text:
How do I download a ROM from a Samsung Galaxy S3?
I have two identical Samsung Galaxy S3 (model GT-I9300), one running the stock rom and one running cyanogenmod. I want to download the rom from the one with the stock one and install it on the other one.
How do I download, with Odin or Heimdall, the rom from the stock S3?

You mean to take the Firmware (FW) out from the stock-FW phone and put it into the other one as-is? to have two identical-FW phones?
The confusion is in download/upload words, when you put the phone in bootloader mode it's saying "Download mode". From the phone's point of view, it's going to download stuff from PC.
If you want to take out the FW. It would be upload.
That's why it's safer to say flash and dump. Even though it's not really flashing.

It's somewhat possible to dump the FW, but there is usually no reason for doing so. Download the same version from the Internet and you'll end up with exactly the same system files as on other phones with the same FW version.
How to find specific firmware version on the Internet
On the stock-FW phone, go to Settings -> About Device -> Build number
and take a note of the second part of the number. It'll be something like I9300UBUGOD1
That also includes CSC version. Now search for this version on these two sites:
Samsung-Updates
SamMobile
or put it into Gugl, usually something cames out.
Flash it to target phone from PC using Odin. No root required.

To dump firmware from a phone
There could be a way to dump the phone without rooting, but no one knows how. We can only assume this possibility because there is a disabled option to Dump in Odin program. But I tried, as many others, with factory rooted phone, developer phone or one with unsecured test pre-release firmware version, the dump option is never available in the Odin program.
It's either just for some very special pre-release FW, or it was never implemented in the Odin software, or it was planned and never finished in phone's bootloader, because for no real usability perhaps? Or it must be activated by some special cable, or button combination presses.
Or it was put there by engineers in Korea just to taunt curious hackers.
I believe the latter, as even in new FW, if you dig in bootloader resources, you'll find a graphics showing green Android taunter with words "Upload mode".
So this is a known way to dump FW anyway:
Note that you'll need to root the stock-FW phone, to Dump it.
Firstly we need to find out which files we need to dump and then flash:
Open firmware's TAR or TAR.md5 file of any version of THE SAME model using 7zip and look inside. Note the names of files included.
Later you'll need to rename files you'll dump to the same names as those in this TAR. There is much more partitions that you can dump, than those you can flash. Files which are inside TAR should be enough to fully flash a phone, but not always all partitions are included, sometimes they leave bootoaders out.
In the list on the bottom I marked those which are never included by -
and those which I remember seeing in TAR files by +
Use that list to rename dumped files which you want to flash by Odin from Partition Name to Flash Filename, or get this list from your phone by following method. Be aware that you must not flash PIT and EFS, but you might dump it to have a backup.
To get a list out from your phone:

get Heimdall
connect phone
switch driver to libusb
in Heimdall - Utilities - Download PIT file
switch driver back by removing libusb in Windows Device Manager
alternatively download PIT from the Internet, but you'll need to trust whoever is posting it that it's not from another phone, version, or broken
go back in Heimdall
use printpit to print your PIT file
Note each entry which contains both: "Partition Name" and "Flash Filename"
EXCEPT PIT and EFS partition. Make a backup but DO NOT FLASH PIT or EFS from one phone to another.

Now we have a naming scheme, Partition Name is how the file with partition will be dumped, and Flash Filename how it should be re-named before flashing.
Note that some partitions are not documented and there is no knowledge outside of the factory of what are they for. They might be for storing specific phone's information, or calibration data calculated and flashed once in factory for each phone.
Flash only partitions you'll find in stock TAR files.
Those not-in-TAR-file should be flashed only as last resort, when you know that those on target phone has been damaged. And always backup them before flashing new ones over them.
Make this dumping step on both target and source phones. On target just to have an backup.

root the phone
flash custom recovery TWRP recomended, but not working well on some models
boot into recovery
plug on PC, use adb or qtADB to go to /dev/block/platform/folder_with_different_name_in_each_phone/by-name
dd or use qtADB to copy "files" except USERDATA from that folder to media partition, sdcard, or UFD using USB OTG

Next on PC (or check alternative below):

rename all files according to flash files naming scheme
if you add recovery partition dumped from the rooted source phone, it will change targed status to custom, making KNOX disabled, same as if you just rooted it. If you don't want that either include official recovery from the same version of stock FW, or if there is working partition in the phone just don't include recovery in the TAR flash
on a linux machine or in cygwin Tar those files into TARball using ustar mode
no need to md5 it, as you probably trust yourself that you won't damage the file. but if you must than md5 it and concat hash to the end of TAR, rename to TAR.MD5
flash in Odin, no root required

Alternatively, but only for rooted phones, you can use dd on target phone, or MobileOdin.

be very careful, you must NOT flash PIT and EFS partition, even though they are mentioned in PIT file. For each phone EFS contains specific data, some of which are encrypted using some serial number taken from the phone. So each efs only works in the one phone which it's designed for. By flashing it, you'll loose the original one, that's not easily recoverable.
also no need to care about recovery partition, as it's not stock partition but custom, from the rooting process.

I know the DUMP part of this guide is not extra descriptive, but each step would need a separate post. If you're completely lost in it, consider downloading ready FW from the Internet.

s3 FW list dumped using heimdall. Might change with different FW versions:
+
Partition Name: APNHLOS
Flash Filename: NON-HLOS.bin

+
Partition Name: MDM
Flash Filename: modem.bin

Partition Name: SBL1
Flash Filename: sbl1.mbn

Partition Name: SBL2
Flash Filename: sbl2.mbn

Partition Name: SBL3
Flash Filename: sbl3.mbn

+
Partition Name: ABOOT
Flash Filename: aboot.mbn

Partition Name: RPM
Flash Filename: rpm.mbn

+
Partition Name: TZ
Flash Filename: tz.mbn

-
Partition Name: MODEMST1
Flash Filename: nvrebuild1.bin

-
Partition Name: MODEMST2
Flash Filename: nvrebuild2.bin

-
Partition Name: M9KEFS1
Flash Filename: m9kefs1.bin

-
Partition Name: M9KEFS2
Flash Filename: m9kefs2.bin

-
Partition Name: M9KEFS3
Flash Filename: m9kefs3.bin

+
Partition Name: SYSTEM
Flash Filename: system.img.ext4

+ this is CSC, might be left out
Partition Name: CACHE
Flash Filename: cache.img.ext4

+ only sometimes
Partition Name: PARAM
Flash Filename: param.lfs

+
Partition Name: BOOT
Flash Filename: boot.img

+ but you can't Dumb stock recovery as to dump you need root, to get root recovery is usually overwriten
Partition Name: RECOVERY
Flash Filename: recovery.img

Partition Name: PERSDATA
Flash Filename: persdata.img.ext4

+ but contains only crapware, version is connected with CSC
Partition Name: HIDDEN
Flash Filename: hidden.img.ext4

Partition Name: CARRIER
Flash Filename: carrier.img.ext4

- this is /data and INTERNAL STORAGE, aka sdcard, do not dump it's HUGE and there is no reason
Partition Name: USERDATA
Flash Filename: userdata.img.ext4

Partition Name: PGPT
Flash Filename: pgpt.img

- it is included sometimes but to change layout, NEVER FLASH IT might hard brick phone
Partition Name: PIT
Flash Filename: MSM8960.pit

+
Partition Name: MD5
Flash Filename: md5.img

Partition Name: SGPT
Flash Filename: sgpt.img

Depends on what sort of rom you download.
CASE 1: Stock ROM
If you download stock rom (like from Sammobile) then yes, you will need odin to flash it.
NOTE: There is an app called Mobile ODIN (pro version on play store), its the exact odin but it wont need pc. Since your phone is already rooted (you want to install rom on phone running CM right?), you can also try flashing using that. I always flash kernels in case they aren't in zip format using mobile odin. But, warning: I have never tested ROM flashing using mobile odin. Theoretically, it should work since thats the reason it was made. But I am unsure of success and consequences. Proceed at your own risk.

CASE 2: Custom ROM
It would be likely in .zip format. You cant flash that using odin. Now the real trick here is to get it into phone in which you need to install new rom.
Further possiblities:

Possibility 1: Your phone is in bootloop or any such state where it doesn't start.

In that case, get into recovery using volume up+power+home key combination (for phone where you need to install new rom). Set up ADB on your pc.
Transfer the rom file from your stock rom phone to pc.
Connect your phone to PC in which you want to install new rom after booting the phone into recovery.
Open cmd and enter this command->
adb push PathToRomAndFileName.zip /sdcard/

This will push the rom file to your phone, you can flash it using recovery the normal way.

Possibility 2: There is no bootloop, things work normally:

Just download rom to your phone with stock rom, transfer it to your phone in which you want to install it using bluetooth or whatever method you prefer. Go into recovery and flash it normal way.

Easiest Universal Method (whether its bootloop or not, needs external sdcard):
Download rom in your phone with stock rom.
Put in memory card and transfer rom to that.
Now eject memory card and put it in phone where you want to install the rom.
Boot to recovery and install the rom from external sdcard.


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Help I accidentally removed the Media Scanner
A couple of hours ago I was cleaning out unnecessary apps on my phone (LG G3) using 3C Toolbox when I must have accidentally removed the app responsible for scanning my media. The Gallery & Music apps both claim that there's no media for them to retrieve yet when I use the file browser I can locate specific files on my phone. 3C toolbox won't allow me to create backups for some reason but that's another issue. I have the .zip for the exact ROM that I'm using but I'm unsure on how to extract the right app from it to reinstall. Any help whatsoever is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
P.S. I have tried numerous media re-scanners on the Play store but none of them seem to work, I assume this is due to the media scanner itself being missing.
(Device: LG G3 D855) (ROM: Resurrection_Remix_LP_v5.3.8-20150309-d855)

Here's what you do since you have the ROM zip:

Open the ROM zip in pc with winrar or similar.
Inside zip go to system/app and copy MediaScanner.apk (or any similar name depicting it as MediaScanner) to desktop. If there is no MediaScanner.apk inside system/app, then check inside system/priv-app (it would definitely be in one of these folders).
Connect your phone to PC. Copy MediaScanner.apk from desktop to its internal sdcard.
Install and open Terminal Emulator.

