text:
Import SMS/MMS messages and Call log backup to Fresh LineageOS
I switch from Google Android to LineageOS and prepare all my data to be ready for the switch. Everything is on Nextcloud so, Contact, Photos, etc are already out of my device. I want to backup SMS/MMS messages and Call log. I can backup them with Samsung Switch, but is there a way to import them in LineageOS after?
Update 1
I'll not install LineageOS with Google Apps support, so any apps from Google Play will not be able to run after the LineageOS install. I can install app from F-Droid or run command line in Linux shell if needed.
Thank you!

Very reliable app

Thank you for your advice, but I don't want to use Google Play services. Question is updated.

I found "SMS Backup+" on F-Droid. I know Google introduce sensitivity scopes, and as a result some API don't work anymore like MMS backup. I'll give it a try...

But it stores backup on IMAP instead of local storage. Bad luck.

See the app description, it can backup to cloud (few types of cloud) or to xml format

which app can access device without google play services? you probably have some misconceive of android

@alecxs Probably. I talk about the install part of LineageOS ("Optionally, download additional application packages such as Google Apps [...]")[https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/hlte/install#installing-lineageos-from-recovery] that I'll not install. So, without Google Play, no "SMS Backup & Restore", am I wrong ?

Optionally is a funny wording. android apps rely on google APIs, you need at least a replacement for GmsCore (like microG, Open GApps or MindTheGapps). btw you can download apps from Uptodown, APK Pure, APKMirror or similar without using google play store

Thanks for additional informations.

of course it's always possible with direct access from cmd line but SQLite is a hassle for Write-Ahead Log enabled databases. to keep it simple i personally prefer Migrate or MyPhoneExplorer but the above apps are good choice too

I know my Android SMS/MMS database are stored in SQLite. A simple import/export from CLI should work. But I don't know how LineageOS manage SMS/MMS and Call logs database. That's why I ask for.

Thanks to @beeshyams for his comment.
TL;DR
Just install SMS Backup & Restore or download it from apkmirror. Copy apk to SD card. Do a backup of SMS/MMS messages (don't forget to enable MMS images/file/etc in advanced settings) and Call log to SD card.  After the switch to LineageOS, install APK from SD card and import SMS/MMS messages and Call log. Done.
Story (and issues)
I finally switch from Android 5 on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (don't laugh, it still rocks!) to LineageOS 16.0 following Install LineageOS on hlte.
After a backup of my data (see TL;DR), I boot in recovery mode and at the Installing a custom recovery using heimdall step, the command
heimdall flash --RECOVERY <recovery_filename>.img --no-reboot

did not work properly.
My shell fail with :
ERROR: Failed to confirm end of file transfer sequence!
ERROR: RECOVERY upload failed!

and my device show a "SECURE CHECK FAIL : recovery".
From this post,

"it was the Samsung Reactivation Lock that was blocking me. Upon booting the phone, going into Apps > Setttings > Security and then typing in my samsung account password I was able to disable the lock [...]"

And recovery file upload success!
After the LineageOS install, I use SMS Backup & Restore again to import data.


text:
Can the Termux environment be put on an external SD card?
I would like to install my termux environment (usr folder) to an SD card. is this possible?
I have seen this post Can I install packages to external SD card on Termux in Android?. From what I understand the problems mentioned there is only if you want to install individual packaged to the SD card. I'm looking to install the whole usr folder.

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/219995

If your device is rooted, you can do it, but it is a little tricky. (You may need to use another terminal app or work in failsafe of termux).

Create an ext4 partition on the SD card. (This can be a 2nd partition).
Make a new folder where you want to mount the new partition on. (For example in your home folder add a folder called ext4-fs)
In termux mount the partition (I'm assuming a 2nd partition). You need to know the path to the device. I have found it to be /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 but this may be different on your device. mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /data/data/com.termux/files/home/ext4-fs.
Copy the usr folder from termux /data/data/com.termux/files/usr to the new mounted partition.

From here on you will need to use commands that are in /system/bin/. (And may need to use failsafe mode or an other terminal app).

Rename the usr folder to something like usr-old. /system/bin/mv /data/data/com.termux/files/usr /data/data/com.termux/files/usr-old.
Make symlink to the usr folder that's now on the new partition. ln -s /data/data/com.termux/files/home/ext4-fs/usr /data/data/com.termux/files/usr. This will now be your termux usr folder which is linked to the folder on the sd card. (You can force a symlink even if usr already exists with ln -sfn)

Now you can delete the old usr folder (That we renamed usr-old).
Now termux uses the symlinked folder that is on your SD card for all that needs the usr folder which is the whole termux environment.
Every time you take out the SD card and reinsert it you will need to remount the partition.

Trying this on a rooted device but on step 6 getting ln: cannot create hard link from '/data/data/com.termux/files/home/ext4-fs/usr' to '/data/data/com.termux/files/usr': cross-device link

@MiguelMota You need to make a symlink with option -s. (See the edited step #6)

Thank you for your help, but when I tried:
mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /data/data/com.termux/files/home/ext4-fs
in my termux shell, I received a "permission denied" message.
I can do a mount with tsudo, but then I cannot access the ext4-fs file without being root.
I am using Android 6.0 and a v0.79 Termux.
If you have any suggestions or solutions I will be grateful.

@PB As root, do chown -R <your-termux-uid>:<termux-gid> <mount-point>. The mount point in your case is /data/data/com.termux/files/home/ext4-fs

@Sruly But in my case mount point doesn’t persists after reboot ?

The problem was SELinux. I resolved by installing "The SELinux Switch" and then putting in the "permissive" mode.
Now I can mount with root and access in Termux WITHOUT root!

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to hide "Do not disturb" notification card
Is there a way to hide this notification card?

I have Huawei P30 with an up-to-date Android 10 (EMUI 10.1.0 - Build version 10.1.0.133) and I believe this card started showing up after a recent update (which happened in the past 2-4 weeks).
I keep my phone on DND most of the time, but I'm pretty sure this card wasn't there before when DND would be on. It's just noise (since I have the DND button in the drawer anyway and it's blue which signifies that DND is on), it's occupying space, and I don't want it to be displayed (but I want my DND to stay on during certain hours). Is there a way to make this specific notification not show up - ever?
Pressing the "Disable" button actually disables DND.
Thanks.

See if this helps:https://android.stackexchange.com/a/163569/96277

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


text:
Force Galaxy S8+ to authorize my hp
Sorry for the long, difficult problem. Anyways...
Hello, I recently dropped my phone in the pool. I wasn't too concerned because I was about to get a new phone anyway, but it turns out at some point about 2 years ago I had accidentally turned off auto-sync on everything and I lost a bunch of contacts, photos, memos, texts, etc. The display and touchscreen are both not working, but I know its on because it still vibrates for social media notifications at the same time my new phone does. I took it in to UBreakIFix and they said they tried to replace the screen and battery but that it didn't help. Something they did must've revoked USB debugging for my laptop which is my problem. Beforehand I could plug my phone in no problem and do whatever I wanted. Now I have to click "Allow USB debugging" which I obviously cannot do because I can't see the display and the touchscreen is broken. Does anyone know a way to force my phone (Galaxy S8+) to authorize my laptop? I'm trying to use Vysor to control my phone with my laptop and then I'll just SmartSwitch everything I need to my new phone. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated and any other ideas to get my data off my phone would be appreciated, too.
Thanks.

if the dialog doesn't disappear, you can connect keyboard with usb-otg adapter, unlock screen and confirm Allow USB debugging

I can't connect to my laptop and usb-otg at the same time and the dialog does disappear I tried with my new phone.


text:
Is it possible to reduce the charging current?
I'd like to reduce the charging current of my phone, because

It gets too hot
I am charging it overnight so it's more beneficial to charge it slowly.

Is it even possible from a hardware perspective to regulate the charging power (e.g. reduce it from say 2000mA to 1000mA)?
I tried to search on google but not only that I didn't find any apps that would be able to accomplish it - I didn't even find anyone discussing it anywhere.

Solved using the magisk module advanced charging controller (AAC), which let's you set the maximal current to whatever you want using the shell command aac --set --current {milliamperes}.


text:
As a non-developer, how do I download logs so I can help diagnose why an app is crashing?
I am not an Android developer, but one of the apps I use is now saying "Unfortunately ... has stopped."
I would like to look at the system logs to help figure out why, but all I can find is references to logcat and it would be a lot more convenient if I didn't have to download Android Studio just to do this one thing.
Is there a way to get the logs without using Android Studio?

Read the tag wiki of the tag you used for more

No need to use Android Studio, just need ADB command-line tool.


text:
Click to ROOT even without PC? How is this possible?
There are many apps which says you can root in single click, like framaroot, one click root, kingo root.
I'm not sure whether everythings works, but, YouTube videos claim that.
How these apps root a phone with just a single click?
If a app can root a phone with a click, it can also do that without the knowledge of a user.
So, How do these apps work?

Those one-click-root apps are usually pretty old as most of the used exploits were only present in Android 4.x and 5.x. Hence on newer devices they are useless. Therefor look at the compatibility list and the list of supported Android versions of each app.

https://autoroot.chainfire.eu/ this says android till 7.0 are compatible. Is security patches are released for these exploits. Do you have any external source for reading.

