text:
Why does my SD data get messed up when i connect to PC with USB?
Every time I connect my phone to my computer via USB (Huawei U8666E, Android 4.0.3) even after I've disconnected my phone, the following 2 things happen (that I can tell): My ringtone goes back to "Default" (i'm using a custom one which is saved on the SD memory) and my music playlist (the only one i have) goes empty. No music file is missing, they're just removed from the playlist, and they, too, are on my SD memory.
What can i do to fix or circumvent the issue?
Edit: The problem is not that it happens while the phone is hooked on the computer, but that it persists AFTER i disconnect it. In other words, after disconnecting the phone, i have to manually rebuild my playlists and change the ringtone again. Is there a way for me to transfer data between PC and phone without having to "reconfigure" the phone after the process? Or better yet a way to use the USB normally without the "reconfiguring" having to take place?

Same issue in this place -- unfortunately now answer either...

Guy below seems to be up to something, BUT not there yet.

It sounds like your ROM doesn't properly reset settings when the sdcard is re-enabled (since it obviously becomes unavailable to the OS when using USB Mass Storage). Unfortunately, this is likely an issue with your ROM and I don't think there is a likely setting that would fix it.
However, in Android 3.0, Google added MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) support and it has been in all versions since. This allows the sdcard to remain mounted in the Android system while also allowing it to be accessed on the computer. I can't remember the exact layout of ICS, but to be able to change it to MTP from UMS, it is probably pretty close to Settings -> Storage -> Menu -> USB Computer Connection -> enable MTP

Sadly, no changeable options under the "storage" entry (no menu), only data exposition. Any other ideas where it might be? Also, what is UMS? Not a very technical guy (yet), managed to read the other ones but not this :P

UMS is just the acronym for USB Mass Storage (an acronym within an acronym... gotta love it). But you should have access to a submenu within your storage section. Does your device have a menu key? If it does, press that, if not, there should be a 3 dot "action overflow" menu button somewhere on the screen. If your manufacturer for some strange reason removed that, you might be able to get MTP working with Multi-Mount (I don't think root is required for MTP)

UMS stands for USB Mass Storage, where the mounting device (here: computer) gets physical access to the mounted storage (here: SDCard), while with MTP only logical access is given.

Sadly, my options are "Software update", a detailed report on SD and Internal memory allocation, and complete erasure of either. The menu button, although available, does nothing in this screen. I will investigate the aplication you linked. Anything else?

No juice with the app. It crashes as soon as i connect the cable, leaving me connected via Mass Storage and causing the typical aftereffects :/ Any other ideas on turning on MTP?

Unless a more solid solution comes up, i will simply refrain from using the USB to link up with my PC sigh If anyone knows a free substitute app for some different sort of connection worth mention, please go ahead (And of course, if you have another way to solve the issue)

There are a number of wireless options for you to access your content. Although, I am a bit rusty on most since I mainly used Samba Filesharing which can only work with root-enabled devices. But I have heard AirDroid mentioned multiple times and that might be something worth trying.

In Settings > Storage > press the menu key > USB connection > MTP connection.

well i know this is a year late but i was having the same problems on my phone (huawei y300-01) all my apps would b moved around, and pages were sometimes created. i saw that whenever i connected the phone the various USB options would pop up (MTP, PTP and installer). i used to choose PTP as it was the only way to access the SDcard. I decided to try installer and found some drivers in the folder that opened up, installed them and now MTP works fine, my apps dont move around anymore after disconecting the phone.


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missing pictures/videos from HTC EVO after being encrypted
I have an HTC EVO.  It's been encrypted at work.  Afterwards, all of my pictures/videos are missing from my gallery, everything else is still there.  How do I get them back?

It is possible (almost certain) that during the encryption process, they low level formatted your SD card which would make recovering your gallery items impossible at this point. They should have allowed you to backup your data before doing the encryption and/or made a backup of the device before they did the encryption. Might I suggest you ask them if they kept a backup before doing the encryption, that would be your only option at this point to get them back. Sorry.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Installing stock JellyBean in Galaxy S2 [Argentina]
The system that came with my Galaxy S2 is heavily bloated. I want to install a bare, stock Jelly Bean ROM. I've searched and searched, but keep running into walls.
System version
I don't know how to get the version string, or if I do, I can't find appropriate ROMs. Nothing I can come up with reading the system info comes up in the lists.
Model: GT-I9100
Baseband version: I9100UHMS1
Kernel version: 3.0.31-914166 se.infra@SEP-122 #3 SMP PREEMPT (date) KST 2013
PDA: I9100UHMS8
CSC I9100PSNMS4

Where can I get the correct stock Jelly Bean ROM?
Download mode
When I reboot the phone holding vol+home+power, I don't see the screen everyone says I should see. Instead, I see a menu, in which the most appropriate option seems to be apply update from adb, but ODIN doesn't see my phone at this point (it does show up when it's normally functioning).
Why does ODIN see the phone when it's ON, but fails to see it when it's in dowload mode?
To root or not to root
Do I have to root the phone before attempting to install a ROM? The rooting process, according to the guides I've seen, involves installing a ROM too. This takes me back to square zero and the problems above.
Please help!

Please see: Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?, the rooting tag-wiki, the odin tag-wiki and its most frequented questions. Questions on Odin + Download mode might also prove helpful.

I've visited several of those, but I run into the problem described above: I can't find my version string

What "version string"? Besides, bassmadrigal's answer below should cover most of your questions :)

You can get an almost stock Jellybean experience using SuperNexus - I9100. It is based off AOSP and only has "improvements and optimizations", but states it is still very near to stock. Another option, while differentiating itself from AOSP, is CyanogenMod. This is based on AOSP, but includes a LOT of extra features and improvements of AOSP, while keeping the bloat to a minimum.
As for instructions on getting it ready for a custom ROM, the instructions on the CyanogenMod wiki tend to be fairly accurate and may give you the needed information to get you started. Install CM for i9100 If you don't want CyanogenMod on your phone, replace step #2 in the last section with whatever ROM you want to try (like the one above). Make sure you get the right gapps (basic Google apps including the Play Store) unless your ROM includes it (most don't).

I recommend CyanogenMod instead of that other ROM. CyanogenMod is very stock-like but has a ton of smaller improvements here and there and most of all, it's the most used ROM (180k i9100 active users: CM Stats)

While CyanogenMod is probably the most used ROM out there, it is by no means vanilla AOSP/stock Jelly Bean. It is based on AOSP, but is heavily modified. That is why I provided both options.

Of course. IMHO, XDA ROMs linked in those development threads have  a very broad quality range. If a device shows up on CM's build-servers, it's most of the time rather usable, that's why I suggest/prefer to use CM, if it has official builds, over other custom firmware. Also, long-term support is rather good, once CM support is there. Just my 2ct.

I agree CM might be a better route for the OP to go, but he specifically asked for stock Jelly Bean, which was the point in me trying to find a decent AOSP ROM for his phone. I added CyanogenMod into the thread because I know the quality is there (and it is what I have used since the early days of CM6). But I know some people aren't interested in all the CM extras and just want to stay as vanilla as possible. I just try to keep my opinions out of the answers and provide the facts to let the OP decide which way they would like to go :)

Got your points :-)

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What apps need to be saved on internal memory in the S4?
I have read online that 16GB version comes at around 8GB instead. And that Burst Mode can only save on internal memory.
So I would like to know, what other Apps cannot save on an external memory card, and require internal memory storage to install correctly ?

Sorry that we cannot provide a list. And it might even be much, much shorter to list apps which do not require internal storage. All of them do, as a) they are installed to /data/app (even Apps2SD does not move the entire app), b) their data go to /data/data/package_name (unless you use Data2SD on a rooted device).

@Izzy thanks for replying, can they be moved to external storage though ??

Not all, and (at least without root) not completely. If they e.g. provide services, widgets, etc, they can't be moved to external storage. Further, the app must support that itself. While on a rooted device you might be able to "trick the system" using Link2SD and Data2SD, this might not work for all apps either; e.g. the SDCard is mounted only after boot_completed, so apps installed there won't be able to automatically start after reboot (as they will miss the boot_completed broadcast).

@Izzy Oh I see. Well what about Burst Mode ?? Can rooting the device force images to be stored on external memory ?


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Does this permissions request make sense?
I would like to use a vendor's application to enable remote access to a security DVR from an Android phone. The app requires permission for "read phone status and identity".
I'm not an Android developer, but that doesn't seem like an appropriate permission, since the application has nothing to do with the phone number or the phone operation. It would work equally well without any phone functionality.
I contacted the developers, and they say:
"The application makes that request to get though the firewall on the phone.
The program does not store or use that information.
If you manual set permissions in the firewall then the program will need the permission."
Does that make sense to anybody? Is there a "firewall" in Android that is somehow related to phone state and identity?
Before I call BS on this response, I wanted to check here with experts just in case there is some obscure relationship.

While the permission might make sense, the explanation does not at all.
To my knowledge, READ_PHONE_STATE has nothing at all to do with a firewall or networking. It is a READ permission (so what could that have to do with passing a firewall?),

giving access to your IMEI/IMSI and phone number
lets the app figure out whether a call is in progress
if a call is in progress, gives access to the phone number of the remote device

I bet the app has the INTERNET permission as well (confirmed as per Google Play link you provided). The app is free of charge. Minimum Android version is 2.0, so READ_PHONE_STATE was not forced on it (it is enforced for Android versions up to 1.6). So I rather assume it carries some ad module which requires this permission: the combination of INTERNET and READ_PHONE_STATE is very common to those (it needs to obtain the ad information, and most likely uses your IMEI to identify you -- in a positive sense, to see what ads have already been shown; but of course it could as well be used otherwise).
If you've already installed that app, you can verify this using e.g. Lookout Ad Network Detector or TrustGo Ad Detector. You could also check with Addons Detector to see if it carries any other module piggie-back (e.g. for analytics, which again would explain READ_PHONE_STATE to identify your device).
Second thought: Why would that app need to get through the phone's firewall (if there were any)? Isn't it supposed to do connections to the outside? If that would require anything else but the INTERNET permission, what should the INTERNET permission stand for?