Enter the command su -- it will ask for granting root, grant it.
Enter the command cp /sdcard/MediaScanner.apk /system/app/ -- this will copy MediaScanner.apk to the folder where it should be.
Now the final step, permissions. Enter this command to set permissions -- chmod 755 /system/app/MediaScanner.apk

Reboot phone.

NOTE:
Make sure you copy mediascanner.apk to root of your internal memory and not in some folder. Else you will have to modify the commands I told above.
The name MediaScanner.apk might be different in your case. Just look around for an app that resembles the name. For e.g. in my phone the name is MediaProvider, so just look around for keyword Media.
Choice 2 in case you fail to find MediaScanner.apk, or any other problem

From the zip file on computer you opened in winrar, copy the entire app and priv-app folders inside system folder to desktop. Then connect your phone and copy these two folders to root of internal memory (not in some folder).
Install and open Terminal Emulator, enter the following commands one by one.
su
cp /sdcard/app/ /system/app/
cp /sdcard/priv-app/ /system/priv-app/
chmod 755 /system/priv-app/
chmod 755 /system/app/

Reboot phone.

NOTE:
This may cause crashing of some stuff (only once this time, wont happen after you run all these commands and reboot). Dont fret, and think of it as normal.
You will have all those useless apps installed again, so you will have to remove them carefully again. This time, take a backup first and remove one by one keep checking for consequences of every app you uninstall by rebooting and testing.

I think the crashing in Choice 2 can be avoided if ADB is used and device booted into recovery. But yeah, those crashes are not a big deal. :)

Thank you very much for your speedy response. When I open the ROM using Winrar and head to the system folder there isn't system/app folder?
Attached: http://i.imgur.com/ghDrSjc.png
http://i.imgur.com/7zdIg8w.png

That is corrupt download or incomplete zip. Its not even a rom. Do not install it and redownload the rom. Either that or there could be some other method. Can you send me a screenshot of root directory of this zip? Again, thats rom zip problem, not with my answer, it still applies ;)

This is where I downloaded the ROM: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=95916177934543585
Screenshot:  http://i.imgur.com/b1F3bp9.png

Ok. The rom is fine, and my answer still applies ;) But thing is, the dev compressed it into a "lollipop update file". You can either follow the method here to extract this-> http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software-hacking/how-to-conver-lollipop-dat-files-to-t2978952 (look on post #3 for how to do in windows). But in my opinion, thats way too much trouble for a mediascanner. So do this instead-> Go to recovery. Wipe system, dalvic cache and cache, and flash the rom and then gapps and reboot. You wont loose any data and all the default system apps will return. Its only easy way.

No problem, and good luck :)

Update: So I wiped system, dalvic cache and cache in TWRP & flashed the same ROM package & then gapps. It did the usual 'Android is upgrading etc' all the stock apps returned BUT the issue still remained. I've decided to wipe literally everything (after doing a thorough backup) and start afresh. Thank you for your help anyway!

If you flashed rom, your media server is back. The issue is related to some other error (for ex probably media scanner not working properly or something). But media scanner has been installed, and should be working. Again, yes probably starting from scratch might help. But otherwise media scanner has definitely been installed. You welcome ;)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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My son's tablet has been stolen and I am trying to locate it..
I had installed the Android device locator on my son's tablet should it ever get lost or stolen and I had tried locating it my several first tries were a failure as it said that the device was unable to be located. But at those points I had three options "ring, lock and erase" so I chose to lock it but was unsure if it worked, so I repeated this step like 2 more times. Checking to see if the device has been located frequently,  I had noticed at one point in time the device was turned on and located (was unable to find exact location because the session had expired, so I had to relog in) but then I noticed at this time my options were different saying "ring or enable lock and wipe" so I pressed enable lock and wipe and it said "request sent to lock and wipe admin features..Does anybody know what this means?

You can't track the device after factory resetting it, since it removes the Android Device Manager and/or its settings.  It is purely for preventing your information from being accessed.

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


text:
Disable Gmail app swipe to delete for IMAP account
The Gmail default action swipe to archive make sense for Google accounts.
Now, when I added a normal IMAP account, the swipe action is defaulted to delete, which is dangerous.
Are there any way to enable swipe for archive only, but not delete?

It seems that this isn't possible at the moment. The support article for Gmail on Android states:

[You can] set default action & swipe to archive or delete messages for Gmail accounts. For non-Gmail accounts, the default is always delete, so even if you change this setting to archive, your messages will still be deleted.

You go into the gmail settings. -> the email account -> and the I think it comes under swipe actions.
I'm not 100% as I've been using Google inbox but it sounds right...


text:
call volume increases by iteslf?
The volume of the call increases by itself when I'm using headphones. It starts at max when a call is coming and a minute or so after I lower it it increases again to the max.
I thought it was my headphones, but it happens with different ones. The volume button also looks fine. And besides, this increase doesn't happen immediately after I lower the volume (which I would expect if something was constantly pressing a button)
I tried to look for a setting that does that, but couldn't find any.
I have Galaxy S5 with stock 5.0 ROM

First try to disable the equalizer of your music player. The Call Ring, Music volume and Alarm has different sound settings. So, check if all the settings are set to minimum volume. And if that doesn't solve your problem, install the Volume Limit & Lock app from google play-store.

No equalizer (I use Mort player), the sound setting I'm referring to is Call volume. I sett it to minimum and it goes back to maximum. I prefer to not install an app that would disable my volume adjustment. Also, the phenomena I describe happens when the display is on, so not sure if the app would help


text:
How to root Moto E
I have a Moto E and I want to root it so I can have more access. I can't link my SD card to my apps or connect SD or hotspot because it says I don't have root permission.

Did you try searching on web? It could be that you tried something but didn't work, and it's better to detail your research so that the answerer can avoid it suggesting at last. Also, have you tried Methods/apps in this rooting index?

Follow steps below:
This will void your warranty!
You need a custom recovery installed like TWRP

How to Root Motorola Moto E

From here download the SuperSU app file.Place this file on your computer, preferable on desktop – don’t unzip it.
Then connect your Moto E with your PC by plugging in the USB cord.
Up next, transfer the root file from desktop to your phone’s SD card.
Unplug the USB cord and turn off your device.
Enter recovery mode on your Motorola Moto E.
Then from recovery select “install zip from SD card” followed by “choose zip from SD card”.
Pick the root file which you have downloaded before and flash the same on your Moto E.
Wait while the installation procedure is being completed.
In the end select “reboot system now” and you are done.

More information: http://www.android.gs/root-motorola-moto-e/

The user doesn't have the custom recovery installed.

@AleksanderStefanovic I updated answer, and did you down vote? If so please up vote.

of course, if you've improved your answer, the previous downvote should be removed. So, there you go.

Is this process OS dependent? I mean my Moto E (condor) has Lollipop 5.1 as the OS. So will the above process work for me?


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QR Scan in WhatsApp doesn't work (QR loads but phone scan never ends)
Not the same as Why I can't scan the WhatsApp QR? because the problem there was the "OK Got It" was not visible due to the screen being too small, but that's not the problem here
I have the latest version of WhatsApp
I restarted the phone
I have the WhatsApp Web option
The QR code loads perfectly in my chrome browser
I have the "OK Got It" option
It starts scanning the code....
.....and keeps scanning and scanning and scanning.....
I waited over 15 minutes and nothing happened! It just keeps scanning the code, no matter how many times I reload it, and nothing happens :(
I tested my internet and wifi connections, so I know it's not that.
Anyone else have this problem? Or know how to fix this?
I have a galaxy s3

possible duplicate of Why I can't scan the WhatsApp QR?

Nope. That problem was that they couldn't see the "OK Got It" button.  Does not apply here, as I do see that, and I can scan the code... it just never stops scanning :(

lower the brightness of your PC screen, it may help.

just tried that now and it still just keeps scanning away.

did you ever find a solution?

Bizarrely, after trying Windows app, various browsers & so on, I ran a copy of Chrome Canary I have set up to explicitly not use normal user profile and it works. Unlikely this information is any use to anyone else...

I found that a Chrome extension I had was causing the built in scanner to fail. DarkReader modified the background of the page to a dark colour, which apparently caused the WhatsApp QR scanner to fail.
If you are using dark mode plugin, ensure it's off when scanning the QR code.

Mine wouldn't scan when phone was on wifi; turned off wifi and it worked perfectly.

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


text:
How to mount /system rewritable or read-only? (RW/RO)
How can I mount the /system directory rewritable or read-only on my Android phone?

There are a few methods how you can mount your /system directory RW or RO. However, it will require root.
Method 1:

Connect your phone to the computer. (Make sure USB debugging is enabled on your phone)

Open CMD/Terminal on your PC.

Windows: CTRL + R, then type cmd.

Ubuntu: CTRL + ALT + T.

Mac: Navigate to /Applications/Utilities/ and double-click on Terminal.

