text:
I have reset my phone samsung galaxy fit through factory data reset... Now my contacts are deleted
How can I recover my contacts? (They were stored on phone memory.) I have also saved all my sd card data.

If you haven't synced them with your Google Account, nor you stored them in your sim card, then your contacts are lost since a factory reset means a wipe of the phone memory.


text:
Samsung Galaxy SIII not Recognized
I have a Samsung Galaxy SIII which I'm attempting to pull photos off of - but I am having trouble doing so. I've attempted to use Kies to pull the photos off - but it just says loading... loading... loading... forever. The computer seems to recognize the phone (it is shown under device manager) but it never seems to appear under My Computer (this may be related to why Kies does not recognize it either.)
Anyone have any suggestions?

Have you enabled USB Storage after you plug in your phone?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tgllLpc6zI

That's where things get a bit tricky... the phone has a bad LCD (the digitzer is good - so I can do a little bit of input by setting a working galaxy s3 next to it and following along - but I'm literally shooting in the dark so I was hoping for a software or command line based solution of some sort)

...plus a bunch more over at [android.se].

When I plug my S3 into my Windows 7/8 computers (after installing Kies to get the drivers), it just shows up as a "portable media player" under My Computer and is easily accessible.
If yours isn't, and you've tried more than one computer, then I suspect more than just the screen on the S3 is broken.

Would it still be recognized by the device manager in that case? I'm pretty sure it's still alive in some sense since it still has audible notifications coming from the device and it is recognized by device manager.

Just because it can see it in the device manager, doesn't mean the drivers can communicate with it.  I suggest trying it another Windows 7+ computer, and if it doesn't basically "just work" (after installing Kies) then consider it busted.  I've gone through two S3's attached to multiple Windows 7/8 machines, and never had any difficulty getting it to be recognized.  If it DOES work on the other computer, then you probably need to manually clean out the existing drivers and registry references and reinstall the drivers on the problematic computer.

I just used Droid@Screen to view the device - it's working perfectly. I'm going to use a cloud backup service to upload the pictures and call it a day.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to stop Play Store from auto-updating itself?
How can I stop Google play from automatically updating to the latest version? I tried deleting my hosts file but it's not being deleted. My phone is rooted.

@xavier_fakerat if Play Store is installed as user app or is updated at least once, try making its apk file immutable. If installd fails deleting existing file/directory, may be new one is not created. Or replace its privileged android.permission.INSTALL_PACKAGES with REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES (though doesn't make much sense). Or disable SafeSelfUpdateService and EmergencySelfUpdateService components of Play Store app (though app it self can enable them any time). Never tried any of these. Also may cause app crash.

I tested disabling those 2 services through Apps2SD's App component manager, clicked on Update Play Store inside Play Store settings, and they remained disabled (Play Store didn't updatae).

Never mind, it did update the next day (and the services are still disabled according to Apps2SD).

In order to disable Google Play Store:

You must have version 4.8.2 installed (just replace it in /system/app with the new com.android.vending.apk).
Download a root service from the store called Disable service (again make sure root is installed and the app is given root permission).
Now, in the disable service app, navigate to the system app tab and find Google Play Store. Tap on it and you will get a list of services.
Scroll to the bottom and uncheck Check Wi-Fi and Update service.
You will see a Please wait notification, and at the bottom BusyBox should appear, notifying you that the app was given root access.
Exit the app and voila! Google Play Store will never update itself or Google Play Services ever again (unless you install a new version, in which case you would need to repeat the process).

Where can I find version 4.8.2?

First, you must have version 4.8.2 installed (just replace it in /system/app with the new com.android.vending.apk).
Instructions (from here):

Root, install SuperSU.

Install BusyBox, then terminal emulator.

Stop any Internet access on your Android, or it will silently auto-update Store, making your hard typing work useless.

Open Settings -> App manager and find Play Store. tap on it. It will open the properties window. There will be button Uninstall Updates. Tap on it, click Yes on Replace with factory version? question.

Because there is no Internet connection, this is the moment the Play Store couldn't be updated. Let's use it.

Open terminal emulator and type commands one by one:
su

(at this time SuperSU app will ask you for granting root access for terminal emulator app, click Grant access).
touch /data/app/com.android.vending-1.apk
chattr +i /data/app/com.android.vending-1.apk

Enjoy! Regardless of Internet connection, Play Store now has the version you need, not Google. This might work for Play Store 4.8 and up, but I didn't test it.

+1 The answer that actually works. Note that you may have to replace -1 with -2 if that already exists. (But don't go to -3!)

This will not solve the problem, because it will keep downloading the whole thing into a temp folder again and again and again...

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

A modified version of Stephen Schrauger's steps, based on the video here, since chmod +i returned an error on my phone. Tested on Android ICS (Cyanogenmod 9, Play Store 3.*).
Assuming a rooted phone:

Stop whatever Internet access on your Android or it will silently auto-update Play Store, making your hard typing work useless.
Open Settings → App manager and find Play Store. Tap on it. Tt will open properties window.
There will be button Uninstall Updates. Tap on it, click yes on "replace with factory version?" question.

Because there is no Internet connection, this is the moment the Play Store can't be updated. Let's use it.
Open Terminal Emulator and type the commands one by one:
su

At this time supersu app will ask you for granting root access for Terminal Emulator app, click grant access.
mkdir /data/app/com.android.vending-1.apk

Instead of creating a file and preventing modification with permissions it just creates a directory, which can't be overwritten by the updater.
Now you can re-enable the internet connection and it will not update unless the directory is deleted.

The ultimate guide to stop Play Store auto-updates on Android 10 & Lucky Patcher. My device: Xiaomi S2, Android 10, EU ported MIUI 12.0.8.
This guide assumes you have a custom recovery & Magisk installed. If not, then do it first. We're gonna go in 4 step process:

SELinux permissive:
First, go to Magisk manager & flash SELinux module. Follow the flashing instructions & set SELinux to permissive.

Uninstall the original Play Store:
Go to /data/app/com.android.vending folder (your device might have some random string name, so find the folder where Play Store is. It might be under the name base.apk/vending.apk/market.apk/playstore.apk), delete the folder using SD Maid app.
[Note: I tried a bunch of other file managers like FX File Manager, Xplorer, Root Browser, but for some reason they did not work.]

Delete the basic version of the Play Store from the system that automatically reinstalls: Using SD Maid, go to system/product/priv-app/Phonesky. This is the basic version, delete it.
[Note: If for some reason you are having trouble with steps 2 & 3, then go to your custom recovery mount system partition & follow these steps from the custom recovery.]

Now if you have a modded APK from Lucky Patcher, then place it in the Phonesky folder. If not, then install the modded Play Store from Lucky Patcher app. Take a backup of the modded Play Store using any backup app. Then place it in the Phonesky folder.
Go to app manager from settings to see if it has been installed as a system app. If you can uninstall from settings, then do it. It will automatically reinstall the modded version.
[Note: If Play Store still auto-updates, then repeat the process & then set the permission of Phonesky folder to r--r--r (444)

Flash SELinux Magisk module & set SELinux to Enforcing.

Play Store will never auto-update itself again & Lucky Patcher will start working on Android 10. This trick can also be extended to Android 9 & 11.

Some android apps depend on PlayStore and GooglePlayServices and therefore I would not advise to disable them. However, if the phone has ROOT (SuperSU or Magisk), it would be possible to mount system partition as Read/Write and modify the file /system/etc/hosts:
127.0.0.1 localhost
0.0.0.0 android.clients.google.com
0.0.0.0 android.googleapis.com
0.0.0.0 app-measurement.com
0.0.0.0 connectivitycheck.gstatic.com
0.0.0.0 dl.google.com
0.0.0.0 firebaseinstallations.googleapis.com
0.0.0.0 pagead2.googlesyndication.com
0.0.0.0 play.googleapis.com
0.0.0.0 play-fe.googleapis.com
0.0.0.0 play-lh.googleusercontent.com
0.0.0.0 r15---sn-n8v7kn7r.gvt1.com
0.0.0.0 r2---sn-n8v7knee.gvt1.com
0.0.0.0 r2---sn-n8v7znz7.gvt1.com
0.0.0.0 www.googleapis.com

This modification would prevent PlayStore from updating.

So which of these lines are actually responsible for blocking a Play Store update? It would be nice to post only related lines. Will this also block an update of Play Services?

I can't say for sure. I can only guess which lines are responsible for Play Store update. E.g  the GVT in the gvt1.com domain stands for Google Video Transcoding, and is used as a cache server for content and downloads used by Google services and applications. *.googleapis.com is related to Google APIs and responsible for authentication. *.googleusercontent.com is some kind of cache. pagead2.googlesyndication.com is AdSense and may not be related to Play Store update.

app-measurement.com is responsible for collecting statistics from android apps. connectivitycheck.gstatic.com is a beacon used to check if android phone is on wifi or not. The remaining lines android.clients.google.com and dl.google.com may be responsible for blocking Play Store and Play Services updates.

In the system folder there should be MarketUpdater.apk. If you delete that file, Play Store won't update itself anymore. Nothing else should be affected though.

I couldn't find that file, I think they've discontinued it some time ago.

I found another approach to Google Play Store based on its dependency on built-in Download provider:
chmod 551 /data/data/com.android.providers.downloads/cache
chmod 551 /data/data/com.android.providers.downloads/files

make it impossible to update both Store and other programs (including Google Play Services) in my Lolipop 5.0.1. When I need to update third-party programs, I run Store, then file manager (I use X-plore), change permissions of folders back to 771, install found updates, return to file manager and set permissions to 551 again, at the end I close the Store. Quite simple and very reliable - no background updates of the Store and Services for two months.

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

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


text:
How do I find media downloaded to phone from XMBC?
I am using XMBC for Android on my HTC One and downloaded a movie to /storage/sdcard0/Download/
Where is that going to show up and how do I get to it? Is it possible to download to maybe a cloud or a computer?

You can use a file manager app to access the files in your SD card. There are many good ones out there. Androzip and Astro file manager are some of the bests.
If you want to copy files into your PC, use a USB cable and connect your phone. If you want you can use an app like WiFi File transfer to transfer files using WiFi.


text:
Auto-sync data turns itself off randomly
On my Nexus 4, sync turns itself off randomly.
Almost once a day, the option Settings > Data usage > Auto-sync data gets silently unchecked. My Nexus 4 is brand new, and I have not installed any apps that I think would interfere with system settings.
This is very annoying because I cannot rely on sync at all; I frequently miss important emails etc. Manual syncing is not an option.

