text:
Alarm ringtone plays after calling
This problem started 2-3 months ago. It doesn't matter who initiates call, after disconnect my phone plays the standard melody used to wake me up in the morning (Dreamland). I don't know how to turn it off, because no process is shown in task manager. Last time I did it by holding HOME key for 1 second, sometimes I just reboot the phone.
I wanna disable it since it's very annoying and causes downside effects to my work. Did anybody face such thing? How can I investigate the incident further?
As I thought (and following advice given down), when I changed alarm melody to another one, melody played after call was changed to the new melody. This time I stopped it using memory cleaner.
DETAILS:
Phone model: Star X920 (HTC Butterfly)
Firmware: MIUI 4.4.25
Android: 4.2.1 JOP40D
Kernel: 3.4.5

If this is occurring at all times then it might be a bug or something.

Have you tried, as an experiment, to change you morning alarm ring tone to something else just to see if the same ringtone plays after a call. If not than it is not related to your alarms and may help you narrow it down.

@MANI of coarse it's bug. I need a workaround.

@Lazer I changed alarm ringtone and phantom melody also was changed.

@Danatela Does this only happen if you have alarms set or does this happen even with no alarms set? Have you tried deleting all your alarms? If this works maybe try adding them back one by one. Please keep us updated.

@Lazer it seems your advice helped :) thanks!

As per my comments:
Have you tried, as an experiment, to change you morning alarm ring tone to something else just to see if the same ringtone plays after a call. If not than it is not related to your alarms and may help you narrow it down.
Does this only happen if you have alarms set or does this happen even with no alarms set? Have you tried deleting all your alarms? If this works maybe try adding them back one by one. Please keep us updated.

OK, I turned alarm off and sound was gone. Normal beep returned.


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Is any of the Android rooting software open source?
As an example, the post here for rooting the LG G3:
http://www.reddit.com/r/LGG3/comments/2cdz0y/guide_rooting_roming_xposed/
Gives links to posts elsewhere for downloading APKs which do something and then allow su to work, I think:
Stump:  http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/orig-development/root-stump-root-lg-g3-sprint-verizon-t2850906/
PurpleDrake:  http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmobile-lg-g3/development/root-twrp-root-twrp-tmo-lg-g3-t2821005
Are there any more details about what these or other root techniques actually do?  Are any of them open source?

I'd guess it's unlikely (but just a guess) you'll find a working root method that's open source, simply because it would give the OEMs enough information to fix the loophole. Keeping it close to the vest helps to ensure tinkerers can continue tinkering. Also possible that a root method would have security implications, and could be disclosed privately to Google/OEMs.

I have to imagine that the OEMs and Google  have the resources to reverse engineer these binaries. I wonder if it's about the liability the authors are exposed to as a result of a TOS violation or something along those lines.

Reverse engineering still takes time, though, especially if the code is obfuscated well. Delaying the inevitable fix at least buys time for prospective rooters to take advantage of the exploit. Again, mostly conjecture, but it's common in other modding scenes. The Wii's exploits were often obfuscated (in part) for this reason.

I've been battling the same issue. Using closed-source from a private company is a huge mistake if you care about security and privacy. Open-source, though arguably not thst much more secure, has one benefit over closed source from a private company: paid programmers are expensive. What's their motive for paying people to do this? Money. Is the root software free/cheap? Don't use it.  Open Source, on the other hand, though while not totally free from malicious additions, is being handled mostly by programmers who, collectively, want to use the software they are helping create. That being said, here's what I've mustered up.
Most actively developed is by this guy, phhusson, who posted an article (https://www.xda-developers.com/the-importance-of-open-source-in-root/) about it in 2015. Then started this (still active) thread (https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software-hacking/wip-selinux-capable-superuser-t3216394/page246)
Here's the repo:
https://github.com/phhusson/super-bootimg
Here's another
https://github.com/android-rooting-tools
Both of these are still under heavy development.

Also, flashing linux and running android inside android through an ssh session is becoming more of a possibility. Check : How to Run Debian or Ubuntu GNU/Linux on Your Android - http://whiteboard.ping.se/Android/Debian

And PostmarketOS: Aiming for a 10 year life-cycle for smartphones - https://ollieparanoid.github.io/post/postmarketOS/

I've found this: https://github.com/Benjamin-Dobell/Heimdall essentially an open source equalvalent of Odin.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
MTP not working but ADB works fine
I use Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Android Phone, its MTP mode is not working just after I plugged it in to another PC some time for just USB charging.
I re-installed the driver on my PC and removed the device, re-installed the driver again, and tried some methods like these.
But it was not working with my PC, however, I can view the files on the smart phone with the ADB command on the command prompt.
I am not sure what the situation is.
I cannot connect it via MTP, and its driver failed to install, showing exclamation mark on the Windows Device Manager.
However, I can view the files with ADB command, but not convenient as MTP connnection.
Can I recover this device to be shown without exclamation mark? Everytime when I connect the phone, My Windows 7 tries to install the driver but failed, but ADB works.
I searched many internet sites for the solution, but I tried regedit to remove "UpperFilters", deleted and re-installed driver, tried PTP mode (even it seems not working), and etc.
I am also thinking there might be a problem on the phone itself. (Because I have rooted it once)
Can I get some help from any expert? Thanks very much in advance.

Are you using windows 7 or windows 7 sp1 ?

I am using Windows 7 SP1. It was working, now it isn't.

I assume you tried connecting in different usb port, rebooting PC, installing samsung driver etc.Try updating windows media player to 11

I checked the version of Windows Media Player, it was 12.0.7601. For Windows XP users, Windows Media Player Version may be a reason, but I am using Windows 7. Can 12.0 be a problem? I re-installed Samsung driver twice. I am going to re-try with a different USB port, I am not sure the port might be a problem because I tried on a different PC already.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=867518 you can even try this

Related: Android 5.0 Lollipop device not detected via USB

do you have samsung kies installed? For me the kies driver worked when a manual install didn't.

I had tried tons of proposed solution and it seem doesn't work for my Samsung Note 3. However i finally solve without installing/uninstalling anything.
Problem Solved as following;
1) Reboot phone to Recovery Mode.
2) Wipe Cache Partition.
3) Restart phone and connect to PC.
Bum!!! Window successfully installed your MTP driver.

From this xda post

Plug in device
Open device manager
Right click the ADB device and select update
Choose the manual option
Select the option to choose from list of drivers
Select MTP, go and it'll work!

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


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Install FM Radio Module on Xperia E Dual flashed with Custom ROM
Can anyone please help me with the procedure to install FM Radio in my rooted Xperia E Dual flashed with Nexboost ROM?

I found a thread on XDA forums. They are providing an app (which is already available in Play Store) named SpiritFM which uses phone's inbuilt antenna for radio (also via internet if required). Go to XDA dev page and use search string spirit fm or Click Here.

This is not working with my phone

Then you're not gonna find any stock fm radio app anywhere. Probably you should look into the internet radios like TuneIn, rad.io etc


text:
Running Linux on Android with a rooted OPO
I tried to run Linux on Android and I had some issues setting up Debian. The VM is running, but I can't connect via VNC. I already searched the FAQ & Google what to do, but I found no answers. My OnePlus One is rooted and its Kernel has Loop Device Support (export in terminal shows LOOP_MOUNPOINT). Any suggestions?
terminal log:
u0_a129@A0001:/ $
u0_a129@A0001:/ $ cd /sdcard/debian
u0_a129@A0001:/sdcard/debian $ su
sh /data/data/com.zpwebsites.linuxonandroid/files/bootscript.sh /sdcard/debian/debian.img
sh /data/data/com.zpwebsites.linuxonandroid/files/bootscript.sh /sdcard/debian/debian.img
android/files/bootscript.sh /sdcard/debian/debian.img     <
MD5 file found, use to check .img file? (y/n)
y
Validating image checksum... OK
Checking loop device... MISSING
Creating loop device... OK
mount: mounting /storage on /data/local/mnt/external_sd failed: Invalid argument
No user defined mount points
net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1
Using config file /root/cfg/debian.img.config
Config file loaded
Starting first boot setup.......
Creating User account (named debian)
Adding user 'debian' ...
Adding new group 'debian' (1000) ...
Adding new user 'debian' (1000) with group 'debian' ...
Creating home directory '/home/debian' ...
Copying files from '/etc/skel' ...

here starts the interesting part:
passwd: u:r:init_shell:s0 is not authorized to change the password of debian
Permission denied
Try again? [y/N]
chfn: Permission denied.
adduser: '/usr/bin/chfn debian' returned error code 1. Exiting.
usermod: unknown group admin
chown: cannot access 'external_sd': No such file or directory
Password:
su: Authentication failure

the rest:
If you see the message 'New 'X' Desktop is localhost:0' then you are
ready to VNC into your debian OS..

If connection from a different machine on the same network as the
android device use the address below: eth0: error fetching interface
information: Device not found If using androidVNC, change the 'Color
Format' setting to 24-bit colour, and once you've VNC'd in, change the
'input mode' to touchpad (in settings) Starting OpenBSD Secure Shell
server: sshd.

To shut down the Linux environment, just enter 'exit' at this terminal
- and WAIT for all shutdown routines to finish!

localhost:~# ls
DONOTDELETE.txt  Downloads  Public     cfg
Desktop          Music      Templates  init.sh
Documents        Pictures   Videos

Hi, I am curious. Why did you unaccept my answer?

I haven't tried it, so I cannot say if its working or not. But this project looks god, maby I'll try it in the future and accept back if it works. However, Linux on Android looks dead.

Try it, Linux Deploy rocks.

Complete Linux Installer is somewhat buggy. Try Linux Deploy. It is much more configurable and stable.

Please search the xda-developers threads related to this project for debian fixes. Unfortunately, debian handles some security things differently than all the other distros we have, so there are manual changes that have to be made in order to allow debian to "like" your device.
Alternatively, if you try using one of the other distribution images, you should be able to avoid having this problem altogether.

type this :
setenforce 0

before chrooting

Why? What does that do?

