text:
Why can't I update my Nexus 4 to Lollipop?
As I understand it, Android Lollipop (5.0) is now generally available over-the-air. My Nexus 4 briefly offered for an hour or two to install it. I said yes, and watched it start to download. When I next went to unlock my phone, it obviously wasn't installed. Now, when I go into the Settings app, and manually check for updates, it says my phone is up-to-date. It's still on Android 4.4.4.
I don't particularly want to install the developer image, as that'll wipe all the data from my phone. Is there any way I can encourage it to update?
I'm in the UK, if it's relevant.

Did you root your phone before ?. Did you install any custom rom ??

Is the update app not in the recently used list?

@sameer, no, I didn't.

@DanHulme, that's a good thought. I found the update app in the recently used list. Upon opening it, though, the screen changed to the same one shown in the Settings app, that shows the phone as up-to-date.

It is possible to sideload the OTA update on a non-rooted, non-unlocked phone without losing your data (although it would be advisable to back up anything important that can't be restored from the cloud). The instructions here worked for me. This approach is not advised if you are not comfortable with working at the command line, dealing with windows drivers, etc. If you do do this, be aware that it takes up to an hour to complete, and for many minutes at a time there is no screen activity!
Alternatively, you could wait; IIRC (and I can't provide a source for this) the staged rollout was to continue until the end of November. Perhaps for some reason you have been moved further back in the list?

authors: Сергей Караваев


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How can I disable the screen lock password in lollipop?
I have enabled password protection on the lock screen on my Nexus 5 Lollipop device:

After enabling password, I can't seem to be able to cancel it. Any idea how to go back to None or Swipe?

Just a suggestion, can you try this?
Select Pattern > Choose and confirm a pattern > And then check if Swipe gets enabled.

In my case None was missing entirely, I only had the four options Swipe, Pattern, PIN, Password.  Deleting guest and cycling power (and possibly other actions) brought it back.

This works at my device:
Settings -> Security -> Deactivate Administrators. Deactivate anything listed.
Settings -> Security -> Clear credentials.

I didn't need to deactivate any administrators and just needed to clear credentials

Comment left by an anonymous user: "If this doesn't work you need to do this as well: Open notification bar, then go to Users, then Remove Guest."

For android 6.0 on my phone, this wasn't enough. I used a 'hack' I found on a forum: set up an unlock pattern with a recovery code, lock the phone, fail the pattern on purpose multiple times and then after the one-minute waiting period, use the recovery code to log in. It takes you to security settings, after removing the screen lock on its own.

You can simply erase you security credentials in security and this will automatically allow you to remove the lock screen on 5.0

This is good, but please provide more specific directions

Check if your credentials in security, if you have an application that requires you to have a password and delete that.
Did you encrypt the phone ? That requires a password.
Also if you are a guest you cant, but i think you already are an administrator of your own device.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Processes are closing after removing the SD card
I have removed the SD card from my phone and now my phone is not working.
All phone related processes are force closing. I have cleaned my cache and did 'Fix Permission' via Recovery but the processes are still force closing.
I have installed and customized a number of apps and I don't want to Factory Reset it. Is there an option to fix the issue without doing factory reset?

Getting the same SD card content back is not an option since the card was formatted.
My phone is Huawei Honor 3C and I am using TWRP recovery on it.
I have already checked all the questions here: https://android.stackexchange.com/search?q=SD+Card+Removed+Unexpectedly

Update:
The problem is back after inserting the SIM card. I cleared cache/data of Phone and SIM Toolkit but the issue is still there.
2nd Update:
I installed a new ROM since there's no help available.

Did you setup it up to install from SD card? Normally when you pull the SD card and things don't go right, it's because the data was transfered over to it.

I solved the problem myself without removing anything.
Step-by-step info is written below:

Remove your sim card
Boot into recovery
Clear your cache
Click on that beautiful 'Fix Permission' button
Turn on your phone
If everything works fine 'Continue' (otherwise repeat steps 1-5 again)
Turn Off your phone
Put the sim card back
Enjoy your phone

*Update:
The problem is back after inserting the SIM card.

You should try Clear Data for the relevant apps.  If that doesn't work, I do think that your only real option is a factory reset (which is more or less like a Clear Data for everything on the phone).  If you are rooted you can back up yours apps and data, and after the factory reset you can restore one app at a time — if there are no issues, great, but if there are then you know exactly what app/data caused the issue.

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


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Can I disable an Android app to read write some folders in SD card? (CLOSED)
So many Chinese Android apps always creates garbage in SD card, like there is their's home. Some apps auto downloads binding apps to SD card, when I deleted them, they come up next time! So is there any idea to prevent this? This drives my crazy!

The apps will probably crash or fail to work if they can't read or write data.  I think the answer is to uninstall the apps that do things you don't like.

If your phone is rooted you can freeze them by using SD Maid or Titanium Backup OR you can use a 'Grant Permission' app to limit their permissions (freezing them is the best option IMO).
I have tried this myself on my Huawei phone and freezes all the bloatware (Chinese apps).
EDITED:
Use a permission fix app and remove the SD card reading/writing permission.
Second Update:
The app let you FIX permission for an individual app as well as all apps installed.

No no no, I need to use this app, I dont wanna freeze it!

I'm not wanting to prevent the rw on SD card, that will disable all apps to rw it. What I want is disable some apps to rw some folders or files, got it?

For all apps I have this answer, but if you want it for a specific app since Android 6.0 Marshmellow the is a way to control app permissions!

There is also the option for turning on/ off the app permissions for the device storage. If you disable that, then the app always ask you before writing/ reading on the external sd-card. Notice that also the internal storage isn't accssesable for the choiced app.


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Is it possible for a device to consume more power than it is wall-charging?
I have a 2012 Nexus 7 running KitKat. I have a hunch that it is not charging properly. Specifically, if the system is on and the device is plugged into the USB wall-charger, the battery indicator says "Charging" but there is a slow decrease in charge over time. I have few apps actually running, some checks over Wi-Fi every 5 mins or so (email, feeds), and the device is unused most of the time. It charges to full if switched off and left plugged in.
I obviously need to investigate this more closely, check screen and app power consumption, etc, but before I go on a wild goose chase... is it actually possible for a device to consume more power than it receives via wall-charging?

It most certainly is. It can be the device drawing too much power and / or the USB port itself not being able to supply enough power.

@RossC That sounds like an answer to me. Why is it a comment?

@DanHulme, was very busy in work, just a quick heads up really. I tried to come back to answer but there's a good one there now. My bad.

Yes, it's definitely possible.  Most USB chargers are fairly limited in their output and devices like tablets are not really designed to be used while charging, unlike laptops.  You'd think it would be OK to simply sit and remain on while charging and unused, but perhaps the Nexus 7 does not have very good power management.  You might want to look at having sync pause while the device's screen is off.
If you want to crunch the numbers and verify what's happening, take a look at my answer here about the PS Vita.  If you get the specs/numbers for the Nexus 7 and its charger you could do a similar analysis to see whether the power use is exceeding the charger's output.


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Can you explain the boot order of an Android device?
I understand a good bit of the ARM system architecture. you have an ARM system on chip containing the CPU, GPU, peripherial devices, baseband processor and both CPU and Radio firmware.
Supposedly the application OS is stored on the phone's internal flash memory chip and the bootloader ROM on the chipset firmware boots on top or before the app OS on flash module 0?
Is this like a BIOS in a desktop PC?
Or is it that Android itself is stored in this on-chip firmware and the Root disk or Home directory is flash module 0, and it works like a live image booting from a CD or ROM?
What is the first thing to load in a. Android phone/tablet?
Where is the main OS stored and where is the recovery bootloader stored? What about the radio firmware for phones?
When a phone boots, what is the animated splash screen and music tone played?
Why does that flash video/animation always show the manuacturer logo screen, and then the Android OS video?

Your question is very broad and consists of several related questions. In general, you'll get better answers if you limit yourself to one question at a time, but I've done the best I can to cover the topic as a whole.

Everything (the bootloader, the recovery, and the full system) is stored in the same flash storage, with different partitions for each. The bootloader has its own partition which also holds the kernel for the main system. The recovery has its own partition: it needs to be separate from the main system, else it would be no use for "recovering" or flashing a new OS. The Android system itself lives in the system partition. It doesn't really work like a PC at all.
The first thing to load is always the bootloader. This is responsible for starting fastboot mode (aka bootloader mode), or starting the recovery or main system. In the latter cases, it also loads the kernel and ramdisk that will be used, which are in the boot partition.
The boot animation comes from the system partition, and are displayed by Android proper. On some phones (such as most Samsung phones), the bootloader itself has a logo (with the manufacturer or device name), and this is written directly into the framebuffer as part of its initialization, very early in the boot process. The Android boot animation is much later, and is performed in parallel with the rest of the boot process, providing a visual indication that the phone hasn't hung.

The first sentence is wrong. Not everything is stored on the same flash, the boot ROM may reside on the SoC. Not everything on a flash chip is in a partition either. What we call the bootloader may actually consist of several parts.

@jiggunjer I suppose everything's possible. On the phones I've worked on, the boot ROM itself is trivial and just goes straight to the main bootloader on its own partition. I'd love to hear examples of phones that don't even have a boot partition; feel free to add them to the answer directly if you think it'll improve it.


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MHL screen becomes static anytime a new app is loaded
I have an HTC One m7 that I use to stream Netflix with over an MHL HDMI cable to a touch screen.
When I was running ViperOne 7.0.1 I would only occasionally see this and it would regain the video feed after becoming static. It is random and not repeatable by any particular steps.
Now I am running Cyanogenmod M12 (latest snapshot) and any time I open Netflix, I get permanent static until I unplug and re-plug the MHL cable. Also any time a new app loads or a new Netflix video loads, I'll get static until pulling and replugging in the cable.
Given that it works fine in one ROM and not so well in the other, what is the missing link to getting this to work reliably? Is it the kernel? What can I do to figure out the problem?

Sounds like it might be a problem in the EGL driver. If that's so, there's not much you can do to debug it since you won't have the source.

Could I find out which EGL driver I have now vs the on I had before? (First I've heard of EGL)

It might say in the log, but it depends how it was compiled. You might need to check with the ROM author. It might even be the same driver binary in both cases, but it's broken because the versions of other parts of the system have changed.

