text:
Use my Land Line with Android?
Is it possible using a computer and WiFi, hardware plugin box or something to allow me to make (and receive) telephone calls using my Android phone through the existing land line?
It would be more convenient if I could carry one phone and receive both home phone and mobile phone calls. Also I want to make outgoing calls and have it use my home phone connection for the reduced charges and the correct caller ID.
I'm OK with using WiFi LAN (VoIP), but I don't want to use the internet connection, I want it to go through the hardware phone line that the phone company put in. Is there such a solution?

I always thought VoIP requires an internet connection. Good to know we can use VoIP without internet :)

I've seen several land line telephones whose base station will act like a Bluetooth headset, allowing you to place and receive cellular calls using the land line's handset. Is this what you're looking for?

@Sid, Let me clarify, so there is no misunderstanding. VoIP is for computer to computer voice connections. Most VoIP solutions send the voice over the internet into a server that is linked up to the telephone systems. If you were going to go without internet, then the only way to make phone calls would be to have your own VoIP server or box that is connected to your land line. I think that is much less common, but I know it is possible, but I don't know how difficult.

@Mr.Buster, That is an interesting concept: using the base station to access my cell phone service; but actually I was looking for a way to access my land line using the Android cell phone.

Probably related: "poor man's roaming" by proxying cell calls to SIP or Skype? With some of the Fritz!Boxes from AVM, that's even easier to do -- but I don't know if they are available outside Germany. With such a box and the corresponding app (or any VoIP app), I can realize this inside my home WiFi (I do, via that Fritz!App).

I'm also looking to use my landline phone from my cellphone. Most Bluetooth "Link2Cell" cordless phone these days provide the opposite — use cellphone plan from cordless handsets, which I don't want. My landline tariff is lower than cell, so I need to connect multiple cell phones and use landline plan. Anything for that, yet?

This can be possible by an instrument called voice bridge.

The Answer to the question is Yes and I do it.
I use a Raspberry Pi running RasPBX so within the house most things are SIP or DECT. My Main phone is a Gigaset DX800A which supports SIP and also DECT. These DECT phones attached to the DX800A become SIP extensions. The Phone in my office is an Aastra 6739i (SIP) with a Sennheiser DECT headset. I have a Linksys SPA3102-UK which connects the PSTN Landline to the Raspberry Pi. The Mobile phone can run any SIP software and become an internal extension, and thus make and receive landline calls.
As to being a workable solution then it depends on your cellphone coverage and how you use your cellphone (do you need SMS?). Another useful configuration is the DX800A will allow you to connect to you Cell phone via Bluetooth and make a receive calls from the DX800A or any DECT handsets attached to it. So in this situation you carry around a DECT handset and you can make and receive calls from both the Mobile number and landline number.
I would like to find an app that converts the Mobile into a SIP/GSM gateway such that the Android phone can be connected to the Asterisk based RasPBX and be used to make outgoing and incoming calls via GSM. This way I could use my calling plan to make calls from my SIP based Desk phone going out via the mobile (routing controlled by RasPBX). But don't know of one as yet.

Sounds like you'll need to roll your own telephony gateway. This kind of thing can get complicated very quickly, so your milage will depend on the amount of free time you have to devote to the project and your knowledge of telecommunications.
At its most basic, you need to do this:
[Android (SIP app)] --Ethernet/WLAN--> [VOIP Gateway]

[Home Phone] --Analog Line --> [VOIP Gateway]

[VOIP Gateway] --Analog Line--> [PSTN (your phone company)]

A quick Google search revealed Asterisk as a free, open-source option for creating your own gateway. You'll need desktop/server hardware that can communicate with ethernet and analog phone lines as well as SIP client software for your Android phone (like Sipdroid). This kind of setup should allow you to receive all calls on your Android phone and place calls from your Android through your land line. Asterisk seems to have decent documentation and community support so it should just be a matter of putting it all together and getting the gateway configured correctly.

You might want to buy this phone.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-KX-PRW130W-dect_6-0-1-Handset-Telephone/dp/B00ISKW1J2/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1433663228&sr=1-1&keywords=KX-PRW130W

I was looking for the same sort of thing; android smartphone that can use tariff-free landline for incoming/outgoing calls at home (ie smartphone as a cordless landline extension).
So far I have run across the Panasonic KX-PRW120 which is a DECT phone that use WiFi to connect to the associated android Smartphone Connect app (Google Play).  Not decided whether to buy yet as quite expensive, but simpler than creating my own VOIP gateway.

I was looking for a device like this myself, and could not find anything, so I will put it on my wish list for some fun with electronic projects to make someday.
However an alternative for now but not exactly what you want because it still uses the internet however at least you can use the android to answer your landline calls is to get a free google VOIP or other fee based VOIP service like callcentric and set up the softphone app on the phone (softphone not work with google voice, have to use googles software for that) then set your landline to forward all calls to your VOIP phone, if not know how to set a landline to forward calls ask your phone service they will tell you its a few key presses, however your landline will not ring until you deactivate that setting, unless the phone service has option to ring n# of time then forward the call, but probably an extra fee for that.
Anyway that is kind of a work around until someone makes such a thing, but the demand for that is probably low, since the trend in the public is to only have cell service, and not use landlines.
However for me it is a neat idea and want to make it for myself, will probably use scraps from an old useless phone, add in a cheap microcontroller with a bluetooth to talk to the android then write some software to make it all work the way I want it to.
Probably can do it with a PC and PC modem, and route the audio to the bluetooth, but I not want to have a full big box PC on consuming power 24/7 just for that.

If you 're looking to get your home phone call to your cell device, you just need to call your cell from your home phone and then press *72 I believe and your calls will be send to your cell phone. Check your land phone provide to find how to do that... not sure it is 72... but pretty sure, then to get the call back to your land line, you press *73 on your land phone. Hope this help.

For me (US), it is 72# followed by the cell number. 73# to disable. I don't know whether it works with *72/*73 as well.

This feature is nice to know, but does not allow your cell phone to make the outgoing calls from the land line.

Won't this depend on which country, network, phone etc you have?

There are consumer products like the OBi 110 that will allow you to bridge calls between a SIP network and the regular phone network. These are consumer products with web interfaces for configuration. You don't need to program anything, but the configuration may be difficult. A box for your needs will run you ~$65 USD. I have no affiliation with OBi, but have used their products and some of their competitors. I found OBi to be much easier to use than the competitors, but that was in 2011.
I have only personally setup simple outgoing connections, which look like this:
Android SIP client -> LAN -> OBi -> phone network
This works with any SIP client, so you can also use linphone from a laptop, for example.
If you wanted to also receive calls from your regular phone line on Android, you would probably need to configure a static IP for your Android phone on your LAN, and automatically forward calls from the incoming phone line to your SIP client. This might be a large power draw to keep your phone awake to receive these SIP calls.


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Wipe tablet and install new ROM
I have the Galaxy S Wifi 5 Player, I have a rooted ROM I installed more than a year ago.
I completely forgot the process of ROM installation and I hope someone can sum up a checklist so I don't find myself with a bricked device.
Note: I've backed up all the data on my device, so I don't care about the current data.
The deal is I want to install this ROM.
Here are the installation instructions:
Installation on the Galaxy Player 5.0/ Galaxy S 5.0

Installing from cm10.1/ Updating PAC
Download rom and latest gapps
Download the appropriate Sultan kernel or KKernel if you want
Put the files on your device
Reboot into recovery
Wipe dalvik cache
At what order should I install the zips? "or do adb sideload if you want" - what's that?
Reboot
Profit!
From any other rom do same as above, but in addition, wipe data, dalvik, system, and dbdata (look under mounts and storage)

I don't understand these (of the above list):
1) don't know what's cm10.1/Updating PAC (how do I?)
2) what's gapps
3) what are they and how to install them? are they mandatory?
4) at what location?
7) how do I install the zips? what's adb sideload?

If you are going to repost this, delete your other question.

@VarnerBeast14, sure I did. I just thought the other one was badly formatted in first place and already received bad attitude. Thanks.

Basically, if you are already rooted and running a custom ROM, you will want to follow these steps, and I hope you know what they mean, because I am going to try and keep them as simple as possible:

backup any of your data you want. Google does this automatically with some stuff, but the other stuff you can use Nandroid Backup.
Reboot into recovery.
Wipe all data/factory reset.
Flash the ROM in the recovery tool. I use TWRP so I just click install and then navigate to where I have downloaded and saved the .zip file that I want, but yours should be similar no matter what recovery you are using.
Flash the most recent gapps package in the same way as the ROM's zip. These are the Google Apps that you will need.

That should be it. I simplified it so that you can understand, but if you have questions, leave them below. If this stills seems foreign to you, you might want to look for a video guide on YouTube or something. The process is very similar for almost all phones. Just different files and slightly different methods depending on which recovery and such you use.

I have CWM-based recovery. I wiped data, but it said 'skipping format'. Also it says 'wipe dalvik cache', what does it refer to? My goal is to WIPE the device without leaving any remains, just install the new ROM wiping all prior evidence.

then just wipe everything. That's easy. Wipe Dalvik Cache just wipes some extra data. To be honest, I don't know exactly what it is, but I wipe that every time I update my ROM. But if you want a full wipe, just wipe everything.

OK. Now, I'm at the installation phase, what from the 3 zips should I install first (Kernel, PacRom, Gapps) I believe Gapps should be the last right?

From the Kernel's page I chose "Sultan-kernel-Venturi-r5b2-USB-OTG-USA.zip" Is this the right download (I have the USA version of the device, but I didn't understand what's all the bunch of files in that collection.

Usually I just flash my ROM and then the Gapps, but if this says to flash the Kernel, then do that first as well.

What Kernel should I install (see prev. comment)?

I really don't know. That guide is about as clear as it needs to be. If you can't handle that, I'm not sure you need to be flashing custom ROMs.

What will happen if I connect my device to PC as mass storage and format the connected disks via PC, will it brick my device? Will I be able to enter recovery mode? Will I be able to use Odin to re-install the system?

