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Galaxy S3 : Impossible to go to recovery or download mode
I've just get an old Galaxy S3, with this mission to backup existing photos on it.
Of course, it's not rooted and not backuped... :) Original setup (ROM, ...)
When starting it it's stucked on Galaxy S3 logo screen without any change.
When trying to go to download mode : It's keep restarting after 2-3s
Same for recovery mode.
Each time I removed battery. I've tested with the phone plugged in or not. Plugged to the computer or not, etc...
Any idea? :)
Thanks
Philippe

charge or replace battery

The S3 has a known bug in it's EMMC firmware that can cause the sudden death syndrome. May be the device you have is affected?


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Moving files (within the same disk) means "copy and delete"?
I have Moto E6 phone with Android 9 Pie and external SD card, I need to move large folder to another location on the same card but all file explorers I tried so far were trying to copy data to the new location and only then delete it from old location
Is this the way android is moving files/folders? The process takes forever and (if SD card doesn't have enough space for TWO copies of the same data, the process is terminated with error)
Once the phone was connected to windows PC, I was able to map internal storage as a drive and just move the folder from one location to another in a second.
Is there any way to force Android to actually move data to the new location without copying?

not sure about the MTP protocol or how API work, but mv works fine to me on cmd line

@alecxs But mv works on an external (real) sd-card only on via adb or on a rooted device via su. Apps have to use the Java API an I am not sure if the Java API contains a move command.

@alecxs Sorry my comment was a bit unclear. I was only talking about file modifications especially for file deletion I know that this is not possible on an external sd-card since Android 9 without root permissions. Reading is still possible. File creation I don't know, and I am also not sure if file moving is something special or a combination of file creation plus deletion from a permission perspective.

looks like there is no official recommended
way handling files https://stackoverflow.com/q/4178168

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Audio & Video Codecs not working on Android 7.1.2 phone
Since recently the phone i have been using for about 2.5 years has developed an issue with it's audio and video codecs.
Videos won't play in the Google Chrome app, in the YouTube app, not in Whatsapp or Telegram either. Downloaded videos won't play from the gallery except when i use VLC app (Which is known for having it's own codecs bundled).
Audio won't play either, i don't hear a ringtone when i am being called, when i set an alarm for in the morning it goes off but only vibrates (no sound), and music players either don't play the song or skip through all the songs at a fast pace.
I am not debugging something i wrote, this is my phone's system failing on it's own. I tried to unlock the bootloader 2 years ago but never got any kind of special access to the system. I also didn't get any updates on the system since i bought the phone sadly.
I used ADB to get the error logs from me setting an alarm with default ringtone, and it confirms a codec error like i suspected (vorbis codec this time, but other codecs also have the same issue):
[ 01-02 16:07:00.342 13560:13560 E/SoftOMXPlugin ]
unable to dlopen libstagefright_soft_vorbisdec.so: dlopen failed: library "libstagefright_soft_vorbisdec.so" not found

[ 01-02 16:07:00.342 13560:13560 E/OMX      ]
FAILED to allocate omx component 'OMX.google.vorbis.decoder' err=ComponentNotFound(0x80001003)

[ 01-02 16:07:00.342   611: 8727 W/ACodec   ]
Allocating component 'OMX.google.vorbis.decoder' failed, try next one.

[ 01-02 16:07:00.342   611: 8727 E/ACodec   ]
Unable to instantiate a decoder for type 'audio/vorbis' with err 0xfffffffe.

[ 01-02 16:07:00.342   611: 8727 E/ACodec   ]
signalError(omxError 0xfffffffe, internalError -2)

[ 01-02 16:07:00.342   611: 8727 E/MediaCodec ]
Codec reported err 0xfffffffe, actionCode 0, while in state 1

[ 01-02 16:07:00.342   611: 8726 E/NuPlayerDecoder ]
Failed to create audio/vorbis decoder

[ 01-02 16:07:00.342   611: 8722 E/NuPlayer ]
received error(0x80000000) from audio decoder, flushing(0), now shutting down

This goes beyond what i know about Android system, but a full reboot seems to fix the issue temporarily but this is not a good way to make sure your alarm goes off several hours later..
I pasted the full ADB log in a pastebin for those interested.
What can i do except do a hard reset or buy a new phone?

You might have a problem with Media Storage. Just for test, find Media Storage on the app list, clear its data, restart the phone. Check of the issue re-occur.

@ReddyLutonadio That sounds like it's worth a try, i did it, i'll let you know in a few days if it worked, thanks

Same problem here on Moto G4 with Android 7.0: no audio in videos, remote (youtube, facebook, etc) and local files. Different messages in different players. Symptoms:

Youtube: Plays videos, no audio. It used to work fine.
Facebook Videos/Stories/Reels: sometimes plays video, no audio, shows message "There is a failure in audio, would you restart the device?"
Other online applications with Video: plays video, no audio
VLC/Videolan play mp3 freezes and crashes (it did not crash before).
Default video player, shows message "cannot show video" even thought video plays with no audio. It used to work fine.

Tested solutions:

Already checked all volume settings
Already tried restarting the device 10+ times, made no difference.
Tried drfone_repair windows application, only works on Samsung devices.
Tried droidkit windows application, also repair only for Samsung devices.
Tried reiboot windows application, it would delete data after fixing.
Tried clear data in Media Storage (Configuration, Applications, 3 Dot icon, System, Clear) and restarting the phone, no good.

Looks like only solution is Factory Reset: Configuration > Personal - Security Copy > Factory Reset (in my device).

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


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Why is Copy+Paste of text a once only operation - I have to keep Copying for the next paste
As per the title, I used to have an Android (v5) where I would copy some text once, and keep pasting to wherever;
On my new phone (Android v10 - Samsung Galaxy A51), clipboard text disappears after a paste; Is there a setting to allow retaining last copied text ?
[cannot create samsung-galaxy-a51 so using samsung-galaxy-a5 instead]

Although Android itself shouldn't be rule out, you should first check the issue is not related to your keyboard. If possible, try to install another keyboard app for example GBoard. Set it as the default keyboard app, enable its clipboard, then try to copy and paste. Verify if the problem persists or not.


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Error While Flashing The Minix Neo X8-H Plus
I have tried everything I can think of, know about / usually would do in a situation like this. I have watched multiple tutorials, guides and more. I went to the official website itself multiple times to see if I missed anything, but to no avail nothing works. One day the box just stopped working, so then, I looked up the fix and they say that I am supposed to re-flash the box. I did that, and while I was doing that, this error popped up. I have tried multiple things including:

Using a different cable other than the one that came in the box ( data cable )
Using a different computer
Using a different port
Using a different wall socket

etc.
It has been over 4 years now since this box has stopped working, and it has been sitting around my house ever since collecting dust and it is about time that this gets fixed, thrown away in the trash, or scrapped for parts.
The smart box is a Minix Neo X8-H Plus that ran Android 4.4 Kitkat and uses an ARM Cortex-A9 Quad Core processor with 2 GB of DDR3. It used to run very smoothly until that one day. I hope someone can assist me here to hopefully getting this fixed. Thank you all in advance for any help or support that you can provide me with.
The error described above is displayed below. It always seems to occur right after the stage formatting before getting stuck at that stage for an extended period of time, at 3% Completion before going onto 4% Completion and then spitting out this error:

The newer versions of this Amlogic USB Burning Tool usually crash at this stage after displaying a different error entitled "Failed to Parse Image File", no matter which image file I use.


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Find out which app is making internet request
I'm tracing my network's DNS calls for a few days (using Pi-Hole to block ads and tracking) and I noticed that on my phone, something is calling checkip.amazonaws.com every 5-10 minutes. As I find this rather odd, I've been trying to find out which app is doing this and why.
I am running non-rooted Android 10. I tried with Packet Capture (which does not work at all due to SSL issue) and HttpCanary (which does not work too well due to SSL issue). HttpCanary does not show anything (not even SSL errors) during the time of the DNS request. I'm tempted to simply block this URL entirely but I'd really rather find out where it is coming from. So far, I'm puzzled where to look next.

You could redirect the DNS name to a local TCP port that is open but no real server is attached (server does not send anything. should be possible to simulate e.g. using socat). This delays the TLS handshake phase which is performed of course using an open TCP connection. I would assume that the connection may be open ~30 seconds without response (untested). As the request is performed periodically you can wait for it and and use netstat on the device to identify the process id that creates this connection and thus identify the app.

Good thought but doesn't work for the same reason: Android 10 got way too restrictive (which, generally, is a good thing I guess). I got lots of permission denied running netstat. Seems like available apps also do not work from 10 onwards.

But what should still work is redirecting checkip.amazonaws.com to a different HTTPS IP address so that the TLS connection handshake fails. May be if the apps is not well developed you will see the error message/stack trace on adb logcat (which also includes the PID).

unfortunately nothing in logcat either... WIll leave the bogus redirect for now.

My last idea: Extract all APK files from your device (e.g. via adb backupor any other tool that can extract multiple APK files from a device). Copy the apk files to a PC, unzip them all each to an own directory and make a full-text search (e.g. grep) for checkip.amazonaws.com on them. If you are lucky the dns name is stored in plain text within the app and you will be able to identify the app.

pulled all apks, did a grep, no result. However, I noticed that the local logcat did not have enough permissions. In Android Studio I got knocked out by the amount of logs and was unable to find anything here after some deeper search as well.

I meanwhile noticed that not all apps allow being backed up (e.g. Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram). MIght be one of these then, wouldn't be too suprising.


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Is there a workaround to use of bash via adb on LineageOS17?
I try to login in my device directly vith
adb shell bash -i

It kind of partially works, because I'm logged with bash, but the terminal loose completion.
The error I get:
$ adb shell bash -i
bash: cannot set terminal process group (-1): Not a typewriter
bash: no job control in this shell
mydevice / #

Is there something possible to do it properly without errors ? I don't have su installed.

do you mean bash -l because bash -i doesn't make sense to me without any cmd

-i stands for interactive, that's the wanted behavior

... and -l is for login shell. are you saying bash without -i is not interactive?

