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Phantom notifications of Galaxy Note driving me nuts
I just got a Samsung Galaxy Note a few weeks ago and really like the phone. The problem is that I get notifications for non-events or phantom events day and night: the phone makes the notification sound but there are no new messages, lost calls, or anything; the notification bar is empty and there's nothing showing on the screen.
I've changed the alert sound and the funny thing is that the one that keeps on buggin me is the default whistling sound that came preloaded with the phone.
Updated to ICS 4.0 and it is still happening. (I'm still running the Gingerbread stock build.)
Any ideas beyond resetting to factory settings?

Mine was the Yahoo app. It was driving me mad. Nothing in the status bar, just a two-tone ding-ding. All the notification boxes in the app were unticked but it was still dinging.
Go to the app, - Options - Account settings - Notification Settings - Choose sound. If you touch the "Yahoo! Default" I bet you hear the two-tone ding. Select "No sound". I haven't heard it since it did that. If that doesn't fix it, the app is coming off the phone. Yahoo need to get real. That is not OK.

I don't have the yahoo app. Thanks anyway, it will probably be useful to other users

It Could be a 3rd party messaging app or data roaming notifications. You could try turning off data roaming and see if you get any phantom notifications.
Menu > Settings > Wireless and network > mobile networks
(Settings may be different in Gingerbread from what is above)

Data roaming has always been off (I checked). Tried to find an app doing it, but no luck yet. Thanks!

I'm working on the apps. Each time I get a notification I use Advanced Task Killer to see which ones are running and switch into each one of them to see if the notifications are on. No luck so far.

Sorry but I'm not sure what else it could be other than an app / wireless network. I've read somewhere else that a common feature of the software updates is that they "break" the mobile network settings.... restoring the defaults under mobile networks > APN settings usually sorts it out.

Thanks Mark. I've checked the apps with no luck. It does happen only when I'm on a wifi network. Will keep on looking and post the answer here if I find it :)


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Find lost device without Gmail account configured and without SIM card
I recently misplaced a phone that did not have gmail account configured and did not have a SIM card in it either. Is there any way I can track it ?
All of the tracking apps either require sending an SMS (needs SIM card) or OTA install(needs Gmail account).
I do have the IMEI number of the phone.

You can tell all the carriers of your country to track that IMEI number if its possible.

Looks like the only way you can track it is: If you see it somewhere, follow it. Sorry -- but what do you expect? Either you forgot some additional facts (WLAN turned on, some app is running and sporadically connecting something, whatever) -- or you expect some special feature hidden so well that not even the developers know of...

No, there is no way to track it without having it configured in some way to connect to a wireless source of data.  Without a SIM card you can't do that via a service provider and without having the Google account configured (and thus an authentication token that identifies your phone) you can't do it via WiFi (if you have it turned on).

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Remove duplicate contact information
After merging contacts from different sources like Facebook, Twitter, Exchange and Google+, it was apparent to me that now my contacts contain a lot of duplicate information such as the same email addresses, birthday date, website address.
Ideally, all those redundant entries should be merged as well so not to clutter things.
I've looked almost everywhere but could only find information relative to just merging issues with contacts.
(If it matters, I am using Android 2.3.)

I have the same problem. All applications I have found are only joining contacts (kind of linking), but there is no real merge option. I would also prefer an option without necessity to upload all my friend parsonal information to google ...

Visit the Contacts app in a desktop browser and sign in with your Google account with which your device is getting synced.  Once done (you should have successfully synced your contacts before this), the more button (as seen in the image) has option to merge.

This is not my issue; The contacts ARE merged, but information like email, birthday etc, are duplicate because they come from different sources.

I do not have any other apps to identify and merge. But having taken your contacts to Google's contact page (as above), you can edit (at least it will be better than doing in phone) to merge manually. You may also consider to export it to some other formats (like CSV) and write a small Excel macro to accomplish the task.

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


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What exactly is the advantage of 11 pin MHL connector in Samsung Galaxy S3
I have read that samsung galaxy S3 has a 11 pin mhl connector and it can support USB OTG as well. Also I have read that the device can power the cable. I didnt quite get what is meant by USB OTG support included. Both MHL and USB OTG are there on other phones too (like sgs2 and htc one x). How do I use the 11 pin connector to my advantage?
Also if the 11 pin connecter can power the device, then why do we need to again connect power cable to the mhl adapter provided by samsung?

USB OTG stands for USB On-The-Go. This allows your phone to use USB devices (e.g. mice, keyboards, external USB drives) through a MicroUSB to USB adapter.
The MHL adapter allows your device to connect via HDMI to a TV or monitor. The statement that it can power the device just means that it can both charge/power the phone and allow HDMI output via the MHL adapter.  To get that power, though, it requires your power cable to be connected, as HDMI does not provide power. Not all MHL adapters can do this.

Thank you for the answer. Can you please shed some light on the first part of the question too? What do they mean by USB OTG support included? How am I supposed to use USB OTG while using the MHL cable?

Ah, I misunderstood your original question. From what I understand, the MHL cable can simultaneously support output via HDMI and input via USB OTG (plugging a MicroUSB to USB adapter into the MHL adapter where the charging port is), but you lose the ability to charge.

ND Geek is correct, but the 11 pin connector on the Galaxy SIII and any new cell phone/tablet/android device using this new connector can go further.
The OTG function is simultaneous with the MHL and the normal 5 pins are the OTG pins.
OTG hosts can, indeed, power USB downstream devices, but lack current for more than mice and keyboards (or memory sticks and cameras).
A powered HUB and an OTG cable with a Micro-B on one end and a Micro-A/B on the other end (the Host end) is needed to use a HUB. With this and a power box with 2A output can allow use of hard drives and CD/DVD players. The MHL connection is brought in through the extra 6 pins on the connector (only 3 of which are used for MHL).
The ability to charge the phone at the same time as outputting MHL and OTG requires 8 of the 11 pins and Samsung is being cagey about what those other 3 pins are for. In the end, the traditional 5 pins are for the OTG and that explains why the SIII is not backwards compatible with other MHL adapters or devices. This does mean that the 11 pin devices will support OTG natively and be backwards compatible.  Hmm... 8 pins... sounds familiar, somehow.


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Local Address Book
Disclaimer:  I'm new with Android.  I have a 2.3.6 device.
So I'm on my phone, I hit the little address book button.  I can see I have "contacts"  Three of them.  Yay.
One has a little phone icon.  Two have little 'g' icons.
My "history" has heaps of contacts.  When I click on an entry in my history which is obviously on Gmail, there's no option to add them to a contact.  They're not in my contact list, but they show up when I try to add a contact, so I can't add them.
When I click on an entry in my history which is obviously not on Gmail, I have an option to add them as a contact.... and my contact list suddenly has hundreds and hundreds of entries.  They're all people I've emailed at one point or another, but lots of them are useless ungroomed contact entries... they're probably out of date.
Why does this not make sense to me?
Meanwhile, I have a giant address book in Thunderbird with hundreds of entries, and an old Nokia phone with hundreds of entries.  Ideally, I'd like to reconcile all of those into a single address book, and ideally, not on Google's servers.  I don't care about the hundreds of outdated contacts in Google.  I'd be happier if my phone didn't know they existed.
Is this even possible on Android?  Is there a good local calendar app where I can use my existing contact list?

What phone (brand and model) do you have? And your Thunderbird, is running over Windows or Linux?

Does the phone matter?  It's a Samsung Galaxy Q.   I'm multiplatform.  I run Linux, Windows and MacOS workstations.  Lately I've been on MacOS more than the others.

It's relevant to provide a solution that can deal with all contacts spreaded across several OSs and devices, since you need to have them centralize on your phone without using Google :)

I can't think of a 3rd party way to do what you want, but I can help you with the google way. First, head into gmail and then contacts. You'll see in the list of groups "Other Contacts". That is EVERYONE you've ever interacted with over gmail (not sure if gtalk or phone convos are in there as well). So that's where your big ugly list is coming from. You can stop google from adding more by going into Settings > General > Create contacts for auto-complete and turning that off.
Now, this big ugly google list you have, you can now either delete completely or wade through it and clean it up. It's up to you. Some entries may be useful.
I don't have Thunderbird, but I'm pretty sure it must have an export contacts to CSV function. Do that and try to import into google contacts. You may have to massage the formatting a little (this may help http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=12119) if it doesn't import cleanly.
If you've gotten this far and now have google full of contacts, you may want to try and "merge" (More > Find & Merge duplicates) to see if anyone you just imported also had an entry in Other Contacts like a secondary email for example.
So now that you've got your list on google's server it will show up automatically on your Android phone, any other Android device youre logged into, as well as gmail in the browser.
Gmail exports contacts out to CSV as well. So you could potentially keep swapping CSVs back and forth from Thunderbird to gmail and back to keep them in sync, but that sounds like a bit of a hassle.


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Can't buy any paid apps on Google Play store, shows "An error occurred. Please try again."
On my Nexus 7, I keep getting

An error occurred. Please try again.

Over and over when attempting to buy any paid apps on the Google Play store. It works fine for free apps, but always returns this same error when I try to buy a paid app. I've "tried again" a dozen times with the same result.

I checked my Google account and the Nexus 7 shows up as properly attached to my account. It also works OK in Mail, Calendar, and the other bundled Google apps on the device.
I don't understand why I'm getting this error, which tells me nothing. I'd like to buy some Android apps for my Nexus 7, but I can't!
Based on one of the comments, I tried buying the same app on the Google Play website, and I get an odd message next to the Nexus 7 (which does show up in the list of devices for me):

You have not opened the Google Play Store app recently on this device. Please open it and try again.

But, but, but I have the Google Play store open right now on my device!

Have you tried purchasing using the web site in your desktop browser? That might reveal a more descriptive (or at least different) error message.

Do you have Google Wallet setup?  This could cause an odd error.

It may be some maintenance error, sometimes it has happened to me even with free apps. I recommend to wait an hour or two and try again.

Any chance you're rooted? Seems like some similar cases of this are solved by installing a different version of the Play Store, but you'd need root to try that (example).

not rooted, all default, has been consistently happening since I got it for about a week.

@dan good idea that gives me slightly more info, still no idea what I need to do to fix this!