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Add calendar event via freeform text w/documented, unambiguous syntax?
Is there any way (probably thirdparty app, assuming it's not some secret hidden option in CM10.1) to add calendar events on a Galaxy S3 running 4.2/CM10.1[RC5 at this moment] with a syntax like:
on Monday [or "next Wednesday" or "July 7"]
at 3pm
call 3055551212,99988877#
re call with somebody important
for 30m
notify 10m,14h

via some method that's actually

documented somewhere,
has deterministic & unambiguous syntax, and
Allows you to set the 'location' field of the calendar event to a clickable phone number that includes comma (pause), additional digits, and trailing '#'?

Over the years, and with various ROMs I've installed, I've seen "quick input" methods like this seemingly come and go at random, with basically undocumented syntax and unreliable handling of "clickable phone number as location that includes pause & extension#".
I know that someone, somewhere, SOMEHOW, has to have actually gotten this right... but who? (Or, where's the option, what's it called, and where is it documented)?

Looks like voice input for Google Now to me :) Honestly: As Google Now takes that as voice input, it will have to recognize the text, convert it to "ASCII", and then add it to the calendar. So somewhere along these lines, it's already happening.

Ugh. I'm not a fan of voice input, and recoil against anything that uses "natural language". I hate ambiguity. To me, things like "Google Now" feel like a warped, real-life 80s text adventure game where you're forced to play "try to outsmart the parser", and attempts to be explicit end up confusing the parser completely.

LOL You definitly made your point, Bitbang3r. A while ago I tried to figure out those things with Voice Search – your description looks like you were sitting next to me then :) // Back to topic: How shall this input come to your device: SMS, Mail? I'm thinking of Tasker, which e.g. could parse such a text file, and the rules would be up to you. Might be a bit tricky to set up, but should be possible.

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


text:
Are there earphones with support for buttons similar to the OEM earphones?
I have a Samsung Galaxy SII plus. In the package I also got earphones from Samsung. The problem is that those earphones are in-ear, and they don't fit me well. I was wondering if there are 3rd-party earphones with the same capabilities (a pause/play button is what I like the most, but volume control and a microphone are also welcome) that is not too expensive.
I could only find earphones with that capabilities for iPhones, so is there a way to some transform this input so android can read it?
I would really like your advice on this matter, thanks in advance!

I'm pretty sure the iPhone headphones with controls work. And this isn't really the place for product suggestions.

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts, Arjan! Please note that shopping recommendations are off topic at all StackExchange sites. You might want to check Where can I ask questions that aren't Android Enthusiast questions? for a fitting place.

Search for "android headphones" at Amazon.com


text:
Can I browse a locally hosted web site from a USB connected device?
I am attempting to remote debug a locally hosted web application on Nexus 7 and 10 tablets running Android 4.2.2, that are connected to a development machine via USB. My goal is to browse to the equivalent of 127.0.0.1:xxxx on the tethered PC (so from the tablet I would expect to browse via the host PC's IP address 192.168.1.100:xxxx).
I do realize this can be accomplished utilizing Wi-Fi, but unfortunately the tablets are not connected to the same network as my development PC and can not be. Bluetooth is also out as my dev machine does not have Bluetooth.
It seems like utilizing reverse tethering would allow me to browse to the host machine. The reverse tethering solutions I've tried to utilize have focused on simply using the PC as a pass through to the internet. In any event I have not been able to successfully setup reverse tethering much less browse to the web application hosted on the connected development machine.
Using a USB reverse tether solution is it possible to browse a locally hosted web application? Is there an alternative to reverse tethering that will provide the same capability? Can I browse a locally hosted web site from an Android device connected via USB?

As 127.0.0.1 (alias "localhost") is the device you are on, this is unlikely to work. But instead, you could use the IP set for inside your local network (usually 192.168..). Have you tried that? IMHO this should do even via USB tethering, as the tethered device is part of the same network.

@Izzy I definitely understand that localhost is only available from the host machine. In fact one of my favorite geek jokes is: "there's no place like 127.0.0.1". Irregardless I refactored the question as I don't think the previous iteration was as clear as the current version. It boils down to running a web app on a dev box and browsing to that web app from an Android device connected via USB.

Yes, that was my understanding (besides: nice joke, I like that ;) So have you tried it with the "local network address", as I suggested? Did it work? Or is that not possible as the web-app only listens to localhost? In the latter case, some VPN solution might do the trick (not sure, never did VPN myself).

Can your PC connect to the tablet? If so, ssh reverse port forwarding might allow for tablet-to-PC connection.


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GPS is always indicated as on
I just recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Star S5280 which runs on Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) and it keeps indicating that my GPS is on. I already deactivated my mobile network on both SIM cards. I have also deactivated my location services. Can anybody tell me what to do about this because it drains my battery without me even using it a lot.

Mobile Data doesn't have anything to do with the GPS. Go to your settings, then go to Location Access under Personal, and then turn both "WiFi & mobile network location" and "GPS Satellites" off. That should turn your GPS on the phone completely off.
You can also look in your settings to see if you can set up a toggle to quickly turn the GPS, as well as many other services on or off just by swiping down from the top notification bar.


text:
Is there any way to password protect application folders?
I have a Galaxy S4 running Android 4.2.2. When I drag an application onto another one a folder is created. I was wondering if there's any way to password protect that folder? Most of the related apps I've found so far don't do that.

There is no point in password protecting something if it is not getting encrypted, or in other words, its content not becoming obfuscated to any other program. If you simply password protect a folder using an app, then very likely you can access the folder using another file explorer or perhaps with adb too.
I would recommend encryption in this case. I use ES File Explorer which can encrypt the file. Since it encrypts the file, the file  becomes illegible to other capable file reading programs.
You can encrypt a file/folder by long-pressing it and choosing Encrypt. Provide the password (note it down somewhere for future use) and the file will get encrypted eventually.
If you click the file, the file explorer will ask you to provide the password. You can also opt to permanently decrypt the file by long-pressing it and choosing Decrypt.
Hope that helps!


text:
How can I tell if a Watch Later video has been successfully preloaded?
Preloading of 'Watch Later' videos has been enabled, but I do not know how to tell when a video I am about to watch has been successfully pre-loaded by the YouTube app. As others have noted (Youtube Preload limit?) there is a limit to how much video Google will download to your device. I cannot see whether a particular video is preloaded or not. I have a good (but limited) mobile network, so preloaded or not pre-loaded both load quickly.
Can you see where the data is stored? Is there a widget or indicator I missed that tells me if the video will come from the storage or from the cell network before launching it?

I assume you're talking about the Youtube app. As far as i know videos are only preloaded when your phone is charging and connected to wifi. When a video is preloading it shows a little white arrow pointing down on the bottom right of the video (when viewing your watch it later list). When it has fully preloaded it shows a green circle with a white down arrow in it.
The files are stored in /sdcard/Android/data/com.google.android.youtube/files/ then there will be another folder (mine is seemingly random numbers). Within this there is one file per preloaded video. As far as i can tell they aren't able to be played with anything other than the youtube app.
This screenshot shows videos that have been preloaded:

That explains why I was confused... for some reason, despite having the option on, the phone charging, and on WiFi... none of my Watch Later videos have preloaded at all, or even begun to download, in the past week since I enabled preloading.


text:
Note 10.1 stuck in restart loop
I bought the Note 10.1 two months ago. But now my Note is stuck in a restarting loop for a second time. First, it happened last month. I already got that fixed by the service center. I asked the service center man whether I can fixed it by myself or not. He told me that you couldn't. Now, my Note 10.1 is constantly restarting again. I don't know what exactly the root cause of this issue is. I remembered that last activity was I only registered new account for Line and ChatOn app. The problem condition is when entering the boot screen, the note 10.1 just restarts again. So it never reaches the home screen. Any body know what is the root cause for this? How can I fix it by myself?

I've just added the 'boot-loop' tag to your question (as that is what you describe). Please check its tag-wiki for first aid, with some luck this will already solve your issue. If so, feel free to answer your own question yourself. Otherwise please edit it and write what you've tried, what the outcome was, and where you're stuck then.

@Izzy, thank you for your helpful comment. I just factory reset my Note. However this is not solving the root cause. this case is happened to me twice in this three months.

In other words: while this saved you the service tech (despite him saying you couldn't do that, LOL), you're afraid it will happen again within the next 2 months. Two raw ideas: usually a "bad app" is causing this, so try remembering what you did the "last 24h". Second, to be prepared, have USB Debugging enabled and practice using adb logcat as well as dmesg via ADB from your computer. This might come in handy when it happens the next time, so you can hopefully capture a log of what's going on and identify the culprit.

@Izzy, thank you for your helpful comment..hope can find the root cause.

Good luck! Don't forget to come back then and update your question. You made at least me curious :)


text:
Strange PDF scanned character rendering in Android
I am using Android 4.0 (ICS) on a Samsung Nexus S 4G.  I have a PDF of a scanned book (text/graphics).  The PDF displays fine on a PC.  On the Android device, every single "d" and "o" character has the white space in the center (i.e. the "hole") filled in completely with black.  I've tried a half dozen different viewers and they all display it the same way.  I've tried re-rendering/printing the PDF on the computer before putting it on the mobile device, and still no luck.
I'm guessing it has to do with some Android system level driver that is shared between all the viewers I download.  Any ideas how to fix this?

What software are you using on PC to read it?

@DanHulme On PC it works fine with Adobe Reader.  On Android, the mobile Adobe Reader is one of the many apps I've tried.


text:
How can I download files if there is no SD card?
I have no SD card in my phone. And I would like to know how I can save pictures in a place where I can access them later because I download them on tumblr.

It would help to know your model at least. Does it have a so-called "internal SD-Card", like the Nexus models do? Then this could be used. If there's no storage available, it's hard to find a place to store stuff. So if the device has a microSD slot, the easiest thing probably is buying a card (class-6 recommended, don't try to save money buying anything below class-4 or you'll regret it). If you're just downloading on-the-fly to xfer stuff to your computer later, see Sid's answer below.