Because I had the same problem and it solved by typing that. I just googling but I forget the reason what is that for


text:
Embedded Youtube videos don't play in browser
I have a Samsung S4 running Android Kitkat 4.4.2 (latest version on Verizon).
Both in the Android default browser and chrome browser, when I'm on a page with an embedded Youtube video (all pages with embedded youtube videos), the video doesn't play inside the page. It launches the Youtube APP instead. With my Firefox mobile browser, I don't see a still of the video, instead I get the error that a plug in is required to display content.
All of this just recently happened, so I probably messed up a setting or something related to the Youtube APP itself. Unfortunately since the Youtube app is native to my phone, I can't try uninstalling and reinstalling.
Looking for some advice on how to fix this issue.
Thanks

Can you go to Settings>More>Application manager>Youtube and try clicking on Clear Defaults, failing that try the same in Google Chrome and / or Google Search. Each has their own record of the default application.

possible duplicate of Youtube videos open in browser by default


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How to dismiss an anoying "Queued" notification in android 4.4?
Since this morning there is a new notification in my notification bar. The title is "Queue" and there is a progress bar under it that never stops moving. The only information that I see is this text in two lines under it: "Female for German (Germany)". I guess some Text to Speech software is trying to download something from internet. I can not pause or stop it (regardless of pause icon that appears on the left side of the notification).
Some facts:
I use nightly version of cyanogenmod 11 (20140901) and my phone is Nexus 5.
Could anyone help me to remove this notification?

If you long press on the notification and go to "App info" what app is doing it?

It says "Download Manager", I did a force stop but the notification appeared again.

Try opening Google Search > Settings > Offline speech recognition > Auto update  and turn that off altogether, and get rid of any languages you don't want / need.

I even removed German and disabled Google Now but no change. The notification comes back even after restart. Maybe it is not from text-to-speech or there is a bug in Cyanogenmod nightly.

It's very possible, those builds are riddled with bugs.

At least I learned that I can long press notifications. Moreover with long press there is an option to ignore similar notifications and it removed it.

I can't believe I forgot the notification tickbox! Glad you solved it though. You could post as an answer and accept? It'll get you rep and help others.

I long pressed the annoying notification and two options appeared. The second one says "ignore messages like this", it dismissed the above mentioned notification.

go to apps> show system apps>google text to speech engine> force stop it should work; otherwise after force stop> disable it must work; if you want to re-enable it, just touch enable again. this annoying notification works because of the very slow download of the offline voice packages of the tts engine.

Open Settings → App management → All apps → Download manager
Open it and click on Clear dataand notification should disappear.

Could you provide a little more detail on how to do that, for those who might not know?

Settings->App management->All apps .... Then select Download manager and there will be a button of Clear data. Click it and notification will be gone

I had the same situation with "female italian". I found the solution under the "text-to-speech" settings. Enter in "install voice data" and select the language pauses; here youbfind the language pack queued, with an X to delete it.
It worked with my device.

It looks like the right way to do it.

IT'S VERY EASY !  . go to Setting>accessibility > text to speech output > and touch the setting icon * lied along with google text to speech (which is ticked by default). > install voice data > here you get a small list of language pack > now find the language which is on your notification bar . if you can't see the notification name clearly then gradually open all the language packs. don't worry these are very few. >  here you get one or two packs (downloading or failed) now you can manage easily....

Just click the notification app info. It will take you to application manager (download manager).  Untick the box that says 'show notification' and it won't show up again.


text:
Improving Location History Accuracy
I'm looking at creating a desktop application to track a number of vehicles using Google Location History and the Google Maps API.
Looking at the accuracy of the feed during a trip to Liverpool - it seems that while the general journey outline is broadly speaking correct, the finer details of the journey are inaccurate. The position can be anywhere up to half a mile out.
The implication here is that GPS isn't used. From Google Support,

How often Location Reporting updates your location data isn't fixed. Frequency is determined by factors like how much battery life your device has, if you’re moving, or how fast you’re moving. Location Reporting will only use cell ID or Wi-Fi location detection depending on your device."

Is there any way to make the device make use of GPS for this to improve accuracy? Alternatively, are there any more accurate alternatives Google provides?

More accuracy is technically achievable, but at a cost. Keeping GPS turned on and recording positions more often draws power, making the battery run down more quickly. That wouldn't be appropriate for something that always run in the background like Google Location History, but there are other location tracking apps (such as running apps) that let you choose your own trade-off between accuracy and battery life.
You might even be better off making your own Android client, so you have full control, and can set up everything just right for your situation. Since this is a site for end-user questions, not programmers, we can't help you any further with that side of things.

Thanks, trying to avoid the creation of my own application ideally. Specifically wanted to know if you could force location history to make use of GPS so you can then use Google Maps API desktop side which it seems not.


text:
Unchecking the "show notifications" for the Phone app
My carrier keeps sending the voicemail notification to my device. I can force-stop the phone app (makes the notifications go away), but EVERY SINGLE TIME the device reboots or do something phone-related, boom, its back.
In the app info, the checkbox for notifications is shaded.
Is there any way to make the checkbox unmarked?
I have root, terminal emulator and ADB to play with.

Since you've root access, you can easily allow or ignore the notifications of any app.

Install a file manager having root explorer feature such as ES File Explorer or MiXplorer.
Go to /data/system and open notification-policy.xml.
Add <package name"PKG_NAME" /> between <blocked-packages> and </blocked-packages>, such as:
(Click image to enlarge)

Replace PKG_NAME with the package name of the app whose notifications you don't want to see. See View app's full package name?
Save the file and reboot the device. The "Show notifications" checkbox would now be seen unticked.

There's also an alternative approach which didn't work for me. You may give it a try though. Find it here.


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Setting ethernet proxy settings without WiFi
I'm playing around with the latest android-x86 (4.4) in virtualbox. The setup can connect to the external network only through a NAT ethernet device that is emulated by virtual box. This gets autoconfigured just fine and i can ping computers on my LAN.
If I export http_proxy=<host>:<port> in a terminal, I can wget web pages. However I am unable to set the proxy settings globally for all apps.
The proxy settings are displayed only after a wifi network is connected, and I lack any wifi devices in the virtual machine.
I have tried the following in the root terminal accesible from alt+f1:
setprop global_http_proxy_host <host>
setprop global_http_proxy_port <port>
setprop net.gprs.http-proxy http://<host>:<port>

But this fails to have any effect. Even new terminals lack the env variable for the proxy. These settings appear to be set when I check it by executing getprop
I found this link to the fragment that seems to display the proxys selector for the wifi.
Is there any way that I can manually set all the settings that are affected by this fragment?

If Android version is 6 or 7, here is the solution: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/186820

This solution worked for me.
Just enter the following command in a terminal (change PROXYIP:PROXYPORT )
iptables -t nat -A OUTPUT -o eth0 -p tcp --dport 80 -j DNAT --to PROXYIP:PROXYPORT

Source: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-x86/XfIRyHQ5nmk
I had too tried all your commands without success. I was stuck behind a proxy trying to setup Android x86 with a VirtualBox VM which only had eth0. I was stuck at the activation screen not resolving the needed webpages to continue into the OS. After running the above command, I was able to reach the web and continue. Results may vary per proxy environment.
Edit: This didn't get me too far, but it got me somewhere. The same trick didn't work for 443.

Were you able to get it working for 443?
I can't get ssl connections proxied no matter what I do. Http works fine.

Check SandroProxy has options to foward to proxy to proxy

protoent* getprotobyname(char const*)(3) is not implemented on Android

@Saurabh3321 transparently proxying https requires SSL bump (MITM). You need to add proxy's CA to device/app.


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ADB backup creates 0-byte file; prompts for current backup password even though I never set one; "Failed to set password" for Desktop backup password
The problem:
Every time I run ADB backup, I get a message near the bottom of the home screen saying Backup starting..., followed by a message saying Backup finished a few seconds later despite the fact that I'm using 17 GB of device memory, and the resultant backup file is created with a size of 0 bytes. I receive no error messages, no feedback whatsoever indicating that anything is wrong, let alone what is wrong. It appears to work, but way too quickly, and the backup file is empty.
The process:

I confirm that the device is recognized by ADB using the adb devices command, and receive the following output:
List of devices attached
8e1f368a        device

I issue the ADB backup command (details to follow).
I get the following message at the command prompt:
Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation.

...and the following prompt on the phone:

It makes no difference what I do here (details to follow).
I tap the Back up my data button (bottom right corner).
The phone returns to the home screen and shows me the Backup starting... message, then the Backup finished message a few seconds later. A 0-byte file is created, named either the default backup.ab or whatever I specified with the -f switch.

The ADB backup command (used in step 2):
I've tried multiple combinations of options, ranging from as simple as
adb backup -all

to things like
adb backup -all -apk -s 8e1f368a -f 'C:\Data Files\PDA\Backups\ADB\GalaxyS4_20140919.ab'

I also tried adding the -nosystem switch after reading this and this, which indicate that trying to include a system backup on an unrooted device may result in a 0-byte file, and that this switch must be used. It makes no difference, the process still completes in a matter of seconds and I still get a 0-byte file.
The "Full backup" password prompt (step 3):
I'm quite sure I have never set a backup password before. I've never had the occasion to set this password or access this setting in any way before. However, I have tried all of the following:

Leaving both passwords blank
Leaving the "current backup password" blank and entering a new password in the second box
Entering the current screen lock PIN and all PINs I've ever used in the past as the "current backup password".
Entering every password I can think of that I would have ever used for anything on this device

In all cases the behavior is exactly the same as described in step 5. I get no errors or any kind of indication that anything is wrong or that my passwords are invalid, and no hint as to whether it's actually expecting a current password or whether that field should be left blank. (The screen shot in this answer and several other support forums I've looked at seems to imply that the "current backup password" box wouldn't be displayed if there's no current password, but that's just an inference; nothing makes it clear whether a current password is actually required.)
I suspect that the password it's prompting for might be the "Desktop backup password" set in Developer options:

