text:
Can I restore a deleted site to the Chrome search homepage?
Whenever I start Chrome, I get presented with a Google Logo, search bar and a grid of recent sites that I visited. This picture isn't from my phone, but you should get the idea:

One day I accidentally deleted one of those sites by tapping and holding the box and selecting "remove". Now I have absolutely no idea how to get it back on the front page.
Even though I visit the site several times a day, it flat out refuses to re-appear on this page and I cannot find any option or setting within Chrome to put it there.
Does anyone know how I can get a previously deleted site to re-appear on this page?

What worked for me was going to whatever site a few times directly from the bar in chrome (and not through search) and it re-appeared pretty quick. It's a bit unpredictable though. Give it a try and let me know if it works.

That is, unfortunately, the way I'm accessing the page right now. I've been doing this for about a week and it's still not showing any signs of coming back!

Ah! Yeah I figured it would be unpredictable. I'll have a poke around and see. I have chrome synched on a few devices but this particular screen does its own thing it seems. I just tired it in the new chrome, deleted everything from that screen and went to this page, and now it's on my list. Strange.

I recommend the Dolphin browser, where you can add links to the speed dial menu and also move them around

The entry that you boxed in the screenshot is a thumbnail and the entries that show up there are the most visited websites by you. For Chrome, they are collectively referred to as Top Sites.
There is a file in SQLITE format named Top Sites under the Chrome's data directory. Its location is /data/data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Default/.
You can't access this file without root access, neither you can backup the Chrome for it using ADB because backup is disallowed by Chrome.
If you've access to that file, simply force-stop Chrome for Android, pull the file into PC and open it in an SQLITE browser, like DB Browser for SQLITE.
Take backup of Chrome before proceeding to further steps.
The entries are saved in the table thumbnails. They are very easy to understand and edit, so no demo is required here.
I added the current page as a first entry, pushed the file back into its location, launched Chrome, and there it is:
(Click image to enlarge; hover to know details)

It's inconsequential thing to me since I don't use that feature at all, I don't even use Chrome actually! But I suppose the concept must be introduced to know what causes the sites to show up there, and how to bring or delete them. In that regard, this answer should should've been of good service.
Cheers!

Oh it happens a lot of time, and is not somthing you should be worried about.
Chrome displays those pages based  on the amount of activity you do on that page (as far as I understand it). So just keep using it until it reappears. Also bookmark it. It will help too.
And one more thing, less active pages are pushed downwards, replaced by more active once. And older once get pushed out of the grid till you can't see it, but however that does not mean they are deleted. If you delete the latest once, the old once reappear un the same order.
So maybe your page is still in the grid, but pushed out. Try deleting a few later once, and see if you get it back.
But the only sollution to this problem is to be more active on that page that the others. More active, the better.
And an unconventional alternate would be writting a program to do this work for you.
Hope this helps

9 months later and it's still not re-appeared despite being not only the most popular page I visit, but one I visit 2-3 times a day. As a result, I'm not convinced that "be more active on that page" is a solution.

Once you delete something from here, it blocks it from reappearing.

Richard is correct. It won't appear again not even after clearing the app's data. It will only appear if you first open the desired site, then remove all sites from the list: after that, the last active tab will be (the only site) added.


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Quiet hours "no vibration" not affecting SMS notifications
Running CM11 (Android 4.4).
When i turn Quiet Hours on, with the option "Disable vibrations" checked, my phone still vibrate on incoming SMS.
How can i achieve the following state, with Quiet Hours:

Low sound volume for everything
No vibration for anything

Thank you for help :)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Does rooting a SONY Xperia Z2 remove SONY specific features?
Dear Android Enthusiasts,
I'd like to root my new SONY Xperia Z2, but feeling a bit unsure about that I may loose SONY specific features. I'm new to Android (switched from iOS) and don't know how deep the SONY Android UI/Skin is integrated in the system. So I'm talking about noice-cancelling headphones, camera app, Xperia Lounge, ... Am I able to install and use these apps after routing?
In addition I got some other questions dedicated to this topic:

As if rooting does not fulfill my expectations, can I reliably restore a backup somehow without loosing any data/settings/...?
Am I right that rooting a device removes its guarantee? (And is there a way around?)
Is there a good website containing instructions about rooting and downloading sources? (deliberately objective question)
Am I able to install a pure/vanilla/stock android os on my device?

I know that I may find answers to my questions somewhere in the internet (I did search A LOT), but I experienced it's very hard to find reliable answers about the specific device "SONY Xperia Z2".

It's hard to find answers specific to your device because nothing about the question is specific to your device. Rooting is rooting, whatever device you have.

Okay. Thank you for clarifying this! I got confused about it when I looked at Anrdoid Central - Rooting your Android because it says "Not rooted yet, stay tuned!".

As I understand it, if you root your Z2 by unlocking the bootloader via Sony's official method, it will permanently blow away the phone's DRM keys. If you root your Z2 via a non-Sony-sanctioned exploit, you can back up the partition with the DRM keys first & can theoretically restore it at some later time (no hard guarantees, but at least it's a possibility instead of eliminated forever as an option).
I know a recent Sony update disabled the exploit that was popular for several months earlier in 2014, but it's possible that there's a new one now.
To wit: it's to your advantage to root the phone via unauthorized exploit, then back up the hidden partition with DRM keys so you can restore it to stock at some later point in time if desired and "have your cake & eat it too" (or if you prefer, avoid burning the bridge behind you).
If you use Sony's official method, you will PERMANENTLY lose any functionality that requires the DRM keys, and Sony won't allow you to get it back, regenerate the keys, or otherwise undo it.
On a related note, the Z3 goes a step further than the Z2, and stores driver libraries used by the camera in protected storage that gets disabled by unlocking as well.

Rooting itself did not remove any apps or functionality from your phone. It simply "opens" our operating system so any app can get full control over it. Most of the sony apps are available on the Google play store.
You do not loose any settings or apps (but sure, make a backup before).
Losing guarantee depends of the developer, as far as i remember sony official publish rooting manuals for some phones. But on the most phones (e.g. Samsung) you will lose your guarantee.
You where able to install a vanilla system, but this will remove the sony functions.

I just want to know on which device by Sony did you test your theory? The other answer (accepted) contradicts with your answer or the otherwise.

Which theory did you mean? Here are some guides from sony: http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/Android-development/GUIDE-How-to-Root-Xperia-Smartphones-2011-and-2012-Xperias/td-p/287857 http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/

Answer to your question, Rooting Xperia Z2 wont remove any SONY features.
But if you unlock your bootloader it will remove DRM Keys hence losing SONY features like X-Reality, Camera features etc.

If you love X reality, Sony Cam, Advanced Sony UI don't go with rooting, as far as your data concerned there will be no harm.
If needed to roll back you will get your all featured back.

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


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Unlock bootloader for Lenovo A1000-T
How did you go into fastboot mode? I am not able to figure out.
adb reboot bootloader
adb reboot-bootloader
adb reboot fastboot

None of them worked, However
adb reboot recovery

opens it in recovery mode. I have installed Lenovo Le Tools also.
Also tried to open it by pressing -
Vol down + Power (opens factory mode)
Vol up + Power (opens recovery mode)

Note - I have learnt that MediaTek devices doesn't have fastboot mode. I am trying to flash Ubuntu Mobile on my tab which first requires "OEM unlock" which can be done in fastboot mode but if it doesn't have fastboot mode then what's the alternative way?
Please help!

Your device isn't in the list of officially and unofficially supported devices, so I don't think you'll be able to install Ubuntu on it anyway. We can't help with the Ubuntu side of things here, though.

@DanHulme Thanks for commenting. My question is regarding bootloader. How to get it unlocked? Ububtu mobile is secondary thing.

Well developer options has bootloader unlocker (OEM Unlocking) I dont no how to use it but you might know If not contact your device manager.


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Why won't a fine-tip stylus work on my phones/tablet?
I've been using my tablet/phone for sketching with my finger for a long time.  Over the last year or so, I've been trying to find a fine-tipped stylus to make drawing easier, as fingers are unwieldy and imprecise.  I've purchased a few but none of them work with my Nexus 7, SGS2, LG G2, iPad, iPhone, etc.  The styluses with the fat, rounded, mesh-like pencil eraser sized tips work, but they have the same problem as my finger: they are too fat to see exactly where the tip is touching the screen.  Many styluses come with both ends, and I am left using the fat end every time.
I've searched up and down for a reason but I've not been able to find any sort of explanation really at all.  Can someone break down why the fat, pinky-like stylus tips work but the skinny, pen-like tips don't on (what appears to be) most touchscreens?   Am I simply out of luck, or is there a screen/stylus combination that will work for me?

Capacitive and resistive touchscreen technologies
Today's multi-touch screens are capacitive, unlike the resistive touchscreens from a decade ago. They work a bit like the way you can feel a static charge with the hair on your skin. The screen has a charge inside it, and when your finger comes near it, the capacitance of your finger attracts this charge. The screen can tell all the points where the charge is disturbed in this way, building up a picture of where you're touching it. That's why it can tell different fingers, and the more sensitive screens can tell fingers apart by their shape, and make a guess at how hard you're pressing.
The older resistive touchscreens just had two flexible conductive sheets with a gap in between them. When you apply pressure, it makes the sheets touch together, and the touchscreen hardware can find where that contact point is. Because of how it reads the contact point from the sheets, it can't understand more than one contact point, or a bigger area of contact.
So what?
This has two implications for a stylus. Styli for resistive screens need to be small for a precise touch, and can be any material (because they just need to apply pressure). A stylus for a capacitive touchscreen has to conduct electricity, but be covered with an insulator, to give it the capacitance (like your finger). They're commonly a conductive foam core covered with thin rubber. Usually the part you hold also needs to be conductive, to connect it to the greater capacitance of your body, but there are ways around this.
In addition, the tip needs to be wide enough to generate enough capacitance for the screen to register. In addition to the requirements of the hardware, most touchscreens also have some filtering in software, to avoid getting confused by sensor noise, tiny droplets of water, and other things.
For these two reasons, you can only use a stylus designed for capacitive touchscreens.
Foil hat time
You can make your own by sticking a small ball of aluminium foil to the end of any pen-like object with insulating tape. You just have to make sure your hand is in contact with the foil for it to work. This way, you can experiment with different sizes, to get the narrowest tip that works on your particular device.
Other options
If you still want something more precise, you'll need a phone or tablet that's designed to use a stylus. These phones have extra sensors in addition to the capacitive touchscreen, and they come with a special stylus that works with that sensor. Usually they detect induction fields (like a Wacom drawing tablet), and the stylus has an inductor built into it, but the details are different for different devices. Samsung's Note range of phones and tablets works this way, and Lenovo has a tablet (marketed at digital artists) that has a pressure-sensitive stylus like this as well as "palm rejection" software to avoid reacting to the bottom of your hand when you're drawing.

