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My phone reboots after a kernel oops, what can I do?
I use the CyanogenMod firmware on my phone (CM7.2 on a HTC Wildfire) and when I take photos it sometimes reboots. I found out that a kernel oops happens due to a null pointer dereference in the kernel.
I already filed a bug report on the tracker for the CyanogenMod project.
Can someone help me to understand the Kernel Oops in last_ksmg ?
If you need it there is a logcat too.

I made your question more generic, as your problem was too localized and can only really be addressed by the maintainers for your firmware (for which you already correctly filed a bug report). It's up to the developers to fix it. I gave some generic hints here what can be done in such a case.

Have had a look at the kmsg, and logcat,
The logcat was showing this:
[ 01-13 13:14:11.036   138:0xc46 I/mm-camera ]Open Device node : /dev/msm_camera/frame0
[ 01-13 13:14:11.036   138:0xc46 E/mm-camera ]Got exception but camframe_exit == 0!
[ 01-13 13:14:11.046   138:0xc46 E/QualcommCameraHardware ]ignoring preview callback--camera has been stopped
[ 01-13 13:14:11.196   138:0xc04 E/mm-camera 7x-vfe ]Received VFE start ACK!!! This is a user preview start.
[ 01-13 13:14:11.196   138:0x8a D/QualcommCameraHardware ]startPreview X
[ 01-13 13:14:11.226  2840:0xb18 V/camera   ]mJpegCallbackFinishTime = 725ms
[ 01-13 13:14:11.337  2840:0xb18 D/camera   ]
.....
[ 01-13 13:14:14.400   138:0x8a D/QualcommCameraHardware ]FLASHLIGHT is ENABLED
[ 01-13 13:14:14.410   138:0x8a D/QualcommCameraHardware ]stopPreviewInternal E: 1
[ 01-13 13:14:14.410   138:0x8a D/QualcommCameraHardware ]cancelAutoFocusInternal E
[ 01-13 13:14:14.410   138:0x8a D/QualcommCameraHardware ]cancelAutoFocusInternal X: 0
[ 01-13 13:14:14.480   138:0xc04 I/mm-camera 7x-vfe ]vfe_process_QDSP_VFETASK_MSG_VFE_STOP_ACK: call mmcamera_vfe_stop_ack_callback()

Am wondering is there an issue with the Camera, as matter of interest, when taking a snapshot with the camera, it usually plays back an audio clip of sound of "snapshot" when the button is pressed?
This is coinciding with the oops:
[ 4264.409912] adsp_pmem_del name JPEGTASK vaddr:0x40e68000 paddr:0x27012000 len:4096
[ 4264.420715] adsp: closing module JPEGTASK
[ 4264.421173] adsp: disabling module JPEGTASK
[ 4264.422485] [KEY] gpiomatrix: key 272, 0-0 (35-42) changed to 1
[ 4264.444183] [KEY] gpiomatrix: key 272, 0-0 (35-42) changed to 1
[ 4264.465789] [KEY] gpiomatrix: key 272, 0-0 (35-42) changed to 1
[ 4264.487548] [KEY] gpiomatrix: key 272, 0-0 (35-42) changed to 1
[ 4264.509094] [KEY] gpiomatrix: key 272, 0-0 (35-42) changed to 1
[ 4264.530853] [KEY] gpiomatrix: key 272, 0-0 (35-42) changed to 1
[ 4264.552398] [KEY] gpiomatrix: key 272, 0-0 (35-42) changed to 1
[ 4264.574157] [KEY] gpiomatrix: key 272, 0-0 (35-42) changed to 1
[ 4264.595733] [KEY] gpiomatrix: key 272, 0-0 (35-42) changed to 1
[ 4264.600616] [AUD][audmgr.c:audmgr_enable] audmgr_enable: ARM9 did not reply to RPC am->state = 2
[ 4264.601013] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000000
[ 4264.601226] pgd = e321c000
[ 4264.601593] [00000000] *pgd=26037031, *pte=00000000, *ppte=00000000
[ 4264.602294] Internal error: Oops: 817 [#1] PREEMPT

So my guess is that the media player, somewhere, between Qualcomm hardware that controls the camera, and the playback crashed. Am hedging bets on the kernel's camera itself...
Best to post this on CM's forum to see if this is known issue.

The OP already correctly filed a bug report for this... As for the audmgr stuff: maybe the libs also initialize that when you open the camera app. Anyway: Not much we can do here, I hinted to some howto's and generic information and suggested how to react...

@ce4 the errr... key thing is [KEY] gpiomatrix: key 272... is related to a key input taking a snapshot, either zooming, or pressing 'take snapshot button'.. just prior to the oops.. :)

As for that, nowt mucho we can do... :) /me shrugs

Correct. That's up to CM guys... Initially I'd say, close because 'too localized', but I then made it more generic to be useful for others too (the OP states that he just wanted to know what's going on, and such, not to make us fix it). here's the bug report, btw.

Thanks! I thought also that the problem is linked with the sound but I was in silent mode so it's already not normal that audio service is called. The key 272 is effectively the key used to take a snapshot. Yes I just wanted to understand but if you can do more you can but thanks a lot @ce4 and @t0mm13b

@Gadcam we cannot do any more, as that is kernel related to your CM ROM. Just wait and see what happens from that bug report that you've filed. :)

I thought so... But sometimes the official of a project is slow because there is more important somewhere else so I'll try to fix it or give them the more element I can

I had a look at the klog, all you can do is:

search for a different kernel (is your firmware up to date?)
ask the (correct!) maintainer/developer to fix it
especially if it's an inofficial CyanogenMod build, you cannot ask the CM team, but have to ask in the forum where you got the firmware image from.
track it down and fix the kernel yourself (unlikely, that you have asked this here)

Some background:
That's definitely a kernel problem, have a look at the line

[ 4264.601013] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000000
  ...
  [ 4264.603424] PC is at audmgr_enable+0x168/0x1c8

If you want to know more you can read up on Stackoverflow on How to diagnose a kernel oops and what is a Linux kernel null pointer dereference.
There's also a HowTo available here.

here's also a nice howto: http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/013147751X/downloads/013147751X_book.pdf

As wrote in the bug report the firmware is up to date and it's the official. Thanks for the topics links.


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Power control widget auto rotate toggle issue
I have Samsung Galaxy nexus running official Android version 4.2.1. Problem is that the auto rotate toggle on the power control widget is not working properly. The toggle will change state, but the auto rotate feature state is not changed. I have to go to Settings -> Display -> Auto-rotate screen checkbox to change the auto rotate feature. The toggle button on the power control widget is unable to change this checkbox status.

I was wrong about the setting, it wasn't the auto rotate button. Power control widget doesn't have auto rotate, just Wifi - BT - GPS - Sync - Brightness.
From http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=42405 :
What you consider to be the auto-rotate toggle, is the button to switch the sync!
It will switch whether your device will sync in background or not.

I too was thinking the sync button on the Power Control widget was the auto-rotate buttong.  However I've found that by touching the top status bar and dragging it down gives me an auto-rotate button without having to go into Settings, etc...  This is available while inside most apps so you don't have to exit to go to the settings panel.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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LG P500 Recovery Isuue
I rooted my LG P500 and installed ROM Manager. I flashed ClockWorkMod Recovery (using the ROM Manager app). The problem is that when I boot to recovery I get a E: boot error "recovry" message at the bottom of my screen.
Device: LG P500
Android 2.3.3 [Software version - V20e]
Rooted with SuperOneClick
ROM - Stock (cant flash new ROMs because of this problem)
Thank You!

You should probably try to re-flash the recovery image to your phone via fastboot.
Just googling a little, or directly on the xda-developers.com forum you can find all the info you need, including links to recovery images for your model:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=839

Any hints where to get working CWM recovery and how to do it on the LG P500?

I added a link to the forum.

http://download2.clockworkmod.com/recoveries/recovery-clockwork-5.0.2.7-p500.img will be the official recovery image for the new baseband of LG P500 and the procedure explained for a different phone is in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1647272

Sorry for the late respond, THANK YOU I WILL TRY THIS!
But please tell me, "reboot" for LG P500 means turning the device off and then turn it back on, or there is a key-combination that reboot the device? or should I download an app for that?
THANK YOU!

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


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How do I keep audiobook separate from Google Music?
So every time I add an audiobook to my Nexus7 it automatically put it into google music. And then of course if I'm listening to music I suddenly get part of a story, which is really annoying.
I tried putting .nomedia on the audiobook file but it doesn't make any differences
Does anyone have any ideas?

Google Music will ignore the .nomedia hint file. But you can create a folder beginning with a "." and put there all the audio files you don't want to be indexed by Google Music.
For example:

/sdcard/.AudioNotToShowInGMusic/

I have a different phone, and have issues also with the media applications ignoring the .nomedia flag.
A web search indicated that the .nomedia flag is not working as expected because of a Cache.  (the previously scanned data remains in said cache)
Renaming the folder, then re-scanning the media seems to fix this issue with the cache holding the data even after the .nomedia item is present.  After scanning, the folder can then be renamed back, and additional media scans seem to properly ignore the folder.
I am not sure if this is a long term workaround, or just another bad workaround, but so far it has solutioned it for me on my device.
Update, renaming and rescanning the media has worked 100% for month now, only if a new set of items are scanned prior to the .nomedia flag being placed in it's folder, do I have to apply that method again.  So .nomedia goes on first :-) . I see many programs are tossing the flag in early , even if thier folder is empty at the moment.

Creating the .nomedia file worked for me, as did @Tzunki's additional solution of putting a "." in front of my audiobooks folder name.  However, adding that "." made the folder hidden and so i couldn't access it to add and delete new and old audiobooks on my computer. I couldn't find it on my phone or on my computer until I installed ES Explorer and checked the box to show hidden files. Then i could delete out the "." from my phone to then make the file accessible on my computer.
Thanks again to @Tzunki for the original answer and to @gertmenkel for the solution to finding the hidden file (that discussion here)!