The error is expected. adb shell by default doesn't allocate a TTY (terminal) which is required for interactive session. Instead use:
adb shell -t bash -i

Found myself before: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/232537/20417 but thanks, that's the way I use


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How to connect Samsung phone to Soniq Smart TV via bluetooth without the remote?
I have Samsung Galaxy A11 and Soniq Smart TV which uses Soniq QT166 remote. Currently, I don't have the remote. I am trying to download a remote on my phone as a replacement. However, I can't connect the phone to the TV without the remote.
Can I connect a Soniq QT166 remote to my Samsung Galaxy A11? Without a remote, I don't know how to connect to Bluetooth via phone to TV.

I'm sorry .. is that more accurate  I cannot connect to blue tooth via phone to tv with out remote

Please edit your question and reformulate it completely including title. And please don't forget to exactly specify (device name and version, running OS; ..) the involved devices.

How to connect  to soniq tv using blue tooth on my Samsung  a11

I am trying  to download the remote on my phone as I don't have one

Hi, I've tried to edit and incorporate the details from the comments. Hopefully, I'm not mistaken in interpreting the issue. Consider [edit]ing to add more context and details though to increase the chance for proper solutions.

Also, since I found the manual that tells about the pairing process to the RF dongle for the TV remote, I'm worried that the Android phone also needs to do the same pairing process to be considered as a "remote", and this might be the biggest problem without knowing how it's done...

There are many apps available on Google Play Store, out of those, these are two.

If your phone has IR, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.tv.remote.control.sony.remote.control
If your phone does not have IR, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.tv.remote


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Emulator: emulator: ERROR: Not enough space to create userdata partition (Ubuntu 20.04)
I've been getting the error:
emulator:  ERROR: Not enough space to create userdata partition. Available: 6910.351562 MB at /home/codedoor/.android/avd/Pixel_4_API_29.avd, need 7372.800000 MB
I'm running Ubuntu 20.04.  Not sure if it's connected, but Android Studio was working perfectly fine until I updated Node and then the emulator would not run.
I've tried looking for a solution on various platforms, but none have worked so far.  So I completely uninstalled and re-installed it, including deleting related hidden files/directories.  I wiped the data using the AVD manager.
I tried:emulator -avd Pixel_4_API_29 -partition-size 1024 -wipe-data  &
emulator -avd Pixel_4_API_29 -partition-size 7373 -wipe-data
Both of which caused the same error. I've also checked to see that virtualization was still enabled.
Possible solution: how could I increase storage for Android emulator?  I've tried looking at Android Studio and its configurations, but this has eluded me.
Of course, any other solutions would be helpful as well.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Happy New Year, btw!  :)

The error sounds more like you don't have enough free space on your Linux (user) partition check free space via df -h. Alternatively this is caused by a permission problem. Check if you can create a file in home/codedoor/.android/avd/


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What URL can I hit to initiate call?
I'd like to be able to hit a URL with CURL from my laptop, and have it cause my android phone to initiate a phone call, on speakerphone if possible.
I'm using a Linux laptop with Firefox browser, and I have tel: links set to run a bash script.
I'd like my script to send a GET/POST to some google cloud API which subsequently sends a command from the cloud to my phone that causes my phone to initiate a phone call hands-free to a number I send in the GET/POST.
I will use this to make tel links clickable in my laptop's browser.  Browsing on android sucks.  Calling from a "hangouts tab" in the laptop sucks.  Combining in this way will avoid the most things that suck, which is my new years resolution.
I may also use this to automate calls to appointments/meetings that I need to attend.  i.e. at the correct time, my phone simply auto-joins whatever zoom meeting, without me having to remember it.  Bonus points if this API can also, optionally begin the call on mute.

Chrome browser supports this natively. Otherwise, I don't think there's network-based API to initiate a call on stock Android (without 3rd-party apps/API).

So.  Chrome browser doesn't use a network-based API to do this?  Must be sorcery I guess.  That aside, changing the browser I use every day, have for years, and depend on, doesn't solve this even if that path of destruction wasn't important.  It doesn't address scheduled call initiations, which I could trivially put in a cron job with an API.

Looks like it uses their internal push notification service between Chrome desktop to Chrome mobile.


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Can't close browser tabs
I'm having an issue with an LG G pad.
Chrome 87.0.4280.101
Firefox Daylight 84.1.2 (Build #2015783145)
OS Android 5.1.1 LG-V940n Build/LMY47V
I don't do much with it other than email, browsing and Netflix. Everything was working fine until last month, then it decided that I can't close browser tabs anymore. I'm assuming there was an update that happened.
I have found three other posts on this (see below) sorry for the duplicate.
I can't open or close any tabs on my Android tablet in Chrome
I'm unable to toggle between Chrome Tabs
Can't switch/close tabs in the Chrome browser on my Android tablet
This happens with Chrome and has happened with Firefox too. Both and seems to be related to video. Once I view video in a new tab, I can't switch, close or create tabs. However, I can open links in new tabs, but I cannot switch to them. I can switch to/from private mode as well, but still can't do anything with tabs.
Additionally, I have tried simplified mode and desktop with no difference.
If I rotate the tablet it seems to unlock the tabs and I can switch/open/close them again.
In the posts above, mention going to settings->developer options which I don't have. And why should a simple user of chrome need to tweak any developer options.
Do I have any options than rotating the thing and waiting for an update that hopefully fixes the issue?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! Does it happen when videos are playing in full and normal screen?

If you have read about Developer Options menu I am sure you have also card that it is hidden by default and needs to be activated by tapping the build number a few times? Every regular Android phone has that menu.

Good catch. It seems to happen after I go to full screen on the video (Youtube in this case). I tapped on the build a bunch of time and it said I'm now a developer, but I don't have any other options in Chrome.

The Developer Options menu is shown in the Android Settings app, not in Chrome.

Yup, I found the dev ops in Android.


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Utilizing an old Android as a security camera and saving footage to HDD
I would like to create a small security camera network utilizing devices I already have, namely Android phones. All phones can have a constant sources of charge, as well as be attached to my wifi network, which has a custom NAS attached. I understand there are already apps that will stream to a Google Drive, however my lack of bandwidth makes this quite unappealing. Are there any apps that will allow me to do this that I haven't found, or are there any recommendations for creating an application that will allow me to do this.

Hi, take note that questions directly asking for app recommendations are off-topic. Instead, we prefer the asker to just state the underlying problem that they want to solve and not putting any restriction for apps-only, so we'd appreciate it if you could [edit] the question, add some details and/or remove the restriction. Otherwise, you might be interested in our sister site, Software Recommendations Stack Exchange instead.

And additionally app development questions are also considered off-topic. For that topic please use stackoverflow.com.

You could try using IP Webcam, installing the computer driver on a computer on a LAN, and then using PC webcam software that points at your NAS.  Not sure on how to write directly though.  If your NAS allows you to host an FTP server from it, however, you could write directly.
On the topic of FTP, you could use Filezilla Server on a Windows computer, and point it at your NAS, if you didn't want as much overhead, although if you are usiing the lite version you will get a watermark in this mode.


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Unable to communicate to a local WiFi with mobile data enabled
I'm developing an app that should work on a private WiFi network without Internet access. It's a controller for an interactive digital sculpture. The IP address of the server it should talk to on the private network is hardwired into the app.
I found that the app is unable to talk to the server on the WiFi as long as mobile data is enabled. As soon as I turn it off, everything works as expected. I guess for some reason it still tries to contact the server on the mobile data interface.
Here's the kernel IP routing table when both the WiFi and the mobile data is connected and the app doesn't work:
10.229.237.220/30 dev rmnet_data0 proto kernel scope link src 10.229.237.221
192.168.26.0/24 dev wlan0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.26.102

With mobile data disabled and the app working correctly:
192.168.26.0/24 dev wlan0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.26.102

This seems all correct to me.
Are there any special settings (default gateway, nameserver, etc) I need to add to my network configuration so that the traffic from the app is routed to the WiFi interface? Any other ideas why it's not communicating with the server?

Related/possible dupe: How do I connect Android devices to a WiFi AP and mobile data network simultaneously?, Can Android devices connect to both WiFi and mobile data networks at the same time?, Dual networking

It does not look like a dupe to me. The mentioned potential duplicate questions ask for dual internet (both mobile and wifi) while this question wants wifi reachability when mobile is on but no internet on wifi.

Android has an option to switch to cellular data if the wifi connection is low speed/signal. I suspect that the same mechanism triggers when the WiFi network does not have a default gateway defined, so all outgoing connections by default choose the source IP corresponding to the cellular interface.
To ensure you can talk to WiFi hosts where there is no internet connectivity, first query for the WiFi IP address then use it explicitly as the source IP in the app.
If you leave it default, ougoing connections would happen with the cellular IP address which then would go to the cellular gateway.
Alternatively, if you can root the device, you can then copy the tcpdump binary and capture the traffic over the WiFi and cellular interface to confirm the source IP of packets sent by your app. Instructions for this fall out of this question scope but here is a good how to: https://www.andreafortuna.org/2018/05/28/how-to-install-and-run-tcpdump-on-android-devices/

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately setting the source IP address didn't help. It looks like if WiFi has no internet access, Android is unwilling to send out anything on the interface unless the user confirms to stay connected to the WiFi regardless. tcpdump also confirms this. It's a pity that Android is going against networking standards such as longest prefix match.


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Android screen mirror to android with usb c to c cable
Can I mirror a note 10 screen to a Moto Z4 with a projection mod to project the Note 10 to my wall? The purpose is to play more powerful emulator games on the Note and use the Moto w/ projection mod just like a projector. I plan on doing this with a usb c to c cable. Is that even possible or are there alternatives?

An device-to-device connection via USB may be possible via adb using one device as regular adb client and the other running adb server in termux. Based on the adb connection screen casting may be possible but this scenario is not very common. However keep in mind that such a connection with screen casting will increase latency, as you want to run games this may be a problem depending on the resulting latency.