Is the EGL driver typically built into the system, kernel, or somewhere else in particular? Any chance I could flash in a new one?

More realistically, what logs would I want to look for?

It relies on userspace and kernel components, and needs to be integrated with other parts of Android such as SurfaceFlinger. Even if you had the source it'd probably be a week's work. As for logs, you need the logcat. I don't know what kind of log tag you might be looking for because I don't have that phone.


text:
Does Android TV require always-on internet access?
(this is not actually a dev question though it starts out sounding like one)
I've been working on a Chromecast app that functions mainly as a display of information that it gets from other devices on a network.  But internet access wasn't needed for any functionality except to load the Chromecast app which meant we couldn't use it at all in places there was power, WiFi networks, but no internet access.
Enter Android TV and the Nexus Player.  It seems to allow for actual installations rather than just pulling down a webpage for each running.  Is this accurate?  Does it require an always-on connection or else it shuts down?  Or does it work like phones/tablets when they lose access allowing things like local-only games to run without problem?

Yes on Android TV I can play local games without Internet.

You should get a demo from the store to be assured, don't trust my word :)


text:
Trying to flash CWM but fastboot hangs at "writing 'recovery'..."
I'm trying to flash my Coolpad 8865u (Vodafone Smart 4 Turbo). I unlocked fastboot
and fastboot oem device-info confirms this. However when I try to flash CWM the prompt on my shell hangs at "writing 'recovery'...". When I unplug and replug the USB to get it unstuck it stays "Failed (status read failed (No such device))".
However when I force a reboot it works fine.
Also I don't know if I'm doing this correctly but when I try to get into fastboot mode by pressing the power button and the +/- volume buttons the text "OFFICIAL" is displayed at the bottom of the screen and the phone vibrates but it does not get me into fastboot mode. It just reboots and keeps rebooting until I release the buttons.
Volume up and Power does get me into recovery mode though but there is no option to go to fastboot from there.
Finally I am also not sure what CWM image I should be using. I found a recovery.img on a portugese forum and they said it worked fine so that is what I am trying to use but I'm not sure if that is what should be used for the Coolpad 8865u.
BTW the whole point of this is that I'm trying to root my device. I don't know of any other way that works but would be open to suggestions. I already tried cyndia impactor and it says none of the bugs were found.

Did you try changing the USB port?

Yes, the sending works fine. It's the writing part that hangs.

Did you already pursue PIT file flashing to repartition? More hints here http://checkrom.com/threads/nand-write-start-stuck-in-odin.920/

My device is not bricked yet. I don't want to repartition because if flashing doesn't work afterwards it will be bricked.


text:
Missing "Visibility" option on Lollipop Calendar
Did Google take away the Visibility option for a new calendar event in their Calendar app for Lollipop/5.0?  It was present in KitKat/4.4, but I don't seem to be able to find it anywhere.  The full set of options looks like this for a new calendar entry:

Incidentally, the calendar app is now correctly using my reminder options as set in the Calendar web app, something that never worked right for me in KitKat (I always had to manually add an email reminder to a new entry added in my phone).  So, that's fantastic, but this feels like one step forward, one step backward since I now have lost the ability to control the event entry's visibility from my phone (the "Default" visibility selection is what is chosen behind the scenes, which I verified in the web app after adding a new entry via Lollipop).

It seems Google changed its logic regarding "Visibility" option since Lollipop version. Now, the option is available only when the calendar is shared. If not, the Calendar will hide it instead since it doesn't have any effects.
From Google Calendar support - Change how others view an event,

Change the visibility setting for an event

Mobile

[...]
Note: If you don't share your calendar, you won't see this setting at all.

and

How visibility settings for an event work
[...]
Who is your calendar shared with?

No one

If your calendar isn't shared with anyone, visibility settings won't affect your event. Choosing "Public" won't make your event public. On mobile, you won't see this setting at all when you create or edit an event.


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Why are bluetooth devices shown as paired, even though they are not even available?
When you pair a two bluetooth devices (e.g., a sound system with your mobile phone), the mobile phone will forever list the sound system as a paired device, even if you're physically so far away (>10km), that it is obviously impossible that there is a connection betwen the two devices.
What is going on? Why is the device shown as paired? Is this just poor naming?

The Paired devices section list out the devices which are already paired with your device. i.e., just an entry. However, it doesnt matter paired device are actively in connected state. Even when the paired device is not connected currently, the paired device section will list out since it has been paired already. if it bothering, you may long press the paired device and delete it but you need to paired it again to transfer the files.
hope this helps!


text:
Is it possible to migrate apps and their data from one unrooted Android phone to another?
I would like to migrate apps and their data from one phone to another without too much faffing around, like:

rooting (very convoluted device specific process with a lot of ambiguity around it and often involving running closed source software from random vendors that you have to believe does the right thing),
using app specific backup export/import facilities if at all exist (too manual, seems the only option though).

I am ok with:

using a PC to help facilitate the process,
manual copying/pasting files (within reason).

Ideally, I would like to have a process that works something like this:

select apps that I would like to have in their current state on the other phone,
bundle them together and store somewhere (external SD card or PC),
put that bundle on the other phone and somehow install and recover their state.

A bit like PortableApps works.
So far I have tried :

Super Backup - unfortunately, like many others, requires rooting,
Helium - seemed promising but Helium has never been, nor ever will be, compatible with any device running anything less than Android 4.0 and it does not work on certain phones.
App Backup & Restore - Q: Does it backup data of apps? A: No, currently it only backup the apk files of apps.
and skimmed through a number of articles including this one (looks like even if I was willing to root I would have a hard time).

Helium has never been, nor ever will be, compatible with any device running anything less than Android 4.0

First things first: What you want cannot be achieved on not-rooted devices running a lower version of Android. Only with ICS (4.0), permissions of the ADB daemon have been alleviated to enable this (see: Full Backup of non-rooted devices).
For compatibility: What Helium does directly on the device, can be achieved from a computer connected with the device via USB, using the ADB tools: You can use the adb backup and adb restore commands, as described by answers to the linked question. There should be no compatibility issue, as long as your computer recognizes the device.
I have just had a similar issue: My main device needed to go for repair, so I had to migrate stuff to one of my "backup devices". Completely different brand, even different Android version. The above mentioned worked fine (working app-by-app, only "moving in" those ones I required). Just to ease the process (which I might need once more, or others might need), I wrote myself a little helper: If you're using Linux (or some other *nix coming with Bash), you might wish to take a look at Adebar – which not only creates you the scripts needed for backup/restore, but also to "re-freeze" apps you might have frozen on the original device, and additionally creates you a little "device documentation". Feedback welcome – and again the disclosure: I'm the author of that script.

Your script seemed exactly the thing I was looking for but sadly both my phones scheduled for migration are running Android 2.3 so... adb: unable to connect for backup :-( Thank you for your answer, I'm sure your script will come in handy in the future.

Also the phones actually happen to be rooted so I suppose for this version of Android it doesn't make any difference?

If your devices are rooted, things are much different. In that case, I'd recommend taking a look at Titanium Backup – a "swiss army knife" for rooted devices. Not only does backups of apps & data, but also helps out in other things (e.g. freezing/uninstalling unwanted apps).

So Titanium Backup can do all the magic because it can get admin rights (once rooting is done). However, with adb it's a different story, the root access is denied when adb server talks to the device, unless the device runs Android >= 4.0, as you mentioned in the answer. Is this correct?

Almost. First part is correct (TiBu). Second part is close to being correct: it won't get root access on 4.0+ either, but still "elevated privileges" required for the backup. You can manage to give it root access by e.g. running chainfire's adbd insecure on the device, though :)

I only tried it on one app so far though but here goes. you must be able to access 'phone storage' on both phones.

plug in the usb and connect the phone to your com.
open phone storage. open 'Android'
look for the app files you want and copy paste into your com. both from 'data' and 'obb'. If there's nothing inside the obb file don't bother copying, it doesn't make a difference. Remember their locations, etc which file is in obb/data.
check if there are any files of your app that is not in the 'Android' file. copy paste
plug in your other device. enter phone storage.
return your copied files into 'data' and 'obb' under 'Android' (or if they were not in 'Android') into the new phone.
download your app from app store. it should load within seconds.
hope for the best

im really sorry if it didn't work, i only tried it on one app.


text:
Nexus 4 and Android 5
I had my nexus 4 rooted , i have heard that rooted phone would not get updated over WIFI
so i Factory Reset my phone , will it now get the update or not?
no signe of update notification yet

A factory-reset does not unroot your device.

If you have a rooted device, you most likely will not be able to install OTA updates (over the air). Factory resetting the device will not un-root the device so the best way of updating it is to do the following:
Get the factory image you wish to install (in your case, lollipop) from the Google developers website
Flash that image by following this tutorial or similar ones on the web.

AFAIK, rooting itself doesn't prevent OTA, at least that's what I experienced when updating from JB to KitKat.

Hmm, that's different to what I found.  The phone would say an update was available and I could download it and try to install it.  The installation would fail and it would boot up to the version it had before with no changes.

I could be wrong though. I flashed Lollipop since I didn't want to wait for OTA. Turned out I did what I should do without knowing it. Thanks for the info.

Having read up on it I think it can vary with phone model.  The Nexus range certainly will not accept OTA updated if they are rooted.

Pre Android 5.0, I don't think being rooted will prevent the OTA installing by itself. The OTA will verify that the files in the /system partition is the same as it expects, so any modifications may cause the update to fail. I have applied updates prior to Android 5.0 on a rooted device and they have worked fine. As of Android 5.0 this seems to have changed as it appears to verify the whole partition rather than the files it's patching. I'm not sure if this applies to the update to 5.0 or just updates once on 5.0.


text:
com.android.systemui rapid battery drain
I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 that is approximately six months old. My OS version is 4.4.2, and my provider is AT&T.
The battery in my S5 will usually last me 2-4 days without charging, depending on use, but two or three days ago the battery started dying very quickly despite minimal use. The battery will no longer even last 24 hours without use. I checked my phone's battery usage, and com.android.systemui seems to be causing the excess battery drain.
What's causing com.android.systemui to drain so much battery, and what can I do to fix it?

