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I can't use my Galaxy S3 storage on my laptop
When I plug the USB on my galaxy s3 sprint it charges normally but no notifications appear about using the mass storage.. so how can I fix that and transfer the data from PC to my phone.
NOTE:  I cant find this option connected as media device one the notifications.

The Galaxy S3, like other jelly bean Android devices, doesn't use the mass storage class.  It works via MTP.  What OS do you have on your laptop?

I'm using windows 8.1 I plugged Samsung note 2 with the same cable and it works just fine!

@Compro01 all my JB tabbies mount using UMS (as shipped). So there are exceptions :)

Do you have Kies installed on your PC?

@geffchang no but I am downloading it now

I installed Kies but when I plug my device in shows only CONNECTING and that window never changes

OS: Win 8.1 x64 with latest updates.
Phone: Samsung galaxy S3 (GT-i9300).
I got it working without manually installing any driver.
When I plugged my phone in the computer it automatically installed the driver for me.
After that I didnt see any popup.
What you need to do is leave the phone plugged in your pc/laptop while restarting the phone (don't be to hasty here, give the phone some time to boot up completely).
After that go to control panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers.
In here look for the multimedia tab and you should see your phone (GT-i9300).
Right click on it and you should see the menu browse files > GT-9300.
Voila you are in your phone.
After that you don't even need to repeat the steps before again, because the popup suddenly comes back(don't switch to another usb port here, just keep using the port where you performed your phone reboot). Incase you accidentally plugged your phone in another usb port you need to repeat the steps above.
Thats how I got mine working. I hope it helps you!


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Sharing/tethering 3G connection between Android devices
Is it possible to share 3G connection between two Android devices, a smartphone with 3G and a tablet with only wi-fi, for me to access the web with the tablet anywhere?
I have a Sony Xperia X8 with 3G connection, but my Nexus 7 doesn't, so I'm kind of tied to places with wi-fi routers, but I thought on using the phone to share connection with the tablet. I already do it with my notebook, although I need the cable.
Phone runs Android 2.1 and tablet runs 4.3, but I may try to install a modded ROM on the phone to update it to 2.3, if needed.

If you can upgrade the OS on your phone to at least Gingerbread, it will have a built-in hotspot feature you can use via WiFi. Otherwise you might have to root your device, or check the Playstore for solutions not requiring root. Understand that Eclair (2.1) is pretty outdated, so support might be limited.

Yes, I do understand Eclair is kinda old :/ I will search for a updated ROM for now

You phone has good development scene over at xda. Latest I could spot is Mini CM10.1 with Android 4.1.2 which does Wi-Fi tethering natively.
Good luck.

@k1chy can you give me directions on how to change ROMs? I failed miserably last try :(

read the guide over here. First you need to Unlock and install a custom recovery like ClockworkMod (CWM). From there it is simple.
Read the instructions clearly and be sure of what you are doing before doing it. Good luck

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Is there a way to receive my SMS messages on my desktop?
I just purchased an S4 Mini, my first android phone. I was wondering - is there a way to send/receive messages on my Windows 8 desktop when my phone is connected to my machine?

This may be a duplicate of How do I send SMS from PC through Android Phone or to Android Phone?

You might wish to run a search on Google Play. One good choice will be Airdroid, which gives you a full remote maintenance suite. And of course you can send/receive SMS using any browser you like.

What kind of search would I be running? I don't quite know what these kinds of applications are called and although I've had a cursory look, I had no luck

I'd try startimg with "remote management". But that might turn up lots of things you're not after. You might want to check this list of alternatives (don't mind the German, just see the app-links below "Vollverwaltung" for alternatives to Airdroid).

You can try SMS Text Messaging ↔PC Texting.
★ Send & Receive SMS on your computer ot tablet.

★ Instant Notifications on computer/tablet when SMS hits phone.

Or how about Kies Air?
You can connect to your pc using Wi-Fi and there are more functionalities than just texting.
There is no need for a cable. This could be a plus or a min.

Without having to connect any cables, within a browser you can use diverse function such as multimedia transfer, music listening, PIMS management, text message, file search, and so on.

For a Windows 8 PC, you should try mysms. It has an native Windows 8 client
You can send/reveive texts on your Windows 8 PC via your mobile operator. Your PC and your phone will stay in sync.

I've been using Mighty Text for about 6 months now. Works really well and has enough other features too.

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


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Galaxy S3 high RAM consumption even on idle
I have a Galaxy S3 International Version, without any modification whatsoever-- no rooting, no nothing. It is as good as a stock phone with a few Play Store apps.
However, of late, I have begun experiencing problems
I do not have background processes (of my own) running and even then all I have left free in the RAM is usually only 300MB of the 800MB that is there. Task killers cannot free more than that.
I experience lag when opening settings. What I mean is this: Say I click on the Battery option under Settings. There is a visible lag between the time I press the option and when the battery information is actually displayed on the screen.
Android Version: 4.1.2
Build Number: JZO54K.I9300XXEMF6

First a few things on the symptoms:

On Unix/Linux/Android, "free RAM" is considered a "wasted resource". If RAM is not occupied by running processes themselves, the system uses it to buffer and cache other things, like the file system. This should speed things up, as usually RAM allows faster access.
For more details, please check out ram tag-wiki.
"task killers" are discussed controversely. While most (if not all) people agree they are fine to stop "rogue processes", it's certainly not their job to "free up RAM" or even "save battery". In these terms, they are rather contra-productive, as most killed processes simply restart themselves (which costs more battery than if they'd kept running, and fills up the "freed RAM" again as well).
For details on this, closer information can be found in the answers on e.g. Do I really need to install a task manager?, Do task killers actually work? and Is it advisable to run a task killer app on Android.

And finally, to the issue itself (experiencing lags). As you describe it as a problem "growing with the time" (i.e. it was not there in the beginning, but slowly became more and more visible), you will probably find some help in the answers to My device is getting slow, apps start misbehaving/crashing. What can I do?

Hi @Izzy this raises a question for me: the free RAM issue. While this is very true in a Linux enviornment (and I know Android is an offshot of Linux), surely High RAM useage is an issue for battery powered devices and the same paradigm isn't exactly true? I know it's not the same as windows "the less used the better" but it can't surely be the "free RAM is wasted RAM" entirely either as the device has a small power supply? This issue has been bothering me for a while!

RAM uses the same amount of power, whether a bit is set to 1 or 0. So no, "high RAM usage" is not an issue here.

Thanks for your reply, so RAM 1 or 0 is not the same as a  processor. Obviously a processor processing 0s more than anything is less power hungry / cooler / more efficient. I never knew that, very interesting.

Though you got that with "processing 0s vs processing 1s" completely wrong: Whether the RAM has stored a 0 or a 1 doesn't matter for power consumption. But if all those 0s and 1s need to be loaded again from any other storage, that would matter. Hence it's buffered/cached in an efficient way, preserving as much battery as possible.

That's what I thought, thanks. I meant processing a 1 on a CPU takes more power as the 0 is literally no voltage, but not on a RAM which is what I was querying. That makes perfect sense, thanks for the clarification.

The lag you're seeing is unrelated to RAM usage. My "international" S3 runs the stock ROM and isn't rooted. Right now it has 277 MB free and it never lags at all.
As Izzy explains, free RAM is not a predictor of performance on Android. Android tries its best not to remove processes from RAM when they stop running, because if the same process needs to run again, it would cost energy and cause lag to load it into RAM again next time.
The only time you get lag as a result of RAM use is after you've used one particular RAM-hungry app. When one app hogs all the RAM, all these "cached" processes get evicted from RAM to free it up. Then, when you switch to a different app (even the launcher or settings), Android has to stop the memory-hungry process and load the new one into RAM from storage.
Oddly enough, this is the behaviour you get for every app, if you use a task killer to keep stopping background or cached processes, or if you force-close every app (or swipe them out of the recent apps list).

Very elegant solution - root the phone, download nobloat app. Disable all unnecesary processes - google for the ones u can disable . My phone is 500% more responsive after this. I am using original samsung 4.3 rom .


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Galaxy S4 video problem
I've bought S4 yesterday.
Everything works great except recorded video or Youtube video starts to flicker/artifacts, green lines appears and eventually the video stops.
I've tried installing Nexus camera but that didn't work either.
Also when i play videos that are from my PC it works normally, no flicker or artifacts appears.
Tested for dead pixels but there is none:
Increased brightness to the max
Installed a free app called Dead Pixel Test by UJACHA from Google Play
Cycled through the colors and inspected the screen.
Here's the screenshots when playing youtube:

Dummy recording is here
Should i return the cell and demand a new one?

So, you recorded the video on the PC using the S4's camera?

@geffchang I've recorded a dummy video using S4 camera, it's not watchable. The screenshots are also from S4 see the artifacts on bottom right corner. I'm returning it today.

What if you record something else, like not something from a PC / laptop. Is it OK?

Mind to hop over to chat? http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/25/android

@geffchang No matter what i record the problem is the same, as you can see i've tested to be sure. It's obviously from the bad batch of S4 series.

@ce4 Thanks but i've tested everything i needed to confirm that it's a defective device.

That's OK. Helping with determining a defective sample is usually faster via chat.

I'm returning it today because the video is non-watchable, contains flicker and artifacts obviously it's from a bad batch (defective units out of the box, april 2013). At least I've tested it and saw artifacts when casting YouTube video to Google Chromecast.


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How to know if a side-loaded app is safe?
How can we be assured that the APK of an app that we are downloading from a website is safe to install on our Android phone?
Is there a way to know that the downloaded file is safe? Is there an app or service that scans the APK file and says This file is safe to install.

If it's a for pay/ad supported app in official stores and the version you're sideloading is ad free and free of cost it's not safe.