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My Google Pixel 2's touch screen suddenly quit working--how can I fix it?
My Google Pixel 2's touch screen suddenly stopped working. The screen itself works fine and shows everything perfectly, but the touch sensor is not working anywhere on the phone screen! It cannot detect my touch gestures. I was actively using my phone and noticed the battery was at 1%, so I quickly plugged it in. I was too late, however. As I plugged it in, it started to turning off due to low battery, and it did an automatic soft (proper) shutdown. With it now plugged in and charging, I turned it right back on and attempted to type my unlock password. No luck. The touch screen wouldn't respond!
I held down the power button for like 10 seconds or so until it automatically did a reboot and I saw the "Google" name in color on the screen again, indicating it was turning back on. The touch screen was still totally unresponsive. I did this about 9 or 10 more times over the next 45 minutes--each time unresponsive.
How can I make the touchscreen work again?

I got it to work again!
What DID work for me: press down on the screen with both thumbs to ensure the screen connector (circled in yellow below) is in firmly, and the capacitive touch grounding strip (circled in cyan below) is in good contact with the phone's ground plane.
I am a DIY kind of person. I replaced my battery and screen myself a few months ago, following these battery replacement instructions, and these screen replacement instructions.
When I was done, my phone worked perfectly with zero problems until today. After many hard phone reboots by holding down the power button, with no success to get my touch screen working again, I remembered this image:

...from this tutorial. This is what the phone looks like just underneath the screen and touch panel under the screen. Notice the connector I circled yellow in the image above, and the rectangular grounding strip I circled in cyan underneath it. The yellow-circled item is the connector for the screen and touch sensor to connect to the phone, and the cyan-circled one is the grounding pad for the capacitive touch sensor. The connector has a plate/cover on top of it (shown here) which screws down to hold the connector in place, so it is unlikely to move or lose contact, but perhaps may. The cyan-circled grounding pad is likely very critical to the phone's touch sensor operation, since personal electronics experience making capacitive touch sensors work with Arduinos (ex: see the touch lamp video at the top of my website article here) teaches me that capacitive touch is very sensitive to grounding issues.
I thought maybe pressing on that connector and grounding pad would help (truth be told: I actually was just thinking about the connector, and had forgotten about the grounding pad until after I had done this). So, I pressed firmly but carefully down on the top of the screen near that connector, and then near that grounding pad. I then repeated this process, pressing with both thumbs, moving down the screen lower and lower from on top of that connector and down, until I reached about 1 inch from the bottom of the phone. I couldn't remember where the connector was exactly at the time, so I pressed in these several places, with both thumbs at once. Then, I tried the phone again. Voilà! Magically it worked! Touch sensor seems fine now. It must have just re-seated that connector better is all, or: even more likely: regrounded the metallic strip from the capacitive touch sensor to that grounding pad circled in cyan/bluish. I hypothesize that the adhesive-attached grounding strip connected to that pad had come loose, so that the instant I touched my charge cable to the phone to charge it, the electrical potential of the phone's ground got altered (charged or discharged) by the charge cable's ground, causing the capacitive touch to quit working. Re-grounding the capacitive touch grounding cable to that ground pad underneath the screen must have fixed the capacitive touch sensing system (I think)!
If this doesn't last long-term, I'll buy this replacement screen again for $40 (same one I bought before and have on the phone now) and replace it again (note: I used this iFixit toolkit and this iFixit iOpener heating pad--this heating pad is waaay safer and better than a heat gun!).
If this "pressing on the center of the screen trick", followed by another screen replacement, doesn't last, I'll upgrade to the latest brand new Google Pixel. But, I really hope to hold off for 2 more years or so to get the full life out of my current one (goal is to replace my phone only every 4 years).
Other notes (ex: the phone can be used withOUT the touch screen, using a standard keyboard and mouse)
1. Use the phone withOUT the touch screen by using a USB OTG adapter and standard computer mouse (and optionally: keyboard too)
Note: if you need to use the phone until you can replace it, I was able to plug in a standard mouse into the phone with an OTG (On The Go) USB adapter and continue to use it just fine, albeit it was a pain of course.
Here's some good OTG adapters that will work. You can plug in a standard USB hub into the USB port on the OTG adapter if you want to use both a computer keyboard and mouse at once. Once you plug in the mouse and begin moving it, a cursor will show up on your phone just like on a regular computer. I was able to type with the mouse too just by clicking on the visual keyboard in place of touching it. A keyboard, of course, would be better.

USB C OTG adapter with charging port AND USB plug, $12
Standard USB C OTG adapter, 3 pcs, $8
Or, if you have a micro USB OTG adapter already on-hand, you can convert it to USB C with one of these: micro USB to USB C adapter, 8 pcs, $7. This is what I did.

2. Try rebooting into "safe mode" too to see if the touch screen problem is somehow software-based
Once I had my mouse plugged into my phone so I could click around, I was able to reboot into safe mode to see if the problem might have been software-based and due to an interfering app or something.
Here's how I rebooted into safe mode, again, using my computer mouse and OTG adapter to click on the phone since the touch screen wasn't working:

Press and hold the power button until the power/reboot screen comes up.
Tap (click with the mouse) and hold the power off icon until it gives you a safe mode reboot option.
Choose the safe mode option and wait for the device to reboot.

Safe mode didn't fix the touch screen problem, making me think it was probably a hardware issue. That's when I found the "fix" above by pressing on the center of the phone screen to jostle the hardware and apparently re-seat the connector, or (more likely) re-ground the capacitive touch sensor to the phone's ground, or something.
Other References:

Once I figured this out, I also put it on my website here: https://gabrielstaples.com/google-pixel2-touchscreen/.

Update to anyone wondering: I got by with this "fix" for a few months, and ultimately bought a new phone when the problem slowly returned. Replacing the screen is a nightmare (I bought $100 of repair tools, plus a new screen, and did it myself, and broke a screen in the process). The phone may never be quite the same again since they are so stinking hard to take apart and repair, and I'm an avid DIY person and electronics/soldering enthusiast.


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How do I close all, or many at once, Chrome tabs on Android on a phone?
I'm on Google Pixel 2, Android 11, Chrome 87.0.4280.101.
I have 494 open tabs, as I explain in my answer here on how to count them. I need to selectively close about 450 of them, or just close all of them then re-open about 20 to 50 of them.
How do I mass-close many or all of them at once?
The last time I mass-closed hundreds of tabs manually I sat there for like 30 minutes swiping until they were all closed. I don't want to do that again. That was ridiculous. (Compared to full computers, phones are garbage. :))
This tablet-specific answer doesn't seem to apply to phones, or to apply anymore to the latest versions, so it does not contain an answer that works for me: How do I close all tabs in Chrome for Android?.
Here's what I see in my Chrome menu when I click on the 3 dots in the top-right corner:

This is in French. Translation:

New Tab
New Incognito tab
Favorites
Recent tabs
History
Downloads
Translate
Share
Search on the page
Add to welcome screen
Version for computer
Settings
Help and Feedback

Other nifty tab tricks, such as grouping tabs: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2391819.

Closing all tabs in Chrome is very simple with the recent version and works on smartphone and tablet:
First press the button that shows the tab count:

Then open the three-dots-menu

And finally select "Close all tabs".

Tested with Chrome 87.0.4280.101.

Same instructions it looks like: https://www.lifewire.com/close-all-tabs-computer-android-browsers-4173831.

Update: Better answer: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/232571/121619

I couldn't find a good solution, but here's what I did, and it was really irritating I had to do this, but it worked:
Solution: Uninstall the Chrome app, then reinstall it:

First, go to here in Chrome on your computer (chrome://history/syncedTabs) and open up on your computer any tabs (that you see open on your phone device) that you'd like to send back to your phone later to essentially "keep open".
From your phone: Uninstall the Chrome app from your phone: Play Store --> click 3 horizontal bars in top-left (sometimes called the "hamburger icon") --> "My Games and Applications" ("Mes jeux et applications" in French) --> "Installed Applications" ("Applications installées") tab --> scroll down to Chrome and tap on it --> click the "Uninstall" ("Désinstaller") button.
When done, reinstall it. This seems to have worked. All tabs are now closed in Chrome, and it shows I have 1 tab open!
From your computer: "Restore" the few tabs you wanted to keep open by simply right-clicking the tabs on your computer you wanted to send back to your phone, and selecting "Send to your devices" --> "Google phone". On your phone, a notification will pop up. Click it to open the new tab in Chrome. You have to do this once per tab you'd like back open on your phone. I did this for about 10 of my 494 tabs I had open on my phone. So, now I'm back to 10 open tabs on my phone.

How dumb I had to uninstall the entire app to close all the tabs at once. GOOGLE/CHROME, PLEASE FIX THIS! MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE! Update: do this instead. See the comments under that answer too (nevermind, an admin deleted them--just be sure to click the number of open tabs icon BEFORE clicking the 3 dots icon is all, as doing that step first causes the 3 dots menu to change).

Note that prior to uninstalling the Chrome app on the phone I also cleared all of its cache and storage data on the phone. This did NOT close all the tabs by itself. The complete "Uninstall" process was required. I'm not sure if doing these two things prior to uninstalling the app had any effect on the uninstall/reinstall process, but in case it did, I'm mentioning it here. I don't think it did.


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Samsung Galaxy S4 Mail App not syncing while set to Automatic sync(Push)
It does sync automatically(push) only when I have opened the app. But today, eventhough I had it opened it didn't.
I would like my phone to sync auto even after I close the app.
I would also download another email app if necessary.
Android version 5.0.1

Who operates the mail server? Android 5 has a very limited support of modern HTTPS/TLS versions and cipher. May be the mail server was updated and now only accepts modern TLS versions and ciphers not supported by your old device.

Gmail. Is there no way to get auto emails on Android 5? It seems to me that other apps send notifications that need internet pretty quick

Is there a reason you use GMail with the stock mail app and not the GMail app?

I can not find a way to customize the notification sound when an email arrives (I want to play an mp3 when I get an email from a specific sender).


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Motorola Z Play having unusable screen
I dropped by Moto Z play a few days ago, and when i dropped it, the touchscreen just stopped. I can see everything that is happening on the screen, like the time, notifications and other things on the lock screen, but the touchscreen, as well as the fingerprint reader, is dead. I have tried accessing my data in multiple ways, but nothing has worked.
If anyone can help, please i would appreciate it.
Thanks in advance, and regards.