Sounds like your N7 isn't able to communicate with Google. This is usually done with C2DM/XMPP by a background process called "Google Services"  and would explain why paid Apps don't work. IIRC gTalk uses the same infrastructure, does it work on the N7? (asking just out of curiosity)

@Flow IIRC previous versions (2.1?) had an issue that when you weren't logged into talk you couldn't install apps. It might be something like this thought I'm not sure what and why.

@flow Google Talk seems to work fine.. nobody to chat with at the moment but I can set status, type messages to others, etc.

Can I joke a bit?

According to this thread on code.google.com (from April 2012), it seems that one user solved a similar issue after they were advised to turn off 2 step auth to use Google Play:

I'm having same issue & tech just advised I have to turn off 2 step
  verification to get into Play.

So I would disable 2 step auth on the Google account associated with the device and try again. (If that doesn't work, I wonder if it's even worth trying a factory reset with 2 step auth turned off...)
BTW: That thread is in the issues list for source code behind the Google Authenticator Application. The issue is not actually related to that application, however, after setting up 2 step auth the user reportedly could not access Google Play so that is why they blamed that app.

Alternatively (still assuming 2 step auth is part of the issue), you could create an app-specific password for Google Play as described in this answer. Quoting that answer:

Create an app-specific password for Google Play at https://accounts.google.com/IssuedAuthSubTokens (E.g., name it "Android Phone Play Store").
On the phone, add a 2nd Google account (All Settings > Accounts & sync).
Launch Google's Play Store.
Go to Menu > Accounts.
Switch account; then, switch back.
When it asks for a password, enter the app-specific password you've created.

I am definitely using 2-factor auth, so this is possible

@JeffAtwood did the latter work for you?

@jrg have not had time to check but seems the most plausible explanation

I experienced a problem with 2-factor when factory resetting a device (HTC Incredible with Gingerbread). Upon entering Google account info, I would get an error (until I turned off 2-factor auth). So it seems reasonable that 2-factor could cause an issue with the (market) account on a new device.

In order of least to most destructive.

clear data on market app, reboot
remove your google account, reboot, add it again
clear data from google framework services (this is similar to above, in that it will log you out, but I'm not sure what else this clears), reboot, sign back in.

the 3rd one was what finally fixed it for me and I haven't had the issue again.

excellent! how exactly do I do #3 in your list though? Eldar's answer covers #1, and #2 is pretty simple.

@JeffAtwood: Look for "Google Framework Services" in the Settings->Apps list.

@eldar well, I went to "Google Framework Services" in apps, cleared data for that app, rebooted the tablet and... same error unfortunately. Going to have to try more stuff.

I recall seeing a post on RootzWiki where someone was seeing a very similar issue, though on a Galaxy Nexus. Specifically, he had the following symptoms:

To my dismay I found that I get an error no matter what I try to buy. Free apps seem to work fine.

The solution he ultimately ended up finding was:

Got it! Found a tweet from Peter Alfonso stating to uninstall the market updates and clear cache.

To do this, go into Settings->Apps, swipe left to the "All" tab, then select the Play Store (it should be titled "Google Play Store" so look in the 'G' area) and press Uninstall Updates. Once that's finished, hit Clear cache, or Clear data if you want to wipe all of its data completely. Once you've done that, relaunch the Play Store and try to purchase the app again.

this is great, but I don't see any "Uninstall Updates" on the Google Play Store app info page. I see: Clear Data, Clear Cache, Clear Defaults. I'll try clearing cache and data now.

Done, then rebooted tablet, same error unfortunately.

@JeffAtwood: It's possible that the N7 ships with the most recent version of Play, then, so there's actually no updates to uninstall.

I just had this problem on my Nexus 7, though error message was Authentication is required. You need to sign into your Google Account, but same symptoms, everything worked fine except for downloading paid apps.
The problem was Google Wallet was disabled. To protect your data and privacy, your Apps Google Wallet account will be suspended when your account password is reset by your Google Apps administrator. Which was news to me and the root cause. I had to ring them to renable Wallet, then Google Play started working again for paid apps.

Issue reported on Google:
[#4319215] Paid apps are not available in territories
Payment and buying apps/in-app items -> [#4319215] Paid apps are not available in territories

We’ve received reports that some users living in a territory don’t have access to the same Android apps on Google Play as that territory’s parent country. You may be experiencing this issue if:

You live in a non-sovereign geographic region or a country subdivision
You’re receiving error messages when trying to purchase Android apps on Google Play or you don’t see paid apps on Google Play at all (you’re only seeing free apps)

There is no workaround available right now, but we’ll continue to update this page with developments, so check back soon.
Issue first reported on: February 1, 2012
  Last updated on: July 3, 2012

Are you on a territory? If not, consider reporting your issue at Google Staff.

I am in the USA, so far as I know, that is not a territory?

@JeffAtwood Dono.. hence me asking! Don't really understand how the "map" gets divided where you are :) (Portugal here)

@JeffAtwood Here for certain things, like telecommunications, we're divided by territories..


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How to run an SFTP server on my CM9 RC2 Galaxy Nexus
I want to run an SFTP server on my GSM Galaxy Nexus (Cyanogenmod 9 RC2). I plan to connect to the Galaxy Nexus from a Kubuntu 12.04 PC via USB cable (not wireless).
It is my understanding that Dropbear does not include SFTP at this time. What are my other options? If anyone knows how to do this, I would appreciate a tutorial or a link to a tutorial. Thanks.

The reason for using SFTP over USB is speed and convenience. MTP is unsatifactory, and transfering files over WiFi is slow.
For those of you who have my setup (GSM Galaxy Nexus with Cyanogenmod 9 RC2 or later) here's how to manage files on your device with maximum convenience and speed.

Install DigiSSHd (and DigiControl) on phone
connect phone to PC via USB cable
On phone, go to Settings > Wireless & Networks > More... > Tethering and portable hotspot >
check "Enable USB tethering"
Done. Exit settings.

The first time setting up DigiSSHd on phone, open DigiSSHd and enable it (so it becomes active).
Since I'm running KDE, I use Dolphin. Here's how to manage files on my phone with Dolphin. (You could do the same with Nautilus, but the syntax may be different.)

sftp://android@192.168.99.199:2222/mnt/sdcard/

This assumes the default port of 2222. You can change password, port, etc. in DIgiSSHd settings.
Once it is set up, establishing the connection is super easy. And managing files via a real file manager is way superior to using MTP.
See more here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=29267792&postcount=12

I realize this question is a bit old and therefore the original poster may no longer benefit from this answer, but I'ma try anyhow, just in case anyone else has this exact same question.  I have this working flawlessly (as far as I can tell) on devices running versions of android ranging from 2.2 up to 4.3, all using DropBear, however it took a bit of searching to find the solution.  What the problem is, put simply, DropBear (as included in most Android app markets) does not apparently include the binary for sftp-server for some unfathomable reason. The (somewhat) simple fix was found in the discussion thread for Issue #1 at the droidsshd Google Code project. I will now explain that solution step by step for future visitors to this question.

Install droidsshd or dropbear app from your favorite Android market app.
Configure appropriately so that it is working fine for normal ssh connections.
Try sftp root@<your droid ip address> to confirm it as non-working and to get an error message telling you where it is expecting to find the sftp-server binary at.
Download the sftp-server binary found in comment #6 of the aforementioned Issue #1 discussion.
Use whatever available means necessary to get that sftp-server binary into your device's sdcard.  (I prefer AirDroid personally, but your favorite method will work equally well I'm sure.)
ssh into your droid device and copy that binary into the appropriate folder from the error message above in step 3. (You may need to create a folder or two if they don't exist yet. I did.)

ssh root@<your droid ip address>
mkdir -p <path to expected folder>
cp /mnt/sdcard/sftp-server <path to expected folder>
If the previous command failed, try "mount -o remount,rw /" to mount the appropriate partition as read/write then try the previous copy command again.
rm /mnt/sdcard/sftp-server

By this time you should be in a position to restart the DropBear server and then enter an sftp://root@droid/ style address in Dolphin (or whatever similar method in your file manager of choice). This method has worked for me (on four different devices thus far). I hope it helps you, too.

This is the kind of answer we like around here. As for those links you couldn't add, you can either add them with backticks (``) so that they don't render as live links or leave them here in the comments so someone with enough reputation points can edit them in. Or, just wait a little bit for your reputation to increase so you can do it yourself. (But don't leave commentary about site limitations in your posts.)

I had the same problem for too long now and stumbled upon this question.
Since this is a USB operation, using encryption (SSH) provides no useful security, but will tax the two CPUs, drain the phone battery and might reduce transfer speed.
I am therefore very happy to say that I am transferring a 4GB file at 9.2MB/s from my phone to my Ubuntu machine using USB tethering and primitive ftpd. Primitive ftpd is a plain FTP server, so it doesn't have this encription/decryption overhead and is also FOSS (available through F-Droid), so it does not require me to have a Google account and sacrifice privacy for access to apps.
Perfect!

sounds interesting

SSHDroid supports SFTP.
I'm not sure there is any point of doing SFTP through a USB cable though, who are you securing against?

Doing this via USB would require USB tethering which has to enabled after every USB plug in. Seems overly complex in comparison to normal networking, i.e. both devices connected through a common router/AP ... Using adb (the android debug bridge) is also quick and fast.. but very unsafe however.

It has nothing to do with security. My objective is to manage and transfer files via Dolphin. I am simply looking for convenience. MTP (especially gMTP) sucks. the Android adb bridge is OK, but not as good as SFTP with Dolphin.

SSHDroid does not supports SFTP via USB. However, I found an app that does -- DigiSSHD.

The reason for using a USB cable rather than WiFi is speed (as well as a more reliable connection).

@MountainX I'm pretty sure that for most phones WiFi is not the bottleneck. My phone doesn't have N support so I'm limited to 54Mb/s but most new phones aren't. This way I get about 5MB/s. With USB transfer 12MB/s.

@RichardBorcsik You would be surprised. At the office, WiFi is so overloaded by the number of devices and amount of traffic that it frequently simply dosn't work. At home I'm surrounded by a large number of other WLANs which apparently cause interference (many more networks than RF channels) so I get 1-2MB/s. Can't wait for USB speeds...although Lie's comment is valid: I don't really need sftp, just ftp over USB.


