text:
Boot Loop issue
Summary
by Izzy
It seems the SD card in the LG Marquee has some errors causing a boot loop once the Media Scanner runs (or immediately when it's finished). Taking out the card seems to solve the issue, but then its content cannot be accessed. The original post is...
TL;DR
I'm a new user and I'm having a terribly annoying problem with my phone. I have an LG Marquee with Boost Mobile.
A few hours ago, I opened up my gallery and the screen froze, then a force-close option popped up (which happens a lot with this phone so I'm used to it & thought it'd just force-close & then go back to normal as usual). Instead, the screen went blank & the blue icons (home, options, back, search) started flashing.
My phone had restarted completely: I had no service, my wallpaper was blank, etc. My phone does this a lot actually, but will just go back to normal. This time it started up normal, but the SD card icon appeared on my notifications bar & it read "checking SD card for errors". Typically this would occur but then the "Media Scanner is Running" icon would appear & my phone would be fine. The "media scanner running" pop up never appeared, and the blue icons just started flashing again as the screen went blank, only to reboot once again.
My phone kept rebooting itself repeatedly for about an hour every minute or two (making it impossible to make a call or send a text!!) Then I finally just turned it off. Every time it'd reboot, it'd last a couple minutes & the "media scanner running" pop up would come up, then it'd reboot all over again. Seems as though the media scanner triggers the reboot :/
After reading through many posts on the Internet about this issue, I tried a few things. In attempting to fix the problem, I realized that this issue has nothing to do with my phone itself or the battery - it's the SD card. I haven't dropped my phone at all lately and typically refrain from downloading extra apps that I really don't need. Mostly my SD card is taken up by photos, texts, videos, contacts, & three or four extra apps. The last app I downloaded was last night, it was a photo/gallery organizing app. When the reboots started occurring, I quickly uninstalled the app but it didn't fix the problem. The SD card doesn't look physically damaged at all, & neither does the small port it goes in. I use a 2GB micro SD card, the one that came with the phone when I bought it (not the best choice, I know, I just figured I could make due with it).
I can run my phone perfectly fine without the impeccably annoying reboots occurring if I take the SD card out. The problem is that I obviously need my pictures and videos and other apps, etc. I had quite a few photos and videos, all of which I would be completely devastated and flat out pi**ed off to lose (especially because I had a lot of photos of a close friend that passed away recently in my gallery. Losing those would really make me sooo mad!) All I can do on my phone right now is access the internet, make calls, texts but I have none of my pics/vids & almost none of my apps.
Please help me!! Not only do I want my media and apps back, the constant rebooting is a level of annoying I can't even begin to describe!! I would literally appreciate it so much if someone could help me fix this issue (without having to reformat my SD card and lose everything)': ) and would be forever grateful!! I don't know how you reward/give a thanks to someone that helps you out on here, but I'd happily do it for anyone that can help me fix this problem ASAP. I'm soo unbelievably frustrated, please help me. Thanks so much!
(BTW, my phone is not rooted and none if my photos, videos, or other SD card things are backed up - dumb, I know!! I'm learning my lesson right now, unfortunately)
UPDATE/EDIT: I have been trying different tricks and tips from others, nothing has solved the problem but I did notice that the media scanner will actually complete scanning and even load my gallery, apps, etc. and show me that the SD card has been mounted but will automatically reboot all over again by itself about 10 seconds later. It's so frustrating that the card is loading and all my stuff is right there in front of me, but then my phone reboots by itself!

Please have a look at http://meta.android.stackexchange.com/questions/1181/how-to-ask-android-questions-the-smart-way. Asking a smart questions will likely help you get a good quality answer. Most people are afraid of reading your question because it's basically a wall of text.

Sorry about that, thanks for the heads up. I'm a new user and was quite flustered when I posted this. I'll try to edit it or remove the post and create a new one as to avoid confusion.

I just edited your post, fixed the spelling and formatting, and also added a short summary describing the core of your too long story -- so users don't have to read it in full length to figure it out. Additional information needed: Don't you have a PC (or other device) to connect the SDCard to (e.g. via a card reader), so you can copy the contents? In that case the easiest solution seems: Get yourself a new SDCard (at least class 4, better class 6), copy the content there, and use the new card.

I most cases, editing the question is the better approach

@Izzy Thanks for the edit. I do have a computer but I do not have an SDCard reader. I can acquire one, though. My question is, however (excuse my lack of knowledge w/ this stuff, I'm sure it is elementary to you but I haven't had these problems w/ previous phones so I'm new to it) can I just connect the SDCard I have now to my PC to copy the content I need? Or do I need to get a new card first and somehow transfer the content of the one I have now to the new one? Please explain further if you can, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

@Izzy Also, do you think that the problem is my phone or the card? I can't tell b/c my phone works w/o the card inserted, though my phone reboots each time I insert the card & try to scan media. If I can backup my content to my PC, would a factory reset + SDCard reformat be a good option, or should I just buy a new card + factory reset? Sorry for all the questions, I tried talking to Boost Mobile tech service and they weren't helpful at all.

A factory reset will not be needed I'd say. Copying content to your PC using a card reader (and the other way round) should be an easy thing. Reformatting the card might help (worth a try) or not (see Michael's answer below). I'd go for a new (bigger, better) card -- as you already noted the 2G wouldn't be the best option ;)

@Izzy thanks for the help! Much appreciated. I'll post my results once I give that a try.

Something very similar happened to me not long ago. The SD card, when inserted into the phone, would cause the phone to be very unresponsive and eventually reboot itself, over and over, as long as the card was plugged in.
Now for the bad news.
I inserted a different SD card, which worked just fine in the phone. So I took the malfunctioning SD card and attempted to reformat it on my computer, but after reinserting it into the phone, the phone still claimed it was a "Damaged SD card" and refused to do anything with it - even format it again! Though it did stop boot looping.
After talking with Verizon it seems the SD card really was defective and I'm getting a replacement. I hope you are able to recover some of your files from the card before you have to replace it, or that you have backups (though it sounds like you don't).

Thanks for the info. I do not have any of my files backed up unfortunately. I am going to try buying an SD Card reader and new SD Card and attempt to copy the contents to my PC, then copy the data onto the new card and hope that my phone will take the new card & its contents.

If I am not able to salvage the contents using the process I'm going to try because the card is, in fact, defective I will be very disappointed. Thank you for the heads up, though, so I know what to expect possibly.

Sorry, I know it's bad news, but even so, the computer might be able to read it. Make sure the card reader you pick up can handle SDHC cards.

I'm really hoping the computer will be able to read it. What exactly is an SDHC card? My SD card slot says Micro SD right above it, not sure if that makes it any different from other cards.

SDHC means Secure Digital High Capacity. It is just a classification of sdcards. Capacities 4GB above are classified as one. also all phones use micro sd format because of its size. If you are buying, just tell the store clerk that you are looking for a micro SD card reader

Ok great, I'm going to try this and I'll post my results. I appreciate all your help and suggestions!

Hi. I bought an SD Card and reader yesterday and attempted to copy the files onto my PC. All of the photo and video files display as "Invalid Image." :( These files are very, very important to me. Is there a software I can download that you would recommend that may help me recover my photos(I would be willing to lose the videos if I had to, but not the photos)? I am at my wit's end and am so frustrated and sad :(

I had a somewhat similar experience with a card set up as internal storage (Android Go edition which is slimmed down Oreo), except that I've never seen signs of a "media scanner". The reboots were rare at first and then everything worked fine again; but suddenly it began restarting continuously, during the boot sequence itself, until I pulled out the card.
Managed to resolve it, at least long enough to recover all data, but I'm not sure what the cure was. It might be:

Rewriting the data on the SD card
Making Android believe the card is corrupt and then reconciling it
Just sending the card on an exciting trip, letting circuits discharge or recharge or cool down or heat up

Anyway, the steps one could follow in detail:

On a Linux PC with a card reader, find out which device the card is on (sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdX where sdX stands for one of sdb, sdc, sdd...)
Dump all data to a file with dd if=/dev/sdX of=my_dump bs=4M (where dd = data dump, if=input file, of=output file, bs=block size)
Probably you can skip everything below until step 11.
Wipe the identity and partitioning with dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=4M count=1
Insert the card into the Android device: it now recognizes it as a new, blank card
Format the card in Android and eject it.
Move the card back to the PC.
Restore the first block: dd if=my_dump of=/dev/sdX bs=4M count=1
Move the card back to the Android device: it now recognizes it as the old internal storage, but says it's corrupt (because it changed other blocks while formatting).
Move the card back to the PC.
Restore the card entirely: dd if=my_dump of=/dev/sdX bs=4M
Move the card back to the Android device

Epilogue: Obviously, the rebooting came back, after a few days of normal operation. I repeatedly and in vain tried to repair it with the above procedure, and some variations of it, and it just kept rebooting. But as soon as I restored the earlier contents of the card extracted before posting this (the exact contents it had when the incessant rebooting started), it resumed normal operation. Also, a few weeks later, an identical Micro-SD card of the same age, in a completely unrelated audio device suddenly blocked the machine, then after taking it out a few times resumed as if nothing had happened.


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How to hide calendar but receive reminder notifications?
I have a calendar containing only regularly recuring dates. I would like to hide this calendar or these dates from the ordinary Google calendar app and the Google calendar widget.
The reminder notifications of these dates should not be disabled.
I activated synchronization in the Google calendar app and deactivated the display calender. Now the dates do are not being displayed, neither in the app nor in the widget, but I either do not receive the reminder notifications.
P.S. What is the difference between those two settings?

Note that this might be a fundamental problem.  Even if I just hide a calendar on the desktop browser  version of Google Calendar (by unchecking it in the side bar, not by unchecking "SHOW IN LIST" in calendar settings),  I stop receiving notifications for all events on that calendar, weather on mobile or desktop.  This doesn't seem to be universal behavior.

