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I forgot my phone pattern and need to reset it or at least retrieve data from it. how can i do this?
I forgot my phone pattern. Unfortunately, in the lollipop update as there is no forgot password option, I do not seem to get any other solutions.
I am unable to change the lock password using android-device-manager because it only changes passwords and not patterns. (ring feature works though)
I am able to connect to the WiFi at home, since it is already saved.
I badly need the data on my phone. Any possible solutions?
My phone is not rooted, able to connect to already saved WiFi networks and also connected to google accounts.

Is there any solution to this?

Yes, there is a solution.

So you can't even unlock your phone, I assume? If so, I'm not 100% sure if this will work, but: if you get the password wrong enough times it will disable your phone for however long (30 seconds I think). Then on your lock screen I believe you should have an "emergency pin" option or something similar. Just enter your pin and that should unlock your phone.
Is this what you mean?
Hope it helps.
Or this might have something:
https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/prod_answer_detail/a_id/97840/p/30,6720,9102

This phone I had is number pattern locked.   Luckily it is also rooted.
So the answer is easy:  Use Android SDK's adb to "cd" to /data/system directory, and remove two file: password.key and gesture.key.
Once removed, just enter "reboot" (while still inside the adb shell connected to the phone via USB) to reboot the phone, and number pattern is now unlock.


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Conference Call using adb shell
I am trying to automate a conference call in android. So far I have been able to automate making a call and receiving a call. I use the following command to make a call
adb -s <serial no> shell am start -a android.intent.action.CALL -d tel:<telephone_no>

And then I query the other phone that is connected to adb server by this command
adb -s <serial no> shell dumpsys telephony.registry | grep "mCallState"

for windows
adb -s <serial no> shell dumpsys telephony.registry | findstr "mCallState"

based on the call state I can accept the call by
adb -s <serial no> shell input keyevent 5

and reject the call by
adb -s <serial no> shell input keyevent 6

Now if I want to make a conference call, I have to hold the call then dial again and on receive I will have to merge the call.
I have used KEYCODE_BREAK as I found it as the break and pause button from the page android keyevent
I also need the merge button key map.
thanks in advance.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Android not writing files in sd card
I am not getting why inspite of having a 16 GB SD card in my android the apps from play store are not getting directly stored in SD card by default. Due to this its becoming hard for me to use the device as every time I have to flush lots of data from the device memory to install some new app.

@SLY A link-only comment or an answer becomes unhelpful when the link becomes obsolete. Please always provide a brief context in the comment whenever you suggest an off-site link in it.

Can't you install a better system on your device like CyanogenMod or Debian?

Some ROMS have an option Default Write Disk (or something similar) under Storage settings, change that to External memory.

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


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what do the numbers after the : /dev/block/vold/179:xx mean?
I've been trying to figure out an micro sd card issue and just stumbled upon a page where someone mentioned that the numbers after the colon would represent xyz and if they are something different then they will represent abc.  I'm having issues with cm12.1 recognizing my micro-sd card and I've been trying to fix it with fsck in terminal.  When I manage to find where it's mounted the numbers I am seeing are 179:33...anyone know?  Thanks.

These are the "major device number":"minor device number" (You can list them with cat /proc/partitions in adb). The major device number selects which device driver is being called to perform the input/output operation. This call is being done with the minor number as a parameter and it is entirely up to the driver how the minor number is being interpreted. The driver documentation usually describes how the driver uses minor numbers.
The sc-card is normally mounted by the volume daemon (vold). The output of mount shows you where the according mount points are.


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Samsung Galaxy y does not boot even after factory-reset
Suddenly my Samsung Galaxy Y start to stuck at Samsung screen (not the initial Galaxy Y screen) and keep on restarting after that point. The situation is verymuch similar to this.
I did a factory-reset from recovery mode when I have sdcard in it and found no luck
then I re did the factory-reset after removing sdcard and still no luck
What are other options I have to recover from this point?

Are you sure you mean hard-reset – and not factory-reset? Also: Any idea what might have led to the situation – any changes you've applied to the device? Is it rooted, and did you perform any actions involving root before the issue started?

No idea why.Hard reset, not factory reset. Did not root.

So you really just took the battery out (hard-reset) while in recovery mode? I think you confuse the terms here (which is why I linked them; please follow the links in my previous comment). Hard Reset is just cutting power (like with the "reset" button on your computer). Factory reset is what you do from recovery to reset the device to factory settings, deleting all user-apps and user-data. So again, are you sure you just did a hard reset? Then I recommend booting to safe-mode and see if that works.

Sorry if I confused. This is what I mean by hard reset (First method in this link) http://www.hardreset.info/devices/samsung/samsung-s6310-galaxy-young/

Quoting from there: Then select from Recovery Mode menu "wipe data / factory reset" Yeah, the terms are often confused. OK, but in this case I'm afraid choices are only few: if the device is still under warranty, I'd contact Samsung support, so their techs should take care for it (send it for repair). If not, there might be something odin can do for you – but that's then better explained by someone familiar with that tool.


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How to regain access to Google after phone is found?
I lost my Android phone but after a few days someone returned it to me. Unfortunately, in the mean time I had blocked my SIM, and blocked my Google and Facebook accounts from using that phone device. Is there any way I can unblock the accounts? I need a phone in which I can check my email.

Why Have'nt you installed Android Device Manager on your device? If you've installed it earlier, maybe none of this would have happened. It's going to be a little tricky getting everything back.

Are you able to unlock the device? If so remove the previously added google account and add it again in the accounts section of your settings page. See if you can login into the blocked google account and may be google will ask to verify the account and you can do so and get access back to your account.

"I had blocked my SIM, and blocked my google and facebook accounts" -- What do you mean by blocked the Google and Facebook accounts? Did you contact them to do so for you (unlikely), or did you go to respective websites and deactivate the accounts? I need to know can you log-in using their website on Desktop?


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when "full back up" screen appears i cannot pick the "back up my data" option
i can't touch and confirm the back up my data option. i am able to pick the "do not back up" option whenever. ive tried adding a password but does not let me back up. im not sure all is update and installed. im running kk 4.4.4 on verizon s5. i downgraded from lollipop if that may be the issue? I dont see how if im already on the full back up prompt.

In Lollipop and I faced the same problem. I couldn't select the option and it was greyed out. So I dont think you are unable to select the option because you downgraded from Android L to Kitkat.

i actually got it to work. i had bluelight filter on which decreases the opacity of screen. Anyhow i turned it off and the back up worked. i wasnt able to download apks so this helped. if u have any apps that run ontop of most apps or something like that as it was explained in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EOBoy77YoQ   i would disable them and then do what you gotta do and redownload. idk why this is happening now because it didnt before but it helped me. hope it helps you!

But I wasn't using any screen filter apps. The screen was stuck on the Full backup screen with the buttons unselectable and nothing was happening for over half hour. If it worked for you please post it as an answer which will be useful for the future readers. ;)

so you werent even able to cancel it?

@user117301 Could you add your comment as an answer? Thanks!

@user117301 there was no cancel button or nothing was happening acutually. Pressing home button got me to the home screen.

I actually got it to work by disabling the screen filtering app. I had applied bluelight filter which decreases the opacity of screen. Anyhow I turned it off and the backup worked. I wasn't able to download apk's so this helped. If u have any apps that run on top of most apps or something like that as it was explained in this youtube video, I would disable them and then do what I want to do and redownload. I don't know why this is happening now because it didn't before but it helped me. Hope it helps you.


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battery gets drained at a certain time
Lately I've gotten a very strange behavior from my phone:
at a certain time (around 23h) the battery begins to drain,
it's very annoying because I used to keep the phone on during the night (and as a result woke up with a dead phone in the morning).
I use juice plotter to see what's going on and surely:
at around 11 the graph drops at a higher speed compared to the graph during daytime.
I didn't install new apps (that I know of), don't use wifi or mobile network.
I do keep my phone updated (I regularly update all my apps) so an update of a certain app can be the cause (question is: which app?))
If I look at the info of the os itself it doesn't show a certain app using more battery then usual.
How can I investigate this issue?
S.

Have you tried changing your battery? try & tell us what will happen.

Look who's using cpu after the drain starts (like, look at live cpu usage)

Is it possible your wifi is trying to connect to a neighbor who turns his network on/off? Close proximity + password enabled + failure = continued attempts until drainage. In fact, I exploit this condition when my tablet freezes; I re-charge an empty battery which has unfrozen to get past it.

Concerning my previous suggestion - this is more likely to be evidenced if you are placing your phone in a different location overnight than before?

@wbogacz: hey, this is not the issue (I don't use wifi or mobile network)


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How to make my cellphone a router or a hotspot thing with a constraint
My computer is connected to internet but I dont have a router(and I dont want to buy one) to use it on my phone. So I was using the usb "reverse tethering tool" which i could use succesfully.
But now I want to use my phone as a router so that I can connect to internet from anywhere in my room with other phones.
And yes I dont want to buy a router, My PC doesnt have a wifi or bluetooth connectivity.
Thankyou for your time.
Sincerely,
Jasser
I am using samsung galaxy S duos GT-S7562.

Interesting quedtion. I upvoted it. Even i had the same doubt

This can easily be done by turning on Portable Wi-Fi hotspot.
Go to Settings -> More Settings under Wireless and Networks -> Tethering and Portable Hotspot and turn Portable Wi-Fi hotspot on.

After turning it on click on it to configure your connection, where you can change the hotspot's name and password.

But the devices you connect with this phone must have a Wi-Fi adapter and the necessary software. Or else they won't be able to connect.
Also consider changing the security settings incase you are not able to connect, because when I tried it on my phone, I had to turn off security (you will find it in the configuration screen).
Hope this helps.

The security settings doesnt help either. @Switch I also tried the bluetooth tethering but it also did not work.

You can turn your device into a Wifi Hotspot (there is an option in the general settings, usually with the other connectivity settings).
Generally, you will need to pay your Cellphone provider to allow you to use this particular feature (although there are ways to get around this - but that is another thread).
Bottom line, there is an option in the settings - if your phone can support this, you will easily be able to turn it on.

When I use reverse tethering I am not able to use wifihot-spot.... I have already tried that.....