If only the touch digitizer is not working you can attach mouse and/or keyboard via USB OTG cable. See also https://android.stackexchange.com/tags/broken-screen/info

I found out that if i get a dongle, and attach the dongle to the USB-C, and attach a mouse to that dongle, then i can operate the phone a bit hard, but it works!!


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Unlocking bootloader for Vivo Y12
I have enabled OEM unlock and USB debug from settings. I am using Vivo fastboot tool. And after entering the fastboot menu, I tried the code fastboot bbk unlock_vivo.
C:\Users\dell\Desktop\vivo_fastboot_for_windows>fastboot devices
MNFM7PSSGM75SKBY        fastboot

C:\Users\dell\Desktop\vivo_fastboot_for_windows>fastboot bbk unlock_vivo
...
FAILED (remote:  unclock fail.)
finished. total time: 0.004s

I tried various solutions on the internet but couldn't find one.
Please someone help me.

LOL the typo seems to be located in the modified vivo fastboot version you use. According to some blog on newer devices you have to use fastboot bbk vivo_bsp unlock_vivo

@Robert so how should I resolve and unlock my bootloader

@Robert I tried that command as well but it says unknown command

https://github.com/bkerler/mtkclient#unlock-bootloader

Vivo devices with a Mediatek chipset don't allow anyone to unlock the bootloaders. The Qualcomm device's bootloaders can be unlocked by the unofficial EDL method discussed by XDA Developers. Sadly, my device is also based on the Mediatek chipset.
Please be patient until the Vivo developers officially release any method to unlock the bootloaders.

Try this. I see on the system to unlock the bootloader, there is this command. Remember to type one by one.
fastboot flashing unlock
fastboot flashing unlock_critical
fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability

The problem is that even though I want to try it, there is no laptop or PC at home.

Just want to confirm if you're sure this command will work on Vivo Y12 or other Vivo devices? OEM unlock can have different commands per vendor.

yes i think it will work on vivo y12

@VickyZakaria no it won't, and you haven't tested. that's just the common google unlock method. vivo hasn't implemented that commands this way. please note the 'fastboot bbk unlock_vivo' in question


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Is there a way to tell if my car uses USB 3?
I use Android Auto. Currently, I have a genuine USB 3.x cable (I think it's 3.0 not 3.1), but due to some issues with how far out of my phone the plug extends, I am considering alternatives. The problem is there are very, very few genuine USB 3.x cables with lower profile plugs, while there are a ton of USB 2.0 options.
I have seen some reports that AA works better with USB 3.x, so I don't want to artificially limit myself to USB 2.0. However, if the car doesn't support USB 3.x, I might as well use a USB 2.0 cable.
Is there any way to tell (using a non-rooted Android device) if I am actually getting USB 3.x speeds?
(I know there are some indicators, such as if the port is blue or has the "SS" logo, but I'd prefer an answer based on something that would work for any vehicle without having to rely on the port being properly marked, i.e. if the port is USB 3.x despite not being properly marked, how would I know?)

Have you tried reading the manual? I would think it would be prominent. Newest capabilities and benefits would be something the company would eager to advertise.

Perhaps, but much like port markings, I expect that to be a one-way test, i.e. while I might definitely determine it is USB 3.x, it wouldn't definitely tell me it isn't. Besides, even if I can find an answer some other way, I am really interested to know if there is any way to find the answer from my Android device. I know on a "regular" Linux distro, and thus probably on a rooted Android device also, there are tools to inspect the connection speed; I wan to know if there is something comparable for non-Rooted Android.

p.s. If it helps, using USB debugging (e.g. plug in to the car, then later use adb to inspect the device's logs).

USB 3 has more connectors. Therefore carefully examine the USB socket may get you the answer. USB 2.0 has only 4 connection pads, AFAIR USB 3.0 adds another 5. See for example this USB 3 plug: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Connector_USB_3_IMGP6024_wp.jpg

Thanks, I'll try that. However, I am still interested in an answer to the question as asked, even if it ends up being only for educational purposes .

Can you transfer files between the two – and does the "non-rooted Android device" support USB 3.0? If so, simply copy a large file and count how long it takes. Knowing the size, you can easily calculate. USB 2 is limited to 480 MBit/s. If you get more, it must be USB 3. Right?

@Izzy, I don't know of any way to transfer a file to my car. I'm looking for a method that doesn't rely on measuring transfer speed or on use of a desktop OS or rooted phone. For example, on desktop Linux I can use lsusb; is there anything like that I can run on a non-rooted Android device?

Ever tried lsusb from within a terminal app? The command is certainly there. Just tried it, but I had nothing suitable to connect. lsusb --help just says "List USB hosts/devices" – but while my computer is connected via USB (I ran that command via ADB), it's output was empty. Might look different with the car connected (a car drives, so it should be a drive #D).

@Izzy, at least my phone doesn't have lsusb. I suspect few if any android devices do; what would be the use case?

No idea. I was rather surprised, too – especially as the device I looked on was a cheap one running an Android Go stock ROM.


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Latency spikes regularly spaced on a OnePlus5 phone, reproducible on both ATT & TMobile
I'm seeing latency spikes consistently spaced. I'm using packetlosstest.com to check latency (also experiencing the issue with real-time apps). Normal latency is ~100ms, at regular intervals I experience latency spikes from 2-5x (200-500ms latency).
I have not noticed this problem before today, the most recent change is that I added a 2nd ATT SIM, so I now have two SIM cards (ATT & TMobile). I experience the same result on both networks. A restart of the phone made no difference.
Since I can reproduce the problem on two networks, the problem seems likely to originate on the phone. Is this familiar to anyone?
The results of the latency test are shown in the accompanying image.

Root cause identified: Having two sims in the phone causes the problem. When I removed the 2nd sim, no reboot even needed, the problem disappeared. Wow OnePlus, wow.

I would assume that the reason is that common dual-sim phone only have one radio. Therefore the radio control switches periodically between both SIM cards and of the seconds SIM card is active the first SIM can't send or receive anything which ends up in those latency spikes you have observed.

That's a very interesting observation, I appreciate it.


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Redmi note 9 brick
i tried to install unofficial twrp for redmi note 9. But ended up bricking my phone.
-The pc can recognise phone(there is windows sound, every 10 seconds)
-Phone is not showing anything
-MiFlashTool v1/v2 cannot see my phone, i used v2 to turn into fastboot but later couldnt reinstall global rom.
I just need to get into fastboot so I will install official rom, but I need to turn fastboot from computer

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

According to xda-developers.com the Unofficial TWRP works only for Redmi Note 9 (merlin) without NFC support. If your device is the NFC version you can not use this TWRP.
Furthermore it is necessary to disable AVB before doing any modifications. The flashing instructions are incomplete. Before flashing magisk_patched.img or twrp.img make sure to flash "empty" vbmeta images
fastboot flash --disable-verity --disable-verification vbmeta vbmeta.img
fastboot flash --disable-verity --disable-verification vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img
fastboot flash --disable-verity --disable-verification vbmeta_vendor vbmeta_vendor.img

fastboot is relatively safe for flashing, however unlocked bootloader is required. therefore when flashing in fastboot mode do not flash with flash_all_lock.bat, do not try to re-lock bootloader.

when flashing in SP Flash tool observe the golden rules:

never use any scatter file that does not match your current partition layout/device/ROM
the file name MT6769_Android_scatter.txt is no guarantee. even the Redmi Note 9 MT6769V/CZ comes in two different versions 128/64GB.
fastboot getvar all may give some partition related information.
WwR MTK v2.51 is the safest way to create own scatter file

always un-tick preloader checkbox
we do not want to flash preloader as this is the most imporant area in EMMC_BOOT responsible for receiving flashing instructions. if the preloader is broken, the only way to recover dead phone is from Engineering mode via KCOLO test point

flash in "Download only" mode only
other modes will erase your emmc which destroys secure boot

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/da-flash-da-files-for-flashing-to-merlin-using-flash-tool-xiaomi-redmi-note-9-xiaomi-redmi-10x-4g.4209765


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Android 11 update for Samsung Galaxy S10 devices
When will an update come to Android 11 for Samsung Galaxy S10 devices?
Currently Android 10 is installed.

The update is currently in preview on this devices. The update is planned starting in January 2021 (this month)_ and will be the second update of the OS.


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Is there a battery optimization app that allows me to turn or sync/data for all apps with an exception for certain ones?
I'm guessing there is a 3rd party app that does this, but I'm not sure. Is there a way to turn off auto sync for all apps with an exception for certain ones? For example, when I snowboard, my phone dies super quick from the cold + apps trying to sync and find service. I would just turn my data off or turn on battery super saver mode, but I use a music app, Bluetooth for my headphones, a ski tracker + GPS, and resort maps. Is it possible to turn everything else off?
I have a Galaxy S9

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! Take note that questions directly asking for app recommendations are off-topic. Instead, we prefer the asker to just state the underlying problem that they want to solve and not putting any restriction for apps-only, so we'd appreciate it if you could [edit] the question, add some details and/or remove the restriction. Otherwise, you might be interested in our sister site, Software Recommendations Stack Exchange instead.

The solution is: don't ask for an app, ask for "how to do it". This does not close out answers suggesting a specific app, but also not any other solutions (like not very well-known system settings). You can also ask for a specific app on the softwarerecs SE, as Andrew suggested. You can even create these questions simultanously (until they are essentially different, i.e. there you ask for an app, here you ask for a solution).


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How to see my location log in the Google Maps without a working network connection?
I would like to see my google maps position log even if I was offline, or I did not use my phone.
My impression is that the position logging works only if either the phone is active or if I am on wifi.
I would like if I would see my position log more often. I think, the best would be if some background task would continuously (or, maybe in every 10 minutes or so) log my position data, save it, and upload to the google maps if I am online.
Is it possible somehow? It is not a problem, if it would require some other map application, although the gmaps would be ideal.
This answer works only if I manually turn it on every time. I do not want to do that, I need an automatic solution.


