text:
How do I install a custom ROM?
I  have a sprint s3 and I just rooted my phone and it was done correct. my question is do I need to download the roms to my computer first then copy to my phone.I have been trying from my phone. it downloads but can't open. help please. thanks

See also: I've rooted my phone. Now what? What do I gain from rooting?

Installing a custom ROM implies a number of steps:

Root your phone.
Flash a custom recovery (4ext or CWM).
Store on you sd card a downloaded custom ROM.
Reboot your phone into recovery, select the desired ROM and flash it.
Reboot and have fun.

Note: Please BACKUP your data before doing anything! Better safe than sorry.
This article explains in detail each step.
You can also find a lot of info about flashing, custom ROMs and all sort of things on XDA developers forums.

Make sure you have a proper recovery like CWM or TWRP
Download the ROM file off XDA, make sure you download a file made for only your system.
Wipe date and do a factory reset
(optional: make a backup of your stock ROM)
Flash your ROM
Wipe date and factory reset, reboot and $$profit$$


text:
Is there a minimal installation of ADB?
When it comes to troubleshooting, I often read recommendations like "Use adb logcat to find some more details". Looking for a good way to backup all my apps including their data, Full Backup of non-rooted devices refers to adb backup and adb restore. In several places one can find ways to remotely do on an Android device with the use of ADB, such as transferring files using adb push or adb pull, accessing the command-line via adb shell, and more. So ADB seems to be a good thing to have for an Android user.
But how to get this "ADB thingy" on my computer? Not being a developer, installing the entire Android SDK seems a bit overkill. Is there a more minimalistic approach available?

In fact, it is not necessary to install the entire SDK if one does not want to use it for development. To be able to run basic ADB commands in the context needed by an average user, a rudimentary installation is completely sufficient. I will try to explain how to do this, and hopefully cover the most used computer systems.
Requirements
First, you will need the basic binaries. These can be found e.g. in the Download area of my Android site, where I try to keep up-to-date versions available – for Linux, MacOS, and Windows.1
Windows users
If your computer is running Windows, you will also need the special drivers for your device (no generic solution here, so you need to check this out yourself; usually, those drivers are offered for download on the manufacturer's website).
Linux and Mac OS users
Linux and Mac OS users might need to make their device known to their operating system. For Linux, you find the necessary steps described in my answers here and here. Not being familiar with Mac OS, I can not speak for it.
Installation
Linux
For Linux, this is quite easy: Simply unpack the downloaded binaries into a directory of your choice. At the time I'm writing this, this will only be two files: adb and aapt (the latter being used by QtADB, and not necessarily needed to execute ADB commands directly). Adjust their file permissions to make them executable (e.g. from the command line: chmod 0755 adb aapt). Finally, it's a good idea to include the chosen directory with your $PATH variable, so you can call adb from wherever you are. A good place for that is at the end of your ~/.profile file to include an additional line like export PATH="~/bin:$PATH" (if you extracted the binaries to ~/bin).
Windows
The Windows download holds a couple more files. Also extract them into a directory of your choice. If you want them to be callable from wherever you are, without preceding the complete path, you need to add that path to your environment variables as well. Not being a Windows user, I must leave the "how to do this" to you.
What else?
You should be done at this point, and can use the full powers of the ADB command line.
Alternatives?

on some Linux distros, you can install the packages android-tools-adb and android-tools-fastboot via the resp. package manager. This has the pro of being updated automatically.
on OS X, you can use SimMac's installer
Update 1/2017: Google now offers direct links for the "always latest" platform tools, which include a.o. adb and fastboot:

platform tools for Linux
platform tools for Mac
platform tools for Windows

Further readings

Everything about ADB (A reference for everyone at XDA Developers)
ADB for Dummies (again available via XDA Developers. If you miss the guides as I did firstly: The first article is consisting of links only, colorful as they might look :))
Android ADB Quick Guide
our adb tag-wiki

1: Also see Alex' answer for more alternative sources. My sources are the official Google downloads, just "stripped down".

I do not really understand why anyone would prefer downloading an old version of unknown origin from a malware-ridden website to downloading the latest official version directly from Google itself. I guess to each its own.
Here are the links to the Google repository:
The latest version of the platform tools (contains just a few binaries - less than 10Mb in size each):

Windows
Linux
Mac

For users of Ubuntu and Debian (distributions I personally use) I have put together a small bash script which finds and installs the latest version of the platform tools - Installing Android platform tools (ADB) on Ubuntu

Found two other minimal installation methods: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317790 and http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2588979
It would be appreciated if someone could really provide an easy way to only get the latest pristine platform tools in case one does not want all that overhead from the SDK. So if you want updates directly from google, the smallest installation curr. would be the installer for the SDK tools (~105MB) from http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#Other and then using the updater to only install/update platform tools. Pretty sad.

also check http://stackoverflow.com/tags/adb/info for more recent links

I made something for OS X, this may be exactly what you are looking for:
Quick ADB/Fastboot installer: ADB and Fastboot binaries with installer

15 seconds minimal ADB, fastboot and drivers installer. This is for Windows only.

No need to navigate to the installation folder in CMD.
It can be installed system-wide.
No need to check for manufacturer specific drivers.
Everything included in 9MB.

Debian makes it extremely simple to get legit, up-to-date installs of adb & fastboot.
If you really just want adb without fastboot:
$ sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb
Or, if you're like me and think that they work better together:
$ sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

If you're on Arch Linux and you want to do this (following Izzy's answer of course!)...
Enable multilib in /etc/pacman.conf and install the 32-bit dependencies if necessary:
$ sudo pacman -Sy
$ sudo pacman -S lib32-{glibc,gcc-libs,zlib}

get the files:
$ curl -J -O https://android.izzysoft.de/downloads.php?file=adb-binaries-linux-1.0.32.tar.gz
$ tar xf adb-binaries-linux-1.0.32.tar.gz

the commands will install to your current directory, so for instance:
$ ./aapt

on linux Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt install android-tools-adb

but for updates, you are at mercy of a distro maintainers...

source: Stack Exchange

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

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

sort: votes


text:
Browser's webview.db doesn't store Hotmail password, but it can still auto login. Why?
On my rooted Galaxy Nexus 4.1.1, stock browser doesn't store any password for Hotmail, but whenever I open Hotmail, it logins automatically.
I checked data/data/com.android.browser/webview.db, the password table has a row for Hotmail like below:
host = https://login.live.com, username = blank, password = blank
Why does it still auto login Hotmail even though the password is not stored?

Just a guess: cookies?

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


text:
call waiting notification
Generally I get alert when I am in call . But I don't get any notification when the receiver is in call . How can I get notification or alert if my receiver is on a call ?
My phone is samsung gti5500
android version : 2.3.4

With "receiver" you mean the other party you are calling? That won't be possible unless the carrier supports it, I guess. With the very same phone I used at home, when calling a person here I always get the "free" sign if the other side has call-waiting activated -- while e.g. in Israel I get a "call waiting" signal (free="long,long,long", busy="short,short,short", call-waiting="long-short-long" tone). So it most likely has nothing to do with the phone, but rather the carrier. (Nothing proven, just a good-guess)

Yes I meant the other party . But it is possible , it is possible in every phone I have used so far . except in android phone .

Sure it is, I fully believe you -- but the carrier must support that feature. How shall the phone detect the fact if the carrier "hides" it? Are you sure the carrier you are currently using does support it (have you e.g. tried with another phone in parallel, or asked the support)? It might even be needed to be explicitly enabled for your "number" (i.e. your SIM).

Yes , my carrier supports this. I have this feature in every phone I have used so far , except my android .
Can you suggest me an app ?

As no carrier supports it here, this is outside of my expertise. But now that we've clarified the backgrounds, somebody else might be able to help you out. It might be a good idea if you'd update your question to include the facts we've collected in the comments so far (that your carrier does support it, you've checked with other devices in the same are and it works). The solution should not be restricted to "an app", it could very well be some special setting you simply did not discover yet :)


text:
How to add a shortcut directly to the 'Alarms' and 'World Clock' tabs of the stock HTC Clock app?
I have QCustomShortcut installed and I'd like to be able to create a shortcut directly to the 'Alarms' and 'World Clock' tabs of my HTC stock Clock app (com.htc.android.worldclock).

The app has an activity called com.htc.android.worldclock.AlarmClock but creating a shortcut to that doesn't work.

I have already tried the following apps but they just open the Clock app on the first tab instead of the third:

Alarm shortcut by Alexandr Ivanov
Alarms shortcut by Matthieu Guenebaud
Alarm Clock Launcher by Slipstream Apps

It should just be a case of defining the correct action, package and class in QCustomShortcut but I'm stumped.
Thanks.

