text:
Safely test rom build
I'm attempting to get into Android Rom development and as such I've compiled CM13 from source for my device (which is not yet fully supported, I've tweaked it so that it ought to work). However, due to the fact that this is my first foray into custom Rom development I have one rather serious issue.
How do I safely test my rom?
I want to be able to flash it to my device (Oneplus Two) using TWRP however, I need to be able to ensure that no permanent damage can be done to my device. How could I do this?
Any help will be appreciated hugely!

You can try Android Emulator I guess.

@SarpSTA, that's the point. You can't just use an emulator, because you need to test it on real hardware. AFAIK you need to take a risk here. As a ROM developer you are (morally) responsible for the users who flash this ROM onto their devices. Have you checked out xda-developers already? Maybe one of the devs is willing to test your ROM.

@GiantTree Oh. He meant hardware-like? Well, other than trying it on a hardware, one can not know for real.

@SarpSTA I know about many ROM projects especially for Samsung's Exynos devices and the devs are clearly not asking: "Does the Android part work?" Because it certainly does, it's unchanged. But rather: "Do all the drivers and tweaks work, so I can use it?" Many devices, brick either soft or hard and James is asking for a way to protect himself from a hardbrick when testing. The only real answer I have is: "You need to take the risk. Unless you can emulate all the hardware exactly like on your phone, you are out of any other options."

Apart from that, my friends, this clearly is a development-related question – and thus off-topic here. This site focuses on end-users.

Guess it's time ti take the risk then, cheers anyway! @Izzy sorry, never realized this was end-user only.

@JamesHughes many don't (we've get our part of dev questions everyday). Spread the word :) And good luck!


text:
CM 12.1 Nexus 5 stuck on bootloop and recovery load-up
I've got quite a peculiar problem with my Nexus 5.
Last night, I left my phone on charge. It was working normally and the software was functional etc. However, once I woke up, the phone was constantly restarting itself, and wouldn't load past the boot animation. I tried to load up fastboot to enter the TWRP recovery, however, the phone froze on the load screen. I should also add that my custom boot animation was replaced by the CyanogenMod mascot.
This problem has never occurred before, and I really haven't got a clue how to fix it. I tried to use WugFresh's NRT to flash a factory image of Android 6, however, the command terminal indicated that each process had failed. This did not restore the phone to its original condition.
I should also point out that I have been running a CM 12.1 nightly, which has been very stable and I have been using this nightly, without major problems (bar the infrequent system UI crashes) for a couple of months. It is obviously rooted and I have a Nandroid backup, which I can't access for aforementioned reasons.
Please could you help me with resurrecting my phone? I would be happy to clarify and elaborate upon any point of information.
Kind regards,
Sami

When the device is starting (even stuck and repeat reboot ) if you plug it to PC is it detected by adb ? If so can you post a logcat of the boot process

It just displays 'list of devices attached' and that's it- no serial numbers of anything, even in fastboot. When in fastboot, I typed 'adb reboot-bootloader' it just said 'error:device not found'

If in fastboot, you'll have to use the fastboot command to reboot the phone as fastboot reboot. You can also check for fastboot devices using the same as a command. You can also try flashing the factory image manually from Android Developers by following the numerous guides posted on the net.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Is it possible to build an OTA update from two system images?
I am impatiently waiting for someone to capture the download link for the Android 6.0.1 OTA update for the Nexus 6 so that I can sideload it, but I've been wondering if it would be possible to build an OTA update by using the version of the ROM that I currently have installed on my phone and a copy of the new version. Can this be done, and if so, how? I have looked at the information on the Android Developer's Website, but I do not understand it at all.

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


text:
How to quickly understand the Android UI
I have experience with Windows, the MacOS, the iPad and Linux UI's like KDE. I have not used an Android device however so I do not really understand how it works and compares. My general understanding is that it is similar to Gnome-like Linux interfaces, but I guess there must be some differences since Android has a layer of Java, the Dalvik/ART virtual machine, between the Linux kernel and the UI elements.
I have read the Android developer overview to the UI but that has not really helped me understand how the UI operates from a workflow basis.
Obviously I could just buy an Android tablet and use it for a few months, but I am hoping there is some way for me to understand the Android UI and how it differs from other major UIs. How can I get this knowledge?

On Linux OSes kernel starts init which starts getty which starts login process on virtual console(s). There a user can login on CLI and a shell (like bash) is opened for command execution. In windowing system, init starts a Display Server like Xorg or Wayland and login is replaced with a graphical Display Manager like SDDM or GDM which asks for user credential on GUI. After authentication a Desktop Environment e.g. KDE or GNOME is started which starts its Window Manager and shows components like Desktop, Task Bar / Panel, Widgets, Notifications, and windows of applications such as a File Explorer, Web Browser, Terminal Emulator etc.
Android is primarily designed for a single user, so there's no concept of CLI login. In fact virtual terminals/consoles are disabled in kernel by default. init - after starting all native services including Surface Flinger (Android's Display Server) - starts a service named zygote which is a special process to fork Java-like Virtual Machines. Android's core framework (system_server) and all apps run in separate instances of VMs. system_server starts apps which are configured to run on boot, including many system apps.
So what we see after the boot animation ends is System UI app. This app is responsible for showing lock screen, status bar, notifications etc. system_server has 100+ Java services running inside it including Activity Manager, Permissions Manager and Window Manager. WM communicates with Surface Flinger to draw surfaces on screen as requested by system_server and apps. Another core component we see is a Home or Launcher app which is somewhat like a Desktop. It shows, at least, icons of all installed apps and forwards the request to system_server for launching/showing the app when we tap an app icon. So everything we see on an Android device is an app.

Only by using Android device.
If you don't want to buy a tablet or phone, just install Android emulator like Genymotion, Bluestacks or a classic emulator from Android SDK, but none of these would give you the great experience as using and playing with real device.
You can also watch many tutorials like
Android Development for Beginners
which provides you a some useful information, but no direct experience
I'm saying this not only as a Android fan, but also as experienced Android Developer

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


text:
How can I force my device to pull more watts from charger?
I have three devices, Nobis nb7022 s, droid mini, asus memo pad 7 (me170cx). I am using a charger that has a rated out put of 2000ma. The nobis draws 8 to 10 watts from the wall outlet. the droid mini and asus can only pull 3 watts from the same charger and cord. the asus is only a few weeks old while the droid and nobis are a about a year old.
What is the reason for the difference in power draw? the droid came with a 2 amp charger. Is there anything I can do to make the droid and asus draw more power and charge faster?
Additional information:
I believe the problem may be that the Droid Mini and Asus may think they are connected to a computer.

Are all devices capable of the same Quick Charge technology? USB Quick chargers communicate with a device to allow 2 Amps of output.

I don't believe any of them have quick charge technology, but the droid mini came with an adaptor that is rated at 2 amp output. I'm using the charger for the droid mini for this test.

It's certainly possible that the Droid uses proprietary technology that is incompatible with the others.

It's a droid charger so if it is proprietary, I  expect it to charge the droid faster than the Nobis tablet I paid 40 dollars for a year ago. I have tried other chargers and cables with the same results.

Short Answer

Devices mentioned have different battery capacities. They are meant to be charged with different rated current and therefore different power ( Asus device is 3950 mAh, Nobis is 2500 mAh, Droid Mini 2130 mAh capacity).
OEM proprietary charging methodology  can also significantly vary current. For instance, Note 2 charging current is 1600 mAh while Xperia charging current is around 600 mAh for similar size battery
You can force higher current for faster charging but not advisable (unless OEM offers a way)
What you can do to ensure rated current is delivered is covered

Long Answer
I do not know how you are measuring power in watts directly , but power is given by this equation (ignoring power factor or efficiency of charging)
P (Watts) = Voltage (Volts) x Current (Amps) (or corresponding milli units)

Reasons for difference in power drawn

Voltage supplied by a standard USB wall charger is 5V. That leaves us only current to be varied to obtain varying power

Typically, current drawn by the charger is dependent on

a) Charging Rate Charging rate is a measure that governs at what current a battery is charged and discharged. At 1C, a battery rated 1,000mAh charges at a current of 1,000mAh. In an ideal world the battery would be fully charged in 60 minutes. At 1C, the same battery discharges at 1,000mA. Ideal charging rate is accepted to be around 0.5 to ,0.8 C for maximum battery life (battery life is measured in discharge cycles). This rate is decided by the OEM and coded in the charging algorithm implanted on ROM and varies
b)  Battery Capacity (mAh) or size as commonly referred. Charging rate is varied dependent on this by OEM. Battery capacity of your Asus device is 3950 mAh, Nobis is 2500 mAh, Droid Mini 2130 mAh
c) Battery Type  Not really relevant since most mobile devices and tablets use Li-Ion or Li-Po batteries

Li-Ion or Li-Po charging When you charge a battery at charging rate decided by OEM, it goes through four stages of charging (Constant Current Charge,Saturation Charge and Ready No Current and Ready), see Figure 1 of BU-409 Charging Li-Ion. As you can see from graph voltage and current vary so if you are measuring current using an app like Ampere and derive wattage from current reading, you could end up in wrong comparison if you are not measuring in the same stage of charging
OEM proprietary charging methodology can also significantly vary current. For instance, Note 2 charging current is 1600 mAh while Xperia charging current is around 600 mAh for similar size battery

You are comparing  Power between Asus (3950 mAh), Nobis (2500 mAh), Droid Mini (2130 mAh), which by itself is not an apple to apple comparison and in conjunction with factors above
Droid and Asus power drawn is similar owing to capacity of battery being similar, whereas Nobis capacity is nearly double compared to Droid,so it seems fine and there is no need to "force" more current to be drawn. Doing so will result in poor battery performance. Simply put, forcing the battery to charge faster by increasing the current will result in a battery that discharges faster.  This is covered in my answer and in the Battery University link above
However, to answer your question

How do I increase power drawn?