I have never set that password before. If I try to set one, I get a message saying Failed to set backup password.
In searching for information about this error, I've encountered at least one other case in which someone who was having this problem said this was preventing him from using ADB backup, but he wasn't specific about what happens when he tries to use ADB backup.
Most people who received this message having never set the password before say that the solution was to leave the current password blank, but I tried that in the first place and it didn't work. I found a question by another person who encountered this problem and was sure he hadn't set the password before. Unfortunately it doesn't look like he ever got a solution or even an explanation.
Regardless of whether ADB is looking for the "Desktop backup password" or the ADB encryption password is something separate, it boggles my mind why ADB would require you to enter a previous password in order to initiate a new backup. I'm not trying to restore, overwrite, or in any way access previously encrypted data, so even if an encryption password for a backup had previously been set, I can't imagine why anyone would think it's a good idea to prevent you from backing up your device if you don't remember what password you used to encrypt backups in the past.
Additional information:
Model: Samsung Galaxy S4 SCH-I545
Kernel version: 3.4.0
OS version: 4.4.2
Android SDK Tools version: 1.16
USB debugging is enabled.
Note that my reason for using ADB backup is to take a full backup of my phone to be on the safe side before rooting it* so I can use nandroid backup tools such as Titanium backup. So, any suggestion involving rooting my phone would be a Catch-22, not a solution. Needless to say, a factory reset is also not a solution, since it would defeat the entire purpose of performing the backup.
The phone is set up to sync with my company's Exchange servers, and there are some policies enforced by the server. I had thought that the device was encrypted when I first set up the sync with company account, but apparently it isn't currently encrypted. In fact, that's what set this chain of events in motion: I'm getting a message telling me that I need to encrypt the device in order to continue to connect to company servers. I want to take a nandroid backup before encrypting, which requires rooting, and I want to use ADB backup before rooting.

* Yes, I'm aware that Towelroot is purported to be safe, but I'd rather not take chances, and I'd like to resolve or at least understand this problem in case related issues come up in the future.

I've had several issues with ADB on one of my tablets (rooted or not, in both cases) which were similar (just the other way around: while adb backup worked fine, adb restore always failed). Turned out it was a permission problem (manufacturer had messed up with the ROM), so adb restore was unable to read the backup file once it was transfered to the device. Was a bit tricky to find, and I'm not sure if something similar really is the case here; but it might be worth checking.

For those who would end up here with same 0bytes problem: I had this problem because I once setup desktop password under Settings and forgot it. Because the device is rooted, I followed this answer(mine) and everything went well.

You might also look at: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=47009 - If you have encrypted your phone, you might need to use your encryption password as the "current password" in all prompts: either in the "Full backup" screen, or in the "Desktop backup password" one.

Short Answer
Try using an earlier version of adb.  1.0.32 did not work for me, but 1.0.31 did.
Long Answer
I just encountered this issue on a Nexus 5 running CyanogenMod 11 (based on Android 4.4) using the current version of the Platform Tools and ADB (Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.32 Revision eac51f2bb6a8-android).
Using adb logcat to watch the device logs, I noticed that after invoking adb backup -apk -obb -shared -all -nosystem there were some suspicious log entries:
V/BackupManagerService(  811): Requesting full backup: apks=false obb=false shared=false all=false pkgs=[Ljava.lang.String;@4181ffc8
W/BackupManagerService(  811): Unknown package  '-apk' '-obb' '-shared' '-all' '-nosystem', skipping

Where it appears that the device is interpreting the command-line options as non-option arguments, and producing an error because they are not installed package names.  This made me suspect the adb protocol or the command/service invocation options had changed on the device relative to the host, so I tried an older version of adb and voilà, it worked.
I did a bit of digging and came across a change to Use escape_arg in "adb backup", which now causes all arguments to be single-quoted when invoking /system/bin/bu backup.  This explains the behavior and the single-quoted arguments in the log message.  However, it does not seem to match the time at which you encountered the error.  It would also suggest the issue to be much more widespread than it appears to be.  So I am hesitant to call this the cause, but it may a good starting point for further investigation.

Using an earlier version (1.0.31) solved my problem. This question http://stackoverflow.com/q/9555337/1741542 and especially this answer http://stackoverflow.com/a/23022718/1741542 helped me finding an earlier version, e.g. platform-tools_r20-linux.zip.

Seems it doesn't work with all models though. While I made a full backup of a Samsung S3 mini (Android 4.2) without any problem, I couldn't do so with a tablet, which is on Android 4.0. I tried all from adb-r10 up to adb-r23 (excluding adb-r15) with no success.

I had a similar issue with adb 1.0.32 and a Nexus 5 (Android 6). I resolved this via explicitly quoting the backup arguments, i.e. executing adb backup '-noapk -noshared -all -nosystem' instead of adb backup -noapk -noshared -all -nosystem (inside a bash shell). Without the quotes I get logcat messages like this: 'unknown backup flag -all:-nosystem:-noapk', 'no backup packages supplied and neither -shared nor -all given' and finally 'Finished.'.

I finally got a full backup with Android 4.0, too. Stupid me, it was just a reboot of the tablet, which got me going.

Yeah the model/os definitely matters somehow,  Galaxy S5 on Lollipop worked fine with 1.0.32, but Nexus 7 on Kit Kat required 1.0.31 to work.

Amazing! Worked perfectly with 1.0.32 to a Lollipop Android One device.

Actually, I take that back. The backup doesn't contain any of the shared data, only the app data, just as if I'd used -all without -shared (which had also worked). I saw these messages in the log file: BackupManagerService: Calling doFullBackup() on com.android.sharedstoragebackup / SharedStorageAgent: Backing up 1 shared volumes / FullBackup: Unrecognized domain shared/0

I will confirm that 1.0.31 solved my problem as well. I used the answer here to find the older version: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24619607/how-do-you-install-and-earlier-version-of-android-tools-and-platform-tools

Thanks! By the way, you can download adb 1.0.31 for all platforms here: https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/labs/r2d2b2g/

So if I understand correctly, I should be able to restore a backup from any version of adb, not just the early version I took the backup with?

Building on kevenoid's answer, it may depend on what version of adb is running on the phone.
You can find out what version the phone is running natively by doing the following:
First find out what version you are running on your desktop
adb version

Then open the shell on your phone
adb shell

Once the shell is open then you can run
adb version

Then exit the shell by running
exit

I found that my phone was running version 1.0.31 and not 1.0.32 (it is a samsung note 2)
I tried using quotes or escape characters like Hunter showed but none of those worked from the windows command line. However downgrading did fix the incompatibility issue between the two versions.
I was able to find the older version following the instructions here:  https://stackoverflow.com/a/23022718/1741542
The download link I used was:
http://dl-ssl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r20-windows.zip
Other platforms:

http://dl-ssl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r20-macosx.zip
http://dl-ssl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r20-linux.zip

Is there any way to upgrade the adb version on the phone?

@KroniK907, /system/bin/sh: adb: inaccessible or not found

The other answers about the command arguments being quoted is accurate. I've found that if you escape the spaces between the arguments, it works.
Like this: adb backup -apk\ -shared\ -all\ -system

This may not be the solution to OP's problem, but it is a better solution to @Kevinoid's problem than using an older ADB, which didn't work for me.

This is a duplicate of Kevinoid's answer without the rationale. However, it worked well for me, and I prefer using \ to '

This solution worked for me, no need to downgrade adb

I can confirm @HunterPerrin 's suspicion that this is a different problem because I tried this first and it didn't solve my problem but the second I went to 1.0.31 adb it started to copy correctly

None of the workarounds worked for me here, and I don't want to downgrade my SDK tools. Here's what I came up with: skip adb backup on the computer and go straight to device via adb shell.
$adb version
Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.35
Revision fc2a139a55f5-android

$ adb shell
shell@jflte:/ $ bu 1 backup -apk app.package.name > /sdcard/backup.ab
shell@jflte:/ $ exit

$adb pull /sdcard/backup.ab
[100%] /sdcard/backup.ab

This calls /system/bin/bu and dumps the backup file onto STDOUT (File descriptor #1). Parameters are the same adb backup <params> -> bu 1 backup <params>. The output is redirected to a file on the device and then can be pulled like any file.
The only drawback is that you can't do a full backup if your device is more than half full. This can be worked around if you have an external SdCard slot. bu can write there even on Android 4.4.2, because it is a system app. /mnt/extSdCard/backup.ab worked the same for me as /sdcard.

bu 1 backup -apk app.package.name > /sdcard/backup.ab creates an empty 47 bytes file in my case.

@user2284570 yeah, I had a similar experience (empty ab file) recently on Android 9. I think back in the day it was simply broken (0 bytes), but now they have further restricted access, and it'll be also removed, see  https://link.medium.com/4edL3pBnolb

sigh I'm really sorry if this is the case, and you seem to be careful judging by your screenshots and command lines, but I discovered to my chagrin the same symptoms and thought I'd post just in case future discoverers make it here. It turns out that adb is very picky about single vs. double dashes in its options. For me, double dashes reproduced this case exactly: same prompt on the phone, same 0 byte file. Single dashes even though there are long argument names worked like a charm.
In case it matters, my phone is a Samsung Galazy Note 2 AT&T SGH-i317 running Android 5.1/Cyanogenmod 12.1.

This solved my problem.

Please post your actual command lines.

You need to execute the adb backup command on adb version 1.0.31.
For windows i did:

find your SDK folder (c:/users/.../AppData/Local/Android/sdk)
rename tools & platform-tools to tools.bak & platform-tools.bak
download http://dl-ssl.google.com/android/repository/tools_r22.3-windows.zip
download http://dl-ssl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r19.0.1-windows.zip
extract both zip's to sdk folder
run adb backup command as normal

Log:
$ adb backup -apk -obb -shared -all -system -f bckp.ab
adb server is out of date.  killing...

daemon started successfully *

Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation.
...then set everything back to normal.

OK, this is how I fixed mine.
I tried Hunter Perrin's solution:
adb backup -apk\ -shared\ -all\ -system

But it just returned immediately with no error, no backup screen on the phone.
Through trial and error this worked for me:
adb backup -all\

I think I have a solution for those using 1.0.32:
enter a password when prompted on the android screen
Despite the fact that it says it will use the default password if you enter none, I believe it doesn't and adb 1.0.32 perhaps does not allow the creation of unencrypted backups.
Entering a password worked for me, then I ended up using
"Android Backup Extractor" (Warning Sourceforge) and "Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy" to extract it into a tar file.

