text:
Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830 neither goes into Download Mode nor RAM Dump Mode
My Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830 has just “hung” during the start-up screen with the white text “Samsung www.samsung.com" on a black background.
I have tried to restart it and to take the battery out / put it in again but the result is the same. It neither goes into Download Mode (vol down+menu+power button) nor RAM Dump Mode (vol up+power button).
Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on how to fix this?

Plug it into your computer and see if by some offshoot chance you have adb available.  If so, run a adb -d reboot-bootloader to reboot into download mode.
If that's unavailable, you are SOL and will have to have Samsung repair it.  Honestly, if it's hard bricked, you're better off buying a new phone...

Sorry to say this, but if it will not go into Download Mode then your only hope would be to take into a service centre to get it repaired.
They would most likely charge you if you're rooted or have a custom ROM installed. Apologies for the bad news!

Done that buddy..they asked me to change the mother board of da phone.Thanx

@Max. Then what are you asking here for? Get them to change it :)

Thy say it will tak a month

I thought I must have an option to boot up my phone through Eclipse DDMS but I cant find any option there either!

I found a post on XDA that suggests you have to hold Home + Power till the device starts and shows the Samsung symbol, then let go. Holding it till "Samsung" appears is very important! This worked for my Galaxy Ace GT5830.


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Nexus 7 won't show up as a drive on Windows in MTP mode after update to Android 4.2
It used to work just fine then I upated to 4.2 and enabled developer options (one or the other must have broken it) and since then it has stopped working, it shows up as a camera device but if I change it to MTP it doesn't work.
I tried turning developer options off, I tried re-installing drivers and a few other things.
How do I make it work again like it was in 4.1 when it worked even when usb debugging was enabled? Now it won't work at all.

related: Android 5.0 Lollipop device not detected via USB.

What worked for me (on Windows) was:

Plug the Nexus 7 into your computer with the USB cable.
Open Device Manager: Start -> Run (or Win+R), type in: devmgmt.msc and hit enter. This opens up the device manager.
Find "Android Composite ADB Device" near the top and expand the node. Double click on the device. (Note: Sorry, I don't see it anymore so it might be named slightly differently.)
In the properties window that pops up, uninstall the driver. You should choose to delete the current driver as well.
Unplug the tablet and plug it back in.

At this point mine got recognized as a Nexus 7 instead of an Android ADB device and allowed me to transfer files again.
I'm not sure how this will affect debugging (especially if you delete the old driver) but it worked for me after days of searching.

It worked for me too, but just to confirm, "delete the current driver" must be checked!

Above steps worked for me, then I reinstalled the Google USB drivers after updating them with the SDK manager and it showed up both in explorer and via ADB.

+1 Deleting the driver does matter. Definitely do it.

Above steps worked for me, then I reinstalled the Google USB drivers after updating them with the SDK manager and it showed up both in explorer and via ADB. In addition to that I had to de-authorize the computer from android device settings (nexus4) and then disable-enable debugging, and then reconnect the device to windows via usb.

Dose not work for me as my device is completely invisible to the device manager. There is no entry anywhere in there for me to click on.

I had the same problem on a Galaxy Note 2 and this solution worked. I did not have the generic "Android Composite ADB Device" but a Samsung entry. After deleting it (as well as the driver - as mentioned above you need to check the checkbox) and re-plugging it got recognized and the internal and SD card are visible again.

I've fixed the mentioned problem with these steps and I can also confirm that I deleting the drivers was part of fixing the problems as well (I did the steps without removing the driver at first, but that didn't help).

the same thing does not work on Win 8, I tried and failed by Aug 2014.. so sad!

With some modification, worked for my Galaxy S3. THanks

Worked for me as well, +1

In Device Manager it appeared to me as Portable Devices -> Nexus 7.

What do I do if it doesn't show up anywhere in Device Manager? I've tried changing mode PTP,MTP, restarting, switching cables.

FINALLY SUCCESS
Tried above steps. Trying to connect a Nexus 7 to Win7-64. The device in the Computer Management/Device Manager/Portable Devices, used to say Nexus 7, now it says MTP USB Device and has the ! with This device cannot start. (Code 10). http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/code-10-error.htm
Essentially, this means uninstalling all devices and reinstalling them.
I did that with my three other devices and the Nexus7.
There was a USB hub that had those three plugged in, so I just unplugged the whole hub.
Replugged Nexus7 to USB, it found it (when I went to Disk Management and did a rescan).
Once Nexus7 was recognized, I plugged the hub back in and all was well again.

In StackExchange sites, ".. above steps .." does not mean anything because the answers get sorted by updates. If you think an answer has helped you, upvote it instead. :)

This bug happens in some cases when upgrading. I fixed mine by changing quickly between MTP and Camera with the USB unplugged, then I  put it back to MTP again and it worked fine when I plugged the USB back in
To change these settings go to Settings> Storage
Then click the little menu button in the top right corner and click USB computer conntection.

I kept on getting "This device cannot start. (Code 10)." and after hours of repeatedly reinstalling drivers all it took to fix the problem was rebooting the actual phone.
In summary: don't assume Windows is at fault, it could be the phone. Try rebooting it after installing new drivers.

I had the same happening even to me. I ended up getting it to work by going to the device manager and uninstalling the device (it was showing up as Samsung phone). Then I unplugged it, plugged it back in and it was installed again automatically, working fine and showing up in MTP mode as Nexus 10.

Try enabling USB debugging in Developer options. It worked for me.

He's tried this, that's what the "I updated to 4.2 and enabled developer options" bit means I believe.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Recovering deleted files from unrooted Galaxy Nexus
In my infinite buffoonery earlier today I deleted the entire camera pictures folder from my GSM Galaxy Nexus. I had last copied images from my phone in August and have lost all pictures since then :(
I've been looking around quite a bit to see if there's any way possible to recover those files.  The two options that I've come across so far - using an Undelete app available in the Play store or using dd to take a block-level dump, both require the phone to be rooted. However my GNex is not and the official rooting process requires unlocking the bootloader which wipes the device. There was a thread on xda-developers that documented an exploit that could be used to root the GNex without unlocking the bootloader, however that exploit has been patched by Google.
Do any of you have any bright ideas on what I can do?
What's the nature of device wipe like that happens while rooting? Is recovery still possible after that making rooting still an option?

Are you talking about files on internal memory -- or on SD card?

Files on so-called SDCard. On Galaxy Nexus there's no SD card slot. The /sdcard points to a folder in the internal memory. If it were an SD card I could have mounted it directly on my computer and used an unerase utility :(

Yepp, that's what I had in mind (direct mount) -- and what I've been afraid of ("emulated" sd card and no real one -- one reason why I'd never buy that). Sorry then: without root I see no chance. A complete Nandroid dump (equivalent to dd) could save you, but would require a custom recovery. I've heard there are ways to install ClockworkMod without rooting a device (which would enable you to use Nandroid), but I don't remember the source...

Android Version 4.2.1. Baseband Version I9250XXLH1. Kernel Version 3.0.31-gd5a18e0 released Fri Nov 2 2012 11:02:59 PDT. Build Number JOP40D

Ok, problematic setup... No rooting method available right now for that version. Reason: You need to "root" your phone to get to the raw data to perform a file scan on the transferred raw partition.

Some advice: Leave your phone off (don't alter it's state).

OK, maybe there's the option to downgrade to the latest version that offered the adb backup bug/root method (see here). Looking into this right now, not sure if you can downgrade via the recovery.

Give me feedback if you're willing to try this. I.e., is your almost lost data worth the work? You need patience, luck and some linux skills. Ok, maybe it's possible, here's my idea: a) boot to the stock recovery and install an old vulnerable official build from google b) use the adb backup bug to gain root c) leech a disk dump of the data partition d) use file-carving recovery techniques to get your data back

PS: adb unlock performs a wipe which itself triggers a 'secure erase' on the eMMC device (that's about the same as a secure wipe on an actual SSD). All data is instantly null'ed and gone forever. PPS: This is actually good for data security. (The same is very bad on almost all Samsungs, you can grab one's personal data very easily from those phones. And take over their google/facebook/whatever accounts and start to wreak havoc. Just to get a picture why it's actually a nice feature)

I don't mind trying to downgrade the OS so that I can still use the root without bootloader unlock exploit. However is it really possible to do so? This post on the thread we are discussing seems to point that downgrade isn't possible. How this thread describes how to do the downgrade. Ironically both posts are by the same user. What do you think?

Well, I'd say, try it. It'll tell you if downgrading is not allowed. There's no security hole open in your current version, so that's your only option (or putting your phone aside until one is found). Copy your phone data using ADB before (ADB backup, just in case you mess sth. up). Find & download an old Google factory image and try to install it using the builtin recovery.

Installing the previous firmware would have also wiped the device so I just rooted the device (which wiped it) and then went ahead and followed this thread. The only files I retried were those created after the wipe during unlock. So now my files have been permanently lost and many lessons learnt. And the lessons learnt matter more than the pictures I lost. I'm moving on, thanks for all your help!

Sorry, but in you phone there not SD card, and internal flash blocks can be rewritten, when phone works (physical location of blocks are different from logical and phone record logs, change internal data, download updates).
It's available chance with destructive methods (read flash on programmer device), and much smaller with root you phone (read whole memory), because any change of phone state decrease chances.

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Radio and inbound Calls Volumes Can be set separately?
On Samsung Galaxy 2 is there a way to set volumes for the radio and incoming calls separately from each other? What's too laud for the radio (for me anything above 3) is not loud enough for the incoming calls, which results in me missing calls.

Normally, FM radio should use Media volume and not Call volume. Are you sure you have different volumes set for call and media and they are not linked with each other?

positive. I missed quite a number of calls because of when I'm listening to the radio I set volume to low and always forget to restore it back after.