Battery usage (click image for larger variant)

Never seen SystemUI in that place. Usually I'd suggest to check for Wakelocks (see: How to deal with (orphaned) WakeLocks?), or relate a question like How can I tell what is really draining my battery? – as cases where "Android System" is listed on top, but the real issue being "something different" are not that rare. No idea what could stand behind SystemUI here; maybe the two links can shed a light nevertheless.

I haven't figured out what was causing the problem, but I did manage to fix it. I restarted my S5, and the process that was consuming all of the battery seems to have stopped. com.android.systemui is only responsible for 4% of the battery drain after restarting and recharging.

com.android.systemui is the GUI for android every thing you do on your phone like typing or browsing the web will use this so it will drain your battery the most.
yo can try not using your phone for a day (put it on standby for 24 hours and see if it lasts) if it doesn't your battery maybe degraded and need replace.
Hoped this helped

com.android.systemui doesn't typically use as much power as Android System, Screen, or Android OS. Also, if this were a problem with the battery itself, it wouldn't have occurred suddenly and wouldn't be attributing all of the excess drain to one software process.

authors: Юра Слободянюк


text:
Factory Resetting My Device
I'm planning to factory reset my device soon. So I wanted to know how do I transfer my notes to the SD Card. I don't want to lose them. Can someone please provide a meaningful tutorial on the matter. Please feel free to include methods to transfer other stuff as well.

This could very well vary based on the note-taking app you're using. It would be helpful if you could specify that.

I got the app send to SD when I had my MYTouch and I transferred my photos, apps, notes to my note3. Everything was on my SD card as long as you don't have an emulated file you are fine.  once I got an emulated file on my note3 nothing transferred to the next one. You can open a dropbox account and an evernote account. Once you do the reset you download the apps and you sign into those apps and you have your photos and your notes.. another photo saving place is myphotos.com.. good luck with the reset :/


text:
Customizing the notification-area toggles in Lollipop
In Lollipop, when I open the notification area (down-swipe from the top), and press the top right "user" icon, I get a set of toggles for some features: Wifi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode, Auto-rotate, Flashlight, Location, Cast screen, Hotspot.
Is there any way I can customize those toggles?
Specifically, I'm looking to add a toggle for my account syncing, so I can disable it over slow networks, and re-enable when I'm back on a fast wifi.

AFAIK, the stock ROM doesn't allow customization for that area.

@AndrewT. yes, it seems you are correct.

I wasn't able to find any way of doing it via the stock ROM, and it seems like there is none. The second best solution I found was an application, Power Toggles, that adds toggles to the notification screen itself.

Good find - thanks! This also works well as a fill in for the media player buttons (play/pause, next, and previous) that sadly disappeared from the lock screen with the upgrade to Lollipop.

Additional note on the media player buttons: the one difference I see from the Kit Kat default media player buttons is that this only works with one app at a time, allowing you to select which app you want it to control.

@DunPeal Power Toggles is not in the app store anymore, can you please share the apk ?


text:
Cloning room key card by using NFC
I live in a youth hostel of an university and we access our rooms and labs by using a contactless key card. I want to clone my card to my phone.
Is it possible to copy when it is key protected? Can it be hacked?

It depends on the particular key fob system in use. Cheaper ones just use an ID number in each tag and are easy to copy. Secure ones use a challenge-response mechanism, like contactless payment cards, and are practically impossible to copy.

http://i58.tinypic.com/2hq5nbm.png seems like it when the card has been scanned. I remember that they are typing some numbers to configure the card. Can it be key protection? or Key protection is more complicated than it?


text:
Transfer Township game progress from iPhone to Android device
I have Samsung Galaxy S3. I've been playing Township on my iPhone for awhile. When I bought the tablet, I can't get it to sync.
I've downloaded Township, but it's starting from scratch and I'm on level 50 something on iPhone and don't want to start all over.
Is there something I can do for that?

What kind of tablet? Does either app have some kind of account that you need to sign into that could be used to sync data? The games would likely need to facilitate the syncing themselves - Android and iOS are not really intercompatible like that.

http://support.playrix.com/hc/en-us/articles/213578197-How-do-I-transfer-my-game-progress-from-1-device-to-another-
this worked on my phone. From iPhone to ASUS :)

Link-only answers can become useless if the link goes dead, so it would be extra helpful if you can [edit] your answer and include a summary of the steps.

You should quote this from your link: "NOTE: For more information on how to transfer your game progress from iOS to Android (or visa versa) please contact our Support Team."


text:
Enable WiFi when a specific application needs it, then disable after N minutes
I do not leave WiFi nor data transfer enabled on my Samsung Note 3. The only application that I would like to have access to the network is Ankidroid.
Is there any way to have WiFi automatically enabled when Ankidroid requests network access, and then have WiFi automatically disabled (perhaps after N minutes)?
Right now I am enabling Wifi, syncing Ankidroid, and then disabling Wifi manually. It would be nice to automate at least part of this process.

is Ankidroid runs as a service which tries to access the wifi? or if it runs in foreground i.e., when application is launched on clicked it? if it falls in second case, there is some hope to automate using Tasker

@Cyborgz: Thank you, in fact Ankidroid does not run as a service. I open Ankidroid manually. However, I would prefer that the WiFi be turned off while I'm using Ankidroid and only enabled for the brief few seconds when Ankidroid must sync. Ankidroid is usually used with the network disconnected, and only needs to sync when I first start the app, and when I'm done with it.

Good. In this case you may try Tasker from App Store (However there are free trail available). Set your profile that triggers when the Specific App (Ankidroid) is Opened, and write a simple task
Proile:
1. App-> Ankidroid
Task:
1. Enable WIFI
2. Wait N Seconds
3. Disable WIFI
Tasker need some learning curve though, but it is very powerful and you can automate anything in your phone!


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Error setting up Android USB debugging on Ubuntu 14.10
I have an Android phone from LG, and I want to use it for USB debugging. I followed the following steps:

Enabled usb debugging in developers option on phone.
After connecting to PC, phone shows as "Usb debugging connected". I verified the same by running lsusb on Ubuntu 14.10. It shows the following result:
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 1004:633e LG Electronics, Inc.

Then I followed steps given in https://developer.android.com, to setup hardware device.

Log in as root and create this file: /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules.
Use this format to add each vendor to the file:
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="1004", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"

Now execute: chmod a+r /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

After that I rebooted the computer.
Now when I try to check device list in adb by command ./adb devices, it does not show the device listed.

Can anybody please help? Where am I going wrong?

Does it show the USB debug option to be activated in you status bar?

I didn't have to do all this. I'm on Arch so it may be a bit different for some reason, though it shouldn't really be. I installed android-tools, enabled USB debugging on my phone and ran"adb devices" and my device showed up. I tehn ran "adb reboot bootloader" and all that stuff worked perfectly. For fastboot however I needed to be root user. This is how easy it is supposed to be in Linux because of inbuilt drivers. However I haven't tried on an LG phone and there may be some device specific steps you've missed.

In fact you could try this on a windows VM if all else fails. I needed this for the MI unlock tool when trying to root a MI device.

Try running commands as root from your adb folder:

sudo ./adb kill-server;
sudo ./adb start-server;
sudo ./adb devices

On the device, change USB connection mode from MTP to PTP.
Credit/source: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=183642
Worked for an LG G Pad 10.1 (V700).


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Obtaining boot.img for unrooted device?
I have a Vodafone Smart 4 Turbo / Coolpad 8865U. I cannot find other means of rooting it and to be honest I don't trust most oneclickroot.apks. I am trying to root it manually but I cannot find a way to obtain a boot.img.
I managed to get a .CPB  file which I believe to be the firmware for my phone though I am not sure. However I cannot find a way to unpack it either.
So how can I obtain a boot image for this phone or manage to unpack the .CPB file?
EDIT: I made progress but I'm also back to square one. I found a tool called cpbtool.exe that successfully extract the *.cpb firmware. I then obtained boot.img from there. Modified it so that it boots insecurely and tried to boot the now insecure image using fastboot but the thing just hangs at "booting..."
For some reason it seems like fastboot doesn't really work on my coolpad device despite being oem unlocked.


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Automatically verify signature on all Android Exchange emails
I work in an office where everyone uses a digital signature on their emails. I just bought a new LG G3 with 4.4.2 KitKat and whenever someone sends me an email that is signed, it shows up with a body that says "This email is signed". In order to see the contents, I have to open it and manually click the "Verify signature" button.
This is especially frustrating when I just want to preview the contents of the email right from my inbox but cannot.
Is there any way to have the phone automatically verify ALL signatures?

What email client are you using? The one that came with the phone, Gmail, or something else?

The default client


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Lollipop - mute notifications but not calls
I'd like to have phone calls ring at full volume, and all other notifications be silent. Notifications should still vibrate and/or use the LED; whatever their default behavior is.
I can't figure out how to do this in Lollipop. Ring volume and notification volume seems to be the same slider, so I can't turn this down to zero without muting calls. I can use priority interruptions and say that only phone calls have priority, but this seems to turn off the LED and vibration for notifications.
In KitKat, I think notifications and the ringer used a different volume slider. The only workaround I can find in Lollipop is to configure the default notification sound to be silence, and turn off sounds for individual notifications where I can. Is there a cleaner solution for this?

Have you thought about using a custom ROM?

This was fixed in Nougat yes?

Related including WhatsApp: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/208852/mute-all-notification-sound-except-call-message-and-whatsapp-to-be-on-vibration

It can't be done. https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=79445
This is currently a very hot topic with many people extremely frustrated that this functionality has been removed. Hopefully google will bring it back.

Android 6 and I fixed it with Flyto's answer (silent mode, configure priorities)

Here's how to do it:

Press a volume button to get a menu with three items, "none", "priority" and "all".
Select "priority"
In the dropdown that appears, tap the cog for Interruptions settings (you can also access this through Settings)
Under "priority interruptions", turn on "Calls" and turn off the other two options.

That should work, but I haven't tested it.
EDIT: Apologies, I missed the part about your still wanting vibrations and LED notifications from things other than calls. I suspect there isn't a way to do that built in. It may be possible using something like the Light Flow app.

