text:
My dialler app is severely lagging
I have a HTC Sensation running Android 4.0.3 (HTC Sense 3.6, 3.33.401.53).  Of late I've been having increasing problems with global lag, however this is really most noticeable on the dialler/phone app itself.  By more noticeable, I mean several times worse compared to anything else.
I can open the contacts menu in the dialler without difficulty and filter by name to get the number I want up, however I get no response when I click the name (aside from a green flash of it to indicate I've pressed sucessfully).  There's then a pause of I would say up to a minute in the worst cases before it actually dials.  Usually I've pressed it multiple times in the hope of it working, whereupon it calls the person multiple times and I end up with several calls to the same person 'on hold'.
Is there any known cause for this or even better any likely way to fix it?  I could do a factory reset if this doesn't get resolved as it makes the phone close to unusable.
The effect isn't really on answering calls, though there is a lag on that too (but not to anywhere near the degree).

You should really try factory reset.

Having had no better suggestions I did try a factory reset and it seems to have resolved the problem entirely, indeed the phone 'feels' new.  Whilst it is annoying, it's been over a year since having the phone and it only took about an hour to factory reset and restore important files, so it's not the worst solution out there.

Factory reset is often the first thing you should try as it usually eliminates software as a possible factor, and in the end it often saves you time (much like a OS reinstall when it comes to Windows problems).

This advice from XDA seems to be working for me.

check if you have a process by name Media running in background using
  Settings>Apps>Running Apps. Inside this process, if there is a service
  running called MediaDBMigrationService then stop it immediately and it
  will resolve the issue to large extent.

The process was indeed running when I checked just now (though with the status 'restarting') - I'll let you know if it improves the situation and accept your answer if so!


text:
SMTP auth server settings
I'm using my own SMTP server with SMTP AUTH for sending mails. The greeting looks like:

250-[...fqdn...] Hello [...fqdn...] [...ip...], pleased to meet you
  250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES
  250-PIPELINING
  250-8BITMIME
  250-SIZE
  250-DSN
  250-AUTH CRAM-MD5 DIGEST-MD5
  250-DELIVERBY
  250 HELP

Unfortunately when configuring user name and password for SMTP (no TLS), Android 4.2 (the standard mail app of the Google/LG Nexus 4) does not seem to expect this: authentication methods aren't supported by server.
On the server, I see Android disconnecting after that greeting was sent.
What authentication methods are actually supported by Nexus 4's mail app?

I didn't look at the logs of my server for this, but I am using CRAM-MD5 myself with K9 mail. So it's definitely not the fault of Android, but rather of the mail app you're using. Maybe you could add information on your device, as different manufacturers might use different "stock email apps"?

@Izzy: It's the Google/LG Nexus 4. After your comment I tried K-9 and it is working. Thanks a lot. Adjusted question accordingly.

Glad the hint helped! So as suspected, it is a limitation of the pre-installed mail app of your device. Thanx for updating the details -- with some luck another GN4 user might be able to help on this.

Do you mind adding a few screenshots of your configuration window. In those, the text areas like username, password and server could left blank meanwhile keep other options as they were and take the screenshot.

@Murshid: It seems screenshots require rooting the phone which I did not do (yet?). However, the configuration for SMTP consists just of the following fields: server -- [...], port -- 587, security type -- none, require sign-in -- yes, username -- [...], password -- [...].

Did you give a try turning off require sign in?

@Murshid: Yes, then it just tries SMTP without authentication ... which is happily rejected by the server.

Well, it is kind of tough now. You have no problem with the port, since you are getting connected and you have no problem with android as well. So your server is rejecting the connection due to the authentication method. So your server isn't supporting CRAM-MD5 it seems. If you have an option to use PLAIN try it. You might have to install CRAM-MD5 authentication mechanism on your server.

The authentication is working on the server. It works with K-9 (with the same settings) and with different MTAs on PCs. It's just the stock email app which does not seem to play well.

Then it must be a bug in your stock app, as you have already doubted. We can't do much about it. I think you should try re-flashing the stock app

Probably a bit late to the party, but I'm recording this here for posterity.  My wife's Xperia Z5 Compact (Android 5.?), as well as my own Samsung S3 (4.3) suffer from this same problem.  I've pulled down the source code to the most recent email client, and it appears that the only authentication mechanisms that the native email client supports is PLAIN, LOGIN and XOAUTH2, otherwise the client comes up with the above error message.  As noted in the OP, the mail server is only offering CRAM-MD5 and DIGEST-MD5, which the client doesn't support.  I had to add PLAIN and LOGIN to my mail server (after enforcing TLS), at which point the stock mail client was happy.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Keyboard shows when getting an incoming call
I have an LG Nexus 4 running Android 4.2.1 and have a strange problem. When I got an incoming phone call the keyboard is displayed and won't go away. This is a rather big problem since it obscures the area which allows me to accept the phone call.
Is there anyway in which I can stop this happening? This is my first Android device so I am still pretty new to it.

How did you manage that? The only time the keyboard should appear, is either in a application that has a input focus prompting for keyboard input... is the ROM stock or custom?

@t0mm13b I have no idea :). Everything about the phone is completely stock. I haven't done any modifications to it at all.

Same problem. I figured that this happens only if you use password as a Screen lock. Any other Screen lock feature works (including pin).

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


text:
Galaxy S3 missing "Accounts and Sync"
I have Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 version 4.1.2 and I lost the "Accounts and Sync" under settings. I added the "Auto sync data" under Data usage and it still does not sync automatically with my calendar. My question are:

How can I restore the "Accounts and Sync" ?
How can I control Auto sync mode on each application?

Thanks

I found a Sync option under Data Usage only

Then you're using a custom ROM, not stock ROM...

Android 4.1.2 doesn't has an Accounts and Sync option under settings, it just has the text Accounts, each of your account in a row (if you have any account added to the device) and the plus sign at the bottom to add more accounts.
"Auto sync data" MUST be enabled. Go to "Settings > Data Usage > Click the MENU button on your device > Check "Auto sync data."
Autosync for each application is under each application menu. For example, if you have your google account configured, you have to select Google >  and there you will see the sync options. In this case you will see sync calendar, contacts, etc and their respective checkboxes to enable/disable them.
Check the screenshots/steps to get there:

Go to settings > accounts and click the one you want to setup.

Once inside, click on the account name with the sync icon.

You will see the sync options for that account.

No check option under Accounts. I found this options under "Data usage", only if I checked "Auto Sync data"

While Peter's answer is correct, there's more to the story, at least on 4.1.1. I know the OP says 4.1.2, but I add this in case some or all of it is the same in 4.1.2, or for the sake of anyone with 4.1.1 who happens by this question.
There is a global Sync setting available in the notification panel widgets. It's all the way to the right (you'll have to scroll the widgets to see it):

From what I gather, this isn't there in 4.1.2, unless you reconfigure the notification switches to put it there. The tricky thing is, you can get there another way, as indicated in the OP. This option is also available by going to Settings -> Data Usage and tapping the menu button:

This is an awful design, in my opinion. But that's the way it is. What you see in the items under Settings -> Accounts can change based on whether or not Auto sync data is turned on. For example, with it switched off, the Google account sync options look like this:

and with it switched on, they look like this:

So, to make sure that your phone will automatically sync with your Google calendar, you need to enable Auto sync data and then check Sync calendar under the Google account sync options (because the check box won't be there until you turn Auto sync data on).

I found the answer (whether it's the best way to do it I'm not sure!)
I removed the Google Account and re added it.
It asked me to sign in and once I had, a page came up where I could tick or untick each part of google that I wanted to sync, ie: email, contacts, calendar, internet, books etc....
it all seems to work now!
Paul

I just had the same issue.
The first answer won't work if you updated from 4.1.1 to 4.1.2, while having sync toggled off.
The simplest solution is to add the sync button again in the notification panel. Then, toggle it on from there.
The settings to modify the buttons in the notification panel (panel at the top of the phone) is under Display > Notification panel. Drag and drop the icon into the notification panel after removing unwanted icons.

Sync can be turned on from the pull down menu (windowshade) from any screen. I just found it.

Are you talking about the simple "master switch" to switch on/off sync completely? That's not what the OP asked for. As I understood, the question concerns the configuration section where you can deal with the accounts/apps separately (see the last screenshot in Peter's answer).


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Sim card failed
Ever since that I got the cyanogen 7 it says that no SIM -- but it is in there. I was wondering how to solve the problem It has been ... quite and adventure.
What I've tried:
First I tried Heimdall from Ubuntu (didn't even connect to the phone). Then I tried from Windows, using its graphical interface. It had the "repartition" flag activated by default, when it shouldn't, so I bricked my phone.
After lots of trial an error, I managed to install a ROM in my phone, using Odin as root, the stock cable, and a different USB port than the one I was using (go figure...). And from there I was able to install cyanogenmod as it says on the instructions. Then I had to reinstall them, because they were bootlooping.
END TL;DR
Current Status:
So, now I've got a Samsung Galaxy S with Cyanogenmod 7. But it complaints that it doesn't detect any SIM card. When it boots up, it says No SIM card. Emergency calls only. Notice that it doesn't say "incompatible SIM", nor it asks me for a password of any kind. It just doesn't seem to detect the card at all.
Question:
What steps can I follow to solve this issue, or at least get more information about it?

Since you soft-bricked your phone I would ask to test a stock ROM and see if the SIM fails or it works as intended. If the SIM fails, it might be something of your phone, not the ROM.

Find the appropriate PIT file for your device and flash the original, signed, stock OS via Odin with re-partition checked and that PIT selected.  Then see if the SIM card works on that firmware.

Have you tried reseating the SIM card or cleaning its contacts with rubbing alcohol? Does your SIM card function correctly in a known-working phone? Sometimes it's the silly things.

SIM card interface is connected to the Baseband processor. The error message you are seeing most likely means that during conversion to Cyanogen you have erased and/or reflashed BP image. The easiest way to reverse is to go back to the stock software. After telephony is functional again - you should ask for help with the proper Cyanogen installation procedure for your device.