Seriously? 3 years later, we're running Android 6 now and there's still no way to do this? That seems incredibly silly!

Strongly agree on how silly this is  What it's worth, I followed this this suggestion from Reddit to use Google Keep.  Inelegant, but it gets the job done.

I know the original post is now ancient but I haven't found any recent discussion on this and I believe the behavior is still basically the same.  That is, if a calendar is "hidden" on your mobile device, you will not get a notification for any of it's event.
Much like the OP, I wanted to schedule recurring tasks (clean cat litter, take out trash) at specific days/times and then get reminded of them on my phone WITHOUT cluttering up my calendar on web OR android version of google calendar.
I found google tasks to be a great solution to this, as:

I can add/modify/view these events on either phone (tasks app) or web* (calendar.google.com)
They don't appear at all in android's gcal
I can hide them from web gcal and still get notifications

As an added bonus, because the notifications on my phone come from the tasks app (and not gcal) I can set a different notification sound/vibe pattern to differentiate these less important chores from potentially important events.  Also, I really like the ability to "mark as complete" as opposed to just dismissing an event notification (this behavior is similar to google reminders, but unlike tasks, hiding reminders from gcal does disable notifications)
Here's a great post on the differences between google tasks and reminders
The one missing piece that I'm still searching for is the ability to share these chores with someone so that, for example, my wife and I can both mark chores as complete and then the other one will know it doesn't need to be done.
*Edit: I just realized you can't create a recurring task from web gcal, but you definitely can from the tasks app (and then still view all of them on web) so this is only a minor annoyance.

The easiest way to achieve this is to install a 3rd party calendar app which uses the Google calendar backend, and tell that app to not show that specific calendar, while leaving it enabled in the default Google calendar app (aCalendar  would be a good and relatively light-weight choice here). As the Google calendar is responsible for the alerts, you still would get them (and the corresponding notifications), while its content wouldn't disturb you working with the 3rd party app. I do something similar, and use the mentioned app, so I really can recommend it.
To the detail question: Synchronization is what the name suggests: updating changes made on either side (for a disabled calendar, obviously only in one direction). It's probably separated from (de)activating a calendar so you can activate it up-to-date even when having no network connection -- just my guess, but that would make sense.

An imperfect solution is to use Google Keep (following this suggestion on Reddit).
This means you can't, as I desire, look at Google Calendar and toggle the reminders briefly visible.  For that, you could try sharing the reminders-specific calendar with a different Google account and then syncing that account with a 3rd party Calendar app that handles reminders (while still keeping the Google Calendar Android app synced with your main Google account, where the reminders-specific calendar is hidden).

How about having a seperate Google acount and use google tasks on the other one only for those you don't want to pop up in your main calendar?

source: Stack Exchange

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

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

sort: votes


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Determing SIM/network/carrier lock status in software
Is there a way to determine if a Galaxy S3 (i747, running 4.1 JB, stock ROM, but with root) is currently carrier locked in software (i.e. without needing to obtain and insert a different network's SIM).
Apparently there used to be a USSD code to do this (*#SIMLOCK#), but that appears to no longer work.

try *#service#?

@t0mm13b - Nope, doesn't work.

There is a way to do it but it is way more complicated than borrowing a SIM card. The SIM card does not even have to be activated (have service)... just have different MCC/MNC from your carrier.
To do it the "hard" way you would need to:

find, download, install drivers for Qualcomm DIAG interface
find, download, install QXDM
find how to switch your phone into the DIAG mode (DIAG interface does not enumerate in normal mode)
find the QXDM command to query the subsidy lock status
find how to interpret the result you would get
come back and post the detailed solution

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


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How to extend the timespan of Google's calendar widget?
Or in other words: How to show more dates in Google's calender widget?
The next date I added to my Google calender is an appointment I have in eight days from now. The Google calender widget does not show this appointment. Right now there are no other dates added to this calendar.
So the problem is not, that there are to many dates. The problem is that the widget does not look into the future far enough. I want to see my next date, even if it is still a month to go.

How can I make the widget display dates that are scheduled farther in the future than it does now?
Is it possible to display all future dates?
Of course the display of regularly repeated dates must be limited, but I would like to see at least the next scheduled of each one.
What is the reason, that this is not already the case?
This seems really odd to me, because it does not look very complicated to find all the appointments in a database or sync them. To me it seems to be more work to limit those features this way.

P.S.: I just saw that the "date-list-view" of Google's calendar app (not the widget this time) does show dates, weeks ahead. I don't see any limitation. I would like the widget to behave the same way.

You might want to look for a 3rd party solution. There are a lot of calendar/agenda widgets available in the Playstore which are far more flexible in their configuration.

Thx for your comment. In general you are right, that I have to choose the the program satisfying my requirements best, but this is often hard, because all of them have advantages and disadvantages. In general I prefer to go with the default apps as far as I can. It is just frustrating to see those really artificial limitations.

Arrrrgh. I was so frustrated that I looked up the source of the Google calendar widget and it looks like they really HARDCODED it in, with magic numbers. Oh happy day! https://github.com/android/platform_packages_apps_calendar/blob/master/src/com/android/calendar/widget/CalendarAppWidgetModel.java#L259

I was a bit fast. It seems it is a little more complicated. Not sure if the posted LOC is relevant. This one may be relevant two: https://github.com/android/platform_packages_apps_calendar/blob/master/src/com/android/calendar/widget/CalendarAppWidgetService.java#L98 Anyway they should use magic numbers.

I just downloaded off widget from Google Apps called simple calendar. once you install the widget on to your home screen then you go to the apps area and single tap on the simple calendar icon. takes you into the settings for the simple calendar widget and you will be amazed to see how many different ways you can customize the calendar. you go into one area where you can select how many days to see on your calendar. you can even mix items from several gmail accounts.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts. A link to the app will make your answer more useful.

comment by coder284: He might be referring to this application

I lost S. Planner Agenda when upgrading to Jellybean. Can't find it anywhere at Playstore.
Just download Agenda Widget for Android. I spent a few hours during some downtime mucking around with it, because it was addictive just working with the settings. It's free at the store. Can display up to 150 lines of future dates / events.   "everybody all the time" is listed as the creator.
They have a paid version too; less than $2 AUD. I still can't work out the paid version benefits. I just wish they also brought back Google Calendar Sync, it synced my home computer Outlook calendar with Gmail calendar, my wife's iPhone calendar, and my Galaxy S2 now running Jellybean.


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How to root lg optimus logic
For the past few days I have been googling the different ways to root my LG Optimus Logic, and have come up short handed. There doesn't seem to be a help forum for this phone anywhere, or at least not one that I've found.
Does anybody have this phone or know what rooting method will work? I have tried several already with no luck.

I have linked your question to our Rooting Guides Index. You might check there for related devices or common rooting methods, maybe you find something working there already. If so, don't hesitate to answer your own question (and later accept your answer) to help others as well :)

This phone closely resembles LG Optimus L3. It might be just a rebrand. As such try following this guide

Yes, I Tries SuperOneClick and it worked for my lg l35g AKA lg optimus logic (net 10).


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What is this Google Settings app that installed itself on my phone?
Today, all of a sudden I saw this app in my Samsung Galaxy Y mobile phone:

I am talking about the app named "Google Settings"
I uninstalled it immediately only to find it installed again a few hours later.
My mobile phone is rooted and I did have access to internet through the phone during this period?
Can anyone tell me as to what is going on? Should I worry? What should I do?

The Google settings app is being put their either by the Maps app, Search app, or the Google+ app.
It's a unified settings/sign-in thing they just added in literally yesterday and allows you to manage the settings for all of the above (and probably more in future) from one menu.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/27/google-settings-app-sneaks-onto-android-to-bolster-g-sign-in/

+1 I just noticed this yesterday as well and wondered how it got there.

It's part of the Google Play Services app. You cannot remove it unless you remove Play Services. It gives you settings for Google apps, like Maps, Games, Device Manager etc.

I unistalled google play services and that removed it from the phone. Not sure what else will be affected but I am still able to download/install apps from play store. I figure I may miss the next version of play store that comes out. Better than them sneaking stuff in

It's almost guaranteed that pretty much stuff will break. Play services is Google's software shim to roll out API updates for all devices (2.2-4.x) even if the manufacturer doesn't offer update anymore. Many apps depend on it, read more on play services here: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/balky-carriers-and-slow-oems-step-aside-google-is-defragging-android/


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In a group/mass text message from an iphone to other phones, who sees my reply to the group msg from my android?
If an iphone user sends me a group/mass text message on my android and I text back and hit reply (not reply-all) not realizing that it is a group/mass text, who sees my reply? Just the original sender of the group msg(an iphone user) or everyone that was included in the group/mass text?
I use the stock text app on my android(Verizon Samsung Droid Charge) and there is no reply-all button in my text app. when I reply to text messages. I only received one text that was a reply to the original group/mass text, but received nothing else from anyone in the group. The iphone user that sent the original group/mass text says that she is the only one that probably received my reply. Not realizing that it was a group/mass text.
I REALLY want to know if anyone else besides the original sender saw my reply. When I received the text there was no indication(on my android) that it was a group/mass text.
Thanks so much!