Even if you have no SD card, you can use the apps provided by reputed cloud services to store your data. In order to do this, you have to have at least some amount of memory in your device as you have to download them into your phone before you upload them to cloud services. (There are apps that facilitate remote file downloads1 as well). Some of the best apps out there are listed below.

DropBox
Sky Drive
Google Drive
Or search the Play Store for more apps

With those apps, you can save, view/listen, edit and share the files you have, without keeping them in your mobile device.

1Remote file downloading allows you to save the files in somewhere without downloading and re-uploading. All you have to do is to paste the file link in the relevant place.

Dropbox has an automatic picture sync option which uploads new pictures which I find useful.

I use Dropbox with its auto upload pictures option. I can then download them from Dropbox on my PC.

There are lots of other options to do this too: Google+, Facebook, Carbonite, Lookout. Automatic photo uploads seems to be the new killer function.

Upload to google drive.
download google drive on your device.
Find file in google drive
tap (i) next to file "Download a copy" will dl to internal storage.


text:
Gallery thumbnails locked
I have a problem with my gallery thumbnails for a few days now. Thumbnails are generated in the .thumbnails folder but they are not displayed in the gallery, there is instead a picture with a lock.
How can I solve this? I have already tried to clear data but it didn't work. It seems like there is a broken permission in the gallery application.

Could it be you (or someone else) installed some app locker or gallery locker to the device? Maybe someone's having fun with you. Go to Google Play (Web), and browse through the list of apps installed to the device (such a locker might hide on the device itself, hence looking at the web interface; of course, you can also check Settings->Apps). That would at least be the most plausible explanation.

I have exactly this problem. There is no gallery locker on the phone. I have removed the thumbnails from the DCIM directory, and Android has re-scanned the SD card and created three sets of thumbnails: Camera, Whatsapp and Wahtsappvid. But when I view them in Gallery, I get the same symptoms as above, with each thumbnail showing as above. If I click on one of these 'blank' thumbnails, the picture displays ok. If I use MediaSee it seems to display all the pictures as thumbnails.
Perhaps of interest may be that the picture above looks like a Motorola Defy Mini phone, which is what I have got. Sorry if this is the wrong way to ask this question, but this is the only post I have seen which shows the problem I have got.

While this really isn't an answer to the original question, it at least details some things that were tried and didn't work, so it's at least a helpful partial answer. (You'd probably do well to read our [help] though.)


text:
How to assign a hardware button to camera
I like the functionality of a hardware camera button. On my Lumia 920 I have a dedicated camera button that I can long-press at any time (in other apps or when the phone is locked) to open the camera app in 1-2 seconds.
I also have a Galaxy Note 1 (JB, rooted) without such hardware button. Is there a way to reconfigure one of the existing hardware buttons (e.g. long-press volume up) to always open the camera app even while the screen is locked?

Since you are rooted, what ROM are you running?

@VarnerBeast14 : I'm using the stock Samsung ROM. (4.1.2) I hope I won't have to flash a custom ROM for this but I'm willing to try if I can't find another solution.

You might not have to, but I know that a lot of the custom ROMs have the ability to set hardware actions. Just something you might want to look into if you have no other options.

You should be able to achieve what you want to do with the help of Home2 Shortcut. The app is self-explanatory. You can easily use it.
If you have enables S Voice on double-tap, go into the S Voice settings and uncheck the Launch SVoice box. This will keep S Voice from launching when you double tap the home button.
Open Home2 Shortcut and configure it to launch the app of your choosing with a double tap of the home button. When you get to the end, after you tap "close" it will ask you to set as default. Select Home2Launcher as the default.
Read more information here.

Thanks. Doesn't seem to work for me while the screen is locked though.


text:
What kind of data is stored in /data/user directory?
It seems to store some kind of application data, but how is it different from /data/data directory?

ll /data/user/
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan  3  1970 0 -> /data/data/

/data/user was added in Jelly Bean as part of multi-user support. Each user on the device gets a directory in there named after their user ID, and that directory contains each app's data directory for that user. /data/user/0 is a symlink to /data/data.

This is not true.  See: http://androidxref.com/7.0.0_r1/xref/frameworks/native/cmds/installd/commands.cpp#135

@w3bMak3r What exactly are you claiming is not true, and how does that source code (which postdates this question and answer) relate to it?


text:
Snapshots suffer from Short Term Memory Loss?
I have seen that despite repeatedly saving to snapshot, periodically (once in about 3 attempts to launch from snapshot) I get the error:

emulator: ERROR: Unable to load VM from snapshot. The snapshot was saved for a
  different hardware configuration

This forces me to go the old way (boot and wait 150-200 seconds) again try saving to snapshot and then launch. This phenomenon has been happening for quite some time now.
That said, I have settled for a system configuration (after all the only change in configuration from the default is that in the preferred setting all IMEs are disabled). That is it. No system apps installed like Google Play, etc. No system apps removed either. I have not changed the system/hardware configurations for the last one week.
I later came to know a command whereby the emulator can load from snapshot so that on closing it, the SDK doesn't save it to snapshot. Just run
emulator -no-snapshot-save -avd Andreud

in the terminal. I was relieved sinceIt will be good to not save to snapshot and save processing time, when you know you aren't making any more system/hardware configuration changes.I suspected that there were some unknown aberrations in saving to snapshots sometimes and is what resulted in the error, so avoid it rather than cure it.
Yesterday I discovered that the problem persisted! It persists to this day! What amazes me is that when I no longer write to the snapshot image, it still forgets the configurations stored in the snapshot so soon! I even tried to do it after freeing up RAM space by running solely the emulator and none else!
Any help to rectify this is welcome.
P.S.: I have given -no-boot-anim option to the emulator command as well. So if not loading from snapshot, at least the boot happens in less time.

Close Voters: While the Android Emulator is primarily for developers, we long ago established that emulator questions may be of interest to some power users. I think this question is fine to stay open.


text:
Calling address book contacts in Skype 4
I've just updated to the new Skype 4 on my Nexus 4. I regularly use Skype to call numbers saved  in my phone's address book contacts, but can't find where to do this in the new version.
The previous version of Skype 3.2 had an address book icon at the top right (as seen here) but this is missing in the new Skype 4 (as seen here). Is there no longer a way to call my phone's address book contacts without adding them as a Skype contact as well?
I'd rather not set Skype to sync my contacts as I regularly jump back and forth between personal & work accounts.

Try Sky Dialer for Skype App, It lets you make Skype calls to your android contacts without even going to the Skype app(It requires the Skype app to be installed to work), lets you mark and organize favorites for easy calling too.
Full Disclosure: I am the app's developer


text:
What can I do to save my Samsung Galaxy from a bootloop?
I have a relatively old phone that I would like to make some use of again. It's the GT-I9000, and it's currently stuck in a bootloop.
I'd like to install CyanogenMod on it. I've already flashed it with the CWM, however, I'm experiencing problems when trying to finally put the actual mod on the internal sd card.
First off, when I execute:
adb push cm.zip /sdcard, ADB complains that /sdcard is a directory... Of course it is!
So, I've tried to be a bit more specific... adb push cm.zip /sdcard/Videos - I didn't expect any significant change, but there was. It now complained about the permission being denied.
I overcame this on Linux by becoming root, and executed the command again...
Then, it complained about not having enough space...
I used the CWM recovery to navigate internal storage, and noticed that it really was crammed with all my data.
In order to get more space, I tried factory resetting, data wiping, and partitioning. The first two finished successfully, but didn't delete any of my files, and CWM recovery couldn't partition the thing.
After that, I noticed that ADB can provide a shell connection, so I tried adb shell.
On both Windows and Linux, this is the error:
link_image[1963]:  2950 could not load needed library 'libm.so' for '/system/bin/sh' (reserve_mem_region[832]: OOPS:  2950      prelinked library 'libm.so' mapped at 0x40008000, not at 0xafc00000)CANNOT LINK EXECUTABLE

So I suspect it has something to do with my Android phone, not my computers.
And the best thing is: my phone cannot read external cards for some reason. What a great combination!
How can I wipe internal storage without a shell connection?

First, if your source is a file, adb push requires the target to be a file as well. Hence, the correct syntax would be:
adb push cm.zip /sdcard/cm.zip

Second, a factory-reset usually doesn't touch the SDCard (internal or external), unless there's an option offered to do so and you checked that.
As for the link error: That looks like something on the device is screwed up. You're probably in recovery mode when trying this, and (just a guess, but a good one) the partition holding the required library file was not mounted.
I don't know what options are available for your device specifically, but there are generally several ways to flash a device, as e.g.:

update.zip via recovery (which is what you're just trying)
side-loading via adb sideload
using fastboot
using a device (or manufacturer) specific flash tool, in your case kies, odin, or heimdall

I'd suggest the last mentioned method: you could e.g. first flash the latest official ROM via Odin/Heimdall, so it is able to boot correctly again. After that, you would have a working device again, and could cleanup your SDCard to use the update.zip method for flashing your CM image.
Another way to free some space: If you know some of the "big filenames", you could try using adb push to overwrite them with "small ones". Say, if there's a video file with 500 MB size in /sdcard/Videos/bigmovie.mp4, you could take an empty text file empty.txt ( 0 Bytes ) and push it over the video:
adb push empty.txt /sdcard/Videos/bigmovie.mp4

This should set enough space free to finally push your cm.zip to the card.

Glad to read! Could you solve your issue with this information? Which path did you chose, and how did it work out?

I'm glad that you're asking, because I think I'm about to nag you a bit longer... I'd appreciate your help here.
The thing is, I'm unable to choose a path - because I can't get my phone to boot into recovery anymore.
Everything was working fine last night, but when I woke up and tried to follow your advice - my phone just kept rushing into a bootloop instead of actually getting into recovery mode from which I could have used ADB.
Please see this if you have the time...


text:
Copy files from android device to windows 7 laptop using windows command
I connect my android phone to my laptop.  I see computer\gt-19100 in windows explorer for the phone.  I wish to run a dos command to copy photos from the android over to a temp directory on my laptop.
I try
C:\Users\Me>copy Computer\GT-I9100\Phone\DCIM\Camera\20130702_083215.jpg C:\temp

I get:
The system cannot find the path specified.

can you enabled mass storage option in android device

You'll need Android Debug bridge to do that.
You'll find a tutorial for that here.


text:
Warning received when clicking links in Facebook application
When I click some shared links in the Facebook app and Chrome opens, I get:

Please be careful
  for safety and privacy of your Facebook account, remember...

and when I try to click on Continue, I get:

The page you requested cannot be found

.
So how can I disable this annoying thing so the links open directly? It did before I started using Chrome and was using the default Android browser and each time I clicked a link there was no warning.