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How can I get the QuickContactBadge to show an action for sending Instant Messages?
I'm wondering if there are any instant messaging apps which link to contact data fields and use intents to add a Send Instant Message action to the QuickContactBadge shown in many places when clicking on a contact.
I remember the Samsung-added (or was it AT&T-added, I don't remember) IM app that came OEM on my Galaxy S Captivate way back did this.
Are there any IM apps in the market that will allow me to click on a contact, pop-open the QuickContactBadge and then send an IM right from there?


text:
"Application cannot be installed in the default install location" error while updating
I have a Galaxy note which was recently updated to ICS (about a month ago)
Today I noticed that some of the applications, that are on auto update, keeping failing to update with this message:
"Application cannot be installed in the default install location"
I have enough storage left so I am not sure what this error means or how to fix it?

That sounds like a known problem updating apps which were moved to the SD-Card using App2SD. It does not always happen -- but if it does, a helpful work-around is:

move the app back to internal memory
run the update (should work now)
move the app to SD again (optional -- if you want it to be on the external SD)

Thanks for the answer, but i think you misunderstand my question. I did not move any apps to the SD card (my phone wont let me, which is fine) but I literally can't install new apps (not updating). and sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. Is there an easy fix to this? like i said before, i have plenty of app memory.

Could it be that the apps in question have the sd card as "default install location" (the developer can declare preferences in the Manifest, and this theoretically could even include to "force" it to sd by not permitting other storage AFAIK). Does it happen with all apps, or just with some?


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How can I see which applications eat up disk space?
DiskUsage shows 189 Megs of used space, of which System data takes up 118 Megs.
How can I find what application are using the rest? I have Android 2.3.5.

If you go to Settings > Apps, there will be a list of installed applications. If you press the menu button on that page, you can sort the applications by their size. Note that this size includes both the program files (APK) and stored data (databases, private saved files excluding those on SD card).

Just tested on 2.3.3, and there's the path is "home" -> "settings" -> "applications" -> "Storage Use".

To order by size, I had to press "home" twice since the presented option contains only one value at a time. The first tap presents "a-z" select it. The second tap brings up the "size" option select and your done.


text:
GMail "All Mail" not showing anything from last 30 days on Nexus 7 or Nexus 10
All the other labels are correct and synced according to their various settings.  There is no particular setting for "All Mail"
Today, I only see up to June 24.  When I scroll to the bottom it adds older messages as expected.
Tomorrow, it will add June 25's email to the All Mail Folder.  It's been doing this ever since I got the Nexus 7 nearly two weeks ago.
I have no problems on a Samsung Galaxy Note (same account, but obviously running ICS and not JB).  When I have already filed everything, I can go to All Mail and see the messages which recently came in, regardless of their labels.
This behavior is not happening on a Google Apps Domain account in the same Nexus but is happening on a Gmail account
Update: Just got a Nexus 10 and problem immediately occurred, and still occurring on 7 with latest 4.2.
I have tried setting the date forward, but no new mail shows up until real time passes.  The unread message count on the left shows the count of unread messages in "all mail", but none of those (recent) unread messages show up in the actual message list on the right (in the tablet dual-view)
I have submitted this as a bug several times to Google but with no result.
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/gmail/qzl9uUvk3p8/eFyD6HwkuJIJ
Here is the output from ADB LogCat from the time I disable and re-enable sync and go into mail and tap on All mail until the screen is finished loading:
D/SyncManager(  432): setSyncAutomatically:  provider gmail-ls, user 0 -> false
D/dalvikvm(20305): GC_CONCURRENT freed 465K, 7% free 9152K/9784K, paused 5ms+11ms, total 41ms
D/SyncManager(  432): setSyncAutomatically:  provider gmail-ls, user 0 -> true
I/ActivityManager(  432): Start proc com.google.android.gm for service com.google.android.gm/.provider.MailSyncAdapterService: pid=21085 uid=10018 gids={50018, 3003, 1015, 1028}
I/ActivityThread(21085): Pub com.google.android.gm2.accountcache: com.android.mail.providers.GmailAccountCacheProvider
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 277K, 5% free 7638K/8020K, paused 3ms+3ms, total 37ms
D/ActivityThread(21085): Loading provider com.android.gmail.ui: com.google.android.gm.provider.UiProvider
D/dalvikvm(20305): GC_CONCURRENT freed 510K, 7% free 9147K/9808K, paused 8ms+7ms, total 43ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 465K, 8% free 7687K/8304K, paused 7ms+2ms, total 55ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 28ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 29ms
I/ActivityThread(21085): Pub gmail-ls: com.google.android.gm.provider.MailProvider
I/ActivityThread(21085): Pub com.google.android.gm: com.google.android.gm.provider.PublicContentProvider
I/ActivityThread(21085): Pub com.google.android.gm2.conversation.provider: com.android.mail.browse.GmailConversationProvider
I/ActivityThread(21085): Pub com.google.android.gm.suggestionsprovider: com.android.mail.providers.SuggestionsProvider
I/ActivityThread(21085): Pub com.android.gmail.ui: com.google.android.gm.provider.UiProvider
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 373K, 7% free 7755K/8304K, paused 4ms+20ms, total 51ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 285K, 6% free 7897K/8336K, paused 3ms+6ms, total 35ms
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: queueing
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: queueing
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 358K, 6% free 8015K/8516K, paused 2ms+3ms, total 29ms
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: running
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: running
I/Gmail   (21085): MainSyncRequestProto: lowestBkwdConvoId: 0, highestHandledServerOp: 7077919, normalSync: true
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: queueing
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: queueing
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 201K, 5% free 8327K/8680K, paused 3ms+3ms, total 34ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 17ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 5ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 5ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 5ms
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: queueing
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: queueing
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: running
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: running
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: queueing
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: queueing
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 446K, 7% free 8362K/8952K, paused 6ms+4ms, total 42ms
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: running
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: running
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: running
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 475K, 7% free 8401K/9028K, paused 3ms+2ms, total 25ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 16ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 416K, 8% free 8370K/9060K, paused 4ms+1ms, total 23ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 18ms
I/Gmail   (21085): calculateUnknownSyncRationalesAndPurgeInBackground: running
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_EXPLICIT freed 301K, 8% free 8414K/9060K, paused 1ms+2ms, total 38ms
I/Gmail   (21085): MainSyncRequestProto: lowestBkwdConvoId: 0, highestHandledServerOp: 7077940, normalSync: true
I/Gmail   (21085): lowestBackward conversation id 0
D/dalvikvm(20305): GC_CONCURRENT freed 539K, 8% free 9115K/9808K, paused 7ms+11ms, total 62ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 361K, 7% free 8454K/9060K, paused 11ms+3ms, total 172ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 185K, 7% free 8475K/9112K, paused 17ms, total 18ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 174K, 8% free 8473K/9132K, paused 17ms, total 17ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 186K, 8% free 8472K/9132K, paused 18ms, total 18ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 216K, 8% free 8470K/9132K, paused 17ms, total 17ms
D/dalvikvm(20305): GC_CONCURRENT freed 342K, 6% free 9285K/9808K, paused 5ms+18ms, total 56ms
D/dalvikvm(20267): GC_CONCURRENT freed 395K, 6% free 8914K/9472K, paused 16ms+51ms, total 108ms
I/ActivityManager(  432): START u0 {act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.HOME] flg=0x10200000 cmp=com.android.launcher/com.android.launcher2.Launcher} from pid 432
I/ActivityManager(  432): START u0 {act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] flg=0x10200000 cmp=com.google.android.gm/.GmailActivity bnds=[656,595][784,723]} from pid 831
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 229K, 8% free 8489K/9132K, paused 51ms, total 51ms
I/TwoPaneLayout(21085): setting up new TPL, w=800 fw=266 cv=800
D/libEGL  (21085): loaded /system/lib/egl/libEGL_tegra.so
D/libEGL  (21085): loaded /system/lib/egl/libGLESv1_CM_tegra.so
D/libEGL  (21085): loaded /system/lib/egl/libGLESv2_tegra.so
D/OpenGLRenderer(21085): Enabling debug mode 0
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 232K, 5% free 8725K/9152K, paused 14ms+10ms, total 76ms
I/ActivityManager(  432): Displayed com.google.android.gm/.GmailActivity: +479ms
D/ConversationCursorLoader(21085): Add loader: content://com.android.gmail.ui/caderoux@gmail.com/conversations/594525445
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Resumed: Inbox]
I/TwoPaneLayout(21085): onViewModeChanged(2)
I/TwoPaneLayout(21085): conv-list mode layout, x=0/266/800
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 283K, 5% free 8922K/9360K, paused 6ms+12ms, total 54ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): Create: initial creation
I/Gmail   (21085): MainSyncRequestProto: lowestBkwdConvoId: 0, highestHandledServerOp: 7077940, normalSync: true
I/Gmail   (21085): lowestBackward conversation id 0
I/ConversationCursor(21085): ConversationCursor query: content://com.android.gmail.ui/caderoux@gmail.com/conversations/594525445?limit=50, 182ms, 0 results
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [refresh() Inbox]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Start refresh of Inbox: 1097539104]
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 372K, 6% free 9043K/9572K, paused 2ms+3ms, total 30ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): ConversationCursor query: content://com.android.gmail.ui/caderoux@gmail.com/conversations/594525445, 49ms, 0 results
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 334K, 6% free 9247K/9740K, paused 1ms+3ms, total 29ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Query done Inbox: 1097539104]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify Inbox: onRefreshReady(), 1 listeners]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [sync() Inbox]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify Inbox: onDataSetChanged()]
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 257K, 5% free 9600K/10028K, paused 3ms+3ms, total 28ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 22ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify Inbox: onRefreshRequired()]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [refresh() Inbox]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Start refresh of Inbox: 1097494336]
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 739K, 9% free 9573K/10484K, paused 2ms+5ms, total 40ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): ConversationCursor query: content://com.android.gmail.ui/caderoux@gmail.com/conversations/594525445, 21ms, 0 results
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Query done Inbox: 1097494336]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify Inbox: onRefreshReady(), 1 listeners]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [sync() Inbox]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify Inbox: onDataSetChanged()]
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 612K, 8% free 9694K/10484K, paused 2ms+3ms, total 29ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 20ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify Inbox: onRefreshRequired()]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [refresh() Inbox]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Start refresh of Inbox: 1096355048]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): ConversationCursor query: content://com.android.gmail.ui/caderoux@gmail.com/conversations/594525445, 8ms, 0 results
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Query done Inbox: 1096355048]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify Inbox: onRefreshReady(), 1 listeners]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [sync() Inbox]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify Inbox: onDataSetChanged()]
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 799K, 10% free 9584K/10572K, paused 3ms+4ms, total 52ms
D/ConversationCursorLoader(21085): Reset loader/disable cursor: Inbox
D/ConversationCursorLoader(21085): Add loader: content://com.android.gmail.ui/caderoux@gmail.com/conversations/594525444
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Resumed: All mail]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): Create: initial creation
I/Gmail   (21085): MainSyncRequestProto: lowestBkwdConvoId: 0, highestHandledServerOp: 7077940, normalSync: true
I/Gmail   (21085): lowestBackward conversation id 0
I/ConversationCursor(21085): ConversationCursor query: content://com.android.gmail.ui/caderoux@gmail.com/conversations/594525444?limit=50, 111ms, 0 results
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [refresh() All mail]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Start refresh of All mail: 1098489856]
D/dalvikvm(  432): GC_EXPLICIT freed 2545K, 38% free 18794K/30040K, paused 4ms+10ms, total 103ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): ConversationCursor query: content://com.android.gmail.ui/caderoux@gmail.com/conversations/594525444, 133ms, 0 results
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Query done All mail: 1098489856]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify All mail: onRefreshReady(), 1 listeners]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [sync() All mail]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify All mail: onDataSetChanged()]
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 575K, 9% free 9631K/10572K, paused 5ms+10ms, total 45ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify All mail: onRefreshRequired()]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [refresh() All mail]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Start refresh of All mail: 1098541328]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): ConversationCursor query: content://com.android.gmail.ui/caderoux@gmail.com/conversations/594525444, 14ms, 0 results
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Query done All mail: 1098541328]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify All mail: onRefreshReady(), 1 listeners]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [sync() All mail]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify All mail: onDataSetChanged()]
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 567K, 10% free 9612K/10572K, paused 32ms, total 32ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 480K, 10% free 9600K/10572K, paused 41ms, total 41ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 590K, 8% free 9738K/10572K, paused 3ms+15ms, total 78ms
I/dalvikvm(21085): Jit: resizing JitTable from 4096 to 8192
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 775K, 9% free 9693K/10620K, paused 2ms+2ms, total 75ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify All mail: onRefreshRequired()]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [refresh() All mail]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Start refresh of All mail: 1098632152]
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 438K, 10% free 9639K/10620K, paused 27ms, total 27ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): ConversationCursor query: content://com.android.gmail.ui/caderoux@gmail.com/conversations/594525444, 82ms, 88 results
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 406K, 10% free 9624K/10620K, paused 25ms, total 25ms
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Query done All mail: 1098632152]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify All mail: onRefreshReady(), 1 listeners]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [sync() All mail]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): [Notify All mail: onDataSetChanged()]
I/ConversationCursor(21085): *** Underlying cursor position is -1 asking to move from -1 to 0
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 511K, 10% free 9657K/10620K, paused 24ms, total 24ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): GC_CONCURRENT freed 423K, 6% free 10001K/10620K, paused 2ms+3ms, total 31ms
D/dalvikvm(21085): WAIT_FOR_CONCURRENT_GC blocked 8ms