It is difficult to know whether an APK is safe or not. Your best bet is to download from trusted or reputable sources (like Google Play, Amazon, etc).
Some (trusted) developers also provide an MD5 (or other message-digest algorithm) hash of their APKs. After your download the APK, you verify if the APK has the same hash. If it does, then it's safe to say it hasn't been tampered with.
You can also check the permissions required by the APK / app, and use common sense (or your own judgement / instinct) to tell if it's safe to install or not.
BOTTOMLINE: Always install from trusted sources. Stay away from pirated APKs; it's possible they may have malware.

Is there any app that can detect if that application has a malware?

@Nesmar No idea, but you can always try an anti-virus in Google Play.

Honestly speaking, I dont have the confident on any anti virus in android because they are not running if you do not tap them, I mean ex in computer desktop, if you install antivirus, upon boot, they already running in background and monitoring your files. I dont know if you can do that in mobile phone also.

@Nesmar I think some anti-viruses can run as a service. Apps like Screebl and Ad Block Plus run when the phone boots.

+1 for the bottom line alone! When downloading from unknown sources, there's no easy way to judge. Even with the MD5: if both files (APK & MD5) are residing on the same server, who tells you they have not both been replaced?

@Nesmar Yes, the anti-virus I ran does run in the background, checking an APK every time I install an app and also when I run an app. The only problem with anti-virus scanners are that they are never 100%. They also eat a LARGE amount of your battery.

is F-Droid a trusted source? I have known apps in Play Store that ended up being malware so not sure that is super safe either.

Google introduced an option Verify apps (Disallow or warn before installation of apps that may cause harm) for side-loaded apps when unknown sources is enabled (both settings available in Settings -> Security -> device-administration).
You can also use an online virus scanner like Virus Total to check your downloaded .apk file.
But this is the same with every scanner service: They're not 100% sure and probably only detect already known malicious apps. Custom tailored malware will probably remain undetected. Also very new malicious apps will probably slip through until after some time they will be detected.

Malware scanners have been found to be easy to bypass (just do a little Google Search), so I wouldn't trust them further as I can see for myself. This includes Google's Verify apps.

Sure. However old malware is regularly found. No malware scanner provides 100% safety, you can even get malicious apps from the official play store (and Apple's Store is no exception to this). Those scanners do improve your safety, if you need to side-load, though. It's like apple's new finger print scanner: Already bypassed, but far better than no pin lock at all (~40% of owners don't have pin-locks for reasons of convenience).

I agree. My fault to not make my point clear: Never rely on them in the way "Nothing can happen, I've got an anti-virus". If you see them but a piece of the puzzle (instead of the whole image), they can be helpful.

If you are downloading the .apk files from unknown/untrusted sources, there's no easy way to judge. Most Anti-Whatever solutions (anti-virus, anti-malware, etc.) are just ruling by "database entries" (i.e. they have a database of known malware, and check whether the package name matches), or only check requested permissions (and not whether e.g. a SMS app only sends the SMSs you wish). I've never heard about a "real" heuristics scanner analyzing an app's behaviour.
Though it might theoretically be possible a "scanner" also verifies a kind of checksum (as the mentioned MD5), this could only work against a "trusted base" like e.g. Playstore. For apps not available there it would fail then (nothing to compare). And even for apps available there, it would need to check against the very same version. Such a solution is hardly practical.
So while my arguments might differ, my bottom line is almost the same as geff's: Only install from trusted sources. While nothing is 100% secure, this imposes the smallest risks possible. The highest risk is with pirated stuff, as that's very likely to have "bad things" injected.

One way to judge, is to compare the certificate to known good publishers (i.e., if you want the latest version of Google's Ingress apk, go ahead and just compare if it's signed with the same certificate as the already installed one). You can upgrade already installed apps (from the Play Store) with side-loading if the certificate is the same. That'll be a safe option (if it is applicable).

Does it automatically compare the certificate if you are upgrading an app via side-loading, or do you have to do something to verify the certificate is the same? If so, how would you verify that?

@LeBleu if the app was already installed on your device, yes. Then the new .apk must be signed using the very same "key" the installed one used, or the update will fail.

is F-Droid a trusted source? I have known apps in Play Store that ended up being malware so not sure that is super safe either.

@luchonacho how did Wired put it once? To Avoid Malware, Try the F-Droid App Store. Also see this PDF: a study made in 9/2017 analyzing the "bigger Android markets" with 2000 apps from each (at that time F-Droid had less than 2k apps and thus was covered entirely). The only place they didn't find any malware was F-Droid. So yes, I'd say it's a trusted source – for me the most trusted source.

You can upload the package to a mobile sandbox to see what it's doing. The sandboxes will execute the binary and you can see the execution resutls. This will also work for some formerly unknown malware as it doesn't have to be in some av-database before.
Examples for sandboxes are MobileSandbox, CopperDroid, SandDroid, TraceDroid, Joe Sabdox Mobile, ForSafe and others.
As always, there is no 100% security, but then again, there is no complete security when downloading from Play store, either...
Virustotal that has been mentioned above recently started to run some samples in a sandbox as well and is of course always a good bet as it tests against a magnitude of already known malware. A similar service as Virustotal but specifically for Android is AndroTotal.

I use Lookout Security, it scans every app you install and you can also scan APKs

Scans them for what? Does it actually do heuristics analysis or some other reliable analysis or does it just run a database check for the APK name or MD5?

Nowadays, it's not that difficult to find safe APK files. But you have to be careful while choosing the source sites.
Secondly, after downloading any APK from anywhere, scan it through VirusTotal (to make sure that the downloaded app is safe and secure).

App Permissions do offer certain level of security.  One can always check for permissions during installation of apk.
When an app doesn't need root permission or any other permission, it can mostly be considered to be safe. There is only very little an app can do with no permissions. But it can trick user to display a malicious link and redirect the user to some malicious site to install something else or some phishing websites. If such app doesn't even use internet, then it can be considered safe.
With increasing level of permissions, the app can be more suspected unsafe. It can steal personal data like contacts, messages, call logs, or any file on your storage etc...  Ofcourse that's only a possibility, not every app is malicious.

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


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Remove bloatware from a Samsung Galaxy S4
I just bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 and I'd like to get rid of a lot of applications I found installed but I'm not going to use.
What options do I have?
Surfing the web it seems that I cannot do it without rooting and the only option I have is to disable the applications I don't want. Is that the only option?
Alternatively I saw that a lot of web site links to TrulyClean but it seems to be discontinued.
Is there any alternative script I should look for?
I see that there is the possibility to install other ROMs (Maybe the one that Google uses for the version of the device it sells on the play store). Would that help me getting rid of all the bloatware?
These were the options I found searching the web, would you recommend me to go down for any of these three paths or is there any better option?
I'd like to know which are the pros and cons of each of them so that I can come up with the best decision for my needs.

Looks like you've just used the bloatware tag without having looked into its tag-wiki :) Please check it, the answers are already there. And yes: without rooting all you can do is to disable unwanted apps.

@Izzy thanks, I was not aware of the presence of tag-wiki pages. Now I read the linked Q&As but I am still not sure about know which approach is the best.

Tag Wikis are always a good place to look at first. Many of them contain first aid on problems and links to related questions. Second, the tags "most frequented" questions are helpful as well, and our search engine is excellent. Anyhow, if "disabling" is not enough for you (or doesn't work on some of the apps), rooting is the first step in any case. After that, you can check if you go for bloatware-removers or rather a custom ROM.

DjeMBeY has created a custom ROM on XDA which contains stock ROM, minus the bloatware. It is pre-rooted; once you flash it, you also get root. There is also a Google Play edition if that's what you want.


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Turn animated gif into WhatsApp sendable video
I'd like to convert a short gif-animation to a video so I can send it to a friend via WhatsApp. Do you know easy ways to accomplish that (e.g. codec etc.)? Best would be doing it on the device directly but I could do it as well on a computer.

You can use this online tool to convert it: http://www.giftovideo.com/
Regarding tools, you could use FFMPEG + ImageMagick, but it's kind of tricky finding the correct options. There is some instructions here. I tried but some of the cases didn't work.

As a side note regarding the online tool, at this exactly time, they seem to be facing some performance problem, for every time you try it, you're going to end up in a queue like forever.

Nowadays FFMPEG can do it without imagemagick: ffmpeg -i input.gif output.mp4

If you're happy with a solution that you can use on a PC, then SuperUser.com has this:
How do I convert an animated GIF to a YouTube friendly video format?
For an on-Android solution, none of the video coverters specifically mention this but as the ffmpeg library does support this (as seen in the SuperUser answer), apps like Video Converter Android or Media Converter and so on, being ffmpeg based, should be able to do it.

Just change the extension from .gif to .mp4 in your device and forward to anyone. Only thing is that  the recipient needs to open it in gallery to see the animation.

Doesn't work in my system. Can you detail the steps for this?

I've tested this on Android 5.0.1:

Install this app: Convert GIF to Video & Share
Open the app and select the GIF you want to convert.
Choose 3gpp video codec.
Tap the convert button.
Done. Now you can send the video through WhatsApp.


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Many installed apps crash after OTA update to Android 4.2
I had run over the air update from Android 4.1 to 4.2 on my Samsung Grand GT-I9082. It seems to have completed fine (screen with robot and progress bar for a while, then some messages about "optimizing" and "running" applications, then boot).
After update the phone itself works fine, however a lot of third party apps now crash on launch with "Application [name] has been stopped" (loose translation since my phone interface is not in English). It is consistent and specific to the app - either it always crashes or it just works normally. The one slight exception is Chrome which opens and closes immediately, but doesn't give the message.

Clearing cache for the app doesn't fix it
Uninstalling app completely and re-installing does fix it (so far - for those few I did it for)

What else can I try?
At this point I guess reinstalling every crashing app would fix them, but that seems very boring and menial option, not to mention losing settings and data in those apps where it's relevant.

