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Which phones ship with manufacturer-provided root?
I'd like to buy a phone that either ships with factory-installed su, or where the manufacturer provides official instructions/downloads for installing one. Do such phones exist?

If you buy a nexus phone, You get official instructions from Google on how to root the phone. I'd recommend you hold on a couple of months for the phone that will replace the nexus 4. I have had a nexus 4 for half a year and it's pretty good for the money I paid for it.

NO. Most phones come with "stock" ROMS, possibly stock Android or stock manufacturer-modified ROMs. Most manufacturers, if not all, will not give you root access because they don't want you to play around with your phone, which may give them headaches (a metaphor) in case you go to them to fix it. Some may not even fix phones that are rooted.


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Why are these short USB cables not connecting my Android device?
I have a Galaxy S2 and a Linux Mint laptop. For a while I was using a long USB cable, maybe 1 metre in length, to connect my Android device to my laptop. It worked fine, but the extra length was unnecessary and sometimes got in the way. So I went to my local electronic store and bought a 20 centimetre USB cable.
With the shorter cable, it would recharge my phone, but I could not connect to the file system on the phone in any way. No USB related activities, such as connecting to the device from Eclipse or transferring music files from within Banshee would work.
I thought maybe I was just unlucky and got a bad cable. So I went and bought a second 20 centimetre cable, and it was the exact same situation.
Bad cables are rare enough that it seems unlikely that I got two in a row. In any case, I'm a little hesitant to just go and buy another until I know what's going on. My 1 metre cable still works, so I assume there is nothing about the system that is failing.
Why would the 20 centimetre cables behave any differently from a longer cable? Is there a type of cable I need to be getting? Is there something else I need to know when buying cables?
This is what my 20 centimetre cable looks like:

It's possible that the USB cable is designed for charging only (i.e. not a data cable), or is of poor quality.
Off-topic: Although not a USB cable, I have encountered OTG cables that could not detect a USB drive. In this case, it was a poor (or defective) OTG cable; other cables were able to detect the USB drive.
Related posts (external):

All micro usb cables are not created equal?

The screenshot in this answer might help you understand the first sentence: the cable might just have wired contacts 1+4, while leaving 2+3 (data) "empty".

Turns out the cables I had were indeed for charging only. Once I understood the extent of the difference, I looked more carefully in my local electronics store, and discovered that there was a whole different rack of data cables on a different floor.

I had faced such situations. I am assuming that the second cable you bought is exactly the same as the first one. I think you should try a cable of a different brand.
Hope this helps

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Problem upgrading Samsung S5302 from 2.3.6 to 4.0
Device: Samsung S5302
Somebody gave me a link to upgrade my Gingerbread phone - from 2.3.6 to 4.0. I heard that some features won't work in my phone like GPS, dual SIM, and camera.
How do I upgrade this phone?

I rephrased your question, but I'm not sure it is correct. Is that what you want? Can you give us the link you are talking about?

There no official upgrade of 4.x.x for samsung S5302.
However you can install custom ROMs like Cyanogenmods to upgrade your phone. but you need to ROOT your phone before installing custom ROM.
Check this out Custom Rom For Galaxy Y Duos Lite GT S5302
also this :  CyanogenMOD 9.0 [ICS 4.0.4] for Galaxy Pocket

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


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Why is "wpa_supplicant.conf" file invisible?
My device LG e510 : Android 2.3 had been rooted and then I changed the privileges to view and see some system files, especially for wpa_supplicant.conf, with RootExplorer app.
But unlike most people, I can not see the file inside /data/misc/wifi/ directory, it's empty and /system/etc directory has wpa_supplicant.conf header information file.
Lastly I used WifiPassRecovery app, and the app immediatelly retrieved all the saved wifi passwords.
Where did this app retrieve all those informations? and Why cannot I see the file?
Thanks.

Found them in
/data/misc/apexdata/com.android.wifi/WifiConfigStore.xml

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. Since manufacturers can and do customize their Android, could you [edit] and also mention the device model and Android version, just in case it matters?

It worked for me

On the Galaxy S, the credentials are stored in /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf (where bcm is short for Broadcom).  Other common locations include /data/wifi/, /data/etc/wifi/ and /data/misc/wifi/ — check them for relevant config files.

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


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How to change device name for Kindle in Nexus 7 2nd Generation (2013)
I just got a Nexus 7 2nd Generation (2013) with Android 4.3.
I installed Kindle, and the device shows up named [my-name]'s Android Tablet.
In earlier versions of Android, I can go to the About screen and there's a "Device Name" option. It's not on my About screen.

You can rename from the Amazon website itself:

Manage Your Kindle
Manage Your Devices
Edit (blue link under Edit Kindle Information dialog) > Edit Kindle Information

That setting was moved to the (hidden) developer options entry.
At first, you need to activate veveloper settings here, then change your hostname in the debugging section (2nd option group, line 5 in Android 4.3)

You should probably mention this is only in CyanogenMod, not stock.

Oh, is it? Thanks for the clarification, I wasn't aware of this.


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Samsung mystyle m340s keeps restarting
Device: Samsung mystyle m340s
My phone is made in Korea. The Korean software keeps restarting from boot screen.
I tried factory reset from Android system recovery, but it didn't help. The local Samsung Service Center says they do not have foreign software for it. So, they cant re-install Android.
How do I fix it?

Where are you at? USA?

no i am at india

isn't here any one who can solve my problem??

Do you really need Korean software? What if you ask the Service Center to flash your phone with an Indian ROM?

they told me it will not support & it will end with bricking ... I dont have much knowledge about it... but as i searched in net korean version doesn't support international version.. but is it possible to flash it with international ROM ??


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SIM contacts are shown in Messaging application, but not displayed in Contacts list
I changed the option to only see my Google contacts (GMail) (and hide my SIM contacts).
This is working perfectly in the "Contacts" app, but when I try to send a text message, and I provide a keyword in the "To" field, all my SIM contacts appear as well.
Is there another possibility to hide the SIM contacts, except removing the numbers on the SIM card?
Thanks!
Jochen
ps: I'm using 4.1.2 (Jellybean)

It seems that the Messaging app has its own Contacts app, with no way to configure it.
How about using 3rd party alternatives? I use GO SMS Pro as replacement for the Messaging app, and Go Contacts Ex as replacement for the Contacts app. With this combination, you can hide the SIM contacts.

You can fix this by
Contacts >groups >not assigned.
You can choose what to do with them from there. This is the only way I've found to delete contacts that show up in messenger and not in any other place.


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Lost Google account information after sync to local Outlook 2003
Normal newbie disclaimer... I've looked and I can't find an answer, so apologies if a duplicate.
After quite a bit of trial-and-error, I've managed to sync all my contacts on my local Outlook 2003 through my new Samsung Galaxy S4Mini (i9195) using MyPhoneExplorer.  There was a lot of swearing as it firstly made them phone contact, but eventually I managed to make them Google contacts.
Before I did this, all my messages and emails were showing my profile picture and Google account details with those messages/emails/etc on both of my Android devices (my phone which is only linked to my Google profile, and my tablet which is linked to both my and my partners profiles).  So, for instance, instead of seeing the letter "T" against the "conversation", I was seeing the profile image.
Under the contacts on my devices there is a "Tom" contact under the "ME" section, and I've attempted to update that with my gmail address, but that doesn't appear to have linked it.  Nor am I seeing my details within the contacts via the website.
I do not have a Google+ account, and I do not want a Google+ account... I have Facebook, and to be honest, I'm on the verge of deleting that.  (I do NOT have Facebook syncing with the phone either).
Gmail through a browser is showing my profile picture, however, that image is NOT appearing if I look at the google account settings... which I'm sure it used to.
Is this just "get people to use Google+" by Google, or am I missing something really easy... or something that is really not obvious in the slightest.

Update:
Apologies @dotVezz for not giving you the information you needed upfront.
I have a single Google account, with a gmail.com email address.  When I look at the profile for that (by going into Gmail account through the web, clicking my email address in top right and choosing "Account") I am not seeing the profile image, which I'm sure I used to.
However, in Gmail settings I am seeing the profile phote.
I have two devices, a Galaxy S4 Mini (i9195) running 4.2.2 and an old Galaxy Tab 10.1 running 4.0.4.
What's happening (and is wrong):
On the S4 Mini, under the "ME" section in Contacts, I'm seeing a single entry called "Tom", which has no details at all... I have added my gmail.com address to this to try and fix this issue.  I do not appear to be able to delete this "contact".
On the Tab 10.1, under the "ME section in Contacts it is asking me to "Set up my profile"... bare in mind this device is used by two people with two accounts.
When viewing my messages or email via the Gmail app, I am not seeing my profile image against the messages I have sent.  In the coloured box to the left of the conversation it would show my profile picture, but now it shows my initial "T".
This is happening on both devices
What should be happening:
My profile image should be appearing next to my messages/emails/etc, instead of just my initial.

Update
Now I've discovered that it's Home+Power to screen shot (and not VolumeDown+Power as I've read in multiple places) here are screen shots from the Gmail and Messages apps on the phone, with the areas in red boxes that should have been linked to my profile, and therefore should (and were) showing my profile photo!

Sorry, but I'm not really clear on what's going on here. it might be helpful to add a summary including 1: The current (incorrect) behavior (for all devices), and 2: The expected (desired) behavior.

Question updated @dotVezz, hope that is more helpful.  I would screen shot, but the power+volume down doesn't appear to do anything on my phone other than lower the volume

If your only concern is the profile picture, have you tried setting the picture in your Contacts app?

It's not just the profile picture, @dotVezz, but the fact it appears to have failed to link the profile full stop. Admittedly I'm not sure what advantages the linking of the profile would provide

The only thing you mentioned in your summary is the picture. Unfortunately, we still don't have a lot to go by.

