text:
Image and video files disappear from the SD Card
Sometimes it happens that all image files (JPEG, PNG, etc.) and videos (3GP) are erased automatically in the SD Card. So they are removed from Gallery also.
This means I risk to lose documents and photos I shoot with the phone camera, unless I make external backups.
I noticed that sometimes it looks related to fast mount/unmount cycles via USB cable to a PC (due to unwanted multiple pressure on the 'Activate/Deactivate media archive' soft-button on the phone)
Does anyone know what happens? Is it a known bug, some misuse from my side, etc.
My phone model is LG P962, with Android 2.3.4 and a 32-GB SD Card.
Thanks!

Hard to say without a closer look. Could be some misbehaving/misconfigured Sync app, could be you removing the card while it is still accessed, could be some task you configured...

I would rather go with replacing the SD Card and checking if that happens again. Nowadays there are lots of cheap SD Cards which simply lose or corrupt your data with no particular reason. There have been reports of SD cards that pretend to be 4, 8, 16GB or even more but only have 256MB. If you have such a bad card and copy more than 256mb of data it will get corrupted. The same thing applies to flash drives etc.
If that doesn't help then try to restore your device to the original state and do not install all your applications at one go. Try to install the most important first and the rest in some intervals so you can find the one which may be causing problems.

thank you for your hint. Anyway I think this is not my case: I have a 32 GB SD Card with my music in it, and only images and videos are sometimes deleted.

The same thing happened to my Nexus 6P in internal storage so I doubt it has to do with cheap SD cards.


text:
Cannot turn Nexus 7 on after locking the screen
My Nexus 7 had been performing without any issues, however, I locked the screen by pressing the power button as usual and then tried to turn it on several hours later but it was unresponsive.
How can I fix this?

For me this seems to occur more frequency after a full charge.

I've managed to deal with this problem by performing a "soft reset".
Hold down the power button for around 30 seconds, the device should start a soft reset (i.e. you don't lose any data/settings etc.) and reboot.
--
Why it blocked and prevented me from performing a screen unlock remains to be explained.

I hope "reset" here means a soft-reset and not a factory reset. Am I right?

Yep that's right, I'll clarify in the answer.

I remember that behaviour too, but not in the last 2 months, iirc. Have you updated to the last version (4.2.1)? Could you still get a response by adb shell or adb logcat?

@ott I updated as soon as I could get it OTA, I didn't try anything but the soft reset, if iit happens again I'll give them a go.

For those that tried the soft reset to no avail: some tablet covers have magnets in them used to toggle the screen on and off. If your cover is poorly made, it may trigger the screen to turn off at inopportune times, e.g. when you have it folded back like a book cover and it's turning your screen off as soon as you get past the lockscreen.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Can't swipe down notifications on Nexus 4
i have a 12 day old Nexus 4 and i can't swipe down the notifications bar.

i've tried turning it off
i've tried performing a factory reset

If i go into an application that supports landscape mode (e.g. Chrome), and turn the phone landscape, then i can swipe down notifications from the "top".
But then i can't click the "Home" button, which is then located on on the right hand side of the screen, which is the top of the physical phone - near the earpiece).

Edit: i forgot that the whole point of including the picture was to demonstrate the home button can't be clicked when it's near the "earphone" (e.g. on the right in the above photo). Unfortunately, in this picture all shadow detail as been lost. But trust me, the earphone is on the right side in the above photo.

Nexus 4; Model LG-E960

See also

Droid RAZR Support > Can't swipe down the notification bar
Android Central - notification bar not opening

A hardware issue may be? Are you able to swipe / touch in that particular area when it's showing something else than notification bar?

@SurajBajaj No. In the above picture, where the "top" of the phone is now on the right, i cannot click on the Home, Back, or Switch buttons.

I would say it's probably a hardware issue.

This is a hardware issue most likely.
The only way to solve this would be to send the device back to the manufacturer.

Update: It was a hardware issue. It was returned and a replacement was shipped out.

I had the same issue with my nexus 4 and its definitely a hardware issue for sure...avoid factory reset and rebooting of your phone becoz it wont change anything..but on a temporary basis u can put the display setting of auto rotate on and when there is issue to swipe in portrait you can auto rotate your screen in landscape through an app swipe it and three four time down and then it would start working in portrait form also.

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


text:
What's the difference between the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active ST17i, the ST17i-BKW, ST17a, and the ST17a-BKO?
I am interested in buying Sony Ericcson Xperia Active (unlocked) but there are several choices and I can't figure out which phone is which. Can someone explain to me the difference? Thanks!

http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/45643

a is for 'americas' i is 'international' e.g. the rest of the world.  You get slightly different network support.
ST17i UMTS HSPA 900 (Band VIII), 2100 (Band I)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
ST17a UMTS HSPA 800 (Band V), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
This is from the whitepaper.
I belive everything else about the phone is the same.
BKW and BKO I think will be the colour scheme of an orange or white hilight.

AFAIK not much other than the frequency bands they operate on:
ST17i: (i = International version) Dual-band
UMTS HSPA 900 (Band VIII), 2100 (Band I)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
ST17a: (a = American version) Tri-band
UMTS HSPA 800 (Band V), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900


text:
How to copy the current URL in Chrome?
I was sure in the version prior to 18.0 you could fiddle around and long press on the URL in the address bar and get a menu to copy the current URL.
I just updated Chrome, now if I long press it I just get the magnifying glass which is incredibly frustrating. How can I copy the current URL to the clipboard in the Chrome browser?
Chrome 18.0.1025469
Android 4.0.4
Sony Xperia P

Turns out I was doing it wrong (well at least on my my ROM).
You need to perform two double-taps.

Double tap the URL. The first tap will select all of the URL and the second will deselect it and give you the text cursor and that little text selection tab helper thing.
Double tap the URL again to bring up the menu.

Or you can just keep quickly tapping until the copy menu appears. I find this whole process to be a bit unusual.
Other people are saying that they can long press to copy, so not sure if the above is specific to Sony ROMs.

Long tap works in my Galaxy Nexus, the steps you describe work here too.

Using Google Chrome 60 on Android 7.0 build by Sony, it only needs three taps. 1: open the search / address bar, select all of URL. 2&3 (double tap): deselect it then select all and show floating clipboard menu with text selection (teardrop shapes).

It just might be about your ROM.
I have the same version of Chrome, on Android 4.1.2.
When I select the URL and long-press, I am getting a row of buttons, which of course includes a 'copy' button.

You could be right. This week I updated both the ROM and Chrome.

@row1 I'm also using the same Chrome version, but on Android 4.0.3, and can confirm that long pressing the URL does bring up the cut/copy/paste button bar.

You could workaround this problem by sending the page to Gmail App, and there you can copy the URL from the draft message body. Then you can delete the draft from Gmail.

Have previously tried this. It is quite messy as you need to then exit edit mode (can't seem to select text), then load the draft (non-edit mode), then long press the URL to copy. Does work though. A share to clipboard app would be better.

Android 4.2 has the new sharing option "Copy to clipboard".

Thanks for the screens. I can't seem to copy it from your 3rd screen. I need to exit edit mode. Not sure if Sony will ever give me the 4.2 update ... well at least not any time soon :(

I don't understand what you mean with "exit edit mode". Please could you explain better this? Maybe a screenshot could be helpful too.

Go back to your labels and selects drafts. Select a draft email. You are now previewing the draft and need to press the 'pencil' icon to edit it. I cannot select text from this preview mode, but if I long press on the URL I get an option to copy it.

When you share to Gmail app, don't you get directly to a Compose view? Is there, in the body of that message you will be now composing, where you have to copy the shared URL from. To go back like you say and do all these process you describe gets you exactly to the same Compose view I'm talking about.

Yes I go directly into compose view, but I cannot copy from compose view as it won't let me select or copy the URL. I need to go into preview view for the draft. The steps I described is not exactly the same. In preview view it will render the URL (blue text instead of plain), then I can long press on the URL I get an option to copy it. I cannot do this from compose view.

Definitely this must be a ROM issue, because it's affecting not only Chrome but Gmail too. Better go for my other answer: it's less complicated.

Try this free app:  To Clipboard
Install it and it will be added as a new share option, so you can send there the URL from Chrome.

This works very well. Will wait and see if I can get any fixes/explanations for Chrome before accepting.

I don't think this is a Chrome issue, but a manufacturer ROM related "feature", because I had all versions of Android since 4.0 until 4.2.1 in my Galaxy Nexus and I never had any problem to copy URLs in Chrome.

It was working a few weeks ago when I last tried it. Since then have updated the ROM and Chrome. So could be the ROM.

Use share from more(3 vertical dots) besides address bar. You will get copy to clipboard from various options of sharing. (Android 4.2.2 on Sony xperia z)

If you don't have this, you can get it by installing copy to clipboard

Chrome browser. Samsung 10" tablet.

Get the URL you want to copy on the address bar.
Scroll it as far right as it will go.
Touch the URL lightly and it will be selected in blue.
Very lightly touch an area on the left of the URL and pull it to the right.
You can now use the selector handle to select the new area.
Repeat until you have the http(s) showing and touch copy.

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


text:
No display but touch screen working on Samsung Galaxy Gio
I have Android 2.3.3 Samsung Galaxy Gio phone.
From past few days there is no display on the device. Rest other functions works fine including touch screen (I can unlock).
Not sure if its a software issue or hardware problem.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Have you tried turning it off/on? Removing battery? Connecting to charger (to know if you see a charge indicator) both off and on? Removing microSD card? Connecting to computer?

Hi Francisco, I tried all as mentioned by you way, but no luck... when i boot it the screen changes color from dark to little light (like something light-up in background) that's it..


text:
Antenna Patch/Adaptor for Galaxy Nexus i9250
It's been a month of searching what kind of antenna adapter/patch am I going to use.
Anyone knows what kind of patch is this?
Thanks.