If your device is rooted, and you have a custom recovery installed: Wipe the dalvik cache. Next boot will take a little longer (as the Dalvik cache has to be rebuilt), but the problem should be gone.
If the above is not an option, you could try to backup the affecgted apps and their data using e.g. Helium Backup, then uninstall the apps, and restore them (including their data) from their backup. This way their Dalvik cache would be rebuilt as well, you don't lose your data, and Helium can do that in a batch-process to save you a bunch of clicks.

Phone not rooted. Do you consider this is issue to be with "dalvik" cache for certain or it is just a one possible reason? From look at tag it seems I can't do anything with it without root, so could as well start on reinstalls. :\

I consider it a very likely reason, as a OS version change took place (which might introduce a newer Dalvik version as well). Dalvik cache for an app is created on install or when missing, ADB/Helium backup will not store this so it would be re-created then. Just try it for yourself with one app first and see, what do you have to lose? :)

Reinstalled everything crashing. Helium seems to be mostly waste of time since it failed to restore data for all but one games I have and those few are kind of only unrecoverable data on my phone. I am glad I don't care much for highscores.. :)

That's most likely not the fault of Helium, but rather a bug in your Android version (I had the same on several devices, and it also did not work with plain adb restore which Helium is the frontend for, while it worked smoothly on others).

Doing a factory reset of your device may solve the problem. Make sure that you do not restore from a back-up and set up your device as fresh. This would be a permanent fix for your problem. Otherwise, 3rd-party apps will crash every time you update them. Uninstalling & reinstalling is only a temporary fix.
**Back up important files to Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.

The problem user is facing is due to permissions gone awry. Factory reset will erase all the data in the phone which is not preferred by the user.

3rd-party apps will crash every time you update them - this was not what happened in my case, it was one time corruption (or something) at time of update and going forward all apps install/update perfectly fine.

In Developer Options, Try changing the Runtime. If ART is set, it could cause a problem because currently 95% of Android apps run on DVM (Dalvik Virtual Memory).

OP says they're using 4.2; ART didn't become available until 4.4 AFAIK.


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Get phone data out when screen is dead
I have rooted Samsung Galaxy S2 with Rootbox Android 4.2.2 installed. My phone screen is dead and I want to get following data out of the phone.

SMS (Most important)
Photos
Other files in internal card

Everything in the phone is working except the screen. I can call my phone and everything.
Whenever I try to connect to computer, it connects as MTP device and shows nothing inside it. Had there been a way to start the Airdroid or something to take the screenshot in realtime so that I can take backup of data and upload it on dropbox or google drive, it would have been easier.
I would like know if it is possible to access screenshot of my device through adb or something? If yes, which softwares and tools I will need to install? Are there any other methods that I can use to make it faster.

Have you checked How do I backup data (SMS/contacts) from a device with a broken screen? and Backup apps on SGS 2 with broken display?

Do you have adb debugging enabled? Is there a custom recovery & mod installed or do you run a rooted stock ROM? You can  probably get all back. Least you can do: buy or borrow another display.

Thanks a lot guys. I tried Droid@Screen application and connected to phone as mentioned on tutorial on their site. After that screen was visible on my computer and then trial and error touch events did rest of the things. Connected to computer now as usb device and copying the data. :)


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Store and retrieve wifi password without installing an app
So I do a lot of development for Android these days and a lot of it involves reformatting my phone repeatedly, and then that leads to me re-entering my wifi password each time. This, over the course of a lot of time, is adding up to quite a lot of time spent entering my wifi password.
So what I am looking for is a way to get past that without having to download an app. Is there a way to get internet to my device on boot, without entering my wifi credentials. I'll take any way that's much faster, if I can transmit my password via NFC, if I can share it from another device, if I can wire my internet through USB directly. I have not found a way to do any of these things without installing additional apps. Also, I need to consider security still, so getting rid of the wifi password is also not an option, sadly.

Can you use a text file on your SD card? A factory reset wouldn't erase that.

@AlEverett text file on my sd card... I certainly could, but is there a way for me to have the password read? If I have to browse to the text file, copy and paste the password in android, that won't end up saving me a lot of time sadly :(

This is a suggestion, it may not meet all your critera and not all routers support it.

Set a second SSID on the router which isn't broadcast
Have a simple password on this SSID with a minimal number of
characters
Implement MAC lockdown on this SSID
Enter the MAC of your phone as the only approved connection

Your router will only accept connections from specific MAC addresses on the new SSID, even if others guess your password.

I would much rather something that uses bluetooth, nfc, sharing, and doesn't have me messing around with corporate wifi but the more I think about it, the more I believe this may be the only way to do it.

Android's debugging bridge adb supports backup/restore:

adb backup -f wifisettings.bak

presents you a message on screen which you need to confirm (and maybe enter a passphrase) to create the backup.

adb restore wifisettings.bak

restores it. Just set up your phone to a very simple initial state (nothing else besides the wifi settings, or so). Then backup. adb also supports partial backups (adb -f backup.bak com.app.name), but the wifi settings are not part of a particular app, at least I haven't figured out which package to backup to catch the wifi settings.
Another way: Is your phone rooted? Then "adb push stored_wpa_supplicant.conf /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf" will restore your password file.

So, my phone is rooted and this may work. Ill give this a shot, I think this solution would work nicely as i can include it into my flashing script.

adb push may not work out of the box on newer phones due to access rights, you may need to push to the /sdcard first, then copy using a second adb shell su command (the phone's adb daemon may not run as root any more on newer custom Android versions, so you can't directly write the wpa_supplicant.conf using adb push. Also note to restore the correct ownership and access rights of that config file; you may need to reboot the phone afterwards, too.

So I tried this out. Since I am developing on AOSP I'm unable to use the backup method, since I will have made changes to AOSP and I don't want to undo those in the restore. Instead I tried to push and pull methods, but I am unable to use those anymore given the current state of my phone. So while I think pushing and pulling on a rooted device would be best, I can't do it sadly.

I also tried this and noticed that (using Samsung Note 2) the backup does not contain WiFi settings. I assume this is because the phone is not rooted (and the backup process does not execute as root).


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Cannot change screen lock setting
I'm using Android 4.3, and a few days ago I added a new root certificate to my phone (Via Settings > Security > Credential Storage / Install from storage). This required me to choose a screen lock pattern or PIN. So far so good.
Now I've removed the certificate, but I can't change back to using swipe to unlock. The option is disabled, with this message:

Disabled by administrator, encryption policy, or credential storage

To be clear:

There are no options selected in the "Device administrators" settings page
Encryption has never been enabled on the device
There are user credentials stored on the phone (The "User" tab of Trusted credentials is empty)

Is there any way of finding out what is preventing Android from enabling the swipe to unlock feature?

Just from my readings, I think choosing the option to clear credential storage (removes all certificates) may allow swipe. Even if there are no certificates, you may need to explicitly use that option to clear certificates.


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Was it my rooting that caused my Android to malfunction? Or what was it really?
I finally rooted my phone around a week ago, amidst all those battling feelings, and I used it for around 4 days.
While the phone was charging through the USB port of my computer, I remember like putting the computer on suspend and then removing the phone. Thereafter, it never turned on! Except sometimes, where it came to the boot screen and got stuck, or it went just past the boot screen and got stuck again, or where it didn't even turn on the screen but just kept vibrating.
It was only charging through the USB, so I had not enabled file sharing or anything where I would have to disconnect the phone from the computer first before unplugging, so I'm quite sure that it's not anything to do with corruption of data due to just unplugging.
My Android (ICS) is yet under warranty, although rooted, so it's currently at the company service centre getting repaired. Their warranty card has got a whole bunch of terms and conditions that void warranty, but nothing to do with rooting thankfully. I only rooted it, and went NO further into flashing another ROM.
So my question, what happened to my Android? Was it some application that required root, misbehaving? Or was it due to overcharging? It can't be due to overcharging since when I plugged in my phone it was only about 60-80% charged, and I was at the machine for only a few minutes before disconnecting it from my computer.
Whatever the reason is, please help me figure it out. The phone comes back this coming up Wednesday, and I want to be knowledgeable enough to understand what's going on and whether I should root it again if the company has unrooted it (hopefully not! ;) ).

What model is that?

It's an Eon 3i, Zigo, would it have gotten bricked by any chance? I didn't try to flash any new ROM though...

I don't know that one. Have you read http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1184/how-do-i-root-my-android-device ?

Yep, I did read it, and since it hadn't much info on how to root the Eon 3i, I had to look on Google: link. Actually, the instructions aren't meant for this phone, but because it's from the same family of phones I followed it.

Received a call from the service centre, it was a motherboard problem : ). Getting a replacement. Now do I root again...

It's pretty unlikely that rooting will ever cause hardware to malfunction--software maybe, but even then unlikely.
In the event that you think a rooting process has caused your device software to malfunction it is advisable to attempt a full factory reset--since you had a hardware issue the device would still be malfunctioning.
Edit: As Dan correctly notes below this is not the same as a 'Factory data reset' that you can find in the phone menu, it is more akin to flashing a stock rom including the recovery and often bootloader(and sometimes specialized software will be required). It looks like the device mentioned might be OEM by ZTE, maybe this thread would have a stock rom http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1353526 )
One thing: It might be good to know what is actually happening with the root(maybe try to find a 'manual' root process) as some root procedures are more invasive/risky than others.

This is very vague, and a factory reset wouldn't make any difference, because rooting changes the system partition, which isn't affected by a factory reset.

A proper "factory reset" will infact include the system partition, some devices call this a RUU, often this will have to be run from the computer while the device is in download mode, samsung devices might use a program called odin for example--Note this is not the same thing as resetting the device from within the android software.

Yes, that's what a proper factory reset would be, but as you've noted, it's not what happens when you press the "factory reset" button on the phone, so it's important to make it clear that that you mean flashing the stock ROM.

Yes, 'flashing a stock rom' maybe that's a better way of describing what I was hoping to convey.