In that case, @dotVezz, forget it.  You've repeatedly told me that you don't have enough information, yet completely fail to tell me what information you need. Yes, I'm a newbie, and I'm aware of how infuriating it is for a newbie to expect answers within minimal input, but unlike SO it's not possible to "show your code" here. Obviously this is not a normal problem, otherwise I guess I would have been inundated with answers... so I will just have to figure it out myself, or live with the fact that my phone/account is "broken" in some way

Sorry if I frustrated you. I honestly don't mean to be a jerk. This may go against SO rules (and common sense!) but feel free to hook up with me on Facebook (facebook.com/dotvezz). I'll accept a friend invite that looks like it might be you. You can get my phone number and give me a call. We'll probably be able to get things done faster that way =).

Or alternatively, dotvezz[a certain symbol]gmail.com - if you're leery of facebook. Also, I see you're a UK user. So actually calling me is probably out of the question. Anyway, a call in Hangouts and we might just be able to knock this out really fast.


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Message app doesn't merge messages sent/received from same number but different format
My network provider usually sends incoming SMSs with number format like +84123456 (equivalent to 0123456), but sometimes 0123456, and I usually save in my contact, and send SMS to 0123456.
In my old Android phones running 2.3 and 3.0, the Message app can regconize and merge them into 1 thread. But with my new Android running on 4.0.1, they are seperated into 2 threads, 1 for +84123456, and 1 for 0123456.
Can I make it merge them?

What phone are you using?

FPT F9, a local one in my country.


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Launch GotoMeeting from Calendar
I have a number of GotoMeeting meetings that I have in my Google Calendar. I'm using the GTM app on my phone and I'd like to be able to launch the GTM app with the meeting ID already filled in from Calendar.
Is this possible?


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Samsung Galaxy S4 Old Emails Showing Up as New
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, which I switched to from a Blackberry in mid July 2013.  I continue to get emails that were dealt with when first received by either opening and reading, or opening and deleting, that show up again as new and unread.  My service provider (Rogers in Canada) tells me that it is because I have too many emails on the server.  I don't believe this as when I had a Blackberry this never happened.  They (Rogers) says this is because Samsung is a different OS.  Can anyone assist in how to deal with this?  I was told that Samsung is aware of this and on their next software update, this bug will be fixed.  Does anyone know if this is true?
Thank you.

Are you using the stock email client?

You might wish to check Why does the email app on my Samsung Galaxy S4 keep loading old messages and telling me they're new?

Not sure if this will work on the S4, but it seemed to do the trick with my wife's S2, and my S3: change 'recent messages' (email account settings) from 25 (the default) to 'total'.

I had the same issue. Galaxy note client and webmail client showed they were read but s4 said I had 500+ unread. I went into my webmail client and selected all and forced it to mark all as read. A couple of seconds later all the messages on my phone showed as read and number went to zero.

I had the same problem, it was unbearable. i tried many other things but no solution. finally, i downloaded and installed "cloud magic" email app and it works very fine.


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Can't delete app because it is suddenly uncompatible
I downloaded SoftkeyEnabler, but it turned out it wasn't nice for my smaller Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 (CyanogenMod 10.1). So I deleted the app, but the softkeys keep showing up! I tried all kinds of things, but when I look in superuser, active apps etc. It says there is nothing running. When I look at the app in the play store it says that it is not compitable with my device.
What could I do?
Thanks in advance!

This is due to the fact that you have given admin rights to the app.
reinstall the app and then do this:
Go to SETTINGS->Location and Security-> Device Administrator and deselect the admin.
After this is done, Uninstall the app.

The problem is that I can't reinstall the app because it is suddenly not compatible anymore.


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How can I control the media volume while using the camera?
I just upgraded to a Nexus 4 and have discovered the behaviour of the volume controls has been overridden within the camera app.  The volume up button has been remapped to snap the camera shutter.  As I often listen to music on my phone, I find this a great inconvenience.
Is there a way to restore the action of the volume buttons to their default behaviour of controlling the media volume, or alternately is there any other way to control the media volume from within the camera app?

Sorry not an answer you're looking for but I've just learnt that I can use the volume buttons to take photos with my Galaxy Nexus, had it for nearly two years and had no idea that there was a really easy hardware button for this! Thanks


text:
Onenote not as convenient as Google Keep. Solutions to integrate?
I am a heavy onenote user on the PC, but I find there is a 1-3 second delay on my phone between tapping new note and actually being able to type. As I use notes on my phone primarily for quickly capturing information and reliably finding it later, this delay is too long. Google Keep does this far better, but I hate to have my notes in two places.
I would be very happy to be able to find a way to add simple (plain text files would be ok but not perfect) notes very quickly and have them somehow synced to the unfiled notes section of my OneNote, which is on Skydrive.

To date, there's no way to export/import from/to Google Keep, so I don't think there's going to be a solution for you. Perhaps someone has an alternative to the OneNote app.


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Is there any way to use a touch screen monitor to CONTROL an Android tablet through USB?
I have a Coby MID7065 Android tablet that I want to connect to a 4 wire capacitive touch screen monitor via USB. I want to be able to control my tablet via the touch screen monitor. I need to know if there is a way to do this, or if drivers that must be written for the Android OS to make this work or where I can get this information.

Do you have a link / picture of "4 wire capacitive touch screen monitor via USB", with the device and wires? I can't imagine what that looks like. Interesting problem / question though.

No i don't. A 4 wire capacitive touch screen is a type of touch screen. There is also a 4 wire resistance touch, projection capacitive, and infrared as well. The last two people are most familiar with because tablets and smart phones use these technologies for their touch screens which also allows for multi touch applications.

As far as I know, no Android devices ship with drivers for a USB touchscreen monitor. To make this work, you'd have to find or write drivers for Android, and they'd probably be specific to the type of monitor.
In the first instance you could approach the monitor manufacturer and see if they know of a driver for Android, or are willing to give you the datasheets you'd need to write one.

There's no need to comment to say thank-you. If the answer helped you, accept it using the green tick/check mark on the left. That's our way of saying thank-you. You get some reputation for doing this too!


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Tab 2 10.1 keeps turning on
I bought a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 last year and it's been working great.  Then I noticed the other day when I tried to turn off the tablet (by holding down the power butter), it just recycles and comes back on.  It will go to sleep mode but it will NOT turn off completely.  I think the latest update may have had something to do with this.  Thoughts anybody?

i've had the same issue occur with the same symptoms.  used to work fine and then randomly started re-cycling as you mentioned.  several forums indicate this to be a pervasive issue as a result of a recent update.
i just chatted with samsung tech support and they recommended a factory reset.  it worked.  but i worry as to whether it will just eventually re-download the update the caused the issue in the first place...


text:
Play Store Not Downloading Large Apps
When I try to download any large app from the Play Store (v 4.3.11), it stays at "downloading" and doesn't go anywhere. I'm able to download small apps such as Angry Birds without a problem.
My GApps is version 4.3 gapps-jb-20130813. I'm using CyanogenMod 10.2 (Android 4.3) Nightly on a Droid 4.

Is it on auto-update? In the Google Play settings, make sure Auto-update apps is set to Auto-update apps at any time. Data charges may apply.

Since many phones have lower memory and the Android OS is designed to kill apps that are in the background for a while when it needs memory for foreground apps - it is common practice for the OS to kill the Google Play app as well, even while it is still downloading an app (it will usually be later restarted and the downloading of apps will resume).
This can be solved by keeping Google Play in the foreground while your preferred app is being downloaded.


text:
Performance comparison between internal and external memory
What are the performance differences between phone's internal memory, the internal SD card, and the external SD card? I wonder if that counts when deciding where to store apps. What technologies are used for building a phone's internal memory? How about the internal SD card, if it is not really an SD card at all? How do they compare, in general, to SD card speed classes 4, 6 and 10?
Note that I am not asking about the filesystems, as a deleted answer focused on, since performance comparison on this aspect would be totally ruined by just switching the SD card from FAT32 to something better (which I think the industry should have done since a long time anyway).

I bet there wouldn't have to be major differences between using the internal memory and an internal non extractable external storage. And mainly it's the same. You normally put things in the internal memory when you want data isolation on non rooted devices. Why bother? When programming applications just use the internal data directory (and every sub folder you would want to create in here) for private programs and data storage, and the external storage for media and such data non bound to the apk, or different apk's collaboration.

For what's worth, I had a class 4 SD card. Running games whose data was on that external SD was painfully slow, during loading and during gameplay, with frequent mini-freezes. After upgrading to a class 10 card, I find no difference in running games from the internal and the external storage.
Please don't draw any conclusions from these highly rigorous scientific experiments.

I'll give some numbers collected while testing my Samsung Galaxy SII GT-I9100 with 16 GB internal memory (11 GB available for user files) and 64 GB SanDisk MicroSDXC memory card (UHC-I SDSDQU-064G-U46A):
------------------------------------------------------------
|        |     Internal memory    |     External card      |
| File   |------------------------|-------------------------
| size   |    Read    |   Write   |    Read    |   Write   |
----------------------------------|-------------------------
| 300 MB | 33,34 MB/s | 5,35 MB/s | 11,44 MB/s | 8,52 MB/s |
------------------------------------------------------------

Larger files make the write speeds to lower slightly (ca. 7 MB/s for ext card and almost no change for internal memory).
So, in this very case, on this phone and a memory card of exactly this type, internal memory has better reading performance, but there is a catch in it: Flash memory wears out the more the often you write to it, so both the internal memory and the card may become faulty some day. And when this happens a memory card is easier to replace. To replace internal memory you should go to repairing service.
What about flash memory speeds it is all about your feeling - do you feel that using the slower external card fits your needs or you notice a slowdown. I've set up camera app to write pictures and movies to external card and do not feel any discomfort.


text:
Block Adult Websites
Is it possible to block all porn, chat sites, and adult content web pages on a Samsung Galaxy Ace 2? And is it possible to hide the fact that they are being blocked?

OpenDNS free service may also work.

How do you want to hide the fact that they're blocked without blocking them... by blocking them. (And most likely presenting some error or blocking page instead), you're showing that they're blocked...

I'm facing an issue like this with my 11 years old brother. I can't figure out a solution that won't be wipe out by factory reset, unistaling the apps, or simply desactivate it. Blocking 100% is not an issue even 50% will be enought. But openDns need to be set on every wifi they have access. Application block can be desactivate in few click. it's perhaps because m still a bit choked.