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How the data on SD are encrypted in 4.0?
I've got phone with android 4.0, and, for sync with Exchange, I encrypted SD card using android's built-in encryption. However, the phone starts telling me that the card is damaged and needs formatting.
I just want to take the data (photos) out before formatting, I've got the phone, and remember my PIN. (I can also do the bitwise copy of the card). How are the data encrypted? What do I need for decrypting? I assume that the card is encrypted whole, not only files on the filesystem, so when I decrypt it I may be able to dig the data out.
Thanks

You probably need one more thing (the encryption key which is e.g. located below /efs on Samsung). Here's some more info with a python script to handle it (on the phone alas): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=25635462&postcount=54


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Customizing lock screen notifications on 2.2
Is there an app that makes it possible to have email, Facebook, etc. notifications displayed on the unlock screen, the way that voicemail and text message notifications are displayed?

Some custom lockscreens can do that, but they're not fully secure.


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Restoring an ADB backup onto a different phone of the same model?
We have several Android 4.0 phones of the same model, from the same manufacturer, purchased at the same time, from the same factory batch. We have created a backup of one of the phones using ADB.
Can the backup file from one of these phones be applied to all of the phones, or is there uniquely identifying information in the backup that will make it inapplicable to the other phones?

Have you tried to restore on say, two phones for the dry-test-run first before mass-restore?

It probably just works. I'd say just try it, what could go wrong? If you notice it's not working, you can always just reset the phone or restore the phone's original backup. Device specific ID's always come from the hardware and are not stored on the /data partition (at least not for original Google stuff). What's unique though per device: Google play's auth token, and other stuff by Google. Maybe they detect double usage by a token and cut you off of the Play store for security reasons. Happened once to me, I had to do an account recovery (SMS sent to my phone) and it worked again.

Let us know your findings!

The backups created from adb have no "checks" to see if the phone you are restoring to is the same device.
You should have no issues as long as they are the same version of android. By same version I mean the same actual android version as well as the same manufacturer. You would probably have issues if you tried to restore a backup made from a sony phone with android 4.1 to a motorola phone with 4.1. But should be ok if you restore from a motorola with 4.1 to another motorla phone with 4.1.
You mentioned that you are going to the exact same device, just make sure the device is updated to the same version that your old phone was.

Just for clarification: Does that also apply if the backup just holds a single (non-system) app? That's something working fine with Titanium Backup. I guess the basic thing here is, both devices should have the same directory structure -- as that's taken "literally" with the ADB backups? And does that necessarily mean, after upgrading a device the Backups made before are useless?

They could be, depending on what you chose to backup. If you do a full "system" backup, the chance of it working on another phone are a lot lower than if you just backup the user apps and user app data.

Full ack: Never restore a "full system backup" to a different device or even just different ROM, otherwise trouble is almost sure to come. Whereas with single apps (as you can specify them on the command line to adb backup) should work in most cases, but might make trouble on different ROMs/devices -- at least to my understanding.

One more thought: Carbon Backup (now named Helium) also uses ADB as backend, and even claims to keep apps and data synchronized among multiple devices. Guess that fact should answer the part for backups of user apps :)

Just tried restoring ADB backup from Galaxy S3 to another Galaxy S3, after adb finished, phone hanged, didn't respond to power button.
After removing battery, it went into boot-loop (fortunately fixed by factory reset).

Had both phones the same hardware version (there is far more than one S3 model) and had both the same software version?

Edit: This answer refers to nandroid backups made by a recovery (ex CWM). I think it applies to your case, assuming you do a full backup via adb.
There is at least one unique item that would be duplicated: the Android Device ID. This ID is generated whenever you wipe and install a new rom, but it is preserved with a nandroid backup. This ID is used by some apps to track unique installs or authentication.
Some devices store the MAC address of a network interface in memory (such as the Nook Simple Touch and its wifi interface), not on the chip itself. This makes it even more important to keep an original image. In the case of the nook, many people who rooted it didn't keep a backup of the original, so they lost their original unique MAC address. If your particular device does this as well (it probably doesn't), then you would have major problems if two devices tried to access the same wifi router.
Other than that, I personally have not had an issue with copying a nandroid backup from one phone to another of the same model. I can use Titanium Backup to manually generate a new Android Device ID, and the Optimus V doesn't depend on the rom for any MAC addresses. As long as the phone is fully wiped before restoring a nandroid (and it is the exact same model and chipset), there shouldn't be any problem.

This can work. Though your mileage may vary.
I just restored a nandroid backup from an old Galaxy S4 (which I dropped and the LCD failed) to a new Galaxy S4.
The new Galaxy S4 arrived completely stock and it took a while to get it rooted and TWR installed - getting around Knox etc. But then I restored a nandroid backup from the old Galaxy S4 (which was at Cyanogenmod and 5.1.1) over the new phone's stock Samsung 4.4.2.
There was a slight weirdness where it booted back to TWRP and looped at the TWRP logo screen - but after a couple of battery out resets it is now working great.

I can also say this works though itll definitely vary. I restored a twrp backup of lineage os 13.1 android 6.0.1 on my galaxy grand prime that was android 5.0.1. Both phones are the same make and carrier.


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Automatically update all Apps
I have some problems with the update feature for some apps. I cannot update them via Google Play, because there is no "Update" button, only the "Installed" button. However, there is clearly a new version (I've checked the version number of the installed app with the one offered by Google Play). Also, under "My Apps" in Settings, these apps are not listed, even though they are installed and run just fine.
What do I have to do, so that ALL apps can be updated, either automatically or manually through Google Play?
I am using a Nexus S with Android 4.1.2 installed.
Thank you very much for your time!

Have you installed these non-updating apps from the Play store or from other sources (such as alternative stores or downloaded as .APK files)?

Most of them are from alternative sources indeed.

I think Titanium Backup has an option to fix market links for manually installed apps. I haven't used it myself though but its worth the try. I also know some other way to trick Google Play but is of questionable legality, use google if you want to know it.

If these are paid apps that you purchased from a third party market you have to use that market to update them, ie. Amazon Appstore. If they are free apps, look for the under the 'All' tab in Settings/Apps and try to uninstall them the reinstall them from Google Play.

Go to Google Play --> Menu --> My Apps --> Update All
The "update all" should be near the top right corner. The default for most apps is "allow automatic updating". This can be changed for each app from this same screen by clicking on the app and checking the box "allow automatic updating".
BTW sometimes an app requires a manual update. The update all function will leave those out you have to click on each app and hit the UPDATE button.
I do know Google Play will not let you update an app if it thinks the update is not compatible with your version of software or hardware.


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MHL with Nexus 4?
I know that the Nexus 4 has Slimport technology, which is very close to MHL but draws little/no power. However, is the Nexus 4 still able to use an MHL to HDMI adapter?

You should edit your question to remove shopping recommendation part. It is off topic here.

Josia: I just did what roxan correctly suggested, to prevent your question from being closed as off-topic. You can re-edit it anytime if you feel something missing/unclear.

The Specs at GSMArena mention TV-out (via MHL A/V link), which suggests it should work.
On the other hand, ExpertsReview states:

The micro USB port also doubles up as a display output, though surprisingly it doesn't use the MHL standard that we've seen on numerous recent devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S3. Instead it supports the new SlimPort standard, which is based upon DisplayPort.

Which suggests the standards are incompatible (other sources I consulted underline this). An even clearer hint you'll find in a review by anandtech:

When I wrote that review it wasn't immediately clear what advantages SlimPort offered over MHL, which has become relatively ubiquitous in the year or so since its introduction. Since then I've acquired the SlimPort microUSB to HDMI 1.4 SP1002 and VGA (D-SUB) SP2002 adapters from Analogix for testing out SlimPort on the Nexus 4.
  ...
  As of this writing, the Analogix SP1002 adapter is available on Amazon for around $30 USD. I haven't seen the SP2002 available online anywhere yet, however.

As this shows, there're SlimPort adapters available which are not that expensive (though not that cheap either), and are probably better fitted for your purpose. As you either yet have to buy the cable, I'd rather go for the right one.

Good luck with it -- glad I could help! Once you have used it, maybe it would be a good idea to mention in another comment how well it worked.

Indeed, that is a pretty good idea.

It seems that MHL is not supported, but its cousin SlimPort is, according to here and explained here.
I have not bought yet, but I guess Chromecast might do the trick anyway for more recent devices.

We have used the chromecast to cast android application and it was not usable. The refresh rate was several seconds. Now I seek for an adapter.


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Android Automatically Adds Shortcuts To Home Screen

Possible Duplicate:
How can I remove unwanted app icons from the screen?

I have a Samsung GS3, and every few days new shortcuts show up on my home screen. How can I stop them from being added? I un-checked Play > Settings > Auto-Add Widgets and they still keep showing up. What is causing this?

Can you post a screenshot of the shortcuts?

See also my answer here on a similar question.

Probably you have installed some non-reliable app, which is adding those annoying shortcuts in your home screen. I recommend you to install and make a scan with the free app TrustGo Ad Detector, and uninstall the app(s) under the behavior Create shortcut on home screen.

Also check out under the other behaviors for more suspicious apps and proceed as recommended. Note that some apps use legitimate mobile ad services, like Google's AdMob to monetize via ads, but they are listed under behaviors Leak identity info and Collect location , so just make sure you only uninstall (and avoid to install in the future) applications like online casino games, adult apps/games, and other which you distrust.
Keep making scans periodically (weekly or monthly) on your device to get rid of new potentially risky apps.

Thanks, it found a calculator widget that it said was adding them, I will have to give it a few days before I know if removing it worked or not.

After reading comments on that app others had the same issue, so I am going to mark this as solved thanks! Here was the culprit: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=foralt.calculator.widget

Thanks for the info: don't forget to report that calculator widget in Google Play Store because of this kind of spam.

I have been trying to find a link or something to report this app, but I can not fine one. Any help on this?

From your smartphone open the Play Store link you shared above and go to bottom, as this image shows (as reason, select "Other objection", and tell them the way that app spammed you): http://i.stack.imgur.com/zSKnX.png


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Why are SMS messages sent on my Samsung Galaxy S III running AOKP appear as unable to be sent?
Why are SMS messages sent on my Samsung Galaxy S III running AOKP appear as unable to be sent? The SMS is actually sent.
I tested with a message to myself:

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Edit: I forgot to add that I have done this very recently. So there has not been a period where it worked normally. This occurred as soon as I flashed the ROM.


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Flash Player does not work on Android 4.0 and upwards

Please check my attached about Flash Player error on my android phone. I can see Utube, Facebook videos very well but some of the website showing like that error. How could I solve this problem?
Phone : Huawei U9200 P1
Version : ICS 4.0.3
Flash Player Ver : Adobe Air and Adobe Flash Player 11.1

Flash support is officially dropped for Android platforms, and also, not compatible with ICS upwards.