I ran into the inverse problem: 1.0.31 with a newer phone (Android 7) fails too.
1.0.31 uses : as separator when passing arguments to the phone.
As adb logcat -s BackupManagerService shows, the newer adb on the phone can't handle the old style either:
02-19 01:59:44.330  1100  9830 W BackupManagerService: Unknown package com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftPOHM:-apk, skipping
Fortunately, the newer adb accepts spaces as separator too, so enclosing the arguments within double quotes works, e.g.:
adb.exe backup "com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftPOHM -apk" -f game-backup.ab

For me it was that the package name had been changed, so adb backup wasn't finding it and was creating an empty backup file, without reporting any error. adb logcat showed the error. Once I updated the package name, adb backup succeeded.
This was using ADB version 1.0.41, with a desktop backup password enabled.

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


text:
When rooting a device, how to check that the update.zip I download is legit?
I have an Android device (Samsung Galaxy Pocket S5300) which I want to root, because I have used Ubuntu on my PC and notebook for five or six years and I am familiar with doing different maintenance there using root, so I want to have a way to use root-privileges on my smartphone too. I don't have a lot of experience in developing smartphone applications and rooting smartphones, so I need a bit of help.
After a bit of reading, I read that I should download an update.zip file, which I should select in the recovery mode.
I read this thread on XDA Forums where they say I should download an update.zip from MediaFire. I downloaded it to my PC and had a look into it and could find the various binaries that I need to be installed (su, busybox, superuser.apk, etc.)
Now I have a question: do I really need to download an update.zip from MediaFire, where I don't know what it comes from? The reason I'm worried is that I don't know who has created it and have no real possibility to check if the binaries I will execute are not compromised and have no viruses, etc. I am a bit scared to execute binaries somewhere from the web (with root privileges) where I don't know if they are to be trusted and to be sure that they are no viruses, spyware, etc.

Whether the file is on MediaFire or XDA, you still run the risk of a user putting up a bad file (whether maliciously or incompetently). You have to trust someone unless you decide to make your own ROM from scratch.
You could always open the update.zip file and do a cursory look at its contents. And if the poster has a good history, that gives points in their favor. Many posters on XDA host their files on external download tools like MediaFire; it doesn't inherently make the file more suspicious.

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


text:
What adapter do I need: Philips Headset + Samsung S4 mini duos
I would like to use the microphone of my Philips headset (SHO9567GB/10, iPod compatible) with my Samsung S4 mini Duos (i9192). Right now, the headset is only recognised as headphone. What kind of adapter do I need?

The in-line-mic only works for compatible Apple products. Apple always has something different than the standard and most Android devices use the opposite. I would like to see an adapter, but it would probably use an Apple patent. I think you're out of luck, but I'll update this if I find anything in the future. Next headphone pair you buy, I recommend you looking up if it's fully Android compatible.
P.S. If you in-line-buttons (volume and track control) to work, their are apps that convert one Android compatible button to work like the other few buttons using double clicking them. I recommend Headset Button Controller I am warning you that they get annoying because you have to have the play-pause button working as well as be able to spam the play button a number of times to get it to do volume-up for example.


text:
How can I diagnose if my LG G2 screen is defective?
Until until yesterday, my LG G2 smartphone worked beautifully. All of a sudden, for no apparent reason (no drops or indication of damage), this occurred.

Click for full size image
Clear horizontal and vertical lines appear across the screen. Note how the very top is perfectly fine, and gets worse towards the bottom of the phone.
I am willing to buy a replacement screen an replace the entire part. I have some experience in fixing electronics, and there are lots of nice online tutorials. However, since there was no damage to it whatsoever (it sat on a desk overnight), I began to wonder whether it was the screen at all.
Is there any method or software to diagnose whether my screen or other parts of my phone are defective, other than buying a new screen and trying it out?

As far as I can tell, the problem is that the LCD is getting interference from the antenna.
To fix it, place some tape in between the white antenna cable and the circuit board. Basically, on the bottom, there are 2 parts that snap on, and then there is another square that is left "floating around". This has to be flat the same orientation as the LCD. Place the tape above it so it insulates it from the white cable that should be passing above it.

Welcome to [android.se]. Thank you for your contribution. I suggested an edit to clean up your post, including changing "circuit square" to "circuit board" (I believe that's what it's called). Feel free to improve it further.


text:
Root Samsung Galaxy S3 with broken USB port
I recently purchased a Sprint Galaxy s3 on ebay with a broken charge port, and have revived it with a wireless charging reciever and charger. I want to root it but there is no way to connect it to my computer. i have looked into the framaroot/one click root but am unsure how reliable it is and my firmware version is 4.4.2 so it is probably not an option anyway(as it doesn't support higher than 4.2)
Is there a way to do this? could i possibly connect my s3 wirelessly to my computer? I want to root my s3 but am stuck with no idea. Any suggestions?
Thanks

You can try and use towelroot, which should support all phones < jun 3 2014

authors: อิธิพร บูรณากูล


text:
Mounting a remote folder as local folder
I have spent hours researching this and unable to come up with a solution, if anyone knows of one please let me know. I am looking for a way to mount a remote folder on a server (using either WebDAV, FTP, etc) on my Android device as a local folder so that all apps can have access to it and save and read from it as if it were just any other folder on the phone or SD card. Note that I am not looking for a way to "sync" a folder on my phone with a folder on my server, everything in this folder should be stored on the server only and read as if it were local.

On a rooted phone you have several options -- via 3rd party app, directly through a unix mount command, see How to mount SMB/CIFS Network Shares on android device?
If your phone is not rooted, I do not know how to do that, maybe there can be some app on a play store that is able to mount a network share (NFS, SMB, FTP, ...) via normal privileges (it is definetly possible under unix).
If you want to share just music and/or video you can use DLNA (your phone does not have to be rooted for this to work) -- install a DLNA server on your PC/router and than something like XBMC for Android or BubbleUPnp on your android device.

I highly Do Not recommend doing this. It might cause the data on the remote server to be corrupted unless it is mounted as read-only. Android recognizing it as a remote file is much safer as it knows how to treat the file the right way when it is unexpectedly disconnected.

Try SSHFSAndroid. Seems to work fine.

I was looking for the same today.So maybe it is because some time has passed but Googling on "how to mount a webdav drive on Android" has a couple of pages with apps who do exactly that.
For example:

DAVx⁵ or
FolderSyncPro

I bought a license on FolderSyncPro and configured it to sync my data from my webdav drive to my Android folder. It works great. One thing to note here is that when you have a token for your webdav drive instead of a username or password then just ignore the username and fill in the token instead of the password.
You can also schedule it to sync on a schedule. Each sync will then show you either in green ok or in red when it encountered something and will then explain in the logs where the problem is.
It also allows for one-way only syncing so that you have your webdav as master and your android only as a read only instance for e.g. some data you only edit on laptops.
FYI the FAQ for FoldersyncPro: https://foldersync.io/docs/faq/webdav/
While investigating I also found https://www.resilio.com/individuals/, which takes a different direction and syncs directly from your system to your mobile devices. This may be an alternative route.


text:
Sim not being accepted by tablet
I've recently bought an HCl ME Y2 tablet. However, it's not recognising my sim. Even after inserting the sim, it says, "Mobile network unavailable." I've tried changing the settings. But, in vain.
Is the tab faulty? Do I need to get it replaced? Or am I unaware of any setting in the tab?

Mobile n/w unavailable means that the tablet is accessing SIM card but there are no available n/ws in your area. Please select network manually in Mobile Networks.

I have a Vodafone sim. On tapping Search available networks, they are not giving the Vodafone option.

So you're not in a coverage area. Get a new network with better coverage area.

To make the first comment more precise: No networks supported by the device. It might as well be a SIM lock causing this, i.e. the device is locked to a specific provider other than the one of your insterted SIM. Check: Is there any network listed in the manual selection? Is another device of yours (or of a friend) listing available networks when in the same location (if that also fails, it's probably the "coverage" from MANIs last comment)?


text:
Samsung Galaxy I9000 not detected by Odin in download mode
Samsung Galaxy GT-i9000 not detected by Odin in download mode.
I have Windows Vista and Kies is also installed on the P.C

You have to stop kies.
It has a thread in the background, so seach this in the taskmanager and stop the process.

Yep, Kies is usally the issue. However, it's worth adding that if you reboot into Download mode from the 4 way reboot menu there can be a lot of issues. It is better to switch the device off and boot into download mode with the Volume Down and Power combo.


text:
Parsing Package & ROM problem
I have a bit of a mixed problem in my Xperia arc s. I started by trying to install apps, and I got that message saying "There was a problem parsing the package". I checked "unknown sources" in settings and made sure that I matched the minimum sdk required or higher and still the same message.
After that I tried to install a different rom, but whenever I flash a kernel I get stuck in CWM and the rom's zip file is not found! Even when I open the sd card from windows explorer it seems that the zip file has disappeared.
I used flashtool to get back to the original rom, but again whenever I try to install an app I face that "Parsing Package" problem again!
So what's wrong here? How can I get my phone working again so I can install apps?

It sounds like you have a bad ROM install. You should try completely wiping the phone and re-installing the ROM from scratch. Make sure to clear the cache, the dalvik cache, and system. Then flash the original ROM back on.

It seems the problem was with the sd-card, any new files weren't recognized on it so when i switched it with a new one the problem was solved though i can't format it till now


text:
Possible to root Archos 79 Platinum
I want to root this device:
Archos 79 Platinum
Is it possible, and can someone link me to a guide please?
(I couldn't find a clear cut answer whether it is rootable or not)

Current generic suggestion: Try towelroot by geohot, should work with most devices. Please don't forget to report back whether you succeeded.

Towelroot only works on latest Android-dist. I tried it and it doesn't work. However, I managed using VROOT. See Answer to this question.