I don't have an answer to that. I do have a workaround for it though.
Download this app from the play store called AutomateIt. It's an app that allows you to make the phones to respond to certain situations.
You could make a rule for the phone to follow, maybe something like: turn auto sync ON when screen is turned on.
Hope this helps.


text:
Read phone state and identity
I've looked at many (not all) of the dozens of links here.
Is there a list that explains the risks involved with each granted application permission type?
Most of these are not worth the time to read and just regurgitate using the same vague, indeterminate descriptions already used by the phone.
I've googled for specifics, but can find no detailed information on this privacy warning.
Please don't reply with generic blog articles and endless lists of links.
I'm looking for one hard core detailed reference on this warning:
Read phone state and identity
Here's what mine says:

Allows the application to access the phone features of the device...
What specifically is a "phone feature" and what is not? Is wifi a phone feature, text message stack, etc
An application with this permission can determine the phone number and serial number of this phone...
Right. This is clear.
Whether a call is active...
Understood.
The number that the call is connected to...
Is this giving the company permission to spy on my friends?
and the like...
Yep, it really says this. Please define "the like".

Obviously #1, #4 and #5 are the things that concern me - the language of this warning says that the game developer gets access to all the identity information of anyone who calls you...  And the like.
Therefore, to me, it clearly says you are exposing yourself and your contacts to spammers and worse. And it looks like the app can scoop up your contacts whether you are playing the game or not.
In other words, unless you are willing to give the developer the identities/contact info of anyone who calls you (or you call), subjecting them to spam or worse, you should not d/l the app.
Correct?

Reading phone state is useful for getting unique device id's from the telephony API.  This can be used in provisioning devices, for instance.

With this permission an app can...

read your IMEI/IMSI (to identify your device/SIM), #2 in your list
read your phone number (from the SIM)
which provider is used (again, the SIM)
see whether a call is active (#3) and if so, phone number of the remote party (#4)

Your #1 is simply an introductionary phrasing. With Android 1.6 and before, this permission was required to detect whether there was a call being processed (so a game or media player could pause). This is no longr the case since 2.0 (basically even not with 1.6, but due to a bug this permission was still automatically "injected" by the SDK).
In newer versions, it is mostly used to...

identify your device for target-ads (so the ad provider could tell whether a certain ad was already shown to you)
rightfully by call-blockers and similar apps which need to determine the remote phone number
for several statistics and other technical apps (again, rightfully)

And well, in a way it gives someone the possibility to spy. Some malware uses it (in connection with other permissions) to create a profile of you.
I'd say in most cases the dev is not interested in this, but it's rather the ad module requiring this permission. Concerning this, please also see: What information does stock Android send to Google by default, and how do I opt-out? -- which also covers the ad-modules stuff.

Thanks very much. #4 and #5 are the ones that should raise concerns for games like subway surfer or fruit ninja. These are not call blocking apps so why do they need the identities of people calling me.  I am not in favor of sending companies the phone numbers of my friends. It's like people are selling out each other for a few scooby snacks.

What bothers me most are games targeted at kids to pick up their contacts. I remember cigarette companies marketing to children. People need to understand that they are trading freedom and privacy (theirs and their contacts) for "free". I couldn't find any apps that firewall access to contacts and personal info, either.

Have you followed above link? Mentions several such "privacy protectors": LBE, PDroid/OpenPDroid, XPrivacy. CyanogenMod will even ship with its own "PrivacyGuard" soon, Paranoid already does. Handycap with those: your device must be rooted, or you'd even need a custom ROM. Both might void your warranty (outside EU, at least). So it's another trade: privacy for warranty. But in case of a custom ROM, you even get rid of the "base sniffers" (see e.g. Motorola is Listening).

This is still a major concern, and one can only feel that Google is doing this intentionally. So many apps request this permission "so they can properly run in the background" or "stop when you get a call" or some similar excuse.

This answer mentions that since 1.6/2.0, this permission is no longer required for pausing audio when a call is active, but doesn't actually say why, i.e. how to otherwise do it. So I did some searching and found this.

@vertigo yes, exactly that: when the phone rings, the audio focus changes – so an app can "watch" that. There are even code snippets for that (I'm no dev, so I cannot verify). The most likely reason why this approach is used so rarely is: the "official" docs still announce the "old ways", and that "old approach" just needs a one-liner – while for the privacy-friendly way you either have to code it yourself of find a fitting library. Things like that make me ask: if Google really wants to improve the user's privacy… How long is this available? And why not mentioned in the "official docs"?


text:
How to Deactivate my Android phone using IMEI number?
I lost my Sony Xperia Sola(MT27i) recently.
As there was no SIM card inside the phone, when got lost, I am finding it very difficult to access my mobile online from mobilesecurity.norton.com, which I have installed on my device.
All that I have in control is the IMEI number of the gadget.
Can anyone help me suggest on how to lock or make my phone completely useless?
I got official confidential files stored in it.
Please help other than suggesting to go for filing FIR, approach network operator, all that stuff.

In short, you need to notify your mobile operator to block the IMEI and therefore prevent your handset getting registered on the said mobile operator's network, having said that, it would work outside of the country of origin regardless of network block or not provided it is unlocked. As for "official confidental files" stored on the handset is not exactly a suitable place to have it on the handset in the first place.


text:
Link2SD doesn't really move the apps
I have link2sd with granted root permissions and a partitioned SD card, but when I give Create Link to SD on some big app, it creates just few small files there, like 20-30mb, but the big files of the applications which some are more than 1Gb don't get moved to the second partition... is this supposed to be this way?

Have you selected to move all 3 things? I believe it doesn't move the data (it doesn't move something, that's for sure).

yes, everything is selected

anyone please ?

Maybe the obb files?

the apk file is stored in the internal memory still, it's in the 'data' folder.  I don't think you can do much about that with earlier versions of android but if you find a way then please let me know!

the best and easiest solution I have found so far is an app from the market called Folder Mount, it moves all the big files of some games, like for example N.O.V.A. has a file which is 1.90gb, to the SD card, without requiring you to partition the sd card or anything. Still it doesn't move the whole app, but it suits me fine for now


text:
Should I upgrade my Samsung Galaxy 2 II 4G Epic Touch with Kies or the Simple Upgrade tool to JB?
I currently have a Samsung Galaxy 2 II 4G Epic Touch and I want to upgrade it to Jelly Bean. After looking at some support pages on Samsung's website, you have two options to install the new version: Kies or Simple Upgrade Tool.
Which should I use? Kies seems to be easier to use, looks better (not that that matters or anything), doesn't need to be installed (as far as I can tell), has a backup/restore feature, and you don't have to have a full battery or have to mess around with the battery before installing. Is one newer than the other? Does one save more data/settings?
By the way: what will I lose when upgrading? I know it says to back up. How about: favorites, text messages, call history, settings, app data, home screen shortcuts/widget placement, etc. I know I can most likely save notes, photos, voice memos, contacts, emails, etc, but am I starting out with essentially a new phone running Jelly Bean and the basics that I backed up? How will this compare from Kies to Simple Upgrade Tool?
Will it keep everything the same, even if I do have to use a backup Samsung recommended with Kies to have in case something went wrong? Or does the backup have a image of the before that I can revert to and be the same as before if something went wrong so I could start from the beginning again?

Update: I forgot to say I'm on Sprint and my phone is the black version (if that matters for model numbers).

Kies requires a rather long install process :/

@LiamW Do you know if this is unique to Kies or in general... do you know any other advantages/disadvantages?


text:
On my Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0), I am suddenly unable to connect to Wifi
I've googled this and turned up a bunch of inconclusive forum threads. I've also checked out a few similar questions on this site, but none of them quite match my details. So here they are:
I have a Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) that's been working fine with my wifi router since I got it about 6 months ago. This morning when I fired it up, it rebooted and now I cannot connect to my wifi router. My wifi is not the issue as my Nexus 7 tablet is connected and working.
This is what I see:

When I go to Settings > Wi-Fi, I see my network listed. But status is stuck on Obtaining IP address
After a while, status reports Network disabled. Poor connection

Tablet also reports that a "Software Update" is ready. Not sure if this is related to the issue. But when I try to update, I get a confirmation page and when I hit confirm button, I get message Unable to connect network.
I've tried the following:

Rebooting tablet
Forgetting and reconnecting to my network through Wi-Fi settings
Read this solution, but couldn't find Mobile Network Settings

Here's some system data from my tablet:
Model Number: GT-P3113
Android Version: 4.0.4
Kernel Version: 3.0.8-999349
Build Number: IMM76D.P3113UEBLH2

A simple solution would be appreciated. I'll post a solution if I figure it out myself. Thanks!

When in your WiFi settings, could you try pressing menu (or clicking the overflow dots), and selecting Settings.
Once done, untick the Avoid poor WiFi networks option, and see if it will now connect.
Also, restart the router.

Thanks for suggestion. Looked all over settings for the Avoid poor WiFi networks option, including in Advanced Wi-Fi Settings, but don't see it on my tablet.

Unplugged my router for 30 seconds, plugged back in, problem resolved.

Can you help me ? I can't find the settings button in the overflow dots, it just show up Advanced,WPS push button and WPs PIN entry,where's the settings button?

@user59582 it's the Advanced menu.


text:
I modified vold.fstab and lost access to my SD card
Background:
I have Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830, which has very low internal memory (181 MB).
I have an external micro SD card of 16 GB, but still couldn't install many apps due to insufficient internal memory.
I read on the Internet that if I modify vold.fstab and replace the word "sdcard" with "sdcard2" then my external SD card will act as internal memory.
So I rooted my phone and installed Superuser, but I haven't installed ClockworkMod recovery or any other custom ROM yet.
Problem Description:
I installed ES File explorer on my SD card and allowed root access to it via Superuser.
I then went to /system/etc/ from ES file explorer, edited vold.fstab and replaced the word sdcard with sdcard2.
When I restarted my phone the external SD was no longer accessible. ES File Explorer is also gone, so I cannot undo the change that i did. I tried installing ES again from my data connection, but the installation fails (and the phone reboots immediately). I am not able to install any new apps.
I am unable to access my external SD card, so I can't put anything there via PC or via recovery. I tried pressing the power button + home button to go into system recovery mode. I see only these options

Android system recovery <3e>

reboot system now
apply sdcard:update.zip
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition

When I try to select the second option, it says "installation aborted" as the SD card is not accessible. I tried to select the 3rd and 4th options, but that didn't help either - I think factory reset will not reset vold.fstab.
I only have the default apps and Superuser now. I somehow need to find a way to get write permission to /system/etc or to /system/etc/vold.fstab.
Luckily I found "Android Commander". I installed it on my Windows PC and I am able to connect my phone and access the root folder, but I am not able to push a modified vold.fstab to /system/etc because  Android Commander says "no Root Access" - It is seeing it as read only.
Can someone let me know how I can edit this file again? I have an original vold.fstab on my PC, but I am not able to push it to my phone via Android Commander as Android Commander is seeing it as read only
Is there a way to give root access (aka read-write access) to Android Commander via the Superuser app?
Is there any other way to get write permission to /system/etc/vold.fstab so that I can modify it or replace it?

