text:
Sync ext SD to USB OTG **without** using a PC
Device Details

Moto X Play - Android 6.0.1, Rooted (Systemless root)
Samsung 64 GB ext SD
San Disk 128 GB USB - came shipped with FAT 32 reformatted to exFAT since I have folders > 4 GB on external SD

Use Case
Sync entire contents of ext SD to USB (one way sync without deletion of SD card contents ) on weekly schedule / on demand , as incremental backup without using a PC ( I do have one but reasons for not wanting to use it are not relevant)
Other Details

USB drive recognised by device correctly connected by standard OTG (Settings → Storage & USB )
Busybox installed . It came bundled with ROM Toolbox Pro. I haven't used it directly. If another busy box is to be installed, it's fine as long it doesn't clash
Mount points as below

Things tried

Unsuccessful app search- I wasn't able to find an app that can do this (Folder Sync claims to but it can't see USB)
Googling for alternatives
MacroDroid automation fails, since app can't see USB (raised this in app forum)

Question: How can I do this ? I am open to any means
Please note that I intend placing a bounty of 100 , any answer meeting needs before I post bounty will be awarded similarly (I may delay posting the bounty to ensure I get a solution)
Please avoid solutions that

are not tested - it should have been tested on your device and USB configuration to give it credibility
Involve PC , uploading to cloud, transferring to remote server etc
References to claims from doubtful sources which can't be verified
Involving use of File Managers ( I had mixed results with these but then that is for another question)

Aim of the above is not to deter solutions but to discourage frivolous attempts. If clarity is needed, please ask
I discussed this need on chat and some potential candidates for solution included BusyBox, rsync and Tasker. I know nothing of these means so Please do provide complete details. Being a bounty question (almost), I expect that I should be able to straightaway implement successfully without seeking clarifications.
( Being a rooted device with systemless root, solutions using root are fine. However, if OS is to be modified on any way, please highlight as systemless doesn't permit it, though there is a work around )
I am strapped for time and need to get this working ASAP

I'LL see if I can work on something When I can :)

Ah,  Fair Enough :) Hadn't Checked the Chat.

As we figured out the solution you now use in chat, this answer should comply with "being tested", "not involving a PC or file manager" and "relying on verified sources". Though in the meantime there was another rsync answer posted, you've asked me to present our solution as well – so here we go:
The rsync command can be used to accomplish that. Taken all your requirements into account (including those mentioned later in chat), the command line would look like this:
rsync -a --delete /mnt/sdcard /mnt/usb

Explanations on the command:

rsync obviously is the executable/command
-a stands for "archive", i.e. keep all attributes. This includes to recursively copying contents (directories, subdirectories, files), keeping filestamps and ownership (the latter usually requires root), preserve permissions, etc. For details, please refer to What is archive mode in rsync? on our sister-site.
--delete takes care to remove files on the target (here: /mnt/usb) which are not/no-longer available at the source (here: /mnt/sdcard)
remaining parameters specify the source to copy from (/mnt/sdcard) and the target to copy to (/mnt/usb). Note that we specified both as directories, so all content, also hidden files, should be included as well (the latter wouldn't if we had used a mask like /mnt/sdcard/*).
Note: make sure to specify the real mount points or at least real directories here (e.g. not the /mnt/sdcard symlink as in the example), or it might just copy the symlink over and think that's all you wanted :)

You might wish to try the above on a small source first to see how it works.

Now that the "how" is covered, question remains: Where is rsync? It usually doesn't come pre-installed on the device, and most Busyboxes seem to not include it either. There once was an app on Playstore called rsync backup for Android, but it's no longer there. As this wiki points out, you can directly download the rsync binary from here¹, then push it to your Android device, and install it. Assuming you've pushed the binary to /mnt/sdcard:
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
cd /system/xbin
cp /mnt/sdcard/rsync .
chmod 755 /system/xbin/rsync
chown root.shell /system/xbin/rsync
mount -o remount,ro /system

The above should be done either in a terminal app or via adb shell.
That done, and successfully tested from a shell prompt, remains the question of automation. I know that tasker can execute shell commands as root (in the past this was done by simply prefix them with an exclamation mark, today there might even be a checkbox for it – I didn't check that for a while), but your Macrodroid might provide that as well. Alternatively, you can do it the Unix/Linux way and utilize Cron, which is provided by Busybox; for details please see: How to use crontab in Android?

Also see:

How to use rsync over USB on Android with adb
the rsync man page for further details on available parameters and possibilities
How to rsync to android (in case you want to advance this to include your Linux machine ;)
RSync is also available on other operating systems, see e.g. this list on Wikipedia
there's another RSync app on Playstore: Acrosync – but it wasn't updated since 2013 and neither is it well rated (2.7 stars at 82 votes)
Backup your Android phone with Rsync describes a similar approach as above, involving different resources
How to automate command line when specific application is launched? (for on-demand syncing; note that e.g. tasker also allows to create widgets for tasks, which then can be "tapped on demand" to execute it)

¹ Of course you can also try to find the original app on sites like APKMirror or ApkPure, or download the app from here – but then you had to first install that app, and afterwards grab the binary from it's data directory /data/data/eu.kowalczuk.rsync4android/files/rsync – which I find a bit inconvenient ;)

Thank you, the solution worked fine for me. A couple of points that may help the readers : 1. I tried with all Busybox versions, which are well rated and none of them have rsync available the pro version of  this ( I mailed developer requesting him to add it), so that leaves with no choice but other means ( incidentally couldn't find the app on reputed sites mentioned ) 2. Automating the execution of command on demand / schedule   successful. Instructions here

TWRP could see the backup on USB , so presumably it should execute fine 4. Same with TiBu , though this requires a bit of workaround (Backup folder location > Storage Provider, click on that and choose options per your OS Version) 5. Though you are not a windows user, for the sake of completeness, you may consider adding extension of rsync on windows as well, as you did for Linux- I did see references. Will add more later if it can help readers

@beeshyams http://ptspts.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-to-use-rsync-over-adb-on-android.html has instructions on where  you can find and manually install rsync for Android. You'll have to be a little creative since you don't want to use a PC. I'd recommend trying to use webget and Root Explorer to download, rename, set +x, and move the binary.

@ChrisOlin: Thanks and I had seen that earlier, but not being familiar with Linux, did it the awkward way of downloading the app and extracting  rsync and shared it with Izzy and he included that in his answer., In foot notes.  Doing it can be learnt, but at a later time, when time permits.

Update : Verified TWRP and it restores fine from OTG. TiBu runs into problems. It sees the copied folder on USB but unable to select for restore. However, if I create a new Backup folder on USB , it restores.  In case of extSD being replaced, I suppose copying the backed up folder should work since all attributes and permissions are intact

@beeshyams Are you using DocumentProvider storage? If you are and it's still not working, SELinux might be preventing Titanium Backup from reading media from the flash drive.

@ChrisOlin: unfortunately, that isn't the case. Just rechecked it is Permissive .  Seeing mixed reports on net, works for some, didn't for others. Not sure why

@ChrisOlin: Besides, as mentioned I can create and backup from a new Backup folder , so read/ write access is not the problem

SELinux contexts are configured a bit differently than traditional Unix file permissions. I've encountered that exact issue with SELinux preventing Titanium Backup from accessing backup data and causing exactly the same issue you're describing.

Be forewarned. I'm not going to provide you with complete details, mainly because what you're asking for is so unspecific and obnoxious that the bounty on this question isn't worth spending the time to test a solution for you that I have no way to guarantee will work on your device. You can either ignore my advice and suffer or reason out any difficulties through critical reasoning and Google. If you don't like these options, you can always go buy an iPhone. They're designed for people that want something that "just works". If you can't spare the time to research or tweak a solution to work for you, Android may not be for you.
There are a variety of ways to accomplish what you're trying to do. Arguably, the easiest and most reliable method is using software found on most Android devices by default, which is what I'm going to focus on. Since you're trying to run something on a regular schedule, I would say the best solution would be to use cron. On that note, take a look at this StackOverflow thread since it's specific to running it on Android. Also, so we're all on the same page, cron is a job scheduler available on most (all?) Unix-like operating systems, which includes Android. Since you didn't go in to detail on when exactly you want this job to kick off weekly, I'll leave it to you to configure the crontab (which is well-documented on the internet and isn't difficult).
This will take care of scheduling everything, but the next step is to figure out how you want to back up everything, which is a very important question you were painfully unclear about. Do you simply want to copy new/modified data on the external SD card to the flash drive or do you want full backups of the SD card stored by date on the flash drive? These are questions you need to figure out for yourself before you ask the internet for advice.
Without knowing what exactly you're trying to accomplish here, I'm going to assume the first scenario works best. Since you're copying file level data (opposed to block level), rsync is probably your best choice here. It's very versatile and should work straight out of the box without needing to be configured. You should already have it available and if you don't, it's easily obtained through Busybox.
Assuming the mount points stay the same, the command I would use to accomplish this would be: rsync -rlpt /mnt/media_rw/0000-0000 /mnt/media_rw/E82C-B290. For your convenience, I've included a primer on the flags I used below:

-r, --recursive recurse into directories
-l, --links copy symlinks as symlinks
-p, --perms preserve permissions
-t, --times preserve modification times

There's also the -a flag (short for archive mode), but it does a bunch of other needless crap in this situation like syncing uid/gid. In most backup scenarios, using -a would make sense since you would want to preserve ownership if you have to restore from your backups. However, external SD storage uses FAT for its filesystem, which doesn't support Unix file permissions. While files on your external SD card do have an owner/group set, they're statically set by the operating system. If you try changing them, I'm pretty sure you'll get an error or it'll silently fail in the background. The flags I used make this process much more efficient, but if for some reason you want rsync to sync all that extra stuff, use the archive mode flag instead.
So, now that we have the command you need to run, it's just a matter of configuring the crontab and having it execute that rsync command. This isn't a very elegant solution, but it will work. If you wanted to set up some sort of logging (Mike Rubel has done a lot of work you could draw inspiration from), you could write a shell script, put it on your phone's internal storage, and have cron run the shell script instead of the rsync command.
To back everything up manually outside of cron, you can run that rsync command using ConnectBot or any other app that gives you shell access. If you plan on doing that often, it might be faster to put the command in a file (e.g. backupsd), chmod +x it, and stick it in a folder that's also in the system path (like /system/bin). This way, you can type backupsd instead of rsync -rlpt /mnt/media_rw/0000-0000 /mnt/media_rw/E82C-B290.