However, some browsers are experimenting with Flash built in. I believe Firefox Mobile does.

The reason YouTube and Facebook videos are working for you is because they're not using Flash.

See: Is Adobe Flash deprecated with regards to Android Devices and Apps? / Flash support for Jellybean (4.1) / How can I use Flash Player now that it's no longer supported? and other Adobe Flash questions.


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Cannot add users on Nexus 7
I recently purchased the Google Nexus 7 tablet running Android 4.2. This link describes how to manage multiple users on the same device. However the menu item "Users" does not exist on my table under the "Device" item.
The following menu items are visible:

Sound
Display
Storage
Battery
Apps

Do I have to enable some other settings so that this item will become visible?

You shouldn't have to, have a look at this screen shot http://cdn3.pcadvisor.co.uk/cmsdata/features/3418647/Nexus_Daydream_1_thumb.png it shows where 'Users' should be.

possible duplicate of Cannot add users on Nexus 7

Following the screenshot my device does not show the item "Users". It only shows: Sound, Display, Storage, Battery, Apps.

@t0mm13b 'Possible' duplicate? ;) I've already flagged the other one and this one contains more info so should probably keep this one open.

@Peanut yeah, I saw that, that you flagged the other one as a duplicate... ooops, cyclic duplicates... xD

@Robert can you confirm your android version number please? my nexus 7 runs 4.2.1 and shows users menu option. can you check for updates?

To the close-voters: The mentioned duplicate has just been closed in favour of this questions, so it's a bad idea to cross-close both of them ;)

It certainly shouldn't matter, but what flavor of device did you get? Did you get the 3G version?

The problem has been solved. My device (3G) had Android 4.2 installed initially. However the multiple user functionality is only available with Android 4.2.1. My device didn't show the udpate. Today it did - no idea why - and now the item is visible.

Please accept this as the solution :)

Takes me another 17 hours to do so :-)


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How to share my laptop internet connection via wifi to my android tablet?

Possible Duplicate:
Why can’t my device see an ad-hoc WiFi network?

I created a wifi hotspot in my Windows 7 laptop (open ad-hoc) but my Android 2.3 tablet is not detecting it. My tablet is detecting other wifi networks but not my laptop's hotspot, how can I fix this?

possible duplicate of Why can't my device see an ad-hoc WiFi network?. See also: Does any version of Android support ad-hoc connections?

Hint: For more details, you might also follow the ad-hoc-networks' tag -- or hover your mouse over it and, on the popup, click on "FAQ" to have the questions ordered by "importance".

As described in this answer most versions of Android don't support Ad-Hoc WiFi networks, however if you try using an application such as Connectify then this should allow you to use your laptop's internet connection on your phone. If you need them then instructions on how to set it up can be found here.

Connectify .. is not free :(


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keep screen from dimming down when running certain app?
My 2.3.5 Android phone is set up to dim down the brightness after 30 seconds of inactivity, and shut off and lock the screen after another 30 seconds. After that, I need to unlock the screen to regain access to the running app. I would like to be able to keep a certain app with the screen accessible, while keeping the same configuration for any of the other apps. So instead of having a phone-wide system of brightness dimming, I would like to have an app-specific system. Any ideas?

Settings -> Display -> Screen timeout?

Just to reiterate, I want this to be different for a specific application than it is for the rest.

There is a system permission that the app can request that allows it to keep the screen on while the app is running. This is how programs like media players are able to keep the screen on while you're watching a movie. If the app you're running doesn't currently have that facility, you could get in touch with the dev to ask them to implement this.

That's easily possible using Tasker (I do the same for selected reading apps to increase the timeout to 2min, while also having the 30s default for all other apps):

Condition: App (select the apps you want to keep the screen active for)
Task: Display Timeout (configure the timeout interval using the sliders)

Alternatively, in "Task" you could also let Tasker switching the keyguard off to disable the lock screen.
At least concerning the display timeout adjustment, this might be possible with other automation apps as well, such as Llama -- I'm not sure, as I use Tasker I don't use the others. Though Tasker might look a bit pricy (~5 EUR) and complicated, after you figured out how to use it you will find it worth every cent. Until then, there's a free trial available on their homepage.

thanks, that's exactly what I am looking for, but ideally for free (and open source).

The trial is free for 7 days. On day 6 (or whenever your config is stable), export configuration and profiles. On day 7, uninstall the app, reinstall, and import configuration/profiles. So it runs for 7 more days (this hint comes from the dev himself). I know of no other tool as powerful as Tasker, but feel free to look around -- might well be you don't need "that much power", so some other app would be enough. Considering the work and effort put into Tasker, the fee is nothing more than a friendly pat on the back.

You might also want to take a look at Llama, which might be able to do the same.

There is an app you could use: Stay Alive! Keep screen awake

it prevented the screen going dim while usb is connected, cool thx!


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How can I set some handy settings on the main screen?
I want to be able to set Wifi, bluetooth, GPS on and off quite easily but I can't find where I should do this.

You can add the Power Control widget to the home screen to control those functions. Open the app drawer, find the Power Control widget, long press and drag it to the home screen.
There are also many widgets in the market that offer expanded functionality when compared to the stock widget.

You can see a picture of the settings included in the Power Control widget here http://android.stackexchange.com/a/28411/156

The widgets you ask for are on the notifications menu on my Galaxy Stratosphere. However, it is possible that this is part of a carrier-provided (Verizon) modification. For me, it is easily accessible, but out of the way, preventing accidental changes.


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Trying to invoke Skype from contacts gives me an "Application not found"
Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, Android 4.1.1.
I have installed Skype and it works as expected. In my "normal" contacts list, i.e. the phone contacts, not the Skype contacts, I have entered the Skype data for some of my contacts under the "Skype" section. However, when I click on a contact and on their Skype-section I would expect Skype to start, but all I get is a message saying "Application not found". Invoking Google Talk for instance (on the same contact) works as expected, it's just Skype that's not beeing found.

Try going into settings -> applications -> skype and clearing the launch by default setting.

Default settings for Skype are grayed out, so it seems there are no default settings associated with Skype...

Having same issue, seems like instant messenger records in Google contacts are treated as informational note and aren't actually treated as info about accounts.
The workaround is to explicitly combine contact entry with Skype entry in phone - that makes Skype actions (chat, call, video call) available when clicking contact's photo in contact list.
PS weirdly for contacts that have Skype login saved in Google contact I see Skype option show up under Google Talk action. Gives same "not found" message.


text:
where can i find settings for wifi internal scan period
I have already found some guide related to this. But my experience is that if wifi.supplicant_scan_interval = 15
my device scans for wifi with 60s period
so I dont think that this is the right parameter for that. Any suggestions?
Edited: here is my build.prop:
# begin build properties
# autogenerated by buildinfo.sh
ro.build.id=GRK39F
ro.build.display.id=GRK39F
ro.build.version.incremental=eng.paul.30092011.041430
ro.build.version.sdk=10
ro.build.version.codename=REL
ro.build.version.release=2.3.6
ro.build.date=Fri Aug 30 04:14:55 EDT 2011
ro.build.date.utc=0
ro.build.type=user
ro.build.user=paul
ro.build.host=paul-VM
ro.build.tags=test-keys
ro.product.model=U20i
ro.product.brand=Sony Ericsson
ro.product.name=mimmi
ro.product.device=mimmi
ro.product.board=mimmi
ro.product.cpu.abi=armeabi-v6l
ro.product.cpu.abi2=armeabi
ro.product.manufacturer=Sony Ericsson
ro.product.locale.language=en
ro.product.locale.region=US
ro.wifi.channels=14
ro.board.platform=msm7k
# ro.build.product is obsolete; use ro.product.device
ro.build.product=mimmi
# Do not try to parse ro.build.description or .fingerprint
ro.build.description=passion-user 2.3.6 GRK39F 189904 release-keys
ro.build.fingerprint=google/passion/passion:2.3.6/GRK39F/189904:user/release-keys
# end build properties

#
# ADDITIONAL_BUILD_PROPERTIES
#
keyguard.no_require_sim=true
ro.ril.hsxpa=2
ro.ril.hsupa.category=5
ro.ril.def.agps.mode=2
ro.media.dec.jpeg.memcap=20000000
rild.libpath=/system/lib/libril-qc-1.so
rild.libargs=-d /dev/smd0
wifi.interface=wlan0
wifi.supplicant_scan_interval=15
ro.ril.def.agps.mode=2
ro.ril.def.agps.feature=1
ro.opengles.version=131072
ro.com.google.locationfeatures=1
ro.com.google.networklocation=1
ro.ril.enable.a52=1
ro.ril.enable.a53=1
ro.media.enc.file.format=3gp,mp4
ro.media.enc.vid.codec=m4v,h263
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.width=176,640
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.height=144,480
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.bps=64000,1600000
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.fps=1,30
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.width=176,640
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.height=144,480
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.bps=64000,1600000
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.fps=1,30
ro.media.dec.aud.wma.enabled=1
ro.media.dec.vid.wmv.enabled=1
ro.media.dec.aud.divx.enabled=1
ro.media.dec.vid.xvid.enabled=1
settings.display.autobacklight=0
media.stagefright.enable-player=true
media.stagefright.enable-meta=true
media.stagefright.enable-scan=true
media.stagefright.enable-http=true
keyguard.no_require_sim=true

#MT and LCD
ro.sf.lcd_density=120
qemu.sf.lcd_density=120
ro.product.multi_touch_enabled=true
ro.product.max_max_num_touch=2

dalvik.vm.execution-mode=int:jit
dalvik.vm.heapsize=32m
ro.compcache.default=0
ro.rommanager.developerid=cyanogenmod
ro.url.legal=http://www.google.com/intl/%s/mobile/android/basic/phone-legal.html
ro.url.legal.android_privacy=http://www.google.com/intl/%s/mobile/android/basic/privacy.html
ro.com.google.clientidbase=android-sonyericsson
ro.com.android.wifi-watchlist=GoogleGuest
ro.setupwizard.enterprise_mode=1
ro.com.android.dateformat=MM-dd-yyyy
ro.com.android.dataroaming=false
ro.config.ringtone=MiniCM7Pro.mp3
ro.config.notification_sound=DontPanic.ogg
ro.config.alarm_alert=alarm.ogg
ro.modversion=MiniCM7 Pro V16 Pre-Final
ro.setupwizard.mode=OPTIONAL
net.bt.name=Android
dalvik.vm.stack-trace-file=/data/anr/traces.txt

#SEMC
persist.service.xloud.enable=1
persist.service.swiqi.enable=1
ro.semc.timescape_keys=Sony_Ericsson_Xperia
ro.semc.sound_effects_enabled=true
ro.semc.xloud.supported=true
ro.service.swiqi.supported=true
ro.semc.batt.capacity=950
ro.semc.batt.test.consumption=150
ro.semc.batt.test.z_threshold=50
ro.semc.batt.test.min_level=60

Edit2: The scanning period is depending on the connectivity as well. Means if the phone establishes a WI-FI connection, then the scanning period will be different from the wifi.supplicant_scan_interval. Also when the phone get into idle state (around 10 mins of inactivity) the scanning period will be 10 min.