I mean it shows the sign of hotspot and I am able to connect one phone with another but i am not able to get internet access @booger

You likely don't have that service enabled from your cell phone provider.  That is specifically what I am saying.

Yes it does but the problem is that it is not working when I do it with reverse tethering part @Booger


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McAfee Free Antivirus won't update from Play Store returning error -505
I am putting McAfee in System/app directory to prevent standard users from uninstalling it.
Once I try to update the package from Play Store, the download progress reaches 100% and when it tries to replace the old package I am getting Error -505
After a searching, it looks like Android Lollipop have an issue with Adobe Air application, but FYI this is Lollipop 5.1
This is what i am getting from bug repport: different signatures ?? any ideas??
Session 1987113136:
  userId=0 installerPackageName=com.android.vending installerUid=10018 createdMillis=1437157124890
  stageDir=/data/app/vmdl1987113136.tmp stageCid=null
  mode=1 installFlags=0x12 installLocation=1 sizeBytes=10749412 appPackageName=com.wsandroid.suite appIcon=false
  appLabel=Security & Antivirus -FREE originatingUri=null referrerUri=null abiOverride=null
  mClientProgress=1.0 mProgress=0.90000004 mSealed=true mPermissionsAccepted=true mDestroyed=true mBridges=1
  mFinalStatus=-7
  mFinalMessage=Package com.wsandroid.suite signatures do not match the previously installed version; ignoring!`

Please see: How do I deal with unknown installation error code -505? (which is probably what you're referring to). A signature mismatch suggests you're installed the original app from a different source (is that so?), and/or the file has been tampered with (someone modified the .apk to e.g. introduce additional "features" such as malware).

Actually the APK isn't altered this is  why i'm asking

Still missing details on the other open question (installation source). To give you an example: F-Droid always compiles apps directly from the sources, and thus has to use its own certificate for the signing process. So this error would pop up if you try to update an app you've installed from F-Droid using a different source such as Google Play.

What's strange now is  when putting the  apk in  userdata it will update normally, is it firmware signature issue?

Abdel, unless you specify the required details we won't be able to help you. Did you install from a different source than used for the update now? Where in "userdata" did you put the file (exact path, please)? Did you remove the .apk from /system/app before? My crystal ball is just out to be serviced, so I cannot see that, sorry.

The app with this package name: com.wsandroid.suite was not signed by the same certificate as the one from the Play store.  This is a fundamental security requirement.  You will have to make sure the app you are installing originally is signed with the same key as the one in the Play store.
There is no way to get around this security requirement (matching signatures) to the best of my knowledge.

Actually, there is a way around this (requiring root, the Xposed framework, and the XInstaller module) – but that should only be used in rare exceptions. There's a good reason for this security measure.


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How do I get Application name from APK file?
When we click on apk file on android phone (assuming allowed installation from unknown sources), Application name appears.
Example screen-shot for jackpal.androidterm-1.apk:

Now, If I want to get this Application Name "Terminal Emulator" from apk file (jackpal.androidterm-1.apk) without installation prompt, then How do I do that?
So, My question is How do I get Application name from an .apk file?
As you know (from screen-shot) I use terminal, also I've installed busybox. So, Is there any command (like: foo /path/to/.apk) with the help of which I can get application name?
If I've to use application to do that, then I recommend to suggest FLOSS type application.
Note:- This is not about getting package name but application name. Also I am not talking about application that is already installed.

Related: Obtain package name AND common name of apps via ADB

View apk manifest on PC : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=14523375#post14523375 .  Uses aapt from your SDK installation.

Works only on Cyanogenmod or forks that base on CM:
aapt may not be present on your device. It's suspected that this binary is part of CyanogenMod (and its forks). Confirmed to be present on my S3 running Resurrection Remix (CM12.1), Izzy's Milestone² running CM11 and the LG P880 running CM11 as well.
You can use aapt (Android Asset Packaging Tool) to dump the data to your terminal.
Command:
aapt d badging <path to apk>

call aapt
     [d]ump the data
       print the badging (label and icon) of
               <the apk>

Your output will contain many lines beginning with application-label; those are localized labels so the one you are looking for is plain application-label:.
Use grep to filter your output and you will end up with this command:
aapt d badging <path to apk> | grep "application-label:"

This gives you the localized application label for a given apk.
Update: Thanks to Izzy for providing aapt for all devices running Android 4.1+:
Izzy put together an archive containing the aapt binary for ARM devices (nearly all phones and tablets use ARM CPUs).
Get it from his website: http://android.izzysoft.de/downloads.
Note: the command to get the actual application label is slightly different, you need to use awk to isolate the application label from the rest of the output:
aapt d badging <path to apk> | grep "application: label" |awk '{print $2}'

currectly command aapt not found. how to install Android Asset Packaging Tool?

@Pandya some apps seem to include it. Unfortunately, that's all I could find so far.

@Izzy those are IDEs, that are mentioned. They need to include aapt to be able to pack apks. I just checked my S3's 4.4.4 stock image, but I haven't found aapt in it. Seems like it only comes with the development version of Android.

So that confirms my suspicion it might be a CM specific thing (one more edit to your answer?). And yes, I'm aware those are IDEs – otherwise, what for should they include aapt? ;) But if one can get hold of the .apk, (s)he may extract the aapt binary plus the required lib(s) from it (aapt at least requires libpng).

Thanks! And yuck, I forgot the upvote (done now) – and we have to cleanup comments again ;) Btw: description for this aapt also in my answer here.

@Izzy Thanks for providing aapt

authors: ปฏิภาณ ปาเปี้ยม


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Boot amination off center
In using cm 10.1.3 for the Samsung galaxy tab 2 p3110 I noticed the boot animation was off center. How could I fix this?
EDIT
As discussed in comments, rotation failed. Link to unedited boot animation here

Grab the bootanimation zip file for your ROM, edit the images and flash it again?

Rotate? That failed horribly. :(

I'm confused. You rotated the image unsuccessfully?

No. I rotated them, and it brought it down to 2FPS, stopped the amination half way in.

Hmmm, if you just rotated them without disrupting the order, dimensions, or anything else there's no reason why the animation should stop. Could you edit in a link to the zip in your question? Then anyone who stumbles upon this could try to diagnose the issue.

Sure, give me a while. May as well move this to chat too :)

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

It turns out the issue was Samsung's loveable kernel. Changing to a supported custom kernel fixed this.


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How do I get rid of the GPS navigation and replace it with an icon?
I have the Samsung Galaxy s4 with echoe rom v51 (lollipop 5.0.1 ) installed and I would like to learn how do I get rid of the GPS navigation text notification and replace it with an icon (of course disabling the GPS is out of question)?

The screenshot is from my phone it sets on Greek language.


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Android 5.0.2 x86 on laptop problem
I would like to get info about an issue..I installed lollipop on my laptop (through unetbootin) and everything 's fine except one thing..videos on YouTube app do not play..they keep loading and loading..and if I set a lower quality,all I get is that screen..!!

Can anyone help on that issue??

Can you please send a link to this android iso?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4VR-WNTOX0qVnkyWExEZHdLTms/view


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How can I ever root my Samsung Galaxy V, SM-G313HZ, Android version 4.4.2? Please help
I've tried everything on the internet to root my phone and followed the exact procedures – but when I try to install CWM or .tar files through Odin mode, I seem to always lose my recovery mode:
Pressing volume up + home button then power button won't work to boot to recovery mode. It just displays a very small red exclamation point at the topmost left of the screen and the logo at the center of the screen then it will turn black, then back again at the logo with the (!).
I still can open my phone but can't boot to its recovery mode and still not rooted. Good thing, there is a way to recover my recovery mode by reflashing my Android's stock ROM through Odin mode, which works 100% in reflashing back my recovery mode. I do, still, have to factory reset my phone after reflashing through the newly flash stock ROM.
Now the question is, how can I ever root my phone?

how about trying with king-o-root....though the device is not listed....but you can give it a try http://www.kingoapp.com/android-root/download.htm

Tried that already. I've also tried Kingroot and Vroot (now Iroot) both are of Chinese origin but they still can't root my android. They're harmless somehow to use on my android. These one click rooting apps don't actually root your device, they're just taking over the official root of your android if your android is already rooted then verify it.

I am talking about the PC version of king-o-root. It worked perfectly fine for my samsung galaxy-S-duos GT-S7562. I also verified the root two ways..

I think that will take too long to download on my computer. I've also tried Iroot PC version but failed again to root my phone. Should I try other PC versions of some one click rooting apps? These PC versions of rooting android also come with other apps that automatically install while rooting.

We'll its just around 30 mb....since that method worked I haven't tried other methods to root.... maybe others here can help.....

I will try all possible ways of rooting just for my phone. I'm persistent! Persistent just to overcome  the conditions & limitations KitKat 4.4.2 has. (i.e. Can't write, save or paste files on external sd card.)

I may have a way but I need to ask you those questions , 1/ do you have access to download mod (volume down + home +power) ? 2/ my methode will make you use warranty if you are out of EU is it worth it for you ?(personally I never cared about warrenty). 3/what OS do you use on PC ?

1.) Yes, I have access to Odin download mode. _______________2.)And yes, I would likely use a warranty.________________3.)The OS of our computer is Microsoft Windows 2007 / 7.

click the volume- or volume+ when seeing the logo of android with exclamation point.

i also use samsung galaxy v duos i rooted already go to this site www.kingroot.net


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ZTE N9130: Video recorded, but doesn't show under Camera, Gallery or a Video player, though it can be seen under File manager
My wife's phone is a ZTE N9130 and it has a rather odd problem when recording video. It'll record, but then the video doesn't appear in the camera application for you to review. In fact, no videos do.

If you go to the gallery application, they aren't there either.
If you go to the video player, it looks like no video again.
But, if I go into the File Manager and navigate to SD Card/DCIM/Camera, then I can see them. You can then tap one and it'll run in the video player.

This is really annoying. It seems like the camera, gallery and video apps are all missing the videos that are on the SD card. Any way to fix this?

First thing coming to my mind: check the path "upwards" (i.e. start at /sdcard/DCIM/Camera, then /sdcard/DCIM, then /sdcard) and see whether there's a file named .nomedia. If so, remove it. But if that's the cause, photos shouldn't show up either. So try one more thing: reboot the device and check if the videos show up in gallery etc. after that. Let us know about the outcome then. Good luck!