I don't have an answer to disable it - however it is part of Facebook's website; so I'm not sure you can disable it. You can see in the url the php?u=http part. Facebook is passed your URL and is just warning you. When it fails it's just Facebook failing. I used to have to try 3-4 times, both in Chrome and the Android browser before it would work.

it's interesting that on the stock browser it opened the link without any warning... then I selected to always open in Chrome and I got this.. don't know how to go back to the stock browser and I don't even want to.. would like this to work in Chrome.. I get that the FB generates that link, but don't know why it worked before.. and how to fix it now. thank you

The solution: I just had to be signed into Facebook in Chrome.

Don't forget to mark this as an answer. :)

yes, it doesn't let me.. tomorrow it will


text:
No access to the Gallery nor to the camera
I've got a Galaxy Nexus and recently I cannot access my gallery or camera. When I tap both on the Gallery icon or on the camera icon I got this message "No archives available", then the app shuts down. The only way to overcome as far as now is to completely reboot the phone. Phone is not rooted.

Are you running the latest Android version, 4.2.2?

Yes, it's a GSM model (I'm in Europe), running 4.2.2, no root or anything

Try clearing the Gallery cache.

Go into Settings->Apps and scroll over to show 'ALL' apps.
Scroll down and open 'Gallery'
If the 'Clear Cache' button is greyed-out, then you'll have to 'Force stop' the app first, then go ahead and clear the cache.

Exit out and try to open your Gallery again.


text:
Cannot boot into recovery (Samsung Galaxy S)
My GT-I9000 device recently got stuck in a bootloop, and now I'm trying to put CyanogenMod on it, hoping that this would fix the situation.
I can use Heimdall to install the ClockworkMod Recovery on the phone, but as of today, I cannot boot into the recovery!
Yesterday everything worked normally, but once I tried to boot into it today, it got stuck in the bootloop instead of going to recovery!
I'm using the standard Vol up + Home + Power button combination.
What can I do to force the phone into recovery mode again?
Edit: CWM flashed (but unable to start) and honestly I can't remember how I initially bricked the device. I think it's safe to assume that I have a broken ROM on it.
I actually am trying to install a new ROM, so if I could flash it that would be great. But for that I need to get the recovery and ADB working.

I'm not sure if you already successfully flashed CWM. But assuming you did, and have not yet "fixed" the ROM itself, that could be the culprit. I have not worked with Samsung devices yet, but AFAIK you can bring them into two other modes for flashing: fastboot and download mode. Heimdall should be able to detect them at least in one of them. Maybe an "experienced Samsung-Flasher" can provide more help here.

i can easily get it into download mode and use Heimdall to flash the device with CWM, but the problem occurs when I try to boot into the CWM Recovery I've flashed onto the device. I was able to do that before, but not anymore, which is weird.

Have you already flashed another ROM, including a wipe? As I wrote on the previous question, it very much looks like something is messed up with your "old" ROM, so flashing a new one could solve that. Please edit your question and include the full current state of your device (CWM flashed? CM or another "fresh ROM" flashed?). Thanks!

Also I did the edit btw

Any error message from CWM? Sure you've picket a compatible version of it?

Nope, I don't even get to see any CWM output. And I'm sure because it's the same version that used to work before.

I also had a boot loop today, after flashing Semaphore's ClockworkMod Recovery according to these instructions, then trying to boot to recovery mode. What helped me out was the hint at the bottom of that page: to use Replicant's recovery.img instead:
heimdall flash --KERNEL recovery.img --no-reboot

Update: Note that the hint has now been removed with the comment:

Using a non-Gingerbread-compatible recovery for initial install will result in lost IMEI.

Oh my God!! I thought the phone was lost until I tried your image. Finally CWM recovery that works! Thank you!

Robert, you deserve a medal...


text:
Would any of the advanced Linux/UNIX filesystems be viable on Android?
I know ext4 is already used as an internal filesystem but I wondered if there would be anything gained by using something like btrfs or ZFS? I know they are meant for more server-oriented situations but I'm just curious if there are any features that might help on a flash memory based smartphone.

Neither ext4 nor btrfs or zfs are really usable on a flash filesystem. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_file_system

I believe some of the filesystems I mentioned can be at least partially configured to work better with flash memory than they do by default.

ext4 even is used on Android devices. "really unusable" might be correct for older flash modules (say, two years ago), which was while things like e.g. YAFFS were used back then. With current chips, much of the corresponding logic previously handled by the file systems (wear leveling etc.) have been moved to the flash controller, so other file systems can very well be used here.

In fairness, trying to shoe-horn in btrfs or ZFS on Android when the more commonly accepted filesystems are ext[2|3|4]... just saying, have not heard of android running on anything else...


text:
Auto alerting on Android upon file copy to phone
I have an PC based app that periodically copies some images to a Samsung Note-II via USB. (The target folder etc. are all configurable)
I need the Note-II to automatically display the most recent copied image and play an audible alert tone when a file is copied onto the device. Is there any configuration in Android to let me do that? Other than the obvious way of writing a custom Android app?

You could try with On{x} a free app by Microsoft before going for Tasker (paid) where you could do it using the "file modified" context on the directory where the images are copied.

very helpful, let me check it out....


text:
Evo 3D GPS is no longer accurate
I have an HTC Evo 3D from Virgin Mobile, about six months old. Until yesterday, the GPS worked great, tracking my exercise in RunKeeper very accurately.
Since yesterday, RunKeeper shows my walking route as a random zig zag line, jumping left and right of my actual location, and reports my 4 mile walk as 10 miles. This has happened three times, on trails that have always been reported accurately in the past.
In Google maps, my location also jumps around.
GPS Test showed that I could see 10/10 satelites, but the accuracy was only about 30 feet.
Any ideas what may be causing this? The phone has never been dropped or got wet.

Based on my experience, GPS always loses its accuracy after a few days. Its data becomes stale.
What I would normally do is:

Use FasterFix to make sure I am connecting to the NTP servers nearest me. Refer to this XDA list for suggested NTP servers. You can also use FasterGPS if you like; I have no issues with either apps.
Use wireless networks (Wi-Fi or mobile network) to help fix my location. In my Samsung Galaxy S4, this is in: System settings > More > Location services > Use wireless networks.
Reset GPS data with GPS Test Plus (or its FREE version). When you do this, make sure you are outside the building, where are are no obstructions (trees, etc).
After some time, I check Google Maps and see if my position has updated.

More often than not, this will improve the accuracy of my GPS location. When I notice that my position is off, I check those items I listed above. Also, when you are inside buildings, do not expect to get an accurate reading, unless your phone has a really awesome (i.e. POWERFUL) GPS.

Thanks for the suggestions. My phone is not rooted, so I am unable to try FasterFix or FasterGPS, but I have not had a problem with the speed of getting a location - just that the location is constantly jumping around. I have wireless location enabled, but when I am using RunKeeper, I am outdoors, away from WIFI. I tried resetting GPS data outdoors with a clear view of the sky with GPS Test and that made no difference either.


text:
Is there any way to root JB without losing all data and settings?
Is there any technique to root Jelly Bean (perhaps temporarily) without losing all data and settings?
The phone is Nexus S i9020 with Android 4.1.2.
The phone has a bad case of the "Lag" problem - AndroBench reports:
Random rd 4.4 MB/s  (1127 IOPS)
Random wr 0.18 MB/s 49.86 IOPS.
I have found "LagFix" as a possible solution but it requires root.
I have no other reason for root, and would be happy to have a "temporary" root that would let me run LagFix to solve that problem, and then be back to unrooted after restarting.
I checked the suggested answer (This question already has an answer here:) If I root my Android phone, will I lose all of my data?, but it is from 2010 and recommends a tool (Unrevoked) that only supports specific phones (not including the Nexus S).
I saw a different approach here but it appears to be for Gingerbread 2.3.3 and prior. I'm running JB 4.1.2.
So I'm still looking for a way to root JB without losing data.

If you're running Android 4.0+: Sure, just make a Backup before you start :) Full Backup of non-rooted devices

Always glad to help!

Izzy, can you confirm that the ADB backup will work to root the phone?  If I do the backup of "everything", root the phone, and then restore "everything, wouldn't it be restored to the non-rooted state it was in when I made the backup? If the ADB backup does not back up "everything", exactly what is not backed up?