Have you tried clearing app data?

@AlEverett Clearing the app data seems to have worked while removing and adding the account did not work.

Problem seems to be recurring, it's now lost all the mail from after July 6 and only shows that and older mail - same problem with the 30 days...

Have you checked to be sure the app doesn't have an update available?

@LorraineW No, there are no new updates for GMail in Play.  There was an answer here, but the problem recurred for that user and they've since deleted their answer.  I think there is a general problem with the app.

Can you turn off sync for that account, start adb logcat, turn on sync again and show the log here?

Forgot to say, I have a Nexus S with CM 9 and a Nexus 7 with today's update to 4.2, both can sync the mail account with no problem.

Compare with http://pastebin.com/r7kePgTZ it looks somewhat different.

I had the same problem because I had enabled "Sync last 30 days" for the All Mail folder in account settings → "Manage labels".  Apparently there is some bug which makes it sync everything but the last 30 days?  I disabled the sync for that folder and refreshed it a few times until went blank and actually reloaded all mail, including today's.
When I re-enable syncing it breaks again, though.

I have the same problem of the newest 30 days' E-mails missing from my Android device's "All mail" label.

This fixed my problem.  Stupid bug that Google should be ashamed to have still not fixed as of  "Android 6.0.1, July 5th, 2016 Security Patch".  I had my setting set to "Sync last 90 days", and you are right, All Mail was only syncing up to exactly 3 months ago.

In my phone, Gmail allows to configure how many days are to be synchronized, and specific labels are allowed to sync either within that period or completely. These labels include inbox, starred, etc. but not all mail. I think they haven't implemented all mail as an actual label, but if your phone has this day setting, I'd assume it should work.
A workaround while it's not fixed by the developers could be adding an equivalent custom label, such as # All Mail or Archived, and creating a filter in the web interface to apply that label to all of your incoming and outgoing mail. By starting the label name with a hash, you give it precedence in label listing.

To be clear, it is only showing messages from OLDER than 30 days (and this is a rolling window of invisibility - newer old messages from October 18th are becoming visible as time passes) in all mail, and only for this account, and only on the Nexus 7 and 10 (not the Galaxy Note) - and changing the day setting doesn't seem to fix it.

I use labels so heavily, I'd hate to add another "everything" label to everything, but I guess that's an option...

I'll let you know how it goes - I just tagged 3GB of messages with the "@" tag - I'm worried my filter isn't going to catch everything though - I had to put a selection of domains it the TO address.

#1 No #4 4.1.2 failed on Nexus 10 (not checked the 7), 4.2.1 released today still has the problem - I need to make another gmail account instead of all my various apps accounts on different domains.  Right now I'm getting by with my * workaround.

4.2.1 is working fine on the Galaxy Note.


text:
How do I determine which A2DP codecs my phone supports/is currently using?
Bluetooth's Audio Profile A2DP supports multiple codecs.  All devices have to support SBC (subband codec), then they can support additional "optional codecs" like MP3 and AAC, or "non-A2DP" codecs like apt-X.
Of course these codecs can't actually be used if the receiver doesn't also support them, in which case both devices fall back to SBC.

How do I find out which codecs my hardware/ROM support?
How do I find out which codec is currently in use?  (Maybe this depends on the track, too, if it passes MP3/AAC files directly without re-encoding, for instance)

This article says "Android users are in luck, as modern Android phones do support AptX. Unlike on Windows, it’s even possible to check if the connection is using AptX!" But no explanation of how.

On my Cyanogen 10.1 phone (AOSP 4.2.2), it is possible to enable a capture of bluetooth traffic. You can then load this capture into Wireshark and look at the negotiation phase to determine which codecs the paired audio output device supports. Not sure what OSes support this: when I first ran across this method it claimed support only from 4.4 onward, but clearly not the case with CM on a Doubleshot. :-)
Assuming you have the requisite setup (rooted ~ 4.2.2 or later), these are the steps:

pair your phone with the A2DP device of interest
disable bluetooth on your phone
edit this file:  /etc/bluetooth/bt_stack.conf, changing the BtSnoopLogOutput setting from its default value of false to true.  For this I use ES Note Editor, launched from ES File Explorer after enabling its "Root Browser" setting.
start CatLog, with all logging types enabled
enable bluetooth on your phone
after it pairs with the output device, play a snippet of audio
with your player of choice (I use Apollo). Ten seconds or so should
be plenty.
disable bluetooth again
stop CatLog's logging and save off its log file to your SD card
[IMPORTANT!] edit bt_stack.conf, changing BtSnoopLogOutput back to false.
copy the BT capture from your SD card (/sdcard/btsnoop_hci.log),
 along with the saved CatLog file, to a computer with a current copy
 of Wireshark installed.
load the capture file into Wireshark and set a Wireshark
 display filter of "btavdtp" (no quotes).  You'll now see a few
 packets only, look for the output device's reply to the AVDTP
 GetCapabilities query and you'll have your answer.

You can also line up the capture timestamps with the CatLog log's timestamps to look for suggestive log entries. I found a couple and cleverly forgot to include them in the notes upon which this post is based.
Once I have some more time am hoping to reduce this rather lengthy set of steps down to an app, but not sure if it's possible and won't have the time yet for a while anyway. Meanwhile, suggestions to improve on the above process are welcome.

Thanks. This worked great. I did not find anything relevant to capabilities in the CatLog logs. Anyway, tried it on Moto G (2013) running CM 4.4.2 and with LG HBS-730 headset. No apt-X in the logs, because CM does not have proprietary libs for that.

Thanks, @Martynas, good to know. Did it include support for mp3?  I'm wondering what might be a good target for testing that my phone supports mp3. Car radio doesn't unfortunately, and I haven't found any (!) product which documents its A2DP codec support. Regarding CatLog, wasn't thinking the actual codec list would be in there so much as some suggestive messages which could be used to search the source code. Another day..

So a response to Discover returned three audio sinks. A response to GetCapabilities for ACP SEID [2 - Audio Sink] included Service: Media Codec - Audio MPEG-1,2 Audio which had MP3: True. I have uploaded captured log file to github.

Thanks again @Martynas. Even though the 730 has better reviews, grabbed an LG HBS-750 for testing. Same suite of codecs as the 730. Have forked your repo and added another capture here. Unfortunately, in both of our captures the phone is choosing to use SBC instead of mp3. Not sure what media file type you used, but my CM 4.2.2 test used 128kb/s VBR mp3s (deliberately small bitrate to avoid stressing the BT bandwidth). Beginning to think ce4 might be right about the licensing issue.

The eiditing of   /etc/bluetooth/bt_stack.conf didn't seem to work, but I had exact same setting in developer settings and that worked. Thanks to your answer I managed to find out that Parrot Zik 2 uses SBC most of the time.