Look at post #4 of that guide you have enclosed in your question.

Have I missed something else not mentioned in my question?

Are you rooted? Do you have access to /system as rw? Can you paste in the full contents of build.prop into this? Does your Wifi driver have the capability to set the scan interval via build.prop? Also, point to remember, 60seconds is better and less taxing on the battery instead of 15seconds!

@t0mm13b yes, the phone is rooted, build.prop is added. Actually I am writing an app using wifi, and i measured the scan period which was 60s. Yes it better then 15, but I would like to know where this 60s comes from. thanks

This property comes from during build-time and is extremely, dependant on the wifi driver, for each and every device tree that gets integrated into the build of Android, there's what's called an overlay, this overlay may contain extras pertaining to the said device in question.
In fact, its rather, an XML document that gets parsed during build and "overlays" or "overwrites" the standard Android defaults, such as animation speed, etc.
This pertinent information of this comes from the device's overlay/frameworks/base/core/res/res/values/config.xml which contains the very exact line:
<!-- Boolean indicating whether the wifi chipset has background scan support -->
<bool translatable="false" name="config_wifi_background_scan_support">true</bool>

From that, that is telling the build, to say, that the property wifi.supplicant_scan_interval is supported and can be used dynamically from the build.prop file found in the /system directory, which in turn, is read from the Android's native binary executable wpa_supplicant.
However, it must be said, it depends on the Wifi Driver to support that, and how much integration of the Wifi functionality is within the frameworks. To find the exact source can be found in external/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.c, around lines 2459:
#ifdef ANDROID
    char scan_prop[PROPERTY_VALUE_MAX];
    char *endp;
    if (property_get("wifi.supplicant_scan_interval", scan_prop, "5") != 0) {
        wpa_s->scan_interval = (int)strtol(scan_prop, &endp, 0);
        if (endp == scan_prop) {
            wpa_s->scan_interval = 5;
        }
    }
#endif

default here on Gingerbread is 5secs, again the mileage will vary depending on the version of wpa_supplicant used, there was two versions, wpa_supplicant_6 which was broken under ICS, and the newer version wpa_supplicant_8, despite saying that, it may no longer be supported now with the newer releases.

Thanks for the detailed answer! However I cannot find these files your are mentioning: so what is the exact path to the .c file, and .xml? I am using Root explorer, but no overlay/ and no external/ folder in root

It is in the AOSP source code, you are not going to find it in Android ROM that you have currently in your handset, the details mentioned above would be if and when the AOSP source gets pulled down to your machine prior to building Android.

So what I understand is that Wifi scan period time can be 60s even wifi.supplicant_scan_interval = 15. And I cannot check it, just measure the exact time?

If the build.prop has that property in place but does not actually scan for that specified period, the binary  executable in Android, wpa_supplicant is not patched in to have the capability to read that property from build.prop. BTW to make it clear, its stated build-time meaning before compiling Android which is what my answer is pointing out.

so if this is the case, then I cannot modify the scan period, right?

That is dependent on if the Android binary executable wpa_supplicant is patched in or not! For all you know, it could be ignoring it and not care whether its specified in the build.prop... :)

Since my settings is 15, but the real value is 60 then I assume that I cannot modify it - am I right? asking again, or maybe I should try to modify to 30, and see what happens.

Assuming the binary is not patched in, then you cannot modify it.

and the only way is to figure out whether is patched or not is to try modifing the period via wifi.supplicant_scan_interval, right? - last question

Try it! :) One thing, if you do see that it does not work, then make a backup copy of the binary, if you intend to copy it elsewhere from another ROM for example, that could break the wifi functionality due to that binary, not knowing how to bring up the Wifi, as it may not have the chipset driver compiled into it, based on the actual Wifi chipset used in your device!


text:
How to delete synchronized pictures?
I've chosen allow Google to synchronize information from my email to my phone, but the result is not as interesting as it sounds! I see some pictures in the Gallery that I wouldn't have in my phone, unfortunately the delete option doesn't appear for these pictures. How to delete them? Is it possible to delete all synchronized information from Gmail to phone?

Make sure your google acct doesn't sync picasa photos. ..
Then go to settings > application manager > all apps > gallery > clear data and cache. Deletes the synced album.
Similarly you can clear all synchronised data from Gmail also.
In settings->Accounts->Google->your account, you can uncheck all options.
 So your Google details will not get synchronised...

Did this answer cleared your problem?

Yes it did, that's why I accepted it. Thank you.

Any more details needed? I'm asking because of bounty description.

When you set up synchronization, it sets up sync with picasa and other services. You can go in to the Settings and accounts and unselect specific services, like picasa. That should remove the images from being synced to the phone.

Thank you for your answer. Now Google photos sync is off but I still see those pictures in gallery!

once sync is off, you should be able to just delete them. They should not be deleted from picasa. I would test it with one image first though so you don't lose all the images if for some reason it does sync the delete.

Remove your Google account and make sure you are checking off Google backup when you add in your account for the second time, this will work!

This is unnecessary, and removing the primary Google account is pretty much equivalent to a factory reset. Not many apps store their settings in Google's cloud, even if the option is enabled on your device.


text:
Cannot access internet even wifi is connected
I have Sony Xperia Tipo. I connected to the WiFi at my college. But even after connecting I am unable to access the internet. What is the problem?

They could have been using proxy. You have to set the proxy settings in that case.

There is no way we can answer this with the information you have given. Without more information all we can do is guess.

In colleges they usually use proxy server to connect to internet. Ask them and set the proxy in Wirless settings in your phone.

If you college uses Eduroam, there's actually a fairly lengthy process to properly connect. It essentially comes down to the network certificates in use, and obtaining and installing them on your phone. As you have Android, you may benefit from using a 3rd-party app to connect to this network (as that is what I've done). The one I used is here: eduroam CAT , although there are certainly alternatives you may prefer.
If your college does not use eduroam, the requirements will be different. Try connecting to the wifi, and browsing to any commercial website. If your college has a redirect system, you will be redirected to a page where you can login and register your device.
If the browser redirect fails, go to your college's IT page and look for articles showing you how to connect. That will give you the specific information that you need.


text:
Notification light on Galaxy S3 SGH-T999V with Cyanogenmod 10
I'm trying to get custom notification lights working on applications I define on my GS3.
I went to Settings > System > Notification Light and added an app with the colour I want.  The light doesn't seem to turn on when I have a notification.  I tried the Test and locked my screen but that doesn't work either.
It seems like the light only seems to turn on when the phone is plugged in.


text:
How to turn off check-ins?
I have an Android 4.1 phablet. I'd like to turn off the check-in feature. The only way I've found so far is to disable the whole Google Now, but I don't want to do that.
I want to turn-off only check-ins feature.
I want to do this because it's extremely annoying, even when I stay in my apartment for hours and don't move my phone. It proposes to check-in to thousands of places around every few minutes. (I live in city center)

I think you need to adjust the settings in the Google Maps application that control this. Launch Maps and press the overflow menu icon (the three dots in the bottom right on Vanilla Android; you may need to access your settings slightly differently on other devices with custom UI skins), then go to Settings => Location settings and scroll down. You should see a subsection labeled "Check-ins":

If you also want the cards for nearby places to be hidden then you can do that in Google Now's settings. Select Settings => Google Now => Places and turn those cards off.

Yeah, "Check-in notification" this is the thing I want to disable. However, in Google Maps I have no 3 dots icon anywhere... (Actually you are speaking about 3 squares?)

@WojciechBednarski: Yes, I guess it's more like three squares stacked on top of one another. It's in the bottom right (in portrait, anyway) and should look like this: http://www.google.com/help/hc/images/android/android_ug_40/ic_menu_overflow_dark.png

Ok, found it! Its inside Google Maps settings as you described and looks like on your screen. I just have no this dots/squares probably due to samsung modification or something

@WojciechBednarski: Ah, that's probably it. I'm using a Galaxy Nexus, so I don't have Samsung's UI skin.

Thanks, you save my day. Yes these 3 squares are not in my version of Google Maps, but I can see it in other places. I have Note 2 with android 4.1.1 so probably Samsung made soem changes.


text:
Forcing home/back/recent apps bar to rotate
I have a Nexus 4, running Android 4.2.1.
There is a bar on the bottom of stock Android with the buttons for navigation. Is there a way to force the bar to rotate with the rest of the screen, like on a tablet?

Why would you want to do this? The bar doesn't rotate, but the buttons do. (The little icons will rotate when the device changes orientation)

Just a question of preference.

I see. Is this a rooted device?

No, but it's not something I mind doing. Just haven't gotten around to it really. It's a new device, 1 week old.

That's fine. Mine isn't rooted, and to tell you the truth I have no idea how to do this. The Android OS is made to actually remove this area from the screen when displaying content (To help the developers), so moving it might cause some issues.

@Josiah and @Dan Gravitybox JB can do the job, provided that device is rooted and Xposed Framework is installed.


text:
Effective way to merge contacts
Well, I suffer with that issue of merging contacts - name, phone, e-mail, birthday etc. info.

I backed up all my old phone contacts to Google Contacts (my old contacts were on a XLS file, so I converted it to CSV and imported it on http://mail.google.com/contacts ).
I already had a lot of Google Contacts, because of the bad default option to add everyone I sent an e-mail before...
I try to automerge contacts on Google Contacts, but it often merge wrong ones...
Merging manually on Google Contacts is so boring...
I tried some apps from Google Play to merge contacts, but they often merge wrong ones too...