You will need a MS147.
Be careful, you might kill your internal Antenna connecting an external one.


text:
Extract or view data usage for specific times
In Android 4.0 there's data usage I can see how much for date to date was used. I want to see for specific date and only 1h from specific time.
How can I view this already used data usage? DON'T post new data usage counters witch will count only from installation. I need to view old data or extract.

I'm afraid this is not possible retrospectively.

@Izzy: "Retrospectively"? Do you mean "retroactively"?

Well, in that case I'm afraid you only have an option to check with your service provider. Service providers normally keep track of it. No app can track your past data usage. To avoid this trouble in future you should consider a data counter app. :)

@AlEverett You're probably right -- I'm not a native English speaker, so please forgive me :)

I want to extract to proove provider i havent used internet while i was out of country. I did try to use but it wasnt connecting but they say thats what ive been using. So i want to get info from phone.

Retroactively means influencing backward, action going backward, beeing wrongly.
Retrospective is looking in history.


text:
Can I reset the Kindle Fire HD and power off without going to setup?
I just got a Kindle Fire HD which Im planning to give away as a gift to a friend. But I need to boot it and write a review on my website before giving it. So, how can I make it look like I never switched it on?
When we boot the tablet, it'll give us a setup wizard. After resetting, we will get to the setup wizard again. My question is, how to power off the tablet without following the setup and will it show the setup when I power it again?

Depending on the setup, you may be able to bypass it. This is the case if it is the default Google setup wizard.
If it is not, then there may be no way to bypass it, and you will therefore have to follow it through.
When you wipe the device, it will show again on next boot, so why don't you just follow the setup and then wipe it? This way it will be as if it was never booted for the next person to turn it on.

If I wipe it again, it will reboot and go to the setup again :)

Use it then wipe it.


text:
Applications moved to SD card cannot be loaded
I have an Android phone running Android 2.2.1 with very limited phone memory. So I have to move the applications to SD card all the time.
BUT:
If I move applications to the SD card, then after I reboot the phone, some of the (most likely the bigger in size ones) will disappear on the application panel. And the icons in the settings → application management will turn into a gray icon with a SD mark on it. Also the name becomes the package name like 'com.foo.bar'. If I tap the icon, only the remove button is available. This is different from the issue of icons on application panel loads slow after reboot. This issue is about the application just won't load.
Another thing on I noticed is that, on reboot, loading SD card seems done in a very short time. Maybe the system is not loading the SD card with enough time.
Is there anything I can do about it?

Can you access the SD card afterwards? Are any other files disappearing? Additionally, if (after those apps "disappeared") you take out the sd card and mount it to your computer using a card reader, can you check the .android_secure directory on it whether the .apk files are still there?

thanks for reply @Izzy photos and files on sd card are accessable as usual. I did as you told, there was a .android_secure folder, but i only saw .ases files, no any .apk files there.

I forgot to mention that they have a different extension there (should be .asec), as they are encrypted. Are all the "missing apps" still there? If so, you've got some problem with the App2SD service. Are you using the native method (as provided by Android itself), or any 3rd-party helper apps?

What model phone? Are you rooted? Are you using the built-in "move to SD card"? I assume that these applications work fine if they're not on the SD card, yes?

Yes @Izzy , they are .asec, but seems the historical files were there too. like com.foo.bar-1.asec and com.foo.bar.asec . Yes, i moved them to sdcard with native android application management. If i leave them on the phone memory they work fine.

There are many apps that wont run from an SD Card, read some of this article http://hobbyistsoftware.com/InsideYourTreo/run-app-from-sd-card.php

Very funny, Simon: 1st, your article is on PalmOS (and we're talking Android here), and 2nd Still's apps completely disappear after a reboot (and before that were running fine from sd card). So your comment does not apply here at all, sorry.

Any one have any idea what's happening here?

I have the same problem on my Galaxy S2 (ICS 4.0.4). It's random which apps though could be the larger ones. I've seen reports of this elsewhere. It seems to be the general loading time of the card. All the apps are supposedly fine running on an sd card. Frustrating as the s2 has a poor partition size for the phone memory so can't get all my apps on it.

Use a different Launcher like Apex and you'll be fine

Please elaborate on this. Why do you think this will solve the problem?

This is an answer.  As surmised by the OP, the system is not loading the SD card with enough time and the default launcher removes the icons for apps on the SD card.  Some other launchers do not do this.


text:
Choose default music player to play / pause music on hands-free button press
I like the feature to use button on the hands-free (headset) to play / pause music. I have a bunch of music players installed on my phone: Apollo, Sony Walkman, Play Music, etc. When I use the hands-free button to play music, every time it plays music from any one of the players. Is there any way to set a default player to play music on the hands-free button press?
Say for example, I want only Sony Walkman to play music when I press button on the hands-free instead of launching any other player randomly.
Can this be done?
I have a Sony Xperia Neo V (code name: Haida) running CyanogenMod 9. Android version 4.0.4.

You could check the playstore for headset control apps. Having a Philips headset, Philips Headset works perfectly for me -- and lets me define which player app to launch as soon as the headset is connected, plus gives me a bunch of control options for the headset's single button (e.c. click for play/pause or take call, long-press to increase volume, click twice to skip a title or reject a call, and more).
There are many more similar apps available. Quite famous examples include e.g. JAYS Headset Control (which did not work that well with my Philips headset -- but that may be caused by the headset itself), and Headset Button Controller. Simply search the playstore for "headset control" for more options.

Most of popular music players have settings to override default behavior of hands free buttons.
Check your Sony walkman have that settings?

Nope. None of the music apps I have have this setting. And Sony Walkman was just an example. I might wanna set Play Music as default.

To check it I installed the playerpro music player and there is a headset settings in settings menu. It worked very well.

I don't know what app are you talking about. (Not willing to switch to any other music player now..) But I have used some players which had a setting to enable / disable hands-free music control. However, this did NOT assure that only that app was controlled... And that's what my question is.


text:
Custom Rom installation for defy
I have been trying to customize my current ROM in my Defy which runs 2.2 froyo currently as stock.
I'm confused which how I can customize my ROM, such that my stock ROM is backed up and if I don't like my new ROM I can restore the backup.
Another question is how can I install my new ROM?
I found couple of videos on Youtube that says installing ROM via 2ndinit after Rooting and then go recovery menu wipe cache, dalvik, etc and then install from SD card. Is this a valid procedure?
Refer to this video.
Is this a valid way of installing?

So late to answer a question like this, still:
For all non-advanced users who want to root their Defy and install custom ROMS, first refer this article.
It says all about you want to know about Defy before torturing it :D But don't worry, it is almost impossible to brick the mighty Defy, so feel free to experiment.

Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference (please [edit] your question and do so). Otherwise your question ceases to be helpful in case the link dies.


text:
Youtube videos open in browser by default
When I'm browsing the net using the Internet app (the default browser), youtube links open up in the browser and not in the youtube app. I don't get to choose any option like before. In Applications Manager > Internet there are no defaults set. I tried clearing cache & data for Internet & Youtube app but I still have this problem. Same thing with Facebook youtube links, they open in the browser, no option to have it opened in youtube...it's driving me crazy
I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S3 with Jelly Bean.
Turns out this problem is also on the HTC EVO (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1688866), something to do with an Apple lawsuit. If I remember correctly, I didn't have this problem when I had Ice Cream Sandwich on.
Also, if I long press a YT link in the browser, no option shows up to open it in the app? What gives?

What do you mean by "browsing the net using the Internet app"? What is the "internet app" you are using. Do you mean default browser?

You could try uninstalling the browser then reinstalling it? See what happens to the links in the mean time on a different browser?

Yes, the default browser.

I can't uninstall the browser, the uninstall button is grayed out.

Have you tried reinstalling the youtube app?

Yes, still doesn't work. Seems to be a problem with Jelly Bean. Other people are having this as well... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1892888

The links open to YouTube in the browser. If you hit Play, does that stay in the browser, or do you then get sent to the Youtube app? I ask because that is the behaviour that I see with Android 4.2.

This worked for me for the Android web browser: Settings -> Useful Features -> Open links in apps. For some reason mine became unchecked.

For Brave browser users, try: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/244632/22600

Try resetting app preferences. Go to Settings->Apps, choose from menu Reset app preferences and confirm Reset apps. This will reset all app preferences.
To reset preferences for specific app (e.g. Browser), choose it in Settings->Apps and press Clear defaults button in Launch by default section.
Next time you try to open YouTube video you should be asked which app to use.
These instruction were verified on pure Jelly Bean (on Galaxy Nexus).

The person asking the question noted that 'clear defaults' didn't work for him.

I had the same problem, here's one way to fix it: set user agent string as desktop.
To do so, type about:debug in address bar to get debug settings, then go to Settings > Debug > UA String. Set it to Desktop, restart browser and load any YT URL - it should show you the option to open YouTube app.
Tested personally on Nexus S running Android 4.2.

Thanks Sumesh, but that doesn't work either and I did everything like you said even rebooted the phone. Oh well...

FacebookLinks fix the problem of Facebook, it allow you to open youtube post from Facebook directly using Youtube app!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.obteq.sharetoyoutube

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Goto Apps in Settings and clear the youtube app preferences. It will reset your data and you will be prompted to open videos.

This really worked for me! Just follow these steps:

Go to Settings
Go to Apps
click on the Google Chrome app
Go down and click "clear defaults"

Your all done and the next time you click to watch a video it should give you the option to chose Youtube app.


text:
Change predefined SMS messages as a reply to being busy
Can predefined SMS messages that you can select when not being able to pick up the call be somehow configurable? Can we change them somehow?
I know there's the last option of writing a custom SMS message, but I would rather change and localise existing ones to suit my needs and to not repeat the same typing over and over again.

