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Is it possible to force a phone to use USB for data but not charge from it?
My plan is to use my phone (Google Pixel) as a screen for a raspberry pi, and I'm worried that my power supply isn't sufficient. Is there a way to prohibit the Pixel from charging while still maintaining data flow? I haven't done much electrical work and I don't know if phones are equipped with this option, let alone if it's even possible. My power source is, if memory serves me, 3000 mWh, capable of 5 volt 2 amp (I can verify later if that turns out to be important).
UPDATE:
Upon some deeper searching, (not sure how I missed it to begin with), I found some posts suggesting commands such as echo 0 > /sys/class/power_supply/batterycharging_enabled/charging_enabled. My updated question is, then does this actually work? How does it work?

When the kernel detects power supply, it just enables the charging_enabled, so that the device gets charged (and the opposite for disconnection of power supply). As a root user, you can manually disable it. That's how it works. What more do you expect? :)

I'm looking for the same thing but for a different phone.

@GokulNC It depends. It's possible that there is a charging circuit that always charges the battery and then it informs the kernel and the kernel sets that flag to inform applications.

@MarkYisri The kernel can control the charging circuit too.. It's just a matter of what registers are set in the power IC. As an exercise, try disabling that flag when your device is being charged and leave it for an hour, and then enable it again. Do you think the battery level indicator of your device would show a higher value? Nope..

@MarkYisri that's exactly what I was wondering, I wasn't sure whether the charging circuit was capable of being controlled

@GokulNC your second comment gives the clarification I was looking for, I didn't realize that the kernel could control charging. Many thanks!

Considering usb C can send power in both directions, I'm assuming you can set the phone to power an external device using in phone settings, and this way you would avoid it pulling power from your source.
A side note though : 2A is quite a number, unless you're running rpi hot or powering something else my educated guess is that it should be enough for both.

I would tend to agree, except I think the Pixel is capable of charging at 3 amps. Moreover, with just 3000 mWh I'm hoping to make the battery last as long as possible. Even if it could handle it, I'd prefer not to. That's an interesting point you make, thanks!

@Silew My 2013 tablet will not charge unless I give it at least 2A.


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Is it safe visiting Droidmodapk.com?
Should I visit Droid Mod Apk site for Android Apps?

It hosts modded apps. No wonder it is unsafe for consumption. // Am I alone here suspecting this post as a potential spam to us?

OP: It's just a matter of trust.. You download apps from Play Store & use it because you trust Google. As far as I can see, since the apps over the site are modded ones, you can't be sure if it's safe. But I think you may use the apps, since it's a famous reputed site & you may use it for day-to-day purpose from my point of view.. (The site just hosts modded apk's, they are not modders I guess) // @Firelord I think the OP's question is genuine, he has no intention of spamming, eventhough the question seems to be off-topic for me.. How to deal with these kinda questions btw??

To close-voters: we do have several previous questions in the same form, of which some have been closed.

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the original site is dead and now it redirected to a questionable Chinese site.

No. App piracy sites like this one are unsafe to download apps or games from. Usually the apps you're downloading have malware added to them, and sometimes they have only the malware and don't even contain the app they claim to.
We get so many questions on this site from people who install malware onto their own phones and then can't remove it: sometimes even a factory reset, deleting all the user data, is not enough.
Online security is mainly about thinking about motivation and trustworthiness. If this site really had access to all these paid apps and games, why would they run a high-traffic website - effectively paying for you to download them? If they didn't expect to get a big reward - by turning your phone into a botnet or stealing your data - why would they bother putting in all the SEO keywords? (SEO keywords are those repeated phrases you see on the site, like "APK OBB for Android download" on every link. Repeating the same phrase on every link isn't something an honest website does, because it makes the design worse, but dishonest websites do it to improve their Google rank.) Not having any contact information - or any clue about who operates the website - listed on the site is another red flag. Even the whois data - the official internet record of who owns and operates the site - is hidden behind a company in Panama.
Consider all those factors and then decide if you want to install software that you got from these people.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Enable direct share in Samsung S7
I had OPT and the direct share option is a great feature.
However it looks like it's missing on my Galaxy S7.
Is there any way of enabling it?

Got it.
Settings > Advanced Features > Direct share

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


text:
Use Idle resources permission
Some apps ask us to use the idle resources in return for the services. Like Androdumper or Pro pack in mini militia. What exactly do they mean by this idle resources?


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How to read and edit all the /system files from TWRP without root?
I want to edit my hosts file(/system/etc/hosts)to block ads. I thought to boot from the recovery and edit it from using the Advanced/Terminal utility. I realised that I was root(the mark was #). I ran cd /system then I ran the ls command but the only visible file was the bin directory.
I tried to run cd etc but it didn't work.
How can I access them without root my device?

Did you mount your /system partition in read-write mode from the Mount tab?

Go to mount and tick system. You should see the files now.

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


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Why does only the German (Switzerland) Gboard layout have umlauts?
I was looking for a way to add umlaut keys to my German keyboard and found this workaround. I can't imagine why Google did not manage to include them in 7 major versions (I am using 7.1.1). Especially considering that Germany has a population 10 times the size of Switzerland.
Is there a sensible (technical) reason why only the Swiss variation of the German keyboard has keys for the umlauts ä, ü and ö?

Something must be wrong on your side then, because I use the German (Germany) layout all the time and umlauts can be accessed either by casually swiping or long-pressing the base characters (a, o and u).

You did not read my question properly. I am talking about dedicated keys.

As of the latest version (8.0.5), Gboard supports dedicated keys for umlauts on all German keyboards.
However, they will only show on the German variant of the keyboard, instead of the default QWERTZ variant on some locales (e.g. Germany, Austria), excluding the exclusive Swiss variant on the Switzerland locale.

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


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How can I copy *everything* from one phone to another?
I have a Galaxy S7. I bought a Galaxy S8. I prefer answers that are more general, but I will accept answers specific to copying the experience between these two phones.
I have tried a few options to "copy" everything, including Samsung Backup, Google Backup, and Smart Switch. However, some things were not copied over:

Accounts. I have to log-in to Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Splitwise, etc.
TouchWiz "Always On" screen configuration (especially the appearance of the clock).
TouchWiz screen resolution and font size.
Homescreen. The background transferred, but the app icon layout and widgets did not.
App settings. The installed apps transferred, but their settings did not. It's like a fresh installation of every app.
Ringtones. I installed and chose custom sounds for notifications and calls.

There are probably other things missing that I just haven't discovered yet. I know from long experience that text messages do not transfer, so I'm in the habit of using SMS Backup and Restore.
Some of these things might not be transferable by any means (I can see this being true for accounts, and probably my authenticators), but I suspect I am just missing "the right answer" for others.

I don't think you can copy everything. Google and other accounts you have to add manually. Backup may copy files, but the TouchWiz things won't be copied. Apps cannot be transferred with settings, nor can ringtone settings be transferred.

To transfer all your files from one Samsung to another all you need is Smart Switch. Download it from Samsung or Google Play. After download, install, get the necessary cable then you good to go. By the way all the instructions you need is on the app itself. Enjoy!

I already tried that (and mentioned it in my original question). It doesn't copy everything.

For example account settings (cloud, email, calendars) doesn't sync. And that's a PITA


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Playing live streams directly from web page?
do you know is there any way to watch VLC streams from my android phone (nexus 5)? I found several pages that provide streams directly (e.g. http://www.gletvuzivo.pw/2015/02/rtl-2-uzivo-stream.html) and in this example you can see that first two tabs require x-google-vlc-plugin to play the stream. I can use the link with flash player but I'd prefer to watch them via VLC (either VLC player for android or directly from web page).
Is this even possible?
I'd like to thank anyone in front for the answer.
Regards, Yowitza

i think MX player is better than VLC so you can try Live Streams
or for VLC
Open Chrome web browser, browse to chrome://plugins
Now, you will see an option, “VLC Web Plugin”. If this line is available, you have successfully installed the VLC player plugin for Chrome.


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How do vendors flash ROM in Android phones during manufacture?
When Android phones are manufactured, during their factory state they are just an electronic hardware with no piece of software in them. How does a vendor install its stock ROM if those new phones cannot communicate with PC? Is it done through a specialized flash tool which programs the chip for the first time?
Vendor's service centers even recover completely hard bricked Android phone and cost you high price for that. If flashing stock ROM in an empty hardware is so easy for them then why a normal user has to go in so much trouble to treat his hard bricked phone when an easy and free online solution can be provided by the vendor itself.
In my view completely hard bricked phone is equivalent to the newly manufactured device which is yet to be flashed with stock ROM because hard brick loses its ability to boot or enters into recovery mode.

If a solution to a hard brick was free, from where do you think that vendor service centers would make money? #D

I don't know how phones are exactly made but in factories I have been
to they had some sort of automated flash programmer such as this one:
http://www.bpmmicro.com/. These programmers automatically put a ready
software image - bootcode, Linux, userland programs onto thousands of
NOR/NAND flash chips. Flash memory is programmed before assembly
process is started so that ready pre-programmed flash memory can be
used.


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How to add the voice typing key to the LG keyboard on Android 6?
How can I add the voice typing key to the LG keyboard on Android 6? I use an LG 4.
E.g. on Gboard I could:
(Click image to enlarge)

Here it goes:
Open Settings → Language and keyboard → LG keyboard settings and there go to keyboard height and layout, then to QWERTY keyboard layout.
There you will have option to rearrange some buttons. One of them will be settings button (a gear like button). On it will be 3 dots. Tap it and the microphone icon will show up. Just tap on it and you are good to go.
(Click image to enlarge it)


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Different app language from system language
I maybe am wanting the impossible
I want the system to speak Dutch  but also that the apps stay speaking english
I can change the system language to Dutch but then many apps also start speaking Dutch and that I don't want
The idea behind is just a very crude safety measure at startup as non Dutch speaker you are lost so the number of potential users is severely restricted :)
While I can use English for the rest
But is this possible?

