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How to root Xperia P device
How do I get root access for my Xperia P device runing Jelly Bean(4.1)?
Is it required to unlock bootloader before trying to root the phone?

Can you tell your build number from settings

It's 6.2.A.1.100

Okay here is how to root  without unlocking bootloader for XP Jellybean. This is confirmed working and do it in your own risk.
Note:
Charge your phone to 100% before doing this and back up contact,message and any other installed app.

Download and install Flashtool (If you dont know how to flash using flashtool follow this tutorial
Download Sony Xperia P_6.1.1.B.1.75_Generic World from here
Put the ftf file inside the firmware folder of flashtool
Turn Usb Debugging on in your phone
Shut down your Xperia P
Press the lightning icon inside flashtool
Select FLASHMODE (NOT FASTBOOT)
Choose the Sony Xperia P_6.1.1.B.1.75_Generic World ftf file for XP
When flashtool ask you to connect your device, insert USB cable first in your phone then hold Volume Down Button and insert the other end of USB in your PC
Wait till it finish
Disconnect your phone and power on. You are back in ICS
Flash 0.559 kernel via flashtool
Remove the phone from PC, reboot the phone
Connect the phone to PC
Open flashtool hit the root button
When you see "waiting for restore to finish" open your phone and run Backup&Restore app and restore RootMe.tar file.
Wait until Flashtool do the rest of work
When u r done flash .75 kernel via flashtool reboot the phone
Download CWM
Extract the folder
Connect your phone to the pc with USB debugging
Click on install.bat
Download JB KERNEL and PRE ROOTED JB
Put it on your SD card
Well Now shut down you Xperia P
Turn it on
Enter CWM Recovery by pressing volume down (dont hold the volume button put press repeatedly move up and down using volume button select using power button)
Mount System
Mount Data
Mount Cache
Flash the JB Kernel Zip
Again Mount System
Mount Data
Mount Cache
Flash the JB_prerooted_6.2.A.0.400.zip
Do Not Reboot !!
Wipe Data/Factory Reset
Reboot !!

It take some minutes, But just wait with patience
For the 1st time you may get FC from Thememanager and Timescape
Enjoy Rooted JB !!!
Source: XDA

Rooting will involve several steps. You may or may not want to unlock your bootloader first (I did unlock it first before trying the following steps).
In order to use these instructions, you'll need a Windows computer and your device must be running Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean. You'll also want to ensure your device is charged before trying to root it.
These instructions are paraphrased from Xperia HTC Rooting.

Download the Bin4ry rooting software, and extract it to your desktop
Enable USB debugging on your Xperia P. You can do this by going into Settings > Application > Developer options > USB debugging and checking the box to enable it.
Connect your Xperia P to your computer via a USB cable. If your device is not recognized, you may need to install the Sony Xperia P USB driver first, then reconnect it again.
Double click on RunMe.bat file in the Bin4ry folder that you extracted
A black command window popup should appear with green text. Type 1 to select New_standard_root and press Enter.
Follow the on screen instructions to root your device.

Note: If the New_Stand_Root method does not work, try repeating steps 4 and 5 with the second root method (New Xperia Root by Goroh_kun).

I think it wont work for locked bootloader

The tutorial says that it will work even with locked bootloader, although I've unlocked the bootloader first.

i think it will work on .100 build LB and not on .400 build LB


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How to modify a system configuration file on Android?
On an Android device I would like to modify /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf with as minimal side effects to the rest of the device as possible. (there are unexposed APIs in Android framework)
Is it possible to just use a command line su executable to get permissions to modify the file?
Can I do this without an unlocked boot loader?
Would this be easier on a Nexus device?

In case this point is not clear; it's not enough to just have a su executable and run it.
Since you asked

Is it possible to just use a command line su executable to get
  permissions to modify the file?

The su executable must be properly installed, meaning that for it to do its job 'on behalf of' the superuser/root it has to have the SUID bit set (Switch User ID) for root. This process, called rooting needs to be done before any su executable becomes valid.
You can read all about the SUID bit and Linux file permissions as well as the rooting process by doing a search.

I know I chose not to comment on SELinux or su implementations via deamons where the suid bit for the executable might be 'missing' but I thought this would only confuse the issue.

Have you rooted your device??  If yes then use root browser and navigate to wpa_supplicant. Conf.  Then open and edit that file.  It will not effect device at all.

Wrongly edited wpa_supplicant.conf can result in repeated force-close messages or even a boot issue which technically is affecting the device.

As long as root access is configured properly, you could do what you want through terminal or any executable su that you plan of. This doesn't requires an unlocked bootloader in most cases. However, getting a properly configured root access, most of the time requires an unlocked bootloader.

What is  properly configured (argue with improperly configured) root access and what does a bootloader has to do with it, let alone being unlocked? Please explain. If possible, use technical sources to back your claim. Thanks.

Is it possible to just use a command line su executable to get permissions to modify the file?

Yes. It's that simple. With properly setup root permission you can easily modify most configuration files.

Can I do this without an unlocked boot loader?

Very unlikely though I've heard some. To root your phone you must first unlock your bootloader and ... that's the beginning :)

Would this be easier on a Nexus device?

I'm not very sure. The general procedure is Unlock bootloader -> Flash custom recovery -> Flash root package -> Boot into phone and get a root-capable text editor and modify the file.
AFAIK Nexus devices are the "most vanilla" so you shouldn't face any problem if you follow a comprehensive rooting guide.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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

sort: votes


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How to prevent android from auto-sync'ing gmail contacts and photos etc
I just got a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and when I go into my settings then add an account and add a gmail account, it gives me an option to choose what I want to sync. I unchecked 'photos' and 'contacts' and everything else except for 'gmail', but it still auto sync'ed my photos and contacts (and my apps and app data, even though I told it not to). I then deleted the account and tried again but this time, I didn't check anything at all (not even gmail) and it did not sync anything, which is good. But I want to sync only my mail, so then I went into the settings for my account and checked only the 'sync gmail' box and it synced everything again (app, app data, contacts, photos).  How do I make it stop syncing everything? I just want to sync my inbox.

You can Hack it

Go to Settings -> Accounts
Click on Top RIGHT Icon (Settings) and then UNCHECK Auto-Sync Data*
Add your Google Account
Turn the phone on Air Plane Mode
Go to Settings -> Accounts -> Google -> Your Account
Selectively turn sync only for things that you would like sync (e.g gmail)
Turn off Air plane mode.
Turn On 'Auto-Sync Data' option.

Now not all of the data will be synced except the ones that you selected!

To turn off syncing of everything to google, except mail then you can try the following steps:

Go to "Settings" on your phone -> "General" -> "Accounts" -> "Google" -> click your email address in the top. From here, you can uncheck checkboxes on everything you don't want to sync with Google.
Google+ also has its own syncing options -> Go to "Settings" on your phone -> "General" -> "Accounts" -> "Google" -> "Google+" -> "Auto backup". In the top, you can choose "Off" to turn off the backup of pictures and files to Google+.

I hope this helps.

problem is, even when I tried to do this, it still synced the photos and the photos are all there. It's annoying how when I first link my account and say to not sync photos and anything else except for email, it still does it :/

okay so I tried adding an account again and it worked, I'm not sure what I did differently but just in case someone comes across this same problem in the future, I think if you go to the GMAIL app (don't click on settings -> accounts), just if you go to the GMAIL app, click settings inside the gmail app and then click 'ADD ACCOUNT', then it won't sync anything except the gmail. If you go to your phone settings -> Accounts and add accounts from there and tell it not to sync, then it might sync regardless of what you tell it (like what it was doing for me).

Also, to clear already downloaded online galleries from your Gallery on the phone: Go to Gallery Application in application manager and clear data.

Also the program photos has its own sync service. To stop it just entrr the program, go into settings and turn it off there

you turn off the sync and open the mail app if it is gmail then it is easy as gmail app has its swipe down to refresh mails. but the android email app has no features like this so go to its settings to change it

That's a reasonable workaround, but only if you don't want new-mail notifications.

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

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


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How to enable double-click
Is it possible to do double-click on Android like you do on a regular computer? Some websites require double-click to operate, and I was hoping I could do the same on Android and get a computer double-click behavior instead of Android double tap zoom.

What websites are you using that require double clicking? I can't think of any at all that use that (except if you want to select text, which is more of a browser/OS thing than it is a website design). There are plenty that use hover actions which can be problematic.

its a trading website on steam platform. screenshot here link To push items from my inventory to trade i need to double click or drag them

Somewhat, a good question. Anyway, website for testing double-click: http://unixpapa.com/js/testmouse.html, since I couldn't do it even on the latest Chrome on Lollipop 5.1.

Related Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 doesn't recognize double-clicks..Not all website are meant for mobile and not all website work in all browsers..

Just created this account just to share this priceless information... Try and instal "Puffin browser" on googleplay.. It has the virtual mouse that works like a charm! Thank me later and the developer!

You can try using Firefox for Android with the plugin NoDoubleTap that lets you disable double tap zooming.
Hopefully that will let Android pass both taps through to the website so it can register a double click.

i tried it. it doesn't work

NoDoubleTap addon is gone: "If you’ve followed a link from another site for an extension or theme, that item is no longer available."

I had the same issue and the only browser I've found that works is Puffin.  I have to use the virtual mouse and a BT mouse together but it does work.

I should clarify the two mice.  I have to place the virtual mouse on what I want to double tap and then I have to use the bt mouse to actually double click it.  It might just be a bug in my work's webpage but it works for me.