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Galaxy Note 2 N7100 does not turn on, only shows battery "loading" icon
I bought a GN2 three days ago, it worked fine until today, when I did a reboot and it didn't come back. The blue LED turned off with the device, and instead of rebooting, the battery "loading" (empty battery with a loading icon) screen appeared. This screen flashes up every 15 seconds or so.
If I plug in the phone to the charger, the battery loading screen stops appearing and the red charging LED appears. However, if I hold the power button to turn the device on, the battery "loading" icon reappears and after a few seconds, it goes back to the red charging LED and charging screen.
The battery has 60% charge, so it is not dead.
I can boot into system recovery by pressing volume up + home + power every single time. Selecting "reboot device now" from the recovery sometimes boots the device, and sometimes does not.
Occasionally I can get it to boot in the normal manner (by holding the power button), but there seems to be no pattern between when I can boot it by pressing the power button and when I can't.
Just before this battery loading screen appears, there is a very brief flash of red from the LED.
I am not aware of doing anything that should mess with the bootloader or ROM. The device is running the stock ROM and the bootloader is locked.
I have tried removing the battery for a few minutes, which did not resolve the issue (it turns on after the battery is inserted, but afterwards this issue reoccurs).

Try this: http://droidtricks.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-to-boot-samsung-galaxy-note-into.html It worked for me. Good luck!

I replaced the phone a few days after I made this post. I haven't had the issue with the new phone. Sorry for not being able to provide a good answer!


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samsung duos s7562 how to see/browse contents of sd card
How can I see/browse the contents of my sdcard on my new and shiny samsung duos GT-s7562?
android ver = 4.0.4

You have to use File Manager program. I think Samsung Mobile comes with one already instaleed. If not install apps like ES File Explorer

authors: Владимир Медянников


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Shortcut for .mp3 .jpg .docx files
Is it possible to have a shortcut on home screen for  .mp3, .jpg, .docx etc  files . As I need to access few documents every now and then , for this I have to go through folders in my ext memory.


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How can I copy content from my SD Card to my PC?
I have an LG Marquee on Boost Mobile and recently my phone started to boot loop. I had not backed up my micro SD Card contents and am afraid I could lose them with my phone acting up like this. Each time my media scanner runs at start up, the phone reboots again, so I cannot access my media content in time to salvage it.
A user on here gave me the idea to buy an SD Card reader, put the contents of my SD Card onto my PC and copy them onto a new card. Then I could insert the new card into my phone and factory reset it in order to save my media content.
My question in a nutshell is: What is the process of copying content from an SD Card onto a PC, and then copying this content to a new card?
My second and last question is: Once I move the contents of my current SD Card onto my PC and copy them to a new SD Card, will my factory-reset phone take the new card and load the contents?

Remark to your second question: A factory reset is not required just for changing the card, the new card will be recognized without such. Keep in mind that a factory reset would delete all your content and the apps you've installed -- so that's rather a "last ressort" when having trouble with the phone, to rule out software problems.

@Izzy I appreciate the info. I would've ended up resetting my phone unnecessarily had you not told me that, so thank you!

Also see my answer on your other question: formatting the card before obtaining its contents is a bad idea as well, as formatting would destroy the contents and leave nothing to obtain!

Answer to your first Question:
No specific processes needed. When You Connect your SDcard to PC via SDcard reader, you can see a new drive is mounted on you PC. Just copy necessary files to PC and similarly copy same files to new SDcard.
Answer to your first Question:
Yes. your mobile will recognize your new SDcard when you mount it to your mobile.

I appreciate your help. It's much easier than I thought. Thank you.

Just mark as answer if it was what you expected.


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Full Google apps access to location needed for maps with GPS?
I have a HTC One S with Android 4.1.1 installed.
I recently got the "google settings" app and checked the settings in there. Under the field "location" is a switch to "Let google apps access your location" with a note that apps may access your location while the app is not being used.
If I switch that off, the GPS is not activated when I start google maps - and therefore renders it pretty useless for me. I even get a message telling me to switch google location on if I want to have a location based map. So here is the question:
When this setting is switched on, do I risk that other apps (google search or whatever else I have installed from google) will take my location from the Wifi connection or cell tower and transmit it to google for storage, or even the GPS data?
Is there any way to enable GPS in maps but not my location for all other apps, too? I am worried that the setting is a "Either you do not use Google maps, or we will know and record whenever, wherever you are". Is that the case?
I have so far only this question here but it seems to say there that the google location service does not affect GPS - but for me it does.

That strongly depends on the app used. Unfortunately, since Froyo (Android 2.2) the options "use location service" and "permit Google to collect" are connected and undividable (before you could chose them separately). So if an app uses the Google Framework's location service to obtain position data, it won't work without that service enabled. If it accesses GPS itself, it would work with or without.
Only way out of this trouble would be to root the device, and then use a permission protector like e.g. LBE Privacy Guard or PDroid Privacy Protection / PDroid Manager, which let you decide on a per-app basis which app is permitted to access a service/certain data (many possibilities here, not only location).

"If it accesses GPS itself, it would work with or without."
It seems google maps cannot use GPS w/o this service enabled. The GPS logo does not pop up on the top bar, and it asks me to switch on the location permission. That is my central question.

Well, short counter-question: Would you expect a Google app to not use the Google Framework, where the needed functionality is available, but implement that again? So no, Google Maps will not work without that. An alternative mapping/navigation app might.

I would expect Google Maps to simply use GPS and not try to locate me through WiFi and cellphone towers when the service is off OR have a separate setting for maps. It seems like the general usage of maps + GPS forces you to enable ALL apps to track your whereabouts 24/7 - through GPS, WiFi and celltowers - which I consider over the top.

Welcome to the real world! And no solution to that without rooting your device, sorry. Although a corresponding issue (permission control) was opened with the Google tracker about 2 years ago, that permanently gets closed by Google stuff with remarks like "works as intended", and additionally tickets for this just get closed as duplicates.

My experience proofs is the same - original google maps are not working without the GPS being ON (on android 6). (But it works without access to the GPS). When the GPS is off it just request a permission. After GPS on - it is working, I don't know what is google doing with my GPS data and why it is not possible to run this app without any GPS - as the desktop/browser version.


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Unable to connect keyboard to my EKEN tablet
I have a 7 inches Android EKEN tablet running ICS. It has Cortex A9 1.5 Ghz CPU.
I also have a leather case with USB keyboard which when connected to my tablet doesn't seem to work - nothing happens.
How can I make the keyboard to work?

Not enough information to say. Can you collect logcat information on what's going on when connecting the keyboard? Maybe that gives some clue.

you might need to have a powered hub for your keyboard. It might be taking too much power from the tablet for it to function properly.


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How to have my stock GS3 dialer initial screen be Recent instead of Keypad
Is it possible to have the stock dialer on my GS3 start on the Recent tab instead of the Keypad tab?

Did you ever find the answer to this? I have the exact question.

You can use an app called xshortcut (in Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ex.chinyang.android.xshortcut )
Follow the following steps:

Install xshortcut 2.0.x
Open xshortcut's Editor.
Switch to Component page
Use the following data to create the shortcut you want.
Component Package: com.android.contacts
Component Class: com.android.contacts.activities.DialtactsActivity
MIME Type: vnd.android.cursor.dir/calls


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MP3 getting mixed up
I am running ICS on my tablet.
Whenever I copy new music files to my tablet, the files get mixed (playing parts of other music files for 5,6 seconds randomly in any file I copied). What should I do?

Most music players do not separate music files by folders. You will need to manually create a playlist in order for you to play a group of files you want.

Do you mean to say that the music doesn't start from beginning of each file and doesn't end at its end. Instead the play starts somewhere from middle of the file, plays for a while and jumps to some other file?

If you are saving music files to SD card, it may be the problem of the SD card. Change the SD card and try.
Good Luck.


text:
How to see if my device was used at a particular time
I'm trying to find out if my tablet was used at a particular time. It runs android 4.1. I tried to use cache.wifi but that does not seem to exist any more. It would have most likely been used on my home wifi network, but unfortunately my router doesn't have logging enabled so it looks like my only option is some sort of log that would be on the device itself. Any ideas?

Android's built-in Battery use info can show you the screen-on times. That should be a good indicator if someone recently touched your device.

Thanks. Unfortunately, the battery use on my device doesn't seem to stretch back far enough (at least the on screen display). Do you know if further historic data is accessible on the device (it's rooted)?

By finding files in the storage that were created or modified during a given period may help you. You can see this post on how to do so. I don't know enough Linux commands to get this done and also it doesn't mean that your device was not used at this time, if the result is negative. However, if this test comes positive it is sure that the device was used during that time by some one.

I did an ls -lR / and grepped for the particular day in question. It looks like theres usually temporary files created most times you use it. In my case i couldn't find the times I was looking for but there were files for times i definately know i used it so looks like it wasn't used. I think that's the best I'm going to do. Thanks!

If it's not too far in the past, a logcat might be helpful. Unfortunately, adb logcat doesn't print the date/time along in a readable format; using a graphical frontend like QtADB would get around that. Note, however, as Android logging uses a ring buffer, older entries might already be overwritten.