Thanks, but as I mentioned in my question, the problem with this is that it also prevents notifications from vibrating and/or activating the LED. I just want to mute them.

Oh, sorry, I missed that. I fear that you probably can't do it in a built-in way, but maybe an app can help. I just updated my answer.

This answer prevents apps other than actual calls/messages from sounding the notification ringtone, which is incredibly useful for me, as it differentiates "someone is trying to contact me" from e.g. "Google is asking me for the Nth time to verify my phone number." However, it still allows these apps to produce notifications for the notification area, so I can still be informed of trivial notifications without my phone crying wolf all the time.

This is now possible using stock Android using do not disturb mode. You can set do not disturb on, but still allow calls and alarms. Works on a Pixel 2 at least.

You won't get vibrations from messages, but the status led will still light up.

I have Android 5.1 - and after googling/browsing this question, found there is a 'None' setting for default notification sound.
Settings, Sound & notification, Settings icon (Cog symbol right of General Ring), Default notification sound, scroll up to the first, select 'None', OK - job done.

The questioner already mentioned this technique in the question, and is looking for a "cleaner solution".

Try the app called SoundProfile by Corcanoe: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=Orion.Soft

Hi, are you affiliated with the app?

Found this while looking to do the same thing.
My solution was to create a 0.1 seconds silent wav file  - using sox, the command line audio utility it's as simple as:
sox -n silence.wav trim 0 0.1

But you use audacity or whatever you want.
The advantage is not having to install any extra apps. The disadvantage is that turning notification sound back on is awkward, but I personally don't see any benefit in having notification sounds ever.

I appreciate that this question is old, but so is my version of Android, and I was recently looking for the answer. I don't know if every build has this functionality, but here's what works for me:
On my Android 5.0.2 system, which Wikipedia tells me is Lollipop, I press one of the physical volume buttons, up or down, and the ringtone volume indicator comes up on the screen, with a gear on the right. I tap the gear, and it gives three volume indicators, ringtone, music & videos, and alarms, and under that it says "use ringtone volume for notifications", with a checkbox beside it. I uncheck the box, and a fourth volume indicator appears, for "notifications". I slide that to zero. Problem solved.
Vibration and LED settings are typically set using the internal settings of each app. I don't use vibration notifications but the LED settings are unaffected by the volume slider, and I assume the vibration settings are too.

I found that on my phone, I went to the sounds and vibrations section and clicked on vibration intensity. It gave me the choice to completely lower the vibrations for notifications but I could keep the phone vibration intensity up

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


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Samsung Galaxy S3 Stuck at Samsung Logo
Please help my phone won't start and keeps restarting. I was playing COC and I think my phone is overused.
I tried to remove the battery then press hold the button for 30 seconds. Then test my phone again but nothing happened.
I tried press hold the Home + Volume Up+ Power On button option then Select factory reset/wipe data. But it doesn't continue.
I don't know if the Power button is stuck.
Then I have no choice, I consult to technician to fix my phone. Then the technician told me my phone was grounded. Then I thought my phone will be fixed. Then After 3 days the technician told me he can't find the grounded and telling me I need to buy a new board of Samsung S3. I refused to buy a new board.
Can I still fix my phone?

This happened to me. I tried to re-flash its firmware then finally it just turned off and cannot power on again. The technician also gave up and said the motherboard is beyond repair. I recall that I overused it and maybe my very cold room generated some moist inside the phone short-circuiting the motherboard.

Nice theory. I think it the same scenario what happen to my phone. I used Air Conditioner to my room. Did you ever get it fixed?

Nope. I agree with the technician that it is beyond repair.


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get gps coordinates offline
Is there a way to get currect geographical coordinates using android gps while being offline (e.g. lost in the mountains) without additional applications?

Sure: Enable GPS. Might take a little to get a fix, but should work without any network support at all.

AFAIK there isn't a way to do it without additional applications but this app or this one seem to do what you need it to.


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View LogCat from unrooted android device without computer assistance
Ever since Android 4.1's new security model, all LogCat viewers I've came across require root access. Even the LogCat viewer for the IDE I'm using (AIDE) won't work.
Without rooting my device, or needing a computer to assist me, how could I view the logcat of programs I write?

Without root or a PC: you can't. As you noted, the behavior you're seeing is entirely intentional, and cannot be changed. If you could find a custom ROM that did not enforce these restrictions then you could feasibly install that, but if you do not want to root then I would assume this is also not an option (and I would imagine such a ROM may not exist). The only other option would be to write your own LogCat viewer within your apps, since each app can access its own log data.

Luckily I got my IDE's logcat to work. I also found that catching unchecked exceptions and printing the stacktrace allowed me to work around the need for a logcat. Although, I never thought about creating my own logcat, so thanks for the heads up :)

the link provided no longer works

With the following command you can give the app permission to read all logs without root permissions:
adb shell pm grant <pkg> android.permission.READ_LOGS

It works at least with catlog application in Samsung Galaxy S5/Android 6.0 as well as with Galaxy S7/Android 6.0.1.


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How to stop Recycle Bin from deleting files by default in My Files?
I've installed Omega Droid, which comes with Recycle Bin as a system app - I cannot uninstall it. Normally it doesn't bother me, but when I browse my files in the My Files system app and click a file that has no application registered it gets "handled" by the Recycle Bin app, which kindly deletes it for me without any confirmation! Of course, I can go into the app and restore the file, but this is really annoying. How do stop Recycle Bin from handling any type of file? I don't want to ever use it at all. I would uninstall it if I could.

There is a way to remove system apps. Install this app and it will allow you to remove any app you wish, system or not.

Awesome! I had no idea that's possible - thanks! Removed the Recycle Bin app and that solved the problem.


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Google photo backup
I just got a new phone that doesn't have a slot for my old memory card (it has 32gb hd) I backed up the photos on the old phone to google. Now, how can I get them or some of them to my new phone?

What exactly did you do to back them up?

If you uploaded them to Google Photos, you should be able to log into your Gmail account and simply open up the Photos app.

I actually had to delete them all from the Google + site and then upload them all over to get them to the new phone. Thanks for the suggestions.

The Google+ app provides access to all the photos and albums in your Google+ account.
It also offers you to upload automatically from any photo directory it detects on the device:

Google+ Photos is a great way to save all your photos, bring the best moments to life, and share with the people that matter. Your photos and videos are stored privately and accessible from anywhere, plus when you turn on Auto Backup they’ll be automatically saved. Relive the moment with photos presented as rich stories, movies, animations, collages, and more. You can find the right photos fast by searching for what’s in the image, even if it’s not in the photo description. And easily add a personal touch with filters and built-in editing tools.


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Nexus 5 stuck on "flying color dots lollipop" screen after Hard Factory Reset
I just did a wipe data/factory reset on my Nexus 5. I followed this YouTube tutorial.
I'm stuck on the boot screen, which was my problem in the first place, and it's been on the boot screen for 25 minutes.
Should I wait or do something else?

If you have been waiting an excessive amount of time for your phone to boot (eg. leaving it overnight to boot) but it is still at the boot animation, you may be in bootloop. This is when the phone fails to boot due to some errors in the /system partition. As a preliminary measurement, you should perform a factory reset (or wipe /data) to see if that helps. If  that does not help, you should reinstall the /system partition.

First, you have to format your /system directory; you will need a custom recovery to do this. I recommend TWRP (Nexus 5), but regardless of which recovery you choose, you should download the latest version.
Power off your Nexus 5, then press and hold Vol-, Vol+ and Power simultaneously. Don’t release the buttons until Fastboot Mode menu appears. Excessive force is not necessary and may break your buttons.
Now, you will have to use the adb and fastboot tools. Open a terminal/cmd in your adb/fastboot folder on your PC. If you have the Android SDK, they are usually located in /path-to-sdk/sdk/platform-tools/. Alternatively, you can install the Minimal ADB and Fastboot tool for Windows (or sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot for Linux).
Now plug in your phone to your PC. Making sure that your phone is in fastboot mode , type into terminal/cmd: fastboot devices to make sure that your phone is properly connected (it should return a serial code to you). This next command will perform a factory reset on your phone, so be wary that this will wipe all user data from the phone: fastboot oem unlock. After you have issued that command, type fastboot reboot. You will be presented with a screen containing an android logo and a progress bar (this may take up to ten minutes to complete). After that, your phone will try to boot up again. Just power it off after the android logo and progress bar are no longer on your screen.
Now we will use that recovery.img file we downloaded earlier. Reboot your phone into fastboot mode with Vol-, Vol+, and power, as in step 2. Make sure it is connected with fastboot devices. In the same terminal/cmd, type fastboot flash recovery /downloads/recovery.img, replacing /downloads/recovery.img with the full path to your downloaded recovery.
After that is done, on the phone, use the volume buttons to scroll onto "Restart Bootloader" and hit power to select it. After the bootloader reloads, use the volume buttons to scroll onto "Recovery Mode" and power to select it. You should then be greeted with your newly installed custom recovery.
These are instructions for TWRP: Once your recovery is running, tap Wipe > Advanced Wipe and tick only system, data, cache, and dalvik cache. Now swipe to Wipe. This will wipe all system and user data from the device; data on external sd cards will be preserved if you only selected those 4 partitions.
Now, you will download a fresh system image. If you want to stick with a stock ROM, here is one from XDA (This version is rooted). There are many custom ROMs available on the XDA thread. Download the ROM image.
Now, back in TWRP, make sure you are on the home screen (there should be a home button on the bottom) and go to Advanced > ADB Sideload then swipe to activate the mode. Type adb devices to make sure your device is properly connected, then type adb sideload /downloads/ROM.zip, replacing /downloads/ROM.zip with the full path to the ROM (.zip file) you just downloaded. This may take up to ten minutes to complete.
After that is done, just reboot! From the TWRP home screen, go to Reboot > System and it should boot correctly. Keep in mind that the first boot may take up to an hour to complete, so keep it connected to a power source!

What happens when in Step 4, I never see the progress bar? It just shows the android logo animation indefinitely.