YES! It is possible to root the Archos 79 Platinum using the following methods:
VROOT-root exe file for use on Windows machines
And to replace the superuser-app with an English version:
English Superuser and busybox etc
Yoy may also first want to check out the following link to make sure USB works properly (also google on how to enable developer-mode and USB-debugging on Android devices in general):
Enable Archos USB devices
I just rooted my device, so I know for sure that it works.


text:
Can I install software update after flashing custom ROM?
I have a MOTOX XT1052 and have flashed a custom ROM. I got a Sytem Update and downloded it. To install, its going to TWRP interface and I am not able to install the update. So, I have rebooted the device to go to skip from the TWRP mode. But, the device keeps on reeboting automatically. Now, I have flashed the custom ROM once again and just postponding the system update installation.
Please help me to recover the phone from this issue.

If it is an official update from Motorola: No you can't, unless you go back to root. If it is an update for the ROM itself then yes you can.

Yes, it is an update from Motorola. Please help me to skip the update installation forever or to revert to the stock rom.

Well to revert to stock, check out XDA for your stock ROM. To get rid of it you need to find and delete Update.zip on your device (I'm not sure where) and then accept the update, it will boot into TWRP as normal, fail and then never be seen again!  See here: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/32205/where-can-i-find-the-ota-update-file

What if you unroot? Maybe then you could update your phone.


text:
Is it possible to sync your Exchange/Outlook calendar with an Android application?
I have decided to install CloudMagic to be able to receive Exchange e-mail on my Android phone without having to accept restricted company security settings. There are many e-mail clients that support Exchange without enforcing company security settings.
I was wondering if there are also Android applications that can just make the Exchange calendar available?

I just managed to get this to work on an Acer Z200:

Click the Settings wheel
Under ACCOUNTS, select Corporate
Add your Exchange account there and set its sync options

I now see my Exchange email and calendars in the standard Calendar app, and I get notifications for my Exchange calendar appointments.
Before doing that, I installed Microsoft's Outlook app and added my Exchange account as an account of type Outlook. This allows me to view my email and calendars in the Outlook app, but I didn't find a way to make it send notifications for calendar items. (If it is possible, please correct this answer.)

Please indicate what version of Android you are using on your device.

What it came with: Android 4.4.2.

Yes. There are many apps out there which can sync your exchange calendar with your android device. But most of the easier and more elegant software are paid-for apps. The only good enough free app I could find is this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.mp.calendar.sync

Good but it doesn't support OWA.

I'm using Team Calendar Sync to sync an Exchange server locally to my Android devices.
For Outlook.com, you can try TouchDown for Outlook.

If you use the built-in email app, you can get you calendar on your phone. When you are setting it up, just untick sync email, contacts and your calendar will appear invite default calendar app on your device. You can purchase calendar apps that will only sync your calendar, but the are about €9/$9/£9 so your best option is use the default app.

My working solution is :

Setup your Exchange account and enable all syncing (email, calendar, contacts)
Go into settings -> apps -> all apps
Clear cache and data from the following apps :
-Exchange-services
-Gmail
Restart calendar app and the exchange account is now visible in the list of accounts.

Install the App "nine" https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ninefolders.hd3&hl=de
There you can choose what to sync before the first sync and you can just enable the calendar sync.


text:
Can I use XPrivacy as an Antivirus?
I am using XPrivacy + Xposed Framework. is it safe to consider that malware can be controlled thank to Xprivacy?

I doubt it's safe to say that about any app, as there's no 100% protection success rate. Especially not if the user thinks it's safe, and switches off "common sense" because of that. That's one of the biggest weak points of such software: to rely on it too much.

I see. Though the sensitive and potentially fatal functions are still blocked aren't they? But there are surely a way to avoid xprivacy

Don't get me wrong, Vinz. Xprivacy is definitly a great help in that. But you never can rely on any tool (or collection of tools) to guarantee you 100% safety (especially not those "Anti-Virus" stuff). As the name suggests, Xprivacy primarily cares for privacy, not for malware protection.

Long version
Ok so let me first highlight what XPrivacy can and can't do.
Up to Android 6, permissions to access critical data and resources like contacts, calendar, camera, microphone etc are granted at the time an app is installed and are not revocable at all. Some solutions let you revoke those permission afterwards, but this often leads to crashes because apps do expect to have access to those resources. Therefore, at some point solutions like XPrivacy decided to not revoke permissions but to provide fake data. For example, if you "soft revoke" the contacts permission, an app will not get an error when trying to access them but will receive an empty contacts list.
So what can XPrivacy do? It can guard your privacy by altering what apps can read.
Now, let's talk about malware on Android. In contrast to desktop systems, classical malware like viruses or rootkits are not possible in Android as long as there is no severe flaw in the Android itself. The reason is, that each app is sandboxed and only given restricted access to resources (eg via permissions). By the way, this is also the reason why antivirus on stock Android does not work the way we are used to from desktop systems. As the antivirus is also sandboxed, it cannot monitor, change or restrict other apps that might be malware. So what malware are we talking about now? Most common are combinations of trojan horses and spyware. To be more precise, apps that pretend to provide benign functionality but also spying on you. Also, a lot of actually non-malicious but overly-curious apps exist that provide real functionality but also collect your data.
Now we can actually get to the answer of your question. If you use XPrivacy to revoke permissions of the spyware, there is not too much it can do. But the problem is, that spyware is often disguised as a benign or well-known application which might not work properly with fake data. So there are two possibilities now when treating a malicious app. Either you detect it to be malicious and remove it, or you do not detect it (because it might also have real functionality) and then you won't restrict its permissions so that it does not work anymore because you think it is a regular app. This social engineering component is a big problem.
Summary/Short version
XPrivacy does not find apps that actively use known vulnerabilities and does neither modify nor closely inspect potential malware. It just allows you to restrict app permissions. So in contrast to classical antivirus approaches known from desktop operating systems like windows, you have to decide what to restrict and where. In general, it is a good idea to restrict apps to the least set of permissions that needed to function properly (principle of least privilege). If you do this consequently for ALL apps, chances are high you also restrict malware. But as long as there are apps that for example need the internet permission for their benign activities but also to upload data that the spyware collected, this approach is simply not enough.

So no, you should not rely on XPrivacy to defeat all malware. It is just a tool for you, so its utility depends on your choices.


text:
Google play is asking for Google account
My phone (Samsung s3 mini) isn't accepting any Google account: every time I try to enter anything like Googleplay for example it would ask for the Google account. It sais either EXISTING or NEW, and I've tried both of them – none of them worked.
It then says checking account or something, then...couldn't sign in to account.
The same works fine on my other devices.
How can I get that fixed?

Do you have an active data connection (either cellular or WiFi) when you are trying to sign in?

Try clearing app data and also verify you have either wifi or data connection as Chahk mentioned. Try logging into the proposed Google account in a browser on a computer to verify you have an account & the correct credentials.


text:
Can not install Plants vs. Zombies 2 on AsusFonetab
I have a AsusFonetab with Android 4.3 installed and 4GB free space but when I try to install Plants vs. Zombies 2 via Google Play, it says that the app is incompatible with my device.
How can I install this app?

Try this one. Electronic Arts like to have one app for America and another for the rest of the world. If you click the 'Install' button it usually gives more information on why it is incompatible (e.g. "This item cannot be installed in your device's country").

I can't get PvZ 2 on a Google Edition S4, but fine on the Touchwiz version... So I'd say EA have a country restriction AND a White List of devices, cutting off any they forgot.

What does the message say when you click 'Install'? (see my screenshot)

May be to do with the intel chipset - there are quite a few games that are unable to be installed on mine for that reason.

Didn't know this before, but can not confirm :(


text:
How to update google apps in miui5
I have purchased a Redmi 1s mobile. It has miui v5. It seems that we can't update Google apps in miui.
So, how can we update Google apps in miui.
I've just seen that the updates are shown in apps like 9apps and mobogenie.
Is it safe to download the updates from these apps? Or
How can I make Google play to show these updates?

Do you mean the gapps package, or individual apps on the Play Store?

The google apps package

And are you asking about updating (i.e. the apps are already installed), or installing them in the first place? Because if they are already installed, they take care for their updates themselves (or rather Google Play does).

In miui google apps do not update themselves. I'm asking about updating apps.

Also updates for google apps are not shown in playstore in miui.

Have you tried using google installer ? http://en.miui.com/thread-17910-1-1.html

Google installer only shows the option to install but not update

But i was able to update the google apps from playstore..

But playstore doesn't show updates for Google apps in my mobile.

Try this..uninstall any of the Google apps and install the older version of that app and check update from playstore.

Try to extract the apk from other phones using apk extracter and install it thereafter in your phone.

try with that
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2397942
it replaces your play store and google apps with the last official versions
you have to flash it from  Recovery

This should help but he needs to be rooted for that. Im not whether his phone is rooted or not.

You need a custom recovery


text:
Is it possible to use mobile minutes on a tablet
Is it possible to make phone calls from a tablet and use minutes instead of data?
The ultimate goal is to have a tablet (e.g. nexus 7) and a Bluetooth headset and make phone calls without using up all my data.
I was looking into SIM cards to see if a different kind if card would produce the desired result, but I couldn't get a clear answer.

It depends on the tablet. Not all 3G tablets have the facility to make voice calls (just like a phone), but some do. Some have the hardware and OS support, and you just need to install a dialer app to use it; some don't even have the right hardware. The Nexus 7 in particular doesn't.
You should check with the seller or the manufacturer's website before you choose a device.

Where are you generally going to be using the tablet? Why can't you use your phone?
You can sign up for a free Google voice phone number, install Hangouts + Hangouts dialer (or use the default Google voice dialer) and make calls for free over wifi. You can also integrate SMS and all of this (excluding SMS I believe) can be done across any/all devices you own simultaneously (including PC - maybe no phone dialing on hangouts on PC however)
Minutes are becoming obsolete (SMS has been for a while) but if you don't have unlimited data yet, stick to wifi (becoming increasingly available in public locations). If you're at home, you won't be using any data anyways.

All the apps you've mentioned using data AFAIK. Dane might not have a WiFi near to use it, and obviously no "unlimited data" plan either, so this is unlikely to help. There might be areas/tariffs where "minutes" are much cheaper than their corresponding data traffic.