I don't know about Android Commander, but a simpler way (in my opinion) would be to use ADB. You may have already installed the Android SDK (if not, go here). I assume that you don't have modified your System Path.

Move your vold.fstab to C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools or C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools
Go to the android-sdk folder, shift+right click on platform-tools and choose "Open command prompt here"
Next steps depends if you have a custom rom (a) or not (b) (see comments).
We take root privilege:

a) If your device is 4.0 or above, type adb root
b) Type adb shell then su

We make /system writeable:

a) adb remount
b) mount -o remount,rw /system then exit

adb push vold.fstab /system
adb reboot

This should do the trick.

adb root will only work if 1. the device is running a custom ROM and 2. root to adb is allowed.

Download the Android Debug Bridge from here, and extract the contents (to the same directory).
Connect your device to your computer using the USB cable and open up a command prompt (Windows logo key + R, type cmd and press Enter).
Once that is open, type the following commands:
cd <entire path to adb.exe file>
adb shell
su

mount -o remount,rw /system
# if previous doesn't work try:
mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system

exit
exit

adb push <path to original file> /system.etc/vold.fstab
adb reboot

That will grant root, mount the system as writeable and then push the original file and overwrite the modified one (and reboot your device).

Why isn't this working ??
$ su
su
# mount -o remount,rw /system
mount -o remount,rw /system
Usage: mount [-r] [-w] [-o options] [-t type] device     directory

You have an outdated mound command installed. See the edit which will be up in 2 minutes or so :)

i think the path is /system/etc/vold.fstab
not sysmtem.etc but system/etc

I'd remove all windows specific info (where to get adb) - it's not related to the problem...


text:
Android - I modified vold.fstab and lost access to my SD card
I have samsung galaxy ace GT-S5830, it has very low internal memory (181 MB).
I have an external micro SD card of 16 GB, but still couldn't install many apps due to insufficient internal memory.
I read in internet that if i modify vold.fstab and replace the word sdcard with sdcard2 in it, then my external sd card
will act as internal memory.
So I rooted my phone and got superuser app (which can allow root access to various user apps)
But I haven't installed clockworkmod recovery or any other custom ROM yet.
I installed ES File explorer on SD card and allowed root access to it via superuser app.
I then went to /system/etc/ from ES file explorer , edited vold.fstab and replaced the word sdcard with sdcard2
Now i restarted my phone and the external SD is no more accessible. My "ES File Explorer" is also no more there for me to able
to undo the change that i did.
I tried intalling ES file explorer again from my data connection, but the installation fails (and phone reboots immediately).
I am not able to install any new apps.
I am unable to access my external SD card, so I can't put anything there via PC or via recovery.
I tried pressing the power button + home button to go into system recovery mode. I see only these options
Androd system recovery <3e>

reboot system now
apply sdcard:update.zip
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition

When i try to select the second option, it says installation aborted as the SD card is no more accessible
I tried to select 3rd and 4th options, but that didn't help either - I think factory reset will not reset vold.fstab :-(
I only have the default apps + superuser app now
I somehow need to find a way to get write permission to /system/etc or to /system/etc/vold.fstab
Luckily I found "Android Commander". Installing it on my windows PC and I am able to connect my android phone
and I am able to access root folder. But I am not able to push a modified vold.fstab to /system/etc because
Android Commander says "no Root Access" - It is seeing it as read only :-(
can someone let me know how i can edit this file again ? I have a original vold.fstab in my PC, but I am not able to push
it to my phone via Android Commander as Android Commander is seeing it as Read Only.
Is there a way to give root access (aka read-write access) to Android Commander via superuser app on my android ?
Is there any other way to get write permission to /system/etc/vold.fstab so that i can modify it or replace it ?

I don't know about Android Commander, but a simpler way (in my opinion) would be to use ADB. You may have already installed the Android SDK (if not, go here). I assume that you don't have modified your System Path.

Move your vold.fstab to C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools or C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools
Go to the android-sdk folder, shift+right click on platform-tools and choose "Open command prompt here"
If your device is 4.0 or above, type adb root
adb remount (this will make /system writable)
adb push vold.fstab /system
adb reboot

This should do the trick.

my device is having froyo 2.2.1
and phone model is Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830

I'd remove windows specific instructions as they're not related to the question.


text:
Is there a way to markup webpages on the S3?
In the stock browser or in Chrome, is there a way to markup webpages in different colours for notes etc.? It would be good if the marks show up everytime I open that webpage. If that's not possible, I could save it as an image.
OS: 4.1.1
Samsung Galaxy S3

You want to alter and adjust how your web page looks like, when the website is accessed from a mobile device (e.g. S3), correct?

@Sid He's probably looking for something like marker.to Unfortunately, I haven't seen any mobile browser with anything like that. Firefox and Chrome doesn't seem to support add-ons yet (in my case).

Saving as an image is probably the best bet for now.

@geffchang, I came across an app which seems fine. Hope this is what OP is looking for.

After giving thought to what geffchang said above, I came across with the app Skitch which can be used to highlight webpages as you wish.
Added advantage for this app is you can directly synchronize your work with Evernote, a widely used note-taking app.

I use Evernote too!! Can Skitch mark up webpages in real-time?

@verve, For the best of my knowledge, you have to take a snapshot first. The best thing is that you can share a web page directly from your browser.

Share a page directly from the browser?  How?

Which menu button?  In the Skitch app?

@verve Open the browser => Go to the web page => Click Menu button => Share => Select Skitch.

What is considered the menu button?  In the stock or Chrome?

This image shows what the menu button is

Don't. We all learnt at some point. Happy to help. :)


text:
Where on my S3 can I find the punctuation button to type a "guillemets"?
I want to type the French and German style "guillemets" marks (« or ») on my mobile.  Where on my keyboard is it?
OS: 4.1.1
Galaxy S3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillemet

Apparently the stock keyboard does support it, as wbogacz's answer shows. I was not aware of this, as I never used the stock keyboard.
Evidently those aren't guillemets on the stock keyboard.
I do not believe the stock keyboard supports this.  You'll need to use an alternative keyboard to get this functionality.
Using an alternative keyboard is another way to get this functionality which is a bit easier to access.
One keyboard I know of that supports it is Hacker's Keyboard, which is the keyboard I use myself.
To type « and » on that keyboard, you do a long press on the circle button (at the bottom-right.  It acts as the compose key in this context), release it, and then type << or >> respectively
To get ‹ and ›, you do the same and type .< or .>
An exhaustive list of all the supported compose key combinations can be found here.

"To type « and » ←[how are you getting the different size ones?] on that keyboard, you do a long press on the circle button (at the bottom-right. It acts as the compose key in this context), release it, and then type << or >> ← [this set looks bigger] respectively"

@verve - The former are the actual guillemet characters, whereas the latter are just a pair of greater-than/less-than signs.  You type the latter in combination with the compose key to get the former.

Do you know of any other keyboards?  I find the Hacker's one confusing!  :-(

@verve - GAThrawn reports that the stock Android keyboard, available on the Play store, supports guillemets and access them via the method in Al Everett's answer

What "circle button" are you referring to? I only find a "dot in a circle" button, long pressing which opens the Change keyboard dialog. The «» can be input by long-pressing any of the " or < buttons though.

On my Galaxy S3, running 4.1.2, the stock keyboard has these characters. (I seem to be mistaken - see comments below.) When you bring up the numeric keyboard (from the 123 Sym button bottom-left), you will, above this same button, find what appears to be a one-third, which is not a fraction, but the indicator that you are on the first of three symbol keyboards. Click until you are on 2/3, and find your characters just above the space key.An image of the specific keyboard(s) may be seen below:

(source: recombu.com)

Do you mean these: 《》 ?

Those look really large when I use them in sentences.

Those appear to be "Mathematical [left/right] double angle bracket"s (Unicode U+27EA and U+27EB), not guillemets.

Fair enough. Didn't really know there were other sets of characters so close in composure.

This may or may not be helpful, depending on how much Samsung has changed the keyboard, but I can get the guillemets this way:

Press ?123 to get to the number/punctuation keyboard
Long-press the " key to get a popup with non-English quotation marks: „“”«»

This doesn't appear to work in the Samsung keyboard on 4.1.2 on a Galaxy S3.  Long pressing on the quotation mark key just displays the quotation mark and nothing else.

Those extended quotationmarks are definitely available on the unmodified Google Keyboard recently released on the Play Store.

Well, as I said, I can't speak to whatever modifications Samsung may have done.

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


text:
Export to SD card disabled
On my Samsung Galaxy Tab, I have contacts stored on the Device Contacts and Google Account Contacts. Since only the latter get synced, I want to change the former in Google Contacts format.
I read to achieve this I have to export device contacts to the SD card. Delete all device contacts. Import back contacts on the SD card, specifying to import them to the Google Account.
The problem is the option Export to SD card is greyed-out.
I am on Honeycomb.

vCardIO works on any android device and can import-export any vCard 2.1 format, even those with multiple contacts


text:
Fisheye effect for android camera
How can I get fisheye effect when taking a photo? I got a Galaxy S1.

Your native camera app does not support picture effects as the Sony Devices with JB update. So you have to go for a third party camera app. There are several good apps out there.

FishEye Camera
Photo Effects
Pudding Camera
FxCamera


text:
How to create filter in mobile Gmail?
Opening a message on my phone/tablet and I want to create a filter for that message but I cannot see where to do it. The same thing can be found from the top right menu when using the web version of Gmail.
Any workaround for this?