I wouldn't use the "backup everything" then, as that means you'd have no selective restore. Rather use some alternative frontend to create separated backup archives you then can restore separately (examples can be found in the linked question). I've never tried a "full restore", but the single-app-backups restored fine for me even across multiple devices. Still: As rooting just adds some files, a full restore shouldn't lead to "unroot". You can try, and then let us know -- so next time we can say for sure :)

This question is answered here http://android.stackexchange.com/a/3159/440

Flow - I checked the Unrevoked site, and it appears that it supports exactly 6 phones (Mostly HTC). The Nexus S is not one of them. Am I missing something?


text:
Reply to messages in K-9 mail without going through the menu
In K-9 (latest version on Google Play, 4.403), is there a way to either:

Add a Reply/Reply-All button to the bottom of the message details view
A gesture to Reply/Reply-All in the message details view

You need to have the latest K-9 version (4.4x).
However, it is not yet available for all devices / countries.
I installed K-9 on my Galaxy S4, and it installed 4.2x, which is not the latest.
See this XDA thread; there's a download link to the 4.4x APK,
which you can install manually.
The newer version uses an actionbar which has a reply button.


text:
DropBear dropping connections
I've got DropBear II installed on my android and my public key uploaded. But when I connect with my key, it closes the connection right away:
jlaptop:home jim$ ssh 192.168.1.14 -i android.key
Welcome to DropBear SSH Server II!
Connection to 192.168.1.14 closed.
jlaptop:home jim$

What could be causing this? I tried SSHDroid before this, and as soon as I would successfully authenticate, it would drop the connection too.
EDIT:
verbose output
jlaptop:home jim$ ssh 192.168.1.14 -i android.key -vvv
OpenSSH_5.9p1, OpenSSL 0.9.8x 10 May 2012
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh_config
debug1: /etc/ssh_config line 20: Applying options for *
debug1: /etc/ssh_config line 53: Applying options for *
debug2: ssh_connect: needpriv 0
debug1: Connecting to 192.168.1.15 [192.168.1.15] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
debug3: Incorrect RSA1 identifier
debug3: Could not load "android" as a RSA1 public key
debug1: identity file android type 1
debug1: identity file android-cert type -1
debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version dropbear_0.52
debug1: no match: dropbear_0.52
debug1: Enabling compatibility mode for protocol 2.0
debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_5.9
debug2: fd 3 setting O_NONBLOCK
debug3: load_hostkeys: loading entries for host "192.168.1.15" from file "/Users/jim/.ssh/known_hosts"
debug3: load_hostkeys: found key type RSA in file /Users/jim/.ssh/known_hosts:8
debug3: load_hostkeys: loaded 1 keys
debug3: order_hostkeyalgs: prefer hostkeyalgs: ssh-rsa-cert-v01@openssh.com,ssh-rsa-cert-v00@openssh.com,ssh-rsa
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,diffie-hellman-group1-sha1
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: ssh-rsa-cert-v01@openssh.com,ssh-rsa-cert-v00@openssh.com,ssh-rsa,ssh-dss-cert-v01@openssh.com,ssh-dss-cert-v00@openssh.com,ssh-dss
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,arcfour256,arcfour128,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,arcfour,rijndael-cbc@lysator.liu.se
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,arcfour256,arcfour128,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,arcfour,rijndael-cbc@lysator.liu.se
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,umac-64@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-256-96,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha2-512-96,hmac-ripemd160,hmac-ripemd160@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-96,hmac-md5-96
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,umac-64@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-256-96,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha2-512-96,hmac-ripemd160,hmac-ripemd160@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-96,hmac-md5-96
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: none,zlib@openssh.com,zlib
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: none,zlib@openssh.com,zlib
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit:
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit:
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: reserved 0
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: diffie-hellman-group1-sha1
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: ssh-rsa,ssh-dss
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-ctr,3des-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,aes256-cbc,twofish256-cbc,twofish-cbc,twofish128-cbc,blowfish-cbc
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: aes128-ctr,3des-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,aes256-cbc,twofish256-cbc,twofish-cbc,twofish128-cbc,blowfish-cbc
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-sha1-96,hmac-sha1,hmac-md5
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: hmac-sha1-96,hmac-sha1,hmac-md5
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: zlib,zlib@openssh.com,none
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: zlib,zlib@openssh.com,none
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit:
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit:
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: kex_parse_kexinit: reserved 0
debug2: mac_setup: found hmac-md5
debug1: kex: server->client aes128-ctr hmac-md5 none
debug2: mac_setup: found hmac-md5
debug1: kex: client->server aes128-ctr hmac-md5 none
debug2: dh_gen_key: priv key bits set: 124/256
debug2: bits set: 492/1024
debug1: sending SSH2_MSG_KEXDH_INIT
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEXDH_REPLY
debug1: Server host key: RSA cd:5f:6d:3d:51:1d:9b:1a:2e:82:66:f9:1f:38:24:5f
debug3: load_hostkeys: loading entries for host "192.168.1.15" from file "/Users/jim/.ssh/known_hosts"
debug3: load_hostkeys: found key type RSA in file /Users/jim/.ssh/known_hosts:8
debug3: load_hostkeys: loaded 1 keys
debug1: Host '192.168.1.15' is known and matches the RSA host key.
debug1: Found key in /Users/jim/.ssh/known_hosts:8
debug2: bits set: 520/1024
debug1: ssh_rsa_verify: signature correct
debug2: kex_derive_keys
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 1
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 0
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received
debug1: Roaming not allowed by server
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_REQUEST sent
debug2: service_accept: ssh-userauth
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received
debug2: key: android (0x7fedda410af0)
debug3: input_userauth_banner
Welcome to DropBear SSH Server II!
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey,password
debug3: start over, passed a different list publickey,password
debug3: preferred publickey,keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_lookup publickey
debug3: remaining preferred: keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled publickey
debug1: Next authentication method: publickey
debug1: Offering RSA public key: android
debug3: send_pubkey_test
debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply
debug1: Server accepts key: pkalg ssh-rsa blen 279
debug2: input_userauth_pk_ok: fp e2:a9:85:2e:62:a4:0a:a5:0e:f8:b8:6a:75:67:4b:ad
debug3: sign_and_send_pubkey: RSA e2:a9:85:2e:62:a4:0a:a5:0e:f8:b8:6a:75:67:4b:ad
debug1: Authentication succeeded (publickey).
Authenticated to 192.168.1.14 ([192.168.1.14]:22).
debug1: channel 0: new [client-session]
debug3: ssh_session2_open: channel_new: 0
debug2: channel 0: send open
debug1: Entering interactive session.
debug2: callback start
debug2: client_session2_setup: id 0
debug2: fd 3 setting TCP_NODELAY
debug2: channel 0: request pty-req confirm 1
debug1: Sending environment.
debug3: Ignored env TERM_PROGRAM
debug3: Ignored env TERM
debug3: Ignored env SHELL
debug3: Ignored env TMPDIR
debug3: Ignored env Apple_PubSub_Socket_Render
debug3: Ignored env TERM_PROGRAM_VERSION
debug3: Ignored env OLDPWD
debug3: Ignored env TERM_SESSION_ID
debug3: Ignored env USER
debug3: Ignored env COMMAND_MODE
debug3: Ignored env SSH_AUTH_SOCK
debug3: Ignored env __CF_USER_TEXT_ENCODING
debug3: Ignored env Apple_Ubiquity_Message
debug3: Ignored env PATH
debug3: Ignored env PWD
debug1: Sending env LANG = en_US.UTF-8
debug2: channel 0: request env confirm 0
debug3: Ignored env SHLVL
debug3: Ignored env HOME
debug3: Ignored env LOGNAME
debug3: Ignored env DISPLAY
debug3: Ignored env _
debug2: channel 0: request shell confirm 1
debug2: callback done
debug2: channel 0: open confirm rwindow 24576 rmax 32768
debug2: channel_input_status_confirm: type 99 id 0
debug2: PTY allocation request accepted on channel 0
debug2: channel_input_status_confirm: type 99 id 0
debug2: shell request accepted on channel 0
debug2: channel 0: rcvd eof
debug2: channel 0: output open -> drain
debug2: channel 0: obuf empty
debug2: channel 0: close_write
debug2: channel 0: output drain -> closed
debug1: client_input_channel_req: channel 0 rtype exit-status reply 0
debug2: channel 0: rcvd close
debug2: channel 0: close_read
debug2: channel 0: input open -> closed
debug3: channel 0: will not send data after close
debug2: channel 0: almost dead
debug2: channel 0: gc: notify user
debug2: channel 0: gc: user detached
debug2: channel 0: send close
debug2: channel 0: is dead
debug2: channel 0: garbage collecting
debug1: channel 0: free: client-session, nchannels 1
debug3: channel 0: status: The following connections are open:
  #0 client-session (t4 r0 i3/0 o3/0 fd -1/-1 cc -1)

Connection to 192.168.1.14 closed.
Transferred: sent 2760, received 1544 bytes, in 0.0 seconds
Bytes per second: sent 179279.8, received 100292.8
debug1: Exit status 1
jlaptop:home jim$

Do you get anything useful if you execute SSH in verbose mode from on the client? Try passing it -vv or -vvv; maybe that will turn up something relevant.

Verbose output added, but I'm not sure I see anything useful.

This is very old, but did you ever figure out what was the problem?


text:
How can I downgrade my HTC Explorer from Android 4.0 to 2.3
Android 4.0 is installed on my HTC Explorer, but now I want to install again the previous version which was 2.3 Gingerbread.
Could anyone please tell me how to do that?

Why do you want to downgrade? Just curiosity...

Because, its doesn't work very well.

One option is using RUUs. A few Google searches should get you going.
Another is flashable stock ROM zips. A few searches in the XDA Developers forum for that device should put you in track.


text:
Folder hierarchy messed up after upgrading my phone to Jelly Bean!
my HTC Desire X recently got an update to JB 4.1.1 but after the update, the folders are not getting diaplayed in their original hierarchy in the music player apps like PowerAmp and also the default HTC Music player.
Like lets say I have three folders A, B, C and they each contain three more subfolders A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3.....
But in the folder view of PowerAmp, all the folders are listed recursively in a single list e.g. A,A1,A2,A3,B,B1,B2,B3,C,C1.C2,C3!!! Also note that in this case the folders A, B and C are only containing files other than those three subfolders.
I initially thought this was an issue with PowerAmp but since it's happening with the default music as well, I came to a conclusion the issue lies somewhere. Any way to fix this?

Have you checked those directories with a file manager? Do they look OK there? If not, you might wish to sort it out that way, i.e. using the file manager to re-arrange those directories.

@Izzy YEs I did check them with A file manager and they look OK there. The folder structure hasn't changed on the SD card.

Which leaves at least 2 possible reasons: 1) the media database got messed up (go to Settings->Apps and clear cache and data for the corresponding apps, they will be refreshed on the next run of the Media Scanner), or 2) it got confused by the conversion of /mnt/sdcard to /mnt/sdcard0 and the legacy symlink (same solution, database needs to be refreshed). Please try the refresh (after clearing cache+data, simply access the device from your computer via USB, then disconnect again will initiate the media scan), and report back if that solved your issue.

@Izzy Thanks but no luck :( Still the same. Even tried unmounting the SD card and mounting it again. Any more ideas?