Do you know a effective way to merge them automagically?

Well, as you've discovered (as I did), when your source data is a mess automated tools can only go so far. Your best bet is to continue to massage the data in Google Contacts to get it straightened out. Otherwise you're probably looking at an expensive automated solution or, more realistically, hiring human(s) to do it for you.

You might want to take a look at the other 23 related questions on merging contacts which already have answers. With some luck, they might give you a good hint.


text:
With Google Now, can I ask for directions to one of my contacts?
I understand I can send an SMS or email to a contact, but I can't figure out how to ask for directions to the contact.  Is there a voice command for Google Now that will pull up directions to a contact's address? If so, what happens if the contact has more than one address?
If there isn't a way to do this currently, is there a shortcut to pull up the Contact record, where I can click to the map?

This feature isn't available as of now. But you should frequently check the Google Now app page for such updates. This feature is available on Siri though, but that's probably irrelevant right now. In the meantime, you can still get turn by turn navigation to take you home by saying " directions to home". It'd be a good app feature though.

Do you know if there's a way to add additional locations besides "work" and "home"? Or is there a command to load a contact record (e.g. "open contact ")? I'm guessing not based on my attempts to figure out :P

As far as I know, work and home are the only two

you can search for a contact by saying "open contact" then the person's name. Takes it a few seconds but it shows name numbers and addresses. All of which allow you to tap to call, text or get directions directly from Google Now.

Google now is an extension of the search function, so you could use the search voice function to issue a navigate command. However due to my accent I find that it causes issues.
However you can navigate directly to a person via the contact app. when the contact app is open, search for contact you want (you need to be in the contact tab, not the phone tab - favourites tab will work too).
Press on the person's picture (or icon if no picture) - this will pop up an action bar of everything you can do with the contact, from phoning, e-mailing, facebook etc, and if you have an address for that person, by scrolling the action bar you should see the map icon, which if pressed provides their address in the action box. Press the address, choose maps if it isn't already your always use. If you have navigation set up to be your standard on the bubble bar press the navigation option, otherwise press on the bubble bar to bring up the address, and choose the navigation option. If directions only option, use that and when directions shows details to get there, use the navigation button on bottom right to go into it.

This is what I've been doing lately. Unfortunately, it is lots of clicks to do while driving.  It would be nice if you could use voice search to pull up a contact record.  Let me know if you have a way to do this

You do have google now, and if you are on Samsung you have S Voice, plus there are other options on the market. With my accent I can normally get them to launch the navigate app without any problem, but I usually end up with the incorrect address due to my accent.

My alternative suggestion would be to look at Car Dashboard apps, which might not enable you to do it via voice, but could enable it in fewer clicks. Alternatives are: CarHome Ultra, InDrive: Custom Car Home.


text:
Cannot see, buy, or download apps
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3.
Sometimes when I'm looking for an app, it says "not available in your country". It's very weird that I cannot see or buy paid apps, when others can see them.
Is it because of my phone, my country, my Google account, or what is it? Can I change that? If yes, how?

Its checking based on the SIM card and the network carrier's country of origin... See this

@t0mm13b Why not adding a few words and making this an answer?

The reason the OP cannot see an app due to a message not available in your country is down to the very simple check on the SIM card. Each SIM card has a carrier identification, and country code identification. When Android powers up, the Radio Interface Layer (RIL) obtains the carrier and network information in which the baseband receives over the air, here is a small subset of an example taken from Gingerbread source, apns-conf.xml
<apn carrier="Vodafone ES-Internet" mcc="214" mnc="01" apn="ac.vodafone.es" user="vodafone" password="vodafone" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="Vodafone" mcc="214" mnc="01" apn="airtelwap.es" user="wap@wap" password="wap125" type="default,supl" />
<apn carrier="Vodafone ES" mcc="214" mnc="01" apn="airtelwap.es" user="wap@wap" password="wap125" type="supl" />
<apn carrier="Yoigo" mcc="214" mnc="04" apn="internet" proxy="010.008.000.036" port="8080" type="default,supl" />

Notice the values for mcc, mnc, for Spain for example, in this case, 214, and 01, 04 etc, that carrier information is transmitted across to the SIM card and internally within Android for reference.
The Play Store, reads the phone state, and deduces the carrier information as a measure for "filtering" out apps based on the region/carrier. However, if the SIM card is from the country of origin, for example, UK (this also applies when roaming), Android "remembers" the mcc and mnc and pushes that aside, and gets replaced with the preferential carrier's network codes for the said values of mcc and mnc respectively when roaming, for example, Spain. (Incidentally, as a side note, that is how auto-update of time-zones are supposedly to work, by looking up the mcc, and timezone, add on x minutes to the clock maintained by Android).
But that is in a nutshell, in how the Play store determines what to show for that intended audience based on their respective network. There are work-arounds available, by faking the carrier code is one, Market Enabler does that exactly that.
Please see the other answer that was posted in how to get-around the limitations and work-arounds.


text:
How can I automatically correct tags of music files?
I've seen apps like Shazaam and TrackID, which can provide the Artist, Album etc. info, by recording a few seconds of a song from any source.
In my music gallery, there're lots of songs, with incorrect artist, albums or genre names. So is there a way that allows me to automatically correct these info, or at least fill up the missing info?

Preferably a free app, or a lower priced app will do. Or if there're any workaround to get this thing done, with existing music players.

Please note that app recommendations as such are off topic here according to our [FAQ].

Have you looked in the Play Store? What have you already tried. A key search term for you will be "ID3". Have you tried fixing the music tracks on your desktop machine using any of the many available tools that are out there?

If you can use the Sony walkman app, that is the best solution for you. See the answer in this question. If that app is not compatible with your device, Album Art Grabber would be a good solution for you.

Thanks, I didn't know walkman app can do this too. I actually have a Sony Xperia phone, so Walkman was already installed.

Music Tagger from Deos Apps can do exactly what you're asking.
It can identify your files and download metadata and album art for them automatically.

Music Tagger is a music tag editor that introduces automated features
  like lyrics grabbing & album art grabbing to make the process of
  tagging your song files quick and easy. Music Tagger also uses an
  audio identification system to automatically identify and tag your
  files individually or in batch. Album information is pulled from the
  MusicBrainz database which can also be directly accessed and tag
  information for each track downloaded and applied to files manually.
  Music Tagger Editor is also capable of organising and renaming your
  song files once they have been tagged.  Folders for artists and albums
  can be created and files renamed based on renaming structure selected
  from the given options.
Music Tagger automatically updates the Media Store Database when
  changes have been made to files to ensure changes reflect on all other
  media applications. Please take note that some music players use their
  own databases and may take longer to reflect changes to files, a
  manual update may need to be invoked within the application if it is
  possible.
Music Tagger Currently supports the following file formats MP3, FLAC ,
  M4A and MP4 audio files only

It always returns me "Auto tag failed"


text:
Tapped Always instead of Once
I'm sorry for the stupid question, but I accidentally tapped "always" to choose the app when I meant to tap "once" (in text messaging).  How do change it?
I tried to tap "Clear Defaults", as referenced in this question, but I can't.

Other questions that may be relevant include How do I change the default SMS application on my HTC Hero? and How to select default application

As your question got closed: I see how your problem is different, and added an appropriate alternative to the linked "duplicate". Please check it out, I'm sure it solves your issue.

Perhaps you can elaborate a little bit on why you can't use "Clear Defaults", then. Is the button grayed out? Something else entirely? On ICS or later you can also clear out all app defaults in one shot if you wanted to go that route (and had a recent enough device; see here for more on that one).

When you have to choose "once" double tap the app icon instead.


text:
Clearing a SIM Card
After doing a factory reset on my phone, I reinserted the SIM card into the phone and I got a message suggesting that I import settings, messages, and contacts from my SIM card to my phone.
I know how to delete messages and contacts on the SIM card after importing them to the phone.  My question is, how do I delete the settings from the SIM card?

A Subscriber Identity Module commonly known as SIM card has a storage for text (SMS) messages and contacts only.  Settings (I presume you are talking about access points and GPRS/3G configuration - clarify it you mean something else) about your phone are not stored, except the carrier related parameters like message service center number, value added services codes etc.


text:
Could not enable mobile hotspot function on HTC One X
I am using HTC One X and I was trying to enable mobile hotspot function, so I could enjoy internet from my PC adhoc wireless network but it says :
 There is a temporary network problem that prevents the
 enablement of the Mobile Hotspot function.
 Please retry later.

Looks like you've messed up some terms:

I was trying to enable mobile hotspot function, so I could enjoy internet from my PC adhoc wireless network

First: the mobile hotspot function is to share your Android device's mobile Internet connection to other devices not having Internet on their own, e.g. a tablet or laptop, via WiFi.
Second: only few Android devices support ad-hoc networks. There are solutions, but all of them require your device to be rooted.
Third: if you wanted to use your PC's Internet connection on your Android device, that would be reverse-tether, and again require root to be established.

Thank you @Izzy, can you provide me links for your second and third solution. I have rooted my phone.

Simply click on the relevant tags: ad-hoc-networks and reverse-tether. As those questions are already answered, we don't need to repeat the same solutions again :)

Make sure Mobile network in Settings is ON.
To change timeout time on the HTC One X, do the following:

Settings
More
Portable Hot Spot Tethering
Portable WiFi Hotspot Settings
Menu at top right
Advanced
Power Mode
Always On

Problem solved! Install open garden. It's fabulous. Don't have to root or get a mod Rom. It uses best available option between Bluetooth..WiFi and infra red to keep android phone continuously tethered to your devices. Im loving it

What's your relationship with this app? If you want to recommend or promote it, it might help to include a link.

I faced this problem three days. and Today I'm happy. Because I found the answer. Some Carriers such AT&T (my Case) use to block mobile hotspot feature. You may want to solve it as I did. I flashed/install the ODEX for my HTC ONE (M7, Not ONE X) Stock rom. But solution should be very similar.
Before flashing it, you need to consider prerequisites. (1) Root your device (2) install a Recovery Manager  (I recommend the "TeamWin Projects - TWRP 2.5")
(3) Download the ODEX or DE-ODEX, depending on your current rom.
Please visit the next reference, I did it and it Works :) x 1000
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2285047
Good Luck!!!

