add lines:
# add Android SDK platform tools to path
if [ -d "$HOME/platform-tools" ] ; then
    PATH="$HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"
fi
Update environment: source ~/.profile

Install build tools:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y bc bison build-essential ccache curl flex g++-multilib gcc-multilib git gnupg gperf imagemagick lib32ncurses5-dev lib32readline-dev lib32z1-dev liblz4-tool libncurses5 libncurses5-dev libsdl1.2-dev libssl-dev libxml2 libxml2-utils lzop pngcrush rsync schedtool squashfs-tools xsltproc zip zlib1g-dev

Create build directories:
mkdir -p ~/bin
mkdir -p ~/android/lineage

Install Repo cmd:
curl https://storage.googleapis.com/git-repo-downloads/repo > ~/bin/repo
chmod a+x ~/bin/repo

Fix Python:
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/python

Configure Git:
git config --global user.email "[email]"
git config --global user.name "[user]"

Turn on Caching to speed up build:
export USE_CCACHE=1
export CCACHE_EXEC=/usr/bin/ccache
ccache -M 25G

STEPS:
AOSP REPO:
cd ~/
mkdir aosp && cd aosp
repo init -u https://android.googlesource.com/platform/manifest -b android-11.0.0_r38 --depth=1
repo sync

AOSP KERNEL REPO:
cd ~/
mkdir aosp-kernel && cd aosp-kernel
repo init -u https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/manifest -b android-msm-bonito-4.9-android11-qpr2
repo sync

KERNEL CONFIGS: (I did NOT do this; left here for reference for others)
ls -l ~/android/aosp-kernel/build.config -> [symbolic path to actual file]
->~/android/aosp-kernel/private/msm-google/build.config.bonito_no-cfi
Edit this file:
(orig) POST_DEFCONFIG_CMDS="check_defconfig && update_nocfi_config" ->
POST_DEFCONFIG_CMDS="update_nocfi_config"
*Note: This file indicates the kernel config file: bonito_defconfig
Edit & add to: ~/android/aosp-kernel/private/msm-google/arch/arm64/configs/bonito_defconfig
# Kevin added - IPTables TTL support
CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_TARGET_HL=y
CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_TARGET_HMARK=y
[Need a blank carriage return at bottom!]

BUILD Image.lz4 via AOSP Kernel repo: (I tried both)
build/build.sh
-OR: BUILD_CONFIG=./private/msm-google/build.config.bonito_no-cfi build/build.sh (if you want to specify a different build that the default)

CONVERT Image.lz4->boot.img via AOSP repo:
Copy newly created \aosp-kernel\out\android-msm-pixel-4.9\dist\Image.lz4
-> \aosp\device\google\bonito-kernel\
cd ~/android/aosp
source build/envsetup.sh
Setup device:
lunch aosp_sargo (Just lunch to get device list)
Make only boot image:
m bootimage

FLASH TO PHONE:
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot reboot

Uh android-msm-bonito-4.9-android11-qpr2 Why are you using a older (beta?) kernel tag? https://groups.google.com/g/android-building/c/aOj7GU1X3JI/m/cArgPnadAwAJ?pli=1

LOL sounds like youre on to something...I used that because Im new to this :)  I followed the Google guide https://source.android.com/setup/build/building-kernels & they say there to use android-msm-bonito-4.9-android11-qpr2 for Pixel 3a.  Did I read that wrong? Is there a better way to find out this info? Where? Thanks so far!!

Ah website not updated. Don't know if that is your problem or not. Anyway the Google group in the link of my prior comment is probably the best source (for Nexus/Pixel/AOSP building - anything else is off-topic there).

BTW how do "I" tell that this is an older beta tag?  I'm not sure what I'm looking at in that link.  Do you happen to know what "branch" I should be using, android-msm-bonito-4.9-android11-qpr3?  And is that the correct repo URL, "repo init -u https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/manifest -b BRANCH"? Thanks!

And looks like I dont have permission to post on there :(

That thread is the announcement thread from Googlers. Typically releases have no suffix or 'rX' where X is a number. 'qpr3' seems like a beta release. I would also check when the tag was created but that also assumes you are familiar with Android release schedule. You'll need to sign in with a GMail account (and may need approval from admin).

In https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/manifest/+refs the branch I used appears to be the latest Android11 for bonito (which sargo uses). Again, I'm not sure where else to look, or what I should be using, if I'm using the wrong one...

Assuming you found this similar but different device notes about touchscreen driver: https://groups.google.com/g/android-building/c/aOj7GU1X3JI/m/MvkGdhlrAwAJ and https://groups.google.com/g/android-building/c/ou630PviyDc

I didn't see that - WOW, so Google, for their own devices, has a guide how to build a kernel that is incorrect, and known missing/incorrect drivers, for quite some time?! Astonishing. BUT they compile this code & sell these devices, so are they not sharing correctly? I mean why must we download their repo, then make changes just so it works? I'd totally understand if it was a third party device but it's not. Bizaar.

& I noticed this bad driver on first boot, couldn't go any further...who knows how many other issues there are...is there a place u can download a working recent aosp kernel source for Google devices?!?

I spent a lot of time on the "solutions" on those links - with a production build its impossible to mount /system as RW so that appears to be a deadend. I also had to first get Magisk/root installed, and navigate the screen with ADB to allow su access from adb shell su...what a waste of time!!