Type this:

adb shell

su

Choose one: (for security mount /system back to RO when finished)

Mount system RW: mount -o rw,remount /system
Mount system RO: mount -o ro,remount /system

Method 2:

Open terminal on your android phone (download here):

Type this in the terminal:

su

Choose one: (for security mount /system back to RO when finished)

Mount system RW: mount -o rw,remount /system
Mount system RO: mount -o ro,remount /system

Android 2.3
For people running Android 2.3 and the command fails, look at this answer: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/125437/95577

It seems this (method 1) does not work on newer Android any more. I am trying to do it on Android emulator running Android 6, but always get an error "mount: Read-only file system". I've run adb root, but it makes no difference. Any idea on what could be done?

I got it, kind of. I have to use -writable-system command line option when starting the emulator. Then the first adb remount seems to succeed. Seems ... I have not seen it change to rw yet.

emulator -writable is still the correct answer.

"For people running Android 2.3" -- that phrasing doesn't communicate very well.  I am guessing you mean >=2.3 or <=2.3 (or, less likely, exactly 2.3 if there's a particular bug in 2.3 only) but we don't know which or why.

For me, mount -o rw,remount /system gives mount: '/system' not in /proc/mounts. However, mount -o rw,remount / works.

-writable-system for the emulator
When launching the emulator after a build with, you must use:
. build/envsetup.sh
lunch aosp_x86_64-eng
emulator -show-kernel -verbose -writable-system

Then, for future runs, you must keep the -writable-system option, or else image changes will not be visible:
emulator -show-kernel -verbose -writable-system

-verbose shows us that the emulator switches from the default -drive:
if=none,index=0,id=system,file=/path/to/aosp/8.1.0_r60/out/target/product/generic_x86_64/system-qemu.img,read-only

to:
if=none,index=0,id=system,file=/path/to/aosp/8.1.0_r60/out/target/product/generic_x86_64/system-qemu.img.qcow2,overlap-check=none,cache=unsafe,l2-cache-size=1048576

Therefore it:

removes ,read-only
uses system-qemu.img.qcow2 instead of system-qemu.img.
This implies that changes will only be visible afterwards if you pass -writable-sytem on future boots after the change was made!
We can see that the qcow2 image is just a small overlay on top of the base image since:
qemu-img info /path/to/aosp/8.1.0_r60/out/target/product/generic_x86_64/system-qemu.img.qcow2

contains:
backing file: /path/to/aosp/8.1.0_r60/out/target/product/generic_x86_64/system-qemu.img

The emulator -help also confirms this:
emulator -help

contains:
-writable-system     make system & vendor image writable after 'adb remount'

adb remount + adb root
I think this is just a shortcut for mount as mentioned at https://android.stackexchange.com/a/110928/126934 , but it is very convenient:
adb root
adb remount
adb shell

adb help contains:
 root                     restart adbd with root permissions
 remount
     remount /system, /vendor, and /oem partitions read-write

Restore the original system image
Same as for userdata: remove the .qcow2 overlay, and re-generate it manually: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54446680/how-to-reset-the-userdata-image-when-building-android-aosp-and-running-it-on-the

I really struggled with that until I used MT Manager (I tried a lot of root explorers and only MT Manager works for me). It isn't on Play Store, so you have to search for it online.
If it didn't work, try the Magisk module called OverlayFS. If you can't find it, here it is: OverlayFS (direct download from XDA).


text:
Space Issue on data directory Android using Galaxy Note
I am using Galaxy Note 1 and have 2GB of data directory in which i install and use thirdparty apps. But the data directory was almost always full, so I rooted my device to find out what was taking the space. i.e 500 MB is taken by apps and have 200 MB free but cant account for the Rest.
I have deleted stock apps from system/apps directory using no bloat but it dosent free space on data directory.
I know how to use adb shell but doing ls -l at every directory dosent sounds v good. How can i find out whats taking my space. And can we delete files in dalvik cache?

There is an app named Diskusage that I covered in this answer. It will help you to see App Data or any folder with apps/content sorted with file size. Alternatively, Titanium Backup or Storage Partitions can also help. Otherwise, answer by Jaskaranbir is already useful for understanding.

OMG Diskusage did it! I found out that my /data/log dir was 1 GB in size. Dont know why though but I have deleted all the TXT files there. Could you write a breif answer so I could accept it!

It seems that Diskusage did the job for the questioner  here. Diskusage can help you to analyze the usage of your storage in hierarchical format with intuitive and live diagram.
(Click any image to see its larger variant.)

Default screen would ask for the storage/directory you want to analyze:

You can select any directory under [Root required] for analysis if your device is rooted. For a normal user, the default analysis should be for App Storage, Storage Card and /storage/sdcardX. (Note that some options may differ for Android 4.4+ or 5.+.)
A live diagram for App Storage would look like:

Live diagram zoom in (select an entry and tap Show to open the Android Settings for the app) :

/system usage in my device:

Select an entry and tap Show to open it in default File manager into the the directory:

Diskusage app would do the trick, otherwise ES File Explorer, Titanium Backup and Storage Partitions can also show the diagram among other things, but they are not as easy and intuitive IMO as Diskusage is.

About Diskusage

DiskUsage provides a way to find files and directories on storage card which consume a lot of space. Displays diagram with directories/subdirectories proportional to their size.

If by "data" directory you mean internal storage, then it doesnt have anything to do much really with system apps. System apps use space from /system partition which you cannot use for storing normal data anyway. And whatever used/free space in this partition has nothing to do with your space in data partition (or space you can use, in other words).
Infact, /data/media/0 is whats used for storing personal files or as internal memory.
Now how to find out whats taking space. First, run the command adb shell df inside adb. This will list you the total space allotted to every partition. Out of this, you can use the space allotted to storage/emulated/0 or /data (names may change according to android version). Check there the amount of space allocated to data directory. Unless you repartition, you cannot gain any more space than this for storing personal files and downloading apps.

And can we delete files in dalvik cache?

Dont do it. Its useless. Dalvic cache has to be present for sure. Even if you delete it, it will be recreated with almost same size. So deleting this wont gain you much storage.
This leaves you with only two things that can use data, your apps and their cache, and your own data inside internal memory.
What can you try to free up space?

Most mainstream method, delete useless apps.
Try clearing cache (although it will be recreated, but sometimes there is cache of things that no longer exist or are needed, for instance deleted photos or play store cache or even themer apps cache).
Do not use any cleaner apps. They are hoax.
Remove useless files.
You can also try moving apps to external storage using apps like link2sd. But this may not work for Every app.

Hope this helps.

I know the df command what can i do to recursively get size of directories in my data partition? Because I have nearly 10 of the apps installed and they cant possibly be taking all 2GB.

All apps store data in /sdcard/Android/Data or /sdcard/Android/obb (for games) and /data/data (general app data). Either you can flsah a busybox zip and use "du" command in adb shell (there's no du in /system/xbin by default, but you can use busybox's du) or use the "ls -s /directoryName" command inside adb shell or twrp's built in terminal emulator on these directories to get a rough idea of memory usage by app. Ofcourse there could be better ways that exist, but this is what I know of.

Check insufficient-memory tag info, you may find some useful guides on how to free up your memory.
The most radical way, but also the most efficient (it fixes your storage in the long-term) is changing the partition table, by reducing the "internal SD card", and increasing /data partition. If you're wiling to take a risk, here's how to do it.

Good Idea, I think I should try to reduce usage of data dir first.


text:
Backup Bluestacks
How do I backup Bluestacks on one Windows PC to move the install to another while maintaining all installed apps and saved data?
Seems like a simple procedure but I've not found a solution that does not involve installing an app and backing up one app at a time inside of Bluestacks. This would be very time consuming and impractical.
The data for Bluestacks seems to be in C:\ProgramData\BlueStacks, is it enough to back this up and replace this folder on the destination PC with the folder from the source PC?

AFAIK, yes it should backup the apps and its data. I've tried moving bluestacks setup files under (C:\ProgramData\BlueStacksSetup) with just copying and moving to another computer but it only moves Bluestacks's setup files from one pc to another. And the Bluestacks will have only preinstalled apps not the apps you have installed in the previous computer. So you'll get just the bluestacks software skipping the initial Downloading game data screen so its a big time saver. And the apps and appdata are stored in another location C:\ProgramData\BlueStacks.
So try copying and moving the files under both the below,

C:\ProgramData\BlueStacks - Contains Android and Apps related data
C:\ProgramData\BlueStacksSetup - Contains BlueStacks setup data directories and hopefully it should work.


text:
Is it possible to have the Auto rotate feature turned on or off by app?
I'm sick of having to turn on auto rotate every time I use Google Maps for navigation. I don't know why it's not just automatically landscape like apps such as Youtube.
Is there a way I can have it turn on auto rotate JUST for google maps and not for any other app.
Is there an app that would do this or somehow program it in Tasker?

@Firelord : yes, normally i'm in portrait mode, but when I want to use Google Maps Navigation, i want it in autorotate. Having google maps in auto rotate would be acceptable if you can't isolate the navigation part of it.

possible duplicate of Auto-rotate only for YouTube app, disabled otherwise and Enable screen auto-rotate for specific applications but not globally?

This solution requires Tasker installed and enabled. Tested on Android 4.2.1, 4.4.2, 5.0.2 and 5.1.1.

Create a profile with Application → Maps
Create an action under Task of the above profile as + → Display → Display AutoRotate and Set it to On.
Enable Profile and Tasker.

Open Maps and orient your device in landscape mode, Maps will follow you. Close the Maps and device will fall back to Portrait.
Enjoy!

OR
Edit start: 06/06/2015
There is a way you can force the system to go into Landscape mode by changing a value in settings.db. (Tested on Android 4.2.1, root required only under this edit.)

Create a profile with Application → Maps.
Create an action under Task of the above profile as + → Code → Run Shell, and enter the following details:

Command: settings put system user_rotation 1
Check Use Root.