@Izzy: A reboot was the first thing I tried (this phone has had a number of intermittent problems that are fixed by a reboot). I looked for .nomedia and don't see it anywhere. And as you say, I would have expected that to block the photos in the same folder which it doesn't appear to do.

Afraid if a reboot doesn't make them turn up I'm out of ideas; and while I don't expect it to help, maybe you try some of the MediaScanner triggering apps?

Hopefully I'm not too late.
I had the same problem I had  been looking for my videos for months. After reading what Izzy replies to you, I realized I was searching the right folder but in the wrong area.
Go to your file manager app icon, it should look like a folder. Once you open it, select phone which is to the immediate right of category. Now you should see a list of different folders. Click on camera and scroll all the way to the very bottom passed all the photos, you should begin to see a small purple triangle indicating videos.
I hope that helps you out.

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


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How to restore APN Settings?
I edited my Android phone's APN Settings. I did not have a back up of my APN Settings file [/system/etc/apns-conf.xml]as mentioned in this post.
I deleted the Proxy and Port fields from my APN Settings. Currently, my device is showing "Not Set" for those two fields as I deleted those 2.
Is there a way I can get my earlier APN settings back? Will remove and adding the SIM Card solve the issue?
Android Device: Samsung Tab 2 running 4.1 and Mobile carrier: Idea Network (Country:India)

I'm totally unfamiliar with your carrier, but I found this link that has some APN settings. Not sure if they're totally accurate, but otherwise I would call customer service.

As stated below you can send SMS SET to 54671 for internet settings and you can install them (this is IDEA n/w specific). Also configure APN manually - Title>Idea, APN>internet, and everything else as blank or default values. You need not to configure proxy.


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How to delete SU binaries without root?
My Android device used to be properly rooted, I had root access to things, but the root manager (old version of vRoot, no computer) was a virus. So, I deleted the root program and I was gonna root another way, but I can't delete the old su binaries. I was gonna try and use something like Odin and TWRP to root, or perhaps another method. I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7' Wifi Only (SM-T210).
How do I delete the SU binaries without root? Maybe using adb? I do not have fastboot.

are you open to flash custom recovery ? also try to install SuperSU from the play store open it if it ask to update su binary say yes and choose normal method ,see if that updates you su binary or not

@lord-ralf-adolf I can't. I tried to update the su binaries through supersu and it said that it failed. Also, I tried to flash TWRP through Odin, but it didn't work.

it didn't flash the TWRP ? you have truble flashing TWRP or you did flash but you din't figure a way to use it to remove the SU binary ?

@lord-ralf-adolf It didn't flash the TWRP. I booted into recovery (with ADB) and it was my usual device recovery. That is meant to root the device by installing the SU binaries but I had the 2 problems. 1. TWRP didn't flash and 2. I still had the old SU binaries. Should I flash the stock firmware? Or will that still keep the bin and xbin folders from /system

so you wanna delete the su binary so you can root again ? your problem is how to regain root access right ?

@lord-ralf-adolf Yes and yes.

did you try flashing this zip file threw recovery ? https://download.chainfire.eu/696/SuperSU/UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip

You don't need to delete the existing binaries.  If you root it properly they'll be overwritten.


text:
Some APKs are autoupdated from Play Store while some are not
A have option on my Play Store account - always auto update apps. Thus I see that some installed apps require update. Mainly Google apps are autoupdated in first term, but I see that even some of them are hung in the "need to be updated" list for some time. But still not Google apps reside in this list for much longer time. How much time will it take to update the apk on my device after a new version is published in the Play Store?

Some apps wont update automatically because the permissions they require (camera, storage, etc.) changed.
Thats why you have to manually update them, so that you can accept oder decline the new app permissions.

authors: Антон Ищенко


text:
USB and charging port is not working after rooting
I have rooted my HTC Desire 620G with kingoroot. After rooting the phone is not getting charged while its switched on.
The phone can be charged by switched it off. Also the phone can not be connected with Laptop via USB, hence I am unable to unroot it again.
It seems like kingo has blocked the charging/USB port.battery is draining very fast. I have reset the phone but no luck. Can anyone help??

How did you reset the phone? Did you reboot? Or is this a factory reset, in which case your phone should no longer be rooted?

After factory reset still it showing rooted.I rooted it with Kningo root.After rooting one app named Kingo SuperUser has been installed in my phone which can not be removed even after factory reset. Now I have having two issue. 1.usb/charging port not working ,2.battery is draining very fast

Are you willing to flash stock ROM or a custom ROM in your phone? If yes, then install a custom Recovery in your device (it is rooted so you can flash the Recovery from inside the Android, no need for ADB/USB cable). Once done, find the stock/custom ROM recovery flashable zip for your device and flash it from the custom Recovery, and do a full wipe before it -- all the data, apps, that Kingo superuser, all these things would be gone, so do take backup before proceeding.

it sounds very complicated.I can not proceed with all these until get detailed information.looking in to it.


text:
Yu Yureka hangs after being updated to Lollipop
Yesterday, I updated my device to Lollipop, and now it hangs. I have deleted many apps, transfers the to SD card, though it still hangs.
How do I resolve this issue?

Did you dirty flash the ROM? Meaning, did you not clear /data/ before flashing the ROM.
Dirty flashing can cause severe lag and many unexpected problems.
Please try formatting data partition and flashing ROM again.


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Are Apple headset volume control buttons not compatible with Android phones?
I have recently transitioned from the iOS ecosystem to the Android ecosystem, and I just realised that although my iOS headsets can be used to pause and play the tracks and receive calls, their volume control buttons do not work, while the stock headset from the Samsung phone has working volume control buttons.
The only source I can find for this is this Stack Overflow answer, which states that Android cannot ever achieve compatibility due to Apple's patents. However, it does not cite a source.
Can anyone confirm that this is indeed the case with a reputable source?

I tried this a while ago and they didn't work for me either. So no, Apple stuff won't work on Android phones.

This would be a fly-by-night shot, but,  has anybody try Tasker at all? One should be able to set up the media controls for Tasker to pick up the buttons pushed on the headset/ear buds and forward them to the media control for the current media player, in theory at least. This would only work if the hardware even registers the volume button presses.
If I get the time I'll see about snagging a pair with volume and answer buttons to test it out and I'll come back here if it works to post the steps to make it work. My two cents, enjoy.

authors: Константин Мохнаткин

authors: محمد نور ببجي موبايلي


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Lollipop screen not locking, even after removing smart lock etc
Since I played around with smart lock, my device just does not lock anymore.
I disabled smart lock, I cleared all credentials, I removed device administrators, accessibility accesses (Lastpass). Nothing helped.
Can anyone give me a procedure to reset this setting?
Thanks.

Actually the thing I missed is that I was so annoyed by the double lock screen that I used the system profiles feature to create a profile which disabled the lock screen completely. Once I re-enabled the lock screen everything returned to normal.


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System Memory on Android
This is my first time here. I wanted to ask if 4.96gb of system memory is normal. My phone is Samsung Galaxy s3 that is 16gb and system memory is the top consumer of my memory. It wasn't like this before. It takes alot of space in my phone.

Yes, it is. As you may know, qll device with storage do not give yoy wccess to all 100% of it. For example, a Samsung galaxy tab 2 uses 3.41gb as system. So, as devices get newer, more stuff (apps and features) are added, meaning more used. So, long story short, yes it is normal. Enjoy your device :)


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Where I can find factory home screen layout file?
Where I can find factory  home screen layout file?
I would like modify default layout which will persist after I will make a hard reset.
Best
Edit
device: Lenovo A6000, kitkat 4.4.4
rom: orignal stok rom from Lenovo
home screen launcher: LenovoLauncher com.lenovo.xlauncher

Great, thanks! What I forgot to ask for: the device is rooted, right? Without root, chances are zero, as you will have to modify "system stuff" (most likely the .apk file of the launcher residing in /system/app – but that part I better leave to those with better expertise than I have).

@Izzy so default layout is hardcoded into .apk??? yes I 'm root

It's not exactly my area of expertise (I'm not a dev), but that's the only place making sense to me, for several reasons: 1) launchers are replaceable, so while possible it doesn't make much sense to spread the information across the system; 2) on init, /data/data/<package_name> will be created – but a factory reset will remove that again. So where shall it come from? A launcher is a "regular app", even if installed as system app. I wouldn't want that to "mingle" with other OS components.

@Izzy Good pointer! I extended the theory based on it with a bit of backing from here and there in my answer.-

Well done, @Firelord (+1 on both ends). That said, we're going "border-line" now – so, lobi, asking how to change that would most likely go beyond this site's scope – unless you only intend to re-populate that database, which should count as power-user part. Though I rather guess with knowing where it is, you're able to figure the rest :)

Izzy opined it correctly here that the only sensible place for having factory home screen layout is the launcher's APK itself.
Since I don't own a Lenovo device let alone your specific model I  used my MTK device running stock 4.2.1 as the testing ground. It has stock launcher (com.android.launcher).
About that thing called factory home screen layout -- a launcher usually has one or more databases inside its /data/data/.. directory, and one of that database has a table named favorites (name could differ among launchers but the idea is same). (See my answer for How can I manage “desktop” icons to know what I'm talking about.)
The default setting that you see is nothing but code in the APK creating  database(s) from scratch and populating the favorites table with hard-coded entries (like "Contacts", "Phone", "Messages", "Chrome" at the dock).
E.g. See this code snippet from the source code of com.android.launcher:

The code is available here. If you look closely at few lines above the line 262, you would see that the code is creating a new database with proper schema and then populating the database with favorites table which is available to it.
At this point, I didn't bother digging more to know, where does this favorites table or the related content is saved, since my conclusion is drawn from custom launchers as well who also have a different but a factory layout (clearly not saved outside the APK).
I would recommend taking a look at the source code (provided that you can find it first) of your default launcher, or extract the APK and dig under res folder. I found some interesting stuff under res/xml/.

Oh, if someone wants to experiment on OP's question then I suggest you do Clear Data from Settings → Apps → All apps → <Your Launcher> since it would have the same effect as doing a factory reset (not Hard reset).