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How to update samsung galaxy tab p1000 i.e. 2.2 to 2.3. using ADB?
I am updating the OS of my Samsung Galaxy tab p1000 (i.e. 2.2) to 2.3.6 using adb.
I am using the steps below:

Check whether device is connected or not using ADB.
C:\Users\PC>adb devices
List of devices attached S6802084d305f device

Push 2.3.6 OS (i.e. update.zip) OS to SD card.
C:\Users\PC>adb push C:\Android\update.zip /sdcard/update.zip
2765 KB/s (2260360 bytes in 0.798s)

Go to recovery mode
C:\Users\PC>adb reboot recovery

After selecting Apply sdcard: update.zip, I'm getting the screen below. But it shows it for long time. There is no response from device. We waited for 5 hours. No response.

How can I flash my Samsung Galaxy tab? Let me know if I am missing a step.

These are the steps to install/update a custom ROM from stock:

Install a custom recovery (Clockworkmod for example).
Copy the ROM zip to the phone sdcard (you can do this via adb).
Reboot in recovery (it will load the custom recovery).
Use the option to install zip from sdcard to install/update the ROM.

Isn't that exactly what the OP did? If not, what part did he do wrong? I'm in the same situation and I haven't understood how your instructions differ from what I already did.

Ah! Perhaps he didn't do step 1! :-)  I did do step 1, but perhaps I didn't do it right.

There is a log of "apply update.zip" function on cache partition. You can check what went wrong there.
But it would come down to three possibilities:
the update.zip is broken,
not compatible,
or signature failure
Looks like you have custom recovery, so the signature failure shouldn't be your case.
It would happen if you'll try to do "apply update.zip" of custom update.zip using official recovery.

Unless you really need to use update.zip for updating, I would strongly advise against this method.
The recommended way is to flash full firmware with Odin. guide1, guide2
Officially the update.zip method is used by OTA updates. While the device is actively supported, it will download update.zip files in background.
These official update.zip files are signed and applicable only on version of FW, which they are meant for.
The update.zip file which you have is probably made by a MODder.
Although the update.zip file could contain all files and partitions of the target firmware version, this is seldom the case in custom update.zip files. Because of this, you might get different results applying custom update.zip on a devices with different firmware version.
It might work as intended, or might start freezing, or even fail to complete the update in case there is a command referring files or folders which don't exist or are different on your original firmware.
In many cases, not all partitions get updated and the part of firmware in SYSTEM partition is not compatible with bootloader present in another partition.
This might result in boot loops, very long boots, freezing, or random reboots.

If you don't specifically require version 2.3.6, you should consider using alternative builds, as the cyanogenmod for p1000 which is currently in its KitKat version v4.4.
KitKat plays very nice with devices with smaller memory, and you'll also be able to use Chrome and other Apps, which are not backward compatible. Overall, it's like having a new device.
Bear in mind, that the cyanogenmod is also distributed using update.zip files, the name of zip is different but it's still "update.zip type" file, so it's also important to apply the update from supported firmware version. I did the update from P1000XWJU6

authors: คณากร เทียมฟัก


text:
Error occured while flashing Galaxy Y with JELLYBLAST V3.0.2
While installing ROM on my galaxy Y as per mentioned on [ CUSTOM ROM - KERNEL] JELLYBLAST V3.0.2 for Galaxy Y GT-S5360
ROM installation aborted with error:
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Can’t open /sdcard/JELLYBLASTV3.signed.zip
(bad)
Installation aborted.

Recovery.log
-- Installing: /sdcard/JELLYBLASTV3.signed.zip
Finding update package...
I:Update location: /sdcard/JELLYBLASTV3.signed.zip
Opening update package...
minzip: Missed a central dir sig (at 0)
E:Can't open /sdcard/JELLYBLASTV3.signed.zip
(bad)
Installation aborted.

You should ask that in the Blog's page. The zip was updated so that might be the problem.

This error comes normally for two reason.

You have a corrupted .zip so you should try re-downloading.
You have an unsupported recovery.

According to your ROM's requirements, You must have stock kernal. Most of the time while rooting, we flash a different kernal. So you may have to flash your stock kernal back again.
And also you must have a CWM recovery, as they say.  You can find it here http://techcure.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/how-to-root-and-use-cwm-for-galaxy-y-gt-s5360/
If you have already done these steps, please let me know. I will try to help as much as I can.

Thank you so much Murshid for your effort, I have CWM recovery and I tried via it. I downloaded CWM from the same site, so I hope it should work. As you said, my kernal has been modified while I rooted my phone. How can I get my stock kernal back ?

Here are some of the stock kernals for Samsung Galaxy Y https://hotfile.com/list/2023820/c55629e . I hope you can find yours here. You are welcome :)

Download the zip. Copy it to mobile. Boot your mobile into recovery mode. Wipe Cache Partition. Wipe Dalvic Cache. Flash the Zip. Reboot. Wait for 10 minutes. Then restart the phone into recovery again. Then try flashing the ROM

I think it would be better to ask in the appropriate section on the XDA developers forum. The one for your rom can be found here
The creator of the rom should be able to help you. There are number of reason why you can't install the rom, the most probable for me is that your zip file didn't download properly. Double check the expected and downloaded file size for any discrepancies. Also make sure that your recovery mode supports installing custom ROMs

Actually, I have already asked this question on the forum from where I got the ROM and it was not only me searching for the solution of this problem. As I didn't get the solution, I asked here. Download is fine. I did it twice.

Then check if your recovery (ClockworkMod) supports installing ROMs from zip files. If you have required version of ClockworkMod recovery then as suggested below - you may need to install new kernel first.


text:
Can I stream audio from Android to Windows through Bluetooth?
Can I stream audio from Android to Windows through Bluetooth? If yes, how?

Yes you can.  Depending on your Bluetooth adapter on your Windows computer.  Connect the two together, find the Phone connection and choose "Control".  There you can connect to the phone as "Music and Audio".
Of course this can be different on your computer and then I cannot help you.

In case someone's coming from a Windows 10 without this feature, I managed to add it by installing Toshiba's Bluetooth Link, for example, from here: http://files.ecp.toshiba.com/2016/08/19/2123/59/tcp0000200a.exe

In Windows 10 versions released before Windows 10 May 2020 Update, Microsoft had implemented support for the A2DP source role, but not for the SINK role for desktop editions. This means you could use Intel Bluetooth on Windows 10 to send audio to other Bluetooth devices, such as a speaker, but you wasn’t be able to receive audio from other Bluetooth devices via A2DP.
Starting in Windows 10 version 2004, Microsoft has re-added the SINK role to Windows 10 for upcoming versions of the OS. However, to use the feature, you need to install a third party app Bluetooth Audio Receiver from Microsoft Store, as the OS lacks the user interface to activate the SINK role.
The instruction can be found here: Enable and Use A2DP Sink for Bluetooth in Windows 10

Nice start, welcome on the Android SE!

You could use DLNA, this allows to stream Music, Viedeos and Pictures:

DLNA - Android/Windows support
MediaServer Android App (Documentation)
Media Server (Playstore)

I couldn't find anything mentioning bluetooth, only wifi

That's correct: DLNA uses "normal" network ressources. r4d1um probably thought it you main issue to "stream from Android to XX", and "Bluetooth" being an option -- and thus was giving you some other options. It was not that clear that other options were not desired ;)

I also wouldnt prefer bluetooth to wifi, i guess bluetooth is somehow too slow for streaming audio. But Sorry ive then missunderstood you a bit.

@r4d1um I would also prefer bluetooth to wifi if it was an option, in my case it probably isn't

I was also frustrated by windows 8 (64bit) with this as well.
After upgrading from win-7 64bit to win-8 64bit, I was a little miffed to discover that I could no longer connect via Bluetooth to my windows machine and play what was on the phone.
I tried using the software for win-7 from the adapter manufacturer - no good.
So I bought a MediaLink BT (version 4.0) adapter.
The device instructions say to NOT use the CD, that win-8 will install the necessary drivers.
--- Drivers installed, BT adapter found and installed, but audio streaming from my phone Still didn't work.
So I tried to let the "autorun" feature of the cd install drivers, but win-8 stopped this saying it was "buggy".
So I "explored" the CD and went to the Vista_Win7>Win64 directory and ran inst.exe.
This installed all of the manufacturers BT stack.
Now when I connect my HTC Vivid (ICS) through Bluetooth to my computer, a "remote control" for my phones media player pops up on the pc desktop and allows me to start the player.
This solved my audio streaming from Android to win-8 64bit problem for $14.99... woot!

Yes you can, I just did it. I've Android 4.4.2 and WinXP.
Instructions:

Enable BT on both devices;
Make sure under Windows 'BT Configuration -> Local Services' you have 'Headset' service set to 'Automatic startup';
Connect the devices (using pass-phrase if required);
Check on Android that 'Media audio' is enabled for the connected PC.

Play some music, enjoy!

in Ubuntu 18.04 is seamless, just pair both then give pc/laptop the role of audio port, then you just play music from the Android. Windows 10 needs some driver that I want to find out

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


text:
Blank screen while installing Software Update -- htc one x
I was on 4.0.4. I saw a software update notification, and I clicked it. The update was about 35mb. It downloaded successfully. But when I selected to install it, it first took more than 30 minutes. Now, there is nothing, just a black screen. Not sure even if the phone is ON or OFF.
P.S. While doing all this, my battery was very low. So, I had the phone connected with my laptop to give it power. Now I can see only the black screen (as if phone is switched off) and the orange light near the speaker is blinking that usually blinks to indicate charging.

This may sound saucy now: But you never should start any update without having charged your device to at least 90%. In most cases, you will still end up with 80% or even more -- but in several cases it literally saves you headaches...

As I mentioned my phone was connected to the laptop. That was causing the problem. On my laptop MobileGo (PC suit for Android) services were running. When MobileGo detected the device it tried to connect with it. Which was actually interrupting the installation process.
From my task manager I stopped the MobilGo services and the installation went through.


text:
Can I add a shortcut to a locally stored file?
I'd like to add a shortcut on Android 4.2.1 to a local pptx file.
Is that possible ?

Should I delete this trivial question or just accept my  answer (or a better one if one comes) in 2 days ?

In fact it's easy to do using a file explorer application.
I used ES File Explorer but I suspect other programs have the same feature.
Using ES File Explorer, you have to navigate to the file, then do a long click on the file icon until a menu appears. Then you choose Shortcut. Nothing shows the operation works but a new icon will be present in the launcher.