That was basically the solution I worked out with the OP in chat :) Just one side-note: instead of -rlpt, simply use -a (archive mode), that implies all the other switches :)

I addressed why I didn't use -a immediately following the summary of the flags I used and left it for the OP to decide. Clearly, great minds think alike.

Ah, sorry Chris, I missed that part. But to me, syncing UID/GID is an essential part, for ownership is relevant so the owners can deal with it correctly. Guess you play on the fact that though being true, that doesn't affect the SDCard due to FAT, which I agree to :) You might have wanted to point out your reasons in your post, though :)

You make a good point. I didn't state specifically why it's pointless. I'll edit and clarify.

wtf with the paragraph rant at the beginning?


text:
Get a Config Message every day but won't install
Every day I get a Configuration Message
Application: Access Point Name
Name: MMS
APN:unet
User name:
etc.
When I chose "Full Install" it asks for the PIN
If I enter the wrong PIN it asks again for the PIN
If I enter the right PIN (0123) I get an error report
"INSTALLATION REPORT
Access Point Name: Failed"
I believe this has something to do when I added a new SIM which has since been removed.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Local Phone contacts not syncing with google
I have a OnePlus one mobile. The contacts that I store are getting stored in the Local Phone  (I am able to see this when I select "Show Contacts from phone alone"). Those new contacts are not visible in my google contacts and these new contacts are also not visible in Whatsapp.
What should I do to resolve this?

If you want to store your contacts with Google, check your contacts app for what is set as default; make sure that's Google. Then add the contacts again (to my knowledge, you cannot "move them over"). While doing so, double-check it says to store the contacts to the Google contacts list (see the red frame in this picture for where to look for that).

My solution was to migrate contacts from local storage to the Google account via an export and an import.

contacts app > manage contacts > Export
contacts app > manage contacts > Import => destination: Google => source: exported file

Also make sure to make Google your default contacts storage

contacts app > settings > Default Storage Location => Google

And turn on sync of contacts.
Unfortunately Export and Import won't bring across the local storage groups. Groups entered in Google do sync across back to the phone.

Try saving all contacts you want to sync to Google. This should fix the problem. You do this by opening the contact page, tapping edit, and then tapping on the "Location" text box. This will open another window and you should be able to change where the contact is stored. You also need to go to Google Account settings (in the Accounts section of Settings), and ticking Contacts under What to sync.

Best way: Sure way with back up
Idea: Save your contacts to a file (.vcf) from your phone.  Then transfer that file to your computer.  Log on from your computer to Google account, go to contact page, then chose IMPORT option using that .vcf file.
If you can plug in a chip (USB) to your phone to copy the .vcf file, that works flawlessly when you plug the same chip to your computer.

Try re syncing your contacts. I had this same problem and re syncing my contacts work.

That won't accomplish anything if the contacts are stored "locally" instead of being stored as Google contacts.

all_licenses: 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/


text:
Flashing a soft bricked Blu Life One XL
Recently I tried to root my phone using KingoRoot. The result was a BLU Life One XL that wouldn't load past the BLU logo.
The first thing I tried, was going into Recovery Mode and clearing cache and reloading, then clearing user data and reloading. Neither worked. After some research, it looks like I'll need to flash stock or some other compatible ROM to my phone.
As such, I downloaded a ROM from the XDA forums, stuck it on my miniSD card, and tried to install it through the recovery mode menu. However, the result was an error dealing with signature verification failed and installation aborted. To get past this, apparently I need TWRP, CWM, or some other custom recovery where I can turn of signature verification. I've tried adding these from the SD card both as zip and Bootable SD card, but neither worked. I can't even get to the bootloader since if I choose the reboot to bootloader option from the Android system recovery, it just gets stuck at the BLU loading screen.
So, how can I flash a ROM to my phone without being able to load past recovery screen? I think if I can only get custom recovery on my phone it should work, but I can't figure out how to do that.

On what platform is your device: Qualcomm or Mediatek ? Because the processes are different

@esQmo Qualcomm


text:
Can i save my data from sd card formatted as internal memory but now pc says format memory card
I m using Lenovo a7000, and I updated it to marshmallow. To increase memory for apps I formatted my SD card as internal memory. Phone started crashing so I decided to factory set it. I removed the memory card and factory restored the phone. When I reinserted the memory card it told me to format the SD card to make it work. Connected my SD card to PC, which also says to format SD card. I have a lot of data in it. Is there a way to save my data?

When you formatted your SD card as internal storage, the phone should have warned you that it was about to format your SD card to make it unreadable from any other device. There you have it: the card was encrypted, and now its data cannot likely be recovered anymore. Don't know if there are any ways to accomplish this.

No... You have factory reset the device which deleted the unlock key that would have given you any hope of recovering this data. The data was encrypted and unlock code was stored on the device, which you factory reset and erased everything. Your SD card was "internal storage" which was erased, the fact it was removed from the device isn't relevant because even technically the data is there it isn't recoverable by any means.


text:
why not linux over stock?
Ok,i saw the new kde linux mobile,even tho is as usual for only small list of devices,i could see that it has to be installed over cyanogenmode,why u can't install it over stock rom ? we all know that CM actually lose a lot of pieces from the stock  to bring a few impruvements,not to mention that over stock it could benefit of all the drivers,and i have personally a phone that is with a x86_64 cpu and when i looked into some info from the busybox,i sau i686 platform,witch is kind conflictual (i guess),but on this kinda phone,a linux x86_64 should run very well not to mention that would be even better than android itself,that was not build for this kind of cpu,but most of the linux distros today have x86_64 or the amd64 (witch i believe is the same thing),so ? any1 any idea why all of this ?

It is probably possible to get it working on other ROMs, however manufacturers like to add their own spin on the usual AOSP, and some of these changes can be really low-level, including changes to the kernel which might make it incompatible with what is essentially a new OS userspace being installed (see for reference: Ubuntu Touch)
As for why Cyanogenmod, it is the most universal ROM distribution that supports this kind of development and actually sees widespread use. Unlike stock ROMs, Cyanogenmod ports to other devices do not see drastic changes to the architecture that would change compatibility compared to other Cyanogenmod releases (hardware limitations excepted). Therefore it makes sense to target this Android distribution, especially if Cyanogenmod is supporting low level features that KDE Mobile may be using, but the various iterations of AOSP may or may not allow.

well,i will say,i have an Asus Z00A,it is from the few with a x86_64 cpu in the world,having all so complicated is not making this easier for this device,why ? very simple,this device don't have a stock in 64 bit ,is a 32 bit (i686),so,the CM for it is exactly the same,so running 32 bit software on a 64 bit cpu,is just a big joke,so imagine having that new kde plasma mobile,based on arch,not that ubuntu touch thing that i think it was abandoned,as 64 bit,not over the stock nor CM,but native,now that will be something,ik is a long shot,but i did saw that r a few things that could give ideas,like those linux deploy,or others like that,that can handle actually an image with linux very well,so how to make that base,or just implement in that base image the proprietary drivers from android and just flash it as an .img,as always,thru adb or official programs,so i think that it needs some dev to just do that,anyway,no chance with Asus,as in 3 android versions,they were not capable to do a 64 bit stock rom (probably there are just very old guys still thinkin in 32 bit,they didn't updated their own brains :) )


text:
Transfer apps and data from a rooted phone to a phone without root
I used to use TitaniumBackup to transfer apps and data from one Android phone to another when both devices are rooted. Recently I got a phone which currently does not have root access, so TitaniumBackup would not be useful. Most apps are not an issue, but I have trouble transferring a few apps and their data.
I was thinking to use adb, and tried using "adb backup -f appname.ab -apk app_package_name" on the old (and rooted) phone, but got the following error:

Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation.

The strange thing is that there is nothing there for me to accept when I unlock the phone or when I keep the phone unlocked. Someone also had the same problem here.
Any suggestions as to how to handle the transfer? Any better alternatives?

What happens when you unlock your device and accept the backup? That's not an 'error' message.

@bmdixon Sorry I forgot to mention that there is nothing there for me to accept when I unlock the phone or when I keep the phone unlocked. I saw someone in another place having exactly the same problem.

I tried your command and in the logcat an error was given "no backup packages supplied and neither -shared nor -all given" so I assume you are missing some parameters.
I tried the following command "adb backup -all" and the backup window successfully popped up. My advise is to check your logcat or modify your adb parameters. As per this post the command

adb backup -apk -shared -all -f c:\backup20111230.ab

should work fine.

Thanks for the suggestion! I meant to backup just one specific app with command  "adb backup -f appname.ab -apk app_package_name" . However, even with your suggestion of backing up all apps via "adb backup -apk -shared -all -f all.ab", I still get the message: Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation. And this happens on two computers I have tried so far. Very weird.

@bluepole Check your logcat. There are plenty free apps to do that. Without that we won't be able to pinpoint the problem.

Thanks! What should I look for in the huge text file? Any keyword like 'adb'?

I just tried another phone, and had no problem with the adb backup command. So the problem seems to be with this particular phone (LG G2 with root). Is the logcat structured in a backward order in time?

@bluepole just issue the command and check the latest logcat right after. It should be of type "error".  Different apps may list them in different order, but I think there must be an exact time for each log.


text:
Will Samsung Pay still work on the Gear S3 if you root your Samsung phone?
Specifically on a Note 5 5.1.1. Knox IS tripped, but I'm hoping I'll still be able to use Samsung pay on the watch since you install it as an applet using the gear app rather than the actual Samsung pay app. I've seen posts saying it works with Samsung pay on non-Samsung phones, but haven't yet found out if it will work in my case with a knox-tripped Samsung phone. Anyone have one that can confirm/deny?
Thank you.

In my specific case, yes it worked out perfectly! I was able to open Samsung pay thru the gear app and set everything up no problems. As a note, I did unroot via superSU before trying anything, but Knox is still broke of course and I haven't removed any other root artifacts. I also plan on restoring root tomorrow.


text:
Viewing data, specifically notes, from lost samsung galaxy s5
I was just curious if it was possible to view notes from the built in app from a Galaxy S5 through another device, namely computer or galaxy S7. I don't have access to the device anymore, but I would like to have the notes that were on it. Thanks a bunch in advance!

Seems like my gmail account actually saved them in their own folder. Hope this could help anyone from the future!
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#label/Notes
^ where it saved it.


text:
Why is the looking direction often completely wrong while going by bus?
I noticed that the displayed "looking direction" of Google Maps is often (always?) exactly the opposite when I'm going by bus:

This is astonishing for me, as it is most of the time correct when I'm walking. Why is that the case?