Can nobody help? No pointers?


text:
How do I patch the Android ADB driver?
Headaches with Android SDK again!
I know how to set up the Android SDK. I have done this multiple times over the years. And I had to do some patching of the driver for the ADB every single time! I have done it so many times routinely, I can do it blindfolded!
Why is it such a problem for Google to include a working USB driver with the Android SDK?
This is the INF file for the USB driver provided by Google.
;
; Android WinUsb driver installation.
;
[Version]
Signature           = "$Windows NT$"
Class               = AndroidUsbDeviceClass
ClassGuid           = {3F966BD9-FA04-4ec5-991C-D326973B5128}
Provider            = %ProviderName%
DriverVer           = 08/27/2012,7.0.0000.00001
CatalogFile.NTx86   = androidwinusb86.cat
CatalogFile.NTamd64 = androidwinusba64.cat

[ClassInstall32]
Addreg = AndroidWinUsbClassReg

[AndroidWinUsbClassReg]
HKR,,,0,%ClassName%
HKR,,Icon,,-1

[Manufacturer]
%ProviderName% = Google, NTx86, NTamd64

[Google.NTx86]

;Google Nexus One
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0D02
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0D02&MI_01
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E11
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E12&MI_01

;Google Nexus S
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E21
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E22&MI_01
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E23
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E24&MI_01

;Google Nexus 7
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E40
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E41
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42&MI_01
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E44&MI_01

;Google Nexus Q
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_2C10
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_2C11

;Google Nexus (generic)
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE0
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE1
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE2
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE2&MI_01
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE3
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE4&MI_01
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE5
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE6&MI_01

[Google.NTamd64]

;Google Nexus One
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0D02
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0D02&MI_01
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E11
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E12&MI_01

;Google Nexus S
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E21
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E22&MI_01
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E23
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E24&MI_01

;Google Nexus 7
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E40
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E41
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E42&MI_01
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E44&MI_01

;Google Nexus Q
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_2C10
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_2C11

;Google Nexus (generic)
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE0
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE1
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE2
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE2&MI_01
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE3
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE4&MI_01
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE5
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4EE6&MI_01

[USB_Install]
Include = winusb.inf
Needs   = WINUSB.NT

[USB_Install.Services]
Include     = winusb.inf
AddService  = WinUSB,0x00000002,WinUSB_ServiceInstall

[WinUSB_ServiceInstall]
DisplayName     = %WinUSB_SvcDesc%
ServiceType     = 1
StartType       = 3
ErrorControl    = 1
ServiceBinary   = %12%\WinUSB.sys

[USB_Install.Wdf]
KmdfService = WINUSB, WinUSB_Install

[WinUSB_Install]
KmdfLibraryVersion  = 1.9

[USB_Install.HW]
AddReg  = Dev_AddReg

[Dev_AddReg]
HKR,,DeviceInterfaceGUIDs,0x10000,"{F72FE0D4-CBCB-407d-8814-9ED673D0DD6B}"

[USB_Install.CoInstallers]
AddReg    = CoInstallers_AddReg
CopyFiles = CoInstallers_CopyFiles

[CoInstallers_AddReg]
HKR,,CoInstallers32,0x00010000,"WdfCoInstaller01009.dll,WdfCoInstaller","WinUSBCoInstaller2.dll"

[CoInstallers_CopyFiles]
WinUSBCoInstaller2.dll
WdfCoInstaller01009.dll

[DestinationDirs]
CoInstallers_CopyFiles=11

[SourceDisksNames]
1 = %DISK_NAME%,,,\i386
2 = %DISK_NAME%,,,\amd64

[SourceDisksFiles.x86]
WinUSBCoInstaller2.dll  = 1
WdfCoInstaller01009.dll = 1

[SourceDisksFiles.amd64]
WinUSBCoInstaller2.dll  = 2
WdfCoInstaller01009.dll = 2

[Strings]
ProviderName                = "Google, Inc."
SingleAdbInterface          = "Android ADB Interface"
CompositeAdbInterface       = "Android Composite ADB Interface"
SingleBootLoaderInterface   = "Android Bootloader Interface"
WinUSB_SvcDesc              = "Android USB Driver"
DISK_NAME                   = "Android WinUsb installation disk"
ClassName                   = "Android Device"

This driver can be obtained through the SDK Manager and that's how I got it. It sits in the installation directory Android\android-sdk\extras\google\usb_driver.
Why are there no entries for HTC or Samsung phones?
Now this is the INF file for the driver I used in the past (but for the same phone).
;
; Android WinUsb driver installation.
;
[Version]
Signature           = "$Windows NT$"
Class               = AndroidUsbDeviceClass
ClassGuid           = {3F966BD9-FA04-4ec5-991C-D326973B5128}
Provider            = %ProviderName%
DriverVer           = 08/11/2009,2.0.0010.00002
CatalogFile.NTx86   = androidwinusb86.cat
CatalogFile.NTamd64 = androidwinusba64.cat

;
; This section seems to be required for WinUsb driver installation.
; If this section is removed the installer will report an error
; "Required section not found in INF file".
;
[ClassInstall32]
Addreg = AndroidWinUsbClassReg

[AndroidWinUsbClassReg]
HKR,,,0,%ClassName%
HKR,,Icon,,-1

[Manufacturer]
%ProviderName% = Google, NTx86, NTamd64

[Google.NTx86]
; HTC Dream
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C01
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C02&MI_01
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0FFF
; HTC Magic
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C03&MI_01
; HTC Desire
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0bb4&Pid_0c94
;
;Moto Sholes
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_22B8&PID_41DB
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_22B8&PID_41DB&MI_01
;
;Google NexusOne
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0D02
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0D02&MI_01
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E11
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E12&MI_01

[Google.NTamd64]
; HTC Dream
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C01
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C02&MI_01
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0FFF
; HTC Magic
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C03&MI_01
; HTC Desire
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0bb4&Pid_0c94
;
;Moto Sholes
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_22B8&PID_41DB
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_22B8&PID_41DB&MI_01
;
;Google NexusOne
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0D02
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_0D02&MI_01
%SingleAdbInterface%        = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E11
%CompositeAdbInterface%     = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_4E12&MI_01

[USB_Install]
Include = winusb.inf
Needs   = WINUSB.NT

[USB_Install.Services]
Include     = winusb.inf
AddService  = WinUSB,0x00000002,WinUSB_ServiceInstall

[WinUSB_ServiceInstall]
DisplayName     = %WinUSB_SvcDesc%
ServiceType     = 1
StartType       = 3
ErrorControl    = 1
ServiceBinary   = %12%\WinUSB.sys

[USB_Install.Wdf]
KmdfService = WINUSB, WinUSB_Install

[WinUSB_Install]
KmdfLibraryVersion  = 1.7

[USB_Install.HW]
AddReg  = Dev_AddReg

[Dev_AddReg]
HKR,,DeviceInterfaceGUIDs,0x10000,"{F72FE0D4-CBCB-407d-8814-9ED673D0DD6B}"

[USB_Install.CoInstallers]
AddReg    = CoInstallers_AddReg
CopyFiles = CoInstallers_CopyFiles

[CoInstallers_AddReg]
HKR,,CoInstallers32,0x00010000,"WdfCoInstaller01007.dll,WdfCoInstaller","WinUSBCoInstaller.dll"

[CoInstallers_CopyFiles]
WinUSBCoInstaller.dll
WdfCoInstaller01007.dll

[DestinationDirs]
CoInstallers_CopyFiles=11

[SourceDisksNames]
1 = %DISK_NAME%,,,\i386
2 = %DISK_NAME%,,,\amd64

[SourceDisksFiles.x86]
WinUSBCoInstaller.dll  = 1
WdfCoInstaller01007.dll = 1

[SourceDisksFiles.amd64]
WinUSBCoInstaller.dll  = 2
WdfCoInstaller01007.dll = 2

[Strings]
ProviderName                = "Google, Inc."
SingleAdbInterface          = "Android ADB Interface"
CompositeAdbInterface       = "Android Composite ADB Interface"
SingleBootLoaderInterface   = "Android Bootloader Interface"
WinUSB_SvcDesc              = "Android USB Driver"
DISK_NAME                   = "Android WinUsb installation disk"
ClassName                   = "Android Phone"
; HTC Desire
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0bb4&Pid_0c94&Rev_0100
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0bb4&Pid_0c94
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&Pid_0c94

This driver was downloaded from XDA Developers forum, from this thread. I have revisited this thread every time I had to install Android SDK. The trick that the author uses is to simply replace the hardware IDs in the INF file to those that actually correspond to the actual hardware device that's being connected.
If I am not mistaken I had the same ID as the author describes in the thread, that is USB\VID_0bb4&Pid_0c94. But now when I check it I have a different one.

I recently flashed the phone. But I used the RUU original image, with the same build number as the one that was already on the phone. The RUU was the HTC original ROM Update Utility that was used to flash it. I had to do this to enable the use of Unrevoked to root and then Alpha Rev to set S-OFF. Could it be that, in some way, this changed the hardware ID? I thought hardware IDs were supposed to be permanent and fixed to the hardware?...
Using the second driver, with unedited INF file, and trying to update the ADB device in Device Manager, this is what it says.

It just simply fails to install it, because the IDs don't match. Now, these are the lines that I used in the edited version of the INF file. These now include the actual IDs of my phone.
[Google.NTx86]
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C87&MI_01

[Google.NTamd64]
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C87&MI_01

[Strings]
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C87&REV_0226
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C87
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C87

So now when I try to update the driver again I get to the warning message, you know the usual Windows warning about installing software of unknown source.

So I click to install it anyway.

And it tries to install it but then halts and says that installation failed and something about ADB Composite.
So why does it fail to install? And why was my hardware ID changed in the first place?
Is there no "normal" way of installing this stupid driver? You know, without having to hack the damn thing or play tricks with it?...
I know that some users suggest that one should obtain the latest sync software from the manufacturer because with that also come some USB drivers that are necessary to have. But I don't want any of the HTC bloatware. And I don't have any problems transferring files between the phone and the computer when in "Disk drive" mode. So I don't need anything else. And isn't this the driver for using the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) which is part of Android SDK? I mean shouldn't Google be the one that provides a working driver then?...
Just for the record, the phone in question is HTC Desire, the original one. You know, the first one, not any of its' many siblings that followed.
Please have a look at this, and let me know what you think this could be. And also let me know if you know of any alternative ways of doing this, just for future use. I am sick and tiered of having to this every single time I want to install the Android SDK. I normally only do that when I need to reinstall Windows, but once installed and set up I usually don't touch it, but I do reinstall Windows at least two times a year.

I think the solution is that @Sammy just needs to install drivers from HTC because I don't think they are included with the SDK. I have to do this for my Note.

How do you obtain the drivers without installing anything else on the computer? And do these drivers work for the ADB or only for HTC Sync and such?

You might have better luck using the SDK on Linux. At least, I never had to install LG drivers for my device.

I had to change the last part of the INF file.
[Strings]
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C87&REV_0226&MI_01
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C87&MI_01
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C87&MI_01

It worked perfectly after this change.


text:
Atrix 4G update via OTA with unlocked bootloader?
I am running 4.5.91 currently on a rooted and unlocked Atrix.
Will I brick my phone by updating to 4.5.141 from OTA source?
Can I re-lock the boot-loader if that is the issue?