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unlink () and rmdir() errors when running adb wipe command
I'm trying to wipe my device using adb shell su -c wipe all, but when I run it I get the following errors:
unlink() error on '/system/vendor/res/images/dock/dock.png' 'Read-only file system' and
rmdir() error on '/system/vendor/res/images/dock' 'Read-only file system'
except very many of them for varying files and directories. Is there something I should do before running the wipe command?
thanks!
PS. This occurs on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus with a slightly customized 4.3 OS. I don't really have anything else to compare against, but doesn't seem like a hardware issue, therefore no samsung galaxy nexus tag.

/system is mounted read-only for good reasons. I don't think you want to wipe it that way – otherwise, what do you want to boot from thereafter, with the OS gone? Why after all do you want to wipe at all?

I need to wipe for an automated test. UI is always clunky and slow to use in automation, so I need a command line or intent method of wiping the device. It's not that I specifically want to delete stuff from the /system dir, it's just apparently the way the wipe command is supposed to work. If it's not supposed to unlink and remove stuff from the /system dir, I'm pretty sure they would have caught these errors in the script and not displayed them if the wipe was properly executed.

Yeah. And as I wrote above: I'm not only "pretty", but 100% sure that if you wipe /system your device will no longer boot to the UI. I'm pretty sure all you would see is, maybe, the boot logo then. If you don't believe me, check e.g. Android Folder Hierarchy and the partition tag-wiki.

As Izzy points out, /system is usually mounted read-only, because it contains the operating system itself. The only reason you're getting these errors is because you specifically asked the command to wipe both /system and /data: that's what the all means. If you actually did that, you'd have to reboot into recovery to reinstall the OS. If that's what you really want, you should first remount /system as read-only by running the following command in a root shell on the device:
mount -ro remount,rw /system

If you just want to wipe user data, to get an effect like a factory-reset for a clean slate for testing, then the command you need is wipe data.

Aha I see, I was worried that wiping data only would not take care of everything. Thank you both for your help!


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Which VCF field do I use to specify a group in Android?
I'm creating a VCF file on my website. It works nicely with the export, and most data are being imported, but the group is not created or used on Android.
I've tried using CATEGORIES and ORG. I also tried to look at KIND and MEMBER, but couldn't figure out how to use those, seems to refer to URI's and not a group name in the phone book. If I export a contact, it doesn't fill in the group in the contact.
Which VCF field do I use to specify a group in Android?

The source of the importer is mirrored here on omapzoom, you can look up which fields it uses.

Here's a list of valid VCard fields separated into supported/unsupported by Android's VCard importer: VCardConstants.java.
As of Android 4.3, ORG is supported while CATEGORIES is not. Check it yourself for more clarification.
You may also want to compare what has changed in 4.0/4.1/4.2/4.3 here.

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


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What kind of hardware problems is a cheap Android phone likely to have?
For development and application purposes an organisation I am with is considering buying a cheap Android handset here in India (this is the handset).
But what kind of problems can one anticipate in such a phone?  Most of what I can find on the net is just references to a "short life" - which does not tell us what kind of problems would actually occur - and lack of access to Google Play (on the software end).
I should note that this is a rather peculiar use case in that it's mainly going to be an SMS gateway and at most a very low demand server for SMS (possibly for Web too - there is a discussion on our situation in this SO question).  But we are interested in this question in general as well.
Edit: For reference, most such cheap handsets in India - and I suppose in most of the world - are made using licensed designs of low end Chinese phones.

You get what you pay for.

I am stunned by the depth of your insight. :-)

My answer for you is twofold; there are innate downsides to off-brand devices but - most importantly - your use case (development and application purposes) might make off-brand Android phones a poor choice.
This is from my experience with the phones (I have a lot, having lived in Asia for years, and seeing a lot here in the States)
First, the general issues. Cheap, off-brand phones like that can actually perform quite well - but those good phones can be few and far between. Often, you'll face issues with any/all of the following:

Screen quality - This is generally the first place no-brand manufacturers cut corners. Many, if not most, of the devices will have low resolution and poor color reproduction.
Battery - This is the next big issue with these. There are many reasons that cheaper design, development, and manufacturing generally mean poor battery life. From the chips used, to the battery technology used, to the radios (In your case, dual-SIM is a known battery-drainer).
Local Support - Your Mileage May Vary™. Many, if not most, no-brand devices are quad-band GSM-devices - worldphones!! But many are not, and almost all are poorly documented. It may claim to be a worldphone, but who knows for sure?
Slowness - These things are cheap. Good NAND is expensive, good SOCs can be expensive. Most off-brand phones are much slower than the big-name phones from HTC, LG, Motorola, etc...
Customer Support - Almost universally non-existent when dealing with these things.
Long-term Manufacturer Support - You're almost guaranteed to never see an update to the Android OS on these phones.
Community Support - The devices are, unfortunately, almost never supported by the hacking/modding/Open-Source communities. Phones from big names almost all have communities for modding/roms/help built around them.

That doesn't seem so bad, right? You'll be developing software for your organization. You don't care about watching movies - so screen quality doesn't matter - and it'll always be plugged into a dev machine - so battery doesn't matter either. You probably expected slowness too. You probably don't care about those issues!
Let me tell you why you might want to care.

Screen - It's likely to be an old, depracated screen resolution. If you're going to be developing applications to publish then it could be a problem making your app compatible with standard screen sizes. (Your SO question implies you're not, so this might be a nonissue).
Slowness - You mention that this will be a low-demand server and SMS gateway. Slowness may be a downside for you. The phone you linked is VERY SLOW.
Long-term Manufacturer Support - This thing runs Android 2.3.6. That's ancient. Even though that version is still used on many Android phones today, it could be very limiting for you with its old API.
Community Support - It's very likely that you'll need to use ADB, perhaps get root, and a plethora of other generally-simple tasks that could be made difficult by the way the phone is engineered. Usually, there's a community to ask for help when things like this get in the way. Not so for this phone.

TL,DR: You will probably be able to make a workable solution with the phone you linked. There are some very significant unknowns - hiccups you may run into with your project, and hiccups you may run into with the phone - that might be bad with this phone, or they might be no problem. If it was me, I suggest this little phrase:
If you have to ask, "is this phone going to work?" then you should probably consider a different phone. Get a device that you know will work. Nexus phones are made for this situation. And big-name phones, while not as much as a Nexus, will probably be a better solution than the phone you linked.
I realize the price of Nexus phones in India is expensive, but I would say it's worth the added cost.

At present, Jelly Bean is the most used. Gingerbread (API level 10) is second, and fading. What percentage of users use each of the Android versions?

Hmmm. You make very valid points. But we are in a dilemma because we don't have the budget for a higher level phone. What has your experience been with GPRS on these phones?

It's important to consider the cost of your and your partners' time. If your team spends a few extra hours trying to work around potential issues with a largely undocumented device, that could be a big issue. Of course, that kind of liquid cost can also be quite low-impact as well. And my experience with them is that, as far as the actual GPRS network connection goes, there are no major problems (as long as compatibility is fine).


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Can a Factory Reset fix Malware Problem? And another question too!
After factory reset my pictures, videos, and other media remained. Is it an indication of infection? Prior to the factory reset.
Can you explain why my media wasn't deleted? It was supposed to wipe out everything on the phone.

Please only include one question per question post.

Factory resets only partially erase* the main data directory, not the internal/external storage drive (SD Card for example).
All videos, photos, music etc remain, as they are stored on the internal/external drive - only apps and app data would be deleted.
*I say partially erase, because if everything in the data directory was erased, the OS wouldn't function correctly.

A minor adjustment: Everything in the /data directory does in fact get erased, that's the idea behind a factory-reset. And that's why all apps and their data are gone. Only the ROM survives, with the integrated ("pre-installed") apps. Apart from that: Yes, exactly that's why media survive – unless one checks to have the SDCard wiped, too (some devices offer that).


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Malware App Installed, Then uninstalled immediately- Next action steps
I recently accidentally installed an app from Google Play onto my android phone (Version 2.3.6) which was clearly a fake... It had the same name and icon as the app I wanted, and I hit the install button.
While it was installing, I noticed it was not the real app, and as soon as it completed, I uninstalled the app without opening it.
1 - What actions should I take to assure I have no infection?
2 - Does the fact that I did not run the app mean that it did not have the ability to infect the phone in any way?
3 - Just by installing it, could it have sent my MEID to a bad guy?
Thanks in advance for your help!
SteveG

Perhaps you could tell us what app you were trying to install, and the source where you found the fake copy of it. Lots of malware apps are different, so more information is helpful. On the plus side, I think (disclaimer: THINK) you'll be fine after removing it.

Reporting the app to Google would be good, too.

dotVezz- Thanks for responding.  The app was FIFA 14 by VK software and it was on Google Play.  It was 269MB in size.

All Everett - I reported it and it was removed the next day (along with about 10 other apps that looked like other popular new titles).  They were capitalizing on the fact that FIFA 14 was released that day (for a limited time free) and used the graphics from the original...it even came up first in the search.

Android won't run anything from the app as soon as you install it. An app can only set alarms, register broadcast receivers, etc. after the first time you run it manually, for example by:

launching one of its activities from the launcher
clicking Open in the Play Store app
creating a home screen or lock screen widget provided by this app
starting it from another app (via a Share action or the like)

This isn't a complete list, but it should be pretty obvious what actions start the app. If you haven't started the app, it can't have run yet, unless the author is able to exploit a bug in Android that no one else knows about.
This is very different to the situation on desktop OSes. In Windows and most GNU/Linux package managers, installing an application consists of running code provided by the app author. In contrast, Android is designed to limit what apps can do. Android itself installs the package by reading its manifest, which tells Android the name of the package and what components it contains. Android unpacks the app's files to its own private directory in internal storage, without running any code provided by the app. If the app wants to do any further setup (such as performing an anti-piracy check, or getting you to sign into a server), it can only do this when you first run the app.

