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How can I install flashable zips in Android-x86
I have recently started running Android-x86 version 6.0-RC1 on my iMac, and I am considering making it on of my several daily drivers. There is one major issue however that is casting some doubt: I cannot seem to find a way to install flashable zip files. I have looked into a custom recovery, however apparently the directory structure of Android-x86 is too different from that of its mobile-device counterpart to run or even install one directly. I have attempted to use Chainfire's FlashFire, however it unsurprisingly does not work for similar reasons to the last method.
I've read on a very short conversation in the XDA-Developers forum discussing this topic that a recovery would be relatively unnecessary because "you could simply use a lightweight Linux distro as a recovery". I am assuming from the wording that you would do this by booting a small Linux distro on the same machine, mounting the main image for Android-x86, extracting the flashable zip and running the install script contained within, however I am entirely unsure as to whether or not this method would work in practice, as I cannot find any more info on it.
I need the ability to flash a flashable zip file as it is the only way as of current aside from using a custom recovery to install the Xposed framework on android, upon which I rely heavily for everything from personal conveniences to more manually configurable security functions to ease of development. Given Android-x86's inherent compatibility with virtually anything compiled to run on an Intel Atom or Celeron based android device the lack of Xposed is the one factor stopping me from being able to attempt custom ROM development, as well as starting to port several already under development projects that have been until now exclusive to BSD/Debian distros over to rooted Intel based android devices.

UPDATE: I've managed to mount the Android-x86 fs from a live GParted CD, and chroot to it, but when running  flash-script.sh  it starts the installer, and output the following error log:
******************************
Xposed framework installer zip
******************************
-Mounting /system and /vendor read-write
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[102]: can't create /dev/null: No such file or directory
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[103]: can't create /dev/null: No such file or directory
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[104]: mount: not found
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[105]: can't create /dev/null: No such file or directory
-Checking Environment
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[112]: head: not found
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[112]: sed: not found
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[114]: cut: not found
*Continues till line 121*
 Xposed version:
! Wrong platform: arm
! This file is for:
! Please download the correct package
! for your platform/ROM

Now I'm assuming the reason this happened is that the Linux version I'm using is too lightweight and doesn't include the required programmes, however that does not explain the fact that the error log reports the system as ARM and claims the x86 version is incorrect for my platform given that I'm running a copy of Android-x86, so if anyone has insight, please supply!

I have a question for you: if you booted from a live media, would you be able to see Android-x86' entire filesystem (root directory included)?

Yes, Android-x86 uses a single .img file in which is stored the entire root filesystem, as well as the /storage/emulated/0/ user directory, however to emulate an SD card you have to create a 'data.img' file, store it in the same location as the system.img and specify it to be used in grub.cfg. It is also noteable that Android-x86 comes pre rooted, with Superuser embedded into the SecSettings.apk, so I already have full Read-Write root access from within the OS itself. Also that Xposed only has to be installed via zip, not overwrite sys files, so I could do it manually, I just don't know how.

Thanks for the clarification. Did you already try to extract the contents of the flashable ZIP and examine the syntax and operations performed by the update-binary and updater-script?

I just did so, it seems that the updater-script file is a dummy file, and it infact relies on flash-script.sh in the same directory, however the files contained look to be specific to Xposed, no system files appear to be overwritten, and the flash-script.sh file seems to rely on the zip first being extracted to a specific location, so I'm assuming my best bet (after confirmation that no sys files are overwritten) is to move the files manually, reboot and see what happens. Will do that and update with result.

Upon looking a second time it appears several system files are overwritten during installation.

Exactly. Manually performing the actions described in the update-binary is the way to go. And yes, there will be modifications in the /system partition.

I mounted the system from a live linux disk, and there was no trace of system.img, only the efi boot programs and grub. In light of this I attempted to install it manually and Android-x86 went into a bootloop, will try debug version to see if it boots, otherwise will be reinstalling.

Idk if the android x86 is a root version i assume it is if your using xposed download flashfire and try to flash.zip with it .

Yes, it come pre rooted with Superuser integrated into settings. I have tried FlashFire however it lists my device as unknown, and when it attempts to restart the device under a linux recovery distro to do the actual flashing it says Loading... but when the screen goes black, rather than staying black for about 30 secs and loading up the flashfire recovery UI, it just stays perpetually black, and the machine has to be hard-rebooted. I should also say, running flash-script.sh from a linux distro with chroot boot loops Android-x86

This is caused by the install script incorrectly detecting your platform as ARM.
In order to fix this issue, which is specific to the Xposed ZIP file, you must hack edit flash-script.sh.
Search for:
if [ -z $XVALID ]; then
  echo "! Please download the correct package"
  echo "! for your platform/ROM!"
  exit 1
fi

Comment out the exit command, by adding a # before it.
At least in the current version of Xposed (v86), this is line 162 of the flash-script.sh file.
The resulting block will be:
if [ -z $XVALID ]; then
  echo "! Please download the correct package"
  echo "! for your platform/ROM!"
  #exit 1
fi

Source: How to Install Xposed on MEmu Lollipop Beta

[Edit] Since you are having a great deal of trouble, I'm going to provide detailed fool-proof steps for successfully installing Xposed on Android-x86:

Download Xposed to your computer
Extract the contents of the compressed file somewhere
From your file manager (Finder | Windows Explorer | Nemo | Some other), open the directory where the file contents have been extracted to and browse to: META-INF \ com \ google \ android
Select the entire contents of this directory and Control + C
Go back to the directory containing the resulting files (same as Step 3) and then Control + V
Among the files you have just copied is flash-script.sh. Now you must edit this file with a text editor of your choice, according to the previous part of this answer.
Save and close the file. Make sure it is actually saved.
Make a new .zip file with the updated contents, including of course the flash-script.sh file which you have edited.
Send this new (make sure!) zip file to your Android-x86 environment with a method of your choice. ADB, e-mail to yourself, some anonymous temporary file upload service, etc.
From Android-x86, extract the contents of this new zip file.
Launch Terminal Emulator.
Type in su and hit Enter
If you are asked for Super User privilege, confirm (i.e. hit "Allow")
Type sh "flash-script.sh" and hit Enter
Reboot your phone and launch the Xposed APK to confirm whether it's been successfully installed.

I have tried doing the above and it still failed with the same error, I even seached for and changed every related variable to ensure that the install would work, to no avail.

@AlisonE.E. The proposed solution does not prevent the error messages from appearing. Instead it makes the script run to the end in spite of the error. You should see Placing files and Done after the error messages. Did that happen? If yes, just reboot your phone and then install the Xposed APK to make sure it's enabled.

No, I did not see either of those messages. It is also notable that as stated above this is not a copy of Android running on an ARM  handheld device, it is a copy of Android 'x86' running on a Mac, and using a live Linux disc to run the script with the mounted Android 'x86' filesystem set to the root directory via 'chroot', so in the event that it is for some reason installing ARM binaries it will break/bootloop the installation. The real problem however is that it is the 'x86' binary, so it shouldn't be stating that is it meant for ARM devices, it should just install.

@AlisonE.E. I know, I'm also an Android-x86 user (I use it in VMware, however). The error message is due to an apparent bug in the install script, and I managed to successfully install Xposed on my system by following the steps provided. The only difference is, I'm running sh install-script.sh from the Terminal Emulator. No need to boot from a live Linux environmnent. In fact, this is probably the reason why it's not working for you.

I can certainly try this again, I don't believe I had tried running it directly in the terminal. One final note just in case it makes a difference: I am currently running the x86_64 build of Android x86, not the 32-bit version. I had heard talk of rovo89 compiling/releasing a version of Xposed for 64-bit, and had even volunteered to test it for him, however I never heard back, and have no idea whether or not this was released or incorporated into new versions.

@AlisonE.E. Oh, that's important information. Actually, that won't work, unfortunately. Xposed is not available for the x86_64 platform at this time, oficially or otherwise. I once wanted to compile it myself, but dropped the idea due to lack of time, and settled with the 32bit flavor anyway. In fact I found it has a ridiculously lower bug count than the 64bit version.

@Macr.2377 I figured as much. Is there any possible way run Xposed x86 under a 32-bit sandboxed userspace in the x86_64 build, or will I simply be stuck waiting until someone builds a 64-bit copy?

@AlisonE.E. It's theoretically possible, but certainly not worth the trouble. Consider that Xposed operates at a very low level in the Android architecture.

True, and I suppose systemless is out of the picture as well seeing as there also isn't a 64-bit version of that for x86. Well, the extra RAM would have been nice to keep but I guess i'll be switching over to the 32-bit version, at least until rovo89 announces a 64-bit version or gets back to me on testing one. Thanks for the help, an I'll be sure to try the above fixes when installing it to 32-bit.

I have an update: I've switched to 32-bit, however after making the change you referenced in the above post it still claims I am using an ARM device. I have tried using both the debug console, Terminal Emulator and Termux, none of which have gotten further than the notice claiming I am using ARM. I have changed the script's ARCH variable's default value from "arm" to "x86" yet the error still reports ARM. I have commented out the exit line as you mentioned and it still reports ARM. I am at a loss at this point.

@AlisonE.E. Did you type su and hit Enter before trying the command?

Yes, as I said I tried the debug console which is perpetually root. I realzed that the changes I made to the script were not being saved for some reason. I've corrected this but am now dealing with a new issue, its impossible to remount the system read-write in-OS, it has to be done during boot for sone reason, so I have to modify the boot entry to boot in RW mode, however to do that I need legacy grub, and the drive I'm using only has Windows Bootmanager. So I'm having a bit of trouble installing grub.