Great answer, my rule of thumb is: if the permissions don't make sense, don't download it. The explanation is very fishy in this case. Cell communications don't go through firewalls, only network communications get protected by a device's firewall. It sounds very strange.

@John I wouldn't have doubted the app for that permission (as said, that combination is typical for ad modules). What makes me sceptical is the fishy answer of the devs, which makes absolutely no sense. As if they've got something to hide. And that in connection with a security-related app simply makes it a little creepy.


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How to uninstall default apps
I wish to uninstall (or at least disable) some of the applications that the manufacturer installed on my Samsung Galaxy Tab computer. I tried Settings → Application manager → ALL, but is seems that none of the manufacturer-installed apps can be uninstalled (or disabled). How do I do this, please?

This site has answers for other devices, but I see nothing about this one.

It's the same for every device. You can't do it from the settings, and you need to be rooted.


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How can I mount my google nexus4 on linuxmint(nadia) computer via usb?
Also is it any different than ubuntu?
UPDATE:
Using gmtp, I still get the error from the terminal and gmtp crashes when i click on "connect".
The gmtp says the following in the shell:
Device 0 (VID=18d1 and PID=4ee1) is UNKNOWN.
Please report this VID/PID and the device model to the libmtp development team
PTP_ERROR_IO: failed to open session, trying again after resetting USB interface
LIBMTP libusb: Attempt to reset device
Android device detected, assigning default bug flags
Error 1: Get Storage information failed.
Error 2: PTP Layer error 02fe: get_handles_recursively(): could not get object handles.
Error 2: Error 02fe: PTP: Protocol error, data expected

I'm sure that libtmp teams added nexus4 to their libraries because my nexus4 was being seen by ubuntu-11.04 easily. But my problem is still alive in linuxmint

If not the same, it's probably very similar, I would imagine. Better way to connect Galaxy Nexus (ICS) to Linux might be relevant the underlying issue (MTP) is the same.

See also this answer where I've explained it for the Kindle Fire and Ubuntu. Don't get confused on the Kindle part, the Linux part is what you need to connect your device via MTP.

Hey man use this libmtp (link: http://sourceforge.net/projects/libmtp/)
They say its good and works fine

This question gets asked a lot about Linux in general.  MTP from the default repos will work in Mint, no problem.  I've written a tutorial on how to get MTP devices recognized under Ubuntu, but it's the same for Mint:
Install MTP:

sudo apt-get install mtpfs

Create a directory to mount your device:

sudo mkdir /media/MTPdevice (call the directory whatever you like)
sudo chmod 775 /media/MTPdevice
sudo mtpfs -o allow_other /media/MTPdevice

Plug in you phone and use MTP tools to determine the VID and PID (or, if those don't appear in the output, idVendor and idProduct):

mtp-detect

Add a rule to udev to handle your phone:

gksu gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

Text to add:  (substitue VID and PID for "" and "")
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="<vendorId>", ATTR{idProduct}=="<productId>", MODE="0666"

Restart udev:

sudo service udev restart

You may also need to reboot, depending.
This works on my Linux Mint 15 + MATE box.
NOTE:  If you have your device locked (eg, which a swipe code or PIN), you’ll need to unlock it before your SD card(s) can be recognized by MTP and have it mount them for you to access locally.


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Can I remove User Dictionary Application itself ? not just words in it?
My process monitor shows the User Dictionary Application is taking up all the CPU the device has got so even phonecaller app crashes.
I'd like to remove the whole User Dictionary Application if possible.
I don't want to use this feature anyway.
Would I be able to remove it ?
If I could, would removing User Dictionary cause any serious issues ?

On my Galaxy S3, running 4.1.2, the User dictionary is a background service that can be disabled. If you are running a similar device look into the following:
Settings\App Manager\All\User Dictionary
Click the disable button.
If you are using a different device or system this could get you started in the right direction.

Thanks ! that did the trick. As soon as I find out this application is not necessary for my device to operate, I'll completely get rid of it.


text:
How does the Asus transformer keyboard dock work?
From a software and hardware standpoint, what kind of interface does the keyboard use? I'm guessing it's not just a usb-hid interface, or if it is there's something special for the special keys.
If I were to make my own device like that, say based on an Android sbc, what would I have to do to replicate it?

Why would there need to be something special for the special keys? All the keyboard does is send an integer keycode when a key is pressed, special or otherwise. It's the software that's responsible for turning the keycode into an event such as "insert x" or "return home".

So then it's just USB-HID with a custom keyboard layout?

It appears to be an I2C interface. According to this post on xda-developers asusdec is the name of the keyboard dock device. When I cat /proc/bus/input/devices on my Transformer, this is what it says about asusdec:
I: Bus=0000 Vendor=0000 Product=0000 Version=0000
N: Name="asusdec"
P: Phys=/dev/input/asusdec
S: Sysfs=/devices/platform/tegra-i2c.1/i2c-1/1-0019/input/input15
U: Uniq=
H: Handlers=sysrq event3
B: PROP=0
B: EV=20003
B: KEY=3fffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff fffffffe
B: LED=2

Also, ps shows a com.asus.keyboard process running as system. That's an Android process. I'm not sure how exactly it's getting the input from the keyboard, though. I assume it has sufficient permissions to open the device for reading and converts the incoming keycodes to Android events.


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Where is CP Message stored?
Today I got a message from my carrier. My phone (Galaxy Note 2) opened it in a screen titled 'CP Message' (I don't know if this was another  app). I installed the file that my carrier sent to me. After I closed it, I could not find it anymore. Where is it? How can I find it again?
Thanks.

Go over to your Messaging app, press the options button/menu button (depends on the device). A short list will pop-up including options like Search, Drat Messages, Delete, etc. One of these options should say 'Configuration Messages' or something similar. This is where the CP messages you receive are stored. I'm not sure as to what purpose they serve (they seem to vary from lists of MMS to Browser settings), but that's where all of them are.

Open Messages, tap the Options button, and then select the first option from top in the list which is "Configuration messages". In this way, you will be able to see all the configuration messages.

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


text:
Why doesn't my wallpaper scroll?
At first, my question was why I had to crop my wallpaper wider than it seemed to be, but I saw that that question was already asked and answered here: Setting wallpaper - wrong orientation
So now my question is, if wallpaper is cropped wide so that it can scroll when you switch between screens, how come mine doesn't move? I am using a picture I downloaded from the internet on my phone, and as far as I can tell it doesn't move at all no matter what I do.
If it matters, my phone is a Motorola Atrix HD.

If you swipe to the left or right on your homescreen (to switch to the previous or next screen), the wallpaper should slightly shift as well. Depending on how many screens you have, it might be really minimal (10% or less), so you probably didn't notice. It could as well be that the launcher you are using does not support that -- though I don't know any launcher not supporting it.

I have two screens, so I'm pretty sure the problem isn't too many screens.

The launcher application on some phones does not provide the ability for a scrolling wallpaper, the only way to fix this would be to download a separate launcher.
Here is a list of most of them -
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=launcher&c=apps

http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/586033-galaxy-s3-cheated-some-us-leaving-out-scrolling-wallpapers-2.html#post4756930
Citation: "Scrolling wallpapers glitch when they have infinite scrolling. If you scroll past the end of the wall paper, it'll sharply shift to the other side of the image. I would imagine some find this to be unsightly. The developers at Samsung probably see this as a problem and probably thought infinite scrolling was a more important feature than wallpaper scrolling."

On some LG devices, go to Settings - Display - Home screen - Swipe effect, then choose Panorama.

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


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Internet Usage on Samsung Galaxy Ace 5830.
My provider gives my 3GB of data and I don't know how to find out how much I have used or have left.  Where can I find this information

Assuming that you are using a Galaxy Ace with Android v2.3 (Gingerbread), I suggest you to use an application like 3G Watchdog or Onavo Count. But if you are using a Android phone with Android v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher there is a built-in option in settings menu called "Data Usage".

Data usage was there in 2.2 as well, are you sure its not there in 2.3 ? Moreover these are not really reliable, it will even account your wi fi usage. Best way is to check with service provider, am sure they have a USSD code or something.

3G Watchdog keeps separate totals for Wi-Fi and 3G data use, so there should be no confusion about whether it is from the mobile network allowance (3G data) or some wi-fi hotspot.  The watchdog can also be set to disable your 3G connection at some level (eg 80%) before you hit your limit.
AVG (antivirus) now includes a data usage monitor, but just warns and does not disable, as far as I know.  If I had a limit, I'd prefer to have the connection broken in case I started a high traffic application (eg world wide webcam) and might be charged for traffic above my allowance (network I used in 2012 charged around 100 GBP / US$ 150 per extra GB of data, something to avoid!).


text:
Map HTC Logo on HTC One
Is there any way to have the HTC Logo on the HTC One (between the home and back buttons) to be used as a multitasking button AND press and hold for a menu button?

There are custom kernels supporting the HTC logo as a button. You might e.g. want to check tbaldens kernel @ XDA, which is available in different variants underlying the logo with different features:

HOME2Wake and HTCLogo2Sleep
HOME2Wake and HTCLogoMenu

Watch the videos over at XDA-Developers to see how it works. It is not the combination you asked for, but maybe that one was added later as a variant (another dev continued with a fork in this second thread, which lists a few more details), or you can ask the dev to do so.