Looking at the source, there are at least 4 codecs: SBC (mandatory), MP3 (MPEG12), AAC (MPEG24) and Sony's ATRAC.
./android/external/bluetooth/bluez/audio/a2dp.h:
#define A2DP_CODEC_SBC          0x00
#define A2DP_CODEC_MPEG12       0x01
#define A2DP_CODEC_MPEG24       0x02
#define A2DP_CODEC_ATRAC        0x03

The underlying software is linux' "bluez" stack. It supports SBC and has limited MP3 capabilities.
The changelog for v3.25 (2009?) reads: "Add limited support for MPEG12/MP3 codec".
./android/external/bluetooth/bluez/ChangeLog:
ver 3.25:
    Add limited support for Handsfree profile.
    Add limited support for MPEG12/MP3 codec.

See also the v3.25 announcement. MP3 support seems to depend on gstreamer which is not available on Android, so I just guess SBC is the only option for A2DP to boot.
PS: Most A2DP devices seem to lack support for MP3/AAC due to patents/licencing issues (including Linux).

Those are 3 optional codecs, yes, or it can use other codecs like the Galaxy S III using apt-X.  I thought encoding was provided by hardware, though?  Android can play MP3s so I doubt there are any patent limitations.

I don't think SBC has a dedicated hardware encoder in Android devices. It's computationally modest so I guess it's done in software. At least the sources indicate that. PS: I'm looking at Cyanogenmod's source, not HTC's or Samsung's. PS2: I meant the audio sink devices on the other side with lack of mp3/aac (headsets, etc.)

With Nexus 4 (5.0.1) or Nexus 7 (2012)(4.4.4) devices it is possible to use the developer mode to get the btsnoop_hci.log. "Enable Bluetooth HCI snoop log". It is not necessary to root the devices.
It seems that both devices don't offer aptx.
I test this with Moto Stream (no aptx) and Philips AEA2500 (with aptx).

I'm on CM 12.1 and this potion is also available to me. Perhaps it is on all recent phones. Thanks.

In many cases, you need not go through this process, as valdikss now keeps track for many of the contributed results on his website
https://btcodecs.valdikss.org.ru/codec-compatibility/
https://btcodecs.valdikss.org.ru/
If you have trouble finding your btsnoop_hci.log file, please try solution posted here:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28445552/bluetooth-hci-snoop-log-not-generated/30352487#30352487
Once you find your btsnoop_hci.log, please start at step 7 in the Previous Answer below.
Previous Answer:
[Credit for this answer mostly goes to ewedel, who clarified that the answer is in the btsnoop_hci.log file, using Wireshark; and prittstift69, for sharing the easy way to create this log file.]
This is a newbie-friendly, step-by-step tutorial, summarizing answers already given, with some interpretation of the results from me.
As prittstift69 and others mentioned, you can "Enable Bluetooth HCI snoop log" under Developer options.  No need to follow the more complicated approach suggested by ewedel.

Start by turning bluetooth OFF on the android device (I'll call it 'phone').
Turn on Bluetooth HCI snoop log under Developer Options.
Turn ON Bluetooth on the phone and connect it to the Bluetooth receiver (I'll    call it 'receiver').  This step assumes that the receiver had been previously paired with the phone.
Play music on your phone (ideally an uncompressed WAV or FLAC file).  Ten seconds is all you need. (Probably even less)
Turn OFF Bluetooth on the phone.
Turn OFF Bluetooth HCI snoop log
Transfer the file btsnoop_hci.log (I found it in /sdcard/Android/Data/) to your computer. Run wireshark on your computer and open the file btsnoop_hci.log
Filter for "btavdtp" (no quotes) Search for a message from the phone to the receiver "Sent Command - SetConfiguration ...."  This is the message sent by the phone to the receiver with the final configuration to be used for this audio after the handshaking is completed.  The text in the Info field will tell you what the final configuration was.

[SBC] If it is SBC, you may want to know what the bitpool is.  To do this, remove the Filter for btavdtp and look for a message with Protocol SBC and click on it. Below, in the details section, expand the Bluetooth SBC Codec information.  Then expand any (or all) of the Frame data.  There, it should clearly show the Bitpool used by that Frame.  If it is 35, there is a good chance that your sample rate is 44.1 kHz, you are using Joint Stereo, and using the Middle Quality SBC audio profile (http://soundexpert.org/news/-/blogs/bluetooth-audio-quality-a2dp). The bitrate for the compressed audio is then 229 kbits/sec SBC, which scores a 4.68 in Sound Expert's testing (http://soundexpert.org/encoders-224-kbps) which is comparable to mp3 around 110-130 kbits/sec.
[APT-X] If it is APT-X, then both your phone and receiver support APT-X, and that is what it is using.  Assuming 16-bit, 44.1kHz, the codec is running at 352kbits/s.

"ideally an uncompressed WAV or FLAC file"  Wouldn't you want to play an MP3 to see if it sends it as MP3, etc?

Only if your goal is to see if A2DP supports mp3 on both sides (a valid question).  However, my experience is that mp3 support on both sides is rare (I have never seen it on any of my devices, and I've had quite a few).  So, at least with Android devices, your most likely A2DP codec options are SBC and APTX.  Playing an uncompressed audio file forces the phone to re-encode.

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


text:
Motorola Atrix 2 native camera app failing
I use the native camera app and many of my recent pictures either have a large grey area with no information:

or noise in the picture made of bits of another picture:

Is this a known problem?  It was happening again last night with great frequency, so I  restarted the phone and the next picture was fine.

Edit:  I have since removed all 752 pictures. I shot a few more, and still had at least one shot with each of the problems presented here.  I believe I will try a 3rd-party camera.

This might as well be a storage problem. The first pic looks like a partially saved .jpg (the grey area representing the cut off part). The second picture has the correct size but contains foreign image data... Have you checked where pictures go to? Internal or SD card? (the Atrix has 16gb internal and up to 32gb via micro SD). Do you have similar problems with other apps that use the internal storage? Here's the catlog log viewer, can you check your device logs next time you have this problem?

@ce4 A problem of storage seems likely.  I will offload most of the pictures and see whether that helps.

As it turns out, my SD card was failing.  I have since replaced it and all pictures are fine thus far.


text:
Why is Google Music preinstalled outside of the US?
I've noticed on many phones in Canada and I think in the EU nowadays come with Google Music preinstalled. If Google Music is only available in the USA, then why bother putting it on the phone?

They're rolling out new countries as they're able to negotiate with the record labels. Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal just came online.

Google Music (or Play Music as it's called now) isn't just used for music purchased from the Play Music store, or for music stored in its cloud service, it can also play music stored locally on the phone, or on inserted SD cards.
My UK Galaxy Nexus has it pre-installed, even though the Play Music Store and cloud storage service aren't available here. It is just the latest version of the built-in Android Music player, and works perfectly well for playing MP3s saved on the phone, even if you never use any of the cloud services or the store.

You would wonder what else comes pre-installed. Some phones have been seen in Germany with software special to some Russian mail providers -- almost causing panic being suspected of a malware attack.
As it is, it is easier for manufacturers to maintain one installation type, which they can ship internationally. As long as they don't exaggerate, and keep the system image in a decent size, this should normally not bother anyone -- most of those apps are either hidden and only show up with a matching SIM card being inserted. Unfortunately that (hiding) is not true with some other apps as e.g. google music -- but still it serves the purpose of "production ease".

Google Music is the only music player that comes with new devices. It is perfectly capable of playing music from the sdcard and the music sync functionality is not even mentioned unless it's enabled on your account.

Every Android devices comes with many apps already installed.
On one hand, these are useful and enhance the functionality of your device. But on the other hand, like in your case, they are useless apps that use resources, aren't available on the user's country, and some times can't even be uninstalled and.
This is better clarified below, but it's all about deals that have been made...

What apps come with the device?

Built-in
Almost every device comes with essential apps to allow the user to use the device instantly. Some examples are: Browser, Camera App, Email, Clock, E-mail, Music Player.
Carrier Specific
It's common to find apps to access the wireless carrier services, either to entice you to subscribe or to access information about your account.
Google Own Apps
Apps developed by Google may or may not be pre-installed in your device. This is decided by the device manufacturer or wireless carrier. One can always install or uninstall as desired.
Bloatware
Wireless carriers or device manufacturers, bundle sample apps as part of a deal made with vendors. Usually this app can't be uninstalled.

Google Music is the only music player that comes with new devices. It is perfectly capable of playing music from the sdcard and the music sync functionality is not even mentioned unless it's enabled on your account.


text:
Is there a way to select text directly in Android?
I would like to edit some text on my way home, however I found that in Android there is no way to simply select some text to delete or change it. You have to first locate the cursor or long press the screen to enable selection, then drag the cursor for selection. This is quite inconvenient.
I tried Jota Text Editor, 920 Editor, Note Everything and Evernote - no one offers a simple method to select text directly.
Is there any way to do this?

What is the version of your device?

I'm using Samsung P1000 with Android 2.3.3

The feature of selection of text is a topping added by phone manufacturers. For an instance, in my LG Optimus One (P500) which was running 2.2.2 did not have any text selection feature. As you had said, I have to manually move the caret to a favourable position to erase a text.  However during an update to 2.3.3, the manufacturer had enabled me to select a text by double tap (and in some places, a single tap or long press is required).
When I was discussing this with my friend who had Samsung Galaxy Ace running 2.2.2, I was surprised to know that the feature I got in 2.3.3 was already available in his phone.
I guess with Android 3.0 onwards, this has been baked in as standard feature.

As we deal with touch screens, which allow for a bunch of gestures: it would be hard for the system to decide whether you want to select text, just move the "pointer" (e.g. to insert text), move the word under your finger to a different position, scroll, or switch to a different screen... Think of your desktop and moving the mouse, which also wouldn't select anything -- unless you click and hold the button while moving.
So usually, selecting text is done the way you described: Long-Press (or double-tap, or single-tap -- may depend on the app used) on the word you want to start marking, then move the markers to include the text you want to select.

If you had tried on Palm OS you will find selecting text with touch screen is fairly easy. A simple scroll bar (or even a scroll handle) is enough for app to decide whether you are selecting or scrolling screen. Actually the screen of old Treo 650 phone is quite small, but it can still be able to show the scroll bar.

I had a Palm for years (first m505, later T5), so I know what you mean. But other than with PalmOS, on Android you can tap-and-move anywhere to move the screen around (horizontally as well as vertically), which conflicts with that concept.