Just came across this, might be the fix: https://github.com/facebookexperimental/ExtendedAndroidTools/issues/3 in: aosp-kernel\private\msm-google\arch\arm64\configs\bonito_defconfig WHY the heck would Google do that?!? (& how did THEY get it to work on phones on the store shelf?!)

I'd to know how an issue like this still exists, but here's the fix:
File: aosp-kernel\private\msm-google\arch\arm64\configs\bonito_defconfig
Change these to "y" & rebuild:
CONFIG_TOUCHSCREEN_SYNAPTICS_DSX_CORE_v27=m CONFIG_TOUCHSCREEN_SYNAPTICS_DSX_RMI_DEV_v27=m CONFIG_TOUCHSCREEN_SYNAPTICS_DSX_FW_UPDATE_v27=m CONFIG_TOUCHSCREEN_SYNAPTICS_DSX_TEST_REPORTING_v27=m
Also found here: https://github.com/facebookexperimental/ExtendedAndroidTools/issues/3

I'm pretty sure this means they were being loaded as separate modules so they could be updated or something. I know this is old, but do you still have the phone around to run lsmod on? On a stock build of AOSP, these four modules are listed.


text:
Messenger(FB) app that does not run in background
On Windows Phone and iOS messaging apps(like Facebook Messenger) simply use push notifications.
Is there an option only to only enable push notifications for FB messenger on Android?
Right now it continues to run in the background draining the battery.
So investigating some more, Lineage OS displays that background battery usage vs foreground implying it is running in the background for notifications.  "Force Stopping" the Android app and notifications stop coming through.  So the answer appears to be no.

Umm, on Android, background service is needed to receive push notifications since it's handled per app. That's also why sometimes apps don't receive push notifications since they're killed completely in the background by the system.

@AndrewT. doesn't that mean the more apps you have installed the greater the battery drain?

@AndrewT. what is Google cloud messaging then?  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Cloud_Messaging

@William GCM was the predecessor of FCM, but they are the same service, it became FCM after google acquired firebase. And no the battery drain will not increase if you have more apps because google uses a single connection to handle incoming push notifications, and then simply checks which app the notification is for and passes it on.

@Tim I can see the app running in the background and its draining battery so I don't believe that is correct.  Check out https://dontkillmyapp.com/

You are confusing the app running in the background with google maintaining a FCM connection. It's not the same thing.

@Tim here is a picture on my Motorolla phone.  https://i.stack.imgur.com/0dQyR.png  Messenger lite is definitely running.

See my previous message


text:
What content (exactly) is transferred during setup by cable, that is not transferred by other means? Pixel warns a cable required for "most content"
The exact official warning message shown on a modern Google Pixel 5 is a cutely worded "Copy another way? You'll get the most content, including photos, videos, and MMS messages, if you use a cable."
I am in the initial setup process/instructions, booting for the first time, and my Original Google Pixel 1 does not have enough battery strength to accomodate the risque "Battery Sharing" required for a cable setup, so given the limited options, if a cable Phone-to-Phone transfer is not able to work because you have battery issues, I want to know exactly what I am missing in my data.
What does "most" mean?
Error message reading ""Copy another way? You'll get the most content, including photos, videos, and MMS messages, if you use a cable." (emphasis added) as given at first boot, if you try to not use a "cable" method.

See What won't copy during setup

@beeshyams Distinguishing 'What will/won't copy during setup for a cable vs. other methods/means' is the question then. :) Which is implied to be better (with a cable) than other options (even though, if the reason for requring a cable for MOST transfer is security, I would do a background check and security interview in-person at a Google Store if I could just get Bluetooth or Wifi to transfer. If I need to authorize transferring my own data securely, I mean why is Google thinking for us, that cable/battery backup is the securest option, they distinguish as superior for basic backup methods).

A) Cable = "MOST DATA" = "ALL DATA"
B) Non-Cable = "SOME DATA"= "CLOUD DATA"
Hesitatingly, I finally asked in a Google Fi support ticket and that is the response I had to wrestle from the reps (who did not want to use the word "Cable" specifically, and in their wisdom specifically avoided the word).
Their support documentation does not use the same language as their User Interface, leading to misleading directions and ideas about what it means. (I gathered that some of the front-line support representatives did not know about the "cable" part from reading their own documentation pages they copy/pasted me as responses, before I finally got a clear answer. Meaning a random user who does not have the greater technical literacy, would be at their whim. That is not acceptable User Data Policy, for an adult company writing documentation, to not catch that glaring lack of clear language, and should have been noticed long before I had to formalize this report.)
On an official documentation/inteface-level that is appallingly not warning users of the SEVERITY of not using a cable transfer, saying "most" is definitely not clear/mature enough for a final warning message. (If you heard or thought that not using a cable would work to keep data that is not in the cloud, multiple Google representatives also thought so it seems, and I am thinking about the rules for proving the whole email support ticket, because there is a disconnect if connecting user's devices (especially when internally between Google the same provider) is not treated as important as enterprise data retention policies, why do companies get 100% guarantees but I get just a a cable warning, we're going on the sixth generation of Google Pixels and there need to be user-specific standards for once.)
It is already appalling that GPixel is not designed with removeable batteries (and we break our warranty if broken and repaired), and egregious to add insult to injury by making Battery Sharing the only way, to save your life's data. Can you imagine the abuse of an enterprise being told they need to use a terrible battery/cable or else?
There is not a technical reason for this that is not opinionated infosec policy (a policy that is not codified or codifiable into law, because it's stupifying opinionated conjecture [the idea you Users need a unreliable error-prone asking-for-problems "Battery Sharing" cable, and can not be trusted with the ancient litany of other great official trusted methods known to transfer data well and reliably just fine instead like Bluetooth and Wifi too] written as a wise/official-sounding User Interface security warning dialog as-if it is just "good advice" for a user who needs dumbed-down 1-sentence language yet is given a 100-page Terms of Service policy? Users paid your bills too, hello. My data is more important than saving face that "Battery Sharing" was a good idea for primary backup), thus unlike enterprise Data Retention policies which would GUARANTEE a connection and archival (and say Hello politely in every email personally and not using canned responses, for an enterprise superuser customer), we users are not given full information standards, our US congressional law does not speak the same language as coders, and thus users are forced by this to go through hoops.
In the Warning Dialog, We might as well write 'Fix with a new battery, or sacrifice your data', to save someone's life's data, which should be the point if not a corresponding documentation law, the User's Data should be sacrosanct.
If during setup "Battery Sharing" is not working, you must fix your battery first at all costs because there is not an alternative option, or your data will not survive, (Raw ROM copying is not a user-friendly alternative option, & Google could do much better realistically, it's not the user's fault if there are not full backup redundancies built-in, why are we forcing the only one option that may be physically challenging) so please make sure to do a full cable-only transfer to be complete.