Create another profile with inverse of Application → Maps.
Create an action under Task of the above profile as + → Code → Run Shell, and enter the following details:

Command: settings put system user_rotation 0
Check Use Root.

Enable both Profiles and Tasker.

The Maps will now automatically go into Landscape mode irrespective of  manual orientation of your device. Once you close it the device will come back to Portrait mode. (Note that OP has Auto-rotation feature off so it should work.)
This edit is meant for users like me who on slow devices have to wait for the app  to follow their orientation. :)
Enjoy!
OR
The shortcoming in the last method is that on some devices the app will first open in Portrait mode and then will force shift into Landscape mode.
However, the app can be directly launched into Landscape mode by using an app shortcut. Tasker allows it and we'll use it.

Go to your default launcher → Widgets and choose Task Shortcut.
Select New task → name it.
Create an action as + → Code → Run Shell, and enter the following details:

Command: settings put system user_rotation 1
Check Use Root.

Create another action as + → App → Launch App → select Maps.
To change th icon of the shortcut, tap 3x3 square icon (at the bottom of Task Shortcut window) and choose the icon.
You'll now see a shortcut with icon you selected in step 4 and name chosen in step 2.
Create a profile in Tasker with inverse of Application → Maps.
Create an action under Task of the above profile as + → Code → Run Shell, and enter the following details:

Command: settings put system user_rotation 0
Check Use Root.

Enable both Profiles and Tasker.

Now enjoy the forced auto-mode!
Edit closed: 06/06/2015

For folks who're new to Tasker

Launch Tasker. (Note that once you're done changing something in Tasker, tap Back key once. Tasker will change/close the active window and  would save the settings.)
Under PROFILES tab tap + → Application → choose Maps → New Task→ name it something and tap right icon.
Some Android versions might ask you to enable Tasker's accessibility service. Do it by following the instructions there and come back to Tasker.
This step would create a profile that will be triggered whenever Maps is launched by the user.
We're now under the named task (inside TASKS tab). Tap + → Display → Display AutoRotate → choose On below Set.
We're creating an action here which will be executed once the profile is triggered.
Come back to main screen of the Tasker and you'll see a profile with Maps app name and marked as On.
Minimize the Tasker and you'll see its icon in the Notification bar. It will say No active profile. The message will change once you launch Maps.
Well, launch Maps and see the magic. You orient your device and Maps will do the same. You close the Maps and device will come back to Portrait Mode.
You can always stop this behavior by disabling or deleting the profile in Tasker. You can also hide Tasker's notification icon through its settings.

Enjoy Maps now!

mate, this is exactly what i was after. cheers for that!

I'm ashamed, Firelord! Usually it's me bringing Tasker in to play. This time I had a different app in mind, and Tasker users (like me) wouldn't even need that. So you definitely earned a +1 from me :) And I will see to bring my alternative answer nevertheless, as Tasker is a) not free and b) often too overwhelming for newbies ;)

@Izzy Thanks! And I'm looking forward for (as always) elegant solution for everyone from you. The reason I didn't extend the Tasker steps into more details is because OP is aware of Tasker. However, this is a mistake at my part since a future reader might not be aware of Tasker's know-how. Guess, I should wrote it like this for easy following. :)

No critics to you (though I agree more detailed steps might be helpful to other users, I see why they weren't required here). I was slapping my head not having thought of that :)

If you are rooted (and probably not using lollipop), then you can also use xposed module App Settings.
Open the module, search and open Maps and go to Orientation section and select "auto-rotate". This will force it to auto-rotate.

The features looks promising, but is there a way I could come to know how this module forces an app to remain in one mode? If only I can emulate this into Tasker, one can be saved from rooting, or may be the settings requires root. IDK!

Sorry that would need studying its source code (which I haven't), so I cannot tell how exactly it works yet :/ Btw, here's the source code for it-> http://repo.xposed.info/module/de.robv.android.xposed.mods.appsettings :)

+1 Compared to my answer "Forced auto-rotate" is quite a deal but it kinda crashed CPU Temperature. ;)

You can use an app called Set Orientation by "Eyes-Free Project". It dose not require root and can force any app to rotate to any orientation and also only landscape and landscape reverse based on sensor. Its lightweight and also free. It is available in Google Play Store.
Edit: Use Rotation - Orientation Manager instead by "Pranav Pandey". It is fully compatable with Lollipop, is free and does not require root. This app also has per app settings which the previous app did not have.

+1. "Set Orientation" doesn't meet the requirement of the question because it enforces orientation system-wide . On the other hand, "Rotation - Orientation manager" does the job well for per-app basis. However, it wasn't smooth on my device (old device) but gets the job done.

In addition to Firelord's Tasker solution (which I favor over all the others mentioned in this post – but Tasker is a) not free and b) often a bit overwhelming for newbies especially) and Jaskaranbir's App Settings (like Tasker, Xposed is often a bit too much for some), there's a third option available, called PerApp. Admitted, it has not been updated for a while, but it might be easier to use. Before JellyBean (<4.1), it doesn't even require root to adjust screen rotation. Has several other settings covered as well, so you might wish to give it a look.

It is precisely because many such apps aren't updated since 2013, I asked OP for his device and Android version so that fine recommendation could come into answers.  Guess, OP is happy with Tasker by now. :)//  That said, can I force an app in landscape mode through Tasker? I looked at AndroidManifest.xml of Maps but IDT I saw anything useful.

I'm aware that the OP favorizes the Tasker-solution (as do I). My answer was just an addition for future visitors looking for "something easy" :) And no, I didn't play with orientation stuff in Tasker, so I cannot say. Be welcome to check my Tasker resource collection, there might be some how-to or addon available :)

PerApp didn't work for me (Android Marshmallow)

Most automation apps can probably do this. Here's a "Flow" for Automate (free):
http://llamalab.com/automate/community/flows/408

MacroDroid's  free version can also do the job, though I still prefer the solution using Tasker.

Install and launch MacroDroid.
Tap Add Macro → Application Launcher/Closed → Application Launched → OK → select your app(s) for auto-rotate → OK.
Under Add Actions, tap Auto Rotate On/Off → Auto Rotate On → OK → proceed.
Ignore Add Constraints → proceed and  name the macro as Auto Rotate On.
Create another macro using Add Macro → Application Launcher/Closed → Application Closed → OK → select your app(s) which you chose in step 2 → OK.
Under Add Actions, tap Auto Rotate On/Off → Auto Rotate Off → OK → proceed.
Ignore Add Constraints → proceed and  name the macro as Auto Rotate Off.

That's it. The funtionality is achieved and you can test it by launching and closing the app(s) you selected in aforesaid steps.

AutomateIt's free version also does the job.

Install and launch AutomateIt.
Under My Rules block, tap Add Rule → Applications Status Trigger → under Application tap the lens icons and choose your app(s) → Next.
Under Action tab, tap Enable/Disable Screen Rotation → Enable Screen Rotation → Next → No → save the rule.
Create another rule from My Rules block by tapping Add Rule → Applications Status Trigger → under Application tap the lens icons and choose your app(s) → uncheck Application Activated → Next.
Under Action tab, tap Enable/Disable Screen Rotation → Disable Screen Rotation → No → save the rule.

That's it. The funtionality is achieved and you can test it by launching and closing the app(s) you selected in aforesaid steps.

And Tasker even allows you to add conditional's such as if my display is such do this else do whatever. So based on that I came up with my own solution which may seem a bit convoluted but it works for me. Since my device is not rooted the shell code commands that require root would not work anyway.
However with a if else loop (it could be reduced further since I had added some additional debugging code initially) you can simply set AutoRotate based on the value of Orientation. So you store those two values in two variables called ROTATE and DISPLAY and at the start of the if loop you check DISPLAY using a regular expression (I had to do that because for whatever reason the orientation value kept jumping between landscape and landscape-reverse so this regex takes care of both):
%DISPLAY ~R landscape(.*)?
If that is your desired setting then in that if or else loop you can set AutoRotate to Off. In addition I also installed a Tasker plugin called AutoInput which allows me to lock down the home and back buttons, to exit I can press the other button which brings up all my open windows and simply close the Adobe Acrobat app which is the trigger for this task.
So a big Yay!! for Tasker. And yes I know I am a bit late to the party but oh well :)

For those who are looking for a solution in newest phones, e.g Samsung Galaxy that has Bixby Routines, you can set up a Bixby routine to auto rotate certain apps.
If

Youtube
Gallery
etc

Then

Auto-rotate ON


text:
Trying to update Nexus 5 to 5.1.1 and using Nandroid backup
I'm trying to update my Nexus 5 to 5.1.1, but when I restore my Nandroid backup I lose the update.
What should I do?

That's because you backed up the older Android version, so when you update from 5.1 to 5.1.1 you install a new version then you try to restore the backup, you will got the previous version 5.1.
You can try to restore data only, but i think it will crashed.
For future updates use Titanium Backup to backup all of your data and then when you install the new version of Android you can restore it using the same app, Actually i always do that.