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What the heck is wrong with my photos?
So ... I got this puppy. And he's cute so I want to post pictures of him on the internet. I realize we could have a very long conversation about whether or not anyone wants to look at photos of my dang puppy, but I just want help uploading them.
I am pretty sure the problem is the photos -- but if I try to upload them via the Tumblr App, it fails silently (no post is made, no error logged). Text posts go up just fine. If I try to go through the browser, I get an error: error uploading photo that doesn't clarify much. If I email myself the photo and edit it in an editor I can post it but that's not a great workflow.
Has anyone else experienced this? Are there workarounds? I have an aging Samsung Galaxy S.
Note: I tried opening a few phone camera photos on my laptop (in ImageMagick) and I'm getting a weird error. It is basically the same for the three photos:
Corrupt JPEG data: 1136 extraneous bytes before marker 0xd9
Corrupt JPEG data: 1129 extraneous bytes before marker 0xd9
Corrupt JPEG data: 1128 extraneous bytes before marker 0xd9

Why would my phone take corrupt photos?

Are you using the stock camera app?  Have you tried using a different camera app?

Am using the stock app.

Could you try a camera app from Play Store and try repeating the issue? If the error pops up, there is a problem with camera firmware/driver. If not, then there is a problem with stock camera app.


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App not detecting sdcard data
I have recently downloaded NFS Most Wanted on my Samsung Galaxy Grand i9082.... the problem is that when I copied the data folder I downloaded into Android>>> Data>>> and I installed the apk file and when I check the app status it shows sd card data-0.00 B

What is this data folder you downloaded? You wouldn't normally have to copy a data folder yourself when installing an app. Are you trying to install the app from an unofficial source, or to copy a friend's save game, or something like that?

@Dan,it seems like he is installing it from an unofficial source.
Most of the game data is stored in /sdcard/Android/obb, make sure you are pasting it in the correct/intended folder.
Some data is stored in /sdcard/Android/data. Few games have data stored in both the locations.

dont put the data files in obb.
instead put it in the sd card/android/data folder
it works

First install game and play it once.  Then paste your downloaded data folder to Android-Data.  Hope it helps


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Does Chrome's reduce data make browser faster?
I was wondering if using "reduce data"-function under bandwidth management would make the browser load pages faster on slow connection like mine ~512kbit. I have unlimited data so the pure amount of data doesn't matter. I just wonder if it makes loading pages faster.

It depends on the pages. If the pages are media-heavy (lots of large images or other media) then yes, the pages load faster since Google scales and recodes the images on the servers before sending them to your device, and optimizes other page content also. However, the device still needs to render the layout of the page, which can be slow on mobile devices. This happens on the device and requires CPU+RAM, and is unaffected by the bandwodth optimization. Also, since some content is compressed when sent from Google's optimization servers, it needs to be decompressed on the device, which uses CPU.
All in all, reducing data helps move the bottleneck from the bandwidth to the device itself, and the benefit of the setting depends on the content of the pages and the performance of your device.


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How to use external SD card on Ehndroix?
I can't access my SD card via USB. When I plug in to computer it reads only the internal SD. In recovery mode "mount sdcard" doesn't help.
Phone: Samsung S Galaxy GT-19001
Rom: Ehndroix IV

Does the SD card work normally?

it depends what you mean by "normally", but I guess that not - at first I thougth that I can access it in android's file explorer (storage/sdcard1) but when I add a test folder there and returned later the folder disappeared

Normally = at all. Ever. How does your case differ from a situation where the phone or SD card is faulty and never works?  Have you done the obvious and tried your SD card in a different phone, or a different card in your phone?

Since android kitkat, apps cannot access sdcard without special permissions.Most custom roms however bypass this requirement

OP stated he tried to access it from PC, and it did not show up (access my SD card via USB). So that's not related. OP also stated to have successfully added a test-folder using a file explorer, and got no error. So I doubt it has to do with Android permissions. So while your statement per-se is correct, it doesn't seem to be related to the issue here.

I should have wrote not only apps


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What lurks behind these Gmail/GTalk permissions?
I just stumbled upon some permissions which sound clear at first sight (noticed them already quite a while ago, just decided to dig deeper right now). Thinking about possible implications, I'd really like to know what features/data they give access to, as this might get quite personal/sensitive:

com.google.android.gm.permission.READ_GMAIL: often the reason given is "to access attachments" (such as PDF files to be opened with a PDF reader). But is that all? Or could an app equipped with this permission read the entire mail?
com.google.android.gm.permission.WRITE_GMAIL: could an app with this permission write and send mails on my behalf? Or even delete existing mails (including the "written-and-sent one", to hide its activities)?
com.google.android.gm.permission.READ_CONTENT_PROVIDER: one app describes its use as "read Gmail labels and get unread count". Another one writes "Used to update the unread email count on your lockscreen. Email content is not sent to our servers." Which suggests this permission can be used to access the entire mail content. And other contents?
In some source code I found the comment Permission required to access android.content.ContentProvider, which suggests a lot of content getting accessible this way if it means THE content provider, including contacts and calendars. Not being an Android dev, I cannot really tell without being told first.
google.android.gtalkservice.permission.GTALK_SERVICE: Yes, please?

I've "googled" them all (the above is already the result of my research). And of course I started with my favorite sources when it comes to permissions:

the permission reference at Android Developers
explained permissions at AndroidForums.COM
some framework source code at Github
more framework source code at Android Source
our very own reference at What do the permissions that applications require mean?

But the above is all I could come up with. Can somebody shed some more light on those? From a user's perspective, what can be accessed with those permissions, and what are the privacy implications? A "good cop/bad cop" play would be appreciated, naturally :)

Have you seen the Google Play Services permissions? "Add additional permissions at any time." I can't answer why they are there, and how this came about but anecdotally Google seem to be adding permissions to all gApps lately. It could be unifying the frameweork services/games/mail/talk/plus and so on. But it is very odd and very alarming. I've been told, off the record, that Chrome has more code around personalisation, logging etc than actual internet browsing. I don't know at all if that is true. Certainly there is a shift in 'all the permissions!' lately.

Could you give a little more information about where you're seeing these permissions? I could do a little digging for you, but I'll need at least the full name of each permission to start (including the android.permission. or whatever at the start). Bear in mind that any app can define new permissions to control how other apps use that app's features.

@RossC Yeah, that's correct. But the 4 above are already around for some time – so I'm not asking about the "latest fancies". Being offered by the Google Apps themselves (see my edit), they are not mentioned in the AOSP manifests; and GApps being proprietary code, there's not much to look into for investigation. // I share your opinion about "alarming" (those bells are one thing behind my question). And though your Chrome example looks "exaggerated", I'm totally buying it...

It's not surprising that Chrome contains more code on the side features than browsing. The majority of the code for rendering pages is in WebKit (now Blink) and V8 and the main browsing window is basically the same as with Chromium project.

More than one year later, and no answer here. I've done some research myself – and though there was not much found, I'll share what I've got so far:

com.google.android.gm.permission.READ_GMAIL: A good guess is this targets the mail content. Protection level switched from "dangerous" to "signature" about the time Gingerbread was released (with Gmail 2.3.5), see Android Census – so it's not available to third-party apps (anymore) – and thus not relevant unless we're talking about system apps.
com.google.android.gm.permission.WRITE_GMAIL: Permits an app to change your E-Mails in Google Mail. This includes sending and deleting.Assigned protection level differs between devices (dangerous/signature), so no general say on whether it affects non-system apps.
com.google.android.gm.permission.READ_CONTENT_PROVIDER: This is primarily for access to information on Mails in Gmail. Developers can use this content provider to display label information to the user.Protection level is "dangerous" – so unless that's changed meanwhile, this one definitely affects user-apps.
google.android.gtalkservice.permission.GTALK_SERVICE: I couldn´t find any documentation on this permission, which is connected to Google Talk resp. Google Hangouts.The protection level assigned seems to differ between devices – so again no clear rule here.

Great update. It is amazing how little understandable documentation exists regarding how everyone's data is used by different apps.

@RockPaperLizard that's what I always wonder: how do the devs know what perms they need, without documentation? For the users' end, the only half-way respectable list (not talking about complete, that's impossible) is my own – which was hard work to set up! So thanks for the nice feedback, really appreciate it!


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How to prevent android from auto-sync'ing gmail contacts and photos
I just got a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and when I go into my settings then add an account and add a gmail account, it gives me an option to choose what I want to sync. I unchecked 'photos' and 'contacts' and everything else except for 'gmail' but it still auto sync'ed my photos and contacts (and my apps and app data, even though I told it not to). I then deleted the account and tried again but this time, I didn't check anything at all (not even gmail) and it did not sync anything, which is good. But I want to sync only my gmail, so then I went into the settings for my gmail account and checked only the 'sync gmail' box and it synced Everything again (app, app data, contacts, photos).. how do I make it still syncing everything? I just want to sync my inbox.


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Please explain this weird response to adb command
127|root@android:/ # find / -iname "aaengine"
find: /proc/19619: No such file or directory

I dont know why I got told about some file I never known about when trying to find aaengine file

Quite easy: find / starts exploring at the file system root (i.e. the very top). So it comes to places you have no access to as normal user, and runs into permission issues. It sees a directory called /proc/19619 and, knowing this is a directory, wants to traverse into it. But it is not permitted to (most likely the permission of that directory is something like drwxr--r--, so everybody can see ("r"ead) it – but only its owner can change into (eXecute)). So your find sees it, but can not dive into it.
As you've been running this command as root, permission problems shouldn't be the issue. But taking a look at the directory in question pops up a different answer: /proc is storing process information. Below this top-level dir, directories are created using the PID of running processes. So /proc/19619 stores information on process 19619. Most likely your find was seeing that directory, and at the same moment that process ended; so when find finally wanted to dive into, it was gone: No such file or directory (not anymore).

How can this be if I have root access and did the command as root by entering su before the find command?

See my updated answer. Sorry, I completely missed the 127|root@android...

Im wondering that I wasn't using the phone when that process, whatever it was ended.Is this normal?Also I marked your answer as accepted and upvoted it along with your comment to thank you

It's probably also worth noting that the 'files' in /proc aren't actually files: /proc just gives programs a way to interact with parts of the system as if they were files.

Exactly as Dan stated. So yes, perfectly normal: As soon as the process holding PID 19619 ended, /proc/19619 disappeared to reflect the fact. Expected behaviour, working as designed (and as it should).