Using only your Android:
Kaspersky's Parental Control software does exactly as the title says.
Mind you, it's still in beta, but I did install it and tried it out, and it seems to do it's job of blocking websites as well as applications.
By the way, Kaspersky's not the only app out on the store that you can use, but I chose it due to its reputation. It's after all an application that is going to monitor the network traffic and if it's just any other app, it could steal your credit card numbers maybe. Who knows.
PS: As far as I know, this application cannot be hidden, unless of course you installed a launcher like Smart Launcher. Even then, there is an option for you to show the hidden applications, so it's not going to do much good.
If the phone/tablet is accessing the internet through the Wifi alone:
In this case, you can setup your router settings so that it blocks certain sites etc. It won't be too hard to find the settings; just enter this URL in your browser - 192.168.1.1 - and you should get an interface to login to the router.
For more info, I suggest you did a search on Google on how to block sites through your router.
Advanced Option
I'm not very sure about this method but it should work.

Get a server setup to act as a proxy.
Setup a program on the machine so that it'll be able to monitor and restrict access to a selected number of websites.
Route the phone through the proxy server... and it should do the job.

PS: I welcome comments from anyone who knows if this method is really workable.

No, it is not possible to block all such sites.  That would either require a 100% effective blacklist, which would be impossible to maintain, or a 100% effective detection mechanism, which would basically be an artificial intelligence capable of making human-like judgements.
You can get all kinds of parental controls and blockers on the Play store, but there won't be anything 100% effective.  They may block the most common sites by domain, or block based on keywords (which will block a lot of legitimate sites as well), but none will block ass.
What might be more effective would be a whitelist, depending on how the phone is used.  A firewall whitelist would limit the phone to only being able to access a predefined list of sites (eg, youtube, facebook, etc.)

+1 - There's not, and likely never will be a 100% solution to this.....if it can be blocked, it can be worked around, as well.

If your phone is rooted you could use ad-away to add your custom list of forbidden hosts.
It writes the hosts file to put lines like this:
website_to_block 127.0.0.1

So a request in your browser to the "website_to_block" will be displayed as "This website is not avalaible"

The safest way to get a copy of ad-away is to install F-Droid and use that to obtain it.  Or you can download the ad away APK directly from F-Droid, too.  "On this site you’ll find a repository of FOSS apps, along with an Android client to perform installations and updates, and news, reviews and other features covering all things Android and software-freedom related. F-Droid is a non-profit organisation registered in England (no. 8420676)."

authors: Only เนเวอร์ดาย


text:
Developer options for a second user on Android 4.3
I have a Nexus 7 (2013) edition with Jelly Bean and set up several user accounts. I have enabled developer options on one account (clicking Settings::About tablet::Build number 7 times) and everything is working as it should.
Now I would like to enable developer options on a different user account. However, no matter how many times I click the Build number field, the Developer Options refuses to appear.
Is there a way to enable Developer Options on another account? Is there a way to switch Developer Options from one account to another?
(I have tried clearing settings in the account with developer options. It did remove developer options, but it still didn't allow developer options in the second account).

Just to confirm, is it a new user / account, or a new restricted profile?

This is a full user (not a restricted account). Cheers

Only the main user (owner) has access to Developer Options.
Related question:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14223748/android-4-2-developer-settings-still-unavailable

Thanks for finding the duplicate. If no-one else has a solution or workround where developer options are made available, I'll award you the +50 bounty.


text:
Problem copying files from PC to Galaxy S3 (slow or frozen)
I have a lot of difficulty copying files to my Galaxy S3. My goal is to sync my music from MediaMonkey to my GS3. When I connect the phone, the computer sees it but the connection is incredibly slow! And it is the same thing if I copy files using Windows Explorer or MediaMonkey. The files start to copy, it takes maybe about 1 minute per song, and at some point it will slow down, then stop to progress and freeze.
I made sure I was using the stock USB cable provided with my device but I also tried 2 other cables with same results. The last thing I tried was to clear the cache partition then reboot. I also tried different USB ports on the PC (USB2 and 3, different controllers).
I'm out of ideas.

Are you copying it to the phone, or the external SD card? If it's the latter, much faster if you plug it into an SD card reader/writer, or make sure you are in mass storage mode, instead of MTP.

And in both cases, you might still wish to try it via WiFi, using e.g. FolderSync, Wifi File Transfer, WebSharing, or a similar app.

@geffchang I'm copying to the phone internal memory so I cannot use mass storage.

@Izzy I thought about using a wireless transfer method but MediaMonkey detects the device connected to USB and syncs the songs and playlists in the right format for the GS3. If I just copy files I'm not able to keep the playlists.

I don't know MediaMonkey, but from your comment I assume it requires a "drive letter" to work. Maybe some "server" on your Android device could help accomplishing that via WiFi (I'm thinking about DavDrive, Droid NAS, and the like).

@Izzy Good point but I don't think that MediaMonkey would then recognize the device as the GS3. For instance, another option I considered was to export my music on an micro SD card and then to copy from card to phone internal memory. However this was resulting in playlists and cover images not being supported on the GS3. I didn't find a way to make the app export GS3 format on a generic drive letter.

I see. In that case I'm out. Hopefully somebody else might have more (and better fitting) ideas.

But your different proposals seem to be a great alternative for the cases where a user would like to copy other types of files. And I think my question was more about using the USB port to copy files in general, MediaMonkey was more an example of what I was experiencing. So you could add your comments as an answer and I will accept it if nothing better comes up in a few weeks.

You can use Dropbox and other cloud based storage, very useful for moving files.

Thanks for your comment. I use Dropbox myself as well but the issue I am trying to solve is the slow copy over USB. I would not be able to transfer 20+ Gb of data over the free Dropbox account anyway.

And by the way I didn't mod down you answer. It is a valid alternative but just not suitable for what I want to achieve.


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HTC One X Has Started to Constantly Disconnect From My Network Even at Close Range
I have a HTC One X (not rooted) running Android 4.1.1 but unfortunately it keeps disconnecting from my router when I am at home. The router in question is a Buffalo AirStation WZR-HP-G300NH2 running DD-WRT and the issue occurs even when I am less than one meter away from it. The phone shows the WiFi signal as full strength, but most of the time it will constantly disconnect and reconnect.
The router is running in 802.11g/n mixed mode at 2.4GHz.
Here's the thing: the phone was previously working fine with my network for several months yet nothing has changed that I am aware of and I have not updated the firmware of either device in some time. I still have no problems connecting to my neighbour's router (which I have been granted access to) from the same phone even though the signal is understandably poor. Also, no other devices have trouble connecting to my router.
My router was configured to choose a channel automatically. Using inSSIDer on the phone I could see that the router was picking channel 6 - this seems to be logical as there does not seem to be anything else using it. I manually set the WiFi to channel 6 to be sure, but the issue remains.
I'm having trouble working out whether the phone or the router is to blame. I'm guessing that there could be some kind of interference on the channel I'm using, but I don't want to change to another one because no other devices have a problem using it and I'm guessing that performance could be reduced due to interference from other networks.
Any help in diagnosing the problem would be appreciated. Both devices have been restarted yet there was no improvement.

Have you tried restarting the router? Maybe it got "instable". Are other devices connected to it, and do they show similar behaviour?

@Izzy: I have restarted both devices but there was zero improvment. I have an old iPhone 4 which connects to the same network flawlessly.

OK, thanks for clarification. One more thing to try: a different channel. Just to rule out that might be the cause (I doubt it, but better be sure).

Ironically the Android 4.2.2 update I had been waiting many months for turned finally turned up the day after I posted my question. Since I updated I haven't seen the problem occur again so I'm hoping it fixed it. On the other hand it might just be a coincidence so I'll have to see how it goes.


text:
Can Anti-virus affect device performance?
I have installed some anti-viruses on my device, and since then I am feeling that the performance of the device is quite slow, and when I uninstall them the device works fine, and the device starts heating so quickely. So is this because of Apps from the Market or this issue is with my device.

Try using avast. I used to use it. You can schedule scans in the middle of the night so that they don't bother you too much.

All antivirus applications on all platforms will impact the performance of the device.
This is because they intercept your actions and check them for unwanted effects.
You say you have installed anti-viruses - plural.  If you install more than one such application on any device they will start to check upon each other.  This will have a significant cumulative affect which will be immediately noticeable.
If you have installed more than one, then uninstall in the reverse order of installation.

Exactly, including the last one. The use of those is questionable at best. If you want to keep one of them, don't rely on it and think yourself safe; there are plenty of reports on the tech press how easy it is to circumvent/fool them. So there's only 2 things an AV app can promise: using storage, and having influence on performance. Everything else are nice to have side-effects :)

Thank you for this information, the information is helpful, can see improvement in the performance :)


text:
OS services and Android OS using data
I have a question following up Locking applications to wifi only data connections:
I followed the guide given in its answer and notice some applications (like Android OS) don't have the option to be turned off. Is there any solution for this? At Data Usage the "app" called Android OS is using data but I don't wanna use data unless I'm on WiFi for that process.
What I'm trying to achieve (on the Xperia Z) is that on WiFi all apps have full access to the internet. On mobile data I only want Whatsapp and Gmail to be syncronised.
I disabled everything that uses data exept the mentioned apps above and I can't get
I also have My Data Manager installed. It says OS services is using 111kb so far, and it's going up. Another process called Android System has used 78kb.
In short again the question: some applications (like Android OS) don't have the option to be turned off in Data Usage. Is there a way to stop this process (and other processes) to use data unless I'm on WiFi?

I've just edited your question to make it easier to follow. Please check whether I got things right (especially the links I've added). // As for the question itself: I know of no way to restrict those system processes (covering behind "Android OS"). If you can identify them directly, and they use their own "Unix-ID", it should be possible via the Firewall part in the linked answer.

You're talking about cutting off the system itself from the internet while connected mobile, which is probably not a good idea. This includes the processes that set up your connection, receive Google push notifications (including GMail!), and so on. Probably, resolving DNS names is also affected. If you have root access, you can use iptables frontends (e.g. AFWall+) to set up a firewall and block certain apps, including the system and see how it affects the connectivity.