For explanation purposes of your answer, can you give the steps that you take in ES File Explorer to create the shortcut?

@RyanConrad Looks like it's just a plain shortcut. I was thinking it was a file shortcut to the homescreen. Don't know if that would be possible, but that's for another question. Haha.

It's a shame that this isn't built into Android. Fortuantely, there are now many apps that can do that (mostly a side functionality of file manager apps).
If you just need a lightweight standalone app for this, I can recommend File Shortcut.

Just adding another file manager alternative to Denys's answer (which really works, +1 for that) which provides a little bit more customization:
Total Commander

navigate to the file in Total Commander
bring up the context menu by long tapping the file
click "Create link on desktop"
now you can add a custom text and optionally a custom icon to the shortcut. In the Command field, you can also define a custom command to run or define a specific app you would like to open the file with. (For example if you have a PDF file and multiple PDF viewers (or you have a video file and multiple video players), you can define which the file should open with.)


text:
Accessing my Google Play music
Is there an app to access my Google Play music?
I can only access it via the browser. The connection is horrible, as well as the interface.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.music

Might I suggest Google Play Music?

Ok, but how do I get the songs to appear? I'm logged in to my account - the same account I used to set up the playlists on my laptop - but none of my songs appear in the app. I have to use the browser to access the songs.

@Steve: Have you gone through the instructions on Google's support site? http://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?answer=1291788


text:
Why can't I update my device?
I have a Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300), my current Android version is 4.0.4.
I am trying to define software updates for it, via the Software Updates screen. (Settings > About).
However, I get "Unable to connect to network" every time. What network is it trying to connect? Can I define it? If so, what should I define it too?
Also, will software updates allow me to update to 4.1.2? If not, how can I?
Can anyone please point to a resource which explains it? (Or even better, answer it here).
If I'm lacking any technical details, please leave a comment and I'll edit my question right away.

May be I am too easy with you.
But just for the fact of helping, were you able to access internet through your mobile?
If the answer is 'Yes' then there must be a bug with your OS. (There are possibilities for that in one or two devices)
My suggestion is to use 'Kies' from a PC.
Last week only I got to know even GT-I9300 devices are network locked in some countries. A friend of mine's GT-I9100 started asking for Network Unlock code all of a sudden. After a master reset, we noticed some new apps from Vodafone and the default language turned into Spanish or something.
So I think your GS3 might be trying to access its original operator.
Or may be some other reason.
Just try my suggestions if you didn't do already.

I can access a mobile network. So what do you think I should do? Care to elaborate a bit more about this 'Kies'?

Samsung Kies is the software for all Samsung's android devices to sync with PC. You can backup your mobile data to PC using Kies. Also you can update your firmware through it, if Samsung made it available for your device. Since, SGS3 has already got the JB update I hope you can give it a try. Download Kies from, http://www.samsung.com/us/kies/

Could it be that it refuses the update on mobile network because the download size is pretty big? Try updating while on a wireless network...

I'm updating it while connected to WiFi. It doesn't work.


text:
Stock Browser splitting HTTP POST requests into separate TCP segments
I am currently testing different web browsers and devices for compatibility with a web interface that has been developed.  We have realized we have an issue with code already in production.  The bug is hit because any HTTP POST requests sent from the android browser (on both a Galaxy Nexus (running JB) and a Galaxy Tab (running ICS)) are split into two TCP segments at the boundary of the HTTP headers and the HTTP POST data.
Interestingly enough Chrome for Android does not exhibit this same behavior, rather the entire request is sent as one packet.
We are not even close to hitting the MTU, so that is not an issue.
My questions are:

Is there any configuration that can be changed to prevent this?
I know that both the built-in android browser and chrome use Webkit, which I was under the impression that it was built into the android OS, so why the different behavior between the browsers?
Finally, what is gained or what is the intent behind this?

The browser doesn't directly control that; it's the kernel's choice, since the kernel is where the TCP implementation lives.  However, one way the application can influence it is by setting the TCP_NODELAY option on the socket, which requests that the kernel disable Nagle's algorithm and send each chunk of data as soon as possible.
This may be an optimization:  since many HTTP requests contain only headers and no body, it's better for the kernel to send a packet with the headers immediately, instead of waiting a little while to see if the browser produces any more data that could fit into the same packet.


text:
Setting wallpaper - wrong orientation
I'm trying to set the wallpaper on my Nexus7, and no matter what I try, the blue "crop" widget that lets you specify the area of the image that is the wallpaper is always in the wrong orientation. So when I make this widget as large as possible, it's only covering part of the image. The image size is 1280x800, so I should be able to use the whole image, but I can't because it seems to be always getting the orientation wrong. I've tried rotating it, this doesn't seem to make a difference. The resize widget is always the opposite of what I want it to be. It's almost as if it's detecting the image's aspect ratio and doing the opposite of what it should be doing. I've made sure the image doesn't contain any meta data which could be specifying another orientation. I'm sure there must be something I'm misunderstanding about how this widget works. It's driving me nuts though!
I've attached a screenshot to make it more clear what I mean:

This looks like it's the proper behavior. Android scrolls wallpapers by default. A device with a 1280x800 screen resolution will need a wallpaper of that is much wider in order for it to fit 1-to-1. See What is the default resolution of a wallpaper that fits the homescreen exactly in an Android phone?

Thanks for that. That link links to a lifehacker article that explains it really well:
http://lifehacker.com/5657727/whats-the-deal-with-androids-weird-wallpaper-requirements
If you put your comment as an answer, then I'll mark it as the answer so you get the rep.

It looks like what you're describing is actually the proper behavior, though it's not particularly obvious why that's the case.
Android, by default, scrolls your wallpaper to the left and right when you swipe around your home screen. This means that there's a sort of "virtual" desktop that represents the collection of your home screen pages, and it is (basically by definition) larger than the screen's resolution. The general rule is that the resolution of the virtual desktop will be 2x wider than the screen's physical resolution, but the height will be the same.
Therefore, when Android is cropping your image for your 1280x800 screen, it's actually attempting to create a wallpaper with an aspect ratio that lines up with your 1280x1600 virtual desktop. Thus, if the image you use is 1280x800 (like your screen), it will be cropped and scaled in the process.
If you'd like to make a wallpaper that fits the sizing of your virtual desktop without any cropping, What is the default resolution of a wallpaper that fits the homescreen exactly in an Android phone? contains some useful links and resources.


text:
Google Now Choosing Weird Route
For at least a month or two, my Razr Maxx HD running the stock firmware Android 4.1.1 (9.1.41.XT926.Verizon.en.US) has done a great job at telling me how long it'll take to get home.
I know the route and don't need it to navigate me, obviously, but it has been picking the route that I actually follow. It gives me an estimated time for getting home, so that I can plan my evening around whether there's a severe problem on my route (traffic, road closure, construction, accident, etc.) and either route around it, or let others know that I'll be late, or if it's really terrible, stop somewhere for dinner before hitting the highway.
Suddenly, without changing my route or my driving habits at all, Google Now is telling me that it will take about three times longer to get home, and through an extremely indirect / inefficient route. So the time to home is very inaccurate because it isn't basing it on the correct route. Moreover, when I check other sources of traffic information online, I have no evidence that there is any sort of significant delay on my primary route -- at least, nothing significant enough that would make the alternate route faster, or even close to the same time (my primary route is one that takes about 25 minutes at full speed, 35 minutes in typical traffic, 60 minutes with a moderate to severe accident; the alternate route is saying 85 minutes!)
I double checked the settings for the Google Now traffic card, and the home and work addresses are set correctly. Google Navigation app picks the fastest route (the route I actually drive) when I ask it to take me home. So, why is Google Now telling me it'll take me an extremely long time to get home via an alternate route? Is there any way for me to set the route manually?

Yup. This is my life, every day: "54 mins to Home. 35 mins via alternate route." Why?!


text:
Can you use a minute plan with Google Voice?
I recently learned about Google Voice and was wondering if I could apply it to my current cellular situation.
I have a pre-paid minute plan with an Android phone. Ideally, I'd like to use minutes whenever I'm not under a Wi-Fi network, and when under a Wi-Fi network texting and talking would be free. Is this possible with Google Voice?

Am not so sure, but Viber seems an alternative if Google voice is not appropriate for your needs! You are based in the USA/Canada?

@t0mm13b: Yes, I am in the United States.

The answer is: Maybe. Certainly the phone number forwarding feature of GV is available to you, but whether or not the Google Voice app will run on your phone or integrate well with the carrier depends on, well, the carrier. Why not just try it? Google Voice is currently free; you have nothing to lose.

@user1: I have a T-Mobile plan minute plan at the moment with my 7 year old cell phone. The Android phones in my house are not T-Mobile so I cannot use the SIM card.

You can use Google Voice with a non-smart phone, but it will be somewhat limited. If the only device you carry is the dumb phone, you won't be able to do any calling over wifi (obviously).
However, if you carry a wifi android device with you, you can set up Google Voice over wifi using a few methods, such as GrooveIP, or SIP Droid with these setup instructions.
To only show your Google Voice number to callees when using your non-smart prepaid, follow Option 1 in this answer. Note that it will cost you 10-15 seconds each time you call someone, as the phone will manually dial the number after calling your own google voice number. Receiving calls won't take up any extra time.
If you don't care about your friends and families having 2 numbers for you, you don't need to do anything different for your prepaid. Just know that if they call you on your non-GV number, you won't be able to accept it on your wifi android device (it won't ring). You would need to explain that they should only ever call you on your GV number.


text:
Is it possible to pre-download a YouTube video to view it later offline?
I have the Galaxy S3, and I'd like to watch YouTube videos during my commutes. I like to watch long videos (around 1 hours), so I have no more than 1 video per commute.
However, youtube video takes a lot of bandwidth and I have a cap on data usage. Besides, connection outside during peak hours tend to be slow, which makes the video pause to download a lot of times.
Is it possible to pre-download a video at home (using my Wi-Fi, which is faster and has no data cap), and watch it on the way? I tried pausing it at home and let it download, but whenever the phone sleep (it sleeps often!), or the application switch from youtube to anything else, it seems all previous download will be lost.