Thanks for answer. I tried to decompile Lenovo Launcher.apk, but problem is that when I recompile it, it stop working properly. When I decompile it. I found this assets/profile/app_config.xml http://paste.ubuntu.com/11913136/
I decopile and recompile with apktool and with apkstudio which is GUI for apktool.

Sorry lobi, I'm not really familiar with decompiling and recompiling  of APKs. Can't be of any help here. May be you can try posting a new question in that regard.


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How do I enable MTP on S4 with Lollipop
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 running Android 5.0.1. I don't know the last time I tried accessing the phone with my computer but it worked using MTP.
Now I struggle enabling MTP. The phone prompt (asking for MTP/PTP) won't appear. I double checked it with another PC so the USB port doesn't seem to be the problem.
I followed this little answer but I don't have the three dots (aka context menu) on storage settings.
My PC is running Linux. But I don't think this is the problem as the phone prompt does not appear and the device is not even recognized (no /dev/-entry). But to be sure I additionally installed mtpfs and mtp-tools just to be sure. But it didn't help.
Oh. I'm using encrypted device with encrypted SD card. Does this disable MTP at all?

possible duplicate of Disabled MTP, cannot access setting to enable -- no answer as of yet.

Have you tried toggling USB debugging? (It may sound irrelevant, but there is a slight chance it will shed some light on the subject)

@Avia yes, I tried that while I tried if it works with USB debugging disabled.


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Lenovo S850 crashes randomly!
Lenovo crashed randomly thrice this week. The screen each time just went black and the phone would not turn back on afterwards when power button was pressed and held; however, after a few hours it would turn on by itself. When the phone is in a such a "blackout" (sorry for a lack of a better word) and the power button is pressed and held the screen flashes for a short second but then  becomes black again. Before it crashes, the phone does not freeze or get stuck, i.e the phone is running fine before it just blacks out. The phone runs quite smoothly otherwise. RAM isn't the problem as well.
I don't know if this is related or not but the apps being used when the crash occurred were youtube and two gaming apps, including Cheating Tom.
What should I do? Should the phone be taken to an expert or can I do something to fix it myself?

I'd first try to leave those apps alone, especially the games, and see if the issue persists. If after a week it did not repeat, one of those games is likely to be the culprit.

@Izzy  and if it does persist? I did delete those games  were right after the incidents happened though. The latest crash came while using youtube.

Hard to say. Can you reproduce the crash (i.e. do you know steps that force it to happen)? Most "service lines" would now insist on a factory-reset; but if you can reproduce it using the Youtube app (which came pre-installed with your device), you could try doing the very same from safe-mode first and see if it crashes as well. If so, a factory-reset might be needed.

@Izzy  There are no particular steps that make it crash; each time they're unique. This time i used youtube and did the same things as before, but it did not crash. I'm not an android expert at all but I don't think its really related to a specific app. I think maybe there's something wrong in the software itself

Sara, there are possibilities to check what's going on (see e.g. our logging tag-wiki). If you think you can go that path, it might help you figure. If that looks too complex for you, I'm afraid apart from literally handing your device to an "expert", all that's left is already mentioned factory-reset.

@Izzy oh well I'll just try factory reset then. Thanks!

Anytime. Don't forget to let us know the outcome. If it solved your issue (which I expect it to do), you can also answer your own question ;) Good luck!


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How to change default dialer app in Asus Zenfone 5?
How can I change the default dialer app in Asus zenfone 5. I tried Settings → Apps → All, then selecting the phone app. There was a Clear defaults button which was greyed out.
Do I have to get root access to change it?
The purpose of it is to automate a conference call using uiautomator and adb shell. For this reason we are supposed to have a same UI for all devices so that we can automate it easily.
But right now, even when I call with Truedialer I get this default screen that I used earlier. The resourceid is com.asus.asusincallui:id/holdButton.
(Click image to enlarge)

You need at least another dialer app to change it to. Your question didn't mention that part: do you have another dialer installed, and if so which?

I have installed True dialer.

OK, that's a start. Now what happens if you e.g. click a phone number in a text message (or perform some other action that should invoke the dialer – appart from starting it directly via its icon)? That should now ask you which of the two to use, and whether only once or always – the latter making it the "default dialer".

Yes I know the process. The problem is much broader. Can I email you ??

No, sorry. But you can [edit] your question and closer describe your issue. There are others around here who might "chime in" with ideas I wouldn't think of, so it's much better to solve the issue here (if it's possible to solve, that is).

It is called incallui.  what is android incallui?


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Are there other ways to enter fastboot mode if the power button is broken?
I've dropped my phone (ATRIX HD) and now it isn't turning on. The thing is when I connect to charger it shows the green light and start to boot (Motorola logo appears) but then it keeps restarting forever.
I've read that to solve this you've enter fastboot mode and do some modifications. The problem is that I'm unable to enter fastboot when the phone is connected to the PC instead of the charger.
Since the power button broke it gets even harder because I have to use a mini screwdriver to press it (and it is very hard to press the "Volume Down" at the same time also).
So, is there any other way to pass the files needed for recovery or to enter fastboot mode?

Have you tried adb reboot recovery already?

No i haven't @ott-- , i thought the phone should at least be recognized by the computer to use adb. Have you any suggestions on that direction?

Did you already enable Developer functions in your Settings? There you can enable USB debugging.


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Custom recovery reporting wrong device when flashing CM11 in Samsung Galaxy Note 8 even when I downloaded the right firmware
I'm trying to flash CM11 firmware on a GT-N5100 device. I installed the custom recovery (tried both CWM and PhilZ), and while flashing it says I'm on a wrong device. On CWM, it was saying "The package is for N5100 and you are in a N5110, update aborted".
And on PhilZ, it says "This package is for kona3g, kona3gxx and you are on a konawifi, operation cancelled."
Now what am I supposed to do? I'm unable to install CM11??? So sad.

On comparing the models, there is difference between the two (especially when it comes to network). I suggest that you do have a look at this before proceeding and try that first.
But if you are sure that your model is N5100 and still want to try and proceed, there is a workaround you can do so it doesn't check/compare the models.

Open the ROM zip file with winrar.
Go to META-INF/com/google/android and open the updater-script with notepad.
You are looking for line similar to:

getprop("ro.product.device") == "N5100" || abort("This package is for \"  N5100\" devices; this is a \"" + getprop("ro.product.device") + "\".");
(this line should in fact be the very first line in script).
Erase this line, save the zip and flash again. It won't verify your model.
Warning: I am not really a Samsung user. So I am not aware of its models and naming conventions that much.  Make sure about models otherwise you may end up bootlooping your device or having other problems and having to flash firmwares over again (you can ask on xda itself about this).
Hope this helps ;)

Thanks. I found another way to bypass that verification by seeing a specific tutorial on YouTube which uses TWRP instead of CWM. It worked perfectly. The only harsh that surprised me when someone called me was that there was no audio in or out at all. I'd ask for a workaround for that here, but I guess I'll have to ask that in another post. The Snapshot I flashed is from the last year. But even that I may be afraid, I guess I'll have to try the latest nightlies. Thanks again.

I found it. Just followed this little guide (http://forum.cyanogenmod.org/topic/103375-a-quick-fix-for-no-audio-on-calls/) and it worked fine. Now I'm very happy with the brand new rom. =)  (At least so far.)

along with that file and line, the META-INF/com/android/metadata file might have device whateverthedevicenameis.

The device model is hard-wired into the recovery image. Make sure that you have flashed the right recovery image for your device.
E.g. TWRP lists the recovery images for both N5100 and N5110 on the same page. If you accidentally flash the wrong image, the device will still boot in TWRP recovery (the hardware differences are minimal). However, you will have problems flashing the right image for your device.


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Android M Preview 2: "Error: Cannot Load System.img"
I am trying to update my Nexus 9 to the M developer preview 2, and when I try to run the command fastboot flash system system.img, I get the error

error: cannot load 'system.img'

I've tried re-downloading the image from Google and reflashing many times, but it gives the same error. I am able to flash other system images from Google, but not this one. I didn't see this listed as a known issue on Google. Anyone else see this issue or have any suggestions?

This reddit thread might be related. Some of worth mentioning: flash using Ubuntu, update ADT (I didn't test any)

I faced the same error. Error cannot load system.img. I figured it out after few attempts and a few images. It turns out I had an older version of ADB and I could only install old factory images.
If you want to install Android Marshmallow, make sure to install the latest ADB version.

I hit the same problem flashing Nougat (7.0.0).  Fastboot does not seem to report a version number, and I can't find a way to get the version of the SDK, but for reference, the version of ADB which comes with the right version of Fastboot is 1.0.32.  (1.0.31 does not work.)

Of course, it's not guaranteed that the reason for your "cannot load" error is the same as the one I experienced (fastboot's error reporting isn't very detailed, so I wouldn't know), but if it is, applying the adjustment described below should solve your problem.

For whatever fastboot flashing command is giving you a "cannot load" error, use fastboot's -S file-sparsing option (along with a size argument to that option that is smaller than the size of the largest image being flashed).
So, using your example, I would suggest trying the following:
fastboot -S 512M flash system system.img

The size I chose (512M) equates to roughly half the size of the image you attempted to flash.

To be honest, this is a bit of a mystery! Here are a couple of things to try from around the web:

Run 'adb kill server' and then 'adb start server' and try again.
Make sure you're using the latest version of adb and fastboot and try again.

Someone over on XDA also mentioned that this issue is to do with device encryption and that erasing and formatting the data partition would help (this will wipe all your data). This doesn't quite seem to link up but you never know...

Note: If you don’t have either one of the bootloader or radio .img
  files, don’t worry, not all devices need them
  **You must go in this exact order
1) type fastboot flash bootloader [name of your file].img
2) type fastboot flash radio [name of your file].img
3) type fastboot reboot-bootloader
4) type fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
5) type fastboot flash boot boot.img
6) type fastboot flash system system.img

Source : http://www.talkandroid.com/guides/beginner/how-to-install-the-lollipop-factory-image-on-your-nexus-device/
Works fine on Marshmallow too!