text:
Will the fastboot boot ramdisk command boot a coreboot ramdisk to boot from usb/ sd card without mods?
Of course it has to be signed and not exceed a size-limit, but I think that custom roms or os's should come to a bigger audience without the limiting security and guarantee risks, disabling the ability to update for example.
I like coreboot because it can boot anything.
I hope one day a coreboot ramdisk would available for various snapdragon devices.
Then the playload can detect the usb/ sd card and fire the os.
Would this be possible?
Edit: Ofc not on Samsung, not even utilizing the fastboot mode.


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Android SM-A01F5 Stuck on boot loader
after attempting to flash the device using Odin3 I've got an issue.
got a Samsung SM-A01F5 Device which has the following issues:

Can't enter Download Mode
Can't use FastBoot to flash the device
Factory Reset (with wipe) doesn't change anything
Can't open SD Card directory

What it can do:

boot into the bootloader menu (the only options are)

start, restart, recovery mode, power off

boot into the  "Android Recovery" menu, with the following options (in brackets are my thoughts)

Reboot system now
Reboot to bootloader
Apply update from ADB (works but it limited)
Apply update from SD card (doesn't work)
Wipe data/factory reset
Wipe cache partition
Mount /system (doesn't work)
when doing this i get an error of ""Fail to find block device for partition)
view recovery logs
run graphics test
run locale test
power off

I've tried flashing these ROMs with Odin3

A015FXXU4AUB2_A015FOJM4AUB2_XSG
SM-A015F_1_20200302114054_jsgb2nfkoc_fac
SM-A015F_A015FXXU4BUD8_A015FOLM4BUD8_HiepGia_SSV

all 3 of these roms would get stuck on prisim.img
TIA.
Edit 1:
I have gotten the download mode on now, thanks.


text:
How can I disable subtitles by default on VLC for android?
I went to options > subtitles > and unchecked "auto load subtitles". Still every time I load a video it auto loads the subtitles?

Just to make sure, are the videos soft-subbed (subtitles are extras on the video and can be toggled on-off) or hard-subbed (subtitles are added directly to the video and cannot be turned off)? Have you tried playing the video with other players and see if they behave the same?

That setting you mention is as far as I know for loading external subtitles from a separate file. Most subtitles are however embedded into the MP4/MKV or what ever video container is used.

The videos are not hard subbed. I can turn them off in vlc once the video starts. They are embedded in the mlv container.

Wait, there is no way to turn off subtitles by default? What are the developers thinking? This is f'ing stupid.


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Are my personal files safe after factory reset?
I am planning to sell my phone Redmi Note 7 running Android 9 which is already unlocked bootloader but no root access, is my data can still be recovered through Android software recovery? I don't want the new owner to recovered my personal data. and I read somewhere that Android factory reset does not actually delete your file and still can be recovered. Is this safe to just only factory reset?

Most likely what you have read is at least 3-5 years old and refers to older Android versions before all devices are mandatory encrypted by default.

Android 9 has encryption by default. Factory reset clears encryption keys from TEE so recovered data cannot be decrypted.

Possibly related: How to make a complete factory reset, without anyone being able to retrieve my data?


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Confusion regarding Factory Reset via TWRP
Background The OS is Android 10 that uses FBE as encryption type.
Problem I do not remember my PIN, that would decrypt the files in /data partition, so I cannot unlock my screen.
Question I can boot into recovery (TWRP). And, naturally, TWRP asks for PIN to decrypt the files.
But if I choose not to enter the PIN, and decrypt the files, and go straight to do a Factory Reset via TWRP, will I be able to access my files (images, media) in internal storage? (/data/media/0/)

The PIN that you forgot is one of the  essential pieces to decrypt user data (includes /data/data/ and /data/media/USER_ID). If you don't have your PIN then you can't have your data. There is no workaround. If you can remember the length of your PIN, you can try bruteforcing through recovery (don't know if keymaster would slow this down). // Factory reset would delete all of your data including /data/media/*. Even if you do a partial reset (leaving /data/media intact), nothing useful would come out. /data/media would remain encrypted anyway without your PIN.