Have the same problem as @JPL, don't see any progress bar in step 4, if I try to flash TWRP without reboot after oem unlock it seems to succeed but fails to load (After recovery loading screen phone eventually resets to go into bootloop again)

Posting this not so much for the asker, since it was asked ten hours ago, but for others who find this question:
Lollipop's first boot can take a long time. On my Nexus 4, after the OTA update from 4.4.4, it took about half an hour. At least 10 minutes of this was spent in the "flying colours" boot screen. I'd make sure it has power, and leave it for at least 30-60 minutes before getting too worried.

Waited for 2h and still stuck so not sure it will work at all.

I decided to keep waiting after I read this post. It eventually got to the welcome screen. Probably only took about 15min, but it seemed like an eternity.

Took me a good 20 mins.. but it finally got there.. phew.

This should definitely be the first line of offense before trying the more complicated answer involving  TWRP


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Cannot connect to Internet via certain Wifi networks
my LG G3 recently started acting up in that it will not be able to access the Internet via my home WiFi. I can connect to the Internet on other WiFi networks so I don't think it's necessarily an issue with the phone. However, I can connect other devices to my home WiFi and access the internet without any problems whatsoever which implies nothing is wrong with the network. My phone is connecting to the WiFi network, it just cannot get to the internet.
LG G3
Android 4.4.2

Try forgetting the network and reconnect to it afresh.

Been there, done that  :-)

I was able to get this resolved, sorta. I used a static IP on my phone and am now able to get to the internet. I'm not sure what has changed on my device to force me down this path but it is what it is.


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How do I defrag my Android device?
I've seen a few apps online, but they don't seem legitimate. From what I've seen, they don't seem to show what's going on while the drive is being defragmented. So I decided I wanna stay away from defragmenters in the Google Play store.
What would be an efficient way to defrag my both my phone's SD card and internal storage?

"Disk defragmentation ... can wear out flash memory quickly", which in turn might cause write performance to diminish forever. Also, defragmenting a flash memory chip might shorten the life of the chip, though it might also speed things up.

Most of us are not filesystems experts, and so most of us are not really qualified to opine regarding these matters. I encourage you to post a separate question on the Filesystems sub-Reddit and provide us with a link to your question. I'm curious to hear what they'll say.

There's no reason to defragment flash media. It serves no purpose, because access to any flash cell is going to take the same amount of time as access to any other flash cell. The reason defragmenting is beneficial to mechanical hard drives is because it makes related data blocks contiguous, so that they can all be read in order as the disk is spinning and minimizing the amount of movement needed from the drive heads. Flash media has none of these moving parts, and therefore does not suffer from the same problems as mechanical drives.
In fact, defragmenting flash media could potentially be detrimental, because it will wear the memory faster while not providing any benefit. Flash memory firmwares will actually fragment data intentionally, in a practice known as wear-leveling, which helps to prevent specific cells from being overused and wearing out more than others.
Flash-based devices generally benefit from TRIMing, but Android 4.3 or higher will do this for you automatically. Apps that claim to perform defragmentation are suspicious at best. Even if they "work", there is no reason to use them.

I do not agree. The answer is a bit oversimplistic. In reality, since the flash memory is not connected directly to the memory bus, it is accessed via physical drive protocols. Each time you switch to a new fragment there are seeks involved. The seek time, as low as it is on flash drives, still takes way longer than a sequential read. Remember you are not accessing the memory directly, but through a controller.
There is no reason to intentionally fragment everything. Only changing data. Most app's executables don't get modified on a daily basis. So defragmenting the OS after lots of apps updat

And given the amount of malicious adware apps in the Play Store these days, you should be wary of installing anything, much more these "performance apps".

(continuing Elibs comment) ...update could be beneficial. Also, increased fragment size can cause increase in memory use to cache all the disk seek data, thus slowing CPU performance.

So how do you manually TRIM a flash device if you are on an older version of Android?  My device has been getting slower and slower and it has been suggested to me that this could help.

@Michael I think there are a few apps out there that will try to do it for you, but they probably require root. I'm also not sure if older version of Android have the necessary binaries. Here's one you could take a look at, though: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2104326

@eldarerathis Thanks, I tried the LagFix app, but unfortunately it said the flash on my device doesn't support trimming, so I guess I am out of luck.

@Elib If you feel you could provide a better answer, I'd be more than happy to accept it if the current accepted answer does not edit in correct info! :)

@VinceEmigh Based on the premise that Elib's information is correct. I would certainly like to see some sources for his contentions, as I've provided several that disagree. I've yet to see any reliable source suggest that defragmenting flash media is useful (not just "not harmful") so I'm entirely skeptical of that comment.

@VinceEmigh All that to say: I have no intention of editing this to add the information in Elib's comment because I have no reason to believe it's at all accurate.

@eldarerathis I didn't fully read through the details at the time I commented - was simply fishing for more info to come back to. After looking into it (correct me if I'm wrong) there is no seek latency for flash drives, so I'm actually not sure what Elib is referring to (would be nice to know). I now understand that flash memory degrades as more writes are performed, thus moving things around actually harms the longevity of the drive. Sorry for the misunderstanding!

@VinceEmigh Defragmenting is beneficial to the file system regardless of the access time for each block/cluster/fragment. The more fragments, the more metadata is required to represent a file, increasing parse/load time. On devices with particularly frequent cycling of space utilization (photos taken, synced, deleted when low on space), the degree of logical fragmentation will tend to be higher. Here is a quick example of flash storage benefiting from defrag, to the point that a major OS automates it: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheRealAndCompleteStoryDoesWindowsDefragmentYourSSD.aspx

Defragmenting storage IC memory is not recommended for it may actually break the IC... Just like how SSDs are, you simply do not defragment Storage IC or it may break... also as far as I know Unix systems don't need to defrag since the files are already arranged in such a way that it is faster to access them
a better explanation here: http://geekblog.oneandoneis2.org/index.php/2006/08/17/why_doesn_t_linux_need_defragmenting


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Determine app that keeps turning on bluetooth
I recently got back from a holiday without internet, when I got back heaps of my apps updated and one of them now continuously turns my Bluetooth on. How can I determine which app it is?
I have a rooted Nexus 4 running 4.4.4

Are you sure an app is turning it on rather than the turning off failing.  I have seen this behaviour from the BT driver stack.  A reboot may help.

@ifor good idea Ill try rebooting now

@ifor unfortunately its not the Bluetooth failing to turn off http://youtu.be/usAAU0kEhtg

For me it was FireChat.
With aSpotCat you can check which apps have the permission to turn bluetooth on/off.

Where is bluetooth permission in this app?

Check in Android settings. Security and privacy --> permission--> Turn Bluetooth on. Check which apps you want to keep enabled.


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How to get the "Encrypt external SD card" option to show (on a LG Optimus F6)?
The "Encrypt external SD card" option doesn't show up under Settings -> Security on my LG Optimus F6, or my Huawei Y301-A2.
A microSD card, FAT32 formatted and empty, is inserted and recognized correctly. The "encrypt device" option shows up, but the "Encrypt external SD card" does not.
How do I get this option to show up? This is using Android 4.1.2

Solution should ideally not involve having to use a custom ROM.

Your ROM doesn't support it http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/26425/does-androids-full-filesystem-encryption-also-encrypt-the-sdcard

I don't know about those exact models, but on Jelly Bean in general, you must enable a password on your phone to encrypt external SD.
Security  -> Set up screen lock -> Password.
Then you'll need to set a password for the SD.
Step-by-step tutorial with images:
http://visihow.com/Encrypt_Files_on_Your_SD_Card_Using_Your_Android_Phone

Thanks, but that doesn't work for the external SD.

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


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How to make lock and home screen backgrounds separate
I have a Moto G 2014, and it's running 4.4.4. I cannot seem to find away to get my lock screen and home screen wallpapers different from each other. How can I go about doing this? I haven't rooted yet.

Just use the Google Photo app to set it. It will ask you whether you want to set a photo as wallpaper of the home screen, the lock screen or both.

By default there is no setting to change lock screen wallpaper. One way is to have a lock screen app like Go Locker which will allow to set lock screen wallpaper different than the home screen wallpaper. Another is to install a custom ROM like Cyanogenmod 11 which gives much more features over stock OS.

Oh yes there is: just use the Google Photo app to set it. It will ask you whether you want to set a photo as wallpaper of the home screen, the lock screen or both.

I also have a Moto G and I don't have the wallpaper background to be different from the lock screen. I figured out, by going through every setting, that there is no possible way for your wallpaper background and your lock screen to be different. But there is a solution. Either you can get a whole new phone (in which you can have a lock screen) or, you can suggest to the Motorola company to get a new setting to put up a lock screen.

The latter is unlikely to help the OP (even if Moto would comply, the day the update rolls out the device probably is no longer supported). And "buying a new phone" just for that is a poor (but expensive) solution.

Oh yes there is: just use the Google Photo app to set it. It will ask you whether you want to set a photo as wallpaper of the home screen, the lock screen or both.


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i still can't connect gt-s5360 Samsung phone to windows 7 PC
i still can't connect gt-s5360 Samsung phone to windows 7 PC but it charging i can't get "connect to pc" option and  i can connect another Samsung phone to PC with same usb cable

Depending on the model of your phone, you may not be able to get the "Connect to PC" dialog. This is normal behavior.
Troubleshoot:

Since you can connect another phone to your PC, you probably have the
correct drivers (since Samsung uses a universal USB driver which you
can download here), but I would try to install it just in
case (it doesn't hurt to try).
Try disabling USB Debugging under Settings > Developer Settings.
Try enabling Settings > Wireless and Network > USB Settings > Ask on connection.


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wifi issue on samsung- galaxy-s-duos
My mobile device doesn't detect any Wi-fi signal even though there is an active network available in the area.
Can anyone help me to find a solution to this problem??
Device: Samsung galaxy-s-duos.
android version: jellybean

Did you try factory resetting your phone?

@TimoS Yes I did the factory resetting, still its not working..

Did it work before?

@TimoS yes it was working till 14 months from purchase date. Do you have any other solution for it??

You can try flashing a custom rom for your device.

The best thing to do is to try to restart your phone. Check your settings and make sure everything is on in the wifi settings.
Keep in mind that if the wifi network is hidden, it won't show up - you have to manually enter its name and password to be able to connect.