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Recovery mode on android netbook?
2 years ago I was given a netbook for Christmas and it came with the Android 2.2 OS. Since then I haven't used the netbook much but recently I decided to put Linux Mint on the netbook. But I didn't get that far – as when I turned the device on (and before I could do anything), I was stuck on this screen:

(click image for larger variant)
So I couldn't put Linux mint on it because it is stuck on this screen.
The netbook worked when I first got it. It doesn't have volume keys and I've tried presing Fn+F2+Home. I have also tried pressing F2 and nothing happens. I'm at a loss for new ideas on how to fix this so my plan is to try and get into recovery mode so that I can flash another version of android to it.
So my question is how do I get into recovery mode.
I have also tried holding Power On+Home and nothing happens.


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Contacts backup with multiple Google accounts
How can one manage backup when you have one device or two devices and 2 or 3 Google accounts? (Work, personal, family)

Related: Google Backup: Multiple devices using the same account - what happens on Restore? / Multi User Backup

Firstly, go to the new Contacts preview page by Google on your PC. Sort through the incredible mess that is sure to be there. Log in with all your accounts and then import and export your contacts from one account to another to segregate them into the proper categories (as you said, Work, Personal, Family). I suggest that you keep a single dedicated account for each category, for the smoothest experience. You can mix usage of all your accounts too, but that would just mean unnecessary hassle.
Then, whenever you save a new contact on your phone, make sure you select the appropriate account from the drop down menu at the top of the new contacts page.
Remember, any time you make a mistake in saving a contact, don't try to deal with it on your phone. You will end up creating a bigger mess. Just use Google Contacts on PC and deal with it thoroughly.


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Mobile data/Wifi schedular
I am using android version 4.3.. Usage of mobile data or Wifi consuming more battery power I need to turn them on/off for every 30 mins. So is there any options or apps available to schedule them??

The key is automation (click it). There are automation apps viz. Tasker, AutomateIt and many others, that can do the job (though you should [edit] and detail more about for how long you want to have the data/wifi off) for you.

Aside from the comment posted above, DS Battery Saver (available in the Play Store) has the functionality to turn off both data types and automatically turn them on to refresh data at specified intervals.

Could you mention the link here? I know its Pro version does the job.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootuninstaller.batrsaverpro


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How do I make Android continue playing the ringtone music instead of restarting it as peer calls again?
Device receives a call, but there is no reply. In 3 minutes, there is another ring from the same peer.
How do I make long ringtone music continue from some point instead of starting from scratch when the phone is ringing soon enough?

I'm really not sure if this is possible (never heard of such feature). Also, is there a reason why you didn't pick up the call?

Because of I'm away from my phone and others around don't want to touch my device either to pick up a call or to just silence it. In case of when the call rings again and again, it is less annoying to hear continuation of ringtone music rather than the same 30 seconds again and again.

Aslo I just want in general to fine-tune how the phone rings and vibrates (which music/pattern depending on number, depending time of day, depending on history of calls and SMSes).

I haven't tried doing this yet; but I believe you might be able to do it with this app called Automated Device, you can setup some rules to change the ringtone, and by cutting your song into chunks, and then using the flag functionality to define which rule is active at each moment, you could setup a rotation of ringtones that together play the full song.
Something like (pseudocode):
If phone is ringing, and the flag "ringtone step" is zero;
then change ringtone to cut 2 but only after 29 seconds,
and set the flag "ringtone step" to 1.

If phone is ringing, and the flag "ringtone step" is 1;
then change ringtone to cut 3 but only after 29 seconds,
and set the flag "ringtone step" to 2.

If phone is ringing, and the flag "ringtone step" is 2;
then change ringtone to cut 1 but only after 29 seconds,
and set the flag "ringtone step" to 0.

The 29 seconds thing is so it won't skip to the next chunk without completing the current one (if an action is delayed and the conditions stop being true, it won't execute). I'm not sure what happens if you try to change the ringtone while the phone is ringing though.
.
For doing anything complex with it, it is a bit like programming, but a lot more awkward. But simpler stuff is quite easy.
Perhaps there might be other apps; I haven't looked for an alternative in quite a while; this one is what I'm familiar with.

Is callers number and presense in phonebook and ringing history accessible to AutomatedDevice's conditionals? Continued ringtone should be only for immediate re-call of the same number.

The first one, yes. Regarding checking for numbers not on the contacts, I don't think that's possible with this app; but you can have rules for all the numbers you want to be treated differently from the rest, and then a rule that checks if the phone is ringing AND none of the rules with numbers defined are being triggered. As for call history, I don't think so; but you can add some flags to identify which rule was last executed, and use those flags as part of the conditions.


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Process 'system/bin/installd' causing memory leak
When reviewing my running tasks, I've noticed a memory leak in process system/bin/installd. On boot completed, it begins running in the background, consuming 20-30MB RAM. Over time, its RAM usage gradually increases, going as high as 400MB at which time it causes a random reboot.
I am able force kill this process with no noticeable effects. However, it does restart itself and continue to leak memory.
Before I can attempt to remedy this issue, I need to know exactly what system/bin/installd is/what it does - something I cannot seem to find any information on.
Can anyone help?
Specs:

OnePlus One (rooted)
Mahdi ROM (CM11 base), Android 4.4.4 KitKat
Build # KTU84Q
Kernel 3.4.0-Mahdi-One-kk
Running multiple Xposed modules, init tweaks, etc.

May I know how did you detect that process was leaking memory? I never know if it's possible to check memory usage for non-APK.

@AndrewT. I am using "3C Toolbox Pro"; it's task manager displays all running processes. I highly recommend it- it's a great app with tons of tools for power users.

/system/bin/installd is a system daemon that is involved in the installation of applications. System classes like PackageInstaller use it in their execution.
This article from DZone dates back to 2013, but it gives some pointers that can put on track:

PackageInstaller is the default application for Android to interactively install a normal package. PackageInstaller provide user interface to manage applications/packages. PackageInstaller calls InstallAppProgress activity to receive instructions from the user. InstallAppProgress will ask Package Manager Service to install package via installd. Source code is available at  /packages/apps/PackageInstaller.

Today's Android code states (for example: services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/Installer.java):
 public void onStart() {
    Slog.i(TAG, "Waiting for installd to be ready.");
    mInstaller.waitForConnection();
}

The same file comments on checking out frameworks/native/cmds/installd/installd.h (I did not look further for now).
In short, you may need to look at the source code to know more about installd, depending on what you are up to.


text:
How to add a new word to keyboard by backspacing and clicking on its suggestion?
It used to be that if I were to type a new word, like Androidenthusiast, it would suggest other words. I wouldn't select any, press space, backspace, and then it was there as a suggestion. If I clicked on it, it would say "Click again to save", and so I did and so it did. But as of late, it has stopped doing that.
I can't find the settings in Language / input > Keyboards anywhere. Can't remember when its behaviour changed. Nexus 5, running Android 5.1.

As @Andy356 suggests, this change may have happened with the recent update to the Google Keyboard (Version 4.1.22123.2053724 - 6 Jul 2015)? I have not installed this update yet (still on Version 4.0.21203.1613964) and I still have the functionality you mention.

The option is gone. It used to be that it just wouldn't show up for those words which were already in your personal dictionary. Now it doesn't appear for any word whatsoever.
It was probably a recent update to the Google Keyboard app which broke this functionality. The Google Keyboard app updates for everyone so it wouldn't matter that my Nexus 5 is running Android 5.0 and yours is on 5.1, everyone got the bad end of the deal.

Jesus. Any chance to downgrade?

@Mave Have you tried to uninstall Google Keyboard updates?

Definitely. You could head over to any number of websites that host apks. Like Apkmirror. Type in 'google keyboard' and it'll give you an entire list of versions. I don't know which update broke functionality, so you'll have to try some out. Sorry about that...

Cheers! Downgraded to version of start of June, no joy. Will look into older versions.

@Mave Make sure you don't accidentally update it again through play store :P


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Lg optimus L 70 system update won't work
I had checked my system update file and there is a file with 200 mb to download. I click on it and that annoying little message comes up: Insufficient storage available to download......I have 765 mb available. I google it and it's a pretty common but solutions put on absolute garbage and the *#9900# thing won't because it only works for Samsung. Another thing, should I even update or it doesn't matter and I can leave it how it is. Please help because I can't find anyone with my phone type and in my same situation. App updates and downloads work fine, just this stupid thing. Please help, anyone.

If you have an SD card slot . Shove a 2gb+ card in there and point it to download to the SD card. You can use chrome or some other browser that will let you change  download location for every download. Only if this does not work - you can try increasing the space in /system
/System and /mnt/sdcard1 these are different partitions.Try clearing the /system partition by moving some apps that do not appear to be needed system apps. This can be done using Link2SD app. You have to be very choosy- if you select some vital app and make it non system it can be a problem.


text:
Trash Folder is Empty but shows Emails
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 running the Lollipop OS.  My ISP is Verizon and my email is run on MS Outlook.  Since the Lollipop upgrade, the Trash Folder indicates that I have (for example) 35 emails, but when I open the folder is is correctly empty.  The only fix I've read is to delete my email account and then reinstall it.  I tried this but it only worked for about a day, and then my empty Trash Folder once again started indicating that the folder is filling up.  Any ideas?  Thank you.

What email app are you using?  I'd suggest using a different one.  This issue plagued Samsung's e-mail app as far back as Android 2.1.

I've been having the same issue, seems the only way to reset it, is to delete the acct. on your phone and then set it up again, I've started to observe what I am doing to contribute to this, and discovered if I delete a message without opening it, it causes the numbers to raise, If I open each email before deleting it, the trash will not display a number

Thanks.  I will try your suggestion to open before deleting.  Many thanks!


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/system/bin/mediaserver and /system/bin/drmserver dont want these but Android disagrees
I used this link Use Adb to disable Media Server
hoping to permanenenly disable the battery hogging media server process . It did not work Mediaserver still runs on my Android 4.4 Jiayu S3 phone as /system/bin/mediaserver and I found another just as pricky process called /system/bin/drmserver which shows up on adb # top .
So I mounted the /system in RW mode and removed -x from them both.
After that I killed the existing processes for these binaries. The phone just froze .  After a force restart it will NOT BOOT until I restored the -x bit again ( restored execute ) .
What do these do . How do I  ensure they don't run if they are not needed.