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Apps recently changed, without an update from the store
I've recently noticed that once in every few days, several apps on my phone suddenly show as "recently updated", even though they didn't get any update from the Play Store.
The way I can see that they were updated, is not through the Play Store, but rather through Nova launcher's "new/updated" apps category, and also through Total Commander's "Installed Apps" sorted by date.
Since it's a Pixel phone, I wonder if that could be due to some Google-related infra/library being updated in the background (just like the Play Store app sometimes auto-updates itself without any notice), or should I start worrying about malicious code slowly crawling through my phone and injecting itself into other apps?
A few points worth mentioning:

Phone isn't rooted, and doesn't allow to install third-party apps.
Developer options are accessible, but USB debugging is disabled, and I didn't change almost any setting there.
The Play Store app settings doesn't allow any kind of auto-update unless I initiate and approve each update.
The apps that change/update in each batch seem totally random: they could be of any type, and doesn't seem related to how frequently I use them (some of them I haven't launched in months, maybe a year or more).
Usually, no more than a few apps in each batch - and no more than one batch every 1-3 days or so.
These apps continue to get regular updates through the official Play Store and everything seem fine.
There are still many apps on my phone which weren't updated/changed at all, for some of them the last change/update was more than a year ago.

Any ideas on what or how to check this? Anyone else may have noticed similar behavior?

My answer might help to find apps sorted by last update time and their installer name: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/120158/96277 // Do you also happen to have new apps automatically installed or just the installed app gets updated? The first one is the case with some OEMs  sneaking into your device in the name of "recommendations", but I don't know if Google does that too or not, hence, asking that.

Adding to my own question, as a side note. Since I've just heard about this vulnerability - although it's old, maybe there's more like it that are still out in the wild? https://www.xda-developers.com/janus-vulnerability-android-apps/


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Digitizer calibration or hardware issue?
I recently obtained a new galaxy tab A and have been noticing that touching small buttons in certain places is particularly hard (specifically the "read more" button in youtube comments).
After doing some experimenting with the developer options that show touch information, I found that the touch screen didn't want to register touches in vertical lines all across the screen. In particular, when swiping diagonally the registered line meanders to avoid moving horizontally then jumps across to follow my finger, like I'm pulling it across a washboard. Two lines in particular at dx 331.7/332.7 and dx 943.2/944.2 seem to catch the pointer like a cliff.
Is this a software/firmware issue? Or is this digitizer screwy despite being new? Can this be fixed with a factory reset, or not installing a recent patch, or updating firmware?
I've seen this behavior in an older tablet (Memo pad 8) but much worse, so much so that tapping on one of these lines would register a tap on either side of the vertical line, and scrolling would often create double taps. That issue manifested while playing a rhythm game, so I assumed some hardware cracked.

As it is a new device, perform a factory reset and test it again. If the result is still the same return the device back to the vendor as a hardware defect is very likely.


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Does 'Battery Protection Mode' turn on automatically?
I'm the founder of a company that deploys Android tablets into a hospital
Making sure our tablets are plugged in is really important to us. When devices get unplugged we alert hospital staff to plug them back in.
Devices are showing up unplugged when they’re plugged in, reducing staff confidence in us.
What we know..

Patients occasionally unplug cords to charge their phones
We had a bunch of low quality cords that were falling out. We replaced most of them yesterday
We’ve observed devices not charging when plugged in: the charging light flicks on, then immediately off after being plugged in
We have not changed any default battery settings
The problems have been mostly limited to a couple of devices
Our MDM solution (Esper) shows us battery level graphs that level off at 60%

.. we suspect that like ‘battery protection mode’ is being enabled automatically somehow
Some (potentially) useful context

Devices: Lenovo M8s running Android 9
Devices are in kiosk mode running our single (low battery use) app with screens

Using a tablet with plugged-in USB cord will destroy the USB charging port in no time because of the leverage effect of the USB plug. Therefore I would strongly recommend to use USB cables that work like Apple's magsafe - if the force is too high the magnetic connection breaks and the cable disconnects from the device.

I got a response from our support contact at Esper. This is apparently a Lenovo feature.

Lenovo "Battery Protection Mode" will be automatically enabled if the device is continually charging for around 7 days.
This is a feature designed by Lenovo to reduce excessive battery heat and degradation.
While plugged in the device will stay at a charge level of about 60%, and will slightly vary at times but should dip no lower than 50%.

Thanks for the initiative and self-answering! Apparently, yes, this is a Lenovo feature: HowTo enable Battery Protection Mode - Smart Tab. The "7-day automatically" is good to know since looks like it's not documented anywhere.


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I don't receive when someone sends me messages through whatsapp broadcast
Two of my friends have added my phone number in their WhatsApp broadcast. I used to received messages from them till December 3rd. But now I don't received any messages from them. I checked their phone and sent message is showing, but i dont receive. How to fix this error?

Did you update WhatsApp to the latest version?

@beeshyams Yes, i did.

Possible dupe: WhatsApp cannot receive any broadcasts (not yet answered)


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How to boot in recover with Acer DA220HQL
I would like to ask if there is any step by step guide to follow in order to get into boot recovery mode (Acer DA220HQL running Android 4.0.4). Additionally is there any specific version of TWRP suitable for this device?
Your help would be convenient to me!
Regards

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/root-and-custom-cwm-recovery-for-vsd220.2164736

have you installed this TWRP successfully?

Thanks for your helpful posts. Since there is no custom Rom for this specific model, it is pointless. In case you could find a suitable custom rom, I would be delighted and of course expect your additional help of how to safely install it step by step. Regards and happy New Year.

i wouldn't say pointless as you at least are able to root and customize the current Android 4.0.4 little. i am also running stock ROM on my two devices, just rooted and extended storage with external MicroSD Card


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I'm unable to toggle between Chrome Tabs
Earlier I used to toggle between tabs by swiping left or right and clicking on the tab I wanted to open.
But know if I click on the change tabs icon, I can only see the list like this attached image. How to get back to toggling tabs?

Please [edit] to mention Chrome Version and Android version, along with device details

Check if some Android accessibility settings are enabled.
Android accessibility settings can affect an app's behavior. In Chrome's case, some settings (e.g. Switch Access) change the behavior of the tab switcher: from showing the stacked preview tabs to a simpler list shown in the question.

Left: "Switch Access" disabled | Right: "Switch Access" enabled
When offending settings are enabled, Chrome will also add a new menu entry under Settings - Accessibility - Simplified view for open tabs. Toggling this will change the behavior of the tab switcher without needing to disable the global Android accessibility settings.

Note: it is still possible to switch to another tab by swiping the address bar to the left/right, even with accessibility settings enabled.

Question is possibly a dupe of https://android.stackexchange.com/q/200676/96277

@Firelord ah, didn't notice I actually had upvoted both the Q&A before. Thanks for the heads-up!

No problem. I realized the question was a dupe of mine only after reading your answer. :)

It sounds like you had multiple windows open in your browser and you would have to load each page you want to switch from  in a new tab and restore them each this is something that I have been through  thanks I hope I have been able to help you


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Have root & external sdcard mounted rw, but mv produced "Permission Denied"
I have an old tablet running LNOS 14.1.  It has an external SDCard with some Books, Videos etc.  The card is configured as movable storage.  .android_secure is an empty directory, and though I haven't deliberately installed any apps on the card, it does appear there are some in the Android directory.  I have noticed that though I have root on the tablet, there are things that I can not do via a shell or by ssh'ing in.  I can't look in .androd_secure for instance, but more importantly, though I can copy to the root of the SDCard, I can not copy to any of the subfolders!  I am able to enter and read from the subfolders, as can apps like Kodi and Librara.
I am sure I have root as I set access permission in Developer tools, and multiple apps have caused the OS to produce pop ups requesting root access.  Also, the Root Verifier app reports that I have root.   In addition, Termux and simpleSSHD allow me to su - root, & I am able to do some things with root that I can't otherwise.  eg. without root I can't write to the SDCard at all!  But I still can't do this.
A friend suggested SELinux issues, so I include ls -Z.  Is there a way around this?

# whoami
root

# pwd
/storage/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071

# cat /proc/mounts | grep "/storage/1"
/dev/fuse /storage/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0

# ls -la
ls: ./.android_secure: Permission denied
total 5852
drwxrwx--x 12 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-12 01:53 .
drwxr-xr-x  5 root root          100 2020-12-11 18:49 ..
drwxrwx--x  5 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-09 22:56 .Trash-1000
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-10 22:49 AOSP.7.0.Root.Install.amaces
drwxrwx--x  5 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-09 22:04 Android
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-10 04:38 Apps
drwxrwx--x 25 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-06 19:04 Books
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-10 22:45 LNOS.14.1.amaces
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw    4096 2000-01-02 12:25 LOST.DIR
drwxrwx--x  3 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-10-25 02:18 TWRP
drwxrwx--x  3 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-10-29 23:41 Videos
-rw-rw----  1 root sdcard_rw    5294 2020-12-12 01:53 bottled.zip
-rw-rw----  1 root sdcard_rw 5888840 2020-12-11 04:49 org.fdroid.fdroid.privileged.ota_2110.zip

# cp bottled.zip bottled.1.zip

# ls -lZ
ls: ./.android_secure: Permission denied
total 5848
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-12-10 22:49 AOSP.7.0.Root.Install.amaces
drwxrwx--x  5 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-12-09 22:04 Android
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-12-10 04:38 Apps
drwxrwx--x 25 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-12-06 19:04 Books
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-12-10 22:45 LNOS.14.1.amaces
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2000-01-02 12:25 LOST.DIR
drwxrwx--x  3 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-10-25 02:18 TWRP
drwxrwx--x  3 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-10-29 23:41 Videos
-rw-rw----  1 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    5294 2020-12-12 03:26 bottled.1.zip
-rw-rw----  1 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    5294 2020-12-12 01:53 bottled.zip
-rw-rw----  1 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0 5888840 2020-12-11 04:49 org.fdroid.fdroid.privileged.ota_2110.zip

# mv bottled.zip Videos
mv: bad 'bottled.zip': Permission denied

# cd Videos

# ls -lZ
total 7434136
-rw-rw---- 1 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0  402069980 2015-07-24 03:56 Hold Fast-15351476.mp4

# mv ../bottled.zip .
mv: bad '../bottled.zip': Permission denied

Most probably a problem with SELinux or FUSE. Root isn't always allowed to do anything: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/221485/218526. What's your shell's SELinux context? Did you try with permissive mode? Checked dmesg | grep avc? Tried to write to underlying filesystem bypassing FUSE?