Yes that is correct. This is more of an alternative route that may require some habitual changes and resourcefulness. Essentially exchanging one limitation (minutes) for another (data). In my case, I could go through all my minutes and then revert to a system like this. There are quite a few economical unlimited data plans.

I would put this as a comment, but I don't have enough reputation.  I've heard the idea that if you were to side load the dialer onto a tablet you may be able to make a phone call.  Granted this was a Nexus 7 sideloading the Nexus 5 dialer.  I have not tried this, so I make no guarantees, but it might work.

It' won't I'm afraid, the N7 doesn't support any voice dailing.


text:
How to restore a Helium backup?
I am transfering to a new phone, and I backed up my stuff using helium to Dropbox. Later I copied that folder to carbon folder on my sdcard, but helium doesnt seem to detect it. Any idea how I can restore that? It looks like the format is different.. Regular backup seems to be carbon/com.appname/files but in my dropbox backup, its only files, no folders at all.

There are multiple ways you can achieve this:
On the device

Start Helium
pick any "dummy app" to create a backup from
Exit Helium
Check where it placed the backup files, and which files those are (a backup consists of multiple files)
Copy your backup files to that location
Check if for each app there are all the files you've checked above1
Start Helium again, it now should find the backups
Restore whatever you wanted to restore

If the "old phone" is still up and running
The app is called "Helium App Sync and Backup". So when you go to its Restore and Sync tab, you should be able to transfer and restore the backups across the devices. I've never tried that, so I cannot give any details on it.
Using your computer
Helium Backup uses the same file format as ADB (in fact, it uses ADB locally to create and restore backups). So with the backup files on your computer, and the device connected via USB with usb-debugging enabled, you could simply restore the backups from the command line. Just pick the .ab files for that, and run
adb restore com.foobar.ab

(of course, you've got to replace com.foobar.ab by the real file names). See Is there a minimal installation of ADB? if you didn't set up your computer for use with ADB yet. The downloads mentioned there can also be found here.

1: I rawly remember from a while ago that Helium might "ignore" a backup when one of those files were missing

Hey, Sry was about to delete this q actually. I ended up backing up again to sd card. Was a lot smaller this time.. and I was able to use bt sync to transfer it to my new phone, and it is restoring right now. My dropbox backup was not detected by ur first method, hence the q. 2nd I believe requires premium

I followed this idea to backup a dummy app first and confirmed it was copied to the Carbon folder. I copied two of the backup folders to the carbon folder on my new phone using Astro file manager. I can see the backup folders I copied in the folder. In helium Restore and Sync on my new phone I see the dummy app for restoration (even after a force restart) and one of the backed up apps but not the app I really want to restore data for. Also,  I restored the 2nd app, Yr.No weather app, and none of my previous locations are showing :-(Any advice appreciated.

@boardtc Apps can opt-out of backups (i.e. the dev can define that they shall be ignored). So please check whether the files for those apps exist in the folder, and the .ab file has not 0 or 41 bytes (0 standing for failed and 41 for opted-out). If those files are correct, I can only refer to the last part of my answer: "using your computer" to restore.

@izzy amazing!!!! "adb restore com.mobeam.beepngo.ab"  and lo and behold it's there!! Thank you :-)

@boardtc as outlined by the answer :) Glad this solved it for you, too!

my OP6 phone generates a *.json file as well. and my old xiaomi note 3 pro doesn't. That's why I couldn't backup my files. after coping the new backup (json) files to old backup worked like a charm. <3

Dropbox backup lacked the folders for each app somehow, and thus was not recognized when I tried to copy it to the new phone. I instead made a backup to SD card and transferred it to the new phone to restore. Seems to be working thus far.

Corresponds to my first suggestion (I had the SDCard in mind there, though not explicitely mentioned). Glad you've solved it – and thanks for sharing your solution (+1 to that)!

Yeah @Izzy my problem was that copying the original backup as per your instructions, it didnt work. My guess, is a backup to dropbox is a different format from a backup to SDcard

If the files were .zip files as made by Helium V1.1.4.6 you can:

Unzip them until you have a folder example app backup folder with a example app backup file.ab file in it.
Then you can put that folder on your phone in the folder \carbon.
Then Helium detects it, since it also stores its own backups in that location.
Restore the app backups from your dropbox.

The difference is that when you export backups it creates zipfiles, otherwise it creates a folder with .ab files in it, as Izzy's answer mentions.
This way you can:

Restore all the files at once
Without requiring to set up a connection with the pc.

Tested on Android 6.0.1


text:
Hangouts Google Play Services problem
Everytime I update hangouts I get this message whenever I open the app: "unkown issue with google play services". What is the cause of this problem? And how to solve it?

This problem can be caused by a old version of play services.
To update the version manually open this link on your android device and click update if there is an update.
Hope this solves your problem
===============================
EDIT:
Hope this way works for you. Keep in mind that setting names can be different from brand to brand.

Go to Setting > Security > Device Administrators
Un-check Android Device Manager
Go to apps and uninstall updates to Google Play Services
Go to Hangouts, it should show a message saying that you need to 'update Google Play Services'. Click update.
After updating, Hangouts should not show the error message
Go back to Settings > Administrators and check Android Device Manager

I've updated google play services using the market  update but the problem still exist

I updated the answer above, to hav a better overview

I'm sorry, but I did that exactly the last time. I think I have to do this every time I update Hangouts and Google Play Services.


text:
What email app can filter mail by size?
I'm looking for an Android email client (preferably free) for my Galaxy S4 that has the feature of filtering incoming email by size, that is: some kind of rule of the type: if email is more than [insert number] Kb, don't download from server, etc.
An alternative would be to filter incoming mail with attachments, as all I really want is to not download big emails.
I have tried some popular apps including the default Samsung app, CloudMagic, Mailbox and all seem to lack this apparently basic funcionality.
Thanks in advance!

I'm not sure if it has it, but K-9 Mail has a lot of settings, so it might be worth a try.

K-9 Mail app (available on PlayStore) will filter by attachments, plus several other choices. It is open sourced and free.

I just added the links to your post, otherwise unchanged.

K9 did the trick, it filters by size too, and it comes with that option enabled by default!! (Fetch messages up to 32Kb).

@RossC thanks, my connection was really bad, also had issues editing....fixed now

Try this email app, it works very good with hotmail and outlook account


text:
Unlock not working (ADB FLASH)
So I'm trying to flash adb my android (mostly following this guide), and I'm getting stuck at the unlock device step.  I can successfully unlock, but once I reboot my device it reverts to being locked.  Apparently I'm unable to continue to the next step without having my device rebooted after it's unlocked.
(I have tried using the volume keys to reboot bootloader, and terminal to reboot it.  Neither work.)
I'm using a mac, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and my initial problem was that my phone was (and still is) stuck in a reboot cycle.  I'm pretty sure this was caused by trying to copy too many files to my android via USB cable (not the sd card, I don't have one).

EDIT:  So this is exactly what I've been doing.

Open terminal
cd to platform-tools, where I have an up to date adb, fastboot, and a zip file as well as the uncompiled version of image-yakju-jdq39 (Factory Image "yakju" for Galaxy Nexus "maguro" (GSM/HSPA+)).
Volume up+Volume down+ power on (I get a screen with Fastboot mode in red at the bottom, and a picture of an android being operated on.  I don't think it matters if I change the "start" thing with the volume buttons, but I'll keep it there.).
Plug the USB cable in.
./fastboot devices, I get my phones serial number on terminal
./fastboot oem unlock.
Terminal gives me this:
...
OKAY [ 10.016s]
finished. total time: 10.016s
While on my phone I get the unlock confirmation screen, which I follow through with, and now my phone says it's unlocked (and in blue at the bottom:  Fastboot status - OKAY).
./fastboot reboot starts my phone, but it's clearly still stuck in a bootloop.  So I forcefully turn it off, and go back to the fastboot mode, where it's back at the locked status.  Is that supposed to happen?

I went ahead with trying to flash my phone anyhow, and it's still stuck in bootloop after this:
usernames-MacBook-Air:~ username$ cd Desktop/adt/sdk/platform-tools
usernames-MacBook-Air:platform-tools username$ ./fastboot devices
014E38590B016008    fastboot
usernames-MacBook-Air:platform-tools username$ ./fastboot oem unlock
...
OKAY [  9.316s]
finished. total time: 9.316s
usernames-MacBook-Air:platform-tools username$ ./fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-maguro-primelc03.img
sending 'bootloader' (2308 KB)...
OKAY [  0.296s]
writing 'bootloader'...
OKAY [  7.966s]
finished. total time: 8.262s
usernames-MacBook-Air:platform-tools username$ ./fastboot flash radio radio-maguro-i9250xxlj1.img
sending 'radio' (12288 KB)...
OKAY [  1.547s]
writing 'radio'...
OKAY [  4.364s]
finished. total time: 5.910s
usernames-MacBook-Air:platform-tools username$ ./fastboot flash boot boot.img
sending 'boot' (4400 KB)...
OKAY [  0.558s]
writing 'boot'...
OKAY [  2.547s]
finished. total time: 3.106s
usernames-MacBook-Air:platform-tools username$ ./fastboot flash system system.img
erasing 'system'...
OKAY [  0.006s]
sending 'system' (425579 KB)...
OKAY [ 53.344s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [1502.494s]
finished. total time: 1555.844s
usernames-MacBook-Air:platform-tools username$ ./fastboot flash userdata userdata.img
erasing 'userdata'...
OKAY [  0.031s]
sending 'userdata' (137559 KB)...
OKAY [ 17.258s]
writing 'userdata'...
OKAY [244.587s]
finished. total time: 261.877s
usernames-MacBook-Air:platform-tools username$ ./fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
sending 'recovery' (4900 KB)...
OKAY [  0.620s]
writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [  4.519s]
finished. total time: 5.140s
usernames-MacBook-Air:platform-tools username$

You haven't successfully unlocked it at all. It's hard to tell what you're trying to achieve from your jumble of wrong commands, but all the times you tried to run fastboot oem unlock it reported a USB error.