I have already looked at those, neither of which serve my purposes

To my knowledge, at this time there don't exist other solutions. Which does of course not mean it won't ever be: I'm pretty sure more solutions will pop up with the time.


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Latest Gmail update is not working on my Samsung Galaxy S3
I have the Gmail app installed and in the latest update it said we could reply to emails directly from the drop-down status bar without having to open the app.  I don't see any feature like this.  How do I activate it?
OS: 4.1.1
Samsung Galaxy S3

I have GMail 4.3.1 on my AT&T 4.1.1 S3. I find that the Archive and Reply action buttons only appear on the new mail notification sometimes. As near as I can tell, two conditions need to be true for them to appear:

There must be only one new email. Multiple new emails will change the notification style to a list of new emails. So if you get a lot of email, you'll never see the action buttons.
There must be enough room in the notification pane to show an expanded notification without needing to scroll the notifications. So if you have a lot of ongoing notifications, you'll never see the expanded new mail notification with the two action buttons.

Note that if there's not enough space in the notification pane for the full-size notification, you can (depending whether you've got Android 4.1 or 4.2) either do a two-fingered zoom pinch on the notification to expand it, or long-press on it and drag down to expand it to see the full functionality with the buttons.

That's a good tip, @GAThrawn. I've had difficulty doing the pinch-to-expand maneuver. I suspect I'm not alone in that, and that's why they changed it in 4.2.

I find that I can consistently pinch-to-expand if I put two fingers in the middle of the notification, then slide them horizontally toward the edges of the notification.  I kept trying to slide them vertically because that's how I pinch-to-collapse. Turns out that a horizontal pinch works to collapse too, but feels odd since it collapses vertically.


text:
Why live wallpapers use phone call info
When I install any live wallpaper, I am shown a list of items that the app will access. Most of these live wallpapers also access the phone call details. I cannot understand why? Is there any technical reason related to it or something else. Also I think it may cause privacy damage.
So should I allow these apps access my phone call details?
Thank you.

As you don't give any example, we need to guess. I doubt it's for "stopping themselves" for the call dialog like Amit suggests (as a background "live wallpaper", they don't need to do that specially for call dialogs: either they generally need it for any dialog, or not at all). I rather suspect some ad module behind this (see my answer here for details). For ad modules, the combination of INTERNET and READ_PHONE_STATE are quite usual: the former to retrieve the advertisement material, and the latter to access your IMEI for identification (good cop: to know which ads you've already seen so they are not repeated too often; bad cop: to get IMEI, IMSI, your phone number, phone numbers you've been in contact with -- so a profile can be built).
Note that the developer of the app (or live wallpaper in your case) has no control at all what those ad modules do. All he can do is to take care to chose a "good one", and avoid the "more malicious" ad modules.

So, is there a way to differentiate between good cops/bad cops?

Follow the second link in my answer, check the last block there. It mentions 3 apps which are checking for "piggie-backs". The Lookout one includes details on the ad network's behaviour, see its screenshots in the playstore for an example.


text:
unlocked device vs. unlocked bootloader
I've always thought that if a device is unlocked it means that it works
with different carriers. If the device bootloader is unlocked, then does
this mean the device will automatically work with different carriers?
That is do unlocked device and unlocked bootloader mean the same
thing?
All I know is that an unlocked bootloader is easier to root as commands
can be sent to the device using the fastboot protocol used to boot it
so it is not necessary to take advantage of an exploit on the device
in order to root it.
I want to know if unlocked device and unlocked bootloader are synonymous.
Thanks.

See also: What is the difference between: Rooting, Jailbreak, ROM, Mod, etc.? which also covers the various unlocking terminology.

No, they're completely unrelated things. As you say, an unlocked device means it's not locked to a particular carrier: you can insert a different SIM card to change to a different carrier, and it will work. A locked device will not connect to another carrier if you change the SIM card.
The bootloader is the first thing that runs when you turn the phone on: it's responsible for loading the core Android code, so that Android can load itself and run. A locked bootloader uses digital signatures to verify the Android code it's loading, which means it will only boot a ROM (firmware image) that's signed by the device manufacturer. In contrast, an unlocked bootloader will load any ROM. Unlocking a locked bootloader will wipe all user data (but not the ROM) from the device. This is a security mechanism, so you can't get at the data on a phone by installing your own ROM on it.

@jiggunjer No, the stock ROM isn't erased, just the user data, like a factory reset. Thanks for letting me know the answer wasn't clear.

One more point that isn't clear to me: if you manage to flash an unsigned ROM on a bootlocked device, what will happen? bootloop? some error screen? stuck in the recovery?

@jiggunjer I believe it will get stuck in the recovery, but I've never seen it myself. If you really want to know you should ask a new question.

@DanHulme It will be stuck at the bootloader telling your device is corrupt (and refuses to boot). Actuallt I quite doubt you can flash an unsigned ROM without unlocking BL first.

The term "unlocked device" is as confusing as the term "ROM" (see the rom tags tag wiki). Only from the context one can tell whether it refers to "a device with an unlocked bootloader", or "a device without network/SIM lock".
This means, your question cannot be answered with a simple "Yes" or "No": though the terms are used as synonyms, "unlocked device" stays ambiguous without proper context. But it's quite more likely that "unlocked device" refers to the "network/SIM lock".

Just a precision, to be clear: bootloader-unlocking does NOT network-unlock a device. It also voids the warranty and stops any DRM'ed video/music/app from playing/working.
Lots of good explanations here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1839477


text:
Disable Cyanogen 10.1 notification drawer widgets
I want to remove the notification drawer widgets, but despite having System > Notification Drawer > Power Widget unchecked, it keeps showing up.
When I have new notifications, pulling down the drawer reveals them; but if I do it a second time, without any unseen items, I'm treated to a screenful of widgets I don't really need and have to manually switch back to the notifications list.
How can I disable this, and have a plain old notifications dropdown?

It sounds like you're describing the "Quick Settings panel", which is different (and actually a feature of vanilla Android Jelly Bean). Try System > Quick Settings panel > Quick pulldown > Off. Or possibly provide a screenshot if you can, to make sure we're talking about the same set of notification bar toggles, since CM 10.1 has two.

Indeeeeeeed! Given 10 years I would've never realized it was showing up when I pulled the status bar FROM THE RIGHT EDGE. Move the comment to an answer, and accepted it will get

@uʍopǝpısdn you can get it if you do a 2-finger pull-down too, how many years would it take anyone to notice that without being told about it!

@GAThrawn more years than the feature is going to last

So to sum up the bit of confusion that is in CM 10.1 now - there are actually two sets of notification bar toggles. One works like the old set from previous CM versions, and it appears in one row above your notifications when you pull down the bar. These are the "Power Widget" toggles.
The second set was a feature added upstream in Jelly Bean, and is referred to as the "Quick Settings panel". These are laid out as multi-row tiles - which it sounds like you are describing - and you can switch to this view by tapping the top right icon on your notifications shade (after pulling it down):

You cannot, to my knowledge, get rid of the Quick Settings panel completely, as it is baked in to Android. However, you can prevent it from appearing of its own accord by going into
Settings > System > Quick Settings panel > Quick pulldown

and selecting the "Off" option. The other options are "Right" and "Left", with the idea being that you can basically divide the notification pulldown into two swipe areas if you like. For instance, by choosing "Right", you can access your notifications by pulling down from the left side of the bar, and access the Quick Settings panel by pulling down from the right side of the bar. If you choose "Off" then the only way to get to the Quick Settings panel should be if you pull down your notifications and then tap the icon in the top right. Effectively, this disables the Quick Settings panel from ever appearing unless you explicitly choose to see it.


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backing up system image before rooting: please help
I have a Samsung Galaxy S III i9300. On Windows 7 there is something called a
recovery partition which contains a full compressed image of the operating system
from which Windows 7 can be installed. On Android, instead, there is a recovery,
which as I understand it is a partition with a full micro-operating system
from which can be used to decompress an operating system from an image on
the sdcard and make it the current operating system.
What I want to ask is. I want to root my device. For this, I can use Odin 3
and ChainFire. Once the device is rooted will I be able to go back and
unroot the device? In order to do so I would like to save the program
which reinstalls the android operating system from scratch. Where is
this program. I want to back it up in case needed, I don't want to
lose it or customize it.
I can see my image on sammobile.com, but the download is slow if you do not
pay for the download, and I was unable to download the image.
If I install ClockworkMod as my recovery, I need to root the device first before
installing ClockworkMod, so when ClockworkMod overwrites the recovery, the old
recovery will be gone and I will only be able to restore the rooted version of
the OS. Plus, I will not be able to reinstall the old recovery as once overwritten
by ClockworkMod this old/original recovery will be gone. Is this correct?
What if I want to back up the unrooted version of the OS?
Thanks.

First, there is no such thing as a "full copy" of the system stored anywhere on the device, as it is with the Windows recovery partition you describe. Neither is there a "program which reinstalls the android operating system from scratch" stored on the device, so you could back that up (installation is always done via rom-flashing, which takes care of itself).
Second thing is a chicken-and-egg problem: in order to create a partition-image backup, you will need root access -- so you cannot do that backup before your device is rooted (and a custom recovery is in place to provide the necessary tools). But then you no longer can backup the original state, as that has been altered by the rooting process (and custom recovery installation). So the only way to have the "real stock state" available is to download a stock image.
However, the rooting process itself is reversible (see the unrooting tag). And with a full stock installation archive (including the recovery and everything), you should be able to restore the "pre-rooting" state. Not having a Samsung device, I can however not tell about any flash-counters which would let Sammy know what "dirty work" you did in between...