I don't think it's possible to re-lock the bootloader of a Atrix 4G. You should read this
too

I found out as much. Ended up flashing an AOSP ROM (nottatch or something) and it's wonderful. It was built off of 4.5.141 so problem solved.

oh ok good to hear :)


text:
WiFi tether without losing battery
So, as everyone already knows, when tethering data over WiFi your battery may overheat/lose battery/etc. What I want to do is while in my car:

Stream internet over WiFi to >1 person
Navigate with GPS (a.k.a. screen on the whole time)
Bluetooth music to my car for Pandora or something

As you can see this will take my phone(Galaxy Nexus) to the max, but I think it should be able to do it. I'm open to other ideas, but what do people think about powering the phone with a battery bypass and charging the battery with a different circuit?

It is hard enough to keep it charged with the GPS and streaming - I know I do it frequently. I would not recommend trying to share data at the same time. It wasn't until the latest update that I could even get streaming and WiFi hotspot to work without stuttering.
I would strongly suggest that you use another cell phone do the WiFi hotspot while your phone does the streaming and GPS or get a dedicated GPS and use the phone for hotspot and streaming.
It is a classic example of GPS, BT & Wifi Hotspot, Pick any two.
But, in the interest of science, I think you should try it ;) just have a backup plan.
Edit: Be sure to get a high amperage car charger - one for an iPad should work nicely since those require 2.1 amps. That should push a lot of juice to the phone and maybe keep it from dying under all that load.

Oh I'm trying it one way or another :) And I don't have any issues with multitasking until I tether... So I hope there is a way to cut the battery out of the loop.


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Read/Write not working on external sd card - Android
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 and no applications can read or write to the external SD card - except the Root Browser. This happened a month or so ago after I installed a custom ROM (Alliance) and I have lived without access to the external SD card since.
Since then, an application has managed to create one folder on the card that is accessible to a regular file manager (such as ES File Explorer).
When I use my PC to access the SD card, all is fine and visible, so I have deduced that it must be something in the android config files. I have checked
/system/etc/permissions/platform.xml
and I have
WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
<group gid="media_rw" />
<group gid="sdcard_rw" />
WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE
<group gid="media_rw" />

I should mention that I have tried different micro sd cards and the problem is exactly the same.

Did you ever find the solution?


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Is there a maximum number of devices allowed on a Google Play Account?
Many schools are looking at using Android tablets in classrooms.  Some have classroom sets of 35-40 tablets.  As a means to manage apps, having them tied to a single Google Play account would be ideal.  Is there a maximum number of devices allowed?
This setup would also be cost effective, if the school uses any pay apps, as the app is linked to the account, not the devices.  Does anybody have any experience or knowledge beyond, "I have 5 devices in my family all synced and it works."?

Note that sharing in such a way would probably be against the Google Play Terms of Service: Sharing. You may not use Products as part of any service for sharing, lending or multi-person use, or for the purpose of any other institution, except as specifically permitted and only in the exact manner specified and enabled by Google (for example, through “Social Recommendations”).

Related: Can I use multiple Android devices with a single Google account? Sync Multiple Devices Simultaneously With One Account

This applies to Music, but seems it also might generally apply to all Google accounts regardless if they use Google Music or not.

Any user can associate up to 10 devices to his or her account.
  ...
  We limit the number of times you can swap out new devices at the request of some of our music partners in an effort to limit abuse.

But you may also run into an issue if there is a credit card associated with the account used to purchase apps - any student could purchase whatever from the market.
If you're serious about doing this, and you didn't make it very clear what you're actually wanting, you might want to consider contact a device manufacturer and setup a contract to create tablets specifically for your needs.

If you have more than 100 devices per account it seems like you will get logged out on previously signed in devices.
In the Google Dashboard I also can only see 100 devices at a time.

As for the app management, another approach would be using Aptitude. Unfortunately, the app is gone from the playstore, but the concept should still work: Set up a central repository on a server, maintain all apps there, and have the clients on the devices configured to (solely) using this. As for paid apps, it would surely be possible to find an agreement with the devs.
For details, also see the Aptoide article on Wikipedia:

Aptoide is an Android (operating system) distributed Marketplace for Android applications driven by the community. In Aptoide, there is not a unique and centralized store but each user manages their own store.

Further links:

Aptoide Installer
Aptoide server
ApkTor (an Aptoide fork)
Aptoide specifications (PDF)
F-Droid is also using the same format (and thus compatible)
Bazaar uses an Aptoide client

There were also scripts somewhere to maintain your own repo (on your own server), I just cannot find them currently.

F-Droid index is no longer compatible with Aptoïde, but the process is easy and is explained in the manual. Like Aptoïde the software is free so you can manage your own store.

Currently have upwards of 100 devices associated with a single Google account for test purposes. Came here for this same reason.
No issues with this number.
Edit: Just noted the date tag....

Can you please link to the source or proof?

ElefantPhace provided an answer for Music.
Here's for Books:

You can access your books on different devices, including compatible
  Android devices, iPads, iPhones and iPod touches, or on the web on
  your computer. No matter where you read your books, when you're
  connected to a network (via Wi-Fi or a data connection on your device)
  we'll automatically keep track of your reading place, so you can pick
  up right where you were last reading the next time you open your
  ebooks
Note: In rare occasions when a user tries to access books on a number of devices at the same time, our system may temporarily block
  them from opening new reading sessions. This can happen when too
  many readers are open on different machines or browsers. If your other
  reading sessions are closed or inactive, you will be able to read in
  this browser after a short delay. If you believe this is an error
  please contact our support team.

The limit is 10 devices, it is a known issue: https://support.google.com/googleplay/known-issues/1335215?hl=en

This is specific to Google Play Music, not the app store. I don't believe there is a limit on devices there.


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I cannot charge my tablet
I only have a USB cable to charge my tablet and I plugged it into my laptop to charge and a little red X shows up on the battery thing. How can I charge my tablet?

Have you tried swapping another cable? Does the battery icon change when tablet is plugged in?

A computer's usb port does not supply enough current to charge your tablet. The tablet takes roughly 1A or 1,000mA to charge, a desktop's usb port only puts out about 500mA. Some laptops just can't provide the specified 500mA and will not charge it at all. YMMV
You can charge it though, only very slowly, AND the tablet has to be completely turned off.

It is only going to take more time to charge when charging current is low (i.e. limited to 500mA as said) and not totally stop charging. Hence the moment there is a current flow towards the battery the battery icon (if shown) will indicate it - no matter how low the battery is.


text:
How to customize Facebook chat notification sound?
Facebook app and the Facebook Messenger app often plays the same sound for new incoming chat message - this is the system notification sound.
That makes me confused facebook chat with other notification, especially the calendar reminder, new incoming email, etc. ...
How to customize it?

In Facebook, you can change the notification sound from Facebook > Menu > Settings > Notification ringtone.
I assume it would be the same for Messenger, never used it though

In my Sony Xperia Z1 it's Facebook > Menu > Account > App Settings > Notification

Go on messenger select a ringtone I just did it because Eveytime I have to update messenger I have no ringtone. Then for facebook go in Facebook settings choose a different ringtone. Have different ringtone for both. On messenger there there is a little icon tap on it you will see your ringtones


text:
How do I access files on an Android device from a LAN connected computer?
My connection configuration is, my modem,  connected to a LAN router, connected to several PCs and also connected to a wireless router.  When I use WiFi on my android device, I can access files on the PCs using ES file explorer.  However, I can't access my android device from any of the PCs.  I tried using File Expert, but failed (I suspect it's because it is from LAN PC trying to connect to WiFi).
I also have the same problem if I want to transfer files from my WiFi connected laptop to any of the PCs (in this case I cannot find any of the PC at all from my laptop).  I tried to google a solution but can't find any case which is similar to mine.

Is file sharing enabled between the two pcs ?

yes. when connected using wired connection my laptop is able to see and access the PC

It sounds like your network has 2 routers, one behind the other.  In this case the things attached to one router wouldn't necessarily be aware of or able to connect to the things connected to the other router.  The 2 network segments would be unaware of each other.  If the WIFI router were just turned into an access point, then both the LAN and Wifi would be on the same segment and be able to communicate.

Voting to close because this is an Android question.  However, to be helpful, to share files from an Android over the phone like a PC over Wifi (NOT cellular), you need to be running a Samba server - and your phone needs to be rooted - I've had good luck with this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.funkyfresh.samba&hl=en

It's simple to share Android files to Windows PC. Install ES File Explorer in Android device. Go to Tools and select Remote Manager then you can see turn on. Press on it. And you will get an address like ftp://192.168.1.24:3721/ enter it on your PC file explorer and you can access to your Android phone from PC.
You can change settings of remote manager to get SD card and phone memory.

as of May 2017, it no longer has this feature unless you buy the unlock

April 11th, 2020 - ES File Explorer lets me connect to my Pixel 2 from my computer. Connecting to my computer from my phone is a paid feature.

I don't know if it will help but give a shot to Airdroid, it let's you transfer files from android device to pc, connected over the same network back and forth. If the problem is not so complicated, this thing will handle it.

As of Jan. 2024 this is a paid feature above 200MB.

WiFi File Transfer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smarterdroid.wififiletransfer
Droid Over WiFi
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dmitril.droidoverwifi

It would be best if a brief description and the usage of these apps is provided, as why should one bother to click through your links unless knowing that it would help. Please edit and add the info.