Thank you so much for clearing this out, I didn't have much hope as it is, regarding the data in internal storage but you cleared my doubts! Thank you again! The thing is it is either a 4 or 5 digits PIN ending with 7 and I need a custom script for that, to try brute forcing. And yes, I completely agree with you, it makes total sense.


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How does Google know whenever I made a login in Android?
Now a time, whenever you make a login or anything using a username or password, Google prompts you to save the password in your primary account.
Unlike earlier, when it was limited to browsers only, but now the prompt comes even when you're logging with an app.
How is Google able to know that it is login and they have to prompt to save password?

Because since Android 8.0 Oreo, Android supports autofill framework natively, and the input fields are considered as account credentials.
Android introduced autofill framework in Android 8.0 Oreo. It allows autofill services (e.g. Google Autofill, password managers, etc.) to save and automatically fill the data on autofill clients (e.g. Android apps) when needed.
To determine the type of the input, developers can rely on the autofill service's heuristics or explicitly give proper hints. One of the common autofill scenarios is account credentials, in which there are hints for:

Username (AUTOFILL_HINT_USERNAME)
Password (AUTOFILL_HINT_PASSWORD)
New username (AUTOFILL_HINT_NEW_USERNAME)
New password (AUTOFILL_HINT_NEW_PASSWORD)

When the autofill service detects these hints, it will prompt the user to save/fill the credentials.

P.S. the autofill service can be changed from the Android Settings by navigating to Settings > System > Language and input > Autofill service, or searching for "autofill".


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Can a WiFi modem be directly connected to an android and use the android phone's usb tethering (via an adapter)?
I have an old wifi modem which lacks usb port. I was wondering if we could an rj45 to usb adaptor to use the internet connection from the android device via usb tethering?
Or if there is any other way to achieve the said task, I'd be more than happy to know that.

I am sorry but what is a "wifi modem"? I know DSL or cable or glass-wire modem and I know Wifi router but I never heard of a "wifi modem".

@Robert we call all these terminal devices wifi modem (technically incorrect, i know). I am sorry, i should've specified that. And my question is regarding any device such with rj45 jack. I wanna know if i can use android phone's usb tethering feature with an rj45–usb convertor.

Any device will not work, at least the kernel needs to support it. And by the way the picture you have added seems to be an USB cable extender so effectively it is once connected a very long USB cable. Therefore it does not seem to be something you could use with this "wifi modem" ( whatever it is).

@Robert Sometimes people call modems that also double as WiFi access points "WiFi modems".

@Robert it's not a simple male to female usb; if you look closely, it is a female rj45 to male usb convertor.

@robert anyway, that means it's not possible!  :(. I hope someone knowledgeable enough writes such kernels some day.

@RockPaperLz I know, right. We all grow up calling a lot of stuff wrong or at least partially incorrect names.


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Can I use Odin 3.12.7 T Flash option to install u-boot onto my SD card without tripping knox?
I'm curious, if I can eventually dual boot on my Galaxy Tab Active 3, because some games are broken on the newest One UI and I want to take control over my OS without the limiting security and guarantee risks, disabling the ability to update for example.
However this question only focusses on the custom bootloader U-boot for the SD card.
Has anyone an idea if this will work, because it would be a huge step forward for the Samsung Android community?
Any answer is appreciated!

Does this answer your question? booting Android from SD card

No, since in step 3 you have to modify files in the kernel to boot from sd card instead of internal memory, which probably trips Knox, but since -t option is there, I wonder if it's able to boot from SD by default.

I accept answers to boot U-boot as secondary bootloader as well.

To my knowledge there is not a single Google Android phone that is able to boot from sd-card without any system modifications.

That's another thread I created, this one is specific about Samsung phones. In that thread it was not about SD but booting from ramdisk and then from SD, but else, why would the T Flash option be there?

Sorry but sounds like a myth, every post i found about T flash is talking about GT-I9300. Anyway to me it looks more like some read back option than external boot option, all it does is dump the bootloader off working device

Too bad, it only flashes from SD, can you please post it as an answer?


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Remove PDF "security settings"
On Android, is there a way or an application that can be used to remove the "security settings" on a PDF so it can be edited? The file in question does NOT have a password, so one it not needed to make it editable again.

Is there no password needed to remove the security settings or is the PDF protected in a different way? Were you able to remove the security settings of that PDF file using a PDF program on a PC?

One could use some online website, eg https://smallpdf.com/unlock-pdf, to remove the "security settings" on a PDF so it can be edited.
Note that one can't use the usual trick to print the PDF in Chrome to remove its security because on Android, Chrome cannot open PDF files.


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How to press power button using fastboot command?
I want to unlock my Oneplus 6 bootloader. But my power button is not working, so at the screen where I have to select, 'unlock the bootloader' I don't know how to do it without Power button??
Hope u could help me..

What actions have you performed so far or which tutorial for unlocking to you use?

fix power button before unlock

Ik that fixing the power button would help me.... But I want to know is there any fastboot command to simulate power button click?

there is no such command because that device is shipped with physical button from stock, why should it have simulation for? 'fastboot oem key 5' = is power button on some devices with no physical button only. fastboot oem commands are device specific and not standardized. if no custom command is available you should fix power button before unlock

Does this answer your question? What is the difference between fastboot oem unlock and fastboot oem unlock-go?

None of the suggested methods helped me :( I think the only option is to get my power button fixed.