I tried this but the log rotation time is too short for my needs. Thanks anyway!


text:
Add an application to the Open With Menu
I'm using a Samsung Note II running Jelly Bean 4.1.2.
I would like to add an application to the open with list. I have downloaded a photo editing app. While in the gallery, I would like to be able to select a picture and open it with this app but it's not in the list.
Thank you. :)

Well this is defined per app in its manifest. It registers to a certain Intent.
The app that implemented the 'open with' option checks which applications react to a certain Intent, and shows the list of those applications.
I don't think you can modify this at runtime.
(Or you could create a new application which reacts the the 'open with' and creates another Intent which the photo editing app reacts to.)


text:
wifi scan not working
I am developing a wifi scanner app. Recently I realised that my wifi scan method is not working. So when I go to wifi settings of the phone and enable the wifi, there is no visible hotspots in the list, only saved ones. (I am writing this question via wifi - so there is at least 1 visible hotspot). Even when I click on refresh. My app is not running, so it does not affect on wifi at all. here is a logcat about wifi verbose messages when phone was trying to find hotspot by clicking on refresh:
03-01 11:20:16.189: V/WifiStateTracker(1825): Changing supplicant state: ASSOCIATING ==> DISCONNECTED
03-01 11:20:16.199: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_set_operstate: operstate 0 (DORMANT)
03-01 11:20:16.209: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_wext_set_operstate: operstate 0->0 (DORMANT)
03-01 11:20:16.209: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): WEXT: Operstate: linkmode=-1, operstate=5
03-01 11:20:16.219: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): EAPOL: External notification - portEnabled=0
03-01 11:20:16.229: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): EAPOL: External notification - portValid=0
03-01 11:20:16.229: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): EAPOL: External notification - EAP success=0
03-01 11:20:16.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Setting scan request: 0 sec 0 usec
03-01 11:20:16.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_supplicant_scan: scan_req = 0, ap_scan = 2
03-01 11:20:16.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): State: DISCONNECTED -> SCANNING
03-01 11:20:16.239: I/wpa_supplicant(7389): CTRL-EVENT-STATE-CHANGE id=-1 state=2 BSSID=00:00:00:00:00:00
03-01 11:20:16.239: V/WifiStateTracker(1825): Changing supplicant state: DISCONNECTED ==> SCANNING
03-01 11:20:16.249: I/wpa_supplicant(7389): Trying to associate with SSID 'Duna_Plaza_WIFI'
03-01 11:20:16.249: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Cancelling scan request
03-01 11:20:16.249: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): WPA: clearing own WPA/RSN IE
03-01 11:20:16.249: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_set_mode
03-01 11:20:16.259: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Automatic auth_alg selection: 0x1
03-01 11:20:16.259: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): WPA: clearing AP WPA IE
03-01 11:20:16.259: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): WPA: clearing AP RSN IE
03-01 11:20:16.259: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): WPA: clearing own WPA/RSN IE
03-01 11:20:16.259: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): No keys have been configured - skip key clearing
03-01 11:20:16.259: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_set_drop_unencrypted
03-01 11:20:16.259: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): State: SCANNING -> ASSOCIATING
03-01 11:20:16.259: I/wpa_supplicant(7389): CTRL-EVENT-STATE-CHANGE id=-1 state=3 BSSID=00:00:00:00:00:00
03-01 11:20:16.269: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_set_operstate: operstate 0 (DORMANT)
03-01 11:20:16.269: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_wext_set_operstate: operstate 0->0 (DORMANT)
03-01 11:20:16.269: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): WEXT: Operstate: linkmode=-1, operstate=5
03-01 11:20:16.269: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_associate
03-01 11:20:16.269: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Setting authentication timeout: 60 sec 0 usec
03-01 11:20:16.269: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): EAPOL: External notification - EAP success=0
03-01 11:20:16.269: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): EAPOL: External notification - EAP fail=0
03-01 11:20:16.269: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): EAPOL: External notification - portControl=ForceAuthorized
03-01 11:20:16.269: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: STATUS
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): RTM_NEWLINK: operstate=0 ifi_flags=0x1003 ([UP])
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): RTM_NEWLINK, IFLA_IFNAME: Interface 'wlan0' added
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Wireless event: cmd=0x8b06 len=8
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): RTM_NEWLINK: operstate=0 ifi_flags=0x1003 ([UP])
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): RTM_NEWLINK, IFLA_IFNAME: Interface 'wlan0' added
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Wireless event: cmd=0x8c02 len=164
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): rssi-approx command
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Link Speed command
03-01 11:20:16.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): buf LinkSpeed 0
03-01 11:20:16.299: V/WifiStateTracker(1825): Changing supplicant state: SCANNING ==> ASSOCIATING
03-01 11:20:16.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: STATUS
03-01 11:20:16.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:16.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:16.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): rssi-approx command
03-01 11:20:16.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:16.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:16.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Link Speed command
03-01 11:20:16.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): buf LinkSpeed 0
03-01 11:20:16.319: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: STATUS
03-01 11:20:16.319: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:16.319: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:16.319: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): rssi-approx command
03-01 11:20:16.329: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:16.329: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:16.329: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Link Speed command
03-01 11:20:16.329: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): buf LinkSpeed 0
03-01 11:20:16.849: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: STATUS
03-01 11:20:16.849: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:16.849: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:16.849: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): rssi-approx command
03-01 11:20:16.849: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:16.849: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:16.849: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Link Speed command
03-01 11:20:16.849: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): buf LinkSpeed 0
03-01 11:20:20.079: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: AP_SCAN 2
03-01 11:20:20.079: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): ap_scan = 2
03-01 11:20:20.079: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER SCAN-ACTIVE
03-01 11:20:20.079: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd SCAN-ACTIVE
03-01 11:20:20.079: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Scan Active command
03-01 11:20:20.079: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: SCAN
03-01 11:20:20.079: E/wpa_supplicant(7389): Ongoing Scan action...
03-01 11:20:20.079: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER SCAN-PASSIVE
03-01 11:20:20.079: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd SCAN-PASSIVE
03-01 11:20:20.079: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Scan Passive command
03-01 11:20:21.209: D/WifiStateTracker(1825): Reset connections and stopping DHCP
03-01 11:20:22.219: D/WifiStateTracker(1825): Disabling interface
03-01 11:20:22.229: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): RTM_NEWLINK: operstate=0 ifi_flags=0x1002 ()
03-01 11:20:22.229: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): RTM_NEWLINK, IFLA_IFNAME: Interface 'wlan0' added
03-01 11:20:22.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: STATUS
03-01 11:20:22.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:22.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:22.289: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): rssi-approx command
03-01 11:20:22.299: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:22.299: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:22.299: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Link Speed command
03-01 11:20:22.299: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): buf LinkSpeed 0
03-01 11:20:22.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: STATUS
03-01 11:20:22.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:22.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd RSSI-APPROX
03-01 11:20:22.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): rssi-approx command
03-01 11:20:22.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:22.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd LINKSPEED
03-01 11:20:22.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Link Speed command
03-01 11:20:22.309: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): buf LinkSpeed 0
03-01 11:20:26.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: AP_SCAN 2
03-01 11:20:26.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): ap_scan = 2
03-01 11:20:26.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER SCAN-ACTIVE
03-01 11:20:26.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd SCAN-ACTIVE
03-01 11:20:26.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Scan Active command
03-01 11:20:26.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: SCAN
03-01 11:20:26.239: E/wpa_supplicant(7389): Ongoing Scan action...
03-01 11:20:26.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): CMD: DRIVER SCAN-PASSIVE
03-01 11:20:26.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): wpa_driver_tista_driver_cmd SCAN-PASSIVE
03-01 11:20:26.239: D/wpa_supplicant(7389): Scan Passive command

As you can see there is no such line which would be about scan result: wpa_supplicant - New scan results available
I did a factory reset by cleaning the settings app data, but that did not help. Any suggestion? the phone has a custom ROM, but I had no problems with wifi before, even during the development period. This problem came unexpectedly. additionaly my app can scan in every 10 sec as well, and after 5-6 trial it finds some hotspot. but before that, no scan result at all when startscan() was called. Any suggestion how to repair the scanning feature of the phone?
Edit: here is a logcat which is containing scan results

Please note that development questions are off topic here. For details, please consult our [FAQ].

sure, but this is not a development question - just I also shared the background story for the case

Quote: I am developing a wifi scanner app. Recently I realised that my wifi scan mathod is not working. So the continuing words are not related to this introduction? Then why that introduction?

this is the background of my problem, shall I put this info into the middle of the description? I thought the question is enough to be exact

I still don't get the non-development related part, even after reading it a third time now. Maybe the intro is a little confusing that I don't get the point (which could be my fault): Are you talking about the general availability of Wifi, so your device not being able to find/connect to any WiFi network? To me it reads as being about your wifi scan method is not working. Besides, it seems to find at least one hotspot, named "Duna_Plaza_WIFI", according to the log...

description corrected, and Duna_Plaza_WIFI is a saved network - which was not in range at that time.


text:
How to install Gmail apk on emulator (from Android Development Tools, ADT)?
I'm working on an email app for Android, and I'd like to install the Gmail apk on my emulator in order to test it.
How can I do that?
I have seen tutorials on how to do it on windows, but I'm working with Linux.

Sync your Google account in emulator, and go to Play Store.

Steps:
Go to sdk/platform-tools with the command cd /home/android-sdk/platform-tools you should copy the .apk you want to install in this directory and add the path of it to environment variable in variable PATH "you might need restart"(PATH=$PATH:path to apk)
List the devices with the command ./adb devices
You can install your file with ./adb install .filename.apk
Example for step 2 :

./adb devices
List of devices attached
emulator-5554    device

Example for step 3 :

./adb install AndExplorer.apk
1083 KB/s (338651 bytes in 0.305s)
pkg: /data/local/tmp/AndExplorer.apk
Success


text:
GPS location log
I had GPS enabled on my phone one night and I'm trying to find a log on my phone of where I was and when. I didn't have WiFi or data on, so the cache.wifi and cache.cell files are incomplete. Google Location history turns up nothing either.
My phone runs Android 2.3. Are precise GPS data logged anywhere in the system (I didn't have any GPS logging apps installed at the time)?

If your device is rooted, you might want to take a look at Location Cache or (if your Android version is lower than 2.3.3) also Android Location Cache Viewer. Both apps give you insight into Google's location cache, the first even permits you to clean or disable it.

Location Cache (source: Google Play)
Note that those apps stopped working with Android 2.3.3 (Cache Viewer) resp. Android 4.0 (Location Cache).

It looks like both these apps are just frontends for the cache.wifi and cache.cell files unfortunately. From what I can see android doesn't seem to log GPS activity unless you have an app that explicitly does this, unless it's hidden somewhere no-one knows about.