If I may, by knowing the general layout of the Android OS Settings, one intruder could change the system language with relative ease, even if the language was Chinese. Did you consider more proactive measures?

I don't think you can, unless it's a rooted phone. Apps will always be shown in the system language if a translation is available. English is used as a last resort. Not to mention this is a very poor security measure.
Root option: install Xposed, look for a module named App Locale.


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Can't set Android emulator date - stuck on 1/1/1970
I am having trouble manually setting the date on my android emulator.
I am using an ARM AVD which is running on a Windows 10 Virtual Machine (no Intel HAXM available), and the emulator is being run with the "-gpu swiftshader" option.
I tried setting the date both from the Android UI (the settings menu) and from the shell (adb date -s command with root privileges) with no success. The date keeps beeing stuck on 1/1/1970.
I Also tried changing my AVD's and the Android versions. I tried it on Android versions 2.3, 4.2, and 4.4. None of them worked.
What might be the problem? Any ideas?

I use Eclipse Oxygen.3a Release (4.7.3a)
I had the same problem.
I resolved checking "Snapshot" in Emulator Options (in Android Virtual Device Manager).
When you launch the Emulator you'll see your current date and time.


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How to restore contacts from Google account?
I backed up my contacts to Google account using Gionee S-plus through       "Settings/Advanced settings/Backup & reset/System backup and restore/Backup to Storage"  .
Pls how will i restore my contacts using Gionee M2.

In Gionee M2, go to Settings > Account > Google then put your Google account and password. Now you should see Sync, check contact in the list. Let it sync and go in the Contact app you should have all your contacts back.


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Uninstalled system applications appear after reboot on HTC Desire X
I have tried a lot of things which mentioned in different forums such as:

delete using root ES File Explorer.
delete apk files from /system/app.
clear Dalvik cache after uninstall (manually removing /data/dalvik-cache and /cache/dalvik-cache and using CWM recovery.
all mentioned earlier together several times.
Even reinstall ROM wiping data/factory reset and clearing Dalvik cache using recovery.

But no result. And  I get something like this on startup if I clear Dalvik
 cache:

So there is a location from where OS gets these apps, isn't it? How can I get rid of these redundant apps?
Update:
Here a link where I downloaded ROM: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2249760

Those sounds like malwares. They usually get rid of by flashing the whole data and system partitions. Try find a RUU file and flash your phone.

I fixed it by enabling S-OFF on my device. Here more details https://androidforums.com/threads/uninstalled-system-applications-appear-after-reboot-on-htc-desire-x.1178166/#post-7596175

Please include the link's relevant info in your answer, as links tend to become invalid over time.


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Wileyfox Swift Mobile data not working after update to Nougat 7.1.1
I recently applied the Android Nougat 7.1.1 update to my partner's Wileyfox Swift.  This update replaced Cyanogen with a more stock install.  Since the update, mobile data no longer works.  Symptoms:

In the status menu, it says "Emergency Calls Only", but the phone can in fact make calls and send texts as normal.
In Systems > SIM cards, it shows the SIM card for Three UK ('3') installed in slot 1.

Under "Preferred SIM for", it says "Mobile data: Selection required", but this item is greyed out so no selection can be made.  (For Calls and SMS messages, it correctly shows that the '3' SIM is selected.

In Settings > Data usage, under '3' it shows that mobile data is enabled.
In Settings > Mobile network settings > APNs, it shows the '3 UK' APN selected.  APN details are as specified on the three.co.uk website.
In Settings > About phone > Status > SIM Status, it shows the network (3), Signal strength (-73 dBm 20 asu), Mobile network type (HSPA), Service status (In service), Mobile network status (disconnected) and My phone number (Unknown).

I have tried rebooting, as well as booting without sim then rebooting with.
What could be preventing mobile data from working after an update to 7.1.1?

Overall it looks like a issue related to the kernel. I would say it would be possible to fix this just by installing another version and/or install a custom kernel which very likely fix this issue if it is related to the kernel. While you are trying this I would also recommend contacting the developer and reporting this issue. Also try another Simcard slot if you can. I had a similar issue sometimes with my phone too but a reboot fixed the issue usually.

I managed to make it work, buy following the instructions below:

Wiped the cache  (not sure if this is related or not, but I did it)
Removed All APNs, disable mobile data, Reboot the phone
Create a new APN and set "Bearer type" of the APN to "GPRS,LTE,EDGE" and un-checked the first item "unspecified", and save the APN.

Reboot the phone, Enable mobile data.


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What is the difference between Mobile Data and Data Roaming?
I just need some explaintions regarding these Mobile Data and Data Roaming. Turning-on the Mobile Data alone won't let me go online. So, I need to enable the Data Roaming first before my Smartphone can go online.
Questions:

What's with Data Roaming? Why I need to turn-on the Data Roaming before I can go online?
What's the difference between Mobile Data and Data Roaming?

I would be happy if someone can answer my queries. Thanks :)

Where are you using your phone and where was your SIM card registered?

Actually, I'm from Philippines. I never go abroad. My SIMcard is currently Plan with 300 pesos fixed load and unlimited Internet to Facebook and Viber only. Everytime I go online, I need to enable first the Data Roaming before I can browse to my facebook app.

Both are the same except Roaming is when you get your home carrier data connection using onather network. The same apply for calls.
Usually using your phone on roaming can cost additional fees so always contact your carrier for informations.

Mobile Data is Internet access via mobile signals (4G/3G etc.)
From home.bt.com article

Data roaming is the term used when your mobile phone is using data on a mobile network, away from your home network, while you're abroad.

So whenever you're using mobile data outside your registered region, you're roaming your data. While Data Roaming is active, higher data fee often applies.
Go Google.

Mobile data is the one which allows your phone to connect with the internet. But if you are away from your home location or if you have purchased your sim card somewhere else, then your mobile network will be on roaming. This means that every time you initiate a connection, the signal has to connect to a network that is different from your home location. This is because, your cell network is only registered to a particular region. So, if you move beyond that region, you have to enable roaming to use the mobile data, because you are roaming.


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Mobile data not working
I have a Samsung Galaxy J510-MN (Latin American version) which I have bought from Mexico (Android 6.0.1). Now, I returned to Germany and put a German SIM Card (Fonic/o2). I get network connection, phone and SMS function works. But, I can't get mobile data. I do have the card charged and I already got mobile data settings sent to my phone by phonic, but still it doesn't connects.
How can I solve this? Or might it be a hardware problem, e.g. my phone can't receive the frequency they used in Germany?

Check the frequency bands you're SIM provider is using from this website. http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html as per the notes, USA double band will not work with Europe double band and vice versa. Let me know whether this has answered your query such that I can post it as an answer.

Have you tried to change the Network connection in settings? If 2G only or 3G only works, then it might be a band problem.


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Is it possible to have the alarm sound in Max Power saving Mode?
My Samsung A3 has a function called Max Power Saving Mode which I assume is Samsung's version of Ultra Power Saving mode. I find it very helpful sometimes but when this mode alarms dont go off. Is there any way to allow alarms ( set in the clock app) to go off in this mode? I've checked through the settings for this mode and I can't find anything which allows it. I've searched the web and I couldn't fine anything about this though I did find some stuff on UPSM but the settings didn't seem to match.

I discovered the answer literally 1 minute after asking the question so I thought I'd answer it myself in case it's of any advantage to anyone else.
There's a very simple ( but quite odd in my opinion ) solution to this. Simply adding the clock app to the the shortcut screen of Max Power Saving Mode ( by clicking one of the plus signs ) solves the issue completely.
With the shortcut added - the alarm sounds. Without it - silence.

This works because only apps on the home screen of max battery saver are kept on. All others are turned off to save battery life.


text:
Music Player won't detect music on USB. Galaxy S7
For some strange reason, my media player (I have tried MediaMonkey and Google Play Music) won't detect my music on my new USB. I can play music when I select the music file from the file explorer, but the music won't show up in either music player. I have checked to make sure there weren't any .nomedia files, and I selected the USB as the storage device in both MediaMonkey and Google Play Music. I refreshed and cleared caches, but none of these things help. And yes, the music files are supported by the players (I have both .mp3 and .flacs, niether show). Also, the files work fine on my PC, so I know they aren't corrupted or anything like that. I have also restarted my phone several times.
Phone: Samsung Galaxy S7
OS: Android 7.0

Possible duplicate. Check here. The answer comments indicate that play music runs of media server. Which will scan your Internal storage and SD card but not your usb stick connected through the OTG. https://android.stackexchange.com/q/125290/145490

Okay, so I just ended up buying Poweramp. It didn't have any issues reading the files off the USB. Sadly this cost me an extra 4$, but I was sick of trying to get Google Play to read the files properly.


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Customize on-screen function buttons on Insignia Flex tablet
We just bought an inexpensive, low-end Android Tablet (the Insignia Flex 8") running Android 6.0.  The navigation bar buttons (which are also called, apparently, the "Home Touch buttons", "On-Screen Virtual Buttons", are the default set of three: Back, Home and Overview buttons (the same set shown in What is the offical name of the third on-screen button?).
Now, my LG K7 phone (running 5.1.1) also came with the same default set of buttons, but they are customizable:  by going to Settings > Display > Home touch buttons > Button combination I can choose up to 5 buttons to include in that row.  I can't figure out, though, if there is a comparable setting in the Insignia Flex. Is there a way to customize those buttons?
The device, by the way, is not rooted, and I prefer to keep it that way.  I am looking for a way to do this using only the built-in features of the device.

Unrooted then guess not. Android only introduced native navbar customization in Android 7.x, and even that is normally not accessible (only via terminal commands).

Interesting - so is it unusual that my phone has navbar customization as a native feature?

It's not "native". Manufacturers create customizations all they want and embed it in their UI/UX. Insignia doesn't - it just used near-vanilla Android, likely out of cost concerns.

Sorry, I guess I meant "pre-loaded".