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Android can't boot -- displays booting splash until battery drains
My Android can't boot.  It displays the booting splash (a sci-fi planet-like image) until the battery drains.
Is this condition what's referred to as a boot loop?  Is there any chance to recover?
The condition came gradually. Each new time booting, it would take longer but it would eventually boot. As of yesterday, it can't get through the boot step and just stays there until the battery is out.
Another thing that was happening in the last couple of weeks is that the phone would randomly (on its own, without user interference) go out (but not power itself off) for like 10-15 min at a time, pressing power wouldn't do anything, then it would wake up and the 4G service would be reinstated.
The hardware is a Motorola Razr Bionic.
I also tried going into the recovery mode but all it did was display an android robot lying down with a ! (exclamation mark) sign above it for a few minutes, then went back to the splash screen hanging again.
I also tried following these instructions (Alternate Method) but I am stuck in part 5:  I press volume up/down but it doesn't change the lying android with an exclamation mark.  Eventually, it goes into the infinite boot splash and I have to take the battery out to get out of it and power it off.

Well, more information is needed to answer your question. Did you root/flash your device or what happened before you first encoutered this problem?

no.  the condition came gradually.  each new time booting, it would take longer.  but it would eventually boot.  as of yesterday, it can't get through the boot step and just stays there until the battery is out.  another thing that was happening in the last couple of weeks is that the phone would randomly (on its own, without user interference) go out (but not power itself off) for like 10-15 min at a time, pressing power wouldn't do anything, then it would wake up and the 4G service would be reinstated.  not sure if this is related.

can you post the model of the device?

it is a Motorola Razr Bionic

I also tried going into the recovery mode but all it did was display an android robot lying down with a ! (exclamation mark) sign above it for a few minutes, then went back to the splash screen hanging again.

Could you try hard reset mentioned here?. I am sure you would have tried mutliple methods, it might help.

did it but the problem remains...


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How to authorize other email adress for google play store?
I can install apps on our family tablet using my personal Google account. Somehow I've set this up in the past, so I have all my devices under one Google account. Note that the tablet is officially registered on an other Google account.
I want to do this again for the tablet of my grandmother, but I don't know how anymore how I've done this in the past.
I have my grandmother's tablet here. How can I authorize myself to install apps on her tablet using my own Google account?
Thx in advance!

You must first add your google account to the tablet. The Google Play app won't let you switch an account until there are two or more accounts on the device.
So first add your google account. You will probably want to disable all of the synchronizing options.
Once that is done, open the Google Play app, and you'll see the option to switch accounts. On top of that, you will be able to "Push Install" apps to the tablet from your desktop computer (provided you're logged into the same google account).
The downside, of course, is that there is now a device that can synchronize your contacts, gmail, photos, etc that you don't control. Your grandma could decide to purchase in-app items or purchase new apps (though you can require a password for that, at least).
Alternatively, if you only want to install a few of the paid apps you own, you can temporarily add your account, install the apps, then remove the account. The apps remain installed, even without the linked account.

This pretty much answers every question I could think of. Thx a lot Stephen!

Well what the *.. This even answers this question: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/65907/why-are-preinstalled-apps-not-registered-in-play-store-on-new-devices
Now I've configured my own account temporarily on the new device, all preinstalled apps are suddenly registered to play store and updating! Why does Google don't do this on newly created Google account??


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Why are preinstalled apps not registered in play store on new devices?
This is the 2nd time I noticed this. Once with a new Samsung galaxy s3 (with newly created Google account) and now with a new Samsung Galaxy Note (also with a newly created Google account).
I've just registered 2 new Samsung Galaxy Note tablets. One with my personal, existing Google account. And one for a friend with a new Google account I just created.
On my personal tablet, all installed apps where registered in the play store and they all said "update".
On my friends tablet with the new Google account, there are NONE apps installed on the device, according to Google play. What this means is that I need to find each and every one of the installed apps in the play store manually and update them. Or else I wouldn't receive update notifications from those apps.
This is very annoying. Especially with the loads of bloatware preïnstalled on new android devices these days.
Is there any known fix for this issue? How can I have Google Play store register all apps installed on device and show them in the my apps section?
Thx in advance!

Well what the *.. Now I've configured my own account temporarily on the new device according to this answer, all preinstalled apps are suddenly registered to play store and updating! Why does Google don't do this on newly created Google account??

It's because Google can back up which apps you have installed on your Google account, and restore them when you associate your account with a new device. Since your friend's account is new, the apps have not been installed yet, and are therefore not shown.
As for why the apps are not shown as installed, it's because they're not installed from Google play, but from Samsung. If I remember correctly, Samsung has it's own Samsung Apps app, which handles updates for preinstalled applications unless they're associated with their Google Play counterparts.


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Right to Left English for left handed people
I have a big phone (Moto G). I'm left-handed, so everything on the left of the screen would be so much more convenient on the right, and vice versa.
But wait, Android 4.2 introduced Right-to-left (RTL) layouts! The problem is that I don't speak any RTL languages, just English.
My understanding is that Android sets whether it's LTR or RTL, and any app can read this setting to display an appropriate layout. Can I set my Android device to be right to left while still using English?

!crazy That's ?backwards English read You

Yes you can do that.
Firstly enable the The developer mode by tapping the build number in About Phone
Then go in developer options and then check force RTL layout

Exactly what I was looking for, thanks!http://www.theandroidsoul.com/android-4-2-developer-mode-is-a-tricky-thing-heres-how-its-done/ gives details on how to get developer mode.

You'd have to use a custom ROM to do this, because the layout direction is a fixed part of the locale information, not a user-visible setting. Even if you could, you'd find that most apps wouldn't change. It takes development and testing time to make Android layouts bidirectional, and the support wasn't added to Android until Jelly Bean, so apps tend to only use it if they actually do support RTL languages.
Even on apps which do support it, you'd probably find strange behaviour because English isn't supposed to be laid out right-to-left. For example, text labels that are too long might have the "..." at the start instead of the end, or vice-versa.
So in summary, it's a lot of effort to end up with a broken configuration.

authors: Артем Мяленков


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Is it possible to copy Android OS from my friend's device and install it on my tablet?
After encountering a serious problem in my Android tablet, I need to reinstall my android. There is no OS available for my tablet on the the internet. My friend has the same Android tablet.
So I was thinking if it is possible to 'copy' the Android OS from his device and put it on mine. I have a Porto 9" tablet running android 4.2 and is rooted.

Before considering a "re-install": have you performed a factory reset?

Given that you and your friend both have the same tablet, this should be possible. Your friend will need to be rooted as well. Probably the easiest thing would be for him to perform a Nandroid backup which you then transfer to your tablet and restore.
If this works, your tablet will be in the same state as his at the time he flashed, so you'll need to delete his account, establish yours, etc.
Disclaimer: as with all things flashing, I can't guarantee that this won't make your situation worse. But it sounds like you're already in a bad way.

I already tried the factory reset, am going to try your method Trevor Rude

Can I do a nandroid restore without custom recovery

I doubt it, I think I've only seen Nandroid options on custom recoveries. But I've never really tried a stock recovery.


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Are .smi or .srt files more compatible with the S3?
I've been using .srt files exclusively on my phone thinking they must be the most compatible as all the apps that use sub files generally say use the .srt file format but today I came across an app that chose .smi files as the only option so I was wondering whether the "sub-community" in the Android world has moved toward .smi?  Now on an Android phone which type of sub file is easily converted to another sub format? And, if one is stuck just using a phone which of the two formats are much more flexible?
OS: 4.1
S3

This question is probably opinion-based.
I'm not familiar with the trend in subtitles, but I use them a lot since I am hard-of-hearing. Most of the subtitles I get from SubScene are .srt files. Occassionally, I'll encounter a .sub and .idx combo, but RARELY an .smi.
A lot of media players support .srt; a lot others also support other formats. My guess on the app that you found which supports only .smi - which you didn't even mention its name - is that it may have been a niche app to play videos that have .smi subs. There may have been no other app that played .smi when it was made. I am just speculating.
But one thing for sure, .srt is not going away any time soon.


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Caller ID for forwarded calls
Let's say I have a fixed line phone, say 2xxxxxxx1. I have set this phone to forward all calls to my Moto G, say 9xxxxxxxx2. Now whenever I receive a call that was forwarded, I see two numbers in the caller Id. Say the original caller was 9xxxxxxxx3, then I see the caller id as 9xxxxxxxx32xxxxxxx1, i.e. the actual caller's number, appended by the number that forwarded the call to me.
I understand this can be a great feature to know the actual caller and the forwarder. But, it does not go well with the contacts and apps like True Caller. Also It becomes a pain to quickly save the received call to contacts.
Is there a way I could completely get rid of the forwarder's details from the caller id? Does it happen on all android phones? Is it specific to Moto G, or the OS it is running? Can it be carrier specific? Does anybody know an app that could override the default phone app and provides what I want?
PS: I am having a Moto G Dual Sim in India, running one SIM on Loop carrier, same issue when I tried a Tata carrier. The fixed land line that forwards to my Moto G is run by MTNL

I think it's very likely that this is a carrier-dependent question and you should consult you carrier. I've never seen or heard about this kind of behaviour. Maybe you could test it by inserting the SIM in another phone, maybe even one with a different OS?

Caller Forwarding for the provider here (in US) is through the providers network still. Changing the data on the phone sends the change to the cell tower to be recorded there. When a call was forewarded to a landline, I was still being charged for Mobile minutes on the original Cell call.  It was just assumed that the forewarding was entirely being done on the cell network. In both where  the same company provided the landline, and where it was over cable broadband (using thier voip).  So it very well could be "through the 2 numbers" in the cell networks routing.

@onik Even though the carrier is responsible for providing the caller ID number, there could be a way of working around it using an app on the phone to recognise and strip the forwarding number.