@AlisonE.E. I could explain to you how to remount the system partition as read-write, but that deserves a new question, and in fact there's no need for that. And not only because it's been asked already, but really it's not necessary. I have updated my answer with the exact steps I used myself. Good luck :)

Why can't you unzip the file on Windows and simply do
adb push apk\purenexus-gapps-mm-mr1-x86-leanback-20160202-signed\system\. /system

I was also looking for something like a custom recovery for android-x86. But,  it seems to be quite unnecessary for android-x86 in the way they are as in mobile phones.
Gladly i found something related called GearLock. Also found a bunch of flashable kernels and some other good stuff. Surprisingly it got some sort of recovery mode and flashable zip support.
Leaving the link below in case it sounds interesting.
https://supreme-gamers.com/resources/gearlock-custom-recovery-replacement-for-android-x86.40


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Huawei Y560 Gaming Specifications
Can the Pokemon Go be played on this device? I do not want to purchase it for my daughter if it doesn't work.

no .... the y560 is only 1gb ram... you need at minimum 2gb ram for that

Do you have any kind of prove for that limitation? I know for sure that 1 GB of  RAM does not prevent you from playing the game (running on a Galaxy S3 here)

They've updated it to work on 1gb i believe... It was always weird, The APK has always demanded a different amount than the stores, but they've got it fine tuned i believe

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Red color lost in my tab 10.5
I have a Samsung tab s 10.5 inch. Once I try the Samsung code *#0*# and try to check the red color it gives a black screen, but all other color tests working fine – even tab working fine but any red color showing black  in all pics. I went to Samsung, they told problems is in Lcd or digitizer.
Any one can help please?

If Samsung service already said it's a problem in the LCD or digitizer (i.e. it's a hardware issue), there's nothing that can be done software-side. They should have offered you to repair it.

I see YouTube's and Chrome's icon red enough, so it doesn't seem to be OS/software issue. Can you take the photo of your screen instead? Otherwise, it's hardware issue and not something we can suggest, other than perhaps buy new digitizer or have it replaced by Samsung.

If the test is not displaying any red this is your LCD (all colors are created using 3 LED (light emitting Diodes) Red Green Blue (RGB)  Sadly your R is DEAD.  It might be something as simple as a loose correction which a technician with a test kit and some soldering could fix.
But I doubt you could do it yourself sorry to say.  Find a good computer repair shop near you.... Or contact Samsung and find an "authorized" repair shop if you are wonder warranty.
Good LUCK!

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


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Cleaner asks to delete some files. How do I know what these files are?
I have downloaded a cleaner app and it works great but it has asked to clean and delete unwanted files and also disable apps. I don't know exactly what all these are:

Cache
Junk
Residual Files
AD Junk
System Temp Files
Obsolete apks
Memory Junk
Big files

If I click on one of these its going to delete the whole category. What are all these?

It would help if you let us know what name "a cleaner" has, plus the link to it, so we can give you specific help.

Cache, Junk, AD junk, system temp files and memory junk seem safe to delete.

@papakias Yes, although clearing the cache too often is counterproductive.

The question was also "What are all these", not "hwat of them is safe to delete" :) For some items, answers are pretty straight: cache for example. Others are a bit subjective, like "Junk". Again others are weird: "Memory Junk"? What size marks "big files", and would they be deleted without user interaction? How to decide whether an APK file is obsolete (or a backup with good purpose)? That's why I asked for the app behind, as for some of them this might be known.

@Izzy that is why I didn't post this as an answer. Man you are strict!

@papakias I didn't mean it as "attack" :) To compensate: Of course the OP IMHO implicitly asked for "what's safe to remove". I don't think Trisha asked for background just out of curiosity. But one first builds the foundation, and thereafter walls and roof :)

@Izzy I think OP is using The avast cleaner app (Avast Cleanup, I think) It asks about all of these. Not too bad an app really, it allows you to wipe stuff and not wipe stuff freely. In terms of apk files, it would only delete ones that have already been installed as an app (therefore 'obsolete')

@DanB So maybe you could write an answer then? Besides: Who says an .apk is obsolete just because that app is installed? Maybe I intentionally saved the file for a re-install in case of an "unwanted update"? I might even use an app like AppMonster to automatically grab-and-backup .apk files whenever an app is installed/updated. But well, as long as the user has the last word :)

@Izzy True. Addressed it in answer, if that helps

Well, each of these things mean something. I hope. Its an app, right? ;)
Well,
Cache is, well, your device's cache. Too frequent cleaning this is a tad counter-active, as most apps will immediately fill this back up. Its like trying to dry a towel. Outside. In a heavy rain.
Junk, Memory junk, AD junk - Stuff you dont need, and is an actual waste of space. Its like rubbish piling up in a bin, and apps will fill this back up, but not very quickly.
To elaborate:

Junk Is general backfill of files that are not needed often, but may not necessarily be cache. For instance, You may need a backup script once every years its used that rarely, it may be considered junk. Keep in note many apps have different meanings for junk.
Memory Junk is basically the Cache-again. I don't know why, really, it may be a double wipe, which is still a tad pointless
AD Junk is a rarer one. Normally, ad's (or adverts, for those who are not fans of acronyms) are downloaded as needed, then removed from the system after. Some apps, however coughapitoidecough like to clog up the storage by saving every AD (and thumbnail) it has available.

Residual Files are files that were useful, but not anymore. For example, residual files can include your minecraft worlds file AFTER you uninstalled MCPE. Wipe them unless you are planning to re-install the app they belong to.
System Temp Files is stuff like logs and such which can be useful to a modder or debugger, but otherwise can be a tad space-hogging. Never by much though. As the term "temp" suggests, these are files that were of temporary interest to some system app but obviously forgotten to delete afterwards.
Obsolete apks. Oh boy. When Your cleaner app (It sounds like Avast Cleanup, but this still applies regardless) says this, it means apks that you have already used to install an app, so ASSUMES they are no longer needed. If you backup your apps, however, It will probably think they are obsolete and delete them.
Big files are ALL files on the internal storage that pass a certain size, which is either 10Mb or 30Mb (so not that big). Dont worry, this is disabled by default, so you will have to tell it what to wipe exactly here. (Or just tell it to delete all big files, and do a pseudo-factory reset.)
Hope it helps!

Credit to Izzy, who reminded me that obsolete apps can mean backups to cleaners(and polishing the answer) (Izzy did NOT add that bit) and to the Death Mask Salesman, for pointing out how pointless cache cleaning can be.

The answer is tagged as community wiki, so feel free to tweak and modify it!


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Only owner can enable Bluetooth on CyanogenMod
I'm using an LG GPad 8.3 (v500) with CyanogenMod 12.1-20151007 and on this device only the "owner" is able to activate Bluetooth. There was a similar bug in CyanogenMod 10.1.
Is there a workaround to allow other users than the own to use Bluetooth? It would be ok, to create another "owner", but this seems to be impossible.

Have you tried  other CM based ROMs ?

@rajatpunkstaa Not yet. Do you have any suggestion?

I'll say because CM based ROMs have Cyanogenmod as the base plus extra features in them. So you might wanna check them out. It will have all the base CM features.
One good option to go with is Paranoid Android.
Some other ROMs : Bliss Pop , Resurrection Remix.
Try them and tell me what you find !
Good Luck !

@deamon Sorry couldn't provide you with links coz I'm out of city right now !   Try google and i hope you find them.


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App unavailable in my country, even though it clearly is
Quick question.
How is it that my boss is able to download Pokemon go on his Samsung Galaxy S7. We both have phones tied to the company, he is sitting next to me (both in the UK), but when I attempt to download the game through google play it says it's not available in my country.
I've had it running (uninstalled now) from an unsigned APK (apkmirror) since last week. Also, the creditcard tied to my google play account is Swedish - not sure if that could make any sort of a difference...
Thanks

Download and install Hotspot Shield to your mobile via play store .Then run hotspot shield and try downloading the app.In case this method does not work you can first check where pokemon go is available and you can download the VPN for the same country and run the game.

I shouldn't have to do that? I mean if I sit right next to my boss, who is using the same type of phone under the exact same contract surely the play store should recognize that I'm in the same country? :p

but its not you should get your mobile fixed or use these ways


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Pokemon Go causes overheating?
I was curious about Pokemon Go so I downloaded it and started creating a character.  After about 3 minutes my phone said it was stopping all applications because my phone was overheating.  Curious as to how pokemon go could overheat my Galaxy S4?  As an aside, apps on my SD card keep moving back to device storage.  I had to put them back on SD card again to get Pokemon Go to download so that may have been related but I am not sure?
How can a phone overheat?
And yes, I have uninstalled Pokemon Go now.

How can a phone overheat?  By running Pokemon GO, which requires network connectivity, keeps the screen on the entire time, processor intensive, and getting your GPS location....

Mobile network and GPS will NOT overheat the phone by itself, if it does the device is defective or just poorly engineered... High screen brightness (esp with high pixel density) + High CPU usage + GPS + Mobile data... all these combined in their own right create heat, add the high current draw off the battery even more heat is generated. As many people with higher--end phones are learning with Pokemon Go it is a resource monster, using everything the phone has and those huge batteries, high current displays, etc. to their maximum potential, which also brings out the heat buildup.

Because the game uses your mobile network and GPS constantly. which will over heat the phone. putting the app on sd would make no difference

I gifured it was that but how do people play it (or anything like that) for so long?  (I don't want people to think I am interested only in Pokemon Go ;-))

I doubt that it is because of the constant GPS and radio usage. More likely because of heavy CPU usage possible caused by rendering the AR.

Yes, that is right. It adopts augmented reality technique and also makes use of your camera as well. It can takes up a lot of energy of your battery. So you may avoid running Pokemon Go together with any other apps.

AR can be disabled, which helps a bit.

The default location settings for most phones are set to High accuracy, which uses GPS, Wi-fi and mobile networks to determine your location. Setting it to Battery saving or Device only would certainly help reduce the overheating inside the phone.

"Device only" uses GPS exclusively. If GPS is a factor in overheating, that setting will not improve matters. Battery saving is a better suggestion.

I have seen that.  It asks me if I want to use Wifi too (or maybe my previous phone did).  I didn't understand how WiFi could help in global positioning?