Nandroid backup invloves backup of everything, including:

/system(which is your "android version and os" in rough words, also includes the preinstalled apps)
/boot(which is your kernel)
/data(all apps you installed and their data (like app settings). This does Not involve your personal files)
/cache (the application cache)

When you nandroid restore as whole, your system partition is overwritten. In other words, your current os (the android 5.1.1) is overwritten by the os inside nandroid backup (the older os).
Same with cache and data.
Now you can try installing just data and ignoring system to keep your os updated by choosing advanced restoreoption from recovery. This would take care of your OS reverting to older version (since we aren't restoring /system).
But that would mean that application data that is restored is from android 5.0 or any older version whose backup you made), but your current system is 5.1.1. Hence it will cause some incompatibility with apps and they might crash (a situation commonly referred as FC (short for Force Close) when apps crash with message Unfortunately, [app name] has stopped working..
Hence it is never advised to restore anything from previous older android version's backup. Although clearing dalvic and cache might help (since then cache and app classes are created according to newer OS), but still the android's code downloaded is made for older OS (apps on play store download according to android OS you install on phone, so they have best compatibility when downloaded from store).
Hope this helps.


text:
How to remove an alarm on Android Wear 5.1.x?
How can I remove an alarm I set on android wear 5.1.x. On 4.4.x-5.0.x there was an option to remove an alarm but i can't find it on android wear 5.1.x.
Any help is appreciated

I found the solution. First, on the watch face swipe from to the left 3 times, until you are at the end (The OK Google screen). Then scroll down and there should be an option to disable the alarms.


text:
How to root the Samsung Galaxy S4 I9505
How can I root the Samsung Galaxy S4? Phone model: GT-I9505

Method 1:
Root Galaxy S4 and Install Recovery:

Note: THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY AND MAY BRICK YOUR PHONE. THE GUIDE BELOW REQUIRES WINDOWS. (FOR ADVANCED USERS: Extract the .tar and flash the img files with "Heimdall".

Download the PhilZ recovery for your device.
Download the latest SuperSU package and copy it to your phone.
Download the Odin tool and unzip it.
Download and install the Samsung USB drivers on your Windows PC.
Enable USB Debugging on your Galaxy S4.
Now turn off your phone and boot it into the 7. Download Mode by holding the Volume Down + Home + Power buttons together for 2-3 seconds. When you are prompted to press the Volume Up key, do it.
Now connect your Galaxy S4 to computer via USB cable.
Open Odin folder and launch the program as administrator.

Note: Make sure the message box in Odin shows “Added!” text. If it doesn’t, reinstall the drivers, reboot the PC and the phone and connect it again.

Uncheck the Auto Reboot option on Odin (do not touch any other option).
Click the AP button on Odin and add the PhilZ recovery file with .tar extension.
Now click the Start button on Odin and wait till the installation is finished.
When you get PASS!/RESET! message on Odin, disconnect the USB cable.
Now long press the power button to turn off the device, or remove the back panel and pull out the battery for 20 seconds. Reinsert the battery and then hold the Volume Up + Home + Power keys simultaneously. When the screen turn up and you see the Samsung Logo, release the Power key. Keep the other two keys pressed until your phone boots into the recovery mode.
In PhilZ recovery menu, select Install zip option, navigate to the SuperSU update package (.zip file) and install it.
When you are done with installation, return to PhilZ main menu and select Reboot system now option.

You should provide links to the downloads.

Is step 4 obligatory? Can we do on Linux?


text:
Is Samsung Push Service redundant?
I would assume the Android OS would handle Push Notifications for applications, since some phones are not Samsung phones. Can I safely disable this push service, and still get push notifications from non-Samsung related apps?

You can always try such conditions and states by using them on your phone. If another application would require the feature or service it would prompt you to activate it again.

Short answer
If there's no app using it, it should be safe. You can disable it and find out for yourself; but before really removing it (i.e. deleting the "service app"), you should be very sure. Though: if any app wants to use it, but you don't care about that app: as Samsung's push service isn't pre-installed on non-Samsung devices, the app should continue to work. You'd only no longer get those notifications then.
More detailed
To understand this, you will first need to know how push notifications work. I will outline this here in a simplified way:

the app that wishes to receive notifications registers with the local notification service on the device (and then can go to sleep)
that local service registers "in the name of the user" (verified by account) with the central service on the Internet (in your case, Samsung's servers)
long time ago, in another universe (kidding), the service sending out those notifications already had registered with the central server, and thus is known to it. So it sends its notifications there. The central service in turn notifies the (still listening) local service on your device, which in turn wakes the app and hands over the notification.

The idea behind it is not every app needs to be "awake and listening" all the time, but just a single "service" does. This saves battery, bandwidth, and other resources.
But now comes the culprit: apps have explicitly to support the given "notification service" – and there is more than one: Google's "GCM", Amazon's "ADM", Nokia, Samsung … No big deal if your apps support all of them and let you chose; but most times they only support one or maybe two of them.
So you need to be sure the apps you want those "cloud notifications" for support a service you have running. Usually you can tell that by taking a look at their permissions:

com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE indicates the use of Google Cloud Messaging (GCM), dealt with by the Google Services Framework (GSF) – which is part of the Google-Apps-Package (GApps) usually pre-installed on most devices.
com.amazon.device.messaging.permission.RECEIVE points to Amazon's Device Messaging (ADM); not sure what is responsible here as "local service"
com.nokia.pushnotifications.permission.RECEIVE would be Nokia's corresponding service
(I currently don't know the permission for Samsung, but Samsung permissions usually start with com.sec.android)

I like how your TL;DR is longer than your original paragraph :)

@JonathanLeaders I'm not a native English speaker. I've always interpreted "TL;DR" as "the following is too long, don't read" – and just recently learned it means the opposite :)

Hahaha okay that's cool. Yep. It means "if the above is too long, and you didn't read it, here is a summary"


text:
How to make automatic SIM card selection for specific contacts?
Everytime I call someone I change SIM card to one of them and call from that SIM card. Is it possible to assign a SIM card for each contact, so that when calling a contact the phone select the SIM card automatically based on the settings?
Even if a contact is saved in first SIM card but currently second is active, phone uses second to call.

I don't have a Samsung device but in my devices (with 4.2.1 and 4.4.2) the default contacts app has an option to associate SIM card with an individual contact. Open Contacts -> tap contact name -> press menu key and select Associate. See if you also have this option in your default said app

The menu contains only these: "Edit", "Delete", "Share namecard via", "Add to reject list", "Add shortcut to home". I can't find "Associate".

There are some specific DualSIM apps helping you out here (I have no DualSIM device, so I cannot tell how well they work). Some dialer apps have specific support for this. The linked list is pretty short, so you might wish to check it. Also take a look at this list: a bit longer, but might have better hits ;)

Related playstore app

For lollipop versions, Goto
Settings -> Sim Cards -> Call settings -> Phone account settings -> Make calls with ->
Under this you will have three options

Sim 1
Sim 2
Ask First

Select Ask First option from that menu and when you call someone from the contacts, you will be shown the Sim 1 and Sim 2 option. Select the Remember SIM for number checkbox and select the sim card you want to associate the contact to. The next time you call that contact it will automatically call using the sim you configured as default(It wont show you the sim selection iption). Do remember that you can always switch the sim cards while connecting to call by clicking Change sim option.
Update:
For Kitkat,
First you need to enable this feature in
Dual SIM settings -> Call settings -> Automatic SIM selection.

The  setting for Dual SIM settings->Call settings->Making calls should be set as “Ask every time I make a call”.
Dual SIM settings -> Call settings -> Making calls.

Select Remember SIM for number and then select either SIM 1 or SIM 2 to make the call. The next time you  make a call to that contact it will automatically call using the sim you configured as default based on the call history.

Your answer is promising but in Galaxy S4 Mini, I can't find "Phone account settings" in "Call Settings" menu

@Ashot What is the os version of your phone?

Android version is 4.4.2

@Ashot updated the answer check the kitkat solution..see if you can find the settings in your Samsung mobile..i have motorola so it might be different..

Is the selection really based on the phone number? How can you use each sim to call your voice-mail number, which is identical for each SIM/provider? I'm using Android 5.0.2.

@Bas I don't think it's based on phone number. It's based on the SIM selection(SIM1 or SIM2). I cannot understand your second question.

@Lucky: Sorry I was not very clear. The screenshot has a check-box 'Remember SIM for number'. I was asking how that feature works, I live in the Netherlands where most telecom providers use the number 1233 to call your voice-mail box, if the remember SIM feature remembers your decision based on the number you are calling, I can't have 2 contacts (one for each provider) that uses the correct SIM to call to the respective voicemail-boxes.

i cant find this option in galaxy S5 with android 5.0
mainly i cant find "Dual SIM settings"

I can't find these settings in samsung core. Need help.

Is it possible to have an auto-selection of the used SIM based on the called number? Like for example if I call a number starting with +7, use SIM1, if +49, then SIM2, otherwise ask.

@DannyLo You should ask that as a new question.


text:
Tablet [Element 7v3] - cannot be resetted (Technical problem)
I trying to reset Element 7v3.
It cannot enter recovery mode when is turned off. It has only 3 buttons at all [Volume Up, Volume Down, Power Button](no touch buttons like home).
I tried:
Holding - [Volume Up] + [Power]
Holding - [Volume Down] + [Power]
I entered recovery mode from the settings/backup and recovery (Reboot and enter recovery mode).
It reboots and shows the recovery mode, the [Volume Up] and [Volume Down] works, but the [Power] button doesn't make any actions. I think it must execute "select" option, but nothing happening. I tried all possible keys combinations to select "wipe data/factory reset" - with no luck.
When I was in the recovery mode (entered from the settings menu), I was unable to exit the recovery mode screen.
For example:
Cannot turn off the phone form the [Power] button, I cannot select any option in the list.
The tablet was turned off because battery was too low. (the battery was full when I entered the recovery mode).
Do you have any ideas how to reset it?
I accept any ways, including debugging within USB or Android SDK fix. I am not very familiar with Android, but I good experience in web development.
I wanna reset it cuz I was unable to create or use an existing Gmail account, I cannot download google play applications and I have many other problems.

@Firelord didn't know about "ADB", I will get familiar with it, I will try it Thx

Sorry, I mistyped about ADB. Got it wrong. Anyhow, does your tablet supports OTG. I checked my device's recovery whether it detects mouse or not. It does but not the cursor, however, it gets the job done. Downside is that the recovery is a custom one. IDT whether stock recovery will work for you as well. So, do you have OTG support as well as the cable?