As far as I remember, at least Location Cache also shows GPS locations (I've used this app a while ago).


text:
Once you have Ubuntu installed on a Nexus 7, how do you get back to stock Android?
I currently have a Nexus 7 with the default "out-of-the-box" Android Stock OS (as of this post JB 4.2.2).
From what I've read online, Ubuntu has made a mobile version of their OS. Usually, they specially demo their mobile OS with Google's Nexus devices.
I would like to try Ubuntu on my Nexus 7, but don't want to do it permanently. Though, I still want to have the experience as if Ubuntu runs the tablet, and not Android (Just to try something new and a change of pace).
I wanted to know that if I were to permanently to install Ubuntu on my Nexus 7 device, if and how would I get my device back to the stock Android OS that came with it "out-of-the-box"?
In other words, I know you are able to install Ubuntu on Android, but is it possible, once you have cleared Android off, and only Ubuntu exists, to go from Ubuntu back to Android?
Maybe I don't know enough about what happens when you install Ubuntu on an Android device, but if there is some detail that you feel is missing, please feel to fill in the blanks of my stupidity.

Reinstall OS on Nexus 7, Is it possible to reinstall stock Android on the Nexus 7 AFAIK a standard re-flash will work, but you could probably also do a backup in a custom recovery (ClockworkMod, etc)

Directions taken from OMG! Ubuntu!. I’m assuming you backed up your data.

Download the corresponding Android image from Google.
Extract the downloaded ZIP.
Connect your Nexus 7 to the computer with the USB cable.
Open a Terminal window and type: adb reboot-bootloader, this will reboot the tablet into the Android bootloader.
In the terminal, use the cd command to enter the folder created after you extracted the previously downloaded ZIP, for example, Desktop/<name of extracted folder>
Once there, run the shell script: sudo ./flash-all.sh and wait for it to complete.


text:
Is there a way to download the files stored on Google Drive to an Android device?
I've stored some images in Google Drive, and I'd like to view them on my tablet.  The problem is, I can only view them one at a time and the procedure goes something like this:

Open Drive.
Navigate to image folder.
Select image to view.
View image.
Press back.
Select another image to view (while trying to remember which image I just viewed, so I don't view it again).
Repeat steps 3 - 6.

If I could download the files onto the tablet, I could view them in the default image viewing application and the procedure is more like this:

Select image to view.
Slide left/right to view next/previous image.

Is there a way to download the files stored on Google Drive to an Android device?

Update:
I found a slightly awkward workaround.  If you login to Google Drive using a web browser, clicking on the image will download it to /storage/sdcard0/Download/. You can then view the images using the default image viewer application.

Update:
After this question was asked, there have been many updates to the Google Drive app. Saving files to the device is now quite easy.

Click the three dot menu button below a file, and choose Download.
Long Press to select the file. Press the three dot menu button of the app, and choose download (can be used on multiple selected files).
Probably other ways I haven't described here.

Also, the primary problem I was having has been solved. You can now swipe to view the next/previous photo.
Thank you for all the answers, but this question is now obsolete.

You can use third-party apps like FolderSync to to fully download a Google Drive folder.

You can use ES File Explorer.
To get connected:

Press the settings button on the phone, or the app.

Expand the Network list, and click Cloud.
Click New, and choose Gdrive.

Enter your Google credentials, accept the terms, and you're all set up.

To copy a file to the phone:

Locate the file on Gdrive through ES File Explorer.
Long press the file.
Press More, then Copy to.
Select the location to copy the file to, and press OK.

OR...

Locate the file on Gdrive through ES File Explorer.
Long press the file.
Press Copy.
Navigate to the location you want the file.
Press Paste.

This answer might have been right at the time, but it needs updating.  On my Android table, the Network settings referenced here don't exist

For Total Commander users (personally recommended file explorer for Android) there is now an official plugin to seamlessly explore Google Drive (from the top menu accessible by floppy disk icon in the left upper corner). Just select and copy files or folders to your local storage.

You saved my time....Tks

Does Total Commander allow you to save directly to SD card @trybik?

yes, just copy selected files or folders to a selected local folder (either SD card or internal memory)

This may not be helpful, but when I long press any file and set it to "Make available offline", it ends up in /storage/sdcard0/Android/data/com.google.android.apps.docs/files/pinned_docs_files_do_not_edit/{hexadecimal string}/.
From there you should be able to copy them to some other location.

The problems with this approach are 1.) It's time consuming to make files available offline, as you can't make files available offline in bulk. 2.) It's awkward and time consuming once they are "offline", since you'll have to locate and move each file individually. Also when I locate the "offline" file and click on it, it says "Unable to load photo".

@Tester101: I don't disagree. It's a suboptimal solution.

I found the Google Drive files which I had made available offline on my android device. But, even though they maintained the original filename (e.g. filename.jpg), the system would not be able to open them, whether from the original location (e.g. /storage/sdcard0/Android/data/com.google.android.apps.docs/files/pinned_docs_files_do_not_edit/{hexadecimal string}/) or from another folder to which I had copied them. Depending on which app I tried to use to open the images, it would say "Media not found," or "Could not load image" or would simply display a broken image icon.

It's actually very simply. Drive has that option built in. You just go to the options and click on download a copy. It will download the file into your download folder.

If you had 500+ images in your Google Drive, would you want to do that with each image?

I wasn't saying that it is the most efficient way for a situation like that but that Google drive does have that functionality built in.

If you want to automatically keep a sub-set of your Drive synced to your device (as in, everything that shows up in selected Drive folders gets automatically downloaded to your device), you might look at DriveSync from MetaCtrl. I've used their equivalent app for DropBox for years and their stuff works great.
Once configured, it will automatically (you set the check time) download items from your Drive to your device and vice-versa.

I'd recommend using a file manager, e.g. the Astro File Manager. There you can access your dropbox, google drive, box, ... and copy files and whole folders to a local folder.

Astro File Manager with Clouds works great.  Took less than 5 minutes to install and start copying folders from Google Drive to my Android.


text:
How to prevent Nexus 7 of charging the battery every time when connected to a USB?
Hello fellow Android enthusasts,
I recently bought a Nexus7 that I want to use for development. The thing is, every time I connect it to my USB, in order to test some apps on it, it starts charging. Now, i know that this is absolutely normal for every device, but I am also concerned that the constant charge/discharge cycles can shorten the life of the battery. What do I do?
Do I need to get concerned at all? I mean, if it reduces battery life with something like 1% per year, I am totally fine with it. Yet, if it is a significant drain, how can I prevent it from charging unless I am charging from a charger?

Does constant charging harm my Android cellphone?

Charge/discharge cycles are mostly irrelevant for li-ion batteries.  The main source of capacity loss is simply time.  A li-ion battery sitting unused in storage will lose 15-20% of its capacity per year (see charts on page 4).  Any minor losses from cycling is going to get drowned out by that.

I haven't heard about number of charge cycles affecting battery life. However...
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

dwelling in a full state-of-charge for an extended time can be more
  stressful than cycling.
Most Li-ions are charged to 4.20V/cell and every reduction of
  0.10V/cell is said to double cycle life.

Keeping Li-ion battery in high state of charge will reduce it's lifetime. Some laptops have Battery care function (software) to limit maximum charge to 80%. It's recommended by them if you routinely run on AC.
On android there is some kernel modifications allowing you to limit maximum charge in similar fashion. (it's from 2011) http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-s/development/mod-battery-life-extender-blx-t1257497

Most of my devices' manuals set this extended period of time in full-charge to between a week to a month. I am pretty sure you can left the device plugged at full charge for several hours with no problem (all of us probably do that every night already).

Have you guys ever heard of Chargie? It's a USB stick+Android app combo that limits charging externally (no root needed). Just install the stick between the charger and phone and use the app to select the charge level. Simple as that. Look for "chargie stick" on Google.
Even if you want to charge to 100% - it will go there but disconnect power completely until charge goes down to 97% (a few hours). Then it will reapply charge, but that's way less stressful than normal trickle charging. However, given today's battery capacities, 90% is enough to get you out of most days.
Disclosure: I am the CEO of Lighty Electronics. We developed Chargie and would love people who have had this issue to enjoy our product as much as we do. No spam, just the solution to the problem.


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Do you have to reformat an SD Card before you can copy its contents to your PC?
My phone has been stuck in a boot loop and I need to safely retrieve the contents via card-to-PC transfer, then PC-to-new card, then new card-to-phone, etc. I read somewhere on here that you must reformat your SD card before you can connect it to your PC to copy its contents. Is this true?
If so, will I lose my stuff from reformatting my card? Every time I've tried reformatting my card, I get a dialog box that tells me all my card's contents could be destroyed if I go ahead, so I refrain.
Seems like it would be pointless to try and retrieve my card's contents if I must destroy them first. I'm fairly new to this stuff, so please excuse my lack of knowledge for it.
Also, once I get all of my content into my new SD card, do I need to format the new card when inserted in my phone? I notice that whenever I put an SD card with files on it into a new phone, I get a prompt saying that all contents could be destroyed if I format, even though I want these files on my phone and certainly not destroyed.
Thanks for any and all questions answered, I appreciate it.

No, you MUST NOT reformat it before copying! Formatting a storage device means to prepare it to hold files, and it will delete everything on it (see the tag wiki of the formatting tag for details). So yes, formatting woul imply losing all contents on the formatted device (in this case, from your SDCard).
New cards usually come pre-formatted, so there's no action needed either: Simply insert and enjoy. I never heard a device prompting you to format a newly inserted card, and I've had some of them. Of course, a warning is issued when you manually select to format a card, so you do not accidentally fall into such a trap.


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How do I install Google voice search on a rooted gb custom rom?
I recently moved to X-gamer, a gb based stock rom. I flashed gapps for gb thinking I would get back voice search and talk. However it seems only talk got installed. Voice search link on Google play shows 'item not found'. How do I install Google voice search?

In Android 4.1+ (Jelly Bean), it was merged with Google Now.