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How to set which landscape mode is default (reverse landscape vs landscape)
I have a few different apps that seem to have difficulties keeping landscape mode from going upside down when certain things happen, like playing ads. My phone is always rotated clockwise for landscape mode when I use landscape mode, but will often go upside down as if it expects the phone to be rotated counter-clockwise. I'm assuming rotated counter-clockwise is considered landscape mode, and clockwise is reverse landscape, so in that case I need reverse landscape to be the main/default/only landscape mode. But I don't want it locked to landscape all the time, it is locked to portrait mode normally. Using Galaxy S8+, not rooted.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice, though preferably not something that requires changing a setting before and after every time I launch one of those troublesome apps.

Can you accept an app that will change portrait/landscape on a click (in the notification dropdown)? It will only switch between rotation directions/modes you desire.

Related  https://android.stackexchange.com/q/132945/131553

@AndyYan If it works, I could live with it lol

@beeshyams Having trouble with macrodroid, it works really well for one of the apps, but completely breaks tap detection for another one in the same way that a facebook messenger head does (which normally doesn't appear when playing)

There is an app called control screen orientation... it works great. You can find it on the play store

Quoted from one of my previous answers:

Use apps like Ultimate Rotation Control - with proper settings, it seamlessly integrates with system rotation toggle, and on top of that you can enable/disable any rotation direction, force apps that don't usually rotate to rotate, and set per-app rotation behavior.

Based on your description, set the first options to these values so you can click the app's notification to toggle rotation direction.

Do note that this is a paid app with a 7-day trial.

That works well for a simple notification bar option to change rotations, but the per app settings did not work. However, from that found another one Rotation Control that the per app settings do work flawlessly with my apps, although I lose the easy navigation bar change. Thanks for the suggestion :)

You should probably write an answer yourself containing that app you thought worked better, for others' future reference and for sweet karma :)

Found an app Rotation Control that lets you easily set up per app settings to be any direction you want, so no need for another notification bar icon/entry making clutter up there. Works with all the apps I've been able to test with, really easy to set up and see what apps you have set up. It is a paid app with a 2 day trial, but the ones that worked with my apps seemed to be paid apps anyways. This one was the easiest to use/setup.


text:
I plugged my smartphone to be charged using a car charging adapter. My phone will not turn back on at all!
Have I ruined my phone?  I plugged my smartphone into my car charger no light appeared so I brought inside tried it there still no light and now my phone will not go back on!  Help!

Is the car charger of good quality? I would try removjng battery,  putting it back in, plug it to wall, wait a few minutes and press and hold down power button

I feel it's not good to charge from car battery except in very emergency conditions. Even if you charge, you should use a good charger. Many times, there may be a surge or voltage drop in your battery when you start the car or use the air-conditioning systems, which if not protected by charger, will ruin your phone. It's much better if you buy a power bank for these cases.
Anyways, try taking the battery out, and reinstalling it. If that doesn't work, you may buy a new battery or try out with someone else's. If that doesn't work either, you should take your phone to a service centre.


text:
Running java in android
Is there any way to run .jar files in android without rooting phone?
I used jbed and some other apps but they instantly stopped unexpectedly after clicking.

You could try J2ME Loader (link goes to my F-Droid compatible repo). Didn't try it myself, so no guarantees – and feedback welcome :)

It says error detected on all jar apps

What type of .jar do you want to run? A Java command-line program? A Java Swing/AWT program or a JavaFX application?


text:
How to dump Android's external SDcard that is used as internal memory?
although StackExchange sites have helped me a lot in the past, it's now the first time to actively post a question here.
I have an issue with my Motorola Moto G which is running with Android 7.1.1 (Lineage OS) - I was searching throughout the whole Internet but w/o success.
I want to do some forensic work on the memory of this device. It has an internal flash, and an external SDcard, which is formatted in a way to extend the internal memory as well. I think, since Android Marshmallow there is this option to do that.
I can dump the internal userdata partition and mount on my Linux PC w/o problems:
# ADB Shell:
-> ls -l /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/
      ... userdata -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p42
# Host PC:
-> adb pull /dev/block/mmcblk0p42 mmcblk0p42.img
-> sudo mount -o loop mmcblk0p42.img mmcblk0p42
-> ls mmcblk0p42
       adb app-ephemeral backup ...

I am trying the same with the external SD-Card formatted as internal:
# ADB Shell:
-> ls -la /dev/block/platform/soc.0/7864900.sdhci/by-name/
      ... android_expand -> /dev/block/mmcblk1p2
# Host PC:
-> adb pull /dev/block/mmcblk1p2  mmcblk1p2.img
-> sudo mount -o loop mmcblk1p2.img mmcblk1p2
       mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/loop1,
       missing codepage or helper program, or other error
       In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
       dmesg | tail or so.

What is wrong here? If I put the SDcard to a card reader then the partition are recognized but cannot be mounted due to unknown file system.
Any help is very appreciated. Jens

Possible duplicate of How to decrypt Adopted Storage?

Did you enabled encryption in settings>security ?

Nope! No encryption

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
No Network, my HTC desire not identifying network operator
There is no network in my HTC desire, because airplane mode is switching turned on and off continuously. I have tried with factory reset, it is still in same state.

This sounds like a defective SIM card, or a defective device, can you test with a different SIM?

Power off completely. Remove sim card. Check if the problem recurs. If it does not replace sim card.


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Android phone HDD/SSD 2.5"/1.8" - how much power is too much?
Recently I started experimenting with OTG adapter and some USB devices. While pendrives, RS232 adapters etc typicially work, storage is more interesting topic. I tried to connect my 1tb Seagate SSHD but it started emitting weird beeping noise and phone didn't detect it. However today I connected my friend's Samsung T3 1TB SSD and it does work just fine. So the question is - what power draw is too much and is it possible to connect some lower power 1.8" HDD do phone? (Because high capacity SSDs are quite expensive)
It's interesting topic as vision of being able to access 1TB or even more of data on the go (without additional power) sounds quite promising. Especially for phones without sd card but also because such insane capacity cards are insanely expensive, even comparing to SSDs

USB flash drives consume about 1-2 watts, SSDs max 5 watts and good HDDs 6.5-7 watts. I doubt a low powered USB connection could power an HDD. Perhaps a portable HDD since those use a bit less power.
Sources:
http://www.buildcomputers.net/power-consumption-of-pc-components.html
http://techreport.com/review/25391/wd-red-4tb-hard-drive-reviewed/3
https://superuser.com/questions/565653/how-much-power-does-a-hard-drive-use
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8747/samsung-ssd-850-evo-review/10
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Power
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10163/usb-flash-drives-power-consumption-measurement-using-plugables-usbctkey

I would but it is a bunch of boring crap I thought no one would bother reading. I'll edit to cite sources.


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Bug in text selection on Android O?
Nexus 6P, Android O (8.0.0), not rooted.
When I long-press (or double-tap) a word in a textarea field, often the result is that much more than the targeted word is selected. Roughly two lines of text may end up selected. Obviously this makes text selection more difficult, because then I have to use the handles on the selection to resize it to just the word I wanted.
This doesn't occur every time, and I'm having a hard time understanding why/when it does or doesn't occur.
I normally use Swype as my keyboard, but I tried switching to GBoard and saw the same behavior, so I don't think it's related to the keyboard.
I've seen this behavior in Twitter, Fenix (third-party Twitter app) and Google Keep (maybe other apps but I don't remember). But like I said: not always.
I've never had this problem before Android O.
Has anybody observed such a behavior? Is there any known fix for it?
One thing I'm beginning to note as I write this post: this problem doesn't seem to occur if the text is in English; only if the text is in French. It seems a little weird but it's the only criteria that I'm able to discern for now. (I use both languages frequently; I have Android itself set to English.)
Example (screenshot below): long-pressing any word after "montre" (first line) results in this exact selection. Long pressing any word before (and including) "montre" gives the normal result (only one word selected). (In case you're wondering, the selected text has absolutely nothing to do with Google Maps.)

UPDATE
No solution found yet, but in case it helps somebody, I noticed that once this larger selection is set, you can tap a third time on the word you want to select, and then the selection will be reduced to this word. So the problem is not as bad as I first thought. No need to use the selection handles, you just have to tap three times instead of two.


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login error into POS software
I have downloaded Yalp Store successfully. It seems to be working, but I'm unable to log in into one of the software I downloaded. Do you know what this means... "Not allowed to start service intent [act=com.google.android.c2dm.intent.REGISTER pkg=com.google.android.gms(has extras)] without permission com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE" I get this when I try to log in into a Point Of Sale software I downloaded through your Yalp Store. I'll appreciate your insight.

We are not Yalp Store's staff, and the error message has nothing to do with Yalp Store either. The application is complaining about the inability to register via GCM for push notifications.

I appreciate your response but can you please direct me from where I can get resolved my problem. Actually, the error raised from a smart tv(Android)


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Keep app from opening when clicking a link
I forget what setting I've turned on, or when, but whenever I click a link to the New York Times website, it opens the New York Times app. I don't want it to do that. I could remove the NYT app, but I want to keep it. (I find it useful.)
Is there a way to change this behavior? Even better, get Android to ask me which I want when I click the link. Changing the default web browser is not desired.
This is in both Nougat and Oreo®.

In Settings → Apps → NYTimes → Open by default:

Open Supported Links: set it to Ask every time
tap Clear Defaults

Tested on Android 6.0.1 and Android 7.1.2.
In Android 8 (Oreo®) you can also reach that setting via:

Settings → Apps & Notifications → (Advanced) → Default Apps → Opening links

You can alternatively stop using Chrome since Firefox, for example, does not let you choose an app to open such links (if I'm correct).

Settings path for 7 is essentially the same as 6. 8 seems to add a new path, although the old one works too.

Check your browser's permissions and stop it from launching other apps if it can.
Try clicking on the link from another browser.
Check NYT app permissions to see if it can behave like that.