Actually it's easy to confirm it - the volume regulator on the phone itself changes the volume of the radio, equally the software volume regulator on the radio changes the main volume.

If everything else fails (and your comment above says you cannot set the volumes separately as needed), you could take a look at Volume Ace, which not only allows you to set all volumes separately1, but even lets you create profiles3 switchable via widgets2:

This enables you to always have the right volume settings according to the situation.

great app, loving it!


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Videos are directly streaming onto my default player. Want to open in Opera so I can download it
I have been using Android for the last week.
I have Opera for browsing. I  download videos from a website directly thru Opera. While downloading it asks me whether to open the video in Opera or default video player of my mobile.
Accidentally I once clicked on the "make it default" option and it was directly streamed to the video player. After this it never open in my Opera to download.
Because of this I can't download videos into my mobile. If I try to search the name of the video player I cant find it. And please help to restore as it was before.

You shouldn't need to uninstall anything. You just need to clear the default.
Go into your settings and the app manager. Find the default video player. (You'll probably have to change your view from "Downloaded" to "All" in order to find it. I expect it's called "Video" or similar.) In the settings for the app should be a button labeled "Clear defaults". Tap that and remove the existing default settings for the app.
Now when you go back into Opera and click a link it should prompt you again. Be careful about that "make it the default" button.

If all the other answers look too complicated, or are not suiting you for other reasons: There are apps available helping you to Manage Default Apps. Two examples of that are Clear Defaults and Default App Manager:

The former simply lets you clear the default for an action type, while the letter also lets you chose which app should be the default, which might come in handy – though it's not strictly required, as Android would ask you the next time anyway if there is no default set.

Trying uninstalling the Opera browser:
 Settings > Applications > Manage applications

and then reinstalling it.
Alternatively download a new web browser (e.g., Dolphin) and once that is installed, launch your video and it should give you the option of selecting Opera as your default.

No need to uninstall -- any update (of the default app) will do, as will the installation of any other app handling that special content-type (Mime), which must not be a web browser (see Al's answer: A video player app is much more likely to solve the issue).

@Izzy - Thx, I've already read his answer

Just install another Video Player app.
As this adds a new possible choice, it will reset the "default" setting as a side-effect – and save you the work of finding the app currently set as default.

This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post - you can always comment on your own posts, and once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post. - From Review

@AndrewT. actually, it does. It just misses the background of why it would work: it would reset the "default action" as a side-effect of adding a "new option". And it would save you the hassle of finding out which app currently bears the default ;)


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Does the Google Play app always updates automatically?
I use Android 4.0.4 (Cyanogenmod) and I have the habit of disabling automatic updates for all my apps. I have noticed the Google Play app seems to update itself automatically -- when there are updates for any other app, I'm shown a notification mesage from the Google Play app, and I have to use it in order to update the app. But when there are updates for Google Play, it seems to autoupdate itself. Is it true? Is there a way to disable this?

According to the Section 3 of the Google Play Terms of Service you consent to Automatic Updates:

Updates. You may need to install updates to Google Play or related Google software that we introduce from time to time to use Google Play and to access or download Products. Products originating from Google may communicate with Google servers from time to time to check for available updates to the Products and to the functionality of Google Play, such as bug fixes, patches, enhanced functions, missing plug-ins and new versions (collectively, "Updates"). By using the Google Play store and installing these Products, you agree to such automatically requested and received Updates.

*Bolding added for emphasis.

Yes, the Google Play Store does self-update itself.
As far as I know, there is no way to disable the auto-self-updating of the Play Store application as it is built into the application/system's code. You might could try freezing it with Titanium Backup (requires root), but I don't know if that would work since the Play Store is also integrated into the OS. The only sure way would be to disable all internet connectivity.
Is there a specific reason that you want to disable this feature?

Guess one could fool it using some Tasker-tricks or making the local *.apk (in /data/data/) read-only -- but I wouldn't bet my right hand on that :)

Nah, no specific reason, just being geekily curious ;-)

There is a way to disable updates of your Google Play application, but it's not secured. It's possible for you to have problems updating your market when you decide you want.
If you want to try, this is what you have to do:

You have to root you device
Install Link2SD
Open Link2SD
Click on the Play Store update
Select actions
Convert to system app
Reboot immediately

Read more here.

This works? Isn't Google Play Store already a system app?

@BryanDenny You may be right. I have not tested this answer and just accepted it based on many positive answers on the linked forum. I will check if the Play app is already a system app on my CM 4.0.4 phone.

I have checked and indeed, the Play Store app is already a system app, there's no point in converting it to a system app.

Google Play is a system app. If you are rooted, you can make it a user app by uninstalling it and installing it again. (You can make a backup of the original, so you'll have installation APK, or you can install any version really). But even as a user app, it still automatically updates itself. I tested this.


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adb "Permission denied" to run a "./configure" file
I need to run a configure file into my android phone so I think the best way to do this is to use the adb shell command.
I'm running an Android emulator onto a Windows-7 platform, and there I'm running the adb shell command into a DOS window. Using the cd command I'm changing to the directory where my configure file is, and then I'm executing the following command: ./configure. I'm getting the following error :
./configure: permission denied

So I try to run adb in root mode with adb root -- but apparently my adb is already in root mode (Moreover I have the "#" character before each line of my adb shell).
I have also tried to use chmod but I don't see any difference before and after executing this command (ls -la), so maybe the problem is here (How can I run the chmod command?).
Maybe someone here can help me with my issue, and if you have also an explanation about why I don't have the permission to run my configure file it will be great.
Thanks.
PS: My goal here is to use the net-snmp package on an Android platform by compiling the sources of this project directly onto the platform.

Where on the Android emulator's filesystem is the configure file? i.e. what's the path to the file?

The path of the file is /sdcard/net-snmp-5.7.2/configure

chmod 0777 ./configure try that, then try executing.

That's probably the problem. /sdcard is typically mounted with the noexec flag in Android, so you can't execute binaries from it. I would recommend trying to move it to somewhere else (often /data/local is used for things like that). See if that solves the problem.

Also, copy it to the /usr/local/tmp directory (the entire net-snmp-5.7.2 directory in /sdcard.

Thanks for your comment but it doesn't work. Before chmod 0777 : "----rwxr-x [...] configure" and after chmod 0777 : "----rwxr-x [...] configure". This is why I'm saying that maybe my problem is on "chmod" command.

@grattmandu03 Its because its on the SD card - sdcards dont support file permissions :)

Ok right. So I have tried to copy the net-snmp directory into /data/local/tmp then I have directly tried to run my configure file but I get a permission denied. So I'm using the "chmod 0777" command. And now I have something weird, when I'm running again my configure file I'm getting "file not found" but I still can see this file into the /data/local/tmp directory. What I'm doing wrong ??

what is the contents of configure script? Its looking for a file to execute.... Are you sure you know what you are doing? What is configure for? These details are missing from the question! :)

The "configure" file is the configure script provided by the net-snmp sources package. I'm trying to port the net-snmp package into an Android phone. For now I'm using the busybox script to run the configure script and it seems to work (I have just some errors due to a linux system is not like an Android system, but this what I'm looking for). Thanks to all of you.

Build it on the linux box, not on android.... you should have stated that from the start! :)

Yes I have done that, but I think that the architecture between a linux system and an Android phone is different so I cannot use the Linux result directly into my Android phone. By the way, I know there is some java librairies to use net-snmp, but my boss wants to have the net-snmp original source compiled onto an Android platform.

keywords cross-compile on linux targetting the ARM chipset support...

As it stands right now and transpires, this is rather a development question! Voting to close as this is off-topic.

@t0mm13b Not entirely sure if this is off topic, as it could be useful for people that need to execute a file on their device, such as a root exploit.

@LiamW clearly, the OP was trying to build on top of Android by running a development related configure script and taking the wrong approach altogether!

Ok thanks. My question here was more about how can I run a script sh with the adb shell than a development question. But now I have the solution : "/sdcard is mounted with the noexec flag", so if eldarerathis or Liam W wants to put their comment into a real answer I will validate it. Or maybe you can explained me how can I close my question?

@grattmandu03 I already have ;)

This is due to 2 things:

The file does not have execute permissions [AND]
The file cannot gain executable permissions as it is on the SD Card. The SD Card's filesystem can accept file permissions, however it is mounted with the noexec flag, as stated in a comment. This stops files being executed.

Solution:

Copy the net-snmp-5.7.2 directory to the /data/local/tmp directory as root.
Set the configure file to be executable by running chmod 0777 /data/local/tmp/net-snmp-5.7.2/configure as root.
You should now be able to execute the configure script by typing /data/local/tmp/net-snmp-5.7.2/configure and pressing enter.

Note
This should all be done as the root user :)

I get: /system/bin/sh: /data/local.../filename: No such file or directory.

As explained by the comments and Liam's answer, this is due to the noexec flag used by the system when mounting the sdcard. If your configure file is a shell script (as it usually is), you can still trick it to be executed:
cd to the directory as you described above, and then execute sh configure.
sh is the Shell interpreter, and that binary should be located in /system/bin, where files are executable. Passing your script as the first argument, this will open a new shell process which executes your configure script.

Thanks for your answer. The sh configure does the trick.

Thanks for the confirmation! And glad I was able to help. I use this trick on Linux/Unix machines from time to time :)


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Where can I find the ANDROID_ID on my device?
I know that you can find IMEI and MAC address and others by going to Settings -> About phone -> Status. You can also find IMEI by typing *#06# on the keypad. Is there any way to get the ANDROID_ID on the phone itself, as opposed to via this bit of code?
Secure.getString(getApplicationContext().getContentResolver(), Secure.ANDROID_ID);

Where is the “android_id” stored and when it changes?