So, what's the answer? All I see is a link.


text:
HTC Sense live wallpaper picker
Is there a way to set the image preview for the HTC Sense 4+ live wallpaper chooser?  Currently, it just scales my thumbnail to a much larger size, which makes it look pretty bad.
Here is an image of what I am referring to:

See how it just scaled?  I am just wondering if there is a way to set the image that is used.  I have noticed HTC live wallpapers look great, but I don't know if they have that image in their system files or in the actual apk.
Thanks.

Is this a live wallpaper that you're writing yourself? It sounds like that's the case, which would likely be better suited for [SO] (and has been discussed some here)

it's funny you said  that, I found the same question on stackoverflow but it was closed because it was off topic or something and they directed the person to come here and ask.  Thanks though I emailed HTC and they answered.

I emailed  HTC  and this was there response in case anyone is interested.
"I understand you have a question about Live Wallpapers for your Android device. I would be more than happy to assist you with this device feature inquiry. You mention that you would like to know whether a developer would have access to the area where you choose the wallpaper or scene for the Home screen of your phone? This question would be difficult to answer since this might require "rooting" or unlocking the boot loader of your phone possibly."
so as vague as it is,  it seems like  they are system files used for HTC  live wallpaper previews.  I guess a scaled thumbnail is as good as it gets.


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How to assign an app to an NFC event?
I would like to use NFC tags with NFC Task Launcher or AutomateIt, but every time I scan the tag, I get a popup asking for the application to use (I have a few NFC-related ones). I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and a Galaxy Note 2.
There is no "always use this application" choice (similar to the ones I had when clicking on a link for the first time - which popped up an app panel with a choice of "this time only" or "every time").
Is there a way to force the assignment of an app to an event?

If there's not, and your device is rooted, you can check the playstore for "AutoRun Manager". Install it, and disable the corresponding listeners from the apps which should not respond. Not a real clean solution (and will only last until one of those apps receives an update, or you install another NFC app -- in which cases you need to repeat this step for the affected app), but it should do the job: Only a single receiver = No Popup :)

@Izzy: thanks (unfortunately my phone is not rooted). If I understand correctly the apps register themselves as "event handlers" and there is no way to edit this (similarly to how this is done in Windows or Linux). The idea being that I would edit once the hook for "NCF tag read" event, worst case until a new app is installed (which could be OK for events you have appropriate apps for and which you do not need to redefine on a regular basis)

You could call it that. What they register is called a "listener", and the system sends a "broadcast" to all registered listeners -- but the principle is the same. What you could do if none of the related apps are system apps is use a tool to rebuild the .apk files with those listeners removed. But that might be tricky, and even a little risky, as you'd have to do so for every update, and you might even be unable to update such an app (due to the "broken seal").

In that case I will remove the other apps registered to handle the event. This is not ideal but in that specific case it will be OK. Thanks for the details.

I fully agree, it's not ideal. But I'm glad it's at least a workable solution for you. I will sum up now all the details into an answer (so it's easier to follow for others. Feel free to upvote/accept it then :)

Background
To understand the issue, you will need a little background on how this works:
For almost everything, Android broadcasts "events" -- such as e.g. boot_completed, SMS received, SD card inserted/removed, battery low... NFC signal received. Apps can register so-called "Listeners" with the system, which are bound to specified events. In your case, mentioned apps have registered for NFC events.
Now, when an event is broadcast, and there's no listener to it, nothing will happen. Is it a single app that registered a listener, this app will be called. If multiple apps registered listeners, the system looks if one of them is set to "Default" by the user; if so, this one is called -- otherwise a popup appears fot the user to chose which app should handle the event. Usually, this popup also holds a checkbox to make that app the default for this given event.
Solutions
As said, usually there should be a checkbox -- which in your case does not seem to be the case. So it seems there's no possibility to define a default action for this event, whatever the reason. You could try apps from the playstore which do handle default apps (e.g. Default App Manager) -- but most likely this will not work either.
A second point to look would be in Settings → Apps → Manage Apps, pick the app of your choice, and see if it has the corresponding checkbox not grayed out -- if so, simply check it. Most likely, this will be grayed out, so you cannot do anything here either.
Next step would require root -- so if your device is not rooted, it's purely informational to you. As described above in "Background", all related apps have a listener registered with the system. So we should be able to un-register it. This can be done e.g. with Autorun Manager PRO (yes, it will need the Pro version -- as with the free you only can change 2 entries).

As the screenshot shows, this app can enable/disable listeners, so you can avoid having apps started automatically in situations you rather don't want them. Which would apply to yours: Find the corresponding listener, disable it, fine.
Without root, the only remaining possibility is to get rid of all but one of the apps. You could uninstall the others, or, if you'd rather keep them (and you are running Android 4.0 or higher), rather simply disable them in Settings → Apps → Manage Apps, so when needed, you can simply re-activate them at the very same place.

Thanks for the summary. I tried apps like Default App Manager but they do not cover NFC.

The reason for that is still unclear to me. If it's just too new (so Default App Manager does not know about NFC), the event handler stuff in Android itself should still be capable of handling this, including defaults. Thanks for the app name, I will update my answer with it, so we have everything together there :)

I have tried freezing nfc app (samsung nfc service) on my note 2 with titanium but that killed completely nfc.

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


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Resetting Nexus 4 with cracked and Locked Screen

Possible Duplicate:
How do I backup data (sms/contacts) from a device with a broken screen?

My Nexus 4 fell and cracked its screen:

One of the caveats in its design is the glass on the back makes it slide down and fall from pretty much any surface.
Another caveat is the curved unprotected glass on the front. If it falls down, it'll most likely crack.
Given
After it fell, the phone "lost its touch" i.e. it does not respond to any "touching".
It is not rooted, the screen is (pattern) locked, hence I can neither see the files via MTP nor can do:
adb shell rm /data/system/gesture.key

since permission is denied. I am also unable to
adb pull /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases

to save my messages, configs, etc.. for the same reason.
The only thing I have backed up is pictures (which of course is "something"):
adb pull /sdcard/ /destination

Question(s)
I need to back up and reset it before shipping it back.

How do I go about backing up the "databases" (e.g. SMS, configs, etc)?
How do I wipe it clean, so whoever gets it can't get my data?

EDIT
Since this is closed as duplicate, which it's really not, here is the solution to this problem in case somebody else is looking for it.

Also see some of the answers to Broken screen while debug mode was disabled. How can I re-enable adb? which mention options like installing remote control/screencasting software.

There are 2 options: a) remotely install software via Google Play, as suggested by GAThrawn or b) repair the screen (or temporarily connect a screen from another N4) c) fastboot unlock is not an option, it does a secure erase first

Also, that is a real bummer. I have a Nexus 4, I will now be very careful with it. :)

Question: is it already unlocked (bootloader)?

no, not unlocked. everything is original, the only cruel additions are cracks on the screen. Debug is enabled, screencastign won't work since "su" is needed to 777 "/data/dalvik-cache".

Try an app like android screencast. It only updates like 4-5 fps, but you should be able to control the phone. The caveat is that you have to have usb debugging on and the android SDK.

I did try it, but for the comp keyboard to work it needs to "chmod 777 /data/dalvik-cache" which requires "su" permissions. this phone is not rooted.

@GAThrawn ... grrr this is so much NOT a duplicate of http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/25646/how-do-i-backup-data-sms-contacts-from-a-device-with-a-broken-screen or http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/12834/broken-screen-while-debug-mode-was-disabled-how-can-i-re-enable-adb. Common now, it is not my first day on SO. Reopen it please, I can still use the help.

@tolitius I'm confused, you say it's not a dupe, but then your blog post spends most of its time talking about screencasting software and ADB PULLs, exactly as in the linked questions? You then start talking about doing a factory reset of your device using ADB, which is a separate question (data recovery, and data wiping are not the same thing at all), and something you only really mentioned on the last line of your question. Feel free to open a question about secure wiping unrooted devices with a broken touchscreen, I can't see any proper dupe to that, and you have a good answer.

@GAThrawn, the problem is solved now. The question is not about "how to get data from the phone with a broken screen", but "how to get data from a phone with a broken and locked screen". Also the factory reset is really important. I could name the question "how to prepare the phone for shipping it out" to include "backup" and "factory reset" into a single question, but that would make the title confusing and not helpful. Another subtle difference, I need(ed) to backup everything, not just SMS/Contacs. I value specifics, so does SO community. So no, it's not a dup.


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How to root Lenovo a660
I've tried rooting my phone by using SuperOneClick and RootWithRestore.
And did not have much success either. So my question is how to do this?
(I checked that in /system/bin that I do not have the su binary in place!)

Just for info: I placed your question on our central rooting index, as your device was not yet present there. You might check the methods mentioned there, maybe one of them is fitting for you.


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Insufficient space when downloading Go Launcher EX?

Possible Duplicate:
“Insufficient storage” when trying to install anything on htc thunderbolt

When I download the Go Launcher Ex App from the play store, it downloads okay but shows "Insufficient memory"(The internal memory) when it tries to install it. :/
It is a 6 or 7Mb app, where as my internal storage has 25Mb free and the SDCard has almost 1Gb free space. I don't get what the problem is.
My Android version is 2.3.6 if that helps.
Would really appreciate it if someone helped me. :)

The "Insufficient memory" error is triggered when internal memory drops below the 25 MB limit. Though you initially might have 25 NB free, after the download (which happens to be stored in internal memory, in /data/local to be more precise) you've already dropped below 20 MB -- so the error is triggered before the installer itself can start the installation, and it aborts.
So what you first have to do is to free some more internal memory, e.g. by moving apps to sd, clearing apps' caches, uninstall some apps you do not really need, etc. There are several questions with useful answers around here on our site. You can check the "Related" section to your question, or follow the internal-memory tag to find them.

In some cases, I have found the 25MB limit to actually be 10% of the total internal memory. When my internal storage is 4GB, the limit seems to be around 400MB. I haven't faced this post ICS, and it seems to be a personal experience, I'm not sure if it is true overall.

@RaghdHamzeh I searched that once for another question here. In the answer I compiled I also mentioned my sources. Trouble is just locating this answer... Oh I love our search engine: See here :)

Oops my bad! Thanks for the info! And kudos for all the links ;)

No prob -- always glad to help! :)


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What does a grey Wi-Fi icon mean?

Possible Duplicate:
What does it mean when the connectivity icons in the status bar go white/gray?