As far as I know, the GMail app and the mobile version of GMail does not have any way to add filters. You will have to use the Desktop/full version of GMail to create filters.

Will filters created in desktop Gmail be effective in mobile version? Creating them in desktop isn't a problem. The question is, if mobile version will respect them?

@trejder yes it will work in mobile version.

@PeacefulWarrior I'd say completely opposite. At least in my version of Gmail all the filters defined in PC/desktop version are completely ignored by mobile version and all the emails that should land in corresponding folders always lands in Inbox, if mobile version of Gmail is first to see them.

@trejder I guess you need to select option - "Skip the Inbox (Archive it)"  along with your filter criteria while defining filters.

@trejder Try removing categories too. Your comment is correct.

Direct way, no. Workaround, yes. Click the menu (three dots) in your stock Android browser or Chrome, and check Desktop Site.
EDIT: There is one extra step - the URL is still pointing to mobile version of Gmail. Just change it to mail.google.com and it works. (Last verified June 2020)

The current version of web Gmail gives a mobile version of the app even when you request a desktop version.

Because the url is already pointing to mobile site.
After you check Request Desktop Site, and the page reloads, the update the url to https://mail.google.com in the same tab. Still works.


text:
Is Samsung Note 10.1 a rooted device?
Is Samsung Note 10.1 a rooted device?
Some apps require this option.

By default, all devices do not have root, and are using stock ROM.
You need to root your device manually.


text:
Downgrade Galaxy S Duos from ICS to Gingerbread
I want to downgrade my Galaxy S Duos from ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) 4.0 to Gingerbread. How do I do this?

Galaxy S Duos was released with the ICS onboard and there is no Gingerbread available for this model. You shouldn't use a firmware designed for other devices from the Galaxy family - this is an easy way to brick you phone.
"Getting Prepared" instruction is irrelevant.

Welcome to StackExchange and thanks for your contribution. For a free badge, read this link (http://android.stackexchange.com/about).

Getting Prepared
The firmware downgrade drill for the Samsung Galaxy devices is not much complicated as compared to the phones manufactured by other brands. It requires you to boot the device first into Download/Odin Mode, and then into Android Recovery Mode. I hope many of you would be acquainted with both the methods. Even if you are not, it doesn’t matter.

Download the downgrade firmware for your Samsung Galaxy device and extract it on your computer. A good source to download Samsung firmwares is Samsung-Updates. Type your device name in the search box at the sidebar, you would find it hopefully. If you do not get it, let me know (your device and country). To find out the correct firmware you can Use CSC Codes.
Download and install Samsung USB Drivers on your computer. Skip this step if you already have it.
Download Odin Firmware flasher and unzip it (if you get any error with Odin3 1.85, try the greater version): Odin3_v1.85.Zip   or   Odin3_v3.04.Zip
Since the downgrading procedure will delete all data stored on the internal SD Card of your Galaxy device it will be better to backup your messages, contacts and installed apps.
Charge your device’s battery to the full
Make sure that you have turned on USB Debugging from Settings => Developer Options.

Installing the Downgrade Firmware
Installing a firmware version that is lower than the current one is just the same as installing a higher one, but you have to one more thing that you do not usually do. I assume that you have already done as described above, so let’s go ahead.

Turn off your Samsung Galaxy device whether it a phone or tablet and boot into Download/Odin Mode. If it is a phone, you can enter the Download Mode doing this: Press and hold the Volume Down+Home buttons together and then long press the Power Button till the screen turns up. Now press the Volume Up key to enter the Download Mode. In case you have a Galaxy Tab device, do this: Press and hold the Volume Up+Power buttons together, and then press the Volume Up key when prompted.
Now go to the Odin folder and run the .exe file there.
This is the time, you have to connect you device to the computer using a compatible USB cable.
When the connection between the device and computer is established, the ID:COM port at Odin will turn to Yellow or light Blue (depending on the Odin version you are using) and you’ll see Added!! text in the message box below.
Make sure that only F. Reset Time option is checked on Odin. The Auto Reboot option is checked by default, so please uncheck it.
Okay, now click on the PDA button on Odin and select the firmware file in tar.md5 format.
Now click the Start button on Odin. This will initiate the firmware installation. Wait till it finishes.
Finally when you get a PASS!! message on Odin, remove the USB Cable from your device.
Now open the back panel of your device and pull out the battery. Wait for about 60 seconds and reinsert the battery back to its place.
Now reboot your phone into Android Recovery mode. If you have a smartphone, you can do it this way: press and hold the Volume Up+Home buttons together and then hold the Power button till the screen turns up and the Samsung logo blinks for two times. Release the Power button but keep the other two keys pressed till you see a black screen with green Android bot and Blue text. In case you got  a  Galaxy Tab or Note 10.1, press and hold the Volume Down+Power keys together for a few seconds till you see the yellow triangle with Android bot followed by a black screen with blue text.
In the Recovery mode you will have to use the Volume Up/Volume Down keys to scroll up or down, and the Power button to select an option.
So, scroll down to wipe data/factory reset option and select yes to confirm your choice.
Now go to wipe cache partition and confirm the choice.
Finally, go to the reboot system now option and select it.

Your device will boot now and it might take a longer time than it does usually. When it completely boots up, it should be on the downgraded firmware you installed. Cheers!

Please do this at your own risk. More details on this method can be found here.


text:
How can I exclude certain contacts from silent mode?
During the night, I set my phone to silent, since even the vibrate wakes me up. Is there some way to let it still vibrate if I get a call from certain contacts?


text:
How to root the LG Optimus 2 AS680?
I have an LG Optimus 2 AS680. It is running the gingerbread 2.3.4 system. I have yet to find a program or any reliable method to root the phone.
I am looking to increase my internal memory to about 1 or 2 GB because I am tired of running out of memory and it just makes things complicated.
Thank you.

This may or may not work for you and do it at your own risk but I jut rooted and loaded a custom ROM to a LG Optimus S that many had said couldn't be done because of the OTA update that would put it out of the reach of the exploit. It required a little extra work, but was doable and only took me about 2 hours.
Now I am not 100% certain this will work for you because I don't have this particular device to try, BUT, the foundation of the rooting method is valid for it and should work for this as well, no harm in trying.
Get the drivers specific to your device from LG if you can find it and if not just get it here, this is not related to me but I got some stuff from them in the past and its been clean.
Then after that, try following the instructions put out here, note its for the Optimus S but the way to do it is the same for pretty much all the Optimus line, its your driver that is important and you can get that. You can use the Manual method if you know what you are doing and are comfortable with it, that's how I did it but you can also download the optiauto.zip or .exe to do it as well so its somewhat automated for you.
Good luck with it, let us know how it goes and if you run into anything that you can't figure out, shoot me a message here and I will see what I can do for you.

This budget device has been largely sold to prepaid phone carriers and they are not part of large development community. So, there is no official root method for this device yet. However, I hope this blog post will help you.

If you could summarise the content of the link in case it goes down that would make for a much better answer.


text:
How use call a local server by name rather than IP?
I've started MAMP on my computer and I'd like to make a GET call from Android app. I'd like to access the computer by it's name(e.g. computer.local:8888) rather than the computer's ip.
On the computer if I open Chrome and type computer.local:8888 it works as expected. On the phone this fails, but typing it's local ip (192.168.1.141) works.
So, is it possible to access a local http server by a name rather than ip ?
If so, how ?

Programming questions should be asked in StackOverflow.com

@geffchang I don't think this is really a programming question. It could just as easily be about accessing a local web server in the browser, or using a local network video stream in a video player.

@geffchang just rephrased, same thing, different way of  accessing

Looks completely on-topic to me (same explanation as Dan above). Forget about the development-related section: that's not the issue George has, but only serves to give some background for better understanding. He would have the very same trouble with all other examples Dan described -- and no development would be involved.

Go to Settings→Network, tap WiFi, and watch out for your WiFi AP here. Tap it, select to edit it. Toggle the "advanced settings" to be shown.
By default, WiFi is configured via DHCP -- but for some reason unknown to me (and escaping my understanding), Android doesn't pick the name servers via DHCP, and instead sticks to Google's hardcoded ones (e.g. 8.8.8.8). So in this place, you need to switch to a static IP, set the default gateway correspondingly, and put your own name server's address (most likely again your router's IP) into the field for DNS1.
Save the changes, and you should be able to use your local hostnames. You could even try switching back to DHCP, and see whether it keeps your DNS1 settings.
To calm down upcoming worries: This only affects the WiFi AP you edited, no system-wide changes for all WiFi APs. In the worst case, you always can delete the AP and re-create it.


text:
Disabling System Apps that have been updated and User apps [No Root]
How can I disable system apps that have been updated through the Play Store without doing "Uninstall Updates"?
For instance, Maps is a system app, which has been updated. How can I disable it without uninstalling the updates?
I would also like to know how to "Disable" User Apps, without Root!
My device is a Sony Xperia U.

Can you explain disable it without uninstalling the updates?

Easy: He wants to keep the currently installed version, but freeze it -- so he might "unfreeze" when he really needs it. A quite common requirement for Google Maps; I do that with TiBu, but that requires root. Without root, via Settings->Apps, it seems one has to "uninstall updates" before one is able to freeze a system app.

How can I deal with unwanted system applications without rooting? seems relevant.