In addition to Android's built-in features, it's possible for apps to change the way you copy text. One popular app for this is Copy Text, which lets you select and copy text that is normally not selectable. If you want to copy text in different ways, browsing the Play Store to see what's available is a good idea.


text:
Does Android's Full Filesystem Encryption also Encrypt the SDcard?
In Android's filesystem encryption do they also encrypt the SDcard? If so Is encrypting the SDcard optional or is it encrypted by default when you choose to encrypt your device?
Here's some info about Android's file system encryption and its crypto implemenation on android.com

Android provides the capability to do filesystem encryption, but it's up to the vendor who builds the firmware for your device to enable it for the SD card. I have only seen a few devices with this capability enabled for the SD card, though most seem to have it for the internal storage (/data). Typically if it's enabled, there will be a menu item in the settings referring to SD card encryption.
Here's the option for the Galaxy Tab 2 for example:

Any more background on who does actually encrypt the sdcard? PS: /data is always encrypted when you do full device encryption. That's the whole point of encrypting: It's where all your app data resides, including wifi keys and Google auth tokens. SDcard encryption has some implications, you cannot use it outside the phone any more and are prone to 'do you want to format this SD card?' questions on windows.

Summary
The encryption of the SD card is a device-specific subject, but as far as Android goes, only /data gets encrypted.

Android default behaviour:
By "default", for Android, the encryption on the device is applied to /data only. This because all installed applications that get moved to the SD card are already encrypted and only usable at that specific device "origin".
See: Apps on SD Card: The Details scroll down to the below paragraph

Security and Performance Implications
Applications on SD card are mounted via Linux’s loopback interface and encrypted via a device-specific key, so they cannot be decrypted on any other device. Note that this is security measure and does not provide copy protection;

Android recommendation to developers:
See: Designing for Security scroll down to the below paragraph

Using external storage
Files created on external storage, such as SD Cards, are globally readable and writable. Since external storage can be removed by the user and also modified by any application, applications should not store sensitive information using external storage.

Why Android, why?
Android believes that external storage is a shared thing, so, to be accessible everywhere, being encrypted wouldn't work.
See: Using the External Storage

Every Android-compatible device supports a shared "external storage" that you can use to save files. This can be a removable storage media (such as an SD card) or an internal (non-removable) storage. Files saved to the external storage are world-readable and can be modified by the user when they enable USB mass storage to transfer files on a computer.

Some vendors "act on their own"
Some vendors like Motorola however have implemented the encryption to /data and /mnt/sdcard:

What type of encryption does Motorola Android support?

Provides file system level encryption for both internal device memory as well as SD card. Encryption for device memory and SD card can be enabled separately via settings UI as well as via Exchange ActiveSync policies. Device has to be protected with the password lock in order for encryption to be available.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S2 wifi - Connected but no internet
My Galaxy S2 (ICS I9100G) connects to my home wifi but sometimes does not actually transmit data. I took it to the shop and they did a factory reset (which I could have done on my own) and then was told to take it home and see if it was any better. It wasn't.
O2 tech support didn't really have much to offer so I tried various different online fixes. None worked.
We got another router (for the back of the house) which used WPA2 whereas the initial router uses WPA. My SGS2 works absolutely fine on this new router.
What's going on?

Thanks for coming forward to share your knowledge. It will be more useful if you can strip the solution from your question and post it as an answer (answering your own question is very well acceptable).  This will promote this question from "unanswered" to "answered".

Yeah cause im new to this part of stack exchange I need to wait like 8 hours or something

You can answer any time, you don't need an account for that even. Answering should just work.

@ce4: Very new users (with less than 10 reputation) have these sorts of restrictions placed on them to help prevent spamming. That includes self-answering.

@AlEverett: Ah, self-answering is the key here. Thank you for the hint. Andrew: You got 11 rep, so it should be possible now :-)

My solution was to change the front room wifi to WPA2 to match the backroom's wifi (WPA2) which I never had a problem with.
Don't know why this works I cannot believe the SGS2 has less than optimum support for WPA. Maybe it was buggy software ... although I am fully updated and have been since I got the phone. (September 11)
I should mention this was not a problem caused by ICS or fixed by the firmware upgrade as I had the problem pretty much as soon as I got the phone (September 11).


text:
My new phone came with super user but I didn't root it
I've just got a new Samsung Galaxy Y from Unique Mobiles
(http://www.uniquemobiles.com.au). The package was still intact when I picked it up and the "don't accept this if this sticker is broken" sticker was still good as new. Now I'm new to the Android operating system (coming from an iPhone) and when I got my phone it had superuser already on it. I had no idea what it was so I just left it alone. Until a friend from school asked if I had rooted it, I didn't have a clue to what he was saying. He said the only way I can get it is by rooting it. I haven't given my phone to anyone to do anything with it, I've been the only one to use it and I'm 100% sure I haven't rooted it.
Now my big question is
How did it get there?
What does it do?
Has anyone else had the same thing happen to them?
I was also just wondering about some more information on superuser, rooting and ways that it could have gotten onto my phone.

Look here for info on what rooting is.

Rooting is not a taboo for few operators. May be your operator has rooted. Check with others who purchased from same store/operator.

On can install the SuperUser or SUElite apps without root (they are updaters and settings manager for rooting), root is actually the su binary on the system. Those apps will tell you it's missing if it's not there and you try to run them.

My advice: Do some forensics. Look up the file date of the su binary (/usr/xbin/su with mine) and see if its rather recent or not (the firmware is fixed several weeks/months before). Maybe you get some info. Install Terminal Emulator and run the following command: ls -l /system/xbin/su. Mine came with my mod and has this: -rwsr-sr-x root     root       384512 2008-08-01 14:00 su (note the 2008 date suggests it's preinstalled here). Maybe it got refurbished and the former customer had rooted it. If so, return it.

I have the Superuser app on my Moto G, but I did not root it. I got it through an app called Motorola Migrate. I migrated info from a previous rooted device to this phone and all the apps simply came over.

I'd check with the operator, and see if they root their phones by default (it's a perfectly valid thing to do, it's just that the big operators tend to be control freaks). If they don't know what you are talking about, worry and ask them for help figuring out what's going on.
I'd also go into SuperUser and check it's preferences. Since you don't know how it got there, you don't know what apps might be doing. Turn on it's logging (if not already enabled) and set 'Automatic response' to 'prompt'. That way you'll have a log of what's using it, and you'll be prompted for anything that wants to do things with root access. The idea is that if something asks for root access and you don't know why, just deny it and see what breaks - very few apps should need root access, so it shouldn't come up very often.
If logging is already enabled, then you can review the log to see if any apps have been using root access.

There are several 'root checker' apps on Play Store which do nothing but check to see if your phone is rooted or not.
The simplest thing to do would be to try one (or more) of those and find out whether or not the phone is rooted or if you just have a copy of the SuperSU app on the phone.  Just because it is there doesn't necessarily mean your phone is rooted.
If it is that's fine.  Root isn't a bad thing.  It provides alternatives which are not otherwise available.
The larger carriers don't like it because misuse can make a phone much harder to diagnose if it screws up for some reason, at least for their techs.  That's why it tends to be a warranty issue.
If the people who sold you the phone are the ones who rooted it then they shouldn't have any issues with warranty.
If the phone isn't rooted after all then just uninstall the SuperSU app.  It isn't doing anything.

It's nice to have a phone rooted (Geeksphone and maybe others do this by default?), you can use firewall apps and Titanium backup, and other system apps.
Superuser lets you restrict what apps can be root.


text:
YouTube to XBMC using Airplay
Does anyone knows a method to send YouTube videos to XBMC using Airplay? The functionality I'm looking for is similar to the one available on iOS devices.
I know that AirSync can send videos but not YouTube videos.

"similar to the one available on iOS devices" That's not a very specific description. If you add more details on what steps you want to take and what result you want, you might get more specific, more helpful answers.

hmm.. I don't know if that suits you, but you can send youtube videos through web protocol. From your pc you can add an extension to chrome.
And for android there is yatse
You still have to install youtube plugin for xbmc.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S3 WiFi Connectivity Problems with SOME Wireless Networks
I have a new Samsung Galaxy S3 that plays well with my wireless network at home and elsewhere but has major connectivity issues with the wireless network in my office. Nobody else has problems and I never had problems when I used to have an iPhone. I don't want to get into the technical details of the network setup, I just want to know what things I can try to fix this. It acts like it has a strong connection and the up and down green arrows seem to blink when they are supposed to, but apps seem to have intermittent connectivity at best. I've tried changing all the advanced settings under "Advanced Wi-Fi" and even tried going into service mode and disabling Wi-Fi power saving. Anything else I can try?

I have my own Galaxy S3 and I found that this solution worked great for me:

Go to your GS3’s dialer and dial *#0011#
Now you have to hit the left menu button when you see the “service mode” screen
Choose WiFi
Turn off the “WiFi power save mode” button if its on
Now exit this menu. Turn off and turn on your WiFi. Re-enter the network info if you have already entered it before.

Thanks for your answer, Agnes! But could you please include the basic details from the linked page? We like to have at least the basic details included with the answers: in case the linked page becomes unavailable, your answer could still stay useful then.

What's the difference with that and going into Settings > Wireless & Networks > Wifi, tap menu, tap on Advanced > Wifi Sleep Policy...?

and does this code also work for S4?


text:
How can I make Google Now ignore some calendars for appointment reminders?
How can I make Google Now ignore some calendars?
My wife's calendar is shared to my calendar and then synced to my phone through my account and I currently get reminder cards for her events in Google Now.  I would like to only get cards for certain calendars.

Related: http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-samsung-galaxy-nexus/192983-disable-specific-calendar-events-appearing-google-now.html

Apparently, Google Now uses the "My Calendars" section of Google Calendars.
When my wife's calendar was shared with me, I was granted "Make changes AND manage sharing" rights.   This puts the calendar into "My Calendars" for both users' calendars. When I changed it to "Make Changes to events" on my wife's sharing tab, the calendar moves from "My Calendars" to "Other Calendars" for my account and I no longer get notifications in Google Now for that calendar.

Thanks! Since you can't change your own sharing setting, I had to share it with another account, then change the setting on my main account from there, and then unsubscribe the other account :)

You would think there would be an easier solution.  I've been searching for this answer for 20 minutes!