@IrfanLatif - I'm weak on SELinux, so I'm not sure how to set permissive mode (I'll look it up).  dmesg produces a lot of avc denied message, but none associated with my attempt to copy into say the Videos subfolder.  I'm also not sure how to bypass FUSE, but I'll look that up, too.  Thanks for the suggestions.

I see.  It's as simple as going to this directory: /mnt/media_rw/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 instead of this one: /storage/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071.  The latter is a FUSE mounted version of the former.  That's supposed to allow users to access it.  At least, that's according to the link you offered.
(But then why do I need root to even see that latter folder?)

If you want to write that up as an answer, I'll be happy to accept it.

How about self answering? It's encouraged here.

@IrfanLatif offered a comment that included an excellent link to all the things root can't do.  It turns out, reading a FUSE filesystem owned by another user, is one of them.  Android, will mount a device at multiple places, each with different permissions.  Going to /storage/[UUID], you are visiting a FUSE filesystem.  On the other hand, going to /mnt/media_rw/[UUID], you are visiting the filesystem directly.  There may, in addition, be SELinux permission issues, as described in that link, but in my case those did not appear.
$ mount | grep 1dc31997
/dev/block/vold/public:179_97 on /mnt/media_rw/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 type f2fs (rw,dirsync,context=u:object_r:sdcard_posix:s0,nosuid,nodev,noatime,background_gc=on,user_xattr,active_logs=6)
/dev/fuse on /mnt/runtime/default/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other)
/dev/fuse on /mnt/runtime/read/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other)
/dev/fuse on /mnt/runtime/write/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other)
/dev/fuse on /storage/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other)


text:
How can I create a TWRP nandroid backup without going into recovery?
I want to create a full backup.
I have TWRP installed. But the problem is, part of my screen is not working, so I can't tap on options to enable storage (photos and stuff) backup as it doesn't do that by default.
Basically, I want to tick everything on the backup options.
And I can't do it through ADB because I don't have a computer right now.

PC is required https://twrp.me/faq/openrecoveryscript.html


text:
VLC black screen, and Disable HW Overlays
I have a Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2, with rooted Android 4.1.2.
I have installed VLC v3.0.13 on it - which is seemingly the last version that can be installed on Android 4.1.2 (all later builds of VLC for Android require Android 4.2+). I really like VLC because it has NFS sharing built in, so I could in principle watch videos from an NFS network share, which I've done previously on other devices with great success.
The problem is: when I play any video on it (mostly 360p .mp4 obtained from youtube-dl), audio can be heard, however in full screen mode, screen is black; when GUI with player controls are shown, one can somewhat discern a part of the video being shown in a stripe underneath the controls; and when the device/screen is rotated, there is a brief flash of the video shown, but then it disappears, and the screen goes back to black.
I have found this thread:

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/31940-black-screen-on-video-playback/ (refers to https://forum.fairphone.com/t/vlc-player-only-shows-black-screen-for-video-playback-on-fp1/19060/7 )

... which seems to describe the exact same problem:

The problem: No video, just a black screen except when you change
device orientation (landscape to portrait for example), when you exit
the playback or when you click settings button, the video appears for
a fragment of a second.
Audio and subtitles playing correctly.
Probably this problem only occurs in some devices.with pre kitkat
versions.
The solution: disable HW overlays in Settings > Developer options (if
Developer options don't shows:
http://www.androidcentral.com/how-enable-developer-settings-android-42)

Ok, so I went to Android Settings / Developer Options, and checked "Disable HW overlays", however, that seems to have no effect (video still does not appear/screen is still black); besides, when I reboot the phone, "Disable HW overlays" is unchecked again - which is also an experience from a Samsung device later in the same thread:

I have this exact same issue, and "Disable Hardware overlays" does not work on my Samsung Android phone.  Also everytime the phone is rebooted this feature is turned off, meaning hardware overlays are enabled.

So, my question is - is there anything I can do, to get VLC to properly play the video on the screen on this device?

Based on your description I would assume that the video contains frames that use features of the video codec your hardware decoder does not support. Therefore the video plays up to that frame. I don't know if it is possible or how to switch to software decoding. I would try other player such as MX player which can be easily switched to software decoding.

Many thanks for the feedback, @Robert - I forgot to say, the same videos play just fine in the default video player of Android, and also play fine in Asti Media Player installed on this device. So the problem is specifically with VLC - which I want to use primarily because it offers access to Linux NFS network shares (which, strangely, seem to be supported only by VLC and Kodi on Android, but typically not by Android file managers).

Then most likely it is a bug of VLC or one of it's used codec libraries. As you can't update to a newer version of VLC because of your ancient Android versions this way is blocked. May be you should try to install a custom ROM on your device. On XDA there is a discussion on a 4.2 based ROM. As your phone is nearly 8 years old the options you have are limited.


text:
Are there any ways to end a screen recording besides using the drop-down menu at the top of the screen?
I love the new screen recording feature, but I'm frustrated that every recording has to end with me pulling down the top menu to end it. What I mean is that this action is included in the recording.
Is there any way to end a screen recording other than pulling down that menu and hitting the button? Some kind of shortcut that cuts it off automatically?
(I'm on a pixel 4.)

I am using Android 11

Is your device rooted? Are you OK with a paid app, if not rooted?

Not rooted. Was kinda hoping the OS just had a shortcut built-in....

No. I have a Pixel 4a and searched a lot. No luck. Rooted means are ruled out. So you have only app options left. This app looks promising, but screen recorder shortcut is a premium feature


text:
stream audio from multiple android smartphones to pc or directly to an earphone and to listen
I would like to know if it is possible to achieve a setup in which I'm able to listen to multiple android phones via streaming audio to pc which may be streamed through usb or via bluetooth.
Or if there is an alternative through transmitting to a device and just connecting that device with some earphones and I would be able to hear all devices at the same time?
Here is the overall picture of this last solution


text:
What algorithm does Android used to translate touchscreen events to scancodes?
I have been debating someone recently about whether physical keyboards are faster than touchscreen keyboards. I have a lot of CS knowledge, but not a lot of Android knowledge. Therefore, during this debate, I have been reading up on how the Android system processes touchscreen events into keyboard events[1]. At this point, my understanding is this:

With a physical keyboard, the keyboard hardware itself can send a scancode that can be translated to an actual keycode at the kernal level through a simple lookup.
With a touchscreen, the hardware device is sending an X/Y position (along with some other data, but not a scancode), which then needs to usually be translated into a scancode by a previously exported virtual key map file. Then that scancode can be translated as expected.

This translation can happen either at the driver level or the software level. I cannot find any source code for driver level, but I found this Java file[2] which seems to do the translation at the software level. However, its implementation is absolutely not what I would expect. It seems as though the virtual key map file is loaded into memory as an ArrayList, where the VirtualKey is a simple static class with some helper methods. Essentially, the VirtualKey class has the bounding box and can determine if a given X/Y point would fall into that bounding box. When the system is checking a virtual key (findVirtualKey, line 786), it simply iterates through the list and uses a helper method to linearly search for the relevant key (it doesn't even bother to precompute the math on the bounding box, allowing it to happen each time).
Am I looking at the wrong place to understand the algorithm used in my phone's virtual key translation? I genuinely expected some kind of spatial data structure like a QuadTree. Is the dumb linear search on an arraylist more effective in practice despite the presumably terrible Big Oh? Have people tested the runtimes? Does anyone know where I can read more about this?
[1] https://source.android.com/devices/input/touch-devices
[2] https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/f0e697839a7de4eb080430fd83d44c0b436fdc88/services/java/com/android/server/KeyInputQueue.java

Android itself does not translate any key codes at all from display based keyboards. That is the job of the active keyboard app. You should better check the AOSP keyboard app.

Other than perhaps a difficulty in typing on a small virtual keyboard, dumb linear search is fine as long as the user cannot type more than 100 characters per second though..? Has this become a real problem?


text:
Accidentally wiped internal storage on Nexus 10 via TWRP now I can't turn on my tablet
I wanted to use TWRP to install an Android image but when I was deleting the already existing Android image files, I accidentally pressed "Internal Storage" and now when I try to operate my tablet, it does not turn on and when I put it on charge, it only gives me the battery charging icon. I also can't access bootloader.

what partitions exactly you have wiped?

i think i pressed pretty much all of them but I wasn't supposed to press internal storage @alecxs

partition list depends on fstab and can be different for each TWRP variant, therefore i don't know which partitions you wiped. i hope you didn't wipe bootloader. if it is Samsung device you should be able to flash firmware from Odin3 in download mode


text:
Migrate entire WhatsApp from iPhone 6 to Android
I'm looking to migrate my WhatsApp from iPhone to Android, including media (not just chat). I know that it is not possible via native WhatsApp features. I don't want to use a third-party app (not reliable, sensitive & private data).
Is there a way to do it manually somehow? Even if it is conversation-by-conversation (including the media). I mean, it is about putting the right files at the right place at one point. Is there a way to do this manually?