My vote is for eldarerathis's answer, if you have 4.x then you can just disable it in the apps section in the settings. No way around the un installing updates option [unless you root], sorry

Would also help if we knew what device it was for, i.e. if you have a nexus you could boot a custom recovery flash the most up to date gapps then reboot, staying unrooted but with up to date apps


text:
Galaxy S I-9000 v2.2 contacts disappeared and home screen blank
Yesterday, I picked up my phone and saw that the screen was black and unresponsive, also the lights on the two soft keys in the bottom were lit up. I tried tapping those keys and also the lock key but nothing changed so I took the battery out and restarted the phone. Then I saw that all my homescreens were blank except the first one which had google search widget(wasn't there before) and some other default widgets.Also the contacts stored on the phone were gone (google contacts and sim contacts are there).
In addition to those, my lock animation (the one that says "slide the glass") is gone. Now the phone opens up directly to home screen when I press the lock button. Also, the home button does open the screen light when the screen goes dark, but it won't get me to my home screen. One more problem, the menu which is displayed when you press and hold the lock button used to have 4 items (power off, data network open/close, silent mode open/close and flight mode open/close) but now it only has 1 item (power off). The last one, my phone seems to be giving the busy tone to anyone that calls me. I can call anyone with no problem but I can't receive calls. Text messages are fine too.
What can be the cause of this? Has anyone had any similar problem. btw I never messed with the roms or root or anything. I've been using it with the stock rom since I bought it.
The most important thing is the contacts that are stored in the phone. Can I recover those? If so how?
Thanks in advance.


text:
Different notifications for different contacts
im going abroad and im going to set up some twitter text alerts for people i follow so i dont have to use data. But doing this will give me constant text alerts.
Is there a way i can have the texts from 86444 go into my inbox but not notify me whilst having texts from other numbers notify me in the usual way?
I have an app called tasker which i assume might be able to do something like this if it helps

Try custom messaging apps like GO SMS PRO or Handcent SMS.
These will allow you to customize the notification alerts for incoming messages from specific numbers!
Hope this helps! :)


text:
Read Out Text Messaging Notification
I just bought a new Galaxy S 4 over the weekend - I did some light googling on this topic, but no luck yet.
I want to know how to configure my Text Messaging Notifications.
Ideally, the phone would audibly say:

Message Received
(Optionally) Then it would read the subject line if there was one.

This is possible with Tasker. However, I'm not sure you can read out a subject line, since an SMS does not normally have a subject line. It DOES have a body.

Create a Profile. In the profile tab, create a new profile (+ button) > Event > Phone > Received text. Click back button (to create the profile).
Assign a task to the Profile. After you click the back button, a dialog will pop-up. Click New Task. Name it (e.g. Read SMS). In Task Edit screen, create a new action (+ button) > Misc > Say. In Text, type "Message received". You can also edit the Pitch (of the voice) or its speed. Click back (to create the action). If you want the text body to be read, create a new action (+ button) > Misc > Say. In Text, click the label button to the right, select Text Subject.

When you receive a message, you will be able to hear "Message Received", and the text body (if you added an action for that).


text:
Root access via adb only, not any Android applications
I'm running a stock Android 4.2.2 on a Nexus 4 device. After following some instructions on how to root it, I managed to get a partially rooted phone. Now on adb shell I can do:
shell@android:/ $ su
shell@android:/ # whoami
whoami: unknown uid 0

With adb shell I can get access to /data/data, etc. No problem. And my SuperSU.apk automatically grants it super user permission. However, nothing else gets super-user permission, not even SuperSU itself. No notification/prompt ever comes. Even after setting SuperSU to default to allowing access after timeout.
Any ideas on possible causes? Any suggestions?
Flashed this zip from (http://download.chainfire.eu/282/SuperSU/).
 4c3054dfecb6d21dc6a01d67c25588af CWM-SuperSU-v0.98.zip

You must go in Settings -> Developer Options and there must be an option called "Root Access". Set it to ADB + Apps.

Unfortunately as I mentioned I am using stock Android not Cyanogenmod...


text:
recent apps button setting on htc one gone?
I got a new
HTC One S / Android 4.03 / Sense 4.0!
via warranty and wanted to set it up.
I wanted to change the setting for recent apps button in
settings > display
but it's not there anymore.
Why? Always had it. Can i somehow get it?
The only things i've done before was unlocking via htcdev, flashing twrp, backing up, restoring backup, restarting, and started installing apps. So it's the original HTC rom and i haven't done changes to rom. Did OTA after didn't found it but still, it's not there.

No one knows somehting?

I installed meanhwile new RUU and it's still not there? Can please someone explain me why this is?

Ok, installed another RUU and now it's there. I would be ineterested in knowing what this was causing, but for now, i just want to use my phone again and now it works. Different RUU ;-)


text:
How do I set up Google Voice as the provider for an unactivated phone?
I've got this Droid X, it's not activated, and I'd like to use Google Voice as the provider (this means it will be Wi-Fi only; that's OK.)
Problem is, Google Voice needs the phone to have a number before it will let me use it as the provider. I already have a Google voice number set up, but I can't figure out what to do next.
What I'm envisioning is:

The phone's dialer will make the calls through Google Voice (absolutely essential)
Voicemails will work (would be very nice)
I can text from the native texter (not critical at all)

What do I need to do?

Check out the free version of 'GrooVe IP Lite' in the Play Store. The Free version utilizes Google Voice over WiFi only, but that's all you're asking for so you should be golden.

Thanks! Would be better if I didn't have to deal with Ads, but this looks like it's what I'm looking for. Will accept the answer once I finish a test call.

Perfect! It worked! I'd prefer ad-free, with the native dialer, but those cost money, and the free version works. :)

Adblock Plus. :-)


text:
Is there any way to shoot a full sphere panorama (horizontal + vertical)?
I've tried a few apps for shooting panoramas on my Android device (Galaxy S4), but I cannot find one that is able to shoot both horizontally and vertically.
I would like to be able to capture a whole room, to eventually be used as a custom Google Maps Street View panorama on a website.  Is there any way to accomplish this?

You can do this with your native camera app. But you have to have JB 4.2 (Not 4.1.x).

Go to the camera. Tap on the camera icon and pick the item that looks like a small globe with a panorama stretched over it. That's the Photo Sphere mode.
Take a picture as usual.
Keep your camera steady.
You should see a message to align your camera with the blue dot. Tilt your camera up, down, left, or right slowly to match the center of the screen with the blue dot for the next area. The picture will snap automatically when you get there.
Keep going for as long as you wish to take as many images as possible and make your complete Photo Sphere.

Note: this may look a little weird if you try to take pictures of people, since they tend to move between shots. Landscapes and interior shots are your best bets.

Google calls this a "Photosphere" if I recall.

Samsung didn't include the stock Android camera software with my S4, but I was able to install it easily.  No root required.  The APK filename was SGS4_Photosphere_Gallery.apk, and I found it at http://d-h.st/tK6.

Something worth stressing: keep your phone in the same spot, and rotate it. Don't rotate yourself, or otherwise move the phone from its starting position in space, or that'll mess it up. It's easier if you have something like a tripod you can use to ensure it stays in the same place.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S4 stuck on Samsung logo after booting from Odin
After booting from Odin, I can't turn on the screen. It gets stuck on Samsung Galaxy S4 logo. I tried to do a factory reset. It says completed, but then it has a no command error under the Android logo.
Is there any way to fix that?

The good new is your phone is not bricked, so yes, you can still fix it.
Just enter download mode again and flash with odin one more time.
To enter download mode you have to:

Power off your phone
Press and hold Volume Down + Home + Power buttons at the same time.
Press Volume Up button when warning prompt.

After flashing please wipe data cache and dalvic cache.


text:
Would Non-Open Handset Alliance Android phones have Google Now?
I understand that whilst Android is free and open source, in order to use Google services, an OEM has to be approved to join the Open Handset Alliance (OHA).
One of the biggest additions to Android for Jelly Bean was Google Now. Just wondering, if I buy a non-OHA phone, does that mean it won't come with Google Now? If so, what will be in its place? Will it just be the old Google search app?
The other thing is, can non-OHA phones run Google services that are embedded into apps? For instance, if an app uses Google Maps, would it still run on my non-OHA phone?

Don't you think this is a rather speculative question? Who shall say for sure what manufacturer A does, or how manufacturer B accomplishes this, or what manufacturer C might come up with as replacement app for the one or the other? Moreover, it's quite broad, and includes a bunch of question (instead of one).

@Izzy - well the main things i want to find out is whether non-OHA phones are allowed to run google now and apps that have embedded google services.

Then maybe you re-phrase your question to reflect that, before it might be closed for being "too broad" or "speculative". In short: They might not be allowed to have the GApps pre-installed, but (root given) you can do that yourself anytime.

Google Now is part of the newer Google Search app. If you can install that app, then you should have Google Now.

@Izzy - so google doesn't block their apps from being installed on non-OHA phones? They just block it from being pre-installed?

To my understanding, that's about it (though they don't "block" from pre-install, but manufacturers would run into legal trouble if they pre-installed them without consent).

I saw a Xiaomi device, Redmi 1 with Play Store & Play Services preinstalled (I was watching when it's booted for the first time), despite that Xiaomi is not a member of OHA. It's using MIUI, which is based on CM. Whether this can be a proof to contradict your premise or not, I'm not sure.


text:
How to root Alcatel OT-997D?
I currently have an Alcatel OT-997D which has the MTK6577 chipset and runs ICS 4.04. I've looked mostly through threads at xda-devs and I've tried various root methods including: "root many android" - I get "mount access denied", "ICS/JB Universal root" - When trying to update in stock recovery the file fails verification, "MTK Droid root" - Reboots phone and backup/restore prompts appear but no results.
Does anyone know any other "universal" rooting methods or ones specific to my device?

I've just linked to your question from our rooting index (as our policy is: one rooting question per device, yours now is marked for this device :) Though I have no specific answer, you might want to follow that link: at the end of the devices list follows a list of known rooting methods. Maybe you have more look with one of the others. Crossing fingers!

Thanks Izzy! There's a few I haven't tried yet so I'll take a look...

This is somewhat late, but for anyone else looking to root their MTK based devices, Framaroot is excellent in that regard.

Before you begin, I enabled developer mode and I'm not sure if it makes a difference but this is what worked for me so you might as well:
Open settings, click on About phone, scroll down to Build number and tap Build number seven times.
I tried many different methods on a similar alcatel phone with a mtk6582 and I also got error messages from various exploit methods.
However, here are two methods that were successful.
iroot
Root is successful and uses a one click method. However, in order to gain file access, you must install "root file explorer" and which is a paid app. For me, paying for an app is not an option.
kingroot
Download and install kingroot. This one also uses a one click
 method and obtaining root is successful. This is the method I recommend as kingroot will allow you to allocate root permission to individual applications.
After installation and successful root, click the gear icon on the upper right hand corner of the main screen. If you need to, close the app and open it again to view the main screen.
Enable the option Enable Root authorization.
Then, under Root authorization setting, enable the first three options, Smart authorization, Backup Root permission, and Keep the Root upgraded.
For me, I set Authorization count down to 10 seconds and Default timeout to Allow just to get things working. Exit KingRoot.
Next, install ES file explorer and then open KingRoot. Go to Root Authorization and select Allow for ES File Explorer.
Open ES File Explorer and click the menu icon on the upper left hand corner of the screen. Scroll down and expand the Tools section of this menu and toggle the option ON for Root Explorer. Swipe the menu left to close the menu and a few more times to get to the files where you will have full root access to modify these files.
Additionally, KingRoot has the ability to Uninstall default apps and there is also Kingmaster which allows you to manage and restrict apps to obtain full performance of your device.
However, Kingmaster is in Chinese. Most of the app restriction is obvious as red restricts the app and green allows.


text:
Bypass 4GB limitation of Android File Transfer on macOS
Both my phone and my SD card (exFAT formatted) support big file sizes. However, the Android File Transfer app does not allow sending files bigger than 4GB.
Is there a way to bypass the limitation?

possible duplicate of download bigger than 4 gb file on android 4.0.4

The linked question is about the limitation of file system of the SD card, which I don't not have this issue. I am asking about the limitation of an app, the Google Android File Transfer app.