Unmount/mount is another way to trigger the Media Scanner, right. You just need to make sure first to have all its data and caches cleared. Otherwise old content might remain. We had a similar question somewhere... Ah, here it is: Gallery is displaying three, sometimes even four copies of the same file - why? There you find detailed instructions. Please let us know if the answer over there solved your issue!


text:
How to find nearest cell tower location?
I need to find the nearest cell tower to my current location. I found my current location using GPS, but I need to get the location of the nearest tower to me.

Are you trying to do this through code (i.e. is this a programming related question)?

Having an idea of why you need this might also help someone give you an answer or an alternative.

As Dan insisted in his comment, here as separate answer:
Narayanan already mentioned in his answer that each cell tower can be identified via its "CID" (Cell ID), and there are several apps available at Google Play which make use of this. A few examples include:

OpenSignal and RF Signal Tracker (source: Google Play; click images for larger variant)
OpenSignal (first image). Here the compass gives you the direction to the cell tower. The app has additional features as well, e.g. it can plot cell towers and WiFi APs. My favorite in this area however is RF Signal Tracker, which has comparable features. It can show you on a map in live-mode cell towers you have been recently connected to (including those you are connected to currently) and their coverage (measured while you've been connected to them). You can import your own cell data in CSV format, or export existing ones to edit them and re-import). If you were in logging mode, you can even export a nice KML to see results in Google Maps or Google Earth, or simply re-play the recording. Another nice feature is the list of "neighbors", where this app logs when a connection was handed over from one cell to another.
There are several more apps having comparable features, so you might want to check the "related" sections on their playstore pages to find the app best fitting for your purpose.

@lzzy is there any software like 'Field test'that give ability to select and change  BTS ??

@lzzy i mean Base transceiver station.i assume how did u become admin??

You probably cannot change the BTS as you've no access to that ;) You mean force switching to a different tower? Not that I know of. As for your second question: Assuming you mean "moderator", there were elections recently.

@lzzy yes i mean search and choose to switch between  2 BTS of same Operator.as i said a software name "Field test' do this job for symbian OS.with this tool is it possible to lock the phone to a certain cell ID.see more @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMvfGQUYOQ8

We're not on Symbian here, @AminM – and unfortunately I'm not aware of such an app for Android. There are some "optimizing your connection" (usually just disable and re-enable network to force a re-connect), but I've not heard of one allowing to select a specific tower.

Every cell phone transmission tower has a location area code and cell id. There are many apps in Google Play Store that can report these two parameters of the tower that the phone is presently connected to. This is likely to be the nearest (on the same network), but isn't necessarily. With these data, you can visit Cell2GPS and find its latitude and longitude and locate in a map.  There are also apps that can do this as well.

Correct. OpenSignal promises that. RF Signal Tracker even does the mapping. And there are plenty more of them.

@Izzy This information should be in the answer, not buried in the comments.

@DanHulme if you insist -- feel free to upvote :)

On most non-Samsung phones you can dial number
*#*#4636#*#*

and get a detailed report of the cell tower including in some cases for CDMA towers the actual Latitude and Longitude:

For other towers mapping is more complicated. Some tools like OpenSignal give general information.  For hunting down an actual tower location, CellMapper is the one with the right tools:

You can create request to Public API (source) if you have mobile cell information that you are currently connected. Most of the time current cell is physically nearest to you.
But if you need to find the nearest tower to you you have to request all the cells that you currently see (neighbours cells) and then chose the nearest cell to you.


text:
How to save the data when phone is locked via too many patterns attempted?
I am using Samsung S2, due to my nephew attempting too many wrong patterns in my phone now it is locked and it is displaying "Too Many Patterns Attempted sign in to your Google account".
I want to know if I unlock it by using Google account, will it wipe out my all the data that is in my phone memory? If so, how can I unlock the phone without losing any data from my phone memory?

When your phone says Too Many Patterns Attempted sign in to your Google account, signing in with your Google account (even without Internet connectivity) will NOT wipe any data. It will only ask you to provide a chance to change the lock pattern.

But i have lost some contacts from my phone memory.it saved my data from my galary.


text:
Are there any issues in storing an Android battery?
I want to buy a 2nd battery for my i9100 because the phone is getting old and I don't know if parts will be easily available a couple of years on (don't want to upgrade, I like it too much), but I've heard reports of batteries dying after being left in storage for extended periods. Is this true?
Should I just switch the 2 batteries around each time to preserve their life?

See: How frequently is it okay to let the battery discharge fully or as low as possible?. My answer there includes the answer to your question. In very short words: Store at 50% charge, check charge all ~ 3 months.

Unlike Ni-Cd and Ni-Mh batteries, Li-ion batteries primarily lose their capacity by calender time rather than by charge/discharge cycles.  It's simply a fact of the chemistry.  From the time the cell is assembled, it will lose capacity over time, regardless of whether it's in active use or sitting in a warehouse.
Stored unused, you're looking at up to 15-20% loss of capacity per year (pg 4, figure 5b) with the battery just sitting on a shelf.  Though this is more a worst-case scenario, as the battery is being stored at 35°.
To help prevent this capacity loss, you should store the battery cold.  In the paper above, storing the battery at 5° C (a few degrees warmer than an average kitchen fridge, which is ideally about 1.6° C) reduced the capacity loss rate by about half.
Putting the battery in a nice airtight bag (a small ziplock is good) is highly recommended for fridge storage to prevent unfortunate incidents relating to spills and condensation.

Oh boy. Is that safe? Even in a airtight bag you will condensation all over the battery, isn't that even slightly detrimental to the battery or it's contacts?

@warsong - That's why I specified a small bag.  Air actually contains very little water.  A litre of air (at 20° C and 1 atmosphere) with 100% relative humidity contains about 12 micrograms of water.  Simply removing most of the air from the bag should keep the amount of water low enough to prevent it from doing anything like shorting the contacts.  If you're feeling paranoid, you might add a packet or two of desiccant (e.g. silica gel) to the bag, which is readily scavengable from vitamin bottles and whatnot.


text:
Connecting to COM serial port through USB with Putty
I am trying to use my android phone connected to my PC as an SMS gateway by executing AT commands.
I have attached the phone to the PC (Windows 7), and device manager shows that it is in COM4 port. I opened PUTTY in administrator mode and tried connecting to COM4 but it just shows a black screen with the green cursor but won't let me type anything.
I tried playing around with the values of "Local Echo" and "Local Line Editing" as I found in one of the suggestions in another question here, but the best I can get (set both to "Force On"), I can type stuff on Putty but it doesn't really do anything.
Any suggestions?

How exactly have you connected your phone to your PC? Most phones don't have a user-accessible serial port.

@DanHulme I am using a regular USB connection. From what I've read online, this would create a virtual com port connection which it did as I checked from device manager. I'm trying out with putty if I can send messages using AT commands as I'm planning to build an application that will send SMS using the android phone as an SMS gateway.

You can't use the USB connection like a serial connection to a modem. That's just not how it works. You can probably find an app that acts as a server through Wi-Fi to send SMS messages, but I don't think you'll find anything that accepts AT commands.

@DanHulme I thought I read somewhere that can be done. I think the app is a better approach. Will this app be something like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.apksoft.android.smsgateway&hl=en

You can only do that on phones or 3g devices that are recognized as modems by the os.
I had one Nokia communicator that I used for that and controlled this using at commands.
 Also I had a Sony laptop with a 3g card that could be controlled with at commands and inclusive enable the hidden gps :)
That Sony still sends his coordinates to my Web server so I know where he has been :) if stolen :)
You need to check if your hardware is compatible and the OS has the correct driver implementation.


text:
Using Google Play music as an alarm
I downloaded a song from the Play Store to use as my alarm on my S3 but for some reason can't find it. When I go into Play Music it's there along with all my other downloaded music, but when I go into my alarm and try setting it it doesn't appear. Some of my other music appears, but not my music I've downloaded from the Play Store. Has anyone got a solution to this for me?

You could try to download your music in MP3 format from Google Music through your PC and then put it on your phones SD-card. Then you should be able to set the MP3 as an alarm sound.

When you download music from the Play Store, it stores it all on your account online. The best part of Google Music is that you can store up to 20,000 of your own songs online for free and then however many additional songs you purchase from the Play Store. These songs can be streamed at any time, or you can cache certain songs to listen to later when you don't have an internet connection or don't want to use all of your data. The downside to this is you never really have the music on your device.
Because of this, I am not sure you can use a song that you got from the Play Store as your alarm. You might be able to check in the file system to find where they are stored after they have been cached. Or you can download the song onto your computer, and then copy it manually onto the phone and then use it as an alarm.
EDIT: I have been looking all over my phone's file system trying to find where the offline music is being stored, but I have had no luck. Even after going to the location where every answer on this site says the offline music is stored, I still can't find the music. If you would like to check, this question appears to work for most people finding the offline music. From there you should be able to set the offline music as your alarm.


text:
How can I easily copy files from an Android device to a computer wirelessly via command line?
I need to copy jpegs from an Android phone's sdcard to a computer, ideally through command line (/storage/sdcard1/*.jpg to a remote location)
I've tried Izzy's solution from this post like so:
scp -p -P 2222 root@192.168.1.19:/storage/sdcard1/*.jpg ~/Desktop/pull/

but got this error:
sh: scp: not found

The scp and ftp commands are missing on the device, so is there a way to get this working ?
I've also looked at busybox and had some success doing so:
cd /storage/sdcard1 && for jpg in *.jpg; do ftpput -u user -p pass 192.168.1.33 ./Desktop/pull/$jpg $jpg;done

Another thing that worked is this ls solution but for single files and I'm not experienced enough with bash scripting for this to work on multiple files.
I'm looking for the simplest solution (with fewest install/setup steps).
What is the easiest way to do this ?

You might want to check Terminal IDE. It's a "little monster", providing a bunch of things you might not need, but amongst others, AFAIR, there was also scp included.

I've installed TerminalIDE and I get scp with that one too, unless I'm doing it wrong. However I've managed to create links to scp using this article

I didn't try that part yet. As you've found a solution: Would you mind answering the question yourself, including at least an excerpt of the linked article / steps you've performed? Would be great!