I tried that also its not working! I guess its a hardware problem!!

authors: นายปัญญา ผาธรรม


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How to restore old screen power-off effect on android 5
I upgraded to android 5 and the screen power off effect which was imitating power off of these old CRT monitors is lost. Is there any way for me to restore it?

You can try installing Screen Dimmer application available over the Google Play Store. One more thing I can't understand about what screen dim effect you are talking about ?? Are you talking about the screen dimming effect over the JellyBean environment or your are talking about something else.

Nexus 5 comes with KitKat (4.x android) and this was the default effect when you turned off the display using power button.

Pardon me I need to correct myself over the above post actually I was talking about the KitKat but I seemed to have typed Jellybean above ! anyway I would say that's something which we can't change I would say I have tried searching for an application which can do this but it seemed that there's nothing I can find anyway better to wait a bit more while to see if others members have something which can help you out !

I believe the only way to change it is to install a custom ROM that supports the effect you want.

If you have rooted your device then Xposed Installer can do this.
Xblast tools & GravityBox are xposed modules that have crt off and many other effects.

The old way was to manipulate certain parts of the code in the framework-res.apk file and then update somethings in the build.prop of the device. Of course this was when I was running Gingerbread (2.3) on my Samsung device. As of now, you could look into the system packages of latest Cyanogenmod git branch/ or wait for CM12.


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I am locked out of my galaxy centura how do I reset
How do I unlock my galaxy centura I forgot my lock screen passwords
I have tried pressing power and volume down and still nothing

When power is off, press screen off, volume_down, home for about 1-2 seconds, then keep pressing vol down and screen off but release home key.
It should take you to screen with few options, vol down to go down, and vol up to go up, home to apply option.
Then the rest is easy, use atleast these options, factory reset, wipe user data, wipe user cache, and format system if it has option like that.
NOTE: I tested this on my Galaxy Tab 2 and it worked, you need to google if it's safe to format system with your phone, it's no sin to feel safe.


text:
Dismounting the emulated sd card to be used as internal storage and use the physical sd card instead?
Any way to Dismount the emulated sd card to be used as internal storage and use the physical sd card instead?

I was surprised when I recognized, that the 4 Gbyte storage of my Android 4.2 device is partitioned such stupid way (1 G for system, 1 G for internal storage and 2 G for "internal SD card"), it makes the whole device unexpandable. I assume, you have the same problem.
I'm not an Android Guru, so I did just a little trick: I've swapped SD cards in the configuration: I've edited /system/etc/vold.fstab, and swapped sdcard0 and sdcard1 in mount commands.

dev_mount sdcard /storage/sdcard1 emmc@fat /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.0 /devices/platform/mtk-msdc.0/mmc_host
  dev_mount sdcard2 /storage/sdcard0 auto /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.1 /devices/platform/mtk-msdc.1/mmc_host

Now "internal SD card" is my real SD card, and the 2 Gbyte partition (was: "internal SD card") is not accessible for the most of the apps (except factory ones, which can handle two SD cards, and ones which can use specified path).
Caution: if you don't know how to do it, you're probably shouldn't do it. If you make mistake in configuration files, your device may not boot up. Always make backup, install recovery etc. Anyway, if your SD card configuration is wrong, it's not a fatal error, the only effect is that you'll have no SD card mounted. So be sure that all the tools needed (file manager, root manager, SSH server etc.) are installed on the internal storage.

well this partially solves it , i already foun this solution with a different approach , but the fact i want to know is that by doing this th internal emulated sd card remains as it is? so i will still have 1 G for system, 1 G for internal storage and 2 G for "internal SD card"? this is still a problem , what if i want to make the 1 gb of internal storage 3 gb merging it with theemulated sd partition?

Before: 1G:sys 1G:int 2G:int.SD 8G:Real.SD-can't-use
After: 1G:sys 1G:int 8G:Real.SD 2G:int.SD-can't-use

Well, I haven't tried to merge the partitions, I have lot of apps installed and still have 0.5 Gbyte internal storage. I have 8G SD card and I'm using factory app2sd method, I'm happy with it.

well thats the important part , i lack in internal storage

I think the answer is to combine the cards swap as stated in the above answer and use Link2SD to free the 1GB internal storage. Uninstall system apps, install them as user apps and think them to the SD. I am having problems with Link2SD alone so I will try the swap solution + Link2SD

@crramirez So did you try for swap solution + Link2SD? Link2SD requires a ext4 partition on sd card which does really work with the process described here. However I think only way to achieve this by making whole sd card partition ext4.

I was able to make it. Just follow this tutorial:
http://blog.163.com/san_stars/blog/static/13683188020139404417393/
Step by step it only works if you make what he says. The application Root Internal 2 External is not in the store anymore so you need to look for the APK.
After that you can install Link2SD for a complete solution.
I recommend a complete wipe before using this method but is not neccesary
Regards

I will try this thanx and if it works i will mark your answer

I decided for this method because my tablet did not start anymore using the hard method in the other answer. This method works just be carefully in mount points and how many times you need to click Apply button.


text:
Any way to get root without a custom recovery? (Unlocked bootloader)
I have a phone with an unlocked bootloader (Motorola Moto Maxx XT1225) but there's no custom recovery available for it yet.
Is there any way to get root/flash super su without a custom recovery?
Or any way to modify stock recovery to be able to flash unsigned zips?
edit: device is on 4.4.4, it's the "international" version of Droid Turbo, just released device.
edit2: this is not droid maxx. It's moto maxx, Released 2014 November: http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=5604&idPhone2=6779


text:
Samsung Galaxy S3 update deleted Play Store and a bunch of other Google apps
Today my Galaxy S3 alerted me that there was an update to Push Services available. For once I actually thought "hey, let's not dismiss this update" and went through the whole process. There were no warnings, nothing seemed strange, and everything seemingly worked smoothly.
So I tap the Hangouts icon on my home screen (Apex launcher, if that's relevant in any way). "App not installed". Okay, uh, let's install it, then. I tap the Play Store icon. "App not installed". That's a problem.
A bunch of Google apps seem to have been uninstalled. Play Store, Hangouts, Calendar, and probably a few others. I've looked in my System settings > Application manager > Turned off, and they're not there - in fact, they're not anywhere in my applications list at all! Instead, Samsung seems to have installed "Galaxy Market" and a few other apps which are mostly worthless to me. Here's a list of things I have tried so far:

Checked if they were perhaps just disabled (they weren't).
Downloaded APKs for both Play Store and Hangouts. The installers tell me "Do you want to install an update to this built-in application?" for both of them, then "Application not installed".
Contacted Samsung's support center. I got a copy-pasted answer about factory resetting, and I'd rather not do that.
Rebooting. Nothing.

How do I get these apps back? I use Hangouts every day, and Play Store is just plain hard to do anything without.

My phone automatically rebooted (crashed?) a few hours later, and the apps were magically back. That's not an answer, though, and I'll leave this question up in case someone else has the same problem.


text:
Embedded YouTube videos have sound but no video
Whenever I come across a page with an embedded YouTube video and press play then the sound will be heard but the video will be blank (a black screen).
The controls work just fine - it's just that I don't have any video.
If I attempt to rotate the phone to landscape, then the video will briefly show just before the screen is rotated and then go back to being black again. Sound will continue to play just fine. If I attempt to rotate the phone back to portrait then the same thing happens again.
This problem occurs in Chrome, but also in any apps where the browser has been embedded (eg. Feedly and Facebook).
My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S3 (i9300) running CM11-20141115-SNAPSHOT-M12-i9300.
Is there any way I can resolve this?

I had the very same issue with my RSS reader on the Optimus 4X (running a stock Android 4.0.4). Always thought it was the app, as it worked with different other RSS apps – until I found out it worked with the very same app on my secondary device (Moto Milestone 2 running CM10 / Android 4.1). So I second Dan's assumption: a bug in the ROM / Android version is a pretty likely cause.

Same problem over here (i9300, CM11 - I had the problem with various versions, previous M builds as well as the latest nightly). I do have video in full screen mode. Tried that?

I found these related bug reports :
https://jira.cyanogenmod.org/browse/CYAN-5012
https://jira.cyanogenmod.org/browse/CYAN-5271
https://jira.cyanogenmod.org/browse/CYAN-5952
https://jira.cyanogenmod.org/browse/NIGHTLIES-480

Have you updated Android System WebView?  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.webview

If the problem is only with embedded videos, just click on the link to the actual video on Youtube. Or try long pressing on it to get the link to the video URL.


text:
Why does dialler sometimes fail to dial?
I recently bought a Moto G2, with Android 4.4.4.  I'm very happy with it, other than the fact that sometimes when I dial a number, the phone just drops the call immediately, and doesn't even save it in the recently dialed list.  I tried installing a 3rd party dialer, and found exactly the same behavior.  What's up with that?  How to fix it?
Also, there doesn't seem to be any way to get to your speed dials/favorite contacts except by making and ending a call.  Am I missing something obvious?

@Izzy - done.  Nothing fancy on this phone; I bought it on Amazon.com and haven't done anything more invasive than install apps from Play Store.

Thanks for the update! Though I'm not able to help you on this issue, the additional details provided should help others doing so. Good luck!


text:
Flash vanilla (AOSP) Android ROM on Xiaomi Redmi
I have a Xiaomi Redmi 1S.
Is it possible to flash a vanilla (AOSP) Android ROM? This MIUI is annoying me.  I have a few bugs which come from MIUI and I want to flash a vanilla ROM but always when I thought I've found the right one, it's bricked my phone and had to restore it with the custom MiFlash Tool.
Recovery on the phone was not even possible.

I changed to [tag:vanilla-android], since the definition of "stock ROM" is "MIUI" for Xiaomi. Anyway, it seems there are many "custom" AOSP ROM for Xiaomi. Searching for "Redmi AOSP ROM" might help you.


text:
Rooting Samsung Galaxy S II GT-i9100
How does one root a Samsung Galaxy S II GT-i9100 (with its original Android 2.3 Gingerbread), preferably under Linux Mint?
This questions pertains specifically the GT-i9100 version (not GT-i9100G nor GT-i9100T, et cetera), which currently has no entry under the rooting index.
I am particularly looking for a rooting method which does not wipe the data on the phone, as I am hoping to recover data afterwards. I have an 8GB external SD card.