The banana plug on a set of headphones worked for me.
Just hold it from the rubber area and don't scratch the screen.


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Since which Android version does it started emulating the SDCard?
I know it's emulated in ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH_MR1 and over but I would like to know since which previous versions and preferable from official sources.
EDIT1:
Not an official source but I guess this answer my question (from The Commons Blog):

Android 3.0 changed this around, allowing internal and external
  storage to each be on the same partition, just in separate directory
  trees. This provided a lot more flexibility for users, as now there
  was no artificial hard distinction between space for internal storage
  and space for external storage. Device manufacturers still could elect
  to have external storage be a separate partition, or even be on
  removable media, but typically they did not.

@Izzy Thanks for the research. I don't have many pre-Honeycomb devices for testing here (actually only two Gingerbreads) and they both don't have an internal SD card. So I assumed that this feature was officially supported as of 3.x

Since no one besides you got interested in researching on this, I'll gladly accept your answer since there's no proved facts around this so far. But you can update your answer anytime if you happen to stumble until something solid. I'm going to search on the sources at AOSP when I get more time and as soon as I get into something I comment below your answer :)

Sure for the updates, I've especially bookmarked this question. I was researching into the very same topic either, as I need some details for the corresponding chapter of one of my books :) Give me a few more minutes – I've just come home, and have another resource in mind (a forensics book I own ;) and will check there before answering.

Short summary
It must have been introduced with Android 2.1 aka Eclair.
TL;DR
Though I cannot name a date (as I found no source for that), we can get a raw estimate. But to advance that, let's first take a look into history:
The first Android smartphone sold was the HTC Dream (also known as T-Mobile G1). As you can see in the device specs when following the link, this device had a little internal-storage (256 MB; also known as "device storage"), and featured a microSD slot. So no "internal SD card" here at all.
A bit later, we saw the first Nexus1 device released to the wild: The Google Nexus One came – you won't believe it – with a microSD slot and, no "internal SD card". Release date here was January 2010, and it shipped with Android 2.1 (aka "Eclair"). Mark the date and the Android version.
Now I've found an article on Android Browser Forensics dated 9/2010 (somewhere I've stumbled upon a copy dated 6/2010, but cannot find the link currently). They report having used the Samsung Galaxy S i9000, which according to GSMArena was released 6/2010 with Android 2.1. Quoting (emphasis mine):

Currently I’m running Android 2.1 Eclair
  […]
  Each option is checked by default. Click Capture. A folder is created on the internal sdcard called ‘forensics’ with 6 .csv files.

As you can see: This device was running Eclair and featured an internal sdcard (unless the blogger made a mistake here). As usually the Nexus devices are "state-of-the-art", but the one originally shipped with 2.1 had no internal sdcard (which is quite untypical for a Nexus – but this was the only one) – and another device introduced about 6 month later, also running Eclair, features such, I think it's pretty safe to assume that was about the time eMMC was introduced to Android devices as "internal sdcard".
Not a proof, but at least a "good shot" I'd say.
Now we come to the quote of your question: allowing internal and external storage to each be on the same partition was the next step, and introduced with Honeycomb (aka Android 3.0), with the switch being made from USB mass storage to MTP. This brought two advantages to the user: for one, being on the same partition there was less "wasted space". You no longer should run into the condition to get an insufficient-memory error with plenty of free space on your internal sdcard. And number two: this storage stayed available on the device even if mounted to a computer (so no apps crashing and widgets disappearing for that cause anymore). But it also has a disadvantage: most external data-recovery tools no longer work on the connected device, as they need "direct block-level access" – which MTP cannot provide.
So much for a short story on the "internal sdcard" – hope I not only entertained you a little, but also was able to answer your question, at least to a degree :)

1: For a history of Nexus devices, see this Wikipedia article

Thanks Izzy. A very summarized but complete answer as far as we can get. :)
Very interesting the explanation for the reasons why they designed the external and internal storage to live on the same partition.

Thanks! Glad you like it. If any of us comes to know closer details, let's meet here again :)

Sure! I'll have a look on the AOSP.


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APK files won't install
I have a Samsung Note 3. For the last 2 months, I can download APK files - for example, just downloaded the new Google Play Store here: http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/10/09/breaking-google-play-store-update-5-0-31-adds-even-more-material-design-highlights-and-moves-whats-new-to-the-top-apk-download/ and it's on the phone, but when I open it and go to install it, when I touch INSTALL - nothing happens. It's there, but it won't install. This happens with any APK. one caveat: in the past if I've rebooted into safe mode - which of course means with no downloaded apps running - then and only then can I install. Some 3rd party app might be blocking me from installing. That's all the info I got. Can you help?

Do you have a "screen dimmer" app running?

I read that when I Googled it but not too my knowledge. I actually went through all my settings to find something

Can you tap the 'cancel' button? If you can cancel but not install, then there is some app that is displaying a screen overlay (such as a screen dimmer, as mentioned by @DanHulme). Android does this so a screen overlay can't make it look like the buttons are swapped or changed.

Lol yes! The cancel button works just fine! So now what?

More details on "secured buttons" are in the developer documentation: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/View.html#Security

I had a blue light filter app running that dims the screen to prevent damage to your eyes, and it was apparently blocking the installation of APKs and the selection of certain menu options in other cases.


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Moto G 2014: Maximum upload speed?
According to specs the 2nd gen. Moto G has network support for: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+ up to 21 Mbps (850, 1700 (AWS), 1900 MHz)
What's the actual maximum upload speed?

"UMTS/HSPA+ up to 21 Mbps" -> Isn't that your answer? The network+radio have a theoretical limit of 21 Mbps, ergo...that's the limit.

@eldarerathis In both directions?

According to Wikipedia: High Speed Packet Access and Evolved HPSA, HSPA+ has a theoretical maximum download of 84 Mbps and an upload of 10.8 Mbps. Using Dual Cell Technology, it can be doubled to 168 Mbps download and 22 Mbps upload.
This suggests that the upload speed will not be anywhere close to the download speed.
Doing a search for HSPA+ 21 Mbps, most results show 3G USB devices with a max upload of about 5.7 Mbps.
GSMArena also lists the Moto G (2014) as having an HSUPA of 5.76 Mbps.

The GSMArena specs answer my question: HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) is the protocol for upload.


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Check the source of a toast message
Notifications have a handy feature where lo g pressing brings up the App Info option, which let's you track down the source of strange notifications.
I keep getting toast messages and I can't figure out where they're coming from. Is there any way to track down what app is sending them?

Is your device rooted?

Yes my device is rooted

This is possible on rooted devices with Android 4.0.3 or later.  It requires installation of Xposed framework and a module called "Buttered Toast".  This module appends the name of the app to the text of the toast message.

Download and side-load the latest version of Xposed module installer from here.
Open the Xposed Installer app, tap on "Framework", and tap on "Install/Update" button.  This copies all the necessary libraries and scripts to the /system partition.
Reboot your device.
Once the device boots back up, open the Xposed Installer app, tap on "Download", tap the search button (looks like a magnifying glass) on top-right, and type in "buttered toast" (without quotes).
The module should be listed under the "Not Installed" section. Tap on the "Buttered Toast" module, tap on the "Versions" tab, tap the Download button.  This downloads the module.
Once the module downloads, it will attempt to install itself.  Tap the "Install" button on the presented dialog, and then tap the "Done" button to get back to Xposed Installer app.
Go back to Xposed Installer's main screen, and tap on "Modules".  Tap the empty check-mark next to the "ButteretToast" module to activate it.
Close the Xposed Installer app and reboot your device.

Once the device boots up again, all the toasts will have their corresponding app's name added in the beginning.  You may also want to install a similar "Burnt Toast" module (repeat steps 4 through 8 for this module,) which also adds the app's icon into every toast.

Awesome! thanks.  one question, can Buttered and Burnt work together, or is it one or the other?

They do work together, but the toasts to get kind of cramped and over-sized :)

Thanks! I knew about Xposed but never really knew what it did.  I've used it for a Netflix problem on an earlier ROM.


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Unfortunately, Mail has stopped
I have an HTC One M8 and am using the stock launcher and am not rooted.
I keep getting the error Unfortunately, Mail has stopped. when I try opening the stock HTC mail app.
I have gone into the App Info for the mail app and tried to "Clear cache" but it doesn't look like it's doing anything.
I have also gone to Settings>Accounts & Sync>Exchange ActiveSync and unchecked Mail in the account that is using it.
I have also tried rebooting my phone.
Any other tips or advice aside from basically wiping the phone?
Thanks

Is this a recent occurrence or has it always behaved this way?

Recent. It just started last night.

A bug may have corrupted the app's data. You could try resetting the 'data' portion instead of just the 'cache'. This would essentially make the app reset to factory default (but only that app, not the rest of the phone).
You would have to redo all of your settings, but the important parts (emails) are on the exchange server, so it wouldn't be too difficult to get back to the way things were.