@onik, yes I would be doing that experiment, but thought someone might have done this already. I am kind of sure there must be an app already that does this, not sure how to search it out


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Samsung galaxy note 2 android 4.3 problems
Is there a solution for the battery drain problem that the note 2 suffers after the 4.3 update?
In my case the drain is most noticeable when the wifi is on. When its off battery lasts a good while same or maybe a little bit better than before. But when wifi is enabled, you can watch the battery indicator change values quickly.
I've looked for solutions but found non that seems to be working.

There may be apps in the background that run which drains the battery life. To be certain of which app:
Go to

Settings > Battery > Battery Graph

The battery graph will give detailed analysis which app used how much battery. If there is any app that you don't recall using a lot but is one of the top battery consumers I'd recommend you to uninstall/disable the said app.

I already did that the thing is, it is not apps that cause this drain, it is the wifi which when disabled everything is fine but when it is on i can watch the battery go down. Another thing is the SNS service it consumes alot. And what is the difference between Android system and android os. Both appear in the graph and both consume the most


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Laptop unable to detect Gionee E6
I wanted to debug an Android app on my Ginonee e6. But when I connect it through USB cable, the device is not detected.
Last time I had faced same issue with Samsung Galaxy Y and installing Kies solved the problem
But for Gionee E6, nothing works, I have google-usb drivers installed; still my phone is not detected. I have switched ON the USB-Debugging option in the settings
Please help.

have you tried plugging it into a different USB port?

@geffchang No luck, with different USB port.

You need to install the correct drivers for the device. I'm not familiar with the device in question, but it seems that there are two drivers available on the Gionee Mobile India site. Try installing one of the drivers there and then connect your device again.


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Proximity sensor always 0 or 9cm. Could this be a hardware or software problem?
The proximity sensor on my phone always gives a distance value of 0 or 9cm (using both Z Device Test and CPU-Z). In sunlight, the sensor gives a reading of 9cm. Anywhere else (in shade, indoors, etc) the reading alternates between 0 and 9cm, and rather quickly. In intervals of about 2 seconds. If I cover the sensor with my thumb then reading is 0 as it should be. Soon as I remove my thumb the screen begins to flash.
I have tried using Resound Proximity Sensor to calibrate but failed. Could this be a software problem that I could fix myself?

This depends on the device. There are devices that have more accurate sensors, which can display the distance in cm correctly, but some sensors only report the distance as "near" or "far". If your device only gives the two states, Android uses the sensor's maximum detectable distance as the "far" state (in this case, 9cm) and 0 as the "near" state (which translates to 0cm).
Source: Position Sensors | Android Developers

Thanks for quick response. So say it has two states, can it be re-calibrated by some software so that doesn't keep quickly changing between FAR and NEAR when I haven't put the phone on my ear? It requires too much light - flashlight or sun - to remain on FAR status.

I don't think so, but it depends on the sensor. Since it's an on/off switch to the OS, you'd have to calibrate the sensor itself, and it's easier said than done.


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How to uninstall "not installed" apps
I just found out that some apps that I uninstall from my tablet are still listed in "all apps" section by my device, although marked as "not installed":

Apps List (click image for larger variant)
How can I fully remove them? Please note that those are not system apps or pre-installed apps by manufacturer.

If you have multiple users on your tablet, this means that the apps are installed by another user, and therefore take up space without being installed under your user account. Just open the other accounts and uninstall the apps from there.

Settings -> Apps -> select your app
tap on menu button (3 dots) -> Uninstall for all users

Perfect answer...

It should be the right one. Save my day

In the menu there is an option to uninstall for all users so you don't have to loging in to each user on the main.


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Easiest method to backup my stock and Chrome favourites so I can access them on a new device?
My Samsung Galaxy S III running Android 4.1 looks like it's going to die and I was wondering what's the quickest method to backup my Favourites from Chrome and stock so that I can copy them to a new device?  Note: I don't have PC access and I'd like to keep the folders.

For Chrome bookmarks the easiest way is to enable Chrome bookmark syncing via your Google account. If this hasn't been automatically done, you can find the option to log in to your google account from Chrome in Menu -> Settings -> Sign in to Chrome. After this, your bookmarks will be synced to the cloud and you can simply repeat the process on the new device. Note that this also works for the desktop and iOS versions, if you'll ever need them.

You could use a dedicated backup app such as Backup SMS, Contacts & Apps:

This is a Backup Manager / backup Assistant which lets you maintain backups of various things such as Contacts, SMS, Calendars, Bookmarks, Apps & Call logs. All of this can be kept safely in your email ID & on your external memory. Also helps transfer data from one phone to another.

(emphasis mine). The quote is from the app description, and as my emphasis shows, this should be perfectly fitting your needs.


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Remove KNOX from a pre-installed Samsung Galaxy Note II
How should one remove KNOX from a pre-installed Samsung Galaxy Note II or similar?
As I understand it, Samsung's official instructions for removing KNOX do not even remove the KNOX installer, but merely turn the KNOX installation off.
I'm curious about this approach to removing KNOX from Samsung phones.  As I understand it, removing the aboot.mbn and sb*.mbn files simply prevents them from being installed.  I doubt this helps if your device already has KNOX installed.
Could I first downgrade my GT 7100 to a pre-KNOX firmware?  And then flash a new firmware with the KNOX bootloader removed?  Or could I simply substitute the aboot.mbn and sb*.mbn files from a previous Samsung firmware?
Also, how could I actually find an old firmware for the Galaxy Note II?  I must presumably identify a firmware that's suitable for the hardware somehow?
Also, I'm using heimdall under Mac OS X rather than Odin under Windows, so maybe I could just flash the ext4 .img file directly?  Is this a problem?  Is Odin required to avoid setting some warranty void bit or osmething?
Now my current firmware is N7100XXUEMJ9, which I've managed to download, appears Russian.  The most similar firmware available on Samsung's site is N7100XXUENC3.  It does not contain the aboot.mbn and sb*.mbn files.  Instead N7100XXUENC3 has sboot.bin tz.img boot.img recovery.img system.img modem.bin cache.img hidden.img.  I presume I could just flash the system.img from that without replacing the boot stuff?

Is this related to what safestrap does?  http://galaxynote3root.com/galaxy-note-3-tutorials/how-to-install-custom-rom-using-safestrap-on-galaxy-note-3/

Root your note 2
Install titanium backup
Either uninstal or freeze Knox.apk and all associated processes through titanium backup.
As AWLAYS, make a complete backup before any changes.

That'll remove the user-space app, but not the KNOX bootloader or any other parts of the KNOX infrastructure.


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Flash the newer version of ROM over the old one on ART environment
I've flashed Carbon ROM on my LG G2 (D802) device and when e new Nightly release, I download it and put it on my SD Card and dirty flash it (Only clean Dalvik cache and cache partition). Now I've changed my enviroment from Dalvik ro ART and it seems that everything except nandroid manager is working fine, my question is, when a new Nightly release, what should I do now exactly? should I dirty flash like the other ones? and when I flashed the latest Nightly, what will happen to my environment, will it change back to Dalvik or it will stay on ART environment?
Thanks in advance.

On most modern 4.4.x based ROMs, you don't have to manually clear the caches, as it's automatically done during the flash anyways.

@Chahk please post source so people can verify this.Also I need source for: wiping cache wipes dalik too

Source. Specifically- see 4th paragraph of the 1st post.  Obviously this is for CyanogenMod ROM, but other recently built ROMs that are based on CM or AOSP sources should follow the same logic.

If I got your question correctly then yes yout ART environment should not be changed. The script will run at flashing time will wipe dalvik cache and cache itself and will not touch your personal settings. So you are safe to flash the nightly as a Dirty flash. However I have not flashed any latest aosp KK based rom but it should follow the same procedures as all custom rom does. I flashed many time dirty flash on my current device which is running on stock based custom rom and have no problem at all.
I'll suggest you to make a nandroid and make a dirty flash afterwards so if anything goes wrong you can restore your backup and start from scratch.

It should be identical to flashing when Dalvik is enabled. If the ROM cook packaged up everything correctly, you should be able to "dirty-flash" the nightly builds over the previous ones (assuming you are staying on the same ROM channel.)  I would confirm with the ROM author though.
On the topic of wiping caches, the CyanogenMod's installation instructions specifically state:

Contrary to popular belief, there is no need to wipe ANYTHING when you
  update CM. This includes your cache partition, your dalvik cache, and
  your battery stats. While wiping these won’t hurt anything, you can
  increase the time it takes to boot up CM after you install the update.
  Android is smart enough to manage both your cache and dalvik cache
  without you intervening, and wiping your battery stats does absolutely
  nothing to help with your battery life (the file is only used to
  provide the raw information to provide the stats and graph in Settings
  -> Battery) – it is actually wiped automatically every time your device is charged to 100%.

Of course you should always have a recent backup via recovery in case things start to go wrong.

@Chank thank you, but what will happen to my Runtime, will change back to Dalvik, or it will remain on ART?

@user3157358 Still ART


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Prevent Samsung Galaxy S2 camera to change resolution without prompting
I got a Samsung Galaxy SII (S2) with Android 4.1.2 and the built in camera app keeps changing the resolution from 8MP to the lowest, 640 x 480.
Why does this happen and is there any way to prevent this?


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Samsung Galaxy S2 not enough storage
I have a Galaxy S2 and a memory card installed. There are tons of free space on both. When I install any app, it downloads and then says not enough storage. How to solve this problem?
It's running ICS, and it's the latest available for it in my region.
I tried moving most apps to the SD card and uninstalled some. I also restarted the phone as well. Now, it shows low on space notification in the notification bar.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! I've just added the insufficient-memory tag to your question. Please check its tag-wiki for a starter, as it contains some first-aid. If you were able to solve your issue by this, please answer your own question and describe how. Otherwise, please [edit] your question with what you've tried and where you're stuck. Thanks!

@k1chy I don't think this question is the same. The question you linked is about the storage filling up for no apparent reason. This one is about installing apps when the storage appears to have lots of space.

@Dan, it appears so. I will remove the comment.