If rooted, install adb wireless on the phone and then use adb commands to copy the files via push/pull

@BryanDenny sounds good. I see many ADB wireless apps on the play store. Which one did you have in mind ?Also, adb seems to only work with one device at a time. I will need to control many.

@GeorgeProfenza the app I use no longer seems to be on the market: http://www.appbrain.com/app/siir.es.adbWireless ADB should be able to control many, you can tell it which device with the -s flag


text:
View a PDF with two columns by displaying it one column by one column
Is there a way to view a PDF with two columns by displaying it column by column? I can certainly use any viewer to look at such a document but leafing around from column-to-column is very cumbersome. Even more so for scanned-in bitmaps.
The layout of many Android devices would be ideal to read a single column at a time.

What are you exactly looking for? You have a PDF with 2 columns, and you want to view it as 1 column only? Or you have PDF with 2 columns, and you want to view the 2 columns in 1 page?

@geffchang: I have a docment with 2 columns and I want to read them, viewing only ~1 column at a time. Currently, I do this manually, going to the next page, enlarging it accordingly, which is very cumbersome.

KOreader has very customizable view by columns, see here: https://koreader.rocks/user_guide/#readingpdfs

If the PDF are scanned images (pure image), I don't think it's possible.
But if it's purely text (like a Word document saved as a PDF file), you can use ezPDF Reader (or its free version). When you open the PDF, click the More Options button at the lower right, and select Text Reflow. This time, you will only see 1 column.
I'm not sure what happens if there's a combination of text and picture.

Reflow is not an answer, because it ruins the layout of technical documents that are typically set with Latex. Many eInk readers have addons or apps that show one column at a time, even if the document is scanned, so there must be one for Android too.

You can give a try to EBookDroid. It supports view two column document as one column by cropping and moving the parts of a page around. It's perfdct on mobile phones but probably not idea for pads.

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


text:
Google Books errors on HTC Sensation on application launch
Google Books Android crashes on loading, and whenever I have auto-sync enabled (which is hence very disruptive)
I always get the error twice:

The application Books (process com.google.android.apps.books) has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again.

The actual stack trace shows the error to be:

java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to create application com.google.android.app.TabletBooksApplication: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Expected a directory for path: /data/data/com.google.android.apps.books/cache/logs/null_account at android.app.ActivityThread...

I didn't consciously choose to install this application, it just seems to be part of the android application set.  I'm assuming the null_account bit is the problem but have no idea how to go about correcting this.

Are you signed in to your Google account on the device? That sounds like a dumb question, but it might be the reason for the 'null_account.'

Yep am signed in.  I use two google accounts on it (to access two different mail accounts).  Not sure if that has a bearing

I don't think it should, but when you signed into the second Google account, did it prompt you to choose which services to sync. I also have two accounts on my phone, but one of my accounts only syncs its email and contacts.

I may have done.  I'll investigate the settings on the second account (or just remove it for now)

Removed second acct, but still getting the same problem.  Also noted the last successful sync time was on 13th May.  Not sure if that was when I added the second account or if something else has triggered this behaviour.


text:
Lowering the brightness of the camera flash
I have a Samsung Galaxy S Duos (GT-S7562L).
The camera is good, but its flash is so strong that after the photo we have to wait for 1 or 2 minutes to our eyes be able to see all clearly - it is like to when you see the sun light directly.
So I would like to change flash brightness in some way: hardware or software.
The easier but ugliest hardware way is to use a semi-transparent sticker in front of lens.
Do you know any way to change flash brightness entering some hidden settings (common settings do not have that option) or using another settings app or camera app? The phone is not rooted, but I accept solutions in this way.

This question was asked over at StackOverflow HERE
Basically, the answer is No. The OS is limited to pretty much just FLASH_ON and FLASH_OFF. Though I have seen some flashlight/torch apps that have a 'turbo' mode that makes the LED even brighter (but that's not what you want and these types of apps usually require ROOT access).
Another workaround is to remove the back cover, put a small piece of tissue paper over the LED (make sure the paper is still big enough to be held in place with the back-cover back on) and put the cover back on.

yes of course you can lower the intensity -- you just have to have the flash OFF mmore than on.
http://www.electronicproducts.com/Optoelectronics/LEDs/LED_101_How_do_dimmable_LEDs_work.aspx

This is a good start, but it needs more detail to be useful. What exactly would you do to apply this principle to your smartphone?


text:
Why did my Gmail Notifications stop?
Recently I seem to have stopped getting notification when I receive new emails on Gmail. I used to get these until a few weeks back.
I have a Nexus 4 with the Android 4.2.2 and I am running the latest version of the Gmail app.
I have checked and notifications are turned on for the Gmail app in Settings->Apps
Anyone know why these might have stopped?

This often happens if you have sync turned off or your refresh interval is not often enough. I am able to turn my sync on an off through a toggle in my notification bar, and most phones can do the same. Make sure sync for all services is on through that method.
It is also not enough just to have notifications turned on through the app settings. Make sure that notifications are also turned on in Gmail by going to Gmail>Settings>(your account) and checking the notifications box. You can also check the "Sync Gmail" box.
This works for me and I get my Gmail notifications pushed to my phone almost immediately.

"almost automatically"? You mean you have to do a little work each time? Or do you mean "almost immediately"? :-)

Checklist:

Do you have proper Network/Data reception (Not in Airplane mode, properly connected to WiFi, etc..)
Are you using Check Settings->Data Usage->'Set mobile data limit'?
In Settings, make sure 'Google' is setup under Accounts.

Select Google and then click on the email address that you're verifying. The 'Sync' submenu will come up. Verify that 'Gmail' is checked (it will also tell you the last time it sync'ed).

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


text:
Turn off email notifications (not Gmail)
I have been getting email notifications from Gmail and the default email app on my Samsung Galaxy Exhibit. I only want to use Gmail but, when I go to uncheck "show notifications" for the default email app, I am unable to do so (it is grayed out). Why is this? I really don't need double notifications.

Why did you sign into the regular email app to start with? Can you simply sign out of it? You can also just disable the email app altogether.

I don't remember signing into it...if I did it was because I didn't realize there were two email apps. How do I disable it? I have tried hitting 'force stop', but it keeps on running...

right next to the 'force stop' button, there should be one that says disable. Otherwise I would try to go and look in your settings>accounts and remove the email account.

I found it! Accounts > Email > Settings > General Preferences > Priority Sender Inbox > Email notifications

@Jenna: If you found the solution and it isn't already listed, feel free to post your own answer and mark it as accepted.

Options:

Disable the default email app - Settings>Apps>Email> "Disable"
Remove the email account - Settings>Accounts> "Remove the email account"

I'll add any other ways that I think of if I figure out other possible options to handle the problem.

Open phone settings
Go to "Accounts/Account sync
Find your phone's email icon/widget.
Tap it, then tap the on "Remove Account."

In the default E-mail App click settings, click on the account  turn/slide Notifications off for new E-mails. Android 7.0 Software H87110p AT&T Carrier Phone LG-H871

Go to Gmail app

Settings>Notifications>"Turn Off"

Or
Restart your device and try to turn off via Settings>Apps Info>Gmail and uncheck notifications.


text:
Control your smartphone using your laptop
I have a sony xperia z and the screen recently smashed.  Touch screen capability has also gone.  As such I can't even unlock the phone.  Does anyone know of an app or a method for connecting it to my laptop and gaining full control of the phone through the laptop?  I need to unlock it and access an app that's installed.  I've been through the folders on it using the laptop but need access to the app itself to get the data I need.

Since your screen is smashed and touch screen capability is gone, you may not be able to use apps like AirDroid, as VarnerBeast14 has suggested. Instead you can use a service like Droid@Screen. Follow the steps below to view your screen.

Install Java JRE (or JDK), version 6 or later
Install Android SDK
Run its SDK Manager and install the Platform Tools
Set the environment variable ANDROID_HOME to point to the
installation directory of the Android SDK
Install USB drivers for your own Android device, by getting it from
the vendor’s support web page
Download and install the latest version of Droid@Screen
Configure your device to allow USB Debugging (Settings-> Developer
options -> USB debugging)
Plug in the USB cable between your device and PC
Launch Droid@Screen

Configure your device to allow USB Debugging (Settings-> Developer options -> USB debugging) How to do that with a smashed screen he cannot even unlock? ;) Just a side-note. My answer also requires USB Debugging to be turned on -- but it looks like chances are good Oliver already has it on.

Alas, no.  I don't already have it on.  And my screen lock is a pin code.  I'd literally just got it so had yet to start delving into hacking it.  The worst part is (and it's also quite funny) there was an alarm set for 5.30am, so if I power it up to try anything it gets charge and the alarm goes off every 10 minutes.  I can't take the battery out, because it's a z, and it doesn't seem possible to do a factory reset.  So essentially I have an expensive lump of (broken) glass at the moment.

Looks like it's the sony shop for this then.  How very annoying

You can only see the display, you cannot use touch functionality using Droid@Screen :), wasted my time.

is there a way to really control my smartphone from laptop?

If you've got a separate device running the same (or higher) version of Android, there would be an option alongside Sid's answer. You wouldn't need the full SDK, just ADB itself (see: Is there a minimal installation of ADB?). Then you could use adb backup -f myname.ab -apk <com.app.name> to backup your app and its data (replace <com.app.name> by the app's package name, to be found e.g. in its URL on the Google Play page, following the id=), and adb restore myname.ab to install it on the other device.
However, some conditions must be met:

your Xperia Z must at least run Android 4.0
USB debugging must already be turned on on your Xperia Z (from your description, it sounds like that could be the case: been through the folders on it using the laptop)
the second device also must run Android 4.0+ -- best the same as or a higher version than the source device

That provided, and followed above steps, you then could start the app on the second device and access its data.
EDIT: From ott's comment below I just notice I've missed an important point: the entire procedure only works if you've used adb backup before, and set up a desktop password for it (e.g. Holo Backup works this way). So this will probably be no solution for you in your current situation -- but you might wish to be prepared this way for (hopefully never happening) future cases.