@Firelord well they are much a better use then all other answers :D

There's a couple of different things going on here. The latter part of your question, the laptop-to-PC issue, is likely as you suspect — because the laptop is on a separate LAN from the desktops (each router being its own local network), neither side can browse for computers on the other. You very likely could access the wired PCs from your laptop, if you connected to them directly by IP address. (Say, by entering \\192.168.12.34\ into the Windows Explorer address bar, if that was the IP assigned to one of your desktops.) It's merely the browsing and discovery functions which don't work, since they're confined to the immediate LAN.
Not being able to browse for the files on your Android phone, though, is an entirely different issue: You can't remotely access the files on an Android phone, because Android phones don't do Windows file sharing — at least not by default. Most likely, with your stock phone as configured by the manufacturer, the only way to remotely access its files is over Bluetooth from a paired computer.
ES File Explorer knows how to speak Windows file sharing as a client, so it's able to connect to the files shared on your PCs. But to go the other direction, you need to install an app on your phone that'll act as a Windows file sharing server. I'm sure there are several choices available in Google Play. (However, you should think twice or more before doing something like that. Opening up remote network access to your phone's files carries serious hacking and privacy dangers. It's not something to undertake casually.)

The issue with computer reachability isn't really an issue of "wifi" vs. "wired", by the way — it's the fact that in your setup, those two networks are managed by separate routers. Many "internet gateway" devices provide both wireless and wired connectivity in a single router. Typically all of the attached devices (wired or wireless) will be able to see each other, because it's all treated as one big local network.

so are you saying that using my existing setup, i can't access my PC through my laptop on wifi?

i also tried using IP address in the address bar method and it didn't work

just to be clear, my connection is like this: modem -> LAN router -> wifi router/few PC

Yeah, sorry, that was my error — and I even used an example IP that should have clued me in! Dumb.
The problem is that many local networks live behind NAT routers, so hosts don't have public IPs. The IP blocks 192.168.., 10..., and 172.{16-31}..___ (nobody ever uses the third) are the PRIVATE address space, and are explicitly non-routable. So, a computer can only be reached at that address from within its local network.
There are services like GoToMyPC that work around this, using public servers to relay. Straight Windows sharing, tho, can't do it.

Actually, though, I guess I'm confused now. I re-read your network setup, and... there are things that don't totally make sense to me, still. Like, you said you can connect to the PCs from your Android phone when it's on wifi... but not from your laptop, on wifi? (The same wifi network?) There's nothing your Android phone should be able to do, network-wise, that your laptop couldn't, so it may be an issue of configuration still. Perhaps the Workgroup setting — it may be an outdated concept, but I find Windows filesharing is still happiest when all machines are set to the same Workgroup name.

Use TeamViewer, the best tool also for other things (e.g. remote control of PC from Android device).

If possible, please add a Google Play link to the app you mentioned.


text:
updating a game with Apk file?
Ok im new to android as I used to be an iphone user so this question may not make any sense. Im used to jailbreaking but now I have a sg note 10.1 and im so lost with a few things. However, I downloaded an Apk file for this game/s. My question is if you have an Apk file can you update your game and do you lose your progress if you do? Someone explain to me all this stuff. Thanks.

That process is called Side Loading (I added the corresponding tag to your question, so you may simply click it for related questions). And yes, it can be done: All you'll have to do is to enable the unknown-sources setting, and then access the .apk using a web browser or file manager.
However: downloading apps from "dubious sources" carries a big risk, as they might include malware. Chances are especially high if you obtained that file from some "sharing site" like e.g. Mediafire or the like, where everybody can put everything. The risk you take that way is not worth the 99 cent saved by not buying the app on the playstore, so I would think twice before doing so. If you got the file from the developer's site, on the other hand, it should be as safe as if installed via the playstore.


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Xperia Play (R800a) stuck at Sony Ericcson logo on boot
OK then: Recently, the Xperia Play's screen has been broke. I just put in the new flex cable and THAT seems to work... except now:

I can only start the phone on USB power, otherwise it freezes at the splash.
If it boots, the touch screen doesn't work. As I can't unlock it without a touchscreen, I couldn't test it.

I did tighten the digitizer cable after this, no dice.
This link seems to describe my symptoms well.

If there's no more suitable answer: A last ressort would be a factory reset, which you should be able to do from the recovery menu.

What recovery menu? There's no recovery on the phone (bootloader locked)

Even with a locked bootloader, there usually is a stock recovery. For other ways, you can also check at hard-reset.com.

So appearantly, I can't install updates through PC Companion unless the phone is unlocked... wow. That's not going to help!

Sorry for that -- but not having a Sony Android-device myself, I must leave details to those knowing them...

Basically, I can't update the phone unless I unlock the screen... which I can't do because touch doesn't work. Trying to find some form of download mode doesn't seem to be working.

OK then, reflashed with the Update Tool, still nothing


text:
Android speech recognition - how to get access to the audio files?
When doing speech to text using android mobile phone application, I've heard that the files are temporarily stored in /data/data/com.google.android.voicesearch/files after the user makes a recording. How I would get read access to those files?

Probably not without rooting your device, as that's inside an app's private "sandbox" (/data/data/<package_name> is almost always "private area", and only accessible by the app itself and root).


text:
Small clock icon above AM/PM on 4x2 clock widget
Just received JellyBean 4.1.2 on my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3. I have always used the 4x2 digital clock widget and I noticed a small icon that looks like a clock appearing just above the AM/PM. This also appears when displaying the weather for the various cities. What does it mean?

Can you provide a screenshot to make it easier for us to see? We cannot see it from here :D

Ya screenshot would be nice, but it might be an edit button to change the appearance of the widget.  Could the icon possibly look like a gear?

Is it an indicator that an alarm is set?

Going by your description, you're referring to the object circled in this screenshot

That thing indicates that the city the time is being shown for is currently running on daylight savings time.  In this screenshot, we see that New York is observing daylight savings time, and Phoenix isn't.

That's it. I'm trying not to be so curious considering what that does to cats

@SusieB - Curiosity was framed for that.  =)


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Galaxy S I9000 doesn't start
I flashed my Samsung Galaxy S with 4.1.1 through Odin. But I didn't like it, so I wanted to restore it to Android 2.3 -- and and while restoring it my computer suddenly restarted and my mobile phone turned off.
Now the problem is that when I try to open my mobile it doesn't respond:
it gives my a little vibrate but the screen gives me nothing. When I try to start it in download or recovery mode it does the same: it just gives me a little vibrate.
I tried to connect it to my PC but nothing happened. When I charge it, it gives me nothing.
I replaced the battery and it did the same.
Is there anything I can do to revive my phone?


text:
Importing SSL certificate for email
I am having trouble importing an SSL CA certificate to authenticate my mail server.
My mail server is run by Dreamhost, which offers TLS on their IMAP/SMTP servers, but with a certificate signed only by them (not obtained through Verisign et al).  I have their root certificate file ndn.ca.crt and it works fine on my computer (I put it in /etc/ssl/certs with an appropriate symlink, and then firefox, pine, etc are able to verify Dreamhost's server).  Now I'd like to use it on my new Android phone (4.0.4).
I've tried importing the certificate: I copied ndn.ca.crt to USB storage and went to Settings > Security > Install from device storage.  I get a "Certificate name" dialog box with "ndn.ca" prefilled, saying "Package contains: One user certificate"; I touch "Ok" and see a popup "ndn.ca added".
However, when I touch "Trusted credentials", there is nothing listed under the "User" tab.  And when I try to select TLS or SSL as the security type in the Email app, I get the message "Setup could not finish: Cannot connect safely to server".  If I use "TLS (Accept all certificates)" it works, but of course this doesn't actually protect me against a man-in-the-middle.
Any ideas what could be wrong?  I've read the question How do you import CA certificates onto an Android phone? but it seems to be mainly concerned with getting the certificate in a recognized format, and doesn't help me.

Have a look at my answer to this question.


text:
Clearing Dalvik Cache without root?
I recently tried updating my Motorola Atrix 4g. It downloaded, and then it booted down to try to update. However, instead of updating, it ends up booting to a screen that just says
Failed to boot 2
Starting RSD mode

If I take out the battery, I boot up the phone for about 60 seconds before it starts shutting down again.
The phone is rooted, and it seems like it starts shutting down as soon as Android starts giving out root privileges.
Looking through different forums online, it seems as though the best solution to stop the phone from trying to update (without erasing all my data by resetting the phone to factory settings) is to clear the Dalvik cache.
The problem I am having is that so far, it seems that in order to clear the cache, I need root, but as soon as my phone has been on long enough to give out root, it restarts, and I can't do anything with it. To make the problem worse, I seem to be unable to boot into recovery...
Is there any way to clear the Dalvik Cache (really, really fast, and) without root (or recovery)?

I finally figured it out, here's how I did it:
Even though adb can't get root, and the phone it's self can't get root, as it turns out, there is in fact one more way to clear the cache without fully booting the phone.

Turn the phone off
Make sure you have fastboot working on your computer
Press the power button on the phone and then hold down the volume down button until you see fastboot, then hit the volume up button.
Open a terminal window, and type the following
sudo su
fastboot erase cache

And (apparently) voilà!  The cache is cleared!!

Yepp, /cache is cleared. But not /data/dalvik-cache. Quoting rootzwiki: fastboot erase is very straight-forward: It erases the specified partition. Example: fastboot erase cache will erase the contents of the /cache partition. To say it again: that's the app-cache, and not the Dalvik-Cache.

@Izzy Does fastboot have any specific command for deleting the Dalvic/ART cache? Without using TWRP?

@Shayan to my knowledge not.

That's unlikely to be possible. Dalvik cache is stored in /data/dalvik-cache, and doing an ls -l /data (as root) shows:
drwxrwx--x system   system            2013-03-29 14:54 dalvik-cache

As you can see, it is owned by user system of the group system, and all other users only have "execute" permission (i.e. they are only permitted to change into that directory). Digging a little deeper with ls -l /data/dalvik-cache shows e.g.:
-rw-r--r-- system   app_17    6416640 2013-03-02 00:28 data@app@com.google.android.apps.maps-1.apk@classes.dex

All files in here are again owned by system, which is again the only user with write permission (i.e. also the only one who could delete files). The app corresponding to each .dex file is represented as group; but as all "other" users, only has read-permissions.
Conclusion: only root can delete stuff here -- be it from a regular shell or via a custom recovery like e.g. ClockworkMod. Or via a factory-reset, of course...