Using apps from play store which claim to charge faster
Using "fast chargers"
By flashing a kernel which permit you to alter charging current, if your device is rooted

** I do not recommend options 1 and 2 for reasons mentioned in my answer. Option 3 is safer by comparison but needs to be cautiously tweaked and you need to understand the risks.

How to ensure getting maximum (rated) current

Don't use power intensive apps  while charging. Reasons
Get the right combination of chargers and charging cables by measuring current with Ampere or 3C Battery Monitor Widget to rule out charger cable problems resulting in low charging current.
If you are replacing charger cable, go in for a shorter thicker cable (24/ 28 awg) rather than longer, thinner cables as the former offer less resistance to current
Cleaning the charging port of your device by blow drying it to dislodge lint or dirt that does accumulate when your phone is in pocket or outdoor usage (they cause poor connection and increase resistance )

Thank you for taking the time to assemble such an informative response. I understand how to manually charge batteries, but I think this will be very helpful for others.

I am measuring the power directly at the wall. So I'm not actually measuring the charge rate of the batteries. My droid mini came with a 2 amp charger, but the charger doesn't come close to drawing 2 amps."You are comparing Power between Asus (3950 mAh), Nobis (2500 mAh), Droid Mini (2130 mAh), " Well, the droid mini and asus draw the same wattage, but the nobis draws 3 times as much. Based on your post this shouldn't be.

See your point but an important factor is how the manufacture has decided on charging algorithm. For instance between Note 2 and Xperia both having 3100 or nearly same battery, charging current for Xperia is around 600 and for Note 2 around 1600mAh. also on  What stage of  charging are you measuring, constant current or constant voltage. This was pointed out as a possible reason for variation

Similarly the charging current between Honor 4 and Note2. The former has charging current higher despite having a smaller battery. Yes, this point should have been added in reasons for variation and thanks for pointing that out..Will edit answer

I'm not sure what charge stage the batteries are technically using. I have monitored the devices at different battery percentages, approximately 30%, 60%, and 90%. Only the Nobis varies on how many watts are drawn from the wall outlet, but that variation isn't percentage dependent (it seems to tend to draw more watts when being heavily used. The droid and ASUS don't seem to vary even if turned off. I am using a "kill a watts ez" to measure.

Well variation in Nobis could be while using the battery you are measuring and that too in heavy load conditions, which is NOT a good way to compare.  Nobis behaviour appears that load is influencing your readings. The charger electrically" isolates",  power required for load and  for charging.  power measured at wall outlet could be both added, giving incorrect impression. You could read here about electrical isolation and  parasitic load, tests done http://android.stackexchange.com/a/131169/131553.   Solution is technically correct  and I assumed you were measuring when device is NOT used

By load in above comment, I mean the load for to usage. Link above also points to a table which gives you an idea of power consumed for different usage activities. This is indicative and may be very different on your device. As you can see in that table (Izzy table) there is a fair difference in the power for same activity between the two devices. In your case, charger is supplying for both activities and you are measuring that, whereas if you measured current using an Ampere app, it would I think show current used for charging only (haven't measured yet at wall outlet)

I understand how batteries are charged. I know that the amount of power coming from the outlet does not accurately represent the amount of power added to the battery. My question was not about charging the battery.  I don't care if the power is going to the battery or the hardware at this point.  I'm concerned about why the two devices that are superior in performance to the Nobis can't or won’t draw more watts from the same source.

I am afraid I can't help you on that but my guess is OEM implementation is the reason. Samsung Note 2 vs.Sony Xperia is an example as quoted above. Implementation details are not readily available, on internet. If I find something will share and likewise request you. Uncommon to find people getting into such details and would like to know more :-)

Maybe digging around in sources here will help? http://android.stackexchange.com/a/131169/131553


text:
WhatsApp online status for strangers
If I don't have John in my phone contacts (and thus I don't have him in my WhatsApp contacts), and then I open WhatsApp main window, will John see me online? I know my contacts will, but will John?
By "see me online" I mean: if he opens the conversation view with me, will he see the "online" label under my name?
Note: Suppose John has my phone number in his contacts.

Being online can't be hidden as long as the person is not blocked. But you can choose who can see your last seen at information at
Whatsapp -> Top right "three dot" menu -> Settings -> Account -> Privacy -> Last seen

By "see me online" I mean: if he opens the conversation view with me,
  will he see the "online" label under my name?

Yes - he will be able to see that you are Online.
As per the official FAQ of WhatsApp,

There is no way to hide when you are online or typing.


text:
I have moto g 1st gen charging very slow
I have Moto G 1st Gen now the problem is charging is very slow it takes about 3 2 and half hours to full charge
 what to do now? should i buy new battery..??

Just making a point, my brother has the Moto X 3rd gen and that is about how long he has to charge it as well. That may be typical.

TTechy
Try to put your phone on Airplane Mode While Charging.
Switch off your phone while charging.
Use 3G instead of 4G it will save battery.
Remove Unwanted apps.
Remove Battery and insert again.
If your phone under warranty than submit to service centre and complain them about phone charing issue, may be you can get replacement for battery.

Battery may, or may not, not do it.  I just replaced my Moto G Gen 1 battery with a brand new one because I was having the same issue.  It did not resolve the issue.  I suspect my charging port is bad or something in the charging circuitry is bad.  Even with the phone completely off it takes about 24 hours to fully charge.  When the phone was new it would full charge in about an hour.
Trying the battery is a cheap thing to try though, I found a new battery (with tools needed to open the phone up), for $6 (shipped) from Aliexpress.  They say batteries can only be done by the factory, but it's actually pretty easy to do yourself with instructions found online.


text:
Backup Apps Without Backing Up Rom
After doing something wrong while installing CyanogenMod 13, I flashed a google marshmallow stock rom. I wanted to go back to CyanogenMod 12, so I backed up my data using CWM recovery, factory reset, and installed CM12. After making sure it was working, I flashed Gapps and restored from my recovery. My apps were back, but I was also back with the google stock rom. Is there any way to only back up the app data?

You can use ADB to backup app data. You can use Titanium Backup app to backup app data. While not personally tested, Adebar should help you as well. Or, if you're familiar with *nix command line, make a list of package name of apps whose data you want, boot into recovery, mount data partition and selectively copy or zip the /data/data/ directories of all the apps.

As mentioned in the comments by Firelord and me, there are multiple approaches:

you could use Titanium Backup
you could use ES File Manager, which includes an app manager capable of backing up apps and their data
you could use ADB backup
You could use Adebar to make the previous step easier

TiBu and ES File Manager require root to work. ADB and Adebar don't.
Adebar a.o. creates a script to backup each of your (user) apps into a separate archive using adb backup (and another one for the data of system apps, and two others for restore). While you could do a similar thing with TiBu (which uses its own backup format), Adebar runs from the command line while with TiBu you must use a GUI. Side effect from using Adebar: you'll have your device documented: tech specs, apps installed, etc :)
Adebar is pretty easy to install, but will require adb to be available on your computer (see our adb tag-wiki for details on that). It runs fine on Linux, and recently was reported to run on Windows as well via Cygwin.
Disclaimer: I'm the dev of Adebar.

Ok, i used adb backup because i just wanted it to work quickly, but i might take a look at Adebar later

Anytime! Always glad to help. If you've got any issues with Adebar, you know where to find me :)

You can use Titanium Backup Pro to backup the apk file as well as data of your apps.Otherwise, if you want to backup just the apk files, you can use App Backup Restore.You can also copy the apk files from \data\app to your SD card via a suitable file explorer like Root Explorer or ES File Explorer.

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


text:
lenovo p70 contacts lost after upgrade
after an ota upgrade of lenovo p70 from version kitkat 4.4.4 to lollipop 5.1 no contacts are visable
thanks
Msadek

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! We will need much more information to give recommendations here. Please [edit] your question and add: where are no contacts visible? What steps to reproduce? Where there any errors shown during upgrade? Are your contacts synced with Google (or any other service) – and if so, are they visible there? Is your device still able to access that service / Google Play Store (i.e. is the account still configured)? Did anything else go missing after the upgrade (could it e.g. be the device was factory-reset)?

the problem was resolved when i removed some installed applications

the issue was not in the sync but it was related to the viewing of the contacts, even the call log was empty and received calls were not in the log

Mind to write up an answer of what you did to solve your issue, naming the culprits which blocked your view? That would be helpful to others sitting in the same boat. Thanks in advance!

the problem was resolved when i removed some installed applications
i am not sure exactly which application was the reason as i removed many applications
i even tried many 3rd party contacts and dialer apps, but even those either worked for some time then stopped or didn't work at all
the issue was not in the sync but it was related to the viewing of the contacts, even the call log was empty and received calls were not in the log
thanks
Msadek


text:
Stuck in Fastboot mode after flashing custom ROM on Xiaomi Mi3W
I flashed MIUI fastboot ROM on Xiaomi Mi3W since I had problem booting it. It was a old ROM but now nothing happens except it is stuck on fastboot mode. It doesn't even charge the battery. I tried re-flashing it but does not work.


text:
What is a decent speed for a card that can be used as internal storage in marshmallow?
Marshmallow allows sd cards to be used as internal storage.
I would like to know what is the benchmark for the cards that can be used seamlessly with Marshmallow as internal storage.
It would be good if someone can the technical details of the cards to look at before buying cards for marshmallow.

My SanDisc Ultra was according to Marshmallow not fast enough ;( - but worked. I couldnt find anything on the Definition of the Speed for Marshmallow to swallow those SDs without an notification.
But I assume that all are not fast enough and you will get notifications nonetheless:
Here are Classifications of Speed:
For Samsung Flagship (S6 e.g.)
UFC 2.0 = 100mb/s
emmc    = 90mb/s (most of the phones have this)
SD Cards:
UHS3 30mb/s
UHS1 10mb /s
class 10 10mb/s
class 6 6mb/s
(those Speeds (obviously) are depending on your phones Controller)
I feel like that as Long as the SD Card Speed is smaller as the built in Speeds - your will get those error/info notifications.
But I could get it to run with class 10 (no Problems) - Streaming movies / Music was no Problem
Do you want to use the internal mode? (on what phone/purpose?)


text:
Stuck in boot after changing dpi - Lenovo a7000
I used  Texdroider DPI  to change the dpi from 320 to 300 and after the reboot it gets stuck at the lenovo logo. I could just flash it again but i don't have the rom on this pc, and it will take 10h to download it.
Is there any faster way to reset the dpi? I have TWRP installed. With android 5.0.1.
Edit:
Output of cat /system/build.prop | grep density is ro.sf.lcd_density=300
Tried editing build.prop back to 320 with Sublime Text. Now the command returns ro.sf.lcd_density=320 but it still gets stuck.