Thanks but the problem is not to restore chat history (which is easy) but to restore medias, maybe manually, without third party app

there is a WhatsApp folder on the phone you can copy to PC


text:
How to adb pull on galaxy s1 i9000 please?
How to adb pull on galaxy s1 i9000 please?
I need to install TWRP but no s1 i9000 (classic ) version was ever made due to lack of a certain recovery partition structure on s1 .
But it is available on S1 Blaze and S1 Fascination which were newer but lower in specs.
Clockworkmod for XXJJVQ Baseband version of i9000 is in many places as a notworking link on forums.
Anybody have Clockworkmod for s1 i9000 XXJJVQ please ?
Or a workaround to make partition image on s1 i9000 ?
I recorded a very important proof today and the file was not saved.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/2015-10-09-cwm-6-0-5-1-philz-touch-6-59-0-libtouch_gui-1-42.2201860


text:
android tv-box not playing embedded videos in any browser, after uninstalling default NETFLIX app that came with the box?
After a lot of research I could not find an answer anywhere so please enlighten me.
I have a tanix tx3 android tv-box that comes with a pre-installed old version of Netflix app which doesn't function properly, so I uninstalled it and installed a newer version apk.
After this action, the embedded videos in any site which I browse do not work. This is valid for any android browser including chrome, firefox, opera, dolphin, duckgogo etc (all with the lastest versions)
I have tried deleting browser cache, enabling desktop site etc Nothing works. In the case of desktop site mode I get an error message "This video file cannot be played. (Error Code: 224002)"
As I have read through many sites this relates to not being able to play certain video files within HTML5. I then kept on reading about JWplayer and so on.
Obviously, when uninstalling the default box Netflix app, something else was removed from my android tv-box regarding video playback. Do you have an idea what is it and how I can fix it?
Thank you in advance

Was the old Netflix app a system app? How did uninstall it (what files did you delete)? Have you checked adb logcat if you encounter such a non-working video?

thank you for your reply. The box came with netflix pre-installed, so I don't know if you can characterize it as a "system app" or just an older version of Netflix. I uninstalled it through the android menu option, as I would uninstall any other application. I didn't uninstall specific files, only the app itself. Can I find the adb logcat through the file manager or do I need a special app/connection with a PC? Thank you

adb works via USB and a PC connection. You need to enable developer options menu, and Android Developer Bridge (adb). On PC side you need at least a minimal adb versions (included i Android SDK by Google).

Thanx.I will look into these. In the meanwhile any thoughts about the type of files missing?


text:
Endless reboots after adb remount on Docker Android 10 emulator
I'm trying to remount the system partition of an Android docker emulator (stable v.30.2.5 x86_64). I use the official docker scripts from the Google docker scripts page. According to the official documentation remounting the system partition can be done with the adb remount /system command so I tried that out but got stuck in a endless reboot of the emulator. I did the following:

Start the docker Android emulator with ./run.sh f47fab55785d -writable-system
Connect the device with adb: adb connect
Root the emulator: adb root
Remount the system partition:
adb remount /
Disabling verity for /system
Using overlayfs for /system
Now reboot your device for settings to take effect
remount succeeded

Reboot: adb reboot

All the commands seem to work as expected and the emulator starts to reboot. However, the emulator gets stuck in an endless loop after some seconds (see logs).

In the logs I see two errors but I don't understand what's causing the reboot. Does anyone know what's causing this endless reboots and how I can remount the system partition?
kernel: [   11.379317] init: [libfs_mgr]check_fs(): mount(/dev/block/pci/pci0000:00/0000:00:06.0/by-name/metadata,/metadata,ext4)=-1: No such file or directory

kernel: [   13.506403] cfg80211: failed to load regulatory.db

regulatory.db seems to be the database where for each country in the world the allowed Wifi frequencies are stored in. Based on the provided log you did not cleanly shut-down the emulator file-system. May be something got corrupted in the file-system and thus this database got corrupted.

If I stop the container and start again the emulator starts normally again but does not mount the system partition in read/write. Since I used adb reboot it should reboot with the normal routine.

I don't have much docker experience but from what I know restarting a  docker image means loosing all changes. My advice: just use the Android emulator without docker unless you are an Docker expert and exactly know what you are doing.

If I could go without docker I would do it, but in this case it is a must to use it.


text:
Apps automatically start at bootup
Up until recently whenever I started Android up on my phone, no apps were started with it. Now, since an update I assume, whenever I turn my phone back on, any apps that were on when I turned it off get automatically restarted.  This drives me crazy. Is there some setting to turn this off? This is on a Moto G Power phone Android 10, patched Sept. 1.  I have gone through all the settings I can find with no luck.

People are still misunderstood about the notion of Recent apps functionality. It has always been the same! This is very similar to an OCD of pressing F5 on a Windows based system to boost up the system.
Recent apps is more of a utility feature in android and not a task killer. There is however no relation to the apps actually running in the background.
When you reboot your phone the RAM does start with a clean slate and this is no different for Android L release too. Some apps will always start after a boot and that is how it works. The system makes some apps ready for use in that way.
Recent apps is just a list of apps that you have recently used and not those which are necessarily sucking up on your RAM. For a real RAM usage, look up the list of running applications and not recent apps. No new way of handling RAM has been introduced in Android L as well and it is just an idea of keeping the list of recent apps persistent now. For an analogy think of recent apps like a web browser history and not the open tabs that you can switch to anytime. Apps are loaded/stored into the RAM as and when needed.
On the contrary a better notion would be to use RAM to its optimum use. Linux based systems are designed to work that way. Say you have 100 of the apps installed but use 6-10 apps very frequently and on daily basis. Eventually these apps are automatically managed and stored by RAM for quick access and loading. Loading an app when RAM is in clean state consumes more battery and resources than rather loading it from cached state. The more you use the system the better it gets.
Android manages the memory itself pretty well. The least you can do is close some of the apps yourself when not needed. We need to stop worrying about the number of applications running in background and just let Android be Android.
Source


text:
Android UI lags / shutters
I often see strange/unexpected slowdown in Android UI irrespective of the device I use. UI suddenly skips frames and all graphical transitions seems to run at a very low frame rate (I would say in the range of 10 fps) and with severe lag. After some time it can sometime recover, but not always: the only guaranteed method to return at full speed is to reboot the device.
It seems strange, because:

it happen on any device I own, but with different absolute effect (ie: on a Mi A2 Lite it is much more visible than on a Oneplus 6T or Mi 10T Pro)
closing all application does not alleviate the slowness/lagging
when it recover, I did nothing fancy at all (maybe I simply locket/unlocked it).

The OEMs who are only after UIs to an extent of madness, trying to be unique, ultimately lose in performance. Don't know who tells them that the users only want elegance. Try custom ROMs.

@IrfanLatif I don't think it is a case of excessive customization: the Mi A2 Lite has Android One, which uses the Google launcher (as the Pixel phones). Something similar can be said for the OnePlus 6T, which uses a near-stock AOSP launcher.

I own a Mi A2 Lite. The problem occurred after Android 10 update. Turning off animations in Dev Options seems to give a bit relief. Lag problem is common in Xiaomi devices. What I observed is that their focus is majorly on UI, not on HAL development and resolving hardware/software compatibility issues.

Not to pass a subjective call but I have owned MiA1, OP7 and this does occasionally happen. I agree with @IrfanLatif that they focus on the "bling value" more and therefore his point


text:
WhatsApp video doesn't play and has a warning icon (Video format h264 not supported)
Using WhatsApp version 2.20.206.24 on a Huawei Y9 2019 with Android 9.
Received the following video (i tested both forwarding and sending the video directly - on both cases i faced the same problem)

If I click play, the video looks like is going to start but the time is stuck

Checking the media associated with that chat and it appears a thumbnail with a warning icon in it

I'm able to play other videos, so it makes me think that the problem isn't with the media player of this phone. Tried also restarting the phone, searched for WhatsApp updates and system updates and all were in place. Also, I tested playing the video with two other different Android phones (one Samsung and another Huawei) and the video played well.

Edit
When trying to play the video from the Gallery, I get the following error

Formato video h264 não suportado. (Portuguese for "Video format h264 not
supported").

Edit 2
I installed VLC for Android to see if the video would play using it. The timer this time finished playing as well as the audio but the image was stuck in the same moment

Assuming that the person that sent you the video has a Gmail account, ask to upload the video to Google Photos and send the link, that way you'll be able to see the video.


text:
Dictation (Voice Recognition) Function has Stopped Working
I have a Samsung Galaxy J3 Luna Pro whose dictation listening function has recently stopped working.  When I press the microphone button now to dictate, the blue button indicating it is listening to dictation comes on for only a split second and then goes off, and the words "try again" appear on the screen. (Previously the blue circular button would stay on the screen for a while while I would dictate).
To try to remedy this, I have gone into settings > language and input > virtual keyboard > Samsung keyboard > reset settings, however it has not worked. I have also tried "clear personalized data," but this has not worked either.
Under virtual keyboard > Google voice typing, everything looks normal there too.
The Internet connection is not an issue, as it works fine. This has been plaguing me for about two months now through multiple reboots of the phone, yet I cannot figure out how to gain my dictation function back.
There is about 675 MB of free space on the device, which should be enough for me to dictate out a couple of sentences at least. Even if there are no apps open, or only one app open, it still happens, so it is not a RAM issue either.  I can't even dictate out a single word before the blue circle quickly turns off and it says "try again." It is 100% not working all the time. It does not 'sometimes work.'
Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?
Is the only recourse reinstalling Android?
If I have no choice but to reinstall Android, how do I backup all my apps before doing so?
I am running Android version 7.0.
Thank you very much.


text:
Android Auto poor voice quality?
I am using Android Auto to navigate via Maps, and it works fine. However, the voice quality is much worse than if I use Google Maps and connect my phone via Bluetooth.
I have tried enabling 48KHz Guidance Audio Sample Rate in the developer settings, but it does not make a difference.

Known issue. // See if this makes a difference

Interesting, though that solution seems related to audio streaming. For me, the audio streaming is fine. It is only once the Google Assistant Voice turns on to tell me directions that the audio quality is poor.

Maybe try with a different voice (male /female) and another language? Just to rule out problems with one voice


text:
How to stream an image into camera source?
This is basically the same question as
How to stream an image into camera source trough ADB?
I am trying to stream an image into the camera source of an Android device. This should ideally have effect on all apps that use the camera source.
The solution doesn't have to be by using ADB.
(Sorry my technical understanding is very limited. I was going to comment instead but didn't have enough reputation. Thanks!)

https://github.com/GhostFlying/image-to-camera; You can download the app from https://apkpure.com/image2camera/com.ghostflying.image2camera. Check if this works

Thanks. I think this won't work because it looks more like an image picker tool. What I was looking for is, when apps request live camera access, an existing image/video file automatically replaces the camera function. I thought the other thread's OP was looking for the same thing? Am I wrong?