You can do this via adb. Does not require root, as far as I know (tested on a Galaxy Nexus running 4.2.1 built from AOSP source):
shell@android:/ $ content query --uri content://settings/secure --projection value --where "name='android_id'"
  Row: 0 value=<your ID in hexadecimal>

If running via a terminal emulator app, root is required.

adb has more privileges than the local shell user. With Android 4.x (ICS and up), you can even do a full backup via ADB on an unrooted device -- which the shell user for sure cannot.

settings get secure android_id from adb shell is the simplest, I find — no extraneous output and does not require root.  (From a regular terminal on the device, root is required.)
shell@mydevice:/ $ settings get secure android_id
0123456789abcdef
shell@mydevice:/ $

To get into adb shell: 1. Go to android_sdk/platform-tools/ with cmd or other terminal. 2. adb devices to check if your mobile can be found through USB. 3. adb shell. 4. Run command in this answer.

As eldarerathis variant didn't work out for me, and I didn't want to install an app just for that, I've found a different way. Only possible drawback: It requires root.
adb shell
$ su
# cd /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases
# sqlite3 settings.db
sql> select * from secure where name='android_id';
26|android_id|1234567890abcdef1

The android_id is found in the third column here (anonymized in the example).

EDIT:
Note that this is NOT the android_id used by the Google apps. Google seems to have decided for some confusion here. For Play Services, there's a separate android_id stored by GTalk, as pointed out by a blog post (also see this answer by HassleFixes, who is the autor of StripSearch, and thankfully pointed this out in the comments):

call up your dialer
dial *#*#8255#*#*
watch out for "Device ID"
remove the leading android-
what remains, is the android_id used by Google Services

I've verified that: the android_id retrieved this way works fine on a device with no Google-Apps installed (used with the BlankStore provided by the NOGAPPS project).

*#*#8255#*#* doesn't work any more.

The above answer has $ content query --uri content://settings/secure --projection value --where "name='android_id'" in it
If you're executing this from shell then you'll need to escape the quotes around android_id else they get interpreted and the SQL statement doesn't have them, resulting in an unknown column.
My full command from bash looks line...
$ adb shell content query --uri content://settings/secure --projection value --where "name=\'android_id\'"
^ Not enough reputation to comment on the answer that suggested it above

Kind of. @eldarerathis's answer started up a shell on the device with adb shell, and then ran another command within that shell. This works fine without escaping the quotes. Your answer is running a single command on the main machine; for this you do need to escape the quotes.

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


text:
Buying from Play store using a credit card with foreign billing address
Is it possible to use a credit card with a foreign billing address to buy items from a local Play store?
I have a Visa credit card from a German bank with a billing address in Germany registered in my Google Wallet. I have successfully used my Wallet to pay for online purchases from several online service providers in different foreign currencies so I am sure the credit card is correctly registered in my Wallet account. However, while physically located in the UK, I cannot complete any purchase from the UK Play store. At the point when I need to select my preferred payment method from my Wallet account, it shows my registered credit card greyed out with the text "Unsupported Payment method" next to it.

Might be best to check with google support on this.. Are you using a UK sim card? If so, possibly, pop in your german sim card into handset and try using it from there? As Google is seeing how the handset is tied to germany, it may accept it?

According to Google Play support in the US, International Credit Cards are not allowed. I would not be surprised if the UK Google Play store had the same policy. http://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1267137

For further clarification, I have tried using a Nexus 7 as well as Win7 PC (using Chrome) to buy from the UK Play store with the same result. I have also been exchanging several emails with Google support since early October but no definitive answer from them yet.
I will give it a go using my mobile phone with German SIM card. Stand-by...

That would mean if I'm living in, say, Germany, and I'm on vacation in Spain, I could not buy anything from the playstore? Looks at least the Spanish permit me, as I did so already on the Canary Islands. To t0mm13b might be right, and SIM+Credit card origin must match.

If I open the Play app on my mobile phone (using wifi), it immediately shows the "Apps" category with no option to go back to see all categories (movies, magazines, books). Funny enough, all apps are shown with € prices as opposed to Sterling when I access the Play app on my Nexus 7 (using same wifi network). I also see some "German" apps on the mobile which are not shown on the Nexus.
Mobile is still on Froyo. I suspect the Play app is limited to apps only. If I search for a book title using Play Books, it opens the Play app returning apps that match my search string entered in Play Books.

As far as I know Google doesn't allow the use of International cards (at the moment).
I also heard from some other people (and t0mm13b acknowledges it too apparently) that the Play Store looks at your current SIM card to know your home country. So maybe if you could get your hands on a German SIM card (maybe an old one that doesn't really work anymore), you can still pay for applications.
Or you can have a look for some cheap credit card in the UK.

From my own experiences, they do not allow this.
When I am in the US with my Australian google play account [and Australian credit card], I am unable to make any purchases from the play store. The reason being the US play store refuses my card details due to it's Australian address.
This may vary from region to region. But generally for the US and UK [not only Google Play], they enforce regional restrictions in a more strict manner due to licensing restrictions of the multimedia content, ie: music and movies.


text:
How can I copy media files to my phone without adding them to the gallery?
I keep my media files (such as music) on my home server. When I add a new album to the home server, and want to copy it to my Android 4.0.4 phone, I use a Samba client (such as AndSMB or X-plore) to copy the files to the phone. So far, so good.
The problem is that the images in subdirectories that I copy over (such as album art) automatically get added to the gallery during the copy, although the root directory I'm copying into has a .nomedia file in it. If I start the copy, then check the Gallery app mid-copy, I see the images start to appear before I run any other apps.
I don't want the images to appear in the gallery.
If I "clear data" for the Media Storage app, then reboot, the gallery is rebuilt without the album art images, so the .nomedia file does seem to be doing its job some of the time.
Is there a way I can copy media files to my phone over a network, without them automatically getting added to the gallery?
Clearing the data in Media Storage and rebooting the phone works, but is tiresome and has other unwanted side effects like resetting my ringtones.

Normally the .media file shoud do the trick. Is there any other file in those folders, aside your music and images? There was a question with a similar problem (I link it when I find it). And no, no client app from outside should push anything to the media database, that's the task of the media scanner. Nevertheless, mentioning involved apps/programs might bring up something we are otherwise unaware of, so it might be helpful if you edit that into your question.

Sounds like a different topic, but has the same issue, that is, files appearing in the gallery which shouldn't: How to stop Chrome from causing Download folder to reappear in gallery? Do you also find an ic.bin file in those folder(s)?

Hi Izzy, thanks for your feedback. I think I already mentioned the apps involved though (AndSMB and X-plore are the Samba clients I've tried, Gallery is where I see the images). And the folders I'm copying usually don't contain anything else, no. I saw the one about Chrome's Download folder but I think the difference here is that the new images are in subfolders below the one with the .nomedia file. I don't know if that's a factor.

It was not clear (to me) whether you were sure that happens during copy -- or you're simply assuming so. My guess was towards other apps running on your phone during/after the copy, before you noticed the stuff turning up in your gallery. Media players would be a good example, but might be other apps as well.

Gotcha. Last time I tried this, I started the copy using X-plore and checked the Gallery app mid-copy. The images were already starting to appear there, before I ran any media players or other apps.

Ah, some more light. I'd suggest you adding this to your question above (you can edit it, as you might know), so it is easier to find for potential helpers.

Is there a way I can copy media files to my phone over a network,
  without them automatically getting added to the gallery?

I don't think it's possible.
After some googling I found this info:
1) Hide Album Art from Gallery
And the provided solution:

I have all of my photos named folder.jpg/jpeg (I forget which
  extension) and they don't show up in the gallery.

2) [HOWTO] Make gallery remove album covers

So I did this:

Add .nomedia in my music directory, eg. "Music" (only on top directory).
Rename "Music" directory to "Musicc"
Run Gallery, exit.
Rename "Musicc" back to "Music"
Run gallery and thebthumbnails no longer appear.

Also works with other directories that has thumbnails in gallery and
  adding .nomedia later. In my case the thumbs are still displayed.

Also take a look at this post:
How to Exclude Unwanted Images from Phone Gallery on Android

Gallery Excluder is a dedicated Android application which removes the
  folders that you want to exclude its showing in the default Android
  stock version. This application is quite simple and does the job what
  it says with the application name. So if you have folders which you
  don’t wants to show it on your Gallery then install this application,
  select the folder which you want to show and done.

Gallery Excluder might be a nice idea generally -- but it does nothing else than placing a .nomedia file into the directories to exclude. The OP stated this file already being in place. But your other two suggestions might prove helpful -- so let's count the last addition as a good idea "for completeness" :)

Well the .nomedia file is in the root directory, not all the subdirectories. This app might be a way to quickly add it to the subdirectories, though it doesn't seem to be available on the market anymore.

It seems that copying with X-Plore causes this issue... It makes the phone re-scan the SD card, but also seems to alert it of the fact there has been a file copied. I'm unfamiliar with what's going on in the background, but I do know this;
Copying a picture to a folder with a .nomedia file, with X-Plore, causes the image to show in the gallery.
Copying with IO File Manager, does NOT cause this issue on my phone.
Figured this might help someone.

Should that read "OI File Manager"?

When it looked like there was no good way to prevent these images from appearing in my gallery in the first place, I started looking for a better way to remove them once they got there.
I tried unmounting and remounting the SD card, but this alone did not remove the images from the gallery.
What did work was unmounting and remounting the SD card, then running the SDRescan app. After running it, the images in subdirectories of the folder with the .nomedia file disappeared from the gallery, without me needing to reboot.
I found a few other apps that seem to do the same thing: Rescan Media, SDSync, and Media Scanner. Those might work too.


text:
How to connect Android phone to a Wifi network using PPPoE?
I have an ISP at home, which provides me with a PPPoE connection. My router supports that and I've configured it to autoconnect periodically, so I don't have to type my username and password each time.
When I connect to the Wireless router from the PC, I have internet and everything works fine. However, when I do so using my Android phone, there's no internet connection on the phone. It connects to the router, but I cannot open any web page.
How can I enable internet access from such an ISP on my phone? Is it something in the router setup? The router is Linksys WRT54GL.