I registered the same phenomenon when going by one type of electric tramway in Prague on my old Motorola phone. It is happening because of strong electromagnetic fields from electric motors. But it happened only when accelerating or decelerating not all times.
Is your bus by any chance equipped with some strong electric engine?


text:
What's com.superthomaslab.rootessentials?

What is com.superthomaslab.rootessentials? Having root access, no icons no name, just a package name. Please note that this app isn't installed on my devvice

You have lucky patcher ... Most luck patchers are malware now, unless it's actually from the original developer, i would guess it's something to do with a trojan ... just a guess.... Have you checked if it's a widget or if it can be launched from the settings menu ?

The app linked is developed by one of our community with same name. @SuperThomaslab

That app was installed at one point and granted root, then later uninstalled which is why the package name is showing up in SuperSU with no icon instead of the application name. You can test this with any app you've granted root access to. Uninstall it and the same thing will happen.


text:
how to access privacy protection pin -ausus mobile
I forgot my pin. It has considered as theft when I changed my SIM card.Now I want to access my mobile-AUSUS mobile.Please help me.

What you can do is enter recovery mode and do a full wipe/factory reset. You will lose all your data but it will unlock your phone. The instruction to perform the reset can be found online easily.
If you plan to ask how to unlock without deleting everything - unless you have USB debugging enabled and root - there is no way.


text:
fastboot seems to work, can transfer files but doesn't actually flash or boot images
I bought a cheap Wiko Lenny 3 (MT6580 with Marshmallow) to replace my old Galaxy Nexus which died yesterday (after four years) from the infamous V3U00M bug.
I owned a couple of Android phones before the Nexus, and I often flashed new ROMs and recoveries, so I'm quite used to adb and fastboot (under Linux).
So, I'm trying to root this new phone but so far I've been unsuccessful. Unlocking the bootloader was quite easy: there was an item to check in the developer options, and then fastboot oem unlock did its thing. But after that, I'm stuck.
I'm trying to boot a custom recovery, the file seems actually transferred:
$ fastboot boot twrp3.0.2-lenny3.img
downloading 'twrp3.0.2-lenny3.img'...
OKAY [  0.446s]
booting...
OKAY [  0.065s]
finished. total time: 0.511s
The feedback on the phone seems to indicate that the transfer actually happened, but after that, it just sits there, instead of rebooting into TWRP. After a while, it reboots normally to Android.
Trying to flash the recovery instead of booting it ends up with the same result: the transfer works, all on-screen messages (both on the computer and on the phone) indicate success, but the stock recovery isn't overwritten.
I thought that there may be some kind of manufacturer script that checks the image's validity, but trying with the stock recovery image (extracted from a Windows executable provided on the manufacturer's website to recover corrupted phones), but the result is the same: the file is transferred, but nothing happens after that.
So I tried to install the SuperSU zip from the stock recovery, since it includes options to install updates from either an SD card or ADB sideloading (but I have a doubt about this, I used custom recoveries for so long now, that I forgot if a stock recovery including these options should be able to install any zip file, or only ones containing a full factory image). Unfortunately, it didn't work either: installing from the SD card failed with the message "Installation aborted", and the sideloading option, surprisingly, doesn't seem to even start an ADB daemon : adb devices returns an empty result, so obviously adb sideload can't work (needless to say, adb works normally when the real system is booted, and I can adb push and adb pull to my heart's content).
Can someone help me ? Are those non-functional bootloader and recovery a pattern with Wiko and/or MediaTek devices ? Either I'm too much used to Nexus devices and I'm doing something wrong, or this phone seems to be intentionally crippled by the manufacturer.
Interesting: by trying several key combinations to start the phone, I found a "Factory Mode" that I never saw on any Android phone so far, with a menu allowing to run tests; and, also, a "Meta Mode" which look like "Fastboot Mode" but doesn't answer to fastboot commands - I guess it's meant to be used with a special proprietary tool from this manufacturer. That's what makes me wonder if these MediaTek-based phones are supposed to be hacked with the usual adb and fastboot tools, or if they are completely different beasts.

You can't root with ADB or Fastboot because you don't have the ''adress" where the files will be sent. Mediatek devices need a map file, called scatter files which maps the memory and tells the flashing tool where every file should go, the start adress and the file size.
As they run Android,  Mediatek devices can be  manipulated with adb and  fastboot (depending on manufacturer: Alcatel and Huawei seem to support fastboot commands).
META mode is like fastboot, as you've pointed out. Besides you can enable ADB in META mode, it is used by hacking tools to access internal memory, as an example for network unlocking, IMEI repairing and so, you need special drivers CDC and VCOM to get it work though.


text:
SIM is always on EDGE in dual sim setup
I've got a oneplus 2 running CM 14. Build details are as following.
version : 14.1-20161213-NIGHTLY-oneplus2
CM API : 7
Baseband version : MPSS.B0.2.5.c9-00015-M8994FAAAANAZM-1
Kernel Version : 3.10.84
I've recently started using a dual sims within the same career. The thing is, SIM2 always gets HSPA+ and SIM1 only gets EDGE. Sometimes if I restart the device, SIM1 gets HSPA but it changes to EDGE in a couple of minutes. I tried switching the SIMs and the same thing happens. Any idea on the issue?

Is your only source of this, the text/ symbols you get on the status bar  next to the clock ?

actually, no I checked the connectivity, speed etc and everything was on EDGE speed. Sometimes I couldn't load web pages as well.

You can't use HSPA on both SIMs, hardware limitation. Whenever one is set to HSPA, to other is automatically set to EDGE and vice versa.


text:
Recover pattern lock of moto g3 marshmallow (unrooted phone) gesture.key (permission denied for removing, backup, copy etc.)
I have an unrooted phone.
It has facial recognition so I am able to unlock it and use.
I need to recover my pattern.
I have tried copying, backing up, removing gesture.key but permission is denied( no surprise there) I even tried to give reading/writing permission to gesture.key using chmod but again permission denied.... different errors 100700 etc.
So is there a round about root to open the gesture.key file...
Or where does the number of incorrect pattern store themselves and allow me if I can change its value so that I can guess my pattern. (Less than 500 combinations)
Thanks..
Again the phone isn't unlocked or rooted.

I don't know about this implementation specifically, but I would expect that pattern is hashed when it is stored (encrypted) - so that even if you could recover it, you would also need to de-crypt it.
Anything dealing with security will be purposely locked down, so users or apps can't abuse the system.
Even if the phone was rooted, I think you would still have problems recovering this information.

Hey booger, it is encrypted with SHA 1 unsalted.


text:
Hardware Buttons Hacked :(
When I rebooted my phone today some popup appears which asked for two keys one for navigating screen controls and other select. I was not able to understand initial objective of this popup and pressed volume up and volume down keys.
After this volume-up key start choosing screen controls like buttons, labels, images with a blue rectangle around. Very same as TAB key behaviour on desktop application and volume down key started behaving as enter key. Volume increase and decrese won't occur with these keys now.
My issue is how to trobuleshoot and bring back these keys to normal functioning. I've installed no application for hardware key mapping and don't want to install a key remapping application without finding this hacking application.
Using one plus three with resurrection marshmallow rom.

Doesn't sound like a hacking at all, it sounds like you turned on Accessibility settings in the Settings application.

Under accessibility, i've found something called switch access disabling that restored phone.  Thanks RMarkwald - you're awsome Sir.

@RMarkwald could you please make that an answer (with some more details and steps to perform to undo it), and Sachin please then "accept" that answer (by ticking the check-mark next to it) – so others can see the issue has been solved? Thanks in advance! :)

@Izzy Done as requested.

Thanks, @RMarkwald – now it's Sachin's turn :) And then, please go for comment-cleanup – and let me know when to remove mine :)

Switch Access may be enabled.  To check/disable this:
Open Settings, click on Accessibility (depending on manufacturer, could be Accessibility Settings), scroll to find Switch Access and turn it Off it is on.


text:
Removed trusted CA's now can't use Google.........Anything!
My boyfriend accidently hit the 'Remove all stored credentials' and now he can not access anything Google, but most importantly the Play Store.
OK it might have been on purpose, don't ask, but now it's (as usual) up to me to fix it and really I don't have a clue what to do.
I have been searching and searching for an answer and have tried many different fixes, none of which have worked obviously.
I guess I'm asking if there is an updated list of Stock Trusted CA's or certificates or SSL's or whatever they are, that come with the most current Android OS? This is specifically for a Motorola Xoom Tablet but that shouldn't matter because this list i'm hoping for would be for Any Android device.
And....
If this is not what/where I should be looking into/at in relevance to making Google 'work' again, what should I be doing?
Thanks for any and All help in advance!
Oh, and No, this is Not a rooted device, I don't think that would be a good idea for him right now!  :-)


text:
How can I force Chrome into loading Facebook as a desktop site by default?
I hate the Facebook messsenger app, so I ditched it. However, my current work-around is:

Open the messages tab on m.facebook.com
Wait for Play store to load
Close, enable desktop mode
4, Go to the Messages tab again.

As per the title, how can I make Particular sites I.e. Facebook load desktop site by default (in chrome)?
Note: I only want Facebook affected. Other sites are fine.
Edit: No root, please. I don't have access to the stuff to root, and I just don't want to. Also, I want this for Facebook Only, which excludes Beeshyams related question. Sorry Beetroot!

Related - suggest you edit the title to prevent dupe closure

+1. Please see the first approach -it's for Unrooted Devices too ! But the key difference is you want it for a specific site. A cumbersome approach could be using that XDA method and then using Tasker to make FB specific changes?