If there is no full copy of android installed somewhere on the device, then what does the program run with "adb reboot recovery" do? How does a factory reset take place if there is no full copy of android installed somewhere?

@user2239505 - Recovery boots you into the recovery, which is a separate small OS, not Android itself.  As for a factory reset, what that does is wipe out the /data partition, which contains non-system apps, as well as all user settings and whatnot.  The /system partition isn't modified except by system updates.

There are two main partitions in Android (think drive letters like windows). /system and /data. /system houses all your OS files and typically remains read-only and off limits to you. /data is read/write and this is where all programs and settings get saved. When you do a Factory Reset, it wipes the /data partition but your /system partition remains unaffected (since it is read-only, it was never modified). When you root, it adds the root files to the /system partition, so when you factory reset, those files still remain.


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Odin and ChainFire on Samsung Galaxy S III
I am using Odin and ChainFire on Samsung Galaxy S III i9300 to root it.
This device is bootloader-unlocked and can be rooted with Odin and ChainFire.
Could someone please explain in greater detail what the rooting procedure
does to the system files, ie., which files are changed and how these
files can be restored back to normal if needed? Also, how does a
root app exploit the fact that the smartphone is rooted? Of course,
it runs as root, but how does it tell the OS it is going to run as
root?
Thanks.

Rooting will add a few files to your system and will most likely remove the startup process that resets your recovery back to stock. The files it will usually add is the su binary, which is what will actually elevate your privileges, busybox, which will give you some basic command prompt commands, and a super user app, (usually either Superuser or SuperSU). Most stock ROMs have a file that is run during the bootup process that will reflash the stock recovery on every boot (for security). Most rooting processes will remove/rename/change this file to prevent your custom recovery from being overwritten.
Most rooting processes have easy ways to unroot. But essentially, you would just remove the files that it added and then flash your stock recovery back on the device. Many toolkits have an easy unroot option.
As to how an app can use root... when an app attempts to use the su binary, Superuser or SuperSU steps in and pops up a dialog asking you for permission to allow this app root access. You can approve or deny it and there is usually a checkbox asking if you want the Superuser/SuperSU app to remember your choice. An app is not able to get elevated privileges without you approving it through the Superuser/SuperSU app.


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How to Install ClockworkMod on Innos A35
I tried to install ClockworkMod via ROM manager. My device(Innos A35) wasn't listed, but I chose one that was on the list thinking that it would somehow get installed. There was a download, but when I reboot to recovery mode the old recovery software with only a few options is shown. I was thinking that rebooting to recovery mode would bring up something like this if ClockworkMod was properly installed. Can someone point to me what could be wrong? Or can someone tell me how to manually install ClockworkMod without using ROM Manager?

If your device isn't in the supported list then this might not be a good idea anyway (unless there's an unofficial version floating around somewhere for your specific device).

Any recovery, be it ClockworkMod or TWRP, or others, must be specifically created for each device (or sometimes device family, if their hardware is similar enough) separately.  Picking a random device off a list in ROM Manager will not work, and may even damage your phone.
Quick Google, XDA, and Rootzwiki searches don't bring up any relevant hits for "Innos A35" at all, so it's safe to assume that this device is not supported by any well-known recovery makers.  This may be because the device is too new, or there simply is not enough interest in it from the Android developer community.

Thanks for your answer. Is there any guide on how to customize a recovery software to fit one's own device?

You need to be fairly knowledgeable in Android development on Linux. There is a very basic guide (for a different device) here that you can look at to see if that's something you'd be comfortable with undertaking on your own.


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How do I get play store to stop asking me to auto-update on wifi?
I have an Acer Iconia A200 running Android 4.0.3. Lately whenever I update an app, the Play Store asks me (via a pop-up dialog) if I want to automatically update apps on Wi-Fi. The only answers I can give are 'yes' and 'not now'.
What I really want is 'No, and don't ask again', because I happen to like being involved in updates.
In Play Store->settings->auto update, automatic update is turned off, and has no setting for 'Wi-Fi only'.
Is there any way to turn this annoying message off? I'm very afraid I'm going accidentally answer yes one day and thus lose control of my updates.
Updated: Play store says build 4.0.27 in it's 'Build Version' in the play store settings.
Updated again: It's back. The exact message is 'Update Apps automatically when on Wi-Fi?' and the two options to the dialog are 'Not now' and 'OK'. Interestingly this happened when I updated 'GOdroid' directly from the page, but did NOT happen when I updated 5 other apps at once later that day. I'm wondering if it's only asking once per app or something?

What version of the play store do you have? I'm on 3.10.14 and do not seem to have this issue of a "popup". In Settings there is the option "Update over Wi-Fi only" but this is unchecked and toggling this option does not produce a popup for me.

@w3d - added to the question.

Could you please check the popup message carefully and let us know whether it really asks about actually updating apps or rather check for updates when on wifi? There is an option to restrict the check etc. to Wifi only, so it would at least correspond. Maybe you simply misinterpreted the message, which might happen easily.

I have since been updated to 4.0.27 and although I got prompted after my first app update as to whether I want to auto-update next time (no mention of Wi-Fi though, although I suspect this is dependent on your settings) to which I responded "Not Now", I have not been prompted since in subsequent updates for other apps.

In Play Store->settings->auto update, automatic update is turned off, and has no setting for 'wi-fi only'.

In version 4.0.27 there should still be a 'Wi-Fi only' setting, although it is now (hidden) under the "Auto-update apps" sub menu. In Settings, tap the "Auto-update apps" option:

Update 2013-05-11: I've had quite a few updates for various apps over the past week and not been re-prompted to auto-update next time - that is, until today. Today I got prompted, to which I tapped "Not Now" again. I have not been re-prompted since. Perhaps it prompts once a week or every so many updates?

I had some updates last night and no recurrance of the issue. The A200 is wi-fi only (which is, I assume, why I don't have a wi-fi only setting), and I'm suspecting that the auto update state got screwed up somehow. Then, when I went into the menus looking for how to turn it off before posting, I ended up forcing it into the true 'do not auto-update' state.


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Download files from Extabit Server
I have a problem with downloading files from Extrabit server (Premium User)
I use Boat Browser hold on "Download" button and Share Link with AndroGET (Free)
AndroGET start checking file and show filesize, but now always show 0 bytes
I didn't change anything in my phone / software and I must use Browser dowloader
that is far slowe than AndroGET. Please let me know if someone knows how to download files from Extabit.
thanks


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HTC One display problem
I've bought this HTC One from one guy who had to change the display on it. It works fine but display has  one problem. It has very high brightness and some buttons, icons and so on does not have the edges visible.
I tried to download some applications to lower the brightness but I haven't found one that worked perfectly. Some of these applications lowered the brightness and the situation got a little better but I couldn't set the brightness low enough with them.
I would like to ask if there is some way how to set the brightness or contrast manually via terminal in the operating system or this problem is more likely caused by bad display. Thanks very much for your answers (P.S.: I tried several Android ROMs, but no change occured).
Here is a photo of the display how it looks like (e.g. the black color is not black but silver. There are almost no visible circles around the ticks on the right side):

Photo of the screen (click image for larger variant)

What about the built-in brightness settings? Maybe some automatic is still in effect? I don't have a HTC One, but I know some devices to automatic brightness adjustments, and some let you set a "base value" in combination; so maybe that's what's happening to you?

Which apps have you used to lower the brightness? The one I use on my S3 is Screen Filter, which can lower the brightness to near invisibility on most screens.


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What does a streaming application do when I switch from mobile data to wifi?
If I am watching/listening to streamed video/audio whilst on mobile data and then become  connected to a wireless network, what does my phone do?
Does it keep streaming through mobile data or does it switch to wireless? Or is this something that's different across different applications.
My phone is a Galaxy S3, running Jellybean stock.

Usually recent versions of Android Handles these network switching automatically. When you are connected to WIFI, Your content would be streamed via WIFI connection .You can confirm this The mobile network symbol - H/H+/E/4g would not be available in the status bar of the mobile.
Usually, Android manages WIFI and Mobile network automatically, I.e., when both WIFI and Mobile Internet is enabled and If WIFI is avaialble, Mobile internet is not used. When  u leave the WIFI network, you would get connected via Mobile data. Hope this helps :)

I'm not sure this really answers the question (even though the OP marked it correct). You say switching is handled "automatically", but it's still a little vague to me that a stream that is already running would cross over to a wifi connection from mobile data. If I am listening to streaming radio, wouldn't I most likely hear a transition, a pause or break, when the service was moved from mobile to wifi?


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What's the use of .tmfs folder on SD card?
What is the use of .tmfs folder on SD card?
ps. there is only a file in it with Chinese filename ...

It's using some space. Honestly: Couldn't you give some more details, e.g. what's inside, does it reside in the SDCard's root directory, etc? It seems that folder is not present on all devices (I've never seen it with mine), so it could even be specific to some app you use.

Oh, I guess it's created by QQSecure as there is a empty file with a Chinese filename in it.

A file with a chinese name most likely points to something app-specific. And makes the question quite localized, one could say :) So if your question has found an answer, you may decide: if you think it's useful for others, please post it as answer (with some more details). If you feel it's rather trivial and of no larger interest, I'd say you'd better delete the question then before someone else closes it as "too localized" :)


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How to clean up related files from deleted apps?
AppCleaner will delete related files from the Mac when an application is dragged to the trash. How does one clean up remains of uninstalled apps on Android?

If you delete the app from the device, it will delete all associated files except those on the sd card. Ihe android system should keep everything pretty clean for you.