But on the linked page there are only odin/fastboot flashable images (hence both require a PC and an unlocked device), no app based rooting if I have not missed something.

currently i am just aware of one app (which i don't mention because it is based on top of others work and violates the copyleft of the original author of the underlaying binary) How these exploits work? https://www.xda-developers.com/mediatek-su-rootkit-exploit


text:
How to switch(not only on or off) the mobile data and wifi using adb?
First main question:
is it possible to switch(not only on or off) the state of the mobile data and wifi using adb?
(for example for wifi: if you don't know the state of the wifi now. you send several commands and then you are sure that the wifi state changed.)
if this is not possible then the question is how to find out the state of wifi and mobile data using adb?
second:
is it possible to switch the state of the wifi-hotspot and the usb-modem via abd?
what can I do:
I'm use
adb shell svc data enable/disable
adb shell svc wifi enable/disable

To turn on/of wifi and mobile data. But I don't know a way to switch the state with one command like "adb shell svc data toggle". Maybe there is a command that returns the state of the Wi-Fi or mobile data? Like adb shell svc data state. and it returns "on" or "off".
is there a way to switch it when the phone is locked?
I also use such commands to switch the wifi-hotspot and usb-modem
(unlike first two commands above the screen may be off, but the phone must be unlocked):
adb shell am start -n com.android.settings/.TetherSettings
adb shell input keyevent 20
adb shell input keyevent 20
adb shell input keyevent 20
adb shell input keyevent 66

first line opens the settings page. keyevent 20 - simulates key press down, keyevent 66 - enter. it's for usb-modem. for wifi-hotspot i use same first line,key20 key66 key20 key66.
i have samsung a50(android 10) and ubuntu 20. the modem state switching bash script is located at /usr/local/bin so I can run it from the console just by writing the filename.

get state:
adb shell settings get global airplane_mode_on
# 0|1 -  dis/en abled

adb shell settings get global mobile_data
# 0|1 - dis/en abled

adb shell settings get global wifi_on
# 0|1 - dis/en abled

adb shell settings get global bluetooth_on
# 2|1 - dis/en abled

adb shell settings get global cell_on
# 2|1 - dis/en abled

change state:
airplane
  enable
    adb shell settings put global airplane_mode_on 1
    adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE
  disable
    adb shell settings put global airplane_mode_on 0
    adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE

mobile data
    adb shell svc data enable
    adb shell svc data disable

wifi
    adb shell svc wifi enable
    adb shell svc wifi disable

bluetooth
  eanable
    adb shell settings put global bluetooth_disabled_profiles 1
  disable
    adb shell settings put global bluetooth_disabled_profiles 0

to toggle use bash script that checks state and then switch on/off  like:
#!/bin/bash
function toggle_data {
    if [[ $(adb shell settings get global mobile_data) == "1" ]]; then
        adb shell svc data disable
    else
        adb shell svc data enable; fi
}
function toggle_wifi {
    if [[ $(adb shell settings get global wifi_on) == "1" ]]; then
        adb shell svc wifi disable
    else
        adb shell svc wifi enable; fi
}
toggle_wifi
toggle_data
exit 0;

By knowing the state I suppose you meant whether at X point of time the Wi-Fi or mobile data is enabled or disabled. This information can be obtained from the dump of connectivity service.
Run this command to get the status of mobile data and Wi-Fi:
adb shell dumpsys connectivity | sed -e '/[0-9] NetworkAgentInfo.*CONNECTED/p' -e '/Tether state:/,/Hardware offload:/p' -n

Example output:

  1 NetworkAgentInfo [WIFI () - 178] CONNECTED/CONNECTED
  5 NetworkAgentInfo [MOBILE (LTE) - 191] CONNECTED/CONNECTED
Tether state:
  rndis0 - TetheredState - lastError = 0
  wlan0 - AvailableState - lastError = 0
  Upstream wanted: true
  Current upstream interface(s): [rmnet_data1]
Hardware offload:

Here:

WIFI means device is connected to a Wi-FI
MOBILE means mobile data is enabled
rndis is interface name of USB tethering
wlan is interface name of Wi-Fi hotspot
TetheredState means tethering for the respective interface is enabled

In your output:

if WIFI term with CONNECTED status is missing, than device is not connected to a Wi-FI
if MOBILE term with CONNECTED status is missing, than mobile device is disabled
if TetheredState is shown for rndis or wlan or both, than respectively, it means USB tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot is/are enabled.

To check whether Wi-Fi radio is enabled or disabled, run this command:
adb shell dumpsys wifi | sed -n 1p

Example output if Wi-Fi is enabled:

Wi-Fi is enabled

enabled would shows as disabled if Wi-Fi radio is disabled.

Similarly, to check if cellular radio has telecom network access, or if it is disabled, run this command:

adb shell dumpsys telephony.registry | grep mServiceState | grep -o "mDataRegState=[()0-9A-Z_]*"

Example output:

mDataRegState=0(IN_SERVICE)
mDataRegState=0(IN_SERVICE)

Here:

IN_SERVICE means your cellular radio or radios (if multiple SIM cards are supported) is connected to a network.
OUT_OF_SERVICE would mean not connected to telecom's network
POWER_OFF would mean device is in Airplane mode.

Combining all these information would help your fully ascertain:

the state of Wi-Fi radio and its connectivity
the state of cellular radio and its internet connectivity
the state of USB and Wi-Fi tethering

Now, you already know how to enable/disable mobile data, USB tethering, and Wi-Fi using svc utility. While I don't know how to easily turn on hotspot, disabling the hotspot is pretty easy. First, enable the Wi-Fi using svc, and then disable it with svc too.
The aforesaid two commands should be sufficient to ascertain the connected status of mobile data, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi hotspot, and USB tethering.
Note: this solution was tested on a OnePlus 6 running Android 10.

Mobile data:
adb shell settings get global mobile_data
adb shell settings get global mobile_data_always_on

Wifi:
adb shell settings get global wifi_on

Airplane mode:
adb shell settings get global airplane_mode_on

thank. this is what I need. a couple of days ago I found these commands and will finish the bash script soon. I'll try not to forget to add it as an answer to my question when I finish it.
in the script i use these adb commands:
adb shell settings get global
adb shell settings put global
adb shell am broadcast
adb shell svc
it allows full control of wifi, cellular, m-data, bluetooth.
I just have to figure out how to turn usb-modem and wifi-hotspot on and off via adb.
and there are problems with auto-completion of bash script commands as you type, but that's a different topic.


text:
Is it a viable option to modify ROM image directly instead of compiling?
I have an archive of my stock ROM with partition images inside and I have combined sparsechunks into a single images (this specific because it seems that there are various formats with ambiguous naming).
Now I am able to mount combined images of ext2 partitions and make modifications to the files/directories.
Main goal is to remove google and various other bloat, I know how to manually remove applications from android.
But I read that this is not correct way and that this might make device unstable or create various problems and that I should modify and compile AOSP/lineageos insted. (source of information is XDA though...)
Only compilation of AOSP/lineageos requires too much knowledge thought, not to mention attempting to make modifications to the project which takes hundreds of gigabytes of storage.
Will 'debloating'/'degoogeleing' ROM image make my device unstable or possibly raise other problems and something I should not do?
Or does it depend and I should maybe try and see for myself?
I know of custom android distributions like lineageos - I have this official POS (piece of software) installed currently and it has too many bugs for my taste, phone being just a tool and not a way of life for me, I don't find it appealing to wait and hope for possible resolution.

Custom ROMs usually don't break after removing Google apps. But OEM provided ROMs are likely to break because they make Google-specific changes to the Android framework and remove core AOSP components in favor of Google products. OEMs are bound to sign contracts with Google for releasing devices with Google Play Services and accompanying apps which are privileged apps and tightly integrated with Android framework. If removing an app after installing ROM makes it unstable, then modifying ROM image won't make a difference either. You need to modify source code, not filesystem components.

OEM ROM of motorola G I was planning to modify. I got a better and bigger picture of situation. I will flash OEM ROM and make modifications on live system little by little, until something breaks. If nothing breaks, then good. Much appreciated, thank you!

that comment might be interesting for you


text:
Does cell service provider has ability to display ads over other apps?
I came to realize that in rare occasions when using the Android phone, Cell service provider (Mobile Network provider) shows some popup advertisements. Regardless of the app, screen I was in it always mange to draw over the screen. Recently I manged to capture the screen when it does (Se attached image).
As I checked all the app's permissions to "Display over other apps" there were nothing other than some phone manufacture related and accessibility related system apps.
I find this as an security risk as cell provider can hijack my screen. Also I don't thing this is due to a malware/adware since all the ads are related to cell network and their packages.

My question is how Android eco system enables this kind of facility?
Which mechanism or the loopwhole Cell provider might be using?
Is there anyway to disable this? (other than clicking over unsubscribe
link on ad)

As you could see in the image, I was checking emails and ad got popped over

Edit:

I do have a customer care/help app installed which provided by carrier. However I made sure it doesn't draw over apps.

Device is non-rooted, and never touched the bootloader, so might be locked.

Familiar with adb and fastboot. And adb lists the device with proper permission. However while running adb shell appops query-op --user 0 SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow | while read line; do echo -e "\nPackage: $line "; appops get $line SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW; done gives empty results.

Tried adb shell appops query-op --user 0 SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow also but empty output

More likely to be from some network care /help app that is all the more likely, if your device is tied to the network.

Can you setup [tag:adb], than run this command: adb shell appops query-op --user 0 SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow | while read line; do echo -e "\nPackage: $line "; appops get $line SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW; done? Post the output in the question.

If your device is rooted (mention root status in question please), plenty of ad block solutions available, if not follow this answer. Also try Adguard ad blocker

At the very least, a cell service provider (ISP) can intercept and inject ads on non-HTTPS websites. They can also send class 0 SMS. But to show ads over any apps is impossible without having an auxiliary Android app/service to do so.

FYI I did update the question with above commented suggestions.


text:
How to root CovrWare Android phone?
NOTE: This is a very specific question on manufacturer name of the Android phone I am talking about...
Hey, guys, I am needing to try and root a CovrWare manufacturer-made Android phone, from https://covrware.com, as I think there could be lots of system-based bloatware, so I am hoping to root this type of phone for this security purpose. Any help and instructions to root a CovrWare phone would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hi, did I really miss something, or isn't CovrWare just a smartphone case? I don't see anywhere where I can buy Android phones from there.

Maybe by "rooting" he means "digging" under the cover?

No. I mean to unlock the whole CovrWare's phone's OS, by rooting the OS on the phone, as in, unlocking the Android root user.

shut down device completely. hold Volume Down + Power keys until you can see bootloader/fastboot/download mode. connect device to PC and install usb drivers. download platform-tools and navigate into folder where fastboot binary is. from cmd line type 'fastboot getvar all' copy & paste that info into your question for further help. in case fastboot not available upload a picture of that phone screen in download mode instead

please note fastboot mode is not available for samsung devices (they have odin mode instead)


text:
How to fix "No SIM" issue after flashing stock ROM?
After using custom ROMs on my Motorola E4 Plus (Nicklaus) I figured out that there's no such custom stable ROM to install, so I recently flashed my device with stock ROM (Motorola Nicklaus MTK (XT1770)) but ended up with no sim support.
I tried to reset the networks but it didn't help me at all. I also reformatted the device and flashed with region specific stock ROMs too,
but that didn't help either. I flashed TWRP too. It showed OK while flashing using ADB, but recovery mode shows "No Command".
The problem is, currently I'm unable to use the stock ROM or to go back to those custom ROMs. Bootloader is unlocked. Every change has been executed properly as expected but not working on phone.