So how should I fix that USB error?  I switched USB ports (the other one doesn't even recognize the phone).

It seems you are getting an error on the fastboot oem unlock step. If you don't get the bootloader unlocked, then you might as well forget the remaining steps.
To make sure the device is actually in the right mode, I recommend putting it in the bootloader manually.  The easiest way to do that is to first turn the phone off. Now hold the volume-up and volume-down buttons, and then press the power button.You'll now see the Android roboto with his front panel open. Check to see that the text below it starts with "FASTBOOT MODE" in red. At the bottom of the screen you may also see the lock/unlock status.  Now plug the device into your computer and try the unlock command. If you have a bootloader that shows the lock/unlock status on the device screen, it should change right away. Once you're unlocked, you can proceed with the flash commands.  If you get past the unlocking and still have problems, come back with a new question.

That's what I had my phone in - it looks like this  http://droidviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/fastboot-mode1.jpg
It says: Fastboot mode,
Product name - tuna,
Variant - maguro 16GB,
HW Version - 9,
Bootloader version - Primela03,
Baseband version - I925...,
Carrier info - none,
Serial number - 014E...,
Signing - production,
Lock state - locked

OK, so you are definitely in fastboot, and you are definitely still locked.  We should now look more closely at the error message you're getting when you do fastboot oem unlock.  Can you post the complete messages you see when you do that (looks like you omitted something above because I see ...).

It was just baseband version - I9250UGLL1, and serial number 014E38590B016008.  I also updated my original question with an edit explaining what steps I did.

Oh nevermind, I switched USB cables and that seemed to do the trick.

However now I'm getting a failwrite error when I run  ./fastboot flash recovery radio-maguro-i9250xxlj1.img

The second argument to fastboot is the partition that you want to flash the image named in the third argument into.  I don't think you want to flash a radio image into the recovery partition.  If you are wanting to flash the radio, then do fastboot flash radio radio-...  Also, you are on a Mac, don't you want to do fastboot-mac?  I use Linux exclusively, so I don't know much about that part. However, I do know that you need to flash each image into the right partition or you will run into big trouble.

My file is just named fastboot, not fastboot-mac (which comes up with errors).  I didn't modify the file names since downloading them from http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#download.  I don't really understand what you mean by flashing images into the right partitions... care to explain?

Also, is it possible that my troubles have something to do with low disk space on my android?  I'm pretty certain the bootloop was caused by copying too many large files via USB to my phone (my phone doesn't have a micro sd card, so not that).

The device's internal memory is divided into partitions. Typically, these are boot, cache, radio, system, ramdisk, recovery and userdata. Part of the build process generates individual .img files for each of these partitions. You can flash these individually with fastboot flash  . Sometimes there are scripts like flash-all that take a zip of img files and put them each in the right partition automatically.

Whatever you do though, don't flash an image into the wrong partition. Bad things like bricking can occur. There may be failsafe checks, and maybe the bootloader has the ability to reset everything, but I wouldn't chance it.

Ahh, that makes sense.  Any ideas about what is going wrong this time?  It looks like the files are going through okay, but the phone is still broken.

When there is a bootloop, it usually means the kernel is panicking, in other words there is something wrong with what you flashed into the boot partition. Double check that you have the correct images for your device. Also, as a sanity check, you might want to try flashing the factory images from developer.android.com. if they don't work, then you probably have a hardware failure. Again, make sure to get the exact correct images for your device and variant.

If you still get a bootloop, try doing adb logcat from the host while the bootloop is happening. Depending on how far it's getting, you may see some error messages that will help identify the problem.

authors: سجاد الدفاعي


text:
Can I charge my AT7-C8 Toshiba tablet with an inexpensive USB charger instead of a Toshiba brand charger?
I don't want to spend 30.00 on a USB wall charger if I don't have to. Can a cheap USB charger work to charge my AT7-C8 Toshiba tablet?

Possibly you can use a cheap charger, but it depends on the tablet as well as the charger.
Many cheap or OEM phone chargers give a low Amperage charge, from 400mA (milli amperes) to 1000mA. However, since tablets have a much larger battery, charging from a low amperage charger will cause the tablet to charge very slowly.
Most tablet USB chargers are designed to give a higher Amperage, in the range of 1000mA to 2000mA. They are generally bulkier due to the electronics needed to properly give more power. And it is also why they are more expensive.
Some tablets aren't even able to get a charge from low Amp chargers. For example, Apple's iPad will detect that you have plugged it into a charger, but it will say not charging if the charger doesn't have a high enough Amperage.
Basically, your tablet may reject cheap chargers, or it will charge very slowly. Check the mA spec of the cheap charger you are looking at; if it is below 1000mA (1A), it will likely either charge very slowly or it won't charge at all.

It's highly NOT recommended. Despite of voltage and amperage, this cheap chargers doesn't have the same components. Some of this components regulate the tension, electrical oscillations and etc. Some of them are very expensive, so, the manufacturers decide to leave it out to achieve a cheap price. Your tablet may show some troubles with this type of charger. You can use another (good) brand, but avoid use this cheaper charger.

Sure can! Even old BlackBerry chargers work fine.

Of Course yes(but not recommeded), it will work but if you are using a cheap/duplicate/non-standard usb wall plug then surely it will damage the phone.Damage in the sense like even if u removed the charger it will show charging, touch wont work while charging, annoying notification "High Voltage" while charging please unplug - these things can damage your phone board if you are not cautious.


text:
Once an app asks for root, why does it ask for other permissions?
I see apps that require both root as well as regular permissions.
What's the point, as root implies that it can do everything?

Permissions in Android mainly affect functionality within the Android framework and other apps. Being root can't directly get you access to that Android and app functionality, because it grants you lower-level system access.
To take an example, consider an app that wants to access your contacts. When it tries to query the contacts provider (the database of contacts), the Contacts Storage app requires that it have the appropriate permission. In Unix system terms, each app has its own user ID, and permissions are represented by Unix groups, so it's really checking whether the app's user is a member of the appropriate group. If the app doesn't have that permission, the check will fail, even though the app could start a root shell whenever it likes.
Now, since the app has root, it's possible for it to add itself to any groups it wants to, before trying to access the contacts, but that's unnecessarily long-winded. It's simply much easier for the app to just request the permission and be added to the group by Android itself.
In addition, it's good for security if the app uses root as little as possible. Ideally, there should be a small component of the app that gets started as root when needed, so that most of the app runs normally (not as root). It might even be as simple as a single command that's started as root. This way, if something goes wrong with the rest of the app - maybe an attacker finds a way to subvert it, or maybe there's just a bug that might delete all your files - it doesn't have the root magic powers to infect or damage the whole system, as it's still protected by the normal security mechanism.
In short: it's possible for the app to grant itself any permissions using root, but it's easier for the programmer, and better for security, if the program only uses root when necessary.

So if the app is nice, it won't steal my contacts whether or not it has permissions, and if it's not, then it can whether or not it requests that permission.

@samsung Indeed. If the app's not nice and you grant it root, then stealing contacts is the least of your worries.

The reason why is that root is system level, usually the part users don't have control over. The other permissions are required for access to user level, which users do have control over.
Whenever you allow an app root/superuser access make sure you understand what it will do and make a backup.

Accessing system level won't let me access user level?

@samsung its not that it won't access user level, but its much less complicated to have separate permissions aside from root/superuser permissions, like Dan stated in his answer.


text:
Unknown host error in browser on mobile network
I have a rooted HTC One X running a custom ROM. I use a firewall and Xprivacy for managing permissions. When on my Vodafone India 3G network, I can't open any site other than Google using the default browser because it reports a DNS error saying unknown host. All other apps work fine regardless of 3G or Wi-Fi. I've white listed the browser in Xprivacy and the firewall so it's not due to permissions being denied.
It works fine on Wi-Fi. Anything else I should check?

Which browser are you using?

The built in android browser, nothing special.

Try deleting a file named 'hosts' from /system/etc. And reboot :)

Copy it somewhere as a backup first is always good advice! Just in case something goes horribly wrong!

Backup is not required in this case. On boot the hosts file is re-written with localhost info on it. Create a backup if it pleases you.

Yeah I know how it works, but you know yourself: In theory it does all that, in reality this is a custom ROM and if something can go wrong, it probably will!

Good point there.

Renaming/moving the file instead of deleting it will also help if you accidentally do it to the wrong file. It's not unheard of.

How is that supposed to work? I use ad away and my hosts file has just ad servers in it. Like I said, I only see the problem on mobile network, over WiFi everything works fine.


text:
No more free storage space
My Galaxy S2 plus (4.2.2 JB) keeps saying I only have 416 Mb of free space on my internal space despite moving all apps to external storage and deleting junk files. Any solutions for this persistent problem?

I think it is an application that is notifying about less memory. R u using cleaning apps?

Happy for you. Please add your answer so that others with same problem get benefited.

You can root your mobile and can use some partition tool or go through this link http://www.android.gs/increase-galaxy-ace-internal-memory/.

Rooting isn't a solution.

Thanks guys I'll check them out; but I already found my own solution. Cheers!

@MANI By itself, rooting isn't a solution, but it is only one of the steps that vikki listed in the overall solution here. And the OP didn't specify they only wanted non-root solutions.

Solution: use foldermount to move all apps with big data storage to your ext sd card. Simple and easy. All you need is a rooted phone and internet acces to download the app from the playstore. The rest is easy...


text:
How to get a list of latest apps released on Play Store sorted by date?
Is there any way to get a list of recently released apps on Google Play Store sorted according to date added?

ShivamSoni
As google play store have daily adds New  Updates of Apps of thousand/lakhs/millions  of new versions all of them are new for Play store .
But still I searched and founded links for  new releases sections for you in play store website options.  I am sharing below links of website of new releases  and option to search apps latest releases apps category wise. But i dont think its possible to sort all apps list date wise launch option in app or website.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/new?hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/cluster?clp=Si8KKQojcHJvbW90aW9uXzMwMDA3OTJfbmV3X3JlbGVhc2VzX2FwcHMQBxgDOgIIAQ%3D%3D:S:ANO1ljKj5O4&gsr=CjFKLwopCiNwcm9tb3Rpb25fMzAwMDc5Ml9uZXdfcmVsZWFzZXNfYXBwcxAHGAM6AggB:S:ANO1ljILDUU&hl=en
In Google Play store App version 19.3.36 there are tabs named "for you, Top Charts,  Categories....." tabs of at very last there is a tab in last  "Early Access" which  shows latest to be launched beta developing Apps and  games.