Please note that recommendations like Is there an app for X are off-topic here (see the FAQ for details). I took the freedom to re-phrase your question, so it no longer falls into this category :)

Always glad to help :) @John while that is generally true, there are exceptions. See my answer below. One very specific exception would be using pm uninstall -k, which would uninstall the app but keep its data. Another (more common) exception are app data saved to sdcard. Plus there might be rare cases where a clean uninstall failed or crashed.

You might want to take a look at SD Maid. This app requires root for full functionality. This "cleaning made" takes care for multiple remains: a "corpse finder" checks for what an uninstalled app might have left, the "system cleaner" scans the devices known directories with unnecessary files. You can check for the biggest files on your device to free up space, and even optimize and shrink bloated databases to speed up access and free space.
The app includes a file manager, and also allows you to search for files.

SD MAID Corpse Finder and System Cleaner (source: Google Play; click images for larger variant)
Edit: For more details and discussion, you might want to visit the app's thread at XDA :)


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How to unlock pattern on Nexus 4 [Developer Option: ON]
Even I have seen duplicated thread as in: Can not unlock my Android device as have no internet connection?
But Here's my situation:

I have wifi/data turned off.
I have the developer option turned on and my laptop does recognized the device with usb plugged in. (As I'm android developer)
I'm using unrooted Nexus 4 .

Is there any way of unlock the screen using adb way, i.e: turn on the wifi? If no luck I would probably go with hard reset.

Okay I finally got it solved using a developer way. :)
Here's my reference for my solution: Turn on wifi via self-made android applicaiton
Got the wifi the moment I compiled into my Nexus phone, and volla! It works and I got my phone back after login through Google account!
I hoped this thread might helped people who came across this problem as a developer.


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Chinese songs don't show up in Apollo library
I have some Chinese songs on my LG Optimus G, which I copied to my music folder along with the rest of the songs. All songs show up in Apollo (Cyanogenmod's standard player), but not the Chinese ones.
I have tried changing the filenames to western alphabet. I have put them in a folder with a name in western alphabet. I have refreshed the media library. I have rebooted. I have deleted the data from Apollo. Yet to no avail. The only thing I've not changed is the MP3 Tag which contains Chinese characters, but that really shouldn't be a problem. I can open each individual song with Apollo from within a file manager, and they play and their MP3 Tag information shows.
The songs played perfectly before I made the move to Cyanogenmod.
How can I make them show up in the library?

Not sure whether it solves the issue, but you could delete cache/data from the media library ("Media Storage" -- the provider used by the Media Scanner, where all collected information is stored) as well. That would force the Media Scanner to refresh the entire library.

I am using CM10.1 with my S2. I have Chinese songs (with Chinese text), and can play them on Apollo.
Your player probably can't see the files. Try to re-scan them using the Rescan SD Card app.


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How to reset android phone which is locked and debugging mode is disabled, plus no recovery?
Anyone know how to reset an android phone which is locked and asking for gmail id/pass and can't boot into recovery mode, plus debugging mode is disabled?

Have you checked the answers of Cannot unlock tablet as have no internet connection?, as I hinted to in chat? Plenty of solutions on how to overcome the pattern lock (you wrote in chat that you're stuck with that).

Which model do you own? There are different ways to do it across manufacturer and even make.

It can be booted in safe mode. Just you have to do is switch off the phone and switch it on while pressing power key + volume down key simultaneously ( checked in micromax a116 ). If you are not able to switch it off, just remove the battery directly.;p
Note : The key combination may vary depends on the mobile brands.

Does booting into safe mode circumvent the lock screen? That would be bad news, security-wise. Also, all descriptions about safe mode state something like "[...] and keep holding the Menu key until you see the lock screen" -- so there you are.

@Izzy - It has no physical button other than the volume keys and power button, so that isn't working. And thanks a lot Izzy, for going out of your way to help me. :) Also thanks to Abhishek, I'm sure I'll get somewhere with this, sooner or later.
I've tried booting into recovery mode(safe mode?), and it isn't working.

@alvasrawuther I was not focussing on the menu button. I was rather pointing out that booting into safe-mode won't help you at all: note the until you see the lock screen -- which means, even when booting into safe-mode, you'll end up at the very same lock screen.

@Izzy - Oh, missed that then. :)

On your WiFi connectivity or data connectivity just call the locked mobile number with another number and as you get the bell ringing you get some access for calling options just drag down the drop down list and on your WiFi. It's done now get an open source WiFi connectivity and now your mobile can be unlocked by entering your Gmail ID and password.


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Connection problems 3G/4G (Mobile data)
Phone: Samsung Galaxy S3, Mobile data enabled, APN configured for T-mobile
Applications: MightyText, BrowserTexting
Internet connection is working, i can use browsers, gtalk, IMO, etc. The problem is some applications cant connect to their respective servers.
Both apps work when on WiFi, but not when using mobile data connection.
The question is how to debug this problem? Is there a way to see what the problem is, see the request, responses?
Update:
The behaviour seems to be sporadic. While the above mentioned apps have never been able to connect, now Imo is having problems signing in.
Help please

You could check your logcat for hints. A trivial reason might be the device having an incorrect date/time setup (make sure date and time reflecting the current date and time; if the offset between reality and setup is too large, it might cause apps to reject returned data packages as being "out of range").

I have checked the date and time, it is current.
The odd thing i have also noticed, the gmail app doesnt notify me about new emails when connected via Mobile data, but when on WiFi it does.

Would have been to easy a solution... You might want to consult some related questions: Apps can't connect to internet and Why can't apps connect to the internet? describe similar issues.

I have just checked those questions and checked the suggestions. AutoSyinc is enabled, background data is not disabled. I have tried to manually sync my google account and some of the tabs have synced but these havent: Calendar, Contacts, Internet. Any ideas?


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SDCard frequently unmounts itself with HTC One V
I am using HTC One V running ICS 4.0.3. The issue I often get is that my sd card is disconnected automatically for which I have to restart my device.
Secondly it takes a hell lot of time to load messages, why?

I've seen the former happen with a specific kind of sandisk card (the red and grey 'Ultra' 32 gb microsd cards). Does this happen with another SD card?

you mean to say that the issue is with memory card?

what about the lateness issue in loading the messages and contacts?

Well, I've not had issues with slow messages and contacts. I HAVE had one specific SD card give that trouble - this is a good reason to have one problem a question


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Galaxy SIII is displaying small-size low-quality pictures for contacts
My brother and I have a Galaxy SIII, we both have the most recent firmware and software updates.
We both have the same contact whose picture is fetched from his Facebook profile picture.
Whenever that contacts call either of us, her picture is naturally displayed. Only the difference is that it displays a nice, fullscreen, high resolution image for him, and a tiny, about 100x100 low-res picture for me.
What can cause this? Same contact, same picture! Is this some sort of setting I need to check?

I have often used a desktop to sign into Gmail/Contacts and update a contact image. This is then seen after a short delay in the phone, and SOMETIMES the larger version is seen soon after. Seems quite random if the larger version appears or not.

Google contacts supports max. resolution of 98x98 apparently.
Hope they will fix this soon.
Anyway if you set high res. photos in the phone they will be displayed accordingly until you restore again your contacts from google servers.

I confirm that setting the photo using the phone fixes the resolution, at least in some places (my starred list seems to insist on low resolution). Surprisingly, it turns out that if we add the contact to the Starred in Android group from contacts app in desktop, and then set the high-resolution photo, when this change gets synced with the phone the resolution gets fixed as well.


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Sync Office 365 (Exchange) calendar with Android
I have a Nexus 4 and an Office 365 account. I cannot setup sync between Office 365 exchange server and the Android builtin Exchange account manager (called "corporate" in Android settings).
What happens is that Android settings seems to approve my input of Exchange information from Office 365 including username, password and server host, but then no sync of Email, Calendar, Contacts etc. takes place.
I've tried 3rd party apps such as MailDroid, Touchdown, RoadSync and RemoSync work. Of these, only Maildroid is great but doesn't have calendar support. Touchdown and the others are very clunky, and I've no particular desire to try anything else unless someone can make a strong recommendation.
What I'd really like to do is use the native Google calendar app with my Office 365 account. Is anyone able to help me get that working?


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Prevent switching keyboard layout when pressing Shift+Space on an external keyboard
When I use a Galaxy Note together with an Apple Wireless Keyboard, pressing Shift+Space switches keyboard layout. This is really annoying. Is it possible to disable it?

Switches the Languages, you mean?
You should be able to disable the language support, in settings, somewhere--
If not, try an alternate keyboard.

Yes, "switches the languages". I do not want do disable language support, I want several languages. I just do not like the crazy shortcut. I assume the keyboard shortcut is not a property of the keyboard but rather some Android built-in.
I assume there should be something like "setxkbmap" in normal Linux, which lets me tune those, but I have no clue where is the keyboard functionality hidden in Android.

Really? On my Galaxy Tab E, Ctrl-Space switches the keyboard layout (I have two: Japanese 109 and English (US)).  Shift-Space switches the input method, not the keyboard layout.

@Kaz perhaps nowadays things are different. I have a newer Lenovo tablet which does not have this problem now, for example.

@KT This problem is an issue of the Samsung Keyboard virtual keyboard.  Does your Lenovo tablet have some piece of software called "Samsung Keyboard"? If not, that's probably why it doesn't have the problem, not because it is newer.

I have the same issue with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and a bluetooth keyboard. I was able to install Gboard (google keyboard from the app store) and this fixed the problem.