Duplicate? http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/9109/create-broadband-connectionpppoeconf-on-android

There is an app that enables it (aptly called WIFI PPPOE), but it requires you to root your phone. PPPoE is not natively supported in the Android SDK.

Is this the only solution?

@Slavo Short of personally coding support into Android, yes. A non-root user doesn't have the permissions necessary to add that level/type of functionality. You could also push for the feature in the Android forums, but that's not an immediate fix to your problem.

I don't think that the OPs problem is that he want's to do PPPoE with Android. For some reasons OPs Android device just doesn't get internet connectivity when connected to the users router (which does PPPoE).

@Flow. Yes, exactly. Is there a way to make the router handle the PPPoE and hide it from Android?

That is what a home router basically does: Handling the upstream connection (in this case via PPPoE) and NATing this connection to it's clients.

I agree with @Flow, I think you're looking at a router config issue.


text:
Is it possible to show ongoing notifications under regular notifications?
On my Galaxy S3 (4.0.4) when I drag the notifications bar down to see the list of the notifications, the ongoing ones (e.g. wifi) are always on the top and the regular ones (e.g. gmail) are the at the bottom.
That seems reversed. It means to see a recent notification that just beeped a user has to drag the bar down and then scroll down.
Is there any way to reverse them so the recent/non-ongoing ones are on top? Either in 4.0, or perhaps something i can look forward to in 4.1, or perhaps in cyanogenmod (I will switch to eventually).

That sounds like possibly a TouchWiz modification, if the handset is rooted, then its possible to switch to an alternative launcher... Are you using stock AOSP ROM or Samsung's own....?

@t0mm13b Launcher doesnt affect the status bar notifications.

I'm on stock Samsung 4.0.4. Sounds like my move to cyanogenmod may be coming sooner than I planned. The thing is everything is working fine, so I hesitate to mess with it.

Notifications, at least in CyanogenMod or AOSP, are ordered in order or the last updated notification.
If you have an app that updates the notification, then the notification will appear on top when it updates.
There is currently no way to change this behaviour.
Note: Some stock ROMs order the notifications into ongoing etc, this is the design of the manufacturer, and can also not be changed
You should get something like what you are asking in cyanogenmod.


text:
What are the differences between ClockworkMod and Team Win Recovery for the Nexus 7?
My Nexus 7 is running on 4.2.1 and has the latest build version. According to the Nexus 7 Root Toolkit, it is giving me an option to flash one of the following recovery menus:

CWM Touch
TWRP Touch

What is the difference between them? How can I determine which would be most suitable for me?

I voted to close this, as the "Which is better..." part cannot be answered on facts, it will be the opinion of the person answering.

I think the "What is the difference between them" makes this question fine, just delete the 'suitable' bit.

I'm partial to TWRP.  The biggest difference I've noticed is that CWM requires you to either boot into recovery or use Rom Manager to flash a rom, while TWRP allows any program with root access (goo manager, Rom Toolbox, etc) to flash roms.  There are probably some other differences, but this was the big one for me.

That is the point of CWM, boot into a alternate rooted Android environment to perform the backup/restore in a "safe" manner... :)

Are the backups generated by CWM and TWRP interchangeable?

Yeah, TWRP can do that too, but you can also queue up actions from within the GooManager, at which point it will reboot and flash it for you.  CWM requires you to use Rom Manager to do this.

TeamWin Recovery Project (TWRP) - This is a very widely used custom recovery. It is fully touch-driven, has one of the most complete feature sets available, and uses a themable UI. TWRP is maintained by Ethan Yonker (Dees Troy) and sees a number of contributions from the community via OmniROM's code review.
ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM or CWMR) - This is one of the original custom recoveries that is still widely used today. Most of its functionality was written by Koushik Dutta (Koush), but it has since seen significant code contributions come from the community via CyanogenMod's code review. Several variants are available, including: standard (hardware keys navigate the menus), swipe (basic up/down/left/right navigation by swiping), and touch (fully touch-driven menus). More information on ClockworkMod usage can be found at ClockWorkMod Recovery Instructions.
Active Development: TeamWin Recovery Project(TWRP) and CMR(CyanogenMod Recovery)
Development Ceased: ClockWorkMod Recovery(CWM or CWMR) and PhilZ Touch
source


text:
Factory Reset Android Developer Phone without password
I used to have an Android developer phone (an ancient HTC Innovation) that I recently gave to a friend. Now we're trying to unlock it so he can use it. We put in the unlock password too many times, so now the phone is asking us for my Google password, even if we turn the phone on and off again. Unfortunately, the phone doesn't have Internet access and I changed my Google account password since the last time I used the phone, so I have no idea what password to put in to unlock it.
How can we unlock or factory reset the phone so my friend can use it?

If fastboot is installed on the handset (or commonly called bootloader), it might be best to re-flash via usage of USB cable and the handset with the cable plugged in.
In order to achieve this, a original image file is needed for this to work. The essence of fastboot, is that from the command line, the handset can be re-formatted and told to boot specific kernels without touching the original on the handset.
Consider the options used in the fastboot binary command line application, as in:
usage: fastboot [ <option> ] <command>

commands:
  update <filename>                        reflash device from update.zip
  flashall                                 flash boot + recovery + system
  flash <partition> [ <filename> ]         write a file to a flash partition
  erase <partition>                        erase a flash partition
  getvar <variable>                        display a bootloader variable
  boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ]              download and boot kernel
  flash:raw boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ]    create bootimage and flash it
  devices                                  list all connected devices
  continue                                 continue with autoboot
  reboot                                   reboot device normally
  reboot-bootloader                        reboot device into bootloader
  help                                     show this help message

options:
  -w                                       erase userdata and cache
  -s <serial number>                       specify device serial number
  -p <product>                             specify product name
  -c <cmdline>                             override kernel commandline
  -i <vendor id>                           specify a custom USB vendor id
  -b <base_addr>                           specify a custom kernel base address
  -n <page size>                           specify the nand page size. default: 2048

Thus, the command line to wipe cleanly and flash the original image file would be this:

fastboot erase system to wipe the /system partition cleanly.
fastboot erase data to wipe the /data partition cleanly.
fastboot flash system original_system_image.img

The optional step may as well be, to flash the original boot image which can be achieved in this manner - fastboot flash boot original_boot_image.img.
If you happen to have the original update.zip for your handset, it might be easier to do it in this fashion, instead of the three steps above listed, as in fastboot update update.zip.

I haven't worked with Android bootloaders before. How do I get access to the command line interface?

Power off phone (remove and replace battery, etc.), hold down volume down and power. Then for command line you run fastboot on computer. That shouldn't be needed, however. The boot menu on the phone usually offers factory reset right from the boot menu you'll be in...


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Second partition can't be mounted (link2sd)
I'm trying to partition my external SD card (32GB SDHC), so I can link application to the second partition with link2sd. Now the problem is that, no matter what filesystem I use, link2sd can't create the mount script/fails to mount. I tried FAT32, FAT16, ext2, ext3 and ext4. Same result everytime, I tried formatting it with MiniTool Partition Wizard and ClockworkMod Recovery. I made the first Partition a FAT32 primary and the second partition an put in filesystem here primary partition. I also tried diffrent sizes between 256MB and 4GB.
I'm on Cyanogenmod 10 running on an Samsung Galaxy Ace (I-5380).
Edit: It seems like the question is quite popular. If you have the same issue, try the things that I said I tried above. In most cases this resolves the issue, my accepted answer is for a silly not so common cause for this issue.

Ok the problem was simple and stupid. SuperSU had denied link2sd its root access permanently, I must have clicked on denied once...
Enabled root access for link2sd and everything was working fine.

Go into ClockworkMod recovery → Advanced → Mount and storage and mount SD ext. Done.


text:
How can I monitor and log data connection mode and rate, and log with location?
I would like to understand what connection type and theoretical data rate my phone is using for its data connection, and how it changes with different locations.  I'm not looking for an actual data speed test like speedtest.net, but rather a logging of the type of data connection (GPRS, HSDPA, HSDPA+) and the specific modulation and UE Categories (see the table for User Equipment (UE) categories in this article).
This information should be available from the phone's radio, without actually sending additional data through the network.
I would like to have this information logged, along with a rough location, maybe as a background process (which would only run when a data connection is active so it would not drain the battery).

I think that the network data you need is available through logcat. View the network buffer on your phone using either alogcat (Android 4.0 and earlier) or adb (any, but required for Android 4.1 and later). I had to use this statement in adb:
adb logcat -b radio GsmSST:D *:S

The resulting list included log entries like the one below:
D/GsmSST  (  707): [GsmSST] handlPollStateResultMessage: GsmSST setDataRegState=0 regState=1 dataRadioTechnology=9

This is from a Galaxy Nexus which is GSM - if your phone is CDMA it will look very different and will need a different adb command. Note the dataRadioTechnologyportion. Do a little testing to work out what the numbers mean (my Google-foo isn't working well enough to find the answer online).
Then, all you need to do is track your location using whatever method you like. Correlate the logcat output with your location logs using timestamps and see what you get!

Sort of a side-ways answer here: Do you have the android / eclipse development environment set up ?  I don't have a specific answer, but viewing the log files in verbose mode with no filters on will show you almost everything the phone is doing (... or at least what the programmers have chosen to note in the log files. We programmers are often lazy and forget to turn the logs off after we're done debugging. )  So at the very least, the logs may reveal which radio / connectivity services are active. And from there, you might find via google some info about any interfaces they expose. Watching the log files reveals a ton of interesting things.