Would not Factory Reset inside Settings under Android OS work for you in Android?

I've just flashed ClockworkMod to my O4X and was sitting in the same boat: while in previous versions the power button was used to select, they seem to have switched that to the home button (which my device luckily has, though as soft-button). Reading ADB: Yes, a reset should be possible that way. AFAIR fastboot -w (wipe) accomplishes that. Please check with our fastboot tag-wiki for details.


text:
Malware installed with remote debugging
Is it possible for someone to install apks without you noticing, using remote debugging? (E.g. over TCP/IP, or on the same WiFi network). I found articles referring to this after a quick Google, but I'm not sure if they are not just alarmist.
EDIT: This paper seems to talk about something similar - "Android’s External Device Attack: Demonstration and Security
Suggestions" - Wei et al.
I was thinking of enabling debugging mode, but this is keeping me from doing it.

I see. Can I also check, if some of the built-in software on my Phone has some remote debugging option enabled (e.g. stuff like remote wipe software or the like), which someone could exploit?

The attack (in question) mentioned in the said research paper would work on a device only when your device is running  ADB in TCP/IP mode. You have to specifically give the instructions to bind the ADB on a particular port on your device.
Entering adb help would give one such entry:
adb tcpip <port>             - restarts the adbd daemon listening on TCP on the specified port

Until you restart ADB in TCP/IP mode you're safe from said network attacks (there would be no port opened by ADB to allow access to your device until restarted with aforesaid command).
For surety you can use an app like OS Monitor to see if there are any open ports on your device while running ADB over USB only.
You can enable USB debugging safely. However, other attacks like pushing malicious files or installing APKs et al would definitely work on ADB over USB, so be cautious while handing phones to others.

is it possible for someone to install apks without you noticing, using remote debugging?

Yes. First you have to have remote debugging (ADB over TCP/IP) on (typically requires root). Then they have to know your device's IP address and the port number used for ADB over TCP/IP. If done through a malicious app, you would have first had to install the app, and it would need to have a root privilege escalation method to work to enable adb debugging and adb over tcp/ip.
As of Android 4.2, there has been changes to how ADB works. It now requires device Authorization first, over usb. When connected to the right version ADB client, the phone prompts the user to accept the client device fingerprint. Until that happens, the device cannot connect over TCP/IP. After it is authorized once on usb, then it can work over TCP/IP.
Additionally, there is the Verify apps (under security) and Verify apps via ADB (under developer options). This sends details about sideloaded apps to Google for verification, and will block common malware from installing, even via ADB (if checked, naturally). It will not catch everything.
To mitigate this, you just need to follow a few common sense steps. First, use a SU manager, to prevent random root access. Second, keep ADB over TCP/IP disabled until needed. Third, keep Debugging or development disabled. Forth, be wary of any app outside of the Play store.
In short, its possible, but harder to happen since Android 4.2

Thanks for the reply! Should I have an SU manager installed even if I haven't rooted my phone? E.g. could legitimate apps (antivirus software or antitheft) have root access without me knowing?

A su manager requires a special su binary file that calls the manager.  It only Works if rooted. And no, those types of apps wouldn't have it root. They do tend to have higher rights as they install as device managers


text:
Cannot connect android phone to tp link router
I have TP Link TD-W8968 wireless router.
I can connect my laptop to the router but not a phone since few days.
I am facing a problem since a week, when I turn a wi-fi on on my android device HTC Wildfire S and scan for wifi, phone doesn't show up my router in scanned list, by the way it shows other wi-fis in the list but not my one.
I guess there could be some problem in my router. How can I solve this?

Improvement on previous Answer:
Well i do partially agree with @Divin3 only a slight glitch i found was: All new routers are fully backward compatible with older devices hence a router built on Wireless-N will be fully compatabile with device capable of receiving only Wireless-G or older version. Difference will be that while serving to a device with W-G the router built on W-N will go only be able to serve it at the max bandwidth which is device W-G is capable of receiving. Read more details on a device manufacturer support site here
My Addon to the Previous Answer:
Now lets back on the question, my very own personal experience has been bit different in this case. Sometimes older devices aren't able to scan WiFi networks setup with newer security methods. I noticed this when i switched one of my router's security from WEP to WPA2. Few older devices which earlier used to stay latched to the same router, actually stopped identifying it.
So a little bit of workaround could help people facing issues related to this.

This issue might occur if your router and the network adapter in your PC might not work together.
To work, the network adapter in your PC must use a wireless standard that is equal to or older than the router’s wireless standard. For example, if the network adapter in your PC uses the 802.11n wireless standard (also called Wireless-N) but your router uses 802.11g (also called Wireless-G), you won't be able to connect because the Wireless-G standard is an earlier version and doesn’t recognize Wireless-N. However, if the router uses Wireless-N but the adapter in your PC uses Wireless-G, you should be able to connect if the router is set to mixed mode.
Source:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-networking/can-see-other-ssids-on-my-laptop-but-i-cant/f38b08d0-4bf4-4244-bbe7-0081d458bb2c
In other words, try to set your router to mixed mode and your phone to 802.11b/g compatible. That should do the trick.

My TP-Link router is a dual band router (2.4 and 5.0).  If both bands have the same name, your phone may be confused. I gave each band (2.4 and 5) a different name.  My phone can see both bands. I can now setup access to either band.

Problem:  PC was able to connect to WIFI but my mobile ( android 6.1) was not able to obtain the IP address from TPlink Router.
Solution: Disable  ' Enable Short GI', which is used for high data rate. But wifi adaptor in mobile is not able to obtain IP address due to this short Guard time.
How to Do: To disable this option, Go to
Router home page - Wireless Advanced - Disable ' Enable Short GI'.

The phone or tablet in use may not support the Wi-Fi channel number specified by that TP-Link router.
Try changing the channel number and see if it works.


text:
If I deleted photo from gallery made backup before flashing, will I get that photo in the backup?
My phone is Samsung Galaxy Grand. If I delete a photo from the gallery and make a backup before flashing, will I get that photo in the backup?

That very much depends on the type of backup you are talking about. As the photo was deleted, none of the usual backup approaches would cover it: a backup only takes what is there, not was was deleted.
How to recover that photo (if possible) depends not at last on where it was stored:

external SDCard: safely remove it from the device, and use a card reader to check for deleted files with your computer and an application like PhotoRec
internal SDCard: not that easy. You have to clone that partition (a nandroid backup usually does this), transfer it to your computer, and analyse it with an application like TestDisk or Scalpel

Details and further hints can be found e.g. in our data-recovery tag-wiki. See e.g.:

How can I recover a deleted file on Android?
How to Restore Deleted / Formatted Files on HD Micro SD Card

Usually, flashing of the ROMs only affects files that are stored on your /system partition. Photos are stored on a SD card, and won't be deleted when you flash a ROM.
As for deleted photo, once it's deleted it can't be restored by normal methods. You could try restoring deleted files (there are many articles on the Internet regarding that, try searching for "restore deleted photos on android")


text:
Android root HTC ONE M7 infinite boot
I have HTC ONE M7 and I tried to root it . I did everything but it seems I did something wrong. It stuck at the recovery thing when I reboot it again and again it opens the recovery page. what should I do ?

can you elaborate more over what you did? what guide did you follow (if you did). did you get any errors when flashing etc..

I'm not familiar with what you used to root, but I know the HTC One M7 has problems reading the ISO boot file provided depending on the version of the phone. However I found very reliable resources you may be able to use...
Read everything carefully from the links...
First try to fix the recovery with HBOOT
Next I would try to do a factory recovery and then follow one of these methods Flashify or FromXDA XDAforum
If not, a hard reset and hopefully the image files are available online. I think HTC has tons of options so don't panic, just be patient... You will get it...

http://htconeroot.com/htc-one-root/how-to-root-htc-one-windowsmaclinux/

i did like that but used different supersu

Can you get to HBOOT by holding the volume down button?

yes i can  get to there

you still here mr nixxbb ?

Rev ised answer to the best of my ability to help with the time I have now. I will check back later to see how it went. Take your time and it will be fine.

Forgot about this link, has images and easy to understand http://highonandroid.com/android-apps/how-to-flash-img-files-on-rooted-android-with-flashify-app-root-apps/


text:
Nexus 5 Reboot loop
Today my Nexus 5 turned itself off, and then whenever I try to start it again, it loops rebooting - it shows the google logo, then starts the boot animation, then powers off and starts over.
I've tried to get into recovery mode with the volume+power keys, but when I'm able to get into the recovery screen, it shuts off in about the same amount of time and reboots again.
What can I do to fix this?
I did run the upgrade to 5.1.1, but it was a few days ago so I'm not sure whether that would be related.

Does download mode work?

@NikolaK. Only Samsung devices have download mode. Daenyth, can you boot to fastboot?

@SuperThomasLab All devices have download mode.

In the end, nothing I tried worked - it went into the reboot loop even from inside the boot loader screen, so I couldn't get into recovery mode.
I sent it to LG and they repaired it for free even though it was supposed to be out of warranty.

I used Get a call from a Nexus Support Specialist. Talked to Google rep, who was very good, was transferred to an LG, then again to a LG Canada (888-542-2623). My phone is also out of warranty. For a fixed price of $150 I can ship to them and have fixed. 5-10 business day round trip. Afterwards there is a 90 day warranty, that only applies to the reported issue.