It seems like upcoming Chrome versions will have such a feature: Chrome for Android will soon add a permanent desktop mode toggle

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


text:
Unable to flash factory ROM on Pixel
I'm trying to restore the factory ROM on my Pixel. I've downloaded and unpacked a factory image for my phone, and when I run sudo ./flash-all.sh I get FAILED (remote: partition [bootb] doesn't exist). Here's the whole transcript. Can anyone suggest a workaround?
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending 'bootloaderb' (32728 KB)...
OKAY [  0.836s]
writing 'bootloaderb'...
(bootloader) Valid bootloader version.
OKAY [  1.600s]
finished. total time: 2.435s
rebooting into bootloader...
OKAY [  8.593s]
finished. total time: 8.693s
< waiting for any device >
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending 'radiob' (57192 KB)...
OKAY [  1.428s]
writing 'radiob'...
OKAY [  0.909s]
finished. total time: 2.337s
rebooting into bootloader...
OKAY [  0.006s]
finished. total time: 0.106s
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
archive does not contain 'boot.sig'
archive does not contain 'recovery.img'
archive does not contain 'system.sig'
archive does not contain 'vendor.sig'
wiping userdata...
Creating filesystem with parameters:
    Size: 122633060352
    Block size: 4096
    Blocks per group: 32768
    Inodes per group: 8192
    Inode size: 256
    Journal blocks: 32768
    Label:
    Blocks: 29939712
    Block groups: 914
    Reserved block group size: 1024
Created filesystem with 11/7487488 inodes and 518062/29939712 blocks
--------------------------------------------
Bootloader Version...: 8996-012001-1610061102
Baseband Version.....: 8996-012511-1611190200
Serial Number........: XXXXXXXXXXXX
--------------------------------------------
checking product...
OKAY [  0.050s]
checking version-bootloader...
OKAY [  0.051s]
checking version-baseband...
OKAY [  0.050s]
sending 'bootb' (24821 KB)...
OKAY [  0.642s]
writing 'bootb'...
(bootloader) Flashing active slot "_b"
FAILED (remote: partition [bootb] doesn't exist)
finished. total time: 1.095s

The only reference I can find to this issue is here, but it's not clear whether anyone solved it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-xl/how-to/verizon-pixel-xl-unlocking-discussions-t3484497/page49

Try fastboot flash flash-all.sh instead? I successfully flashed stock Marshmallow onto my Nexus 6P but now I'm forgetting the specific command...

Pixel phone/Pixel tablet?

This was the phone.

You might want to mention what you have done to your phone so it requires reflashing. Also is your phone a generic Google version or is it a carrier branded version?

It was a generic google version. Unfortunately I don't know how I got it into that state. Some combination of rooting it, trying to unroot it, and trying to flash the factory ROM. My hope was that "partition [bootb] doesn't exist" would suggest some simple command to repartition the whole world, but I haven't found one yet.

I had the exact same issue you did, and after finding nothing about it online, became panicked that there was a defect with my phone.
Instead, I realized that the version of ADB I had installed on my computer was out of date. I downloaded a newer version from Google and tried the process again. It worked fine and I was able to restore my phone.

Interesting, I was using the Arch android-tools package, so I don't think it was out of date, but definitely possible.

had the same issue, was on version 1.0.36, then I upgraded to version 1.0.39 and flashing worked like a charm! thank you (+1)

I had this same issue. (Using Ubuntu Linux) At first, I was getting the "Fastboot too old" error. I was able to bypass this error by running the fastboot commands manually, rather than from the ./flash-all.sh script file.
Then I found that I was getting the error stated above when running sudo fastboot update image-marlin-opm4.171019.021.d1.zip. To resolve it, I had to uninstall fastboot, adb and android-sdk-platform tools from my system (assuming they were the old versions that the CLI was trying to use instead of the new version I had just downloaded in to my ~/platform-tools folder. (Under Ubuntu just using sudo apt-get remove adb fastboot android-sdk-platform-tools, other distros may require a different command, ie. pacman for Arch, Manjaro). After this was done, just in my home directory, to verify that fastboot had been uninstalled, typed sudo fastboot devices, which returned command not found error, this is good.
Then I navigated to my ~/platform-tools directory and ran sudo ./fastboot update image-marlin-opm4.171019.021.d1.zip which directly uses the fastboot application in that directory and it all worked fine then.
Output:
ewan@obiwan:~/platform-tools$ sudo ./fastboot update
image-marlin-opm4.171019.021.d1.zip extracting android-info.txt (0 MB)
to RAM...
--------------------------------------------        Bootloader Version...: 8996-012001-1711291800 Baseband Version.....:
8996-130091-1802061512 Serial Number........: HT69J0201460
--------------------------------------------        Checking product                                   OKAY [  0.050s] Checking version-bootloader
OKAY [  0.050s] Checking version-baseband
OKAY [  0.050s] extracting boot.img (29 MB) to disk... took 0.180s
archive does not contain 'boot.sig' archive does not contain
'boot_other.img' archive does not contain 'dtbo.img' archive does not
contain 'dt.img' archive does not contain 'odm.img' archive does not
contain 'product.img' archive does not contain 'recovery.img'
extracting system.img (1762 MB) to disk... took 16.977s archive does
not contain 'system.sig' extracting system_other.img (551 MB) to
disk... took 5.994s archive does not contain 'system.sig' archive does
not contain 'vbmeta.img' extracting vendor.img (251 MB) to disk...
took 2.891s archive does not contain 'vendor.sig' archive does not
contain 'vendor_other.img' Sending 'boot_b' (30173 KB)
OKAY [  0.851s] Writing 'boot_b'
OKAY [  0.301s] Sending sparse 'system_b' 1/4 (524284 KB)
OKAY [ 14.661s] Writing sparse 'system_b' 1/4
OKAY [  4.363s] Sending sparse 'system_b' 2/4 (524284 KB)
OKAY [ 13.404s] Writing sparse 'system_b' 2/4
OKAY [  3.584s] Sending sparse 'system_b' 3/4 (524284 KB)
OKAY [ 13.773s] Writing sparse 'system_b' 3/4
OKAY [  4.445s] Sending sparse 'system_b' 4/4 (231592 KB)
OKAY [  6.100s] Writing sparse 'system_b' 4/4
OKAY [  1.612s] Sending sparse 'system_a' 1/2 (524284 KB)
OKAY [ 13.654s] Writing sparse 'system_a' 1/2
OKAY [  3.652s] Sending sparse 'system_a' 2/2 (40680 KB)
OKAY [  1.133s] Writing sparse 'system_a' 2/2
OKAY [  0.400s] Sending 'vendor_b' (257548 KB)
OKAY [  6.709s] Writing 'vendor_b'
OKAY [  2.661s] Setting current slot to 'b'
OKAY [  0.089s] Rebooting
Finished. Total time: 118.310s

Use the lastest Android7.1.1 fastboot tool to flash images. I have successfully flashed the Pixel 7.1.1 (NMF26Q, Dec 2016) today.

So, got any Links, Documentation, Screenshots, Or Anything?

Yes I assume flashing the stock ROM just works for most people. But it didn't work for me, and my question is about how to fix it.


text:
"App Updates is running" warning happening very often
This week I upgraded to Android 7.0 and since then, everytime I turn on mobile data and enter/exit an app, this notification appears
.

App Updates is running
  Preparing to install apps...

I unchecked all types of notification in Google Play Store, but nothing happens. Is someone experiencing this as well and maybe know a fix? The device it's LG G5.

Open the LG Update Center (on the V20 it's under the Common tab in "About Phone") and set notification interval to Never.  If that doesn't do it, reopen Update Center and install every app listed.  Then uninstall the ones you don't want.
I'm guessing the update center initially tries to install these apps and isn't satisfied until it's done.


text:
Can I recover my phone after system wiping in TWRP?
Sorry for my English it is not so good.
I've done something stupid. I've wiped my system in TWRP mode.
So I've tried to reboot but it stucks on boot screen.          I think that my whole operating system is lost.
So I want to ask if there is a chance to recover my phone. Thanks in advance.
Phone model: HTC M7 running Android 4.4.4
Note : My phone can not connect to pc.

The chances to recover your phone would be great if you provide some informations regarding the device: the model,  android version

@esQmo thanks for reply.. it is an HTC One M7, Android 4.4.4

Well, You just need a RUU file for your phone model and htc drivers then boot in bootloader and flash the phone.

@esQmo OK but i dont know any thing about the RUU file

Is your bootloader unlocked?

Yes it is unlocked

You'll need to relock in order to flash a RUU file

Ok when i relock it where can I find the RUU file

Check my answer

Conditions for flashing RUU

Bootloader LOCKED or RELOCKED when S-ON (This condition can be ignored when S-OFF)
RUU Software version must be EQUAL or HIGHER than  the device version (This condition can be ignored when S-OFF)
MID match of RUU and the device (This condition can be ignored when S-OFF and SuperCID)
CID match of RUU and device (This condition can be ignored when S-OFF and SuperCID)
HTC Sync Manager drivers installed (You may install Sync Manager to obtain the drivers and then remove Sync Manager again, because its an extremely annoying, stupid software, that interferes with the RUU.exe and breaks the update process – the drivers install separately from the package and will stay when you remove Sync Manager – you only need those drivers).

Prerequisites

Download RUU form here or here
Download HTC Sync Manager from here
Boot in bootloader then connect the USB cable, you should see FASTBOOT USB
Open a terminal and tape fastboot reboot RUU, the device should reboot in RUU mode (Dark screen)
Double click the RUU downloaded previously and wait the end of the process.

PS: First, relock the bootloader otherwise the flashing won't succeed:
Boot in Fastboot mode then tape fastboot oem lock

Thanks a lot..dear but I've noticed that my phone cannot connect to my pc due of device descriptor issue..

What do you mean?

When i plug my phone in the pc it does not recognize it. In the device manager it says Device Descriptor Request Failed ...

Do you have drivers installed?

Yes I've downloaded and installed that but if you know where else I can get it

Download HTC Sync Manager, it will install proper drivers. And please check the USB cable or phone USB connector m


text:
My S7 wont sync my gmail email app
So for some reason I cant sync my gmail emails to the new S7 I purchased. I've verified its in "no power saving mode", sync is enabled for the app, I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling, and deleting and deleting the accounts and putting them back on. Im not sure this is relevant but it was working for 2 hrs or so and isnt now. Nothing works please help!


text:
How can I install the Google dialer (phone app) on any phone without root?
I want Google's Dialer phone app on my Nextbit Robin running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow but without using root.

Download this APK: http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/google-phone/google-phone-2-05-07_rc4-release/google-phone-2-05-07_rc4-android-apk-download/
It's an official APK Google released by mistake that does not limit which phone it can be installed on. Unlike the other versions that can only be installed on Nexus phones.

Fast forward to 2022 (or, 2020), Phone by Google is now available on the Play Store for non-Nexus/Pixel users


text:
Has ES File Explorer removed the adware?
I used ES File Explorer for a long time, but when they made the terrible decision to add that "Charging Boost" adware tagalong I had to uninstall, probably along with 2/3 of the apps users.
Is it now safe to re-install ES now? Have they removed all the internal adware from the app?