Your Android version and device? Is the USB debugging enabled? Which app did you use? Link it. Boot into TWRP, mount data partition, go to /data/property and confirm us whether persist.sys.lcd_density exists? If it exists, what does it contain?

It's not there.

Alright, but that does not tell us the Android version  you're using. Now, when booted into TWRP, mount system partition, open TWRP's command line and do cat /system/build.prop | grep density. Tell us the result.

# Lenovo-sw wuzb1 2014-10-08 set default density ro.sf.lcd_dencity=300

Change the density back to 320 in that file. On a side note, can you use the body of the question to display the output? You should only be getting the line ro.sf.lcd_density in the command's output.

Pull the build.prop file into PC and post the file here. Use a paste service such as pastebin or gist.github. I just want to make sure that my command only changes density and nothing else.

The app's description says "replace /system/build.prop with /data/data/com.texdroider.texdroider_dpi/files/backup/build.prop using adb, or restore a rom backup" -- have you tried it? Are you certain that while editing the file, you didn't add any new character next to 320, be it deliberately or inadvertently? It could be a whitespace too.

I'm sure, yeah. Just did cp /data/data/com.texdroider.texdroider_dpi/files/backup/build.prop /system/build.prop and the file does not exist. The directory com.texdroider.texdroider_dpi appears like a file in the explorer.

I see. The app didn't make any backup but expected user to make backup, so that's why you don't have one. Just last thing I would ask to do: can you execute the command adb shell sed -i -e 's/.*ro.sf.lcd_density.*/ro.sf.lcd_density=320/g' /system/build.prop? If you're not using a *nix system, you would need sed editor installed in system.

I'm on windows, and have no idea how to run this... Tried it on twrp and it says cannot link executable: could not load library libc.so needed by adb [...] is 32-bit instead of 64-bit.

If you want to run the command on TWRP, do sed -i -e 's/.*ro.sf.lcd_density.*/ro.sf.lcd_density=320/g' /system/build.prop or put it simply, remove adb shell from the earlier command. Make sure system partition is already mounted.

Still nothing..

There is one more thing you can try. Boot into TWRP, mount data partition, use PC to execute adb shell busybox printf "320" > /data/property/persist.sys.lcd_density and then adb shell chmod 600 /data/property/persist.sys.lcd_density. Unmount data partition, reboot into Android and tell us the result.

Thank you so much for trying to help, but I ended up flashing it.

Note:

Parts of this answer didn't work for OP, but nevertheless, they worked in all of my test cases with different ROMs, hence, the answer  would certainly prove to be useful for some users.
Device should have a custom recovery installed.
adb should be setup in PC and USB debugging be enabled and authorized in the device.
Anything mentioned next to # anywhere in a line is a comment.

More or less, the changed DPI value would either be in settings.db, /data/property/persist.sys.lcd_density, /system/build.prop or in memory only. I've covered instructions for all of these cases and they should prove to be helpful when the device gets stuck at boot animation.

If it is an Xposed module which changed the DPI and caused boot issue, then try disabling the module or the framework, or, remove the former or both. See my answer here for more info on that.
If you used command-line to change DPI (am/wm), then when the device gets stuck at boot animation (past the OEM logo), execute
adb shell am display-density reset    # For Android 4.2.x
adb shell wm density reset            # For Android 4.3.x and above
adb reboot

In my Android 4.2.1, custom display density is saved as a value for the key display_density_forced in the table global of /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db. If you've used command-line (am) or an app used this key, follow these steps:

When booted into recovery, mount data partition, pull the said file into PC and use an sqlite editor to either remove the key or change the value to a better or default DPI. After that, push the file back to its place.
adb pull /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db LOCAL_PATH     # to pull the file into PC
adb push LOCAL_PATH/settings.db /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/    # to push the file into Android
adb reboot

Replace LOCAL_PATH with the directory under which settings.db is to be saved and is saved, respectively.

In Android 4.3 and above, custom display density can be found under /data/property/persist.sys.lcd_density or by executing adb shell "getprop | grep density". If you used command line (wm) or an app used that property to change DPI then follow these steps:

When booted into recovery, mount data partition and do
adb shell rm /data/property/persist.sys.lcd_density                      # this will cause Android to fall back to default DPI
adb shell busybox printf "DPI" > /data/property/persist.sys.lcd_density  # change DPI with your custom DPI value
adb reboot

Finally, the easiest but a dangerous and extreme approach you or an app would take is to change the DPI for the key ro.sf.lcd_density inside /system/build.prop. The DPI in the said file is considered the stock DPI of that ROM.
When booted into recovery with data partition mounted,

You can choose to override the stock DPI by doing
# replace DPI with your custom DPI
adb shell am display-density DPI   # For Android 4.2.x only
adb shell wm density DPI           # For Android 4.3.x and above only
adb reboot

If that doesn't work for some reason, do
adb shell sed -i 's/.*ro.sf.lcd_density.*/ro.sf.lcd_density=DPI/g' /system/build.prop      # sed is replacing the DPI with your custom DPI value
adb reboot

If none of the solutions work then your only option is to replace build.prop. If you've a clean backup of system partition or build.prop then use it to replace original file, else flash the ROM as OP did.

Note: I personally did not test, but it has come to my notice to not edit any file of Android using any native text editor of Microsoft Windows OS. Instead, use Notepad++ or altogether do all the editing using command line in recovery.

This is a small updated answer since android no longer stores one single settings database & editing build.props doesn't seem to work on a number of newer phones. Also "shell wm" commands don't work on twrp recovery.
At least in my case (xiaomi Redmi9 with android10) settings are stored in:
/data/system/users/0

These are the 2 values that need to be edited:
"display_size_forced" in settings_global.xml
"display_density_forced" in settings_secure.xml

You need a custom recovery installed and a way to edit the files, either on your PC or directly on the recovery by using Nano Editor.
Once done just reboot and that's it!
You don't need the exact values for resolution or density just something close enough to be able to boot, then reset to the devices default by using ADB.
I hope this helps anyone stuck in recovery boot after editing dpi or resolution.


text:
Accidentally deleted keyboard by King root
I accidentally deleted my keyboard through king root how I install keyboard which is permanent and not removed by restoring

I've no idea what you mean with "not removed by restoring" – but if you've got a Google account configured on your device, you could always visit Playstore using a web browser on your computer and have it remotely install a keyboard app of your choice.

I had the same problem.  Go to Google Play Store and uninstall, then reinstall Google Keyboard.  Fixed the problem.

Open Google Play Store.  Tap on the menu icon in the upper left corner.  Tap on My Apps and Games.  You will see "Installed" and "All."  Tap on "All."  Scroll until you see Google Keyboard.  Tap "Enable" and re-download it.

May be there is a better solution, but I suggest (avoid messing with android system files) to reinstall stock firmware on your device using fastboot program and remember to take backup of your files to your google account.
If you don't know how to make boot and reinstall android firmware, I can help you that.


text:
Stuck on the 'Android is updating' screen after flashing CM13 on LG G3
I did a wipe, and fresh install of CM 13. I did not install gapps. The phone boots fine but gets stuck on the updating white prompt. Restarting the phone by removing the battery gets it stuck on the boot animation. I believe I have the right modem flashed. What am I doing wrong?

Does it not show the progress of the number of apps which have been updated?

@DhruvilMehta - It does go through all of the apps, but then it gets stuck on the following screen "Android is updating...". It does not matter if I install CM13 by itself, or with the Gapps. I have tried both the regular TWRP and jon777's version.

Try installing another ROM. How long was the 'Android is updating' screen present? I'm assuming it was present for quite some time. Also make sure that the kernel you're using is compatible with CM13 and the recovery you use.

What rom do you recommend? AFAIK CM comes with its own kernel.

I don't own a g3 so I don't know which ROM is considered to be good. I flashed my nexus 5 along time ago and if I remember correctly, CM didn't overwrite the kernel. I was running ElementalX.

Hmmm. I'll give the kernel route a try.

I've tried additional 6.0.1 roms, different kernels, and the phone just refuses to boot into CM 13. I think my phone is borked. If anyone else has additional suggestions, I'm willing to try it out.


text:
Remote control a computer without internet connection?
Today I discovered one incredibly useful app that allows you to remote control your computer using your mobile phone. However, you need to be connected to the internet on both the phone and the computer and the problem is I only have a limited amount of data to use every month on my phone which would probably last me about a week if I were to use this app everyday. Is it possible to remote control a computer from far away without being connected to the Internet on the mobile phone? I really hope it is.

What OSes are involved on each end? If the mobile is running Android, take a look at my collection here: Remote Droid 1: Control your Computer using your Droid But "from far away" your chances are fairly limited: how do you think the two could be connected without Internet? How should they communicate? It would work in a local network – but that contradicts your "from far away".

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/41097/android-remote-desktop-thru-wifi-only

"Is it possible to remote control a computer from far away..." How far away do you mean?

No, there isn't.
The internet is what allows computers to connect to each other when they are not on the same network. This would technically be possible if both devices were connected to the same network (most commonly the same router or ethernet hookup), but when your device is connected to a cellular connection, the internet it is the only way to connect your computer and phone.

Why not? As long as the computer itself is connected to e.g. the phone line, couldn't something like Asterisk be used?

@Izzy That's pretty cool. Didn't know about that. However, I don't personally know how you'd set that up.