Please don't abuse quoting and font highlighting tools.

Does your device show a valid IMEI number, either in bootloader or by dialing *#06#? I am suspecting your EFS partition is corrupted and unless you have a backup is almost impossible for anyone but Motorola to restore.

@acejavelin no it isn't showing my IMEI number. And is there any way to fix this without backup?

There are some EFS partition backup files available on the net, you can try to use for recovery. I also had this problem some years ago on an old tablet. I never mad the mobile network back to live on that old tablet.

@Robert after researching on the internet I've found that the network issue ca be fixed on MTK devices if you'll be able to fix the IMEI. So going to flash the phone with the stock ROM and tweeking the nvram and nvdata entries.


text:
Is there a safety system to prevent overheating?
Is there currently a system in place that prevents overheating. I have recently been having issues with my mobile hotspot and I noticed that the issues I have seem to be when the phone is above 90 degrees F. (Using a battery temperature app).
When the phone is room temperature everything seems to work fine and when it is above 90 I seem to have issues. I thought maybe the wifi chip was having issues, so I manually tethered with USB and continued to have issues. To rule out my laptop, I connected the phone to my router and hardwired in my laptop. I then bought another cell phone which had the same issues. Specifically the issue I was having was full 20 Mbps and then 0 and then 20 and then 0. (Tested with speedtest.net multiple times.) So it appears to be the actual chip that connects to the cell towers. (On both phones it was doing this.)
Is there a safety mechanism in place in the android system that detects that your phone is heating up and begins cycling chips on and off to prevent overheating? I can see how for most activities a normal person wouldn't notice unless you're streaming something live with no buffer (ie: remote desktop over hotspot). Actually if it does this it would be almost genius because it wouldn't need to completely power off. It could just cycle between normal power and lower power which wouldn't be an issue for 95% of the things you do, it would increase battery life and decrease phone temperature. However, I also would be doing the 5% of the tasks were it is annoying as all get out watching the mouse cursor skip across my screen and watching windows minimize robotically with jerking updates.

i can't answer your question but i got the feeling that app might be helpful to figure out (there is also a temperature watchdog for qualcomm chipset, not sure if related)

CPUs have usually a built in thermal throttling system that reduces the frequency and the used voltage if the CPU gets too hot.


text:
Trying installing Lineageos, Reboot my phone but stucked now in the Odinmode
I am trying to install LineageOs on my Samsung Galaxy J5. Currently i am trying to to reboot my Phone... I writ this in my command:
adb devices
List of devices attached
1709f084 device emulator-5562 offline

adb reboot bootloader
error: more than one device/emulator

adb devices
List of devices attached
1709f084 device emulator-5562 offline

adb -s 1709f084 reboot bootloader

fastboot flashing unlock < waiting for any device >

Afte writing the command adb -s 1709f084 reboot bootloader i t got in the odin mode. After writing the command fastboot flashing unlock nothing changed...
What am I doing wrong?
Greetings :)

samsung devices don't have fastboot mode, therefore no fastboot command will work

how do i get out of this mode?

and what kind of command should i use instead? I am Trying to do a  TWRP Recovery...

read the manual

Samsung doesn't have fastboot mode . Use odin to flash your device . If you search online you will find Odin for your computer . Install it . Most likely the Linageos uses custom recovery to flash . If so flash TWRP or any other custom recovery available for your device and flash Linage from there . If you are tring to get out of odin mode . press (power + volume down) to force reboot . if that doesn't work try volume up with power key . Before flasing anything make sure you have activated bootloader unlocking in Devlopers settings :)

Thanks man :) i got it...I did the hole process until i realiced that lineageos doesnt have a custom rom for the samsung J5 or the samsung galaxy S5 mini. So the hole effort was useless... Do you now a lineageos based custom rom for the J5 or S5 mini? Greeeting :)

check this https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-j5/development/unofficial-lineageos-17-1-beta-galaxy-j5-t4038777 I don't have a j5 so I cann't tell if it works . But if you are looking for a custom rom xda-dev is a good place to start . But before you flash it make sure it's for you device model . It seems samsung has several models named J5


text:
How does Photo Caller ID work?
Sometimes someone will call me and their photo will show as the phone rings. In the cases I'm referring to I've never added a photo to the contact---somehow the phone picks up their image over the Internet.
I'd like to register my photo in such a place, but how does it work?
I have had both iPhone and Android users call me and sometimes I get their "Photo Caller ID" for lack of a better term.
My phone is an HTC m8 running LineageOS 14.1.
Thanks for your help!

On Android go to settings -> Google -> manage Google account -> personal data. Then there is an option to upload your image

So does Google do the lookup on the phone number to show on my screen?  I'd like to add my business # to the lookup and show my logo which isn't a cell phone.

You can register your number on Truecaller because that is most used caller app, it has option to add picture, business information and it shows on caller id who uses Truecaller


text:
Voice over Ethernet without WiFi in airplane mode
Is it possible to make calls with an active Ethernet connection only (with an Ethernet adapter) without a mobile & WiFi connection? Effectively Ethernet-Calling, like WiFi-calling.

Theoretically yes, as long as the Wifi calling is not limited to a certain Wifi (e.g. special Wifi from mobile network provider). For Wifi calling you just need a network connection. However Ethernet via USB adapters is not very common on Android therefore I don't think that somebody will test this when developing the system firmware. Therefore it might work or not depending if you are lucky or not.

It does work using services like Google Voice (free phone number), Hushed, or iPlum on my 2 phones (Moto G4, G7) Android 7-10.
Plugable makes a Micro-USB ethernet adapter ($14) that works with Android devices or a plain USB ethernet adapter that can be used with USB-C devices with an OTG converter ($5) to make many Android tablets and phones work. They maintain a list of tested devices on their site. Device Compatability Chart: AX88772 Compatibility List USB2-OTGE100 : USB2-OTGE100
The issue is you must use a third-party app like those mentioned, not the phone app that comes with the phone. That means you must have a second number associated with the app to call. If you don't care about letting Google listen to your calls, Google Voice is free. True ethernet calling may be coming in Android 11. WiFi calling is available on some phones now and this may allow true ethernet calling from the native phone app—it depends on your carrier. I am testing this option using RedPocket soon.

Do you have any source for the claim that Ethernet calling may be coming with Android 11?


text:
What is this icon on top right corner of screen?
I have an android phone which shows a peculiar icon on top right corner of the screen (notification area):

I believe:
Icon number 1 is for signal
Icon number 3 is for wifi
Icon number 4 is for battery.

What does icon number 2 indicate? I could not find it on searching the net. Thanks for your help.

Ok. I agree it looks very similar. I hope this does not pose any security risk.

Of course not, it's a facility by network provider. Disable it if you don't want it (ask your provider if you can't find it in your settings)


text:
How to add website as a website link with Brave/Chrome to the Android home screen?
On a Chrome or other Chromium browser (Brave, Kiwi..) on Android
When I click "add to home screen" from the Brave/Chrome menu, on some sites the icon that is added does not open website but instead opens a custom app created for the website (so called "PWA").
I want to create a simple website link that opens the website in a browser (so I can use search / see the url from the address bar and so on).
How can I do that with Brave or Chrome?

Hi, I believe this is a duplicate of Chrome and Firefox cannot add specific URL to home screen due to the PWA, and thus I voted to close this as a dupe of that one.

After tedious search I was finally able to do it.
Simply put - with Brave/Chrome it seems that it is not possible to add a non-PWA shortcut when PWA-version is defined at the web pages web manifest.
HOWEVER there are separate apps on the app store (I don't link to any specific one here but search for example "create shortcut launcher") that allow you to create "custom" shortcuts. With these apps you can create a simple URL shortcut and define which browser is used to open it.
This solves my problem and this question.
To get the corect icon you have to separately download and set the icon which is quite tedious so if anyone solves how to do this with chrome/chromium then please respond and I will change the accepted answer.

I share your frustration in wanting to just add links to web sites on the new tab page in Brave/Chrome. Would you mind listing which Extension worked well for you? I searched as you suggested and found "G App Installer" however it seems geared to Google Apps.

I think the one I was using has been renamed - I don't want to advertise specific apps but the one I'm currently using seems to be "Shortcut maker" by "android_rk".

Thanks for the name of the extension. I also found good luck with an extension named "Humble New Tab Page". Works well for me with Brave (Apple Native) on MacOS.

I used Http Shortcuts (found on F-Droid).  Then, got the icon off of icons8.com.
With Http Shortcuts, you can just click on the icon and replace it with an image you saved from icons8.com.

One thing you can do is set your homepage. Go to Settings on Chrome. Tap on Homepage. There will be two options, one is called Chrom'e Homepage and the other option is a text box for URLs. You can put HTML content in there for example the following line will create a page with Google as hyperlink. You can create a whole pretty dashboard using this method.
 data:text/html,<!DOCTYPE html><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">Google

The other option is to just bookmark the websites you visit. Then when you start searching in the address bar Chrome will show links from bookmarks. Doesn't always work though.

Of course I can do this inside the chrome but that is not what the question is about - I want the links to my main launcher page as direct links. I already have some 10 websites that I have on the homepage (with firefox) but I would like to use chrome-based browser like Brave instead.


text:
Why does Tinder constantly appear on my Opera mobile home page without me adding it?
I've been using Opera Mobile on my phone for roughly two months now and lately I've noticed that Tinder repeatedly appears on my Opera mobile browser homepage without me adding it.
The first time, I didn't pay it much attention. I thought perhaps I'd clicked on a website that somehow added Tinder on there. I removed it and moved on.
The second time, I got a bit more suspicious, so I reinstalled the app.
Tonight, the third time, my boyfriend saw it and I had to explain to him, in a very awkward and unpleasant conversation, that I'm not actively using Tinder.
Again, I don't and have never used Tinder in any way whatsoever, mobile, desktop, you name it.
This is my homepage right now, with the unwanted Tinder app included:

Is there a way to completely disable this? I don't want to have to uninstall this browser.