You can edit them by going to:
Dialer (Phone app) -> Settings -> Quick Responses

I have tested it on Android 4.0.4 CyanogenMod 9.

And guys thanks. I feel like a complete idiot. I was looking at Dialer settings before writing this question, but I was apparently blind or something to not see this option there... :S I'm using vanilla Android 4.2.1 on GNex and this setting is the same.

I have an S6 (SM-G920T) with Android 5.1.1 on it and don't have
Phone -> Settings -> Quick Responses

But based on user40496's post, I was able to find
Phone -> Settings -> Call rejection -> Rejection messages

where I found the list of messages.

In Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus
settings -> call -> set reject messages


text:
What does it mean by "Set permissions read, write / read, write / none for *.db file"?
I've come across a *.apk where permissions are needed to be set to the *.db file. But I don't know what's it meaning. Help?

Maybe you should tell us which .apk that is, where you found it and where this text ("Set permissions...") appears.

Actually I have the *.apk and the *.db file, except I'm kind of lost while setting permissions. I can't understand the pattern in this part only: read, write / read, write / none.

It is total unclear to me about what you are talking currently. How do you as user set permissions? Or are you talking about some kind of API? Where do you set permissions?

No, it's not an API. I am talking about setting the permission to read/write/execute the database file which is in the data folder of the app.

What is it are you trying to do in the first place that requires changing permissions on files?

It's difficult to tell for certain without a bit more context, but it sounds like the instructions are attempting to convey the Unix filesystem permissions to set on the database.
Since Android at its core runs on the Linux kernel, its filesystem maintains the same permission and access rules as any typical Unix system does. In general, there are three relevant access modes for a file:

The owner: This is the specific user that owns a file/folder. Generally it defaults to whatever user created it. Note that even on Android, which generally presents a single-user interface (excepting v4.2) there are still multiple user accounts on the device. For example, each application runs under its own user ID.
The group: This is the Unix group that is marked as the owner of the file. The user that owns the file may or may not be a member of this group. In cases where the owner is not in the group the owner permissions will take precedence.
Other: Everyone else who is not either a) the owner of the file or b) in the group that owns the file.

Because of this, simplified Unix filesystem permissions are generally expressed as triplets (I'm ignoring here other flags such as the setuid bit) in order of precedence: user/group/other. Often these will be numerical since Unix uses bitmasks under the hood, where:

Execute has a value of 1
Write has a value of 2
Read has a value of 4

Permissions are thus combined by adding the bitmask values together - to give read and write (but not execute) permission to the desired target, for example, you would want the value to be 6. Putting this together, a file with a permission of 755 would be:
7 -> Owner can read, write or execute
5 -> Group members can read or execute
5 -> Everyone else (other) can read or execute

Putting this all together in the context of your question implies (to me) that the instructions are thus telling you to give the owner of the .db file read/write permission, the group read/write permission and other no permissions at all. I observe this by splitting up the instructions at the slash delimiter in the text.
This would be equivalent to setting the filemode to 660 using the chmod command (likely you would want chmod 0660 /path/to/file.db), but can also be done using any file explorer that supports it. My personal favorite is ES File Explorer, which will give you a grid of checkboxes if you long press on a file and select "Properties". Simply check the appropriate boxes for each target (owner, group, and other).
Izzy summed up what this would mean from a functional standpoint rather well:

It would mean the app itself (=owner) has full access to the database, as has the group (probably for addons/plugins?). All other apps have no access at all (as it should be, keyword "Sandbox")

Good explanation! To point to one little thing more: It would mean the app itself (=owner) has full access to the database, as has the group (probably for addons/plugins?). All other apps have no access at all (as it should be, keyword "Sandbox").

@Izzy: That's a good summary. I'm going to move that into the answer if you don't mind (you can leave the comment, I'll link it as the source).

@Izzy Searching through my /data/data folder I see the owner and group both being root on various db files, rather than app_192 or what have you.  Edit: Looks like maybe that was because they were restored from a backup with a root app.  I'll have to try fixing my permissions.  Very informative sir :P

@MatthewRead: That seems like a logical culprit. A random sampling of my installed user apps shows IDs I would expect (ex: u0_a74 for user and group of the USA Today app's DBs).

Yeah. But please don't look at the Skype app (777 for almost everything =:-0). Apart from that, owner should always be the app, and permissions are by default 770 for directories and 660 for files (as said, except with Skype (see AndroidPolice), unless they fixed it meanwhile)

Thanks a lot. I was kind of lost because I did not know whether the delimiter was slash or comma, so I could not understand what permission to set for user/group/other. Thanks again. Solved my problem!


text:
How can I pipe the input audio of a Bluetooth headset into Google Now?
How can I pipe the input audio of a Bluetooth headset into Google Now? I have Jelly Bean 4.1.1.

We can't speculate as to Google's plans, see the [FAQ].  I'm going to edit accordingly.


text:
Google talk/voice not ringing on my PC when I am logged in on my Android phone
I use my Google voice number as my main number at my desk. The calls ring in Gmail and I answer them there as well as make calls there from my address book. With fellow Gmail/GApps users, I also receive calls via the "voice chat" feature in GMail. However, ever since I got my Galaxy S3, if I am not active in the GMail window, voice chats ring only on my phone and Google Voice calls do not ring at all unless I go back and do something in the GMail window prior to the call. The calls just ring and ring and eventually go to voicemail (in the case of Google Voice calls). Google voice is configured to send calls only to my PC - I do not want to receive calls on my Android while I am at my desk.

Hmm.  This sounds similar to how Google Talk behaves.  If you have multiple clients, messages only get sent to the most-recently-used client (with some exceptions).  I am not sure why Voice would be acting similarly.

@MatthewRead: GV uses the Gtalk client when used through Gmail. I bet that's it.

@AlEverett: Yes, I believe that is the issue. The question is, how can I get around it? It even happens if I am not actually using the GTalk client on my Android, as long as I am using the phone (e.g. Angry Birds).

I'm willing to bet it's just a settings problem. I've always had GV ring all my lines and it's never mattered when I last touched Gmail (it always also rings). Which setting, though, I'm not sure. Perhaps some experimentation?

@Mr.Buster: Not sure - there aren't THAT many settings. My GV number is only set to ring in GMail - nowhere else. This even occurs while I'm on a call. If I'm doing something on my Android while I'm talking and another call comes in, I won't get call-waiting.

What carrier are you? If you are using Sprint and have enabled Sprint/Google Voice integration, things work a little differently for you.

I'm actually overseas now so I'm using an international carrier, but I use AT&T in the US so that won't help.

This Chrome extension offers an always-running background process for Google Chat. This has worked for Google Voice for me and may give the GV/gmail chat protocol the priority that you seek (If you happen to be using Chrome). Ideally the fix should come from Google making GV a higher priority, but this could be a good work-around for you.

Well this seems to fix it for now. Annoying, though. I don't see why Google can't fix it themselves though. Thanks.

I had to stop using this plugin - it completely screwed up my alt-tab order and often an "invisible" call would ring and I would be unable to find where to answer it.


text:
Where does Android store the "default application for file type (open with)" settings?
Where does Android store the default application settings that connects each type of content with a designated application?
I mean which application open each kind of file or content type so if I got two PDF readers and I downloaded a PDF file android will use one of them without letting the user an option to choose.
I know I can clear the default settings of an application but it's not what I'm looking for.
I want to find the table/database/file that android uses for this.
Is it in a sqlite database file? Where is it stored ?

depends on the application, either as shared preferences which is xml or as sqlite... I think you have to be a bit more specific...

I guess what the OP means is: If I want to open e.g. an image file, and have multiple image viewers/editors attached, I get the choice to mark one as "always use this". Where does Android store this preference? It's not per app, this has to be a system-wide setting.

Here is a StackOverflow question asking almost the same thing, but for use in code. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8626421/get-preferred-default-app-on-android

Given that each app has the option to clear its default association settings, I guess it's a file per app, but I don't know where is it stored.

That would be the launcher application's database, for example, I use ADW Launcher, and in that, there's a table called favourites, which holds the intents to apps and how to handle them for differing apps of similar handling, for example two PDF readers. You will not find that within Android itself.

On Jelly Bean, the preferred activities are stored in the XML file /data/system/users/0/package-restrictions.xml for the primary user. Other users have their user ID in place of 0 in that path. If encrypted file system is enabled, it starts with /data/secure/system instead of /data/system.
Other than through the PackageManager service, this file can only be accessed by root. You can see the code that reads and writes the file (and thus infer the format) in the class com.android.server.pm.Settings.

If I had an image file in my sdcard, I would open it via QuickPic because that is my default gallery viewer. If I wanted to switch my default gallery viewer, I would go to Settings -> Apps -> QuickPic -> "Clear Data" and then I would be able select how to open an image file again.
Therefore, Android seems to store the default application data within the program's data files that is being used.

Clever guess, but your conclusion is wrong. If the setting were inside the app's data directory, the app itself would be able to make itself the default or not default. Also, the system would have to read every app's data directory to find out which app is default.


text:
Use Quick Responses with Google Voice
One of the most useful features introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich is "Quick Responses": the ability to send a default SMS message to the caller. "Can't talk now. Will call you back." etc.
However, I'm 100% Google Voice. I only ever give out my GV number, and I don't want to broadcast my actual cell phone number by using a Quick Response.
Is there a way to use them with Google Voice?

Android 4.3 comes with a new service intent filter: "ACTION_RESPOND_VIA_MESSAGE". Hopefully Google Voice will implement this tout de suite.