The OS services shouldn't need to be constantly connected especially when it uses a butt load of data. I just noticed today that the Android OS used about 1/3 of my data allowance for no apparent reason. I've since decided that when I'm not actively using data I turn it off.


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Xperia S, sleep-to-snap not capturing automatically
Xperia S has the sleep-to-snap function:

A single key press takes you from sleep to snap in just over a second.

But when I press the shutter-button, the phone wakes, goes into camera mode, but it doesn't snap a photo - I have to press the snap button for that.
How do I make it also snap automatically?

A friend showed me how to, you go to the Camera App's Settings, then go to "Quick launch", and check "Launch and Capture". It was set on "Launch only (still camera)".


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Where can I configure SELinux in Cyanogenmod 10.1.3?
Cyanogenmod released the stable version 10.1.3 yesterday and it apparently includes SELinux enhancements running in permissive mode per default.
I thought that you could change the mode in the settings, but so far I have not found anything.
Is this possible at all using the graphical touch interface?

Go to Settings -> About phone menu and scroll all the way to the bottom:

Tap the "SELinux status" menu 3 times in a row in a quick succession.  This will bring up a prompt asking you to confirm enabling the other modes:

Be aware that currently this feature is still under heavy development, and isn't supported on all devices yet.

I don't even see a "SELinux status" entry. Not sure if my device is supported, but since I have a Galaxy Nexus S I'd think yes.

It should be under Settings -> About phone menu, all the way at the bottom.

Well, I don't have this option. But you run 10.2! I'm running 10.1.3-crespo which is based on Android 4.2.2. While Android 4.2.2 does not feature SELinux, Cyanogenmod decided to include it already in their firmware for 10.1.3 when they originally introduced 10.1.3-RC1. Maybe an update on the blog in the next few day will explain what going on.


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Determining how particular SwiftKey suggestions are generated
Is there a way to determine how a particular SwiftKey suggestion got added to SwiftKey's dictionary of words? I'm seeing some weird suggestions pop up, and I'm pretty sure they're not words I've ever used in email or SMS.
Specifically, I wrote "Saturday," and then just started picking the strangest-looking suggestions I saw, and ended up with the following:

Saturday, Konigsburg 45Ira Sleeps Over 157Nature's Children #Mike's Mystry 145BxcrChldrn #9Mntn Top 63Paddington

It's conceivable that I used the word "Konigsburg" at some point, and of course I've used "sleeps," "over," and "children," but I'm pretty sure I never misspelled "mystery" like that, and the others are just bizarre. I also find it strange that all of them are capitalized. Any ideas?
EDIT: To clarify, I'm not asking why these words popped up at this particular time; i.e., I don't want details regarding how SwiftKey selects the "best" words to display at any given time. I just want to know how these words got added as dictionary candidates at all.

An answer to this question is very implementation specific, and can in fact only be answered for sure by a SwiftKey developer, eventually. In general, word suggestions are based on algorithms that are fed by n-gram dictionaries that predict possibilities for the next word you're likely to type.
See Wikipedia's n-gram entry to get more insight.
2-gram or 3-gram dictionaries are likely to be used with SwiftKey, amongst other techniques.
Regarding the strange sentence you auto-typed in: This reflects common use of probable 2/3-grams, so blame your fellow users on the poor spelling, it's just what they actually use.

This is probably part of the "secret sauce". I doubt Swiftkey will be forthcoming with this information.

SwiftKey also has a 'Trending Words' it looks up every hour or so. You will get some very weird stuff appearing if you have this option enabled.

Now that is some useful information, RossC. How do you enable/disable that option?

ce4: I'm not asking how the n-gram dictionaries work; I'm asking how these particular strings got added to the dictionaries in the first place.


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How to synchronize Google Play after a ROM change
After flashing a new ROM I recovered some of my installed application from a backup (it was also an opportunity to clean up).
Unfortunately the view Google Play has is the one from the old ROM (all apps installed before the flash).
Is there a way to synchronize (one way) the view so that what is visible in "My Apps" on Google Play corresponds to what is actually currently installed in my phone?

Titanium Backup has an option to re-link apps to the Play Store.


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How can I repeat each song in a playlist n times?
I have a playlist with 3 songs: a.mp3, b.mp3 and c.mp3. I want to have it play as follows. When I play the playlist, a.mp3 plays for 4 times. Then it goes to b.mp3 and plays it for 4 times. Lastly, it goes to c.mp3 and plays it for 4 times. When it finishes, it goes to start and play the cycle again.
Is there a way to do this, either by setting up the stock player appropriately, or by installing some third-party app which supports repeat counts?

This looks like a very, very custom (or specific) player request. I don't think there's anything like that yet. Nevertheless, app recommendations are off-topic here.

I know, but I have a little hope, yet... (sorry about off-topic, but I didn't find other forums/Q&A sites for this question, if you know somewhere, please guide me.)

http://meta.android.stackexchange.com/questions/371/where-can-i-ask-questions-that-arent-android-enthusiast-questions

You may have found this answer or another one by now but a simple way to achieve this (as long as you don't want to use the shuffle function) is to manually create a playlist and add each song multiple times.
Example (.m3u playlist in same directory as music):
#EXTM3U
a.mp3
a.mp3
a.mp3
a.mp3
b.mp3
b.mp3
b.mp3
b.mp3
c.mp3
c.mp3
c.mp3
c.mp3


text:
How to limit/throttle WiFi data speed on my Android device?
I am testing an Android application and need to understand how does the app behave on different internet speeds.
An example of test case is:
1. set the maximum bandwidth to 20kbps and check how it works;
2. set the maximum bandwidth to 50kbps and check how it works... etc.
The problem is - I have no idea how to limit the traffic.
I am using WiFi and Charles Proxy. I use Charles to check how does the app reacts. Unfortunately, I am unable to throttle using Charles - for some reason Charles limits do not affect my app at all.
Anyway, can somebody assist me with this problem? Do you have any ideas on how to limit the bandwidth?
Thanks in advance.

Sounds like you'd be better off using a different proxy that does support throttling.

FOR ROOTED DEVICE
(copied from Mansour's answer on this post)

Checkout BradyBound. It's a system wide download speed shaper/limiter. Few things to note:

The app requires root access.
It works by dropping packets using iptables. This wastes some traffic - how much depends on the type of traffic (e.g. long running download, web browsing).
Rate measurement is done by number of packets instead of bytes so the speed limit won't be accurate.
This only limits TCP traffic (it makes no sense to drop UDP packets).

Note also that I'm the author of this app.

Edit #1:
Explanation:
Data is divided into small parts called Packets to be transmitted across the network.
It can be transmitted using TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) or UDP (User Datagram Protocol)
Let's take an example:
Suppose you are the server and I am the host and I want to download a file, so first I will send you a request for it, after which you will process, and instead of sending the whole file, you will divide the large file in small packets.
Now each packet that has been created will contain information like source IP (yours) and destination IP (mine), along with some additional data (sequence no., data size, time to live, etc.)
You will send those packets and they can reach me via routers.
It is not necessary that all the packets have to come to me via the same route.
They can come to me via different available routes.
When they reach me, TCP/UDP comes in picture.
If you have used TCP for transmission, when a packet reaches me, an acknowledgement stating that the packet reached me is sent back to you.
This feature is lacking in UDP. If you have used UDP, unlike TCP, it doesn't send acknowledgements to you. That means you, as a server, have no idea whether packets are reaching me or not.
In case it is lost in transmission, it is lost forever.
Dropping Packets
Dropping packets means discarding packets.
So basically, when I will drop the packet sent by you, an acknowledgement will be sent to you (in the case of TCP) that the packet was lost in transmission, so you will have to send it again.
In this way, it wastes traffic and limits speed at the same time I get the whole file.
If I will drop UDP packets, I will not receive the whole file.
That's the reason the app doesn't control UDP traffic.
And yes, root privilege is a must, since iptable can be accessed with superuser access only.

Is it possible to limit download speed alone not upload?

It seems difficult to controll Downloading Speed only...but I will try to update answer as soon as I will find a way to do it.

Is it completely impossible to make the app work also on non-rooted devices?
you said that dropping packets using iptables wastes some traffic, what do you mean by wastes?
I know the speed limit won't be exactly accurate but I still need it to be pretty accurate, lets say 10% deviation.
what do you mean by "this only limits TCP traffic (not UDP packets)"?, sorry I don't know what TCP and UDP are.

If you are under mac os x you can use "Network Link Conditioner".
You can install it in xcode from :
Xcode > Open Developer Tool > More Developer Tools
It will open a ressources web page from apple (you may need to login).
In the resources list, search for the latest "Hardware IO Tools" and download it.
Then install "Network Link Conditioner", it will add an option in your mac preference pane.
The idea is to get your mac on ethernet.
Share its connection on wifi.
Limit the traffic with Network Link Conditionner.
And connect your android on your mac wifi.
edit : it seems squid-cache support network throttling.
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Bandwidth-Limiting-HOWTO/index.html

You can control the bandwidth with your router (if it supports it).

authors: أضحى بن هاشيم


text:
Control a PC with Air Gestures
I'm aware of a few questions that talk about controlling a PC with an Android phone:

control android device from pc
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2925/is-there-an-android-application-for-remote-control
How to Remote Control Android smartphone, if not in same subnet
How can I turn my android phone into a remote control (mouse/keyboard) through bluetooth for ubuntu/linux

Is there any support for Air Gestures of the Galaxy S4 in any of these products? I would love to place my phone on table during a presentation and wave my hands around to magically advance the slides.

If you take a look at the Air browse feature under Air Gestures, you will see that it is limited only to the following applications:

Gallery
Internet
Music Player
Music on lock screen
S Memo

So NO, you can't use it for presentations.

Does that preclude it from a developer writing an app for it? This morning I found a SO question asking the same thing http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16649830/proximity-sensor-on-galaxy-s4-air-gestures

@Hooked If there's an API for it, it might be possible to create an app for it. [But I have no idea]

There's also Android Remote Computer Over android  that can control your PC via your smartphone (mouse, keyboard) free and without ads .