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Using Termux For wireless sniffing
I have Termux on my unrooted Huawei GR5 mini running Nougat. It does not do that much in a unrooted device. If I root my device can I use net-tools on my Android. Does it also support airmon-ng for packet capture?
If not can I do so?

Re-compile the package from scratch by yourself.

Sound like a lot of work.


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How can I run a custom .sh script at each startup (without native init.d support)?
This looks like a general concern of rookie Android system players who have just rooted their phones. The most prevalent method may be throwing your script into /system/etc/init.d. If the ROM supports init.d then Voila but that's not always the case. So
How can I run my custom script at each startup? What's the user/group my script will be running as if I use your solution?

We welcome all kinds of solutions.

How to run an executable on boot and keep it running?

Simple way (working):

Prepare your post boot commands in a script, say /system/xbin/post-boot (set exec perm)
Add the above custom script path at the end of /system/etc/init.qcom.post_boot.sh

Eg:
# echo /system/xbin/post-boot >> /system/etc/init.qcom.post_boot.sh

Done!
(If you can't find the qcom post_boot (Qualcomm devices), look for any post_boot scripts)

I think that most easy way would be by using app Kernel Adiutor. It has ability to emulate init.d
Open app and swipe from left edge, it will reveal menu, scroll to tools section and than tap on init.d
There you have a switch to enable or disable init.d emulator, for devices that doesn't support init.d, in bottom right you have a "plus" icon to add scripts to run.

Good job suggesting KA. I tried it but didn't know what to do months ago.

From my answer on another question, I have two methods here.
1. Add init.d support manually by editing init.rc
I haven't done this ever personally but I can tell that

You need to unpack and repack your boot image. This may not be very hard if you can learn from the SuperSU zip package.

2. Replace a system service (in this case, the script will always be run as root)
Replace a system service (debuggerd is the best choice) binary with your custom shell script. Then run start debuggerd to activate it (effective from next boot).
If there's a debuggerd64, be sure to replace it with a null script.


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Won't connect via LTE
Now my phone can't use internet with 4G. An exclamation mark appears near the signal bars. Although there's a speed indicator it won't down or up load anything. But I can surf on 3G (when 2G/3G is chosen as the preferred network type) without any problem. How to use 4G like before?

So you used to surf on 4g normally with that phone and that sim card? Did you installed any OTA system updates in time when that problem appeared?

Yes, and, well, that two incidents have about a 3 days' gap

It's not due to update, probably. I see you solved problem, neat.

Then what caused it?

And again the exclamation mark showed up but nothing seems to affect the connection.

Check again settings you have changed previously, call your carrier help center maybe is up to them.

I don't know what happened but, when the "APN protocol" and "APN roaming protocol" are set to IPv4/IPv6 from IPv4, all the problems went away.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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How do I crop a photo without spinning it

On this screen in the stock Gallery app on the Note 5, I always try to crop by dragging a corner inward, and most of the time it spins the photo instead. I hate that! How do I make it clear that I want to crop, not spin?!

What is this app? Please edit and make it clear.

Stock Gallery app

Which device and Android version is it? That which is a stock Gallery app to Samsung or Sony  may not necessarily be a stock Gallery for Nexus or Pixel owners.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5

Tap on “Ratio” button and it will give you options like: “1:1, 4:3, 16:9 and free”. At that point you will be in crop mode. Select an aspect ratio from that list and then drag the corners to crop the image. The Image showing is 16:9. Tap “free” to crop to any ratio that pleases you.


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Google timeline telling me I was somewhere that I wasn't
It was a slow day so I just started flicking through my timeline on Google maps to see where I have been ever since I created my Google account. I only have the account on my phone but sometimes sign in on my laptop, these are the only two devices that use my account and I am the only one to have ever accessed my account.
However, when looking at my map I realized that Google said I had been somewhere that I honestly have never been before. It's more than 145 miles away from where I live and I've never been anywhere near this place in all my life. On top of that it also said that I took 16 hours to cross the street in the industrial estate that it placed me in.
I looked in my diary and I'm 100% confident that I wouldn't have left the street where I lived that day. What I don't understand is how this happened?

At the thread Google Maps Location History is showing an incorrect location
Here on Android Enthusiasts, there is an extensive discussion about exactly this problem.
If you’re only looking for a way to edit your timeline, there are some very elaborate instructions at the link View or edit your timeline

Thanks :D that helped a lot. I was a little skeptical when I started reading it but it all started to make sense. I guess it's just one of them things that happens sometimes :)


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The Cast option is unable to detect my Windows PC
I am trying to cast my android screen to Windows 10 Connect App, but its not working. I have a Lenovo K8 Note running android 7.1.1(not rooted and its near stock OS).
I have an another device with Lineage OS 14.1 (7.1.2) where the Display -> Cast option works properly. But its not working with the Lenovo K8.
I guess google removed the cast support in Nougat for Miracast so users would be forced to use their Chromecast device.
Is there a way to make the cast option to work with Lenovo K8.

I used an app for screen cast to web browser. it uses cast of Mobile device but on PC or any other device I receive the cast on browser


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Is 'Boost' a feature or a virus?
The app 'File Manager' now has a new look, a look that has more of a virus feel and less of an 'Android' feel. Force-stopping file manager gets rid of the addition to the notification bar thingy and removes the app icon from the top of my screen.
Sorry if I sound like I don't know anything about Android, that's because it's true.

Looks like "turbo booster" icon, some apps like "clean master" , or speed boosters add this kind of "feature" to your notifications bar, check if you have any of those, "clean all, speed all" kind of apps, even some apps to root the phone have this kind of thing (like kingo root), you can disable it in that app settings or uninstall the ofending app

I do not have any of these apps installed, the bar and icon go away when I force stop File Manager so I think it has something to do with that

you mentiones you have an app called "boost", if you didnt update the phone recently, and you didnt specifically install it, then it is malware, a wrong tap on a browser popup can install some nasty stuff, some even manage to root the phone and install themselves as system apps, making them hard to remove, what make and model is yor phone?, I have fixed some phones with "unremovable"malware by flashing the original ROM , making them behave just like "out of the box", is it this app? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=file.manager.classification.dir.tree.structure.ftp&hl=en

If it came preinstalled it is not a "virus" I wouldn't trust any boost apps on play store but usually these apps kill background processes to free up RAM and CPU resources. Actual results may vary but if it is an default/bloat app it is not inherently harmful. To check if it is a phone app, check its info in the App Manager.

I do not have any of these apps installed, the bar and icon go away when I force stop File Manager so I think it has something to do with that

If the File Manager is something the phone came with, Boost must be a feature of it and poses no harm to your privacy and security. It may even be useful as a one click method to close background apps if the phone appears to be performing sluggishly.

File Manager use to not have this 'feature' and there is now an app called 'boost' with the same symbol as the one in file manager as its app icon that I can't delete. In addition I haven't seen anyone else with this 'feature' even though I have looked through the web for a while.

Have you recently had an update? Maybe it's a new feature introduced in an update. If it is an app that you cannot delete, it is a system app that has been put into your phone by the manufacturer. If you have a rooted phone, you could use apps like Titanium Backup to delete Boost app. However you should be careful to delete only the Boost app and not a critical system app.


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"Samsung keyboard keeps stopping" error message. After reboot no keyboard is accessible and I cannot unlock the device
The device is a Samsung Note 5 recently updated from Sprint running the Swype keyboard.
The error message "Samsung keyboard keeps stopping" is appearing over and over after trying to send an emoji in a text message. The keyboard area is a black space.
I rebooted the device to attempt to clear the error.
After reboot it requires a typed password.
The following issues occur:

No keyboard appears when touching the password textbox.
No keyboard appears when touching the keyboard settings menu button.
The Power button does not power cycle the device.
The Reset button does work.
If you open the camera via the quick launch from the lock screen the "Samsung keyboard keeps stopping" message appears for each time you attempt a keyboard UI action.

The device appears bricked. Other advice online suggests factory reset. Is there a way to revert the device to a working keyboard without a factory reset?

Enable Emergency Mode. This shuts down to only essential services.
This reverts the device to the default Samsung keyboard and will allow you to enter the password.
You can then disabled Emergency Mode go into the settings and re-enabled Swype.
Source:
https://androidforums.com/threads/samsung-keyboard-keeps-stopping-locked-out-of-phone.1166997/#post-7579781


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Ads appearing on my lock screen, cannot identify the culprit app
This little treat appeared on my lock screen this morning. It seems to be intermittent, only replacing the real lock screen about one in three times. Has anyone else seen it?

See if the answers here help you out: https://android.stackexchange.com/q/143330/96277

Yeah read that, didn't help me. Don't have any of those apps

It is probably and App launcher or user installed file manager. If you use something like ES explorer, buying pro version will probably fix it. Check if the ads go away by disabling any "feature" app.

I've checked the all the lists of apps which do this but I don't have any of them. Also checked the for instances of ChargeLockerService permission, did not see it for anything

Do you have developer options enabled? If you don't, go to Settings>About Phone>Software Info>Build Number and tap build number seven times. You should have access to Developer options. Check Running Services and select apps to check the service they are running. The ones running ChargerLockerService are the culprit.
Source: https://www.slashgear.com/android-ads-on-your-lockscreen-and-how-to-destroy-them-05438921/

Ok.. lemme guess.. you have a Samsung device. Right?
It's not an app.. IT'S SAMSUNG!!
Go to settings --> Advanced --> Quick Charging and then turn it off or something..
Hope it helps!


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Storage Strangely Full
My dad has a Moto G2, and I had similar problems with my Moto G2 and my Samsung Galaxy Y.
His storage is almost full - at 4.53 GB/5.51 GB. The strange stuff comes when we go to the storage section in settings, and it gives us a breakdown of what is taking up space.
Apps        1.99  GB
Images      132   MB
Other       20.38 MB
Cached Data 8.38  MB
(Nothing on anything else)
If I am correct - that's only ~2.15GB! Where is the other ~2.38GB?
And how do we get it back?
Moto G2 on Android 6.0 - System Updates says "Your device's software is up to date."