This is apparently not currently possible.
I'm not the only person with this desire. There's an open issue at Google (Issue 23176).
In one of my searches, I found someone who says they looked into the code for the Phone app, and found that it's calling the Messaging app directly without allowing the Messaging Intent, which is what would prompt me to choose the Messaging app versus Google Voice to send the message.
The app suggested by dymutaos looked somewhat promising, but I am concerned about its security.
So, unfortunately, this very useful feature is currently useless to me. I hope they fix it in the not-too-distant future.

You could try this app (they have a limited free version). It is supposed to integrate Google Voice into the native messenger, so it may also work with the Quick Responses, depending on how Android actually implements them.

Possibly, but there are a number of troubling reviews there in the Play Store.

Yeah, I saw those as well, but at least they have a free version you could install to test it out. Maybe it will work for you? If not, I can delete my answer.

Except I saw one review say that they couldn't remove the integration. I'm still mulling it over; don't delete your answer.

Nah, I'm not going for that. It's requiring me to put in my account and password rather than using the built in Google Authentication. I'm not taking a chance.

Once you have Google Voice setup, you could try simply going to Settings>Apps>All Apps> MMS.apk - & Clear Defaults.
Then, when you select a quick response, it should prompt you to use GVoice, instead.

Don't have "MMS.apk" listed in my All Apps list. I assume you mean "Messaging". "Clear defaults" is grayed out, though.

Not yet, apparently there are hooks in the code called intents that are responsible for asking which app you would like certain tasks to be performed by. The quick responses did not have intents. They are there as of Android 4.3, but Google Voice has yet to update with a register for that hook.
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=56090

Google voice has the following option which sounds like it could do what you want, but only when texting to another GV number. This is according to the "learn more" text on the site; I haven't experimented to find its real capabilities:
- Caller ID (outgoing)   When I text a Google Voice number from one of my
  forwarding phones:
     - Don't change anything
     - Display my Google Voice number

That's not what that's about. That means that if I text someone's Google Voice number from my phone, GV should recognize that my phone is registered in GV and can use my number instead. Quick Responses isn't going through Google Voice; it's phone to phone.


text:
How can I set up additional email folders on my Galaxy S3?
On my Samsung Galaxy S3 I can see the standard folders: inbox, drafts, outbox, sent, recycle.
How do I set up additional folders?

Please specify the email app you refer to -- otherwise it's hard to tell. If you don't know it, at least give some more details on your device, e.g. manufacturer and Android version. Not everybody knows what an S111 is (I don't, for example).

Thanks for the edit, eldarerathis! I thought the OP could have meant the Galaxy S3 but wasn't sure. One should refrain from using "fancy writing" when looking for help (little hint to the Captain :)


text:
Convert + to 00 for international calling
I am currently overseas, using a foreign SIM card in my phone. Since I travel often, all of my contacts are stored in international format (e.g. +12125551212 or +4474567899). However, my foreign carrier does not allow international dialing via +countrycode (i.e. +1), only via 00countrycode (i.e. 001).
Additionally, I had thought I would be able to use Google Voice for my calls back to the U.S. and therefore have my Google Voice caller ID show on outbound calls, but Google Voice also dials the access number via +countrycode so the call fails as well.
Is there any way to set my phone to automatically dial 00 instead of the + without having to modify all of my contacts?
Edit: I just noticed there are several apps that do this. If anyone knows of a native solution, please reply.
Edit 2: I just tried a couple of these apps. While they do work, when I try to use them with Google Voice, they replace the + prefix for the destination number, not the Google Voice access number. I need a way to have Google Voice dial its access number with 001 instead of +1.

Log into your Google account and click on contacts. Then select all your contacts.
Now click on more => export => select all contacts => export format Google CSV.
Use the "find and replace" option in for instance Excel to edit from +385 to 00385.

Not 100% sure, but I think... only if totally necessary, after trying all other answers... unless you just don't care... Try to wipe the phone so that you go through first boot and setup again, and it should use GPS to dialing prefix.


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Syncing music without iTunes...or can you?
I just switched from iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and realized that music syncing isn't going to be the same - but maybe it can be better.
I downloaded doubleTwist from the Play Store because it had gotten amazing reviews on the web and the reviews on the Play Store seemed to back up the love it was getting on the web.
I tried to connect via USB and then became aware of the "USB mass storage" setting being unavailable in Jelly Bean 4.1.1. I paid for doubleTwist AirSync and it stunk.
So now, if I just move folders of music over to my Note 2, it's all recognized by the standard player, but I'd really like to sync it all and not just add and delete folders.
Is there one good app that will sync my music, let me create play lists, show album art and details and won't force me to sync over Wi-Fi? When it comes down to it, is there a way to get functionality like iTunes, but for Android?

Welcome to Android...Simply the Best !!

Creating playlists, Album Art, wired sync - Winamp for Android App

I would try out Google Music. It will be the most native with your device, and gets relatively close to syncing, in theory.
The first thing you will have to do is go to the Google Music Homepage and download the Music Manager tool. Once downloaded, you tell the Music Manager where your music is on your computer, and it uploads it all to the cloud!
This music becomes visible as soon as you log into Play Music on your phone with the Gmail account that you used to set up Google music on your computer.
Then whatever music is placed on your computer in your music folders is accessible at music.google.com and on all of your Android devices.
The difference is, your music does not actually sync to your phone, but is streamed when you choose it on your mobile device.
This can be slightly modified by selecting an album or such on your device, clicking the little expansion arrow (usually at the bottom right of the item), and choosing the Offline music option (it has a picture of a pin next to it). Your phone will then download this music so it does not have to be streamed to play later.
You would have to do this with all of the music you do not wish to stream, but if you have a decent internet connection, streaming is very much a viable option. And saves TONS of space on your phone!
Hope this helps!

FYI, Google Music is USA only, despite previous rumors that it was coming to Canada in November.  Decent bets say SOCAN and/or CRIA are being jerks (as usual) and blockading things.

Google music is actually available in the UK now @Compro01

Agree with Liam, Google Music is definitely in the UK

Google Music is now in many more countries, including Canada, Switzerland, Germany and many more. Your comments are out of date.

Google Music -Your can upload your music files from your computer to Google music cloud storage. Then the uploaded music is automatically available in your android device and also you can listen to those music in web interface. You can upload up to 20,000 songs. The problem is that your have to use Google Music player in your android phone and the uploaded music won't be available if you use other players. And also this service is not available in all countries as of now.
Media Monkey music player. It recognizes almost any Android devices. You can configure it to automatically sync media files from computer to phone whenever you connect your phone through USB cable. I use it for syncing my Music to galaxy nexus with android 4.2.1. I tried multiple players including windows media player but this one seems to working well.

I'm a huge fan of iSyncr. It syncs to iTunes, so if you're coming from an iPhone you can use the playlists you already created. What sealed the deal for me was the fact that iSyncr syncs play counts and ratings back to iTunes. Not to mention the fact that you can sync over wi-fi or sync via USB cable.
EDIT: I see you're asking about syncing without iTunes, but if all your music is already there iSyncr will work.

If you want to use Google Music you will need to upload your iTunes M4P music to Google Music.
However, Google Music only supports .mp3, .m4a, .wma, .flac and .ogg files. And DRM-ed M4P music is not supported. In order to upload M4P to Google Music, you need do a conversion first.
Since iTunes M4P music are protected by Apple's DRM, you cannot use a common audio converter to convert M4P to Google Music supported MP3. What you need is an all-in-one DRM converter that can both remove DRM protection from M4P and convert M4P to MP3 for Google Music.
Aimersoft is taken as the best choice to help you transfer iTunes M4P to Google Music. With it, you can legally strip DRM protection from M4P files and convert it to MP3. In addition, it can convert audio files that are not supported by Google Music like .wav and .aiff. Now download it and follow the steps below to convert iTunes music for Google Music.
http://www.aimersoft.com/drm-media-converter.html
How to convert M4P to Google Music supported MP3
Add M4P files
After downloading the DRM converter, install and launch it. The main interface is as below. You can either click the "Add..." button to add M4P music files of directly drag the files to the main interface. As you can see, you can also add video files to convert.

Specify MP3 as the output format
Then you can click "Audio files to" and select "MP3" as the output format. Note that Google Music prefer MP3 with 320kbps Bitrate. Here you can click "Settings" and choose the Bitrate as 320kbps.

Start converting M4P to Google Music MP3
When all the settings are OK, click the "Start" button on the main interface to start the conversion. When the conversion finishes, you can tap "Find Target" to access to the converted DRM-free MP3 files. Then you can upload them to Google Music as you like.
Apart from that: Why not utilize what you already have - especially if that iTunes list is big.
Here are 2 alternatives:
TuneSync™ allows you to sync your iTunes playlist and songs with your Android™ device. It copies the unprotected music to your SD card and creates playlists that match your iTunes playlists. TuneSync™ does this all over your wifi connection. There is no need to connect your Android™ device to your PC or Apple Mac.
See its home page for tutorial setup
http://tunesync.com/
Google Play Store Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.highwindsoftware.tunesync
I think a better alternative to what you might consider is to use Winamp (for Mac):
WinAmp(for Mac) can take any existing iTunes playlist (which is what you already have) and sync it directly to an Android device without jumping through any other hoops.
Features:
Wireless and wired sync with an Android phone, requires Winamp for Android
One-click music and playlist import from iTunes and Mac desktop
Keep Winamp updated automatically with Watch Folders and iTunes library sync
Play local files, create playlists, and manage playback with a play queue window
Instructions
Download and install Winamp (link depending on PC or Mac)
http://www.winamp.com/
http://www.winamp.com/mac
Launch Winamp and you'll be prompted to add media to Winamp library. Select "Import from iTunes". This will import all of your music in your iTunes library into the Winamp Media Library.

Click "Library-> Import iTunes Media Library" in the bottom left-hand corner of the player.