There was a thread similar to yours a while back. It refered to a Stackoverflow thread with a overwhelmingly positive answer.
One of the answers is to clear dumpstack. Here is the excerpt from the Stackoverflow answer.

Here's a very simple solution that works on my Samsung Galaxy S II and NOTE 1 ; I have no idea about other models:
Open the Phone app and switch to Keypad.
Dial *#9900#
On the screen that appears, click on the button labelled "Delete dumpstate/logcat".

I've restored about one GB of system space this way.

Hope this solves your problem.

I tried it and I Still get insufficient space error. And when i did that nothing happened to system storage. When I go to the storage settings, there is system storage and usb storage. System storage has about 0.2 GB free and usb storage had 7 GB out of eleven. What does this mean?

Yes you must root, flash etc and then install a new rom. I had all of this crap on my S2 so I just upgraded to a Nexus 5. Best thing I ever did

Root and flash your phone it solves anything (not only in my experience)

Well I am looking for a solution without rooting. I will do it if nothing else works but for now I don't want to root it.


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Is it possible to set custom calendar notification sounds for each calendar event?
I'm trying to create a custom notification sound for a single calendar event. For example, I want to use one mp3 for my reminder to take out the garbage, another for a birthday reminder, etc.
Is this possible? My phone is an HTC One running stock 4.4.2
thanks

I have not tried the Caledar Event Reminder, but it's probably worth checking out. Can't try, because it's paid, and doesn't have a trial version.

Download "File Manager (Explorer)" from Google Play List and explore "Notification" Folder.
Copy your custom file - MP3 ringtones in the "Notification" folder.
Open the Google Calendar --> General Settings --> Sounds --> You can find your custom file to select.

Hope this resolves your clarification.

They don't want to set a general sound effect. They want a different sound effect for each individual event in the calendar.


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Help with this ADB REVERSE Tethering Script?
I added the functionality to automatically turn on reverse tethering after many fails:
Now i only enter t into terminal
alias t='r && sz $tether && r && sz $n'
tether='am start -n com.android.settings/com.android.settings.TetherSettings && input keyevent 66 && input keyevent 66'
n='netcfg rndis0 dhcp'
alias sz='ad shell'
alias de='ad devices -l'
alias r='ad kill-server && ad start-server'
alias ad='adb'
alias pu='adb push'

The issues with the above are: (2 is most important)

This only works with the screen on and when notification bar isn't pulled down
This doesn't simulate wi-fi/other wirelessnetworking or make apps actually try to connect to net instead of checking if wifi/other wirelessnetworking is enabled
This code can most probably be much shorter/optimized (but at least it works)

To understand the background better please see my original question:I can reverse tether now by using alias but it stops on adb shell command


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Are there any current, major phones based on Android 4.4 that don't have Google Chrome pre-installed as a browser?
I'm asking since Android 4.4 doesn't include a browser and it needs to be licensed separately by the handset manufacturer.

Look at any 4.4 based phone that doesn't have Google Play Services.  Chances are that Chrome will not be pre-installed on such phones.

This question appears to be off-topic because it is only concerned with a brief moment in time. Any answers which might be true now will quickly become out of date.

Highly doubtful. If the phone is using Google Play Services, which every manufacturer must use and agree to a strict set of terms and conditions if they want their device to access the Google Play Store, then Chrome will be installed.
It's one of Google's key apps, along with Gmail, Maps and so on.


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How do I change DNS settings for 3G?
So I can use Twitter. It is okay when I use WiFi. But in 3G I cannot change DNS.

If you are on Jelly Bean (MR2) or KitKat, you can use my app: Override DNS for KitKat.
For lower versions of Android there are tons of free apps which do the same.


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Can you fully remove Google system apps from Android including the Play Store updates?
Believe it or not, but I want to remove a few Google Apps which I have no use for and want to free up space, resources and mobile data usage by not having them on my phone at all.
These include:

Google Currents
Google Play Music
Google Play Movies
Google Play Newsstand
Google Keyboard
Google+

I have ‘uninstalled’ them via the Play Store, but they still appear in my ‘Installed’ items in ‘My apps’ in the Play Store and instead of ‘UPDATE' and ‘UNINSTALL’ for any other app in my ‘Installed’ list, they stubbornly remain and only have ‘OPEN’ AND ‘UPDATE’ options.
Also going in the ‘All’ list in ‘My Apps’, all these apps are also different from other ones, where unlike other locally uninstalled apps that have their payment status (‘FREE’ or ‘PURCHASED’) and a ‘X’ at the top to remove it from your Google Account entirely, these Google Apps that I don’t want on my Android and want to be completely optional for my Android experience, only have an ‘UPDATE’ and no X up the top of their listing.
I don’t mind them remaining on the Google Account if Google insists on this, but I just want listings to ‘update’ them in my Google Play updates list to be removed, given this is Google basically forcing me to reinstall them against my will.
Is there a way to do this?
I’m on stock 4.3 Gnex.

The solution is to ‘Disable’ the apps from the Android system settings and they will no longer appear in your Play Store updates list.
E.g. for Google Currents:
Settings > Apps > All > find ‘Currents’ - tap it, select ‘Disable’.
The same applies to the all other listed apps in the question (with the exception of 'Google Play Newsstand’ which I couldn’t find in the list), and when you open the Play Store updates list anew, they will finally be gone from it as desired.

N.B. I worked this out after already writing out the entire question so thought to document it here for others in the future instead.

Update: I'm now trying to remove Hangouts, and it isn't in the list of 'All' apps in Android system app settings, and it's still bugging me by being in the updates list, forcing itself to be there and in my way. sigh. anyone know how to remove it from the Play Store? I'm rooted, if that helps.

Worked out Hangouts: in the 'All' apps list in settings, it's 'com.google.android.talk' :)...

Disabling really isn't removing Google apps, it's just disabling. So this isn't really answering your question, just band-aid'ing it.

Umm, with due respect - that's not a solution, that's a way of ignoring the problem... Also, if you don't using Play Store, this doesn't even help :-(

Above answer only stops them from appearing, it doesn't remove them. For that you'll need to root. Here's a guide that kind of answers your problem:
Be careful!
Droidviews: Removing Stock Apps.

That was excellent, thank you very much! Not all apps I wanted to remove were there, but for the ones that were that was even better than my 'disabling' solution! (Though I'm not sure whether they should be disabled first anyway, in case it mucks up the Play Store apps presence issue or not...[if they're hard deleted suddenly despite wanting to still sync them to the account or something.])

Is it safe to uninstall the apps the OP has shown? Will I face any issues on doing so?

Unless rooted, there is no way of uninstalling stock (system) apps.
That being said, even rooted uninstalling a stock app does not give you any usable free space (they're not on "user storage"). Disabling these app however, as suggested before, gives you all the other benefits you desire even on a stock, non-rooted Android.

This is getting more complex than I thought. Even if ROOTed, the phone apps may be on ROM (much cheaper than Flash) and there fore impossible to remove. It depends on how the phone was designed.I am beginning to think Disable may be the best option. It turns off (I think) at least some of that task and along with Clear and Default should free up some resources. I do worry about the warning (every time?) that it "...may cause other apps to misbehave..."
Some smart guy with a rooted phone and lots of experience needs to check memory before and after Disable and then Root remove and compare. It is harder and more dangerous to use root and we all need to know if it is a benefit to resources, including RAM, CPU cycles, as well as more ephemeral things like reliability and useability.

I build these things for a living. I've never heard of system apps stored on ROM -- at least not for Android. If you did that, you couldn't even update them during a system update. Most of the devices I've worked on only used ROM for the first-stage bootloader and last-ditch recovery mode.

I rooted my phone then installed Link2SD and Root Explorer. I used Root Explorer to backup the .apk files in the system folder, then from the Link2SD interface selected carefully the system (odex) apps I didn't want and uninstalled them.

I rooted my phone (Pantech P9070) and froze a lot of unwanted stuff using Link2SD. I thought freezing was a better option than removing, just in case. I also installed DCentral1 to see what apps could be spying on me.
https://sites.google.com/site/androidbloatware/freeze-able-bloatware

You don't need root to disable apps. See @foregon's answer.

Some apps have the "disable" grayed out. So this is useful sometimes.


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How to make a Nexus 4 a wifi access point / repeater without using mobile data
I have a spare Nexus 4 phone after recently upgrading to a Nexus 5. I would like to root the device and use it to share a wifi connection. To be clear, I am not talking about the stock android wifi hotspot functionality which shares a mobile 3G/ 4G data connection wirelessly. I would like to connect to a wifi hotspot from the device and then share that wifi connection to other devices, creating a WLAN. So wifi in, wifi out.

Does the Nexus 4 support this?
Can it be done without rooting / installing a custom rom?
If not, what ROM / apps do people recommend?

@DanHulme not really, my question is specifically about the nexus 4 and the landscape has changed since 2011

I don't think this will be possible really. And it's not going to be device specific solution (if any)

How to use Android device as router without cellular connection?


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Google location history wildly inaccurate
I may have set a new world record in travel according to Google location history. I've noted that on Wed, 18th March 2014 I was in Sydney at 5:28pm, then in Sale Morocco at 6:06pm, then back in Sydney at 6:08pm. At this rate, I have travelled (according to google) 11,169 miles each way in about half an hour.
Also, I note on the 20th March 2014 that I did it again, this time:

5:25pm Sydney
5:27pm Jakarta
5:29pm Sydney
5:31pm Jakarta
5:44pm Sydney

Now I know that Google uses GPS satellites, Wi-Fi networks and the Cell networks to locate my location, but can it get the language, country and continent wrong all at once?


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Had to reset my android tablet and my google play app appears on the home but when I tap it it says app not installed!!
I can not  open google play store on tablet. app shows when tapped it says app not installed. I have tried going into settings and the app does not appear there to try to reinstaLL it. I have tried factory install also with no luck.

Sometimes app shortcuts stay on the homescreen after the app is uninstalled. Try reinstalling from the Play Store.