There are  many 3rd party apps that you can utilizes to sort and easy your work  about one of popular one i searched   is called AppBrain App Market, and can be downloaded for free via Google Play (see the link at the below). The best way to find new apps in Google Play.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appspot.swisscodemonkeys.apps&referrer=utm_source%3Dappbrain%26utm_medium%3Dappbrain_web%26utm_campaign%3Dappbrain_web
According to appbrain website link says product details says
https://www.appbrain.com/app/appbrain-app-market/com.appspot.swisscodemonkeys.apps

Description
The best way to find new apps in Google Play (Android market).
Make the Android market usable, and find your next favorite app, live wallpaper or widget:
  - App recommendations
  - New and hot apps of the day
  - Find top Android apps with a price drop
  - Share your best apps (eg twitter/facebook)
  - Tracks market update: notifies of updates available
  - Fast uninstaller
  - Browse "my apps" on www.appbrain.com and install apps with a sync instead of barcode scanner
  - Keep your list of installed apps as a backup on AppBrain.com
AppBrain is the best way to discover top Android apps in the Android market and to manage your apps. The recommended apps helper provides recommendations based on what you already use. We also have recommended games. It does not work with the Amazon app store.
The manage apps is like a killer file explorer / task manager for your already installed apps:
  - Start app, Quick uninstaller, share to Facebook
  - Fast sync widget to access AppBrain from the desktop and backup your apps to the cloud
  - app2sd functionality to move apps to sd (app 2 sd)
  - Find market update: notifies you of any updates available
Discover cool apps and top games in the Android market:
  - sort by hot apps today, hot apps this week, highest rated apps, price drops etc
  - Filter apps by free apps, paid apps, price reduced apps, app2sd enabled apps, new apps
  - Fast search over the entire Android market
  - Unlike applanet or black market, these are only legal apps.
AppBrain is the best app market and app discovery tool for Android apps from the Android Market. It allows you to easily find the best apps in the Market, the free apps and downloads, the price drops, live wallpaper, widgets and much more.

Hope this app will help you  any further  option i will get  i will update in the answer.

Hope my answer suggestions helped you if any thing helped you out from your search or my or others help do tell me what helped you in comments for my knowledge. if any doubts or further clarification feel free to ask and if worked do not forget  to accept and vote for the answer


text:
Insufficent space for downloading APP from Play store
I am using a Micromax Canvas HD, which has an internal memory of 2Gb and the free memory is 1.3 Gb
I also have an 8Gb memory card on which the free memory is about 3.2 Gb and I'm am still getting the error: no sufficient Storage for downloading.

Does your phone support moving applications to SD card? and what is the size of the application you're downloading?

as mani says, what is the size of the application you are downloading?

"Downloading" always goes to internal storage, never to any SDCard – regardless of where the app might end up. And that's what the "insufficient storage" error points to always, see its tag-wiki.


text:
Cyanogenmod unlocked phone requires network unlock code
I have a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc that I installed Cyanogenmod (v. 9.1.0-anzu).
The phone is not locked to a specific network as a) the danish operator where I bought the phone does not do this and b) I recently changed operator without any hassle.
I now have two possible related problems.

A couple of times per day, the sim card needs unlocking. As in when I unlock the phone, it requests the PIN code. Not a major issue, but a nuisance.
After entering the PIN code, the phone requests the network unlock code, to which I press the "Cancel"-button.

I've been searching the googles, but most hits reply that I should restore ROM to stock, get the network unlock code and unlock the phone. But this seems a bit ridicules, as the phone isn't locked.
And now I'm here. Thanks!

I would try another ROM to be honest, I've never installed CM without having issues of some kind, on about 12 devices at this stage.

Well shucks. Any suggestions for other widely used ROMs that might or might not support my phone?


text:
How to restrict tablet screen orientation?
I want to restrict my tablet to launch at specific screen orientation like landscape. I'm taking here about the whole tablet not a specific app, and for sure I'm not taking about locking off the Auto Rotate in the tablet after it launches, I'm taking about restricting the tablet to launch initially at landscape|protrait.

Do you just mean that you want auto rotate turned off when it boots? What are you trying to achieve?

@DanHulme no, I want to let it open but just want to make the default orientation for the tablet is an orientation i define, So the lockscreen, homepage, ...etc will be at that orientation

I don't understand. What's the difference between having a "default orientation" and turning off auto rotate?

@DanHulme when turning on the tablet, It will turn on in specific orientation, in my tablet it's portrait, I want to make it as landscape.

Surely you could just hold it sideways and it will rotate?

@RossC you are joking :D right ? :D

Nope, there's a few problems here:  Every app can override the setting you have (some games ONLY run in portrait for example), and I honestly don't understand why you don't get a launcher and/or Lockscreen that supports rotation and hold the tablet sideways, then everything will be in landscape.... No need to lock, or set anything at all. Some launchers let you set the rotation in degrees also, like Nova Launcher IIRC.

@RossC I see your point, but this tab will run only one app, and I added the solution I reached as an answer now, and you will notice that I disabled the rotation after managing the rotation i needed, and in my case the status bar won't be there, so won't anyone change the orientation ;)

Ok, cool, glad you got it sorted out. The issue was not clear (only one app) etc. Maybe just get that app locked in landscape would be a solution also (rather than writing a new app) but the answer may well suit your needs better anyway.

found the answer, an app that will run just one time.
create an app and add a permission to it's manifest to write_settings & listen-to-boot :
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED" />

then make a receiver class which extends BroadcastReceivertype, with the fowlloing permissions:
    <receiver android:enabled="true" android:exported="true"
        android:name="com.example.BootCompletedReceiver"
        android:permission="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED">
        <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED" />
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.QUICKBOOT_POWERON" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>

then in the onReceive() method of the receiver class:
ContentResolver contentResolver = context.getContentResolver();
        //To handle device rotation
        Settings.System.putInt(contentResolver, Settings.System.ACCELEROMETER_ROTATION, 0);
        Settings.System.putInt(contentResolver, Settings.System.USER_ROTATION, Surface.ROTATION_90); // 0 for default, then 90, 180, 270

Then run this app just one time to write that permissions to the system, and then you don't need it again.


text:
Get to data without touch access
The screen of my Nexus 4 has a crack and touch is not working anymore. I'd like to get to some of my data using adb, but can't authorize it because I can't click/touch the authorization dialog.
Is there a way to authorize adb without touch access?
Is there another way to get to the data? It's a rooted phone and can boot into ClockworkMod Recovery

You have luck that you have a rooted phone with CWM!
You can enable USB-OTG by applying this patch to your phone:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-4/orig-development/usb-otg-externally-powered-usb-otg-t2181820
Then you can plug a mouse and/or a keyboard and control your phone with it.


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Xperia M2 Ring Volume Drops
On my Sony Xperia M2, running Android 4.4.2,, two or three times a day, the sound volume of the ringtone and notification alert drops to a barely audible level.  When this happens, calls can be missed as the ringing may not be heard.
The volume setting does not change, just the volume itself.  If the phone is powered off and back on, then the volume is restored to normal.  No earphones / headset is connected to the phone at any time, either by pluggin in or by bluetooth.
It is possible that the volume drop occurs because the ringtone is being diverted to the internal, i.e. in-call, speaker.
I am trying to work through all the installed apps to see if I can isolate one which is hijacking the sound but without success.  Is there a known issue here?  A known faulty app?

I believe I have tracked this to an app.
Three In Touch (version 3.4.5) is a pre-installed VOIP app from the service provider (Three) that uses Wi-Fi to route calls if there is limited signal.  After disabling this app the volume drop went away and re-enabling it has brought it back.
This is unfortunate as the app is otherwise very useful.


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How to limit DropBox Camera Upload to only Camera images?
I've used Dropbox and its Camera Upload feature for a while now, both on my old phone (SE R800 I believe), and my newer Samsung S4 Mini.
It used to be that only pictures taken with the camera were uploaded by Camera Upload. I'm not sure if it was on the old phone or on an older version of Dropbox.
Nowadays, it seems like every single image file on the S4 is being uploaded. I haven't verified that it actually uploads everything, but I'm 100% sure that it uploads a lot of pictures that are not from the camera, e.g. screenshots and downloaded files.
I prefer the Camera Upload feature to do what it says, and not mix everything it finds on my phone in one folder. Is there any way to make it do what it says on the tin?

Use FolderSync Lite and sync your default camera image folder on your Android. The folder path is: /storage/emulated/0/DCIM

I remember getting some perks (extra space, I think?) for using Camera Upload, at least in the beginning. Would that be affected somehow? Also, does FolderSync do "instant uploading" the way Camera Upload does?


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LG G3 Host File
I recently rooted my android LG g3 phone and started experiencing problems with the Google Play Store and was getting errors like 495 and such and have been unable to download any new apps or games.   I then went a researched on how to fix this, and found several YouTube videos that suggested deleting all lines in the host file except for "127.0.0.1 local host." I did that but am still unable to download apps. I then researched and removed my Google account and then tried to resign in or whatever, but got errors there like "unable to reach Google server." I finally had to do a factory reset to get my Google account back on, but am still having the same errors in the play store.   What should I do?  My host file now reads:
127.0.0.1 localhost
#127.22.3.134 android.clients.google.com
talk.google.com

(That last line starting with the hash tag was an idea from an article I read but didn't seem to help.)
Thanks guys!!
Davy

The line with the "#" is a comment and isn't doing anything.
The line after that is not formatted correctly.
The format of the hosts file is
    IPADDRESS    HOSTNAME

The point of the hosts file is so the device does not have to ask a DNS Server what the IP Address of a host is.
You may be getting that error because it finds the host name in your hosts file, but there is not an IP address to go along with it.