I'm faced with this problem today, too. The touchscreen isn't smashed, it just doesn't work. The screen is locked, and adb backup -all just tells me to unlock and allow. Very funny. I still can do adb logcat and even adb shell works.

Oh crap -- I forgot about the "authorization screen". So my answer is only valid if one used adb backup before, and set up a "desktop password"...

The Xperia Z supports USB OTG so you can use a computer mouse to access the screen by connecting it to the phone with a 'male micro USB to Female USB OTG' cable. No setup required just connect it up and use the mouse to enter your passcode and do anything else you need to.
Once unlocked you can connect it to your PC to copy everything across or use the mouse to access an app.

I use an app called AirDroid. You install it on your phone, and then also install a Chrome extension (there may be other versions for the computer, the Chrome extension is the most universal for me).
This app lets me see the screen of my phone, receive messages, and operate apps. I don't know the full reliability of it because I still use my phone by itself most of the time since I can, but you can look into it and see all that it really has to offer. I think it could really help you out.

This app, too, needs to be installed before the problem happens.

So? If you're phone is properly set up, you have a google account active on it. If so, you can push-install apps to your phone from the pc. Just did it with this app. This might not have been possible in the far past of 2013. However, these days, this answer is fully valid! The only question is, wether it can be used without any actions on the phone, with only the app installed. Seems unlikely...


text:
Can we get a set of Android devices to update/ sync at once?
Within the school where I work there is a mix of Android and Apple Tablets. We use Apple Configurator for the iPads and are wondering if there is a system out there which can do the same for the Android tablets?
We can either connect to them through the charging cabinet or over a wireless connection.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. We would prefer a free option, though prices aren't really a deal-breaker.


text:
Using adb backup to recover files in Android
I encountered a situation similar to the question:
How can I recover a deleted file on Android?
I have a Sensation XE which is not rooted.
From the previously linked question, is there away that I can achieve step 2 in the highest rated answer using adb backup?

Step 2: Acquire an image of that block device with dd:
dd if=/dev/<blockdevice> of=/sdcard/image bs=4096

@Izzy and if it is possible to recover files by the following steps? 1. temp root my Sensation XE by the method in the section "STEPS TO RUN THIS TOOL" in the link: link, under a windows os, without doing the s-off steps in this link; 2. connect it to a linux system to run the dd command as stated  in the highest rated answer; 3. and then back to windows to run  temp_root_remove.bat to my Sensation XE.

@Dan Hulme Thank you for editing my question which makes it more clear.

No, you can't. dd operates on block-level (it makes a 1:1 copy of the data blocks), while adb backup works on file-level. The two are not compatible.

@user36987 Similarly, file recovery programs for a desktop computer require admin privileges, as they also work at the block level. The data exists (blocks), but the meta-data (file) is gone, so you need full access to bypass the upper layer and go deeper to the bare hard drive.

@user36987 Glad we could help! You're welcome to "accept" the answer (click the check-mark next to it :).


text:
Getting pictures off of old deactivated phone
Can I hook up my old Galaxy S2 phone via USB to my laptop to find "lost" pictures in an unnamed file?  I just activated my new Galaxy S4 and for some reason, all pics that were on my old phone are now gone from the new phone. Not sure why these would be deleted from the phone during a simple phone swap. Not all of my pics are on the sd card. Most of them were saved to the phone because it had much more space available.
Customer service says it may take up to 24 hours for the transfer to be complete but the new phone already has all contacts & accounts transferred, plus I'm able to text & receive calls. I understand that during a transfer, pics are not usually included. But they should still be saved inside the old phone, right? The techs doing the swap shouldn't be able to do a factory reset or anything on the old phone, correct?

Have you already tried to plug the phone into your computer and move the pictures manually?

And basically, everybody with physical access to the device can do a factory reset. So if those techs had the devices in their hands, they could.

The phone swap doesn't cause the pictures to be deleted from the new phone, they've never been transferred into the new phone in the first place. Just like moving house, you don't expect your furnitures to magically reappear in your new house without you moving them from the old house, do you?

Can you turn on your old phone (it may require the sim card, if there is one)?  If so, you could get to the pics and transfer them to something like dropbox or Google drive, or even the PC.

From your message I understand that you gave your old phone to a technician who did the transfer to your new Galaxy S4 for you. A phone swap is not necessarily a simple procedure and it all depends on what exactly the technician did. Apparently he moved all your accounts to the new device but like you I doubt that he moved all the files to the new device.
That being said, the pictures on your old phone will most likely still be there so there is nothing preventing you to connect your old phone to a computer and just copy those files to your computer or your new device. To confirm that the pictures are still there you can turn on the old phone and see if you can still see them. A deactivated phone only loses the actual mobile network connection but it should still be fully functional, even data with wifi.
And for your last question nothing is preventing anyone with your phone in their hands from factory resetting it. But I don't see any reason that would justify why a technician would do that after a phone swap.

And to add to my answer I didn't understand what you meant by an "unnamed file". Pictures taken with an Android phone should be named similarly to any digital camera and you should be able to copy them over USB.

If you have ROOT on your phone, you can get an app like Android Commander which runs on your PC and when you connect your phone via USB, it'll let you browse and access all the files on the phone


text:
Is there a way to move my Google Play music to my SD Card?
I have a Motorola Droid Micro.
I'm running out of space on my internal storage because it won't let me install things to the SD card.
Is there a way to move the Google Play music (which takes up 2/3 of the space) to my SD card?

Have you tried moving the Google Play Music app to the SD card? I can't remember if that moves the data as well, but it might be worth a shot.

Just announced: Google Play Music Now Lets You Specify Where Your Music Is Stored

A new Google Play Music update is rolling out now, and it brings with it a number of small but significant new features — one of which is the ability to specify where your downloaded music is stored.
You cannot choose a certain folder, but you can choose between internal storage and an SD card, which lets you free up space on your device itself.
This option won’t appear on devices without SD card support...


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Installing a fresh copy of Android on my rooted Galaxy Tab 10.1 2
I've got a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, which has been rooted, though it's still stock firmware. It has a whole bunch of problems right now with certain apps, e.g. it currently can't play any music (player crashes) and various other apps are pretty flaky. Anyway, I'd like to restore it back to stock, on the latest firmware. I'll probably root it again at a later date, but for now I'm not too fussed.
I've tried using the in-built update functionality (i.e. the "a new update is available" feature) but it reboots into CWM recovery and says that the signature verification failed.
How can I go about resetting the device, clearing out the junk, and updating it to the latest firmware? I'm not particularly fussed about any of the apps or settings that are on there.

I wanted to do something similar with my Nexus 7, but ended up just running another custom ROM to fix some of the problems. Would that be a possible option for you?

I'd much prefer to run stock.

That's fine. Just wondering if that might help fix your problem. Sorry, but I don't know how to do exactly what you want, or I would have done it myself!

You might want to take a look at Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device? Once you've found a matching ROM, instructions usually go along.

Would doing a factory reset help?


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How to force my tablet to remember which video files it was playing and make it easy to resume playing these files next time device is powered up?
I am using Samsung Note 10.1 to watch lots of instructional videos; each course is composed of 10-40 video files, stored in folders, subfolders etc
I have tried bunch of video players; most of them can play videos ok, but once the device is rebooted I have to do the whole process again (start video player, point it to certain folder, scroll through the files I have seen already etc)
Here is my question - is it possible to force video player to start playing from the last position the player has been stopped at? (and later been able to jump to the next file from that folder etc)
As an alternative fix - would it be possible to switch my tablet into "deep-sleep" (hibernation?) mode so it could stay in such mode for a long long time without draining the battery and, once waken up, restore last work session)?

Can you not just lock it and charge it occasionally. Is battery life that slim for you?

@VarnerBeast14 no, this wouldn't work ...I really need either hibernation mode or video player which could save and restore it's state


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Add wifi network name in notification?
I saw on one ROM (based on Cyanogen 10) it had wifi network name by the carrier name, and i want to make it work on stock CM.

So you want to display your WiFi SSID (WiFi name) besides your mobile operator name? And there is no such thing as stock CM. It's either CyanogenMod or Stock Rom

Why would you not just flash Cyanogen? I'm sure it has a ton of other features that you will enjoy as well and as far as I know, you can't make your device display the SSID on the notification bar (I don't even think people can write an app that does this without root access anyway).

@Sid Yes, i want to display WiFi SSID beside my operator name. And soory for Stock CM I ment not modifyed. I know that i need to modify some thing in SystemUI but i don't know what. Can you tell me?

@John I'm on Cyanogen mod, and there is alredy display the SSID on the notification bar in SleamBeam Rom. And i have root on my phone.


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App page sorting after app uninstall
My Galaxy S3-alpha runs Android version 4.1.1. Recently I uninstalled some of the apps I didn't use. But when I go into the "Apps" page, with all the apps lined up, the places of the old apps (that were un-installed) is still empty! So there is a lot of empty space between the apps that make navigation between them hard. I have also tried restarting the phone several times, the OS has also been updated once, but the empty space in the apps page remains! I wanted to see if there is a way that once an app is un-installed its place won't be left empty in the apps window.
Or more generally, is there a way I can sort the apps in the apps page so for example they can be sorted by their name or date installed?
Thank you very much in advance,

Chances are you are using a stock launcher (maybe Samsung's TouchWiz) that leaves empty spaces when you uninstall an app.
If you are using Samsung Galaxy S4 (using stock launcher), you can go to the Apps screen, and click on left menu key > View type > Alphabetical grid. If you are not on an S4, see if you can find something similar to this.
If you do not have the Alphabetical grid option, you can install a 3rd party launcher like Nova. Nova can sort your app drawer alphabetically.

If your phone is Samsung then try this: tap over the menu icon (down left) then tap Edit. Now you are in edit mode, you can tell because there are markers at each corner of each app icon. In this mode you can drag and drop the icons, they do not need to be in alphabetical order.
Note: I think Edit is only present if you are in custom mode. You can switch to custom mode at any time going to Left menu > View Type > Custom.