It is used as system storage ie the space on which your OS and system apps are installed. If you have expandable storage, you may be able to install user apps on an external sd card.

That's what I thought, but the 5.51GB is Internal Storage separate from the OS. The total storage on the phone is 8GB and the OS is 2.49GB leaving 5.51GB for the apps and other stuff.

Hmm strange. Here's what you should do: install a File Manager app like ES Explorer. It should show you what is causing the anomaly.


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Whatsapp permission to record when calling
I can understand the request for the App to access to the Mic for sending the voice in a phone call. But why is it necessary to say "record"? Recording is a separate function and the caller's choice. It is scary to think that Whatsapp is recording and storing your calls somewhere.

Possible duplicate of Help understanding Whatsapp's permissions

I think record comes with Mic permissions, the calls are not recorded, at least not by Whatsapp. The record permission is for sending voice messages. Also Whatsapp voice calls like its text message service is end to end encrypted. That means that only your phone and the recipient's phone can decrypt the information being passed.

why is it necessary to say "record"? Recording is a separate function

Not as far as the permission system is concerned. Once an app can receive the audio from the microphone, it can transmit it, record it, or do whatever it likes with it. There's no way to give an app access to the microphone without it being able to record and store the audio. By giving the app permission, you have to trust the app to only use the audio data in the way you're expecting.

You can give a particular permission if you would like to let WhatsApp use your phone microphone (for example: for Audio recording, WhatsApp calls).
If you don’t want to use these features, you can simply deny mic permission and keep using the WhatsApp text chat feature.
Whatsapp asks for record permission to use the microphone and record audio. Yes, WhatsApp records audio from your mic and stores them into
/Whatsapp/Media/WhatsApp Audio/Sent

then later your recorded audio is being sent to another person.


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Unknown file type containing a virus
I will try to keep the story as short as possible just so you can have a more clear view of what is my concern. While, I was browsing the Internet on my phone using the Chrome Browser App, I got a notification that I am downloading a file. The notification showed that the file which was being downloaded is an MP3.
Short after that before I even had the time to react and stop the downloading process the file was already on my phone. I immediately deleted it from the Download folder using the File Manager on my phone. However, I noticed that the file format was missing. The file name didn't have any ending such as .pdf, .mp3, .apk, etc.
After that I scanned my phone with several anti-virus software apps and all returned that my phone is safe. However, I am not really sure if I can fully trust them.
I decided to put my phone on quarantine until I got more information regarding this problem. I turned off my Wi-Fi and removed the SIM card from it just in case if it is an actual virus to prevent it sending data or messages to an unknown direction.
I have the following questions:

If the file format was unknown to the system does this mean that the system was not able to execute the file?
If I never tried to open the file does this mean that the file was never been executed?
If I delete the file can I say that I fixed the problem or I should actually do question 4?
Should I return the factory settings on my phone, so I can wipe everything and have a clean device once again?

PS: I will be very grateful to everyone, who share their thoughts about this with me. Thank you in advance.

As long as you didn't run/executed the file you are fine it can't start itself unless is some NSA stuff :) . There isn't actual Android viruses so don't worry. No need for factory reset. Also I think file didn't had extension because you canceled download, sometimes when  I do that from chrome it leaves me with no extension file or .crdownload file. Also phone antivirus is bullshit one of the reason is because there isn't actual virus, and secondly because it can't scan files like on PC.

Can you tell us the name of the browser you were using, whether you downloaded it from Play Store or sideloaded it, and most importantly, can you share with us the link to websites you were visiting or were opened in your tabs at that time?

@Firelord "Chrome Browser App", it is written.

Sorry, missed that.

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје, Thank you very much. It was extremely helpful!

@Firelord, I have not shared the link for safety reasons. I am trying to find a solution not potentially spread the malware to another user.

File extensions tend to be present only as mnemonics for the user to quickly identify a file, and for software to filter out incompatible files prior to loading and opening them. The latter explains why your OS did not recognize the file type.
To execute a file is common lingo, even if inexact: you execute a program, which then tries to parse the file. Should this program fail to parse the file, it will either report the error or crash. This means that you're probably safe.
Second, Android employs a deal of security mechanisms in order to limit the execution of possibly malicious software. For example, malware tend to come in the form of binary files. On modern Android versions, such files (as well as plaintext scripts) cannot be launched from neither the internal or the external storage (if any). This means, that the only kind of file that could harm your device are APK files that have been installed – namely, apps.
Even then, apps are restricted in many a way, as each of them run in an isolated context, being able to communicate with others only via predefined means. Therefore, the only way some code could do harm to your device, is if the operating system itself presents bugs that can be exploited, and such issues stem from OSes that haven't been updated in a while. Indeed, even other apps could be exploitable, but for an attacker to make use of such a weakness, they would need prior knowledge of your installed software (and even then, they could only gain access to what the vulnerable app itself can access).
If I were you, rather than worrying about having been infected, I would be concerned about my browser downloading files without my expressed authorization. You needn't do a factory reset, but you may want to replace your browser if it continues in its behavior.

Thank you very much for taking your time to write this detailed answer. I am very grateful and relieved that the chances of being actually affected are low. I will definitely check why Chrome acted in such an odd way. So far, I have not had any problems with it.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Android 7 Bluetooth intermittent disconnecting
Android 7 phone once paired with earphones or car headset disconnects and reconnect, causing annoying drops in music play

Go to Location settings, put mode in Battery saving mode. This helps with battery drain. Then press the 3-dots -> select Scanning -> disable Bluetooth scanning and also disable WiFi scanning.
Go to Battery -> click 3-dots -> Optimization. Select All apps, then don't optimize BT tool.

Amazing, this helped me a lot! Especially the third point with disabling the optimization for BT tool, now my headset isn't dropping out anymore. Thanks!

My HUAWEI 3a  drops off the car phone system. I had replaced the car system to overcome this issue previously but it still did it.
Eventually found that when the phone went to sleep (in my case 2 min) it shut the bluetooth down and any calls ceased.
I reset the phone to 30 min which is the longest it goes to and now no problems.


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Where are OneDrive offline files stored on galaxy s8?
I offlined synced a folder using OneDrive, trying to find it's physical location on the device storage. I wasn't able to locate it browsing through the dozens of folders on the device.

The offline files are cached in folders using the path:

/android/data/user/0/com.microsoft.skydrive/no_backup/stream_cache/userid......

source: OneDrive local cache on Android

Offline files are not there

Yeah, this doesn't work. I don't have a user folder nor a no_backup folder on my phone


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Stop cursor from moving to end of word when touching text
The default android behaviour when interacting with editable text seems to be to move the cursor to the end of the word you've touched, regardless of your touch location.
This is undesirable in many situations, e.g. if you have a stylus or a precise hand or a big screen and big text, or custom left and right arrows on your navigation bar, or a very long string without spaces.
Is there any way to prevent android from moving your cursor?

Future captain me here with an answer! Apparently this tap on word + cursor placement thing is not managed by the OS but by the keyboard app you use.
So here's a config that works great:

Use Swiftkey keyboard.

The problem is Swiftkey sucks big time:

it doesn't solve the question's problem, which is a crime against human competence.
it always inserts a space after a period, making urls or "e.g." impossible to write.
it doesn't let you capitalize the next letter after space only after pressing space after the dot, ie if you weren't writing a url.
you keep accidentally tapping on dot instead of space while typing quickly and you can't change the layout.

The following steps will de-suck Swiftkey and solve all your keyboard problems:

Root your device. Don't listen to your "parents". Best security is on rooted phones unless you're really unsavvy in which case it's just as bad as not rooting. (but for this you can unroot afterwards)

If you're concerned about Swiftkey privacy now you can install a firewall that blocks or monitors its internet access.

Install the Android Xposed Framework and Xposed Installer (may not work (yet) on the latest version(s) of android) (needs root, but you can unroot after the install if you must).
Download and install the "Exi for Swiftkey" Xposed module (github).

Just crawl through Exi's settings and you'll find the right checkboxes. It magically changes swiftkey's tap on words and other behaviours.
*flies away*


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Charge & data mode when connecting phone to PC via USB (Nougat)
When I connect my phone to my PC via USB. It automatically enters charge mode.
If I want to transfer files (which is almost always what I want to do when connecting my phone to my PC), I have to select charge & data mode --> transfer files.
Always doing this when connecting my phone to my PC is slightly laborious, and I was just wondering is there a way to connect my phone to my PC & cause to autmatically default to charge & data mode?
I used to have a Moto G Gen 1 (Kitkat), which did this by default, why can't this be the case on Nougat.

The default behaviour in Marshmallow upwards is to charge and other options have to be manually selected
Being an OS behaviour, you can't modify it without rooting device. If your device is rooted, you can install this Xposed module - USB for Marshmallow

Set MTP or PTP as Default USB Connection on Marshmallow with this app.
Once you connect the phone to the computer and select the USB option from the notification and selected option will be retained for every reconnect your phone to computer.
For example if you select the USB file transfer option, This app will retain that file transfer option for every reconnect your phone to computer.

It's also available on Play Store as an Xposed app
If you are on Nougat, this option may not be possible till Xposed framework is released - see Where can I find the Xposed Framework and installer for Nougat?

If you device is rooted, you may use Tasker app to run a command as root to enable tethering when USB is connected.
The command can be found here: Is it possible to activate the “USB Tethering” Android setting from the command line?