I believe you should add a link to your previous  question which is the actual problem you're trying to solve I think.

You are right. Probably didn't need to be a new question but there was so much information so I thought maybe a new question would bring that out thank you again

This is a really old question but I have an answer for anyone wondering.If you do not care about playing DRM-protected content, just replace /system/bin/drmserver with an executable file that does nothing (e.g. just sleeps forever). Example: File someone made for a Magisk module that disabled DRM


text:
Why does Google play services stop working in restricted accounts?
With many apps, my son's restricted account gives an error about Google play services having stopped, and the game quits.  I'd there a way to fix this?


text:
Custom Google Contacts list view in Xiaomi Mi4i
I am an Indian residing in the UK, and the phone is bought in India.
Phone Model: Xiaomi Mi4i
Android Version: 5
MIUI Version: 6

Problem
I am an avid user of Google and I have my contact lists grouped this way in Google:

My Contacts
UK Friends
India Friends
Stack Overflow
Directors
Phone Contacts

As everyone know, the contacts can co-exist i.e., if Praveen is found in UK Friends, it can also be found in Phone Contacts. What I have done is, the group Phone Contacts has all the contacts that are supposed to be displayed in the phone, and currently I am using my Lava Iris 504Q phone, that shows my contacts in Custom View, where it displays only the contacts from Google (Account) » Phone Contacts (Group).
Currently using my Lava Mobile, what I can do is:
 (Click image to enlarge)

Step 1: Open the Contacts App. Tap the menu and tap on Contacts to Display.

Select Customize from the next menu, that displays all the Accounts that are configured in the phone.

The Define Custom View screen appears and again it shows all the Accounts that are configured in the phone.

This view provides me a checkbox view, where I choose to display whichever contact group from any account that is configured on this phone.

Is the problem understandable? Can this be sorted out?
But this process is not there in my new phone. Currently I have:

See the order of images as Step 1 → Step 2 → Step 3:
 (Click image to enlarge)

References
The best reference for this issue I could find is on the MIUI Forums. The other reference for the custom contact view is here.

Hi Praveen! I edited your question and shortened the length of it because it was  long to follow because of images. In case you find the edit unjust, feel free to rollback. :)

@Firelord No problem. It looks better now!

Any updates? :)


text:
Accidently deleted the device calender? Can I recover or add new?
My device is an Xperia Z2 D6503 running Android 4.4.4. I was using iCal Import/Export CalDAV to import .ical files into my device calendar.
Using this same app, I accidently deleted my device calendar. I cannot see the 'device calendar' anymore in the list of calendars in my phone's default calendar app.
Can I recover this calendar or add a new device calendar? I am guessing iCal app has deleted com.android.calender.

are you rooted ?

@lord-ralf-adolf nope mate...

then how come an app uninstall a system app ? it's theoretically impossible ,may  be the stock calendar is just deactivated ,go to settings > applications > all and find the calendar app see if it's there if it is then click on it an click on activate

The calendar app is available and is enabled, but I cannot find the device calender in the list of calenders shown in the built-in calender app, it was there before it got deleted. I contacted the developer of the iCal app and he said if it got deleted, there's no way of recovering it. Now I am wondering if I can add a new calender to the device.

then may may be you hid the stock callender from the app drawer try installing a new launcher just to see if the new launcher shows the stock calendar app

@lord-ralf-adolf the "device calendar" is rather a kind of "special account", not an app. No idea how to re-create that natively, but e.g. MyLocalAccount is able to provide an equivalent (there might be others, but that's the only one known to me).

@Izzy oh ,I see ,the opp should edit and clarify ,he explicitly said "I am guessing iCal app has deleted com.android.calender " com.android.calender is the stock calender app

@lord-ralf-adolf Yes, and a system app. So how likely is that? And then what should the "phone's default calendar app" be the OP is still using? I bet there's another way to restore the "device calendar" (maybe clearing cache+data from "calendar provider", after having backed up all calendar entries?), but I've never been in that situation – and while a factory-reset would definitely cure that, it's probably not what one prefers :)

@lzzy, I thought of factry-resetting which will definitely restore the device calender, but as u said its not the best thing to do.

I ran into the same problem. Even if you install a new calendar. Some apps try to create events to the default calendar and if it doesn't exist then it fails silently.

I guess you have to download a new calendar.
I recommend you get Google Calendar.

Check 12 of the best calendar apps available for your Android smartphone today, See if that helps.


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How can profile (log the charging and discharging current for some time period) my battery?
As the question reads, I want to log the current in milliAmpere or Ampere (both charging and discharging) over a period of time.
Please note I am not asking about charging or discharging rate, but rather on the current. I am aware of the app called Ampere which displays the current, which is good but I want them logged over a period of time.  I am also aware of the app Battery Log, which logs the details but not the current.
Device info: Nexus 5 rooted, running stock 5.1.1. Ready to install custom kernel but stock ROM only.
Edit: Based on a comment from Firelord, I could see a file in /sys/class/power_supply/battery/current_now which at the moment of writing had a number 835910 and after a second it became 695229, then 673163. All these values were during the discharge phase.
When plugged in, it showed 412190 and the Ampere app showed 160mA.  It seems this is the current, but I guess I have to average it out to compare it with Ampere's output.
Interestingly, there is another file named status which has values charging and discharging.
I also happen to know another question in this site.

In my Android 4.2.1, I found that this Ampere app is showing the values made available by the kernel under /sys/class/power_supply/.... It was easy for me to see the real value inside the file but Lollipop has made some changes so I can't find out which new file holds the value for current. Anyhow, if you do end-up with such file then use Tasker app to log the value for your time period.

Thanks @Firefox for your input. You should compile your comment as answer so that I can up vote and accept it as well.

Done posting it, and I was reluctant to post the answer but your edit about current_now made me to rethink about posting. :)

My bad, the auto correction features at times are just nuisance and at times funny.  Please read "Thanks [at]Firefox for your input" as "Thanks [at]Firelord for your input".

Ampere shows us the value of current made available to the system by the kernel. I used three devices with different Android versions to test my answer. Here we go!

Test 1 & 2: Two MTK devices running stock Android 4.2.1 and 4.4.2
Since MTK is involved, thing would behave a bit differently. In both the devices Ampere had trouble measuring the current not because it couldn't, but two files were available to measure the current, and the user had to choose one from its Settings → Basic settings → Measurement interface. (Rant: A design flaw I tend to think since I wasn't aware of that before digging it up).
The two files for my Android 4.2.1:
/sys/device/platform/mt6320-battery/power_supply/battery/BatteryAverageCurrent
/sys/class/power_supply/battery/BatteryAverageCurrent

The two files for my Android 4.4.2:
/sys/device/platform/battery/power_supply/battery/BatteryAverageCurrent
/sys/class/power_supply/battery/BatteryAverageCurrent

The file BatteryAverageCurrent would show a numeric value with no mention of any unit (be it A or mA).
In my devices, both the files (second was the symlink of the first) had the same value (dynamic, Current varies of course) like 440 when connected to PC, and 880 when connected to charger. Correspondingly, Ampere showed the similar value with a slight mismatch of +- 1-10 mA.  // Somebody on XDA said that this app doesn't show true values, but that's none of my concern honestly.
Test 3: A Qualcomm device running Android 5.0.2 (CyanogenOS 12)
I read that Google made changes in Lollipop related to measurement of current, and among other things, BatteryAverageCurrent is nowhere to be found in the system, at least not in my system. Don't blame me since I didn't verify whether the changes were introduce in Lollipop or before, and it's not really a concern to test the things here.
Before I tell the tale further I should mention that Ampere had no trouble in this device even though there were two files to measure current:
/sys/devices/00-qcom,charger/power_supply/battery/current_now
/sys/class/power_supply/battery/current_now

Not to mention that the second one is the symlink of the first one, and 00-qcom,charger may differ in your device.
Anyhow, when it comes to the content of the current_now you can consider everything same as in BatteryAverageCurrent except that the value was in negative like -180 or -840 (don't ask me why?)
There's more
The last directory named battery has some other cool stuff which might interest some people. Checkout them like Battery temperature, Voltage, capacity, among other things.
If you want a summary of them, look at uevent file whose output would be like:
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=battery
POWER_SUPPLY_CHARGING_ENABLED=1
POWER_SUPPLY_STATUS=Charging
POWER_SUPPLY_CHARGE_TYPE=Unknown
POWER_SUPPLY_HEALTH=Good
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=1
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=1
POWER_SUPPLY_TECHNOLOGY=Li-ion
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX_DESIGN=4350000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MIN_DESIGN=4400000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_NOW=4316000
POWER_SUPPLY_CAPACITY=100
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_NOW=0
POWER_SUPPLY_INPUT_CURRENT_MAX=100000
POWER_SUPPLY_INPUT_CURRENT_TRIM=33
POWER_SUPPLY_INPUT_CURRENT_SETTLED=0
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MIN=4300000
POWER_SUPPLY_INPUT_VOLTAGE_REGULATION=1
POWER_SUPPLY_CHARGE_FULL_DESIGN=0
POWER_SUPPLY_CHARGE_FULL=0
POWER_SUPPLY_TEMP=311
POWER_SUPPLY_TEMP_COOL=0
POWER_SUPPLY_TEMP_WARM=0
POWER_SUPPLY_SYSTEM_TEMP_LEVEL=0
POWER_SUPPLY_CYCLE_COUNT=0
POWER_SUPPLY_CHARGE_NOW=5048
POWER_SUPPLY_FASTCHARGER=0
POWER_SUPPLY_CHARGE_TIMEOUT=1

And if (somehow) you're wondering about 0 in POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_NOW=0 then know that POWER_SUPPLY_CAPACITY=100 i.e. charging was complete and even Ampere was showing 0mA.

As for Logging, sorry! since I've no detailed solution as I didn't bother because the logging can be done using an automation tool like Tasker.
But a brief usage of Tasker must be told:

Create a profile based on time or the type that suits your goal.
There are two file actions under the action File namely Read File and Write File. If it doesn't work, then you can always do cat <SOURCE> >> <DESTINATION> using the action Code → Run Shell and you don't need root access.

We're good to go now!