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Samsung Galaxy S7: dark photos with sunlight
I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S7.
The camera is really great at night, but at daytime the photos are turning out way too dark. I tried tweaking the settings, also in manual mode but didn't help.
Any ideas how to improve my daytime photos?
2nd question: is there a good hdr app (real hdr, not just an image filter).

Samsung's camera app may have developed more options since mine, an S3, but the settings allow configuration of 'Effects' and 'Scene'.
'Effects' controls color and warmness, and specific washouts or enhanced colors, while,
'Scene' implies filtering based on the usage of the device in conjunction to surroundings. It takes into consideration emphasized lighting (outdoor, dawn, sunset), light dispersion conditions (beach, snow), diminished lighting (night, fireworks), focal lighting (candlelight, backlight), need for speed during exposure (i.e. sport events).
Used separately or in conjunction, they could resolve your issues.

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


text:
Can access Fastboot, but it isn't working. Software issue?
First of all, thanks for taking the time to read this. I know it's a long post, I'm just trying to be as detailed as possible.
I've a Moto G XT-1032 that stopped working a couple days ago. It has the original battery, original software. USB debugging mode wasn't enabled. It didn't came with an original charger, so I have been using a Samsung Galaxy Tab one. The phone is almost two years old.
This is how it all started: It had low battery. When I got home it connected itself to the wi fi, and tons of whatsapp messages came at the same time. It went off.
I thought maybe it had drained the battery. Plugged it in to charge, didn't get the led on, and the battery showed 0% for an instant. Then the phone turned itself on, got the M logo and then the screen went black (like... some sort of backlight is on, but the screen is just black)
I turn it off, and it goes back on. No battery image, straight to the M logo, and then black screen. I tried holding power + vol down keys for more than 120 secs, finger pain is the only I got. It can access fastboot mode, but doesn't matter which option I pick, normal powerup, recovery, factory... I select them and then press vol up, but it just goes to the white screen with the M logo, then black screen.
When I plug the charger, and go to fastboot mode, it doesn't show battery charging. Just says battery low (or battery ok). When I plug it to the computer via the usb cable, and access fastboot, it shows battery charging (and it went from low to OK, so it actually charges).
The computer doesn't detect the device at all. First time I plugged it, it tried to install drivers, but failed. I downloaded them from motorola's page.
If I open motorola device manager, it tells me there aren't updates for my phone... So... I guess it's recognizing it? But I still can't see it. Windows only shows me my C and D drives, but not the phone. Tried different usb cables, different usb ports. Nothing changes.
I sent it to a service, they tested the battery and charging port, they said those were fine. But didn't find the problem.
Any ideas? Suggestions?
Thanks in advance!

Since you can start the device and able to enter the Fastboot recovery mode, you can easily flash the stock MotoG ROM. That's all you need to do to factory-reset your device (however, if there is data on your device that needs to be backed-up, that's a different story and perhaps deserves a different post:-))
This is the relevant MotoG forum post for your reference. Summarily, you need two things: The stock MotoG ROM to flash to your device and of course, the MotoG drivers (since you say that your PC is able to detect the MotoG, I guess you already have the drivers installed).
As mentioned in that forum, just download and extract the stock ROM and run the flashall.bat. Your MotoG phone will be as good as new!

It sounds like the OS went corrupt. You said you can access fast boot, can you access recovery mode? If so try performing a factory reset through there. To see your phone in fast boot mode you will need to download fastboot to your computer and while in fastboot run command "fastboot devices". If you get a device id then the stock rom flash method mentioned before will work, but is slightly more involved and I like to use that as a last case scenario.

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


text:
Tablet stuck in "Recoery is not SEAndroid enforcing" and cannot turn off
Just bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab A6 tablet T-580.
When I buy an Android device I do two things, immediately: 1) get latest OTA update without fully setting the device up (e.g. only Wifi, no Google account), and 2) root, then reformat and reconfigure
I have tried to follow this guide and flashed the linked package with Odin.
Anyway after flashing the device is stuck in the boot logo with the above red error. I can't turn the tablet off.
However I had re-entered Odin mode with a lucky combination of PWR+Home+VDown and re-flashed the binary. However same problem.
Is there anything I can do, including re-flashing a completely stock binary, and try again?

You didn't enable OEM unlocking in developer mode, go to sammobile download your stock firmware (Or do it with smartswitch emergency upgrade and initialization via downloade mode) and reflash stock.
Then when you are ready to root just enable OEM Unlocking in developer options.

I did it when I enabled USB debug. But ok let's go to sammobile and/or smartswitch

I remmeber that with my Nexus 6 I also had to "fastboot oem unlock"

Sir, is it correct to select the "HOME_CSC_ITV......." file for flashing in "CP"? I have some difficulties understanding the new Odin. I used to work fine with the one for SGS3 (3.6 perhaps)

Accepted answer as I finally managed to get the tablet back. Unfortunately, according to research about similar tablets, the bootloader could be impossible to unlock. The best I can do if I can't root the device is to kindly return the device to the seller reporting that I do not want to operate any Android device I can't have full control of


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What resolution would achieve a 1:1 pixel ratio while using "wallpaper motion effect" on a Quad HD screen?
I like the "Wallpaper Motion Effect" that is available in Android Marshmallow, but I find that using it with a properly sized 1440x2560 image results in the image being zoomed-in somewhat, which means the image is no longer displayed at a 1:1 pixel-perfect ratio.
What resolution would I need to create an image at in order to have a 1:1 pixel ratio once the image has been zoomed-in by the use of this feature?

Have you tried doubling the horizontal pixel amount? 2880x2560 might be working for you :) see here for example pictures

I don't think doubling is right because it doesn't zoom in that much. It's a subtle effect. The horizontal axis isn't only affected, the picture will have to gain vertical pixels as well; how many pixels is the mystery.

alright - though 2880x2560 seems to work allright with my LG G4. Samsung may have implemented its own standard for this :P


text:
Recover data from unbootable android 5.0 note 3
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which was weeks ago fully functional but had some glitches like it couldn't run games such as clash royale without an external power supply; in this case I used a power bank. After every use of apps, I would restart my phone, to prevent slow performance. Then, one time I used till the phone auto-shutdown due to low battery power, after it was charged to full I turned the power on. Unfortunately, it couldn't boot up, it was stuck in samsung logo. Now it is unbootable, though I can navigate to recovery mode but not safe mode. I want to recover data from the phone and I know one or two things about adb and CWM. Can anyone take me through step by step in order to recover data from device storage? I'd appreciate any opinions. Thanks

If I understand correctly, you can only boot your device into the fastboot mode and nothing else, right? Did you try OEM (Samsung) stock recovery by pressing UpVolume+Power button and had any success?
If not, then here is one way to recover your data, but you'll need one thing for this: You should have the CWM (ClockWorkMod) recovery image for your device, or you should be able to download it from somewhere. Assuming that you can do that, here is what you can do:

Boot into the fastboot prompt and connect it to your PC's USB port.
On the PC, ensure that ADB drivers for your device are installed correctly (If you were able to run adb/fastboot commands, that's enough).
Use fastboot command to temporarily boot your device using the CWM image:
fastboot boot /path/to/CWMRecoveryImage.img

Once inside CWM recovery, adb will start working!
Just pull the files/folders you need using the adb pull command:
adb pull /sdcard/foo/bar/myfile1.dat
adb pull /sdcard/foo/bar/myfile2.dat
adb pull /sdcard/foo/baz/*

Alternatively, you can use a tool like DroidExplorer in step 5 to recover your data more easily. Hope this helps.
edit
I found this XDA link where some CWM recovery images are available for the Galaxy Note series, but be careful that you select the one for your exact model.

I tried your way but surprisingly adb doesn't work while on CWM recovery. Fortunately, I found another way which uses twrp recovery.

"surprisingly adb doesn't work while on CWM recovery." - Some device specific issue? adb certainly worked for me on my MiPad when I booted with the CWM recovery image.

Instead of CWM recovery, I used TWRP one. Obviously, a rooted phone is required. First, download a suitable twrp recovery from http://www.xda-developers.com/.
Then, if you don't have odin software, download the latest version of that.
Finally, flash recovery image using odin. Now, boot your phone in recovery mode and you can extract data as much as you wish.


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Configuring Android to IP FORWARDING
Android version : Lollipop. Rooted: Yes.
I'm trying to connect a PC to a Laptop via a WLAN.
I'm using my android as a WifiAdapter. I connected the android node to the WLAN. With a USB cable connected to the PC, and enable tethering.
So it's something like this : PC -- USB Cable --> Android --> (( WLAN )) <-- Laptop
Also enable ip-forwarding on the android
    echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forwarding

Laptop replied to an echo message from PC:
    PC$ ping LAPTOP_IP -n 1
    32 bytes from LAPTOP_IP: icmp_seq=1 ttl=63 time=14.0 ms

I can start a connection on port 22 from Android to Laptop (using telnet because I currently don't have a ssh-client installed on the Android).
    1|root@osprey_umts:/ # telnet LAPTOP_IP
    SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_6.7p1 Debian-5+deb8u2

But I can't start a connection to the Laptop from the PC throught that port.
On the laptop I have no iptables-rule:
    root@laptop$ iptables -nvl
    Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT 742 packets, 60749 bytes)
     pkts bytes target     prot opt in     out     source               destination

    Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT 0 packets, 0 bytes)
     pkts bytes target     prot opt in     out     source               destination

    Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT 606 packets, 360K bytes)
     pkts bytes target     prot opt in     out     source               destination

And on the android I did clean all the rules (including the nat table)
    iptables -F
    iptables -F -t nat

I can't make it work
    PC$ telnet LAPTOP_IP 8080
    Unable to connect to remote host: Connection refused

What about firewall on your PC? Is there an outward rule blocking the remote ip 8080?

Thought that might be, but disabled the Firewall of Windows 7 (PC)

Since you say, "Laptop replied to an echo message from PC:", its obvious that the laptop could be reached from the PC, its only a matter of opening the firewall ports in between. If you have cleared the firewalls of all three devices, that just couldn't be true! If the firewalls are open the connection has to pass through because the ping is passing through. Check the firewalls again, especially the Advanced Settings in Windows7 - There are usually rules defined to allow/block separate programs/ports plus there is a blanket rule to accept/deny ALL in/out connections....