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Samsung phone has a broken power button, no physical home button and no bixby button. How can I power it up?
I have a Samsung A20 (A205W) with a broken power button (probably water damage), the only other physical buttons are the volume buttons. How can I power it up?
Thanks

Volume Down + usb cable, then flash something and wait for auto reboot. Be warned this might brick in case power button is short-circuited (and interrupt flashing)

Thanks, I ended up pressing up and down button then plugging it in and it worked


text:
Can I flash a custom fastboot mode image on a Samsung device to boot custom devices without tripping Knox
I'm a noob and don't even know if these are seperate images, but I do know that Samsung has no fastboot mode as it is stuck entering it and instead has a download mode.
The question is, can I still put something there to boot, like coreboot, will it trip knox and will it be able to boot from sd card or an usb stick.

Even if it would be possible this would always trigger Knox. The bootloader software and it's state is part of the system state. What you want to do is not possible no matter how often you ask. If you want a separate OS buy a separate phone.

To flash custom image requires bootloader to be unlocked which trips Knox.

No sorry, now no one has to ask it anymore instead of me. I get it now, I only want to rule it out. It's awful to disgrace the environment throwing a device away because manufacturers make the freedom of the device disabled. You waste bluetooth, nfc, 4G LTE, Ram, SSD, display, glass, camera, microphone, USB and most important, the manufacturing of a battery. And please post it as an answer.

And otherwise you have to explain things more clear in your last comment.

it's common sense only official (OEM signed) firmware can be flashed on locked bootloader. this is for privacy security reasons. would you buy a smartphone where some hacker could just boot his own custom firmware on it? https://youtu.be/cTltHuEjTM8

You mean like booting Ubuntu touch? That's your freedom as a user! What are you talking about? Ofc I would buy a phone that could be revamped to anything you like! Anything to not trash another product by design.

It is not hackable at all because only OEM signed firmware can be flashed. no one can boot custom os/recovery like TWRP, by-pass lock screen and overcome encryption. locked bootloader is critical requirement for Samsung Knox. data security is my right as a user. Ofc Ubuntu touch or anything else customized can be installed on unlocked bootloader. What are you talking about? ;)

If you want your data to be secure, then you might as well lock your phone recovery mode/ bootloader with a password, which you can't. If data security is really a right, why do phones stop receiving security updates (Also that's terrible for the environment)? If you want data security, you upgrade to the Ubuntu Linux kernel which will always provide more security over Android and it's security is open source.

You don't got the purpose of bootloader lock. there is no need to lock recovery (bootloader?) with password because you can't do nothing. recovery has no availbility to decrypt/mount userdata at all. Tell me one single Samsung device where custom recovery is available with encryption support? bootloader is cryptographically tamber protected and downgrade protected. What's the average nand flash lifetime before eMMC wear-out? Which Samsung Knox device does not receive security updates anymore? Did you even watched the Video about Samsung Knox? Why did you even buy Samsung and not Fairphone+3?

Which custom ROM/recovery do you want to boot from sd card? Is this custom ROM available for your device? Does this custom ROM support Samsung Knox? Why don't you want to trip knox?

All galaxy devices older than 5 years don't get security updates, so just can get thrown into the environment. Recovery has full permission to wipe your phone, so what does it matter what you do with the sd card. I don't wanna trip knox, so I can still have an unmodified native OS and some other android rom or ubuntu touch, or chromium os or openbsd on the other partition. I bought this Samsung because it has a good app experience for it price, it's waterproof unlike my last phone which besides also blocks the ability to update after customization and didn't even have a sd slot.

This becomes kinda pseudo arguing. There exist no other android or ubuntu touch. ChromiumOS is for google notebooks only and you will never run OpenBSD on smartphones. Anyway, 5 year old device can get thrown into environment (or returned) because of emmc wear-out, and Samsung is the only company that guarant security updates for 5 years. recovery has limited permissions, wiping data does not harm privacy security (and activates FRP). You are free to unlock bootloader and still have unmodified native OS. But you can't have Samsung Knox without it's fuse

You sound just like the government. Besides, I belief someone is able to invoke their own code to run entering fastboot mode in no-time, if they wanted.


text:
Syncing Android 'Contacts' with an Office 365 mail account
My Android contacts used to sync with my Office 365 (exchange server) mail account, but this stopped working.
More details: I have a Samsung S10 phone running Android 11 (up to date as of this posting). I use the native 'phone' app (green background, white phone symbol) which in turn uses the native 'contacts' app (orange background, white 'person' symbol, version 12.1.20.11). Up until recently, after making a call to a new number, I could choose to 'create contact' from the 'recents' list, and that name / number would automatically show up in my Office365 account online and in my windows 10 outlook installation within minutes. Similarly, contacts added in Outlook on my laptop would show up in the Contacts list on the phone within minutes.  But recently, that stopped happening. I spent days researching, experimenting, and finally today I got it working again, but I'd like to see if others agree with my conclusions and also, provide info for others who may have run into this. (See my answer posted below).

I recently had a similar issue on my Samsung Galaxy S21 with Android 12.
For months the built in Contacts app would sync correctly with Office 365 via the Outlook app, but suddenly it stopped working, my contacts all disappeared, and wouldn't update.
Contacts showed that the last sync had just happened.
Things that did NOT help:

List item
Restarting phone
Toggling "Sync [office365] account" in Contacts
Clearing Contacts cache
Clearing Contacts storage
Checking Sync Faults in the Folders menu of my desktop Outlook client

What did work:
See screenshot for matching steps.