Sync the playlist to your Android phone connected to Mac or PC previously.
Other than serving as an easy way to sync iTunes to Android, it also makes for a decent desktop music player.


text:
SHARP Aquos 104sh moves cursor to wrong location
I'm trying to edit and questions on stackoverflow, but when I click to move the cursor to a location or reselect a word, the cursor winds up far north of my click point. I need to do some more testing to see if it is a fixed distance.  It seems to be fixed, instance-by-instance, but variable overall.
-Edit-
I noticed that this isn't happening consistently, which makes it difficult to reproduce and test; however, it seems to become worse as the text grows longer.
I've widdled it down to Dolphin, for one.  It doesn't happen with Jota++, but it may happen in my S!Mail, sometimes.  I'm using the TouchPal Keypad (Swype), Dolphin Browser.  I think that it has something to do with TouchPal.


text:
XMBC select does not work with MK802III and Logitec wireless kb/mousepad - how to resolve?
Using Aptoid, I installed XMBC on the MK802III. As per Update 2 found here, it takes a while to load on the first run. The XMBC logo appears, and sometimes the menu shows up.
When the menu does appear, I can use the arrow keys on the Logitec wireless keyboard / mouse pad to move around, however I cannot select any of the menu options with any keys or any of the mouse buttons.
The right mouse button makes a "back" sound, but still nothing.


text:
System audio files appearing in playlist
I wasn't satisfied with the selection of sounds the phone was giving me for the alarm, so I installed ES File Explorer and picked out some ringtone sounds from the phone's system/media/audio folder. Ever since, those sounds have been showing up in the Music Player playlist.
How do I stop them from doing so?
I'm using the default music player on a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro running Android 2.1.

Just a guess (hence not an answer but a comment): it might be that's some "cached info" somewhere. You could try walking your apps (settings > apps > manage apps) for all fitting things (media player, media scanner, es file explorer...) and delete their caches. Check whether that solves the issue. If not, you could try to delete data for media player/scanner (at least scanner data should be rebuilt on the next scan; the player would lose its configured preferences when deleting data). Please report if that did the job; if so, I'll convert this to an answer.

The Music Player i'm using is the default phone/system one, so it's not present under installed apps in app manager, neither is the Media Scanner. So i don't know how to delete their caches or data. I deleted the cache for ES File Manager, and using ES Task Manager cleaned the whole cache. I just restarted the phone and the specific system audio files still show up in the playlist.

You probably look in the wrong section. System apps do not appear under "downloaded". I cannot remember how it looked in Eclair (too long ago), but there must be an option to "show all".

I found a way to display them. I deleted the Music Player data and the Media Scanner data. But not only did it not solve the problem, now there's a new bug where each song in the playlist has a duplicate. I restarted the phone, and reinserted the media card to no avail. I'm open to further suggestions, but maybe at this point it would be best to do a factory reset.

I remember we had a question dealing with those duplicate entries -- I just cannot remember which one. But check e.g. The music player keeps displaying deleted songs

So apparently i cleared the data from the wrong app, which wasn't the Media Scanner. I found the Media Scanner app, cleared the data and it fixed both the duplicate entries and the original problem. So your advice was spot on. Thank you for being so forthcoming and helpful, both you and @SurajBajaj

@Izzy You can add that as an answer so Stefan can accept it. It will be useful for future viewers. Meanwhile, I'm gonna clean up my comments.

@SurajBajaj Done, thanks for the wake-up call :)

As my suggestion in above comment seems to be relevant, I hereby convert it to an answer as promised:
It might be that's some "cached info" somewhere. You could try walking your apps (Settings → Apps → Manage Apps) for all fitting things (media player, media scanner, es file explorer...) and delete their caches. Check whether that solves the issue. If not, you could try to delete data for media player/scanner at the same place (at least scanner data should be rebuilt on the next scan; the player would lose its configured preferences when deleting data).
Keep in mind to check all apps (not just the downloaded section: the latter only applies to the apps you've installed yourself, while the former also includes system apps).
When you've cleared cache and data, you library might appear empty at first. This is no bug or problem -- it's just the Media Scanner needs to rebuild its library. This happens on certain events:

after a reboot
after a re-mount of the sd card (e.g. plugging it into your computer via USB, then disconnect it again)
when another app triggers it (take e.g. a look at SDrescan for this).

Add a blank file named .nomedia in the folders containing music that you don't want to be seen in the music player. Media scanner ignores files in the folder with .nomedia file. I have never tried this on Eclair, but I guess it should work.
And yes, you may have to restart the device after this is done.
EDIT:
The restart is to trigger the Media Scanner to do its job. You can also trigger it by unmounting and remounting your SD card (which can be done from Storage Settings or by connecting it to your computer), or by using one of the "trigger-happy-apps" like e.g. SDrescan

The restart Suraj mentions is to trigger the Media Scanner to do its job. You can also trigger it by unmounting and remounting your SD card (which can be done e.g. by connecting it to your computer), or by using one of the "trigger-happy-apps" like e.g. SDrescan.

I can't do that. Like i said in my initial post, the files that are showing up are from the phone's internal system folders, they aren't on the media card. The phone won't let me a copy files into it's internal system folders. Even if i could put a .nomedia file into the correct internal folders, i'm not certain how it would effect the functioning of the phone, and if the media files in those folders would still be visible and available to the phone to use as ringtones and such.

I appreciate the help guys, but you haven't addressed the greater problem, which is that the phone won't let me copy files into it's internal system folders.

@SurajBajaj When you update your answer, feel free to integrate the information from my previous comment. Makes it easier to catch.

@SurajBajaj Right, i'm not rooted. I'm using the phone's default music player, the phone is an X10 Mini Pro.

That's exactly right. Ever since i used ES File Explorer to pick out some non-default sounds for the Alarm from the system/media/audio folders, those very sounds have been showing up in the Music Player playlist regardless of rescans.


text:
If I tap and hold on the homescreen, nothing happens
I wanted to uninstall and move some applications from my homescreen, but when I tap and hold to get the menu for uninstalling and editing, nothing happens. The icon is selected, but there is no response. This was working fine earlier, but has been broken for the last month or so.
Does anybody know if this is connected to any settings, or would you guess it's an error?

Just a raw guess: does this problem persist after a reboot? Maybe simply something got stuck. The hard way would be to go to settings > apps > manage apps and clear the launchers cache and, if that doesn't help, its data as well (the latter would mean you need to re-configure the app completely, but your screens being clean).

Why is this tagged input method?

Thanks for the feedback! Liam meanwhile took the medal for the answer ;)

As it turned out, my "raw guess" was a direct hit -- so to make it easier to find for future "searchers", I make it an answer as promised:
This problem is mostly caused by the fact that something got messed up with the apps' cache and/or data. So what you should try first is:

Go to Settings → Apps → Manage Apps
Select your launcher
Hit the button labeled "Clear Cache"

If that doesn't solve the issue, take the same steps -- but in the last step hit the "Clear Data" button (note: This will reset the launcher configuration as if you just removed the app and did a fresh re-install).
If you still had no luck, you could simply uninstall and re-install the launcher (as long as it's not a system app). This will do all the above, but additionally remove (and on re-install re-create) the apps Dalvik cache. Count it as "partial factory reset".
Having mentioned the dangerous word: A factory-reset can serve as a "last resort" (as it cleans the entire device) -- but you would lose all your data that way, and needed to re-configure everything anew. In case you have to do that (I don't think it is necessary for your case here), take care to have a backup of as much of your data as possible.

I would guess it's an error.
The easiest fix would most likely to be to:

Wipe the launcher app data
Wipe system data (factory reset)
Return to manufacturer (hardware issue)

Thanks, it worked to clear the launcher cache. I'll just have to add the icons to the home screen again, but that's no problem.

If you are running ADW, you probably activated the "Lock Desktop" feature. This prevents accidentally adding/moving/removing icons from the home screen. To disable the lock, simply press the menu button and click "Unlock Desktop".
In the most recent update of ADW, if your desktop is locked, pressing the menu button pops up a dialog box asking if you want to unlock the desktop.


text:
What is BluetoothTest process?
I am on android jelly bean and I keep noticing this process called "BluetoothTest" and I don't know what it actually does. I tried searching online for it but only ended up with other people complaining that this process eats up battery power.
Anyone know exactly what this does?


text:
Videos working on my website do not work when viewed from Android browser
My website has videos which are in MP4 format and work well when viewed from a Google Chrome browser. But when I try to load my website from the browser of an Android OS, the video doesn't show up. Is there any thing else I need to do in order to make it work? Actually the site is not done by me, so I have no details about how the site is built. I just
wanted to know if anything special needed to be done in order to make videos work in the Android browser.

The Android Browser's capability and Version is responsible for playing the video. There are couple of browsers which don't support the video codecs. You need to see the compatibility matrix and make sure you put correct format of the video on server.
http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html


text:
some Android text lines appeared on the screen that are changing constantly
It's about a few days since some text lines (white and green) appeared on the display and I don't know what changes I have made unintentionally that caused the appearance of those lines.

Screenshot (Click image to enlarge)

Can you post a screenshot?

@THelper: Would it help if I take a photo of it?

@Gigili A picture might help also, but if you don't know how to take a screenshot, look here:http://www.allaboutgalaxynote.com/3-fast-ways-to-create-screenshot-in-galaxy-note-without-using-any-apps/

In Settings, go to Developer options and un-check the Show CPU usage:


text:
Upgrading one phone by copying the update file from an identical phone
I have two HTC One X - first one (which was bought in India) got upgraded OTA to JB 4.1 (official version pushed by HTC) last week. I might have to wait a few more weeks/months to get the same update on the second phone since it was bought in Europe.
Is there a way to update OS to 4.1 on the second phone by copying the update file from the first? Any changes need to be done before doing that?


text:
Problems with installing stock ROM for Nexus S
I'm trying to install a stock Nexus S ROM from Google's site, but I keep getting the error E:signature verification failed
Any ideas how I can fix this?