The app description does nowhere state it supports "air gestures" (which is what the OP is after). Could you explain if it does so – and if not, how it answers the question?


text:
Pulling an apk of paid app from the device
I was pulling the .apk files from the device using the following command:
./adb pull /data/app/com.example.tracker-1.apk

When I tried using the same command for the encrypted app as below:
./adb pull /mnt/asec/net.stfj.spelltower-1/pkg.apk

I get the following message
failed to copy '/mnt/asec/net.stfj.spelltower-1/pkg.apk' to './pkg.apk': Permission denied

The device is not rooted and the app is a paid app. The intention of pulling is not piracy but to understand the library and architecture of a set of apps. Is there a way I can retrieve that .apk file?

You wont be able to pull a "protected app" without root, sorry.
This has nothing to do with the app being payed, except that usually only payed apps are "protected" (theoretically, free apps could be "protected" as well); think of it rather as a kind of "DRM".
Once your device is rooted, you can use "root powers" to pull those .apk files. This can be done either using a specialized app (such as AppMonster), or via adb pull if the ADB daemon runs in root-mode (it usually doesn't, but that can be achieved using adbd Insecure). adb root usually doesn't work on "production devices", so you have to use this different approach.

So if the device is rooted, will it be the usual way of accessing the .apk? say: ./adb pull /mnt/asec/net.stfj.spelltower-1/pkg.apk
or do i need to be a superuser in the shell to pull the data. It will be great if someone can have the steps to achieve this. I read thru a lot of forums. common lines i would see is rooted device, adb shell superuser, adb root

Please click the checkmark next to the answer if you count it such :) This and "upvoting" (which you can do as soon as you've got a little more rep) are the StackExchange ways to say "thank you". I will meanwhile update my answer with the requested details.

+1 for answer, but is there any legal ambiguity around pulling apk files of paid apps? I assume not but any distribution would be illegal right?

@RossC Exactly. As long as you pull them "for backup", but keep them to yourself, there shouldn't be any legal claim possible. The "protection" is rather targeted to prevent "sharing": if you cannot get hold of the file, you cannot share it.

Unless you want specifically to play with adb, you could use either of these two 100% tested workarounds (each one requires installation of another app, though).

Approach_1: (needs a rooted gadget)

download & install a backup/resore app (such as Titanium Backup or AppMonster; free versions will do just fine);
backup the app you need;
navigate to the /sdcard/TitaniumBackup dir (in case of AppMonster you'll need to look into AppMonster's settings to see its backup data dir) and get your APK from there

Approach_2:

install Busybox (in case of factory rooted devices --- on so-called developer phones/tablets --- it'll be there already)
download & install a terminal emulator (such as Terminal Emulator by Jack Palevich)
run it and type this (don't use $ or #; they are merely shell prompts for your convenience; replace desired_app_name.apk with the real APK name which you'll see listed after running the 'ls' command):
$cd data/app
$su
#ls
#cat desired_app_name.apk > /sdcard/Download/desired_app_name.apk
#exit
$exit

get your APK from Download dir (of course, you can use another unrestricted dir)

It doesn't matter what apps we are talking about, free or paid.

You need to root your phone to get access to /mnt


text:
How long does a GPS almanac last for a quick fix within cold start?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 mini and did two tests, both with cold GPS start (without A-GPS data):

starting GPS receiver 11 hours after last fix - got new fix almost instantly (30 seconds)
starting GPS receiver 23 hours after last fix - could not fix in 10-15 minutes (did not count exactly)

I have to mention the GPS was turned on in Android system between last fix and test and phone was on wifi. My question is - how long do GPS almanac data last for a quite quick (say under 3 minutes) cold start?

Were you in the same location for #1 and #2?

Yes, same location.

According to the USCG (page 55), GPS almanac data is valid for 180 days.

Apps like GPS Status and Toolbox will let you know the current age of your device's GPS almanac and force a download of a fresh almanac if you're worried about that being the problem.

Yes I use GPS Status app... actually forcing to download the almanac helped in the case #2 I think.


text:
Are there any problems caused by setting up my phone before the SIM card arrives?
Bought a brand-new Samsung S4 mini and ordered a new SIM card which is due to arrive in a week. So far I've inserted the battery and charged it.
Should I turn it on, even without a SIM-card in it, or would all the settings go awry? For instance, I heard that WhatsApp needs some sort of SIM card (phone number) verification. Will Android keep nagging me about my email address and SIM card etc right from the start until I "give in"?
In short, I can wait till the SIM-card arrives. The question is: Is it better to wait (and if so, why)?

There is nothing wrong in turning on the phone and using it.
Put the phone in Airplane mode and start using Wi-Fi and install applications etc.
As for the nagging part, No, Google will not be nagging you to register your device or SIM till you choose to (if you have skipped registering the device in the first screen). Google never registers your SIM, it registers your IMEI/EMSI with your account. So even without SIM you can use Google account.
However, without registering the device with Google, you will not be able to enjoy any of the Google play services. Other services (accounts) can be used without any problem.
Whatsapp registers your mobile number (not SIM), if you are retaining the number you can activate Whatsapp in this phone (S4 Mini) by receiving message in another phone and entering the code in S4 Mini (the application has to be removed from that old phone since Whatsapp can run only on one phone at a time).
Also, Whatsapp can be changed from device to device without any issues, just have to re-register it when changing devices for the same number.
In short, just turn on the device and use like normal phone (except for calling). Nothing to be worried about.

If you want to make yourself familiar with the device while waiting for the SIM to arrive, you might considering to turn on the device, skip the Google registration, and switch to airplane mode. Then you can start looking around how things are arranged, what apps came pre-installed, etc. As you didn't configure the Google account right now, installing apps should be out of question at this point (and you also should leave it aside here).
Once your SIM arrives, and before inserting it, consider going to Settings→Backup and Reset, and do a factory-reset; this will return your device to the state before you switched it on for the first time. Then turn off the device, insert the SIM, switch it back on again.
This time configure your Google account. Doing this for the first time on the (factory-reset) device, this will also trigger syncing your data (contacts, calendar, etc.) and, if you decided so, restore your Google Cloud Backup (if you had this configured on your old device as well). So from the view of your Google Account (and related apps/data), this is as if you just switched on the device for the first time. Now you can also go ahead installing and configuring all the apps you need.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not familiar with Whatsapp SIM verification; I don't use it.
You can use your phone even if it doesn't have a SIM card. Google's services doesn't need a SIM card. As long as you have a Google account and Wi-Fi - you'd at least need Wi-Fi to use / log-in your Google account with your phone - you're good to go.
However, like you mentioned, it's possible that apps that require SMS verification won't work. So maybe you can install them at a later time.

There's no harm in turning on your device and signing into your Google acct without a sim.  It's no different than buying a wifi only tablet and signing in with your Google acct.  The only apps you may not be able to use are those that require your device to have a phone number active on it.  Whatsapp may fall into this category, although I don't use it so I'm not sure.  You can go ahead and set your phone up however you want before the sim ever arrives, install all your apps, etc with no problem.  The only challenge you may have on some devices is skipping the sim activation screen.  Usually a quick google search will tell you how to do this so you can access the device.


text:
Broadcast screen over wireless
With my Sony Xperia Z1, I can use NFC to "pair" it to Sony TVs to broadcast what is being displayed on my phone on the TV screen as well. I would like to do this however I don't have a Sony TV. Is it possible to use an app or set up streaming so I can view my screen on my TV? I have a typical "dumb" tv connected to a Western Digital Live Hub which can access the videos/media stored on my phone without issues (supports DLNA) over my wireless network.

Do you just want to feed it MultiMedia content (streaming videos, music, and photos to it)? Then you can look out for UPnP apps like BubbleUPnP. If you're thinking of "mirroring your device's screen content", that will be hard to impossible with a "dumb TV", as it usually requires a HDMI connection.

@Izzy unfortunately I mean the latter. I could do this with my Arc as it had a HDMI cable which worked a treat. As the Z1 will wirelessly mirror to Xperia TVs I was wondering if it was possible but I'm thinking not. The Z1 has a DLNA server built-in so I can play media from it but not show videos on the phone and TV at the same time. My ultimate goal is I want to watch the game I'm playing on the TV screen.

I vaguely remember having seen some app claiming to do that, but I'm neither 100% sure nor do I remember which it was. Miracast, maybe: Take a look at this GoogleFu

Miracast works great on my Nexus 4, it's called "Wireless Display" in Android 4.2 and 4.3. You need a Miracast receiver for your TV - some come with them built-in, some need an external unit. I use a Netgear PTV2000-100NAS "Push2TV" unit.

Sony sell a Miracast device for £79.99. That's high. It appears that my WDTV Live does not support Miracast so I will have to look at cheaper Miracast devices.

it appears in a recent firmware update the WDTV now support Micracast.

I'll go ahead and post this as an answer. Android 4.2, including Sony's package on the Z1, supports Miracast - a wireless display standard that's sorta becoming a thing now. Miracast is what Sony uses to connect you to their own TV's, so it's not a proprietary Sony thing (surprisingly).
In order to use Miracast, you need either a Smart TV with the feature built in. Or you can use a Miracast Receiver - they range from $50-$80. I personally use this one - it's worked great for me from Android and Windows without any hiccups.
Note that there is real latency between the phone and the TV's displays. You're looking at a 500ms lag at best, so this won't work well (or at all) for games. It's really good for watching videos, and things that don't require much interaction.

it appears in a recent firmware update the WDTV now support Micracast. There is some small lag, but not really noticeable.


text:
I did factory reset without taking backup of messages. can i recover those messages?
I have did factory reset my phone with out taking backup of messages... its all important messages.. can i recover those messages back. if so, please guide me.
Phone : HTC Explorer

A factory reset wipes android settings, databases used by apps, including Messaging. In short, you're out of luck. :(

What messages? SMS? Email? Kik? WhatsApp? Skype?