Dan-Thank you so much for responding... I did not open the app in any way, so it sounds like I am OK.  I have to say I felt pretty stupid after I clicked on the install button in the Google Play store...I am usually very diligent about security.  Again, thank you so much for your time!

Dan-What exactly goes on when the application says "installing"... I had imagined it was similar to a windows installation where files were being copied to the hard drive and registry values were being modified...Is it very different on Android?

@Sgogo I added this information to my answer.

Dan-So basically the installer is really just creating a kind of sandbox for the app and alerting the OS that the app now exists.  Great information, and again, thank you very much!


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How do I root a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE (GT-I9195)?
How do I root a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE (GT-I9195)?

You can't root it with screenshots: you need to install a custom recovery :-) Arguably the old /dev/exynos_hw security hole on the S3 could be considered rooting it with photos.

These instructions are courtesy of arco68 over at xda-developers, who is also the person behind the software downloads linked here. All credit to him/her! You can also visit this link for the original instructions from the author and up-to-date file downloads.
Now don't be fooled by how few steps arco68's instructions have; you will need about half an hour to do this if you've not done this before, I reckon, if you want to be careful and not rush it.
As a prerequisite, download Samsung KIES and make sure that the drivers for your phone are installed correctly. Otherwise, Odin Tool will not read your S4 Mini properly.

Download the Odin tool and the ClockworkMod recovery to your Windows PC. Extract both of these archives.
Download the rootkit S4Mini_RootKit_v2.zip to your device's SD card. Do not extract it. Place it in the root folder.
Turn off the phone. Press and hold Home, Volume Down and Power simultaneously. The phone will turn on and you will see the following screen:

Connect the USB cable. Press Volume Up. The screen changes to this:
                                                         (the fields I blurred out will say something like "Original" initially, can't quite remember)
Run the Odin tool you unzipped in step 1.
Uncheck F. Reset Time. Click the AP button. In the dialog that appears, select the "recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.7-serranoltexx.tar.md5" file that you extracted in step 1.
Before you continue, read this step in full because it requires quick action. First you take the phone in your hand. Then you get ready to press and hold Volume Up and Home as soon as the phone vibrates. If you're only a second too slow you'll have to repeat from step 3 (see below).
Now that you're ready to press and hold Volume Up and Home, click the Start button in the Odin tool. It only takes a few seconds before the phone vibrates. Feel the vibration and immediately press and hold Volume Up and Home.
Once the phone shows the S4 logo with the words "recovery booting", you may release the buttons.
If you did everything right, you will see this screen:
                                                         But if you see a black screen like this:
                                                         then you've messed up – power off the phone and continue from step 3.
Using the volume up/down keys and the Home key, select "install zip", "choose zip from sdcard", then "0/", then the zip file "S4Mini_RootKit_v2.zip" that you saved to the SD card in step 2.
The zip will be installed and you will be told that your warranty is now void (which is not necessarily the case, of course). You may now reboot and enjoy your rooted S4 Mini!
When you choose to reboot, you will be asked "ROM may flash stock recovery on boot. Fix?" I suggest you choose No because you don't really need ClockworkMod anymore (although I think I pressed "No" and ClockworkMod remains installed regardless).

For the record, the reason I'm posting this here is that I didn't even realise I got the wrong screen in step 10, so I wasted a whole hour messing around with it. But I can't post this tip on xda due to their draconian requirements for posting replies. So I thought I'd just write up instructions in such a way that others can edit them here.

Thanks for a clear answer with helpful screenshots! Just one question: I don't quite understand where to put the rootkit.zip in step two. When you say "root folder," do you mean 1] not in any folder, just in the phone or 2] in a new folder named root, inside the device?

@Shokhet I meant to say you should place it in the "topmost" folder of your (external) SD card. But really it doesn't matter too much, as long as you can find it again in step 11. If you don't have an external SD card then I'm not sure what it would take to do this, as I've never attempted that.

A friendlier and less intrusive (as in keeping the stock rom whole) alternative is CF-Auto-Root, which supports this phone too:

Enter the aforementioned link
Download this phone's ZIP file and extract its contents
Use the extracted Odin or get Odin's latest version
Enter the phone's download mode (turn the phone off, then press and hold the Home, Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously)
In Odin, choose the extracted MD5 file in the second Odin button, currently named "AP", and click Start
If everything went smoothly, the phone will soon auto restart with SuperSU (a program that prompts for root requests) installed


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Samsung stock email application won't show "sent" email on phone (using Gmail account)
I use a Samsung Galaxy S III and I use the stock Samsung email application and widget (which also comes stock on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2).
I have four Gmail accounts linked to my phone and I have all four Gmail accounts configured for use with my stock Samsung email app (this is different than the Gmail app available on the Play Store).
IMAP is enabled in my Google accounts and all settings match those recommended by Google.
However, when I send an email from my phone, the message doesn't appear in the sent folder, on my phone.  Oddly enough, the message does appear in the sent folder on my PC when viewing Gmail in Chrome.
I believe that this error is related to Google's 2-step verification security settings.  I remember having this problem about six months ago and that was about the last time I had 2-step security active.  I don't remember how I fixed the problem, but it hasn't been an issue for a while.  But since that was about the same time I tried (and then gave up on) 2-step verification, I'm guessing that this is the issue.
I recently enabled 2-step verification, then I had a problem with my email, then I turned off 2-step verification, and then the problem went away.
I am well familiar with application-specific passwords and I have set them up (properly, to the best of my knowledge).  I also have Google's Authenticator app, and have used that when required.
I believe there is a bug in Samsung's email app that prevents outgoing mail from being saved in the sent folder when 2-step verification is active.
However, if anyone knows for sure what causes this, and whether or not there is a fix for it, I would greatly appreciate any help.

I think you're on to something. I too turned on 2-step verification around July, which is when I noticed this same issue. I do, however, like the 2-step verification. It was a pain in the butt to get started, but I do feel much better using it. To add to this issue, I did notice that, in the Gmail client (browser based), I have a "Sent" folder and a "Sent Gmail" folder. This likely has something to do with the fact that I have Gmail set up in Outlook 2010 using IMAP. So this issue only seems to happen when sending mail from my Galaxy S4 using the stock mail client. Mail sent from this device d

I bought an Android phone a few days ago... and it has the same problem. I don't know what causes it; but if it's a bug, it's amazing that by 2016 it still hasn't been fixed.


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How to restrict syncing to only calender and not contact
I have contacts and calendar on my Mac but like to sync only the calendar to my android through google. Whenever I sync with google, both my local contacts and calendar are being synced. Because I have separate and different contacts on google, I like to only sync the calendar but not the contact. Is that possible and how?

Settings > Accounts > Google Account > name@gmail.com
You can decide which features to keep synced up here.

Within that setting, there is only "Gmail" and "Contact"...


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Can't use Swype after connecting and disconnecting my Bluetooth keyboard
I'm testing my new Samsung luetooth keyboard with my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and discovering some peculiarities.
Connecting the keyboard was relatively simple. However, when I don´t use the tablet in conjunction with the bluetooth keyboard, I use the Swype option on the screen. Once I've connected the keyboard to the tablet for a bit, when I disconnect it, it doesn't go back to using Swype. Not only that, but I can't change the settings to use Swype manually. I can only begin to use Swype again when I restart the device.
Has anyone encountered and overcome this?


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MicroSD and/or internal storage of LG Optimus E615f phone doesn't mount on GNU/Linux
Yes, I do have that phone, rooted few seconds ago. Anyway, is practically impossible for me to be able to mount my MicroSD and/or phone's internal storage on GNU/Linux even if the USB mode is turn to "MTP". On my father's laptop that runs Windows, I can plug and open the folder about my phone and then select between mounting either the MicroSD or the internal storage.
So, How can I mount my MicroSD or phone's internal storage on GNU/Linux?

How do I make my Linux PC mount my Android 4.2.2 phone using MTP? would likely be applicable in a general sense.

Wow, I had this problem just this week! And just got access to my MicroSD...
Accessing your MicroSD
The Problem:
My MicroSD card works GREAT on my phone, but when I inserted it into my card reader and plugged it into the computer (Ubuntu 12.04), it didn't read! Well, this MicroSD card was a 16GB, Class 4 so I thought maybe it was due to the Class that it didn't work. Since, when I plug in a 2GB MicroSD, it works great! Works on my phone as well as using the card reader.
What I did:
Updated my USB drivers as well as my computer and it's all GREAT!
Here's the command that I used:
sudo update-usbids && sudo update-pciids

And then use the Software Center and just do a full system update. That's it.
The post where I got the info from: Ubuntu 10.04 USB drives not mounting! - These are instructions for Ubuntu 10.04 but it worked for my 12.04. *I didn't have anything to do with mount-manager at all.
Accessing your internal storage
This is something that I'm not an expert at but I'm quite sure it's what the rooting program using the ADB connection did to my Android when it needed to install the sudo binary.
But here's a link I hope will be of a great help to you - How to access intenal storage or internal memory of Android while conecting to PC?!

For full storage access, you might want to take a look at adbfs, see my answer here. Works perfectly for me on my Ubuntu 12.04 machine.

I don't use Ubuntu but Parabola, but thank you, I'll try to update my usb.ids and playing around with ADB if possible...

doing sudo pacman -S gvfs-mtp mtpfs solved my problem :), watch! Imgur


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Frequent WiFi disconnects with my WiFi router
I recently purchased Wireless Router and When I connected Wirelessly through my mobile(Sony Xperia P, android ver: 2.3.7), keeps on connecting and disconnecting for every 2mins. Whereas from other mobile(Samsung Galaxy Y) its perfectly connecting w/o any issues. Can someone pls tell me how to resolve this issue?
Router details:
D-Link, Model No: DIR-600L, H/W ver: B1, F/W Ver: 2.00

Have you tried switching from a mixed WPA2/WPA or only WPA2 setting to WPA-PSK on the router?