I think you encountered the issue with a stuck power button. I had the exact same behaviour that also went away without explanation to return a few weeks later. I read the one trick is to bang it in a hard surface and shock the button out of its stuck state.
The second time it occurred I actually found a much more gentle way to temporarily fix this. Take an electric tooth brush without brush and push the oscillating shaft onto the backside and side of the phone close to the power button. After a few seconds of that my phone was back in working order.
And I felt strangely like Mc Gywer.
*Update: This temporary fix still works two months later. So it was not so temporary considering the lifecycle of a modern smartphone.
*Update 2: This fix worked fore a few years. Now the Nexus is permanently stuck in a reboot loop and no toothbrushes or other vibrating tools will fix it.

I dunno, sounds more like you forced it out with a sonic screwdriver to me. ;)

Nice answer, put me on the right track. For me to deal with the stuck button was pressing it rapidly for a minute or so until the boot continued.

@4e6 rapidly pressing the power button during boot does get it booted all the way, but as soon as I let go it reboots again.

If you don't have an electric toothbrush, you can ask McGyver's girlfriend for something that "vibrates" (ahem). It really works!

On an earlier version of Lollipop, after an update, my Nexus 5 would turn off randomly and enter a boot loop. I tried entering recovery just as you did but it too kept rebooting. I researched reasons for a boot loop and discovered some users of the Nexus 5 have faulty power buttons.
Try repeatedly tapping the power button as if to get it unstuck. See if the boot loop stops because of this action. If it stops, carefully hold your N5 so that the power button does not get stuck and turn on your phone. Perhaps jiggle the phone a little after the long press to ensure the button jiggles too.
It sounds simple but this reliably booted my phone when it had troubles. I installed Gravity Screen (free in Google Play) and try my best not to use the power button. I have not had many troubles since and am on a long streak for no issues.
I mention it happening after an update but I would guess the issue is just coincidental with the update.  Best of luck.

Try going into fastboot mode. Its comparatively much easier to go into fastboot mode. To go into fastboot mode, turn off your phone and press and hold volume down + power keys at same time until you get to a black screen with android logo and a bunch of stuff written.
Now there you also have option to boot into recovery, just press volume buttons to switch to boot modes and when it says recovery, press power button to select boot into recovery option.
Possibility 1:
You were able to go into recovery.
Here you can also try to factory reset and boot your phone. If that doesn't work, proceed below.
Case 1:
You have the rom to flash inside your phone (sdcard).
if you do have rom inside phone then just wipe system, cache, dalvic and if rom isnt same as the once currently installed on your phone (the one that is bootlooping), then you also need to wipe data.
Case 2:
You were able to boot into recovery but dont have any rom inside phone to flash.

In this case, setup ADB, connect phone while its in recovery to adb.
Download a rom for your phone (you can head over to XDA to look for rom and download one you like). Just download it to your pc.
Connect your phone to pc using USB.
Open cmd and enter the command adb push PathAndNameOfROMFile.zip /sdcard/. This will push the rom file you downloaded above to sdcard.
Wipe your system, dalvic cache, cache and data (recommended, but not necessary if you downloaded same rom as previously installed on your phone).
Reboot.

Possibility 2:
You were unable to go to recovery due to whatever reason.
Boot into fastboot mode again.
Option 1:
Try wiping data and factory resetting from here (I wont be responsible for your data here).

To factory reset, first setup adb from link provided above. Then go to download mode and connect phone to pc.
Open CMD/Terminal. And enter these commands:

fastboot erase data
fastboot erase cache
Now try rebooting. If that didn't work, move on to Option 2.
Option 2:
(We are going to flash a factory image.)

So first, download factory image for your phone here.
Extract downloaded archive using winrar.
Connect your phone to pc using USB.
Execute the flash-all.bat script (for Windows) or flash-all.sh(for MAC and LINUX) in the folder where you extracted the factory images.

NOTES:
For MAC: You'll have to edit the flash-all.sh, and add "./" before every fastboot command.
This script will also flash stock recovery. If you are not sure that your recovery is ok, then let this happen. Otherwise if you are sure that your recovery is fine and not corrupt. delete the file with word recovery in it. Open and edit whatever flash script you will be using to flash and remove these lines:
fastboot erase recovery
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

Semi-Case 1:
Everything flashes fine.
In this case just skip the Semi-Case 2 and move on.
Semi-Case 2:
There is some problem flashing some specific part.
In this case, you can try flashing manually.
Run these commands One by One in cmd/terminal (replace C:/ with path to where you extracted the archive):
fastboot flash bootloader C:/image-hammerhead-xxxx/bootloader.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash radio C:/image-hammerhead-xxxx/radio.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash system C:/image-hammerhead-xxxxx/system.img
fastboot flash userdata C:/image-hammerhead-xxxxx/userdata.img
(Note: this command will wipe your device (including /sdcard), EVEN if your bootloader is already unlocked.)

fastboot flash boot C:/image-hammerhead-xxxx/boot.img

fastboot flash recovery C:/image-hammerhead-xxxx/recovery.img
(Skip the above command if you dont want to flash stock recovery and are sure that your current recovery is not corrupt).

fastboot erase cache

This will manually flash everything. Hopefully this time it should be fine.

Wait for everything to flash.
After everything has finished flashing, use volume buttons to select recovery option from fastboot and press power button to boot into it.
Select factory reset and reboot phone. You will turn on and you although are still rooted (just need to install a custom recovery and supersu from play store).

Hope this helps.

Hey! That's very detailed and useful. Covers most of the part except that it is yet not clear whether OP's device is unlocked or not. (Recovery part perhaps won't work as the device reboots itself in Recovery too (as mentioned in question).) If it is unlocked than cool! If not, then warranty I guess will be void as well as data will be lost. But +1 for your work.

There are a number of long winded threads on the Nexus product forums about this. Some people get resolution by replacing or fixing the power button, as noted already here. Others by replacing the battery, others by sending to LG for replacement. I saw at least two reports of cures by rooting and going to an older kernel (5.0, 5.1).
The fact that so many of the reports cluster around 5.1.1 update make me suspicious that the hardware approach (button, battery) address the true problem, but hey if it lets you get another few months or year out of the device go for it.
For me my phone seems be fixed (only 24 hours free and clear so far), but I don't know what the magic was. What I did follows, the presence of next step indicates the previous one didn't work (phone still rebooted or shutdown spontaneously).

Reset to factory default using Settings menu
Reset to factory defaults using Recover Mode in bootloader
Use WugFresh Nexus Root Kit to unlock bootloader, root the phone
WugFresh revert: Flash stock image and unroot (which uses the most recent official 5.1.1 image)

At this point the phone finally stabilized, going ~15 hours without a reboot or shutdown.
In the middle I talked to Google and LG customer service, I'll add details of that to another answer. Since I'm so deep in now I've since re-unlocked and rooted and applied PureNexus ROM and GAPPS. So far so good, but it's only been a few hours.
**Update: celebration was premature. Phone is still rebooting, though frequency has diminished. Looks like I go back to stock and wait much longer before trying anything else, including reinstalling most used apps. :-( **
Sources:

Random restarts and "twitchy" power button after Android 5.1.1 update
Android 5.1 Random Restarts and Optimize App
or just search the Nexus forum for "random reboot nexus 5" and pay attention to the dozens of threads with hundreds or thousand plus replies...

I think mine was a legitimate hardware error because even the boot loader was inaccessible.

@Daenyth that also may be why they would fix yours out of warranty but not mine. I added to the thread even though your issue has been solved because of the title, and there are sooo many others reporting similar problem, but it's hard to get the info out of the rambling threads.

authors: أبّوَمٌجْارَشِ


text:
S3 not booting up after being flashed with a stock ROM
I had an S3 with Cynogenmod and I'm flashing a stock rom from here:
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/GT-I9300/#firmware
The process of flashing, with Odin3, works and in another S3 it worked without any issues, but in this particular one, when it boots, it goes through the process of applying some upgrades, then reboots and shows this:

Any ideas what's going on and/or what to do?

Can you go to download mode?

@NikolaK. yes, and I found a solution shortly after posting.

Found the solution. I guess Cyanogenmod left something in /data that was interfering with the boot up process, maybe settings for a newer version of some app. Starting by pressing volume-up and home at the same time dropped me in the menu with the factory reset. Doing the factory reset allowed the phone to boot up properly.


text:
S5- Stuck in bootloop
I somehow deleted my ADB shell (of rooted S5) in superuser and then I was trying to flash it back. And because I didn't backup my root I ended up with it saying:

KERNEL IS NOT SEANDROID ENFORCING
SET WARRANTY BIT : kernel....

I can't seem to get it to go back! What should I do resolve this issue.
Thank you.

You have flashed a custom kernel. You should reinstall the ROM on your phone. Go to www.sammobile.com/firmwares and download the appropriate one for your device and then flash it with ODIN.

Thanks, very helpful. Io did exactly as you said . It worked and i actually flashed 5.0 from 4.4.2 and i quite like it. But now I have lost Root access but the phone still says its rooted!I also think my S5 is slower and freezes alot!

Did you factory reset your phone while upgrading? I also have an s5 and updated it to lollipop, had a lot of crashes etc. until I factory resetted it.


text:
Will running virtual machine on Android completely turn my Android into Windows phone
I have heard about the BOCHS app which can run a virtual machine created by us on android. So we can run Windows OS on Android (please refer to this link). I want to know that if it's just a virtual machine opened by an app then we can click back button it will close the app and bring us back to the Android screen or it will turn our Android completely to Windows?

No we cant. BOCHS is a single thread program. And till now, individual processor cores aren't that strong for any android till today to run any modern OS as intended.
Infact, even you you managed to install just the os, the hardware wont be enough t or run any app and interface will be far too pain.
You can install older OSes like windows xp (on phones like s5-s6 or similar) or windows 98, but again, no real softwares could be run. Forget games, even mugen doesn't run properly. Even if the android hardware is good enough, BOCHS hasnt developed to that level yet.
So until BOCHS supports multi-threading and some other things, its almost useless to try that. Plus you can install only older OSes. New ones will hang a lot. I have personally tried Ubuntu 12.04 and a stripped off version of windows xp. But they were no use.
The only thing its good for is that you can say "Hey look! I got windows in my phone". But other than that, there's no purpose, atleast for now.