Turn off suggested sites from settings ; if already turned off then I think nothing more can be done ; and it is present on mine too(have been using it for years but never used tinder)(options are available for turning off promotional speed dials in Opera for PC but not on mobile devices)

You might want to consider a browser that doesn't do this... Brave Browser would be a good place to start.

You cannot disable promotional speed dials on the mobile browser. The only thing you can do is manually delete them.


text:
How to reset static IP address back to DHCP for ethernet
I have setup a static ip address for eth0 with adb command ip addr add $ipAddress dev eth0 plus other commands to set the netmask, route and dns values.
My question is how to I go back to a non static IP address
I tried doing ifconfig eth0 dhcp but I get an error in adb saying

ifconfig: bad argument 'dhcp'

Right now the only way I can reset everything is if I reboot the device since the changes dont persist.
How can I reset them without a reboot?

If Android runs DHCP client on Ethernet interface, it's not removed by adding a static IP address to the interface. However you also changed the routing table and DNS. It means you need to force the DHCP client for a lease renewal. But Android's DHCP client runs in Java framework and there is no straightforward method to communicate with it (some service calls may work but I never tested). Also, usually there's no GUI settings to turn Ethernet on/off like WiFi and Mobile Data. So the simple approach is to replug the Ethernet cable. Or restart the device.

@IrfanLatif I came across ifconfig eth0 default that seems to reset everything like it would on a reboot all routes, netmasks and dns values appear to be reset. Any input on using that command?

Solution without root privileges:

Disable WiFi

Run:
 adb shell settings put global wifi_connected_mac_randomization_enabled 1

Enable WiFi and connect to your network

You should have a new IP.

I have root privileges

It works also if you have root privileges.

/system/bin/sh: put: not found

@CSQGB settings was missing in the command

@android:/data/local # put global wifi_connected_mac_randomization_enabled 1
/system/bin/sh: put: not found


text:
Panorama app better than StreetView
Google's Street View app allows building all-round 360 panoramas, however even with the latest versions, the stiching and exposure quality are really surprisingly poor. Other similar apps have very poor ratings on the Play Store.
Unfortunately, none of the good streetview-like images I see for instance on GOogle Maps (example), give any indication what app has been used to make it.
Given the above, I feel this question is relevant, as it does not seem trivial to identify a way in which one can create such high-quality panoramas using an Android phone. Can anybody suggest how such a task can be achieved?

Unclear/doubtful if "high quality" image capture is achievable with single Android device, see hardware used by Google Street View Trekkers (walking): https://newatlas.com/google-street-view-trekker-upgrade/57728/

Making good panorama images is difficult and requires a lot of CPU power and RAM and that for just a few images in a small panorama. For a full 360 degree panorama a lot more is required. This will even bring recent high-class phones to it's limit. For my last panorama I created I used a PC and a software called Hugin. Note that also your images have meet certain criteria for a good panorama.

Hi, please take note that questions directly asking for app recommendations are still off-topic. Instead, we prefer the asker to just state the underlying problem that they want to solve and not putting any restriction for apps-only, so we'd appreciate it if you could [edit] the question, add some details and/or remove the restriction. Otherwise, you might be interested in our sister site, Software Recommendations Stack Exchange instead.

Thanks Andrew, I edited my question.


text:
com.whatsapp_preferences.xml periodically gets overwritten how to prevent that from happening
on a magisk rooted Android 10 device
com.whatsapp_preferences.xml
( /data/data/com.whatsapp ? ... can't remember that path now )
has been updated with non default parameters as I needed but it periodically gets overwritten how to prevent that from happening.
what I did so far
even if reMount the partition as read write ( for my convenience I do it using total commander with root  though  I haven't tried I would assume it would end up the same way if I did it on command line ) it will not let me overwrite the original file with my modifications   & but if I  delete the original and copy the modified file that is allowed.  funny...why   ?
I did this and then chown (  to  root ) & chmod ed it to 444 then force stopped the app
cleared cache .new settings were working until next day I landed up with the same old file that it overwrote
question
now I am aware that for WhatsApp or any app to be able to write it should be the owner or maybe  the owner should be everyone .. that is the case here as well but the issue is how can I selectively prevent it from overwriting just one file  - implement this at file level   ?  alternatively how do I conceive a method that periodically overwrites the the original file with the one I have... after detecting that it has changed.
btw : my APK and data  is linked to to second partition which is ext4 via apps2SD

If the file is located under /data/data/com.whatsapp/... then only WhatsApp itself can write the file (or an app that uses root permissions) if you have not messed up the directory/file permissions.

i think the file is simply re-created because it can't accessed

yes that is the design directory private to an app is owned by the app. my question was if root  created a file in a private directory   & marked it  444  how can app hv privilege to del it & create its own file .  how can I prevent that behavior?

it's not the app. looking into /data/system/uiderrors.txt might give you idea how package manager handle wrong file permissions

opened that file & I do not see any recent reference to    WhatsApp and definitely won't find that file com.whatsapp_preferences.xml  but it is being replaced  (after deletion  ) I think and even the ownership changes as well as the privileges. if root  created an object anywhere and made it read-only how is it that a standard user can mess around with regardless of whether it is it is private directory

right. it's for uid (not permissions).. anyway, why do you think a standard user does this (and not package manager which has privileges)?

well it could be package manager as well but I assumed based on the fact that the owner was the app WhatsApp

replacing the file at startup every time which means I should make the changes every time at boot via init scriot

what is your namespace isolation settings?

global namespace  mode out of isolated inheritent  and global

You can make file immutable using chattr but that is very likely to break the app when it fails to write its own preferences file.

ok ✅ I could make the file  read only  but now it will not respect the changed parameters at least one of them may be others will be respected. multicast_limit_global value is being ignored. wonder how it is overriding that and considering the default ? I think the server refreshes the default value and copies them locally and now that it is not able to do so it is somehow taking into consideration its own values.  strange part is it used to work immediately after I made the change and then on the file refresh issue disappeared because I made the file genuinely read only but it it disr

Changing the permissions of the file can solve the problem.
Get the WhatsApp system group, you can use:
ls -la /data/data/com.whatsapp

Let's suppose that the WhatsApp system group is u0_a301.
Change the owner of the file to root and the group to WhatsApp group:
chown root:u0_a301 /data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml

Then remove the write permission to the group:
chmod 640 /data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml

That will prevent WhatsApp from writing the file and it can read it.

I tested it and it works, the file is not overwritten but I did not test if all the application works as expected.

I've already had tested file permissions   but the above answer was written as if with full  optimism which made me think maybe I haven't tested all cases . as I verified it gets overwritten on reboot .

:/data/sdext2/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs # ls -al com.whatsapp_preferences.xml -rw-rw---- 1 u0_a209 u0_a209 5948 2020-08-19 20:06 com.whatsapp_preferences.xml :/data/sdext2/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs # chown & chmod  both having reset

Strange! I tested it and it persist even after I rebooted multiple times and killing WhatsApp with `am force-stop com.whatsapp".

in fact even without reboot it is periodically checking for the file and resetting the perms and rewriting data  do you have the same Android version and this is the latest version of WhatsApp  ( in fact we may not be too concerned about the version because below a certain version they will not let you connect to their network )

The permissions are not overwritten in my case after rebooting and killing the App. -rw-r-----  1 root    u0_a301 5742 2020-08-19 10:24 com.whatsapp_preferences.xml the file still have the same permissions with the latest version of WhatsApp and Kernel version: 4.14.112 . Did the file change permissions after reboot only or at each time you open WhatsApp ?

are you by any chance running selinux permissive (SuperSU)? or lower android version?

No, SELinux is in enforcing mode. Android 10.

mine is permissive   ... and whatever I do even without reboot  it will periodically rewrite that file. I think you may be working on a laptop with simulated  environment of  Android. . . I had seen this in lower Android  versions also but never really pay serious attention.


text:
Help trouble shoot audio driver
So my audio stopped working after the upgrade to android 10.
And I can not roll back to Android 9.
Phone Samsung Note 9.
Android 10.
Need help understanding the start-up process in android. Which file detects the chips, tells it which driver to load, and then logs the results after loading each driver.
Which log should I look in for failures i.e. If I run Sound Recorder and hit record? The app just hangs.
I cant click on stop. And can only kill it in notifications.
Like in Windows I can go to devise manager and see the list of drivers loaded and the status of each component. And if its failed it will say failed to load driver xyz.
If I have this info I can pinpoint which chip is acting up. I know the phone has one amp chip 98512 and one Audio Codec Chip. I want to know which IC is acting up or if its just a corrupted driver file.
I did Odin the factory Image onto the phone. Just to be sure.
Funny thing is Audio works in Blue Tooth but over the mic / speaker / ear phone jack all dead.

Have you considered that the mentioned app does not work because of new restrictions in Android 10? Especially apps like call recorders no longer work on Android 10+ therefore your recording app may also be affected. Make sure you are using a recorder app that is known to work on Android 10.

Yes, I have but when I say my audio is dead its dead. Can't get the speaker to work even in the diagnostic screen/safe mode / DND is off. The phone will not even ring. Playing movies with no audio. But if I cast or use Bluetooth I get audio. etc.

I found this info its a start.
https://android.stackexchange.com/tags/logging/info

You could check kernel log via dmesg command. Drivers are in Linux usually located in the kernel and via dmesg you can see the kernel log.


text:
How to use Gmail app without any browsers installed?
I had rooted my Android phone, and after uninstalling all browsers, I am unable to use the Gmail app on my phone. While I still get notification of Gmail in the notification bar, it closes as soon as I open the app.
I had tried some other apps (other than Android built-in apps for mail) like Microsoft Outlook, but the problem remains the same. On reinstalling the browser (like Chrome), my mail apps work properly.
Is it possible to use the Gmail app without browsers installed? Any solution including any third-party app is okay.