Neither do I, or I had written an answer. I know it is possible, but I don't know all ingredients and the recipe.

No. The reason you need your limited data is because that is how the data gets transferred from one device to another. Through internet. In order to send commands (which are basically data packages) to a device, you have to have a connection with that device. That connection is internet. There are other forms of data transfer methods of course (i.e. radiowaves) however that is no use in this case.

One could use SMS if there's something like Asterisk available on the computer to receive and interprete them. OP didn't specify what exactly is to be "remote controlled". Simple actions could be performed this way like by "voice actions" of something like Alexa – and could even give feedback by returning an SMS, or playing TTS via a phone menu ;)


text:
How to delete offline dictionaries in Google Translate?
I have downloaded some dictionaries for off-line translation in Google Translate. Those dictionaries are quite big, and take precious internal storage - there is no option to move them to SD.
I'd like to delete those files, as it turns out that I never needed them - always was in range of WiFi. Google Translate doesn't seem to provide an option to do this. I'd rather not remove my configuration (that's what I think would be the result of deleting all user data for Google Translate).
How can I do this?
Samsung Galaxy S3 mini (GT-I8190N), with Android 4.1.2

They would probably be in /sdcard/Android/data/com.google.android.apps.translate/.

Go to Settings -> Offline languages, there you should see the saved dictionaries with a tick inside a grey circle. Tap on the tick and it will ask whether you want to delete the offline package or not, just press OK and it will free up some space.

Unfortunately that doesn't work for me. Neither tap, nor long press gives an option to delete offline package. v4.4.0.RC01....

That's weird, at least for the first digits it appears we have the same version of the app


text:
What do I use to update apps without an app store?
I'm looking for an automatic Android app updater. I'm manually installing apps that I want using a web browser, and I do not have an app store (Google Play, Mobogenie, Aptoide, etc.) installed. I want to keep them as up to date as possible without the hassle of having a full-blown store that offers non-app downloads and porn (even "light porn") right on my device.
If anyone knows a good app-updating app, please leave an answer. Even better, if anyone knows of a clean, unobtrusive app store I can use, show me where I can find that.
If details are required, I am running Android "Lollipop" 5.1.1 on a Samsung Galaxy S5.

I already know of f-droid which meets some of my requirements, but it offers so little that it's almost pointless to have installed.

There are a couple of update watchers (e.g. ChangelogDroid), but they all require the corresponding "app-store apps" being present for the updates themselves. However, there soon will be a possibility to auto-fetch updates via your computer, as soon as Raccoon 4 is released – but that might take a little while.

@Izzy Yeah but I want an updater on my device, not for my device with it running on the PC.

Understood – but that doesn't exist, sorry. Not without the coresponding app-stores installed on your device as well.

Well, if all the available stores are the ones I can find from DMOZ, then the only way for an updater to get the latest apps is by using various reliable sources.

I guess you've already checked with our alternative-markets tag-wiki?

Google Play and other markets use pull technology to update your applications , without any market you cant update your applications automatically , so i recommend you to install Google Installer : http://d-h.st/ztjI
Then install the application and Download all Google Software's listed...

I actually had a standalone app updater that used AppBrain as its source (I can't seem to find it now, so I don't have a link). However, I had to manually update by clicking each link and going to the website.

@CyanogenLover I doubt that. AppBrain is just another front-end to Google Play Store, they have no own app repo. True, there's the AppBrain market app – but again, it needs the Playstore app to actually install anything. Long ago, they had the Fast Web Installer to do that; I guess Google didn't like it, so they had to take it down.

@Izzy Well, I think I was able to use apk-dl (APK Downloader) to get the apps. I think it's based in the middle east, because the main site is in Arabic. I'm pretty sure it's legal since they list Google's  price to some of the apps, but I don't try to download apps I'd have to pay for, anyway.


text:
Do Android devices make active or passive scan when looking for WiFi AP
I would like to know if Android devices make active or passive scan when looking for the AP to connect. I've already made a test using Wireshark and wifi sniffer and it seems that while an iPhone sends Probe Request frames to discover available APs (active scan), my Android device sometimes sends Probe Request frame, but most of the times it does not send Probe Request frames at all, but waits for the AP to send a Beacon frame (passive scan).
I've been looking for some official info/documentation concerning this topic, but haven't found anything useful yet. I would be very grateful if someone could provide me with the answer to this question.

The only "official" explanation I found is in this comment (dated July 2009) in the Git repositories on android:

wifi: WifiManager.startScan() will now do passive scans by default.
Active scans will only happen if an hidden AP is in use, or if the new method
WifiManager.startScanActive() is called.

The existence of an hidden function to start an active scan (reported here) suggests that the normal scanning function is indeed passive. This is to be taken with a grain of salt, though, as the Android documentation doesn't explicitly tell if the function WifiManager.startScan() is passive or not.
Also related: this two posts on SO (post 1, post 2) report that the scanning activity is passive (post 1) and that since android 4.3 it not even possible to call the active scan method (post 2) - but there is no link to official sources.

I have been searching for the official document for an exact answer too. But I couldn't find any. Hence I'm writing this base my own assumption.
I believe a client device(mobile in this case) does both the active and passive scan.
My reasons are as below:

When a mobile activates the WiFi interface, it needs to scan for the beacons by nearby AP so that the available SSIDs will be listed for connection. This is a passive scanning mode.
A mobile which has been connected to several SSIDs before will bust the probe request frames(with all the SSIDs) to nearby AP and if the SSID match, the AP will respond to the probe request and the connection/authentication process will begin. This is an active scanning mode.
Special case for the AP with hidden SSID. When the user manually connecting to the hidden SSID, the mobile device will generate a probe request and broadcast it to the nearby AP. When the SSID matched any of the AP, it will follow by connection/authentication process. This is an active scanning mode too.


text:
How to downgrade from Lollipop to Jelly Bean on my Samsung Galaxy s3neo?
After i upgraded my s3 neo from jelly bean to lollipop all my apps were crashed, how can i downgrade it?

I think you should try to figure out why your apps stopped working after the upgrade and fix that issue before downgrading.

Is your phone rooted? If yes, then download any rom for your device of your linking from xda, and flash it. Follow the instructions on the forum to install the rom. If you're not rooted, then you will have to download the stock firmware from a site like sammobile,
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/
Once downloaded, you'll have to download a program called ODIN.
http://odindownload.com
Get the Samsung USB drivers for your phone too.
Now the firmware file you download will be zipped, so extract it in an easily remembered decretory, like your desktop. Open ODIN.

The MD5 file would go into the AP box. Sounds weird, I agree, but the AP box will be your best friend. You don't need to worry about any other Boxes.
Once the file is in the box, you would now need to turn off your device, and reboot into Download Mode by holding Volume Down, the Power Button and the Home Button.
Press Volume Up to proceed to the actual Download Mode.
Once in Download Mode, you can plug in your device. You will need to wait several minutes, as ODIN, your PC, and the device communicate.
After some time has passed, upward of several minutes, you should see a box that is colored and has a type, and a number: eg - 'COM:3' That means your PC recognizes the device and everything should be ready to go. The number is irrelevant.
Note the COM:3, and the MD5 file in the AP box. Now, to begin, just click Start.

Do not disconnect the device from the cable until ODIN returns a successful message or a failed message.
When ODIN is done, you should see a box that will say reset or passed (depending on which version you have, you may see either or both.). At this point it is OK to remove your device. ODIN has completed the flash, and by now, the device should be going through the reboot screen.
Any problems, try these few things: Update Drivers, and restart your PC; Different cables; Different USB ports.
Source: http://forums.androidcentral.com/ambassador-guides-tips-how-s/499009-guide-samsung-how-flash-stock-rom-via-odin-new-interface.html#post4265806

I believe this is your source of info. Please follow How to reference material written by others


text:
Phone makes me dial 1 before answering a call
I have a Samsung Galaxy S5. Every call gets synced to my computer and I can't retrieve calls until I press the number 1. I miss most of my calls. This is undesirable. Please help me.

It's call-screening in Google-voice settings. Turn off the option.

This happens when Call screening is turned ON in Google voice settings.

Go to Google Voice Settings in Web interface
Go to Settings (gear icon) → Calls tab.
Uncheck Call screening

Source : Phone makes me dial 1 before answering


text:
Can I control the permissions of pre-installed "system apps" in Android Marshmallow?
I am really excited for the permission control feature available in Android M. I am considering buying a phone that supports this OS just for that one feature.
However, I am concerned if I will be able to control permissions on the "stock apps" without rooting or flashing my device with a new ROM? Even a Nexus will come with stuff like Google Maps, I am sure. So will I be able to control what Google Maps has access to, for example? What about Samsung devices and the egregious bloatmalware they package with it?

When using apps which require certain permissions for the first time, the app asks you to grant the permission, which happens with stock apps too. If it doesn't, then permissions for stock apps can be managed in the App Permissions section of the Settings.

That sounds great! Can you please confirm this with a device and an example?

I'm using the Nexus 6P and just disabled the camera permission to the stock app to confirm :p

That is indeed awesome

Yes you can surely do it starting from Android 6.0. I even played with it trying to download a file from my browser after refusing it storage access and it expectedly crashed. So yes, you can.

How would you like to justify the existence of your answer given that this answer already covers your answer's content?