But Google Now isn't available for 2.3 (Gingerbread).
You have to search & download the last apk-File of voicesearch.
P.S.: If you have "Connections Errors / Server-Problems": Try reset the cache of the app.


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When using apps as a second user, why do new screens within apps open behind the main window?
I have just set up a second user account on my Nexus 10 (running stock 4.2.2) so that I can keep my work Exchange email account separated on the device. In this new account, the email app works fine in almost all ways, except that when you (for example) open the settings dialog, nothing appears to happen. It is only when you hit the 'back' button that the settings window appears. It's as if new windows are opening behind the original one rather than in front.
Initially it looked like it was on the Email app with this behaviour, but this morning Evernote has started doing the same thing in that account. This is extremely annoying! It only seems to affect this new secondary user. Everything works perfectly in the primary account.
I've tried searching for people having the same issue but have come up with nothing. How do I fix this?

I have just tried this from my friend's Nexus 10 and it seems to work fine. Looks like it might just be me! I have no clue where to start looking to solve this issue.

I did resolve this issue eventually. I use App Protector Pro on the main account of the device, but it is not installed in the second user. Somehow having this enabled on the primary account disrupts the screen ordering on the second and subsequent users. It occurred to me that this might be the case, and testing has proved it so.
You need to disable App Protector Pro to resolve.

As you've solved your problem, please mark this answer as accepted (with the green tick on the left), so that other visitors can see the problem is solved.


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Android OS 4.0 - USB host mode support for external keyboard
I would like to use an external USB keyboard with the Odys Next Tablet. Does Android OS 4 support USB host mode and will an USB external keyboard work with that tablet if it's connected with an OTG cable?
(I recently tried to use the keyboard with an Android OS 2.3 device and it's not working for it)

USB Host Mode was introduced with Honeycomb (Android 3.1, see changelog. This clearly explains why it failed on your Gingerbread (2.3) device -- and also should answer your question whether it is supported by Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) and above: Yes, it should work. As ov1d1u explained in his answer, it will require a "USB OTG cable" (OTG stands for "On-the-Go"). Does fine on my Cat Stargate 2 btw :)

Yes. I have a (cheap) tablet with Android 4.0.4 and I use a physical USB keyboard with it. I just needed an USB OTG cable, a standard USB cable will not work.

Yes, it is supported by ICS or higher Android versions. But, it's not easy to find an OTG cable on the market. If you're like me and don't like waiting for eBay to have it shipped to you, here's a youtube link to make one yourself.
Requires some experience

its not easy to find an OTG cable on the market Sure? Simply type "otg cable" into Amazon's search box, and watch the > 3.500 results. Plenty of choices. And I've heard they ship fast most times -- maybe faster than you can solder such a cable yourself :)


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ADB unable to connect my Nexus 7 on Ubuntu
I want to be able to connect my Nexus 7 in order to test my applications from Eclipse on the physical device.
I followed this Google guide.
My /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules file contains this :
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="18d1", ATTR{idProduct}=="4e42", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="18d1", ATTR{idProduct}=="4e40", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="18d1", ATTR{idProduct}=="4e41", MODE="0666"

The device is configured to use "Camera (PTP)" and "USB debugging" is checked too.
But adb devices lists no device.
What have I missed ?

The fact that the "Connected" message only appeared sometimes and that lsusb was unable to detect the Nexus casted a doubt on the cable.
I just tested with another cable and it works. My other cable seems to have a damaged connector.

As I saw many times since that ADB connectors are fragile and very susceptible to this kind of problem, I keep this answer which might help other people. There's obviously a flaw in the design of those connectors.


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Lost my Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos. No app Installed. Sim also not working. Can anyone help how to trace it
Lost my Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos. No app Installed. Sim also not working. Can anyone plz help how to trace it.

Chandan, I just added the lost-phone tag to your question. Please click it and check the other 17 questions using it. At least one of them should give you initial help. Closest match: Find lost Samsung Galaxy Ace phone?

Unfortunately, there is no way for you to trace it when all wireless options are nill. The best that you can do is to report the IMEI of the phone to your network so they can block it, becoming only a useless brick.
I don't know if some network operator have the ability to track phones thru IMEI. You should ask them, its worth a try.
edit: I think my thinking went overboard about your case. Have you simply lost it in the house or a familiar place?


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How to start deskclock timer via NFC
I am trying to start the timer of the deskclock app that comes with Android 4.2 using a NFC chip. I am not trying to write an app that does this but rather use one of the many NFC launcher apps.
I can't seem to find if that is possible at all... AnyTAG NFC launcher for example is able to launch the deskclock app but not set any parameters or just launch the timer part.

Llama will let you launch a custom INTENT when it receives an NFC signal. I have not used this part of Llama, as I don't have NFC on my phone, but I have used it to create a custom INTENT.
This raises the question of whether you can set a specific timer and start it with an intent. I don't know if this is possible with the built-in app; you'd have to do your own research on that end.
But you could use Llama instead for the timer as well (if you can live with only whole minutes for the timer). Add a delay to the event, so that it will do something after X minutes of receiving the NFC scan. You can have the phone play a song, vibrate, launch another app, or basically anything supported.

I'm pretty sure Tasker and probably others can do the same thing (as long as they support NFC). I mention Llama because it is free and the only one I extensively use.

NFC Task Launcher can do exactly what you want, I think. It can set alarms, change volume and notification sound.

The problem with NFC Task Launcher is that it can't launch actions from random NFC tag IDs. I dont want to save the action on the tag but rather have the app remember tags, no matter what's written on them.

OK, that's true, I think. This requirement was not clear to me from your question, though. What is there against writing on a dedicated tag?

I want to use my company's access card to launch tasks :-D

And also, it seems Task Launcher will only set an alarm and not use the builtin timer. This is not what the alarm clock was meant to do and messes up my list of alarm clock times...

Makes sense. Perhaps it is worth it to submit a feature request to the developers. The app is regularly updated, so it is under active development.


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Control media player on one phone from another
I recently upgraded by old Wildfire to a Galaxy S2.  For an event I'm running, I'd like to be able to hook the wildfire up to a sound system and play music (that's on the wildfire).  However, I'd also like to control the playback using my S2.  This can be via bluetooth or wi-fi, as I can use the wi-fi hotspot feature if required.
Can anyone suggest any Apps that would allow me to do this?  So far a remote-desktop app is the best I've found, but it's a bit awkward to use.

I see that desktop Winamp has Android remote control apps - perhaps there's an Android media player with remote controlability?

KODI + KORE
for those who looking not only streaming but a simple remote control over media player itself (android - to - android)
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/pictures-story/494-android-tv-remote-apps.html#s16

What you are looking for is a Bluetooth HID implementation for Android
The closest that I know of is AndroHID
This turns your smartphone into a bluetooth remote control for any device that supports Bluetooth HID profile.

Unfortunately that application requires rooting my phone, which I'm not planning to do.  Thanks for the suggestion though.

I think rooting is essential because it needs to modify android's bluetooth stack.

This could be awesome but it could also be dead in the water - looks like the one apk posted is from 2010.

It still works up to gingerbread and confirmed working on my Xperia Play. For honeycomb and later, you would need to find another app.

Would this really help since it's just offering a remote keyboard - but he yet needs a screen to see the consequences of his typing...? (Dunno whether this is a req, but it's still a limitation. ;)


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How to replace Cyanogenmod dialer/contacts/messaging(texting) apps?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 with Verizon. I've recently rooted it and installed Cyanogenmod 10.1.
Of ocurse, when you buy the phone brand new, it comes with all the built-in apps from the manufacturer. With the Samsung Galaxy S3, I prefer their original dialer/contacts/messaging apps vs. the ones that comes with Cyanogenmod.
Is there anyway to get back the original dialer/contacts/messaging apps and replace the ones on Cyanogenmod? Is there anyway to change custom ROMs to your liking? Is there a apk of the original dialer/contacts/messaging S3 apps?
I'm new to the world of custom ROMs and rooting Android, so please, if you could, be specific and detailed as, most likely, I won't know where your coming from.
Thanks!

What is the reason you switched to Cyanogenmod? There are many other roms which are customizations of Samsungs rom (compared to a complete new one). On XDA developers you can find may, for example I'm using Omega which is just Samsung only bloated apps are stripped.

@RvdK I wanted JB 4.2 which Cyanogenmod has.

Ah ok :) Well the dailer is definately a APK. Maybe someone has uploaded it, or flash back original ROM, extract the APK and flash the new ROM.

Or extract it from the Nandroid backup you surely have made prior flashing CM. This can e.g. be done using Titanium Backup.

Be careful! The original apks signed key must match up with the ROM's signed key, as Phone, Contacts are classified as system apps, and thus signed with the original Samsung ROM's keys, there will be a mismatch with the CM ROM in place and could lead to force closes and or possibly bootloops!

The problem with most manufacturer specific apps is that they are tied very closely with their specific framework, and will not work on "vanilla" Android OS.
In your example, Samsung's Contacts app relies heavily on features of their TouchWiz UI that ships standard with Galasy SIII, and will not function properly (or perhaps even at all) on custom ROMs that are not based on Samsung firmware.  CyanogenMod is based on AOSP (Android Open Source Project) and none of the TouchWiz apps will work there.  The same holds true for most other manufacturers' apps that ship with their proprietary UI overlays, such as Motorola's BLUR (or whatever they renamed it to,) or HTC's Sense for example.
Even if you manage to find an APK for a given app, installing it onto a system that doesn't have the required framework could potentially cause issues ranging anywhere from force-closes, to even not being able to boot the device.  Always have a backup of your device before attempting any such modifications and/or installations, so that you can restore your device to a working condition should something go wrong.
As an alternative, you can try and find a 3rd-party replacement app that mimics the functionality of a manufacturer-specific app you're interested in.  In most cases, Android will allow you to set the downloaded app as a default instead of the built-in app.  For example, there are a myriad replacement Contacts management, Dialer, and Texting apps available in Google Play Store (both free and paid varieties.)  I'm sure some of those will have features that you like from Samsung's corresponding app.