... depending on your network type: Public or Private networks.

Went to advanced settings, and disabled all rules (out / in). Still having trouble.

Is there another way to accomplish this without the firewall-configuration on the android??

Just disabling the in/out rules in windows is not enough I am adraid. You have to also set the default in/out policy for the public and private groups(it is somewhere in that same area, search and you will find it).

The policy for outgoing connectins is to allow. And that makes sense because I can start a connection on any port to any other host that isn't behind the android device, I mean every connection that doesn't go to the route associated with the android device.

In that case, the only thing I could think of is some built-in restriction in your Android's linux kernel that your OEM might have put. Can you try this same setup with some other android tablet/phone?


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Internal GPS interfering with mock locations?
I've been using mock locations in my latest endeavors, and I'm having some issues. I enabled a mock location app from the developer options, set my Location Mode to 'Device Only,' and took precautions such as moving the app to System.
Everything is working how I intended it, except my location keeps bouncing between the mock location and my actual location. I've tried desperately to prevent my internal GPS from interfering with the mocked location, but with no luck.
The only method that I managed to have success with was by wrapping aluminum foil around my phone to inhibit the GPS.. this works but it's very inconvenient. I'd be grateful to anyone who can shine light on my troubles.
I'm running rooted Android 6.01 (Marshmallow) with a OnePlus Two device if it matters. I've tried different mock location apps with similar results on them all.

OP's follow-up question: Disabling the GPS?


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Can I pay with my phone if I switch to Cyanogenmod?
I own an Oneplus 3 and a NFC sim card. In order to use the banking payment app of my bank (Rabobank Wallet: https://www.rabowallet.nl/ / Netherlands) I need a phone with android supporting open mobile api as far as I understood. I read online that Oxygen OS does not have support for OMA, but Cm does. Will flashing CM make me able to pay with the Rabo Wallet app?
Bonus question:
Only very expensive providers support NFC payment in their sim card. Can I switch provider, (which has no NFC sim) place it's sim in slot #1 en the NFC sim (without data plan) in slot #2 and pay with the second one?

 Yes flashing Cyanogenmod will enable you to pay using your banking app. Cyanogenmod does have support for the Open Mobile API.
 The Second approach however will be a bit tricky to do as I have not tried that. But I think its worth giving a try !
If it doesn't works, the first option will do just fine!.
PS : I like Cyanogenmod more than Oxygen OS, I suggest you that you use it as your daily driver.

Be aware CyanogenMod, but not CyanogenOS, has root built in by default... some banking, payment, and financial apps will not work if the device is rooted or has even just has su installed.

@acejavelin Cyanogenmod's root access is disabled by default ! You can gain root access through flashing the SuperSu zip or by pushing via adb. However it also has a default root privilege which can be enabled in settings.

Bonus question is because of the very expensive plan that comes with the nfc sim-card. So I want to use it without keeping the plan.

@Thomas you can choose which SIM card you use to connect to Internet. Also, if your bank app won't work, try Xposed and http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.devadvance.rootcloak2


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My Phone isnt working
I havent used my LG Volt phone for a couple of months because i bought a ios phone. My ios phone broke and i tried charging my LG Volt phone over night and turning it on no response. I tried taking my battery out and holding power button nothing happened. Tried holding volume down and power button nothing happened. Just a black screen somebdoy help me please.

I suggest you get a new battery. Leaving a phone unused for a while drains the battery completely.
Replacing it might be the only solution here.
Good luck!


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Why my hosts file is not saving/resetting after editing it?
I need to add # before the command line (so I can login into my google account which is a common problem).
I rooted my device (I'm using a huawei P8) and tried using total commander and root explorer, both no success. With root explorer, I used mount r/w in the etc folder. Basically, after editing the hosts file and restart the device, the file looks like it didn't change or it resetted. Even before restart the device I checked the file again (because I suspected that it just didn't save or something) and I saw the file didn't change.
Any help would be really helpful. If any info is needed, just say it. Thanks a lot.

Try changing r/w to system folder as the answer by lzzy.


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Unable to unlock boot-loader and root Micromax Canvas A1 AQ4501
I have Micromax Canvas A1 AQ4501 which comes under Android One. It’s upgraded to Android 6.0.1. I tried to unlock its boot-loader but it’s not successful.
I did
•   adb reboot bootloader
•   adb devices (it shows device.)
•   fastboot oem unlock (after this command its stuck on 'waiting for device')
•   fastboot flash recovery recovery.img (after this command its stuck on 'waiting for device')
I changed USB cable and plugged it in another port but no changes.
I tried to root it using Kingo Root from PC. After 15 to 16%, it says, failed. Please help me to fix this issue.
Regards
GNS

Pointer: If adb devices shows your device, fastboot cannot see it. fastboot only works when booted into bootloader mode.

Hello GNS
How many time did you try to root your device ? You may need to try it more than ones, just like my old galaxy tablet.

And if that is not successfull, try using different one click root application.
Here are the list of some of this applications

Vroot Software (ADB drivers needed)
Kingo Root For Windows (ADB Drivers Needed)
SRS Root (ADB Drivers Needed )
Framaroot (APK)
KingRoot (APK and PC)
Unlock Root Software
Root Master (APK)
Z4Root (APK)
Universal Androot (APK)

Or you may visit This site for more information.

Hi..thank you for replying. Except Kingo Root, most of applications are either in Chinese language or detected as threat by the antivirus. And I tried Kingo Root for Windows. And After 15 to 16%, it says, failed.


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How to access wifi on an android phone that comes without it?
I purchased a cheap smart watch (this one). It doesn't support wifi. At the moment I can surf and watch videos by being connected via bluetooth to my tablet.
But I plan to root the device and install google play on it. I would like to install other apps on it afterwards too. It has a simcard slot and I can use a 2G network to do that.
But I am wondering if I could either buy a plug and play module or build something that would enable me to access wifi on the watch? Or is it not possible?

I'm sorry you actually need a WiFi receiver to be able to access WiFi. If there's no hardware in it supporting WiFi, you cannot add that by means of software.

Sorry. But, you cannot use Wi-Fi by just installing some apps or modules.To be able to use Wi-Fi, your smartphone must have a wireless receiver. If your watch's hardware doesn't include a Wifi receiver, you won't be able to access Wifi.


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Google Account Log in doesn't work on LTE/Data
Note I am using Android ver. 5.0.2 OnePlus One Cyanogen OS 12.0-YNG1TAS2I3
When I am on Wifi my device has no problem signing into my Google Account.
But when I am on Data/LTE my google account has log in issues.
For instance:
YOUTUBE APP: If I am logged in, I get a "Network Connection Error" even though my internet works fine. If I log out of the Youtube app by clearing the app data I can watch videos again, but trying to log into my google account gets me the Network Connection error again and does not allow the log in.
I can however open the web browser, go to youtube.com, log in, and access my youtube content.
GOOGLE MAPS APP: On LTE I can view all my starred locations on Google Maps, but when I try and add a new starred location it tells me to select my google account. When I select it nothing happens.
Google Now sometimes works, but sometimes shows the network connection error.
POKEMON GO: Trying to log into Pokemon GO via Google Account on LTE fails, but works on WiFi.
Not sure if relevant: It's my first time having cellphone with data plan. Also currently in Japan.

Try disabling "sync only with WiFi" setting.

Where can I find this setting? The only one I can find is for backing up google photos via WiFi only.

I had the exact same problem: Cannot log in to google account when on data (works on Wifi)
After contacting both google and my network provider, it was clear that the problem is on the device. For me there was a built-in security app from Lenovo, blocking 'google services'.
Check all your firewalls, antivirus programs and the settings>data that nothing as googleservices or googleframework is blocked. Uncheck 'restrict background data' in case it is enabled for all apps or google-specific. Also allow syncing data for apps while on data ofcourse.

Thank you, I did have Google Services specifically restricted to not use background data. However it has used up 2 GB in background data already this month, so I'll probably end up toggling it off frequently... I probably disabled it to stop OTA updates from downloading constantly over data.


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Is the WiFi-communication during installation harming my privacy?
I want to use Android (6.0 / marshmallow) on my new device (OnePlus 3) and want to set it up as google-free as possible (as example). By default, I am forced to set up a Wi-Fi network when I boot my phone initially (or after a factory reset).
I intend to disable google services and won't use a google account. I am interested in any evidence that the communicated data during the install process does already harm my privacy protection efforts (i.e. transmitting some ID to google to track me or my device).
Does anyone know if that is the case in the set up process (i.e. did someone invest this further with wireshark etc. already?)
Update: After a hard reset and new try to set it up, there is the message "This device was reset. To continue, sign in with a Google Account that was previously synced on this device." So there seems to be some anti theft magic, which also raises privacy concerns.

You could just sign in, and then remove the account and turn off your gps. That'll help. Your setup process is not leaked online- its all local, the internet is just for backup/restore/google sign-in. A good 'ol adb based logcat proves it.


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Disabling the GPS?
Is it possible to disable the internal GPS of a device? I need to disable the hardware itself without disabling location services.
Currently I've only been able to achieve this by wrapping my phone in aluminum foil. I'd much prefer a more convenient software method.
I'm running rooted Android 6.01 (Marshmallow) on a OnePlus Two device.

OP's previous question (for additional context): Internal GPS interfering with mock locations?

You can set your location services to battery saver in your settings -> location -> mode.  That will leave location services on using network and wifi only.and not use gps.

I believe this defeats the purpose for me because the mock location becomes determined as my actual location in this scenario. I need to test in 'Device only' (GPS) mode without the interference I'm getting from the phones internal GPS.
Currently my mock location is working, but it bounces between the mock and my actual location.