Update:
YouTube has removed this feature. Source

YouTube's official app allows you to preload a video. You can either preload all your subscription or the videos you have added to watch later.
When your phone is connected to WiFi and charger, Youtube automatically pre-loads them.
Open Youtube -> Settings -> Preloading
One thing to note is that this still requires data connection to view the pre-loaded video. It won't download the videos but it does something (may be verification) before showing pre-loaded videos.
Read more at support doc

I disagree with this answer! You'll end up with a sure fire way of racking up a bill! Read this subreddit to find out why! The gist was the OP in the subreddit was subscribed to certain subscriptions, AT&T ended up charging the customer for going over the limit!

That answer is assuming the OP has unlimited data plan in which the cap is limited and governed by the Fair Usage Policy hence -1 from me! :)

@t0mm13b It uses Wi-Fi to preload the subscription which the OP has unlimited cap. So give my +1 back. If you are citing the reddit example it could be weird bug or some other misunderstanding. From Google support doc: "Conditions for preloading
Once you turn on this feature, preloading will happen only when:
The device’s battery is charging.
The device is connected to a WiFi network.
"

OP does not have unlimited cap, read the question again youtube video takes a lot of bandwidth and I have a cap on data usage ...

Read the full question, (....using my Wi-Fi, which is faster and has no data cap.....). Preloading works over Wi-Fi. It doesn't use mobile data. However you still need mobile data to watch the videos but its only for authentication purpose or similar, which I'm not sure. OP's scenario and my scenarios is exactly same and I've been doing same from many months.

There is a misunderstanding, what I quoted was true for 3G mobile data (Op included both, youtube video takes a lot of bandwidth and I have a cap on data usage, and for the wifi using my Wi-Fi, which is faster and has no data cap, obviously downloading over the wifi is fine, but for on the go, the solution does not seem viable, because 3G data is still being used for some purpose which you have stated yourself However you still need mobile data to watch the videos but its only for authentication purpose or similar, which I'm not sure

One thing to note for this answer is that it only works on the phone YouTube client - it doesn't work on a tablet. :(

@t0mm13b Less than 1 KB of mobile data is used for authentication or similar purpose. The videos are already pre-loaded and saved to your phone. Mobile data is needed but this will never reach the cap value, not even 10MB cap which is mine. I watch at least one video every day as there is no electricity for more than half the day in my country and I've never ran out of 10MB cap.

I thought this answer was a great fit for the OP's question, +1. I appreciate solutions built-in to the app (rather than having to download a separate app) even if they require a specific workflow (making sure the video you want is in Watch Later or Subscriptions and your phone is plugged in and on WiFi every night). The subreddit mentioned by t0mm13b is perhaps cause for monitoring, but one bad report doesn't render the whole feature invalid AFAIC.

This feature is pretty bugged though, often times if you lose your wifi signal it will continue downloading over mobile data connection which can be pretty expensive.

@YallaT.It has never happened to me. I frequently lose Wi-Fi due to power outage. And yes I'm on 10MB data cap.

@roxan: Exactly this happend back in december after i first enabled this option: https://www.dropbox.com/s/riyk89315iz9lh8/Screenshot_2013-02-19-14-40-51.png  I enabeld the Setting but unplugged the phone and left my house shortly afterwards. Still, it loaded 30MB over mobile data and i was able to watch 1 video.

The setting seems gone in KitKat (Android 4.4)

There's a Python script floating around called youtube-dl (which is an open source project), an example invocation would be something like this:
youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1MIVOTstF0
depending on the video format, either MP4 or flv, the file would be saved to disk as 'O1MIVOTstF0.mp4' or 'O1MIVOTstF0.flv'.
It is cross-platform friendly, and can run under any environment provided the Python run-time is installed.
Then push that across using a video player on the handset to play the youtube video - that is off-line, thereby minimizing data caps limit.
Addendum Am not 100% sure if Android has a video decoder for flv format... so that is an open ended question depending on what video player can support it.

how to run this?

@Briyanti that is a Linux shell script which does that, I have already supplied the typical invocation in the answer above ;)

terminal emulator such as termux

Assuming you also have a PC at home, most modern browsers have extensions that will allow you to download a YouTube video, which you could then side load to your S3 and watch in airplane mode, if you liked. I know Opera has an extension that allows YouTube downloads and I assume other browser do too.

Would upvote if you specified an actual extension....

Any chance that TubeMate might do the trick?
Just download them over wi-fi and watch 'em on the go. I find it too hard to view a  video on a small screen for too long, but this might do the trick.

There are a couple on the Google Play Store. Search for youtube mp3 and you will find them.
Best one I found is MP3/Video Downloader - Grab It.
It's really simple to use. You can search YouTube and then download music in video or MP# format. Really nice app!

The question is specifically about watching pre-downloaded videos when commuting, not about a youtube-mp3 converter. Does GrabIt also download videos (without converting them to MP3s)?

Yes! Grab It http://www.grabit-mp3downloader.com allows you to download VIDEOS while you’re connected to WiFi and enjoy it later, when internet connection is not available. Videos are in MP4 and you have different qualities as well...

Ah, ok. I was a bit confused by the title...

There is a new app called TubeDroid that will enable you to download videos to your device, rather than preloading them.


text:
Can I use LINE without giving out my phone number?
LINE is an app like Skype+Facebook.
Is there a way to prevent LINE from reading my phone number and using it for any purpose? (search/identification/...)

I'm afraid not. If you're not happy with the permissions it uses, don't install it.


text:
Android browser not able to access router's settings page
I can access the router's settings page via 192.168.1.1 with my PC but not with my android device. What can be the reason?
My device: Android gingerbread with stock browser. Also tried with other browsers. e.g. Opera Mini, etc..
EDIT 1:
My device is connected in the same network via wi-fi.
The IP's of different devices on the network are:

Home PC: 192.168.1.2
Router: 192.168.1.1
Android Device: 192.168.1.3

EDIT 2: Screen-shots

Pinging stackoverflow: IP is not static. Router assigns dynamically. Right now, the device is assigned 192.1

Browser not able to load router's page:

Are you sure, that your phone is connected to the same network as your pc and router? What is the IP of your phone? What error do you get in the browser?

Yup. The router page can be accessed in my office. But not in my home.

Can you Ping your Router from the Android device?

Yes. The internet works fine. Only the router can't be accessed.

Have you tried to literally enter 'http://192.168.1.1' (not just the IP alone)? Opera Mini cannot work because it can only display public accessible sites (opera.com is used as a proxy which does some preprocessing).

Yes. No luck with stock browser as well as opera mini.

Still the open question: What is the IP of your Android device then? Is your WiFi connection active (you might be on mobile data instead, which would explain your problem -- so please answer both questions)

Sounds like DNS on the handset does not know about the IP address, strange though because the router has allocated an ip address to your handset and can access the internet from there, unless, the access to  router is restricted by certain MAC addresses?

Are you sure that your wifi network is the same network at your wired network? Is this your home network or work? At my work, our wireless is not the same network as wired, in order to get on the same network I have to set up VPN on my phone.

@Izzy, Yes the device is connected to the same network.

@RyanConrad, I have only one router. It is an ADSL router (Home network). I can access the same router using 192.168.1.1 via laptops or desktops.

@najus and for the second time, you didn't answer the question (IP of your device). Might turn out interesting.

@Izzy, Sorry. But if the device is connected to the same network then isn't it obvious? It's 192.168.1.3

@najus It's obvious the other way around. Sorry for being that penetrant, but it wouldn't be the first time one insisted "I'm sure" -- and suddenly it turned out the IP said otherwise. So yes, now that you mentioned the IP explicitly, we all can be sure it is and base our thinking on it, thus eliminating a probable cause (and it implicitly gives proof your WiFi is switched on and working). Thanks for the update!

No problem @Izzy. Updated the question too.

@najus Good idea :) Might also be a good idea to name the different browsers you've tried (you already noticed from below answer why Opera cannot work; maybe other browsers have other specialities). I already upvoted your question for "research efford shown" ;)

i want to add that I think it is strange that the IP is 192.168.1.3. You set the IP static? Are you sure that you set up the correct DNS and Gateway then? I say that I think you did static because most "home" routers don't start DHCP addresses until ~192.168.1.51 to save some spots for static IPs.

@RyanConrad, IP is dynamically assigned. See edited question.

I got a similar behavior with my last Router I had (it was a DLINK Router), there was an option "do not Display Router Configuration Page for WiFi Devices".
This is just a possible option I can imagine now.
Opera Mini would generally not work, since it's traffic is routed over the Operas Servers to compress the Webtraffic that is been sent to your smartphone.
Quote:

Unlike straightforward web browsers, Opera Mini fetches all content through a proxy server and reformats web pages into a format more suitable for small screens.[33] A page is compressed, then delivered to the phone in a markup language called OBML (Opera Binary Markup Language), which Opera Mini can interpret.[34] The data compression makes transfer time about two to three times faster,[18] and the pre-processing improves the display of web pages not designed for small screens.[35]

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Mini
And since Opera isn't able to route into your private network it would not work.

I guess there's no option now.

Which router do you use?

I use Tenda router. http://www.tenda.cn/tendacn/product/show.aspx?productid=389

Is your PC connected wired to the network over Patch Cable?

No. Its connected via wi-fi.

Do your Android device display a Error loading the page or a blank screen? Have you tried pinging your Android Device from your PC? What is the IP Adress of your Android Smartphone and the IP Adress of the PC you are using in your local network. Internal IP Adress of your network?

It shows error like it is not connected to a network. But I can browse other pages without any problem. Yes I can ping my device from PC. The IP addresses are:
Phone: 192.168.1.3
PC: 192.168.1.2
Router: 192.168.1.1

Can you try accessing the Routers config page using    http://192.168.1.1:80 ?

I'll try it once I reach home.


text:
Does nexus 4 work with indian network
I had bought a nexus 4 from US & right now.. i am trying to use it in india, with Vodafone SIM. I am facing problem, as the phone doesnt detect any SIM. Please guide whether Nexus 4 can be used with Vodafone network

Yes. My two friends using Nexus 4(16GB&8GB) in India. They didn't get any issues.
You can use Micro Sim bought from carrier or a manual cut version of ordinary SIM.


text:
Why does Jelly Bean no longer support Flash?
I am fine with the news that Android Jelly Bean no longer supports Flash. But being an Android developer, I am surprised that they did not release a reason for that.
Does anybody know?