Open Outlook app on your phone.
Press the top left icon to get the menu.
Press the gear icon in the bottom left.
Press the account you're having issues with.
Toggle "Sync contacts" off. Close the app, and re-open. (Not sure if closing and opening again was necessary, but I did it).
Toggle "Sync contacts" on.

Hope this helps!

To address the issue, I first fully removed the Office365 / 'Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync' account at the 'settings' / 'accounts and backup' / 'manage accounts' screen (choosing 'remove account' from within the account entry).  I then re-added the account in the same area, using the 'add account' option, and then choosing 'microsoft exchange ActiveSync' option. Once added, I verified that 'sync on for all items' was shown for this account.  NOTE - removing and re-adding the account caused some orphan contacts that were in the phone but not office 365 to be deleted, so be warned.
I then went to the phone app, 'recents' list, and chose an unsaved number from the list; I then chose 'add to contacts', 'create new contact'. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT BIT ... the option is presented to 'save contact to', and it offers (in my case) 'Phone', 'Google', 'Microsoft Exchange Active Sync' (the list of options will reflect the number of accounts you have configured on your phone). It also has choices for 'just once' and 'always'.
At this point, before proceeding, I wanted to discuss this screen. In my mind, if you have a 'sync' solution for contacts, you should only ever have to 'save' a contact to the 'phone', since that's what 'sync' is there for - to sync the phone to whatever outside services you may have. You shouldn't be asked if you want to 'save contact to' (eg) Exchange ActiveSync.  But if you in fact choose to save the contact to 'phone', what I believe this means is, save contact to phone ONLY and DO NOT SYNC (even though you've elsewhere told the phone to sync contacts!). And if you choose to 'save contact to' Exchange ActiveSync, you are actually telling the phone to save the contact to the phone, and also sync the contact to Exchange ActiveSync. This further implies you can only sync contacts with one outside account, despite having multiple accounts configured on the phone.
Secondly, and still on this screen, the choices of 'just once' and 'always' are crucial. If you choose 'just once', you get to make the same choices next time you try to save a contact (and could choose to save / sync the contact to a different account), but if you choose 'always', that's it - you will never be asked again (until you delete the accounts, or some other 'reset' condition that I'm not aware of).
So - if you choose 'phone' as the 'save contact to' location, and assume (incorrectly) that sync will occur thanks to having chosen to sync contacts elsewhere, and then choose 'always', you will forever be saving contacts ONLY to the phone and sync will never occur again!
I chose 'save contact to' / 'microsoft exchange activesync' / always, and now everything is working as expected again ... but I feel that the logic behind this setup is a bit dubious.
Also, as an aside, during my experimenting I tried adding the office 365 mail account a totally different way, and 'things worked' but appeared differently.  Instead of adding back the office 365 account using settings / accounts and backup / 'manage accounts', I used the Android Outlook App, and chose to configure the mail account there.  In this case, when in the phone contacts app, and choosing to save the contact, the 'save contact to' screen showed the account as 'Outlook', not 'Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync' (same exact mail account).


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Having a phone with no call log
There are a lot of questions asking about unlimited call log. I have the exact opposite problem: I want no call log at all in the software.
Even with a phone with "pocket detection" and a complicated swipe pattern, I still happen to randomly call a number who called me previously and that I do not want to call (clients who do not see my number when they call me : I do not want them to have my number). For instance because of inadvertent manipulation, drop of water on the screen making the touch detection put my finger where it isn't, etc...
I do not care about privacy issues, I just do not want to have any way to reach a call log with phone numbers from the UI.
Is there any way to achieve that with android ? Maybe with a third-party phone app ?

Call logs are integral to phone apps and are considered essential, not withstanding your concerns. Therefore, it's unlikely to find an app that can do this // Use  of [tag:automation] tools to delete call records is an option, other being you write your own app for this

In line with automation suggestion, you can try MacroDroid //Set up a macro like this, make and save it. I haven't tested it but it should work

Thanks, that macrodroid solution looks like it's enough for me

Good. You can try that and if that works for you either post an answer yourself or ask me


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Voice Changer in Realtime GSM Phone Call
hello I was wondering whether it would be possible to apply voice changer on GSM Phone call in realtime?
If possible, then I'm thinking of using a voice changer mechanism to secure the voice data before being transmitted to the receiver.

There are any number of voice changer apps available in the Play Store.  They may or may not be any good.

yes, and I've tried several existing applications but haven't found one that works in realtime. Most app works by recording the sound first and then selecting the sound to be sent when a phone call is in progress. This is not what I need.


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Maps automatically searches for last phone number
I have a Pixel 4a, using Fi for service.
Build RQ3A.210605.005 (up to date, as far as I know)
Since the last update or two, I find Maps open for no reason. It's searched for a phone number, which I've never done myself. Over time I realized that the phone number is always the most recent in my call list... incoming or outgoing.
I don't use sketchy apps, so I doubt it's malware. Any thoughts on a cause, or a fix?
Thanks!

You say "Maps".  Do you mean Google Maps, or another mapping app?

Thanks. Google Maps.


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Zebra MC220K not working with local DNS server
I need help debugging something. My company recently purchased an Zebra MC220K, and it is unable to resolve internal DNS domains. I have tried all of the following:

Forget the network.
Enable / disable airplane mode.
Change the wifi configuration to 'static' and manually put in the DNS server that we use.
Install termux and doing a DNS lookup, which resulted in the correct ip should be referring to.
Factory reset the device.
Check a dozen other android devices (S8, S10, S20, Galaxy Tab, Google Pixel, etc), all of which work as expected.
Run an android 10 vm, which also works as expected.