One thing you could try, though, is booting into safe-mode. If any user app is causing the trouble, the device should boot up fine (as all user apps are skipped in safe-mode). A second suggestion is to attach your device via USB and try to capture a logcat (via adb logcat) to get some more hints on what could causing the trouble. This would of course require USB Debugging to be enabled. In case it was not yet enabled, you might be able doing so from safe-mode (I'm not sure about this, as I've never tried).

Do this:
sdk/platform-tools/adb shell
 shell@android:/ $ su system                  # switch from user "root" to "system"
 system@android:/ $ cd data/dalvik-cache/
 system@android:/data/dalvik-cache $ rm *
 system@android:/data/dalvik-cache $ exit
 shell@android:/data $ exit

and reboot your phone.

As a reminder: DO reboot immediately.

Are you sure what “su system“ will work without root?

This doesn't work without root, because you don't have the su binary..

Do backups.
If you a have Fuel that's now working, install:

Flashy now

Install an advanced recovery like TWRP (Fuel specific). Then you can only run recovery from a working system (no key combo works yet, get there from Flashy dialogs to start the TWRP recovery).

Once in recovery then  finally your computer can do ADB (finally getting shell, I tested on another Fuel) and hopefully from there you will not be locked out (like me) and can unlock the  boot-loader.
Because, if you don't then you will be replacing your phone, should it go loopy. LG said mine did (repeated stopped processes, no use of the phone) just by regular auto updates! It progressed to no settings access.

How is this an answer? I'm sorry, but this must be flagged on multiple grounds.

Hi! This is not a forum so please, while attempting to answer a question, only answer what has been asked. I removed some information from your answer because I found it unnecessary here. That said, attempt to write in an orderly fashion. Do not use abbreviations or short forms for just anything. Read formatting guide for better structuring of your answer. And finally, please keep up the good work of answering here. :) // It is another matter that I've not verified whether your post is even an answer to the question or not.

You don't even need root to clear dalvik cache. You can do it with the stock recovery. Shut off the phone & boot into recovery (I don't know what the key combination for the atrix is, so you'll have to look it up as the key combination is different from one phone to another) & look for an option that says something like "clear dalvik cache" hit volume down to highlight it & power to select it & wait until it boots which will probably take a lot longer than usual, which is normal. Leave it sit awhile while it rebuilds your list of apps. I don't know that might be any different since it's rooted. I've heard of the dalvik folder being as big as 3+GBs.


text:
How can I disable profanity filtering of autocomplete suggestions?
I'm using a Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.2.2. I started using the baked in Swype imitation/gesture typing as soon as I found out it was there. However, the profanity filtering is extremely frustrating. It's way too liberal - it won't even recognize "sucks." I poked around a bit but can't find anywhere to disable it. Is this possible?

Just type it in once, click it, and save it. Done.
You can also go to Settings > Language and Input > Personal Dictionary and add your words from there.

Doesn't work. Android already recognizes most of them as valid words.

OK, then type in some gibberish, click it, then again to save to dictionary. When the dialog comes up, replace it with whatever word you want and save. Just did this with 4.2.2 default keyboard and it works.


text:
Is there any way to re-render a photosphere?
I took a photosphere earlier today, and went to the gallery to wait for it to render. While it was rendering, I switched from landscape to portrait and the gallery app crashed. I'm now left with the pre-rendered, non-stitched images.
Is there any way to force the gallery to re-render the photosphere? Or do I just have to re-take it?

Not a full answer (came here looking for an answer myself), but here are a couple of partial solutions I figured out so far, perhaps someone else can improve upon these.

First of all, temporary files for the last few photosphere sessions can be found under /sdcard/Android/data/com.google.android.gallery3d/files/panorama_sessions/. You can extract these out and use an external program such as hugin to stich them. I tried this on a couple of photospheres and though they didn't come out great, I have at least something instead of nothing. I kept the files around and looking around for a good guide on using Hugin.
I was able to trick photo app to reprocess them, but it didn't produce desirable result. This is what I did:

I connected the phone to my laptop and went into the directory where the session files are (via adb shell).
I identified the directory for my previous session
While the camera is still connected to the laptop, I started taking a new photosphere, took a couple of snaps
Identified the directory for the new session
Copied all files from old session directory to the new session directory
Ended the photosphere to trigger a processing.

The photo app did process the old images, but it doesn't reread the session.meta and orientations.txt and instead uses the data from the new session (must be cached in memory). The result is that you  don't get a full photosphere, unless you complete the photosphere in the new session also, which I don't mind doing in the interest of saving the photosphere, except that I realized I had to capture the new photosphere in exactly the same sequence as before or the resultant image will all be out of place as it would be stiched in the wrong order.
Ideally, if there is a hidden task in the photo app to invoke the rendering, we should be able to trigger it on the old sessions folder, but I don't know where to begin.

The correct path to find the photos is in current Android 7.x versions /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.google.android.GoogleCamera/cache/panorama_sessions/ as told in Zak's answer. Otherwise very useful answer!

For me, it was in /sdcard/Android/data/com.google.android.GoogleCamera/files/panorama_sessions

To recover from a crash during a panorama stitch I did this:
Use a file explorer on Android to copy the folder containing the unstitched files from the cache:
/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.google.android.GoogleCamera/cache/panorama_sessions/
to the pictures folder and back them up with Google photos. I recieved a notification the next day that photos had stitched my panorama.

No, there is no way to rerender a photosphere. It loses the original data after rendering. Even after crashes.

Thanks for the answer. This was pretty much what I expected, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something somewhere.


text:
Memory reported as full without being full
I am having storage issues with my Samsung Galaxy S Duos. I solved it by moving apps from phone memory to the SD card, so now 1.2 GB of internal space is free. However, it still tells me that I have insufficient storage for apps.
I found that there are 94 MB of cache files there, but even if that's the case I should still have plenty of free space. Why does my phone still think that the internal storage is full?

Have you already checked with the insufficient-memory tag-wiki? Did the first-aid steps described there help you in any way?

See What can I do to manage my phone's internal storage? and install the app DiskUsage. On my phone, it made clear that the system itself takes up 1.2 GB, while this is not shown in the overview (settings > storage).
A possible explanation for why you get a message that internal storage is full, is that Android always keeps up free space equal to the size of the largest app you installed. So if you install the XyzApp that takes up 100MB, android wants 100MB free disk space in case it needs to update and download the new version.
You can try to move as many apps as possible to your external sdcard. That frees up space, and if by accident the biggest app can be moved, android will need less free space.
Hope this helps!
(And thanks to Izzy!)


text:
Not able to access photos, songs from phone storage
I am not able to access data on my phone storage through mobile apps. However, I am able to access the same data from my PC using s USB connection.
I already erased all data available on the phone, restarted the phone, and took some photos but the Gallery app still says "no photos/videos available". How can I fix this issue?


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Where are the developer options in Android 2.3.x?
I have Samsung Galaxy Exhibit 4G SGH-T679 running Android 2.3.6. I do not see the developer tools anywhere in the Settings menu.
Is there something special needed to get it to show up?

Haven't found anything at
developer.android.com/tools/device.html

I thought "Developer options" were only hidden in Jelly Bean?

As w3d indicates, they were hidden with later versions. To reveal them there, you need to go to Settings->About Phone, and tap the "build version" 7 times fast (i.e. like double-tap speed). It usually displays a message then with some congratulations. You might test that on your device, though it should not have been hidden before JB.

It's under Applications/Development

It has only been hidden since Android 4.2.
Back in Android 2.3, you just need to go to Settings - Applications - Development.


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Samsung Galaxy tab 10 does not start up
My tablet won't start. With the USB cable connected I can start my tablet using the "power & volume" trick.
When in prompt menue for various reboot options it says in yellow text

Can't access tp /system/csc/NSE/system

When I chose "reboot system now" and it starts up as fresh new but when I disconnect the cable there's total blackness and it's impossible to start up. The charger icon says 100%.
How can I get the tablet starting normally?


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How can I disable IPv6?
I have access to the IPv6 internet through Charter Communication's 6rd implementation. A number of CDNs fail to work correctly over IPv6, which causes a number of sites, including facebook, to have significant issues (pictures don't load, pages don't load, etc.)
On my desktop, I can disable IPv6, and these issues go away. Is it possible to do that on a stock android phone / tablet? (not rooted)
Edit: From the comments, I've learned that the actual issue is a MTU issue. So I'd be equally interested in a method to set a lower MTU on android as well.

I don't think you can disable IPv6 on Android, but you shouldn't have to. Facebook and other sites work fine over IPv6. It sounds like an MTU issue in your ISP's network, which they should fix.

Unless you have a different method for detecting this (which I'd be glad to try), this site reports no PMTUD problems detected. I also don't think this is a MTU issue, because the connection always forms, but then no data is sent. I'll add an example of the problem to the post.

And for whatever reason, I'm not able to recreate the issue right now. If I'm able to grab a capture later on, I'll update the post with it.

Without root I doubt it. You need to modify /etc/sysctl.conf file which has a 644 mode for root owner.

Connections forming correctly but then no data being received is exactly what an MTU issue looks like. The connection setup (SYN, SYN+ACK, ACK) is with packets that are small enough to fit on any IPv6 link, but the data will be big enough to trigger the problem.

@SanderSteffann: Would a tool like ipv6-test.com/pmtud definitively rule out that problem? Or is there some other method I can use?

There is no tool that can rule out this problem, as the problem might be on for example a dedicated interconnect between your ISP and Facebook, which would only show up in very specific cases that the test can't detect. A successful test does indicate that your local equipment isn't the cause though.

Can you test the following on your desktop: re-enable IPv6, test to see if the problem still occurs. Then go to your network adapter settings and change the MTU to 1280. Then test again. If this solves your problem then it's definitely an MTU issue.

@SanderSteffann: I just tested this, and a 1280 or 1400 MTU fixes the issue versus a 1500 MTU. So I guess I need to complain to my ISP then... If we have a method (which I assume we don't without rooting) to adjust the MTU on andriod, I'd be up for that as well.