Did you ever find a way to get around the 4GB limit?

@geffchang not yet, it seems to be a limit (unnecessarily) imposed by the Android File Transfer app. For files larger than 4GB, I pull out the SD card and copy via a USB card reader.

2019: No longer an issue. I transferred an 8gb file to my OnePlus 6T phone seamlessly. Android File Transfer v1.0.12

According to Android.com:

Browse the files and folders on your Android device, add folders, copy
files up to 4GB to or from your Mac, delete files, and more.

As a workaround, install an FTP server on your Mac, and transfer the file via Wi-Fi or mobile data.
OR, via ADB using the Android SDK, adb pull to transfer from the phone and adb push to transfer to the phone. Source.

So how do you actually transfer the files from your Mac? I tried this adb pull /storage/sdcard0 ./Desktop/TheFolderIWantToMove but I get adb: error: failed to get feature set: device unauthorized..

did you want to say adb push? because we need to copy file to android device. I tried this but it doesn't work adb: error: failed to copy *': remote File too large

For me the storage path was completely different, you can use adb shell to connect to your phone then navigate around to file the correct file path you need

You can install android-platform-tools with Homebrew to install ADB.
brew cask install android-platform-tools

And then use adb pull or adb push like the geffchang's answer above.

A simple solution is to use the free app AirDroid to transfer files over your WiFi network directly to your tablet. All you have to do is install it on your phone/tablet, enable it, and then visit the device's IP address and port number from your web browser. You can then browse the device's file system and transfer files over 4 GB with no issues. The only downside is that the speed of the transfer is dictated by the speed of your WiFi network and especially your device's connection to it. Generally, I have found it to take about 1.3x as long on my 2013 Nexus 7 when compared to a USB 2.0 transfer.
There are also other apps besides AirDroid that serve as analogs, but I have found this app to be the easiest to use, the most reliable, and the fastest.
Hope this helps anyone who comes across this question as it is more of a layman's answer.

There are also other apps besides AirDroid that serve as analogs, but I have found this app to be the easiest to use, the most reliable, and the fastest.

For one reason I do not use AirDroid, it asks way too many permissions.

Use Xender (available for both iOS/Android). Worked like a charm. Can transfer on all platforms, provided you have WiFi connectivity.

Another limitation with Apple systems. Just install Windows via Boot Camp or Parallels. Connect and go.
Will save you time and effort.

Installing Windows just to transfer a file seems like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Try using a split archive.
You can make these with 7-zip (Windows), Keka (Mac), or using standard *nix utilities if you're good with the command line. By making the archives 4 GB, you can batch transfer and decompress on your phone using something like RAR, then delete the archives. Keep in mind you will be using around double the space temporarily (depending on the compression ratio, if any), so you need space first.
In Keka (which judging by your tags, you will use), put "4 GB" in for the "Split:" option. Copy all resulting files after compression (the ones labeled .001, .002, and so on to your phone. Use RAR on the first file, and the file will decompress. You can then delete the archive files from your phone.

On Mid-2012 MacBook Pro, Catalina (10.15.3), I couldn't use Homebrew; needed additional downloads that weren't found on the server.
Instead, I used Wondershare Dr.Fone (Mac App Store and USB-C cable). On Moto Stylus 5G (2021), Android 11, I got ~1 GB/minute (24 minutes for 23 GB) using the Export function.
Also, have "Android File Transfer" and "HandShaker" for smaller jobs.

The question is about the size not the speed.  It is not clear whether you are implying that your file was 23Gb large (or even larger than 4).

You are correct; my single file size was 23GB.  Different softwares and setups affect the transfer speed of data, and that is what i was trying to convey - that this setup was able to copy at a rate of 1GB per minute, direct from Android phone.

Connect using an ethernet cable and copy it.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150216012748/http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18710

How is this relevant to Android in any way?


text:
Using smartphone as game controller for the GBA emulator on a tablet
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 with a GBA emulator.
How do I use my T-Mobile Concord Android smartphone as the game controller? I downloaded BTcontroller and the GBA controller setup, but I am not able to connect for some reason.
Do I need another app on the tablet to receive control signals?


text:
adb connection problem on Kubuntu 13.04 x64
I'm facing a problem with ABD connection under Kubuntu 13.04 x64. Every time I try to push/pull/shell ls the adb disconnects from device. I tried the following solutions:

Added device ID into .android/adb_usb.ini but nothing helped
Added new udev rule and also nothing helped
Flashed the ROM and nothing helped
I re-installed my Kubuntu 13.04 x64

Some notes :

USB Debugging activated
Device is Prestigio PMP5080BRU (Rooted) - Android Gingerbread 2.3.1
I'm using the latest Android SDK available on official web site
The ADB works very well on Windows 7 x64
Even when ADB disconnects, I still can see device via lsusb
command
ia32-libs already installed on the system
jdk and jre installed on the system and works as expected
Paths configured and working properly
ADB works as expected with my Samsung Galaxy S II (Jelly Bean 4.1.2 -
Stock)

dmesg :
[ 5571.640498] usb 3-2: new high-speed USB device number 13 using xhci_hcd
[ 5571.657013] usb 3-2: config 1 interface 1 altsetting 0 bulk endpoint 0x83 has invalid maxpacket 64
[ 5571.657426] usb 3-2: New USB device found, idVendor=0bb4, idProduct=0c02
[ 5571.657433] usb 3-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 5571.657436] usb 3-2: Product: rk2918
[ 5571.657439] usb 3-2: Manufacturer: RockChip
[ 5571.657442] usb 3-2: SerialNumber: 0123456789ABCDEF
[ 5571.664067] scsi13 : usb-storage 3-2:1.0
[ 5572.659163] scsi 13:0:0:0: Direct-Access     PMP5080B                  0100 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[ 5572.659453] scsi 13:0:0:1: Direct-Access     PMP5080B                  0100 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[ 5572.661211] sd 13:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[ 5572.661525] sd 13:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
[ 5572.662492] sd 13:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
[ 5572.662947] sd 13:0:0:1: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk

Any one got an idea?
Regards,,,

Any hints in your Kubuntu's dmesg output?

I added dmesg to the question... By the way, I changed the USB cable, but still same result.

That's just the last lines. Add the lines, that come up when you connect the device and you try adb shell. dmesg >f1 connect+adb dmesg >f2 f2 -= f1.

I got no more lines actually after connect the device, after adb shell push/pull/ls it disconnects

It's connecting the device as 2 scsi disks then? Can you change the usb mode to something else in your Prestigio?

Only turn On/Off USB Storage

Have you tried it with that option set to off?

I tried with both, nothing helped actually.

Hi, i'm facing the same problem, did you managed to connect the device? On my 12-04 x64 kubuntu I've managed to connect the device (Prestigio PER5274B) by adding this line: SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="2207", MODE="0666" to /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules. I've got the number 2207 from lspci command (vendorId). However this approach is not working for me in 13-04, but maybe it'll be working for you.

I've had a similar problem with a Rockchip device.  Short adb shell commands worked, but ones with multi-line output just disconnected randomly, sometimes before producing any output.
On plugging the device in, the kernel syslogged the following:
Dec 30 20:38:03 icebox kernel: [ 1153.016178] usb 9-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
Dec 30 20:38:03 icebox kernel: [ 1153.032476] usb 9-1.1: config 1 interface 0 altsetting 0 bulk endpoint 0x81 has invalid maxpacket 64
Dec 30 20:38:03 icebox kernel: [ 1153.038276] usb 9-1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=2207, idProduct=0006
Dec 30 20:38:03 icebox kernel: [ 1153.038281] usb 9-1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=4
Dec 30 20:38:03 icebox kernel: [ 1153.038284] usb 9-1.1: Product: rk30sdk
Dec 30 20:38:03 icebox kernel: [ 1153.038287] usb 9-1.1: Manufacturer: rockchip
Dec 30 20:38:03 icebox kernel: [ 1153.038290] usb 9-1.1: SerialNumber: 0123456789ABCDEF
Dec 30 20:38:03 icebox colord: Device added: sysfs-rockchip-rk30sdk

Out of desperation I moved the device from a USB3 socket on my Linux box to a USB2 socket, as follows
Dec 30 20:45:03 icebox kernel: [ 1572.844024] usb 1-3: new high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci
Dec 30 20:45:03 icebox kernel: [ 1572.976394] usb 1-3: config 1 interface 0 altsetting 0 bulk endpoint 0x81 has invalid maxpacket 64
Dec 30 20:45:03 icebox kernel: [ 1572.976889] usb 1-3: New USB device found, idVendor=2207, idProduct=0006
Dec 30 20:45:03 icebox kernel: [ 1572.976893] usb 1-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=4
Dec 30 20:45:03 icebox kernel: [ 1572.976896] usb 1-3: Product: rk30sdk
Dec 30 20:45:03 icebox kernel: [ 1572.976899] usb 1-3: Manufacturer: rockchip
Dec 30 20:45:03 icebox kernel: [ 1572.976902] usb 1-3: SerialNumber: 0123456789ABCDEF
Dec 30 20:45:03 icebox colord: Device added: sysfs-rockchip-rk30sdk

and adb shell then worked perfectly. You will notice the warning bulk endpoint 0x81 has invalid maxpacket 64. This means the Rockchip device is not compliant with the USB standards. My guess is that the Linux ehci-pci driver is more forgiving than the xhci_hcd driver.
Interestingly enough, I saw exactly the same behaviour on a Mac laptop, when I plugged in the Rockchip device. There, the kernel syslogged:
Dec 29 21:54:33 dhcp13 kernel[0]: USBF: 889121. 50      Endpoint 0x81 of the USB device "rk30sdk" at location 0x26400000:  converting Bulk MPS from 64 to 512 (USB 2.0 Spec section 5.8.3)

and adb shell broke in exactly the same way.
TL;DR:
Plugging into a USB2 port instead of a USB3 port might solve the issue.
Good luck!


text:
What's the difference between a NANDroid backup and an ADB backup?
Could anyone explain the difference between a backup made using NANDroid and a backup made using ADB i.e. using the adb backup command? I've read that both are capable of creating full system snapshots but I haven't been able to understand the difference.
The more technical the answer, the better. Thanks.