Download the correct factory image here, unpack it, and run flash-all.sh to reset to stock. You must boot your Nexus to fastboot mode beforehand and also have an unlocked bootloader first (fastboot oem unlock). After the flash is done, relock your bootloader again (fastboot oem lock).

How do I run flash-all.sh from the phone?

@meds You don't run it from the phone, you have to connect via your PC using adb and fastboot. This a guide for setting up adb and fastboot on Windows. Alternatively, you may want to use this One Click Method


text:
How to get mobile site in Firefox to be displayed as in Chrome for Android if spoofing doesn't help?
On my Android device, while using Internet, Dolphin, and Firefox (left), I see the same version of http://m.chase.com that my desktop browser (right) sees:

On Chrome for Android (left), it's different, being similar to what opens iOS browser (right):

I want to understand why/how, and then see if I can get Mobile Firefox to load the blue version. I don't think it's the user agent string - I've tried spoofing it already.

Seems to be mobile site on iOS. I get the mobile site on the default android browser. Could just be how the site is programmed.

A number of sites check to see if certain features are supported by the browser, which can't really be spoofed (doing so would be adding the functionality!).  For a bank site I would assume said features are required for that version of the site to work.

Note that both iOS browser (safari) and Chrome (desktop or for Android) are based on WebKit engine. That's why they are so similar in what they render.
Firefox browser uses a much different engine: Gecko.
As an answer for what you want to do, I think that given the CSS and javascript the mobile site loads is different depending on the rendering engine, currently it is not possible to an end user to achieve that. A better design must be done by web developers who made the website, in order to avoid this kind of awkward situations.
If what you need is to open that mobile site with a browser different to Chrome for Android, but that it be rendered the same way as Chrome for Android does, I recommend you to use Opera Mobile or Opera Mini (based on Presto engine), here is a screenshot of how it looks there:

Agh, that sucks. There really shouldn't be any reason their webkit site wouldn't render the same in Firefox, but I guess I'm just gonna have to live with it.

Yeah, we (web developers) have to struggle with it on a daily basis: to make the websites to render in a given way, regardless of browser being used. In some scenarios, like this, the goal is not reached. That depends on the quality of web developers too, and in the pressure from higher levels (deadlines).


text:
What kind of hardware is needed to run Skype well?
I have been asked to choose a cheap tablet to buy for Skype video calling. The person who will use it isn't going to do anything fancy else, just videocalling her daughter at evening.
I have seen products like Mediacom's SmartPad 706i featuring:

512MB of RAM
1GHz single-core CPU

I wonder if these are good for smooth calling, considering that no other applications are supposed to run meanwhile.
I'm not asking, as per policy, for a recommendation on which product to buy.  What hardware characteristics are most important for video calling using Skype?

See this Skype Forum where a person has asked about "Skype on Android Tablets" http://community.skype.com/t5/Android/Skype-on-Android-tablets/td-p/501347

I have no problem voice calling on my phone with those specs but haven't tried video calling.

I'd generally say that any tablet that nowaday comes with a front camera suffices to run Skype decently.

OH: Stick to ARM CPU's, mips and x86 may be unsupported still. Plus maybe chinese pre-4.0/ICS el-cheapo tablets often have crappy video drivers, so get a recent one. Probably get the cheapest Nexus line tablet (currently the Nexus 7 16GB), it's really good in comparision to the few bucks you can save with a chinese no-name tablet.

@ce4 anything priced over 150€ is "too expensive" for this person. +1 for ARM. Nexus 7 priced > 250@amazon

I wouldn't buy the N7 over Amazon, it's available for 199,- in Google's play store. Plus: The N7 is so much better than any price-competitive tablet, IMHO.


text:
Android remote screen display & control
I am looking for a solution/technology which allows remote screencast display and control from desktop. My goal is to provided remote mobile device display through a browser. I found some existing solutions:

AndroidScreenCast: Based on ADB interface. this is just screenshots using a simple primitive provided by ADB. low display.
VNC client & server. works for both rooted android and jailbroken iphone. low display.
iDemo + ScreenSplitR: Better, jailbroken iphone only.
HDMI/TV output: No remote control.

I've heard about "direct-to-device" technology which is used by DeviceAnyWhere. Are there any other solutions?

My answer here might be useful: http://android.stackexchange.com/q/5652/1465

Webkey is my personal favorite remote control program. It turns your phone into a web server, complete with https and username/passwords with permissions you can set. So you could have an admin user with full access, and a standard user who can just see the screen.
On top of built-in VNC, Webkey also gives you the ability to track your phone by GPS, connect to a terminal, browse and download files from your device, and a bunch more administrative things. Though this sounds like it is outside of your needs (but you don't have to use those features).
And to top it all off, Webkey is open source and free, encompassing every Android users' favorite two buzzwords.

Note that root is required for this. Likely any solutions will require root; there may exist an android app that accepts commands from some server and initiates the proper INTENT to open an app. Even then, sharing and controlling the Android screen will require root.

Webkey is one of the best ones for frame rate refresh.  But it does require root I use this for demoing all the time.

@StephenSchrauger Do you have a reference for the "controlling screen requires root" assertion?

Thanks for the hint to "open source". Webkey requires almost all permissions it could find (more than 125!), which looks terrifying otherwise. From the almost 10.000 apps in my Android app listings, the next one in terms of perms is an "anti-virus" app requiring 51…

@Izzy Since the app requires root access, in theory the rest of the permissions are moot. Although using the standard permission model/api is probably easier to code than writing everything yourself.

@StephenSchrauger that was my first thought for many apps, and I admit it rather speaks for the dev (if he had malicious intents and wanted to hide them, he'd not needed to declare any permission). Unless this reasoning was intended to cover it – you know, "if you want to hide something, do it in plain sight" ;)

The play store app has been massively changed (to the worse imo.) and I can't find a source for it anymore. The link you provided to the webkey source doesn't work anymore. Do you happen to know anything about this? I'd be happy with a working source code of any older version.

Try a free app called AirDroid, which lets you control wirelessly your Android device from a desktop browser.
This is a fragment of Play Store app description:

Realtime Android screen (experimental feature, root permission required)
View your Android's screen, take a screenshot, or even
record a screencast.

Here's a video showing some of its features.

Could you please explain how to direct a ScreenCast using this app, as the questioner asked for? I must have missed that with AirDroid, as I never noticed it had that functionality.

@Francisco : thanks for this nice app. But this is not  what I want. I would like to take control over the device and launch apps from the browser or a desktop app..

In fact, I focused my search in remote control from desktop rather than screencast, given that I had seen recently AirDroid app among the Play Store recommended apps. I read in the app features that it lets you to do a real time screen capture (experimental, needs root privileges), i.e. a screencast AFAIK, but I don't know if it fits what the questioner needs (privileges part).

I just checked the app's playstore description: in fact it has an experimental feature which might come close to that, but it requires root: Realtime Android screen (experimental feature, root permission required)
View your Android's screen, take a screenshot, or even record a screencast. Maybe you want to include this information with your answer, to make it more valuable.

All existing non-root-required product works at a very slow frame rate: 0.8 frames/second for a typical screen size of 720x1024, so they are not suitable for realtime display purpose.
"sji android screen capture" will fit your needs, No root required. Just with PC's Browser. Works at frame rate of 4+ for fullscreen of 1080x1920, 8+ fps for 320xauto down-scaled size.
At the same time, it can record to mp4/webm, and can remote control android from PC's Browser.
https://github.com/sjitech/sji-android-screen-capture
Good luck.

Recently I encountered a nice solution at https://www.mobizen.com/
No root required very smooth device control.
This should help.

A brief description and use-case is required here.

Adding on to @Firelord 's point, a link only answer may become invalid in the future due to the link being down or blocked for some reason. For maintaining the validity of your answer into the future so that we can help more users, please elaborate your answer with description, justification and sample usage.

It seems to be a payment solution.

I would use Asus PC link. It uses USB or wifi. And if I connect with USB it is so damn fast.

Please link this "Asus PC Link". Also, does it work with any Android device? What is it about? A brief description is required and a screenshot would also do good.

At the time of writing, It does not support newer android devices only Android 5.0


text:
Camera app on HTC Sensation keeps crashing
I have an HTC Sensation, about two years old. It's running Gingerbread, rooted but not modded or custom-rommed. All of a sudden, the native camera app started crashing - i.e. it opens and immediately closes. I don't know if the hardware camera is damaged, or if it's just the app.
There have been no changes to my phone since it last worked - no new apps, no settings changes, nothing.
Any ideas? Are there any other camera apps out there that I could download to replace the native one?

I just found a free sensors diagnostic app, install it and run it in order to see if it's a hardware problem: Z - Device Test

Well, I installed that and there's just a red X over the camera icon, so it appears that it's not recognized at all.

Turned out the camera lens was actually damaged. The app mentioned helped diagnose it (or rather, rule out other problems.)

Go to Settings → Apps → Manage Apps, find your Camera app, and look if you can "Clear Cache" and/or "Clear Data"; maybe something got messed up there.
If that doesn't help, try clearing the apps Dalvik Cache (you are rooted, so you can do that): ROM Toolbox Lite and DroidTweaker (ROOT) are two helpful apps for that. Same background as above: Sometimes something gets messed up here.
A very last resort would be a factory reset -- but keep in mind that this would also wipe all your self-installed apps plus data of all apps, so have a good backup of all your data available (hint for that: Titanium Backup ★ root, which also offers a "Dalvik Cleaner" feature -- but as far as I remember this only removes "orphaned" entries (from apps you uninstalled, and the like).