Is this something that's likely impossible with today's Android technology, or is it just that few people are interested?


text:
How can I get rid of the "Restart now to finish the update" popup?
I have a Pixel 2 XL that I MUST keep on Android 10 for various reasons. (Yes, I am aware of the implications of doing this. This is a device that I use for development tasks, I don't go to random websites on it, I don't install unknown apps, I never use it away from my trusted home WiFi network, etc.) However Google seems hellbent on making me upgrade. Every few days I get a popup message (shown below) asking me to "restart now to finish the update." I get this popup even though I have "automatic system updates" turned OFF in Developer Settings, and even though I have Google Play Services notifications turned OFF. Is there any way to stop this message from appearing?

On an un-rooted device as far as I know: No. If your development does not make use of GoogleSafetyNet I would recommend to unlock the bootloader. Then you can install any Android version you want between 8.0 and 11.0: https://developers.google.com/android/images#taimen upgrading and downgrading, both is possible. Usually this option is why people buy Google devices for development.


text:
I want to unlock my Samsung a70 without factory reset
My son played with my phone and changed my password and I don't know what is it. I have tried for several months but nothing worked.
Can you please help me because my phone contains important images and files that I want to save.

give it back to your son and let him play with, hopefully one day he remember

no he is small and he can't remember because he did random

obviously he was smart enough to watch you unlocking, remembering the unlock code, navigating to settings - security - screen lock - successfully inputting unlock code - typing new "random" password - repeating new "random" password exactly again - and confirming the change


text:
Forwarding incoming calls to landline when connected to specific wifi-network
I have the following problem: In my house, it is practically impossible to take a call on the mobile phone due to very bad mobile network connection. As soon as I am more than 2-3 meters away from any window both me and the person who called me cannot hear each other anymore. Probably the walls are made of a lot of reinforced concrete which creates interference. I wonder if there's any possibility to forward incoming calls to my landline phone whenever I am connected to the wifi in my house?
I read this article and came upon the app Call Divert but it seems that this app is full of ads. Is there any open source solution that does the same thing?

My first thought for such things usually is [tag:tasker] (not open source, but no ads etc. either). There might be other [tag:automation] tools capable of that. They can act on events and states (in your case, "WiFi connected, SID xxx") and perform tasks. Not sure if any 3rd party app is allowed to do call divert in recent Android versions, with Google always taking away such things in the name of security (and yes, Call Divert is full of ads & trackers).

Hmm, I installed Tasker but it seems not to be straightforward to divert incoming calls with this app (diverting outgoing calls is fairly easy). I found these two pages that lead might lead to a possible solution but I don't know how to implement these suggestions into a working task (tasker-homepage, google-groups-page)

Also, found out that my question is a duplicate

Yeah, Tasker has quite a steep learning curve. Took me several months for the basics (and now I always have to research again – as once set up I never felt the need to touch it again :D) // Shall I close this question as duplicate then? I'd say yours is a little more specific (certain number PLUS certain WiFi).

"Shall I leave this question as duplicate then?" I guess based on your reasoning you could leave this open, as my question is basically building up on this question

there is a straight forward app that automatically redirects your cellphone to landline based on WiFi connection  Forward My Calls

Yet, It seems to be very old and unsupported, so tell us how you found it

Rather strange that there are no similar apps as far as I searched
Location based automatic calls forwarding


text:
Download/Fastboot Mode Broken
I have the Samsung J5 Pro (SM-J530F).
Two years ago I installed TWRP via Odin and download mode and it worked great. Since then I never entered download mode again because I installed all my roms with TWRP.
Now, I am trying to enter download mode in order to install my original Android 9 (from Sam-Mobile),  through Odin, and it's not working, like the download mode has been deleted somehow...
I tried every possible way, with the bottoms (power, volume down and home), through TWRP, with ADB but it is not working!!
If you have any suggestions, I would like to hear...
Thank you in advance

Let us continue this discussion in chat.


text:
Upgrade HCL ME V1 tablet to make it usable again
I have HCL ME V1 tablet :

preinstalled with Android 4.0.4 (Ice-cream Sandwich) OS.
It has 4GB of internal SD memory
1GB DDR3 RAM and
1 GHz, Cortex A8 processor

It used to work fine when I had bought it, but with time, the device is becoming quite unusable in the sense that the android os is quite old and there was no update from the manufacturer.
Moreover it has no playstore. Which was not a problem previously as I could manually download the apks from third party sites and just install them on the device, it used to work fine. But recently I see all the newer apks show "there was a problem while parsing" and technically it is becoming unusable. All the older browsers in it show incompatibility errors when I try to load a web page.
Moreover, I cannot install any apps from Google like Chrome, Youtube etc.
So could you suggest me a step by step detailed guide as to how I can revive the device, with some newer android os (installing manually) or some other lightweight os which could be installed on that device or someway as to how I could install Google Play on it.
I too have a smart phone with a similar hardware configuration, which supports Android 9 without much issues. Please could anyone help me, with a detailed step by step guide.

you can't upgrade to higher android version unless somebody has built custom ROM. source code is required (sometimes proprietary binary blobs) which is hardware specific so it depends on vendor (usually they are forced to provide but may violate their own license agreement). in any case ROM development is off-topic here. search for ready-to-flash custom ROM and ask here in case you don't understand the flashing instructions. if you can't find ROM use older apps. also check microG or OpenGApps

ok I shall try it @alecxs


text:
How to execute commands, after exiting ADB shell?
I'm coding a script to automate an application configuration export process.
adb shell
...
<open app menu>
<open app settings>
<save app backup>
...
exit

The problem is: after saving the backup I want to pull the file to my computer, using this:
adb pull /storage/emulated/0/Backups/ ~/Documents/phone

Although, I can't figure out how to execute this command, after exiting adb shell. It seems like commands after exit are ignored:
adb shell
...
<open app menu>
<open app settings>
<save app backup>
...
exit
adb pull /storage/emulated/0/Backups/ ~/Documents/phone

Maybe, this is an issue I should addres to the "Unix & Linux" community, but I decided to try here first.

Instead of writing the backup to file(s) write them to stdout and execute the command using adb exec-out ... > localfile. Then the file will be executed on the phone and the output will be written to your PC disk.

works fine to me.. try a second terminal

Write your script a little different:
#!/bin/bash
adb shell <<EOF
...
<open app menu>
<open app settings>
<save app backup>
...

EOF

adb pull /storage/emulated/0/Backups/ ~/Documents/phone

All between <<EOF and the EOF standing separately at the start of its own line is run in adb shell, all outside is run on your local machine. Note: no exit needed.

The syntax used is an "heredoc". I strongly recommend reading on https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2953081/how-can-i-write-a-heredoc-to-a-file-in-bash-script. O.P. didn't post the real contents of the script, which may or may not contain variable names supposed to be used in the adb shell, or outside, and that question there contains information about the syntax and other things to note.

Good point, yes – I didn't get on the name. However, I use HEREDOC a lot, and just verified it again now: other than the top answer there suggests, variables are interpreted inside HEREDOC (tried the given example, like foo=FOOBAR\ncat <<EOF\necho this is ${foo}\nEOF, and it printed "This is FOOBAR"). And yes, as in the example, I use Bash; worked with cat as well as with adb shell. Never blindly believe without verification, even answers upvoted like that one ;) What however does NOT work: setting the var inside the HEREDOC will have no effect of "afterwards".


text:
How do I connect an external WiFi device to the USB port of my Android phone?
I cannot find any android drivers that will allow me to connect an external WiFi thumb drive to the USB port of my phone. Then I intend to interface to the USB through the external WiFi device using WiFi Direct.  I do not want to root my phone so does anyone know of a way to connect these devices?

You need to rebuild your kernel with the driver added for the Wi-Fi adapter you want to connect over OTG.

Thank you Irfan.  I was looking for a solution that does not require rooting.

Yeah that's what I meant that what you are looking for isn't possible.

Irfan, I thought the driver would go on the external device, not the mobile. Windows comes with USB drivers to interface to mobiles..I was hoping there was an external WiFi thumb drive that would allow addition of a similar driver but instead of Windows it would be in Python or whatever the thumb drive was capable of running.  I guess that would require that there are USB drivers available for non Windows devices.

The concept of drivers is different on Windows and Linux. Android is based on the latter. Linux kernel usually already includes a larger number of hardware drivers than a Windows system. But mobile devices have limited hardware resources, so Android uses a minified Linux kernel. If your kernel doesn't have the driver of your desired WiFi adapter already built-in, you need to rebuild the kernel. Or at least load the driver as a kernel module (if luckily available). In both cases root privileges are must (which are always available on desktop systems, be it Windows or Linux).


text:
Chrome's "share to device" and "click to call" keep sending to the wrong phone
I have 2 Android devices of the same brand and model, one is for gaming and such and has no SIM card, the other one is my main phone with the SIM card and able to make a phone call.
I discovered this very useful "share to device" and "click to call" function as it sends to the correct phone each time. However, since yesterday, whenever I try to do it, it keeps sending it to the other wrong phone. And I seem to have no control whatsoever on which phone to select for the desktop Chrome to send to.
When I click "send to your device", only that one option shows up and it keeps sending to the wrong phone.
I did not change any settings on my Android phones. All sync and notification have been enabled.
Is there a way to show and choose the target device?

From your desktop's Chrome, browse to chrome://sync-internals/ - Sync Node Browser - Device Info. Do you see your Android devices from there?

Yes, I actually see both phones in there, and since are the same phone they have identical names. I also tried to share a page from my phone (Phone I want to work) to the chrome browsers and it works!!! But I still cannot get any sharing from my desktop chrome to the phone I want.

I found out the problem, I installed an app called Tasker, and it blocked all notification send from my chrome desktop. I uninstall it and it works again.

That's strange because I also use Tasker, did you know why it's blocking the notification? Anyway, looks like you've found the solution by yourself, which is great! Consider post it as a proper answer since self-answering is not only allowed, but even encouraged!. Thanks!