Android apps can make use of a WebView (web browser that runs inside the app).
Depending on the Android version Google preferred used Chrome webbrowser app to provide this WebView or the Chrome based WebView app.
Any other WebView capable web browser can also be used.
Go to Settings -> System -> Developer options -> WebView implementation to see and select the app that provide the WebView to all apps.

In your case the WebView app may be the best to install because it can't be used as stand-alone web browser but once installed GMail app should work again as it provides the necessary WebView component.


text:
What determines game or app differences of availability between countries?
There is a particular game which is in beta release in on country, in my country it is possible to register on a waiting list and in South America it just says "not available in your country". Is there a general explanation why the availability is different between different countries? Is it for marketing and purchase power adjustments or some other reason?

The most obvious reason for developers not to release an app in a specific region are missing localization and of course legal problems (app content not allowed or missing license for a specific country).

Software is considered a controlled export, and through embargo may be restricted from release to certain countries. Search for "Trade Compliance" and similar for the regulations.

Two factors

Google for reasons not made public has a list of countries where  app and Google Content is available Country availability for Google Play apps & digital content.

Developers may choose targeted release for their own reasons. Google guidance on this - Distribute app releases to specific countries - Play Console Help. I am not a developer but I guess reasons could include localization, scalability of app, revenue expectations, taxation issues, political reasons (Indian ban on Chinese apps recently comes to mind), reviews (I am aware of a famous developer who doesn't release his apps in some countries because of unfair reviews).

Are you sure about this ?  I have seen no evidence of this at all.  I always buy parallel imported Samsung phones which countries from all over the world.  They all can access the apps that I am supposed to.  What matters is the country of your Google account and the Country you are in.  The only thing I have noticed on one phone was that I could not get rid of Muslim holidays from the calendar.

Yes. FairEmail is an Email app, not available in India and some middle eastern countries. But is available in Europe /USA etc. I also linked console help (point 2) where developers can choose their countries of release//You are lucky if you didn't have this problem so far. //Chinese apps 70+ aren't available in India example: Camscanner


text:
Memory - 20Gb being used by something
Apologies that this is a similar question but I have not yet found the solution here.  I have 32 Gb A6, apps consume around 10Gb and I have a ton on SD card but storage info says I only have 2Gb free on internal memory.
Have downloaded X-plore but I am either too stupid to figure it out or it does not easily show what the issue is.
Any help is much appreciated

The dialog only shows your data but it does not show how much space Android itself consumes. Assuming a dual system partition about 10 GB or more can be used by the Android OS itself. Use DiskInfo app to see the partition layout.

Thanks Robert - git this from DiskInfo.  (Cannot paste picture)

Internal Storage

Data [/data] (/data) [ext4]
Used: 21.9 GB, Free: 2.9 GB, Total space: 24.8 GB
Cache [/cache] (/cache) [ext4]
Used: 5.9 MB, Free: 186 MB, Total space: 192 MB

How can I find where all that data is being used?

delete your WhatsApp folder

Thanks Alecxs - dont have WhatsApp on it

Now you know that your system already occupies 7.2GB and you can only use 24.8 of 32 GB. For more details on app and data usage use the storage overview in Android settings. Apps on unrooted devices don't have access to data of other apps, hence an app can never show you the data usage.

Thanks Robert - will just try deleting stuff and see what happens :)

Try this settings>storage>cached data click on it then click on ok, it will free much space without losing anything just give it try even i got same problem like you but for 2gb not 30gb still worth try it

2nd option is you can connect your phone with pc or laptop with USB Cable as MTP storage aka removable device then see internal storage size and if its full open it and check property of each folder size then delete that folder or useless data.


text:
Where is the trash that the stock camera/photos app moves to?
In Android 10, if you take a photo with the stock camera/photos app (which identifies itself as either "Camera" or "Photos" in the app switcher¹) and then view it afterwards, one of the "buttons" is a trash can. If you tap it, the phone prompts you with,

Move to trash? It will be removed from all folders.
[Trashcan] Move to trash

Where is the "trash" that this is being moved to, and how do I access it?

(The device is a Pixel 3a purchased directly from Google, so it should be free of the sort of junk many carriers load onto phones.)
¹The app whose icon is:

Photos app > Menu > Bin https://www.xda-developers.com/android-11-hidden-recycle-bin-trashed-photos-videos

According to How can i find my recycle bin on Android? - Google Photos Community

... trash bin and the files inside it are not actually present on your Android device, which is why you can't find the files.

(Emphasis added)
By implication, they are stored on cloud  and that is where you restore them from if needed. You can locate them at https://photos.google.com/trash as mentioned in How to recovery the google photos deleted from trash - Google Photos Community.
I guess if you turn off sync for photos, deleted photos should be directly deleted without moving to Trash and obviously you won't find them at the location linked above.

At least on my Pixel 8 Android 14 it is: DCIM/Camera/.trashed-1709964560-PXL_20240118_001529242.mp4

Where is the "trash" that this is being moved to, and how do I access it?

Latest version of Photos App, Version 5.71.0.416067338:
Photos App -> Library -> Trash

AFAIK, the change was related to an update to the Google Photos app, not the Android version.

What ever the case is, I was only providing an answer to the question, as the previous answer doesn't answer the question


text:
How do I get fastboot/adb to find my device after a reboot?
I am trying to unlock the bootloader of my Samsung Galaxy J7 Sky Pro using this guide.
If I do
> adb start-server
> adb devices

I get my device as connected, however when I then reboot into the bootloader using
> adb reboot bootloader

Everything works as I would suspect I get the boot screen with the extra text:
ODIN MODE (HIGH SPEED)
PRODUCT NAME: SM-2727VL
CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official
SYSTEM STATUS: Official
FAP LOCK: OFF
WARRANTY VOID: 0x0
QUALCOMM SECUREBOOT: ENABLE (CSB)
RP SWREV: S1, T1, R1, A4, P1
RP SWREV K 2, S 2
SECURE DOWNLOAD : ENABLE
download mode !!

Which seems ok to me.
However when run adb devices again the device is gone.  Of course if I try to run any fastboot command from this state it just sits and waits for a device.
< waiting for any device >

Even if I try killing and restarting the sever it doesn't find the device.
The same occurs running both on a Linux machine and an OSX machine.
What's going wrong here?  How do I get fastboot/adb to find my device after a reboot?

The article is just wrong. The correct title should be " Unlock Bootloader Of Any Android Device except Samsung devices" because Samsung device usually don't have a fastboot mode. Additionally Huawei device can't be unlocked anymore (another false fact in the article).

@Robert You have to forgive me for being a little incredulous, I'm seeing multiple articles that suggest to use fastboot even specifically on samsung phones.  Are you sure that this is the case for samsung.

Robert is right. No fastboot. A fastboot like environment is created by Odin and that's what is likely loosely called fastboot

Hello. That article doesn't mention that it is targeting your device. I guess you followed it because  of that generic  and deceptive heading. That article is next to useless (and dangerous too) for Samsung devices and  devices with Mediatek chipset. My suggestion is that you find a guide written for your device and than try following it. XDA forums are much better source for rooting than blogs or websites (a lot of Android content oriented websites writes whatever crap they can just to bring traffic)

@Firelord Thanks you for the suggestion.  I actually was reading a guide written for my device that linked instructing me to follow its directions.  I suppose that just goes to show the lack of quality on these websites.

sure about phone model? closest i can find is SM-S727VL (but no solution yet): 1, 2


text:
Camera settings/features are disappeared
There is a Samsung A01 whose default camera settings are like this:

But for some reason, some camera settings/features located at top bar are disappeared. Does anybody know why? How can I restore it?

Approach suggested here worked:

The way I got my camera features back is ... by going into the settings going to device care and then click on battery and then changing power mode to optimize which is the first choice.


text:
Where is the e4crypt policy stored?
Restoring the Data partition from TWRP fails due to a missing e4crypt policy:
  ==> extracting: //data/user/10/ (mode 40771, directory)
Cannot find key for 10
error looking up proper e4crypt policy for '//data/user/10/' - 1CE10
tar_extract_file(): failed to extract //data/user/10/ !!!

See also my comment on TWRP issue 964. According to the e4crypt man page, a policy is an encryption key identifier consisting of 16 hexadecimal characters.
Where is that policy stored? In EFS?

keep it on the twrp development and claim it to the maintainer specific for your device, it is off-topic here. keys are stored /data/misc/keystore according other issues that account may be related to parallel apps. you have already asked in xda support thread, there it is placed well

you can ask for alternative methods to restore a twrp backup, that would make your question on topic

sudo bash bckp2win.sh -f data.ext4.win* -e /data/user/10 may give you a good base to work with (although it requires manual restoring with GNU tar)

This is a general question about Android. It's not specific to my device, and very likely not specific to TWRP either. So I don't understand why the question should be off topic here.

because development is off-topic (usage is not)

page 2 of the 255 error thread (xda support thread has linked under Tips in OP) says that user 10 is work profile. that is similar to the parallel apps issue (user 999) TWRP doesn't support multi-user, you must remove user 10/999 before creating/restoring backups

https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/extras/+/refs/heads/master/libfscrypt/fscrypt.cpp some stuff to read https://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/filesystems/fscrypt.rst

according to your recovery.log lines 79-124 it is located /data/misc/vold and TWRP can decrypt only for user 0. restoring might work once the user 10 exist (not sure) https://android.stackexchange.com/q/216155

@alecxs Well, first of all, to me this is usage. I'm not an Android developer. Anyhow, thanks a lot for digging so deep into the issue which made me post this question! (written to be potentially of general interest, and not just specific to my issue) The weird thing is, I was only using one user. I don't even know what a work profile is. It must've been enabled by accident. I will probably try another recovery attempt in a few days. At the moment, I need my phone too much.


text:
Output audio with Bluetooth and speaker at same time
I want to watch a film with my friends
on my Xiaomi/Redmi7/Android9. I have Bluetooth headset and he have normal Headphones (with cable).
How can I output the sound on BT and AUX at same time?

Which Android version is installed?