This is not as in-depth as FireLord's answer, but I found a few apps that might be useful.
These all appear monitor current and have a log feature:

Current Widget: Battery Monitor by RmDroider
Battery Utility Free by SUXD
Advanced Battery Monitor by Codeka
Battery Monitor Widget by 3c
Battery Spy by Vertiform Technologies

These are more general system monitors but they appear to include battery stats and logging:

Elixir 2 by Tamás Barta
AndroSensor by Fiv Asim

I tried all of the above apps, but in 2020 they all are either no longer existing or they do not log the data like we hoped.
This one does, though:
3C Battery Monitor Widget


text:
Samsung I9300 - Network unlock fails
I recently flashed a custom ROM on my Samsung I9300. Everything is working fine, except I have to enter a 'SIM network unlock PIN'. I assume, that this is not the usual 4-digit PIN code. If I enter the correlating correct 4-digit PIN, it says 'SIM Network unlock request unsuccessful'.

I tried different SIMs from different providers which are working in a different mobile phone.
The problem appears with Slim 5.1.1 and 4.4.4, CM12.1 and OmniROM 5.1.

My phone was running stock firmware Android 4.3 and I never had this problem (even if I once changed my provider).
There are plenty of tutorials about how to unlock the I9300, but none worked so far, there are also many non-free services for unlocking which seems rather untrustworthy to me. It would be new to me, if the phone is or was ever branded.
There is the possibility to unlock the phone by using the service menu by entering the secret/hidden code

##197328640##

like shown in this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1hzeBEeO_k.
Why is the code (or others) in Slim not working?
Could you please verify too that the only possibility to unlock the SIM is to buy a specific unlock code?

The video you've posted was of someone taking advantage of a software vulnerability in the stock TouchWiz-skinned Android 4.1.1 for the S3 - it was patched soon after. Upgrading the software after the unlock seemed to work, but no idea how it will work with flashing a new ROM.

Okay, thanks for the comment, I didn't know. I just watched to video until I realised being unable to use the code. If so, it is useless and I will remove it from my original post. Where do you know from?

I had used the vulnerability several times with previous devices to get network unlocks. Samsung smartened up fast with that and patched it in their OTA updates to 4.1.2 or 4.1.3.

I understand. What happened when you flashed a newer (custom) ROM, did you have to unlock again? If not, what do you think about the possibility of flashing an old vulnerable stock ROM, unlocking it and later using an actual ROM? I'm not sure yet what I'll do. Maybe I go to a local handy shop to get it unlocked, there I have to pay some Euros too, but at least I have the security that it works. As far as I found out they are cashing 15 - 40 €s for that, which is ridiculous much.

The device was "retired" suddenly (I dropped it and broke it) so I couldn't tell you if the network unlock persisted through a ROM flash. I do hope someone can offer more insight to this.

Thank you anyway. :) BTW: There are several "unlock" apps for this phone available in Google Apps, some of them are free too, but none of them worked actually. I guess I tried four apps. What a shame.

I got the phone unlocked at a local mobile phone dealer for € 20. This worked.
Generally I'd say it is interesting how this network SIM lock comes from, because my phone never has been locked or branded by a provider. The stock firmware worked with different providers. The problem only appeared for the custom ROMs.
And be aware when changing your SIM card! I broke mine 2-times only by exchanging it (probably scratching the chip's surface) and had to buy a new one and get the old number transferred to the new.


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How to retrieve saved password in Google Chrome for Android?
Is there any way I can retrieve stored password specific to any URL in Google Chrome for Android. This is not in any way connected with Google Chrome running in Desktop versions. I'm able to see saved password in Google Chrome in Desktop but not in Android version. Please Help. Thanks in Advance.

Related link How can I find the saved password in Android browser?

In Windows, if you open Manage password in Chrome, then it asks for a master password (i.e. Windows Admin password) to view and manage your passwords. But that's not the case in Android. So for security purposes, Chrome for Android doesn't reveal the password.

From Greenbot: Saving your passwords to your device presents some obvious security
  issues. Although Chrome won’t show your password, all bets are off If
  someone gets ahold of your phone—they’ll be able to log into any
  account that Chrome remembers. If you choose to have Chrome remember
  your passwords, you’ll also want to set a passcode on your phone—or
  better yet, encrypt your device—to reduce the risk of your Internet
  accounts falling onto the wrong hands.

Based on this help link, to manage you password in Chrome browser for Android,

Open the Chrome app.
Touch Chrome menu Menu.
Touch Settings > Save passwords.
Touch the link for Manage saved passwords in your Google Account.

However, following the above steps only reveals the username and the website URL and you can delete the password but not view it. In order to manage/view your passwords from any device/browser, visit https://passwords.google.com and re-enter you Google account password to login and to view all your saved passwords (except your currently signed in Google account password won't be displayed) if,

you’ve signed in to Chrome and saved passwords or
you’re using Google Smart Lock for Passwords on Android

Click on the specific website and select the eye symbol to reveal the password for that particular site.
Update:
If you are having a rooted device, you can try Firelord's answer too.

Or just set up DNS server to redirect request for specific site to the one you control, log in with remembered password on android and retrieve password on the site (requires some coding). And if the target site is served with https you'll also have to install root certificate on android and use it to sign the certificate for your password-collecting site.

You should add that this does not work if one has set a sync passphrase to encrypt Chrome's cloud data.

Note: This method requires root access.

The credentials of the websites that you allowed Chrome to save are stored in the file Login data which is located inside the data directory of Chrome i.e. /data/data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Default/. Certainly, no app or even ADB can access that location and neither Chrome has any provision through GUI to access them, so non-rooted devices are at quite a loss. Lucky's solution should help in that case.
Anyhow, for a rooted device, simply pull that file (an SQLite database) into PC and open it  in an SQLite viewer like DB Browser for SQLite. You may also open that file in a text viewer (know that the formatting wouldn't be pleasing if you do that and a bit incomprehensible too) or in an SQLite viewer app like SQLite Editor or aSQLiteManager or the command-line sqlite3.
The table logins has the credentials.

The column password_value in that SQLite database doesn't show the password as plain text. It shows BLOB (size: X) (X is a number like 8, 13 and so on...). How to retrieve the password?

Try a different SQLite Browser. I tried Sqliteman and came across this issue. I later tried DB Browser for SQLite which worked.

Do you know a SQLite viewer that works on Android?

I opened the database as text and most passwords were visible in plaintext.

Another way to do this (e.g. if you use a sync password and passwords.google.com is not an option) is by turning debug mode on, inspecting the tab, and printing the value of the field at the console (e.g. document.getElementById('passwordFieldID').value;)
Link for remote debugging: https://developer.chrome.com/devtools/docs/remote-debugging

You'll be prompted to enter your lockscreen password or PIN if you have one, or your Google password if you don't have a lockscreen.


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Routing instead of NAT/Masquerade for WiFi Tether clients
When clients connect to Android Tethering they get IPs of the private Tethering networl. There is plenty of info available on how to NAT/Masquerade WiFi tethering clients (for example into a VPN), but I haven't managed to find how should I change or re-write IPTABLES and ROUTES in order to avoid natting/masquerading and just make ordinary routing from the tethered devices IP to the other networks (or a VPN).
Example:
Local Tether client 1 gets : 192.168.43.1/24
Local Tether client 2 gets : 192.168.43.2/24 ...
and at the VPN interface we have the 10.1.0.0/24 Network.Disabling NAT and adding the routes in an ordinary router is easy, but I need help to do it on my Android device.Thank you!


text:
How do I specify a different PIN than 0000 when pairing a bluetooth device on android
I have a bluetooth speaker with default passkey 1111 rather than 0000.
I'm not able to connect to it using my android tablet because of this error:

Couldn't pair with SP104B because of an incorrect PIN or passkey

How do I specify a different PIN than 0000 when pairing a bluetooth device on android 4.2.2?

To fix your speaker problem - Go to Settings > Bluetooth > Turn On and wait for your list of devices to populate. Locate your speaker and Long Press it (press and hold) and then select Un-pair. You'll be free to attempt to pair it again with the proper PIN!
If your device isn't paired with the phone, but it's still not connecting, you can try clearing your Bluetooth cache. Turn off Bluetooth, then Go to Settings > Applications > All > Bluetooth Share and tap "Force Stop," then "Clear Cache," then "Clear Data. If the device was ever paired or a pairing ever failed, it may have stored those credentials regardless of success. This should give you a fresh chance at it.
As for why you can't specify what PIN your speaker provides your phone - it's because the default PIN is assigned to the device when it's made, and can't be changed by the average consumer. Most 'dumb' Bluetooth devices have no way of changing the PIN it comes with.

My speaker is not paired with my tablet and when I tap on it to pair, there is no prompt for PIN. Android just try to pair using default passkey 0000 and then I get the error.

@S.Yavari - Ah, I misinterpreted your question - I assumed it was already paired but no longer connecting. I've updated my answer with additional troubleshooting steps.

Thank you for your effort. I Tried these steps but the problem is still exists and there is no prompt for PIN.

I ran into same problem. Had nothing to do with phone. Try holding down the power button on Bluetooth device when pairing to your phone.

I faced same problem with BOSE Bluetooth hand set with android (Version 4.4) phone.
I followed below step and succeed.
 1. Hold down the paired devices and removed the already added item.
 2. Bluetooth off and then ON.
 3. Search for new pairing and start pair the device.

Success.
Note: If above steps not work and restart OS of both devices.


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Is it possible to uninstall stock apps in Sony Xperia E3 Dual?
My device has 4GB of internal Storage, but it only shows 2GB.  Apps have taken 1.7GB of space alone. Any idea for how to uninstall the stock apps such as as Hike,Line, and others. The only option I see is to disable them but no option as uninstall.

You need to root your phone and than use titanium backup.

You'll need to be rooted

Gain root access.

Install Titanium Backup or an equivalent

Select Batch Actions (top right corner) > Uninstall all users & system apps

Pick the system apps you want to remove, then press the checkmark at the top right hand corner


text:
My samsung galaxy s4 won't turn on
I left my phone charging over a 24 hour period and now it won't turn on. I tried cleaning it out, taking out the battery, and putting it on the charger. I don't have a spare battery to try. Is there a way to fix it?