If you're that concerned about losing your data then BACKUP!!!! Better safe than sorry, I can't stress the importance of backups enough.

You need the file http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1674014&d=1359080668 here and copy it to the external SD card (the one you connect to a slot in the phone)
Steps:

Save the file to external sd card
Open stock recovery (press power + vol up + home button)
Install zip from external sd card
Choose the file "CWM-SuperSU-v0.97.zip" from the SD card

Flash it and then reboot

Will this preserve my data? I should have specified in the question that I am intending to root the phone as part of a data recovery process. I shall edit the question.

Yes it will preserve your data, flashing a rooted kernel will not touch your data in any way, though the usual disclaimer about kittens applies :)

Am I correct in saying the linked attachment comes from this forum post? If so, it mentions "4.1.2 firmwares": is this still applicable as I have 2.3 Gingerbread?
I'm just being overly cautious/paranoid as this is my first time rooting and I need to avoid data loss. Unfortunately I cannot boot the phone so thus cannot check Kernel or Build Number through the "About device" menu.

It should work fine. Recoveries don't change much in stock from version to version. The worst that will happen is that it will tell you its incompatible, but my (educated) guess is that it will work fine.

Just tried warsong's answer, using one of my old phones (exact match to the OP's. Android v2.3.3). The result of step 3 of warsong's answer is: Finding update package... opening update package... Verifying update package... E:Failed to verify whole-file signature E:signature verification failed Installation aborted. One difference is that I did a factory reset of the phone before attempting any of this.

Root genius and iRoot, both of them are free to root your samsung galaxy phone. Rooting will write new data to your device.

Isn't "Root genius" a Windows-only solution?


text:
Can you block URLs with Tasker?
Is it possible to block URLs with Tasker?
I'd like to block different sites from 9-5 everyday.

You can if your device is rooted. You need to add the URLs in the hosts file (/etc/hosts) like:
127.0.0.1 facecrook.com
127.0.0.1 liveminmin.com

and so on.
Note that you'll have to remount (as rw) your /system first using the commands:
adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw /system

Use a file editor to do the editing and then remount the system in ro mode. Also, before editing, copy the default hosts file at some location say /sdcard/host_files/original/hosts and the modified hosts file at /sdcard/host_files/modified/hosts
Now with the Tasker:

Create a time based profile as + → Time and select your timing when you want URLs to be blocked.
Create a task under the above profile and the action inside it should be + → Code → Run Shell:

Type mount -o remount,rw /system in Command
Check Use Root

Create a new action through + → File → Copy File:

Tap the lens icon corresponding to From and select /sdcard/host_files/modified/hosts
Tap the lens icon corresponding to To and select /etc folder by holding it.

Create another new action through + → Code → Run Shell:

Type mount -o remount,ro /system in Command
Check Use Root

Create this last action through + → System → Reboot → select Normal in Type.
Create another profile for the time you don't want URLs to be blocked using step1.
Copy steps 2-5 and choose /sdcard/host_files/original/hosts in step 3 under From.
Make Tasker an exception in any app (if you have) that disables Tasker from startup.

Enjoy!

In general, no. Tasker can't know when a URL is launched (my testing with the "Receive Intent" event had no success), nor does it have the necessary control over the browser to stop the page from loading.
That said, if I could find the time to get DolphinTasker published, then yes, you could do this with Dolphin Browser. But that's not an option at the moment.


text:
Stuck on Boot Animation
Recently I installed MIUI v5 rom on my smartphone.
When I rebooted my smartphone it got stuck on the MI Boot Animation Logo.
What is the problem?
Please Help me.

Can you still boot to recovery or safe-mode? Have you wiped your phone prior to flashing (assuming you've had a different ROM in use before)?

Did you wipe dalvik-cache and cache after flashing MIUI? And again after GApps?

Note that the first boot after flashing a new ROM can take some time.  For anyone reading this, make sure to wait at least 10 minutes before jumping to the conclusion that you've soft-bricked your device.

This is what happened to me and after 8 hours it was still stuck playing the boot animation.  I went into recovery and it told me it couldn't mount /cache so I wiped the cache partition, then it booted and asked for a password and complained it couldn't decrypt my data so I did a factory reset (which wipes the user partition), and after that I left it at the boot animation again and after five minutes it finished booting.  This was with the stock ROM.

It is stucked in boot-loop and maybe soft bricked. Its not bricked but can be soft bricked. I had also suffered this problem two times. Dont fear it will not damage any of your hardware function. It only happens if
1. The ROM you flashed doesn't matched with your phone.
2. Gapps has not been installed correctly.
You can solve this problem. Try turning off your phone and after turning on immedietly press the volume up and power button simultaneously. It could be different because different companies have different methods of booting into recovery. If you succeed in it then go ahead and if you fail then try other button combinations. After booting into recovery, navigate to wipe data section by using the volume keys. Then clear your cache partition. After doing this, get your default ROM from any website. I am sure that one or more websites will surely contain  it. AFTER DOWNLOADING IT INSTALL THE ROM. Then clear the dalvik cache and cache. Now, just reboot. Your problem will be solved.If any problem, please comment.

You forgot to mention to clear dalvik-cache and cache AFTER flashing ROM and GApps package.

The OP said "it got stuck on the MI Boot Animation Logo" - I thought a boot loop was when it kept booting, in which case the screen would repeatedly go black and then back to the boot logo, not just stay stuck on the boot logo, right?

This means you are stuck in a bootloop which means that your phone can't boot. It can be caused by the wrong installation of the rom. You can try to do a factory reset from recovery. If it doesn't fix you should try to install the stock rom. If you need more help please ask.

How can I fix this 'Bootloop' or 'Boot Animation' problem? I know how to install the stock rom and after this problem i successfully  installed the stock rom.


text:
Nexus 7 2012 Lolipop screen cast problem
I have a first generation (2012) Nexus 7 running Android 5.0. There is a screen cast feature in the popup settings, but when I try to setup my Chromecast it is not working and cannot detect it. Does this device support screen casting?

According to an article from July, the first gen Nexus 7 does not support screen casting to the Chromecast.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/07/10/hands-on-video-android-new-screen-casting-game-changer-and-more/
That information MIGHT be out of date but as of four months ago, the 2nd gen (2013) was the only Nexus 7 that was supported for screen casting

authors: Никлай болдорев


text:
Nexus 5 IMEI number gone after updating to Lollipop
My IMEI number has disappeared on my Nexus 5 and now I can neither call nor text.
Status of the phone says:

Network:
Unknown
Mobile network type
Unknown
Service State:
Out of service
Mobile network state:
Disconnected
My phone number:
Unknown
IMEI:
Unknown
IMEI SV:
Unknown

All of this happened after updating to Lollipop using bootloader.
I have tried several tutorial videos, such as:

"How to Unroot Nexus 5 on Mac! - Restore to Complete Stock",
"How to Upgrade, Downgrade, Restore ANY NEXUS Device on a Mac - Easiest Method"

Now is my Nexus downgraded to Android 4.4 and I can't text or call anyone.
When I try to open the Camera I get the message "Unfortunately camera has stopped". The same thing happens with Google Play Store.
When I try to take a screenshot I get the message "Couldn't save screenshot. Storage may be in use." It's like it can't connect to the storage.
Can I fix this? Is it possible to restore the IMEI without any backup?
If not, should I lock the bootloader and send it to my carrier (I live in Sweden)?
Note: I have the IMEI number written down.

The IMEI number of the phone may be under the battery inside the phone.

There is nothing to worry. Please follow the steps mentioned in this Android Enthusiasts answer.
You just have to flash the images properly. Do a factory reset using the recovery mode.

Volume Down + Power
Bootloader screen will be visible
Go to Recovery
Power + Volume up key (few seconds) and then let go of the Volume up key, but keep pressing Power
Select Wipe Dalvik cache
Select Factory reset

Step 1 should be Volume Up + Volume Down + Power instead of Volume Down + Power


text:
How can I change pointer locations setting in developer options from adb shell?
I need to be able to select and deselect "pointer locations" from the developer options menu using adb.  adb shell am start -n com.android.settings/.DevelopmentSettings, but once I'm there I can't figure out how to select and de-select pointer locations.
I tried just using shell keyevent 'xx' to move the focus, but it seems problematic and unreliable.  Is there a simple set of commands that will allow me to just jump to the selection?

To enable Pointer locations, the command is:
adb shell settings put system pointer_location 1

Change 1 to 0 to disable it.
Enter adb shell settings to understand its usage and what the aforesaid command is doing.

adb shell settings put system pointer_location 1
/system/bin/sh: settings: not found

Are you using an Android earlier than Android 4.2.1? settings command was introduced starting from Android 4.2.1.

Thanks :) We're using 4.1.1 but will keep this in mind for the future.

@Firelord I'm trying these commands, but they don't affect Tinder on Androd for example: `~/Android/Sdk/platform-tools$ ./adb -s 2C051FDH3002LA shell appops set com.google.android.gms android:mock_location allow
~/Android/Sdk/platform-tools$ ./adb -s 2C051FDH3002LA shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.GEO_LOCATION --es "lat" "38.6979" --es "long" "-9.2064" --ei "error" "10"
Broadcasting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.GEO_LOCATION flg=0x400000 (has extras) }
Broadcast completed: result=0`

@EladBenda hi. I don't think your command applies to either the question or my answer. Consider creating a question instead and add as much details as you have.

@Firelord I have https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/252657/does-one-geo-location-broadcast-should-persist-mock-location-or-should-it-be-s


text:
How can I Know about SD card logs (eject or mount details) in Android logs?
I want to maintain a log of when the SD card is ejected or mounted in my Android device. How can I do this?

Please don't Capitalize Every Word in your question.

I'll take care next time.

That could e.g. be done using tasker:

Condition: Event → Hardware → Card Mounted
(resp. "Card Removed" / "Card Unmounted")
Task: File → Write File
(specify file name, text, check "append")

You will need a separate profile for each action (mount/eject) with the respective condition, but of course you can write to the same file (or use a separate one if you prefer).
For details on Tasker, please check with our tasker tag-wiki.