@SanderSteffann: As an additional side note, I was able to set a MTU of 1400 on my router, which looks like this will functionally solve my problem. Thanks so much! I guess I'll leave this open in case someone ends up having a method to do this on a per-device basis (which is actually a less preferred solution anyways).

Hummm.... what's it to do with Android? What device? What version of Android? This is looking somewhat ... vague.... and what is Charter Communication's 6rd implementation?

@t0mm13b: Android version is Jelly Bean. Charter Communications is my ISP. 6rd is a protocol that ISPs can implement to enable access to the IPv6 internet through an encapsulation protocol. This is Android specific because on desktops (os x, windows, linux) I can easily disable IPv6. I don't know how to do that on Android.

OP: Should have stated all that for us enthusiasts... :) just saying ;)

Until Google does something about issue 1008, (which seems unlikely since it's about five years old now) you're unlikely to get a better answer, but for what it's worth, this might help someone in a similar situation.
At the moment you can't alter the MTU without root access to the device. In Linux this operation requires root, so on Android you either need to root the device, or Google needs to provide system functionality that applications can use to perform the operation (i.e. resolve issue 1008).
There is an off-market program MTUchanger which can be used on rooted devices to change the MTU. If you can root your device you can sideload this and work around the issue.
Of course, you should complain bitterly about Charter (and Rogers and the dozen or so other ISPs) deploying 6rd in 2013, when the rest of the world is moving past transition technologies and is doing native dual stack. 6rd is essentially ISP-private 6to4 tunnelling, which is why the MTU has to be lowered from 1500. As such, any company that deploys it is eventually going to have to do it again, and do it right.

Seeing as how the situation hasn't changed in over a year, your answer appears to be the sad truth. Additionally, Charter is still deploying only 6rd in 2014.

@sharth If they actually needed to deploy IPv6 via 6rd, it indicates that their network infrastructure is ancient, as the only legitimate reason to use 6rd at all is to pass traffic through routers that are so old they don't know what IPv6 is. And such routers are at least a decade old or more, largely thanks to a US government mandate that government agencies had to be IPv6-ready by 2008. Most enterprise network vendors had their hardware ready well before then.

unfortunately, this answer talks about MTU, not about IPv6 which is the title of this question.

@FrederickNord That's because this answer addressed the user's real question.

As mentioned in the closed issue, Path MTU Discovery should be the proper thing to do (pending on kernel support I guess). Since nougat android should also respect the MTU value inside dhcp.


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Does the lock screen on a encrypted device provide different security than an unencrypted device?
I am wanting to encrypt my phone and SD card. I have been reading around about it all week and still don't understand a few things. I though that the encryption was like blackberry encryption, where you put the password in every time you turn the phone on to the screen lock. After a bit of reading, I understand that the "decryption" is only done at boot up by putting the password in once. After that, you have to put the same password in at the screen lock simply because of a limitation of Android not allowing two different passwords. I do know that there are new ways to use a different password on the screen lock, and even a pattern lock, that's not my issue.
Here are my questions....

If the device is technically decrypted after boot up, is the screen lock the only security on the phone once it's turned on?
Does the screen lock of an encrypted device have any stronger security than that of an unencrypted device? If not, it seems like the phone is just as vulnerable to data theft as an unencrypted device if someone steals it while it is turned on.  I understand that it will encrypt again if they turn it off, but if it's on, what good is encryption?
If someone pulls the SD card out (which is encrypted) they can't read it with a card reader, but if they put it back in the phone while it's still on, won't the decrypted phone just mount it again so they can read it from the phone?
Finally, on a Blackberry, a wipe is performed by erasing the encryption key. This makes an almost instant wipe of the whole phone and SD card. I know an encrypted device has to be wiped the same as an unencrypted device, but is Android programmed in a way that the encryption key is wiped first, in case someone pulls a battery or forces a phone off during a wipe? I know that's far-fetched, just curious about how it works.

Not sure if it makes a difference, but I am using a Razr Maxx HD, rooted on OTA 4.1.1

One question per post :) Even though they are all related to the same subject matter, it is preferably easier for everyone to digest and to answer :)

Sorry, it's my first post here and I didn't see that only one question is allowed per post.  No problem, I will be sure to separate topics next time.  Hopefully I can still receive some replies here, I'm eagerly waiting!

I contacted Motorola and was told the following:

The screen lock is the only protection on the phone once it is turned on.

The screen lock of an encrypted phone is the same thing as an unencrypted phone, it provides no better security than an unencrypted phone.

The card can mount again only if the correct password is used.  In this case, the security of encryption is good.

Unknown by Motorola agent.

1 - Yes. 2 - When it's on, it's as good as a non encrypted device. I'd be interested to know what the answers to 3 and 4 are.

Yes, the lock screen is the only barrier on an encrypted but booted Android device; Android keeps the encryption key in memory and transparently decrypts all files read by applications in the background.
Of course, that is far from ideal (iOS uses a much more complicated scheme, where some classes of encryption keys are dropped the moment the screen is locked), but it is a very simple model which is still fairly effective against many kinds of attacks.
You can find more details on the implementation and the threat model on SE crypto.

Although lock screen is the only security barrier on an encrypted but booted Android device, it is still almost equivalent to the device bootup decryption process - bar exploiting possible lockscreen or other running processes vulnerabilities, - considering the password is the same, that is the same entropy.
One wrong move while fiddling with the screen lock and the device forces you through the whole boot process.
Same goes with reading an encrypted sdcard on a booted phone: you need the same strength password, either for unlocking the lockscreen or for booting the device afresh for getting to the filemanager to read the files from sdcard.


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SGS3 in app screen restarts
I am having a problem with my Samsung Galaxy S3. I bought this last year. No damage so far. I usually download apps/games in Play store when all of a sudden I noticed my screen blacks out for a millisecond then restarts.
This usually happens in app/games when I play Smurfs and Sims, and even when I am using my camera and when I view the gallery. Does anybody know how to fix this?
Your assistance will be very much appreciated.

What you're experiencing is probably the "sudden death" issue experienced by several users. You could try updating your firmware to the latest firmware released by Samsung or flash a custom rom to fix the issue.


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CyanogenMod doesn't work on HTC Sensation XE
I have strange troubles with installation CyanogenMod on HTC Sensation XE.
Any version (I'v tried 9.0, 9.1, last nightly 10) show about the same errors. There are two classes of errors.
First - /cache/dalvik-cache disappears.
    E/dalvikvm(  315): Could not stat dex cache directory '/cache/dalvik-cache': Permission denied
    I/dalvikvm(  315): Unable to open or create cache for /system/framework/core.jar     (/cache/dalvik-cache/system@framework@core.jar@classes.dex)
    D/dalvikvm(  315): Unable to process classpath element '/system/framework/core.jar'
    E/dalvikvm(  315): Could not stat dex cache directory '/cache/dalvik-cache': Permission denied
    I/dalvikvm(  315): Unable to open or create cache for /system/framework/core-junit.jar (/cache/dalvik-cache/system@framework@core-junit.jar@classes.dex)
    D/dalvikvm(  315): Unable to process classpath element '/system/framework/core-junit.jar'

But I created /cache/dalvik-cache before run:
    /cache # mkdir dalvik-cache
    /cache # chown system.cache dalvik-cache
    /cache # ls -la
    drwxrwx---    5 system   cache         4096 Mar 31 19:58 .
    drwxr-xr-x   18 root     root             0 Mar 31 19:56 ..
    drwxrwxrwx    2 system   cache         4096 Mar 31 19:58 dalvik-cache
    drwxrwx---    2 root     root          4096 Jan  1  1970 lost+found
    drwxrwx---    2 system   cache         4096 Mar 31 19:31 recovery
    /cache #

Second - dalvik waits unexacting jars:
    D/dalvikvm(  112): DexOpt: --- END 'apache-xml.jar' (success) ---
    D/dalvikvm(  112): DEX prep '/system/framework/apache-xml.jar': unzip in 33ms, rewrite 964ms
    D/dalvikvm(  112): Unable to stat classpath element '/system/framework/HTCDev.jar'
    D/dalvikvm(  112): Unable to stat classpath element '/system/framework/HTCExtension.jar'
    D/dalvikvm(  112): Unable to stat classpath element '/system/framework/com.htc.framework.jar'
    D/dalvikvm(  112): DexOpt: --- BEGIN 'filterfw.jar' (bootstrap=1) ---
    D/dalvikvm(  245): DexOpt: load 12ms, verify+opt 88ms
    D/dalvikvm(  112): DexOpt: --- END 'filterfw.jar' (success) ---
    D/dalvikvm(  112): DEX prep '/system/framework/filterfw.jar': unzip in 8ms, rewrite 256ms
    D/dalvikvm(  112): Unable to stat classpath element '/system/framework/com.htc.android.bluetooth.jar'
    D/dalvikvm(  112): Unable to stat classpath element '/system/framework/wimax.jar'
    D/dalvikvm(  112): Unable to stat classpath element '/system/framework/com.orange.authentication.simcard.jar'

The full log is available here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u1wpz8j7fskf17o/htc-cm.log
Is there any ideas what to do?

The clues - /system/framework/HTCDev.jar, /system/framework/HTCExtension.jar and /system/framework/com.htc.framework.jar. Is this the official ROM for your handset? Or were you using another variant not designated/adapted?

I'v downloaded Cyanogen image here: http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=pyramid  These images don't contain HTCExtension.jar etc.