Will running virtual machine on Android completely turn my Android
  into Windows phone

Its not what you think it is. As I already said, you wont be able to make use of any major function. Its like using virtualisation programs like virtualbox on pc. Your pc wont turn in to that os, but both OSes will run simultaneously. SO no, your android wont be replaced. And android and that OS will both run together until you exit the app. Thats all it is to it.... The article is over-exaggerated. Infact, you will get bored of this in less than a day.
Again, feel free to try.
Finally, its not the os from windows phones. Instead, it is the actual windows we run on pc. You can imagine what it would be like in such a small sized screen like phone right?


text:
How to understand app restrictions set by developers
So I was just looking at are very standard app, - Bank of America and Ally Bank. none of these apps showed up on Google Play Store and in my list of devices they indicated as being incompatible . So I downloaded the other app forgot its name which will make my phone model brand and carrier different from what it is now and hopefully that app would show up. But even after disguising my phone as a Nexus with A T and T it would still not show up on play store . So obviously the developer had set some restrictions based on carriers or brand. What I want to find out here, in this question is how do I find out what kind of restrictions this app may have , so I can accordingly spoof the phone I ended up installing it from a manual apk download , and that is not trustworthy with bank password

If it is only about the banking app, then perhaps it would be better if you write an email to their developers (or the management) that you're a customer and can't install this package on your device. I'm sure nobody would like to say no or ignore bluntly a customer.

See Filters on Google Playstore and on How filters work?

Filtering in Google Play is based on several types of app metadata and
  configuration settings, including manifest declarations, required
  libraries,architecture dependencies, and distribution controls set in
  the Google Play Developer Console, such as geographic targeting,
  pricing, and more.
Google Play filtering is based in part on manifest declarations and
  other aspects of the Android framework, but actual filtering behaviors
  are distinct from the framework and are not bound to specific API
  levels.

However when you access Google playstore from the web browser with an email id which has not registered with any android device the restrictions are not applied. If you want look at the specific app for restrictions you can download the apk file offline and unpack it and in the manifest file(AndroidManifest.xml) you can see the list restrictions made for that app. Look out for the Filtering based on the App Manifest tags in particular under the configuration.
Consider the following example, an application that is designed to run on older API levels declares a Bluetooth permission, but does not declare the Bluetooth feature in a  element.
Result: Google Play does not filter the application from any device.
<manifest ...>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />
    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" />
    ...
</manifest>

In the second example, below, the same application also declares a target API level of "5".
Result: Google Play now assumes that the feature is required and will filter the application from all devices that do not report Bluetooth support, including devices running older versions of the platform.
<manifest ...>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />
    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" android:targetSdkVersion="5" />
    ...
</manifest>

There might be some explicit restrictions (such as availability in certain countries only, and/or a subset of Android versions), and indirect ones. A developer hardly can test an app on all devices that exist, so they usually setup parameters: Android version, device features.
An app might e.g. require a minimum screen resolution – which would rule out all devices "below" that, without any device/manufacturer being explicitly mentioned. It might require a camera being present, or the device having a GPS module (not all tablets have this).
Would be quite a long post to list all possibilities and combinations, but I guess you've got the idea. As for the banking app of a given bank, I very well could imagine it being restricted to a single country (or a small group of countries) – where the bank is working with customers.


text:
TripAdvisor Lockscreen Folder Path
I'm trying to find TripAdvisor's lockscreen folder on my Samsung Note 3. Can you please tell me where it is ?

You can find it under,
/data/data/com.samsung.android.service.travel/
But you need root permission to access this directory. If you have unrooted phone please have a look into this quesion on How to root your android device?


text:
Transfer contacts with multiple numbers from Android to Windows Phone
I have transferred all contacts from the Android phone (Moto G) to the Windows Phone (Microsoft Lumia 540). I have multiple numbers for each contact in Android, but I can see only one number for a contact in my Windows phone.
For example, Sachine has two numbers: 999-999-9992 and 888-888-882.
In Windows, it shows Sachine: 999-999-9992 only.
Please help me out with this problem.

How did you trasfer or which tool have you used to backup/transfer them to you Windows PC.? Did you export them as .vcf format?

I took the .csv file from google contact and import this .csv file to my windows (outlook) account. Through which i can see my contact in windows phone.

If you're transfering contacts just to back them up, you could try adding your contacts to your Google account, where they are automatically backed up, and you can also view them online, on contacts.google.com

yes. it is back up in the google account. but i want to transfer all my contact to windows phone.

Try to export them in vCard format (instead of CSV) from Google Contacts and import them into your Windows Phone.
If that doesn't work, then try to export contacts from your Contacts -> Export. This will be saved as .vcf file on your SD card. Transfer the file (via Bluetooth) and import this .vcf file into your Windows Phone.

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

authors: Λεωνίδας Μαύρος


text:
Cannot root phone by installing superuser.zip CWM v6.0.5.1 Stable
Xiaomi redmi 2 runs MIUI 6.2.4.0(KHJCNBK)
In order to install CWM, I downloaded both the adb and fastboot, I extracted recovery.img in the folder, together with them. I entered fastboot mode.
Then, in fastboot I ran:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

fastboot reboot

Now I booted CWM into recovery. It I ran this superuser file, which matches my phone model. It installed, had done! at the end:

 However, when I exit the menu it asks me whether to root the phone ( with root access is missing at the top ), I tried both yes/no, it reboots, but phone is still not rooted. What's the issue here?

Its rooted, and that prompt (it appears only when the supersu isnt properly installed, like its binaries). So, there might be some problem with supersu binaries. I suggest you turn on phone and then verify root and supersu status. Get some app from play store like root checker and see how that does too

Have you tried booting your device normally and running the SuperUser app? As Jaskaranbir suggests, it might need to update some of its binaries (especially the su binary requires this sometimes). If you do so, keep your eyes open for any possible error messages and, if there are some, [edit] your question and include them. Thanks, and good luck!

Just installed the .apk from superuserdownload.com. Runs fine, but the "apps" tab is empty. My objective is to clear factory apps, that's all.

You did succesfully installed the superuser framework but you need to install SuperSu what controls everything. Follow steps below to successfully install SuperSu:

Download SuperSu from the play store here.
Open SuperSu and you should see something like this:

Screenshot - Update SU binary (Click to enlarge)

Click continue.
Click normal. (If you see message for more then 5 minutes then reboot and try the other option)
Reboot your phone and now you should be rooted. Check it with a root checker app like this:

ScreenShot - Root check, Success (Click to enlarge)

Consider purchasing the pro version to support the developer here.

Hope my answer helps.

@Firelord I added more info.

I get there is no SU binary installed, and SuperSU cannot install it When attempting to run the app.

@StevenHaen Then there was a problem installing the SU binary, you should reinstall the su binary and select yes when it gives the message yourbphone may not be rooted etc. Then follow my steps again.

When I click normal it spits back update failed. When I try to use my CWM it displays will try to reboot device and then nothing happens.

Then reboot your device and try again

Simply flash this
SuperSu
And then reboot. In case SUperSu app doesnt show, install from play store. Thats all


text:
Unable to send messages ICS
Whenever I sent a message it is in

Sending...

status all the time. I've checked the SMSC settings and they are entered correctly. Restarted phone several time. Still the problem is there..
I can receive messages, can make call also

We may need more details. Like your phone name and model? And are you sure this is not a service problem from operator side?

My phone is Dialog i43(It is a country version from one of the telecom operators in Sri Lanka). Its not a service problem, since I've two SIMs and the problem is there in both

The only thing that I can think of is that you're sending a type of message that can not be sent by default (e.g. MMS messages). I had an issue where long SMS messages would automatically be converted to MMS, thus not being not-sendable. Check whether the message type is SMS, and also check whether you can send short SMS messages (that won't be converted to MMS).
Also, try installing different messaging app (like Google's Messenger), to see if that helps.

The first message I sent was a twitter follow message. When I saw the pending status, I then tried with a just one letter messages to my other number. Then only I realized there is a problem. Will try with some apps as you suggested(Messenger is not compatible for my OS version)

Textra worked. But, is it the solution? what is the problem with default message App then?

Try clearing the data of the messaging app (Go to Settings > Applications > All Apps > find your messaging app and open it > press "Delete data". This might delete all your previous messages, so don't do this if you need to keep your old messages.

Clear Data doesn't dellete any of my messages. Also, the problem persists.

I have no idea how to help you in that case... if you really need to use the defualt messaging app, maybe you should take your phone to the operater, maybe they could help you...

Remove the SIM card-> Insert the SIM into another phone and restart the phone -> Insert in back into your phone and restart and check if it works. This will reconfigure the message center and the settings for you SIM card. If the problem persist contact your network operator for settings.

Message center settings are configured. It works in other phones, but not in my android. That is the problem

Have you also tried installing any third party apps like textra and in Messenger app..?

Textra worked. But, is it the solution? what is the problem with default message App then?

@Fasna great..Have you tried clearing the default Messaging app data and cache?

yeah, it doesn't work either :(


text:
having two gmail accounts, some contacts are in both accounts, which name is displayed?
I have two gmail accounts, personal, and work.
some contacts are in both accounts, but I can't choose how are they displayed in incoming calls and whatsapp.
my work account is controlled by my boss, and has weird names, but it's the account that actually names everything.
I'm not syncing the contacts, and they are hided, but still there in whatsapp and calls.