Please see this new article 2017/02/10 10 most useless apps and games for Android. Most prominent, but specifically named in the list: ES File Explorer (along with quote-Booster apps, Anti-Virus apps, and Task Killers-unquote)

They have an option to shut off the charging boost. The ads aren't worse than any other free app.

Nope.
ES Global will none removing all their Adware/Ads/Charging Boost/Complete bulls**t they added. Its an example of a good app falling to greedy devs.
Here's some complaints: Soooo, One from slashdot) Ummm, One from the Android Police on ES Pro And XDA has a Nice list on everything wrong with the New ES, and a story too! Read that to the kids.

Damn! And that was a good app.

I know, I used it for years. When it started hitting the fan, I rolled back and modded the package name so it won't update :)


text:
Galaxy Tab S 10.5 Screwed
Please help guys, I was trying to flash a rom, I deleted OS, All I get is Samsung Logo, I cant get into download mode(hard key combo dont wotk) I have no recovery on, and my PC wont recognise tablet, I have already tried a few things.  Any help to recover this would be really really appreciated.
Regards
Steve

I really hate to be the one to say this, but its the end of the line for this tablet. Double check everything. If not works, either burn an effigy, or get a new one.

Key combo should work! Volume down + Power


text:
I have this 64 gig microSD and it seems I can't utilize it
I have an LG Stylo with 16GB internal storage and just bought a 64GB microSD because I was tired of running out of space. So I manually moved all of the apps I could to the external storage. This freed up a few gigs. Now I'm goinf to update an app and my internal is up to 15.4 gigs?? Why? My apps are still listed under the "Internal Storage" section but once I select an app, it states it is in External Storage. So why is this happening? Is it leaving an undisclosed amount of data inside anyway? Is this a bug? I'm debating on deleting one of the apps through internal storage and see if it wipes it off my SD. By the way, my 64 gig is hardly being used. Maybe 6 gigs tops

You can't move apps to memory card. It is possible only if sd card is adopted or via apps like link2sd (require root). Yes there is option move to sd card in app manager but that moves small amount of data to sd. So if you want more space for apps adopt your SD card and that's it. Some bare minimum is class 10 SD card or UHS I if you phone support it.

Is there a workaround without rooting my phone?

@Tyler Seres https://www.xda-developers.com/enable-adoptable-storage-for-galaxy-s7-and-s7-edge/ this works on any 6+ android

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
How to dial A, B, C, and D in a phone call?
Just out of curiosity, how do I dial A, B, C, or D in a phone call using an Android cell phone? When I open the phone app, I only see the keys in the first 3 columns, i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, *, 0, and #.
I know that A, B, C, and D aren't used as much as the other 12 keys, but since they're defined, there should be a way I can use them, right?


text:
SMS bug: "@" at the end of messages
I recently started receiving a lot of messages ending with the "@" character. I asked why and they said they weren't doing that. We both use android, both use Textra, and  I checked in other SMS apps too and there were still "@" symbols on my end. Its not every message either, just random ones.  What could possibly cause this bug?

I've started getting B001 at the end of all messages from servers, like banks and mobile service providers


text:
Unable to run fastboot commands: < waiting for device >
I want to unlock my Nexus 5. I cannot run any fastboot command however: the device is not detected. What I did:

Press VolumeDown+rightButton until arriving to this screen

Plug the phone
Run the following commands

though I appear to be in fastboot mode
# apt-get install fastboot
# fastboot oem unlock
< waiting for device >

Nothing is disaplaye after the last line.
PS: I am using Ubuntu 16.04

If that's your device in the screenshot (rather than an image taken from elsewhere) then it looks like it's already unlocked. That could explain why it doesn't show anything.

@bmdixon It should, no matter it is unlocked or locked. otherwise how do you do if you want to relock it?

This is 6 months late, but adding sudo to the fastboot cammands solved the problem for me

You probably don't have USB drivers installed. Download them and install, everything should work now.

Download them from here
Download Galaxy Nexus drivers here

Power on the device
Go to Settings > Developers Options > USB Debugging then enable it.
Connect the device to the computer, drivers should be installed
Open a terminal and check if the phone is detected: adb devices (Windows)
You should get some hex numbers as output
Then reboot to the bootloader: adb reboot-bootloader
Then check if the device is detected in Fastboot: fastboot devices
Finally proceed with the Unlocking process: fastboot oem unlock or fastboot flash unlock if the previous doesn't work.

PS: Seems like you use a Linux system, I'm not familiar with Linux. You should use Linux commands.

You write "You probably don't have USB drivers installed" <--  I have an OPPO A9(maybe same as OPPO A5) phone, I think it can't get to a boot loader.. I understand that maybe fastboot commands require that one is in the bootloader.  I can do adb devices, so I think my USB  related adb drivers are fine.

Did you try booting into the bootloader with ADB?

It's an OOPPO A9 2020..  When I do adb reboot bootloader it just restarts the phone into the system, it doesn't go to the bootloader.  If I do power-voldown, and start it then it  still doesn't go to the bootloader, it goes to a recovery called ColorOS

Well, if I'm not wrong, you need to Volume up + Power to enter bootloader mode. Did you try it already?

Oh and there should be a parameter that you need to enable, located in the Developpers Options settings: Check if OEM Unlocking is present and enabled.

@es oh that OEM unlocking option is done... that is required for adb devices to work, so that adb devices doesn't show "unauthorized device".  I did that. adb devices is fine. So that's not it.  it's fastboot commands that won't work. And adb reboot bootloader that isn't working.

Nope, OEM Unlock is for the bootloader unlocking. To unable ADB you just need to enable USB Debugging. I'm afraid your device might not have been shipped with the ability to access the bootloader, many chinese devices are built that way

thanks, I see from .. https://support.honeywellaidc.com/s/article/How-to-fix-adb-devices-shows-unauthorized-device     the unauthorized is because you need to pick  "Revoke USB debugging authorizations".  I suppose  that gets rid of the "unauthorized" message from adb devices .  Still anyhow, yeah chinese device, can't access bootloader!


text:
Overwrite chat back up Google drive
I read that googlse drive only keeps the latest 7 days whats ap chat back up . And the older ones are over written.  Is this true

https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/android/20887921
   `Your phone will store up to the last 7 days worth of local backup files (Google Drive will only have the most recent). If you wish to restore a local backup which is not the most recent, you will need to do the following:
Download a file manager. Here are some choices: File Managers and Explorers.
In the File Manager, navigate to sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases. If your data is not stored on the SD card, you may see internal storage or main storage instead of sdcard.
Rename the backup file you wish to restore from msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 to msgstore.db.crypt12. It is possible that your earlier backup may have been on an earlier protocol, such as crypt9 or crypt10. Do not change the number of the crypt extension.
Uninstall WhatsApp.
Install WhatsApp.
Tap Restore when asked.    `
As far as I understand if you manually backup to google drive you will have everything but with auto backup only last 7 days.


text:
Can't find data folder of an installed game
I've installed a game through Google Play and I would like to analyze data files to see where information about progress are stored, but I can't find any folder of the game itself.
In sdcard/Android/data there is no game folder. Wehre should I look?

Applications keep their data in /data/data. It is a folder that resides in a partition that a normal user can't access. In order to access there, you have to root your phone and download another file explorer application that can browse /data.
I'd personally suggest Nextapp FX File Explorer with Root Add-On or ES File Explorer.

I think Root Explorer is the best root file explorer

You need to root your device.
Download an Root File Manager, im using Xplore File Manager but you can download Root Explorer app.
Goto /data/data/ (package name of the app) / (whole data)
Note: you need to root your device.

If u don't have root for this phone one possible work around is that you can back up the game using phone's built-in backup app. Then u may unpack the backed up file. Or just recover the backup to someone else's rooted phone, or an emulator.


text:
How Do I Activate 3G Only On Samsung Galaxy A5(2015)
I use Samsung Galaxy A5 (2015) and I have just upgraded the firmware to Android 6.0 (Marshmallow). The phone supports 3G but the option to set it is LTE/3G/2G (auto connect) on Network mode.
How do I get the phone to use 3G only?

Try to call ##4636## then select Phone/Tablet Information, scroll below and you saw Spinner, select 3G/WCDMA only
Or
Goto Settings > Cellular/Mobile Network > Your 3G SIM > Network (3G only)


text:
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Bootloop?
I purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in 2013, GT-N8010, Android 4.4 and recently, I had a problem- when it loaded, it said Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and didn't load. I tried to factory reset it holding volumedown and power button, and it asked to go into ODIN mode- said a custom OS can damage the device etc. Then, on ODIN mode, it said:
ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: GT-N8010
CUSTOM BINARY DOWNLOAD: No
CURRENT BINARY: SAMSUNG OFFICIAL
SYSTEM STATUS: Official
It froze and sometimes stopped when it was connected to my laptop. I then held both volume buttons and it went onto charging. I don't know what to do. I don't know why it said custom- I didn't tried to get a new android version or to root it.

Just flash a factory firmware via Odin. Nothing more you can do if that also fails.

Andy, how? I connected it to my laptop but it keeps saying installing drivers, or it disconnects momentarily.

You need to install appropriate driver (Samsung USB Driver for Mobile Phones) prior to connecting the device - the OS doesn't come with a usable driver.

Andy, my laptop won't let me do anything- it fails to install MTP

MTP isn't needed either. And if you mean your PC doesn't respond to anything from the tablet - even plugging it in while under Odin mode - fine, just borrow another PC.

I've tried but Windows 7 won't let me browse my files unless the driver is installed, and on Kies 3, it disconnects after failing.

Why are you still trying to browse files / use Kies? Sort out the driver problem and use Odin to end it once and for all.

I can't download the driver which is a problem- it says my device is not compatible. How else can I flash firmware to my device?

How "not compatible"? How did you try to install the driver? Use the "Samsung USB Driver for Mobile Phones" standalone package.

Yes, I got 'Samsung USB Driver for Mobile Phones' but then a notification says MTP failed, so I found a MTP driver online, but I cant install that.

MTP is not a problem. In download mode, plug the device into the PC. As long as Odin recognizes the device as COMxx, you can start flashing.

@AndyYan sorry I just left this, but I have a new PC and Odin doesn't say any more. Not even COMxx. It doesn't change screen. I took it to a few places to repair, but what else can I do?