I already have titanium backup, so it wouldn't be a huge deal if I needed to do that. I'll try clearing the davlik cache when I get home tonight; don't want my coworkers to hear me cussing if it doesn't work...


text:
Asus Transformer 4.1.1 Email Widget shows "Waiting for sync" forever
I have the Asus Transformer running Android 4.1.1.  I'm trying to use the email widget to check my mail.  When I enter in my account information, I get a screen that looks like this:

All my settings work in any other mail client, but I'd obviously prefer to use this one.  Anyone else have this problem?

Is automatic sync enabled in settings->your gmail account?

Auto sync is currently off.  Is this an issue?

Yes. The issue you are seeing is because the widget isn't syncing - it is waiting for it to sync, but can't because you have disabled it :)

Well its not gmail im trying to sync it with, but I'll try to enable autosync with the client I am using

If it is an email account, that email account should be listed in the same place as the Google.

Yeah I don't think that was the problem


text:
Uninstalling Voice Commands was apparently a terrible idea?
In my efforts to free up space on my crappy Motorola Flipside, I thought that uninstalling Voice Commands would be a great idea since I never use it...

Now after uninstalling it with Titanium, this message is an endless loop of forced closing. What are my options here?
Not sure if it would help. but here's a sample of the log when closing the error message:
12-07 11:49:43.030: I/Process(14069): Sending signal. PID: 14069 SIG: 9
12-07 11:49:43.061: W/InputManagerService(1298): Window already focused, ignoring focus gain of: com.android.internal.view.IInputMethodClient$Stub$Proxy@47511bc8
12-07 11:49:43.084: I/ActivityManager(1298): Process com.nuance.android.vsuite.vsuiteapp (pid 14069) has died.
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298): Unable to retrieve gids
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298): android.content.pm.PackageManager$NameNotFoundException: com.nuance.android.vsuite.vsuiteapp
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298):    at android.app.ContextImpl$ApplicationPackageManager.getPackageGids(ContextImpl.java:1816)
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298):    at com.android.server.am.ActivityManagerService.startProcessLocked(ActivityManagerService.java:2246)
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298):    at com.android.server.am.ActivityManagerService.cleanUpApplicationRecordLocked(ActivityManagerService.java:11210)
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298):    at com.android.server.am.ActivityManagerService.handleAppDiedLocked(ActivityManagerService.java:4902)
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298):    at com.android.server.am.ActivityManagerService.appDiedLocked(ActivityManagerService.java:5035)
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298):    at com.android.server.am.ActivityManagerService.access$000(ActivityManagerService.java:168)
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298):    at com.android.server.am.ActivityManagerService$AppDeathRecipient.binderDied(ActivityManagerService.java:1061)
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298):    at android.os.BinderProxy.sendDeathNotice(Binder.java:362)
12-07 11:49:43.084: W/ActivityManager(1298):    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.run(Native Method)
12-07 11:49:43.108: I/ActivityManager(1298): Start proc com.nuance.android.vsuite.vsuiteapp for restart com.nuance.android.vsuite.vsuiteapp: pid=14076 uid=10093 gids={}
12-07 11:49:43.225: W/asset(14076): Asset path /system/app/VSuiteApp.apk is neither a directory nor file (type=1).
12-07 11:49:43.233: D/AndroidRuntime(14076): Shutting down VM
12-07 11:49:43.233: W/dalvikvm(14076): threadid=1: thread exiting with uncaught exception (group=0x40020970)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to instantiate application com.nuance.android.vsuite.mot_vs32_cmb103.VSuiteApplicationMotVs32Cmb103: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.nuance.android.vsuite.mot_vs32_cmb103.VSuiteApplicationMotVs32Cmb103 in loader dalvik.system.PathClassLoader[/system/app/VSuiteApp.apk]
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at android.app.ActivityThread$PackageInfo.makeApplication(ActivityThread.java:671)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication(ActivityThread.java:4322)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at android.app.ActivityThread.access$3200(ActivityThread.java:129)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:2155)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:143)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4717)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:521)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:860)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:618)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076): Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.nuance.android.vsuite.mot_vs32_cmb103.VSuiteApplicationMotVs32Cmb103 in loader dalvik.system.PathClassLoader[/system/app/VSuiteApp.apk]
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at dalvik.system.PathClassLoader.findClass(PathClassLoader.java:243)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:573)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:532)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at android.app.Instrumentation.newApplication(Instrumentation.java:942)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    at android.app.ActivityThread$PackageInfo.makeApplication(ActivityThread.java:666)
12-07 11:49:43.241: E/AndroidRuntime(14076):    ... 11 more
12-07 11:49:43.249: W/asset(1298): Asset path /system/app/VSuiteApp.apk is neither a directory nor file (type=1).
12-07 11:49:43.249: W/PackageManager(1298): Failure retrieving resources forcom.nuance.android.vsuite.vsuiteapp
12-07 11:49:43.249: W/asset(1298): Asset path /system/app/VSuiteApp.apk is neither a directory nor file (type=1).
12-07 11:49:43.249: W/PackageManager(1298): Failure retrieving resources forcom.nuance.android.vsuite.vsuiteapp
12-07 11:49:43.249: W/ActivityManager(1298): Process com.nuance.android.vsuite.vsuiteapp has crashed too many times: killing!
12-07 11:49:43.342: W/DropBoxManagerService(1298): Dropping: system_app_crash (1829 > 0 bytes)
12-07 11:49:44.936: D/RadioSignalLevel(1298): raw_sig_level = -97  iconLevel = 3
12-07 11:49:44.936: D/RadioSignalLevel(1298): Gsm Radio Signal level: 3
12-07 11:49:46.256: D/BatteryTempPolicy(1298): updateBatteryTemp temperature = 310, Threshhold = 3
12-07 11:49:46.264: D/KeyguardUpdateMonitor(1298): received broadcast android.intent.action.BATTERY_CHANGED
12-07 11:49:46.264: D/KeyguardUpdateMonitor(1298): new BatteryArgs: 2,90,2
12-07 11:49:46.264: D/KeyguardUpdateMonitor(1298): handleBatteryUpdate
12-07 11:49:46.272: E/GlobalUnplugService(13488): plugged = true,mBatteryPlugged=true
12-07 11:49:46.295: E/Tethering(1298): active iface (usb1) reported as added, ignoring
12-07 11:49:46.303: D/StatusBarPolicy(1298): handleBatteryUpdate
12-07 11:49:46.303: D/WifiService(1298): ACTION_BATTERY_CHANGED pluggedType: 2

Did you try removing VSuite as well?

@MatthewRead no, and I don't see it in the list of items in Titanium

Basically your options are to find a ROM to flash for that device and flash it. Or find the apk that you removed and re-add it.
You will probably need either a custom recovery, like ClockworkMod, or you may be able to put the apk back on the device using ADB from the android SDK.
I am not sure what the Custom ROM state is for this device, so it may be easier to find the apk that you need. If you can't find the apk, but can find a custom ROM, you could pull the apk from the ROM package.

I backed it up and froze it with Titanium before uninstalling, so hopefully the apk is on my SD card. Thanks!

Hmm, the phone restated on its own before I was able to do anything and now I'm no longer seeing the message. I'll keep this in mind if I run into it again though, thanks again.

It is giving an FC because there is a running service/app which requires this app that you removed. A reboot should fix the FC, though it might reappear if you start the related ones.

Two things in advance for future actions:

always make a backup first before fiddling around with system stuff (doesn't hurt in other cases either). As you did this, you can simply restore this (and don't need to read the following stuff -- which I still include for future readers with a similar problem)
before you go ahead and uninstall a system app, check for dependencies. You can do so by first freezing the app (which makes in unavailable, but is easily revertible by un-freezing -- Titanium Backup includes this feature as well) You did this, too -- so you should have noticed before. As you removed/uninstalled the app afterwards, the "frozen yog... ahem, stuff" is no longer available

Now to the current situation:

As you made a backup with TB, you can simply restore it. If the described "endless loop" doesn't permit you to do so: There are some tools available permitting this from the recovery console (check e.g. XDA for AROMA, which simply can be flashed from recovery and then is available from there)
If you still have the image.zip from your current ROM, you can simply extract it to an empty folder, go to the system/apps subfolder, pick the corresponding .apk, and side-load it to your device.
If you have a second similar device running the same ROM (maybe a friends device), you can use Titanium Backup to make a transportable backup (.tbk) of the app (for most apps, in this special case better exclude its data), and use TB to restore this .tbk to your "broken device"


text:
What is the status icon that looks like a house?
There is a strange icon that shows up in my status bar only when I'm at a certain restaurant. It looks like a cross between a house and wifi.
I suspect it might be a free wifi hotspot or something related to a nearby phone store, but I can't find any information about it in manual for my phone.
See the following screenshot:

What is your phone brand and model? What version of Android? Have you installed some custom ROM? If so, which one?

I'm using a Samsung Droid Charge running 2.3.6, no custom ROM. I had a tag with the model, but it looks like the question was edited to remove that tag.

This is the icon that symbolises that the Verizon Network Extender is in use - could it be possible that the restaurant you visit has had one installed/set up?
Source

That may be it. I'm marking this as the answer, although I have no way of verifying.

@MattCasto The next time you visit the resturant, ask if they have a network extender :)


text:
Improve Nexus 4 Vibration Intensity
This is basically the same question as posed here: Increase vibrate strength
I thought there might be a different answer for the Nexus 4, however, seeing as how it's a different manufacturer and the OS has changed slightly.
I came from using a Nexus S which had a really good vibrate. With the Nexus 4, however, even with nothing else in my pocket sometimes I can't feel it. I'm used to being able to get a slight buzz or something if I set my phone down on my desk but with the Nexus 4, the best I can hope for is a slight buzz if it's on a hard surface. Touching papers or something else? Better hope you were looking at the phone, otherwise you're going to miss incoming calls.
For other Nexus 4 owners, is this a noticeable issue with your phone? Maybe mine is slightly defective. If not, is there any way to boost the intensity or strength of the vibration through settings?
I've seen that the Galaxy phones have a vibration setting that can be adjusted but I can't seem to find something similar on the Nexus 4.