Yes, tried..No luck..:( Any problem with my older version of android? And also just beside to my router, DTH set top box is kept.. Any problem with this..?

The Xperia P is upgradable to Android 4.1, by the way. This might as well fix it. It'll at least be worth a try.

But I connected to many Routers outside thru my mobile wirelessly and did not face this issue..'Galaxy Y' mobile consistently connected to my router without any issue.. Can someone pls tell me what exactly the problem here?

Can you grab the relevant wifi logs with CatLog and edit them into your question (if not too long) or create a pastie at pastebin.com and give us a link? That would boost the investigation possibilities...

Pasted @ http://pastebin.com/JnVj86f4. Please see them.

Above link does not have the logs with android device connect..Pasting the correct link, which has logs with device connect & disconnects.. http://pastebin.com/0yGyVRw6

As you said I grabbed the WiFi logs from CatLog android app & pasted @ http://pastebin.com/vHgZQc8R..Pls see them..

You have 21 of these Wifi driver reports HUNG, reloading events, seems like instable wifi driver to me. I'll suggest you upgrade your Xperia P to the latest available 4.1 software and check again if it fixes this problem for you. Maybe paying around with the router's wifi settings can help to prevent this bug too, but YMMV.

Seems my issue got resolved now.. I've checked the 'Avoid ARP attack' in Router's LAN Settings.. I don't know how it is related to the issue.. Anyways now the problem is solved w/o upgrading my mobile's android version..:)

I figured out the exact solution & not the above one(checking the 'Avoid ARP attack' in Router's LAN Settings).. Solution is  unchecking the option in my android mobile --> "Use wireless networks" in "Location & security settings"..

You can by the way answer your own question, too! THanks for sharing this helpful information :-)

Problem was solved by unchecking the option in my android mobile --> "Use wireless networks" in "Location & security settings".


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Where to get a Native Clock application for Galaxy Y?
I have deleted the Native Clock application on my rooted Galaxy Y. Now I can't set alarms and such. Anyway to undo this or at least anywhere I can get the native clock app on android?
I tried searching at Google but nothing relevant came up.

Is there any reason why you don't want to use 3rd-party alarm clocks? There are free ones.

And didn't you do a proper backup before fiddling with the system? You could use that to restore then.


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Why to create and use a Samsung account (on a brand-new S4 mini)?
Are there any real benefits of (creating and) using a Samsung account? Or is Samsung just offering inferior services (e.g. "synch") in an effort to deepen its marketing clout?

I haven't really seen any good use for activating the Samsung account. It will just add more stress to your phone (syncs, notifications), but that's just a personal preference.

Personally, I haven't created a Samsung account, and rooted my S4 to remove all the samsung apps (hubs, etc.) With all the Android ecosystem, I don't really see a benefit in the Samsung layer. But that's up to you.

As well as getting access to Samsung's sync and backup service, creating a Samsung account also gets you access to Samsung's app store. It's not as extensive as the main Play Store, but it has a good selection of apps.
Whether you think that's a "real benefit" or not is entirely up to you.


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How to see which applications are saved on phone
Recently I get a lot of warnings that the internal memory is full, which also led to full SMS memory.
What I did was to delete some messages, which seemed to work for a while.
Yesterday however, I installed some updates and those warnings messages came up again.
Is there a way to find out which application are installed on my phone?
A rather indirect way is to remove the SD card and see which applications are on.
Is there a way to figure this out in a direct way?

In the settings option you have Application Manager. In Application Manager if you swipe to the left you will get apps installed on the sd card. It should look something like this:

Thank you very much for your answer! I know how to find which apps are installed in the SD card, however I want to see which applications are installed on the phone.

Well, if the app is not on the SD Card it's on the phone.

But if there are a lot of applications installed both on the phone and the SD, you have to make a list of the ones on the card, which takes times and it's not so direct.

Then I suggest you use another app to manage those. Here's one that seems to be what you need: AppMgr III (App 2 SD)

No problem. I'm glad I could help.


text:
How can I run multiple copies of the same app?
On iPhone it's very easy to clone an app (running multiple copies of the app on the same device); e.g.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4f_aLSRnQ8
Is it possible to do this on Android?

If you're using a tablet, you could use two users and add the same account to each and switch between them.

Also see: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/27156/is-it-possible-to-have-multiple-instances-of-the-same-app-logged-in-to-differen

i think it is similar to multiple account app for android, whereas user wants to login 2 whatsapp accounts within single handphone.... :D

On Android, the package name of the app is what identifies it on the phone: that's what gives it its own space to run in, and it has to be unique in running apps. There are two options to get one app running two instances:

If you're on a Jelly Bean tablet, you can do this with multi-user support. Create two user profiles on the tablet, and you can run the app once in each profile. Each user's instance of the app gets its own storage.
If you have access to the source code of the app, you can create a new app by changing its package name. Then install the new app. What you end up with is actually two apps, each with one instance, but since they both have the same code and resources, it has the effect you're looking for.

These are the only two ways. If your device doesn't have multi-user support, and you don't have access to the app's source code (i.e. you're not the app's developer), then you're out of luck.

You can use an app called parallel space. Not only does it allow you to run multiple instances of the same app, it even allows you to hide installations within the parallel space app itself, set different color schemes and whatnot.
I came across it today in my quest for the same answer.

You can login with another user, by adding multiple user in your Android device. We can Enable Multiple User Accounts on Android 4.2 and Above.

Create another User Account by opening the notification by double pulldown notification to get the other quick settings.
In that other quick settings, on top-right corner you'll find a round icon. That is Admin user icon(if you're using it for first time).
Click on it and create a new user(it'll remain until you delete it) or use a guest user(it'll be deleted after using it, but you can also keep it).
After creating new/guest user. Just go to Google Play Store, install whatever app you want. Don't worry it'll use your existing same app files but not users data, so it won't download a new one.
You can login those apps with another id. Like this you can use Whatsapp, hike, facebook, twitter, paytm and more...
Before that, go to more settings Click and open that created new/guest user's settings and enable Allow phone calls and SMS. So that you'll get verification SMS or call.

If any help you can comment it, i'll keep on updating it if any change or improvement.

If your device doesn't have multi-user support, and you don't have access to the app's source code (i.e. you're not the app's developer), then you're out of luck.

cant we reverse engineer .. like most apps?
open the package in editor
and make changes?
ohhh here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21819887&postcount=5

It would be possible if you were to decompile the .apk , edit the manifest file to rename the app to something else so the system thinks its a different apk, then compile, sign it, and install to phone, hassle free. Not too hard


text:
How to delete duplicate SMS?
After unlucky using some SMS backup tool I have the duplicates of all my SMS.
So question is which way better to delete them.

Have you tried BackupSMS . It claims to remove duplicates. I've not tried it personally.
Make sure you take backup before trying it.

You can use Back up and Restore to manually and multi select all the SMS's you want to delete.

I have about 5484 SMS and ~ 40% of them are duplicates so manual removal is not the solution.


text:
How do I install USB drivers in Ubuntu 13:04 for Nexus S?
I am trying to follow this guide:
   http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2163085
However I am unable to connect to my android phone via USB.  I think I need to install the USB drivers for Ubuntu.  I am using Ubuntu 13:04 and the Nexus S currently has Cyanogenmod on it.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Glen.

You might wish to take a look at Is there a minimal installation of ADB? and my answer here to the question Configuring ADB for Nexus 4 on Ubuntu 11.10, that should solve your issue. Except, after taking a look at the XDA thread you linked: Are you asking about Ubuntu on your Nexus-S?

Are you talking about installing the USB driver on your phone, in your new Ubuntu installation, or about installing a USB driver for an Android phone on your desktop PC?

Dan Hulme,
I am trying to copy files from Ubuntu 13:04 to Cyanogen Mod.  I previously experimented with making an android game that needed USB drivers.  I did all this and was able to copy files via USB.
My Nexus S phone with Cyanogen Mod phone appears to have been hacked gotten a virus or has bug (probably from installing an old version of gapps).
I use to be able to copy files via USB.  Now I cannot.  I am using a new Ubuntu PC with 13:04.

I have a Nexus 7 and I had the same problem ... try this, just say I don't have the Cyanogenmod install on my Nexus, but you can try. http://askubuntu.com/questions/207569/how-do-i-connect-a-nexus-7-to-transfer-files

As was already pointed out in a number of answers as well as in the comments, one does not need to download/install separate USB drivers for your Android device; they are already compiled into the Kernel.  However, you do have to tell your Linux system what device you want it to treat as such (udev rules in /etc/udev/rules.d/ directory).  Take a look at the Android Developer Site
To facilitate the installation of these "udev rules", I've set up a github repository with an installation script at https://github.com/ILMostro/Android-Udev-Rules.  You can download it with git by typing into the terminal:
git clone https://github.com/ILMostro/Android-Udev-Rules.git


text:
How secured is password protected Memo?
I have Samsung Galaxy Star (GT-S5282) with 4.1.2. I wanted to store my bank and credit card information in password protected Memo. How secured is password protected Memo? Is there a way to crack the password of secured Memo? Is it possible for someone to root the phone and get the file/database of memo and get the details stored in password protected memo?

I would not recommend storing that sort of information on the device, either way, today's encryption is tomorrow's cracked!

In general it's not a good idea to store sensitive data on your mobile phone, but back to your question.
S Memo is storing your password as a clear text in /data/data/com.sec.android.provider.smemo/databases/pen_memo.db > CommonSettings > PREF_APPLOCK_PIN so if your device is rooted you can use Root Explorer to read it.
Which means that this application is not secure. You can use KeePasDroid to encrypt passwords or other sensitive data. I am using it on my laptop and on my Android device.