I think your battery is dead, buy a new one.

The battery is the best place to start. Overtime they tend to wear down. (I had the same issue on my Galaxy S 3 and it took a new battery)
Otherwise, it could be an issue with the motherboard or something more fragile in the phone. Could also be a power button failure.

I think most of not starting up and flashing are related to the faulty power button. Here's the link you can follow on how to troubleshoot the power button if it's working properly or not using a voltmeter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l_6fwzuIwA

You could see if you get anything from removing the battery and connecting it via USB cable to a computer.  You'd be powering it from the USB cable, possibly enough to turn it on.


text:
Can I force a WiFi connection retry after x minutes?
The Wifi SSID in my home is the default SSID of the used router. (I have no means to change it, unfortunately). The problem is, if I travel around my city, my Android phone inevitably finds a network with the same SSID but the password doesn't match. Since then, the network is stuck in "Authentification failed" until I manually force a reconnect.
Is there a way to force my phone to retry connection attempts to known networks e.g. every 5 minutes?

There are numerous applications on Google Play Store. I had a similar problem a couple of months ago. I used an application named WiFi reconnect as I recall.

WiFi Automatic
WiFi Reconnect

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


text:
What are these small 8-4-4-4-12 hexdigits-named files in root dir?
(Post edited to add more info.)
My Android phone contains, in the lowest user-accessible directories of both phone storage and SD card, several small files named xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx where x is a hex digit.
There are three of them in the phone storage /sdcard (all zero size), owned by root:sdcard_rw and mode 664.  And there are six in the external SD card /mnt/extSdCard (some zero size, some 36 bytes long), owned by system:media_rw and mode 775.  Dates range from 2013 to one week ago.
All files are readable, and those who aren't empty contain only a string which is identical to the filename.
I was curious to know what is the purpose of these files and if they can be deleted safely.
Is it a coincidence that they have the same format as an UUID?

What size are those files? Were you able to look into one of them – and if so, are they readable (if unreadable, any readable parts at the start)? At least for the SD card I'd say they are safe to remove, but I'd better check first.

Good questions.  I've edited my original question to answer you.

Thanks for the edit! Looks strange indeed. I'm pretty confident you can safely delete them at least from the SD card (for safety, you can create a temp folder and move them there; so if unexpected issues pop up after that, you can move them back). Not sure what you mean by "phone root dir": can you give a full path for that? Also, if possible, use a terminal app (or adb shell) to run ls -l on that location to verify their ownership, which might give us a better clue (for those not on SD card).

Done, please see edited post.

Ah! I already suspected that. What you call "phone storage" is the internal SD card – "phone storage" is something different (/data and other things, the "phone root dir" would be /). OK, in that case it should be safe to remove all of them (and permissions do not tell us much here, as for SD cards, everything is owned by root:sdcard_rw resp. system:sdcard_rw with mode 755). Again, if you're afraid, you can first move them to a temp folder – and if "nothing strange" happens for a couple of days, delete that folder.

I would not recommend deleting random files without trying to understand what they are or where they come from.

I don't think it is a coincidence that they're formatted like GUID, I believe they are GUID. What the GUID stands for, my guess is a good as anyone's. It could be either as simple as a device tracking cookie used by advertiser, or it could be a recovery identifier for a game account (which may not have required account registration). They could have been anything.


text:
How do you check if your phone has IR blaster?
I downloaded some apps from the Play Store for controlling my TV using my phone. One of the requirements for it to work is that your phone must have an IR blaster in it. How do I check if my phone has an IR blaster?

Generally you can just look at it - they're usually not hard to spot. Alternatively, have you looked up your phone's specifications online?

What is your phone model?

If your phone has a hardware IR blaster, then it would be quite unusual if you don't have a built in application that uses the IR blaster. It's unlikely that the manufacturer would bother installing a unique hardware like IR that can't be used with the built in application (these kind of unusual hardwares are generally touted as selling points).

You can check if your phone has it on Smartphones with IR blasters (Wikipedia)
Note: the list may not be exhaustive.

2013

HTC One
HTC One Max
LG G2
LG G Flex
LG G Pro Lite
LG Optimus F6
LG Optimus G Pro
LG Optimus L9 II
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini
Samsung Galaxy Mega
Sony Xperia Z (Japanese version only)
Sony Xperia Z1 (Japanese version only)
Sony Xperia ZL (Discontinued)
Samsung Galaxy J
ZTE Nubia Z5S

2014

HTC One (M8)
Huawei Honor 6
Huawei Honor 6 Plus
LG G Pro 2
LG G2 Mini
LG G3
LG G3 S (Vigor)
LG L90
LG G Vista
LG Volt
Samsung ATIV SE
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active
Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos
Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini
Xiaomi Mi 4
ZTE Grand Memo II LTE
ZTE Grand X Max
ZTE Nubia X6
ZTE Nubia Z7
ZTE Nubia Z7 Max

2015

HTC One (M9)
HTC One M9+
LG G4
LG G Flex 2
Oppo Mirror 3
Samsung Galaxy S6
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
Xiaomi RedMi Note 2
ZTE Grand X Max+
ZTE Nubia Z9
Samsung Galaxy A8 Duos

I'd never trust a list to be complete :) But yes, if it's on that list, it will have it. If it's not on the list, you need to search further :)


text:
Missing of contacts from android mobile
I am using moto g with android 5.0 version. I have turned off the auto syncing mechanism of contact. Then i added a new contact tagged by the same google account. Since the synchronization is turned off, its not saved in the google account. But where is the contact? Is it in the phone? If so, what happen if I delete the google account from the mobile? Will that newly added contact remain in the phone itself?
I have checked this condition. But once i deleted the google account the newly added contact is not in gmail account and not in phone also. Its completely disappered. Why is it so? Is there anyway to retrieve it?

Unless it's synchronized with Google contacts, once a contact is  lost, you cannot retrieve it. Make sure you sync it with Google.

I don't understand what you are trying to do here, but anyway, here is an explanation:
When you create a contact on a Google Account, that contact is assigned to that Google Account, so that it syncs. When you remove that account, Android associates that contact with the Google Account, and removes it from the phone.


text:
How to understand Android 5.0 internal memory usage?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S5(SM-G900F) which should have 16GB eMMC as an internal storage:

Are Android OS system files stored on the "System memory" portion of this internal storage? Or is there a separate non-volatile, but writable(because phone supports OS upgrades) memory for this? Is this internal memory partitioned? What is the difference between "Used space" and "Miscellaneous files"?

Yes system is in the same storage. The internal flash has like 20 partitions (from bootloader, recovery, modem to system, userdata, cache, app storage etc.). Misc files are files that do not fall into one of the standard categories (like app, media, cache)

Thanks! So it is very much possible that sometimes one of those partitions is full and thus the device does not operate correctly while there might be several gigabytes of overall internal storage available?

You might also wish to take a look at our storage tag-wiki (many of our tags have a wiki with additional information/first-aid associated) :)

Of course, you can have one partition full and others not. Unfortunately, repartitioning the phone is a very sensitive "don't do it at home" operation. For example, my 16gb china phone has a 4gb app partition and a 10gb emulated sd card (and a real sd card slot, which is seen as the second sd card). So I can only install 4gb of apps.

@Dan I see. According to "Storage Partitions" tool for example my SM-G900F has 11.84GB partition which is mounted to /data. As I understand, in your china phone this partition is 4GB? In addition, as moving to SD card in Android is up to developer(i.e developer needs to add the support for that into their app), it is often not done and thus it is not difficult to fill up the app partition.

Samsung simplifies the breakdown a lot more than stock Android (I'm using a Moto X 2014) but I can help you understand what each portion of your storage is used for.
Total Space: Obvious, but going to cover it any ways - this is the total amount of storage space your device provides for ALL it's storage needs. This will be broken down into the sub categories below.
System Memory: The definition of "Minimum amount of storage space required to run the system" is an over-simplification, but it's correct. This memory chunk contains the portion partitioned to hold things like the kernel, bootloader, recovery, and (Samsung-modified) Android system files. Also contains whatever modifications the manufacturer shipped with Android (in your case, all of Samsung's proprietary apps and features). This isn't some special type of memory for these files, just a separately partitioned part of your available 16GB.
Used Space: This is the part of memory dedicated to self/Google installed applications (not the pre-installed Samsung ones).
Cached Data: This is the part of memory dedicated to storing the cached data apps use to function.
Miscellaneous Files: This is essentially data stored on the device that isn't an app, an app's cached files, or Android system files. Things like music, videos, pictures, and anything else you throw onto the storage via USB or some sort of FTP ends up here. Some apps also create folders to store large amounts of non-cached data on the device, that will end up in here too. Feel free to tap on the "Miscellaneous Files" to see a basic breakdown of folder and data that fill this portion of memory.


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Can I use my Android device as remote control for my SmartTV?
As a similar question was deleted by its owner while I wrote up the answer, I decided to share it this way.
I have a Samsung SmartTV, and want to use my Android device to remote-control it – including switching TV channels, adjusting volume and, if possible, the full spectrum of features the SmartTV offers. My Android device does not have an IR blaster, and I'm not speaking of "buying additional hardware" for it.
Is this possible – and if so, how?

There are multiple possibilities to remote-control your Samsung TV with your Android device. For one, there are a bunch of Samsung TV remote control apps giving you a wide range of choices.
A second variant would involve FHEM on your PC (this is a home automation software, and there's a module available for Samsung TVs – I use this, so I can vouch for it) and, optionally, the andFHEM Android app. This way you cannot only use your Android device, but any device with a web browser to remote control the TV – and even integrate it with some other (home) automation stuff. For example, using tasker you could have your TV turned off (or mute it) whenever you receive a call on your Android device – or turn it on as soon as your device connects to your local WiFi. Much more is possible, of course :)

I've used https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.peel.smartremote an my Samsung TV, works fine and can connect to my set top box too.

for a TV remote, this app is far too much intruding to privacy: 26 permissions required, a.o. to accounts, contacts and calendar, rises the question what it controls remotely (or what it's controlled by). The app description doesn't tell (though one might argue "reminders to watch a show later" might explain calendar access). That's why my answer doesn't specify any RC app but links to a list of such, so everybody can make his/her own pick.