The answer can be found in the backup tag-wiki. In short:

ADB Backup is the newer file based backup scheme introduced in Android 4.0. It creates a backup of the file system tree and files. Better explanation would be it's a logical backup, as files are mainly grouped by apps. Side-effect is that files not having a clear relation might be missing from such a backup. It's secure, because you need to unlock the lockscreen first to proceed and one can also encrypt the backups themselves. Backups can be done online. This method allows finer-grained control over what gets backuped and restored.
Nandroid Backup is the older partition based concept, i.e. it creates images of the file systems (think of Norton Ghost or rather the dd Linux tool to have something to compare with). A better term here would be physical backup, as it is a blockwise copy. A recovery mode that supports this method (e.g. Clockworkmod recovery) needs to be installed and started. Backups can be created and accessed without entering the lockscreen passphrase. This method is an all-or-nothing approach, restoring individual apps is not possible (without 3rd party support by Titanium Backup Pro, for example)

Find some more details in above mentioned tag-wiki, which also links to further ressources.


text:
Galaxy S2 GPS not starting
A while ago my GPS was annoying me with a lot of 'searching for GPS'. I had to wait at least 10 minutes every time and it holds for just 2 minutes. Then it starts for searching again.
I searched for fixes and tried one. It was done in recovery mode by flashing a zip (lost the source of the site). Since then the GPS isn't even responding! It doesn't matter if I press GPS on or off, it stays off.
I've tried to clear cache, full wipe, factory reset, nothing worked. Tried a lot of apps in the market like: GPS status and toolbox, GPS fix etc. I even rooted my phone with a new kernel, this also didn't work.
What can I do to make my GPS work?
edit: I have a Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100) rooted 4.1.2 XWLSD
Siyah kernel v6.0b5

Hopefully you have at least kept the ZIP, so you could give some additional information on that (filename, characteristical contents)? This might enable us to guess what that ZIP did; without closer information we are almost completely left to wild speculations, which would be off-topic on this site :)

No man, I have nothing from the original zip file, nor the site. Big fail, i know, but i was in a rush. But I know this: after i flashed my gps-thing, i discovered it was not for the galaxy s9100 but for the s9000. I am the smartest right? :((

You might have some look if you find the correct (compatible) ZIP and flash that over; that should cure it.

Got the answer:
I installed a fresh ROM (rootbox) and it helped. Weird that it didn't help before. Now I need to search a solution for faster GPS fixing.

This is an impractical solution for most users.


text:
Use bluetooth keyboard with a different layout?
I'm Italian, so I use italian language on my tablet (note 10.1), but I have also a bluetooth keyboard with english layout that I use to write little snippets of programmes, the problem is that I don't know how to set english language only for the keyboard. Can someone help me to solve this problem?

The best way to use two different languages either on a smartphone or on a tablet is from device standard settings, with device keyboard and also with external USB and bluetooth keyboard.
To use more than one language follow the images: [I can't post images yet]
General Settings -> Language and input -> Option of Samsung keyboard -> Input languages

Here you can chose between many languages. So you have setted correctly.
Now to use one or the other language when you write is very easy, you have to slide with finger on the spacebar of the device keyboard.

AlessioMTX, this is nice. But the keyboard in focus is external and bluetooth. What you've described is a virtual deveice's keyboard.

Not so, this works for a physical keyboard as well.

You need to install physical keyboard layouts.
One of the best extensions to do that is this:
RS - Hardware Keyboard Layouts
It is free, and does nothing else. You use the standard settings page to select the hardware keyboard layout.
(It is mystery why Google does not provide the layout files by default.)

What is needed to get it to work? Doesn't show the option of 'physical keyboard' at Input\Language on Android 4.2.2 with Logitech Unifying K270. Thanks!

Answer no longer relevant without proper link.

The link given is dead: "We're sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server."

You might wish to give the External Keyboard Helper a try. Take a look at this screenshot (click for large variant):

External Keyboard Helper (source: Google Play; click images for larger variant)
That's just two of its setting screens. See the second entry in the first? Chose keyboard layout. That's what you are looking for. And it should only apply to the external keyboard, while leaving your "software keyboard" untouched.

I'm going to try this app ;) however I've done almost as asgeffchang wrote in his answer, and almost everything is ok, I have problem only with # and the character above N° 2 and 3, to switch between the languages I have to slide the finger on the space bar

I'd say you definitly want to give that app a try. The demo is a bit... um, well, demo, restricted (spacebar doesn't work; the dev even calls it "crippled"). Ratings sound more than just promising! // Don't forget to report back then :)

Let me suggest you Russian Keyboard app. It allows you to choose different layouts for hardware and software keyboards (one or multiple). It supports any layout (including your own). And it is free.
The only thing you should know is that selected layouts work as long as the app is selected as a current input method.

Shift-Space works with an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard and a Samsung Tab 2 7.0. I included the languages I am using in the way that Mitro showed.

Are you using stock / default keyboard? Open the keyboard settings (in the keyboard, it's the cogwheel/gear icon to the left of the space bar). Go to General settings > Input languages and select English.

Would that change the input language for the external keyboard only (as requested)? To me that looks as if it would apply globally, i.e. also for the internal keyboard which Alession wants to remain Italian.

@Izzy Hmmm. I missed the word "only". That said, I'm not sure if it's possible to have different language settings for the internal and the external keyboard.

AFAIK it's not possible without external help. I vaguely remember there was some app offering this... Yepp, found it :)

Shift+Control works on my Apple Bluetooth Keyboard with my Asus Zenfone 5

You should install extra keyboard layouts:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=varzan.extraKeyboardLayouts
.
It is free and helps me to type on Mongolian language and included many other languages.


text:
SMS converts to MMS and only sends when data mobile is on
I have had a Galaxy S2 for 2 years. I just upgraded to the S4 3 weeks ago.
Until this morning, I was able to send SMS messages without data mobile being on via my Wi-Fi connection.  I have made no alterations to my phone other than trying out various suggestions on given on forum sites. I have tried 3-word messages as a test and even these are converted to MMS.
I have loaded both Handcent and Bigsms. They work, but why should I have to have these after 2 years and 3 weeks without a problem?

See Amit's answer in the link above.

@user37267, Welcome to StackExchange. Read this page (http://android.stackexchange.com/about) to earn your first badge.

This might be a different issue than the "possible dupe": there long SMS get converted, here even short ones. Rather see SMS converts to MMS after only one word -- which unfortunately has no answer, but the comment over there might prove helpful.

OK, looks like despite my previous comment, some answers to the linked questions seem to cover this as well :)