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Backing up Android device on Windows via wireless
I need a way to back up my whole Android device on my PC, which is running Windows 7.
I don't have USB cable for my phone, but I have wireless router, so my best option is using Wireless connection.
I have encrypted my rooted Nexus S device, and now I am locked out of accessing SD card via recovery. The only way to decrypt my device is Factory data reset, which will erase all data on my phone.
Before doing that I need to backup all my SD Card content, Apps, App data content to my PC.
I need something much like Ultimate Backup Tool, but instead of recovering data through USB cable, using wireless instead.

Not a duplicate, but a lot of information: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/390/how-to-backup-an-android-device?rq=1

Are you rooted?

Yes, I updated my post.

Definitely give AirDroid a shot. It's an excellent tool for accessing the filesystem of your phone over a wireless network.

I did it that way, I backed up all the apps using Rom Toolbox, and than used Airdroid to transfer SD card content to pc, which later I restore to Android the same way.

Summing up the solution from the comments and expanding:
This process basically includes two steps:

Create a backup
Transfer it to the Windows PC wirelessly

A further pre-condition for the following is that the device is rooted, which is the case here.

Create the backup
Depending on what you need to backup, there are different good solutions available (you can see the backup tag-wiki for more information):

With a custom recovery such as clockworkmod, you can create a nandroid backup
Helium - App Sync and Backup can be used to create an adb style backup of all your apps including their settings
Titanium Backup does backups of all your apps, data, settings, etc., and has proven well over all the years

All three options store their backups on the SDCard. So if your device features a microSD slot, you could even simply take out the card, and attach it to your PC using a card reader. This generally works without a cable, and such could also count as "wireless" :)
One thing you might need to care for manually are the media files, and other downloaded/manually created stuff. Usually, this is stored on the SDCard as well – but that could be the internal one, so in case of the "card-reader option" you might need to copy stuff to the external card manually, which can be done with a good file manager such as ES File Explorer.

Transfer via WiFi
Now for the WiFi transfer. This can be done with the just mentioned ES File Explorer, which includes a "Samba client" to access Windows shares: Just share a drive from your computer, and then copy all files over. This also can be done "the other way round", pulling the files: with e.g. Airdroid you can access your device from any web browser. Airdroid includes a file manager, and lets you upload and download files.
Another more elegant variant, especially if you want to automate things, is to use a sync tool. Here you might want to take a look at FolderSync: As the name suggests, this app lets you synchronizes files and folders. Like with ES File Explorer, you can use Samba/CIFS here to access a Windows share.
Elegant permanent solution: Set up scheduled backups with Titanium Backup, and set up a matching sync interval for TiBu's backup directory with FolderSync. That way you always have an up-to-date backup off-board your device, in case of brick/loss/whatever.

In my opinion the best and easiest no-cost and nag-free method of backing up [some or all] files from your Android to a Windows machine, uses an underappreciated feature of ES File Explorer, along with any FTP client software for Windows (my preference is a free download of Filezilla.)

Download & install ES File Explorer from the Google Play store.  (Documentation at bottom of post) ↓
Download & install Filezilla from Filezilla-Project.org.  (Documentation at bottom of post) ↓
 In ES File Explorer:

Tap the "hamburger menu icon" (at the top-left of the screen) to open the menu

Slide down to find and tap "Network" and then tap "View on PC"

Tap "Turn On" (at the bottom of the screen)

Note the IP address and port number that is displayed.
(The port number is the number to the right of the : colon.)

Click Connect.

 In Filezilla, you need to create a new connection to the IP and Port Number you were given.

Click the first toolbar button to open the Site Manager.

Click "New Site" and then fill in the values on the first tab as shown in the image below, and then click Connect.

Create a destination folder on your computer, where you want to store the backup.
You can now copy files by dragging them between your Android (in the right-side of Filezilla) and Windows (the left-side of Filezilla, or directly to desktop or other folders/shortcuts).

Note that Windows has alternative (less user-friendly) ways to open FTP folders that do not require an FTP client, such as typing the FTP address & port number (exactly as shown by ES File Explorer) directly into the address bar of any browser, or by adding a new Network Location in the "Network & Internet Settings" in the Control Panel.

More Information:

 ES File Explorer:

Official User's Manual
More things it can do
Downsides about it (I love it anyway and use it constantly.)

 Filezilla:

Official Documentation
Official Tutorial
Alternative Tutorial
Beginner's Guide


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When did my phone power off due to low battery? Is the information recorded somewhere?
I'd like to know when my Android phone powered down due to low battery.  Is there a log or way to see this?  I am running a new program that makes use of BlueTooth and I suspect that's the problem.  I ran the program over the weekend and when I recovered the phone, it was dead.  Of course I have no way of know if the phone died after 1 hour or 23 hours.   I'm guessing the operating system logs it somewhere.
The phone in question is a Sony Ericsson Arc, but I'm hoping the answer generally applies to all Android phones.

You should install Watchdog Task Manager Lite.
It will monitor all your apps and tell you which apps are consuming the most battery and why.
For all your logging needs, install aLogcat (free) - logcat.

I am using Battery Widget Reborn (Free Beta version).
Among its useful features is a charge/discharge graph.

You can use multitouch to expand or compress the graph, too. It'll show about when the battery went down to 0.

You might want to take a look at SystemPanelLite Task Manager. While the free version only allows live monitoring, the full version (SystemPanel App / Task Manager) features background monitoring. Monitored data such will be recorded, and not lost on power-off. Take a look at this screenshot:

Here you can clearly see what time the app was active, how much battery it consumed, if you actively used the device during that time (or how much of the usage was done in background without you watching it), and more. Have this app running and recording in the background for a while, and then check the recorded data -- this should let you figure out which app was responsible, and also what time the device powered off.

BetterBatteryStats? :)

@t0mm13b good for techies, yes. And gives different details. SystemPanel is more intuitive to use for non-techies, and can give better timed results. BetterBatteryStats cannot tell you what time what event happened or when the device shut down -- at least as far as I know.


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Created a Walled Garden with WiFi Hotspot
I want to create a WiFi Hotspot that can only access either a few files on my Android or a webpage run on my Android. This is so that when I am playing at gigs i can offer my music for free to people who connect. I know I can do this on a Windows machine but don't really want to drag around a laptop to every gig considering the amount of instruments, etc., that need to be transported.
I was hoping I could just set up a WiFi Hotspot and a walled garden so that when people connected it would force them to a page stating there is no internet connection only news and music by my band.
Has anyone got any ideas how this could be achieved or if I am being blind and there's an app that will already do it? (I have spent the last 3 days researching but so far I have not found much.)

Wi-Fi hotspot just gives you networking service. It doesn't automatically share your files. You need to use a kind of file server which could restrict sharing to few files.

You might like to try KWS Android Web Server
This is like LAMP, XAMPP, WAMP but for Android
This is not a simple file server, you need to create a webpage first to make it work.


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Google Play Store gives error "No Connection"
I have an HTC Desire HD. I am having trouble connecting to the Google Play Store. Every time I try to connect it just come up with an error "NO CONNECTION". I really want to download some apps (in particular Words With Friends). I know I am connected to the Internet; I can access my mail and Facebook, etc.
I have uninstalled Play Store and re-installed it but no luck!
How can I fix this?

Have you tried the usual steps to deal with a truculent app?

Also, how did you uninstall/reinstall the Play Store?

I had a similar issue and found it was due to having previously installed Adblock-Plus. It requires you set up a localhost proxy in your WiFi connections. When I removed Adblock-Plus I forgot to undo the proxy settings. When I removed the proxy the connection worked fine.

@SteveLorimer My I ask what procedures you did to undo the proxy settings, does proxy affect /system/etc/hosts?

Update google-play-store

Solution 1
You need to uninstall(only after force stop it & clear data and cache) Freedom app in your mobile phone if you have. There are some reports that Freedom App causes "No Connection" error.
Solution 2 -
Check your Gmail / Google account password. Have you recently changed it? If yes, then you will need to re-enter your password on your Android device to get all your Google services back. As soon as you change your Google account password, your device gets a notification to enter the new password. Do it or your Google Play Store or any other Google service will not sync or work properly.
Solution 3 -
Clear the Play Store cache. The Google Play Store app on your Android device stores some cache data on your device which could be one of the reasons why you are not able to connect to Google servers using the app and keep getting the “No connection – Retry” error message. How to fix it?
Read the quick and easy steps below:

Go to Settings > Apps.
Scroll to All apps and then scroll down to “Google Play Store” app.
Open the app details and tap on the “Force stop” button.
Then, tap on the “Clear cache” button.

That’s it. Now start the Google Play Store app on your phone / tablet and it should load and work absolutely fine!
Solution 4 -
Check the date and time of your device. Yes, this was the problem with majority of users complaining about this error message in their Google Play Store app. If your date and time are not correctly set, you will again the “No connection – Retry” error message.

I was facing the same issue as i had installed the freedom app on my device and then uninstalled it..  Once it was uninstalled i lost the play store with the no connection error.  Once i installed it back again it started working

My old Android phone's date was 3 years behind. Updating the date/time resolved the No Connection - Retry issue for me. Thanks.

Google Play Services kept crashing on a Nook but I fixed that and now I'm getting this error. None of these solutions work (I can't find how to change the time, but it appears accurate). Any other ideas?

I found I had to restart my phone for the above to take effect. @TravisBemrose

Make Sure that Background data is enabled on your Phone.
For 4.0 (ICS), check it in Settings > Data Usage > Menu > Uncheck Restrict Background Data.
For any other Android flavor, look for Backgound data in Settings, and try enabling it.
It might help you.