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Android Nougat 7.0 Wifi Internet Drops after ~10MB
First a bit of background
Bare with me as all of below should be relevant.
I currently have a HTC 10, so does my father. My phone I bought from eBay and it came with the Nougat (7.0) update already installed (lets call it phone 1). My dads phone came directly from HTC with Marshmallow installed (phone 2). Both devices are the same factory unlocked EMEA version of the phone.
On "phone 1" I had no Wi-Fi issues, and initially neither did "phone 2". Shortly after purchase we updated "phone 2" using OTA updates to the same version of Nougat (7.0) as I have (it had the same HTC version number). This started causing Wi-Fi problems on "phone 2". Because it became a problem only after the update, that rules out a hardware issue. Furthermore because "phone 1" didn't have the issue I can rule out the Wi-Fi router as the cause.
HTC released a new OTA update for 7.0 with the July security patches. I updated "phone 1" using this OTA and suddenly I have the same Wi-Fi issue as on "phone 2". I tried to no avail wiping the cache partition and also going to the extreme of doing a full factory reset. The problem remains on both phones.
Debugging
After some playing around with various Wi-Fi settings on the phone (static IP, disabling battery optimisation, disabling mobile data), I the issue remained.
We then tried to do the OTA update on "phone 2" and it revealed some interesting information. During the download it would happily download roughly 10MB of data (sometimes 7MB, sometimes 10MB, once it jumped 30MB). After this the Wi-Fi would remain connected, however the phone could no longer contact the internet. If I turn the Wi-Fi off and on again, it will download another ~10MB and then no internet again. Repeat ad infinitum.
I tried to download a couple of apps from Google Play on "phone 1" and noticed the problem is the same - it downloads ~10MB then no internet. Turning the Wi-Fi off and on again, another ~10MB.
I saw on Reddit (here) that entering into the phone app the number *#*#4636#*#* loads some testing phone settings. Looking at the Wi-Fi status in that I can see that the phone connects to the internet after turning on the Wi-Fi by running the ping test which passes. After downloading a chunk of data over Wi-Fi, the ping test fails stating "unknown" as a result, then shortly afterwards changing to "Fail: Host unreachable". This shows the internet connection was for some reason lost, however the Wi-Fi status still shows that the network state is still "Connected to SSID".
Question
Is there a solution to this issue?
It's an odd problem that seems to be very repeatable, but I can't seem to find any settings that fix the problem.

Try clearing cache and data of download manager (settings>apps>show System apps)

@beeshyams no luck sadly.


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Is it safe for me to root my s7 sm-g930f model phone
I would like to know if it is worth me rooting my galaxy s7 sm g930f phone and if there are any problems after its done.   thank you

this website has extensive answers regarding the risks and benefits of rooting.

Define "safe" and "worth".
It will void your warranty, and you will risk bricking, blocking or otherwise ruining your phone, so it is anything but safe.
It will also open the possibility of custom ROMs, modding, debloating, theming, hacking, backing up, extended updates support for recent versions of Android beyond what the manufacturer provides.
All this at the expense of stability, bugs and probably worse battery life, and likely also a bunch of proprietary features like better camera and custom device features.
Point is this is really a matter of personal opinion. Are those downsides really worth it for you?
I am a strong proponent of rooting and custom ROMs especially to get rid of all the bloat and benefit from extra features, but it is admittedly a risk and requires knowhow and dedication.

In short: That depends on your own need


text:
Transferring Whatsapp history from person to person
I deleted my Whatsapp history with person X, but the conversation history still exists on X's phone. So can I get back the history from the X's phone?

You could have written this to the WhatsApp developers. I think nobody here has an idea about this.


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how to disable system apps without root?
How to disable system apps without root?
My phone model is vivo x5 max+ and android 4.4.4
I have tried Debloater but it failed to connect (I am sure I've allowed USB debugging).

Provided that you've adb setup and functioning, use this command in a console:
adb shell pm block PACKAGE              # for Android Kitkat
adb shell pm hide PACKAGE               # for Android Lollipop
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 PACKAGE # for Android Marshmallow and Nougat. This is bit tricky. Some reports its result positive, while others, negative. Also note that, later, you cannot restore the app here. It can only be reinstalled again.
adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 PACKAGE # tested on Android Nougat and Oreo. Might work on earlier versions as well.

Replace PACKAGE with the package name of the app. To know the package name, try any app inspector type app from Play Store, such as App Detective, AppXplore, Elixir 2, etc.
The changes should take place immediately, otherwise, try rebooting the device.
Note: stock ROM implementations by some OEMs, such as Xiaomi and Panasonic, do not permit the aforesaid commands to be used without more elevated privilege, and thus, throws a permission/privilege related error.
Revision made wrt to info received from Prahlad Yeri in the comments.

I always used adb shell pm disable. Is there a difference?

Your kernel might be granting root access automatically, otherwise, pm disable requires root access, but block doesn't. Without root access in former, you get java.lang.SecurityException. Related: https://android.stackexchange.com/q/128949/96277

Just out of curiosity, as the OP is running 4.4, I guess it's ok if 7.1 doesn't have the block command, right?

@CharlesRobertoCanato just replace block with hide. This change was introduced starting Android 5.0.

thanks @Firelord, I ended up finding out that it's hide now. Unfortunately, it seems it also doesn't execute without the needed permissions. Tried inside a terminal emulator, and also through ADB with the same unsuccessful result. But thanks for the info!

@CharlesRobertoCanato Instead of block/hide, the latest way to disable OEM bloatware these days is pm uninstall --user 0 <package> . It works perfectly even without a root, but you need to be careful as the uninstall can't be undone unless you factory reset.

That seems cool, @PrahladYeri. But I admit I don't like the irreversible characteristic. It's a limited world for us, blockers. :-)

Actually it is reversible, but you need to resort to a factory reset in that case. If you take a backup and everything, it shouldn't be a problem actually.


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View all app ratings/reviews in one place irrespective of language
I have been using Google Play and Google Play Developer Console for monitoring the status and ratings/reviews for my apps on Google Play.
One thing I have observed is that, we can only view some the ratings and reviews in our current locale (language) on the Developer Console. If a user rates my app, say in Spanish or Portuguese, I am not able to see that rating anywhere (neither on Google Play nor on the developer console). Only, if such a person also writes a review, would I be able to see it on the Developer console.
One way out of this, is to individually append the hl-(locale code) say, hl-es or hl-fr on the URL of the page on Google Play. But this is tedious as I have to guess which locale the current user who just rated my app (and didn't put a review) is from.
I can also download the ratings from the console in .csv format, but this is never up-to-date.
Any solutions, to view all ratings and reviews from all languages, in one place?

Related https://android.stackexchange.com/q/154589/131553

@beeshyams They are talking only about reviews, not about pure ratings without reviews :)


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How to change wifi device name on Android 7?
How can I change the device name of an unrooted Android 7.0-based Gigaset GS170 smartphone so it appears with a meaningful/readable name e.g. in a router's list of connected wifi devices?
Various resources (e.g. this or this) suggest I should find a line saying Device Name in the About Phone section of the phone settings. However, I can see no such line there (images before and after scrolling down):

As the device is set to German, here are the translations of the items in their order of appearance:

System Updates
Status (Phone number, signal, etc.)
Legal notes
Model type number
Android version
State of security updates
Baseband version
Kernel version
Build number
Adapt creation version

Is there somewhere else I could look for that option, or is it something only supported by specific devices?
There are a few questions about this on this site (e.g. this and this), but those were posted several years ago, when early versions of Android with some "childhood diseases" (read: lack of basic features) were still the state of the art.

It would be under About Devices.  I don't know when this behaviour changed but on stock Marshmallow and Nougat you can't change it. If your device is rooted, you can use this app

What is Wi-Fi device name?

@iBug: The name of the device in the local network it is connected to (e.g. in the router's list of connected wifi devices).

It was possible for me on my non-rooted stock COS13.1 on OnePlus One.

AFAIK it's possible that a phone manufacturer hide that option from UI on their products, and I guess your phone it's one of them. My phone OnePlus 5, however, does allow changing it from Settings app.
So, if root access is available, try this in a rooted terminal environment:
setprop net.hostname "Whatever You Like"

Mount /system partition as R/W, head for /system/build.prop. Find this line and if it exists, change it (this line may not be present on Android 5 or lower):
ro.display.series=Same As Above

Reboot is required. After that the new name should have effect. Before modifying build.prop consider making a backup of it (and have a means of restore, e.g. via recovery-mode): if the file is "broken", your device won't boot up properly.

On my Android 7 phone (Zenfone 3) I was able to change the bluetooth name as follows:

Open "Settings"
Open "Bluetooth"
Select the action bar (the three dots in a vertical line in the top right of the display)
Select "Rename this device"
Enter the desired device name for bluetooth purposes
Select "Rename"

I was able to change the Wi-Fi name using a similar procedure:

Open "Settings"
Open "Wi-Fi"
Select the action bar (the three dots in a vertical line in the top right of the display)
Select "Rename this device"
Enter the desired device name for Wi-FI purposes
Select "Rename"

The "action bar" only has two options for me, "Update" (the list of wifis) and "Advanced", with the latter pointing to a menu for installing certificates, wifi direct, and WPS.


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Use GCC compiler in Termux?
I don't like the default C compiler clang provided by Termux. Is there a way I can get GNU GCC in my Termux environment?

Another way to get gcc would be to add the community repo hosted by its-pointless at https://github.com/its-pointless/its-pointless.github.io. Sources are (more or less) available at https://github.com/its-pointless/gcc_termux.
Other popular packages available includes numpy and scipy.
More information about this and other community repositories can be found in the termux wiki.
To add this particular repository to your termux environment, run:
# Get some needed tools. coreutils for mkdir command, gnugp for the signing key, and apt-transport-https to actually connect to the repo
apt-get update
apt-get  --assume-yes upgrade
apt-get  --assume-yes install coreutils gnupg2 apt-transport-https wget
# Make the sources.list.d directory
mkdir $PREFIX/etc/apt/sources.list.d
# Write the needed source file - Added Missing "> character on line below
echo "deb [trusted=yes] https://its-pointless.github.io/files/ termux extras" > $PREFIX/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pointless.list
# Download signing key from https://its-pointless.github.io/pointless.gpg
wget https://its-pointless.github.io/pointless.gpg
apt-key add pointless.gpg
# Update apt
apt update

(instructions taken from https://github.com/its-pointless/its-pointless.github.io/blob/master/setup-pointless-repo.sh)

Instructions have been updated, for anyone coming here better to check the sh file in the last link.