Driver problem? Do you see a corresponding device in Device Manager in Windows?

@AndyYan nothing.

New PC? I'm at a loss too. I'm starting to think the tablet itself has a bad USB port...

@AndyYan I tried to flash firmware via ODIN and it did as https://www.kingoapp.com/root-tutorials/how-to-flash-samsung-stock-rom-via-odin.htm  expected, but when it rebooted, it is still on bootloop. The device was recognised by ODIN

Any help @AndyYan


text:
Can I install a ROM made for a different device? Samsung Beta
I have samsung galaxy s6.
Can I İnstall the beta version of nougat made for galaxy s7 to s6

Can you place star shaped piece in rectangle shaped hole?

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје No but you can fit a square shaped piece into a rectangle shaped hole.

No.
However, I would suggest using CyanogenMod if you want to get to the latest version of Android when your phone will be no longer supported by the manufacturer.
Unfortunately, as of right now, even CyanogenMod doesn't support Samsung Galaxy S6.
Perks of having a Samsung, hehe.
People, please remember : There are no stupid question.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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HP Slate 21 Won't Boot and Recovery Doesn't Work
My stock HP Slate no longer boots.  It stops at the HP logo / Powered by Android splash screen.  I've tried all of the solutions typically available to this device like resetting with the power turned off button combination.  I've tried all the options (start, Recovery Mode and Restart BootLoader) but they all freeze on the same splash screen.
I now have a really nice brick.  Any suggestions / recommendations on what I can do to restore or recover this device?

Did you try flashing it ?

I've not found any image or instructions on how to accomplish that.  So, not yet.

Try official website: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Operating-Systems-and-Recovery/How-to-re-install-Android-on-HP-Slate-21-when-everything-was/td-p/4561986

Reported at https://community.hpe.com/t5/General-Feedback-and-Suggestions/Cannot-boot-up-hp-slate-pro-21/td-p/6972218

I've found that if you unplug it, plug it back in and hit the power button it will boot. But, any time you shutdown again and try to restart, same boot issue persists. Unplug, plugin, power on, repeat...


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Weird dot on screen that captures all input
Forgive me for the unclear title. Some time ago, my HTC M8, which is rooted and runs on a Venom ROM showed something weird. Firstly, in the Google Maps App a mysterious blue dot appeared, that captures the screen completely and makes it impossible to quit or use the application. It looks like this (I could make a screenshot)

When this happens in Maps, the only thing I can do is a hard restart with Power+Volume Up.
Since I have seen this occasionally in the camera app as well, I suspect it is not a bug of Maps itself. I know that the Venom ROM is not standard but maybe this is connected to some setting and anyone has seen this. Btw, the Venom ran smoothly for almost 3 years now.
Question: Has someone a clue what this could be and how I can get rid of it?

Potentially malwares related. Did you recently install any app ? Go check your apps list if there are some apps that seem unusual.

I'm very cautious with installing new apps. I have my set of applications and did not install anything new (or potentially untrustworthy). I know that making a clean install of the OS is a final solution, but I hoped someone came across this issue.

Did you check the apps list?

Yes, nothing which looks even remotely suspicious. I can identify every app.

What about background processes and services?

I found the answer to my question in this xda thread. What I experience is the white dot that can be switched on in the developer options, although there, I have never turned it on.
I guess my only solution is to either install a new ROM or return to stock :(


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Where can I find my device product ID using ADB shell commands?
I want to unlock my device (Huawei G610-U20) bootloader but I'm unable to retrieve my product ID from common way

*#*#1357946#*#*

Product ID is required by Huawei website to provide the unlocking code for bootloader.
I want to know where the product ID is stored in the android and is it possible to read it from adb shell? the device is already rooted.
I'm afraid that Product ID from lsusb is not what huawei is looking for.

Possibly mentioned on the buyer receipt? In my case, it was an online purchase and had that detail mentioned to support warranty. Please check that

@beeshyams I couldn't find it on the buyer receipt. It's an 8 digits code that stored somewhere on the device but I have no Idea where it could be.

Try Device Info app

Thank you but still no chance to get the product ID.

I found this link after hours of searching and trying to unbrick my phone. Just type here https://imei24.com/ your IMEI number and it will show you all the info, hope it helps :)
BR!

I think the product ID is displayed with this command, works only on stock ROM though.
 *#*#1357946#*#*

Alternatively, you can get the product ID with Huawei Product ID Generator
UPDATE :
Try this generator

The code you mentioned doesn't work on my device and about Huawei Product ID Generator, I should say my device is not listed and even I tried another devices to use on Huawei website but look like there is no go.

On your question you said : ##1357946##

Look like a typo.

So? did it work or not.

Nope. the reason that I'm looking to find an alternative way is that my device doesn't respond to this code.

I've updated my answer.

Try changing phone language to english uk and dial up that number again.That worked.for.me


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Any way to download swf files on android?
I want to download an swf file on my phone. I have the link of the swf, but nothing worked, chrome just ignores the link while other browsers(dolphin in this case) run the swf file and still no download option. I cannot play it in dolphin because it always crashes at a specific part. Any help will be appreciated.

I download the page it's on as HTML, find the link to the file, and then use ES's Download Manager to download it. But that's just me.

If you just want to download it with your link, you can use Advanced download manager or similar applications.


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Is there any way to watch Amazon Video on Samsung Gear VR?
Netflix and Hulu have both apps for the Samsung Gear VR headset, but Amazon Video doesn't have an app.  So my question is, is there any way to watch Amazon Video on Samsung Gear VR?
I tried going to the Amazon Video website on the Samsung Internet VR web browser, but when I click an episode it just tells me to download the "Amazon Underground" app, which is a non-VR app for watching Amazon Video on the Samsung Galaxy S7.  Also, I tried clicking "request computer version" in the Samsung VR browser, to trick the site into thinking that I'm on a computer, but then Amazon just displays a message that your browser is not supported.
Is there any way to change the user agent of the Samsung VR browser to something which makes Amazon play the video?

There was some speculation around March 2016 about some job offers posted by Amazon, that some commentators interpreted as a hint that they were preparing a VR app for their video service. See this article for example.
However, more than one year later no official statement by Amazon has been issued, and no app has appeared.
It seems that the only alternative currently is to use the unofficial application SideloadVR, as suggested for example by this post answer.
However, it seems than currently not all the Gear VR devices are supported, as suggested by the reviews (and developer replies) on the Play Store. In particular support for popular Galaxy S8/S8+ devices is yet to come.


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Root my Android (Motorola Moto E)
What is the best method for rooting a Motorola Moto E Android running kitkat 4.4.4? I know nothing about unlocking bootloaders, so any help you could give me there would be great!

Did you try one ofl those one-click rooting software ? KingoRoot seems better, or iRoot, FramaRoot, etc

@esQmo Never use a one-click tool on Moto devices, it will frequently brick them.

@acejavelin Never experienced that! I use KingoRoot and it never resulted in a brick.

@esQmo I am quite active in various Moto device forums on XDA and have written rooting and other tutorials for several devices..  We have seen King(o)root and other one click methods brick several devices, although this is usually a softbrick only, most users who attempt this method don't know how to recover from that.

@acejavelin Okay, thanks for pointing this out.

Rooting modern Moto devices is quite simple, and there are not many variations.
You must unlock the bootloader using Moto's Unlock site. This will give you the pre-requisites needed to root, also be aware this will completely erase all your data
Next download the latest TWRP for your device (Moto E original model linked) and SuperSU.
Flash TWRP, backup, flash SuperSU, reboot. Done, you will be rooted.
For more specific information, XDA is your best source. http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-e


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Can't login to any Google apps, error pops ups each time attempted
I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy s5 and am unable to login to any google apps. I've tried signing in through all google related apps (play, youtube, gmail) and have tried 3-4 different accounts but each time I try to login an error pops up saying "Unfortunately Google Play Services has stopped working". I've tried logging in on data and different wifi connections, as well as disabling/ force stopping and re-enabling the google play services app, even making a new gmail account but nothing has worked so far. Thoughts?

Check to see how low your Memory is and try Uninstalling some unneeded Apps...then Force Stop All Apps & Unneeded Resources THEN try again..Hopefully this will help...  Not an end all Be All...just a possibility...

It's a new phone and i haven't downloaded any app and there's about 10gb of free space.

Same issue here with a S5 active .I heard that it would help to go I'm app manager and stop all the Google play services updates that are on and it would put back what was needed cieaner. Would it?  I'd I can't figure it out I'm going to go the apk route. It worked for.me when Google play just showed and error for days if this doesn't work.

Uninstall Google Play services Update.Try it.If works great.If not do a factory reset.


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TWRP Recovery stuck at splash screen
I'm using TWRP 3.0.2 on my LG G3. At first it worked fine and I used it to install Cyanogenmod 14. But now I can't boot into TWRP anymore, it just hangs forever at the splash screen. Android still boots fine.

I was able to solve the problem by removing the SD card before booting into TWRP, like suggested here.


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"Show CPU Usage" not an option
Nexus 5X, running build number NMF26F, rooted.  "Show CPU Usage" is not an option available in Developer options.

Unfortunately the current solution (running 7.1.1 build NMF26U on Google Pixel) was to completely remove the option, as the feature was broken in 7.0
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=213571


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How to retrieve data from perfectly working phone without a touchscreen?
I have a Motorola XT615, which fell into water a year ago. Everything works fine, except the touchscreen which is completely unresponsive. I've kept it because inside it has the log of dozens of last.fm scrobbles that I don't want to lose (and I'm a perfectionist when it comes to logging the music I've listened to). I asked the dev of the scrobbling app about how to get this, and he said I'd need to retrieve the "sql lite database".
Phone:

Is Froyo
Is rooted
Probably not in USB debug mode
Has physical volume buttons that I can use (could be remapped somehow?)
Is recognized by the computer, but not in USB mode (can't enable it without a touchscreen)

If there is no solution via software, and before I start trying to track down a digitizer for this really old, abandoned phone, is there any way I can pick up the insides of it, and put it in another phone, in order to get all of this info?

Use a keyboard to put it into USB mode and enable USB debugging. After that, you could clone entire phone from PC if you want to due to root. You could also use ADB if the phone supports ADB without debugging.

Thanks for responding Don't think it supports a keyboard... or at least I read about how OTG USB mouse were not available for Froyo without installing some custom ROM or something like that. Don't think ADB will work either - I tried listing the devices and it appears as "offline". I ended up opening the phone, and disconnecting the screen to see if reconnecting it would do anything, but now I can't reconnect it and the phone is all screwed from the opening... good riddance I guess.