Firstly you’ll need a copy of the official Google Play Store apk file to install on your device. You can download this on your PC and move it over to your handset or download it directly onto your handset, in which case it will appear in your download folder. Either way is fine. You can download it from here.Get latest version from it.
You’ll need to enable the installation of external apk files before you can install the Play Store file. This is done by checking the “unknown sources” box in your devices settings, which will allow you to install apps from unvetted sources, in other words from outside of the Play Store. This option can usually be found under settings > security, but may also appear under settings > applications on certain devices. You can always uncheck the box again after installing the Play Store.
You go to path where you store Google Play Store APK adnd then tap on it to install it and you are done.


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How to Custom install a Custom ROM?
The Custom ROM has several apps and features that I will remove and settings that I will set (just like any other ROM) This wouldn't be a big issue if I wouldn't flash a rom every few hours
So how to custom install a custom rom?

Unless the ROM is specifically designed to allow some kind of default set-up (and I don't know any that are), you can only do this by building the ROM yourself from source. You can edit the build scripts to remove any apps or features you don't need, and the source code to change the default settings, then compile a ROM image yourself.
You don't say why you're flashing a ROM every few hours. Obviously if you're flashing different ROMs, changing the source each time is going to be harder than just setting the settings on the device. If it is essentially the same ROM you're flashing each time, then you can keep your settings across flashes by simply not wiping the userdata partition when you flash the new ROM. Bear in mind that if the ROMs are significantly different, this may make the new ROM unstable, because it's trying to use settings files that were written by the old ROM.


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Changing startup and shutdown sounds
Is there any way for me to play certain audio files when my phone starts up and before it shuts down?
I have a Samsung S3.

Are you rooted? Or not? The boot animation and sounds are located at /data/local/bootanimation.zip

I sadly am not rooted. Is that what it will take? I'm a bit cautious of rooting my phone, from my limited knowledge of what's involved, I don't want to risk messing it up.

Root your phone with Kingo root.
Use a root browser, like ES File Explorer, to find the the file (probably mp3, ogg, or wav) and rename it to have .bak on the end.
Paste your sound in the same spot and name it what the original used to be. The file could be under /system/media/audio/ui or under/etc/ called something obvious like PowerOn.mp3. I'm not really sure where Samsung put the file.
Go into the SuperSU app, under settings you can choose to un-root your phone. I think you can also un-root by plugging your phone back into the computer and use Kingo.

There are many advantages to rooting though, like Linux Deploy and wipe-proof avast!. Or even remote control through AirDroid. It's safe as long as you don't mess with system files you don't know about or give SU privileges to apps you're not sure of.


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What Are The Differences Between Samsung Firmware Version For Countries In The Same Region?
Sorry for the dumb question - I really am a noob at this.
I have just bought a brand new SIM-free Galaxy S4 Mini LTE GT-i9195.
I am in the UK, but the phone has French CSC installed (code XEF).
From Handset:

Baseband version I9195XXUBMJ7
Build number JDQ39.I9195XXUMBJ7
SELinux status - enforcing SEPF_GT-I9195_4.2.2_002

Instead of upgrading via Kies to latest XEF firmware version, I was thinking of trying to use Odin to install latest UK version instead:I9195XXUBML4_I9195YTUBNA2_BTU.zip
Question
Any potential benefits / downsides to switching from XEF to BTU firmware version?

I guess that they are optimized for a particular country for example they will use different wifi channels (you should find the best channel anyway for best speed) and for different mobile communication infrastructures.
The best you can do to find out is test them.If you want the best out of your phone then flash a 4.4.2 or newer if possible rom and kernel and more (I use dorimanx 10 bet test)


text:
Retrieving phone conversations
I know this is a shot in the dark, but I had a phone call yesterday that I really want to retrieve it.
Can I phone up my provider (Vodafone) and ask for the recording? How do I go about doing this? Or is the conversation stored locally on my Galaxy S3?

No, your provider can't give you a recording of your phone call, and it's not saved on the phone by default.
There are a zillion apps on Google Play for recording phone calls, but there are two things to be aware of:-

Some phones simply can't record calls. This is because the "cellphone chip" in your phone has direct access to the microphone and speaker, so the phone call sounds don't ever pass through Android's phone system. If your phone was designed this way, probably you can record your side of the call (because Android still has access to the microphone), but not the other side. It doesn't matter which call recording app you use, because it's a limitation of the hardware.
In some countries, it's illegal to record a phone call without the consent of the other participant(s). Before doing anything, you should check, especially if you intend to use the recording as evidence to confront the other participant later or in a legal dispute.

Although the Android phone call recorders I have tried only record the audio from the other end via my mobile phone's microphone I have taken the audio files into Audacity on the PC and amplified and flattened the volumes so that both ends are clearly audible.  A bit laborious but if it's a small number of calls it's quite do-able.


text:
Backup and restore without custom recovery?
Can I backup and restore without a custom recovery if I have a nandroid backup? How can I do this?

Stock recovery's don't offer this feature, you would need a custom recovery to backup and restore.


text:
Services without a process
In the Settings > Apps screen, under "Running", a few apps are listed as having as active (i.e. a service is running) despite having zero running processes and taking no memory.
Why are they in this state? Are they waiting for some kind of event?

Yes, these are cached services. They are used to boost up service start time. From Android Developers - Processes and Threads (as of Feb 13, 2015)

Empty process
A process that doesn't hold any active application components. The only reason to keep this kind of process alive is for caching purposes, to improve startup time the next time a component needs to run in it. The system often kills these processes in order to balance overall system resources between process caches and the underlying kernel caches.

Android ranks a process at the highest level it can, based upon the importance of the components currently active in the process. For example, if a process hosts a service and a visible activity, the process is ranked as a visible process, not a service process.
In addition, a process's ranking might be increased because other processes are dependent on it—a process that is serving another process can never be ranked lower than the process it is serving. For example, if a content provider in process A is serving a client in process B, or if a service in process A is bound to a component in process B, process A is always considered at least as important as process B.
Because a process running a service is ranked higher than a process with background activities, an activity that initiates a long-running operation might do well to start a service for that operation, rather than simply create a worker thread—particularly if the operation will likely outlast the activity. For example, an activity that's uploading a picture to a web site should start a service to perform the upload so that the upload can continue in the background even if the user leaves the activity. Using a service guarantees that the operation will have at least "service process" priority, regardless of what happens to the activity. This is the same reason that broadcast receivers should employ services rather than simply put time-consuming operations in a thread.


text:
Texting with Samsung Galaxy S4
My Samsung Galaxy S4 has been saying that my text is "sending" for hours now.  However, one of the recipients has responded to my text. Was not doing this earlier today

"Have you tried turning it off and back on again?" Honestly, I would just recommend restarting your device. It might just magically fix the problem.
Sometimes, if you're sending a message to multiple recipients, one person will receive the message before the others. Your phone could have lost cellular service during the process of sending the message (thus resulting in one person replying while your message is still being sent to the others).
If restarting the phone doesn't work, you can try the dumb brute force solution:

Copy the content of the message.
Delete the message from your outbox.
Create a new message with the pasted content and send it.

Maybe another user can recommend a techy solution, but this should be enough to get you past this issue if it happens again. If it happens regularly, you should contact your carrier.

"Is it plugged in?"

This is most likely a carrier issue instead of a phone one.

Why do you think it's a carrier issue? Any reasons or sources for this?

When I had similar problems with my Galaxy S3, it was due to Sprint upgrading the towers where I was at. Now that the upgrades are complete, I've had no problems sending messages.


text:
Tactile keypad for nexus 5
I've got a new nexus 5 & I know it sounds odd but I just can't seem to find the option to switch to phonepad type keyboard for texting. Could someone please help me with it?
edit
I'm looking for a keypad like this to use for texting.

I'm not sure if it is a good choice to use a alphanumeric keyboard instead of a qwerty one.
But here is some choices for you:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bigkeyboard.bordeux.net
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bb.keyboard.wf
This one is paid, but seems better:
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.fredricknet.inputmethod.latin
There is no much people making this keyboards, so it is probability that the keyboard is no longer updated.

Big keyboard (the first link) would have exactly been what I wanted if it used a dictionary. Would you know of a free version of one similar to the paid one?

@mindReader Well, I did not find other good keyboards, the ones that I wrote were the best I could find.


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can i get my sprint s3 flashed to boost mobile or verizon prepaid?
Wanting to know if anyone can flash my sprint s3 s4 note2 to verizon prepaid or boost mobiles unlimited plan?

What do you mean by boosting the mobile's/device's unlimited plan? Are you on limited plan right now?

@geffchang Your edit doesn't make sense. "Boost Mobile" is the name of a carrier. It's nothing to do with boosting a device or a plan.

@DanHulme Thanks for the reversal. I had no idea. Boost Mobile should have been in proper case.

Yeah, it confused me too at first; I only worked it out because I've heard of Boost Mobile from another question. Everyone, this is why capitalizing proper nouns is important!

It's not possible to flash a Verizon ROM on a Sprint phone, because Sprint and Verizon are different CDMAs. You flash a Verizon ROM on a Verizon phone, and a Sprint ROM on a Sprint phone.


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Options darked in JOdin3 Casual
I am trying to root my phone using JOdin3(as Odin does not work on Linux).
But some options are darked out as shown in the image below.

I need to select Auto reboot and F reset time for continuing.What should I do?
Also my phone goes into charging mode(shows the green charging bar) quickly after going into odin mode, so I'm unable to do anything.
 I had to use Odin tag because there is no JOdin tag.Please change it if you think it would be appropriate

(1) what about if you click the reset button? (2) what if you set a file (e.g. pda, or phone)? Does it enable the checkboxes?

@geffchang No it does not enable checkboxes in both cases.I also tried "install drive..." button but it also didn't help.

According to the developer, those disabled checkboxes are not implemented. Source.
You can still proceed with the flash even if F. Reset Time is disabled / unchecked. There should be no problems with it.