WEll If you want to see the log data on Android besis on location, there is an app for this which is named as GeoLog. You can read more about app here http://topbestfreeapps.com/save-sensors-data-of-android-device-with-geolog-app/

I don't think it logs location but I think it does most of everything else you're looking for:
Network Log
I use it every now and then to monitor net traffic and it works really well.

Try Network Speed https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=netspeed.pt
It logs all your data along with its type.Obviously it will not log your location.
I use it everytime.Its size is just 43 kb and is free.Give it a try.

I have been using Network Speed for quite a while. It only indicates data throughput. As I mentioned in the original post, I'm looking for a way to log the type of connection (GPRS, HSPA, LTE, etc) and the specific modulation (theoretical data rate) that the network is supporting/providing at a given geolocation. So far I have found nothing that does this.

I use Stats Free app. It not only shows you data transferred via GPRS/HSDPA and WiFi (separately). It even shows you calls and message logs.

The link to the app does not work anymore

Settings>Data Usage logs all network traffic, available from jelly bean

Please be more specific with your answer and provide an answer that fully takes into account what the OP is looking for.

Where does that log data speed and connection type, as the OP requested? "Amount of data being used per app" was not asked for. Moreover, there is no entry named "somewhere" (you probably refer to Settings->Data usage?).


text:
What is the difference between unmanaged vs managed in-app product?
What is the difference between a "managed in-app product" and an in-app product that is not managed?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts StackExchange :) However this question warrants a answer bordering on development related hence, voting to close as its off topic, should check Google main site for the information and also here on StackOverflow's question that explains the differences :)

I was wondering why OP wanted to know this, from a user perspective or a development one? Posted an answer anyway as it seemed borderline and could be reasonable for the site.

I think this is in a gray enough area to stay here. I can imagine your run-of-the-mill Android user wanting to know this.

The short answer is that managed items are items that can only be purchased once per user and that Google Play keeps track of their purchase, unmanaged items aren't tracked by Google Play and they can be purchased multiple times.
A fuller description is given in Google's In-app Billing Version 2:

Managed per user account — Items that can be purchased only once per
user account on Google Play. When a user purchases an item that uses
the "managed per user account" product type, Google Play permanently
stores the transaction information for each item on a per-user basis.
This enables you to later query Google Play to restore the state of
the items a specific user has purchased. If a user attempts to
purchase a managed item that has already been purchased, Google Play
prevents the user from purchasing the item again and displays an "Item
already purchased" error.
The "managed" product type is useful if you are selling items such as
game levels or application features. These items are not transient and
usually need to be restored whenever a user reinstalls your
application, wipes the data on their device, or installs your
application on a new device.
Unmanaged — Items that do not have their transaction information
stored on Google Play. This means that you cannot later query Google
Play to retrieve transaction information for those items. For
"unmanaged" purchases, you are responsible for managing the
transaction information. Also, Google Play does not attempt to prevent
the user from purchasing an item multiple times if it uses the
"unmanaged" product type. It's up to you to control how many times an
unmanaged item can be purchased.
The "unmanaged" product type is
useful if you are selling consumable items, such as fuel or magic
spells. These items are consumed within your application and are
usually purchased multiple times.

Note that only version 2 of the in-app billing deals with both managed and unmanaged, version 3 only deals with the managed in-app product type.


text:
FFMpeg stream to FFServer from Back Camera
I'm looking for a way to stream my camera video from my Android phone to an FFServer, like I would with FFMpeg from the command line in Linux:
ffmpeg -f video4linux2 -i /dev/video0 http://IP:8090/cam1.ffm

This command works perfect from any Ubuntu machine, of course. I'm looking to be able to do both audio and video from my Android to my FFserver.
I tried installing FFmpeg 4 Android. It installs fine, starts and binds, but it won't stream. No error message or anything passing it this param:
ffmpeg -f video4linux2 -i /dev/graphics/fb0 http://IP:8090/cam1.ffm

Not sure if it's just that program or what since there is no error message at all. Or is there another software that will allow me to do this?

Some device manufacturers dont use /graphics/fb0 to access camera due to different camera drivers. My help to you is going on a native NDK application to do that. Look in here http://javacv.googlecode.com or https://code.google.com/p/spydroid-ipcamera/. Regards


text:
Connecting multiple USB devices using a USB hub that connect to the USB port of a Android devices
Is it possible to use and connect a USB Hub on any generic and major Android tablets that only have 1 USB port and connecting multiple USB devices (depending on how many port the USB Hub have) such as the following:

USB PC keyboard
USB PC mouse
USB Camera
USB Floppy drive
USB CD/DVD Writer
USB Fan
USB Thumbdrive/Flash drive

Some tablets support USB hubs.
Source

Typically yes, you can use a USB hub to connect multiple devices without any issues. Whether or not these peripherals perform adequately may depend on the amount of power that they require, but that's common to un-powered USB hubs in any situation.
Google's Android support pages actually mention USB hubs. E.g. the Nexus S support page on keyboards and other devices specifically states:

To connect more than one USB device at a time, use a powered USB hub to reduce the drain on your phone’s battery.


text:
How can I choose a music player?
I am looking for a music player for my android device which has a number of specific features (such as having a play queue, lock screen controls, etc.) I am finding it difficult because there are lots of music players out there and they don't list all of their features "on the box".
For example, Double Twist has an "add to play queue" option, but it doesn't say so "on the box", so I had to download it and try it to know. I was wondering if there were any resources out there which provide complete feature lists or some other means of helping me find what I want.

A lot of apps never show their full features. But how about if you do a Google Search for Android music player reviews, My Dear Watson? [ignore the Watson; I'm trying to see what unlocks the Watson hat]

@geff_chang Edit a post to get that hat !!

@Sid Thanks for the tip. It took me a while to understand what it meant. I get it now. :)

@shawn What is wrong with your stock player? play queue, lock screen controls, etc... are there.

@Sid I didn't see a play queue in the stock player. And in any case, I don't believe you can edit meta data either.

@geff_chang Yes I tried google but haven't found much, hence the question.

@Shawn Checkout the answer

This is the method I use for finding important apps which have to fit certain requirements:

Make a list of all the features you want.
Have some music in the standard music folder which the standard music app uses. Don't have too much music as it may take a new app a long time to read it all.
Find an article which compares popular music players like "10 best android music players". Popular ones will be most likely to have lots of features.
Download the music apps mentioned in the articles.
Start it and test it to see if it has the features on your list. Keep a record of the ones that meet most of your requirements, as there is a chance you might not find exactly what you want.

This doesn't answer my question but +1 for the first suggestion from your link which has most of the features I was looking for (n7player)

The app best suits for you is Sony Walkman Player
Here are the download links.

Walkman.apk
Visualizerpack.apk

All the features you want can be found here.

Have a play queue

Have lock screen controls

Visualizer mode.
Edit metadata
And many more.

Simply install it and try it out.

Looks wonderful. Just one small problem. When I play songs,  no sound is produced. At all. Makes it kind of useless. I suppose it's not compatible with my device for some reason (Galaxy S 3)

that's odd. try turning off the equalizer or try different equalizer settings.

Not working. I just installed n7player and i'm getting the same problem (no sound).

Then check sounds with your stock player. And go to settings > sound > volume. Try to test speakers with this

The sound works fine in the stock player, with double twist, with flixster, for phone calls, etc. And the speaker test worked too

then you may want to ask a seperate question stating your new problem with reference to this one. so tuat the other S3 users can help you. most probably you're facing a compatibility issue. post a link if you're gonna do it. good luck!! (I'm really sad :( that you can't use walkman)

What do you know, the sound works now. The Queue track features doesn't though... http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/35982/why-do-i-get-error-cannot-play-track-from-the-walkman-app-when-i-use-the-queu


text:
Is it possible to set device's Latitude and Longitude using ADB SHELL?
I know how to set locatlon for emulators using device configuration interface from Motodoev Studio for example. But, how I can set locatlon for a device?

Alternatively what might also be an option here is to use Appium's io.appium.setting's app.
Once that app's installed on the device you can give it permissions and mock location through adb like this:
  adb shell pm grant io.appium.settings android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE
  adb shell pm grant io.appium.settings android.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS
  adb shell pm grant io.appium.settings android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION
  adb shell pm grant io.appium.settings android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION
  adb shell pm grant io.appium.settings android.permission.ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION
  adb shell pm grant io.appium.settings android.permission.SET_ANIMATION_SCALE
  adb shell pm grant io.appium.settings android.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION

  adb shell am start -W -n io.appium.settings/.Settings -a android.intent.action.MAIN -c android.intent.category.LAUNCHER -f 0x10200000
  adb shell appops set io.appium.settings android:mock_location allow

  adb shell am startservice -e longitude 28 -e latitude 77 io.appium.settings/.LocationService;

For more info on the app and some other intents check out their readme

this is possible using ADB shell:
$ telnet localhost 5554
Android Console: type 'help' for a list of commands
OK
geo fix -82.411629 28.054553
OK

Please read: https://stackoverflow.com/a/2587369/950427

isn't this for a device? AFAIK, there is no way to set the location other than mock the location on your device, and add a test location provider.

Yes, I believe this is what he was looking for. What is your question?

Down vote because OP is explicitly asking about on a Device. This only works for the Emulator.

@cde I answered this question 3.5+ years ago. It helped OP at the time.