So that means I shouldn't have posted this answer?


text:
What happen to file we downloaded in bluestack?
I go to bluestack. I download some files some apk.
Then what?
How can I install that apk?
I click an icon that looks like a down arrow and nothing happens

Please add more detail to your question, like what you are trying to download, BlueStacks configuration info, etc. Screenshots of what you have tried may be helpful as well.

apk files. The down arrows can be pulled down. However, it seems that we cannot install apk using files we download straight to bluestack.


text:
Android WiFi is being wonky(upload stalls)
I have a Galaxy S5 Verizon.
Starting today, my wifi on my device has been acting stupid.
Whenever I try to browse the internet, it lags. It isnt an issue with my internet or my router. Because when I run a speedtest on my cellphone, it will take a minute to start but when it does start, i get 11 ms ping 60 down 10 up.
Same with a wired connection on my desktop. Same on my galaxy tab 12.2.
I noticed that when I use wifi on my phone, the wifi download icon is active, but the upload icon isnt. Meaning when I use wifi to browse the net, its able to download data using wifi but it stalls trying to uploading data.
Well because of this, instead of having my normal instant speeds, I have lag. It takes a while for a youtube video to load. It takes a while for a web page to load. WHen i used the app store it took a while for the app images to download and it took a while for an app download to initalize.
I dont know why this is happening. All I know is that for some reason my device is failing to upload data using wifi right away. It always stalls.
Like I said, this just started happening today too.
I didnt do much on my device. The only thing that could possibly have done something is that I used terminal to change my device hostname. I was tired of seeing "android-3478547583gf7348574835" On my router arp table. So I went onto terminal and I did
> su
> getprop net.hostname
> setprop net.hostname <new_hostname>

And then I went onto recovery and wiped my cache.
Thats the only "Technical" thing I've done with my phone today and now for some reason my wifi stalls.
Any ideas?
I wiped the cache again to see if that would fix it. Didnt.
Rebooted my phone dozens of times. Did nothing.
I dont want to resort to factory resetting but I will if I have to.
Im rooted.
GS5 on 5.1.1
edit: I shouldnt say its a lag issue since I still get 60 mb download speeds. Its just an initialization issue with my wifi

I'm not the big networking specialist, so I'm afraid I have no final solution for you. But maybe a tool for network diagnosis can help you finding the issue? I've heard Fing praised often. Maybe worth a try.

Having used Fing, it really doesn't offer a tool that can help in his situation. unfortunately.

If changing the hostname appeared to cause an issue, perhaps changing it back might solve the problem? Worth a shot.


text:
If a paid app stops working, can I get my money back?
For example, the application Say it right! is using the Forvo third-party service. I guess the app can stop working eventually (for example if the API changes, or if the third-party service terms change)
Are paid apps purchased from the Google Play store supposed to work for lifetime?
Edit: The previous example costs 1 euro, and obviously if it stops working that would be no big deal. But the same applies for apps that cost 20 euros or more. I wouldn't be happy if an expensive app stops working after 3 months, and I'm curious if Google has a policy for this on its Play store.

Yes. For the lifetime of the app :) Sorry, Pere, but for the one buck you pay per app, you can't expect the dev to support it for his or your lifetime. When the dev decides to stop updating the app, that ends its lifetime sooner or later. And no, no money-back then. You don't get your money back in cinema either when the film ends :)

If your automobile stopped working, would you expect the dealer to refund your money? For a lifetime? If your  tie or shoes go out of style, do you expect a refund?

The legalities of this depend on what laws are applicable when / where you purchased the app.

@Pere - Software is as tangible as a tie, shoes, or an automobile. You determined its value, and bought it in an arms-length transaction - the determinant characteristics of fair commerce. Value received for perceived equal value spent. You own it past the agreed return time period.

Help section of Google Play Store (accessible from Google Play Store menu button on left > help and feedback> search for returns and refunds> Apps and games refunds) relevant to your question, says (emphasis mine)

After 2 hours or more,Contact the developer
  If Google Play's 2-hour return period has passed, the developer is responsible for deciding if you are eligible for a refund. Contact the app developer directly and ask for a refund. You can find an app developer's contact information listed on an app or game's detail page on Google Play. For instructions, go to help with an Android app or game.

(Edit: 11 Mar 20 - just saw that it is 48 hours not 2 hours to claim the refund. I don't know when it changed)
So, it's obvious that the refund request approval rests with app developer and if the developer doesn't respond, it further says

Optional: Contact Google
  If the developer hasn't helped, Google may be able to. Contact our support team for help solving your problem.

Reading between the lines, there is no obligation for developer to refund. Further, no where does a developer give a "life-time" guarantee, for that matter no software can guarantee that. It is simply not possible to do that for obvious reasons.
To sum it up, I don't think you are within your rights to assume and ask for a refund as in your case
Edit: In response to your edit, the answer still is the same, but the developer may be more inclined (guessing) to work on an update and release that to fix the problem occurring in three months, since other users would also be affected and would adversely impact his rating on Play Store, which they are quite sensitive to. Mailing him in this case may be the best option, with app /system logs and crash logs if any


text:
How to record clash of clans so that my voice is loud but the sound for the game is low?
I am using recordable apps to record clash of clans.
However, my voice is not heard. Buried behind music.
I want the voice and music of clash of clans to be loud and my comments are more clearly heard..

Give us the links of the "recordable apps" you are currently using.

Lowering the sound volume in android does not lower the sound of my voice.
So it works.
I seem to be using this except that I am using the paid version (only $1)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.org.invisibility.recordablefree&hl=en
However, it works for other things too.


text:
Fire Tablet FreeTime sometimes takes a long time to start an app
Once every few days when my kids go into their account (FreeTime), none of the apps work right away. You'll tap/click to start running a game and the icon turns this like teal color, it waits a minute or two then it appears to either download or install something because a yellow progress bar shows up under the icon. It does this for every single app. The download/install process seems to queue, too.
If I go in directly into an adult's profile, this never happens (even while it is "downloading" in the kids profile). All apps work immediately.
Why does it do this?

Referring to a similar case posted on Amazon forum, this happens when the device has low storage.
First, check the device's storage

To access your "Storage" on the kindle follow these steps:

Swipe down from the top
Click on Settings
Device Options
Click on Storage

From there you can see how much storage you have left and how much storage your books/games/apps etc are using.

Next, remove corrupted download,

It sounds like it might have been a corrupt download. Please try long pressing on the icon and "Remove from Device" then do another hard restart. But this time, please hold the power button down for 40 seconds (regardless of when the screen goes black.) Then try to redownload the application.

If it doesn't work, then try to free up some space,

I had the same issue with my daughter's fire and I think it is related to storage. It's almost as if the app doesn't have enough room to download so it fails, but it never provides a message that there is a storage problem. One of the previous suggestions was to select "Remove from Device" and do a hard restart, but that is not an option (only "Remove from Carousel") which leads me to believe that it does not fully download. A hard restart also did nothing to help. I removed the app from the carousel, then removed a bunch of apps, and restarted. The problem was resolved. Now whenever her Fire starts acting glitchy I reduce her apps and make sure she has plenty of storage.

Or alternate method to clear FreeTime's apps data

From your kid's freetime account pull down from the top of the screen. Choose "settings" (you will have to have the password to move on)
Choose "storage" from the options listed
Choose apps, from the list
Select All (button or choosing each app checkbox individually)
At the bottom, click the "remove" button. This clears the stored version of the app data (and possibly the app itself). It does NOT delete the app from your Amazon account or cloud.
Back out of all the settings and go back to the apps page (where your child would start the app they want to play.)
  While you have internet access, click on any (or all) of the apps one at a time to download a new clean version of the app from the cloud.


text:
How to get rid of search bar on home screen in 6.0
I have already tried options mentioned in many other answers here/ posts online. I have a nexus 5
disable google now: option is disabled
use custom launcher: shows even in Nova launcher!
Edit: here is what I tried:
https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-remove-the-google-search-bar-from-your-android-homescreen
it doesn't work because Google Search doesn't appear in the list of installed apps in marshmallow

This is because Nova by default displays the search bar. You can remove it by long tapping on it and dragging it over the cross that appears at the top of the screen.

"I have already tried options mentioned in many other answers here/ posts online." -- consider linking or explaining all of them here. This helps us to avoid suggesting solutions which didn't work for you.

@Firelord I tried to disable Google Now, but the option is disabled in marshmallow

You can remove the Google Search bar by installing an application Xposed GEL Settings.
Open XGELS > Google Search Bar > Hide
Please note: This application requires ROOT and Xposed Framework.

looks like the only option for now


text:
Custom notification for whatsapp group
I'm in a whatsapp group which requires some sort of quick reaction. I'd like to set a special (custom or at least non-standard) notification tone or sound specifically for that group (and only it).
Some clarifications:

I know how to disable and mute a group, that's a different case
I know how to set a notification for whatsapp, but it wouldn't me differentiate among many groups I'm subscribed to
I know how to set specific sounds/tones for specific contacts in whatsapp, but this is a group, not a person

If anyone is aware of a [hidden] setting or a hack, I'll be glad to hear. Thanks.

not sure if this is possible! The closest that you can go is SET a specific ringtone for a Group(if you have more that 1 then not possible to differentiate between them ) and different ring tone for other WhatsApp contact. Read more here: https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/android/23776567

The best way to do this is to do the following:

Open WhatsApp
Long press on the chat that you need to set the custom notification for
Press Group info
Press Custom Notifications
Tick the checkbox at the top right
Change the notification tone, vibration pattern, LED light colour as required.

For what it's worth, I am using WhatsApp version 2.12.367, on an Android 6.0 device, but I doubt that it is dependent on Android version.


text:
Games and ads opening up on phone unexpectedly.
I have game applications opening at what seems like random or after I let my phone sit idle. I then have to close that tab or close all tabs to get back to the home screen so I can use my phone. I have recently downloaded some apps and I suspect this is the cause. How can I get back to normal and keep these games and adds from opening. Thanks!

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! I'd start with uninstalling those "recently downloaded" apps one by one to figure which of them is causing that. You could also check the logs for hints.

Thank you, I downloaded a  add on detector app for free and it helped pinpoint the app that caused the problem. Thank you again for you help.

Craig, may I suggest you answer your own question then – with some more details (which detector you've used, what criteria to find out, what the faulty app was)? Might help others in a similar situation. Thanks in advance!

There are various options:

Do a factory reset. Go to Settings>Backup & Personal Data-Factory Data Reset
Root your phone. Install Xposed. Block Wakeups using either AppsOpsXposed or Permission Master.

What do wakeups have to do with that? And don't you think a factory-reset is a bit harsh here?

As @Izzy said, don't you think both of those options are abit extreme and complex for this situation?