If you're talking about your SMS/MMS messages, then there's practically no way to get them back.


text:
How do I connect to an IRC server behind NAT using Android phone?
I use a private IRC server that is behind a NAT. Currently, I SSH into a server with a public address and use a command line IRC client in a tmux session to connect to the private server. Is there a way using only android apps to connect to the protected server using an IRC client on the Android phone through an SSH tunnel? I am not rooted but I am also not against rooting.

One way to do this:

Run an SSH client on your phone, such as ConnectBot
Forward a local port to the remote IRC server, say localhost port 1234 to irc.server.ip:6666. (Directions for ConnectBot, with screenshots)
Connect your IRC client to localhost:1234, instead of irc.server.ip:6666. If this doesn't work, check that you have permissions.

When your connection's not working, you will have to do some extra debugging to check that the SSH tunnel is still up. But otherwise, you should be able to use any IRC client.


text:
One S reboots with new CM 3.4 Kernel
This is something that's been bugging me ever since the 3.4 kernel was released:
Problem:
I am getting intermittent reboots when using any ROM which is based on the 3.4 kernel. It happens totally at random, but only when I'm actually using the phone - never when it's locked, or in my pocket.
Here are my last_kmsg logs, but this is where it gets really weird - it reboots twice. Every time. Once I get the initial reboot, it reboots to the HTC screen, then immediately reboots again. So I'm not sure the last_kmsg will even be that accurate.
Things I've Tried

Returning to stock RUU/upgrading/reflashing
Not restoring apps
Switching off Wifi
Undervolting/Overvolting
Different CPU Governors/Clock Speeds
Many different ROMS
CM10.2 Kernel & also Bubba Kernel

Would love to hear anything else I could potentially try, or other users with similar issues.

Sounds like the answer is to not user that kernel, unfortunately.

And to report a bug to the kernel maintainers.

What if it happens on multiple kernels? As I mentioned, I tried Bubba Kernel from the One S forums on XDA and experienced identical behavior. Not using the kernel is fine, I can stick with old 3.0 ROMs (until the Nexus 5 comes out!), I would just like to feed my OCD and find out why it's doing this


text:
Why is all sound suddenly gone with HTC One S?
All of a sudden I have no sound with my HTC One S (running Android 4.1.1).
No sound is heard when someone tries to call me, and, curiously, the microphone is also muted; the one who's calling me doesn't hear anything either. I also cannot play audio (it says something like Cannot play this type audio file).
What on earth is going on? And how to solve it?
PS: I have not spilled coffee or something over my phone; no unusual things happend to my phone, as far as I know.

Rooted? Recent apps added? Does everything look "normal" under Settings > Sound?

Maybe some "Silent Mode" or profile enabled? Or (might sound stupid) headphones plugged in?

Have you tried a factory reset?

Everything looks normal under sound settings. Also, the silent profile is not active and there are no headphones plugged in. I have once applied factory defaults. Nothing helped. In addition, the phone has not been rooted.
Is it maybe a glitch in the software (either Android or HTC SDK version)?


text:
Create new friend list on Facebook
With the Facebook Android app I can add and remove friends from existing friend lists but I cannot find a way to create a new list.
Am I missing something? If not, is there an app available that does this?

The Facebook app does not have this feature (and several other features that are available on the web app). However, you can create a new list with a 3rd-party app like Fast Pro for Facebook.


text:
LG L5 restarts every minute
I don't know what I've done to my LG L5, but now it's just restarting and restarting.
I've rooted my phone using adb and installed ClockworkMod recovery, but now it just restarts every time it loads into phone or into ClockworkMod.
I really don't know what to do. Even if I get new ROM onto sdcard and try to flash my phone, it could randomly (in 1 min) shutdown, and I guess then I will brick my phone. So what should I do? I've tried to wipe cache/data/dalvik cache.
At first I could get to my home screen and even work for a while, but now I can't even go to my home screen. It freezes on the boot logo and restarts after 1 minute. Even in ClowkworkMod recovery. Works one minute and restarts.
Is there something that could help me?
Ok, so for now I've updated to cyanogenmod, thought it'll help, but no. It just keeps restarting, but now it goes to home screen again. So what to do? How can I update kernel or whatever I need to do?

This is strange. Sounds to me like a kernel issue, have you tried flashing a new kernel/bootloader using fastboot?

Where can I find new kernel, and how I even can load them, if my phone now just don't load up... only loops in logo screen..

What should I do? adb devices returns nothing else than empty string... I can't even go to home screen anymore.. it just freezes for a minute on my LG logo screen (startup) and after minute restarts...

Can you get to recovery?

Yes.. but again only for 1 minute

@AigarsCibuļskis Did you manage to find a solution for this? I believe I might be face the same issue with my LG L5 (E610/612(f))


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Does Viber app have a menu to close the app?
I would like to use Viber only if I need it. I want to turn it off if I do not use it, regardless if I can be reached or not.
I do not wish to have a program running and using energy all the time. However, I can't seem to find any close menu to kill the app. Does it even have a close menu / function?

The title of your question seems to be unrelated to the main body. Are you asking about the menu, or about how to only run Viber some of the time? What phone are you using?

@DanHulme I think it's better to rephrase the question so that it's on topic. To summarize, he wants a way to close Viber, but he can't find the menu for it.

Rephrased the question to prevent it from closing.

I am using a Samsung GT-S5301.   I would like to see the menu on the Viber app. How can I only run Viber some of the time? And am I able to close the app?       Thank you.

Just installed Viber on my Samsung Galaxy S4 (Android 4.2.2), and I can find an exit menu via More Options > Exit.


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How can I access lock screen Apps on Android like iOS 7 -- Galaxy S4 on Sprint
I am a recent covert from iPhone. the one thing i miss, which is even more prevalent with iOS7, is the ability to access basic apps (e.g. phone, flashlight, wifi toggle) from the locked home screen without having to unlock/enter my security code. Even the 3rd party Android home screen apps that allow you "access" apps on the home screen, still require you to unlock your phone after you select the app.
How can i access apps directly from the a locked home screen?

For security reasons, you can't access normal apps from the lock screen: you can only access lock screen widgets. They're like home screen widgets, but the app they come from has designated them as suitable for the lock screen: they may have better ways to keep sensitive data hidden than normal home screen widgets.
Not all Samsung phones support lock screen widgets. For example, the Galaxy S III doesn't (unless you install a 3rd-party lock screen app, or a custom ROM), because its lock screen was designed before Google added lock screen widgets to Android. The Galaxy S4 does, though, so you just need to add the widget of your choice to it!

I would suggest a 3rd-party app such as Widget Locker. Dev offers great support, and this application is consistently updated. It also works very well, and is customizable to your needs.

I would also recommend https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.nurik.roman.dashclock&hl=en_GB Dash Clock widget, made AFAIK by a google employee and has hundreds of extensions. It is a lock screen WIDGET though and not a lock screen replacement like you linked to... Why not both eh? :) Also many apps support lock screen widgets in Android 4.2.2+ such as Gmail, Facebook, Messaging etc.


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How to stop Google's Play Store from auto-updating itself (without rooting)?
I have a problem with my tab. With the new version of Play Store, My tablet PC keeps restarting. So, I restored Google Play to the Factory Default. Soon after, it updated itself, causing the device to restart repeatedly when in standby. I am running 4.1.1 on my Karbonn ST10. I, at the time of posting the question, do not have any intention to root the tab.
Thanks,
Oxylibrium.

Instead of trying to stop Google Play from updating, maybe you should try stopping your tablet from restarting or get it replaced if it's under warranty. Since it's not rooted, you should be under warranty..?

If I try to give it for service, they say "We no longer support this device." Hope that explains it.

I also found these four possible methods of preventing the Play Store from updating itself. I haven't tried any of these methods myself, though. http://skyblue2779.blogspot.nl/2012/03/how-to-disable-auto-update-for-android.html

Go to Setting--> Data Usage
under the usage graph there is list of apps with usage specified on right side.
Go to Google Play and at the below you will find Option Restrict  Background Data
click on that check box..
and here you go.
Though you cant install any apps from Play store with these setting, but you can always enable background data whenever needed.

Thanks, but this option is not available in my tab's settings.

This is no longer a valid solution as Google Play enables background data itself if it detects they are disabled

This is pretty simple solution for Android 7 (1GB/8GB (sys 4 + usr 4)) system.
Wifi started to clog and some apps to misbehave because of shortage of RAM and/or RAM cache.
The user storage free space was only 100 MB.

Disable apps autoupdate in Play Store.
Uninstall updates for Google App and Google Play Store.
In the new (old) Google Play Store disable apps autoupdate again.
If Play Store/Google App starts to update itself cancel it.
Find or record a "dummy" video of about 50 MB
Copy that video to user storage as many times as needed to leave about 200 MB free space.
Android cleans about 100 MB of user storage to enable at least one of the bloated apps to autoupdate.
Cancel the autoupdate if needed and fill the extra space with 2 additional copies of your dummy video.
Free space is now about 200 MB again, but there is no room for cleaning anything any more.
Android gives up and your phone works fine. There is much more free RAM because the Google App and Google Play Store are the factory versions (with some "missing" features, of course). There is enough RAM cache because user storage free space is about 200 MB (hold it on that level by adding/removing copies of your dummy video if needed).

Your phone must be rooted to try the following steps:

Go to data/app/.
Enter the command chattr +i /data/app/com.android.vending-1.apk (this is partial info and you need to Google for more) .

I could've considered it a partial answer but I cannot because there is virtually no reason mentioned or the amount of success achieved. It's simply of no use as it's is currently written. Consider explaining what you're trying to do, and try to post when you've completed the job.

Also chattr +i /data/app/com.android.vending-1.apk changes the attribute of that APK file, making it immune from any future changes. It doesn't create an APK!

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


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My phone can't start after backup failed
I tried backing up my Galaxy S4 using this method:
http://galaxys4root.com/galaxy-s4-tutorials/how-to-backuprestore-rom-on-galaxy-s4-with-root-cwm-recovery/

1st backup failed but I could still boot the phone
When backing up, it failed halfway, it failed backing up /data/.
I rebooted my phone and found that my keyboard doesn't remember my custom words anymore.
2nd backup failed and I can't start the phone anymore
I rebooted into the recovery and tried backing it up again the second time.It failed halfway, it failed backing up /system/.Then I tried the backup again (without rebooting) and it failed immediately saying no space on the SD card (I am not sure if it's true)

So I rebooted the phone and it is showing the boot animation forever (I waited over 30 mins).
I tried restoring /system/ from the first backup but it didn't help.
I don't even know where the problem is, how can a backup break your phone??Any help will be appreciated.