Adobe decided to stop support for its Flash Player on Android mainly because of HTML5 doesn't need flash player to play videos. Unfortunately, that didn't mean all Web sites you visit would start using HTML5 instead of Flash (though it would have been nice). If some of the Web sites you want to look at are using Flash, the last version of Adobe Flash Player that landed on the Google Play Store will work with your Jelly Bean device.
 However, since it's no longer available through the Play Store, you'll need to install it from a side-loaded APK.
They've only stopped support, doesn't mean that it won't work but if it doesn't on certain devices then they won't fix it or support it.
You can still install it from here.

Rather than downloading the Flash player APK from a 3rd party site, you can still download it direct from Adobe, go to http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html#Flash%20Player%20archives and scroll down to the "Flash Player for Android 4.0 archives" section, there's even a newer version listed than on your other site.

It's not that Jelly Bean won't support Flash. Adobe decided not to support Flash for newer devices, starting from Jelly Bean and onwards. I don't know the know the reason though. Maybe they got tired of testing (and certifying) several devices?
Source.
You can still install Flash on Jelly Bean; there are workarounds for that.

The reason, perhaps not expressed officially, was because they never could get good performance from the technology on a mobile platform.


text:
Is the external micro SD card path the same for all devices?
I am using a Samsung Tab 2.
There is a path: /mnt/external_sdcard/myfile. Here, I can save, read, or write my file to the external micro SD card.
I'm just wondering if this path is the same for all devices, or if it may be different.

Simple answer: No.
On my device (LG P990 Optimus 2X) the path changed after upgrading from 2.3 to 4.0. Currently the path on my device is /mnt/sdcard/external_sd.
So this is highly dependent on the device provider or on the version.

Same path here on my Cat tablets running JB (4.1.1). I'd almost say it might depend on the Android version (so 4.x is very likely to have this path), but as we saw so many different manufacturer-specific implementations in the past, I'm not sure if they now decided to agree on a common path...

Izzy you are getting this path /mnt/external_sdcard or what Uwe told that path.

MY old HTC Incredible S (running ICS) had it as /mnt/sdcard for the external (no internal) SD card.  My Galaxy S3 (updated to 4.1) has the external SD card at /mnt/extSdCard


text:
Cannot see the video files in the phone on my PC
I have this very strange issue which I discovered on my month-old Note 2. I never had this issue with my previous device which was a Nexus S.
I hooked up the phone via USB to my PC, and selected camera PTP mode. When I browsed the folders via Computer\GT-N7100\Phone\DCIM\Camera, I don't see any videos that I shot. However, when I browse the files through the default my files app on the phone, I see them. Why is this?
Windows 8 detected the device and installed all drivers too. Because of this, I am not able to move the videos shot with the phone to my PC. Any help?

Connect your cell as a media device, not the other !!

Camera PTP mode means Picture Transfer Protocol. This is probably why you can't see any videos. Select USB mode and navigate to the same folder. Make sure you are checking the right "camera" folder as you may have 2, one on your SD card and one in the internal phone memory.

In case you have trouble switching to UMS (USB Mass Storage) mode, check whether MTP is available as option. It's an extension to PTP: PTP = PICTURE Transfer Protocol, MTP = MEDIA Transfer Protocol; so MTP should also allow you to see/transfer your video files.

Yes. It worked. Thanks. The problem I now see what had happened was, when the phone is connected via mtp, one of my win8 machines did not detect the phone and show the device in "computer" and hence I was just trying PTP. I just tried it in another machine and MTP worked and shows videos. Thanks for tonne for your response.

I am glad I could help!

I also had same issue and I initially connected my phone in PTP mode and then phone got detected but I could not see the videos.
I went to phone and changed mode to MTP and then the videos were available.
Catch here is that when you are connecting your phone to laptop it should be in PTP mode and then change to MTP. If you have MTP mode and try connecting your mobile to laptop then your PC might not detect the phone.

Just use any file explorer and copy or cut the DCIM folder, create a new folder and just paste. Click file transfer on your PC, the images will be shown in respective folder.


text:
Root HTC one V on Mac OS X
I'd like to root my HTC One V. Are there any tools specifically for this?
I'm trying to follow this guide but having trouble with step 6 in the HTCdev-Unlock Bootloader guide.
Currently, running Mac OS X 10.7.5.

AndroidForums has a guide for rooting the HTC One V. I can't post the steps here, since the link is blocked at my current location.

That guide states, "If you run Mac, I can’t help you." I'm looking for something specific to Mac OS X.

I'm trying to follow this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1869667 but having trouble with step 6 in the HTCdev-Unlock Bootloader guide.

I took the freedom to add your question to our rooting index, where we link one question per device (so future visitors looking for how-to-root-One-V should come here). You might want to check there, maybe a solution for a related device susch as the One X or One XL could work for you?

HTC has a tool called HTC Quick Root tool it works with the latest crop of HTC’s Android devices, including the One X, One S and One V. As far as i'm aware it is available for PC only http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1870652

http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/unlock-instructions/page-2 does have some instruction regarding Mac OS X, for example, step 5 states "Note: for Mac OS X and Linux you will only need adb and fastboot." and even includes a link to fasboot for mac http://www.htcdev.com/process/legal_fastboot_mac, but after that, it shows windows command prompt steps only.

@AndrewOgryzek Have a look at this article to see if it helps at all  http://www.bestandroidblog.com/how-to-unlock-the-bootloader-in-htc-one-v/

If you can't root your phone because your on Mac OS X, try running a virtual machine that is running windows and root your phone from there. (I Personally don't have a Mac so am not 100% sure this will work, this is only a suggestion)

Matt07211 - That would probably make a better comment than answer, as it would still require purchasing and running Windows OS - Bootcamp would would also work, if that were a solution. Anyway, I've had 2 phone upgrades since posting that 2 and a half years ago!

My fault for not checking the date it was posted, sorry and at the time I was unable to comment as I don't have enough reputation

There are some Apps to root most of the Phones for example KingRoot is a good one
https://kingroot.net/ install that on your phone and you can easily root


text:
How can I enable/add USB OTG support to my rooted stock LG P500?
I have a rooted LG P500 running stock 2.3.3 with kernel 2.6.35.10.
I would like to use USB OTG features and connect a flash drive to my phone. I have a USB OTG cable that I use with my Nexus 7.  The same cable and same flash drive doesn't work with my phone.
I have tried to install StickMount, but unfortunately it is not compatible with my phone and so is the USB Host diagnostics - however, their database  clearly says P500 does not support USB.
Other than going the route of custom ROM, can some thing be done for enabling USB OTG like patching kernels etc? I am not sure even the previous statement is valid, but just thought of asking as in the database under "Rooted API Claims support" column, the value for LGP500 is said as Yes. And, I checked this XDA thread, which also says that the chipset MSM7227 which my phone uses has limited OTG capabilities. Also that thread's title says Update: Working now, but I couldn't find anything relevant within its posts. All these just gives me a faint hope.
Update:
My phone's has three files libra.ko, librasdioif.ko, wireless.ko in /system/lib/modules

In short, MSM7x27 chipsets have very limited support for USB OTG, that is despite there is an option in the kernel to build the driver for it, unfortunately it does not work and requires hackery to get it to work 100%!

In reference to this:

Update: My phone's has three files libra.ko, librasdioif.ko,
  wireless.ko in /system/lib/modules

Those modules the OP referred to, are tied to the SDIO's chipset support for both the SDCard mechanism and the Wireless. Notably, Atheros's ar6000 uses the SDIO pins to activate the wireless, and is specific to that driver.
Offtopic: The SDIO controls the SDCard mechanism, so yeah, it does sound 'cheap' in the sense that using the pins for I/O off the SDCard mechanism, to control the wifi chip...
As a FYI - Zte Blade and LG-P500 uses the near-identical array of peripherals such as chipset, wifi, but under different manufacturers! Have a mooch around the Modaco thread governing both devices, you might find something in there!

Have you tried USB OTG Helper? It works with either stock or custom ROM.
I have not seen the P500 listed as supported, but you could TRY.

No. I had already tried this. Since I forgot the app name and its error messasge, I missed to add this info in my question.


text:
Getting a list of applications with SMS permission
I installed many applications, and some of them have specific permissions. How do I get a list of all applications with a specific permission? I'm interested in SMS permissions. I do not want to write an app for that yet :-)
My problem is that the Galaxy Nexus 4.2.1 Messaging app takes up too much CPU - over 20%. So, I need to see which of my installed apps may be misbehaving.

There is a FREE app called Permission Explorer. Check the MESSAGES category in that app.

You could use Trust Go Antivirus & Mobile Security. Protects your phone while providing many benefits. One been being able to know what app use what permissions.


text:
Fastboot setserial command
I noticed that a lot of descriptions of fastboot mention a command named setserial which not available in the current version that comes with Android SDK.
You can see the complete list of commands including setserial, for example here. The missing setserial command is not the only command missing in the current version.
The setserial command sounds very interesting for some tests I want to perform.
Does anybody has experience with that command and know where to get a fastboot binary that supports it?
Furthermore it would be interesting if current Android devices still allow to change the serial - may be this was only possible on the G1 and Nexus One?

I am not 100% sure if the serial can be changed! Some boot images would have a serial number in place, but then again, if the serial number is changed, the system would not recognize it and possibly trigger a re-install of the usb drivers....

The option has been moved to the oem subset of fastboot functions. Since every vendor is using their own proprietary ways to handle serial numbers. So there is no universal solution available. It is not a matter of finding a "fastboot binary that supports it". Fastboot binary  just sends commands to the device's bootloader. And "setserial" commands are proprietary.

What about the bootloaders used on Google Nexus devices? Do you know any details about the setserial command for those?