Alternative to @jmp answer, I can recommend to use instead of Appium's app the FakeTraveler It has not the disadvantage to run a lot of adb permission commands, which not really work out of the box and without search google why setting permission ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION don't work.
FakeTraveler guides you automatic to right developer setting ♥

AFAIK, there are many mock location apps out there, but those don't really answer the question of changing the location using ADB. Does this app allow controlling the location using ADB?


text:
How to change the home dock icons on TouchWiz?
Similar to How to edit the home dock icons (shortcuts) on TouchWiz 4.0 ICS
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 with Android 4.0.4. I can't for the life of me figure out how to edit the home screen dock icons on the default launcher (Touchwiz).
I've tried:

Long pressing on a home dock icon (nothing happens).
Long pressing an app in the home screen to drag onto the home dock. (Home dock icons disappear and are replaced by a Delete bar across the bottom of the screen)
On the home screen, press Menu -> Edit. (Home dock icons disappear and are replaced by 4 icons: Create folder, Create page, App info, Delete).
In the Apps list with a Customizable grid view, press Menu -> Edit. This is the answer to the linked question. (Allows editing of the Apps listing, but doesn't bring the home dock icons onto the screen so I cannot modify them)

Before I updated to 4.0.4 I could change the shortcuts in the home screen dock, and I put Google Chrome there to replace the default browser. After updating I now want to replace it with Firefox.
I am in Australia. I have friends with grey imports of the same phone from Hong Kong that don't exhibit this behaviour on 4.0.4.

I read somewhere that SG3s from Australian carriers have this limitation, haven't been able to find definite proof tho. (I'm in Mexico, the unlocked phone I got turned out to be Australian O.o )

I've read somewhere that a few crappy carriers prevent this. If it still doesn't work, I'd recommend you to install another launcher, where you can customise more.

Please check this news.
I think that you will be able to edit your home dock after updating your phone. http://www.phonearena.com/news/Happy-days-in-Australia-TouchWiz-dock-can-finally-be-customized_id57116

The way it works on my SGS2 Android 4.0 is

Click on applications,
Click menu button, select "edit"

Now the screen shows several app icons you can change, but at the bottom are also the home buttons. All home buttons except for the most right one ("start page" or "home page") can be dragged and dropped, and you can move other app icons to the row with the home buttons.
Note that this only works if at step 1 you are in grid view, otherwise change to grid view in the menu first.
If this doesn't work, there may be some additional carrier software that prevents it.


text:
Can I transfer application from account to account on a single tablet?
I bought an android tablet to my parents for christmas. I registered it on my Google account and went on and installed some apps. (Some are the ones I own on my second tablet, some are the ones I bought specifically for them.)
Now I want to give them the tablet and register their own Google account, so they can also buy new aplications without billing my account.
Is this possible? Will all the application disappear, or can I somehow keep them on the device? (I care especially about the apps that I bought.)
(If this will turn out hard/impossible, I will just let them use my account, but well, I would rather not, since they would be able to read all my e-mail and log to my Google+ and such.)

That depends on multiple things:

if you remove your account from the device, the paid apps most likely will stop working (if they use Google License services to verify their validity). So concerning this it was a bad idea to buy those apps specifically for your parents using your account
if the device is running at least Android 4.2, you can create separate accounts for your parents, with your own account staying the "owner" (which means, you would administrate the device for them -- certain actions as e.g. factory reset are limited to the "owner account"). In this case you would need to re-install all apps with the new account -- but it would be a "fake-reinstall" (they won't be doenloaded another time). Still, above mentioned license issue will remain: Each user must pay for the app separateley.
no issue for free apps, however -- though if changing the account they might no longer update, as they are "registered" with the old account. This update issue could be fixed using the AppBrain App Market, which lets you sync the list of apps you've installed with your account (just one example, there might be other solutions I'm currently unaware of, or which might require root)

I know it's possible to have multiple accounts on a device (see e.g. Multiple Google Accounts and the Market). But never having tried this, I don't know how that works out. I think it's your parents, so you probably trust them enough to keep your account on the device, just adding a new one for them to use. This might solve the issue with the License stuff for the apps you already bought for them. But keep in mind that, depending on to which account the Playstore app defaults then, they might still ending up buying apps with your account. And, of course, they can read your mail -- not only those mails you explicitly send them, but all mail on the bound GMail account :)
However: Transfering payed apps between accounts is (currently?) not possible.
UPDATE: If your tablet is rooted, take a look at Multi-User App Share. This app permits the "owner" (first user of the device) to share apps with other accounts without having them re-download those from Google's Playstore. As for now, it is not tested thoroughly with paid apps, but should (at least partly) work. Check the app's description and comments for details.

I am using multiple accounts, and you can un-sync different services for them, but this doesn't mean the parents can't check manually for emails, if they want to, or buy more apps on the other account(even by mistake), as the password is saved in system.

What actually worked for me: I set mail synchronization of my account as off, and I set a new Google Account in settings. What happened is that GMail application crashes wherever it's run (which is a good thing in this case :)), bought apps still work, and they would have to go to settings to set my mail up, which they will never do as I know them (settings menu is "off the limits" for my parents).


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Will I be able to change the region on my HTC desire S?
The RUU of the HTCdev cannot install to my Htc desire S. It always says that I need the correct RUU version and my region is SEA_WWE.
Is there any way to install the RUU without changing my region? or how do I change the region to make my phone compatible?

There is only one RUU available for Desire S in htcdev website which should work on all HTC Desire S.


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How to know if a webview is using https
As a user, is there a way to know if the page displayed in a webview inside an application is using https or not?

If you control the network, you can use Shark for Root to check whether the apps open port 80 (default port for HTTP) or port 443 (default port for HTTPS). IIRC, WireShark can also read HTTP headers.
If you don't want to root your phone, and you're on a Wifi network that you owned; you can use Wireshark/Firesheep to snoop on the traffic of the Android device from your laptop.

I don't think there is a way to find out directly. The only thing I can think of is

Check the log files and hope there is a mention of https, however this is not likely to be very succesful.
Reverse engineer the app and look at the source code but to understand what your looking for you'll want to have some Android programming experience.


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Sony Reader PRS-T1 becomes unresponsive
My Sony Reader PRS-T1 based on Android 2.2 is acting funny.
I had rooted it in the past but is now in the "original" state, upgraded with the latest official firmware.
The problem is that many times, the unit becomes unresponsive. This happens after putting the unit on sleep and waking it again. The dictionary hangs, changing dictionaries hangs even worse and sometimes highlighting text as well (this makes the dictionary pop up.
I managed to get logs and I found the following error messages, just after waking from sleepmode:
2013-01-22 17:15:06.391 W dalvikvm (2308:2308) [log_main    ] ERROR: Unable to find decl for native Lcom/sony/drbd/ebook/system/Identifier;.getProductName ()Ljava/lang/String;

2013-01-22 17:15:06.391 W dalvikvm (2308:2308) [log_main    ] ERROR: Unable to find decl for native Lcom/sony/drbd/ebook/system/Identifier;.getSkuName ()Ljava/lang/String;

2013-01-22 17:15:06.391 W dalvikvm (2308:2308) [log_main    ] ERROR: Unable to find decl for native Lcom/sony/drbd/ebook/system/Identifier;.getSerialNumber ()Ljava/lang/String;

2013-01-22 17:15:06.391 W dalvikvm (2308:2308) [log_main    ] ERROR: Unable to find decl for native Lcom/sony/drbd/ebook/system/Identifier;.getServiceId ()Ljava/lang/String;

2013-01-22 17:15:06.391 W dalvikvm (2308:2308) [log_main    ] ERROR: Unable to find decl for native Lcom/sony/drbd/ebook/system/Identifier;.getMacAddress ()Ljava/lang/String;

2013-01-22 17:15:06.391 W dalvikvm (2308:2308) [log_main    ] ERROR: Unable to find decl for native Lcom/sony/drbd/ebook/system/Identifier;.getPsn ()Ljava/lang/String;

2013-01-22 17:15:06.391 E JNIHelp (2308:2308) [log_main    ] RegisterNatives failed for 'com/sony/drbd/ebook/system/Identifier'
Any ideas on how to diagnose and restore my system?

Maybe you'll take a look at My device is getting slow, apps start misbehaving/crashing. What can I do?

I already did a factory reset to no avail.

In that case, "malware" could only be in the system area (which is unlikely, though not impossible) or in one of the apps you explicitly installed yourself. Or it is rather a different performance issue (which I think is more likely). I'll re-tag your question; maybe you want to follow the performance related tag for suggestions.

It turned out that backing up, reformatting the internal drive and restoring the backup.
After doing that, I also copied the internal partitions from another Reader and the problem is solved.
I suspect that it is the formatting which solved the problem but am not sure.
Procedure in this forum post.


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Mail app keeps freezing (Jelly Bean 4.1.2 on Samsung Galaxy S3)
Mail app keeps freezing (Jelly Bean 4.1.2 on Samsung Galaxy S3).
Really annoying since I use it for work mail.

Is this the first time it happened?

Did you try to clear its cache (maybe something got messed up there)? Also, some additional context would help to locate the problem. With the current phrasing, all we can say is we feel sorry for you...

I use the "out of the box" email app to connect to our exchange server. When I click on the "email" icon, I see all the current mail, but, when I click on the mail nothing happens. About 2 minutes later I get a popup stating "Mail is not responding, do you want to close it."  I updated to jellybean yesterday.  Never had this issue with the old Ice Cream software. What other intor might you need?