I would suggest to clear the "Data" not the cache, if the problem is still persistent or has happened after a recent update then try to roll back to the factory version.


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How to stop Firefox for Android from constantly displaying its Mozilla tab
Every time I let my phone display turn off, and then unlock it and return to Firefox, or just go to another app or hit my home button and then go back to Firefox, it's showing its Mozilla tab. That's the one that lists the following items: About Firefox, FAQs, Give feedback, Show product announcements, Telemetry, Crash Reporter, and Firefox Health Report.  I can hit the back button on my phone and get back to whatever page it was viewing, but then as soon as I leave and come back, that list is up again. I'm using Android version 2.3.6 and Firefox version 32.0.3 on a MyTouchQ phone.

What Firefox version is this? What phone and Android version do you have? I've never seen the behaviour you describe, so I'd like to know more.

@DanHulme I updated the question. I also have a 2013 Nexus 7 with Firefox on it and yeah, I've never had this problem on that device.

I think this question here on the Mozilla Support site is a similar problem to yours:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1013146
Otherwise...try uninstalling/re-installing the app. Also...you could always download a different browser.

Thanks, but that is a different issue. When I open a new tab, I get the normal top sites/history/etc page.  It's just when I click the home button on my phone or go to another app, I get that Mozilla tab overlay.  I forgot to mention in my initial question that I did try uninstalling and reinstalling.


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One Plus One - CM11 - Failing to complete OTA
I've updated the ContactsProvider.apk file in sys/priv-app. However, I'm trying to flash the latest CM update and I keep running into a hash miss-match. In specific:
assert failed: apply_patch_check("/system/priv-app/ContactsProvider.apk", "fb6e94a195230a7d056372699dfe01a7ad7cefad", "4be1a92ade982716f9f64e53a48bdbb6dad997a")

With this, I'm unable to complete the flash through TWRP. I'm on the latest img (v2.8.0.1) and have already tried restoring to an earlier backup to see if the file would go back to its original state. When I restore, everything goes back (as expected) but the file in question does not. I've also tried to adb sideload the update and that wasn't successful either.
I'm looking for suggestions that might help me get passed this, even if it means a full wipe or reset.

The error is telling you that it won't apply because the system you currently have doesn't match the base that the update is meant to apply to, because you've updated this file. Don't keep trying to apply the update: if you can somehow circumvent the check and flash the update anyway, the result will be a broken OS.
If you still have the original ContactsProvider.apk file, restoring it will allow the update to apply.
If you can't restore the original ContactsProvider.apk, then you won't be able to apply any further updates. You need to download a complete Cyanogenmod image and flash that. OTA updates will then work again, so long as you don't edit any more OS files.

Thanks for the advice. I've flashed the version I have currently and it updated all the system files. I then flashed the new bacon snapshot and it worked out.


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How clean master measure device temperature
Clean master app latest version added the feature device cooler when CPU is overheating.
I want to know that how this app measure the temperature of device if there is no hardware support (sensor) is present in device? They are giving real time device temperature...
I want to know that how they measure this real time temperature of the device?

if there is no hardware support (sensor) is present in device

That's your mistaken assumption. Even dumbphones contain digital thermometers, to allow them to protect themselves against overheating when charging. Most smartphones will contain more than one temperature sensor: one in the battery, to detect if the battery is overheating, and one attached to the SoC, too see how warm it is getting under load. The SoC temperature is needed for the phone to be able to power-manage correctly, and to underclock the CPU and GPU if they're getting too hot.


text:
CWM recovery can't find the kernel image
I wanted to root and upgrade my Galaxy i9003 to Jelly Bean. I followed this guide and flashed CWM on the phone. But then the phone doesn't boot in normal mode and Samsumg logo keeps flashing forever.
I've put the CM 11 kernel on the external card but when I boot into recovery, CWM can't find it. The list of directories (on the sd card) it shows is not complete and it shows the same directories on the internal card even after I did a factory reset and wiped the caches.
Any way to save the day? Can I flash the CM 11 kernel using Odin?

Did you follow the directions in the order prescribed? Did you use the corrrect version of CWM? Did you select the right files? Did you clear cache and dalvik-cache? Did you select the proper kernel? …It might be a pain, but restart from scratch (also a freshly formatted SD card). It could be a step wasn't followed properly. As to using Odin, you need to figure out where the problem is first.

I did all of that. I'm not sure I'm using the right CWM kernel. In the guide that I linked there are 2 links to the kernel download. One of them seems to be generic and the other one has different downloads for various firmware. I used the generic one. I couldn't find the kernel for my firmware. maybe that's the problem. But I can't remember the firmware name! I just flashed the generic kernel again and the phone is stuck in reboot.

Those 2 files you are talking about are for firmware, not the kernel. You need to search for that. Figure out which firmware that you have then pick from Kernel search page. Then continue with the guide

I can't remember the babseband version and the phone doesn't boot so I can't find it out. I remember I couldn't find a kernel specific for it back then. Is there any way to erase CWM?

Yes you flash a different recovery over the other one. You can flash either CWM or TWRP. But you should use which ever the guide is using.


text:
insufficient space
i have qmobile a700 whenever i download new thing an error occurred insufficient space and i have all the data to sd card but still i get the same error if anyone know how to fix this then plz help me out I have tried many other ways but still the problem persist and the app-lib method that one was out of my understanding   .. i'll be waiting for your positive response thanks in advance :)

If your device is rooted, you can download the Link2SD application from Google Play. It can link all the applications to SD card leaving your phone memory with a lot of space.


text:
How to use the S5 fingerprint scanner with full device encyption?
I am using the S5 and have decide to fully encrypt the device and the sd card. My biggest problem is that now the fingerprint is no a possible choice as a lockscreen security. Only password.
I believe changing lockscreen.password_type would solve the problem, but I have yet to find the value for fingerprint unlocking: (0 is for no locks, 65536 is for pattern lock, 131072 is for pin lock, etc)
Anyone can help?


text:
Android device beginning to go out of control when I reboot it
Sometime back I had connected my Android mobile HTC Explorer to a compromised system. It has been about one year since then.
Sometimes my phone tends to react in strange ways. Sometimes(once or twice), calls were made. I tried scanning with my antivirus but no avail. I even factory reset the phone many times, but now a strange thing is happening to my phone.
As soon as I reboot my phone, when it is connected to the power supply, it begins to go out of control. It seems like some buttons are pressed inside and new apps and windows open. New browser windows etc open and sometimes calls are made,and games installed. I have to manually cancel the calls. But it is only on bootup.
I did not notice it some other time. What do you think is wrong in my phone? If malware is present, why does antivirus fail to detect it? I am really worried because I use the phone for transactions. Or is it some hardware problem? What should I do?

Its a very common thing i have seen with HTC (might be valid for others but i have only used HTC)
You should change your "Charger" and the "Data Cable" used along that charger ... the Data cable does this auto opening of apps and touching of buttons .. try borrowing someones charger and putting it in you will notice it gets fine..


text:
Why Google Play Store only allows free apps in Myanmar?
I am an Android developer and noticed that my apps can not be sold in Myanmar (and other countries) - the country appears in the list but with a strikethrough formatting.
I found a post on XDA forum asking the same.
Does Google enforce an export restriction of any kind?

Android developers in Myanmar still are excluded from paid app distribution to their home country in 2015. Any update from Google?

I updated the title based on current condition (developer can put free apps on Play Store). However, I couldn't find any official statement from Google about paid apps in Myanmar, and thus make this question opinion-based. Also, developer-related question is actually off-topic here, since this site focuses on end-users instead.

Burma or Myanmar had been sanctioned since 1997 by the U.S. due to the political system. The U.S. plans on lifting the sanctions  starting 2013 because Myanmar began to allow democratic elections (Source: Wikipedia). Not all sanctions have been lifted, yet but Google plans on expanding to Myanmar in the future.
From qz.com here:

"Google Play… and Google Wallet? The Google Play store, the app store
  for Android phones, has been blocked in Myanmar because of
  international sanctions that restrict payments to the country.
  Instead, locals use pirate app stores, which work with their
  jailbroken phones. Google plans to open the Google Play store in the
  near future, and already the country’s app developers report
  restrictions are coming down."

From the US Treasory Department sanction document:

"With certain exceptions, U.S. persons (both individuals and entities)
  are prohibited from transferring, paying, exporting, withdrawing, or
  otherwise dealing in the property and interests in property of an
  individual or entity on OFAC’s list of Specially Designated Nationals
  and Blocked Persons (“SDN List”), including those listed in the Annex
  to E.O. 13310, E.O. 13448, and E.O. 13464, or determined by the
  Secretary of the Treasury [...]"


text:
How do I make sure my notes and highlights from Google Play Books are saved when I factory reset my Android phone?
I need to unlock my Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, Android ver. 4.2.2, and I'm not sure if the notes I took on my books using the Play Books app will still be there after the reset. I need all those notes for school and it would take forever to copy them all down.

You can check from your PC on this address that all your notes and highlights from Google Play Books are saved in the cloud and not in your device:
https://play.google.com/books/


text:
Device not accerpting APKs from other android device. (through Bluetooth)
I am  trying to transfer APKS from my Moto G to Android one through Buetooth (I have unknown sources enabled) but it is not being transferred. What do I do?

You can download ES File Explorer and change the file's extension to txt, like this:

So when the other device gets the file, you remove the ".txt" and it'll be an APK again.

The easiest way around this is to download apk share !
You can create apk's for your apps and share them through different means !
Link to app : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kayan.nurav.apkshare&hl=en&referrer=utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dorganic%26utm_term%3Dapk+share&pcampaignid=APPU_8xc6VIiBA8e0uQSTiYJo


text:
Change swipe up home button shortcuts
I have a Nexus 5 with ParanoidAndroid and I'd like to change that Google Now shortcut to lightbulb, how can I do it?