Nexus devices are designed by different OEMs and are not much different in this regard.


text:
What might be the cause of the weird colors and picture mis-alignment?
If I connect my Android tablet (A10MID, Android 4.0) to my monitor, and:

the colors on the monitor
the alignment of the picture
the resolution
and the floating "input not support"-ed message

are problematic. It works well otherwise: mouse, keyboard, runs apps, ...
Here is the setup:
tablet miniHDMI -> miniHDMI-HDMI cable -> HDMI_female to DVI_male adapter -> monitor DVI

And this is what I get:

(higher resolution: http://postimage.org/image/5tdvmb5pz/)
Since then I tried that monitor connected to my desktop with DVI-DVI cable that I borrowed, and it works perfectly.
I also went down to the next electronics store to try the tablet with a different display, and my tablet seems to work with one of those fancy new TVs through HDMI.
So both the tablet and the monitor work perfectly. But they cannot be coupled.
Could this be caused by my monitor not supporting HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection)?
If not, than my HDMI-to-DVI adapter is the only thing that can be the cause of this?

Th image is unclear. Please try to upload a better one.

Could this be an issue with HDMI encryption that DVI does not suppport?
If so, can I remove that "feature" of android?

@user1358 / nlognfan Please register an account to maintain ownership of your posts.  Once you do, use this to get your unregistered accounts merged into it: http://android.stackexchange.com/help/user-merge

Have you tried different resolutions on the Android video source and changing the refresh rate between 50 Hz and 60 Hz. My cheapie tablet offers:
1920 x 1080p 50 Hz
1920 x 1080p 60 Hz
1280 x 720p 50 Hz
1280 x 720p 60 Hz
720 x 576p 50 Hz
720 x 576p 60 Hz
All choices under Settings-->HDMI-->HDMI Resolution.
My guess is that you are sending a higher resolution than the target can handle.


text:
Extreme lag with Sony Ericsson WT19i after update to 4.0.4
I have updated my Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman to 4.0.4 from 2.3.4 and now the system lags horribly. I have to wait for a considerable time for an application to exit. Even the in built basic applications like phone and contacts take about 5-7 secs to load.
Has anyone faced a similar problem? What can I do that would cure my system of the lag?

Yes, Sony made the ICS upgrade a horrible experience which does slow down the handset and lag.
Two choices:

downgrade to Gingerbread 2.3.x
Try switching to custom ROM called LegacyXperia to use JellyBean.

The experience is more satisfying and smooth. For that to happen:

need adb, fastboot binaries
if your bootloader can be unlocked, check Sony Warning if yes and proceed to do so, you will lose your data
you would need to backup your apps (there is other questions on this site about this topic!)
download the LegacyXperia ROM, extract boot.img from zip, flash it to bootloader
reboot and toggle volume keys to get into ClockworkMod Recovery
choose wipe data/cache
choose install from adb sideload, CWM will wait,
adb sideload name_of_zip_file, CWM will start loading and installing the ROM.
reboot and enjoy JellyBean.

I've updated my phone as well, yesterday, and It's indeed quite slow at times. Here are two easy things you can do;

Replace your home screen with LauncherPro, it's a lot faster
If you're rooted, lower your vmheapsize (24m seems like a good value)

Now these small tweaks are probably going to be insufficient, but at least they're safe. The other thing you can do is to find the original Android 2.3 ROM for your device, and flash it to your device.


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Permanently indicate to Market an application should refuse upgrades?
Some applications update frequently, (like Dolphin Browser), but to my needs the current version is clearly enough, barring a major advance of the application. Some applications (like Slacker Radio) remove earlier functionality via updates, in the interest of cleanliness or to strengthen marketing additional features to a subscriber audience. Slacker Radio specifically moved the look-ahead next artist functionality into their pay version.
So, for me, these are 2 cases for specific updates I would prefer never to perform because I am either happy, or just content. Currently I reject selecting Update-All, since they remain in the list, and update my apps one-by-one. Is there a way to tell Market/Google Play to shield them from the update list on a semi to permanent fashion to prevent them, especially to prevent inclusion in an accidental mass-update?

You may try my answer if the device is rooted, and foremost, if the issue isn't resolved yet.

Titanium Backup Pro can do what you want. (Yes, you must buy PRO. The feature is disabled in non-pro).
Once you have the app, do this:

Open Titanium Backup Pro
Open tab Backup/Restore
Scroll to the app that you want to unlink from Market
Long-press on the selected app
Click Detach from Market

I can't get it to work on my phone, but maybe it'll work for you.

Geff, unfortunately this no longer works due to changes in Google Play. Looks like currently there is no "real way" to do that. Just work-arounds.

Unfortunately, due to changes in Google Play, there is no real way to hide updates from it – apart from turning them up in the Playstore app completely. Sounds like a contradiction, but must not necessarily be:

turn off update checks (and auto-updates) in the playstore app
get yourself the Appbrain App Market app
login to the Appbrain website with your Google account
initialize the app (let it sync your installed apps with the Appbrain account created in the previous step)

Now, this app is responsible to inform you about updates. Once an update is signaled, you can decide to either

install it
skip it (this update only; so you're notified for the next update again)
skip all updates for the app in question

With multiple updates pending, you can still batch-update them. Just don't be surprised updating will open the Playstore app again: Appbrain is just a different front-end to Google Play Store, not a separate market place :)


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Samsung Galaxy S3 requesting network security key when tethering
My S3 (Jellybean) was suddenly no longer recognised by my PC when plugged in via USB.  I solved that by debugging using Developer Options as advised in another thread, which allowed the driver to be installed... again (thank you).
But now if I try to use it as a hot-spot via USB tethering, I'm prompted to enter a network security key.
Previously it just connected without the need for this and furthermore, I don't know where I would find such a key since I didn't set it up in the first place.
Help anyone?

Go to setting > more settings > tethering now enable tethering. On same screen tap tethering again, not to turn off, so tap to the left of the tether on switch. A screen opens, go to bottom left corner and tap configure.  Scroll down you will see a password field, tap the show password then copy and paste the password to notepad or write it down. When your laptop asks for a security key enter password. I did this for the first time in ten minutes.

Once you have activated tethering you can select the "Portable Wifi hotspot" row on the left side in the tethering menu to get an information page. From the information page there is a configuration menu to add specific allowed devices to connect, and to configure the SSID and password of the tethering Wifi Hotspot.
I find this is confusing/misleading because in the same row there is also the tethering activation/deactivation button on the right side so to me it is counter-intuitive that other elements in the same row would also have actions associated with them.

I don't think you can use hotspot through USB. May be it is asking for your wifi hotspot password. Which you can find in 'Tethering and Portable hotspot' settings.

You definitely can, because I was doing it up until today!  Like with my old iPhone 3GS, I just plugged it in and it was available in the Network and Sharing Center.  However, whereas the iPhone automatically became a hotspot when tethered, with the S3 each time you go to settings and switch on the 'Tethering and portable hotspot' & it warns you that the Wifi will then be turned off.  It's only today that it needed a password.  I can't see any settings in 'Tethering and portable hotspot' apart from the slider to switch it on, USB or Bluetooth tethering and Help (which isn't).

Well, I am sorry about my earlier answer. Since I didn't use USB tethering I didn't know about it. Since I am on a custom ROM, I couldn't figure the exact problem of yours in my mobile as well. So, I thought of giving you some alternatives, Try this PdaNet, http://junefabrics.com/android/ The thing is, if you are depending on your mobile's data connection it will be a tough task for you because you have to download a PC application for this. Meanwhile, I will try to figure out your problem soon.

Also, this ClockWorkMod Tether looks promising. He is a well known developer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdutta.tether&feature=search_result For this, you don't have to have an internet connection in your PC. so give try on this first. Read its description for more information on how to do.

Thanks for the help but it all seems quite complicated when it was 'plug and play' originally and just stopped working for no reason. Mind you, my PC started shutting down every night and when I investigated, the Windows update setting had been changed to automatic, instead of letting me decide to install. How??? I hadn't touched it! Chances are an update has screwed something up.

And I do have an internet connection on my PC - most of the time.  NZ broadband is a bit unreliable and so when it goes offline, I like to be able to use my mobile to connect so I don't have to stop working.

Okay, try my suggestions for now.

Thanks for your help.  It righted itself with no action on my part.  Go figure!


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Help to recover accidently deleted calendar data
OK so I have a lot of appointments in an outlook calendar (about 12 each day). It was synced to my Galaxy 3G. I wanted to delete all of them for one day, so deleted multiple appointments but I didn't get the option to specify whether I wanted to delete a single event or a recurring event - and as a default it deleted all recurring events (hence all of my future appointments .. lots!).
I decided to sync with my outlook calendar thinking that it would replace all of the deleted appointments, however it synced in the other direction and has wiped them all from my outlook calender as well as my phone calender.
Really could do with some advice how to 'undo' the delete on the phone or where else I may find the original data to recover it (I have looked at the outlook calendar and the data is not in the trash as it would be if I had deleted the data via outlook itself).

This question is related more to Outlook than Android. Android syncs with google calendar and even if that case, deleted calendar events cannot be recovered (Google Support -
Can I recover a deleted Calendar event?  You can try to:

Go to your deleted folder in Outlook (yes I mean deleted mail) and check if deleted events are there. After deleting they go to this place.
Check if you have any Outlook backups
Check if you have any android backups, maybe you use Titanium Backup or similar software?

Other than that I can't think of any other way of restoring your calendar events


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How can I sync my Contacts with Gmail if the stock firmware of my phone doesn't provide this feature?
Am using a Grandstream GXP2200 Android deskphone that has a customized version of 2.3.5 on it. They have replaced the native contacts app with a custom one that doesn't sync with Gmail. I have replaced this with GO Contacts, but had to manually import contacts into GO. The phone has Google Play on it and I can install apps readily. How can I sync my contacts?

"Is there an app for X?" questions are off-topic. Please rephrase your question to ask for a solution. E.g. "How can I sync my Contacts with Gmail if the stock firmware of my phone doesn't provide this feature?"

I edited it per your suggestion. Can you reopen it?


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Half of the HTC EVO 4G screen is unresponsive
I have a HTC EVO 4G, which I got around 6 months ago.
Just recently, the lower half of my phone's screen has become almost completely unresponsive.
For instance, I wanted to allow the use of non-market apps. The confirmation screen that tells me that this could potentially be dangerous is not selectable because of the screen being non-responsive.
How can I fix this? Do I send it back to be repaired?

As a quick work-around to be able to e.g. confirm that popup you've mentioned: have your tried changing the screen orientation? Turning the device upside-down might enable you to do so, as then the upper half is the "broken one". As for the fact itself: I'd say you'll have to turn it in for repair. Sounds like a hardware issue to me.