This has been going on ever since I upgraded to Jelly Bean 4.1.1 (not 4.1.2)

This is happening on my S3 too since the 4.1.2 upgrade


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How to limit the synchronized contacts to "My Contacts" on a Galaxy Note?
I have a problem with my Galaxy Note II (Android 4.1.1) when synchronizing the contacts I have on the phone via Bluetooth with my car. I believe this is some limitation of the number of contacts (or groups of contacts) I have on my phone. The same problem is present on my wife's Galaxy S3.
I therefore would like to understand how the Galaxy Note II synchronizes its contacts with Google. I keep all my contacts in Google (I have nothing locally) and would like to just get the "My Contacts" group (with the hope it will fix the Bluetooth synchronization problem).
I tried to limit the accounts as explained in another post but even though the title of the post is the same as mine, the solutions seem to only limit the number of displayed contacts.
What I did was to:

stop the synchronization for the google account (for contacts)
forcefully delete all contacts from my phone (with Mass Contacts Delete, Delete All Contacts and Delete Contacts
choose only "My Contacts" in Contacts | Menu | Display Options | Choose contacts to display (account)
restart the synchronization

I end up with all google contacts synchronized again ("My Contacts", the groups within and the "Other Contacts" one). I know this because when running the batch contact delete apps they inform me that 500+ contacts will be deleted (while I should have only 30 or so synchronized).
This is why I suspect the solution given in the post I mentioned (and which I basically run in the points 2-4 above) just helps to limit the display (and not the whole synchronization).
I would be grateful for

some general information about how the Google accounts are synchronized with Android (specifically Samsung Galaxy)
possibly a way to limit the "visible" accounts, as presented by the phone via Bluetooth (the idea being that even if the phone has all the contacts synchronized, maybe there is a way to set it up so that it "presents" (makes visible to other devices) only a subset).

Note: the inferior alternative OS :) (iOS) worked as expected out of the box -- so I guess this is something which is manageable in Android as well.

If you provide the links in comments or chat, I will add them.

Also, this isn't a forum ;)

@Liam W: Thanks, here are tghe links:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.DeleteAllContacts and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.umobile.delall

4.2.2 and 4.3 customized ROMs (CyanogenMod in my case) fix the issue
... and bring in other ones, less important (the mp3 tags are not streamed with the musioc for instance = the name of the song is not displayed).

After having tried anything I could think of and all the solutions in various group the only one which works was to use Bluetooth File Transfer to forcefully transfer the contacts I wanted to have on my car system.
This is not an optimal solution as

the contacts are just transferred, not synchronized
new contacts on my phone need to be transferred manually

but at least this gives me something similar to what I had with an iPhone, out of the box (all contacts transferred and synchronized, as expected)


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Are Amazon "Parental Controls" redundant if I disable "In-App Purchasing"?
In the Amazon Appstore settings, there is a preference to enable Parental Controls. When set, this causes all apps (that are installed via amazon appstore) to require the amazon password before being able to make an in-app purchase. You can also specify an optional PIN to use in lieu of the full amazon password. According to the details, this only affects in-app purchases, and it does not hide 'mature' apps or enable any filtering.
Another setting is In-App Purchasing. This preference is active by default, but it can be disabled to completely remove the possibility of in-app purchases.
By default, no password is needed for in-app purchases, and the in-app purchasing ability is active. For both of these permissions, you are required to enter your amazon password to change the permission.
My question is this: If I disable in-app purchasing completely, is there a need to also enable parental controls?
Since the preference itself cannot be altered without typing in the password, I feel like the Parental Control preference is redundant for my purposes.

"In-App Purchasing" is an on/off toggle for disabling the functionality altogether, whereas "Parental Controls" allows you the option of having in-app purchasing under a password/pin.  If you disable it completely, putting the password on is indeed redundant.  I don't see why Amazon couldn't combine these two setting into one, with 3 options: Disable, Allow, Allow with a Password.

In short, you are correct.  Disabling in-app purchasing completely via In App Purchasing option makes password-protecting under the Parental Controls settings redundant.
It's definitely confusing, and could have been better accomplished by having just one setting with 3 options: Disable, Allow, Allow with a Password.  It's possible that these two settings used to work differently on older versions of this app, and developers decided that keeping the settings separate would be less confusing to existing users than combining them.

Almost the same question: Do parental controls do anything besides require a pin/password for in-app purchasing? Do they also limit anything else (such as hide mature apps)? If parental controls only control in-app purchasing, then this answer is perfect.

I have not seen any evidence that parental controls filter out apps by rating or any other criteria. To test this out, I enabled the parental controls and was still able to find and download "3D Kamasutra - Sex Positions from KamaSutra" app, with rating of "Adult Content".

Now I need to find a way to remove this app from the list of my purchased ones :)

You can do that on the desktop site. Go to "Your Apps and Devices" when on the app section. You have to manually page through all your apps 10 at a time, but the app in question will likely be at the top (numerics before alphabetics, or just sort by purchase date).

And I applaud your devotion to the scientific method. Testing a hypothesis, even when the test is undesirable, is important in finding the right solution. I, however, will trust your result instead of independently verifying it. :-)


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New Nexus 4 - transfer photos and other stuff from old Nexus S
So obviously I can't just "swap the SD card" as neither the old phone nor the new phone have an SD card slot.
Similarly I don't really want to copy everything across from the old phone, so I don't want to use titanium backup and root.
I just want the "standard" stuff transfered: mainly images, but maybe text messages and such as well.
Is there any way to do this short of literally plugging the phone into a computer and transferring them manually?
Thanks.

FYI: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/35580/how-can-i-transfer-photos-to-my-android-jelly-bean-device-while-preserving-the-o

Sync should take care of contacts and most settings on your phone.
Download SMS Backup and Restore on both phones, backup on Nexus S and send the backup xml file to N4 (via Bluetooth or wifi hotspot) for restoration.
For transferring files between the devices, you can use the wifi hotspot functionality. Works real fast. I'm not sure if it is available on Nexus 4 (being a newer, better phone, I presume it is), but I have it on my Nexus S and have used it to transfer files from a Galaxy S2.
Update: AnySend seems like a useful app to send files between two devices. The only requirement is that both have to be connected to the same wifi network.

Pretty good. I just went through my SD card in the end and found all my pictures and stuff I wanted to save. The SMS backup and restore app was really useful for SMS. Thanks!


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WiFi HT40 Android device sync missing
I am using Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II, and both I have noticed in specifications are "WiFi HT40: supported". My problem is, that when I have mobile data active and connect to Wi-Fi, and try to sync with Gmail or Exchange it does not work. Older devices (Galaxy S II, Galaxy S, Galaxy Ace) were working without problems.
Do you think this has something to do with WiFi HT40? Is there any way how to disable it? When I am on Wi-Fi with no mobile data, everything works fine, when I allow mobile data, sync does not work. I have contacted operator, cellphone maker, but still no solution ...


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How to view the android service menu (secret menu)?
Most of the mobile manufacturers include a hidden service menu in their mobile handsets. These menus allow users (or developers) to access some technical information and service personnel to access service details etc.
Is there a similar service menu for android devices and What can I do with that menu?

Well, there is a menu available for handsets running android OS. To get the menu, go to your stock phone app and type the following.

**#*#7378423#*#*

It is simply *#*#SERVICE#*#*

There are many things you can do in this menu.

View service information
Check service settings
Carryout service tests
Reset customization settings

Some of these items may differ from handset to handset. These are the typical menu items available. This menu comes handy when checking the total call timer (in service tests), Rooting status check (in Service info -> Configuration), etc.

As the How has already been explained, you might want to have the What as well:
There are several lists on the internet (just google for "secret codes") with many of those codes. Not all of them work on all phones (some are device or manufacturer specific), but many are common to all Android devices (and some times even to all smartphones). I won't list all of them here, but a few more important to be known include...
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────┐
| Code                                             | Description           |
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
| *#0011#                                          | GSM Infos             |
| *#0228#                                          | Battery Infos         |
| **05*<PUK>*<new PIN>*<new PIN for confirmation># | Unlock PIN            |
| *#*#0588#*#*                                     | Test Proximity sensor |
| *#06#                                            | Show IMEI             |
| *#*#1234#*#*                                     | Firmware Info         |
| *135#                                            | Show your phone number|
| *#*#197328640#*#*                                | Service Menu          |
| *#*#7378423#*#* (*#*#SERVICE#*#*)                | Service Menu          |
| *#*#2432546#*#* (*#*#CHECKIN#*#*)                | Check for OTA Updates |
| *2767*3855#                                      | Factory Format        |
| #31#<phoneNumber>                                | anonymous call        |
| *#*#3264#*#*                                     | RAM Test              |
| *#*#4636#*#* (*#*#INFO#*#*)                      | System Infos          |
| *#*#7594#*#*                                     | Customize PowerButton |
| *#*#7780#*#*                                     | Factory Reset         |
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────┘

Use at your own risk -- some options might prove dangerous (e.g. the factory format) -- especially if you don't know what they are supposed to mean, think twice or better avoid the option.

Getting good at ascii drawing xD +1 from me... _o/

Why most of them are not working on my Xperia Neo V running CM10?

I don't know -- I didn't try all of them on all devices there are. I'm aware that not all of them work on all phones (as I wrote) -- but I cannot say which ones work on which phones, sorry...

Go to your phone dialer

and enter these codes (they work in my Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Jelly Bean 4.2.1):

'Testing' menu: *#*#4636#*#* (the same as *#*#INFO#*#*)

IMEI number: *#06#

Additionaly check out the page Secret codes for Android, full of codes (some of them didn't work in my phone) and screenshots
Note: Please be extremely careful with the options, because they're not intended to be messing with them.


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GT-P1000 pc and phone icon
I was trying to root my old Galaxy Tab 7 (GT-P1000) device when it got frozen at the setup connection. I noticed then that it was a Gingerbread file -- so I killed Odin. Now I'm getting phone and exclamation mark and a PC.
Can somebody please help me solve this? I've been searching the Internet and didn't find anything.
Please note that Odin still recognizes/sees the device.
Edit: to clarify, this was the youtube video on 'How to Unbrick Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000' that was used and ended up right now as per the question above.

Clarify exactly what you're doing - you're rooting and where does Odin come in? Show us the link or instructions that you got it from to enable us to help you.

This one worked http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPSBXC72rmg,
How to Unbrick Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000

rooting or unbricking... which is it?