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Scattered Phone GPS Locationing While on WiFi
So I am not exactly sure how to put this question because it is very specific and I am not sure of there a hard concrete answer, but I am just looking for some enlightenment on the matter and it is related to Pokemon GO.
Here is what is happening in my app. I am on it, while at work, and connected to our company WiFi. while connected (it seems to happen randomly) my character will just start running and he always seem to run to the same spots. The game somehow reads that my GPS location changes even though I am not even touching my phone. It only seems to happen when connected to my companies WiFi.
Does anyone have some sort of clue as to what could be possible be happening? If it helps, I am using the latest version of android with a Galaxy S6 Edge.
Thank You

There are distinct sources of location information that are commonly called "GPS", but are more accurately called location services.
Sources in decreasing order of accuracy:

Bluetooth - Due to its short range, if you can hear known Bluetooth devices, you know you must be close.
Actual GPS - Your phone listens for satellites and computes its location based on distances to these satellites. This works best when you are outside with a clear view of the sky.
WiFi - Using wardriving and people using GPS, a map has been constructed of the world that basically tells you where you are based on the strongest WiFi signals you hear.
Cell - In addition to techniques similar to WiFi, cellular providers have additional technologies they can use to locate your phone, based on angles from antenna arrays, signal strengths, and distance estimations.

If your phone is using WiFi location, which is likely if you are inside an office building, the strongest WiFi signal will strongly influence where location services think you are. Since WiFi signals fluctuate quite a bit when people move around, doors open/close, furniture moves, etc., your estimated location will also change accordingly, which shows up as your character running around. The resolution of the WiFi database is roughly the range of a WiFi AP, which indoors is ~50m. The database is storage-limited, so there are likely only a few points around you, which explains why only a few distinct locations show up for you in the game.


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Forgot google account?
Ok so my girlfriend changed her google account after she bought a new phone but she still had the old Google account before she changed it on the new phone cuz that's what she set up on it when she bought it but now she can't remember the new one cuz we had to factory reset the phone.  So the question is can we back the phone up to the old Google account on it or not?   Or is there nothing at all we can do unles she remembers the password?

You can try to recover your girlfriend's account with this link - Google Account Recovery
Hope this helps and she manages to retrieve her account =)


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How do I tell where Google Fit is getting step data?
I have activity tracking disabled in Google Fit. I have three apps (HabitBull, MyFitnessPal, and Progression) connected to it and I don't believe they've recorded any step data. Google Fit shows 31 miscellaneous steps from yesterday and 639 from today. There isn't an indicator in the app showing where it came from, for example my weight is recorded in Google Fit and shows it came from MyFitnessPal.

There is no google-fit tag here on SuperUser. Edit: perhaps this should be migrated to Android Stackexchange.

It seems the steps shown come from activities. The only time I see Fit record steps (configured like yours) is from a specific activity. Check the 'activity' card/area and try to determine which app sent the data from there.


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Android One Stuck in "Checking Connection" after Factory Reset
I did factory reset to my Micromax Android One (Canvas A1). Before resetting it was running Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 with July 2016 security updates. Now when I reboot the device, after language and SIM options, it asks me to select a WiFi. But it is stuck in "checking connection... this can take a while", even when the same WiFi is working with other devices. The Select WiFi and Checking connection pages can't be skipped as the Skip button is grayed out.
My device is not rooted and I don't want to root is as long as possible, so this answer doesn't help me.
I have tried various options suggested in forums and nothing is working for me. I have tried with and without SIM cards and Micro SD card as well. So far I have tried:

Running in recovery mode and  "wipe cache partition"
Resting the device again in Recovery mode
Used different WiFi, even tried using WiFi host-spot from other devices

How to fix this without rooting? Is there any way to skip this step?

 This happened to one of my friend some time ago. But his device and android version were different
Why you're trying to connect to any connection? Just remove the sim card and skip the "Connect to a Network" step. It will give you a prompt, select the `SKIP ANYWAY` option and you're good to go !. Later you can insert your sim card and connect to your favourite WiFi network and sign in to your accounts and whatever!. Just skip everything until you get to the homescreen.
 This is the easiest method. Good Luck! Tell me what result you get.

As I have already mentioned in my question I can't bypass  "Connect to a Network" step. Skip option is grayed out and Skip Anyway is not available. Whether I try with or without SIM, the results are the same. Also to clarify, it is trying to connect to a WiFi network not a mobile network. This step can't be skipped st all.

Then you might wanna  try flashing  stock firmware again.
Suggestion : Download the firmware of a lower android version that you're currently on or the version with which the phone was shipped ! good luck

Can you let me know how to do that. Any step by step procedure will be appreciated.


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Cannot access Google Play store on Bluestacks
Got the dreaded "There was a problem communicating with Google servers, try again later" error. This all started with notifications stating my account could not Sync with any of my apps. Seen many posts with possible solutions ...
1.Removed the account, then tried to re-add it and got the above message. Tried to add other accounts ... same thing.

How can I fix this?

Have you tried beaming an app to bluestacks using appcast?


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How to enable auto sync on WiFi only
I want to have Auto Sync on my android always enabled, but I want it to only work while on wifi. I don't want to enable/disable it everytime I am going from wifi to mobile data. So is there a way to configure it to only be executed while on wifi?
To clarify. I have restricted some apps from background data usage while on mobile networks. But what I want is accounts auto sync to be restricted.
Is there a built in way to do this without using any third party apps?

A good starter would be our automation tag (and questions using it). There are plenty of apps supporting this situation, automatically switching sync on when on wifi and off when not.

But I am looking for a built in way from android

Your original post didn't state that :) Sorry, but I'm afraid there is no such built-in feature. Unless the apps-in-question (which do the sync) have an option to "sync only on WiFi" (some have this), and unless I've missed something. I've never found such a setting anywhere, and never heard of it. Otherwise I'd already written an answer :)

 There is no way to do this without the use of third party apps. You can use Tasker to automate your phone. You can add a task that enables auto sync when you're on WiFi.
 The stock android doesn't provide any option that says "Auto sync only on WiFi". only way to do this is through third party apps. By the way, there are other automation apps also on the Google Play. You can go and check them out.
 Another way to do this is to use custom roms. Many custom ROMs have built in modules or profiles to set while you're on your favourite WiFi network. Cyanogenmod is a good option to go with. I don't remember exactly but i think there is an xposed module that does this job. Feel free to check them out. Hope this helps!!
Link to Tasker app


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Unlocking an HTC desire 510 phone
In this tutorial is the method I am currently following to unlock the bootloader.
Just before Step Four there is a paragraph that says:
"The Command Prompt will spit out a token in the form of a very long string of characters. Select it, copy it, and paste it into the applicable box on your manufacturer’s website–make sure there are no spaces!–and submit the form...."
This is the stage I reached. I cannot however find that "applicable box" after numerous searches! Could someone help me find it? Or suggest a better way altogether to unlock the bootloader?

Have you done the process via DevHTC ? ...
Htc offers a original unlock method here official unlock at HTC site for developers

Thanks for the answer. However I found it out a couple days back. Forgot to update it here. Sorry!


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i can't get rid of my android mannager lock
yesterday i lost my phone, but i used android mannager to track it,put a message on the screen to that i know the location and to put a lock on it.
Today i went to where google showed me my phone was located and went and got my phone back.Only i can't get rid of the lock, first it just ask's for my pin when that is correct it ask's for the google password i had to pick with android mannager,but when i enter that one correct as wel it shows me the message i entered with android mannager while the phone is stil locked. if anyone knows what i need to do and can help me is verry appriciated. sry for the spelling, i speak dutch.

 Boot into recovery and do a full wipe and login with another google account. Did you sent a lock request with android device manager. Make sure you are entering the correct pin and the password combo. Can you be more specific about the part which comes after you enter the pin which you gave with android device manager.!! Hope this helps


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How can I get deep sleep -> coma for max battery life as comms platform?
I'm not an Androidite, just very curious.
Arduinos have a timer-driven deep sleep mode that reduces their power requirements by 1000 or so.  But it's a specialized and limited device, and a building block rather than a system/platform.  You can add wifi or bluetooth to an arduino project - a good solution if you're near wifi or BT.
Is there any deep sleep thing like this for Android phones?  Something that will get weeks out of the phone battery, because it's NOT being used for "any time" communications?  I know I'm talking opposite for what the phone is designed for:  Always ON, always active, always waiting for in-bound calls, or responding to system events or user input.  Services STAY ON, "just in case".
I'm thinking that a way around the communication distance limitation for arduino would be to:  Use the arduino for sensing/deep sleep cycles, and tie it to a dedicated pre-paid phone for access to the data plan.
By use case / design, the phone isn't going to have any (many) in-bound calls - it will be used periodically as a hot-spot to allow the other device (arduino) to upload data to the web.  When the cheap, pre-paid device isn't actively sending data, I would expect it to go into a medically-induced coma until it's needed next.
A regular Android, in "standby" mode will last what... a couple of days?  I would want a way to make that battery to last weeks or more.
Without moding the phone to bypass the ON switch, is there a way change settings or whatever to totally hybernate/freeze/halt/drop/suspend most regular applications/etc to stretch out the available power as long as possible?  Either have the phone go comotose but with a schedule "wake-up and check"s to signal the arduino that it can transmit data; or have the arduino kick the phone into activity long enough to upload any data to the network.
An example use case for this would be:  I want to monitor nest activity, and water, air, soil temperature on an island in the middle of a lake.  I don't want to have to row out to the island to see the data. I don't have "real" telemetry gear / transceivers, etc.  I want my nifty little arduino to log the inputs and periodically, send a batch of data out to the cloud.  I want to use the existing telcom infrastructure via a cheap pre-paid cell phone, if I can, but I need it to be in service for weeks, so I want the phone do be so low power and so optimized that it only turns on to send a batch of data and then immediately goes dark again, until the next cycle.