Thank you, I downloaded a  add on detector app for free and it helped pinpoint the app that caused the problem. Thank you again for you help.

If you suspect that a certain application that you downloaded is the cause of this issue, then I would suggest uninstalling the suspect application and seeing if that fixes your problem.


text:
How to re-install Google play services
How do you reinstall Google Play store and Google Play services after uninstalling them.

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! For a starter, you could check our google-apps tag-wiki.

Have you removed the apps or just the updates?

As Firelord asked, did you uninstall the apps or only the updates?
If only the updates, if you open the play store on your phone, and it should seek for updates to both your play store and play services. If it doesn't happen automatically, try clearing the data of the play store app, and then manually trying to find the update by going to the settings activity of the play store and tapping on the version number.
If you've uninstalled the apps, then I presume you already have root access, because uninstalling them without root access is very difficult.
In this case, flash a recovery to your phone if you haven't already, and flash the Google apps zip (GApps) matching your android version, and clear the cache and dalvik cache if necessary through the recovery after the install.


text:
Is there a way to remove all other USB options except charging?
Is there a way to disable MTP/PTP and all other USB options except Charging option from the Android system?
I'm using LG G4 beat, Android 5.1.1 and i want to remove it for my new ROM that i working on
Rooted device
Thanks!

Can you give abit more information (device make/model, OS, is rooted, etc.)? Also, why do you want to remove these capabilities?

Additional to that: Do you really want to remove (title), or are you just annoyed by the "drive-found" popups everytime you connect your device? What have you already checked/tried then?

Related: Disabling MTP/PTP/all USB stuff except charging / Can I disable MTP mode and just have a regular USB connection? / “adb devices” gives “no permission” when on charge-only

If you really want to remove these modes, the easisest method would be to edit the boot.img's ramdisk, which has a file xxxxxxx.usb.rc and remove the modes. If you want to remove those options from settings, edit the Settings.apk using APKtool

There no action to disabling MTP mode, but you'll make remove all USB option is: connecting to electrical plug, not the PC.


text:
"Other" folder on SD card with Kindle Fire 10
A friend of mine has a new Kindle Fire 10 tablet and has a 64GB SD card.
When downloading content from Amazon Prime, the SD card fills up with more data than the content downloaded
This content is stored in the "Other" folder but no idea what this
Does anyone know?

"Other" is cached data (browser, other apps), downloaded files, game data (e.g., Minecraft worlds), etc. Basically anything that doesn't fit the named categories.
You can clean some of this up by using the functions in Settings->Storage to clear app caches/data, delete downloads, etc. If you know what to look for, you can also use a file manager to manually delete things that may not get cleared via Settings menus. However, please make sure you know what you are deleting if you attempt the latter.


text:
Migrate media to external storage in Marshmallow
In versions of Android prior to Marshmallow 6.0, the Storage Manager (in Settings) had an option to move media to external storage.
Now, this option appears to to have disappeared. How can I still do this?

Go to "Settings -> Storage & USB" then tap on you SD card. Then tap on the "three-dot menu" at the top right corner and select "Migrate data".

I don't see that option under the three-dot menu.

Is your SD card formatted as adopted or portable?

It's formatted as portable.


text:
Does Android swap out memory used by foreground services?
Looking at an Android KitKat device made by LG, I see that an app called Software Update is always running as a foreground service (100).  That service occupies a significant amount of memory.
From what I can tell, that app is just for OTA updates, which is an exceptionally rare event (has never happened so far!).
In order to free up some working memory, I was thinking about preventing the app from starting on bootup (by disabling its Broadcast Receiver), and then just running it manually once in a while to check for updates.
But before I do that, I want to ask if it matters at all?  For apps that are always running a foreground service, will Android simply swap them out of memory like a background app?  Or is the memory they use blocked off completely at all times, thereby making my plan worthwhile?

Did you try simply turning off automatic OTA updates from settings >> about the phone

Good question.  Yes, I went into Settings -> About phone -> Update Center a, and selected Off for Update notification cycle

I see , Why not freezing it ? Unfreeze from time to time to keep you the extra trouble

you said :

(by disabling its Broadcast Receiver)

First let me point out that Broadcast Receiver and Service is not the same thing ,you will get the difference between them along the answer.
Broadcast Receivers :

Quoting : Dianne Hackborn, a Software Engineer see Article Here

A BroadcastReceiver allows an application to run, for a brief amount
  of time, in the background as a result of something else happening.
  When handling a broadcast, the application is given a fixed set of
  time (currently 10 seconds) in which to do its work. If it doesn't
  complete in that time, the application is considered to be
  misbehaving, and its process immediately tossed into the background
  state to be killed for memory if needed.

So as you can read BroadcastReceiver can't keep an app running in the background for more than 10 seconds kinda limited right ? that's why there is services.
Services :

Quoting the Same author from the Same article  :

A Service allows an application to implement longer-running
  background operations. There are actually a lot of other functions
  that services provide.
Android Process management for services is different than broadcast
  receivers, because an unbounded number of services can ask to be
  running for an unknown amount of time. There may not be enough RAM to
  have all of the requesting services run, so as a result no strong
  guarantees are made about being able to keep them running.
If there is too little RAM, processes hosting services will be
  immediately killed like background processes are. However, if
  appropriate, Android will remember that these services wish to remain
  running, and restart their process at a later time when more RAM is
  available. For example, if the user goes to a web page that requires
  large amounts of RAM, Android may kill background service processes
  like sync until the browser's memory needs go down
Services can further negotiate this behavior by requesting they be
  considered "foreground." This places the service in a "please don't
  kill" state, but requires that it include a notification to the user
  about it actively running like music players ,Anti-virus etc ...

The app need to show a notification ,in your case it's a System application it doesn't need this requirement it can tell the System that it needs to be running all the time and the System will not kill it only if the system needs more memory and it is the only service still running (What are the odds of that happening).
Now Going back to your Question Will it be worth while ? I think it is because it's a waste (truly a waste ) memory used and will not be freed ,for no purpose.
I will add :
your plan to stop it's broadcast receiver may not keep the service in the background ,I would recommend you disable the app under Setting > application > all and click on disable (if that button is there ) or freeze the application using titanium backup.
Ref :
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html
http://www.howtogeek.com/161225/htg-explains-how-android-manages-processes/
http://developer.android.com/training/articles/memory.html

You should always cite the source(s) and appropriately credit the author. Please follow How to reference material written by others. Maybe you missed it?

@Firelord I don't know how to make the exact replica of it I hope what I did is fine

WOW!!! Great answer! Thank you so much! I learned so much from you answer. Thank you!  Just to learn more, would disabling the services be as successful as (or more successful than) disabling the app?  See: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/129427/why-are-disabled-apps-still-running

@RockPaperLizard the problem on that question is a bug ,a disabled app should be ignored by the system it will not be included in the installed apps and the package manager shouldn't list it ,if you have the disable button under settings click it and confirm you are good to go no further complicated work ,the adb method and the disable method are practically the same ,you are telling the package manager that he should ignore this app just like he do with the 'setup wizard app' it gets disabled after the first configuration ,do you see setup wizard anywhere after the first boot ? never .

Thanks. I'll start by disabling the app.  Note that disabling Services is just as easy as disabling the app when you use MyAndroidTools: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cn.wq.myandroidtools

I see ,I think disabling the whole app will be more safe and effective ,but like they say all roads rake you to Rome ,you have to choose a way


text:
Can App notifications in the notification bar be shown on lock screen (Android 5.1.1)?
Ever since I updated my Galaxy S5 Active to 5.1.1, it has changed so that the small icons in the notifications bar are invisible on the lock screen. (But do still appear once on the home screen.) I've always found this very convenient to see what's happening on my phone. Is this still possible in 5.1.1?

Can you post screenshots showing comparison?

There is one other thing I want to be sure of. Do notifications appear on your lock screen or not? If not, then check your lock screen settings. You may have chosen to hide them. Sometimes, the option to hide only appears when you reset or change the lock-screen type (PIN/password/pattern etc.).

I don't have any screenshots for the before for it.
I do not show notifications on then lock screen. The settings in the Lock Screen section only allow editing of the lock screen Notification, not the icons. I did edit the screen type and notification settings to check them. Neither made the change I was looking for.


text:
Marshmallow Time Drift bug
I was planning to flash a custom Marshmallow ROM on my Samsung Note 2 and use it for some tests in which keeping accurate time (error of a minute either way is fine, not more). This report This Android 6.0 bug might make you late for your next appointment makes me reconsider. It says

The drift is quite small and can't really be noticed under direct observation, but user comments on the Google issue have suggested that a delay of up to 15 minutes can be accumulated over a period of 12 hours – just enough to miss that all important meeting or be late for an exam.

Temporary fixes as suggested in the link (below) do not suit me, since the phone would be unattended during testing I plan

Users have also figured out a couple of temporary fixes. One is to simply restart your headset, forcing it to sync the time with the network, while another instructs to manually switch over form 4G to 3G

I have not found any reports of this on the ROM developer site or here but Clock sync/clock running slow issue log reports this
My question: Has anyone observed it and how bad is it? (Even if not measured)

Android 6.0.1 apparently fixes the issue. I'm running it on my Nexus, so I can't say about custom ROMs, but it should be fixed in 6.0.1 based ROMs.
The bug was detected by me in 6.0 first because my alarm rang 21 minutes late. It was about a week after I bought the phone. A reboot fixed the time, and since I've upgraded to 6.0.1, I haven't seen an issue with time.


text:
Question about Volume Booster App
This is on a Dell Venue Tablet. The multimedia volume on the tablet was very very low from the time of purchase. I installed an app called Volume Booster - the app ran & said it has increased the volume by 23%. And the volume has gotten louder.
I have a few questions

How do these apps increase the volume?
Is it safe to use?
Now that it has increased the volume - can I uninstall the app or will I lose volume if I uninstall it - the reason I want to uninstall it is because it advertises other apps for installation & my wife who uses the tablet isn't tech savvy & she may end up installing some rubbish accidentally.