Did you try this suggestion? I agree with the comments there that it may solve the problem despite not changing the strength.

I've played with it, it mostly reminded me of how weak this vibration is. I've had phones where I could tell they were virbrating when it was on my desk upstairs and this one I can barely tell when its in front of me and I'm looking at it.

I just wanted to Ditto what Ryan said above. Nexus S Vibrate was more noticeable when it was upstairs than its speaker. I can't feel the N4's Linear Oscillator motor at all when its on the desk. Guess its in the wrong direction.. Silly LG.

One thing I've found is that the vibrate is felt more strongly on the edges of the phone than the front or back. Not that this is a particularly practical solution, but if one of the edges is touching a table, for example, rather than it laying flat on it's back, the vibrate is much more noticeable.

Have you considered that it might be a design feature? It's pretty surprising if you turn a phone to vibrate so it won't make a noise, and then put it on a desk, and the result is that it sounds like a woodpecker. If you want to hear your phone, don't set it to vibrate.

AS I mentioned in the question, it's hard to notice even in my pocket. Besides, while hearing it and feeling it often go together due to the nature of vibration, I generally care more about feeling it and it fails at that most times.

There is an app called Trinity Kernal Toolbox. It helps to adjust Vibartion intensity in Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4(only).
But the thing is your device should be Rooted. And its a paid App.
The app supports the following:
- Adjusting of CPU Min/Max Frequencies
- Selecting of CPU Governor
- CPU Governor settings
- Selecting of I/O Scheduler
- Adjusting of Max Screen Off Frequency (Galaxy Nexus only)
- Adjusting of all CPU Voltages
- Sound control: High Performance toggle + Volume boost (Galaxy Nexus only)
- Color control (Galaxy Nexus + Nexus 4 Only)
- Contrast control (Galaxy Nexus Only)
- Adjusting of Vibration Strength (Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 only)
- USB Fast Charge Toggle (with plug check)
- Thermal Throttle Toggle (Galaxy Nexus only)
- Smart Reflex Autocomp Toggles (Galaxy Nexus only)
- Wifi PM Toggle (Steadier stream or better battery) (GN + N7 only)
- Menu with utility functions to make common tasks easier.
- Reboot Widgets to access common options from Homescreen
- CPU Temperature Widget (Galaxy Nexus + SGS3 + Nexus 7)
- Statusbar Temperature display on select widgets (GN + SGS3 + Nexus 7)
- Restores trivial settings on boot
- Frequency/Voltage settings restored on boot if chosen
- Crash Recovery (To get you out of boot loops)
- Optimizes system independent from init.d (Great for stock roms)
May be it will help you to solve your issue. Don't blame me for recommeding a Paid App
If you are interested just flash this Kernal to support it

Vibration Config claims to be able to increase the vibration strength of a Nexus 4 (and some other phones) and a few reviews indicate that it works. It does need root so as soon as I get around to rooting my Nexus I'll give it a go and report back.

The problem is not the strength, but the direction. At least my Nexus 4 makes no noise if it vibrates while lying flat on the table. Lay it on the side, and it will wake the dead.
The axis of rotation should be paralell to the screen, not perpendicular. No amount of software will fix this hardware/design error.

I gave the same answer here, I hope it is not against policy.

Not against policy, but duplicate answers can be a strong indication of duplicate questions.


text:
How can I make the system folder writable without rooting?
My device is Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III
Model number: SPH-L710
I want to do this, because I want to stop the camera shutter sound.
And I don't want to root my device.

If you could do this then the entire security framework of Android would basically be broken, since you could modify system files anytime you wanted. You'll have to modify your device (temp or permanent root or a custom ROM/boot image with root) to access /system.

@eldarerathis Excuse me, I didn't understand that! Could you please explain more for me?

Well, the system protects a lot of personal/valuable information by restricting access to certain features and files. For example, your text messages, call logs, emails and the like are all stored on disk somewhere. If you could write to /system without restriction then you could modify or replace the portions of the OS that enforce these rules, bypass all of these restrictions, and access all of the data on the phone; this would mean that apps on your phone could do the same thing, and potentially steal your personal info or use your phone in unsavory ways without your knowledge.

There are probably other issues aside from security, though. You could accidentally brick your phone, for example (or a malicious app could brick it on purpose).

Also note that it is illegal in some places to mute the camera shutter sound.

@MatthewRead Any idea which countries?

@LiamW We do have a closed question about it, but I don't know much more specifically.

Why don't you simply ask "How can I disable/turn off/stop the camera shutter sound on may Galaxy S III?" and wait till the answers come in? XY Problem

Ultimately, this is a duplicate of http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/89/how-do-i-disable-the-click-sound-on-the-camera-app

I don't know why this  question was downvoted, even though it has multiple problems.

There is absolutely no way to do this without root, and for a good reason.
If an app was do do this imagine the havok that would ensue?
You will have to root your device, either temporarily or permanently, to do this.

Which mean I can't turn off the camera shutter sound???!!

@user1843769 Without rooting, correct - although some devices have the ability to do it without modifying system values.

You could physically remove or block the speaker. That would prevent the camera from making a noise (no, plugging in headphones won't prevent the external speaker from making a shutter sound).
Aside from that, you really do have to root your device. Or at least put a custom rom on your device (which usually requires root or an unlocked bootloader, not to mention that almost every custom rom has root enabled by default).

Yes You can change system.files without root through ADB by booting TWRP or CWM temporarily and by mounting system in options .

You could create an updater-script to access the system and mute the shutter sound, without rooting your phone. http://www.freeyourandroid.com/guide/introdution_to_edify
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1610121
You should include an update-binary and an empty line at the end of the updater-script.

If they aren't rooted, how do they flash? They won't have a custom recovery.


text:
What are the minimum hardware specifications for Android?
As per the title, what hardware do I need to be able to run various versions of Android?

Start with the Android compatibility page.  This outlines goals for Android's compatibility and links to the current Compatibility Definition Document which has the technical requirements.  All versions of the CDD to date are below.

Android 12
Android 11
Android 10
Android 9.0 "Pie"
Android 8.0 and Android 8.1 "Oreo"
Android 7.0 and Android 7.1 "Nougat"
Android 6.0 "Marshmallow"
Android 5.0 and Android 5.1 "Lollipop"
Android 4.4 "KitKat"
Android 4.3, Android 4.2 and Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean"
Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"
Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" not available (since it was not a public open-source release)
Android 2.3 "Gingerbread"
Android 2.2 "Froyo"
Android 2.1 "Eclair"
Android 1.6 "Donut"

These are also linked to from the Android Compatibility Downloads page which also includes test suites.

There is no Compatibility Program for older versions of Android, such as Android 1.5 (known in development as Cupcake). New devices intended to be Android compatible must ship with Android 1.6 or later.

Notable points:

The absolute minimum requirements for Android were originally a 200 MHz processor, 32 MB of RAM, and 32 MB of storage.
Out of the box, Android is incompatible with ARMv4 or lower; ARMv5 or higher is needed to run native code without modifications.
Android 4.4+ requires an ARMv7 processor. Custom versions have been made for ARMv6, however.

The requirements in these documents must be met for a device to be "Google Approved" and ship with the official Google apps such as the Play Store and Google Talk.  However, they are not necessarily hard requirements.  Since Android is open-source it can be modified to run on lesser hardware, and the opposite is possible as well — modifications necessary to run the OS on a device may make the firmware image too large to fit on it, just for example.

A few months ago, this was edited to state that only Android 4.4+ requires an ARMv7 processor, while it previously said Android 4+. What's the backstory for this change? Is is the fact that 4.0 by default doesn't support ARMv5, but can be modfified (by switching javascript engines from V8 to JSC, according to https://groups.google.com/d/msg/android-building/Q_gU1zb6DLc/Bq5QryioQ_kJ) to work on ARMv5, which later was removed (in 4.4)?

@mstorsjo The change was made based on a (since-cleaned-up) comment noting that the 4.0 CDD didn't mention a requirement of v7, but the 4.4 one did.

@MatthewRead Thanks. However, at the same time, the note about custom versions supporting ARMv6 changed meaning possibly in an unintentional way: In 4.0-4.3, where ARMv6 wasn't supported by default, but one could modify the source to build for it, there are known ARMv6 builds - but are there actually any such known builds for 4.4+ as well?

Sadly, no actual list of the hardware requirements. For example, I can't find a list of minimum x86 cpu instruction sets, like SSE2, SSSE3, SSE4.1, etc. The same problem for arm64 hardware. I can't find which cpu extensions are minimum, like asimd, crc, aes, sha, etc. And Android's build system is so broken we can't determine it using a compile time feature test. Sigh...

Here follows a somewhat simpler answer regarding the RAM memory requirements. According to the above mentioned docs, all versions from "Lollipop" (Android 5.0) up to Android 11 need at least 416 MB memory. This is true if the default display uses "framebuffer resolutions up to qHD (e.g. FWVGA)". Higher resolutions need more memory.
For Android 7.1. "Nougat" and earlier, handhelds with 512MB RAM or less must have ActivityManager#isLowRamDevice set to true. [1]
From Android 8.0 "Oreo" onwards, this flag must be set for handhelds that have 1GB RAM or less. [2]

[1] — Android 7.1 CDD; §7.6.1 Minimum Memory and Storage; paragraph 3
[2] — Android 8.0 CDD; §2.2.1 Handheld requirements, Hardware; requirement [7.6.1/H-0-2]