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How can I access fastboot and install recovery from here:
I have a Toshiba Excite AT300SE, from 2012. I wish to install a custom recovery, through accessing fastboot, through accessing adb. However, whenever I run adb, it returns error: device '(null)' not found.
Here is the recovery screen: (screen that returns when I trigger Power+VolUp)

(The blanked out option says restart device now)
I've tried out the following:

wipe data/factory reset
It does not work

wipe cache, and then wipe data
It also won't work

try using adb [command] while turning on (bootloop)
adb devices returns null

apply update from ADB
adb devices still returns null

apply update from external storage using the ROM uploaded here
Installation aborted printed out after Verifying update package...

Any tips, Android StackExchange?

Note: I don't have CWM, as shown evidently in the image
Another note: It's stuck in a bootloop, so I can't turn on debugging mode.

Does your device boot normally? You can access the bootloader with adb, the phone must be on and debugging mode turned on.

@esQmo It's stuck in a bootloop.


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S7 Archive all apps & settings info for re-install?
Is there a way to save all my Galaxy S7 App List, settings on/off and user settings in a cloud file to allow me to do a factory reset and import my archive file back to my existing phone?  Something like Google Takeout?

3 Methods
1 = Steps:
1.Root The device.Check if that is your mobile.Root methods made for one variant S7 may not work for other variants.
2.Install Titanium Backup.Backup all the apps that you need.Even settings can be backed.
3.Do a factory reset.Come back.Install Titanium backup again(If not rooted rot again) and reinstall.
2= Steps:
1.Root
2.Install TWRP and make a backup of whole device from recovery.
3 = Steps:
1.Do the factory reset and let it Go
Refer To this:Uses of roots.


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Device is not powering on
I've a YU Yureka AO5510 and I've flashed custom ROM and thing were working fine. But once I pressed restart and phone never started again. I thought it was low battery and tried charging. Whenever I connected the charger, LED notification light turns red and after few minutes it gets turned off. When the charging cable is unplugged and plugged again, red LED notification light comes up again and turns off after few minutes.
Could help me to enter fastboot or recovery in this situation?

Is the phone detected by the computer? What does the Device Manager shows when you connect the USB cable?

No. Device is not detected by PCs. I tried connecting my charger without battery and again the red notification light comes up and stops glowing after few minutes.

It should. The phone is hard-bircked.  The specs say Qualcomm MSM8939, if you're using Windows, open device manager, hold volume down or up and connect the USB cable to the computer. You should see something in the device manager.

Yes it is detected. I'm using ubuntu and the device is listed as "Bus 007 Device 006: ID 05c6:9008 Qualcomm, Inc. Gobi Wireless Modem (QDL mode)
"


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Unknown icon on screen
I've noticed an unknown icon on my phone (a new Gionee S6s), next before the VOLTE2 label, within the top bar, as seen on the screenshot below; it looks like a pined business card.
I am disturbed and would like to know what it is.
Also, how can I possibly get rid of it (if not relevant to me)?
Below is a screenshot of my phone's home screen:

Click to enlarge

You have several strange things on your screen. To which are you referring?

Looks like some adwares. Did you install anything recently? Your launcher may be popping this. (Apus Launcher)

Toggle that option off and that icon will leave.


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Can I connect existing USB mouse and keyboard and VGA monitor to my Nexus 6
I guess question title sums it all. I have USB mouse, keyboard and VGA monitor. I am ready to buy couple of new adapters/cables. Will it be possible to connect all things up to my Nexus 6. I was thinking to do following:

Buy Micro USB to USB 3.0 Hub something like this
Buy USB 3.0 to VGA cable something like this
Connect Hub to phone
Connect mouse and keyboard to hub
Connect USB3.0-to-VGA cable to hub
Connect monitor to USB3.0-to-VGA cable

Will this even work?

Mouse and keyboard will probably work. I'm not sure about the monitor, though; I'm pretty sure there is no support for external monitors anyways.

any other way to connect VGA monitor to android with minimal hardware/software?

@Mahesha999 If your device has an HDMI port, yes you can connect a monitor.

My device? Which device? Do you mean if my monitor comes with HDMI male? Well my monitor has VGA male wire. And recently I bought HDMI male to VGA female adapter to plug in monitor to my HDMI-out only laptop... Will it work, if I buy USB-3 to HDMI female adapter?

A plug-and-play USB keyboard and mouse should work fine with your phone.
The Motorola Nexus 6 does not support video out of its microUSB port with any adapter/protocol.
You could cast video from the phone to a Google Chromecast ($35 MSRP) HDMI dongle, and then purchase an active HDMI female to VGA male cable/adapter to connect the Chromecast to your monitor - but note that the Chromecast and phone would need to be on the same WiFi network, and there is slight latency in wireless casting that you wouldn't get with a video cable.

how sure that Nexus 6 does not support video out of its microUSB?

I'm sure. The last Nexus phone to support video out was the Nexus 5. You won't find any official documentation for the N6 mentioning video out capability - just forum threads of people who cannot get it working: https://www.reddit.com/r/nexus6/comments/2oaw4g/video_out_on_nexus_6/

seems that I will have to use hdmi coupler(need to buy), HDMI-to-VGA adapter(which I already have) and a chromecast (which is also I have already) to get it done???

@Mahesha999 Sounds like that's what you'll need.


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Does syncing a telegram account with a phone with no contacts (recently reset to factory defaults) delete contacts from server?
I am installing telegram on a new android device (sony xperia v, 4.3); The phone is reset to factory defaults with no contacts on it. If I sync the contacts with telegram account what happens? Does it transfer contacts FROM TELEGRAM SERVER and saves them TO THE PHONE? or stupidly does a one-way transfer FROM PHONE TO SERVER and DESTROY everything??
Its very important, because if it wont work I'll lose my only source of saved contacts(telegram server).
Thanks in advance

You will have all your telegram contacts in the telegram app wherever you login.


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Fastboot freezes on Mac OS Sierra
I just got a new MacBook 2016 with Mac OS Sierra installed, after setting up my complete development environment and all required tools via Android Studio, I tried to flash a new Android Wear release on my watch.
ADB is working without issues, but as soon as I try to run any fastboot command (other than fastboot help) it will completely freeze and never finish.
It is just stuck with no output at all.
I already tried to run it with sudo or reinstall it via the SDK Manager, I also tried different standalone fastboot binaries provided on XDA developers.
There is nothing which seems to make it finish. Even "ctrl + c" won't exit the running command. Only killing it via the process list will work.

Did you setup all drivers? When fastboot "freezes" it's because the device is not detected. I never tried on Mac but on Windows it shows  Waiting for device

It won't even show this output. So everything is installed. Tools all dependencies. (adb working without issues)

How do you get in Fastboot mode?

@esQmo I have installed the tools on my pc and added the tools folder to the path variable. so I just type "fastboot devices" and it won't output anything. The device was set to fastboot by doing "adb reboot bootloader" (also tried with other devices) the thing is that fastboot won't output anything at all, no warning that it's waiting for a device, nor anything else

Did you follow the step by step instructions like these from here ? http://www.stechguide.com/setup-adb-and-fastboot-on-mac-easy-step-by-step-guide/

Yes I did. I used tried these files too

Weird... What phone model is that?

I am very sure its not about the phone or watch. But some issue with fastboot on mac OS. as it won't finish the command at all or won't quit if I do "ctrl + c"

Oh my bad, you said a watch... May be an issue with MAC though. Try it with a Windows computer. Can't help further.

So this was an official Android fastboot bug. They are currently testing a fix in their QA department.
With the new platform tools release it will be fixed:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=231129

Not really a solution but a workaround:
I've been having the same issue without finding anything online. Am using a 2016 Macbook Pro, Nexus 4 and a USB A to micro USB cable with an A-to-C adaptor.
I used Parallels to run a virtual Ubuntu machine and installed fastboot there (as per here to minimize storage usage). When I plug my phone in I tell Parallels to connect it to the virtual machine. Not ideal, but at least I can use fastboot!

oh interesting. So it seems the new MacBook or USB Type C (Thunderbolt 3) is somehow incompatible with fastboot. I wonder why there is no bug report for the android tools, nor anywhere else open yet.

Running into the same issue on a new Macbook Pro 2016 and the latest version of fastboot with a Nexus 6p. I have tried the Apple usb-c to usb-a adapter and even a straight usb-c to usb-c cable. It just hangs.

Yeah, I think it's definitely a MacBook USB/Thunderbolt issue. Surprised I haven't seen more information about it. We can't be the only two with the new MacBook trying to use fastboot!

Just asked a colleague of mine to test this too. He was also able to reproduce it

Can also confirm this issue on a 13 inch MacBook Pro 2016 model, fastboot from homebrew and a OnePlus 3 device.

I can also confirm the issue on 15 inch MBP 2016

Not sure if anyone sees the same symptoms but recently I've noticed some more strange behavior. I load Ubuntu in Parallels 12, use fastboot as needed and then when I disconnect the device my Touch Bar is frozen until I reboot my Macbook and my Macbook won't detect my Android device until I reboot. Maybe the issue is related to the Touch Bar?

Google has released an update to Android Platform Tools that fixes this. You can use Homebrew to install the latest version:
brew update
brew install android-platform-tools

Once you update to revision 25.0.4 or above, fastboot will no longer hang on Macbook Pro 2016 / MacOS Sierra. From its changelog:

25.0.4 (March 16, 2017)

Added experimental libusb support to Linux and Mac adb

To use the libusb backend, set the environment variable
  ADB_LIBUSB=true before launching a new adb server. The new adb host-features command will tell you whether or not you're using libusb.
To restart adb with libusb and check that it worked, use
adb kill-server; ADB_LIBUSB=1 adb start-server; adb host-features`

The output should include "libusb".
In this release, the old non-libusb implementation remains the
  default.

fastboot doesn't hang 2016 MacBook Pros anymore (bug 231129)
Fixed Systrace command line capture on Mac

Similar symptoms, different versions. On a Macbook Air M1, with a phone connected over USB-C, adb worked fine for me but fastboot (34.0.0 from Homebrew) just hung there (though in my case Ctrl+C worked).
The solution for me was to plug the device in a different port. Only the port closest to the back worked for fastboot.