You can use SwipeUp Utility to change the behaviour of the search action (swiping the home button) to launch a different app or shortcut.
I've contributed to this app (I helped the author fix a bug) but I've no financial interest in it.


text:
Tinder app won't work without Google Play services
I was trying to use the latest version of Tinder 3.3.1 but each time I get the following message:

Get Google Play services
This app won't work without Google Play services, which are missing from your phone.

Since this is not covered by their FAQ and their support service ignored my inquiry, what is the reason for this happening? Why would Tinder need an active Gmail account on the phone? I'm asking since I use my Android device without a Google account, hence I'm not sure whether to expect Tinder to work correctly or not.
In other words, what Tinder functionality could possibly break?
I also noticed an additional notification from Tinder:

Failed to Enable Push Notifications. Your Google account credentials are invalid.

Could this explain why I am not getting any matches?

Needing Google Play Services installed isn't the same thing as needing a Gmail account, nor even a Google account. Why do you say it is the latter?

Well, I have Google Market pre-installed with the phone. But I never connected it to a Google account. Still, I get the "Google Play services" error message. What would explain this?

What Android version are you on? If you still have Android Market instead of Google Play, it's almost certainly too old to run Tinder.

I'm running 2.3.4 Gingerbread, and Tinder's FAQ advertises Android 2.3+ support.

Disclosure: I don't use Tinder. This answer is based on general knowledge about Play Services.

What is the reason for this happening?

Looks like Google Play services is not installed on the device or updated. To install it, please refer to Install Google Play Services without Google Play Store. To update it, please refer to Google Play Store or download manually (e.g. from APK Mirror)

Why would Tinder need an active Gmail account on the phone?

As mentioned in the comment by Dan Hulme, "Needing Google Play Services installed isn't the same thing as needing a Gmail account, nor even a Google account." which is partially true regarding Google account (read the next section).

In other words, what Tinder functionality could possibly break?

For Tinder-specific functionality, possibly nothing. However, as already stated in the question,

Failed to Enable Push Notifications. Your Google account credentials are invalid.

The Tinder app may not be able to receive any push notifications (through Google Cloud Messaging). If it is not a concern, then this message can be ignored. However, setting up a Google account is needed on Android 2.x. From Google Cloud Messaging documentation,

It uses an existing connection for Google services. For pre-3.0 devices, this requires users to set up their Google account on their mobile devices. A Google account is not a requirement on devices running Android 4.0.4 or higher.

(Emphasized added)

Could this explain why I am not getting any matches?

As explained in OP's self-answer, no, the matchmaking system has nothing to do with Google Play services and Google Cloud Messaging.

Thanks for the explanations. "you won't get any push notification from Tinder (through Google Cloud Messaging). If you don't care about it, then you may just ignore it." What type of notifications would one expect to be sent via GCM? It's not obvious to me that I'm lacking any app functionality...

I still can't really say since I haven't tested Tinder, but basically it's a notification similar to WhatsApp when a new message comes, or when there is a new email from any Email Client app. However, since I read from the FAQ that there is a messaging function, perhaps you won't get any notifications from Tinder when there is a new message. This is more of a speculation than a fact, though.

OK, I see then. Probably on new messages you don't get Android wide notification, but you can still see within Tinder if a new message arrives. So no biggy...

Actually the app seems to work just fine. I am getting matches, can chat with them, so it looks like Tinder's error message is erroneous.
In any case no obvious functionality appears broken.

My device never finished finding people - as if it could not lock a location. Can you confirm you don't have Google Play Services installed?

@Hugo Yes, no configured Google Play. Sometimes the app needs restarting to work properly, or GPS re-enabled...

Actually, I left it open for quite a while longer, and Play Services kept crashing (all I saw was the error "Unfortunately Google Services has crashed"), while Tinder didn't get any data. Using the Amazon Apps version solved the issue for me.

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


text:
Fake homescreen loading every 60 seconds on an S3! How to stop it?
It started two days ago when my S3 on 4.1 would make noises and then a fake "homescreen" (which has functioning shorcuts! <--- how is that possible?) would popup every 60 seconds and sometimes every 2 min. In the middle of using other apps it just pops on tbe screen. I haven't done any updates or anything but I  have been trying some free software off Google Play but I'm sure I have uninstalled all of those...so first the  popup homescreen which is not what my real homescreen looked like it was Accuweather related so checked "active applications" and tried to delete every weather related thing but I couldn't find anything Accuweather related...here is a photo of the popup screen which is not my real screen:.... can you see the photo? (the pic is above the post now lol)...so I tried playing with the wallpaper settings etc. nothing is working.  Is it a virus?  Any tips? And, when I press my home button the fake screen shows up and I can't click on my real homescreen.  I just keep having to press the grey x on the fake screen to get back to normal....but then it sometimes comes back up seconds later.
Edit: Gotten worse now...every single time I try to get to my homescreen it goes to the screen in the attached photo so I can't open new apps, make calls...
Edit 2.0: so somehow it looks related to the docking function?  I unchecked every setting related to docking, homescreens etc. but of course when I press settings from my real screen it only affects my real screen...when the fake screen pops up it has a settings option but I'm so lost why I have two screens.  I have also never ever used the dock feature on tbe phone ever.
OS: 4.1

Can you get to the settings from the notification tray and force-stop it?

DanHulme I'm not sure what you mean...I don't see it as an active application...


text:
Move apps to internal SD card
My phone has 3 storage spaces available:

Internal storage - Internal storage for the OS and non-movable apps (1GB)
Phone storage - Integrated SD card (~1GB)
SD card - Removable SD card

When I got to Settings > Apps > [any movable app], I only see the "Move to SD Card" button (even if I change the default write disk) but I'd like to be able to move apps to the "Phone storage" so that I can save space on my external SD card and be able to remove it without crashing everything.
Is there a way to do this, possibly without changing the default write disk?
(My phone is rooted so I have no problem using root hacks)

From what I understand, you have three storage devices. You don't want to change your default storage disk, but you want to take the applications off of your SD Card and onto your phone to conserve SD Card storage -- is this right? If so, you can use something like All-In-One Toolbox which will allow you to move apps to different storage devices. I use this on my Android device as well.

"SD card" space isn't a problem (I have a 16GB SD card). I'd like to move the apps to "Phone storage" so I can unmount my "SD Card" and still have all my apps and because "Phone storage" isn't being used at all.
Even if I change the default write disk, it still allows me to move apps only to "SD card".
I tried All-In-One Toolbox but it also doesn't allow me to move apps to "Phone storage", just "SD card". This seems to be the case with all similar apps (and android settings).

Can I ask for the model of the phone? It also varies on the phone. I've double-checked on my phone and All-In-One-Toolbox does offer "Move to Phone Storage." But then again so does my default Android Settings without root. So it depends on stock ROM and Android model. I'll definitely try and help once I know the model.

Its GSmart (Gigabyte) Aku A1 with stock android 4.2.1. You probably won't find much about it online since it's a kinda lame phone (it's cheap tho :D)

Settings -> Application Manager -> App you want to move -> Change storage
But this depends on the model of the phone, try finding the storage related settings of your app in Application Manager

I believe Apps2SD is what you are after. I have tested it on Moto E 1st Gen, which also has limited internal memory.
Bear in mind, the apps you shift to SD card will load slow on your device. It will be very frustrating to use any app. A class 10 memory card is highly suggested, although I myself used a Strontium's class 10 SD card, but it still gives performance issues when accessing apps stored in the SD card. You should have TWRP recovery so you could partition your memory card, have 2-3GB as EXT and the rest of it as FAT partitioned.
The EXT partition is the partition where your app's private data( /data/data, libs, obb, etc.) will be stored. The app basically moves the data and makes a link in /data/data directory.
The app can also move all the dalvik/ART cache to your SD card, hence freeing your internal memory but making it much slower.(Accessing data from external storage for every instance/process is rather a slow process).
My experience: After shifting all the user installed apps and cache to SD, the Moto E started lagging and it started working very slowly. I then, kept the cache in Internal Memory and kept only the apps I needed, and shifted offline dictionary app(+100MB of obb file), and 2 more apps which I only use 2-3 times a day. Don't link WhatsApp or Facebook, it will be very slow on your device.
After uninstalling a linked app, you would need to use the Broken App Cleaner option to completely delete the app, else the app will show itself in app drawer after a reboot.
PS: I am not a developer of this app, or anyway related to developing this app. I bear no responsibility if you end up with software issues. I have used it and still using it out of compulsion.

The best app I've found to move apps between storage mediums is here. I had some issues with the app finding the internal and phone storage, but it's worth a shot. It's what I always use to transfer apps to my MicroSD cards. The only issue I ever had with it (besides not showing all three storage locations) is that you have to move one app at a time, which can be time consuming. Hope this works for you!

afaik this app won't let to choose between internal/external sd cards

Yeah, I noticed that recently as well. It use to work great but for some reason it isn't any more. I haven't yet found a way to move apps between my internal memory and external MicroSD card yet. I just decided to keep my apps on my phone and store my movies, music, and offline maps on my external card. This leaves me with more free space on my internal storage to add more apps. If you only have 16GB I know that can fill up very quickly though. I wish I had a better solution for you. Hope you have better luck than I have!


text:
HTC desire bravo sim card is always ejecting
I have to hold the card in place while using the phone otherwise it pushes itself out. When troubleshooting the problem, being as gentle as possible by the way, it clicks into place but doesn't catch and is pushed out by the spring lock.