I just got a Tab S7 with  Samsung's keyboard cover and this was annoying as heck. After reading this and seeing that the solution was just to download another keyboard, I knew there had to be a setting since you can't download a physical keyboard and case.
If you go to settings and search for "lang", then go to General Management > Language and Input > Physical Keyboard. Then go to "Change language shortcut. You can select which shortcut you use or turn it off entirely. I had three options and went with Ctrl + Space. Even though this is something I will probably never use.

Switching to any other keyboard application as the default should solve this problem, for example SwiftKey. The shortcut exists in the Samsung keyboard and is not possible to turn off.

This should be the accepted answer, unless there is a way to truly avoid Shift-Space triggering on Samsung keyboards (virtual or physical).

On my Samsung phone running One UI version 3.1.1 and Android 11, this is a setting you can change in the following location:
Settings > General Management > Physical Keyboard* > Change language shortcut
In there are three (3) choices that will toggle between languages:

Shift + Space
Control + Space
Left Alt + Space

Simply move the slider to turn whichever options you want on or off.

*Physical keyboard must be connected to access this setting

You can try ctrl+shift. This option better works for the XP. May be it can also work with you.

The OP isn't looking for the equivalent keyboard shortcut on Android - he already knows that it's Shift+Space. Now he's looking for how to disable that shortcut.


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How to mount two USB drives from same device on Android?
I'm wondering how I can mount two USB drives from a USB device on Android.
I have a Garmin Oregon GPS device with a USB port. When I connect it to a Windows PC, I get two drives: one for the internal memory and one for the removable SD card. When I connect it to an Android tablet (Asus TF700T, running Android 4.2.1) I get only one drive 'USBdisk1' which represents the internal memory. How can I mount the second drive?
I suspect that both drives are properly detected by Android, but just the first one is mounted. I conclude this because when I attach it again to the PC, both drives have a new LOST.DIR folder created by Android. Btw, the filesystems are FAT and FAT32, so that shouldn't be a problem.
On my rooted Asus pad, I tried modifying /etc/vfold.fstab from:
dev_mount usbdisk1 /Removable/USBdisk1 auto /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.2/usb1/1-1/1-1.2 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.2/usb2/2-1/2-1.2 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.1/usb1/1-1 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.0

To:
dev_mount usbdisk1 /Removable/USBdisk1 1 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.2/usb1/1-1/1-1.2 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.2/usb2/2-1/2-1.2 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.1/usb1/1-1 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.0
dev_mount usbdisk2 /Removable/USBdisk2 2 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.2/usb1/1-1/1-1.2 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.2/usb2/2-1/2-1.2 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.1/usb1/1-1 /devices/platform/tegra-ehci.0

...this was just "try and error" and it ended with a severe error :)
What are the correct (auto-)mount commands?

Sure that was a severe error: there are no file system types "1" or "2" -- you should have left that on "auto" (at least I suspect that's the place for the fstype).

Nope, this parameter designates the partition no, starting at 1, not the fstype. More details see comment in vold.fstab.
However, 1 and 2 is most likely wrong in my case, because I don't have two partitions, but two drives. And after I tried with 1 and 2 the device no longer booted properly (error "System UI has stopped"). I guess the key to the solution resides in <sysfs_path> (the params behind 'auto'), but I don't know what these paths exactly mean and under which path the second drive resides.


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How can I configure a WiFi proxy that requires a username and password?
I have an Android 4.1.2 phone, and I need to set a WiFi proxy that requires me to authenticate with a username and password. Where can I setup the user and password for the proxy?

You could try user:password@ip-address for the proxy's server address. Not sure if that always works, but it's worth a try. Let us know if it did, so I write a more detailed answer.

Related: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/217801/218526

For some one Google may bring you to this post
On Android 9, Just do as Harshil mentioned (just provide proxy host name and port, then save), when you using Chrome to access internet, there will be a popup to ask for proxy credential, now you can provide your proxy credential

Long press on that wifi connection, tap on show advanced settings. Fill in your details.
The Google Play store, and Whatsapp won't work. For that you'll have to root your phone, and install Proxy Droid or some such proxy app.


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Play store stuck in old country
I moved from France to Italy, and it seems like my Play Store is stuck in France. The Operator is recognized correctly as Vodafone on the play store, but I still see the app recommendations in French and some Applications which should be available only in Italy are not downloadable (This item cannot be installed in your device's country)
How do I get play store to recognize that I have moved to a different country. My phone is a factory unlocked Galaxy SIII GT-I9300 with stock OS, purchased in France.

And I have already cleared the data and cache for Play store. didnt work.

Have a look at How do I change the Google Play country?. It seem like Google Play uses also data from Google Wallet to determine your country.

@Flow: I am the author of the question you linked to and I can confirm that the procedure mentioned in the answer works. Can a mod please mark this question as a duplicate of that?


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How can I use 2G voice calls in Nexus 7
I have bought a Google Nexus 7 3G Tablet.
But, My country and area doesn't allow me to use 3G sims/Wi-Fi.
We have only 2G sims. When I insert the sim, I can connect to the Internet. I can send and receive SMS messages via "Go SMS Pro" application.
But, I am unable to use voice call system which is available in any simple nokia / samsung java supported mobile.
Will my Nexus 7 allow me to send and receive Voice calls in 2G network? Because, to know sim balance we have to call on *XXX# or to know about data usage (Internet MB), we have to dial a number. Also, to call any phone number, we have to dial. So, what can I do to send and receive Calls like any simple mobile phone?

Possibly related: Can the Nexus 7 send and receive GSM texts and calls?

Nexus 7 3G tablets (not the WiFi only model) does have radio to communicate with 2G signals. Could you try after inserting the SIM, please switch over to 'only 2G' or 'only GSM' mode by selecting Settings->More->Mobile network settings->Use only 2G Networks. This will make the tablet to work with 2G networks.

Specifically for the *xxx# MMI / USSD codes, see this question. With a rooted phone and a custom ROM that includes the Telephony app, you should be able to do that. Still no voice calls though, which I believe is due to the "Radio" firmware of the Nexus 7 not supporting that.

You can't do anything. The Nexus 7 3G doesn't support voice calls.


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Change sms signal for specific broadcast number
At work I'm on standby certain days and nights and get alarms through sms messages, I would like to give those messages another notification signal so that I know if it's an alarm or not.
They seem to be some form of broadcast messages since when I press and hold on the thread in the messaging app I only get "delete thread" and "register as spam", neither "add to contacts" or "view contact", otherwise I figured I would just add it as a contact and give that contact a specific notification signal.
I'm on a Galaxy S2 running Android 4.1.2, I haven't rooted or upgraded it except normal OTA updates.

Even if you cannot add a contact from within the messaging app, you still should be able to see the senders number and add that manually using the contacts/people app. Have you tried that?


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Connect PS3 Controller to Nexus 4
Is it possible to connect a PS3 Controller wireless (bluetooth) to the Google Nexus 4 without rooting it? There was a way on earlier Android versions, i heard.
How about now?
Thank you

If your phone is rooted then one option may be to try the Sixaxis Controller app (it's a paid app, but you can test compatibility with your phone using the free Sixaxis Compatibility Checker app).
The app should work with both official Sixaxis and DualShock 3 Playstation controllers over bluetooth, but due to the non-standard bluetooth protocol used by the PS3 controllers it isn't compatible with all phones, so test first (using the app above), or check their website.

The question explicitly asks about non-rooted phones.


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Samsung Galaxy S4 eye tracking
In the Samsung Galaxy S4 connection eye tracking video it shows a person watching a video. While watching the video if they turn their head the video will pause.
I want to ask, if the video is seen by two or more people what will happen to the video?

If you are not Mr. Robinson Crusoe and still waiting for Friday (oh, it's Friday today): why not pick another person and try? Shouldn't be too hard. You then could let us, who don't have a S4, know the results - as simply "picking a S4" would be more complicated :)

@Izzy I think the "eye in video" bit means he's seen a video with it in and wants to know what will happen so not sure if he owns one.

@Peanut Oh -- right, I didn't consider that possibility. Sorry for that, kumar!

In S4, Eye movements are tracked by Front Camera. In this principle, the Persons Eye focused within the front cam is taken into consideration. (This doesnt works when there is no light or  dim light). This works well based on the viewing angle  (around 45Degree or something) of persons eye and Device front camera. This makes the possibility of detecting, one persons eye. so the play/pause depends on the single user not the multiple people. This makes sense when there is lot of crowd behind the user who is watching the video.

How does that answer the question?

Irrespective of number of people watching the device, only one person who falls under the specific angle is tracked. When that person, moves away his head, the phone is paused. So, it wont track multiple users eye movements. (Another Reason is, The light source (usually infrared) is directed toward the eye. which moves in straight direction and Its not scattered to detect eye. And The camera tracks the reflection of the light source along with visible ocular features such as the pupil.)


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How to set a security question?
Reading this answer, I found that we can set a security question to unlock the device after 5 unsuccessful unlock attempts (clicking Next). So to set a security question, I we to Settings -> Security but couldn't find any option to set a security question. So how to set a security question?

It means, your ROM doesn't support that.


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Samsung GT B5330 won't turn on
My Samsung GT B5330 doesn't want to power on. I charge it and when I try to turn it on it just vibrates (short vibration) and doesn't start. I let it charge for 2 hours and then it still did not start. What should I do?

Sounds like a hardware issue. Possibly a bad battery, possibly a bad connection between the charger and the battery. Can you replace the battery and see what happens?

I suggest you take it to a repair shop, as it sounds like a hardware issue.
Most likely something has happened to the hardware, and the device will no longer power on.
You may also want to try removing the battery for a while, and then reconnecting it.

Problem fixed by pulling out the SIM card, starting the phone without it, then reinserting the SIM card after turning the phone off, of course.