If background data restricted he should get a notification that "Background data is restricted" while he opens Playstore(Not "No Connection" error).

The other answers did not work for me, but I did find a potential work around.
I opened my /etc/hosts/ file in a text editor and added a # in front of Google's IP address, commenting it out. After that, I was able to connect again. You'll need to be root in order to do this.

I installed some stupid ad blocker in my device which put the wrong ip in hosts. Fixed it by deleting the hosts file itself.


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Motorola Defy+: Black Screen and no BootLoader. How to discover what firmware version my device supports?
I did a terrible mistake. After some tentatives of installing cyanogen, I replaced the kernel with wrong version.
I have a Motorola Defy+ (MB526) and I'm trying to use RSD Lite to reflash the firmware.
I'm trying with the Retail Version from here http://sbf.droid-developers.org/umts_jordanplus/list.php.
The cellphone does nothing, only black screen. When I insert the usb cable and open RSD Lite, they recognizes and all the process to send the flash is done, the cell phone is booted automatically but I can't turn it on. When flashing, the cellphone screen show the message that the SW is being updated. The process seems to be done right, but at the end I can't start the operational system.
After finishing the process successfully, I can't turn it on. It's like nothing got flashed. Even the recovery mode was erased.
I don't know if I need some kind of boot loader (like some linux does) or other sbf file. Anyone knows if do I need to flash more files?
Edited
According here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1216982 It seems I downgraded the version, that's why I'm getting a black screen.
How do I know what is the version I need to use?
Can I try Chinese version? It seems that is the newer, but I'm afraid if I would face no English language option to set after installing it.

After months trying, I solved flashing the DEFYPLUS_U3_4.5.1-134_DFP-2311_BLUR_SIGN_USADEFYEMARAB1B8TFDE004.0R_PDS03C_USAJRDNGIBRO2DE_P020_A025_M002_Service1FF.sbf


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My HTC Tmobile - G2 wifi turns off cicle
I dont Know why when I turn on my WIFI it automaticly turn off after a few seconds!
I have HTC VISION G2, Cianogenmod, 2.3.7
VISION PVT ENG s-OFF
HBOOT-0.76.2000 (PC10...)
MICROP-0425
RADIO-26-02-01-15_M2
eMMc-boot
Aug 20 2010, 16:51:01
Kernel 2.6.32.17-g814e0a1 htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
Build number 1.19.531.1 CL255798 release-keys
Baseband version 12.22.60.09bU_26.02.01.15_M2
It say "Unable to scan for networks"

Try rebooting your wifi-router and also check your logcat and kernel's log for clues :)

If the Wifi itself is turned off automatically, it looks more like a problem with the Baseband (radio image) to me than with the router. No WiFi in reach wouldn't turn Wifi off. "Unable to scan for networks" suggests this as well (it's not that it didn't find anything, it was not even able to scan).


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Local files revisited: Opening local HTML files (file:///path/to/file) in Chrome on Android 4.x
There are other questions on this same topic, but I'm finding that on 4.0.4 with my HTC One, I can open file:/// URLs just fine with Firefox, but not with Chrome or the Android browser. Those two simply report a security error and show no content.
Is this something that changed since the 2.x era when it was apparently possible? (edit well I realize there was no Chrome for 2.x but ...)

On 4.2.1 the URLs work fine on Chrome and Chrome Beta, but not the builtin browser.

Hmm let me try my Nexus 7 - thanks for the info.

Possibly it is disallowed to prevent hijacking?

For Android 10 or later: Local files revisited: Opening local HTML files (file:///path/to/file) in Chrome on Android 10.x

The issue was user error stemming from the less-than-obvious way the Android OS file system works. Everything visible in the file system is under a top-level (the real top) directory called "sdcard".  Thus, file:/// URLs only work for paths like file:///sdcard/foo/bar.
I'll add with questionable relevance that if you haven't installed the app "AirDroid", you should. I found it while looking around for answers to a related problem.

I get: "Access to the file was denied" for the extSdCard.

what path must one use for internal storage??

@FedorSteeman it's in the answer above.

thanks. I was getting confused over the fact that my unit didn't have an sd card, so it didn't make sense to me to go to the "sdcard".

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


text:
Is it possible to use Emoji language with Swiftkey 3?
I have and LOVE swiftkey. Is there anyway I type emoji icons with my swiftkey keyboard?
I've tried going to my keyboard settings and adding the Emoji language, but the swiftkey keyboard still doesn't have it (unless I missed it or it was hidden).


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Second ring tone for my Google Voice phone number
I'm considering adding a second phone number to my android phone by using Google Voice. Can I have a different ring tone to indicate that a call is coming from that second number and not from my first number?

The only way I can think to do this would be to set up Call Screening and Caller ID like so:

Then set up a contact for your Google Voice number with a custom ringtone.


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connect android devices in ad-hoc mode without needing to net connection?
can we get android devices in ad-hoc mode using WIFI-card but without access internet ?
i mean to connect peers to send and receive messages between them but without having internet connection ?
i see this  link  talk about wpa_supplicant.conf  to enable ad-hoc mode, but it seems that there are problems in this thing.
and see this command iwconfig but this doesn't support on android !!

Ad-hoc is not natively supported by Android. But starting with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), a new feature called WiFi Direct was introduced:

Wi-Fi Direct, previously known as Wi-Fi P2P, is a standard that allows Wi-Fi devices to connect to each other without the need for a wireless access point. This allows Wi-Fi Direct devices to directly transfer data between each other with greatly reduced setup.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Support for Wi-Fi Direct lets users connect directly to nearby peer devices over Wi-Fi, for more reliable, higher-speed communication. No internet connection or tethering is needed. Through third-party apps, users can connect to compatible devices to take advantage of new features such as instant sharing of files, photos, or other media; streaming video or audio from another device; or connecting to compatible printers or other devices.

(Source: Android.Com)
To me, this looks like what you are asking for: directly connecting two Android devices via WiFi without the need of a "mediator".

While you can solve the ad-hoc wifi connection issue, I think your bigger problem is on the application level. All standard messaging applications do use some sort of a server to send the messages. Without the internet access you would have to set up your own server and at this point the ad-hoc wifi issue becomes a moot point - you will still need some infrastructure (the server) to be able to send the messages - why not the wifi access point then?

ok can i go low level to make this thing ?
can i enter the native code and linux to do this ?

ad-hoc mode used to be supported in the Cyanogen ROMS, it is not in the stock images AFAIK.
Depending on your application, you might use Wifi Direct but I think it's a different API (rather than just behaving like an ethernet segment) and it does not cover all the uses cases that ad-hoc does.

Wifi direct is not wifi in ad hoc mode.
Wifi Direct (p2p) is build over Soft Acces Point and make one of the device as "mediator" (call Group Owner).
I had the same issue for one of my dev.
Wifi Direct is very interesting for dev betwenn many device without acces point but it still a application client/server

Are you commenting on another answer or attempting to answer the original question?


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How to simulate cell signal loss?
The program (CSipSimple) seems to work not well when cell data network is unstable. It works OK hovewer if you manually switch it on and off.
How to simulate bad network connectivity (e.g. going by underground train) for testing the application?
It should be mobile network, not Wi-Fi.
Are there any programs or hacks (in software, with root access) for this or I should resort to wrapping the device in foil?

Use some metal case to create a Faraday cage should do?

As I stated in question, usually just wrapping the phone in foil does the trick. (Actually also wrapping myself around the phone in an accurate way can reduce the weak signal to "No Signal").

Get a contract on Orange and go anywhere in Central London.

Try those electrostatic-proof bags like you get hard disks in - you can press buttons too. Need more attenuation? put it in more bags. Go walk testing around the office.
If you put it in Airplane Mode or the other 'tricks' suggested - the mobile signals a DETACH to the network - it is a controlled clear down - not at all like driving into a tunnel. We use that to force DETACH/ATTACH cycle without the long wait of rebooting the phones.
Usually, the only way to force an uncontrolled loss of signal is to take the battery out - not much use for app testing.
Engineering mode might do it - but all phones are different and may not be available. Maybe the receiver can be told insert a load of attenuation or reduce gain or something.
In my day job have a RF shielded box (Ramsey Electronics) with mesh gloves for manipulating the device in the controlled RF environment... alone it is probably not suitable for controlling the RF to the mobile alone. But then, I have direct connection to my own private mobile network with base stations, adjustable attenuators and my own SIM cards and everything...

Depending on the device there might be antenna connectors on the PCB. You could connect an external antenna to the appropriate connector though an adjustable attenuator. This would allow you to control the strength of the signal your phone would receive.
Still the foil would probably be much cheaper.

I look for software solutions primarily. Like type a command in a root console to stop connectivity (without Android directly knowing I'm stopping it), then a command to re-enabled it.

If you're using a custom rom with network toggle. Switching 2G/3G will simulate sudden signal loss. Try it while the app is running.

In ICS and JB, a menu item exists which you can use to disable mobile data. Go to Settings, then in the Wireless & Networks section, touch More.... Next, touch Mobile networks. Finally, you can touch Data enabled to enable/disable mobile data.
If you need more fine grained control over the mobile radio, many Android phones have secret menus which, among other things, allow you to control the mobile radio, e.g. you can switch it between 4G LTE, 3G, EvDO/1xRTT or just turn it off.
In some circumstances, if you merely need to simulate a total loss of connectivity, you can simply enable airplane (offline) mode. (But this takes down Wi-Fi as well, so may not work for you.)

It is already stated in question that if I manually disable the networking, programs receive "there is no network anymore"/"there is network again" messages and it works well. I want to simulate poor networking when the device thinks it's still connected, but in fact the connection is lost for some time.