Your digitizer probably failed.  That is the glass piece you touch with your finger.  On some models it can be replaced, although not something for the faint of heart.  I have had to do this for my EVO 3D.

It's possible, but it's been rated difficult: Replace guide on iFixit


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How can I stop downloads from Google Play when net balance is ending (or zero)?
In my SIM, the net balance is zero. But, the device shows that it is still downloading applications. Because of this, I am losing my main balance. Also, the battery is getting lower every 3 hours.
How can I stop this problem?

Please don't use ALL-CAPS next time. It is considered SHOUTING. :)

If you have a limited plan, I'd generally set the Playstore app to update on WiFi only. You can do so in its settings. That way it won't start any updates/downloads on its own when not on WiFi -- but you still can do so manually if needed.

There is no way to disable the Google Play store from downloading apps that you have asked to download, however if you go into the Google Play app settings menu, you can enable the Update on WiFi only option - this will only let updates download when you are connected to WiFi.
You can also completely disable your mobile data connection by going to System Settings -> More -> Mobile Network -> Uncheck the mobile data checkbox.
This will stop your device from connecting to the mobile network data.


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Sending an application (apk) through NFC
Is it possible to install the application to another device using NFC? The application is not in Google Play store.
If it is possible, how can I do this?

If you're not fixed on NFC, you could share it e.g. via Bluetooth and then side-load it on the other device, provided you enabled "allow unknown sources" in that device's settings.

+1 to Izzy's comment, unless the app is small you'd probably want to send it via another medium as NFC's data rate is pretty slow. Still an interesting question though.

Assuming you have the app available as an apk file, you can use the app NFC Transfer to share it. It uses Android Beam to share any file (NFC is used to set up a Bluetooth connection to transfer the actual file).


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How to root Huawei Y210?
It runs Android 2.3.6 and has the 2.3.38.6-perf kernel version. I've already tried using SuperOneClick but it doesn't work. :(
I'm rather contented with it ( oh wait, it has this puny internal storage, 120+ mb, but I can live with that ) and I'd rather just leave it alone except for the fact that Huawei saw it fit not to add proxy support. My university network uses proxies so the smartphone is rather useless at school. I tried proxy apps but they all require the phone to be rooted. I hope somebody here can guide me in rooting this phone. Thank you for your time :)

UPDATE:
I tried SRSRoot as @Izzy suggested, unfortunately, it doesn't work either :(
    ---= SRS One-Click-Root v4.3 =---

11:29:51 PM - Starting ADB Server..
11:29:57 PM - Manufacturer: HUAWEI
11:29:58 PM - Model: HUAWEI Y210-0100
11:29:58 PM - Android Version: 2.3.6
11:29:58 PM - Build ID: Y210-0100V100R001C294B837
11:29:58 PM - Board ID: Y210-0100
11:29:58 PM - Chipset Platform: msm7k
11:29:58 PM - Getting OffSets.. : 0x8003 0x8005 (False)
11:30:00 PM - Query Server for Best Method.. Found Rootkit: 2

    ----= Start Rooting Process.. Please Wait =----

11:30:00 PM [+] Testing exploit: root2a (Please wait it can take some minutes)....
11:30:21 PM [+] Executing root2a exploit Failed, Proceed next...
11:30:21 PM [+] Testing exploit: root4 (please wait..)
11:30:24 PM [+] Device Reboot #1 (Wait till it's started)
11:33:23 PM [+] Executing root4 exploit Failed.  (Root Error: 0)
11:33:23 PM [+] Testing exploit: root4b (please wait..)
11:33:27 PM [+] Device Reboot #1 (Wait till it's started)
11:36:45 PM [+] Device Reboot #2 (Wait till it's started)

11:39:57 PM Auto Root Failed on this device. :(

11:39:57 PM Rebooting Device and try again...

If it's just for web traffic, you might also want to take a look at SandroProxy, which claims to not require root. But as from the description, it's browser only. There's also Proxymator which doesn't mention root.

@Izzy Tried them both. Unfortunately, both don't work for me :(

OK, so back to the root(s): you might want to try SRSRoot, which explicitly mentions to support your device. Let us know if it worked -- best would be to answer your own questions then and describe how you succeeded :)

@Izzy Woot! Many thanks :D Downloading now... :) I wonder why it never turned up on my searches. Will post the results later :)

Good luck! Let me know if it worked, so I may convert/sum up the coments to compile an answer from them for the benefit of future "searchers" :) Of course, if you can give a short "How-to" of how you succeeded, feel free to answer your question yourself!

Tested it already, doesn't work either :( Posted the logs. If we ever figure out how to root this unit though, I think you deserve the rep so I'll leave the answering to you :) Thanks a lot for all the help so far!

Sorry, I'm out of ideas then. Maybe your BuildID is different from the ones listed as "tested"? :(

Just checked, same BuildID as the one listed on their page. The site does say that their success rate is only 55%. Wish they'd explain what that means though.

You may ask them -- I cannot tell :) Two other places I found and you might to check: A request on rootpros.com (though no bids yet, but you may watch it), and a strange file on adbrootkit.com (no idea whether that is safe, though)...

Managed to root it and install CWM. Follow these steps.

@Frank Thanks! Will test it ASAP. Is this for the Y210-0100 model?

@Frank Tried it. Now my WiFi won't turn on :(

What ROM are you using btw?
@Izzy I think I didn't do the rooting procedure properly. That's why it didn't work. Will try it again.

That was for y210D. You need to flash it stock again and root it with a y210 insecure boot image. You can get the stock ROM here.

Thanks! This one worked. Would you know where I can get the insecure boot image?

Hi @frank, could you provide a step by step guide? That way people can follow this without leaving the site.

you may try this at your own risk. Please do a nand back-up first.

What is the linky containing? Elaborate more please.

I know it's been years but I think people might be interested to know how to root this. I tried again last month using Framaroot. You just download the latest version, install the app and run it. Most painless root I've had so far.


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Problem with Google Now in Tab 2
I have a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 which I have updated to the official jellybean provided by Samsung, it is supposed to have Google Now but I cant see the cards on opening the the app. Can anyone help me out by pointing out the way in which I can see the cards.

Have you updated to the latest Google Search?

And, which flavor of Jelly Bean? 4.1 or 4.2?

Yes I have updated the google search, and the version of jelly bean is 4.1

Please update your question. Comments are, by their nature, impermanent.

Also, if I recall, Google Now is not worldwide. What country are you in?

Press home button and then slide to the search icon. You should be able to see "show more cards" button. If not then slide down to the very bottom of the screen, you will see three dots in the bottom-right corner. Click this, open Settings dialog and then click on Google Now tab. You will have the option to turn it on then. If it's not appearing check also TOP RIGHT corner of the screen for a switch available.

Did you manage to fix this?

It's entirely possible that there simply are no cards to display.  If you don't have a wireless connection on, for instance, it can't fetch data to populate cards for viewing.
Available cards also depend on several other factors such as whether the GPS is on, whether you allow Google to track you/your data, and what country you live in (most Now cards are US-centric; living in Canada, the only ones that ever come up for me are weather and "time to travel" Navigation cards)


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How does contact management work?
I've got a Samsung Galaxy 3 with Android 4.1.2. I changed my SIM card today and was worried I might lose contact so I've backed them up. I've always found the contacts very confusing and obviously I messed up the restore process and I now have hundreds of duplicates, single contacts appearing up to 20 times. To be precise - they are not exactly 20x the same, but say for a person 4 times the phone number as separate contacts, 12 times for two different email addresses, 4 times for Skype etc ...
I've tried to push them all to Gmail and delete/edit them online and then reimport, but it seems that step missed quite a few contacts that have only phone numbers.
I also have to admit that I totally don't understand how all the contacts are separated internally (on SIM, on SD, Google, Samsung; import to/from/merge/push/blabla ... why can't there be a single list of contacts).
I know I am not able to clean the contacts up on the phone - there's simply too many.
So question: what would be the best way out of this chaos?
Thanks heaps
EDIT: ok, kind of did it. Superbackup app, uploaded to Gmail, imported, merged and de-duped by Google, exported tp vcf, deleted old vcf files on phone, figured out where Android wanted the new vcf, reimported ... and looks halfway sane. But there must be an easier way, right?

There is no need to export contacts from google only to re-import them later on Android: If your Android device is connected with your Google accounts the contacts will be synced automatically (if it's enabled).

There is a single list of contacts. But smartphones allow many different contact providers (Google Contacts, Facebook, SIM card, internal phone contacts, Skype, ...). But they are all shown within the same app in a single list. A symbol tells you where the contact came from.
I recommend to use Google Contacts as main contacts provider. Don't save contacts on the SIM card and the internal phone memory. Google contacts are automatically synced with your phone and the cloud. You can comfortably edit the contacts @ google.com/contacts. Every edit is instantly propagated to your phone. And if you change your device you simply add your Google account and all your contacts will appear there, too. No more SIM card contact importing/exporting.
In order to solve the problem of duplicate contacts from different contact providers Android provides a 'join contacts' feature, which merges the information from different providers into one single contact.

I'm going to accept your answer; the tricky thing imo is that you have to smart in advance and make every contact a Google Contact or it'll become messy. Or do you know of an inbuilt way to export all contacts (SIM/SD/Google) in one step without 3rd party apps?

Android makes batch importing contacts from the SIM card to Google contacts easy. It's a built in feature.

Thanks, but I was talking about export? I didn't find any solution without apps.

Depends on which provider's contacts you want to export. E.g. Google contacts can easily be exported with google.com/contacts (click 'More' -> 'Export').


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How can I reset my developer options, or otherwise boot my Galaxy S2 on CM10.1 again?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 and the ROM I'm using is CM10.1. I was messing with the Developer Options and I saw an option called "Simulate Secondary Display". I clicked that and selected 720 then it froze. I forced rebooted it and it stopped at the end of the boot animation and get stuck there.
Any ideas how to fix this, preferably without flashing a new ROM?

Booting into recovery and factory-reset should solve this. Don't know of any other solution at the moment.