 I think you're looking for a feature called "Doze mode" in android. Its been around since Android Marshmallow (6.0.1) . If the phone is idle the device enters in a sleep mode, pretty much what you described in your first paragraph. It suspends all the background activity and saves battery for a long time. Doze mode is enabled by default in devices running Marshmallow or higher
 Also you can use an app called  Greenify to hibernate other third party apps that you're not using. This also saves a lot of battery for me.hope this helps
A brief description about Doze mode in android

I have used Greenify on some of my devices, but I would need to go even lower.  I was trying to figure a way to couple a PIR-driven Arduino as a wild-life cam and then use a cheap pre-paid smart phone (probably not AOS 6) to transmit pictures.  These might be in place for a couple weeks - but ideally longer.  You would put these even further off the beaten path because you wouldn't have to trek to the installation point to download any pictures.  None of my older devices would last a week, even with airline mode on & wifi/data/etc. turned off.  I have a 6.0.1 device coming so I'll try to test.

Okay, I understand. Good Luck !


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How to downgrade, root, and install CM 12.1 on 5th gen Kindle Fire
I just got an Amazon Kindle Fire 5th generation 7 inch tablet. I want to install CyanogenMod but during setup the tablet updated to 5.1.4 and root methods and therefore flash methods are not working.

I got two manuals on topic. Firstone is one about downgrading and second one on installing CM 12.1. Good luck!

@VladislavKulbatski Does this work for downgrading from more recent firmware versions? My tablet is on 5.3.2.0, and I want to roll back to 5.1.2.0 for rooting.

@adam About kindle firmware versions  https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=62986665&postcount=3

If you plan on rooting a new Fire, it is advisable to not connect to the internet during setup to avoid forced updates. 5.1.2 is required to install CM. Note that 5.1.2.1 does not work but is displayed as just 5.1.2 in settings.
Enable debugging
From the Settings app open Device Options. Enable developer options by tapping on the serial number several times.
In Developer Options turn "Enable ADB" on.
Your tablet should ask to authorize your computer when it is plugged into the computer.
Downgrading
5.1.4 can be downgraded to 5.1.2. Needs Android platform-tools (adb) and the 5.1.2 firmware.
I retrieved the SuperTool and 5.1.2 firmware from http://rootjunkysdl.com/files/?dir=Amazon%20Fire%205th%20gen. ADB is also hosted there though I used my copy from the Android SDK.
Power off the Fire and connect it to your computer.
Hold volume down and power for about 10 seconds. A menu should appear.
Select "apply update from adb". (press volume up then power)
Run adb sideload fire-OS-5.1.2-update-kindle-global-37.5.4.2_user_542168620.bin
Wait for this to finish. The tablet will return to the boot menu.
Unplug and then press the power button to select the reboot option.
You should now be on firmware 5.1.2.
From here I connected to the internet and was not prompted to update my Fire.
Rooting
I used the RootJunky SuperTool to assist in rooting.
Choose option 6, "Root your Amazon Fire 5th gen" and follow the prompts. This will install RootKing. I had the most trouble here. RootKing may fail several times to gain root. You may want to manually reboot between attempts. When you get root, continue with the SuperTool prompts to install SuperSu.
Prevent 5.1.4 Update
Choose option 3 from SuperTool, "Block OTA Updates from Amazon" and follow the prompts.
Flashing CyanogenMod 12.1
Download from http://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire/orig-development/rom-cm-12-1-2015-11-15-t3249416 CM 12.1.
From http://opengapps.org/ download the ARM-5.1-nano package.
Place both these zips on a micro sd card and insert it into your Fire.
With the SuperTool select option 2, "Install Google Play store". Use Google Play to install FlashFire.
Use FlashFire to prepare your device. In the bottom right corner is a red "+" to add actions. The defaults for the commands are fine. You may swipe away the hints in the command queue.
Add "Wipe".
Add "Flash ZIP/OTA" and select the CyanogenMod zip.
Add "Flash ZIP/OTA" and select the Open Gapps zip.
Move "Wipe" to the top of the command list.
Press the "Flash" button.
You should reboot into the CyanogenMod setup.
Extra Notes
CyanogenMod lets you enable root from developer options.
I had to install Google Play Games from APKMirror because the Play Store kept giving me error 505.
Kindle Fire specifications can be found on Amazon.

How dd you get the PlayStore on CyanogenMod?

@Tahlor playstore come from the open google apps package when flashing

Thanks, that makes sense.  I swear I did that initially but didn't get any of the GApps.  I ended up reinstalling KindleFlash on CyanogenMod and re-flashed the GApps.


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How to buy apps on Google Play while Google always reject my payments via Visa?
Google always rejects my payments via Visa due to currency fluctuations and high bank fees. What should I do? Are there any alternatives or legal workarounds? FYI: Google Play cards is not available in my country.

Other options AFAIK are Paypal, and some prepaid cards (e.g. WireCard). Not sure if that would change things, though.

I don't have the option to pay via PayPal.

Try linking your credit card to you paypal as google play accepts paypal now.


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Difference between /system/build.prop properties and setprop persist.adb.tcp.port (example) properties?
What is the difference between properties manipulated in /system/build.prop file and properties manipulated by setprop, for example setprop persist.adb.tcp.port? Where is the latter property stored? Is there another properties file somewhere?

There is no difference between editing a property via a text editor and via setprop, although I don't know where persist.adb.tcp.port is stored.

Me neither though...

To answer your 2 last questions, according to several sources (1, 2, 3), thoses are stored in /data/property/. I couldn't find an offical reference about this location though.
For you, that would be in /data/property/persist.adb.tcp.port.


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Android N Flashing, (FAILED: Remote Size Too Big) How to increase partition size?
So im trying to flash my phone to Android N.
Im going to be manually flashing each img file, however when I use the fastboot flash bootloader (location).img. It gives me this error:
target reported max download size of 134217728 bytes
sending 'bootloader' (1434 KB)...
OKAY [  0.047s]
writing 'bootloader'...
FAILED (remote: size too large)
finished. total time: 0.062s
I can clearly understand that the pre-allocated space for that partition on my phone is less than the one it requires.
So how do I re-partition them, so that I can go ahead and install Android N.
I have no problem if this reduces my usable memory, but I can't figure out how to re-partition.

What phone is this for?  Are your Android SDK Platform-Tools updated?

Which device you're using ? and post the full log and the order in which you're  flashing the images. Make sure you have adb and fastboot drivers set up correctly.

@rajatpunkstaa Im using Micromax canvas A1 with android one. Yes SDK tools are up to date. Will post full logs in 24hours

The Android N Developer Preview images are designed specifically for devices listed on the download page.  Currently Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 9/9G, Nexus Player, Pixel C, General Mobile 4G, and Sony Xperia Z3 are the only devices that have official N Preview builds.  You cannot flash these images onto other phones.  At best your phone simply won't boot, and you'll have to reflash it to stock firmware.  At worst - you can render your device completely inoperable by flashing an incompatible bootloader, and you won't be able to revert it to factory defaults.
If you want to try Android N on a different phone, your options are:

Wait for the manufacturer of your device to release an official version for your specific device
Wait until 3rd-party ROMs such as CyanogenMod can be built either from the source code (provided by Google in AOSP Project after the final version is released,) or cobbled together from compiled binaries retrieved from supported devices.


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Pokemon logo (Cubeon) showing on my boot screen
I recently installed "Pokemon Go" game in my Redmi Note 4G. The game is working fine. But I noticed something peculiar in my booting screen. It shows up just after the MIUI logo. I took a photo and did a little research and came to know that the logo is of Cubeon, a Pokemon character. I don't know why this is happening. Is there any security issues? How did the app get access to my boot menu?

Innograpica seems to be an artist that creates boot animations (and other art). Did you install a custom theme too?

Where did you get the app, there is a malware version going around

@user1871 I doubt malware would just mess with the boot animation. Hell, I doubt malware would try to leave a trail at all- it doesn't want to get caught!

Not all malware is for evil some just like to be annoying

Possible device compromise—there are quite a few fake versions of Pokémon GO out there. You'd probably want to factory reset the device and reflash the OS. In the future, make sure the developer is listed as Niantic Inc. and that the number of downloads is very large (at least 10M as of this writing). The real app can be downloaded from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nianticlabs.pokemongo&hl=en; the package name is com.nianticlabs.pokemongo.

It's not from Niantic, it is the silhouette of the MIUI character head.

It's possible comes with a MIUI theme what you downloaded and applied.

That appears when you install custom themes like in iOS 9 theme (afterglow or retouched I'm not sure), as the theme engine includes options for a theme to change the boot screen.


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Widgets not updating anymore
Since a couple of days/weeks, I noticed that my widgets aren't updating anymore on my home screens of my Nexus 6 (Android 6.0.1). It's not related to a single widget, it's all of them. I haven't found a single one that updates at the moment. I have several widgets that should update regularly: chats, weather, Google Fit, call logs etc; and none of them is updating.
When I reboot my phone, it updates the widgets one time, and that's that. Afterwards no more updates.
For example, I have the widget for Google Fit on my home screen, and it is still showing the status from a couple of days ago; when I rebooted my phone.
I tried the Android N beta some time ago (I can't remember if the widgets updated then though). But because there were some problems with applications I use daily, I reverted back to my old Android 6.0.1 build. This revert includes a factory reset. So I tried the factory reset solution. But I'm guessing the Android N beta has nothing to do with my problem?
Are there some things I can try? Are there some settings that I could have executed that froze my widgets? Maybe something with battery optimizations or something?
I don't have to mention to you that widgets that aren't updating are very annoying.
As I already mentioned, I'm using a Motorola Nexus 6 with stock Android 6.0.1 on it. I have all the latest version of the Android version for my phone, and have installed all security patches. Including the July security patch from a couple of days ago.
Update: I'm using the stock Android launcher. I don't have any special applications running that should customize my battery behaviour (like Greenify).

What Launcher are you using, Google's or a custom one?

I'm using the stock Android launcher. No custom one.

I found out that the flipboard app widget causes the main trouble on pre installed phones like Samsung. Just delete the flipboard widget if you have one than restart your phone.