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Android applications automatically turning on when wifi is toggled on
First of all, I have permission management installed on my custom rom and this prevents apps from randomly starting up during boot.
However, I have noticed that this is not enough to prevent some applications from running when my wifi is turned on. Why is this a problem? I found my Android seems to lag for a few seconds whilst the wifi is being turned on. So I went searching for a solution but there doesn't appear to be anything other than to use a different set of applications.
I think the problem might have something to do with connectivity monitoring (http://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/connectivity-monitoring.html & https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7094606/android-stop-start-service-depending-on-wifi-state).
Even after choosing to force stop the application, when I turn on the wifi, the app starts again. I noticed that even the Youtube app does this, although it is less obvious as there are no services running on the services tab. One of my apps does have a service running in the background and was the key reason why I decided it was time to ask if there was a solution to prevent applications from running except when I choose to open them.
Has anyone found any solutions to this problem yet?

Why have you tagged this question with malware? If there's malicious software on your phone, you need to remove it, not worry about what apps have tasks to do when the network becomes available.

It seems like you're making this problem for yourself.
As designed, apps can ask Android to notify them when a network connection appears or disappears. Some apps might want to be notified when they're running in the foreground, but some apps might need to be notified whether they were already running or not. This is necessary for the correct functioning of the app.
It wouldn't normally cause any lag, because background services always run at a lower priority than the foreground app. When an app finishes running normally, Android caches it in RAM, so that next time it starts (whether it's a foreground activity or a background service), it can start immediately, using less battery. But if you routinely force-stop apps, or use a "task killer" or the "Background process limit" option in the developer settings to stop them, then next time the same app starts, Android has to spend time and energy loading it from storage again, causing lag.
So my recommendation for how to stop your phone lagging when you connect to Wi-Fi is that you should let Android do its own job of managing processes, and stop trying to micromanage it. Leave that force-stop button for cases where a buggy app has gone out of control.
For more information on why task killers slow your phone down, see the answers to How can I stop applications and services from running?


text:
How to show wifi password?
I have a rooted Samsung s3 mini, android version 4.1.2
How to show the saved wifi password of the router I am connected to?

From any file manager that allows root access to system files you can go into /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf file or directly search for wpa_supplicant.conf file.
You can open it with any text editor.
If you have Terminal Emulator you can also do this:
cat /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf

You will find all your saved passwords inside that file. Password will be stored as:
network={
    ssid="WiFiName"
    psk="password"
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
    priority=1
}

One more thing do I need to root my device in order to do that or it do works with unrooted device too ? as I can't find anything inside /data folder.

You would get permission denied of you would need root access and not have it. I can't answer your question direcy, but it might be that you are using different version of android which keeps the file in a different place. If you provide more details on your device and OS I might help you.

I am currently running Samsung Stock 4.1.2 Jellybean ROM over tab2. I have tried looking over the /data folder but the specified misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf file isn't there !

are the directories there? You can try to run this command to find it: find /data -name "wpa_supplicant.conf" or even find / -name "wpa_supplicant.conf" Anyway, I am pretty sure now that you need a rooted device.

Well, @edvinas.me I have tried searching for -name"wpa_supplicant.conf" under data file but can't find it in the data folder instead of it has something else like log.txt and com.onelou....oneweather . I guess device needs to be rooted any way thanks though !

It's easily to view your password, use this awesome app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ihnel.com.wifipassrecovery
Now you can:

View your connected wifi passwords
Backup/restore easily
Share passwords with your friends
This is FREE APP.

You can also download the app "Wifi Key Recovery" which is a lot easier.

The thing is I don't like giving root access to apps unless I really need them, but  thank you for trying to help :)

Worked perfectly! For some reason the text file wasn't in the path the other user suggested


text:
How do I turn off USB tethering or restart USB connection via computer/PC's terminal?
How do I turn off USB tethering or restart USB connection via computer/PC's terminal?

Do you want to accomplish this from Android's terminal or from computer's (to which android phone is connected) terminal?

@edvinas.me preferably from computer if possible

Fastest, foolproof way is just unplug it, that terminates the connection and the service. Otherwise the answer above is useful, or you could just issue adb reboot (assuming you have USB debugging on). Otherwise you'd need to find the PID in your PC operating system and stop that service.

Léo Lam in his answer explained the relevant commands that can be used using adb shell.

Running the following command as root should enable USB tethering:
service call connectivity 32 i32 1 on Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0)
service call connectivity 33 i32 1 on Jelly Bean (4.1 to 4.3)
service call connectivity 34 i32 1 on KitKat (4.4)
service call connectivity 30 i32 1 on Lollipop (5.0)

See further information in his answer.
Setup ADB in PC, enable USB debugging, launch Terminal/CMD in PC and enter:
adb shell su -c "<cmd>"

Replace "<cmd>" with the relevant aforesaid command to enable USB tethering. Change 1 to 0 to disable USB tethering.
E.g. For My Jelly Bean 4.2.1, the commands would be:

Enable USB tethering
adb shell su -c "service call connectivity 33 i32 1"

Disable USB tethering
adb shell su -c "service call connectivity 33 i32 0"

authors: อยากกินยำ แต่ได้ทะเล


text:
Direct file access on tablet from LAN, as opposed to having to download files first
I am attempting to construct a LAN/WLAN to which computers, smartphones and tablet are connected. I would like to be able to access all these devices from from any device via some file manager and open these files locally 'on the fly' as opposed to having to download the files completely before I can open them.
I have done so with desktops and laptops on which either Windows or Ubuntu were installed. 'On the fly' file access works like a charm by means of Windows Explorer or Nautilus using Samba. I now want the same for smartphones and tablets.
I have attempted to do so by means of Samba again. But I do not know how to solve a few problems.
1) When using 'Samba Filesharing for Android' I can only seem to access data on the tablet/smartphone from the desktop/laptop, but not the other way around.
2) When using 'AndSMB' I can not directly open files on the other devices. I have to completely download them first.
I can't seem to find software for the Android smartphones and tablets that works as simple and effective as Windows Explorer or Nautilus, where you can open files locally without having to download them completely first, and do this from any device to any other device on the LAN.

Set up FTP server and/or Samba server on Android.
Example: ES File Explorer app provides such features.

Works great! phone/tablet->desktop/laptop file transfer with FTP and desktop/laptop->phone/tablet file transfer with Samba.


text:
Corrupted data - Can't restore Whatsapp chat history
When I try to recover my Whatsapp messages on my new phone after I have copied the Whatsapp folder from my old phone to the SDcard, it suddenly crashes after 10 seconds: "Whatsapp has stopped working"
I looked into the System Log to find some clues about this crash. It looks like it has something to do with SQLite and the msgstore.db (or msgstore.db.crypt) file, because there's msgstore.db file is corrupt error. Here are some lines from the System log:
 "E/DefaultDatabaseErrorHandler (3784): Corruption reported by sqlite
    on database: /data/data/com.whatsapp/databasesmsgstore.db"
 "E/AndroidRuntime (3784): java.lang.AssertionError: android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabaseCorruptExcep tion: Database disk image is malformed (code 11), SQLiteConnection.java,-2"
 "E/SQLiteLog (3784): (14) cannot open file at line 30191 of [00bb9c9ce4]"
 "E/SQLiteDatabase (3784): Failed to open database '/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db' "
 "E/SQLiteDatabaseException: unknown error (code 14): Could not open database"
 "I/sqlite_db_corrupt (3784): /data/data.com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db"

Can somebody help me to unravel this mistery?  I really want to copy my old messages to my new phone and continue using the app on my new phone.
How can I fix the corrupt msgstore file? Or see what part of the file is corrupt (the exact cause)
Some screenshots of the System Log file:

Usually if you place your msgstore.db or msgstore.db.crypt7 file in the following directory on your SD card and reinstall WhatsApp it will see it and ask if you would like to restore your old messages during installation.
/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/

However if your database (msgstore.db or msgstore.db.crypt7) is corrupt you may still be able to regenerate the databases using sqlite3.
The WhatsApp Database is an sqlite3 database and is stored unencrypted at this path on the Android device:
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db

Backups of the database are also stored encrypted on the SD card typically at the following location:
/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt7

The unique key for the encrypted backup databases is stored here:
/data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key

Access to the /data/data directory requires root access. Alternatively ADB (Android Debug Bridge) can be used to extract the above files after booting into recovery on the device.
If you are dealing msgstore.db.crypt7 files then you must Decrypt them first as follows:
(commands below are run from a linux enviroment)

Extract Key File: /data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key
Extract crypt7 file: /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt7
Extract Decryption Keys from "key" file extracted in step 1:

256-bit AES key:
hexdump -e '2/1 "%02x"' key | cut -b 253-316 > aes.txt
IV (initialisation vector):
hexdump -e '2/1 "%02x"' key | cut -b 221-252 > iv.txt

Strip Header in crypt7 File:
dd if=msgstore.db.crypt7 of=msgstore.db.crypt7.nohdr ibs=67 skip=1
Note: Size of header stripped file in bytes must be divisible by 16
Decrypt crypt7 File:
openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -d -nosalt -nopad -bufsize 16384 -in msgstore.db.crypt7.nohdr -K $(cat aes.txt) -iv $(cat iv.txt) > msgstore.db

Once you have you msgstore.db file either by first decrypting the msgstore.db.crypt7 or by extracting it from the /data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/ directory you can now try to regenerate it using the following commands:
echo .dump | sqlite3.exe msgstore.db > Temp.sql

echo .quit | sqlite3.exe -init Temp.sql msgstore_new.db

Now Try to Restore your database Again

If you followed the procedure above correctly you should now have a msgstore_new.db file.
Rename this file to msgstore.db and place it file in /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/ and reinstall WhatsApp. Choose to restore your old database/messages when asked during installation.

Reference:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24566937&postcount=3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1583021


text:
How to avoid Titanium Backup's 50 backup limit?
In the Pro version I can extend backup history from 1 to 50, but it is not enough.
What should I do?

Maybe I can move some backups to another folder?Will this cause issues with Titanium?