After scrolling down, and mousing over on the pyramid on the left side of page(from CM pyramid is for HTC Sensation, not HTC Sensation XE which could explain this! :)

Some HTC devices that are unlocked using htc-dev (rather than actually gaining S-Off) required to manually flash the boot.img that you extract from the ROM's zip using fastboot.
fastboot flash boot "c:\location\to\boot.img"

I had a similar issue when trying to run CM9 and CM10.1 on my Sensation XL. To bypass the cache issue, I added this line to my build.prop file:
dalvik.vm.dexopt-data-only=1


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ssh over wifi vs broadband weirdness
I have a really weird issue with connecting to an outside host from my android device (2.3.6) using ssh. I have no problem with connectbot actually, but when working on a terminal the weirdness kicks in. I've tried several solutions (terminal-ide, rsync4android, kbox) and the symptoms are all the same.
If I'm connected to the net through the broadband link everything works find, host resolution, ssh, etc.
However if I'm connected through my home wifi router host resolution doesn't work and neither does ssh (connectbot still works over wifi, but none of the terminal based solutions). It simply hangs when I do "ssh host.com" or "ssh x.y.z.v" so it doesn't matter if I use IP numbers or the domain name.
I thought this has to do with the firewall setup on my wifi router, but on my laptop everything is working without a problem, I can ssh to any host, etc, and on the laptop the connection is also through the wifi router.
So to summarize this is situation:

connectbot on device: works with both wifi and broadband
terminal/ssh on device: only works with broadband
terminal/ssh on laptop: works with wifi

I should add that ping, wget, netcat, etc. all work from the terminal to the outside host also on wifi so the problem is ssh-specific.
What can be the reason? Any hints would be greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately strace or the -v and -vv options for the ssh client are not available on android, so I'm really at a loss how to debug this.
In case you are interested why I don't simply use connectbot and forget about the terminals: I'd like to use rsync eventually which would operate over ssh.

can you ping the hosts by numeric IP addresses (within your wifi network) from within the terminal on your device? If yes, then can you ping to outside hosts on the terminal?

Yes, I can ping all hosts from the terminal. Also, the outside host which runs the ssh server also runs a web server and I can fetch any content with wget. So the problem is really ssh-specific.

What does the log say when performing ssh....? Is it authentication, no ssh keys...? More information? :)

It just hangs, there is no output at all. And since there is no strace I don't know how to find out what the problem is.

use ssh -v for verbose output, add an extra v to the switch for more verbose output.

Unfortunately the -v or -vv options are not recognized by ssh on android.

Care to be more specific on what is the ssh app? There's a few out there... I use sshdroid pro... try switching to another ssh app?

It's the ssh client that comes with terminal-ide: http://code.google.com/p/terminal-ide/ It's actually dropbear: https://matt.ucc.asn.au/dropbear/dropbear.html

Since I use terminal-ide for all sorts of things and it works with the broadband link I really would like to make it work also with the wifi link. That's the reason I wouldn't want to switch ssh clients.

maybe its not ssh but terminal-ide which is a terminal IDE is a command line java / android dev kit that runs on the device itself. It may not know anything/zero awareness of ssh? Have you thought of that?

As I've said ssh works perfectly well from terminal-ide if I'm connected through the broadband link.


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How to stop Google Keep from seeing numeric data as phone numbers?
Google Keep on Android seems to convert arbitrary numeric data into clickable phone numbers. Any sequence of 5 or more digits, with differing punctuation seems to trigger it. I seem to have triggered this a lot so far and not once have I actually typed a phone number! This is proving to be quite problematic. The hypertext'd numbers are too easy to tap, particularly when you are going back to edit that text, which then transports you away to the dialer! Most annoying.

Is there any way to prevent the app from doing this?
UPDATE: I installed the update to 1.0.79 today but there is no change in this behaviour yet. In fact I can't see that anything has changed with this update?! Possibly bug fixes I guess, but nothing new is listed in the official change log either?!
However, this over zealous hyperlinking of numbers is more prevalent than I first thought... the default text messaging app does it as well - so I guess they share a common text-element?

Have you found a solution to this by any chance, or what this is even called in the settings?

Interesting to see this has been a problem for over 10 years now

Even just putting today's date 2024.11.13 or my weight, 150.2 and notes will think they are phone numbers. I love Keep otherwise, but this bug is a pain in the a$$.

Looks to be bad recognition by Google's code. :-/ Happens on mine as well and no setting can change it.
Google is surprisingly receptive to feedback on its apps (a bug fix I reported made it into Google Music's update!), so two ways to get this fixed:
Go to Keep's page and click "Email Developer" and write this up. Or, within Keep, Menu -> Send Feedback.

I've sent an email to the developer... lets wait and see!

I've done the same! :) Come oooonnnn, Google! :D

10 years later and the same problem still exists.

It has been at least 3 years since this bug has been noticed and Google notified. It still hasn't been fixed! This also shows that Google Employees don't use Keep.
After must frustration I've developed a system for storing numbers in Keep:
The following are counted as part of a larger number if it has digits to the left/right of it:

point .
dash -
hash # (a.k.a. pound sign)

So instead of using all these "digits" use other punctuation, example:

IP address 128*0*0*1
Amount with cents $ 1234,567,890+12
Arbitrary numbers, 5 "digits" and longer (4 digits is the limit) account number 555=9999=444=22
PO Box 1921@6801

Once Keep has marked a series of digits as dial-able:

use non-digits to break the number into chunks of 4 or less.
close the current Keep note
open the note again
notice how the series of digits aren't recognized as a phone number anymore.

I'll be dropping another email to Google and I'll be referencing this post.

Thanks for the info, although having to type alternative chars is a bit of an extreme workaround IMO. Particularly since I also use Keep on iOS and the web where this is not a problem. (iOS only marks up obvious looking phone numbers - so this would seem to be something that is more OS related, rather than Keep itself?)  However, the "problem" is not as bad as it used to be. "Phone numbers" are now black underlined, rather than bright blue. And clicking the "phone number" doesn't immediately trigger the dialer; you get a menu to "Call" or "Edit". Still a pain though. (Android 5.1.1)

Update after sending feedback to google: see report at https://productforums.google.com/forum/m/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer#!msg/docs/r1Kc35OITqA/p6yFdgdzLQAJ

@w3dk Even if it is OS related, only the Keep app exhibits this behavior. What really irks me is that their feedback systems are the worst bug reporting systems I've come across, even worse than Microsoft.

"only the Keep app exhibits this behavior" - I see the same behaviour in Google Hangouts and the stock text messaging app (maybe it's a Google App thing?), except in these other apps the converted text appears bright blue (as it used to in Keep). It's less noticeable in these other apps (at least for me) because I don't type so many numbers when messaging.

I've been reading this post but I'm not a techy whizz, so messing with Keep settings etc. is not for me.
However, I've an easy way around this problem.  I now use alternative characters at start, between and at end of my number string. I then select these characters and change the text colour to white.  Bingo!!  May not be a solution for all situations but it's working for my e-mail templates in gmail.

"it's working for my e-mail templates in gmail" - You store your "email templates" in Keep?! "change the text colour to white" - how do you change the text colour? Google Keep (still) doesn't support text formatting? However, this is no way near the problem it used to be a few years ago, everything except for the 127.0.0.1 IP address in my original question is now formatted "correctly" as ordinary/plain text for me in Google Keep (Android). Are you sure you're using "Google Keep"?

I work with medical facilities and Google and Microsoft both seems to have changed these 10 digit national provider numbers into phone numbers automatically which is a pain. However, if I select the 10 digits and underline it, the phone link disappears. If you don't mind the underline, it may be a resolution.

"...and underline it"? How do you "underline it"? Google Keep doesn't support text formatting?


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How To Change browser font in Chrome For Android?
I am a seasoned Linux developer, tinkering with Android.
I want to modify Chrome so that it uses the font I want as default.
So far I've found
/data/data/com.android.chrome/shared_prefs/com.android.chrome_preferences.xml

But it seems to sync settings from Google cloud?
Anyone know markup to specify font?

You can try using Per App fonts -an Xposed module. It requires root though


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Can't seem to configure my phone to download to SD card by default
Well, I have a Motorola Razr I and, as expected, my internal storage was pretty limited (only 5 gbs). Of course, I already had a SD card which I inserted into my phone to expand it's memory to 25 gbs (more or less), but ran into a couple of problems.
First of those problems was that I had to specify to my Razr that, from now on, my default install and download location would be the aforementioned SD card and, in order to do that, I had to run the following command line: ... set-install-location 2.
After a couple of failed attempts, I managed to make it work. I wrote such line in the command prompt and managed to verify that, indeed, the default install location was "2".  Unfortunately, when I tried downloading an app off Google Play, I still got the Not enough memory available message. The worst part is that I went through the process over and over again and could not find where my mistake was.
Any ideas?

If you're on Android 4.4, write permissions to sd card for apps have been disabled. If you're rooted, you can try SD Fix to permanently fix permissions.

If you're rooted and have a custom ROM, you can try this.
Basically mounts your external SD card as the internal SD card, and the internal as the external.

I'm not rooted, and I do not have a custom ROM. Is there any other way around?

doesn't seem to be... Not that I could find. Seems a common problem with RAZR's though


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Connect to Ubuntu Linux VPN
How can I connect my Android devices (2.3.3 and 4.0) to VPN setup in Ubuntu Linux?

Look under Settings > Wireless & Networks. You should see a VPN option. Assuming you already have a VPN server running on your Ubuntu machine, it should be pretty self-explanatory from there


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Connecting to Adhoc Wifi
I setup adhoc connection in Ubuntu Linux. How can we connect android devices (2.3.3 and 4.0) to the adhoc wifi internet connection?

Simple answer: Android does not support Ad-Hoc networks by default (see also the ad-hoc-networks tag-wiki, which tells you this and more). This means, you will need to root your devices, and use an app for this specific task, which is known as reverse-tether.
Some solutions are summed up in the following questions (or rather in their answers):

How to share internet among 2 android devices?
Enable Adhoc on Jelly Bean
Connect android phones through adhoc wifi network
How can I establish an AD-HOC Wi-Fi connection on my tablet?

As I did not use this method (had no need for it), I'm not sure what "easy solutions" really do. But if I remember correctly, OpenGarden's WiFi Tethering supports this, as does MANET Manager.

Yes ad hoc isn't supported in Android OS but typing 2 lines of DOS commands should solve the problem, I tested this and it works.
Type these 2 lines on DOS command prompt:
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=NAME key=PASSWORD

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

I found it on this blog.