Memo application I use is the default application that comes with device (The logo of application is "T" instead of "S"). Name of application is "Memo" and not "S Memo". Whatever you mentioned in your reply stands same for "Memo" too?

Check it. I have i9300 with S Memo.


text:
Gmail app not displaying status bar notifications
I recently got an Samsung Galaxy S3, and I prefer the GMail app than the default mail client (the one with the red seal).
The default mail client seems to autocheck for email and displays a notification in the top left corner, but I can't get the native GMail client to do the same. Any suggestions on doing so?

I had same problem. I finally fixed this problem by this page from Google:
https://support.google.com/mail/troubleshooter/2650727

Open GMail, and open its Settings. Click your username@gmail.com, and make sure Notifications is checked. Then, click Inbox sound & vibrate and click Turn Gmail sync on. Configure the Notifications at the bottom as you like.
In Settings, make sure Sync Gmail is also checked.
With regards to GMail sync frequency, see this question: How to set gmail sync frequency?

I had the same problem with my HTC oneM9. My Gmail would only receive emails when I manually entered the app and refreshed the screen. I googled how to fix and everything said sync Gmail, turn on notifications, delete cache and data, restart but nothing worked. Turns out my Battery optimization that's on constantly was preventing the push notifications. You can go into the power optimization and under the Gmail app you can turn off. This will allow your phone to remain is power saving whilst still getting your Gmail notifications. You can also set which apps you want i.e. Instagram, youtube etc.
Hope this helps!

After activating every Sync and Notification setting (per geffchang's answer), check if every label has notifications turned on:

Gmail Settings
your.account@gmail.com
Manage labels
For each label, click it and check both Label notifications and Notify for every message

authors: نرم افزار حضور و غیاب


text:
Why can't I link2sd the Play Store and Maps apps?
Yesterday I rooted my phone successfully (Samsung GT-S5570-Android 2.2.1), I created a second ext2 partition on my 8 GB SD card and installed the Link2SD app.
The reason for doing this, was due the continuous and annoying messages about full internal storage capacity.
I was able to move and uninstall some apps, but when it comes to Maps, Play Store and Samsumg Apps I keep getting a failure message similar to the following

FAILURE
PKG:/DATA/APP/COM.ANDROID.VENDING-2.APK FAILURE
  [INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_INSTALL_LOCATION]

What does this message mean and why does this error occur?
How can I successfully move those apps in my SD card?

The author of an app can set a flag in its manifest (the package description) to say whether it can be moved to external storage or not. If you try to install a package to external storage, and its manifest says it cannot be installed there, you get the error code you describe.
Google's developer documentation provides a list of kinds of apps which should set the flag to prevent themselves being installed to external storage, because of undesirable side-effects if the external storage is removed.

Thank you very much for your answer! This means that I cannot in anyway move those two apps in the SD card? The thing is that I have low internal memory, and although I removed every app, unistalled YouTube, Mail, Yahoo Finance, deleted a lot of SMS' I only have ~5 MB free. Link2SD only lets me to unistall those two apps, but I really need them...

No, you cannot move them.  That's the point - it would break your phone to do so.  You would probably be able to free up a fair amount of space by deleting the app caches and system caches though.

@Logos: Thank you very much for your comment! How to do that? What I was able to do was to create a link of those apps in my SD card, which freed up some space.

For individual apps, it would be "Settings->Applications->->Clear cache".  Unfortunately you have to do them one by one :P
Clearing systems caches is done by the OS on a schedule.
There are apps for cleaning out caches to automate this for you - often very helpful for people whom space is an issue.

This answer is not correct. Link2SD an a rooted phone with additional parition has nothing to do with the manifest's option if an app can be moved to SD card. The reason for the problems described in the question are unclear to me, though.

The previous answer has a lot of incorrect information, so I feel compelled to answer this old question.
First of all, Link2SD works by creating a soft-link which is completely different from the built-in Android feature "move to SD". The link that Link2SD create is transparent to most of the Android OS itself, and the manifest option that controls if an app can be moved to SD bears no influence on its ability to be linked.
Now coming to the error the OP received, my best guess is that OP used the "Move to SD card" option in the Link2SD app instead of the "Create link" option. As per my experience, I have linked Play Store and Google Play Services successfully and didn't come across this error, so it is certainly possible to link them, though I don't recommend using that option on critical apps/services such as Google Play Services, unless it is absolutely necessary.
Regarding the OP's question on clearing the cache, Link2SD has an option to do this for all apps, and there are also a number of dedicated apps that can do this.

The following process worked for me:

Select the option "all" on the top left in link2sd and uninstall that app from the phone.
Install the app again.

You should now be able to move it.


text:
Blocking mode not working with WhatsApp
I own a Samsung Galaxy S4, which has the Blocking mode feature.
It is very useful because it mutes notification sounds during certain hours (I use it to automatically keep my phone quite while I'm sleeping).
It works perfectly for all the applications but WhatsApp.
It seems to be a known issue, and I found a workaround that involved a led notification management application.
I don't like that solution because it is not clean and I'd like to find a better one.
I come from the iOS world where all the applications are forced to pass through system notification center and I can't really get what's happening on my phone nor how WhatsApp can deliver me notifications.

It looks like a Whatsapp problem. Your best bet would be to raise this concern with Whatsapp themselves. There's no guarantee that they'd fix it, but this isn't Google / Android issue either (from a general perspective). Developers should follow "best practices" when developing Android apps.
UPDATE 2013-10-07: This issue has been discussed in XDA, and it's because of how Whatsapp handles notifications (no specific details given). In that thread, there is a possible solution using the Light Flow app.

Thanks for your reply. I'm still a little bit confused because I don't know android notification APIs and I expect them to be very simple and hard to misuse.
Probably I'm wrong and there is a way to "bypass" them.

@mariosangiorgio Added an update to my answer. :)

I had linked the very same XDA discussion in my question (when I talk about the workaround) :)

@mariosangiorgio Right, sorry. I didn't see that.


text:
Running am commands in terminal without using su
Android: JB 4.2.2
I am trying to launch Android apps from the terminal emulator using the am command. When I tried the phone's terminal emulator application, it gave me an error:-
java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: startActivity asks to run as user -2 but is calling from user 0; this requires android.permission.INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL
    at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1425)
    at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1379)
    at android.app.ActivityManagerProxy.startActivityAsUser(ActivityManagerNative.java:1906)
    at com.android.commands.am.Am.runStart(Am.java:494)
    at com.android.commands.am.Am.run(Am.java:109)
    at com.android.commands.am.Am.main(Am.java:82)
    at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.nativeFinishInit(Native Method)
    at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit.main(RuntimeInit.java:235)
    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)

If I go into root mode, then the am command works. Any idea how to get am to launch browser without doing an su in the terminal emulator?

Hi, actually when i use "am" without root the err msg is: Permissio denied, app requested to run as user 2 but calling from user 0. I ggogled this, google results have the exact same err msg

You just need to add the --user 0 option to your am command.

Hello, your solution worked perfectly. thank you very much, u see until now i was wooried that all my android apps were being launched by "am" as root. I hope that is not the case right now?

No, that's not the case. The "user" in the command-line refers to Jelly Bean's user profiles, not to Unix user IDs. When you're using a terminal session, you need to specify which user profile the app should be running in.

understood. thnx again

Very interesting comment. I until now assumed that the user in terminal emulator doesn't have sufficient privileges to use am command.

I got bad component name : --user

@Milad Either you're using an Android version older than Jelly Bean, or you put the option in the wrong place. If you need more help, ask a new question and give your Android version and the exact command you're typing.

I was trying to start service from terminal and i got similar output.
In my case  i just added qoutation marks and that helped.
su -c 'am startservice -n "com.example.app/.YourSe-rvice" -e "extra' "value"'


text:
Connectify network for android
I have a wired internet access on my win xp laptop. And want to share it to my HTC android smartphone. So, I've installed Connectify Hotspot Pro 3.7.1, created a network, but my android even doesn't see that network. However, another windows based laptop sees it.

It's because Android can neither connect nor "see" ad-hoc networks. There's supposedly a work around in which you install some third party software on your Android device, but it only works on a small list of phone models. A quick Google search will lead you to the page. Sorry, I'm on my tab right now otherwise I'd link it here.
EDIT:
Found the link to a similar situation: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5100928/how-to-connect-android-wifi-to-adhoc-wifi


text:
Oflline access to note/task/calendar apps
Sure Evernote is great, but I don't like the idea of paying for accessing my own data when I am offline, which is still very often the case for tablets when you travel.
Unfortunately, when you read reviews, this bit of information is lacking.
Do you know of any free evernote-like app where synced data can be later accessed offline still for free?
What about Springpad in this regard?


text:
How to NOT charge when USB debugging?
I develop "on the road" using a laptop that's not connected to a power source, so when I debug on my android devices, they drain my laptop battery.  Unfortunately, the laptop is a MacBook Air so spare laptop batteries is not an option.  (I charge everything at home at night.)
Is there a setting to switch USB charging off, especially when debugging?

Depends on device in question, what is your device?

You could use a USB power bank with a Y-USB cable

No there is not way to turn off charging.


text:
Direct backup from Titanium Backup to DropBox
Device: Samsung Galaxy S4, with root
I was wondering if it would be possible to make my backups straight to DropBox, without needing to save the files to my phone first. I had TiBu upload to DropBox after the backup, but TiBu cannot complete the backup because of the low disk space.
I was thinking of something like a symlink to DropBox, but I don't know if that is possible.

I don't think that's possible. TiBu syncs a local copy to DropBox.
What you could do is:

Use / Buy an external SD card (64GB or less)
Go to System settings, open the Application manager, and Move to SD card TiBu

This way, it doesn't take up internal phone memory. (i.e. TiBu dumps its backup to the external SD card)


text:
How to use NFC tags to trigger profiles and tasks in Tasker?
I am planning to get some NFC tags which I want to use to control some profiles in Tasker. Where in Tasked can I choose NFC tag as my trigger? If that does not exist, how can I turn tasks on and off for free using NFC tags? Any plugins?
Thanks.