I've been searching google for this and I haven't been able to find a clear answer for this. Some say it's "insecure connection to Google servers", others say it's only blue when it's syncing etc.
The idea is that connecting to two different WiFi routers I get different icons.
One shows blue, the other grey. The only difference between them is that the one that shows grey uses a certificate to authenticate, while the blue one uses a password, like any regular router.
So what's up?

It is the internet state indicator - grey means that your internet connection cannot reach Google's test server, and the blue icon means that you have a strong connection with Google's test server.
If it is grey, you may have issues accessing some internet services on your device, blue should work fine.
This is available on all types of data connections.

Thank you, Liam. So it's not a security issue or anything like that, probably the firewall, right?

@LiamW AFAIK it's not the "test server", but indicating that your data sync connection (for contacts, calendar, etc.) to Google's servers is established and stable, as Coder101 pointed out in his answer.

Its whether or not you've currently got a connection to Google's servers for sync services such as syncing contacts. Gray means you don't but blue means you do.

Thank you. It's odd though, I can still use Gmail, Play  Store etc even when the icon is Grey.

What does "good connection" mean though?

I've edited the answer


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Do I need to root my phone before installing CM on my S3
Previously I've needed to root my phone before flashing any ROMs on it. Now I have a new s3 and I'd like to install CM on it.
However, this installation guide does not mention the need to root the phone as other installation guides have in the past.
So do I need to root the phone before slashing this mod?

Very similar: Can I install CWM without Odin or root?

Technically no, you don't have to root your current ROM before you can flash CyanogenMod on your S3. Instead, you will simply gain root when you flash CyanogenMod itself.
This is due to the way in which Samsung's bootloaders work in comparison to the ones on other devices. Samsung devices effectively have unlocked bootloaders right out of the gate, but they don't have a way to use the fastboot utility that other devices use. Instead, you can use the Odin utility (and a third party, cross platform implementation: Heimdall) to reflash the device from its "Download Mode" at any time, as the CM installation instructions describe.
Therefore, since Download Mode is accessible to the end user without any sort of modifications to the device, you don't need to "root" beforehand in order to install a custom recovery (and, by association, custom ROMs). The reason why you need root on many other devices is because it's the only way to write to the recovery partition and get the custom recovery installed. Often this requires unlocking the bootloader in the process as well.


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When I'm turning on my internet connection(3g) on galaxy S PLUS, it starts to screen shot itself
When I'm turning on my internet connection via 3G on Galaxy S+, it starts to screen shot itself - aproximately 8 times a minute. And this resulted in all my applications shutting down after 3 seconds. And all of this happens, only when I'm in my flat, only in my house, every day.

That's a hard one, needs more info. Can you send some  logs?

Hardware keys sticking? Something triggering it? As for screenshotting itself, is in Android 4 (ICS upwards) Power + Vol Down in combination...


text:
Change background color for notification entries?
Samsung Galaxy 5 (aka 550, Europa, Corby), Samsung's Froyo version (so, Touchwiz.  Launcher is ADW Launcher (non-EX).
My notifications (the things in the list when you pull down the notification bar, if that's the proper terminology I have no idea) are all black on dark gray, and I'd like to change it.  I don't know if it's even possible w/o hackery.
Phone is rooted, upgrade to CM7 or higher is "planned" (for some time now :D).  So, if it's possible to make the notifications more readable there, that would be a solution.
The only readable notification is black on white (or blue on white, not sure), and it's from TaskXP.  So the colors seem not to be hardcoded.
And as always, a RTFM is welcome.  When it includes pointers to where in the FM the info is.

Not sure, but to me this looks like a case for the UOT kitchen. They do a lot of GUI mods.

The issue with this is usually for specific apps. They did not set their "views" correctly for their colors to account for dark backgrounds. If you see it with all notifications then it sounds like an issue with a "theme" you applied (if you did?)


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Why the music player stop playing music when taking photo?
May I know what is the reason why Android phone's music player will stop playing music when I switch to camera mode?
I find it logical if the music player stop playing music when taking a movie but stopping playing music when taking photo seems to be quite illogical since the photo taken will not save any sound.

This is an old question, but I think that some people might find it useful since I came it across using Google search.
The camera app has a permission called TAKE_AUDIO_FOCUS which it is granted by default to it. The camera app uses this to pause the music while you open the viewfinder on your phone.
To fix this issue, you can simply disable the TAKE_AUDIO_FOCUS permission from your phone. The problem here is that you can't do it via the UI since the toggle for it isn't there.
The simplest way to not allow the camera app on your phone to pause your music is to take off this permission using the adb shell.

Download your OEM USB drivers from your phone's manufacturer's website. A simple Google search should give you the link.

Download Minimal ADB portable and extract it to a folder on your desktop.

Connect your phone to your PC and enable USB Debugging. For that, Go to Settings > About Phone > Tap on the Build Number 7 times. This will unlock the Developer options on your phone. Now, Go to the Developer mode from Settings. Enable USB Debugging.

Now, open the folder where you extracted the Minimal ADB and Shift + Right-click on an empty space. From the context menu, select Open Command Window Here.

In the command window type adb devices.

Press OK on your Android phone when it asks you to give the permission for USB Debugging.

Now, type adb shell to open the command line interpreter on Android.

Type the following command to remove the TAKE_AUDIO_FOCUS permission from your Camera app:
appops set app.package.name TAKE_AUDIO_FOCUS ignore

You will need to replace the app.package.name with the app's package name of the camera app in your Android phone. Since most manufacturers don't follow a single standard for naming their camera apps, you'll need to use a package info app from the Play Store to know the package name. Use App inspector for this.
Suppose your phone is a Moto G. You can type the following command to remove the TAKE_AUDIO_FOCUS permission
appops set com.motorola.cameraone TAKE_AUDIO_FOCUS ignore

That should be it.
Source: my own article here.

For samsung phones the package name is com.sec.android.app.camera

For realme phones the package name is com.oppo.camera. And you will also have to enable the "Disable permission monitoring" in the developers options, otherwise adb will show SecurityException.

It works for capturing video too!

You can also try installing a different camera app that does not take audio focus. I tried the Camera MX app for instance, and it does not appear to pause audio playback.

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


text:
How can I sync Yahoo Calendar on my phone?
I want to sync my Yahoo! Calendar on my phone. An article on Yahoo!'s help page seems to suggest that the only way to access it is by viewing their mobile website in a browser. I've tried adding the iCal link provided by Yahoo! Calendar in my Google Calendar account, but Google seems to be unable to fetch the contents of my calendar.
What other options do I have to sync my Yahoo! Calendar on my phone - either within the stock calendar app, or using a third-party application? (In case of a third-party application, it would be nice if it 'looks good' and/or comes with widgets.)

I just downloaded CalDAV-Sync beta and it took some fooling around, but seems to be working now.

Unfortunately, this didn't work for me. There seems to be a problem with Yahoo!'s CalDAV sync servers which prevents some accounts from using this particular app for background sync.

There are several ways you could use to sync your Yahoo! calendar with your android device.

Using a CSV file.
You can export your yahoo calendar to a CSV file and import it into your google calendar. This method is somewhat manual and you will have to do this each time you create an event in your yahoo calendar. More details
Use Yahoo! app for android
You can use the official app for android developed by yahoo inc. to access your yahoo calendar as well as your mail, news, IM, videos and more. Download from the Play Store
Use third party apps to calendar syncing
There are many apps in tur play store which can be used to do this. CalcSync is an app which syncs yahoo caoendar with the stock calendar.

The csv option will not sync, it will only be a one time import. CalSync seems like a good option as it syncs with the existing calendar. Another option is CalDav-Sync+ it supports yahoo and others. from the same developer as CalSync.

I had the same issue, however, I use yahoos webhosting for my own domain.  You can not sync, nor view domains the mobile site or app.
I actually had to move to googles calendar.  Bad thing is reminders only show up in your google email.  So I had to set a email filter in gmail that will forward all google calendar email reminders to my other domain.
This is working but a pain to set up.

I use a calendar app called aCalendar and sync it to my Yahoo calendar with another app called SmoothSync.  You have to set up both apps once, but then SmoothSync runs in the background and syncs aCalendar (or the native calendar app) with Yahoo.  It has worked very well for me.

Could you at least add links?

Use Jorte Calendar on your Android.  It will sync with Yahoo Calendar.
Play Store links:

Jorte Calendar
Jorte Sync

Try SolCalendar. It worked for my Droid phone.


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Android X86 and Grub
So I've installed Android X86 on my wetab tablet, using the corvus mod files found here, but for some reason, my tablet now boots right into a grub 0.97 command line (I suspect it does this because there are no grub menu options configured). At this point, loading the kernel and initrd manually results in a frozen tablet, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to get grub to boot android from the hard drive properly.
My only thought was to boot from a liveCD and take a look at the grub config files, but I cannot actually look at the hard drive in the tablet from the liveCD, since I don't have write permissions and thus cannot use the mount command.
If anyone has any idea as to what I could do to get grub to boot android from the hard drive, I'd appreciate it.  Thanks beforehand!
EDIT: Also, I used the installation instructions from here, so I have sda1 and sda5 partitions, and I ran the installation with DATA=sda1 SDCARD=sda5 options.


text:
Setting username and password in proxy to access internet in android 2.3.6
I have Android 2.3.6.
I am able to connect to wireless connection. To access internet in this network, I need to provide a proxy (IP address with port) with username and password. In the advanced options, I am able to find proxy_ip_add and proxy_port, but not username and password. Because of this, I am not able to access internet.
How can I set the username and password in the proxy to access internet?

Android only supports proxies with credentials in Android 4.0+.
In android 2.3 or below I recommend you use the proxydroid app to use the proxy. This app supports authenticated proxies but needs root access.
The reason you have a proxy setting could be due to additions by your device manufacturer.

Thanks.... I will install it soon on my device. Can you provide any web link about operating my android 2.3.6 as root?

@RaviJoshi Google your device name root.

Ok.... I got it here
Thank you....


text:
Data connection problem with my galaxy s3
Hi I have a peculiar data connection problem with my Samsung Galaxy S3.
Cellular connections work fine at first however when the mobile loses signal and then reconnects after sometime, the data connection doesn't start again automatically (even though mobile data is enabled in settings)
The only way I can turn data back on is by toggling airplane mode.
This doesnot happen everytime the mobile loses signal, perhaps one in three times.
Has anyone experienced this and are there any fixes?