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How to enable USB connection mode on Samsung Galaxy Fit?
How to enable USB connection mode in Samsung Galaxy Fit mobile?
When I connect my mobile to laptop via a data cable, I am unable to transfer data between PC-mobile and mobile-PC.
The option "USB settings" under Settings tab is missing in my mobile. I have enabled USB Debugging mode under Applications tab in my mobile.
I tried all the viable options but still am unable to select the mode as Charge mode/USB mode etc on my mobile.
What could I have missed?

Hi try clicking Notification Scroll down to find 'USB Connected' like option... press go navigate


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"Application has stopped unexpectedly" error when starting Play Store or browser. How to fix?
How to fix the application Google Services Framework (process com.google.process.gapps) has stopped unexpectedly error? It's showing like 10,000 times and I can't get into the Play Store or the browser.

If you could give a few more details, we might be able to help you. Do you e.g. get a "force-close" popup, or is the message just a "toast"? Have you tried the usual steps like e.g. clearing cache/data from affected apps, or re-booting your device?

Possibly related: Have to clear google services framework on android ice cream sandwich

Have you updated recently? Have you tried clearing the cache from the app? Clearing the data? Please add these details to your question.

I find that rebooting and clearing the cache will sometimes clear the app from stopping. If that doesn't work, then I uninstall the app and re-install the app back later.

Its a pain the ass when the apps stop in the middle of your downloading or texting.


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Android sync with calendar works only one-way
I have a Phone with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and I am trying to synchronize my calendar with my Google account. The problem is, that sync only works one-way. Data from Google are transferred to my phone, but events from my mobile calendar don't upload to Google account. I tried various settings but I am obviously missing something.
How can I fix this?

Have you verified that the calendar events that you created are marked as being on your Google Calendar and not a local calendar(e.g. My Calendar)?

I fixed by giving the mobile calendar the same name as its called on Google...


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Why isn't the Swype keyboard showing corrections?
Normally, while using the Swype keyboard, corrections appear at the top of the screen and it allows me to pick the right word. For some reason it isn't appearing at the moment.
Is there a way to switch it back on? Its still correcting me and I want to type a word that isn't in the dictionary.
I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S2, aka GT-I9100.

Have you checked its options in Settings->Language & Input->Keyboards & Input methods? Next to the IME (here: Swype) should be an icon to invoke its settings.

@Izzy - Yes. All the options are exactly as I'd expect them. The corrections appear almost every time, just not that time. (Its working now, but without having changed settings.)

I've had this happen to me as well and have not been able to identify what triggers the problem or what makes it go away. It's very frustrating that words will be "corrected" and you have no way of stopping it.

I don't have the Galaxy S2 or Swype any more, but I was able to fix the problem by changing the screen orientation and then changing it back again. Once I did this, the corrections came back.
I found this out purely by accident but was able to repeat it to confirm the fix the next time the problem happened.

Thanks. Now I'm hoping I see the problem crop up again so I can try your fix. I normally switch off auto-rotation but its no trouble to switch it on and off temporarily.


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no sound on playing videos using vlc beta on nexus 4
I have nexus4 . i installed vlc beta from this link as default player couldn't play all formats.while playing videos on phone, it showed only video , no audio.
video is alright.

What is 'this link'?

Plus: Did you check the videos with another player? Maybe they do not have any audio track.

after upgrade it worked all fine. thank for voting negative :(

Try another player for the device
of try the same video file in a different format if possible.
This will determin if the the video or not.
It's most likely that the vlc player doesn't support that file format as well.
Your best chance is to t another player like MX Player or BSPlayer (googled that).
Video players for mobiles are more limited on what formats they can play.
Reference/guide for you: http://www.real.com/resources/mobile-video-player


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Add users not showing in Jelly Bean 4.2 on TF300
I have a Asus T300. After upgrading to 4.2 I added 3 users for my children. I need to add one more. At my owner account it is not showing add users any more. Does anyone know why?

Can you post a screenshot of the Users screen in the settings menu?

I haven't been able to find anything about Jelly Bean having a maximum number of user accounts within stock Android, but it's possible that the manufacturer has imposed such a limit.

From what I can tell it's 8 users. This new Multiple user set up allows Android tablet owners create up to eight separate accounts for friends, family members or significant others, all on a single tablet like the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10.

IT is in Norwegian. But the only thing I miss is add users on the topp right side. It was ther when I add the 3 other users I have add. I have 1 owner and 3 other users now.

I have the same problem in an Asus 176c. I added an extra user and now i cannot add anymore. The link is greyed out. In an exact same machine belonging to my aunt, i can still add users.


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Copy Directory to SMB Share Through Terminal
On Rooted Android 4.1, I have it set up to be able to make NAndroid backups through terminal emulator.
What I hope to do is schedule a Tasker job to create a NAndroid backup and then copy/move it across wifi to my PC, so I can schedule it to run once a week in the middle of the night.
I know MV will move files/directories, but I'm not sure how to specify the network share as the destination.
I'll keep looking into it, but if anyone has already solved this one I would love to hear about it!

To gain that possibility, you would need to mount the remote (PC) drive on your Android device. This could e.g. be done using CifsManager or Mount Manager. The latter even offers a Tasker plugin, which would fit your wanted feature of being able to handle things directly from Tasker. And if you have trouble with it, you'll find its author/dev here at ASE, I'd say from the name :)


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How can I edit a prior predictive search?
When typing a URL into my Cyanogenmod phone's browser, as I type, it suggests URL(s) from prior browsing that match what I have typed, similarly, when on a Google web search page, if I begin to type in a search string, the phone offers prior searches that match what I have typed in thus far in a drop down list from which you can select.
This is a great feature, but sometimes, I want to take the prior history and modify it slightly or append to it.  This is especially common with a search where I want to add more words to my prior search.
Is there anyway to somehow select one of the suggestions without immediately invoking it and thus allowing me to edit it slightly before submission?


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In my keyboard, is there a way to advance or backup the insertion point?
Using the keyboard in Cyanogenmod, sometimes while typing in a sentence, I see a point where I would like to make an edit.  Presently, I do this by touching with my finger where I want the insertion point to be, however, it is hard to get the exact location, often I miss it by one or two characters.  In such cases, instead of trying again and again until I get it right (which is most difficult to position right at the beginning of the text) is there a way to advance the cursor forward of backwards by one position somehow?  In other words, on a computer, I would press the forward or backward arrow keys to move one position, is there something like that in the keyboard?

When you touch with your finger do you not get a blue indicator "tab" just below where the cursor has been placed? It is usually then fairly easy to drag this "tab" (and corresponding cursor) a couple of characters to the correct position.

@w3d Yes, the blue arrow can be dragged around.  I think that qualifies as the answer, so why don't you post it?

@w3d : it is NOT fairly easy if i want to place the cursor right in the middle of a "ii", which is exactly 1 pixel wide... -.-

As mentioned in comments, when you tap some text to set the insertion point you should get a blue indicator "tab" just below where the cursor has been placed. It is usually then fairly easy to drag this "tab" (and corresponding cursor) a couple of characters to the correct position.
Unfortunately, unlike some other keyboards, the stock Android keyboard does not have arrow keys.

I don't know about the stock keyboard but in Swiftkey and Kii keyboard(a wonderful and free alternative to stock keyboard and Swiftkey) you and enable arrow keys, ie → ← ↑ ↓. I think this might be what you're looking for.

You can install an alternate keyboard to gain this functionality. I put Hackers Keyboard (free in Play Store) on my Nexus 10 and have it configured with arrow keys. Ctrl-C/X/V also work (for cut & paste shortcuts).


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How do i use a lockscreen from another rom
I want to use only the lock screen from another rom for the same phone.
I own Micromax A52.
And I am using Xzoom v3 as my rom with Dark Angel theme.(to be precise if anyone knows and if it matters :P)
But i want to use the lock screen from another rom 'SuperStock52' which is also a rom for the same device.
How can i port that lock screen to my rom?

Unless the lock screen is some kind of 3rd party app (like GO Locker), then I believe you would have to modify the ROM yourself, and port the lock screen over manually, into your 'new' ROM. - In which case you might be better off asking for advice over at XDA, or another developer forum.
If it is some kind of 3rd party app, chances are you can download & install it from the Play store, or download the APK online from the developer's website.
EDIT: Rereading your question it's occured to me you might actually be asking how to port over the lock screen (IE: which files to modify in the ROM) - in which case, you should probably go to XDA (see above link) and ask for advice.


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Samsung Galaxy Ace not detected AT ALL on Windows 8 Pro
Here is the exact same problem but with a different phone:
Unable to connect Galaxy S3 to PC via USB
This is not the standard device on recognized ordeal but a device is not even being detected at all in any way by the PC.
The phone is the Samsung galaxy ace.
and the OS is Windows 8 professional x64.
Tried installing kies and re-installing.
I'm using the stock cable and the windows 7 drivers (no windows 8 drivers available).
I've went through the usual reset of the phone, formatting of the phone.
Tried all the available USB.
I tried the troubleshooting pack cabinet from windows for hardware changes on windows 8 to no result.
I've messed with all the settings for development on the phone etc etc.
Been in device manager looking for some information on it but it is not listed.
The phone with the setup it has just now works perfectly with windows 7 on another PC of mine and I can debug and deploy to the mobile via that but it is not my primary work station. (without kies!)
The phone still charges and buzzes but the PC gives no response :/
Whats the code to do a hard reset and any other ideas on how I could fix this problem?

Care to provide more troubleshooting? Event logs? Windows 8 is fairly new... have you tried another machine, such as one that comes with Windows 7? What does the device manager say? BTW, your question with No I do not need... comes across as condescending without providing further information - we cannot see it from here and majority of users here are on Win 7 (very few on Win 8 judging from past questions here) and some on Linux...

Sorry, just a long day and fed up looking for the solution and people spamming the same non related answers to questions about installing kies etc
I dont have another machine with windows 8 installed unfortunatly.
None of the logs I checked mention anything related to the usb or the connection.