Sounds like the micro SD card slot is physically broken on your phone. You need to take it to a technician to fix it, or return it if it's new or still under warranty.

authors: นางสาวลัดดา หมวกเฟือง


text:
Lock screen won't reset to swipe from numeric
My Galaxy Note 3 won't go back to swipe to unlock the home screen after I set it to a numeric code. I see a note on the screen that says "Android device administrator has turned off the...." or something to that effect.
How can I remove my numeric lock and go back to using a swipe to unlock? Would unlocking or rooting help at all?

There are a number of reasons why you may not be able to downgrade to a swipe-unlock.
Exchange Email
If you have an Exchange email account set up, many times the Exchange admins won't let you connect unless your phone agrees to certain security precautions, such as setting up an unlock code.
Solution: Remove the account, or install an Email app that lies to the Exchange server, saying it is compliant when it really isn't.
Device Administrator
Check in Settings->Security->Device Administrators to see if there are any active apps listed. One or more may be requiring an unlock code.
Solution: Uncheck the apps listed. Note that those apps may no longer function properly.
Device Encryption
Not applicable in your specific situation, but enabling Device Encryption will also prevent you from removing a screen lock.

If you have the option, set up your mail account as IMAP.  I had this problem on my Nexus5 with Marshmallow update and could not figure out how to resolve this for the life of me.  One of the other IT guys (I'm in the IT department, lol) told me to set up my mail as an IMAP account.  After that, no more forced security policy, and I was able to specify how I want to unlock my phone for normal use.
Clearing credentials did not work for me at all.
Also, to clarify, this had nothing to do with the update/patch.  It happened after I changed my email password and tried to change on the phone as well.  I suppose you could say that the update did it though. :)

What does the mail account have to do with the lock screen?

As Stephen Schrauger said above, Exchange admins may require only certain types of security locking mechanisms.  I asked the other IT guy in my group, and he said we don't do anything outside of the defaults in this regard, but then he told me to set up the email as IMAP.  The gist is that email admins may not have changed the default settings for the Exchange server (and likely won't for one user), but one can also try IMAP to get around the locking problem caused by Exchange.

Firstly go to settings >security >device administrators and check what isn't checked.
If you realise something that is supposed to be checked isn't .. Check it and then see if the problem still exists !

Go to Settings → Security then hit Clear Credentials.

Can you explain how to do this? Maybe use a screenshot to show where this is.

If your email account is already set up as an IMAP like yuletak suggests but you still have the problem, clearing the credentials worked for me.


text:
How to Prevent all contacts being added to WhatsApp
WhatsApp pulls all contacts from my phone. How can I limit this behaviour? Making it choose only those which are necessary?

You can use XPrivacy so long as you are rooted to EASILY limit this behavior.
You simply select WhatsApp within XPrivacy and check off "Contacts" then it will disallow it(WhatsApp) to access your contacts.
If you are NOT rooted, I do not believe it is possible to stop.

Note that XPrivacy can block or grant access to all contacts, but I don't think it can allow/block specific subsets of contacts. It isn't that granular.


text:
How to reduce minimum internal storage free space when installing/updating applications
On my Nexus 4, if the free space on the internal storage goes below 500MB the phone is unable to install/update apps (reports "There is insufficient space on the device")
From what I've found online, all the guides/forums etc. only suggest how to free up more space on the device, rather than suggest how to reduce this (to me, seemingly high) limit.
Is this because it's somehow hard coded into Google Play/Android? Or is it somehow possible to reduce this limit?


text:
How do I hard reset my Samsung Galaxy S2?
I have forgotten my password. I have seen some answers to similar questions, but they are all the same. I have tried these, but it always asks me for my password, which is the reason I can't get into my phone. This is also the reason I need to reset my phone.

What password? Are you referring to the PIN code? Also, what have you tried? Have you tried doing a Factory Reset via Recovery mode? Please edit your question with more details.

Turn the phone off, or take the battery out. Put the battery back in and hold VOLUME UP and the HOME key, then the POWER. Hold all three until you see it says recovery mode. When you get to the android, press both volume buttons together and it will show the recovery menu. The rest should be self explanatory.


text:
Moto G 2nd Gen - caught in a boot loop
My Moto G 2nd Gen, got caught in a boot loop. My phone keeps restarting, but doesn't get past the screen where Motorolla symbol with 'powered by android'title at the bottom shows up. Is there a known solution for this problem ??

did U got any sol?

@PadmaKumar I did..I had to factory reset my mobile. Follow the link in my answer below.

I had to factory reset my mobile. If you don't know how to do that, you can  refer  this artice...


text:
Can I use a Canadian Google Play gift card on an American account and vice versa?
Can I use a Canadian Google Play gift card on an American account and vice versa?

NO, as per Google Play balance restrictions:

Can only be used for purchases on Google Play.
Can only be used to purchase or rent content sold in the same currency.

If you redeemed an Australian Google Play gift card or promotional
  code and then travel to Germany, you won't be able to redeem your
  Google Play balance since paid content in Germany is sold in Euros.

Google Play balance can't be used to purchase devices on Google Play. Google Play balance can be used to pay for subscriptions on Google Play Music and Google Play Newsstand but can't be used to pay for other types of subscriptions.


text:
Which filesystems get overwritten when applying a ROM?
I'd like to better understand the process of writing a ROM (a zip package) to my Android phone.
Checking with adb shell, the following filesystems are mounted on my phone:
rootfs / rootfs ro,relatime 0 0

none /acct cgroup rw,relatime,cpuacct 0 0
none /sys/fs/cgroup tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=750,gid=1000 0 0
none /dev/cpuctl cgroup rw,relatime,cpu 0 0

devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=600 0 0
proc /proc proc rw,relatime 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw,seclabel,relatime 0 0
selinuxfs /sys/fs/selinux selinuxfs rw,relatime 0 0

/sys/kernel/debug /sys/kernel/debug debugfs rw,relatime 0 0
/dev/fuse /mnt/shell/emulated fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0

tmpfs /dev tmpfs rw,seclabel,nosuid,relatime,mode=755 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/asec tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/obb tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/fuse tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=775,gid=1000 0 0

/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 /efs ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,user_xattr,barrier=1,journal_async_commit,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/mmcblk0p9 /system ext4 ro,seclabel,noatime,user_xattr,barrier=1,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/mmcblk0p8 /cache ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,errors=panic,user_xattr,barrier=1,journal_async_commit,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/mmcblk0p10 /preload ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,user_xattr,barrier=1,journal_async_commit,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/mmcblk0p12 /data ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,user_xattr,barrier=1,journal_async_commit,data=ordered,noauto_da_alloc,discard 0 0

Now, to the best of my knowledge, only the last five actually correspond to non-volatile memory. Could you explain what's the structure of such a zip package, and which devices are overwritten when a ROM update occurs through ODIN or CWM recovery?

possible duplicate of Do I need to wipe anything before restoring a full nandroid backup?

Not a duplicate, but possibly related. The other question 1) applies to nandroid restores, not to ROMs and 2) is not about which filesystems get overwritten, but rather about whether a wipe is needed to ensure a 'clean' restore.

Adding point 3: that might well depend on the image, and the device.

As Izzy has said, this entirely depends on the device and the particular image you are flashing.  Some might flash a new recovery, some not.  Some might flash only the system partition and leave your data alone.  There are even packages that will flash a new bootloader.
If you want to see what a ROM contains, you should open it up and have a look.  Here is a basic explanation of the structure of a kernel flash package.


text:
How to flash TWRP over CWM recovery in Nexus 5?
In order to upgrade my encrypted CyanogenMod installation I need to use the TWRP recovery instead of the CWM.
I have already tried multiple ways to flash TWRP recovery including ROM Manager but it always gets back to CWM when I boot to recovery.
Any solutions?

You didn't specify which device you own, but by the tag I assume it is a Nexus 5.
Flashing TWRP is pretty easy, especially on Nexus devices.
Download the newest .img file here:
http://techerrata.com/file/twrp2/hammerhead/openrecovery-twrp-2.8.0.1-hammerhead.img
Turn off your device.  Turn on the device and keep holding volume down until a menu shows up.  The device will now be in fastboot mode. Plug the device into your computer.  If you have the right drivers installed, your screen should now say FASTBOOT USB.  Run the following command via the command line (in the directory the ADB is installed):
fastboot flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.8.0.1-hammerhead.img
Note you will also need adb and fastboot for your computer.
If you don't have ADB or the correct drivers installed, I recommend downloading Wugfresh Nexus toolkit from here:
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=95747613655047107
And follow the instructions for installing the drivers.
OR - if for some reason you're having trouble with the above, just download Wugfresh Nexus toolkit (link above) and select root my device (make sure to check 'install custom recovery').

yep it worked with fastboot!

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


text:
htc desire z root shell
I'm trying only to get a root shell, not persistent, don't want to flash any kind of image or install closed/proprietary apk, nor run scripts/exploits that write/erase/modify any flash.
For a newer device has been just a matter of few mins, found an exploit, compiled, pushed, executed, got the root shell, instead this one seem to be unbreakable, already spent hours trying different approaches :-|
2.6.35.10-g53a84f9 (htc-kernel@and18-2) - Android/2.3.3
Suggestions?

zergRush did it, seems to be the only one working, I just did some personal change to not remount /data and not set any property but just chmod an adb pre-pushed /data/local/tmp/su.


text:
No sim card detected?
my SE Xperia Arc S started going crazy today, it didn't detect the sim card, so I've tried reseting the phone to factory settings, but it still wasn't detected, I've also installed a new rom, to no avail. Is there any way to fix this or do I have to get a new phone?
NOTE: the sim card works in another phone, other sim cards are not detected in mine either.

try installed some sim utility app like https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androidyou.simcardinfo&hl=en
then check the reading there.
if still no luck, the sim slot of the phone might be broken. in this point , it's a hardware issue.


text:
Notification Access in KitKat
Can someone tell me where the Notification Access is placed in KitKat.
In JellyBean it used to be under Settings -> Security.

What is "the Notification Access"? What phone do you have? Different phones have different settings.