These repos don't have a gcc package.

apt install gcc-10
(or gcc-9 or gcc-8)

@djao cannot finf gcc-10?

the instructions in the answer are outdated and invalid but everything works fine if you run https://its-pointless.github.io/setup-pointless-repo.sh first.

which gcc-10
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/gcc-10
$ gcc-10 --version
gcc-10 (GCC) 10.3.0

Is there any command in termux to switch b/w compilers. Like changerover to gcc-10 from clang

This is a very interesting solution.
First download GCC for C4droid from Google Play.
Go find its apk under /data/app/com.n0n3m4.gcc4droid-#, take the APK and extract /assets/gcc.zip. Now extract gcc.zip to
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/libexec

Apply chmod -R 644 to the whole folder and chmod -R 755 to ARCH/bin, bin and libexec. Link gcc programs to $PREFIX/bin and you'll be able to use GCC instead of Clang. Remember to add -pie when compiling executables.

Install Arch Linux in Termux PRoot to get a full Linux development environment.
See https://sdrausty.github.io/TermuxArch/docs/install for installation instructions.  Use pacman -S base base-devel to install the developer's environment which includes GCC.

I created termux repo with gcc 10.2.0, there how to install  https://cctools.info/index.php/Termux_repository_with_cctools_packages_(gcc_with_fortran_support_etc)
Add cctools packages public key:
wget -O - https://cctools.info/public.key | apt-key add -

Create a new repository list:
echo "deb https://cctools.info termux cctools" > $PREFIX/etc/apt/sources.list.d/cctools.list

Update packages lists:
apt update

Install the package gcc-cctools(it will install binutils-cctools automatically):
apt install gcc-cctools

Install the NDK package for your android architecture, use the latest one, for example for aarch64:
apt install ndk-sysroot-cctools-api-26-aarch64

To show all ndk sysroots for aarch64:
apt search ndk-sysroot-cctools | grep aarch64

Add directory with new compilers to PATH:
export PATH=$PREFIX/../cctools-toolchain/bin:$PATH

Check it:
gcc -v

You might want to add trusted if apt complains
https://askubuntu.com/a/1050824/1068697


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System ui tuner not enabling in lenovo a6600
I cant turn on the system ui tuner on my lenovo A6600 no mater what i do. The system gear spins on long press but nothing happens. Can anyone help me?

Maybe lenovo disabled it? Not particularly hard to do.

There's an alternative app on Play Store that works the same as, if not better than, the inbuilt System UI Tuner.


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Is Screen Mirroring a feature of the hardware or the software?
I have a Samsung Galaxy J7 Max running Android Nougat from Samsung. It seems that it does not support screen mirroring but supports Wifi Direct.
I want to know that those phone that do support screen mirroring like the Samsung Galaxy A3, do they have special hardware in them, or is it just enabled in that build of the kernel ?
In short, for screen mirroring do you need extra hardware or just need to enable it in the kernel/OS ?

Both.
Just a brief description of how it works:
At the core of this technology is the Wi-Fi Direct™ standard, which allows for point-to-point connections between devices without the use of a router. From there, Miracast adds a vendor-neutral wrapper that originally supported the streaming of up to 1080p video and 5.1 surround sound. It uses this variation of this technology to allow the output of audio and video.

For the device whose screen you want to mirror, support for Miracast
  requires three things: wireless chipset support, operating
  system support, and driver support. If your device doesn’t meet
  all three of these requirements then you’ll have to buy a Miracast
  adapter and upgrade your operating system.

Users can wirelessly mirror the display of their Miracast-certified® phone, tablet, or PC to any Miracast-capable receiver
Android supported Miracast, in Android 4.2 (Jellybean) and Android 5 (Lollipop).

On 29 October 2012, Google announced that Android version 4.2+ (from
  updated version of Jelly Bean) are supporting the Miracast wireless
  display standard, and by default have it integrated.

However, Google dropped native Miracast support in Android 6 (Marshmallow) and later, so to mirror the display from a newer Android phone or tablet, you’ll need to do so via Chromecast.
In the case that it is disabled but compatible for a particular Android device, you could edit the build.prop file in the following line:
persist.debug.wfd.enable=1
Using a root explorer navigate to your build.prop file located at
/system/build.prop
Check if the option is visible in Settings > Display > Cast Screen > Menu > Enable Wireless Display.

Devices that are Miracast-certified® can communicate with each other,
  regardless of manufacturer.Both devices (the sender and the receiver)
  need to be Miracast certified® for the technology to work.
  However, to stream music and movies to a non-certified device Miracast
  adapters are available that plug into HDMI or USB ports.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has an official list of all Miracast source devices.
There is some evidence however suggesting one can use software based screen mirroring.
Acknowledgements

How to use Miracast to mirror your device's screen wirelessly on your TV—even 4K
5.0+ Lollipop - Enable wireless display with Miracast devices
What Is Miracast? Everything You Need to Know
Miracast

Did Google give a reason for dropping support for Miracast?

@Piotr Not that I know of, but I guess promoting the brand, since one can still use miracast even though it is no longer supported officially.

@xavier_fakerat can you tell more about : what functions need wireless chipset support, say hardware upgrade ? encryption or modulation or others ?
As I searched , miracast is built on wifi direct, and direct is a pure software feature .
correct me if i am wrong .

@user1923105 the actual hardware chipset, you I have already tried this on old devices, and they won't work properly instead show a black screen and wont project the screen so I strongly believe specific hardware is necessary

Editing build.prop only works with root access on Android 7.0+.

It's a software feature that is only available for some devices. You can still use Quick Connect to cast your screen to TV. For more check out this link http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/skp/faq/1108504

SOLVED - well for me and I reckon this is a solution for everyone and dead simple.
Just instal the APP = Web Video Cast from the PlayStore.
It seems to project pretty much everything to pretty much ANY "smart" ( aka DLNA) device, including MIRACAST, FireStick, ETC ETC ETC...... (even ChromeCast - YUK)
So many millions of folk have their backs against the wall on this, so PLEASE, if it works for you (and I bet it will) PLEASE share it around the other forums.

Miracast is not even mentioned in the description of that app.


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Constant decrease in android's internal storage free space
I am having a hard time with my phone. My device, which is a simple LG Magna has had a constant decrease in FREE space. That means that something is constantly taking up more and more place in my internal memory. Of course, I did try to clear cache, clear all the useless videos, useless apps, I removed the Facebook app because I know it uses a lot of space, but the used space in the internal memory keeps on increasing. My 8Gb internal memory is already used up by 7.97Gb. And I deleted so much already on my phone.. Okay! I thought about the possibility of having a virus in my android.
So, I did factory reset my SD card and Internal memory. This means, starting every from back to square one. I managed to not download anything from the internet, use only the useful apps from the store like Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, my usual music player which is BlackPlayer(Great app btw, try it, it's simply the best). Now, 2 weeks after the factory reset, I am surprised and also very annoyed to see that the device's internal memory is increasing again. Today, it is back to 7.97Gb.
I have only photos and merely some music on my phone.
Basically, I have absolutely NO free space on my phone and I can't never delete enough to free space.
Can someone please help me resolve this problem? I would be forever grateful!
Thanks in advance.

Disable Google apps you don't use. Clear cache occasionally from settings. Also 8 GB is low for today standards, consider using adoptable storage feature

Please take a look at our insufficient-memory tag-wiki for some useful hints. You're not the first one with this issue, so we've collected some details there over the years ;)

May help: How disk space is used on Android device?

Seeing the reference to WhatsApp... I installed All-in-One Toolbox today for another problem (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=imoblife.toolbox.full&hl=en). I happened to notice it has a cleaner just for WhatsApp.

Try a disk analyzer app. For example:
Disk Usage
SD Maid
Maybe you'll see where space is being eaten up.

WhatsApp automatically downloads media, so as in other answers, that is probably your issue.  Most android phones also allow you to insert a MicroSD card to further expand storage space - either for just media (compatible with other devices) or as internal storage (incompatible with other devices).

Thank you all for your time :)
In fact, I explored my internal memory and was surprised to see that it was WhatsApp taking up all this increasing amount of space. The app keeps a huge backup of ALL media. And I mean it, ALL of the media! Since the dawn of time! Even though you delete it in your gallery wherever it is located, the backups are not deleted.
So, for those who want to know this is the path:
(I use an LG so I use File Manager)
File Manager > All Files > Internal Storage > Whatsapp >  Media;
This Media file is where Whatsapp stores all the backups!
According to me, you can safely delete this Media file without causing any inconveniences.
I deleted it and now I have 7.30Gb used out of 8Gb.

Do you have a lot of pictures?
In my case i had such issues because the thumbnails are created on internal memory.
So i had thumbnails-files (.thumbdata3-[10 digits]) which took some GB of internal space - even though the pictures were on the sd-card.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Nexus 7 (2012) Omni 6.0.1 Install failure
I was trying to follow the instructions at http://www.teamandroid.com/2016/01/20/install-android-601-omnirom-nexus-7-2012-marshmallow-custom-rom/2/, which walk through downloading omni-6.0.1-20160115-grouper-HOMEMADE.zip, copying it to the root of the sdcard storage, and using clockwork recovery module to wipe the device and install it. I ran into a problem when trying to install the ZIP file downloaded from https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24369303960685419 (which I was able to successfully select). An error is reported:

ApplyParsedPerms: removexattr of system/bin/backuptool.sh to 0 failed:
  Operation not supported on transport enpoint

Subsequently a Status 7 failure causes the installation to abort. The failure happened quite early (fortunately?) so I am still able to reboot and use the freshly wiped device, but I'd like to install this ROM because 2012 model Nexus 7s are notoriously unusable on Android 5.1.1, which is the latest OS formally available to them.
How do I get past this? The page I was following was supposedly specifically for the 2012 model of Nexus 7, which I have, so I thought this should have worked.
Update: Looking at the updater-script, I suspect this is the line that's failing, but I don't know enough about the design of this package or alternate ROMs to understand whether the problem is in the script or somewhere else:
set_metadata("/system/bin/backuptool.sh", "uid", 0, "gid", 0, "mode", 0755, "capabilities", 0x0);

You should use TWRP instead of cwm. Which 2012 nexus 7 is it? The Wi-Fi or the GSM (3g) version? The status 7 generally is a wrong device error.