Which company is your number from? Is it a virtual company (without infrastructure)?

I have the same problem. I toggle the Data Network mode to restart the connection. No idea why this occurs though.

I had the same problem after installing custom rom (ICS for Desire), solved it by installing Data Connection Fix from Google Play. It now works perfectly.


text:
Will Wi-Fi Direct allow me to connect to an ad-hoc network?
I have been trying to connect my HTC One X to an ad-hoc wireless network, so I could browse Internet on my phone. I found Android doesn't support ad-hoc networking and I noticed on some pages that Wi-Fi Direct is better than ad-hoc anyway. How can I connect my computer with Windows XP to my mobile using Wi-Fi Direct?
When I open the Wi-Fi direct settings, it shows nothing although I search for network.
What is the process? Is there any other way I can connect to an ad-hoc network?

It looks like this link (Sorry requires account to view images) might apply to @hsuk situation. I would summarize, but it is long and has images. It is using Intel MyWiFi and WiFi Direct.

You can't, WiFi Direct is for Peer to Peer WiFi connection only, like paring with Buetooth. Your PC isn't set up to do this kind of direct connection.
So the answer is "no".
Your question is mixed, what did you use to create the ad-hoc network? What was the route that would allow you to brwose the web?
You can use an HTC One X to create a WiFi hotspot for the PC to connect to, but not the other way around.
It's  really confusing question.

Thanks, @martino, actually, I read somewhere like wifi direct is more efficient alternative of ad-hoc. Actually I wanted to connect my mobile to a ad hoc connection from computer. Since I could not do it directly, I was searching for ways to do that and asking whether wifi direct can be the way.

It's a fair question. Thx for the bump!


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Why do I have so little unused RAM?

Possible Duplicate:
Are there guidelines on how much free RAM a phone should have - specifically Samsung Galaxy S?
0 ram free on ICS

My device (ASUS TF201, unrooted, stock Firmware) is running on Android 4.1 and has 1GB of RAM installed. However I noticed that only 200-300 MB's are left and marked "unused". Also I know that does not necessarily mean that all "used" RAM is really in use. For example cached Apps may be held in RAM for faster start-up and this RAM may be freed by Android if more memory is needed. So I tried the following steps to get more unused RAM as I am experiencing Force-Closes from another App which (may) result from insufficient memory available.

I checked running apps and force-closed some of them but this gave me not enough RAM. Although this list contains Apps which may be responsible for almost 100 MBs of RAM but not for 600 MB. So I checked which Apps are cached, and closed all of them giving me also only a few MB's.
I rebooted my device but after start-up 600 MB's are already used.
I performed cold-boot still 600 MB's are already in use.
I pushed the reset button which immediately shut down my device, but after reboot 600 MB's are still in use.
I performed a factory reset and did not installed any other app (nor did I perform a backup-restore, as I hadn't specified any Google account so far). But still 600 MB's are used.
I applied all of those memory task killers which all performed badly and killed only those apps I could kill myself. Except one profiler gave me a hint: It sayed that 300 MB's are used by the kernel and 300 MB's are used by apps. It also provided me a button for killing all running apps. Directly after this still 200 MB's are in use (it says "kernel memory") but after 15min again 600 MB's in use (with again 300 MB's per kernel- and app-memory). Is that normal that so much memory is used?, I mean this is factory reset no additional apps were installed by myself!
I also tried to to force-close and disable almost all apps which are currently running and which I don't need but still around 600 MB's are in use.

As I fear to lose warranty if I open the back of the pad I cannot put off power. (But of course I could wait until no battery is left) But I won't think that this will help, as this should have worked with a hardware reset or cold-boot as well.
So what can I do?

Unused RAM is wasted RAM. You should be happy that the OS uses as much RAM as possible for performance reasons. The FC's are mostly not related to Out-Of-Memory situations. You can see the reason for the FC if you hit the preview button and scroll down to the exception/stacktrace part.

I think this should be closed as "not a real question". You make assumptions that FC's are related to the RAM usage, which need to be proven. Also the answer to the question "Why do I have so little used RAM?" is simply "by design".

Please check out the following questions: Are there guidelines on how much free RAM a phone should have - specifically Samsung Galaxy S?, 0 ram free on ICS, Android ROM, RAM, Internal storage, External storage and Battery utilization to learn how RAM is used on Android.

The FC of the app just have led me to the question why is there so less RAM available. It does not matter if this is the reason for the FC, I want to know why Android seems to use 600 MB's directly just after reboot.

A friend of mine told me, each app is running inside its own Dalvik instance (Sandbox) also apps may use additional libraries, but this memory is not shown in the list of running or cached apps. Hence the size given their must be interpreted carefully. He also said, that in case more memory is needed, Android should close some of these apps to free some memory.


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Bluetooth Headset Profile and the Nexus 7?
I purchased the Nexus 7 3G to install as the radio in my vehicle. I stream all media from the tablet via Bluetooth to my factory head unit.
However, I have two main issues to solve before this becomes a feasible replacement:
1) I cannot set the microphone on the Bluetooth unit to work with the tablet.
The tablet ends up using the built-in mic; and since that is located behind the dash, it doesn't work so well. I have been researching on Google and XDA for months trying to find a solution. From what I have read, this is my current assumption: Tablets in the USA are not built with phone functionality on purpose to deter people from buying a tablet and using it as their primary phone.
It seems no big deal just learn how to hack to enable phone functions and that would activate the proper Bluetooth headset profiles to work with the external mic on a Bluetooth unit. So after a ton of research I have successfully unlocked, rooted and installed TWRP as well as edited the bool.xml in framework-res.apk to make the Nexus 7 voice capable. But still I have no external Bluetooth mic support.
Is this a problem with Android in general? or Jelly Bean in general? or all tablets?
At this point I have exhausted all that I can do on my own without asking for help. Does anyone know how to use an external Bluetooth mic on the Nexus 7 3g 4.2.1?
2) My second problem is the tablet will not consistently reconnect with the Bluetooth head unit every time the vehicle starts.
Sometimes it connects properly with phone and media profiles; sometimes just one of the two, and sometimes none at all. I have used the Tasker app as well as the Bluetooth auto connect plugin, but it still is very flaky at best.
I have never owned an Android device before this tablet, always Apple stuff that to be honest just worked right out of the box. But I love the customization available on Android especially for an in-car install. So again is this an Android issue, Nexus issue, or a tablet issue? It seems from the research I have done that most Android phones will auto-connect but these tablets seem to be missing certain Bluetooth settings or profiles that cause them not to work. So any ideas on how to solve this issue?

At this point, if I can not resolve these two issues, I am going to return the Nexus 7 3G and get a Samsung galaxy tab 2 7.0 3G P3100. From what I can tell, this tablet is a fully functioning phone right out of the box, so hopefully would solve my two issues above. But since this Nexus has MUCH better specs and is cheaper, I am hoping to find an answer to my Bluetooth problems.

Its not only your device's issue, but also in most of the devices. Android 4.2 has this issue. And Google officially confirmed it .
Look above link
"We have fixed the a2dp streaming stutter problem on N7. The next release should have the fix.Sorry about the problem."
Android 4.2.2  fixed Bluetooth audio problems on Nexus phones and tablets. You just try it out by using new 4.2.2 in your N7.


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Random screen captures in Galaxy Tab 10.1
I have a recent issue with my Galaxy Tab 10.1 where the screen capture function randomly activates, and it is driving me crazy. I did a factory reset and the problem persists.
It is more than accidental touching of the new quick reference key. It is completely random, most noticeable while whatching a movie etc.
Other than the factory reset, is there anything else I can do? In communication with Samsung, their only suggestion is to conduct the reset.

What have you done after the factory reset -- installing everything you've had installed before? Best way to figure out where the problem is located is:

Backup as much as you can
factory-reset the device
do not yet install/restore anything!
check for a reasonable time whether the problem re-appears

if it does right after the factory-reset, your device needs go to support (or they need to send a firmware update/fix)
if it not re-appears, continue with 5.
if it does re-appear, you've found the app causing the issue. Break here, see below.

re-install/recover ONE app. Repeat from 4.

If above steps resulted in an app being the cause, you've got multiple choices:

re-configure the app and see if you can make the error go away
uninstall the app and see if the problem goes away
if none of the two works, start with step 2. above and skip the bad app.


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Bricked LG Optimus P999 using ROM Manager
I have the LG Optimus P999 from Wind Mobile.
I downloaded ROM Manager and tried to flash a Cyanogenmod ROM (cm-7.2.0-p999.zip). The backup and flash said they went OK. But when it rebooted, it froze at the second LG logo and won't go anywhere. Booting into recovery mode did nothing.
It took many tries to get the LG Optimus unbricking tool to recognize my phone, but I finally got Clockworkmod Recovery to install on it. Now when I boot into recovery mode, nothing works because it can't mount the SD Card.
My next attempt was to flash stock ROM back to it, but I can no longer get the tool to recognize my phone.
Have I totally bricked my phone?

That is why I recommend to others, to not use ROM Manager.... :)

Rom manager is old, outdated and uses the flash_image binary. You need to be sure you are flashing the correct image when using it. (There isn't actually anything wrong with the flash_image binary)

Ok, I managed to fix my phone.
The first thing that differed about my phone from the video tutorials I watched was that when you are preparing to flash the phone, you're supposed to hold Vol+ and Vol- then connect the USB cable. In the video tutorials the LG logo came on at that point, but on mine it did not. I figured out that if I plugged in the cable first, then held Vol+ and Vol- the LG logo would come on. This was wrong. The P999 does not display the LG logo when ready to flash. Hold Vol+ and Vol- and then connect the USB cable, wait a few seconds and then let go. Your phone should be ready to flash now. If it's not, try again.
Secondly, this is the software you want to use to flash if you've bricked it: T-Mobile G2X One-Click Recovery Flasher. The version I found on some other websites was outdated and wouldn't fix the problem I had mounting the SD Card (which is actually internal memory on the G2X). With this version I was able to boot into Recovery mode, mount the SD Card manually, and then flash the ROM. I was able able to properly enable USB Mass Storage from recovery mode, which would allow you to copy a new ROM to the SD Card if you've somehow lost your data.
The final issue I ran into was no Google Apps, and no ability to sync my phone to Google. You can grab the Google apps and Flash them through Recovery mode here.