Android 9 is installed

In most cases, smartphones does not support the audio output to Bluetooth and to speaker at the same time. But some models support output to more than 1 Bluetooth device.
check this lifewire tutorial https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-connect-multiple-bluetooth-speakers-4173788


text:
Make a pop up message if about to call area codes excluding specified
So I wanted a pop up message/dialog box  to appear whenever I dial/call number with prefixes excluded from my list.
To clarify, there are two codes. One is the country code and the other is the network code. For instance, country code is +63 and network (company) code is 945. Country code is only one. While network code reaches like a hundred. I want a pop up message to appear when the prefix is other than +63945*, +63917*, +63906*, and 20+ other numbers. In other words, there would be no pop up when the prefixes I set are being dialled/called while every other number would prompt a pop up message.
I used this macro but all the numbers I dial seem to activate the dialog box. The macro is working but there seems to be an error somewhere.
(Click to enlarge the images)

Here's a working macro with explanation in comments
(Click to enlarge)

Note

Log events write to the log which can be accessed from the home screen of the app and are useful to check errors.

Screenshot shows the local variable value, which is also useful in troubleshooting.

Your macro had matching condition excludes which is wrong, it needs to be != (not equal to).

In the Text Manipulation action, the output should be saved to the variable A

Edit : The answer above is in response to the previous version of the question


text:
Why would an app ask for location permission when configuring an IP camera?
Why would this android phone app for this IP camera need location services to be turned on before it gets set up?
Surely that's a security risk. If the camera company's database is ever hacked, an attacker would have both the exact location of the property and the means to view the property to see who was around!
Is there any technical reason why location is required for an app to set up an IP camera? (Another data point: The Google Home app also requires location permission to set up the Home Hub device).
Is it safe to turn on location services and allow the app to determine my location during setup of the camera?

No, there is no need for geo information to set up or connect to a IP cam. The risk is only in providing data to a company even if it doesn't need it, depending on how they will use it. It depends on the company...

I found a way to work around the location requirement, by installing a Fake GPS app and configuring my android device to use it in the android developer menu.


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OnePlus 5T - Inconsistent wake lock screen notifications on certain apps (delayed or never shown)
I should preface this by saying this is a long post that has a lot of screenshots.
For months possibly a year, I’ve been having an issue with certain apps where notifications either do not appear at all or are very delayed on the lock screen. Sometimes they do appear without delay, but it's very inconsistent. The delay can be anywhere from 20 min to 2 hours.
Often times when notifications don’t appear on the lock screen they appear as soon as I unlock the phone or open the app.
The apps in question are Twitch TV and Discord. However WhatsApp and my Text message notifications never have any problems, I always see them on time and they wake up the lock screen.
My phone is a One Plus 5T that runs the stock One Plus android OS. I should also note that I only use Wi-Fi and not mobile data such as 4G.

Things I’ve tried:
There are a number of things I’ve tried which I will list here.
Twitch in app mobile notifications:

Ensured that when a streamer goes live I get notifications
Ensured push notifications are enabled

[

Twitch app phone settings:

Battery usage → Background restriction = disabled
Battery usage → Battery optimisation = not optimised
App data usage → Background data = enabled
App data usage → Unrestricted data usage = enabled
Notifications → Show notifications = everything enabled

Battery Phone Settings:

Battery optimisation → Advanced → Deep optimisation = disabled
Battery optimisation → Advanced → Sleep standby optimisation = disabled
Battery → Adaptive battery = off

Other phone settings:

Ambient display → New notifications = Wake screen
Notifications → On lock screen = Show all content
System → Recent app management = normal clear
Developer options → Standby apps = Twitch ACTIVE

Google Services Framework phone settings:

Battery usage → Background restriction = disabled
Battery usage → Battery optimisation = no way to not optimise
Notifications → Show notifications = everything enabled
App Permissions → Read instant messages = enabled
App Permissions → Write instant messages = enabled

Misc:

Locked twitch app to always run in the background (courtesy of this post)
Installed push notifications fixer app
Tried to find a setting for each app that’s not on my phone (I think you need a later one plus model for these settings), courtesy of this post.

Conclusion:
None of the things I’ve tried have made any difference so far. I have no idea if it’s the apps, android or a one plus specific issue. If it’s a one plus specific issue I might be able to root the phone and install a custom ROM but that is an absolute last resort.
A lot of people say OnePlus phones have overly aggressive memory mananagement, so that could be a factor.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Is it happening from March , 2020 software update or its earlier ?

@KirandeepMaan It's been doing it since last year.

My friend got the same problem in OnePlus 6 so he install pixel experience custom Rom Which fix this bug and he got overall good experience in case u install any rom lineage and pixel are best for daily driver

Custom page for yourself device https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-5t/development


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What will happen when I uninstall system apps? (I need to free up space)
I need install a game update (1.9GB), but I have have 800 MB or so of internal storage left and I can't run the game on my sd card. I went through my apps and found that the largest one that I don't need was the "package installer" app, which is 800 MB. To my small knowledge, I need that app to install Apk's, but I can do it with other app installers. I haven't experimented with Android system files before, so I have no idea what will happen if uninstall Package Installer.
Edit: This now answered, thanks to advice. I'm just too stupid to find the check mark on my phone.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts, you should mention what make/model of phone, OS version, as well if the device is rooted or not. You don't mention which "package installer"  but if its a system app, I would lean toward no if from a manufacturer or Google. Do check the wiki tag for insufficient-memory

the apk is located /system therefore doesn't matter. when "uninstalling" the apk remains. However, it might free up some space used for update-apk, app data and dalvik-cache

Why don't you clear cache useless apps to free up space rather then uninstall system apps

Btw if its game update u can download apk and obb (including update) manually from google search and uninstall game, delete data make sure u backup progress online then install new Downloaded apk and place data in internal storage android/data/obb/*

Hi, looks like you've found the solution by yourself, which is great! Consider post it as a proper answer since self-answering is not only allowed, but even encouraged!. Comments are not really an answer though, so they can't be given a checkmark.

You should never touch to system apps but you can uninstall pre-installed apps like fb, google phots, MSO, ect, otherwise, why don't you buy a memory card and transfer unimportant apps to it.

I bought an SD card to run my games on it, but it didn't work. I transferred the game files to the sd card to see what happened and the game more less crashed. I have an Samsung Galaxy A20 and I can't find a way to move any app in it's entirety into my sd card

probably your phone does not support to move app from internal storage to sd card. there is another solution: simply use your sd card as internal storage, that's it, solved :-)

Supposing I do that with my 32GB card, (I dont know what card of cards you buy, I bought mine for some quick storage) I store all my games the card, what happens to my other apps? (100MB  apps for other uses)

when you use sd card as internal storage, your phone will keep the hard drive storage but will use sd card as it is an extension to phone storage, so all your previous apps and system apps remains safe and full functional.


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Mobile Legends not working in android x86
I I'm trying to play mlbb on my laptop with android x86. But after the first extradition the screen goes black after the logo and it says keeps stop working. I enabled native bridge and tried other is like prime and phoenix. It works on emulator but slow. How can I get it running?
If this is not site for it. Please refer

As you pointed out in a comment that Mlbb is only available for arm7, it's unlikely to run on x86 due to architecture differences.

But android x86 has arm compitibality. And arms games like alto packo runs well. I also saw some people  on youtube play it on phoenix os. There was also a edieted apk for android x86 2 years ago.

Ah, OK – I wasn't aware of that.


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Macrodroid: Convert "+63" area code to "0"
So there is already a working macro that does the following:
Whenever I dial/call a number with a prefix other than the ones I specified, a dialog box appears. I wanted to "filter" the numbers so I would be notified if I was to make a call to a number belonging to a different network/company.
To clarify, there are two codes in the prefix.  One is the country code and the other is the network code. For instance, country code is +63 and network (company) code is 945. Furthermore, the country code +63 is interchangeable with 0 and both valid are when making a call. So a +63945xxx number is the same as 0945xxx.
My current issue is that 4-digit prefixes (the ones starting with 0 like 0945, 0917, etc) are already "filtered" by the existing macro. However, 6-digit prefixes (the ones starting with +63 like +63945,+63917 are not filtered), hence 0945 and +63945 which are virtually the same will get different responses (One will prompt a dialog box and the other will not). What I am looking for is a way to first convert +63 to 0 so that it becomes a 4-digit number which the macro can filter.
Here is a link to my previous question which can be used as reference.
Make a pop up message if about to call area codes excluding specified
Also attached is the macro that currently filters 4-digit prefixes but overlooks 6-digit ones.
Edit: 8/15/2020 14:10
I started a new macro from scratch just to be sure. But result in log seems to be the same. Examples of numbers called would be +639451234567 and 09451234567. All numbers dialled prompted a dialog box. Here are the screenshots:
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/wksR0.png)
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/FJTtc.png)
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/y9Jqi.png)
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/qnwbm.png)
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/JTS76.png)
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/uBuJ8.png)
Edit: 22:30
Below macro given by beeshyams works well.

I am not sure what went wrong at your end, it could be wrong configuration, misuse of global variables or a silly mistake. In the absence of trouble shooting information, it's a guessing game.

Your approach of changing 63 to 0 as in the title is totally unnecessary.

Macro Logic

Outgoing call number is assigned to local variable A as a string (don't use global variables unless you need)

The length of the string in variable A is assigned to variable strlen. We have two types of outgoing numbers, those starting with +63, which is 13 digits long and the other starting with 09 that is 11 digits.

We use IF-then-ELSE logic. If the string length is 13 (corresponding to numbers starting with +65):

a) We use text manipulation to find out the first six digits to find out whether they are allowed codes or not. In either case, they are assigned to variable A.
b) If the first 6 digits are allowed codes, no action is taken. If they aren't a warning dialogue is configured. This is done by the nested IF loop and can be extended to include more area codes.

Back to step 2,if it is not 13 digits, then actions in else loop will be carried out. We are looking at 11 digits corresponding to 09 starting numbers. But by saying not 13,we are also including other cases like police, fire etc., which have 3 digits and for which the warning will still pop up and the effort to exclude this 3 digit case is not worth it IMO.

For 9 digit numbers, the same set of actions at Para 3a) and b) are executed.