I'm quite sure this will work.. i will use this method as my last option.. if you came across another solution please let me know.. thanks

Ah, sure: You might try booting into Safe Mode. This is normally used to uninstall misbehaving apps which otherwise cause a force-close-loop. I'm not sure whether you can reset any dev-options from there (or if it even boots to safe mode), but it's worth a try. See How to Boot Android 4.1+ into Safe Mode for details. Please report back -- if it works I convert this comment into an answer.

I have to say that you have just saved a lot of time and it's working again .. i booted into safe mode .. changed the developer options back to normal .. rebooted and bam! :D
thanks a lot ..

Glad it helped you! I converted my comments to a more detailed answer. You might want to mark it accepted to indicate "this problem has a solution", which is helpful to further "searchers". Unfortunately you cannot upvote before you earned at least 15 rep ;)

In this situation you have two options, which I'd try in the given order:
Safe Mode
Boot into Safe Mode (details for what Safe Mode is and how to boot your device into Safe Mode can be found in the article How to Boot Android 4.1+ into Safe Mode:

Method 1:

hold down Power button until the power-menu pops up
press and hold the "restart" option
in the dialog box, select "Safe Mode" and hit "OK"

Method 2:

Reboot your device
hold the Vol+ and Vol- buttons at the same time to enter Safe Mode.

A "Safe Mode" watermark in the lower left corner tells you you've been successful. Obviously, you'd have to chose Method 2 as your device won't power up normally.
Now, while in Safe Mode, change the "Developer options" back to normal. Then do a normal reboot to leave Safe Mode.
Hint: If your device sticks in Safe Mode, power down and remove the battery for a few minutes. Then re-insert the battery, and the device should boot up normally.
Factory Reset
As a last resort, you can do a factory reset. Be aware that this will delete all your data, plus the apps you've installed yourself (i.e. the pre-installed apps won't be touched; your SDcard should also remain untouched). As your device still is unable to boot up normally, you can reset it via the recovery menu. Check your device's manual for how to boot into recovery; on many devices, this is done by holding the Vol+ and Power buttons pressed simultaneously until the device booted up to recovery. Other devices may use different combinations; so either try a few, try Google search, or search our site for it. Of course you can ask it in a separate question if you're still out of look ;)

wish i can vote your answer but i need my 15 rep :( ..

You just need 2 more. Simply ask another good question (or, even better, check some other questions you might answer -- upvoted answers earn more rep). Getting a little rep here and there is not that hard, believe me :) Thanks for accepting!


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How do I scroll to the top of a list?
On iOS, I can single-tap the top of the screen to scroll any list all the way to the top. This doesn't seem to work on my Nexus 4 (4.2.1 / CM10.1) and for instance in the list of phone contacts this is particularly tedious.
Is there a similar gesture on Android?
I'm surprised that I couldn't find this as an existing question, but I did search for it.

Apple probably has a patent on that... But I do not know of a gesture that does something like that in android.

Yeah, annoying stuff: always before you touch anything you need to ask yourself: "May I touch this -- or is it patented by Apple?" :-(

This isn't a question about Jelly Bean per se, but I don't know what an appropriate tag would be. "Touch"? "Gestures"?

This http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/39230/how-do-i-scroll-to-the-top-of-a-list

@JnC.Enterprises you're linking to this very page. Is that really what you intended?

There is a way to do this, based on the Xposed module installer. This requires rooted device!
As per this thread, tapping on the status bar will bring the scroll to the top.
It started out originally based on a thread in Reddit where this user blogged about her experience after ditching Apple for Android, and one of the things the user found troublesome was there was no way for Android to scroll to top, one of the devs that is a regular on the Xposed scene, developed the module to circumvent it.

Updated question and answer for 7.0 with semi-working solution for non rooted devices using the volume keys.

As far as I know, there's nothing built into the OS for that.
I guess it depends completely on the developers of the app you're using. I've seen some apps where, once you start scrolling, a "handle" appears on the side of the screen that you can tap-and-drag to scroll faster. I've even seen an app or two where you could touch the top of the screen to immediately scroll to the top of whatever multi-screen thing you're looking at. But it's certainly not universal.

Apple's ridiculous patenting spree is one reason I left that camp. What a pain in the #¤%& if every app developer needs to hand-code this into his app (and thereby violating a patent)!

If you're willing to root your device, there's an app called OneClick Scroll that will jump to the top or bottom of the page when you tap the notification bar at the top of the screen. It will work for all apps (which is why it requires root).
Lifehacker has a review (and a video demonstration).

As user267 said, it depends on the app.
On the phone contact list in Android 4.2 you have a little blue handle on the right.
In the stock Android browser, you just swipe up fast enough and it will scroll to the top quickly enough.
In Chrome for Android, It didn't find a way, and it is very annoying, because going back to top of a long page is often necessary.


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Recipient removed from address list when replying to all in GMail
When receiving a group email with multiple recipients in the "to" field in the GMail app on Android, I have noticed that when I "reply-all", one or more recipients are truncated from the address list. Has anyone else noticed this and is there a fix?

Never seen that. Are you sure you haven't accidentally tapped with your finger?

Yes, I tested several times. Funny thing is it does not happen with every single conversation, but it happens often. I tested it with several accounts and was able to reproduce it in each one.


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Android keyboard stopped working
I did a revert from CM10.1 to CM10.
Now, my keyboard is broken. It does not stop crashing. I tried everything:

Clearing data and cache
restart of the app
factory reset
clearing dalvik and normal cache
re-installing it several times with different gapps, although I know the correct match.

Now, I'm back to cm-10.0.0-maguro and gapps-jb-20121011-signed. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of a system wipe using CWM recovery. Is this safe, or will it brick my phone? Is there anything I need to know?

I finally made it without a /system/-wipe. I reinstalled CM9.1 + gapps, ran it once, and installed CM10 + gapps. Now it works fine! Anyway thanks for your help!

AOSP keyboard crashing in CM is a known issue. I think you can go for a System Wipe. But just go through the precautions you should do.
Try re-flashing your ROM and GAPPS

Well thats what I did a ton of a times.


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Galaxy S I9000 is showing a flickering screen after a troublesome boot
My galaxy is not rooted, but I tried installing original android package to this phone using odin. I have tried reseting, clearing cache, formating memory etc. Nothing works.


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Can't download ePub with Aldiko
Recently I received via email an .epub file (eBook). When I try to download it I get an error message that says "Aucune application ne peux afficher la pièce jointe" (no application can show the attached file).
There was a short time I don't read on my Android phone, so when I have the first error message I have uninstalled and reinstalled the Aldiko app.
But my phone still tells me with "Aucune application ne peux afficher la pièce jointe" (no application can show the attached file).
Has anyone had the same problem? Does anyone have a resolution?

Have you tried download the .epub to your computer and transferring it to your phone? Also, What phone? what version of Android?

Android 4.0.4 on Samsung Galaxy SII (I9100 i think). Erh... i don't have any cable with me & my computer don't have bluetooth nor wifi.

Do you have dropbox or google drive?

seems to be blocked in my computer (but i have it in my phone, i could try in a other place...). Except if it always possible to send a document to GDrive via email...

What app you are using to download/retrieve the .epub file?

Gmail (native). I admit i don't try with the browser :/

There are multiple solutions. As I don't know how you tried to download it (or with which app you received it), I'll give you a few "blind shots":

Downloading it with the browser: This might give you the error you described (see below for a possible solution on this), or might simply store the file in your downloads folder (depending on the browser used). In the latter case, the saved file is often mis-named to .epub.html, so you'd have to rename it and strip the .html off to be able to open the book with your reader.
Receiving it with the mail/gmail app: There should be a way to simply "save the attachment" to your sdcard. You need to find the correct folder with some eBook readers; Aldiko might offer you to import it to its library from wherever you've stored it.
Downloading it with your PC, and copying it to your device: Same steps as above after saving the attachment.
Try Moon+ Reader as alternative eBook Reader app: As far as I remember, Moon+ registers itself for the .epub extension, which should completely solve your problem with the error message (the book would be opened directly in Moon+ Reader). And even if not, it has a lot of OPDS libraries pre-configured where you can download books from directly from within the app.

One or more of above items should help you out of your misery. Enjoy eBook reading!
PS: If you like Moon+: Until the end of this month (February 28, 2013), the Pro version (Moon+ Reader Pro) is offered for half of its usual price to celebrate its return to the playstore after having been unfairly banned. This is an offer you should take then :)

Glad I could help! Enjoy reading :)


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Jelly bean upgrading Problems
My new Samsung Galaxy Advance S is running with android Gingerbread. I am thinking to upgrade it to Jelly Bean. I am very new to Android devices.
I have following basic questions

Are there any known advantages and disadvantages in upgrading my device to JellyBean?
If I upgrade to Jelly Bean do my all apps remain works?
Upgrading OS, does it void my warranty?
Is there any official instruction to upgrade my phone to Jelly Bean?

Thanks in advance

Existing questions with answers you might want to consult: How do I update the OS on my device? / Will factory resetting my device remove the Android upgrade? / How can I make Android remember default apps after upgrades?

Yes, there are many advantages. Your phone's usable RAM memory increases from 555MB to 625MB.
Camera zoom is possible, but only digital zoom is available. So it's of no use.
All your old apps will work fine in JB, but games will lag unless you root your phone.
Upgrading to Jelly Bean if you are in India will void warranty.
There are no official instructions to update. You will have to do it manually. If you are new to Android, get help from someone who has Android knowledge. Otherwise, you may end up bricking your phone.
I would suggest you don't upgrade, because JB update for S Advance will be available in India soon.


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What are the benefits of "Restore Android ID from a backup" after a factory reset?
As far as I can tell Titanium Backup is the only application that has the ability to restore this ID but there's no explanation of what it is or why one would restore it.
Without restoring I'm able to access the Play Store and restore apps and settings without issue and all the apps work fine.
Why should the Android ID be restored?

Some developers use the Android ID as a way of verifying who you are. So if you don't restore the Android ID, you will have to re-validate certain apps.
For example, Google Play Music and Netflix will see a new device tied to your account (source). Google Play Music limits the number of devices you can have attached, so people who wipe their phone multiple times to try out new roms may have problems trying to sync with Google Play Music as they reach the 10 device limit (source). You can deauthorize devices if you have reached your limit.
In practice, it's generally best to restore the ID if you are going to also restore apps via Titanium Backup. There is no upside to keeping a new ID, and there are potential downsides if you don't restore.