It's still in Settings > Security on my Nexus 5.
This option will only appear if there are apps that register as being able to read notifications. (I have verified this by uninstalling the apps that appeared in the list, and the option was no longer there)

I can't see it, either on emulator running KitKat or my real device Samsung Galaxy S4

It's not there on mine either, but I don't think I have any apps installed that have permission to access notifications anyway.  Maybe the setting doesn't appear if there'd be nothing to configure?

No that's not the reason. I am developing an app which needs permission to access notifications to work correctly. With that app installed on my device I still cant see the setting.

It would appear that your app is not registering that it wants to read notifications correctly - see my edit.

Have to double check that @bmdixon, but I think my app should be configurated correctly as it shows upp in Notification Acces on Jelly Bean

On my Galaxy S5 KitKat, Notification Access is under Sounds and Notifications

I used to get there via apps like Pushbullet

Seems very strange if you need to use a app to access it, are you sure this is the only way to access this?

I think it's like "hidden" or something.

I found it on Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 as follows.
Settings -> General -> Security -> DEVICE ADMINISTRATION -> Notification access -> allow for your app.

On my Alcatel pixi3 (4) (don't laugh) it's under advanced network settings. You get to this via the 'hard' menu button from the WiFi network selection screen.


text:
Why doesn't My phone recognize my SD card?
My phone ( Trend plus) doesn't recognize my SD card. It's been working for almost 2 years now, I don't know what happened, did I damage it somehow, I don't know.

Is that SD card works in other devices such as another mobile or in PC.. ??

Try your SD card in another phone or a computer. If it works, then it's probably your phone. Try an SD card that you already know is working in your phone and see if it reads it. If it doesn't, then it's definitely your phone but it could be the SD slot itself or a software problem. If another card works in your phone and your card works in other phones, then I don't know what to tell you; use a working card, I guess. :)

Your SD card probably suffered Heat death: try in computer (with adapter)
If you get nothing; it requires an expert to [Maybe] get data off of it.
I have had SD cards die suddenly on me too.


text:
Samsung S3Mini - Charge/Discharge problems
I've got a strange problem on my S3Mini; two weeks ago has started to behave strangely, emitting the sound of charge/discharge while not connected to the AC adapter and setting the battery icon in the status with the "loghtining" as it was connected on charge.
I've cleaned up the mini usb connector, thinking that maybe it was dirty and it was making some strange contacts but it has not solved anithing.
Two days later it has started to not recognise when attached or disconnected to the charger; it recognize the status only if connected or disconnected while rebooting.
The battery is fine; charging up, even if the phone says it is on battery, and then rebooting show then the real value of the battery.
If I reboot with the charger attached the phone charge and then says for the rest of the day "100%, disconnect from the charger" even when I've detatched from the charger; if i reboot with the charger disconnected the percentage of the battery goes down fine and when I attach the charger it doesn't starts to increase and doesn't recognize that it has been set on charge.
I've tested the battery, cleaned up the contacts on the usb mini and on the motherboard everything is fine: my phone isn't rooted. I haven't tryed to restore fattory setting at this time cause I've got of ton of things to save before.
I don't think is an hw fault because at the reboot it would not recognize that the phone is on charge or not in this case.
Anyone of you have got any idea how to solve this?
If you need more informations just let me know,
Thanks.
UPDATE: the phone doesn't recognize when attached to a pc usb port ant the pc doesn't recognize the phone; I eat my words about my hypotesys for an hw fault......

I've read this post
Nexus 4 problems when charging
and then  I've broke my mind and opened the phone; I've cleaned up every contact on the usb side and on the motherboard side then reassemblied the phone: now it seems to work again well.
It was indeed an hardware problem but luckily, a simple one.

I've got an s3 mini too. The issue in my case was that the USB port had a slack joint. I sent it to my warranty service and they changed the jack. Now I can charge again. And also attach your     charger because you'll get a new one


text:
Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100 keeps getting Status 7 when installing CyanogenMod
I'm trying to install CyanogenMod rom on my Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100.

I have root (checked with root basic app).
Successfully installed SuperSU Pro.
Downloaded the third+fourth Cyanogenmon from here: http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=i9100&type=nightly (I tried installing both files since the first wasnt installed)

And it gave me the Status 7 error.

I edited the first part of the "updater-script" file as said in any tutorial on the web and tried to install - I got the same message.
I tried enabling "Toggle Signature Verification" and still doesn't install it.

What can I do?
Am I doing something wrong?
Am I using wrong versions?

Did you try to go to the developer site and file a report?

So there isn't a problem on my side of the process?
Where is the developers site?

Here is a FIX I found for you. Read thoroughly. This should solve your problem, if it does I'll post as an answer.

@HasH_BrowN "Double check that the Rom/Mod you are flashing matches your phone model."
Am I downloading the right one for sure from what you see?
I'm downloading Samsung Galaxy S II (Intl) - i9100 / nightly
http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=i9100&type=nightly

Here is a FIX I found for you. Read thoroughly. This will solve your problem.
The first mistake that most people make is flashing incorrect/old/outdated version of recovery.
The second mistake is not matching the correct/proper ROM/firmware to the device hardware.
Incompatibilities when flashing account for the majority of failed installations.
Always make backups/nandroids


text:
How to do root an android device?
How to root a xperia mini device? is it safe? Am i need a program or an app?
is there an open source or private application  for this procedure?

Try this.
It Provides Easy way to Root the Android Devices.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2219781


text:
Galaxy SIII SCH-I535, Android 4.4.2 - High Battery Drain
I am not quite sure where else to turn with this issue. It's been happening for about a week now. When looking at the stock battery section in Settings, I see that "Android System" is always using 35%+. It's up to 45% right now. Whereas I usually would not need to charge my phone for a few days, now, even though I still haven't changed my phone usage habits, i need to charge almost every day.
I do not have my phone rooted, or anything really special on the phone. But I am wondering why this would be so high, and how I might be able to figure out what's going on. I can provide any information that is needed.

When I first received my SCH-I535, it performed an OTA update. I was shocked at how much battery this brand new Samsung was using. After lots of research, I reinstalled the update through my PC. You need to attach with a USB cable, let it install software from the phone onto the PC and perform a phone system update through the installed software. Basically, something got messed up with the OTA update. Reinstalling the update through the PC fixed the battery drain.
Also be aware, though, that if you're coming from a phone that didn't have an AMOLED, like an HTC, you're used to seeing the display hogging all the battery. On a Samsung, you're more likely to see the OS using more power than the display.
Hope this helps!

Yes, I do remember for some time that Display is the biggest culprit; this is fine, as I use the minimal brightness and only really give it casual use. I'm shocked you found this; I posted it nearly a near ago. But maybe I'll give this a try sometime!
EDIT: At the moment, the phoneis at 84% from 9 hours on battery; Android System is the highest at 37%, with Phone coming second at 10%. It's definitely still a problem. Only thing now is, I have the phone rooted. I don't know if this would cause problems with installing new software, though I'd probably have to root again.

Another question; do I just plug in the phone and run the installation you were talking about? Or should I factory reset again, and install fresh?

It has been a while since I did the update but I don't remember needing to factory reset before running the PC update. You may need to root again, but if you haven't tried this method before, using "towelroot" is super quick and easy.

I did use towelroot! I've got the apk somewhere. I'll definitely look into this.

Okay, new comment. I do have the driver software for "SAMSUNG Mobile USB Composite Device", as well as the "Verizon Wireless Software Utility Application for Android" installed. When I run this utility though, nothing actually happens; looking at task manager, it seems UA.exe runs, but WerFault.exe runs at the same time, and they both close a few moments later. I may have to ask a new question to get it working, since Verizon's community website (where potential answers are) is totally down.

Okay, so I cannot get the Wireless Update Utility to install properly, so I want to do it through Kies. I'm going to assume that upgrading the Firmware is essentially the same thing as updating the OS?

There are many possible causes unfortunately. I had a seemingly impossible to find issue on my S5, even using ultra power save. I found it to be OpenVPN - once installed and used once, the drain  started even when it wasn't in use and even after a restart of the phone. Removing OpenVPN and restarting puts battery use back to normal.


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How can I access the data for the Android calendar app on my phone?
I have been using the Calendar app on my android phone, and I want to access the data for this app so that I can export it. I cannot find a "com.android.calendar" folder, nor can I find any file or directory with "calendar" anywhere in the name. Where would I find it?
Here's why I want the data: Although the android calendar app "syncs" with my Google calendar account (as in, events on my google calendar appear on my phone), any events that I added through the app on the mobile device do not get uploaded to my Google calendar. After a while, I realized that I should use the "Google Calendar" app instead of the default "Calendar" app that came with the phone. But I would like to export the events from the android calendar to my Google calendar. Is there an easy way to export the data from the Android calendar app to the Google calendar? It appears that at least one other person has had this problem.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 mini with android version 4.4.2.

Most likely, you don't have root access. If you've that, look into /data/data.
The folder you're looking for is at /data/data/com.android.calendar/ but the stuff you need is under /data/data/com.android.providers.calendar.
Hope it helps!

For rootless extraction, you'll need to rely on ADB Backup or other natively supported option (Google Backup, Samsung Smart Switch, etc.).  On my Samsung Note 8, assuming the Calendar app has the same manifest.xml flags, AllowBackup flag is present, which means you can use ADB to perform the application backup and restore.  (Note: there are many guides here on ASU regarding ADB's usage, you can also check XDA for further guidance).

authors: نعمان بشیر 105344456


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Fully control Android phone from another Android phone over the Internet
Before I write my own app, I want to know if there is an app to fully control one Android phone from another Android phone (over the Internet)?
I need this so that I can remotely start apps, install apps and control apps for a remote Android phone (un/rooted) without requesting permissions. An app to basically do remote screen sharing with full privileges given.
I have used TeamViewer and AirDroid, but I don't like these as the remote device needs to allow permissions.
The usecase is simple: I am giving my mother (not so tech savy), who lives in another country, an Android phone (assuming it will have Internet connectivity over Wi-Fi). I want to be able to fully control her phone from my Android phone (from another country).