At the end both variables are initialized

Macro is slightly long owing to comments, so it's in two screenshots, the first one covering IF and next one ELSE

(Click to enlarge)
OP has confirmed it works as expected. To prevent MacroDroid being killed follow instructions at don't kill my app.com


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how to combine Android phone's wifi hotspot and USB tethering so that they are in same network?
I want to transfer files from one Windows 10 computer to the another, for this I usually use Ethernet crossover cable but its transfer speed is (100/100 Mbps)

I have a 5Ghz wifi adapter in only one of my PCs and 5Ghz wifi hotspot in my Android 10 phone which gives speeds upto (433/433 Mbps) also when I use USB tethering from Android Phone it gives speed upto (425/425 Mbps)
So, What I'm trying to accomplish here is to connect one of the PCs to 5Ghz wifi (Remember I have only 1 adapter of 5Ghz) network  and another to USB tethering network using the same phone so that they are both in the same network and hence I may transfer files.
But the problem I am facing here is that the Android 10 phone is providing Different networks (IPv4 network addresses are different) for both the Wifi hotspot and the USB tethering in both the PCs.
Wifi Network Details:
USB tethering network details:
So what can I do? so that both the computers are in same networks using such connections from Android 10 phone.

Don't use Windows PCs as the end points to make file transfer operations. Instead, use Android as the end point for both networks (because it can access both networks at the same time). What you can do is: 1) download a file manager app with network filesystem support (such as FTP, WebDAV, SFTP, etc.). 2) Setup an FTP or a SSH server or a WebDAV on both your PCs. 3) Connect both PCs to hotspot and tethering respectively. 4) Configure your file manager app to access both the PCs. Than use the same file manager to transfer/copy files from one PC to another.

If your device is rooted and uses dnsmasq as DHCP server, then it's possible: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/214072/218526

@Firelord how about merging these or marking duplicates: https://android.stackexchange.com/q/241852, https://android.stackexchange.com/q/236678, https://android.stackexchange.com/q/226520, https://android.stackexchange.com/q/219973, https://android.stackexchange.com/q/119147, https://android.stackexchange.com/q/116447, https://android.stackexchange.com/q/106625, https://android.stackexchange.com/q/26934 and this one?

@IrfanLatif sorry, I'm busy for a couple of days so can't spend much time here. I will ask other mods to see if they can look into it.

Here's another https://android.stackexchange.com/q/174642


text:
Deleting images from Google Photos without deleting them from the device
I've created a folder in Google Photos with images that were in other folders. I want to delete the images from the other folders without deleting them from the device. But when I delete them, they get deleted from the new folder and the device.
Is it possible to only delete the images from Google Photos without deleting them from the device?

This reminds me that Google Photos is actually a syncing solution, not a backup solution. Anything that is done with it will be synced to the server and devices.


text:
How can I reset my Misfit Vapor X when it won't even boot after an automatic update?
Okay, so I bought a Misfit Vapor X.  It was brand new, and worked for about an hour when it updated itself.  Now, it won't boot and goes into a boot loop when I try.
It will buzz, then show the Misfit logo for about ten seconds, and repeat the process.
I pressed the main button and the bottom button and got the watch to go into the recovery screen.
From there, I can choose:

START
Shipping Mode
Restart bootloader
Recovery mode
Power Off

START goes into the boot loop
Shipping Mode gives me a screen of red letters that show this:
SHIPPING MODE
PPG Fail or Timeout!
LED1 3216, LED2 3832
IR 9003
Recovery Mode goes back into the boot loop
Power Off doesn't, and instead goes to the boot loop.
I googled the above cryptic message without any useful result.
I can't get ADB to see the watch (I'm not an expert, so I may not be doing that right...)

I would simply get the non-working watch back to the shop where you bought it.

@Robert -- Yeah, that's probably the only option.


text:
USB tethering not working after using MirrorLink
Sharing was workink fine until I started using MirrorLink. Now when I try to share internet via USB cable i get greyed-out option saying "Port USB is used by MirrorLink". When i go to MirrorLink tab i get greyed-out option too, saying "USB tethering is turned on".  It looks like the Apps are fighting over USB connection. Can I somehow prioritize USB? I tried to turn off MirrorLink app but It didn´t fix the problem. Any ideas what should I try next?
(The pictures are in Slovakia language if you want something to translate just let me know)

Try clean cache MirrorLink because fix your tethering issue first then look forward to app

And give a translation as google translator isn't working well (minor errors) for all languages


text:
android's linux kernel scheduling mechanism vs harmony os's deterministic latency engine
I was reading upon Harmony OS and found that android's Linux kernel scheduling mechanism has some limitations as mentioned here: https://harmonyosofficial.com/
From Harmony OS website mentioned above:

Unlike Android which uses the Linux kernel’s scheduling mechanism,
Harmony OS uses a “deterministic latency engine” that provides
“precise resource scheduling with real-time load analysis and
forecasting and app characteristics matching.” The result is a 25.7%
and 55.6% improvement in response latency and latency fluctuation
respectively. In addition, Huawei says the microkernel can make “IPC
[Inter Process Communication] performance up to five times more
efficient than existing systems.”

Video tweet with explanation
https://twitter.com/HuaweiMobile/status/1159725806320594945?s=19
I didn't understand these limitations properly. Can someone explain me in easy words along with the use cases?
How can this Harmony OS's new kernel benefit users/developers? Also, I'm a software engineer so I understand terms like scheduling etc. But I don't know how Linux Kernel does it vs Harmony's kernel

In this statements I don't see any limitation. It is just a statement that the kernel behaves more like a real-time kernel with lower latency. Hence multiple processes have to wait less time before they get CPU time to do whatever they want.

Why can't Linux kernel implement this if it's so good

Usually improvements are a trade-off. Looks like Huawei has optimized the system for IPC however this advantage most likely means that some other part of the scheduling system now faces some disadvantages.

What parts? What is IPC?


text:
Is it possible to have manageable encryption when using TWRP/unlocked bootloader and modified ROM?
Every single piece of information I've come across warns me about issues with sane encryption when using custom recovery, unlocked bootloader and non-stock ROM (as in modified, not community AOSP based). Since I need following things:

ability to back-up/restore data from the recovery if needed
root, which means I have to flash things manually after flashing ROM
ability to flash/update the ROM (since this is the only way, OTA wont work in my setup)

I can live without the 1st, but there is no way to let go of the rest 2. If I enable encryption I wont have access to data from recovery or rather I will have access to encrypted data. This isnt the problem normally until I need to flash over updated ROM or swap ROM - now there is an issue because encryption key will change.
There is also no point to have password-locked TWRP since with unlocked bootloader it is easy to sideload new one.
Does the headache-less solution for power-users exist?

(2) The encryption is password and system based. Some TWRP versions can access the encrypted user data after supplied with the correct password (3) I don't see any problem in flashing a new ROM as the system partition is not encrypted, only your data partition is.

What would be the password? How would it know which encryption method is used?

@Kirikan the same password you set in ROM. TWRP supports FDE as well as FBE on mostly devices. Decryption process is based on AOSP code and even supports hardware-backed encryption, if applicable to the device.

TWRP has issues with encryption, try Orange Fox Recovery instead. don't install Universal DM-Verity ForceEncrypt Disabler that will result in fingerprint not working

@alecxs I had to use Force DMVerify-Encrypt inside the TWRP advanced settings itself to be able to install different region ROM. Right now when I try to cope any file form /data/ it just says using default password and copies with 0 issues. How would I switch to encryption mode without screwing things up?

you are mixing up dm-verity with encryption. it seems MIUI 11 is running android 9 with plain old FDE encryption with no passphrase at all (using default_password)

although the Universal DM-Verity ForceEncrypt Disabler claims that forceencrypt can be disabled, it does destroy encryption completely (due to some combatibility changes regarding FBE android 10) for FDE no-verity-opt-encrypt is recommended instead as it does what it should

Okay, I'm confused, how come it uses default passphrase if I have set up PIN?

encryption is independent and your device stays encrypted without any screenlock at all. if your login credentials would be part of encryption TWRP would ask you for pin/pattern (not the case for lot xiaomi devices) https://android.stackexchange.com/q/17292


text:
Pull Memo data off LG L33L
I have an old Tracfone LG L33L and have discontinued service on it.  I can access it with USB or wifi.  And there are memo files on it that I was planning on pulling off via USB.  I can't find them.
How to I find and then transfer those files to my laptop?  Or will they even be readable, if I can find them?
I added a memo file and then searched for files created today, and nothing was found.  I searched by file name, and found nothing.  I'm looking in Internal Storage, which is all I see when connected via USB.

memos are most likely not files (depending on kind) apps usually save data in databases besides app data isn't saved internal storage, you must examine adb backup files


text:
How do I clean up remembered files in builtin files app?
Default files app is showing many files (mostly photos) that don't exist anymore. How to clean it up?
All of these files existed under /sdcard and were cleaned via synchronization with my PC over ssh. I don't keep my old photos on my phone, and most of the rest was just junk.
(Yes the files really don't exist. If I tap them it just spins. It's like the files app can't handle the file not being there.)
I've operated this way for a long time, but it's glitched out now.
This is an rooted essential PH-1 phone; firmware is from this year. Note that rooted PH-1 phones run patched firmware.

Delete cache of the file manager and photos app.

Go to the app info section in your settings, enable "show system apps" on the hamburger menu, locate media storage, delete it's cache. Reboot, wait for a few minutes for the media databases to build up again and your problem most likely would be solved.

This may not always solve the problem as explained very well in this answer by Irfan Latif and you may have to resort using apps such as AZ media rescan


text:
Samsung Galaxy A70 stuck in boot loop
I have a Samsung Galaxy A70 (A705FN) which worked fine until i decided to update to Android 10. I downloaded the update and everything was fine until the phone restarted and got stuck in a boot loop. I did some research and everyone suggested that Wipe Cache would do the trick.
But the problem is i can't access recovery menu. When hold down power and volume up buttons a blue screen pops up and says Installing Updates ... and goes 0 to 100% and then restarts and i'm stuck in the loop again. No matter how many times it doesn't do anything.
I tried to use third party recovery modes like TWRP but i did not enable usb debbuging or unlocked bootloader so this is not an option for me.
So ... how do i fix this? Thanks

flash empty cache partition from ODIN


text:
How do I update the lock screen clock?
My Samsung Galaxy tab A6 shows the correct time on the home screen. However when it's locked it shows the time one hour ahead. So 10:30 instead of 9:30 for example.
How do I get the lock screen clock to show the same time as the home screen clock?