Instead of synchronizing her calendar to your phone, try setting her calendar "shared" and then subscribing to it from your own Google Calendar.  When you subscribe, I believe you can set it to not pull in the reminders.

+1 because you helped me find the solution.   Her calendar was shared, not synced via google sync.


text:
Application keyboard shortcuts
In CM7 (now running CM9 on my EVO 4G) there was an option somewhere in the settings to set keyboard shortcuts (I think it was limited to Search+[key] combinations). I loved using this with my Bluetooth keyboard, for example using "Status Bar Expander" to be able to see my notifications by only using the keyboard.
However, in CM9, I can no longer find this option. Does anyone know where it went or how to get this functionality otherwise?
Update: I've found this (quite useful) list, but I would still like to know if I can edit/add these key combos.

ESC: Back (woo!)
Targus FN + F* keys: (edit: These only work with the specific model of
  Targus keyboard. Your FN key may only perform functions as labelled,
  test it to verify)
FN+F1: Search
FN+F8: play/pause music
FN+F7: Skip Prev
FN+F9: Skip Next
FN+F11: Volume -
FN+F12: Volume +
FN+ESC: Wallpaper, manage apps, system settings.
Alt+Tab - recent apps, task switcher (WOO!)
CTRL + Alpha keys:
Ctrl+A: Market (edit: this opens the "add to home screen" menu for me)
Ctrl+P: Settings
Ctrl+W: Wallpaper
Ctrl+M: Apps
In Browser: (edit: these work in other apps too, if they apply)
Ctrl+B: Bookmarks
Ctrl+A: Select all
Ctrl+C: Copy
Ctrl+V: Paste
Ctrl+W: Close current tab
Ctrl+T: Open new tab
Command/Windows button + : (edit: these commands work from anywhere,
  even in other apps)
Win+E: Launch Default Email App (brings up a choice dialog if
  necessary)
Win+A: Launch Calculator.apk
Win+S: Launch Messaging.apk (SMS App)
Win+C: Launch Contacts
Win+B: Launch Browser.apk (not your default browser, unfortunately)
Win+P: Launch Music.apk (not your default music player, unfortunately)
Win+L: Launch Calendar
Win+M: Launch Google Maps

@Al Are ICS and CM9 that much different now that we shouldn't tag both? Or was the original a feature of CM7 and not stock?

As far as I know that was a CM feature only.

Gotcha. I was unaware! Thanks for the tag revision then :)

You can also assign your custom application to Search+key:
[ Source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26105269&postcount=3 ]

Must be using either nova or apex launcher
Long press on home screen and select shortcuts
Select activities (for whichever launcher you are using nova or apex)
Scroll down and select settings
Scroll down and select Quick Launch (the first one) and it should create the shortcut icon on your desktop


text:
Connecting Android Devices to Windows 7 via Bluetooth
I'm trying to connect both of my Android devices to my Windows 7 laptop, to see what I can do with them (file transfer, bluetooth tethering, etc.)
Here is the hardware I'm working with:

Samsung Series 5 Laptop - Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 / fully patched

Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless Bluetooth(R) 3.0 + High Speed Adapter
Driver: Intel - 2011/12/09 - 1.0.90.20620

Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Google official Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean (unrooted)
Asus / Google Nexus 7 with Google official Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean (unrooted)

The pairing process between the Android devices and Windows 7 works flawlessly. Here is what I'm doing to pair them:

Put the Android device into discoverable mode (Settings --> Bluetooth --> Tap device name)
Open Devices and Printers on Windows 7
Click Add Device
Select Android device in device list and click Next
When the pairing code is displayed, confirm on Windows 7 and Android device
Pairing is complete

The devices are paired. However, they never seem to connect to each other. I see the device's icon switch between being greyed out and opaque, on Windows 7 Devices and Printers briefly, and eventually it just goes grey. No matter how much I tap on the Windows 7 computer's name in the list of paired devices on the Android device, it does not re-establish a connection.
One function that I tested successfully, is sending a file using Bluetooth File Transfer (fsquirt.exe). When I attempted to send a file to one of my Android devices, initiated from that utility on Windows, the Android device prompted me to accept the file transfer. The Bluetooth icon on Android was still greyed out, however, which indicates to me that the devices are not connected to each other persistently.
Bottom line: Does anyone know how to use Android Bluetooth features with Windows 7?

I too have never gotten this to work. I narrowed my troubles down to the Bluetooth stack (aka Bluetooth drivers) in Windows, couldn't find any that worked for me. What drivers are you using?

I am not sure, but I think once you have paired the devices, a constant Bluetooth connection is not kept and it is only used once you initiate an action i.e. file transfer. Once the action completes it goes back into standby / idle mode.

I found Windows 7 Bluetooth lacking so I bought a third party package and have no problem using Windows 7 bluetooth with my Android devices.  The package was by Blue Soleil

Not a bad idea, but it seems crazy that I'd have to buy a Bluetooth stack for something I'd use so infrequently.

It's bad that android developers didn't deal with bluetooth implementation instead of all the fancy effects and clock that eats 10MB ram.

I located a solution from this youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZNPO1gMcoA and thought I would share here since this was the first result when I began looking for a solution.
The problem is that Windows does not detect the Bluetooth serial links automatically.  You can manually point to the standard windows drivers by completing the following steps.

Go to Device Manager
Right click the item under Other Devices labeled Bluetooth Peripheral Device and click Update Driver Software
Click Browse my computer for...
Click Let me pick...
Select Ports (COM & LPT) and click Next
Navigate to and select Microsoft in the left field, pick Standard Serial over Bluetooth link on the right field, and click Next
Click OK on the driver install warning box and it should successfully install the driver

I am unsure of why windows cannot automatically detect this component and install the driver, but this solution worked for me.  Hopefully it will for you as well.

The solution is fsquirt.exe as a previous poster said. Not the nice auto pilot thing we would like, I know. I just used this for xfer of SS to win7 pc.
Link:
http://plugable.com/2013/11/11/easy-way-to-use-bluetooth-to-exchange-files-with-your-phone-in-windows-fsquirt-guide/


text:
Does the Android emulator generate some sort of log file I can access if it crashes?
Let's say I am working with the Android emulator, and get it to run one of my custom images/custom kernels, and it gets stuck in a boot-loop or crashes after a little while in booting up, does it produce a log file that I can look through?  And if so, where does it store this "boot" log?  (most likely somewhere in the Android build tree)

you could also just do an 'adb logcat' and start your instance to see what happens

Yeah but it just says .  And if the emulator is simulating the phone crashing, does the emulator itself produce any log messages?

Well, the emulator itself is just fine. Simulating phone crashes and reboot loops is just as indifferent to it as normal operation

There are some questions about it on Stackoverflow (google search), it's more dev related though but there are a number of hits. Most probably it has to do something with either permissions for adb or your build is not adb enabled

kernel panic
When a kernel panic occurs all user space programs are immediately stopped, preventing a user from detecting the cause of the panic: logcat; dmesg and /proc/kmsg will do you no good.
You can still check the /data/dontpanic/ folder for any files present, like:
apanic_console or apanic_threads

kernel boot
Method of logging kernel messages:

invoke "dmesg":

See it as it happens:
# adb shell dmesg

Direct to a file on your sdcard and see it later
# adb shell dmesg >/mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt

"tail" the kernel if "syslogd" and /var are available:
# adb shell cat /proc/kmsg

dump the kernel file /proc/kmsg:
# adb shell cat /proc/kmsg

Note: You may need to issue su to gain permissions over some files if you're stuck with an error message. Alternatively, removing shell from the command will execute it on the computer side, not on the phone.

References

Stackoverflow answer from eldarerathis to "Can I get logcat logs after phone reboots?"
BootLoader How to get kernel messages from Android?
flashmyandroid How to get logcat and dmesg outputs for trouble shooting !
Stackoverflow Android: How to get kernel logs after kernel panic?
Stackoverflow Shutdown Log in Android

This is great information (as well as the posts you reference).  However, it seems there's one massive wall every developer is going to run into:  what about a BOOT-LOOP?
You're phone (or emulator) crashes as it boots up with your installed image, and keeps trying to reboot, but keeps crashing.  How do you get kernel messages or any kind of log to figure out how far the phone gets?

@9exceptionThrower9 All comes down to the cause! you may check for the folder /data/dontpanic/ for logs concerning the kernel failure or act according to instructions provided by eldarerathis (first link on the references section).

@9exceptionThrower9 Keep in mind that this type of issues are prone to be very specific, since they depend on many variables. Ain't easy to have a bulletproof solution :)


text:
How do you name a folder on the home screen (Gingerbread, HTC Incredible)?
I added a folder to the home screen, but it's automatically labeled "folder." If I have multiple folders, it will get confusing. How can I change the name of the folder?

Tap to open the folder, then long-press the text making up the name. That should change it to an editable field.


text:
What is the difference between the email app and the gmail app?
I know the Email app can fetch multiple accounts at same time, but apart from that are there any other major differences?
If I only need to fetch stuff from the one gmail account, which app should I use? I only connect to the internet using wifi, so offline usability is desirable.
Running Android 4.1.1 on a Nexus 7.

Is the "email app" the one which is installed by default on a (Samsung) device?

The main difference that I can see is the type of accounts that are supported:

The Gmail APP is limited to accounts from Google: username@gmail.com

read and respond to your conversations online & offline
Manage multiple accounts
View and save attachments
Set up label notifications

Email APP: username@your_domain.com
The main feature is that it works with all email providers, but its a very basic APP, you can send and receive emails, but no search capabilities present.

The Gmail part is a little misleading. It doesn't have to be a Gmail account, it works with Apps accounts too. (I'm using one)

@RichardBorcsik Are you referring to Google Apps for Business?

Yep! I meant that. You don't get a gmail address and it's not even called Gmail on the controll panel, but plain email.

Well as of now we can gmail/gooogle account plus the aol, yahoo mail and hotmail also in the Gmail APP..@Zuul

The Gmail application speaks Gmail's own proprietary protocol back to the Gmail server, whereas the Email application speaks open protocols such as POP3 or IMAP, as well as supporting ActiveSync.  The Email application also has somewhat better support for multiple accounts.
If you are only using a single Gmail account then it is better to use the Gmail application, but if you're using multiple accounts, or non-Gmail accounts, you'll want to use Email.  Personally, I use Gmail for my Gmail account (which I only use for Google-specific purposes) and Email for my IMAP.