Let me see if I understood your question: You were trying to root your tablet but you killed Odin, so your tablet got bricked. The video you talk about is what you found to try to unbrick your device, but that didn't help. Am I right? "Now I'm getting phone and exclamation mark and a PC." I don't understand this part, though. Are they icons? Where do you see the exclamation mark? Where do you see the PC? What operating system are you using in your PC?

I'm using windows with odin 3, I was trying to root the phone but it failed for some reason then I unplugged the cable then I got the phone and pc icons, then I followed the you tube video to restore it back


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How to allow installation of Non-Market apps (ICS)?
I'm attempting to install the exynos fix after downloading the .apk file.
When I open the file to run, the system tells me that I cannot install apps that did not originate from Google Play.
After some googling I found an article that shows a workaround, however when I go to:
Home → Settings → Applications

I see a list of applications and memory usage. It's the same window I see if I go to:
Home → Settings → Storage → Applications

Ergo, I am not finding where I can tick Unknown Sources.
How do I access the actual Application Settings shown below?

In ICS and JB, you should find this option in Settings  →  Security in a section called "Device Administration"

Thanks - got the app installed.  Says my device is not vulnerable.  Went back and unticked Unknown Sources.

Well done, it's recommended to keep unticked that option unless you are sure that all the app markets and download sites you use are really safe.

ICS has the settings re-located and can be found under:
Settings  →  Security  →  Unknown Sources

The screen-shot present on your question is referring to Gingerbread and does not apply to ICS.


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My Samsung Galaxy S2 is constantly shutting down
Recently, whenever I am using an app or doing something on my phone other than texting or reading, my phone will up and shut off on me. When I try to reboot sometimes it will get all the way back to the home screen, but it will show that I now have 90% less juice than I had before.
Other times the start up will will get hung up on the sprint graphic and just shut back down.
In either scenario I am not able to use my phone again until I plug it into the wall and restart. I also noticed recently that when I do this it will typically kick off yet another "update" from the playstore for an app... not sure if this has anything to do with it...
Any help and/or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts, please see the [FAQ] on the how to ask questions, only one question post at a time... :) Or I suggest to re-edit your question :)

Sounds faulty, first inclination, is the handset over-clocked? rooted? The battery juice drain is a dead give-away of a hardware fault. Suggest you take it back to Sprint and explain what is happening... :)

i should have mentioned that once I finally get it to start up without failing the battery power reads close to what it was prior to the first shutdown, meaning the initial read of a drain was not in fact that case

I'd suggest you taking a look at My device is getting slow, apps start misbehaving/crashing. What can I do? The steps described there can do no harm (except for the "last resort" of a factory reset, which would also wipe your data and apps). Also check for apps you recently installed, maybe you picked a "faulty" one. Also consider looking at Sometimes My Phone Just Restarts and How can I determine the cause of random device reboots?

Have you tried re-seating the battery?

yeah... i've tried, but to no avail. no matter what I try (at a very basic level) I cannot seem to stop the phone from shutting down randomly...


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Pandaboard ES OMAP4460 USB Ports Technical Specifications Question
Technical specifications for Pandaboard ES OMAP4460 shows that it has 3 USB ports.

1x USB 2.0 High-Speed On-the-go port
2x USB 2.0 High-Speed host ports

My question is that what's the difference between an On-the-go port and a host port?
Does a host port allow the Pandaboard to act as a slave when connected to a PC via USB?
Does a OTG port allow the Pandaboard to act as a slave when connected to a PC via USB?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts StackExchange - read the [FAQ] to see what kind of questions can be asked. There's three questions in one post, one question at a time. As this is related to hardware and Pandaboard, it may be outside of the scope of this site. Please check the Google's newsgroups on this as Pandaboard is very frequently mentioned especially in Android Building.

I know nothing about 'Pandaboard'.  But a USB OTG port, acts as both Master & Slave.  Depending on the spare pin of the mini usb cable (if its grounded or not). A Host port aka your PC can only talk to salves like Flash/Hard drives.  usb otg can talk to Flash drives & also act like a Flash Drive too.


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How does Android sync the WiFi Profiles?
I'm using Jelly Bean on a tablet and a phone on the same account. After logging into a particular wifi network on one device, I noticed that sometime later (weeks) the other device had some acquired the settings (including password) and logged into the wifi automatically.
I was unaware that android had a form of wifi profile sync. Is there any information out there about this functionality? How does it work? What other data is sync'd between devices?

It's done this for a while, I find it a useful feature, can't find any official documentation of it though.

Definitely seems useful :)

Maybe -- but how are those data exchanged? If such things happen via 3rd party servers (even Google's) without the user's consent, I'd consider it a security risk! Is there any documentation on this?

@Izzy Found some docs, check my answer. I assume that the users consent is given automatically when they use Android, maybe in the terms and conditions somewhere? However you can always turn off the option and the docs say that will also delete any backed up data on Google's servers.

Ah! Going to bed yesterday I already got the idea: that could have to do with the Google backup (which I don't use). So there is really a part of that which works, and even merges data from different devices. OK, but this is something the user gave consent  :)

See also Why does the Android device connect to a secured wireless router without providing a password?

If you go to Settings -> Backup & reset there is a Back up my data option which states:

Back up application data, Wi-Fi passwords, and other settings to
  Google servers

In addition to this on the Android OS support site it says:

a wide variety of your personal data is backed up autonmatically,
  including your Wi-Fi passwords, Browser bookmarks, a list of the apps
  you’ve installed on Google Play, the words you’ve added to the
  dictionary used by the onscreen keyboard, and most of your customized
  settings. Some third-party apps may also take advantage of this
  feature, so you can restore your data if you reinstall an app. If you
  uncheck this option, your data stops getting backed up, and any
  existing backups are deleted from Google servers.

As for the security concerns although I assume they must be sending plain-text WiFi passwords according to the Backup Service developer guide they're at least using a secure connection to do it over.


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Use android 2.3 as a wireless Mass Storage middle man
Context:
I would like to use an old phone as a USB Mass storage device/slave, but read/writes to a Network share.  So I can attach it to the Kitchen TV and direct it to a windows/linux directory.
Attempt so far:
My test device is an unbranded tablet, which appears to try to clone a HTC Passion.  I'm able to access network shares from it, and make a mount point on the SD card of device.
However, when I activate the "USB Mass Storage", it totally unmounts every thing related to the internal/external storage, so it is accessible via the usb cable to the Host computer only.   ;(
When I remount the card and then remount the network share - it just makes it have a hissy-fit, and as you can guess its does not appear to read/write correctly.
Is there something available to do this?
Alternatively:
I’m kind-of familiar with USB programming from a Linux Host point of view, because I used to use /proc/bus/usb/devices lsusb… to know where to read/write the packets to.  But I don’t know how to do a program to act as a client/slave device.
I’m not aware of how to access the USB interface because I do not know where the io-file/memory address point could possibly be?
Reading dmesg, /dev/bus/usb or /sys/bus/usb does not appear to help me.
I’m defiantly missing something here, due to lack of knowledge.   :(
I know I’m asking to convert/overlay a block device on a network share, but I’ll worry about that later   :)

Definitely not doable. Network share = high level network protocol (CIFS/FTP/etc) vs. USB mass storage = block device (which is a level below and interpreted using a FAT32 driver on Windows). There's no way you can transform a high level protocol into a lower level one. Period. Silly comparison: You want to serve apples (raw device) but you only have apple juice (net share). You'd need iSCSI or so across the network.

Put it as answer! :-)

Found it "/sys/devices/platform/usb_mass_storage/lun#/file". Now just writing a basic block driver so its out of scope of this forum


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First time with Android, need help with adding media
For Christmas this year I am getting a 16GB (really 10.6 GB) Galaxy Note II, which will be my first Android device after having a slew of iDevices. I have ~12 GB of music in iTunes and Google Music, and am looking for a way to sync it to my SD card (it doesn't fit in internal memory).
So far what I've looked at:
-dragging folders from my mac's Finder into the phone's raw file system
This would work, but when I get new songs it seems cumbersome to have to go back into the filesystem to sync them
-Google Music
This is what I was planning on using, until I found out that it only can save to internal memory (there's bad coverage where I live, so I can't rely on streaming)
-DoubleTwist
From what I've seen, DoubleTwist is an iTunes replacement, and doesn't sync from the iTunes application (so if I get new songs I would have to add them to iTunes then DoubleTwist)
Is there some amazing solution that I'm missing, or do I have to make do with one of these (and if so, which one would you recommend)?

I guess since no one else answered, I'll post what I ended up doing as an answer.
The solution that worked best for me was iSyncr. It's a Mac/PC app that acts as a middleman between iTunes and your device, so you can sync all your iTunes music, playlists, and song data.
It wasn't perfect or free, but it was what worked the best for me.


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Mobile network not displayed after I rooted my samsung galaxy 10.1 tablet
I have a Samsung galaxy 10.1 tablet (GT-P7500) with android version 3.1.
I upgraded the android to 4.0.4 (the latest one available). It was rooted but I guess I've modified something since it always used to show "permission denied" for superuser requests.
So I rooted the tablet. When I did, the tablet didn't reboot by itself. Someone suggested that I wipe all data. So I did it and now the tablet reboots well, but it isn't showing the mobile networks options when I go to Settings > About device > Wireless & Networks.
I am not getting the 3G network either.
I want my tablet to get the mobile network again and I want to upgrade it to android version 4.0.4.

There are two versions of the tablet, one with mobile network and one without. Make sure you have the right firmware installed so that you get the right options.

Thanks but how to check the firmware installed?

It will be hard to find out what is currently missing, and even harder how to fix that. I am not sure if you updated with the right 4.0.4 and how you rooted it / what that did. I would try and do the following, since you rooted it already: Re-Flash it with the stock firmware or Cyanogenmod to fix it. Make sure you have the right model number firmware/updates.