This is an unrooted tablet.

I probably won´t answer all you ask, but from my experience, these apps on android simply max out all volume levels that a user can max out himself manually. Could you please give me a direct Google Play link to what app exactly are you referring to? I can give it a try (I am interested myself).
As far as I know, the only thing in what boosting volume could be hurtful is that some already volume-maxed out tracks could be too much for your speaker and the sound would become distorted. I don´t think that there could be any physical damaged done (moreover when its not rooted).
As to what those 23% could be (after 77% of max sound volume), isn't that the exact percent when android ask user if he is really sure he wants to increase volume up to 100% and gives the warning? Some music apps are not able to show this warning so the volume simply won´t go above.


text:
1.5 GB limit on file seek addressing?
I am trying to transfer 5.4 GB file form an android internal memory (Sony Xperia Z2). But it seems that most applications have issues addressing the file beyond cca 1.5 GB. They just can't read the file after that point and end with an error. It applies to e.g. Zarchiver (failed compressing), Wifi File Server (stopped sending), etc.
However some apps can read those, e.g. the video player or some binary readers.
It seems that there might be a limit in standard API and the app needs to use different API for reading big files.
Is there some such limit of 1.5 GB? I have seen the 2 GB limit related to FAT32 + unsigned int, which seems not to be the case as I have files over 2 GB. It's just that most apps can't reach their content beyond those 1.5 GB.


text:
Internal storage - free and occuppied space do not add to total
On Sony Xperia Z2, I have 5.6 GB on /storage/emulated/0, then 2.3 GB in /. However, the whole internal storage has 12 GB, and I can only see under 2 GB of free space.
Where is the remaining 2 GB?

Give us the output (screenshots only) of Diskinfo. Third point of this question may help you too: Understand the storage of my phone?


text:
Remote Manage the Wifi connection
Is there a way to remote change the Wifi to which an Android device is connected to. For eg. if there are 2 Wifi networks available at a place & the device is configured with the passwords of both. Currently - device is connected to Wifi1 - is it possible to disconnect it from Wifi1 & connect it to Wifi2?
Is there any app which can be installed to do this? Devices aren't rooted.

Hi! Questions such as "Is there an app that does X" are off-topic here. Visit [help/on-topic] to know what's on-topic here et al. Consider editing your question to purge the off-topic content.

MacroDroid can do it and I can post an answer too, but I need clarification. What is the scope of "remotely" here? Are we talking about sending SMS or something else? Please be specific. Also, which Android version and/or device are you using? Tasker would work here too.

@Firelord - Remotely meaning without the user of the device having to do anything. This is a Dell Venue Tablet.

Yes, I understand what remotely means. I wanted to know the scope of that. How would you like to remotely switch the Wi-Fi? I'm specifically asking for a trigger here.

@Firelord - Macrodroid seems to be an automation app - how will the macro get triggered in this case?

@Firelord The trigger should be remote - i.e. I am sitting on a PC or a different phone and I trigger the switch in the device.

Umm, I think I'm not being clear or you've difficulty understanding me. In any case, what is the remote here? What would you use from remote location to let the other device know that Wi-Fi should be switched now. This is what is known as trigger. I'm asking for that.

@Firelord - I don't care what the trigger is also as I am able to remotely switch wifi on the device.

Saw the exchange of comments between you and @Firelord. Let me try clarify .
You have a cell phone , call it phone A, which can connect to two networks say WiFi1 and WiFi 2. These networks are registered on phone A so passwords need not be entered.
Let us assume this is at home connected to wifi1 and is unattended
Now you go to work and want the phone A to switch automatically from WiFi 1 to 2.  This is what we understand as  "remotely" from your question
How do you tell phone A to switch? You have to perform some action. This action is called "trigger" . For example, you have another cell phone B  at work or borrow to send SMS or give a can give a "missed call" to phone A.
What phone A does when it receives the trigger (s) are called actions. For the actions to run on phone A, you need to have MacroDroid installed on it. Not required to install on phone B
You may want to have some conditions under which this should work, like time of day, day of week and many more. These are called "constraints". The macro runs only is the constraints are "true". If you don't have any constraint,it will always run when trigger conditions are met
Trigger (s) + Action (s) + Constraint(s) create a macro and MacroDroid helps you create macros
MacroDroid,  was recommended by since it is easy to learn (that's why I use it) and the behaviour can be easily customized to get the result you want. Besides,free version allows you to create up to 5 macros and so for the task at hand, free version suffices.
Macro for your requirement would look like this:
Trigger
Call missed → Select Phone B number
SMS received → SMS from (select phone B) →  SMS content (enter any content based on which actions will happen)
In this example I used " switch WiFi"
These triggers work in logical OR, meaning to say that actions will happen when either phone A gets a missed call from phone B or gets a SMS having "switch WiFi"
Actions
WiFi configure → Forget Network → WiFi 1
Wifi configure → connect to network → WiFi 2
Constraints
Time of day → start time (select)  → end time (select)
(I chose 9 am to 6 pm)
Or
None (if you leave it blank, it runs always)
Save the macro and ensure it is enabled   before testing
EDIT
Based on clarification but by OP that the device to be controlled has only email option and no SIM, only the trigger would need to be amended, as below:
Incoming Notification → choose mail app or any other app that gives notification like hangouts → Text content contains (enter your selected text trigger)

You may be prompted to enable notification access for MacroDroid. Grant that

Ensure that mail or other app like hangouts has notification enabled

If you want to use mail app

a)  You can enter the chosen text in mail header
b)   There may be times when multiple mails are received at nearly same time, so the app may miss out on reading the notification. To avoid this, you can consider opening a dedicated mail app for this purpose.
System Settings

Do not Greenify MacroDroid and exclude it from task killers, if you use them.

Enable MacroDroid in "Auto Protect"(Huawei phones) or "Stamina Mode" (Sony phones or "Power Nap" (Stamina Mode Xposed module for non Sony devices). Also, if you update to Marshmallow in the future, exclude MacroDroid from Doze. Refer this: Is there a way to exclude an app from Doze?

These features prevent app(s) to be active when the device is not awake, conserving battery. May not be pertinent to your phone but adding this as a general precaution.

Enable MacroDroid in accessibility settings and also allow it as device administrator in security settings.

For Lollipop, enable notification access from notification settings

The device may or may not have a SIM card - i.e. I want a method which would work on a tablet also - something which does not have phone connectivity. Otherwise what you wrote sounds perfect.

Can the device send e mail? It can be configured to work work mail as a trigger

No, I actually meant the device which is to be 'controlled' does not have a phone connection.

ok - then I'll try a mail triggered macro.

Let me know progress please


text:
Fastboot oem get_identifier_token - FAILED (remote: unknown command)
Hello Everyone!
I am trying yo unlock the bootloader with no success. Basically, the following command
Code:
Fastboot oem get_identifier_token

is hitting the error of:
FAILED (remote: unknown command)

Please, your help will be greately appreciated. Thanks in advance for reading my question.

Device State:

OEM unlocking: is enabled from the developers options.
USB Debugging: is enabled from the developers options.
Software Status: Official
Software State: LOCKED
Software Security: S-ON
Device Information:
Model Number: HTC One M9
Android Version: 5.1
HTC Sense Version: 7.0
Software Number: 2.10.401.1
Baseband Version: 01.04_U11440601_71.02.50709G_F
Build Number: 2.10.401.1 CL576582 release-keys
Kernel Version:
3.10.49-perf-g901e7f1
and@AABM #1
SMP PREEMPT

oem in the command implies that that command is not a fastboot standard, but is OEM specific. are you sure that your device supports this command? Can you please link to the source of whatever guide you are following?

Thank you for your comment. I am following the official tutorial that is listed in the main website of HTC for this specific model.

I found the answer to my question at last after hours of researching.
We should execute the command from the fastboot mode (FASTBOOT USB) and not from the bootloader mode (HBOOT). This is a non-default option selectable using the volume buttons in bootloader (HBOOT) mode.That's why it was not working for me.

What is the difference between the two modes?

no different between two, mode is bootloader/fastboot, command always start with the word of "fastboot"

The only command to reboot to fastboot is adb reboot bootloader so What do you mean fastboot mode (FASTBOOT USB) and What is the command used for that?


text:
Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy support on Sony Xperia Z5 or Z5 Compact
Could anyone please tell me if the Sony Xperia Z5 (or Z5 Compact) supports the Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy profiles? I can't find any specification where this information is available (on gsmarena.com the specification does not explicitly state LE as for other phones - e.g. Samsung Galaxy S6 or even Sony Xperia Z3 Compact). Maybe somebody already tested the device with a BLE device?!
Thank you in advance!
MDV

If anyone needs this information, the Sony Xperia Z5 supports the Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy profiles. I could test the device at a local reseller and it successfully recognized a BLE tag.

The Xperia z5 does support BLE, however with Android 5.1 and 6.0 I have been having enormous issues with it. Bluetooth regular profiles have been fine for me (audio mostly) but other people are seeing issues with connecting to car kits and the like.
I have an Xperia Z5 Compact, unlocked and unmodified. I have trouble connecting to my Pebble Time watch (basically will not work at all), TrackR tags keep losing their connection and my Jawbone UP3 frequently is disconnected. As I say though audio to my Bluetooth headphones, portable speaker and home Amplifier are all fine.
I do believe the issue is with the phone, and hope very much for a swift update to solve this because it is very annoying.


text:
Google Calendar Widget Week View
How can I set the Google Calendar Widget to show the week view instead of the month view? I've browsed through all the calendar settings and just can't find any way to modify the widget's view. I can also add a "Mini-today" widget but that's not what I want. :)
My phone is Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini and the OS is Lollipop.
Kind Regards,
Tenttu

Look lik this is a problem since 2011, see: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/calendar/jal5PjrChzs Also, none of the workarounds mentioned on the linked forum worked for me on Lollipop. The official help page for this topic (https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/6110849?hl=en&ref_topic=3417921&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&oco=1) does not mention that there's a way to set a default in the Android app. Looks like they simply forgot to implement that setting.