How can it possibly do things that require permissions without requesting permissions?  Unless you make a completely insecure Android build from scratch (or root, or make use of massive exploits), that's simply not possible.

You can try RemoDroid. Install it on both system and I believe instructions are in the app.

The question is fairly easily rephrased into a "how do I" type question, so I don't think that's an issue.  HasH_BrowN is right though, we want answers to be more than a link.  A brief description of how it works or applies to the OP would be helpful.

@MatthewRead Odd. Try as I might,  There is no safe app that provides the long distance part. Remodroid is local only, Teamviewer does not allow mobile to mobile connection, and They seem to be the only reliable apps of their type.


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How can I remove the previous owner's Google account in a pre-owned device?
i bought a used phone that has the old owner's information stored in Google Play. How do I erase it?
when I download games from Google play if they have already downloaded them they are showing up as the old owners how do I erase this to where the phone recognizes my account not their's for Google play?

Ideally, you should factory reset the device, so you're starting afresh.
You haven't mentioned what device you have or what version of Android you're running, but usually the setting to factory restore a device is found within the main SETTINGS > BACKUP & RESET. Use the Factory reset option to erase all personal data from the device and start afresh. Once the device is rebooted, you'll be prompted to enter your Google account credentials and link your phone and all apps you download from the Play Store linked to your Google account.
Be warned, factory resetting your device will erase all personal data on the device. If there's any content, you want to retain, copy it over to your PC or to a cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox (using your account, not the previous owner's).

Go to main setting of phone and click on add account. Now add a new gmail account then you can remove the previous gmail account owner. Just tap on the owner account and there should be option to remove it.


text:
Can I play YouTube videos at 2x Speed in DicePlayer or some other way?
Before I commit to switching from iPhone to Android, I wanna make sure there's an app that can play YouTube videos 2x speed. On the iPhone, Swift Player can do it, and I read there's a way to do it on android by using youtube desktop version but I heard that DicePlayer from the Google Play store could do it. If anyone has DicePlayer, could you tell me if this is true? Thank you!

I was using DicePlayer and I confirm that it supports 2x speed for video playback for media contents.
I am not sure how are you going to play youtube videos on this player. Youtube uses it's own stuff to play the content.

can you see if there's a in-app browser that'll let you go to youtube and you can double speed the videos in that in-app browser please? thank you!


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GMail Contacts Synced To Messaging App
On the LG Optimus L90, for some reason all my GMail contacts are synced to my messaging app.
If I type a name into the SMS contact bar, emails show up as well. I didn't want those so I went into the contact book and changed it to only display contacts that are on the phone. Even after changing that and making sure my Google account wasn't syncing contacts, they still show up in the SMS bar.
Any ideas on how to fix this so only phone book contacts show up?

GO to your contact click >go to option >click on 'Accounts'. you will see Sync setting .just click on account you want to remove ! hope next time you will not get any recommendation while messaging .cheers!


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Error [DF-SA-01] when downloading application from the play store
Can anybody help me how can I solve this problem. I have tried options of clearing cache data, force stop google paly store/service, removing google account from accounts and reboting device but it didn't work for me.

Apparently this can be fixed by resetting app preferences:

Go to Settings> Apps
Open the menu (usually 3 dots in the top right but may vary depending on your device)
Select Reset app preferences.

Source

Thanks bmdixon, I have tried but when I press reset button on reset app preferences pop up it just hide pop up and never reset the preference. What can be the problem.

I fixed it like this (expanding on bmdixon's answer, thanks for your advice!):

Go to Settings > Apps > press menu button > Reset app preferences
Open Play Store. Open Settings > Apps again, swipe to the "All" view, and find Play Store. Force stop and clear data. Then open Play Store again from the recent apps screen.

Following only step 1 or only step 2 don't help, but together, they seem to work okay.

Settings > Apps > Google Play Store > Uninstall updates. Then restart your device.

authors: Евгений Калашников


text:
apps automatically open in my cell phone screen how
In my cell phone Micromax canvas L A 108, Apps automaticall open and in my messaging screen "i" text automatically typing continously. is it a software problem or display problem. please give the answer

I had this issue on my Micromax Funbook. It was replaced under warranty.

Thank you Rohith. Whether entire phone replced or display changed? My phone also under warrenty.

I got a new tab.

Try restarting the phone and see whether the problem goes off. If you have the opportunity, enable "Show touches" under developer options. This will show where exactly the phone is simulating the touches and with that you can see whether it is a hardware issue. If you do not see the touches highlighted, but the apps automatically open then it is most likely a software issue. In that case, restart the app in recovery mode and do a factory rest. Also, you can try installing some other compatible ROM.
If you see the touch spots, then it is most likely to be a faulty digitizer. In that case you can either claim warranty or get it replaced.
You can see this video which demonstrates how to enable "Show touches" option.


text:
Default behavior remains after app uninstall
I have a problem with the Wikipedia app. After I installed it, links in the Google Search result page link to the Wikipedia app, which is the expected behavior.
After I uninstalled the app I thought that the links would open in my browser again. But, unhappily, now links to Wikipedia in the search result pages opens the Google Play Store with the Wikipedia app entry.
Is there a reason why the deeplinking isn't removed after the app is uninstalled?

possible duplicate of How to disable redirects from Google Search results to Android apps?

Maybe, maybe not. I tested it with the latest chrome, but i haven't cleared the stored data for *wikipedia.org. I will test it later, but i have the same problem with HTC/Android stock browser and i don't know, if there is the same setting. I will check and give feedback.

Its not the same :/ the problem is the same in chrome and htc stock browser. And only, if you're logged in with the google account with which you installed the wikipedia app. If you're logged out, the browser normally redirects to *m.wikipedia.org, so i think its not a device problem :(


text:
Wipe data on device completely
I have a nexus 7 1st gen, which has a cracked screen.
I am planning to repair and got a quote from a local store.
But, before handing over the device to them, I would like to clear my data on the device.
I heard that the data can be recovered even after a factory reset.
Is there an application or a way to remove the data completely, just like zero-fill, so that the data wiped / removed cannot be recovered?

The recommended way is to go into Security -> Encryption. Encrypt your phone, which takes several hours. Then do a factory reset.
Others will have no way of recovering your personal data.
Additional Info:
It works much like BitLocker on Windows. When you start up the phone, you'll be required to enter a password before loading Android OS (or the Recovery Mode). Afterwards, none of the applications running on the OS will even notice the encryption.
What the encryption does is:
1) make it extremely difficult (i.e. for all practical purposes impossible) for other software to recover the /sdcard/ files (e.g. user data) after a factory reset.
2) prevent external applications and operating systems from reading those files without first decrypting it, which requires Android OS to load.

Will encrypting the data on device, encrypt data in cloud? Can I sync my data from cloud later without encryption?

It works much like BitLocker on Windows. None of the applications running on the OS will notice the encryption.

Other sites suggest to fill dummy data, even after a factory reset with encrypted data. And there is an application Secure Erase with iShredder 3


text:
Confusion between system/xbin/which and system/xbin in android
Hi I am trying for root check of android device I am using following code to check whether the device is rooted or not but bit confused,
public static enum SHELL_CMD {
check_su_binary(new String[] { "/system/xbin/which", "su" });

String[] command;

SHELL_CMD(String[] command) {
    this.command = command;
}}

For checking binary SU in this code when I run the code with "/system/xbin/which" code shows me device is rooted(command run successfully), but if I remove "which"(i.e. "/system/xbin/") and run the code it throws me an exception that access denied.
Is there any specific significance of "/which" in rooting android device.
I am running this code in CyanogenMod 11S(One Plus device) Thank you In advance

/system/xbin/which is the path of a program this script needs to execute (run). /system/xbin/ is a directory, so obviously you can't execute it.
If you've never used the which command on your desktop GNU/Linux system, you might be interested to read its manpage. In this case, the script is using it to find out if the su command exists, and the actual program it will run.


text:
Unable to enter recovery mode & download mode
I was formatting my Alcatel OT 918N from recovery mode. After deleting cache partition and wiping data from recovery mode I restarted my phone but then it went in an infinite boot loop i.e. it starts but right before displaying the home screen it restarts again.
Now I am not able to go in recovery mode too. When I try to go in recovery mode, my phone freezes on android logo. I have tried almost every key combination but my phone doesn't enters download mode, the only mode which comes is factory mode in which there are device testing options.
My device was running on stock ROM but it was rooted.
Please help me out.

http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/why-wont-my-alcatel-918a-phone-boot/

@Enigma Maybe you make that a full-fledged answer, including the essential parts behind the link and having the link itself as reference?

@Izzy: It's really just a small conglomeration of information that I can't personally validate. If the OP could attest to a particular bit of information on that page being useful then I would count that as a potential answer.

@Enigma good point (+1), I couldn't know that (link-only comment ;). So let's hope Amit returns to give some feedback on this!

@Enigma your link was really very helpful, in it there is a link for XDA Developer thread which is really good for unbricking or installing stock ROM on Alcatel OT 918 but I didn't needed that much steps. I just used the Alcatel OT-918 Upgrade Tool to upgrade my ROM and it started to work perfectly. Thanks for help :)


text:
VLC Media Player Audio Output to Android via Bluetooth
How can I output just the audio of a file playing on my VLC Media Player on my laptop via bluetooth, no cords? Is there a software or setting that I need to apply? I don't want to use the usb cable and just want the audio on my phone not the video.
Using Windows 8.1 with VLC 2.1.5, Broadcom 2070 and KitKat on Note 3 so I have Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP, EDR, LE.
Thanks to all.


text:
Is it safe to switch from dalvik to art runtime?
How can I tell if it would be safe?
I am running ViperOne 7.0.1 on an HTC One m7.