@BoLawson I have the W-Fi model.

@BoLawson I figured out how to try TWRP, and it seemed to work better. Strange the method in the instructions didn't work.

The instructions are super old CWM is no longer in development. So, did you get it working with twrp? Or are you still getting status 7? Also here is the download from Omni's site. Probably better than third party.  http://dl.omnirom.org/grouper/

@BoLawson I got it working, but I can't get GApps installed because I only have 200 MB free on the system partition. I can't decide whether I should try stepping down again from micro to nano or if there's garbage that needs to be cleaned up on the system partition. Total system space is 655104 KB; Used is 451348 KB.

Omni is already quite light on /system, you will have to use a more basic set of GAPPS.

@AndyYan ~450 MB doesn't sound light to me. How can the regular Android OS fit all these apps in? I feel like there are some garbage files, not in Omni, but left behind in the system somehow. How do I see what's consuming space in the system partition?

The higher the Android version, the more space it takes. N7 2012 only got Android 5.1 max, and by then it already had to move most preinstalled apps (the non-essential ones) to /data.

@AndyYan I guess I should just go back to 4.x. Unfortunately, now that my device is rooted and flashed, system wipe doesn't replace clockwork or Omni, so I guess I have to use USB & Android toolkit to restore it. Hopefully 4.x is still there somewhere

If you are looking to return to stock (Google) 4.x, of course you need to flash the factory image from fastboot over again. I do suggest trying out some custom ROMs of the 4.x era, though, such as ParanoidAndroid (up to 3.99) or CM10.2 - those are the golden times of Android modding, and should offer you good speed without skimping on critical features (e.g. FSTRIM).

Using TWRP 3.0.2 (with WugFresh Nexus Root Toolkit 2.1.9) instead of Clockwork worked.

Is there a particular version you used?

The version I used came with Wug's Nexus Root Toolkit, which I believe was at 2.1.9, or was downloaded as part of the installation process of that toolkit. I'll have to look it up when I get home to be more specific than that. I did have to download updated versions of a couple things while installing that so the version of the toolkit itself may be irrelevant.

Thanks. If you look it up again, please [edit] your post to incorporate your findings. That would be helpful.

@Firelord Version information added.


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Add contact to "Only Phone"
I can't save contacts to "Only Phone" as long as I'm logged into Xiaomi account. I have to log off to be able to (If not, I'm forced to sync new contacts either with Google account or Xiaomi's).
This shouldn't be like this since I've specified in the settings that I don't want Xiaomi to sync anything but the service to locate my phone in case I loose it.
The only way to get ride of this "forced sync" is to log off permanently of Xiaomi account that is what I am doing now because I don't like this behaviour.
Anyone knows how to achieve it without having to log off of Xiaomi account?
EDIT: Using Redmi Note 4, Android 7


text:
Accessing Network Connections Logs w/Nougat
I'm no programmer and I can't code for crap but I've suffered some breaches when my VPN disconnects. I only use data but I'd sure love access to the logs

Thanks Guys, I'm going to try every suggestion people took the time to answer my questions

I think the radio logs would help and maybe just a standard logcat.
First, you must have ADB installed on your computer.
You must have ADB Debugging enabled on your device.
Plug your device into your computer.
Open an elevated command prompt.
Check to see if your device is seen with the command:
adb devices
Your device should ask you allow usb debugging with an RSA key click o.k.
Once it is seen then throw this command to get the radio logs:
adb logcat -b radio -v time -d > logcat_radio.log
That will create a text of the radio logs on your computer.
As for the standard logcat then just throw this command. The -v long part will give you the most info. It will put a text on your desktop:
With Windows:
adb logcat -v long > %userprofile%\desktop\logcat.txt
Or with Linux:
adb logcat -v long > ~/Desktop/logcat.txt


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Phone no longer recognizes USB connection from computer
Using a Samsung Galaxy S7 (Android 7.0) and a MacBook Air (macOS Sierra 10.12.5), I connect the phone's charging port to the computer's USB port. Neither the phone nor computer bring up any notifications.
I vaguely remember that I used to get a notification when I plugged the phone into the computer, saying they weren't compatible, but I may have opted to stop getting the notification since it happened every time, and I was just plugging it in to charge.
On my Mac I downloaded Android File Transfer, and on my phone I did Settings -> Developer Options -> USB Debugging, but nothing doing. Opening Android File Transfer gives the message "Please connect your Android device with a USB cable to get started.", even when it is indeed plugged in.
Anything I'm forgetting, or ideas for troubleshooting?
(As a note, my goal is to move things from icloud.com to my new android device. For example, I exported a vCard of my Contacts, and I want to move that to my phone to then import into Contacts, etc.)

Some computers only recognize devices when they are plugged into the right usb ports. Have you tried using a different port? Also, some chords can be finicky, some of the cheaper ones don't like you when you try to do get into a device like that.

Using a different USB cable worked :)


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Local html page on LG G Pad F 8.0
For ease of use, I would like to transfer all of my recipe images and html files to a folder on my tablet so that when I open the main html document in the tablet's browser, pictures of the recipes would be present and when I find one I want, I just tap the photo and a new page pops up with the recipe.
I can write html on my laptop, however when it comes to tablets and Android, I'm a bit lost when it comes to the img src ="path" and a href="path" . This is a simple webpage that has a table with pictures of the dishes, and when one picture is tapped the actual recipe comes up in a new page. Could someone please guide me in the right direction?

I'd say in general you should refrain from using any absolute paths in your HTML file,they will almost definitely break as soon as you change devices, and is probably a bad practice regardless of the purpose.
If you want to do this property I'd strongly recommend creating a master folder for all your recipe related files where you'd keep all the involved assets, like HTML files, photos, and maybe some sort of index.
Then maybe store all images in the same subfolder called Pictures or whatever suits you, and refer to them always using a relative path like src="..\pictures\cake.jpg".
Same goes for the link to the recipes href="recipes\deserts\pudding.html" always keep reative paths instead of absolute ones.
You can then freely transfer or sync your folder structure to your tablet (or any other device for that matter) and have it work seamlessly without additional trouble, as long as you keep the sub directory structure intact.
Doing all this by hand at this day and age seems quite arcane though, if you don't mind me saying. You could consider upgrading to something like TiddlyWiki to automate part or all of the process.
It is a totally self contained, fully offline single file mini wiki/outliner/database that works from a single HTML file containing all the necessary html, JavaScript, CSS, and data.
You can use it partially just to automate building your index and link to your existing html recipes, or fully convert your discrete recipe files into one unified database.
Its real power however lies in its builtin tagging and searching functionality that would make accessing your recipes a whole lot more convenient and faster, so transferring your recipes would be beneficial in the long term. You don't even have to do it all at once, you can gradually transfer files one by one and keep some as linked external HTML files.
It is also highly configurable and hackable, if you say you already write HTML on your laptop you should have little trouble entering the world of TiddlyWiki markup scripting. You can learn more about it at the TiddlyWiki Google Group, I'm sure there are already plenty of user cases for recipe storage there.
You can still keep your data in a fully open, human readable file format, accessible anywhere there is a modern browser.

I have implemented what you suggested, however, I have broken images on the main page and when an image is selected, there is a message content://com.android.externalstorage.documents/folder/file.html cannot load url error. Is it possible that 'content://com.android.externalstorage.documents' is the file path? I did try that as well, still had the same broken images and url error when the link was activated...does html code even work on android? If it does, what do I need to do to my html files on my pc to make it work on the android platform-G Pad F 8.0 and where do i save them??

Where have you placed said files in the device? How are you opening them? What file browser and webbrowser are you using? Sounds like a permission issue, does your webbrowser have reading access to those files and directories. Do they open fine in your laptop? There is no specific "URL code" for Android

the html folder is in the external sd card, opening from the main.html file in the folder,  browser?, web browser is Browser V 5.70.14, I dont know about reading access, the directories open fine on my laptop, if the file path is correct, the html file opens and functions fine on the pc

Sounds like webbrowser security features kicking in. Try a decent browser from the PlayStore like Chrome or Firefox, otherwise I'm out of ideas


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Show virtual keyboard when a physical one is connected on Android 7
Related: How to display the on screen keyboard when Bluetooth keyboard is connected
One of the answers under that question suggested an app called Secure Settings. It worked well on my old Android L phone but unfortunately it didn't work on my new phone with Android N.
I've gone through Settings and found a toggle named Show Virtual Keyboard under Physical Keyboards section, but that didn't work.
Any chance I can do this on N?

I had the reverse problem (Virtual Keyboard would not stop popping up) on My Galaxy Tab S3 running Android 7.0.  I didn't want to install many apps
so, discovered my problem to be the tablet's detection sequencing to be my problem.  I use my tablet almost exclusively as a laptop replacement. It sees my tablet, at virtually all times, connected to my Logitech K780.  I went into settings and turned off Show Virtual Keyboard, but the virtual
keyboard continued to pop up.
I realized that the tablet had lost the
physical keyboard detection and was able to force a fresh detection by
turning off bluetooth function and paired again with keyboard and
my bluetooth mouse.  Problem solved!. I think, Your problem may be solved by turning off your bluetooth that causing your phone to detect no physical keyboard and then your setting to show the virtual one might work.

Got similar problem before, some time turn BT off/on solve it, sometime not.
If not, remove BT device from list and pair it again with Phone/Tablet may solve this problem.
FYR~