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AT&T Samsung Galaxy Skyrocket running jellybean update, Voice Dialer issues with BlueAnt
I upgraded my phone using KIES through a USB connection and now when ever I try to use my BlueAnt Q2 bluetooth headset it starts the new Voice Dialler that just doesn't work at all. Can't recognize a word I say and then takes off dialing a number that's not even close to what I have said. Is there any solution to this or am I just hosed..


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How can I remove myself as an admin of a group?
There is a group that I was a member of. Suddenly one day, all of a sudden I became admin of a group.
How can I remove myself as an admin of the group? And how can I make someone else an admin of that group?
Any help appreciated.

Long press the group chat and hit "Delete and exit group" - your chat will be deleted and you will be out of the group. Someone else will be auto-selected as the group-admin in your place.

is it auto selected or there is some logic behind it?

There has to be some logic behind the auto-selection, but I'm still trying to figure out what it could be.

I would still like to keep the chat, it's just that since I was auto-selected in the first place and don't want to be admin any more. Thanks for the answer but still looking for solution. Anyone any more thoughts on this?

Here's the official WhatsApp documentation - http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/general/21073373. As suspected, the leader is selected "randomly".

Talk to a person that willing to be an admin in the group. After you selected the person, remove everybody in the group except you and the selected (next going to be admin). Make sure just left two of you in the group, then remove yourself from the group. The last person will automatically will be the admin.
Last but not least, the new admin have to select all the joiners or members of the group that been removed by you (ex-admin) back to the group. So make sure he/she have all the numbers of the group before you make the move.

Sorry, Not a practical solution if you have 50 users in the group. But thanks for the answer. +1 for that.


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How to view iTunes U without iTunes?
I want to view Stanford's iOS programming course.
How can I see it without installing iTunes on my PC and on my Android mobile device?

There's the free and open source Tunes Viewer which is sadly not available in the Play store (Apple probably doesn't allow it):
The easiest way is to install the FOSS market F-Droid which hosts such apps and install Tunes Viewer from there (search for "TunesViewer").
It's also directly available as an .apk installation file here, but I'd prefer the F-Droid market installation because you get updates. The project's homepage is on SourceForge.
PS: The F-Droid Repository is an easily-installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform. The server contains the details of multiple versions of each application, and the Android client makes it easy to browse, install them onto your device, and keep track of updates.*

To be clear, Tunesviewer was posted on Google Play awhile ago a "University Podcasts Pro", and was removed only because the one who posted it hadn't given any credit to original authors (and was charging for a broken version of the app as well). - unfortunately this happens pretty often, and is another reason it's better to use FDroid than Google.

Unfortunately , you'll have to download iTunes.. then drag the downloaded courses over to your mobile device..

Nope, there's the FOSS Tunes Viewer, but it's not on Google Play (due to licensing issues I guess). See my answer...


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Why does my Droid RAZR play the new email notification when I visit my inbox on my PC?
This is truly a mystery to me.  When I get new email, it's normal for me to receive an audio notification on my Droid RAZR.  However, when I visit my Gmail Inbox via my browser on my PC, my Droid RAZR plays the notification sound.  I'm not even really sure how it knows what I'm doing.  I realize it's connected to Gmail, but it's still quite strange.
This morning I sat down at my computer to find I had several new emails.  I began reading and managing them in Gmail (on my PC), and during this time my phone notified me of new email at least 3 times, yet I didn't actually receive any 'new' email at that time.  It was all because I was going to my Gmail Inbox.
How does my phone know that I've done this?  Sometimes I don't even really have to DO anything.  If I already have a browser tab with my Inbox, and then at some point I simply go to that tab and there happens to be new email in it, within a few seconds my phone will notify me.  It's quite bizarre.
What is the explanation for this?
Recent example:
I was just browsing the internet on my PC when I noticed I had some incoming emails (my phone played the audio notification, and I also can tell via my gmail notifier app in my system tray). I was watching YouTube videos at the time.  After a few minutes I left YouTube and went to gmail.com, to my Inbox.  I clicked to view the first unread email there.  During this process, my phone played the incoming email audio notification not just once, but twice.  This is before actually doing anything with any email.  All I did was view it.  I really don't understand why/how this happens.
Update to recent example:
After updating this post with the recent example I just gave, I went back to my Inbox tab (yes, I had left my Gmail Inbox open in another Firefox tab).  When I went to the tab, which still contained a couple unread messages as I had not viewed them all yet, my phone played the notification AGAIN.  I really want to know why this happens.

Might you have moved a mail into your inbox? The client does not really now whether a mail is "new" -- just that it's "new to the client" in terms it was not there when it checked last (at least that's how it works with IMAP).

I'm not moving anything.  All I'm doing is looking at the Inbox on my PC, and when I do that, my phone notifies me.  Granted, it isn't every single time I visit the Inbox.  It's only if there have been new items since last time I visited.  Still, how would the phone know?

@Izzy, I just updated my post with a recent example of this.

That really looks weird. Only understandable reason would be if there were multiple new mails: 1) phone sounds for 1st new mail 2) second new mail arrives, while you 3) open your inbox on the computer. Accidentally, just while you're doing so, 4) your phone notices the 2nd new mail. So "new mail sound while visiting your inbox is nothing but a coincidence.

I'm not actually receiving any mail while (or anywhere near the time) that I visit my Inbox on the PC... and it happens every time, so there's no way I accept that it's a coincidence.

Another example from just now.  Over an hour ago I received several emails from my boss.  My phone, of course, notified me.  I was playing a game so I didn't open them right away. During the game I paused to email a friend.  This required me to go to Gmail, where I saw my Inbox (I don't remember if the phone did anything then).  I then went back to playing, leaving the Inbox open.  After I was done, I returned to the Inbox and began reading the mail.  For each unread email I viewed, my phone played another notification.  No new emails were coming in.

Must be some really weird thing, I've never heard such. I'm not using GMail that frequent, maybe it has some strange setting for this? I do not expect such (notify me whenever some mail changes its status from "unread" to "read" and it was not done by this client), but that at least would be a rational explanation...

This behavior used to happen to me as well on the Stock Rom. It seemed as if the Gmail App regarded any change as a new mail event. So if I read/deleted a mail on the web or my iPad, the new mail notification would occur.

@mcchots, well, it's nice to know I'm not the only one, but it's still a strange and unsolved mystery.

@vertigoelectric I don't know if it is in ICS or Motorola's code, but I don't have the problem in CM10.1. It was something that annoyed me greatly with the Stock ROM.

This is really aggravating me.  I hope someone can help me figure out a way to stop it.


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Terminal or ADB command to force-stop applications
What is the terminal or adb command to force-stop an application?
Like for freezing we use pm disable application_name.

killall application_pkg_name also works.

You can use am force-stop <package name>. Also there is am kill <package name>.

Just to be clear: am kill only kills "processes that are safe to kill": i.e. a process with no running services or activities.


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Install SSH Server or other terminal viewer for HTC X one
I'm trying to set a SSH server in order to execute and download and upload files into my HTC One X. I tried Dropbear. and Dropbear 2 but they both failed.
Can I do it without rooting my htc?
Guy

Without root, you cannot use the default SSHD port (22) -- so the app needs to use a port > 1000 (usually 2222 to easily remember and associate it with SSH). You have to consider that client-side as well, and pass that port. From command-line, this is e.g. done using the parameter -p 2222. Have you done that? Maybe it only failed because you missed that part?

QuickSSHd works on rooted and non-rooted phones. There are some limitations on non-rooted phones (running on port 2222 instead of 22, etc.), but other than this, I have yet to see any problem with it on any device (tested from 1.6 through 2.1 to 4.1). Costs approx. US$1.5

Here is a good free option as well. It also has a Pro version if you want to allow more than 3 active connections at a time.


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Ainol Novo 10 Hero 2 bricked?
Attempting to update my Novo 10 Hero 2 appears to have gone seriously wrong somewhere along the line, to the point the device won't boot and appears completely dead. The computer isn't recognising it when it's plugged in (as in it doesn't even recognise there's a device attached) and booting into recovery mode by holding volume up + plugging the USB cable in doesn't do the trick either. The screen doesn't light up, it doesn't make any noise - it's completely and utterly dead, or at least appears that way.
Is there anything else I can try, such as perhaps booting from the SD card, or is it completely unusable now?

Can you boot into fastboot mode? If so, that's where you start: into fastboot, flash new recovery, flash new ROM.

@TreborRude Sorry for the potentially stupid question - is that different from the normal recovery mode? If so how do I get into it?

Fastboot is indeed different than recovery. In a lot of devices, it's the mode used to flash the original operating system. I'm having a hard time finding out whether or not the Novo Hero supports it, though. Some forums seem to indicate holding Volume Down while powering on the device might work. There's a lot of good information and links available in this article. If any of that works for you, let me know, and I'll turn this comment into an answer.

@TreborRude No luck it seems - I've tried with and without an SD card containing u-boot.bin and uImage_recovery, with the vol - / + held down with power, attached to the computer, not attached to the computer - no sign of life :(

Sorry to hear that, @berry120. I'm out of ideas, I'm afraid.

@TreborRude No worries, I was really only stabbing in the dark. Thanks for the help either way.


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Why do I get the message "device connection disrupted" when I connect my phone to the computer?
I have a Samsung Galaxy mini gt-55570. When I try connecting my phone to the computer, I get the message "device connection disrupted" and " Kies has stopped working". What is the problem and how can I fix it?

If you have an SD card in your phone try, removing it first and try again. If it works, then good.