@AttilaCsipak Yep I have not found a solution for this problem either.


text:
Upgrading an older tablet (from 4.4)
Is this a question which has a definitive (and generic) answer? I don't know, which is why I ask.
If I buy an older tablet on Ebay, which is running Android 4.4, can I upgrade it to 5 or even 6?
Is there a single answer, or is it model by model specific?
If I decide to try it anyway, I would like to hope that I can't brick it so badly that I couldn't reinstall 4.4 - can anyone confirm or deny that?
And what sort of things do I need to look out for? I imagine that older processors are likely to run newer operating systems more slowly, so performance could be an issue. But, is there anything else that I need to be aware of?
I do hope that this question doesn't get closed as being too vague, because I believe that there is/are a precise answer(s) could be very helpful to a lot of people.

Whether you can depends on the make of tablet.  A bigger question is whether you should.  Given that 5 runs more slowly than 4 on the same hardware, why run the risk?

to get the features of the new o/s 2) to use apps which only run n the new o/s 3) it may be in a few years time that 4 won't still be officially supported, but 5 or 6 will


text:
Nexus 7 (wifi) 2012 won't charge past 11%
So I turned on my nexus after maybe a year of inactivity. It was just in my cupboard, mostly because I installed a unstable mod and just wouldn't work. But I was able to fix it. And now it won't go beyond 11% on charging.
Please note that I am not using the original power adapter or the original USB lead to charge it.
Does anyone know how I solve this issue?

Two possibilities. 1-) Software problem 2-) Dead battery.

@SarpSTA Can the batteries be replaced?

Probably. I don't know a lot about Nexus phones. I faced a very similar issue with my old Samsung SIII Mini which change of battery ultimately solved the problem. Don't use non-original charging kit though. Not only is it bad for your device, but it can create serious risks such as exploding due overheating or melt battery.

@SarpSTA Why should non-original charger be bad for a device?

@Alex.S Lots of reasons. Quality of used material. Voltage and ampere values. To use original materials is always, always the smarter choice.

@SarpSTA Well, I assure you that this is just urban legend. How does material quality impact the device that is under charge? Voltage may be a problem, yes (not ampere values!), but not in case if you are using a charger from a known manufacturer (and not some 10-cent charger produced in some chinese cellar that had no qualitiy control at all).

Going through the suggestions, I am also inclined towards thinking it is a dead battery
Li Ion batteries have a protection circuit that kicks in when the discharge falls below a certain level. It requires certain current to be applied to it before charging can happen. This is called "Boosting". How to awaken sleeping Li-ion explains it and suggests ways
In case you don't have access to such chargers, try switching off the phone and then charging in the hope that it would get enough current to kick start charging. The battery is presumed dead, so leave it like 6 hours on charge in switched off condition
Coming to charger, I agree with what others have said but if you can see the phone charging rate from specs (e.g. gives 1600 mAh current to charge) and your current charger also gives the same or slightly higher, and is 2A , 5V wall charger, it is fine but don't make it a regular practice. In this case, I feel if the current reading is slightly higher it would actually help. This would answer more questions on using chargers meant for a different device Is my phone liable to explode if I charge it with a charger that came with a different phone?
All the best


text:
How to find logs of unhandled exceptions in Android?
In Windows, when an application crashes because of an unhandled exception, there is a place called Event Viewer that gives a good amount of informative data about the process being crashed down.
Using that information, one can easily troubleshoot the application.
In Android, we have developed an application that on the phone of a customer keeps crashing repeatedly and we don't have a chance to log anything.
Do we have something similar here in Android? Or in general, how should we know about unhandled exceptions in Android?
Please note that because the app is installed on customer's phone, it's a user question. We want to know a way to be able to find a log somewhere somehow by the help of our customer, and act accordingly.

If the device is rooted, you are able to use the command logcat in adb or the terminal in order to access the internal log. Keep in mind that this log can contain private information. For an application, you are better of using ready solutions like Fabric/Crashlytics, that register a handler for unhandled exceptions.

@GiantTree and if the device is not rooted, you can use adb logcat (but not logcat in terminal) :)

@Izzy oh right, adbd (the process on the phone itself) is a system process, I forgot. Yes, that works. Otherwise logcat only returns the log of the own process/app.

@Saeed: It's still a "develoment question in parts". If you're just concerned about an app you wrote (and thus can modify), you can implement a crash handler (as GiantTree pointed out) – but that is better asked at [SO] for details. As GiantTree just pointed out (while I was writing this comment), each app can see its own logs (before Android 4.1, it could see the entire log – since 4.1 this is reserved for system apps).

@Izzy, adb is for when I'm developing and it's my device. We want to know how can we help our users access their phone log somehow and send it to us.

Yes, and exactly thatyour app which you develop must take care for – which is the part of your question you need to move to [SO]. Unless your customers' devices are rooted, there's no real alternative to that (which is the part that can stay here). Starting point for that second part: our logging tag-wiki. Having eval'd that, please [edit] your question accordingly. Your initial comment which brought you here (on my recommendation) read a little different :) // Summary: please move the dev part to SO and update the rest :)


text:
Cannot connect my Nexus 5X to Windows 10 PC
I have got a Google Nexus 5X and I would like to connect it to my Windows 10 PC.
This is not my first Nexus phone and I'm familiar with things related to a computer as a developer.
But I just can't succeed to make my Nexus phone recognized by the Win10 PC.
At work, on my Windows 7 PC, my Nexus is recognized and I can transfer files.
But at home on my Windows 10 PC, drivers installed by Windows are not OK. There is a yellow warning on my device, displayed in the device manager.
I tried to activate the debugging mode (Android developer settings), tried to reboot, to change USB port.
I also tried with the Google USB Drivers. (I also know that by default, on my Marshmallow Nexus 5X, I have to change connection mode "USB charging" to "Transfer files (MTP)").
The cable I use is OK because it works on my Windows 7 PC and I bought it on Google's Store.
I also had a call with Google Tech Support and they just told me that they don't have any solution for my problem, because I have already tried everything they are used to advice.
I just don't know what to do.
My last try, was to install 'Media Feature Pack for Windows 10 N & KN' (it helped me when I wanted to connect my previous Nexus 5 on a Windows 8.1 laptop).
Any suggestion ?
Sorry for my english.
Best regards,
Hellcat8.

I've done everything you have done, minus contacting Google Support.  Seems that Windows 10 and MTP are the issue, and I am not sure there is an answer right now.

Thanks for the comment. At least I know that this is not an isolated issue.
Please give a feedback if you find a solution. I'll do it too if I find one.

Will do.  I've kept my eye out, and will reply back if something is found.

Okay I finally found something which helped me.
The Media Feature Pack for Windows 10 N & KN (all editions) alias KB-3010081 is for the first version of Windows 10.
But for the Windows 10 with the big update we had a few time ago, there is an update which supersedes the KB-3010081.
This is the KB-3099229 : https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3099229.
 Download : https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49919
After all my attempts to resolve my problem, this is the thing which did it for me.
I Hope it will helps.
Best regards,
Hellcat

I initially steered clear of this solution since I am not running a "N" (No Windows Media Player) or "KN" (Korean - No Windows Media Player) version of Windows. However, this turned out to be irrelevant. For whatever reason, the components of Windows that make MTP work were not present until I installed this update, and without MTP, the Android drivers would not install. Thanks a million!

This solution (and the other one below) work fine for me if I apply them before connecting the device, but once I've plugged the phone into a computer and it has been incorrectly identified, applying the above fix doesn't work.  It doesn't pick up the new drivers because it still associates the device with the wrong ones.  And my usual fixes of removing the device or deleting the driver don't fix this to my surprise.

This worked for me (without having to download the media feature pack).
On your phone (after connecting to PC):

Open the notifications bar.
Tap USB connection notification (USB for charging)
Select PTP-option (this one worked for me at least)
Done! You can now open your phone on your pc.

I'm using Windows 10 Enterprise N 2016 LTSB. I installed KB-3010081, KB-3099229,  and nothing worked.
I needed to install KB3133719: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3133719/media-feature-pack-for-n-editions-of-windows-10-version-1607


text:
PadFone X using MHL?
What is the PadFone X using to output audio/ video to the tablet dock? Is it propriety firmware, MHL, or what? I'd like to hardwire to a monitor/TV. It would also be nice to be able to wire back to the dock when an OTG hub is connected to the phone. Would this require a hacked cable?

I've since learned this is a slimport. I got a slimport cable that breaks out to HDMI and USB for power. Works awesome! It doesn't appear though that a hub would work though.

Slimport is the technology used here.


text:
Set a call forwarding number based on a defined schedule
We have a rotating on-call schedule. When an on-call person takes over, they forward the on-call phone number to their own cell-phone. This is a process which must be done manually each week, as the on-call changes over from one person to the next.
I've checked the most obvious potential app (IF by IFTTT) but it doesn't seem to support setting call forwarding.
Is there a way to set a call forwarding number based on a defined schedule?

This can be done in Tasker.

Create a profile 'Call forwarding at home'
Add a context for 'Day' and a context for 'Time'
Add a task 'Call' with 'Auto Dial' and the special number to enable
call forwarding (i.e. '*21#')
Add to the context for the location an exit task 'Call' with 'Auto
Dial' and the special number to disable call forwarding (i.e. '#21#')

Source: Enable/disable call forwarding at location - Tasker Wiki


text:
is there any way of getting all the music I downloaded in the past from Google Play on an old device?
I want to know if the hundreds of songs I downloaded in the past on an old device that was stolen or broken can be recovered somehow? do I have really have to download all that again?

Hi and welcome!  What happened to your old device?  Was it stolen?  Was it broken?

You may hope to recover something from a broken device you still have access to, nevertheless it depends on the kind of malfunction or damage. Anyway, it wouldn't be probably worth the effort.
But I cannot even imagine a way to retrieve some songs from a stolen device that would be easier and faster than merely having them downloaded again.