The Gmail app works just fine for multiple accounts. I manage three separate accounts and it works well for me. (Early iterations of the app didn't work with multiple accounts very well, but they fixed that some time ago.)

Same here. I have 4 different Google accounts on my phone. The Gmail apps supports labels,archiving sending email from aliases etc.

Does it support a unified inbox across all accounts? That's the big feature that was always missing for me, even recently.


text:
Strange icons and notifications, is there a malware in my phone?

Possible Duplicate:
Is this red star icon malware? How to get rid of it?
Red Star And Green Cross Icons?

I have a Samsung galaxy nexus with official Android 4.1 running. I sometimes get strange notifications with a green + as the icon, saying you have won..., click here to..., or similar messages. Of course I would not open any of them as they immediately appear suspicious. I also sometimes get some shortcut icons on the home screen looking like games, etc. I do not find them in the app list though. I have had similar incidents before upgrading to 4.1.
Does anybody get things like these? Is this a malware living in my phone? Any thoughts would be highly appreciated.

It is probably spam notifications being generated by some third-party app that you have installed.  Quite a few "free to play" games pull this garbage these days.
It could also be malware, but it is more likely that some game you have installed is doing this.
Note that in Android, an application icon does not have a 1:1 correspondence with installed applications; many applications provide different icons (or no icon at all), because of the way that Android applications are put together.

Is there anyway to identify the app sending the notifications? Or is there any standard way for detecting malware on Android?

I don't know about on Android in general (or Samsung's specific customizations), but on Android 4.1 Jellybean you can long-touch on a notification and select 'app info' which will tell you which application generated the notification.


text:
Is there a known custom Android ROM without apps bloating

Possible Duplicate:
Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

I am looking for a very scaled down version of Android similar to CyanogenMod but with much less apps. I think just the OS , a basic landing screen and App Store. Is anyone aware of such ROMs ?

What's the point?

There are quite a few custom ROMs out there. For older phones, look at YoshiGinger, which is basically what you're asking for in order to keep older phones running well.

@Richard : With all due respect, there can be a very very specific business requirement pertaining to the open source based OS and scaling it down for a specific purpose. So from a business requirement perspective there is a point.

@Moss: That sort of scenario is fairly well outside the purpose of this site. This site is primarily for helping users of Android devices.

From a business perspective I would never rely on a project that has disclaimers gladly stating that they don't care if your phone blows up. If that wouldn't be enough the people that release these light stuff are usually the 1337 kids. They debloat CM so they have more free RAM because the ROM is smaller. They developer tool of choice is WinRar. I wouldn't touch that stuff with a 10 foot stick, let alone install it on something that makes me money.

And what if the business perspective does not include selling anything to anybody in the consumer market. What if it is part of any internal RND requirements. I can agree to what to you said above but only if that pertained to selling something.

The ones I know of are Android Open Source Project-based ROMs.
Clean as they can be, no pre-installed applications (bloatware), just a "pure" Android OS.
You may want to read this Community wiki.

"Where can I find a custom ROM that..." questions are considered shopping questions and are off-topic here. Please review the [FAQ]. I expect this question will be closed as a duplicate of the canonical question which Zuul has linked to.


text:
Debugging bootloop: Get an information log without ADB? Can an emulator help?

Possible Duplicate:
Android boot-up messages for debugging?

Related to this post I created:  Does the Android emulator generate some sort of log file I can access if it crashes?
I have been searching and trying to figure out if there is any way at all to get some kind of debugging information or any kind of kernel messages from an Android phone if it gets stuck at a bootloop state?  That means the phone gets stuck at the "Google" splash-screen, then crashes, then goes to that, then crashes.
I know the phone has several stages of bootloading, but for me to even figure out why my system image/modified kernel is making the phone crash, I need to at least know where the phone is crashing?
Is there any kind of log the Android emulator maybe spits out that shows it going through the stages of booting:  i.e. stage 1 bootloader, main stage bootloader, kernel being loaded, initialization process, Zygote, Zygote initializing Dalvik VM, execution of system server, then boot completed (when the ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETE flag/event is raised).
I've tried modifying init.rc to echo commands to a boot log (but it didn't work, though I don't know if the phone makes it to that stage, all I have is a useless splash screen), I've tried any of the ADB stuff but of course ADB doesn't work if the phone doesn't reach a stable state, the Linux dmesg command only works to show that the phone plugged in via USB, and the Android developers have chosen not to at least explain to me that only they hold those kinds of developer tools. Can anyone give me some guidance of what I can do to debug the boot process?  There has to be some kind of log you can access with the emulator at least.
In other words, how does anyone get any kind of log from their phone/emulator if gets stuck in a bootloop?
Further information, my kernel version I believe I have downloaded for my phone build is Linux kernel release 3.x (stock kernel pulled from the tuna folder and using the "omap" project), for Android Galaxy Nexus (maguro), with the platform being Android 4.0.3 ICS.

You will know if the kernel has hung, the led light stays on and not go further.
As for your question, you need to be more clearer and specific as we do not know and since you posted a similar question before. You have not stated, what device is it, what android version is it, what kernel is it, all those are left out and thusly playing a guessing game here.

Is it the ramdisk not created correctly?
Is it the address used for booting incorrect?
Is the ROM built for VMSPLIT 3G and the kernel is built with VMSPLIT 2G or vice versa?
What chipset is it? ARMv7 kernel with ROM compiled for ARMv6...
Is the kernel actually booting? if yes, how do you know?

Far too many things here to speculate.
Edit:
This bit is related to kernel level debugging.
The only way you can know if the kernel is indeed booting in the first place is to use a USB to Serial TTY cable with JTAG pinouts on a small circuit board clipped/soldered to the back of the device in question, and having the serial driver compiled into the kernel and treating the console as a tty device, and reading from it via minicom or hyperterminal to see the boot up sequence.
As for bootloops,
The cause of boot-loops are down to the ROM itself, the initialization sequence is crashing somewhere. Now be careful :), the kernel in itself, can boot-loop also due to malfunctioning driver, panic's and reboots itself.
So the question is, which is it?, Is it the kernel that keeps rebooting itself or has it got passed that stage and started loading the ROM? If its at the stage of loading the ROM, then something in the initialization is crashing, when the ROM crashes, it sends a signal to shutdown SurfaceFlinger, AudioFlinger, adb daemon, MedaServices etc.
What you can do is this - in the init.rc, where you have this:
service console /system/bin/sh
    console
    disabled
    user shell

Change disabled to enabled, the next time, Android will dump you into the console, i.e. no familiar graphical interface.
Also, look for the  lines containing servicemanager, if the adbd daemon is listed there, take it out as what happens is the directive clause critical and onrestart will cause you to not have any adb facility!

I've edited my post to reflect more specific system details.


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Samsung galaxy SIII is there a way to add a new call ring?
I proudly own this phone, but I can't find a way to set up a classic ring call. What can I do?
There's a way?

In System Settings -> Sound you should be able to select Pick Ringtone. If you don't find the ringtone you want, you can use any MP3 or OGG. Just put the file on your sdcard in /sdcard/Ringtones/. Media scanner will classify anything in this directory as a Ringtone.


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Jelly Bean OTA Update failing on Nexus S ("assert failed")
I've got a Nexus S phone. It was never rooted or modified. It currently runs the most recent version of Ice Cream Sandwich (that was installed as an Over The Air update, without any issues).
Couple of days ago I received a notification from my phone about Jelly Bean upgrade being available. Unfortunately every time I try to install it there is a problem. The phone reboots and starts the upgrade process, but after about 30 seconds it stops and displays an image of a red triangle with an exclamation mark. When I press power+volume up to see what happened, this is the message it displays:

Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
Verifying current system...
assert failed: apply_patch_check("/system/etc/gps.conf", "[random letters and numbers - probably a hash]", "[different combination of random letters and numbers]")
E:Error in /cache/9ZGgDXDi.zip
(Status 7)
Installation Aborted.

I tried "wipe data / factory reset" and "wipe cache partitions" options, but the issue persists.

I bought the Nexus S last year in November with 2.3.6. Two weeks later it was updated to 4.0.3, the next update was 4.0.4 sometime in June and finally to 4.1.1 last week, without the error you described.

Yeah, I do realize most people don't have this problem. The question is what do I do now...

Had you applied any GPS patch earlier?

Have you already contacted Google's spport? Is the system still working with ICS tho?

@roxan - No, I haven't. I don't think it is even possible on an unrooted phone.

@ott-- No, how do I contact Google Support for Android?
Yes, fortunately the phone is still working with ICS.

Might be worth a shot in getting a flashable zip to install the gps.conf file into /system/etc? it could be corrupted and thus the patching of it failed

@t0mm13b How would I do that?

Hurrey!
After quite a bit of research I am now able to answer my own question. I was able to clean install Jelly Bean (in opposite to the usual method of upgrading) using official images posted by Google. This obviously solved the issue.
Here are my instructions how to do this.

This looks like the file didn't download properly. Are downloading the file over wifi or mobile network?
If over mobile network, try wifi, and if wifi try mobile network.
It looks like the file is corrupt and cannot be flashed - try opening the file on your computer or by using a file manager on your device.
You can also try and use desktop update software.

I downloaded the package multiple times. It seems to me the error message doesn't point to a problem with a update package (the "Verifying update package..." phase went ok), but with a file on my current system (the problem happens during the "Verifying current system..." phase).
What do you mean by "desktop update software"?


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Ringer and Notification Volume
Before icecream sandwich, on my HTC I was able to make my notification volume on zero (so it would vibrate) while my ringer was at full volume. Now with icecream sandwich the ringer and notification volumes are to be set at the same level. Is there any way to put the notification volume back to vibrate while there is still volume for the ringer?

For what it's worth,  Jellybean lets you control them independently.

It looks like you might be stuck. Even when I use an app which purports to allow controlling the ring and notification volume separately, when I re-open the app the two settings are in lock-step. I think with stock ICS you're not going to be able to do it.

@offby1: I read that in the Jellybean features, but can't seem to accomplish it on 4.1.2 with a Nexus S.

I think I was wrong -- I just looked at my phone running 4.1.2, and it shows "Ringtons and notifications" as one of the three volumes that you can control.