Anytime! If it solves your issue, please don't forget to mark it such (using the check-mark next to the answer). Makes it easier for others to identify "solved issues" ;)

i don't want to do it with the help of an application . isn't there any other solution

I'm afraid it's not possible without an application. Though there might be other apps to do it.


text:
Auto turn off switch for android phone according to battery status
Looking for any switch with Bluetooth connectivity with mobile and auto turn off power to mobile charger according to battery barfing status. Would be great help for charging overnight. If it comes with alarm after full charging, even better, like i can charge my mobile while cooking without worrying to turn off after full charge.

Tasker is exactly what you need.
You can do lots of automation with tasker. App is a bit hard to understand but when you figured it out it has the power of freedom.
Tasker Play Store Link

More details on Tasker are to be found in our tasker tag-wiki by the way ;)

Wow didnt know that wiki page thanks for comment :)

Many of our tags have a corresponding wiki page with useful details, first-aid, and more – always worth a look :) Also worth seeing: My collection of Tasker Resources :)

That's an hell of an automation :D

Indeed. Especially when you consider even that collection is far from being complete :)

You didn't do that list manually right? please say no

In fact I did. Just the app ratings are updating automatically. // Btw: We're getting off-topic here with our comments. I'd recommend you add a few more details in your answer (a "raw example" how to accomplish what the OP wants – e.g. a profile-outline) so I can upvote it, then we can meet in chat ;)


text:
I have lost my Samsung Galaxy Ace
2 days ago, I misplaced my Samsung Galaxy Ace in my room. I had woken up (It charged the whole night so it had 100% charge), and put it somewhere in my room. The thing is, I think I turned it off. Even if it was on, none of my sounds were on. Also my GPS isn't turned on. Any help?

If it's turned off, you most certainly can not turn it on remotely, do there's no helping you.
If it's turned on, you could try activating an alarm from Google device manager, if you didn't deactivate it earlier. Go to Google device manager and click "alarm"; the sound may help you find your phone. The GPS data indoors is very inaccurate so it is of no use; it would only tell you it's in your room, which you already know.

Dont worry I found it !


text:
Downloads from my mobile not appearing on computer - Samsung Galaxy
I have connected my mobile (Samsung galaxy) with my HP laptop (Windows 7) and clicked "Open device to view files".
I click "Downloads" - that is, what I have downloaded on my mobile - then "videos".
But to view the videos it shows "copying..."
Have the videos been copied on my laptop? If 'Yes', where can I find them?

Yes they will be copied to PC before playing in a temporary location. I don't know the location but look here - Start>Run>%TEMP%

It does that because it is copying the file via MTP. If you want to view the files on your computer it would be far easier and faster to simply copy them to your computer from the mobile. Each time you open a file from your mobile through your computer it will copy them which takes time.


text:
How do I display message from from `adb shell` (or a shell script)?
I expect it to be something like
adb shell am start SomethingArcane ... "Hello, world"

and the message box pops up on screen, saying "Hello, world".

Link: http://softwarerecs.stackexchange.com/questions/3346/zenity-alternative-for-android

Hacky workaround: DirectFB
With DirectFB and root access, you can display the text on screen directly, without Android at all.
I've implemented a program for this: directfbtext.
( echo "Hello, world"; echo "FLIP"; sleep 2; echo "QUIT" ) |  /h/bin/directfbtext --dfb:fbdev=/dev/graphics/fb0  --dfb:no-vt  /system/fonts/DroidSans-Bold.ttf 30 120 200 255

Note that it is probably not that easy to get DirectFB working on Android, but I happen to have it already configured.

Update Per user request, I've created and tested a "portable" pre-built version of directfbtext. Setting up and running:

Unpack directfbtext_deps.tar.gz into /data/local/tmp/;
Start adb shell, go root (su);
cd /data/local/tmp/directfbtext;
Create symlink from /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabi/ to /data/local/tmp/directfbtext:
# mount -o remount,rw / /
# mkdir /usr
# mkdir /usr/lib
# ln -s /data/local/tmp/directfbtext /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabi

Ensure display is on
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=. ./ld-linux.so.3 ./directfbtext --dfb:fbdev=/dev/graphics/fb0 --dfb:no-vt /system/fonts/DroidSans-Bold.ttf --dfb:system=fbdev 30 120 200 255
Type some text, followed by a line that reads "FLIP";
Observe the text visible on the display;
Type "QUIT" to exit directfbtext;
Interact with the device, so it updates display and clears remaining glitches caused by DirectFB.

Maybe you can tell what need to be configured?

The main thing is probably a Debian in chroot.

Could you provide a binary? (Or instructions how to compile with NDK?)

Unfortunately static binaries are tricky to get with DirectDB. The program was build not using Android NDK and depends on Debian libraries. I'll try to hack up "semi-portable" version of it now.

@user1147688, Done. You can try testing it.

FBTrueType-android
I have written a native android program FBTrueType-android to print TrueType font text directly to the display on the device using ADB.
It has many features including clearing the framebuffer (display) and changing the *.ttf font used, font color, font size, x and y positions.
It also can run with Zygote (android interface) running and it can capture the framebuffer from Zygote in fullscreen.
I setup a github repository for it which you can access here, alternatively you can clone the repository like this:
$ git clone https://github.com/mikelinux/fbtruetype-android.git

You will need to be setup to cross compile for ARM, the README file has full instructions on doing this.
Enjoy, and please post your feedback.
Mike


text:
Flashed system partition differs subtly from system.img
When I flash my Nexus 7 2013 with a rebuilt aosp system.img using fastboot, the data in the partition (as read back by dd) is very slightly different from the system.img data used to flash it. A block of "20..." bytes appears to have moved.
Any idea why? The partition isn't mounted rw at any point (that messes it up even further by setting the superblock s_mtime and s_wtime values).
Update: Actually it seems that just a byte at offset 0x560 has been changed from 0x00 to 0x02. Now that I dig into the details, this is the s_flags of the superblock, with 0x02 representing "Unsigned directory hash in use", which would make some sense (although "Signed directory hash in use" would make more sense given I'm using dm-verity).
I still don't think it should be modifying the data given that it is never mounted rw though...

'A block of "20..." bytes appears to have moved.' Could you be more specific? Are you missing some bytes from the end of the filesystem? How many? Where have they moved to?

Good question - posting edited to add the details.


text:
Downgrade nVidia Shield to Android 4.4 KitKat
I mistakenly installed 5.0 Lollipop on my nVidia Shield tablet, and I regret it. Is there a way to revert back to KitKat? I've tried finding a way, but no luck so far.

possible duplicate of Can I downgrade to an earlier version of Android after installing an OTA update?

Also check https://github.com/drtaglia/drtaglia.github.io/issues/13 for the steps

One way would be to flash a factory image to your tablet, which would restore it to the state it was when you first bought it.
Depending on your model (wifi, or wifi + lte), you can find official factory images to for the SHIELD tablet on this nvidia website:
https://developer.nvidia.com/develop4shield
Following the relevant links, you will get to a website from where you can download the factory image. The bundle should also contain instructions. Hope this helps.

canot download any factory image from https://developer.nvidia.com/develop4shield, any sugestion? Nvidia show to me the message "require registration", but i was logged in yet... edit: i found this: http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Tablets/NVIDIA/, but nos is a official source...

@Carcheky I just tested the link and it works for me.... Did you click the Download OS Images button?

I have just gone through the whole process successfully. Below you find all the necessary steps for a downgrade for OSX (and likely for linux).
Install the Java8 Runtime
from here: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572?locale=en_US
after installing, verify from command line if this runs without issues
java --version

Download the Android SDK
Obtain it from: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Then you have to execute this command to download fastboot:
./android update sdk --no-ui

You only need the fastboot executable, which you can easily find:
~/Desktop/SHIELD/android-sdk-macosx: find . -name fastboot
./platform-tools/fastboot

Then add its directory to the path:
export PATH="$PATH:$PWD/android-sdk-macosx/platform-tools"

Download the Factory Reset Images
From https://developer.nvidia.com/gameworksdownload pick the NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet WiFi Recovery OS Image for linux. Make sure you download the Update 1.2.1, this is the last one before Lollipop was introduced (I also tried with the factory image, but the tablet was freezing very often). Then, unzip it from the command line, then execute the shell file.
unzip extract-nv-recovery-image-shield-tablet-wx_na_wf-19485_417.6426.sh.zip
chmod +x extract-nv-recovery-image-shield-tablet-wx_na_wf-19485_417.6426.sh
./extract-nv-recovery-image-shield-tablet-wx_na_wf-19485_417.6426.sh

Everything that follows is performed in the folder where you unzipped (it contains a few *.img files)
Put your SHIELD tablet into fastboot mode:

Turn off the device
Press "Volume Down" -> "Power", hold "Volume Down" and leave Power buttons till device boots

Flash the tablet
fastboot oem unlock /// AND FOLLOW SCREEN INSTRUCTIONS
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash userdata userdata.img
fastboot flash staging blob
fastboot flash dtb tegra124-tn8-p1761-1270-a04-e-battery.dtb
fastboot reboot-bootloader

Reboot the device
Use the volume up/down and the start button to select "reboot" when the commands above have completed.
Reference to the official instructions (not as verbose)
https://developer.nvidia.com/sites/default/files/akamai/mobile/docs/HowTo-Flash-SHIELDTablet-Recovery-Image.txt

authors: ℳ                            .


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help I need to root my android due to "no memory space" but dont want to loose anything
I want to root my andriod as it keeps saying my memory is low it wont let me download anything even tho there is memory there ?? Will rooting delete pictures apps music or contacts ?? If so is there a back up I could do on everything ?? Please neeed hellp

Rooting your android device is completely safe as long as you follow the instructions correctly. Rooting won't free up internal memory by itself. It does enable you to remove any unwanted system level apps. You could then use applications like link2sd to free up additional space. Do a quick search about how to root your device model at xda-developers.com. Hope this helps.

Thanks I will take a look at it now , been having trouble with my sony xperia it keeps telling me I have low memory wont let me download anything evwn tho I have memory xx

The new version ot play store has increased the minimum required space for app installation. What model of sony xperia do you have? Rooting xperia phones shouldn't be very hard.