text:
Superuser app won't grant root acess anymore
I tried to do a backup a few days ago but TB just stucked on the "Asking root permissions" screen. And now, every app that needs root access doesn't work properly because root access is denied. My superuser app is updated, and I also tried to reset its user data but it's still not working. Does anyone have an idea to make it work again ?
EDIT
Here's the logcat :
07-09 18:28:21.552 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Up(1=>0)
07-09 18:28:24.554 W/PowerManagerService( 2940): Timer 0x3->0x3|0x0
07-09 18:28:24.627 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:24.632 V/lights  ( 2940): set_light_buttons invoked
07-09 18:28:24.632 D/lights  ( 2940): set_light_button on=255
07-09 18:28:24.632 I/PowerManagerService( 2940): Ulight 3->7|0
07-09 18:28:24.817 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:24.847 I/ActivityManager( 2940): Starting activity: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.HOME] flg=0x10200000 cmp=com.fede.launcher/.Launcher }
07-09 18:28:25.077 D/PhoneWindow( 6377): couldn't save which view has focus because the focused view android.widget.LinearLayout@47242a48 has no id.
07-09 18:28:26.047 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:26.047 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Dn(0=>1)
07-09 18:28:26.052 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473bdba0 com.fede.launcher/com.fede.launcher.Launcher paused=false}
07-09 18:28:26.272 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473bdba0 com.fede.launcher/com.fede.launcher.Launcher paused=false}
07-09 18:28:26.272 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:26.272 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Up(1=>0)
07-09 18:28:27.347 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:27.347 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Dn(0=>1)
07-09 18:28:27.352 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473bdba0 com.fede.launcher/com.fede.launcher.Launcher paused=false}
07-09 18:28:27.667 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:27.672 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473bdba0 com.fede.launcher/com.fede.launcher.Launcher paused=false}
07-09 18:28:27.672 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Up(1=>0)
07-09 18:28:28.482 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473bdba0 com.fede.launcher/com.fede.launcher.Launcher paused=false}
07-09 18:28:28.482 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:28.482 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Dn(0=>1)
07-09 18:28:29.082 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473bdba0 com.fede.launcher/com.fede.launcher.Launcher paused=false}
07-09 18:28:29.082 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:29.082 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Up(1=>0)
07-09 18:28:29.702 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:29.702 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Dn(0=>1)
07-09 18:28:29.707 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473bdba0 com.fede.launcher/com.fede.launcher.Launcher paused=false}
07-09 18:28:30.382 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:30.382 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Up(1=>0)
07-09 18:28:30.392 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473bdba0 com.fede.launcher/com.fede.launcher.Launcher paused=false}
07-09 18:28:30.777 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:30.777 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Dn(0=>1)
07-09 18:28:30.787 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473bdba0 com.fede.launcher/com.fede.launcher.Launcher paused=false}
07-09 18:28:30.877 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:30.882 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Up(1=>0)
07-09 18:28:30.887 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473bdba0 com.fede.launcher/com.fede.launcher.Launcher paused=false}
07-09 18:28:31.017 I/ActivityManager( 2940): Starting activity: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] flg=0x10200000 cmp=com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/.MainActivity }
07-09 18:28:31.067 I/ActivityManager( 2940): Start proc com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup for activity com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/.MainActivity: pid=6434 uid=10051 gids={1015, 3003}
07-09 18:28:31.227 I/Zygote  ( 6434): Zygote: pid 6434 has INTERNET permission, then set capability for CAP_NET_RAW
07-09 18:28:31.502 I/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.MainApplication( 6434): onCreate()
07-09 18:28:32.947 I/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.MainApplication( 6434): Detected CPU architecture: ARM
07-09 18:28:32.962 W/Settings( 6434): Setting android_id has moved from android.provider.Settings.System to android.provider.Settings.Secure, returning read-only value.
07-09 18:28:32.967 D/o.䁄   ( 6434): Debug features are disabled.
07-09 18:28:33.002 I/o.쮱   ( 6434): restoreMySettings_ifNeeded()
07-09 18:28:33.047 I/o.쮱   ( 6434): Internal settings found => No need to restore.
07-09 18:28:33.647 W/Resources( 6434): Converting to string: TypedValue{t=0x10/d=0x0 a=-1}
07-09 18:28:33.717 W/Resources( 6434): Converting to string: TypedValue{t=0x10/d=0x0 a=-1}
07-09 18:28:33.782 W/Resources( 6434): Converting to string: TypedValue{t=0x10/d=0x0 a=-1}
07-09 18:28:33.792 W/Resources( 6434): Converting to string: TypedValue{t=0x10/d=0xf a=-1}
07-09 18:28:33.872 W/Resources( 6434): Converting to string: TypedValue{t=0x10/d=0x80 a=-1}
07-09 18:28:33.872 W/Resources( 6434): Converting to string: TypedValue{t=0x10/d=0x3 a=-1}
07-09 18:28:34.142 W/Resources( 6434): Converting to string: TypedValue{t=0x10/d=0x20 a=-1}
07-09 18:28:34.207 W/Resources( 6434): Converting to string: TypedValue{t=0x10/d=0x1 a=-1}
07-09 18:28:34.267 W/Resources( 6434): Converting to string: TypedValue{t=0x10/d=0x3 a=-1}
07-09 18:28:34.557 I/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.MainActivity( 6434): Main Activity is being created for the first time => scheduling next wake-up ...
07-09 18:28:34.567 I/o.յ    ( 6434): scheduleNextWakeup(): Invoked with idToExcludeForToday=null
07-09 18:28:34.692 I/o.յ    ( 6434): scheduleNextWakeup(): No next wakeup scheduled.
07-09 18:28:34.707 I/o.ᡝ   ( 6434): Thread started.
07-09 18:28:35.177 W/PowerManagerService( 2940): Timer 0x7->0x3|0x0
07-09 18:28:35.177 V/lights  ( 2940): set_light_buttons invoked
07-09 18:28:35.177 D/lights  ( 2940): set_light_button on=0
07-09 18:28:35.177 I/PowerManagerService( 2940): Ulight 7->3|0
07-09 18:28:36.282 I/o.嫶   ( 6434): Detected 0 mount point(s) in addition to Android "external" storage.
07-09 18:28:36.292 I/ActivityManager( 2940): Displayed activity com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/.MainActivity: 5242 ms (total 5242 ms)
07-09 18:28:36.307 I/o.䌮   ( 6434): [Licensing] No cache file: /mnt/sdcard/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/licensing-cache.xml
07-09 18:28:36.307 I/o.䌮   ( 6434): [Licensing] Cache valid? = false
07-09 18:28:36.307 I/o.䌮   ( 6434): [Licensing] Deleting non-valid cache file: /mnt/sdcard/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/licensing-cache.xml
07-09 18:28:36.397 I/o.嫶   ( 6434): Detected 0 mount point(s) in addition to Android "external" storage.
07-09 18:28:36.407 W/System.err( 6434): ERROR: Could not open license file: /data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/files/license.txt
07-09 18:28:36.512 E/su      ( 6447): sudb - Opening database
07-09 18:28:36.517 E/su      ( 6447): Couldn't open database: unable to open database file
07-09 18:28:36.517 E/su      ( 6447): sudb - Could not open database, prompt user
07-09 18:28:37.332 D/AndroidRuntime( 6449):
07-09 18:28:37.332 D/AndroidRuntime( 6449): >>>>>>>>>>>>>> AndroidRuntime START <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
07-09 18:28:37.332 D/AndroidRuntime( 6449): CheckJNI is OFF
07-09 18:28:37.337 E/AndroidRuntime( 6449): /system/csc/customer.xml ==> cannot open file
07-09 18:28:37.342 D/AndroidRuntime( 6449): found sales_code tag = <>, </>
07-09 18:28:37.342 E/AndroidRuntime( 6449): /system/csc/feature.xml ==> cannot open file
07-09 18:28:37.747 D/AndroidRuntime( 6449): --- registering native functions ---
07-09 18:28:38.132 D/LibQmg_native( 6449): register_android_app_LibQmg
07-09 18:28:43.737 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:43.737 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Dn(0=>1)
07-09 18:28:43.742 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{4732a058 StatusBar paused=false}
07-09 18:28:43.922 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:43.927 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Up(1=>0)
07-09 18:28:43.947 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{4732a058 StatusBar paused=false}
07-09 18:28:46.087 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:46.087 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Dn(0=>1)
07-09 18:28:46.092 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{4739b5f8 TrackingView paused=false}
07-09 18:28:46.242 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:46.247 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Up(1=>0)
07-09 18:28:46.252 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{4739b5f8 TrackingView paused=false}
07-09 18:28:46.537 W/InputManagerService( 2940): Window already focused, ignoring focus gain of: com.android.internal.view.IInputMethodClient$Stub$Proxy@470d25d0
07-09 18:28:47.879 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:47.882 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Dn(0=>1)
07-09 18:28:47.892 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{4732a058 StatusBar paused=false}
07-09 18:28:48.087 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:48.092 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Up(1=>0)
07-09 18:28:48.097 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{4732a058 StatusBar paused=false}
07-09 18:28:48.617 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:48.622 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473baca0 StatusBarExpanded paused=false}
07-09 18:28:48.622 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Dn(0=>1)
07-09 18:28:48.747 I/KeyInputQueue( 2940): Input event
07-09 18:28:48.747 V/WindowManager( 2940): Dsptch > Window{473baca0 StatusBarExpanded paused=false}
07-09 18:28:48.747 V/InputDevice( 2940): ID[0]=0(0) Up(1=>0)
07-09 18:28:49.032 W/InputManagerService( 2940): Window already focused, ignoring focus gain of: com.android.internal.view.IInputMethodClient$Stub$Proxy@46fc9070

First things first. Is your phone still rooted? Search Google Play for apps that will "check root".

@geffchang I installed a "Root check" app but the apps processes again and again and it never stops.

What android version? What version of TB are you using?

@t0mm13b My Android version is 2.2 and I've got TB 4.6.7

Try upgrading TB, latest is 6.0.5.1.... I can clearly remember the older TB versions would get stuck in endless loop waiting for SU permissions approval. Are you using the pro version or donate version?

@t0mm13b Installed the last version of TB from Play Store, still stuck on the "Asking root access" screen.

Please enclose the logcat to ascertain what is happening that is contributing to the "Asking for root access".. :)

@t0mm13b Done !

@geffchang Check root completed, still rooted.

There are a few scenarios that might explain what's going on.
Superuser app binaries need to be updated
Open your Superuser app and check for any updates to the binaries. The binary is what gives that Superuser app the right to grant or deny other apps superuser priviliges. If it is outdated or has been replaced by a different binary, you may need to update it to get it working again.
Root priviliges denied permanently for the app
When an app requests superuser access, a Superuser app generally prompts the user to Allow or Deny. Usually, it also gives the option to follow the same action temporarily, for a set time, or permanently (depending on the Superuser app you use).
If you deny an app root privileges permanently, it will likely cause the app to pause when asking the system for root privileges until it times out. Check your Superuser app to make sure Titanium Backup isn't marked as deny.
Lack Root
You may have lost root access (possibly during an automatic Over The Air update), which would be why the app requesting superuser rights is failing. Most Superuser apps display a toast or other message anytime an app requests root privileges (along with whether that request was granted or denied).
Alternate Superuser App
Another Superuser app may have been installed to take over requests for sudo access. If you know you have root, check for other Superuser apps. They usually have "Super" in them, though this is not a guarantee.
Very slow device
On my old phone, there would be times when the CPU was bogged down (ex right after bootup). If I tried to open a root app, it would ask for root rights, then time out before the Superuser app could process the request.
This usually only happened for an app that caused a prompt to allow or deny, but it still happened on occasion with apps that had been granted access forever.

I tried to update the binaries but at the end of the process the app asks for root access and it's denied, of course. I reset superuser's user data so there's no more permanent denied app. I'm trying to root check but the process takes forever and seems to be on an infinite loop. I didn't installed any other superuser app. My phone is very slow, but I don't think this is the cause.

Looking at this which caught my eye:
07-09 18:28:36.512 E/su      ( 6447): sudb - Opening database
07-09 18:28:36.517 E/su      ( 6447): Couldn't open database: unable to open database file
07-09 18:28:36.517 E/su      ( 6447): sudb - Could not open database, prompt user`

Sounds like a botched install of the SuperUser app in itself. Where did you get the app from as matter of curiousity?
Thing is, there's two versions of superuser apps and are not interchangeable, its either one app or the other, both mutually exclusive.

One by Koushik Dutta and
One by Noshufou

I'd be more inclined to think that this particular one was a mix 'n' match version. Try downloading the "proper" version either on the play store.

I've got Noshufou's one but since it's in the default apps of my ROM I can't uninstall it.

If its on the default apps of your phone, go to google play store and download root explorer, from there, prese the buttons befote the micro sd card simbol, then locate and press app/system apps, find superuser and delete it from the internal phone.


text:
Opening links from app in Google Chrome Incognito or Firefox Private Browsing mode
When I tap on a link in any app it shows me installed browsers on my HTC One X. The list includes Opera, Internet, Chrome and Firefox. Is there a way by which I can include options of Chrome (Incognito) or Firefox (Private Browsing) in that list so that I can open links in Incognito / Private Browsing mode?

Unfortunately I don't think there's any way for a user of an app to do that, I'm pretty sure it would require the developer to add that extra "intent" as an option to their app before it could appear in that app chooser box.
There are apps that specialize in this behaviour though, and should appear as options in the app chooser box for web links:
InBrowser is "a fully featured incognito/private browsing experience", which should appear in that list of browsers and work as an incognito browser.
Incognito Browser "automatically operates in incognito or private browsing mode"