I've just added the boot-loop tag, please check its tag-wiki for first aid. Btw: restoring /system was pretty unnecessary here: as that's read-only, it wasn't changed in between. You should check your available free space on the SDCard (where your backups go to) and make sure you have about twice the space your other partitions consume ("twice" is kinda "safety margin"), as the Nandroid backup copies their images here.

Thanks Izzy, but how can I do that without booting into Android?

Did you follow the link I posted with my previous comment? All explained there. If you've tried that, please [edit] your question and include that information. It's hard to give advice when you never tell what advice you've followed already :) EDIT: Just saw your answer now, so you have been able to resolve the issue with that information. Glad to read, and thanks for answering yourself!

I finally did a Wipe/Factory reset. I lost all apps and data, but at least I can use my phone again.
And yes, that was because I ran out of space in the internal SD card.


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How to check emails (safely & securely)?
I trust Linux more than Android. Likewise, I trust Firefox (with certain settings and certain security-related addons) more than Chrome (or Chromium). I'm new to the smartphone world and couldn't wait for a non-dev Ubuntu Touch release, so I  bought an (Samsung) Android phone. Which I have yet to turn on. So the following question is theoretical for now:
How to check emails in Android (safely & securely) ?
Via an app (which?), via a browser (which?), else ?

Further, I have more than one gmail account. In Linux, I use two separate browsers to check both accounts simultaneously (I'm aware of other solutions, but am happy with that one on my PC). How to do so in Android?

If you're already happy storing your email with Google then why not just use the GMail app to read your email? It can cope perfectly well with multiple GMail accounts (I have 3 set up in mine, both normal and Apps accounts), gives you notifications for new mails in each account, and lets you switch between them just by tapping the account name.

I'm wondering if this question wouldn't be better off at [security.se].

What's your threat model? If you don't trust the OS or your email provider, then you shouldn't be using it at all. Are you concerned that an adversary, Google or some other third party, would try to associate your two Gmail accounts if you use multiple logins from one browser? In any case, logging in from different browser wouldn't help that, Google or other third parties can associate your multiple accounts with each other by looking at your IP address. Are you concerned with attacks from your network provider (ISP or government)? What threat are you concerned about?

I can easily make you paranoid; but not all paranoia would actually make you more secure. Some paranoia solves real threats, others are just silly. Would you trust the hardware? Why would you trust the closed-source hardware but not the open-source OS? If you purchase your device from your network provider, what's to say they didn't implant a backdoor on the hardware? Can you conceive your adversary colluding with F-Droid or hacking their package servers? Would you trust your network provider? Does your adversary likely will attempt MITM attack? Without a threat model, this is unanswerable.

@LieRyan My security concern does not stem from the need to use multiple gmail accounts (that's just an additional requirement, but not a security / trust concern).

I respect your desire for pirvacy, but if you're so leery of Google-backed software that even the open-source Chromium is suspect, then I don't know that anything simple will meet your needs. I'll do my best to make suggestions for you.
1: Remove the Samsung ROM and replace it with something else.

I'm not a privacy-demanding individual, and even I don't trust Samsung's software. In an ideal situation, you would be using a Nexus 4 so that you can install Ubuntu Touch as soon as it's available. Barring that, you can go find a lot of open-source Android projects like Cyanogenmod or AOKP that have baked-in privacy enhancements. Cyanogenmod (Just for example) is open-source, and doesn't include the closed-source Google Apps by default.
Note that Cyanogenmod recently announced that it's becoming a company, and will no longer be solely volunteer-developed. If you're not cool on that, there are lots of other alternatives. However, I'm pretty sure CM has the best built-in privacy features.

2: After you're on your new ROM, don't install a Google Apps package.

Google Apps, while extremely useful, are closed-source software. We don't know exactly what goes on inside them. If you don't trust Chrome, you probably don't trust Gapps. If you don't trust Chromium, you definitely don't trust Gapps.

3: Instead, use an open-source Android App repo like F-Droid.

F-Droid, a very well-filled repository of free and open-source software for Android, including Firefox, etc, is an excellent source for people leery of Google Play, Amazon App Store, and other closed-source or questionable sources of software.

4a: Use an open-source email client (Like the built-in email app).

The Android email app (not Gmail app) is open-source and generally considered quite safe. But you can't be blamed for being too cautious; there are a lot of email apps available from F-Driod.

4b: Alternatively, use an open-source Browser (Like Firefox, or the built-in browser).

The built-in browser is open-source, but is based on Chromium. You probably want to just install Firefox. However, you will probably not find the addons you use on the desktop available for Firefox here.

More Notes: Installing an ad-blocker from F-Droid will also help a bit. Ad providers try to do lots of tricky things to track users. Mess with security and privacy settings in Cyanogenmod or whatever ROM you choose.
Unfortunately, your Samsung phone may have a locked bootloader. If it doesn't, you should be okay - most of the flagship Samsung phones (S3, S4, Note2, Note3) - when their bootloader is unlocked - have good support from the major Android ROM projects. If, however, your bootloader is encrypted, then I might suggest returning the phone (if still possible) and getting a Nexus 4. Yes, I know this is a "Google" phone. However, it's one of the easiest to bend to your needs. It's also one of the very few that will have immediate and constant support for Ubuntu when it's available. If you don't trust Nexus, then just find something that's well-supported by the open-source community, and has an unlocked bootloader (Galaxy S4's are apparently getting locked by a new update, so be careful!).

Great answer! (sorry if comments like this are deprecated, I'll delete as soon as I've read up on your pointers and have something more constructive to say ;)

@nutty, feel free to make it the accepted answer haha. But what Lie Ryan said is true in a lot of ways. In order to most effectively protect your privacy, it would be beneficial to define your needs and concerns very specifically. Saying "I only trust FOSS" is close to a nuclear option and doesn't necessarily eliminate the most important threats to you (Everyone is different!). At best, it's a blanket coverage that gets a lot of stuff done. At worst, it's a false sense of security and complacency.


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Clockwork: error: cannot load 'recovery-clockwork': No error
I am trying to flash a recovery-image file into my Nexus 7 but the flashing fails
know that I am working on windows and my image file is located in the same folder as adb and fastboot files are
here are the steps I am following:

start the tablet android system, and the device works fine
I restart the tablet into the bootloader using: adb reboot bootloader
browse to the Recovery Mode and then check if the adb sees the tablet: fastboot devices
adb is working fine and can detect the device and read its serial number
then when I flash: fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork.img: I get this error:
error: cannot load 'recovery-clockwork': No error

what am I doing wrong ?

Just to make sure: the file you are going to flash is named recovery-clockwork.img, and located within the same directory you are working from? Have you tried with a full path?

@Izzy: Yes, it is name is recovery-clockwork.img, I removed the version numbers and put it within the same directory I am working from .. but no, did not try the full path yet ..

@Izzy: yes it works.. the mistake was, after adding the adb path to my environment-settings, I keep opening the cmd and then run the fastboot flash command ..  so it was c:\User\User1 .. now, I change the working directory to the platform-tools folder ..c:\...\platform-tools .. and the flash command worked

OK, I did! Glad it was that easy :) In fact, I didn't expect that, as the error should have been something like "no such file" then...

@Izzy: me too, was excepting something more complicated, but, luckily, it was not  .. btw, it gives me the error "no such file" when I wrongly state the file name ..

Most common errors (and solutions to them) are:

different file name: make sure the file is really named recovery-clockwork.img, in your example, or adjust your command according to the file name
wrong path, e.g. your file resides in C:\Downloads, but you're executing fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork.img from C:\: Either first change to the directory the .img file is located in, move the .img to where you want to execute your command, or try specifying the file with its full path (e.g. C:\Downloads\recovery-clockwork.img)
sometimes adb/fastboot behaves strangely when executed from "somewhere else". In those cases it helps to first changing to the directory where the resp. executable is located, and run your command from there.


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Tasker stops executing tasks after a certain period
For some reason I'm having problem with using Tasker on my Huawei Ascend P6:

Android: 4.2.2
My phone is running the official ROM (but rooted!)
Run Foreground is checked under Menu / Prefs / Monitor /Run Foreground

I had set up a simple profile that would enable wifi, enable data, turn on auto sync, .. every X minutes. After trying this out it became clear that after a certain period Tasker would simply stop running this profile.
For testing purposes I have:

Double checked that there are no task killers installed
Created a
profile of type "Time" that will Vibrate for 1 second from 07:00
every 2m Till 22:30
Enabled the "log to sdcard" functionality