Why would you switch anyway? What are you trying to achieve?

Higher efficiency mostly.

On my Xperia M, running the latest nightly CM, it always causes trouble (every 10 seconds an app crashes), so I occasionally try it (Is it working yet? - No, well, I guess it's time to switch back), but I never use it - others say it's working fine for them. If you are able to switch to ART, I assume you are rooted and have a custom ROM installed, so you are also able to make a full backup from the recovery. You can try it, but make a Nandroid backup first, as it could screw up everything to the point you won't be able to switch back from inside Android. I'll say this again: switching to ART is NOT safe! Always do a full backup from the recovery before you try it!
On the first boot with ART, it's going to take a lot of time to compile everything, be patient. Good luck!

Of course it is. If your apps are crashing, try to reinstall your ROM and wipe your cache. Normally it shouldn't throw crashes


text:
Reload Android OS on Moto G Peregrine
After running into some issues with Cyanogenmod, I want to reload the default Android OS for my Moto G Peregrine. Here's what I've managed to synthesize from various forum posts on the Internet.

Get the OS file from here.
Flash the image using Clockworkmod using the same instructions as loading Cyanogenmod, that can be found here.

Is this the correct procedure?

That is not the correct procedure. After you get the firmware you need to unzip it and from that folder run the following commands, assuming that you're on Linux:
sudo fastboot flash partition gpt.bin
sudo fastboot flash motoboot motoboot.img
sudo fastboot flash logo logo.bin
sudo fastboot flash boot boot.img
sudo fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
sudo fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.0
sudo fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.1
sudo fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.2
sudo fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.3
sudo fastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin
sudo fastboot erase modemst1
sudo fastboot erase modemst2
sudo fastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn
sudo fastboot erase cache
sudo fastboot erase userdata
sudo fastboot reboot

I needed the sudo because I messed up the permissions on my USB, so maybe you won't need it. Also, I think the windows equivalent to fastboot is mfastboot.


text:
What folder does cyanogenmod store its updates?
I reverted to an older version of Cyanongenmod today. Now my phone reboots continuously. I want to try flashing on of the images that cyanogenmod downloaded in the past. What folder are they stored in?

Did you wipe the data partition when you installed the new image? You need to do that when changing major versions.

It was a step downgrade. What does that remove? My passwords? Wifi keys?

Accounts, apps, settings, etc. Pretty much anything that was not on your phone when you first unboxed it, except the operating system itself and (usually) media files. The tag wiki has a pretty good explanation. Also, based on the CMUpdater source, it looks like the update packages should be in /sdcard/cmupdater, but I cannot verify this myself (don't have CM).

You can find it under:
/storage/emulated/0/cmupdater

Why not Downloads? =D

On LineageOS (the new Cyanogenmod in 2017) it is in /data/data/org.lineageos.updater/app_updates/

I wonder why doesn’t it show up in Apps? There seems to be no usable way to clean it up.

No clue. I just know my phone was stuck at boot until i could find the file.
Fortunately applying this file for the update made it boot again.

If you use the Google Apps addon (gapps) and are updating between versions where your ... You will find downloaded zip under /sdcard/cmupdater directory.


text:
Do old versions of Android still get security patches?
For example if a critical vulnerability is found in Jelly Bean would it get a patch, or is the expectation that users should upgrade to KitKat to be more secure?
Does Android even have the concept of individual/incremental security patches, or are Maintenance Releases (MR) the only way to get patches?
I found a comment here, but would like confirmation (with source if possible)...
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/83852/which-versions-of-android-is-google-developing-security-fixes-for

The following is an excerpt from http://developer.android.com/guide/faq/security.html#fixes

How Android devices receive security fixes?
The manufacturer of each device is responsible for distributing software upgrades for it, including security fixes. Many devices will update themselves automatically with software downloaded "over the air", while some devices require the user to upgrade them manually.
Google provides software updates for a number of Android devices, including the Nexus series of devices, using an "over the air" (OTA) update. These updates may include security fixes as well as new features.

If your worried about vulnerabilities in Android, you should be running the latest update on your device. Which would be KitKat, until L (lemon) is released across the board.
Remain conscientious when using your device.
Although I found evidence alluding to supported versions of Android, nothing was conclusive. It seems Gingerbread and up will continue to receive updates. Gingerbread is still being released on new devices, so development isn't discontinued.

It is generally expected that users would upgrade to the highest version of Android available to them, so Google do not release updates to previous firmware versions. However, Samsung occasionally release security updates independently of Google to older models. It's also worth noting that a number of security issues are within apps and not Android itself, which the user is able to update via the Play Store.


text:
Mounting android phone to android tablet
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace, with Android 2.3; and an android tablet with USB host support, running on 4.0.3.
When I connect the phone to the tablet with an OTG cable, tablet says SD card is broken, and that I need to format it.
The tablet is rooted and I have Debian on it, which is run alongside android (With the help of Sven Ola's 'Debian Kit').
Is there a way to mount phone FS on the tablet?

I think that 'broken' means 'unsupported file system'. You can try searching for solution even just in Play Store. I had similar situations what I tried to connect ntfs pendrive to smartphone. This helped me, but I feel like You do not have ntfs file system there.
Hope that it somehow helps.


text:
How to debug an Android app's network traffic?
I'm trying to listen in on the network traffic of a commercial app I've downloaded.
Ideally, I'd like the traffic to use my development machine as a proxy, where I'll have Burp or Fiddler waiting to forward requests to the web while I watch the traffic.
Is this possible with android apps? The app does not have the debugging flag set, of course. I've done no android development, so apologies in advance.

It would take a bit of work, but you could always set up your own VPN host. Then connect to it from the phone, and you'll get all network traffic, whether the phone goes through wifi or cellular. From there, you can MITM the connection.

A proxy is a proxy. Unless the app is doing compression or some other protocol like Google Chrome you should be able to observe the HTTP traffic. HTTPS traffic will require certificate for man-in-the-middle to work.
Edit 1:
On the phone/tablet go into Settings->Wi-Fi. Long press on the connection to your Wi-Fi Access point and a menu should popup to modify the connection. Once that screen comes up look for 'Advanced Options', enable and you should now be able to set manual proxy.
When I refer to Chrome I meant their data compression option for Chrome for Mobile:
https://developer.chrome.com/multidevice/data-compression
You'll have to turn this off to sniff traffic from Chrome.

As far as I understand, the app in the phone goes straight to the router, and then into the great beyond. How do I set up either the app or the whole phone to route through another machine? How do I setup a man in the middle with a phone?

Or are you referring to this: https://developer.chrome.com/devtools/docs/remote-debugging (I just found this and am reading through it now)

If my instructions aren't clear: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/39636/configuring-wifi-proxy-settings


text:
Is it possible to connect to chromecast through router while still using data network for internet?
Here's the setup I am envisioning:
Chromecast and android phone both connected to a WiFi router/hotspot (has x amount of data usage). My phone however has unlimited data usage and I would like to pull external content (soundcloud/netflix/youtube/etc) from my phones data network while letting the Chromecast pull data using the hotspot network.
I would be mirroring my display to the Chromecast so the Chromecast should only have to get very minimal amounts of data.
Is this possible? How can I do it? I've tried even hooking both the Chromecast and the phone to an isolated wireless router (no internet) and unfortunately my phone does not fall back to using data.

I've been able to set up a hotspot on my phone and use a third android device to pair the chromecast to that hotspot. After that you can screen cast to the chromecast no problem. (ignore the wifi not on part - it will work anyways)
The third device won't be necessary after the initial setup process.


text:
How to hide my Android WiFi hotspot from being detected?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Young phone and a 3G connection. I use my phone as a wireless modem, but I don't want other devices to find my WiFi hotspot when they search for WiFi.
How can I stop other devices from seeing my hotspot?

What you're asking for is the ability to hide the SSID.
Depending upon your phone and service provider, you may have an option to configure "Hide my device" for the hotspot.  My Samsung (with Android 4.4.2) has that option and it appears to work.
However, there seem to be plenty of other phones/provider combinations that don't appear to provide this feature, or, they don't work correctly as evidenced by this discussion on a 3rd-party app for enabling tethering via WiFi.

Don't waste your time trying to hide your hot spot - you can't really.
What you CAN do however is to require a password to allow a connection TO your hot spot.
In some cases, not sure here as I do not have your device, it is possible to lock the hot spot and only allow connections from one (or more, if there are others who also need to connect) specified MAC addresses only.

A strong password is your best protection. "Hidden" signals are open invites to hackers who will see you as frightened and defeneseless prey. Hackers only see a fun new target to seek and destroy. You stand out like a sore thumb when you attempt to hide. ATTEMPT to hide. Doesn't work or everybody would do it.


text:
my phone will not turn on all the way, shuts off and turns on repetitively
My phone was not syncing to Google, I read somewhere to delete a file called 'etc' in my system files. I restarted my phone and found it to never turn on. It will vibrate show Samsung and then shut off. My phone is doing it all on its own and I'm not even pressing anything. I can't even factory reset because my phone will shut off before it can get to the screen. I have a rooted Galaxy-S-3 Samsung. Please help??

I hope you don't care about all your data because I don't think there is a way to retrieve it. Perhaps people with more knowledge than me know how (perhaps using ADB?). However, if you want to resurrect your phone, you need to follow this guide:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/update-galaxy-s3-i9300xxugnh4-android-4-3-stock-firmware-1468061
This guide below is a bit more old but you can look at it's images so it will help you:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/guide-odin-flash-guide-t1671969
The first guide will help you flash a 4.3 stock ROM to your S3 to revive it, but please make sure it's model is GT-I9300!!! If you have a Verizon or any other variant you may risk bricking your device.
Good luck.