Possible solutions you could try if you have the same problem as me (as mentioned by rajatpunkstaa; I just repeat them to be complete but give a vote up there too):

Make sure any battery saving apps are disabled. Or at least aren't interfering with the widgets;
Try to clear the data of the launcher. Best is to delete both cache and app data.

But in the end, this didn't work for me. So I got into the Android widget documentation to find out what made the widgets tick. Or in my case, why they didn't tick.
So I found out, that one widget can actually block the updating of the other widgets. Not on purpose, but by accident.
So by adding every widget seperately, with a lot of time in between, I could notice that the problem occurred after a while. The time in between was rather important, because if I did it immediately there was no problem. But after a time the widget would probably crash or something (not visible though), and other widgets stopped too.
So the best solution for me was:

Remove all widgets;
Add about one widget a day (giving the faulty widget time to crash);
As soon as you see the widgets misbehaving, you know the culprit widget; probably the one you last added.

Some tips on this solution:

Best to take a widget that updates regularly as the first widget. So you have an idea when something goes wrong really soon;
For some reason the stock clock widget keeps working, even though the other widgets stopped working. So probably that widget uses a different updating mechanism or something.

A developer here: the minimum updating of widgets is 30 minutes, so the clock has to use a 1-minute (or less) recurring alarm to make it "tick". There's also no way to know if the widget is visible to this has to be done blindly. I found an Android feature request to make this better, but it was closed without action.

Here's how I tried a solution on huawei cam L21 based on the answers above, and it worked.
Settings -> apps -> app_of_widget -> battery -> keep running after screen off...

This is the solution that worked for me

 This happened to me quite time ago. Make sure you're not using Greenify or some other app to hibernate your apps. If you hibernate those apps then they won't be able to update because they are not running in the background
 Clear the cache and the data for the widget apps in the settings and also for the launcher you're using. Set them up again and they will work just fine. Hope this helps !!

I tried this solution, because it seems like a good option to try (so +1). But I'm afraid that my widgets are still not updating.

Have you tried changing your launcher ?
Which one you use ?

I have been trying different launchers, and have have noticed that the problem still occured. Then I got in the documentation of the widgets and found the problem. I'll make a new answer for future reference

For me solution that worked is going to settings->Device->Battery and turned off Standby intelligent power saving.

For me following worked under Android 9:
Settings -> Smart Assistant ->Appblocker (which is enabled) -> selecting the app:
disabling following options:
1. Boot blocker
2. Start blocker
3. Background cleanup


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How to get my all data when my mobile screen was broken
How to get my all data(Like contacts,messages,files,etc) when my mobile screen was broken.
I am used sony xperia z.And I loss my mobile display by some reason.
My phone still working,but can't see any thing on screen.
call was incoming.
But when I connect my phone with my pc via xperia component .then it's show message like .B'coze I was add Patten lock in my mobile.
Please help me
How can I get all my data.
I can't do any thing with my phone but my phone is still working

Starting point: our broken-screen tag-wiki.

@lzzy any other way to get my data??Please  help me if it's possible.

If I knew something else I'd posted an answer – and linked it to the tag-wiki. Sorry, but no: I don't use Google Services Framework on my devices, and thus also not that Device Manager. No experience with that hence.


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What's the fastest way to transfer files from PC to Android?
I'd like to know which method of transfering offers the highest speeds. It happens once in a while that I lose my data while making ROM updates etc. as my phone is encrypted and that sometimes makes issues.
I'm using a OnePlus One with its fast charging cable. I wonder if I'm faster transfering files using adb push instead of using Windows Explorer. I reckon that I read that somewhere. Or are there WiFi apps that can transfer quicker?
Thanks!

The quickest would be a USB 3 connection (if the phone has the capability to transfer data in USB 3 mode). Then adb pull/push are also the fastest (MTP is slow due to abstraction). WiFi is slower than a wired connection due to interference and the added overhead because of packet headers. Depending on what type of data you send, a wireless SFTP connection with compression enabled might be the fastest (requires compressible data, though).

@GiantTree What you posted is exactly what I personally was looking for as an answer. If you make that an answer, I'd upvote it.

The best answer is
It depends on the situation.
Let me explain: Some solution make work better than others for some files than others. For instance, use Bluetooth to send a picture, or Wi-Fi based FTP for small files. For larger files, you may want to use a cable and transfer them manually, or even load these files onto a high-speed SD card and plug that into your PC. It really depends on circumstance. For me, I send files by Wi-Fi to my laptop for anything smaller than 100mb, then cable it for bigger files.

I've actually made an app specifically so I can transfer files to and from my phone at the absolute fastest speeds possible. Here's the link for the app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.brandonharris.speedsyncads and here's a YouTube video explaining how to use it https://youtu.be/Qbjg7Hh-pCc

Any comparative stats from your performance testing?

On my Nexus 6P the fastest speeds I get are 300 Mbps to the PC and 500 Mbps from the PC.

So, that is great. But to be "the absolute fastest" means that there is a lower "fastest" you are beating. What comparison values were you using, and what is their source?

Most devices have USB 2.0 ports. The max theoretical bandwidth of the USB 2.0 port is 480 Mbps. However, with the newer versions of Android in order to actually transfer files you have to manually select that you want to transfer files each time. So in the real world a wireless transfer would be faster, not to mention easier. But, mobile devices just aren't powerful enough to max out the wireless hardware using the most common wireless protocols, i.e. SMB, FTP, WebDAV, etc.

I am using an APP Web PC Suite to wireless transfer files between mobile and PC.  It's very easy and fast to share files when your phone and pc are in the same Wi-Fi network. Most importantly, it's totally free.

Please link app from play store


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How does an app know, if GPS is faked?
I have heard it is possible to simulate a GPS location with a developer option.
However people get banned from Pokémon go, if they fake their location.
Is this because an app knows, when it's a simulated location or did the people just fake it bad enough?

An app can detect when mock locations are enabled. It's quite simple to do. See https://stackoverflow.com/q/6880232/4107809.

It's not simple, if there is an app hiding the fact that another app is mocking a location (like some xposed modules, MockMockLocations and Hide Mock Location)

Enabled != using. But I think the app dev don't care and ban in such case. "normal users" don't even know about developer options


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Disable calling and texting but not WiFi or NFC
I'm going overseas soon and bringing my "usual" personal phone, a Samsung Galaxy S5, with me. I mostly just want to use it for Internet access. But one of the reasons I'm bringing my own phone instead of buying a temporary one is just in case there's an emergency I want to be able to call and text with my regular number. I don't want to get most calls and texts on vacation though! Is there a way I can turn off calling and texting from my phone but leave WiFi and NFC working? Just turning off receiving would be best but turning off sending would be fine too.

Just check your QuickSettings:

QuickSettings (Kitkat / Lollipop; click images for larger variants)
They will look a bit different on Samsung devices (and newer Android versions), but the basic elements should be there. In the first screenshot, see the last icon in the second row, titled "E-Plus+"? It will have a different title for you (as that's the network provider) or no title at all, but look similar. This icon is for your cellular connection. Tap to turn it off, and you'll have no cellular connection anymore – that means no calls, no SMS, no mobile data. Still, the first icon in the same row (WiFi) will be unaffected by that – so you'll still have WiFi available (and NFC too, of course).1
Now, when your mentioned "emergency" comes, simply swipe down the notification bar to get to the QuickSettings, and tap that icon again – a few seconds later you should have calls and SMS available again.
Just in case this does not work (e.g. because that icon is missing), take the hint Mord gave: Tap the airplane-mode icon in QuickSettings, and then tap the WiFi icon to switch WiFi back on. Same effect – and for your emergency case, simply deactivate airplane mode again.
1Corresponding icons in the 2nd screenshot (Lollipop): 1st row #3 (labeled "o2 - de+") & #1

On the s5 you can turn on airplane mode, and you'll still be able to use wifi.
So actually the wifi will turn off when you turn on airplane mode, all you need is just turn back on WiFi.

Whoa. I did this in the past and the first thing that happens when Airplane Mode goes on is WiFi turns off. I just figured you couldn't turn it back on. Because if that was allowed then why would it shut off in the first place? But sure enough you can. You just have to do it manually. Just FYI for future readers who read this answer and think "uh no you can't."


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Genymotion pattern forgotten
I am using genymotion to emulate Google Nexus 9.It so happens that I was not using this virtual machine for about a month so I have forgotten its pattern(yes it was protected by pattern lock). Now I need to use emulated Google Nexus 9 but it can't due to pattern lock. So how can I bypass or change pattern lock so I can again gain access to my device.
P.S.-I have seen Can not unlock my Android device as have no internet connection? but for methods in this link I need to go to recovery mode but that can't be done in emulated phone(I think so).

Genymotion comes with VirtualBox (if you haven't already installed it).
Open it up and you should see your emulator there with a preview of the screen.
The content is just a terminal with white text on a black background.
We can use this terminal to interact with the shell fairly easily, no authentication required.
Open the window (press the green Show button) and simply delete all *.key files in the /data/system/ directory.
Luckily the terminal is already running as the root user and thus we can execute the command rm /data/system/*.key.
This deletes all encoded and hashed lock information and forces the system to remove any protection present (a feature of Android's KeyGuard to prevent full system lockouts).
Reboot the emulator (using the command reboot) and wait a few seconds.
To conclude: Don't try to protect an emulator, there is and there should never be any reason to store private data on a mainly volatile emulated system. These emulator are designed to help you create apps (which means sometimes wait a long time to finish the build) and a lock screen is more than just annoying to unlock every time you need to test a new version.


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Will copying everything from /data/app and /data/data be enough for app's backup?
I've got an android device (Xiaomi MiPad-I, Stable ROM) which is not quite amenable to rooting, so I can't install Titanium backup on that. However, I can boot the device using the CWM recovery and mount the /system and /data partitions in RW mode during boot time.
In this mode, I can copy anything I want by connecting to a PC and using adb commands. However, I want to know whether copying the contents of /data/app and /data/data to my PC be enough for the backup of all apps? Or is there anything else that Titanium backup does? I only need the user apps, system apps are already available by either a factory-reset or flashing a stock ROM.