After monitoring the log I have seen that there are no error but Tasker simply stops running the tasks after a certain period.
PS: I must say that I'm having the same issue with all other battery saving applications too (Juice Defender, GreenPower, Deep Sleep Battery Saver). They work perfectly until after a certain time they stop firing their events to enable the connection in the background.
Edit1: Below you can find a partial dump of the log that illustrates that it does actually run but that after a while it take way longer than configured.
As you can see at first it runs fine every 2 minutes while at some point it only runs every 10 minutes...
20130926 16.00.01 T Running  ID6      Test
20130926 16.00.01 P Instant  ID5      From 07:00 every 2m Till 22:30
20130926 16.00.01 A OK       ID6.1    Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.00.01 T ExitOK   ID6      Test
20130926 16.00.01 T Running  ID6:2    Test
20130926 16.00.01 A OK       ID6:2.1  Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.00.01 T ExitOK   ID6:2    Test
20130926 16.02.00 P Instant  ID5      From 07:00 every 2m Till 22:30
20130926 16.02.00 T Running  ID6      Test
20130926 16.02.00 A OK       ID6.1    Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.02.00 T ExitOK   ID6      Test
20130926 16.04.00 P Instant  ID5      From 07:00 every 2m Till 22:30
20130926 16.04.00 T Running  ID6      Test
20130926 16.04.00 A OK       ID6.1    Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.04.00 T ExitOK   ID6      Test
20130926 16.06.00 P Instant  ID5      From 07:00 every 2m Till 22:30
20130926 16.06.00 T Running  ID6      Test
20130926 16.06.00 A OK       ID6.1    Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.06.00 T ExitOK   ID6      Test
20130926 16.08.00 P Instant  ID5      From 07:00 every 2m Till 22:30
20130926 16.08.00 T Running  ID6      Test
20130926 16.08.00 A OK       ID6.1    Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.08.00 T ExitOK   ID6      Test
20130926 16.10.00 P Instant  ID5      From 07:00 every 2m Till 22:30
20130926 16.10.00 T Running  ID6      Test
20130926 16.10.00 A OK       ID6.1    Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.10.00 T ExitOK   ID6      Test
20130926 16.20.00 P Instant  ID5      From 07:00 every 2m Till 22:30
20130926 16.20.00 T Running  ID6      Test
20130926 16.20.00 A OK       ID6.1    Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.20.00 T ExitOK   ID6      Test
20130926 16.30.00 P Instant  ID5      From 07:00 every 2m Till 22:30
20130926 16.30.00 T Running  ID6      Test
20130926 16.30.00 A OK       ID6.1    Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.30.00 T ExitOK   ID6      Test
20130926 16.40.00 P Instant  ID5      From 07:00 every 2m Till 22:30
20130926 16.40.00 T Running  ID6      Test
20130926 16.40.00 A OK       ID6.1    Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.40.00 T ExitOK   ID6      Test
20130926 16.50.00 P Instant  ID5      From 07:00 every 2m Till 22:30
20130926 16.50.00 T Running  ID6      Test
20130926 16.50.00 A OK       ID6.1    Test.Vibrate
20130926 16.50.00 T ExitOK   ID6      Test

I also disabled the stock power manager using the below 2 methods to see if this might be causing the issue but it didn't not solve it:
1) Setting it to normal mode which results in the Power-manager doing no killing what-so-ever...
2) Removing the app (mv /system/app/hw-powermanager.apk /system/app/hw-powermanager.apk.backup) and rebooting the phone...
Any help?

Have anything in logcat that correlates with the slowdown and stop of Tasker? You mentioning that 'battery saver' apps show the same behavior make me think it's not a Tasker thing.

There is so much in the logcat... Don't really know how to filter out any messages that could be related to the problem.

I'd start first by lining up times. What's going on in logcat at the same second Tasker starts to slow? What about when Tasker stops for the last time? What about the exact second Tasker was supposed to start again? You can use adb filter expressions and alternative log buffers to try and narrow stuff down and cut through the clutter.

I have been logging and I didn't find anything suspicious.


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How can I play an Adobe Flash video on my Google TV?
I cannot open a Jib Jab video on my Google TV that someone sent me. It says that I have to have the latest version on Adobe Flash.  I thought it came with the latest Google Chrome browser, that's what I have, but it won't play.  Can someone tell me how to fix this?  I have Sony Google TV NSZ-GS7.

Which Google TV device do you have?

I have Sony Google TV Model #NSZ GS7

This model has ARM-based processor, which means it will be upgraded to the newest Google TV firmware version once it's released.  Unfortunately in that version Google completely removed Flash, since Adobe is no longer supporting it.  Bottom line - there is no way to play that flash video on Google TV.

Adobe stopped supporting Flash player on Android, and removed their app from Play Store.  GTV's Chrome browser's Flash plugin will remain at whatever version it currently is, and will no longer receive any updates.
Bottom line is that there is no way to play that video on your Google TV device.


text:
Can't mount first-gen Kindle Fire in TWRP
I have a rooted Kindle Fire running TWRP that I let my kids use. Last week the battery ran low and it shut off, but my three-year-old son somehow booted it into TWRP and wiped the device. Now the Fire hangs at the Kindle logo during boot.
TWRP still works, and I've attempted to mount /sdcard in order to upload cyanogenmod. Strangely, the Kindle is not talking to my Ubuntu PC: when I plug it in, lsusb reports no additional devices and dmesg reports that the device is disconnecting almost immediately:
[450654.465431] usb 1-4.7.2: >new high-speed USB device number 14 using ehci_hcd
[450654.558614] usb 1-4.7.2: >New USB device found, idVendor=18d1, idProduct=0100
[450654.558622] usb 1-4.7.2: >New USB device strings: Mfr=5, Product=1, SerialNumber=2
[450654.558627] usb 1-4.7.2: >Product: kindle
[450654.558631] usb 1-4.7.2: >Manufacturer: Amazon
[450654.558634] usb 1-4.7.2: >SerialNumber: 0123456789ABCDEF
[450657.586116] usb 1-4.7.2: >USB disconnect, device number 14

I'm at a loss for how to diagnose this further. The fk/FireKit tools can access the device but only while it's booting up, and despite using fk to reflash TWRP I have noticed no improvement.
Edit: As my answer indicates, I solved the problem by unbricking the Kindle with a different computer. This shouldn't have helped. I'm still very open to any answer that helps to identify the real issue.

Ultimately I plugged the Kindle into my Macbook instead of my Ubuntu machine, and it mounted it just fine. No idea what the issue is with my desktop - all other devices on the hub work fine, switching ports changed nothing, etc etc.
If your device won't mount, try it with a different computer. For some reason.


text:
Galaxy S3 display issue
I have a Galaxy S3 International Version, without any modification whatsoever.
However, of late, I have begun experiencing problems with my screen / display.

Graphics display issue
The problem goes as follows: When I pull down the notification menu on the home screen slowly, I see that the the part of the screen that is visible is being displayed in poor quality. If i continue dragging, towards the last one third of the screen I begin to see banding similar to gradient banding.
Another issue, that goes in conjunction with the one above, is that the display seems to be grainy. Say, I press the apps button and see the icons of the apps I have installed. On top, where the option exists to see 'Widgets' or 'Apps' I see a grainy band run across those buttons. Grains can also be seen when browsing the internet or scrolling a list and so on.

I am unsure as to how to solve these problems. There are a few more 'problems' that I would like to discuss, probably on a different thread.
But for now, this is the one I have.
Can someone please tell me how to solve this?
Android Version: 4.1.2
Build Number: JZO54K.I9300XXEMF6

"without any modification" - does this include root?

It's still two questions you should have split into two posts (I'd suggest to ask a new question, moving one of the two over there). As for RAM: Please check the ram tag-wiki; unused RAM is a wasted resource.

@Chahk Yes. I haven't rooted the phone at all. It is as good as stock with a few Play Store apps :)

@Izzy Ok done editing it into two parts. Here is the second one; http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/54007/galaxy-s3-high-ram-consumption-even-on-idle

Just that I might add, grainy-ness also continues under brightness cranked up.

Thanks for splitting. That makes it much easier to answer. I've placed an answer to "the other part", hope it helps you sorting things out. No idea about this one here though, sorry.

@Izzy Went to a Samsung store pretending to be a customer interested in GS3. Saw the same issue in the stock phone. Haha !!

In that case it looks like a hardware issue, so we won't be able to help you with this here, unfortunately.

@Izzy Or maybe that it is OK as it is in all phones ?

I cannot tell, as I've not seen it first-hand. Up to you to decide then :)

@Izzy You can do me a favor by checking the GS3 at your nearest store :D

Is it a Kogan? Mine was like that until I cracked the screen, and the replacement was sharper and had no problems. Some International models are less than perfect.


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Read access to /data/data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/profile on a Nexus 10
How's this for a catch 22 - I would like to make a copy of the full folder structure starting at the path above. I have explored:

Finding ways to move the app onto the internet data storage (SD card equivalent), before realising that it would likely still leave the app data in the protected /data directory
Looking for ways to root the device, without wiping the storage, as I have read is possible for a few other mobile devices (Nexus 7 for one)
"Temporary rooting" the device - This looks to be most promising, but I cannot find how to do this for the Nexus 10

In my desperation, have also tried to export the Chrome for Android history (least preferable solution), but:

Chrome for Android provides no way of saving chrome://history
The Google based sync is missing many pages, even whole days of pages, when viewing in Portable Chrome on the desktop
The press-and-hold clicking of individual links on chrome://history page, would take too long.
chrome:history doesn't display the full URL's, so the screenshots (Power + Volume down, concurrently) I took are only semi-useful

Then there is the open tabs:

chrome:sessions, chrome:tasks present a "Web page not found" error, which I presume means that they are not available on the Android version.

Does anyone have something else for me to try??
EDIT:
After Dan Hulme's pointing out that there is already a workaround to this, I would like to change this question to ask if there is any way to mount the back file adb backup produces, instead of having to recover it to a like device, in order to work with the files contained with the archive.

Thanks @DanHulme! Wish I saw that answer nearer to the start of the day :( I have edited this question to then be about possibilities to mount the adb backup backup, to view, instead of having to have a device to recover to, to view.

Don't bother saying you'd "like to change" the question. Just change it! Unlike a web forum, this site saves the revision history of your post, so you should just change the question to be the question you want, instead of tacking an "EDIT" message on the end.

Don't make it a chameleon question, though. If it's a new question, ask a new question.

@DanHulme / AlEverett - Happy to write up a new question, but personally I would prefer to keep this question, in it's original form (removing most of the EDIT I added), available to the community, so that steps I tried/someone looking to do the same thing (that might also not find the link to the workaround) can be helped by it. Suggestions on how you think I should accomplish this? As an aside - Forums do have one advantage (i.m.o) over this format, in that there is a clearer chain of what sorted each separate issue, from problem to solution.


text:
What will happen to my apps when i switch phones?
When I get a new android I would to keep the apps I have purchased. I will keep the same account but I was wondering if I will have to rebuy my games?

Please see How many times can I install an application I've purchased on the Market? / If I flash my ROM or wipe my device after buying an app, will I have to buy it again?

No.  Android apps (as well as anything else (books, magazines, movies, etc.) sold in the Play Store) are linked to your google account, not to your physical device.
All the apps and games you previously purchased will be available for download.