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Why does my phone say "Verizon Wireless" when I receive a phone call?
Whenever I receive a phone call on my DROID RAZR MAXX, the phone speaks the words "Verizon Wireless" in a female voice and then begins playing the ringtone.
If I put the phone into airplane mode, the same female voice says the words "Loss of service". Then when I turn airplane mode off, she says "Verizon Wireless" again, sometimes twice in a row.
What's going on? What is this feature? How do I enable or disable this?
My phone is running stock JB 4.1.2.

Could be TalkBack, or some other accessibility settings, perhaps. Check in Settings -> Accessibility and see if anything is enabled? That might be a good first step at least.

TalkBack is off. I went through every setting I could think of before I asked this question...

These voices were the result of having the so-called "Roaming tone" enabled in the Sound settings.
Strangely, the description of this setting is:

Roaming tone
  Set notification tone informing the status of cellular service

After disabling this option, she no longer speaks to me when I receive a phone call or turn on/off airplane mode.
Though I have no idea how a speaking voice is considered a "notification tone"...


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I always have to login to google again?
Everytime my battery ends, and the phone turns off, I'll have to login to google again? Isn't there a way to keep my login information even if the mobile restarts?
By the way, I use double check login, but after the first confirmation with the sms code, it should not ask for the login again.

This is not normal behavior. Please add some information about your device and how you are logging in to Google.

It stopped to ask my password after about 4 reboots, or 4 days. I don't know what was causing the problem.


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Samsung galaxy 3 says charging paused. Battery temperature too low
I plugged in my S3 when it said 1% battery life and the red charging indicator light never came on, when i checked it a few minutes later it was at 0% and powered off. Immediately after that I tried to power it up and the power button did not work.  The next day it powered up but always says Charging paused battery temp too low and will not charge. I took it to a Sprint Service Center and the lady put a new battery in it and same thing. She said I need a new phone. It is only 5 months old and i dont see how this cant be fixed!
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Take out the battery and see if it's size is expanded. If yes, then the battery is pretty much dead. Just buy a new one and make sure it's genuine battery from the manufacturer, not cheap knockoffs. Else, it's a problem with the USB cable charger. A batch of S3 chargers were made in China for Samsung and they were absolutely rubbish. You might be one of the unlucky ones who got this crappy USB cable.

Get yourself a heating pad, set it to low and slowly increment the temperature until it begins charging again. If this works, your easiest fix is to buy a battery charger and interchange batteries.
If your battery is dead, below operational then get it recharged for free at a battery store near you.
If you want to resolve the problem, then inspect the charging ports for corrosion or damage. If you have a soldering kit you may want to replace this part, if damaged, at your nearest radio shack or electrical parts store.
If the problem goes beyond that then call Samsung tech support higher levels and pick there brain of what parts on the motherboard controls the battery temperature and if they can give you a replacement part number you can order. This may be a lengthily process but would help others with this same problem.
Always recycle, your trash is another person's investment.

As a first look I'd say that you're experiencing the sudden death symptom, but it's hard to know for certain. Try to clean your battery connectors or try with a new battery.

It's the charging port connector. It has a thermometer sensor for the battery. It is probably malfunctioning. Replace it and see if it works out.

I let its battery go empty for a night, then I charged it fully then switched on, and now it is working correctly again


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How I can upgrade my device to latest Android without SD card?
I have a HCL Me u1 device that is running the 4.0.3 version of Android. I want to upgrade it to the latest version of Android.
I don't have an SD card. Are there any tricks for upgrading without one? How do I root the device and backup my old files?
I rooted my device with superuser, now I want to know how to upgrade to the latest version of Android. I downloaded the Zip from online but I don't know how it works.

To install the custom rom you need to have ClockWork Mod installed on the tablet/phone. ClockWork Mod is the software tool that installs the custom rom. See XDA Developers for information on how to install ClockWork Mod.


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SE BOOTLOADER v1.6 Problem (FAILED:phone is already unlocked)
I tried to unlock my bootloader with SE BOOTLOADER TOOL but get the message:

(bootloader) Unlock phone requested FAILED (remote: Phone is already
  unlocked!) finished. total time: 0.002s

What should I do now to fix it?

Do you have 4.0 or 4.2? You've tagged both.

Could it be the error message is correct, and your device is already unlocked? Maybe it's not a problem at all.


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How does the Google Play Store get updated?
I have a Micromax A110 Canvas 2 device with Android ICS 4.0. A few day ago, the Google Play Store app updated automatically with a new look. After a week I updated my device with Jelly Bean 4.1. So I got the Play Store with an older look (without an update). I was hoping for an auto update. But even after two days, the Play Store remains without an update. So how can I update the Play Store myself?

Usually, Google Play Services will always run in the background and if there is an latest release of the Play Store is available, it would updated automatically.
You may enable Google Auto Sync and check whether it works. If not, there may be some problem with Google Play Services. Alternatively, try installing the apk from XDA.

You could go into the Applications option in Settings, and clear the data from the Play Store app, uninstall updates (if that's an option), stop it running etc.  Then go and enter the store as usual, which should force it to check and update. This might take a minute or so.

authors: حمزة الترفوس


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How to make YouTube (and any video) work with my proxy?
I have a HTTP proxy set in my wifi settings. It works with all HTTP requests, except any video.
But it works with my computer and the exact same HTTP proxy setting.
So, yeah, it really bother me (since 3 years), but today I would like to solve it!
More info: I have a Nexus 4 under 4.2.2 and rooted and I'm a proficient programmer and linux user.


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What if you accidentally deleted some important apps and can't install them back?
What if you accidentally deleted some important apps and can't install them back because Google Play doesn't have them? For example android system, com.android  dun server and com.android.lgsetup wizard (i.e. basically apps that are originally there).
And every few seconds this message will appear:

"Sorry! The process com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly. Please
  try again."

And I cannot even go the browser or Task Killer because every time I do, it will force quit. How can I reinstall those apps? I think I cleared all data for those but I did not clear the browser and so why can't I open the browser?
Do I really need to send it for repair or can I fix it?

What phone do you have? Just you mention lgsetup..

Android LG one forget the model but touch screen

If you deleted those files, your phone must be rooted. You might try asking in some LG-specific forums whether or not anyone has the .apk files that you need and install them using adb. Otherwise, you'll need to obtain some complete ROM for your device and install it, with the complete loss of data that isn't on the SD card. However, since you're rooted, you should be able to use adb to perform a full backup if you can't install Titanium Backup.

Why is it you think these apps were uninstalled? Did you press Clear Data for those apps or did you remove them completely in some way?

For common system apps like the ones you've mentioned, there's no way to uninstall or reinstall them: without root, it at all you can disable them (not all of them even). But they are usually not held in the playstore for re-installation. Even if they receive updates via the playstore (like GMail, Maps, and the Playstore app itself), some of them must reside on the /system partition in order to function correctly (the Google Play app is one example for that).
But as the same situation could also apply to "normal apps", let's take a closer look:
User apps
Though they are usually coming via Google Play, it might well happen they get removed there one day (recent examples are the ad-blockers which got banned). For this, tools like AppMonster come in handy: they enable you to store a copy of the apps .apk file to your SDcard (the Pro version even can do so automatically whenever an app is installed/updated). So in case you have to remove an app for some reason, and want to re-install it later (or even if you want to install the same app on a device without Google account), you can do so by side-loading the .apk. Uninstallation, of course, is easily done either via Settings→Apps, or even via AppMonster itself.
System apps
Here it's a lot different. Without root, you can at maximum disable an app (Settings→Apps, scroll to the app, open its details, press the Disable button) -- if your device is running Android 4.0 or later, that is.
With root, things become a little different: theoretically, you could uninstall everything. A practical issue might be you're rendering your device unusable, if you e.g. uninstall something basic to the system. Also, removing their data might be an issue on re-install. So if you really have need for this, here's my recommendation:

Get ADB installed on your computer (either via the full Android SDK -- or using a minimal installation, see Is there a minimal installation of ADB?
Make a backup of the app you're going to uninstall to be prepared in case something goes wrong. You can use adb backup for this, which backs up the app including its data.
Make a copy of the app's .apk file for a re-install. You can use adb pull for this. The .apk is located in /system/app, so your command could look like adb pull /system/app/Browser.apk . to copy the browser's .apk from the device to the current directory on your computer.
Now that you have two fall-backs, you can try to uninstall the app. Again using ADB, you first call adb shell, then you need to become root (su), and now you can use the pm (package manager) tool to pm uninstall com.package.name. You can also remove the .apk from /system/app.

To re-install the app, you simply copy the .apk back to /system/app. To restore the data, you can use adb restore.
Note that dealing with system apps always bears the risk to render your system unusable. So it's always recommended to make a complete backup (best using Nandroid backup from your custom recovery) prior to such operations -- so in the worst case, you can go back to where you've started.
Dealing with the "The process X has stopped unexpectedly" error
There are several ways to deal with this error. To my knowledge, none of them includes uninstalling a system app.

if the app in question is a user app

delete its cache. If that doesn't help:
delete its data. If that still doesn't help:
delete the app. If that cannot be done due to the app being in a "force-close-loop":
boot into safe-mode, and delete the app from there.

if the app in question is a system app:

pray you've got a good backup :)
as with the user app: first try delete cache, then data.
nothing goes? Then you've got to do a factory-reset

if he really managed to uninstall a system app, then a factory reset might not be able to help, since you normally can only uninstall system app if you're rooted and can modify system partition. If things are really that bad then you'll have to flash a new ROM.

@LieRyan That's correct. The factory-reset didn't refer to an uninstalled/deleted app, but to the "process X has stopped unexpectedly" error.

The best thing to do is to make a backup, and do a factory reset.