As it turns out - the timezone was set to GMT+2 when it should have been GMT+1.

Hi, could you clarify a little bit on what you changed? Did you mean there's a different setting for the lock screen's clock?

I went into: Apps -> Settings -> Date and time -> Select time zone And selected British Summer time (it was set  to something else 1 hour in front of BST)


text:
I factory reset my hudl2, and now it "can't connect to the Internet"
I was given an old Tesco Hudl2 recently (Model No. HTFA4B), and the one of the first things I did - perhaps unwisely - was to do a factory reset on it.
Now, after choosing my WiFi connection, it tells me:

Couldn't access internet
An internet connection is needed to setup your hudl.  Please check your WiFi settings or connect to a different network.

This page suggests the update server (rather than the "internet") is probably down.
A packet capture seems to suggest it's connecting to https://device.mobile.tesco.com/, but the certificate there expired on 26 June.
A thread at Modaco may have more information, but the forums have been down for at least the last couple of days.

If it is really the certificate try to change the system date to a date before the certificate had expired.

Good suggestion.  I don't think I have the option to set the clock sadly.  I'm not sure it's doing an NTP query from the packet capture, but maybe if I run the battery down..  I'm guessing I may have to spoof an NTP server?

Do you have back up of phone. Specifically your profile backup. Try to restore your profile. It will also restore your network internet WIFi setting.
Do you able to connect other wifi network.

Thanks for the suggestion.  It's not a WiFi problem though - the device can connect to the Internet, but because it can't talk to the update server it shows a misleading error message.  (Hudl is a tablet by the way, not a phone..)

I've managed to work around this for a Hudl 1 by setting the date to before 26 June.  I had to escape the set-up wizard and then find a way to get into the settings app.  I don't know if a similar set of steps will work for the Hudl 2?
My write up is here

Thanks!  I guess the main tricks are: get from the keyboard into Chrome via the Privacy Policy; search for the "Open Settings (shortcut to setting)" app; install and open it to change the date.  I hit some miscellaneous hurdles, but I think most were solved with patience or more reboots.

@mwfearnley - can you confirm that you made this work with a Hudl 2 as weel - if so then I'll update my instructions to include that it can work for a HUdl 2 as well.

Thanks. Yes, I can confirm that your steps worked for a Hudl 2. Any problems I had might have been due to not following the instructions carefully enough. The principles were certainly sound. The big breakthrough was learning I could get to a web browser from the keyboard!

Saved us there, thanks!


text:
What can cause a file to self destruct itself?
I had a file on my device (Huawei Mate SE, Android version 8) which I downloaded few months ago.
Few days ago, the file disappeared. It's just gone and I can't find any trace of it. I'm 100% sure I did not delete it myself.
No other file is gone, only that one. This is the first time such thing happens to me, on any device.
If it matters, the file is a song (audio only mp4).
What can cause such a thing?
Additional info about the file:

It was downloaded via a browser on a desktop computer, sent to myself via email and downloaded on the phone from that email. I deleted the original file on the computer.
I don't know if the file had any special protection.
I have several other files downloaded in this exact way, all of them are fine.

What steps does your music player  need to delete a song/audio file? Files don't disappear on their own so something must have triggered deletion. Also, how are you trying to access that file? Using music player or using file manager app?

@Firelord to delete a song via the player I need to tap a three vertical dots icon, choose "Delete" in a menu and confirm. I'm 100% sure I never did that with the song that disappeared. I access it only via the music player, while playing the whole playlist, or choosing to play it directly. I never used the file manager to access a song. I know it's weird, that's why I was hoping someone might know something about it... :)


text:
How was the bootloop fixed on OnePlus 7?
This is a weird question , in the sense I recovered from the boot loop but don't know why and how and hoping I get some pointers from the possibly incomplete information.
I recently applied monthly update on my OnePlus 7. For those who aren't aware , OnePlus downloads the complete ROM instead of update if it detects root or unlocked bootloader (good thing). This is applied as local update. Before applying the update, one needs to uninstall those Magisk modules which aren't a part of the Magisk repo to prevent bootloop and switch slots in Magisk as per the OTA upgrade notes.
I had done this several times and this time it went fine and it booted up normally. Yesterday, I needed to reboot for a totally different reason and on doing so entered into a bootloop. Long press  power didn't shut down the device and none of the usual key combination tricks worked. Fortunately, after a struggle, I managed to get into recovery mode of device using  power +  vol down. My first suspect for the bootloop was that I had was that I was careless by not uninstalling non-Magisk repo module , so here's what I did after fast booting into TWRP

Cleared cache and rebooted with same result.

Flashed this zip to enable Magisk core only and rebooted. No luck

Switched slots hoping that the pre-update slot would boot up but again no luck.

I was resigned by this stage to doing a factory-reset since I couldn't think of any other solution. Since the full ROM was already there on the device , I tried installing it through TWRP ( I know it won't work, since it is not a fastboot ROM, but then I was ready for factory-reset). It showed installation in two stages , stage 1 was successful but stage 2 stopped mid way with a warning fstab not created (IIRC) . This flashed twice. Again tried to reboot , no luck.

Booted into TWRP and again disabled all Magisk modules and rebooted, Bingo, it worked ! (I may have switched slots, don't recollect as I was reckless enough to try anything)

I am sure trying to flash full ROM had something to do with revival because on booting I had a stock kernel, instead of custom kernel. Of course, I had to flash Magisk and modules to get back to business  but luckily data was intact.
Long story to make sure no facts are missed. Now my question in two parts:

What else could I have tried?

How did flashing the ROM (unsuccessfully) help?

I am not clear on a couple of things. 1) after you flashed the OTA using system updater, did you flash magisk and twrp or not? If not, than system update was not applied correctly as it should  have rewritten boot partition with stock image which includes stock recovery too, therefore twrp would not have been there. 2) which magisk modules, as mentioned in last bullet point, were still there that you had to disable to get things working?

@Firelord, first point : once you uninstall non magisk repo modules (=mark them for deletion), you apply update, when it comes to reboot stage, you go to Magisk and switch slots, reboot. Then Magisk +root is retained. This as per the Magisk recommended procedure (linked too- it doesn't talk of uninstall non Magisk modules, which is as per XDA thread and I followed this for at least 5 updates). I don't flash TWRP at all, it's an additional complication in this procedure, and when I need it, I temporarily boot into it //

second point - I uninstalled all modules from the TWRP terminal, just to be on the safer, side. Just like the first time I tried, effectively keeping Magisk Core only. I was not keen on finding out culprit module so took a blanket approach // Ideally logs should have been taken, as Irfan pointed out but I was more keen on getting out of the mess //I am not really expecting a definitive answer but some thoughts more to address my first question. Thanks


text:
Can magisk replace files outside of /data/system?
I need to replace a file in /data/data/... Is it possible with magisk? And if so, how?
I've read the developer guide multiple times, and it seems that it's possible using an overlay system - which I absolutely fail to understand.
Another way of replacing the file could theoretically be using shell during the module's installation process, but that gives me "operation not permitted" (+ it's not an "overlay" because we're directly modifying the file).

yes the main purpose of Magisk is to have read-write access to /data. the concept of overlay concerns /system (not /data)

How would you replace /data/data/file.txt then? I tried creating a directory in the module's installer with the same structure as the file I am trying to replace (data/data/file.txt) and then in customize.sh created a variable REPLACE="/data/data/file.txt", but that doesn't seem to work.

I'm not experienced in writing Magisk modules (what your actual concern is), but writing to /data is not a problem once you have root access. E.g. you can run a script on boot, or execute commands manually from commandline, or perform operations from a GUI root-enabled app and read/write/delete whatever you want in whole /data partition. systemless, overlay and bind-mount things are for read-only OS partitions i.e. /system, /vendor etc. /data has ever been writable. That's where the Android OS itself stores data. And that's where users store data.


text:
How to get checksum for the running firmware?
I have seen other questions and answers that say given a new phone shipped from a retailer, it is only possible to verify the integrity of the firmware by comparing checksums.
However, I'm not sure how to get the checksum of the currently running firmware on my device. Is this even possible? I may have misinterpreted the other advice as comparing checksums for downloaded images, but I am specifically looking to check the firmware that came loaded on the phone against a valid source before re-imaging it if that's what I decide to do. Hoping for generic advice, but manufacturer is LG if it matters. Please suggest tools and process.
Final note: The phone has been used since it was received, so if there is a way to capture the pre-loaded firmware, I want to make sure it is not affected by any software/user option changes that would be made after the device setup was complete. I'm guessing I want to get a checksum of the current software version, so not sure if I have to make an image first and if that firmware image that is created would be static.

Related How do I verify my firmware is legitimate?

You can get the checksum of a file. On Android the OS isn't a file,so the concept of checksum doesn't hold. You can instead use SafetyNet Checker


text:
Do "unlocked" phones come pre-unlocked or just the ability to be unlocked?
When you buy an unlocked (carrier-free) device, do the phones usually come unlocked already, or just with the ability to be unlocked easily? e.g. would the fastboot unlocked status be locked when it arrived? I believe this is referring to the bootloader lock and not the sim/carrier lock if those are different.

They aren't related at all
Unlocked phones refer to phones that aren't bound to any carrier.
It looks like you are mixing this up with bootloader-lock, whose tag wiki says

Some bootloaders are locked by the manufactures to prevent the phones from booting unofficial firmware images.

(Read the wiki and linked questions for more information)
These two are totally independent and as a security measure practically all mobile devices are shipped with boot loader locked while they may be carrier locked /carrier unlocked. For instance, in India we don't have the concept of carrier locking (barring a negligible few cases) and therefore all phones are carrier unlocked, while they are boot loader locked. How easy or difficult is it to unlock boot loader depends on the measures taken by the OEM and again has nothing to with carrier lock/unlock (carriers often make it more complicated)