I am at a loss, I have no clue why I am still getting ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED when using Chrome / Firefox / Edge / Samsung Internet / Brave / Opera. Literally any browser throws this error, clearly indicating something wrong in the software.
Are there any other tests I should perform, or do I just yeet back the product because it doesnt work?

For whoever is banging their head against a wall, turns out it is an actual Zebra issue. They do not use the DNS provided in the DHCP config and always default to another DNS resolver. The affected versions are OS build 10.16.10  LG44 or LG79.
If you require a hotpatch, feel free to reach out to their customer support, they will be able to provide one to you.


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APK signature scheme v4 can't be verified with apksigner
I am trying out the APK signature scheme v4 introduced in Android 11. I use the apksigner from the Android Sdk and it seems to work fine: it signs the .apk and generates the .idsig file as expected:
$ apksigner sign -v --ks ~/keystore.jks --ks-key-alias testkey app.apk
Keystore password for signer #1:
Signed

$ ls
app.apk  app.apk.idsig

However, when I use the same apksigner tool to verify the signature, it outputs the following:

$ apksigner verify -v ./app.apk
Verifies
Verified using v1 scheme (JAR signing): true
Verified using v2 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v2): true
Verified using v3 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v3): true
Verified using v4 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v4): false
Verified for SourceStamp: false
Number of signers: 1
WARNING: META-INF/com/android/build/gradle/app-metadata.properties not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
... # and a bunch of other v1-related warnings

So it successfully verifies based on APK Signature Scheme v3 and doesn't take into account the .idsig at all (modifying the .idsig file does not affect the verification result).
I expect Verified using v4 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v4): to also be true.
Am I missing something?

APK signature scheme v4 is a "detached signature format" which means the signature is saved in a separate file.
For apksigner you have to specify this detached signature file using the undocumented parameter -v4-signature-file <idsig file>.
So the full command for verifying an APK with detached v4 signature is:
apksigner verify -v -v4-signature-file <idsig file> <apk file>

The current version of apksigner seem to miss this option in the command help text but I am sure I had at least one version that already mentioned it (can't find it at the moment).
The parameter is e.g. mentioned in the source code of apksigner


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Download location of Aurora Store?
Working on an Android 6 (stock ROM) phone, which has only internal storage (no external sd card), and is not rooted.
Aurora Store is installed and updated on this phone via F-droid.
Aurora Store has a "Downloads" choice in its "hamburger" menu, where I see something like this:

So, clearly some .apk's have been downloaded - the question is, where?
I have checked the following locations:

/sdcard/Aurora/ - there are some random .apk's there, but not the two on the screenshot
/sdcard/Download/ - again, some random .apk's there, but not the two on the screenshot

With a bit of find, I also found the following location - but unfortunately, it turns out completely empty in adb shell:
$ ./adb shell
shell@DDDDD:/ $ ls -la /sdcard/Android/data/com.aurora.store/files/Downloads/
shell@DDDDD:/ $

My guess is, the .apk's Aurora downloaded are actually here - but I cannot access/see them, because I'd need root for that, and this phone is not rooted.
Could anyone confirm, what should be the default downloads directory/location for Aurora Store, on an unrooted phone with only internal storage - and whether root is needed to access these files?

Aurora Store downloads files to app-specific storage by default (/data/data/com.aurora.store/files/Download).
If you want to save APKs to shared storage to access them without root, in Aurora go to Settings → Downloads and switch on "User external Storage". After this, APKs will be stored in Android/data/com.aurora.store/files/Downloads under Internal Storage (typically /storage/emulated/0).

You are right - I had the same problem...
However, "manual download" works with this folder:
storage/emulated/0/Aurora/Store/Downloads/
...com.futuremark.pcmark.android.benchmark/
...4061/
...com.futuremark.pcmark.android.benchmark.apk

Unfortunately I do not see a directory called Aurora in my /storage/emulated/0 volume.


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Bluetooth Headset does not work with VoLTE
I have a strange situation where my Bluetooth headset does not work for (most) VoLTE calls. More specifically, I can perfectly hear the other end, while they are unable to hear me.
Is there a way to find out why? And how can I mitigate it?
Details

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T with LineageOS 17.1 (build from 12. July 2021)
AfterShokz Trekz Titanium Bluetooth headset
Using the German carrier O2.

What I know so far
Headset works perfectly fine for music, non-VoLTE calls, audio recording apps, WhatsApp voice messages, etc.

If I switch the audio to phone or speaker during the call, everything works as expected. If I change it back to the headset the other party no longer hears me. I can switch back and forth multiple times with the same results.
If I disable VoLTE calls the headset works fine.
The problem does not occur on all VoLTE calls, but on most. It seems to be consistent with the opposing party, i.e., happens all the time with caller A, happens never with caller B.
Most tests done in a zone with excellent LTE+ coverage (full bars and I can even see the antenna tower). The problem seems to be independent of the LTE tower or city I am in.
When on VoLTE calls, the audio quality is definetley better.