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Annoying issue with my Gionee P5L
My phone's model is Gionee P5L. For the few days I am facing this stupid and annoying problem. I don't know why and how but I have multiple copies of the same apps in my phone... For example I have 2 facebook lite, 2 opera mini, 3 google settings, 2 play store. Can anyone let me know how to fix this ? Here are two screenshots.

Thanks in advance.

Is that a third party launcher?

no. default phone launcher


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Lost all my images
I connected my phone to laptop via usb. Since my phone storage was almost full so I cut some folders and pasted it on my memory card.But when I opened the folders the  images were gone.  I again cut and pasted it on my phone storage. Images are still gone.How can I recover it?

First, what device and Android version? Did you copy the files to a memory card in the phone or on the computer?

First stop writing to the drives because after deletion data is just forgotten but not deleted.It gets deleted when it gets replaced by another data.
Now
Connect your mobile in USB memory instead of media device.And then use recuva to scan the drive.
Recuva

Mass storage mode needed to use tools like this hasn't been available for several years.


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Setting up ringtone on Nexus 5X with Android 7.1.1
I am just writing about what worked on my new Nexus 5X which has Android 7.1.1. As I have read many answers about how to set up a ringtone and none of them worked.
I installed a file manager app and then I transmitted the custom ringtone MP3 from the old phone to the Nexus 5X using Bluetooth which put it in the Downloads folder that I was able to browse in the file explorer app. So far so good.
I then tried copying the file to the Ringtones folder in the root directory (/storage/emulated/0) but couldn't select it in Ringtone settings so I had to try reading some messages to work out where I could try to put the file to get Android to detect it.
After looking at a few places I ended up putting it in the Android/media/com.google.android.talk/Ringtones folder. After that the Ringtone was able to be selected in sound settings.

Looks more like an answer - find or write up a proper question to post this to. Also, just putting it in internal storage/Ringtones (which is created by the OS, actually) will work - had always worked for me.


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Can I connect my Android to my laptop?
I have a Motorola Moto E running kitkat 4.4.4. Is there any way to link my phone to my laptop (Windows 8) and control the phone from there? Such as downloading apps to the phone via usb connection from the laptop?

Yes, there is a way to control your phone using your laptop.
GO through this link and download Vysor to your laptop as well as phone.

Do you want to remote control device? If that so, than you can use app "teamviewer" it requires internet connection or "air droid" air droid support control via usb if I remember right. Or maybe you dont have wifi so you want to use PC internet because you don't have wifi, than you can use reverse usb tethering here is how to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2287494 . Im not sure you could do remote control via air droid and reverse tether if you wanted to. Also you can install apps via pc without touching phone, to do that you have to login to google on PC with same account which is used on Android to connect to google. Just go to google play in any browser and choose app you want to install and it will offer you list of devices connected to that google account, so choose device and confirm, just one thing app will not install on the phone until it's connected to internet. This last metod is basically just assigning the task to do. Hope something of this help..


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Create a dead zone on a screen using adb to fix phantom touch
Many a times a very specific area of a screens starts to show phantom touches. In this case a very simple tweak to just remove the touch sensitivity from this very specific area could fix the problem. Even an xposed module would do.
How could I achieve this? I'm using CM 13 and I know how to use adb. Please don't give me the same 'just buy a new screen bs' . Those screens aren't cheap. Somtimes the screen can cost half the price of the phone.
Thousands of people have this problem. If we can achieve this we could very well save a lot of money.

Don't spam please! You have already asked 2 similar questions in less than 1 one day.

I also got that problem. I tried the command wm overscan [reset|LEFT,TOP,RIGHT,BOTTOM] (from this post). That didn't fix the problem but helped a lot.


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TalkBack won't turn off
I have a Motorola Moto E running KitKat 4.4.4. It somehow got into TalkBack mode and now I can't swipe the screen to get into Settings. I did a factory reset, but it's still there! How can I change the settings when I can't get to them?

If you have inadvertently enabled Talkback, you can quickly pause it then go to the Settings and disable this feature.

From anywhere on the screen, swipe down then right in a single motion, as if you were drawing an “L”.
(This should work whether the phone is on the lock screen or unlocked.)

You will then see 2 options in the top corners of the screen, select “Pause Feedback”.

When the Suspend Talkback message appears, double tap “OK”.

You can now normally go into  Settings > Accessibility and disable Talkback.

Hold the UP and DOWN volume buttons for 3 seconds, then do it AGAIN.


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How to disable Peek/Heads up notifications on LG G5 with Android N
I've read in Android N it's possible to disable Peek/Heads up notifications on by turning on "Show full importance settings" in System UI Tuner, but I can't seem to find such on option on my LG G5 with Android N.
How do I disable Peek/Heads up notifications on LG G5 with Android N?

are you looking just to shut off the notifications?
If so:
from the Home page -> Pull down from the top and click on the Sprocket (or Settings) -> If you have the Grid View click on the Sounds&Notification -> Click on Apps -> Scroll down and click on Settings
From here, you can control you want the Peek, but making silent, or click on the Lock Screen and Hide all notifications.
I hope this helps.

Thank you Anthony, but on Apps > Settings you control the Settings app notifications, not all the notifications for all the apps. I am looking for a way to disable the Peek/Heads Up notifications for all the apps, system-wide.


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Does MTK Android devices get software updates ever? (LG)
I know that mediatek doesn't share their source code (you can buy it), and what I was wondering is does any MTK device gets updates when newer Android version rolls out, and not just new versions, just does they get software updates? I asking about stock ROM-s made by phone manufacturer. Mostly interested about LG devices.

It may help to read this post on how updates make it to devices. Remember if the device manufacturer doesn't do the work - its up to any community around that device to create updated ROMs.: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/65557/is-there-a-technical-reason-android-update-story-is-so-bad

@Morrison Chang well this is different you can't make ROM without sources which in case of mediatek will never be published, and mostly their politics where devices don't get updates for example from KK to LP instead of that you have to buy new device.

Sure - devices from Xiaomi are good examples.
Redmi Note 2, released in 2015, still gets stable and weekly development builds of up-to-date MIUI8. Whether the Android version beneath the UI was updated is a question, but that also stays true for other MIUI devices regardless of the SoCs they're using, and you're not asking about Android version updates exactly, either.

Hm, thanks, well when I said that I don't mean on updating android versions I meant on not updating from kit - kat to lollipop bu bug fixes and security updates and such things, which are actually android updates but not strictly just that (well I'm interested in any kind of updates that MTK devices get). I didn't explain well. In case of Xiaomi I think there is just MIUI updates.

Xiaomi did give those devices monthly security patches, though mostly in development builds and usually a bit delayed. Anyway, the point is MTK devices do get major and minor updates, but that heavily depends on the manufacturer you're looking at.

Do you know anything about LG an their deliver of updates to mtk devices? I don't know when they started to use their chip, it is in K series, maybe in Lxx series.

L Bello (MT6582) did not get a single update as far as my search returned. Other even lower-end L devices presumably suffered the same fate. As for K/X series, they started very recently so not much can be said. I assume you want to buy one of those in the future? Well my suggestion is... just don't.

Well I allredy boght one K8 actually, about two months ago. Didn't know anything about mediatek and how things work. It's sad because fon could run Nougat, but probably never get it. And making/porting a custom rom is pain in the ass for mtk devices, it's hard for every phone but this is new level of hard. I think that K10 was LP than get MM but I'm not sure.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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How to choose which player is controlled by headphone button?
I have headphones, which has a button, which can stop/starts player applications. Unfortunately I also have several such players installed. Sometimes this button works well, but sometimes starts to control random player. Unneeded players can even not being run, but this button invokes them nevertheless. Is it possible to organize this?

You can use automation, MacroDroid app. Trigger: Headphone inserted, Action: launch app ( your preferred media player), Constraints: none. See if that solves your issue

If you're rooted, use a tool like MyAndroidTools to disable the broadcast receiver for android.intent.action.MEDIA_BUTTON for unneeded apps that respond.


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Cannot flash bricked Xiaomi
Device is Xiaomi Redmi 3S
During the last update (6.12.15) 3 days ago, the mobile bricked and cannot boot.
I cannot fastboot because the bootloader is locked and cannot be unlocked using 'minimal adb fastboot' (eom edl is not allowed)
I cannot do the recovery, because "reading device information fail"
I cannot paste rom file into internal memory, because without loaded OS it doesn't appear in connected PC.
If I try anything else, device gets stuck on Java error - systemuiservice error - UnknownFormatConversionException
I run out of options what to do and what I managed to google out.

If the device is Qualcomm-based, try activating its 9008 emergency mode and use MiFlash along with a corresponding image to revive it - it's probably the only option available. You might need a stripped USB wire for that, though.

Solved. As Andy Yan pointed me, I did it using 9008 Qualcomm mode. It still wasn't easy as I had to open the case, shortcut maintenance pins and find the right combination of flashing tool and firmware rom for my phone, but I did it. Case closed.


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Help deleting someone else's Google account from my phone
My boyfriend's Google account was added onto my phone. How do I delete it from my phone and if I do, will it also be deleted on his phone?

Go to Settings > Account > Google then select the account to be removed.
No, deleting an account from a device only remove it in that device.

Easy, just go to the Settings app >> Account >> Google. Then, select the account that you want to remove. Click on it. Done.
Of course, No. This process only remove an account from that devices.
Finally, click on the Add Account button and enter your account to login.


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How do I change the default share folder in dropbox?
When I want to upload files to dropbox from external apps (share button) I always get directed to the same dropbox folder. Even if I delete it, it will come back from the dead next time I share with dropbox.
Is there a way to choose a different folder to share with dropbox when using third party apps?

You can customise using this app

I think I had the same problem and it was very easy solving this. If you are in the "share" dialog just use the back button of your phone and you are back in the parent folder. Found the solution here. So I hope that also solves your problem!


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Nexus 5x No Command screen
I was attempting to upgrade the os to 7.1.1, but after downloading, installing the os and restarting the device, the screen shows "No command" with a dead android icon.
The "No command" screen is like this:

I followed this link to install TWRP instead, everything works fine, but at the end the screen still shows "No command", how could I escape from it?
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/how-root-google-nexus-5x-install-twrp-recovery-1525518
Actually, I tried this
http://forums.androidcentral.com/droid-razr-m/332350-wipe-cache-no-command.html, but still in vain

It seems like TWRP wasn't installed. You still have the stock recovery.
As you've got to the "no command" screen, try this:  Hold down the power button for 3-5 seconds and then press and release the Volume up button.