I don't know whether Tasker can meanwhile handle that itself, but it's at least doable with the right plugin. There's e.g. Locale NFC Plugin which could fill this gap. Alternatives exist as well, like a modified version of AnyTag, which is used e.g. in this tutorial.
For more examples, tutorials, and possibilities, I recommend a GoogleFu, ahem, search for "tasker nfc", which brings up a lot of tuts and even Youtube videos explaining different magical things to achieve this way.

Yes! Locale NFC Plugin allows me to create a link directly to tasker, this means that it can carry out a task for me. Also it does not require direct writing to the tag which means I can use my Oyster card.

Trigger can, among other things, run Tasker tasks. In any case, it's probably worth while to check out this app if you plan on experimenting with NFC tags.


text:
WiFi icon keeps blinking, can't turn it on or off
Can't connect to Wifi on my phone, because the ON/OFF slider is grayed out:

Screenshot (click to enlarge)
Also, the WiFi icon keeps blinking, and I can't turn it on/off. Kinda frustrating.
Android Jellybean.

Have you rebooted? Have you charged?

You can use the Android debug bridge to investigate: "adb shell" then "dmesg" and "logcat" will give you the kernel's and Android's logs.

I did reboot my phone, did a factory default reset, it still has the same error :/

How do I use the debug bridge? I'm kind of a n00b here lol

I solved it by deleting /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf.
It will reset all your saved networks.
I have it rooted and deleted the file through a root explorer or you can remove it via ADB (adb shell rm -r /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf. I'm not sure).
You may backup it before, then open with a text reader to see your saved passwords.

By just getting back to date from 10-12-2015 to 07-12-2015, in my case to be precise, everything is back to normal, and here I am sharing my facts to help all those who are facing this ridiculous problem.
P.S. had been searching throughout the net for the solution and found some interesting details, would love to share for others (if they can be of any help).
Factory formatting/soft or hard resetting won't work, so as the phone rebooting will also be not effective. Setting back the clock (manually) worked like a charm for me (my mobile Lenovo Vibe X, carrier Vodafone). This problem arose, in my case, when I updated certain apps 5 or 6 OTA on Google Play Store (mainly Google inbuilt ones).

For other users who suffer the same problem as I came to read through their posts: when they updated their handsets (for any updates, irrespective of any app), their WiFi settings got disturbed causing the WiFi to lock while initialising, not allowing the user to switch On or OFF, just displaying the screen Wi-Fi turning on/Scanning/Starting/Searching/etc.
A common solution suggested by many (which even I was going to try ~ if above hadn't work) was to solve it by deleting /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf. It will reset all your saved networks. Have your phone rooted and delete the file through a root explorer or you can remove it via ADB (adb shell rm -r /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf. I'm not sure). You may backup it before, then open it with a text reader to see your saved passwords.
On many forums, this was the common solution accepted as the only chance to get rid of the problem.

I have a samsung Galaxy S5
I seemed to have fixed mine by going to settings, Internet, Advanced, Manage website data. Then clearing out all the saved webpages which i dont know why it saved in the first place
This is the first its happened to me But after a few times of flicking the wifi it seems to be working fully now
Hope this helps someone else
<3

As suggested above, I cleared out the saved webpages in the 'internet' app and changed the date in 'time and date settings' to one week back. Restarted the phone and bingo! No more flashing wifi symbol on and off every couple of seconds! I had tried all the other stuff (restarting etc) apart from the rooting. This worked on a Galaxy Note 4, no rooting, no safe mode starts.I hope it works for others. I was sure this problem was draining the battery more than usual too? Thanks to everyone with all the suggestions above, especially 'aebbee'

I've got a Samsung S5 and had the same issue which severely drained my battery!
None of the above worked for me. But I fixed it.
In the location settings it gives you the option to use Wifi or Bluetooth to increase accuracy - turn this off and voila.. : )
Hope this helps someone.


text:
Messaging icon in Samsung S3 always show one unread message
My Samsung S3 messaging icon always show one unread message. See the screenshot below. I have thoroughly checked if there are any unread messages and also restarted the phone couple of times. I also removed the battery for sometime. Any clue as to what might be causing it?

Screenshot (click to enlarge)

did u try removing the icon and add again?

The problem resolved after the last software update.

Go to Settings > Application Manager > All applications (on the top). Locate the "BadgeProvider" app and select "clear data". After that, restart the phone.

While this is a temporary solution, I'd like to see a more permanent one, as I have the same issue. I can of course see that this would possibly be a bug.

Isn't that a message on your SIM card? You should be able to access SIM card messages to see it and/or delete it.

There's a way to remove it, you need to send yourself a message from another phone and read the text message, then the "1" will disappear.
This also works for Whatsapp etc.
Hope my answer helps.


text:
How do I fix my camera?
I have a Samsung Admire (running Android 2.3) & my camera won't work: it keeps saying cannot connect to camera & it always says multimedia scanning. I'm not sure but I think some pics have been deleting little by little. Could it be from the scanning?

It sounds like the SD card in your phone has some filesystem corruption. This can make the media scanner hang, can interfere with the camera, and can cause lost files. To check, and to fix it, try putting the SD card in a card reader attached to your PC, and using the disk check functionality there (e.g. fsck on Linux).


text:
Android keyboard and remapping the CTRL key
I have an Samsung Galaxy 10.1 running Android version 4.1.2. I am using ssh to remotely connect to my main machine which runs Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Once I am connected I do all my work in emacs 24.3. I also have a bluetooth keyboard.
My question is about remapping the Caps Lock key to function as the Ctrl key. I do this with my main machine by changing a setting in the terminal options. I checked the options in juiceSSH and there appears to be no equivalent. Perhaps there is a general way to do this with Android or the Bluetooth Keyboard.
How can I remap the Caps Lock character to function as the Ctrl character?
If you need more information let me know.

I managed to remap the Caps Lock key to Ctrl using External Keyboard Helper Pro. It was really straightforward, just poke around in the settings and you'll find a way to create a custom mapping (Keycode 58 --> Left Control).

Note that you need to enable the "Keycode" checkbox when editing the mapping, then select "Left Control" from the dropdown. Also you need to enable the "Override special keys" option on the "Keyboard mapping" option page otherwise the key still functions as Caps Lock in addition to Ctrl.

If you press caps lock to initiate the keycode 58, this will lock this keycode in. Then press caps lock again. Otherwise, after activating your custom layout, you would always type everything capitalized.  2) I could replicate the desired behavior in Android this way. However, caps lock is simply inactive then (instead of 'control') inside Emacs running inside Linux for DeX, for example, which runs Ubuntu 16.04. Also other trials (setxkbmap -option ctrl:nocaps or dconf write /org/gnome/desktop/input-sources/xkb-options "['caps:ctrl']") did not respect caps lock as control unfortunately

Since Android 4.1 you can do it without root by installing an app that provides additional keyboard layouts (Key Character Map files).
The example of such app could be found here (I'm the developer).
If you don't familiar with Android development and/or don't want to build such app, there is web-app to do it (I'm the developer). It's free and open-sourced.
The KCM file to make CapsLock acts like Ctrl should look like
type OVERLAY

map key 58 CTRL_LEFT

UPDATE:
As Ronald Rogers said in the comments: Note you have to pick "ExKeyMo Layout" for all of your keyboards in your "Physical Keyboard" settings for this to work.
UPDATE:
ExKeyMo web app is not available on Heroku anymore. You'll have to run it locally. See the project's page on GitHub.

Note you have to pick "ExKeyMo Layout" for all of your keyboards in your "Physical Keyboard" settings for this to work.

If you have rooted the device, and are able to remount /system as read-write, then you can do it by editing the files in /system/usr/key*. Here is an example with detailed instructions.


text:
Any way to force an app to rotate?
I've got an app that refuses to open according to how I'm holding my phone.  So, it makes it uncomfortable to use it so I uninstalled it.  I do have auto-rotate on but I guess this app doesn't recognize it.  Is there a safe way to get apps that run upside down to work the right way?  I can't function without the home button near my left hand.
OS: 4.1
S3

You might try the Ultimate Rotation Control app -- when I tested, I found that it could force any of the apps I tested to rotate.   It's a seven day free trial, then requires a license purchase (US$2.99).
It turned out that I didn't really consider the app that inspired me to download this any better when force rotated, so I did not purchase, but your mileage may vary.

I have not tried this myself, but it seems to be possible using the Xposed Framework and its AppSettings Module – provided your device is rooted.
From its announced features:

Force orientation (portrait/landscape/auto)

Got an Unrooted one.  :-(


text:
htc one message notification problem
Yesterday I bought the HTC One which was a huge step up from the iPhone 4s which I had owned. I have one problem with the phone: I cant find a way to view a contacts notification for a text without it displaying the message in the form of a preview. Is there any way I can change the settings so that the ls will show the sender but not the message preview. Im looking for something similar to ios where it would display the contacts name and it would say "text message"

No, you cannot disable text preview completely. You can adjust how many lines you'd like to see (1-3), but like iOS native Messages.app you will be presented with a message preview.
That being said, on Android platform you can replace most default applications with the ones you like more. Perhaps you will be able to find SMS/MMS app that offers this sort of customizability.


text:
Nexus 4 won't charge through laptop on low power
When my Nexus 4's battery is less than 5%, it won't charge while connected to my PC, but I can charge by plugging my Nexus 4 the wall adapter.
I believe it is a hardware problem. Can you help me?

Your computer’s USB port have lower energy output than your wall charger. There is nothing you can do about this other than getting a new computer with higher power USB power output.
Do note that your phone is actually charging even when it says it is not. It is just slower. If you keep the screen off and the device idle, it should be fully charged after some hours. This will be much slower than using a higher power output source.