Ideas I had
My prime suspect is "audio codecs".
When I connect this headset to Windows, it appears as two devices: "hands free audio" and "stereo headset". And only the "hands free audio" one is able to also record sound. When I switch the output to "headset" the audio quality is worse. Also, when I am using the headset's microphone it can not playback music over the "stereo headset" device.
My guess is, that there is some kind of "high quality" audio mode and when on VoLTE calls, a better audio codec is used and the phone wants to also use this for the headset. The headset accepts, but is unable to do both (high quality audio and microphone usage) at the same time.
Is there a way to check which audio codecs are used? Maybe via adb?
I could change the bluetooth codec in the developer settings, but the list is huge.
Can I somehow determine which codecs are supported by the headset?

The developer options in Android settings app has several options regarding Bluetooth codecs.

I saw that, but there are so many options. I can change the AVRCP version, the codec, the bitrate and sample rate, the channel mode, and the LDAC codec ... some of which I don't know what they mean.

Try a factory reset of earbuds//to find out which profiles are supported, many apps are there (search for Bluetooth code info) // try with a different device


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What is the name of the install package and how to make it visible in Recovery mode?
Issue; when downloaded to a Mac, the .zip file was unzipped.  The issue was resolved by downloading files from the vendor with Windows.
The goal is to install the factory Android 10 ROM:
HE_FULL_UPDATE_10-16-10.00-QG-U00-STD-HEL-04.zip
and wipe the existing configured ROM.   The .zip file contents were copied to a micro SD card, which was installed in the Android device.
From Android Recovery Mode, I tried to install the files that were visible, however the failures returned are captured on the photo:

A list of files is returned by user@mac HE_FULL_UPDATE_10-16-10 % find .
./compatibility.zip
./.DS_Store
./care_map.pb
./META-INF
./META-INF/.DS_Store
./META-INF/com
./META-INF/com/.DS_Store
./META-INF/com/symbol
./META-INF/com/symbol/DeviceManifest.xml
./META-INF/com/android
./META-INF/com/android/otacert
./META-INF/com/android/metadata
./payload_1.bin
./payload_properties.txt
./payload_properties_1.txt
./payload.bin

For some reason not all file are displayed in Android Recovery Mode.   Which file is the to be selected and how to enable its selection from the Android Recovery Mode?
Attempt to flash .zip file failed:

For some reason, when the zip file was download to my Mac it was automatically unzipped into a folder.  I compressed the folder into a .zip file, copied it to the SD card.   The photo shows the results of attempts to install.

you must not zip the parent folder, only the subfolders and files. or tell your mac to just download the file. if zebra respect the standard file layout, recovery is looking for META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script inside the zip file (which seems missing) but of course vendors can have their own layout (like HTC)

flashable UPDATE.ZIP must not extracted. flash the file as it is


text:
How to disable showing home screen by swiping the locked phone
When my Android 11 phone is locked and dark, the Home Screen shows with some gesture. Or e.g. when putting the phone in my pants pocket, which I find annoying.
My previous phone has Android 8, which is too old to receive security upgrades, so I replaced it by a Motorola G20 phone with Android 11.
The old phone was nicely locked until you pressed the hardware power button on the side. This made it very hard to accidentally turn it back on.
The new phone turns on by the slightest handling, even without pressing any button. After a lot of experimentation I am still not sure which exact swipe or gesture turns it on
The phone has, apart from the large volume up/down button, two small buttons. The top one was assigned to Google Assistent, which I was able to disable. Now the top button brings up the home screen, the notifications, and the dots for swiping the unlock pattern.
The other small button brings up the home screen and the notifications. To get to the dots, I need to swipe up.
When the phone is locked, swiping several times diagonally brings up the home screen with notifications without dots. If the clock were an analogous clock, the swipes are roughly from 2 o'clock to 7 o'clock. I mostly need to do several swipes, sometimes 2, sometimes 4. I tried with multiple fingers, but it sometimes work with one finger, so I guess that multiple fingers is not a factor here. Anyway, I cannot conclude how many swipes are really needed. The minimum seems 3, but it can be that one swipe is enough, but that the other 2 were wrong swipes.
The fingerprint sensor feature is not set up.
My problem is e.g. that I do not know the correct android jargon which makes it hard to google this problem. This seems not to be: "anti-falsing" or "swipe unlock".
Of course, this is a new Android "feature" and should be regarded as a huge improvement of the user experience. In fact, I was stunned by the number of new features that you can turn on or off in the Settings menus. However, I like the old school principle of having explicit control, and a phone that is "off" until I explicitly press the "on" button, and not accidentally when I just grab the phone to just move it to another place on the table, or put it in or out of my pocket.
So how is this new feature called, and how to turn this off?

This looks like something that Motorola added on their own, perhaps Moto Actions? Otherwise, try searching "gesture" from the Settings app?

@AndrewT. Great link! This app is not available for my Moto G20, probably because those moto actions are standard built in. I searched settings for Gesture, and tried turning off Sensitive Content "Show controls when locked", in the Power Menu "Show device controls" settings. This because, from other settings descriptions, the feature I am complaning about might be called something like "show notificatins when locked". It might take a while for me to confirm if my problem is solved

@AndrewT. problem still not solved :-(

if a password protected phone is being simply unlocked by simply swiping the home gesture, it's probably a security flaw and you're requested to contact motorola for the same.
if the device isnt set up with a secure locking mechanism, there's nothing you could do for now

The swipe does not unlock the phone, but it turns the backlight on, shows the background image of the home screen, and the notifications. To actually open the phone, you still need to enter the unlock pattern. My problem is that I don't want to have the backlight turn on with an accidental swipe, without pressing a button. The accidental swipe does not unlock the phone so it is not a security flaw.