@geffchang Im sorry but when I visit the site you provided I get:No thread specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

Sorry, that should be: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2691743

@geffchang Thanks how did you find it? When I googled before asking here I couldn't find it

This is what I Googled: titanium backup limit


text:
How to remove a Gapp after installing it?
I just flashed the CM 11 nightly build on my S2. I have also installed the Gapps from the source provided by CM website. Now it has brought me many unwanted apps to my phone. I would like to remove apps like Hangouts, Gmail, Play Books. Kindly suggest me some methods....
Thanks a ton in advance.
KS.Rajkumar

When you flash Gapps.zip (or really any zip in recovery mode), the applications in it are usually written to the /system partition on the device.
The difficulty is that the system partition is only mounted as 'writable' when installing the Gapps zip. After that, it's mounted as 'read-only', making it impossible to delete things on it.
You basically have two options for deleting unwanted system applications:

Start over: Reflash your ROM, then flash a modified version of the Gapps zip that has only the APKs you require.
You can remove apps from the Gapps zip simply by unzipping it, deleting the APKs you do not want, then zipping it up again.
Acquire root access, and remount the system partition as writable. You'll need the android command line tools installed to do this, but it sounds like you already have.
To mount the system partition as writable, do the following:
adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw /system

Note: /system is only writable until the device is rebooted.

You then need to delete the unwanted APKs from /system/app. Reboot, and you should see the offending apps gone from your launcher.

Please bear in mind, however, that some Google apps depend on each other, and may not work properly if you delete those that they depend on. I think you'll generally be ok if you only delete 'named' applications (e.g. Hangouts.apk). Others such as GoogleHome.apk are required by others.

Easiest way to do it is with Titanium Backup application.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keramidas.TitaniumBackupPro&hl=en

If you can't remove any of them, you can at least disable some of them going to "Apps" in "Settings".
You won't free space in your device, but at least they will stop consuming RAM and phoning home.


text:
WiFi icon stays orange when using proxy
I recently setup a proxy within my home. All my machines and devices (PC and android)can connect to the internet through the proxy. I'm using my tablet now to do so.
The one issue I've seen is that the WiFi icon stays orange (I'm on kitkat, so it would be the same as white people on an earlier version). This seems to affect other apps that asks the OS if there is a connection before even trying.
Is there any documentation around using a proxy that could explain this? Is it a known issue? Is it likely I miss configured something?

What device is this on? Android version?

This is on a second gen nexus 7 running 4.4.2. It also happens on my galaxy nexus running 4.2.2.

This was my mistake. I had the proxy server configured incorrectly. Packet forwarding was not turned on so no traffic other than the intercepted port 80 and 443 traffic could reach the internet. Since Google uses ports in the 5000s to determine connectivity and those ports were essentially blocked no internet connectivity could be determined.


text:
Samsung Galaxy GT-s7562 rooting using (Arch)linux
I have a Samsung Galaxy Trend II Duos (GT-S7562) bought from China.(I live in Ireland) Hence, I am not able to access any google services through apps (no access to Play Store, Google based apps).
I guess I have to root my phone and maybe install a custom ROM. However, I see that most of the guides on websites are for windows machines and need Samsung kies/drivers. However, I use Arch-Linux as my only OS for Computer. I can connect my android phone using MTP (Media Transfer Protocol)
Q1) Do I need to install Samsung driver/Kies on my linux machine. If yes, then how?
Q2) Can I install custom ROMs meant for other countries on my phone?
Q3) How should I do all these on Linux? (which does not have odin and other popular tools)
Sincerely,
Android Newbie
Model Number: GT-S7562
Andorid Version: 4.0.4
Baseband version: S7562ZCMH1
Kernel version: 3.0.8-1219573
Build number: IMM761.S7562ZCAMH!

see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=49779385#post49779385
You first need to update your Baseband (modem) to the right locale. Then you can install corresponding ROMs.


text:
According to Link2SD I only have 2% system space left
I have plenty of space everywhere else. How can I fix this?

System space is internal andoid space (not your SD card/storage space). To make more empty space available in your system, you can do the following:

Clean system cache (there are various apps to do that);
Uninstall unused apps;
Move apps to sd card (with App2SD or similar application);

System space depends on the device and is limited amount of space which contains your ROM, system and applications. It is not good if it has only 2% space left as your device might become slow or cause some apps to crash.


text:
Unable to flash recovery image into the device
I am trying to flash recovery image into my HTC Explorer phone.
The issue is i keep getting waiting for devices message when issuing fastboot command. the CMD is running with administrative rights leaving the only possible reason be the drivers not installed. However i have also done that.
And when i boot my phone normally the device shows totally ok in device manager but when into fastboot mode the device manager shows a yellow mark on the device.
even if i try to install the drivers from there it says drivers already upto date.
Why is this happening and how can i solve this please help?

Check that you have USB debugging ticked in developer settings.
If that doesn't work I would uninstall all the drivers relating to your phone and start again from scratch. Note that the drivers that are needed while in fastboot can be different to the drivers needed for normal data transfer. I've had all kinds of problems relating to this a with my HTC One X.


text:
Applications think that GPS is off while it is on
I have a Prestigio Multiphone 3400 with Android 4.2.2. The phone is new and not rooted.
In Settings -> Personal -> Location Access, there are two checkboxes:

Access to my location
Wi-Fi & mobile network location

Both of them are checked.
But the only application with working GPS is Google Maps.
I tried for example GPS Test and GPS Essentials, but they both show GPS is off / GPS is currently disabled.
In the Settings -> Device -> Apps -> (application name) there is "This app can access the following on your phone:" followed with "approximate location (network-based)" and "precise location (GPS and network-based)"
Why are the Google Maps special? And why other apps cannot use GPS, while the permissions are obviously granted?

 The specs for the device state it does not have GPS.

GPS: No

Google maps is using 'best location source' for you which is Network / WiFi signal on your device. If you have all of them turned on it will revert to the most accureate one it can find, which are in the order Network > WiFi > GPS generally. Basically Google Maps isn't using GPS for you, it just isn't giving you an error message.
The Prestigio site doesn't mention GPS at all.
This link isn't in English but mentions No GPS in several reviews.
e.g.

Trocha ma štve GPS,ktorý telefon nema
It annoys me the phone has no GPS.

Another quick translate turned this up:

I was disappointed inability to run the GPS. Neither the manufacturer's website is not clearly stated whether the GPS is present or not. Due to the navigation application on the phone, I assumed that it will run. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. I would therefore asked how the GPS is really whether it is hardware GPS device in the phone is present and could be a problem installing the software and possibly what. thank you

Wow, I thought all phones would have GPS by default nowadays... e-shops should warn for ones that does not have it.

BTW that link is in my native language :)

Yeah there is an assumption that you have Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS as standard additions to a smart device, the manufacturer really dodged even mentioning GPS on their site! Glad the link helped, I was relying on translate for it! Happy coincedence you speak Czech! :)


text:
Changing Vendor Id
Here's the context: subject - Mobile data (Internet)
I have 4.1 (JellyBean) mobile phone. Everything works great. Of late I happened to travel to UK and my present service operator does not recognize this device for me to use the mobile internet. Everything else works as it should including Wifi but not mobile data.
I was wondering if there is a way to tweak the settings to spoof the device settings to make it impersonate a known device recognizable by my service provider?

Are you sure that this is a problem with your device model? Perhaps you need to turn on roaming data, or you need to call your carrier to ask them to enable your specific device on the network.

I think the issue is that you have the wrong APNs. You can try going into System Settings->(More..)Wireless and Networks->Mobile Network Settings->Access Point Names and Press the settings button.
This should show the settings menu for the APNs and should have a Reset to Default option. Click that and wait for 2-3 minutes. It should start working again hopefully.


text:
Is CyanogenMod Installer compatible with my Note 2 after updating it to Android 4.3?
Can I install CyanogenMod on Samsung Galaxy Note 2 after I updated it to Android 4.3? Will knox interfere? How can install it using the installer of CyanogenMod or with the conventional way?

Some people have successfully installed CyanogenMod on top of 4.3 (with Knox).
Refer to the official installation guide, which includes installation on the phone and on the PC.

Thanks for that. I feel better now that some tried and succeeded. I will still do some research though. Maybe someone tried it on Note II and can share his experiences with us.


text:
Motorola Defy getting stuck at boot menu
I successfully installed CyanogenMod 7.2 on my Motorola Defy MB525 using the instructions from here.
After a while, I wanted to install gapps, so I installed it from bootmenu. After this, it was always booting to boot menu and I didn't know how to make it boot into the system, so I changed the "Boot" option default to something like "Normal", I think.
Now when starting the phone, all I see is the Google logo which stays there indefinitely.
I can still boot to bootmenu and tried a number of times to wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache, wipe dalvik cache, and re-install the CyanogenMod 7.2 zip, but it still can't get out of the infinite loop.
Any ideas?

I managed to unbrick my phone eventually.
Tried to use RSD Lite with several images, but it would give an error and then the application would crash and leave my bootloader corrupt. I tried all the schemes I could find including: loading the image from root of C:, disabling UAC, etc., but nothing worked.
Then I tried sbf_flash on Linux with the same image, and it worked like a charm, no errors, and my phone was up and running again.
So for anyone else who may encounter this problem, I warmly recommend using sbf_flash, it is incredibly simple to use.


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How do I install Google Play store?
I have a rooted Huawei G700-U10 with android 4.2.1. I removed the Android Play Store and Services, but now I need it. How do I reinstall them?

Try flashing the CM10.1 GApps .zip file on the CyanogenMod Wiki (http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Google_Apps)! CM10.1 = 4.2.1 android version.
When I flashed CM11 on my phone I used the GApps for CM11 on my phone, try it out on yours.

Just download the play store .apk file and install it. If you had it before, you can install it now.

I think that the best thing is
If your friend have an android phone you tell your friend to share the playstore app with an App named MY APP SHARER and install it,
Or u can download it from the internet its just 2 to 4 MB to download, it works seriously.