You also want to copy everything in /sdcard/Android. Some apps store data there and all the OBB files are there, too.

You also need to backup the symlinks. Only TAR can do that (adb pull is not enough, if you wish to simply recover everything with adb push, you can't realistically).

@GiantTree Thanks! What symlinks are needed? Are non-root apps allowed to create symlinks and store data there? I was under the impression that non-root apps are allowed to access only /data/data/package_name and isolated to there only.

Besides, I only need data backup, I can install the apks separately. For example, I need the Firefox cache. I can install Firefox apk anytime, but I need to backup and restore my browsing history.

All apps have a symlink from /data/data/<package name>/libs to some directory containing their libraries. They will fail if you simply restore the directory, they need the appropriate symlink to the library folder (because of permissions, ids and some more magic). Reinstalling the app will make sure that symlink is created correctly.

What if I don't want to backup the Apps (APK) and just their data? As I said in the firefox example, I'm concerned with only the data (browsing history) that firefox has stored. I've got all the APKs backed up separately (ES File Explorer already does it).
So my idea of restore is:

Install the APK separately first (firefox_47.apk).
Reboot to CWM and copy the /data/data files.

Will that work?

Yes, but only if you remember to set ownership and permissions correctly. You can get the correct owner from the directory itself and permissions should be 660 for files and 771 for folders (rw-rw---- and rwxrwx--x). Some recoveries come with a "Fix Permissions" function, you may use that instead.

To do a backup like you want, you can just copy everything from /data/data except the lib directories/symlinks (they will fail when you want to restore/push them).
A very easy thing to do is adb pull /data/data and then delete all the lib files (as symlinks are only files but those refer to directories).
Upon restore you can install each app, using adb install for example, and restore the data manually, ie. just push it back and fix permissions.
Make sure the apps in question are not running.
To fix permissions you can either do it manually/with a quick shell script. Read the owner of each app's data directory and recursively set that owner (and group) to that owner and group (using chown user:group -R /data/data/<package name>). Users and groups are in the format u0_a000, the symlink to lib is owned by install.


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Cannot uninstall "GO Security" app
No matter what I do, this app won't uninstall or deactivate.
I tried just uninstalling it, then went to phone administrator and tried deactivating it and every time I do, it shuts down my phone.
Any suggestions?

Is this the app you mentioned?

Try booting into safe mode and disabling the app from device administrator.

boot in secure mode is useless in that case. in securemode it is also not possible to remove this app any other ideas?

It seems the app is trying to prevent you from disabling the device administrator permission. To get around that, you need to boot into safe mode.
The easiest way to do so is to hold the power button until the shutdown dialog pops up. Then hold the "power off" menu item until a popup appears asking to reboot into safe mode. If that does not work, many devices can also be booted into safe mode by holding the volume up/volume down buttons while booting.
In safe mode only system apps can run. That's why you can safely disable the device administrator and remove the app from there.
Once you're done, simply reboot to leave safe mode and have access to all your apps again.


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Custom Marshmallow ROM - encryption fails without error
I have a Galaxy S6 G920F phone. I've replaced the stock firmware with a custom ROM - XtreStoLite. Attempts to encrypt the phone using Android's built-in FDE fail with symptoms similar to the ones described in this other question, but none of the solutions suggested there help in my case.
What I've tried:

disable Wi-Fi
remove the SIM card
hold the phone so that the screen switches to landscape mode
factory reset, also tried to encrypt right after the first boot after installing the ROM
plugged in to both a PC USB port and a wall charger
instal every single additional package supplied by the author in the Aroma Addons Package

None of this helped; the phone simply displays a padlock icon on black background for around 3-4 seconds, shuts down, and after 15 seconds boots normally without reporting any errors. The storage is obviously not encrypted.
What is the reason for this behavior? How can I encrypt my phone?

I figured it out - the solution is to perform a factory reset on a clean system right after installation. After this, encryption works normally.

I'm having the same problem. By "Factory reset on a clean system" do you mean on the native OxygenOS 3? And then install the ROM?
Did you do the Factory Reset through recovery, or from system menu once you're in the OS?

@Shek This is what worked for me: I installed XtreStoLite, booted into it, then Settings -> Backup and reset -> Factory data reset (at the very bottom). After this the phone goes through the "long boot" stage again (just like the first boot after installing the OS), and afterwards it lets you set everything up (the language, Google accounts, all that). Once all that is done, you can simply go to Settings -> Home screen and security, set a screen unlock password, then hit Encrypt device. The phone should reboot and encrypt itself this time.

Thanks for replying. Just tried that for my onePlus phone with CM13 but no luck :(


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How to backup Samsung 6 edge data with broken USB port
My USB port on my mobile is dodgy, intermittent charging slowly reducing to no charging! I took it in to shop and they're happy to send it away to be fixed, however I need to back it up, and i've downloaded Kies, but of course the cable from the phone's USB port isn't working properly so I can't seem to get the phone connected to back up my connects and calendar. Any suggestions?
I've got a google account and synced the contacts (although I couldn't see my calendar), but how do I know this has been synced and how do I recover it?
Is there a way to back up through bluetooth?

You can use the smart switch app to send to a different Samsung phone.
I've noticed that calendar tasks on Samsung doesn't sync with Google or with anything else, only smart switch or kies worked me.


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Android ignoring imported dictionary
I recently upgraded from Nexus 5 to Nexus 5x. I used the automatic process to move my data from the old device to the new, and everything went smoothly, except for the dictionary.
I type in Hebrew (I'm Israeli) and I have a custom dictionary of hundreds of Hebrew words that aren't in the built-in dictionary. (That's because Hebrew has a lot of different declensions and connected propositions, so built-in dictionaries never have all the words you might want to type.)
It took me years to amass hundreds of words that I use every day. I noticed that my new Nexus 5x doesn't recognize these words; when I type them, it red-lines them, and when I try to swipe them, it doesn't guess these words.
I figured that the upgrade process didn't really transfer my dictionary, but then I went into Settings -> Language & Input -> Personal dictionary in my new phone, and saw that all my old words were there! But yet, the phone doesn't recognize them when I'm actually typing.
How can I solve this problem?

Are you using Google Keyboard? Is the dictionary with your added words the one set to do spell-checking for your device?

@JohnRamos I am using Google Keyboard. I went into the settings now and couldn't figure out how to check if my dictionary is "the one se to do spell-checking for your device." It's the one that shows up under Personal Dictionary.

If you go into settings, then language and input, is Spell Checker set to Google Spell Checker and are your words in the personal dictionary right below that?

So I tried to recreate your problem. I added a word to my personal dictionary, with no shortcut, and when I typed it, it got the squiggly red line! Strangely enough, once I added two more non-words to the personal dictionary (accessed via Settings -> Language and Input -> Personal Dictionary) and gave them optional shortcuts, the first word, still without an optional shortcut, was actually added to my dictionary and lost its red line. And any further words I added to the dictionary worked fully, immediately. So try adding two random English words with shortcuts to your pers. dict.

Add 2 more words to your personal dictionary (accessed through Settings -> Language and Input -> Personal Dictionary) and give them optional shortcuts. This will make Android start using all of the rest of the words in your personal dictionary again.
(Also make sure that Google Spell Checker is the default spell checker, also accessed in Language and Input settings.)
This might sound like strange advice, but it worked for me.
Here's what I did, as I recounted in my comment above: So I tried to recreate your problem. I added a word to my personal dictionary, with no shortcut, and when I typed it, it got the squiggly red line! Strangely enough, once I added two more non-words to the personal dictionary (accessed via Settings -> Language and Input -> Personal Dictionary) and gave them optional shortcuts, the first word, still without an optional shortcut, was actually added to my dictionary and lost its red line. And any further words I added to the dictionary worked fully, immediately. So try adding two random English words with shortcuts to your pers. dict.

Em, I actually didn't do this, I tested my problem again to see whether this solution works and suddenly my problem went away. But here, have a few internet points :)

@RamRachum Ok? Well, glad your problem's fixed :D


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I have a yahoo and a google (Gmail) account
I always have used the yahoo account but don't remember the gmail account password. If the two accounts are linked, will I delete both if i delete one of them? Where could I locate the place where I could change/create the gmail account? It might be useful to have 2 email addresses
Sincerest of thanks for any guidance you could offer...
Stan

Deleting one account won't affect the other one(s).
On Android 4.x you can head to Settings (the gray gear icon app), then scroll down to Accounts and tap + Add account. You'll then be able to select which type of account you want to add (some of the possible options are Corporate, Email, Exchange and Google). If e.g. you want to add a new Gmail, select Google account and proceed. You'll be required to inform if you wish to add a New Google account or set up an Existing one. Tap New and proceed.
Once you've added your new Google account, you can e.g. access the People app (the one that gives access to all your contacts), then tap the button having 3 vertically aligned dots on the lower right corner:

...so you can tap Accounts to select your accounts and what you want to sync on each one (e.g. sync contacts). There will also be a Contacts to display option, which gives you the option to choose which contacts (from which accounts) you want displayed by the People app.


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Is there to set screen resolution/screen density by app?
I have a rooted Z3 compact running Android 5.0.2.
I've been using the Resolution Changer app to set my screen resolution, as I find it makes a huge difference in screen real estate and aesthetics. But a couple of apps don't seem to like it (menus appear strange, some text not displayed at all etc).
Is there a way (app, setting etc) to make it so that specific apps run on specific resolutions or at least, a screen resolution/density changer that lets you choose apps on which to ignore that setting?
My goal is to be able to have a specific resolution set for certain apps and have others display in the original resolution my phone has in its factory setting.
I'm hoping that's possible as I remember running custom ROMs on previous Android phones I've had that had different resolutions for some applications.

If you have xposed installed, App Settings does exactly that: Allow the DPI to be set for each app individually.

Hi, I'm not sure I do, mind linking to a guide?

Then you don't have it (you have to install it separately). You can find out more about xposed on xda-developers: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed