text:
What is an unsupported unsolicited response code 11016?
My UK Nexus S (Android 2.3.2) has real problems sustaining a reliable data connection on 3G even when I have a full signal in London. Connections time out or pages/tweets/whatever load exceptionally slowly and sometimes the green up and down data arrows go grey. The phone works without any problem on WiFi.
I've looked at the radio log using Android System Info and I'm seeing a lot of lines saying:
unsupported unsolicited response code 11016
I've uploaded a log here:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bz2RssMOCKOIYjkyOTgwNjctZWEzZS00YTBiLWFhYTYtN2MxMjg2ZjQwYzYy&hl=en_GB&authkey=COa-8uAD
which shows a lot of these errors. I wondered if this could be to blame. I've been having these errors for several days in several parts of London. Happy to provide more information if I can.
Many thanks for any thoughts, Tom

I notice you're on T-Mobile from that log? Are you sure you're not just seeing the problems that a lot of T-Mobile and Orange customers have been seeing after the recent merger, where both networks keep telling your phone that it can freely roam between them, but then keep not connecting you properly to the data services because it keeps switching all the time? Might be worth calling them and checking the problems not at their end (or with the SIM).

I think it's probably best to do a factory reset and see if that helps.  However you could try going to Settings -> Wireless and network -> Mobile Networks and experimenting.  I recommend shutting off roaming and making sure Network mode is on Auto.


text:
Diagnosing Angry Birds Crash
I have a Samsung Captivate running Cyanogen Mod 7 beta (Gingerbread).  I am using Launcher Pro and have AdFree if that matters.  Everything has been working fine for a while, I had Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons working.  Then I installed an update yesterday (1.5.3), along with about 20 others.  I believe I had the previous updates as well.
Now, when I play Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, or the recently installed Angry Birds Rio, the game will randomly crash after a couple of minutes.  Usually when I am interacting with the touch screen, but I have had a bird freeze in mid flight while I did nothing.
The crash happens where the game locks up for a few seconds and then the screen goes back and returns me to the home screen.
I had never experienced this before.
Any ideas as to what the cause is or how to fix it?  Is there a crash dump/log file somewhere I can check?  Any similar issues anyone has?

Interesting.  My first thought is that it's CM-related, since I've had no problems with the new version on my own Galaxy S.

That might make sense.  I'm confused as to why it was working before (still on CM7), but maybe some change in the AB update doesn't work with CM

I read that the latest Angry Birds uses a newer version of OpenGL, so maybe that version is broken in CM7.

You can use ADB and run logcat by typing the command adb logcat > logcat.log.  Alternatively you can use an app like aLogcat.  That will give show you your systems logs but then you'll have to figure out what it all means.
I have to agree with Matthew Reads comment that it's probably related to CM but there are so many moving parts and different factors it's hard to say.  Unfortunately diagnosing through trial and error will require you removing CM to see if it was the cause.  I would recommend removing AdFree and seeing if you still have crashes because it could be caused by that.  If I were an app dev that relied on ads to fund my company I'd probably make the free flow of ads in my app a requirement for my app to run properly.
Also, I doubt it's launcher pro.

Thanks, I'll try ADB.  I've been suspect of an ads issue, but then I wonder if Angry Birds would crash in airplane mode when it also can't display ads.

Even if it doesn't crash in airplane mode it still could be related to how the ad blocker is blocking them.

Disabling AdFree didn't help.  Still crashes.  Got a log and I copied the part starting where I had launched Angry Birds: link

I don't know a whole lot about these things but it looks like you ran out of memory.  If its not the AdFree it's probably related to CM.  I'd post this question over at the CM forums.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/

sort: votes


text:
Turn off "new email" sound on boot
When my Froyo phone is almost finished booting up, it makes a sound to notify me that I have new email.  How can turn this off?  Thanks.

Do you have new email?  Or does it have nothing to do with email beyond being the same sound?

Yes, I have new email.  The situation is that I have to charge the phone every night and I use it as my morning alarm, so it charges on the nightstand.  My wife is asleep when I come to bed and sometimes when I plug it in, the screen won't turn off unless I reboot it.  The "new email" notification is loud and sometimes wakes my wife.  Bad.

OK.  You should be able to just click the power button for the screen to shut off, does that not work?

Sometimes it keeps coming back on, that's when I have to reboot.  After the reboot it'll stay off.

@user3611 I'm curious what phone you have?

So, based on the comments above you do need a notification solution.  The obvious one is just to turn off notifications for the email app, or to turn down the volume before you go to bed.  You could also use an app like Tasker to do the latter automatically based on profiles that you set.  For example you can have it mute notifications when plugged in to charge: http://androidforums.com/1207528-post3.html

I'd prefer to just turn off email notifications.  How can I do that?

For the GMail app: Menu button -> More -> Settings -> Select ringtone -> Silent.  Should be similar for any other app.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


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MyTouch upgraded to Froyo now requires reboot to use USB storage again
After T-Mobile upgraded my "original MyTouch 3G" to Froyo, I have to reboot the phone to reconnect it to my computer after it's been connected once and disconnected.
I've tried using different USB ports on my computer, and everything else I can think of.  Is there a fix for this?
Thanks very much.

Are you properly dismounting the phone storage from your computer, and then having your phone mount it, before disconnecting USB?

That did it.  I was pulling the plug whenever I was ready.  If you'll put this as an answer I'll mark it as "the" answer.  Thanks a lot.  (Funny that I never had to do this routine before the upgrade.  Oh well, I'm glad to have a "fix".)

Done, glad to help.

Ensure you properly dismount the phone storage from your computer, and then have your phone mount it, before disconnecting USB.


text:
Micro SD card physically damaged?
it seems to me that my sd card is damaged so I wiped/erased it from android few times but it did not help.
Right now what happens is that if the card is present the phone freezes (not always) at the same time. SO it seems to me that the card is physically damaged.
Can I somehow find out if the card is damaged? The best from my phone.
Is there any low lever format of micro SD cards that might help in such case? Mark bad blocks so something similar?

HTC Desire + CM 7 RC2 + Kingston 16GB Type 4

Have you tried formatting your SD Card in a dedicated reader, as opposed to doing it directly on the phone?
Most phones (and even most laptops' built-in SD Card readers) have problems writing SD Card partitions.  I usually format my SD Cards in a stand-alone card reader hooked up to my PC via USB.  Also, it's probably worth re-partitioning it with Partition Editor from Ubuntu LiveCD.

I haven't tried dedicated card reader, I will try one. Actually the card became "faulty" few days/weeks after I partitioned it using my built-in reader in my notebook under Win7.

why do you think it is good idea to partition the card? I am not sure if it's a good to use ext on my card.

I wasn't suggesting creating an extra Ext partition, I meant only re-creating the existing Fat/Fat32 partition.

what would 're-creating' do?

By deleting an existing partition and creating a new one, you would be overwriting the SD Card's partition tables, in case that is where the corruption occurred. Again, this is just something else to try in case re-formatting in a stand-alone reader doesn't resolve the problem you're having.

well I did re-partitioning via external reading and everything works now. Thank you.

Probably the best way to test it is to write data to all of it and see if one of the following occurs:

The write fails
The data/files don't show when you look for them
The data cannot be read
The data is corrupt

You can't flag sectors as bad as far as I'm aware, though, due to the FAT filesystem of SD cards.

what if nothing of above happens? my android freezes because of this card. Was ok for 6 months but now ...

is there any difference to do the testing under android or on my laptop?

It's probably much easier to do it on your laptop.  If the only problem seems to be that it's the phone, I recommend doing a factory reset and seeing if it still happens.  Or trying a different SD card, if you have access to one.

I already tried factory reset and wiped all I could. It didn't help. I can try my  second card and adapter so I can insert micro sd card in my notebook in few days ...


text:
Changing Text message limit
I want to change my text message limit to a smaller size (default 200 msgs per conversation) so that it will be easy to scroll and read messages. But I don't want to lose previous messages. Can I start a new conversation thread with the same contact?
Also, is there a method that will allow me to backup my messages in a text or HTML file? Where are the messages stored (can I just copy to my laptop)? I have not rooted my phone yet. I use a SMS backup+ application which saves in Gmail as separate entries which is not desirable.

I use SMS Backup & Restore which backups your text messages to an XML file on your SD card (does not require root). This way at least you can safely lower the message limit and still save your messages somewhere.
I'm not aware of any way to lower the limit without the Messaging application automatically deleting old messages - in the stock messaging app anyway.


text:
How can I keep track of all types of contact interactions in one place?
I'd like to record the interactions with different companies (e.g., the cable company) and document my interaction with them by recording the phone calls, uploading photos/pdfs of paperwork and set reminders...  Is this functionality possible in Android, and if so, how would I accomplish it?

App recommendations are offtopic.  Please see the FAQ as well as our discussion on shopping recommendations.  If you were to ask how you can do this, my answer would be: Get one of the apps to record your voice calls and put related calls, photos, etc. into a folder labelled "Cable company" or whatever.  Use a calendar for reminders.

This question has been flagged to be closed by several people and I agree with Matthew Read's comment above, however I'm interested in what you are trying to accomplish so I cleaned up you question so it can be salvaged. Please review the FAQ and browse the meta to get up to speed on what questions to ask and how to ask them.

One way to do this would be with Evernote.  You could organize it all sorts of different ways (eg. Organize companies by tag or by notebook... and a new note for each interaction...) and you can attach files (photos, pdf, voice memos...) to each note.  As far as recording the actual calls, as Matthew Read suggested, take a look at this question.
If you are looking for a more integrated approach that works with the current call log and calendar you could consider an app like BizLog ($9).  It doesn't do everything you want but it gets you very close.  If this is more of why you are looking for I'd continue your search but use terms like CRM (contact relationship manager) and contact notes, contact log or contact management.


text:
What Tasker tasks require root access?
I'm thinking of installing Tasker on my phone, but I don't want to root it.  Is it worth my while?
What Tasker tasks require root access?  What can it do without root access?
Edit:
Here are some examples:

I would like to turn on the GPS whenever I start certain apps (various driving directions apps, for instance), and turn it off when I exit them.  I understand that apps can't turn on the GPS (otherwise the apps in question would do it themselves instead of directing me to the settings).  Tasker claims to be able to do that.  Does it need root for that?
I remember seeing somewhere (lifehacker maybe?) that Tasker can disable the lock screen based on location, such as when I get home, and turn it off when I leave.  Can it do that?  Does it need root access for that?

"Is it worth my while?" is too subjective, and "What Tasker tasks require root access? What can it do without root access?" is incredibly broad and would result in a never-ending list.  I suggest asking something specific like "Can I do X with Tasker, and does it require root?"

@Matthew: good point.  I updated the question with some examples.

The simple answer is that it requires root to do things that would require root if they weren't automated by Tasker and you were doing them manually.  Tasker is irrelevant.
Edit: Turning on/off GPS does not require root.  Apps must be able to do it, because Power Widget can.  As for the lock screen, I think what you read must have actually referred to the keyguard (the "swype to unlock" screen).  The phone is not locked the same way as it is with a pattern/password when the keyguard is on; it's just to prevent accidentally keypresses, not for security.  Tasker can disable the keyguard.

Actually, GPS turn on / off does require root. The Power Widget thing just takes you to the settings page

I'm not sure what you're talking about, Tasker does not require root for any of its features.
From their website:

This simple concept profoundly extends
  your control of your Android device
  and it's capabilities, without the
  need for 'root' or a special home
  screen.

there are some tasks in tasker which need root privileges, i.e. toggle 2g only / 2g and 3g.

This answer is just wrong. There's lots (I would say most of the useful ones) of features it can't do without root. toggling GPS, DPAD, set CPU frequency etc.)

@Diskdrive this answer is right in literal sense. Tasker doesn't request root access, but due to Android API changes over the time, some of the functions need root, which Tasker can't do it. That's why there are 3rd-party app/plugins that require root access and accessible by Tasker.

I was in the same boat as you. Wanted tasker, didn't want to root my app.
After downloading it, I did it find it fairly limiting without a root because as Matthew Read said, it basically only allows you to do the things that any other app could do. So unless your requirement are some niche thing that you wanted, there's probably an app that does it for you anyway.
Some of the things that can't be done without a root include

Turning GPS on / off
Toggling 3g on / off
Setting CPU speed
DPAD (allows you to script the phone like it was being used)
turn the screen on
reboot the phone

I mainly got Tasker as I thought I could optimize the battery life on my phone but without those settings, there's not that much I can really do.
Still worth the 2 bucks though, been great learning playing with it. And maybe down the line, I will go and root my phone.
EDIT - this answer is only for ICS and above. Not sure what it'd be if you were still on Gingerbread

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


text:
Need help in Upgrading My HTC Magic from Android 1.6  to Android 2.3?
i want to upgrade my HTC Magic Android Mobile form Android 1.6 to Android 2.3, before that i was curious to know what are the steps to be done for this, i downloaded Terminal Emulator in My Mobile and executed su root, it throws me permission denied, then i findout how to root a device,it gives me a warning,I want to know whether these steps are need to upgrade OS in my device, if not pls tell me steps what i have to do to upgrade the OS

Sankar,
There's some speculative chatter on the internet to suggest you'll have a hard time running 2.3-Gingerbread on first generation Android devices (such as the HTC Dream and the HTC Magic). It looks like some folks on XDA are working to port the OS but you're definitely looking at CyanogenMod in that case. Which means that ...

Yes: you will have to root your phone
  to upgrade your OS.

It also means that you might consider doing something a little less drastic, like upgrading to a somewhat more stable ROM. (Especially if the idea of rooting your phone is giving you the willies!) @matthew_read tipped me off to the ROM Bible which is a great place to identify ROMs that other HTC Magic users have successfully installed. The ROMs there will still require you to root your phone, tho.
Check out the HTC Site to see if they have any supported updates though -- it looks like HTC India does offer at least one ROM upgrade for the Magic.

Thanks for the Info, when i went to HTc site->Support-> ROM upgrade it ask my serial Number , i gave my Serial Number, Sorry, this software download is not suitable for your device, Why you want to Upgrade my ROM , i want to upgrade Android OS, what is the relationship Between Upgrading ROM and Upgrading Android OS

Sankar, This ought to help you answer that: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2885/what-is-the-difference-between-rooting-jailbreak-rom-mod-etc/7337#7337

First generation devices are not seeing much support any more.
The best thing you can do is root your phone and install CyanogenMod on it. However, Cyanogenmod support for the Magic stopped at CM6, which is Android 2.2.  You will not be able to get CM7/Android 2.3 on the device this way.  There may be some way to get 2.3 on your phone, but you would have to see if there is anything about it on XDA forums.
Start here for Cyanogenmod, the wiki will tell you how to root and install CM on your phone.
YOU WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY BY ROOTING YOUR PHONE. MAKE SURE YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DOING. DRAGONS BE HERE.

Are there really first generation devices that are still under warranty?

If someone is still under a 2 year contract or similar, it would void their insurance/warranty on the phone from the carrier.  So it might still be possible.  It's just a general disclaimer that you are at fault for any damage you may cause to your phone (although it is highly unlikely).

Thanks for the Info, when i went to HTc site->Support-> ROM upgrade it ask my serial Number , i gave my Serial Number, Sorry, this software download is not suitable for your device, Why you want to Upgrade my ROM , i want to upgrade Android OS, what is the relationship Between Upgrading ROM and Upgrading Android OS

@Amanda I got my Magic on the day it was released, my 18 month contract would have expired in November, but if I'd had a 24 month contract (or bought it after it had been our for a while) I'd still be in contract now. So, yes a lot of them are going to be still in contract and warranty right now. As it is my Magic was stolen and I bought out of the contract early and moved on to a Galaxy S.

Not sure which network you're on or which of the two Magic versions you've got, but there is an official 2.2 release that many networks have pushed OTA to their phones already, I know that a friend of mine who's still on a Magic got 2.2 pushed to him by Vodafone UK in December.
If you've got one of the ones that HTC update, rather than your network updating OTA, then you may be able to download the update if you go to http://www.htc.com/ and pick your country, then the Support section, then go through the Downloads available for your phone.

Of course you can upgrade HTC Magic to Android 2.3, you just need to do some research and do some simple technical stuff. More info in this question:
Install Ginger Yoshi 1.4 on HTC Magic 32a, which radio do I need?
Ginger Yoshi XDA thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=932118


text:
How can I use my Xperia X10 mini pro as an external speaker?
I have an Xperia X10 mini pro. How can I use it as an external speaker?

Please be more specific. Do you want to connect a device to your xperia and have the audio routed thru the loudspeaker?

Yes, you are correct. I like to connect the external device, which is stored a music files, to the xperia and then play the music through xperia. an example, to connect the mp3 player with xperia, but i need to use my phone as speaker. May be the external device can be change, like system or any other player.

I don't know of any way to make your phone a remote speaker alone but there are methods that would achieve basically the same result.  Without knowing your exact goal it's hard to give you a specific recommendation but here is one way to have audio stored on a seperate device play through you phones speaker/headphones:
Setting up a wireless media server will allow you to stream media from your computer to you phone.  So while it's not simply acting as a speaker, you are able to hear media that is stored on your computer on your phone.
There are numerous ways to do this like using DLNA or any of the number of apps that serve media over wifi or 3G.

I just installed AirBubble which is seen, in iTunes, as an external speaker. Works great.

The headphone jack has 3 channels. 1 mono mic and 1 stereo outputs. While you could modify a headset cord to input the mono channel from another set of headphone cables this would not produce any level of quality sound. I have a Xperia X10 and the frequencies on the mic input are narrow.
Highly recommend you copy the music from the mp3 player to a computer and copy from the computer to your phone. Add a larger micro SD card if necessary.

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


text:
Download from internet to phone hard drive. Droid x rooted
My droid x recently got damaged and the sd reader no longer works, is there some way to download from the internet to the phone's hard drive rather than the sd card?

This is going to be application dependent.  For example, Dolphin Browser HD has an option in the Settings menu to specify what directory you download files to, and you can change that to the internal memory instead of the microSD card.  I don't believe you can change this option in the stock Android browser.

I tried making /sys as well as a few other places my download directory with dolphin, it said /sys can not be used as download directory, please choose another directory

I got it to go to /tmp/download now but it still says need an sd-card whenever I try to download anything

You could also make /sdcard/ a symbolic link to somewhere else instead of to /mnt/sdcard/ like it is by default.  That assumes the browser uses /sdcard, however.  If it uses /mnt/sdcard/ you'd have to edit the mounting script (part of init?) to not mount the SD card, and then create /mnt/sdcard/ as a symbolic link to somewhere else.  Something like that.  Note that most/all of this requires root.


text:
Is "ROM" the same as internal flash memory?
I saw the Nexus S storage specs are
512MB RAM + 16GB iNAND flash memory

and for the HTC Incredible S:
768 MB RAM and 1.5 GB ROM and microSD slot up to 32GB (8GB card included)

Is the Incredible's ROM the same thing as the Nexus's iNAND flash memory?

Upvoted for the good edit.

Yes, you can see here that the HTC's ROM is referred to as "internal storage" (although it says 1.1 GB): http://www.htc.com/www/product/incredibles/specification.html.

Are you sure Nexus-S has SD card slot? I cannot find the spec for that. Also, will Nexus-S flash memory, has better read/write performance compared to HTC's microSD card?

Whoa.  I swear the specs I linked said it had an SD card slot before ... maybe it was location-specific or something, I've been messing around with proxies.  As for performance, the iNAND is around 6 MB/s write and the SD card is probably a class-4 (4 MB/s).


text:
Recipients complain they receive Text Message from me with a half hour delay
I have a G2 w/ Android 2.2 on T-Mobile and Some of my friends complain that they receive Text Message with a half hour delay. One friend is on T-Mobile and one is on ATT so I'm not sure if it's a network, sim card issue, phone issue, android issue, or if it's just their phone....
How can my friends fix this issue? New SIM card?

Is this just a one-time occurence?  It's probably a temporary network issue; SMSes get delated all the time.

Even if it's not a one-time thing I still concur with Matthew Read, my wife and I are both on Verizon with a Droid and a Droid 2 (R2-D2 edition!) and sometimes our texts between one another are delayed or duplicated for seemingly no reason, but it's intermittent and rare.

Gotta concur with @Matthew and @JonnyP. SMS is pretty unreliable.

I think it's a carrier issue.

Also, I have friends who insist they'll never use AT&T again because AT&T takes too long to deliver SMS. So maybe it's not an issue that is unique to any one carrier.

@Amanda - I had that exact issue when I was on my parent's family plan years ago (they've been on AT&T since before they merged with Cingular) and I couldn't wait to get off AT&T.

There was a point a couple of years ago where I had persistent problems with SMSs not being delivered, or being delivered hours late to one particular person. That person was my girlfriend at the time, so you can imagine how well it went down that I seemed to be ignoring her all the time. After much backwards and forwards with the network they ended up issuing us both with new SIM cards and we never saw the problem again.
SMS was never originally designed to be used the way that we all use it today, and is unreliable, but if this keeps happening bug your network and they may be able to do something to help.

I'd love to know if getting a new SIM card helps you out!

@Amanda, yeah i told the other person to get a SIM card and it helped. I also upgraded to the G2 :)


text:
Which files/folders on my SDCard are unsafe to delete manually?
I've had my Droid for nearly a year now, and in the process of installing and uninstalling apps, moving data to and from my SDCard, and all the various things one does with a phone the SDCard has become a little unruly.
It's time for a little file system maintenance.
It won't be difficult, but I only know enough about Linux file systems to be dangerous and I don't want to delete something important from my SDCard on accident.  I couldn't find anything on Android's site about how an SDCard is formatted, so is there anyone who can tell me which files/folders are off-limits or point me in the direction of a good resource?
Please note, I don't want to know which files/folders are safe to delete.  I know I can delete /Epicurious since I've uninstalled the app already, etc.
I'm running CyanogenMod 6.2.1 (based off Android 2.2.1) on my Motorola Droid.

You could pose the addendum as a separate question. Since it has a separate answer and all.

@Amanda - Actually I think I will just to simplify choosing a correct answer.  Good call.  http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/7366/is-it-safe-to-manually-delete-the-contents-of-the-trash-1000-folder-on-my-sdcard

I'm tempted to say everything is safe to delete.  It should be, with a storage device intended to be removed and used elsewhere.  But I know some apps will be unhappy.  So a good rule is not to delete anything that's clearly used by an app that you care about.
It's probably a good idea not to delete level 0 directories that start with a . such as /.android_secure/ (protected apps) either.  Those folders are generally used by the system and, while I don't believe Android ever stores anything important on the SD card (besides apps if you consider them important), there's probably no reason to delete them either.  /Android/ and /data/, /sd/ and /*.img, and /settings.db (if present) are also used by the system.  Those are app data, recovery images, and various settings respectively.
Also watch out for a /DCIM/ folder or similar, which may have any pictures you've taken.  Presumably you'd want to back them up.  Likewise with /download/ and /media/.
You'll want to watch out for /update.zip, /busybox, /clockworkmod/, and the like as well if you're rooted or have a custom recovery.
Note if, like me, you have "internal SD" as well as external, then most of the above is stored on the internal SD.  The external SD appears as /external_sd/ within the internal SD, or may be mounted at /emmc/ or similar.  You can apply the rules above to both storage areas.

I know in Linux that folders or file names that begin with a period are considered hidden, it would make sense to me if that functionality wasn't changed when they were developing Android.

Yep.  I am pretty sure I read somewhere that apps can't access those folders, at least directly, though I could be mistaken.

Finally got around to digging into my SDCard and your answer here was a big help.  Thanks!

You should be able to format your SD Card safely with Android's own functionality and any files/folders required by any apps should automatically be recreated.  Or simply connect your phone to your computer and browse to the phone's file system and delete as needed.
Now, if you don't wish to lose the data from certain apps, then you'll need to do research of each of those apps individually.


text:
How to delete an app installed with Amazon Appstore?
I've installed an app using Amazon Appstore, but I don't see a way to uninstall it. Amazon support has failed to respond to my question after 2 days.
I prefer a method that does not involve deleting it with a file manager or some sort of root access.

Sidenote:  Has the Amazon app store even been open for 2 days?  I thought it just opened yesterday... :-\

@loneboat - This was actually the second thing I noticed about it.  The first was how much it bugged me that you can't download a free app without turning on One-Click and therefore associating a CC# with your account.  Super lame.

From the homescreen hit the menu button and select Settings.  Then select Applications, and then Manage applications.  Find the app you want to uninstall and select it, then clear the data associated with it by tapping Clear data and then tap Uninstall.
Voila!
Edit: I actually just noticed this in Amazon's official help documentation for their Appstore (from June 14th, 2011):

...
Amazon Tested
  To ensure the highest
  quality apps in our catalog, we take
  all submissions through a series of
  tests. In this process we screen the
  apps for known viruses and malware,
  test the app to check that it actually
  does what it claims to do, and test
  whether the app affects the stability
  of the other functions of your phone.
  These tests include (but are not
  limited to):

Installation: The application installs
  and opens, upgrades can be installed
  and the application can be uninstalled
  by following the phone's regular
  uninstall method.

...

(Italics added by me.)
Clearly they intentionally left out an Amazon Appstore-native method of removing apps you've downloaded and installed from them.

I knew it was something right under my nose. My mistake was expecting the feature to be in the Amazon Appstore app itself. Thanks.

@James Roth - Yeah, it really is dumb that Amazon didn't think to add that feature to their store.  Amateur hour over there.  By the way, do the site a favor and don't forget to mark answers as "correct" if they helped you solve your problem; it reflects in the site's stats since it's still in Beta (it also helps both our rep scores :-D).

Will do. StackExchange is doesn't allow users to mark the question as correct within 10 minutes of it being asked.

@James Roth - Really?  Sorry about that then, I didn't mean to sound like a prick.  I've never encountered that.

@JonnyP There's also some debate about accepting answers too quickly, see for example http://meta.fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/64/answers-accepted-too-soon

@Matthew Read - Very interesting... that's definitely a legitimate concern.

I dont see the "application" options under Settings. Im working an HTC Evo and trying to delete an amazon app. Why must they make it so difficult? Its more than a little frustrating.

that's standard application uninstall, right? :D

@Pitto - Indeed.

Well this is just dandy, because the OS itself doesn't recognize the app as being installed!

Just FYI, they have instructions posted on their site under the "Your Apps & Device" section of amazon.com/apps, support should have been able to respond to that very quickly. Uninstall is definitely lacking in the app itself.
Note: if you uninstall the Amazon Appstore itself, some apps downloaded through it may no longer function, this was confirmed with Angry Birds Rio by Droid-life.

Did you guys checkout the updated Amazon's official help documentation?

How can I delete an app from the My Apps list?
Visit Your Apps from a web browser. Select "Delete this app" from
  the "Actions..." drop down menu to the right of the app you'd like to
  delete. Confirm you'd like to delete the app and your app will be
  removed from the My Apps list on all Android devices registered to
  your account. If the app has been downloaded to a device, it will have
  to be manually uninstalled.

It also says if I delete, I will have to pay for the app if I want to install it again later. This is not acceptable! I need to remove because there is some sort of malfunction with the app install.

Update: From the android app go to My Apps > Cloud, long press and it will prompt for uninstall from the Amazon Cloud level.
No more pesky accidental re-installations.


text:
How do I transfer iPhone contacts to an Android phone?
I know someone who just got an Atrix 4G and previously had an iPhone 3GS. I was asked how he could move his contacts from the iPhone/iTunes onto the Android device. I have never owned an iPhone and have had limited interaction with them. Does anyone know the simplest method of getting iPhone contacts onto an Android device?

You can sync the iPhone contacts to iCloud. Then, use your PC to log in to iCloud in order to export them all in a single VCF file. Ultimately, import the VCF into Gmail and voila!

I just saw that you are using iPhone 3GS. If you don't have an iCloud account, export the contacts directly via your PC: http://www.copytrans.net/support/how-to-transfer-contacts-from-iphone-to-android/

I'd probably suggest using Google Sync to sync the iPhone contacts with the Google account, then using that account for the Android.

Probably the best way, I can't find a simple way to export iPhone contacts to .vcf.

Is there any way to dump them to a simpler format like CSV? GMail will happily import a big CSV of Contacts.

I just got word that Google sync worked well for him, thanks.

The easiest method I've found has been using a desktop/browser. Here's an article explaining how, but for the recap:

Make sure that the you are using iClound and that the contacts sync setting is on.
Log into https://www.icloud.com/ with your iTunes details and select "Contacts".
Select all contacts. The article suggests scrolling, but it's quicker to select the first one and use CTRL + A (or ⌘ + A for Mac).
Select "Export vCard..." from the cog icon in the bottom left of the screen.
Log into Google Contacts and select "Import..." from the "More" menu.
Upload/import your vCard and merge duplicates.

That's it! Pretty much as soon as you've imported and de-duplicated you should see your contacts start showing on your phone. You may want to delete the extra Group that's added but it's up to you.

I know this has been solved already, but I just faced the same problem and found an easy solution that maybe helps someone else. If you don't really like going over Google Contacts to sync from iPhone to Android, you can also use "Bump". It's a small application that works on both platforms and works perfectly between the two. I just ended up moving all my contacts in a simple bump ;-)

You can use an app that transfers the contacts via bluetooth or wi-fi, this one, for example.


text:
How can I get an offline version of wikitravel on my Froyo phone?
I'm looking for a way to get an offline version of wikitravel on my Froyo phone (Desire if it makes any difference)
I know of wapedia, but I really need an offline copy of the site... Any obvious way to achieve that? Note that the stock browser doesn't even let you save single web pages!

You can use the iTravelFree app to save wikitravel pages and view them offline.

Wow, talk about a niche product.

Thanks for suggesting iTravelFree, that's my first choice. I stumbled upon a lower tech solution that might appeal some people:
Oxygen Guide
Which is a free mobile friendly dump of the wikitravel website.


text:
How can I have SMS texts read out to me?
How can I have incoming texts read out to me? It can be useful when I am driving.


text:
Is it safe to manually delete the contents of the .Trash-1000 folder on my SDCard?
Can anyone please provide an explanation (or a good resource) of how the folder /mnt/sdcard/.Trash-1000 functions and whether or not it was safe to manually delete its contents?  Based on the name and the way it seemingly acts it would be logical to assume that it's a garbage folder, but you know what happens when you assume...
In case it matters I'm running CyanogenMod 6.2.1 (based on Android 2.2.1) on my Motorola Droid.

.Trash-1000 is a metafolder like Windows's Recycle Bin, normally created by Ubuntu (and perhaps other Linux variants).  Have you deleted anything on your SD card from your PC?  That would explain it.  You can safely delete it.  See also: https://superuser.com/questions/169980/what-is-trash-and-trash-1000

I dunno for sure, but I am running Ubuntu at home and I have browsed my SDCard from my computer in the past, so it stands to reason that you've nailed down where it came from.  I had to use the Terminal Emulator to run cd /mnt/sdcard then su then rm -fr .Trash-1000.  Ubuntu mounted the SDCard as a read-only file system so I couldn't run rm from the terminal on my computer.


text:
SGS doesn't go to download, recovery mode nor does it connect via USB after installing a battery MOD
I installed some app called "Galaxy s battery icon mod 2" on my rooted Samsung Galaxy S (with a lagfix OCLF), it required rebooting my handset.
Then, it didn't boot up, my handset entered an infinite loop, (after the Samsung galaxy S GT-I9000 then the galaxy S logo appears) it vibrates as it does when some app hangs or freezes, some mouse cursor on the upper left side, and I can't even get it to enter recovery or download mode using the three buttons, but all what it does is restarting the phone and the loop begins again.
Tried to connect it via USB, didn't connect or anything.
Does anyone know what to do before resorting to the jig factory mode method.  Ah, and USB debugging mode isn't activated, and some times I get a recovery screen, guess it got something to do with the app, and it says enter key or something but I can't enter anything or selecvt anything on the screen, it got recover and cancel.

When an SGS won't go into recovery mode, there's a couple things you can try.  One thing is to hold all the buttons to get into recovery or download mode (VolDown + Power + Home, or VolUp + Power + Home, or VolDown + VolUp + Power depending on your model) until the device has reset 2 or 3 times, and then release Power so that the device stops resetting.  Hopefully then it will go into the appropriate mode.  If not, attempt again but this time do it while the device is plugged into USB.
Another thing to try is to remove the battery, then insert it while holding the above buttons.  You may want to try multiple resets combined with this as well, as well as having it plugged into USB.
Once you get it into recovery mode, you can try restoring your backup and/or doing a factory reset and clearing the Dalvik cache.  If you get it into download mode, I recommend using Odin to flash a stock ROM as per this question's answer: Can only access 2.2GB of internal storage from Windows. Just use an i9000 ROM, not the Captivate ROMs linked in that questions.  You can find one at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=846913, for example the newest Europe/Middle East/Asia one is I9000XWJS8.

I would like to add, that if you have adb access, you can try "adb reboot recovery" or "adb reboot download"

@Matthew Read the xda forum post is invalid..Can you please update your answer with a correct link?

@Lucky Ooh, probably not; I'm guessing most people have moved on from these old devices.


text:
Anyone know the LG Ally screen density?
I'm doing some android development and one of the specific devices I need to test on is the LG ally. The tech specs on their web site list the display resolution as 480 x 800, but I also need the density in order to emulate the screen properly (the difference between 160 and 240 dpi is huge).
Anyone know the screen density for the LG Ally?

It's about 290 DPI (just crunch the numbers: Use the pythagorean equation to get the "pixels" diagonally, then divide by the screen diagonal).

No problem.  It's easier if you have the screen width/height (then you can just divide the pixels wide by the width, or the px high by the height) but those measurements are harder to come by.


text:
Problems rooting an evo shift
I'm on day 2 of the great quest for permanant root.  I have followed the guides here and here to the letter and still my hboot shows "S-On".  Hboot says:
SPEEDY XE SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-0.93.0001
RADIO-1.07.00.1129
eMMC-boot

Visionary will temp root, I go through all the steps, the md5's match, but when I go into hboot, it always says S-ON.  How do I get this thing rooted?

Did you try to permaroot anyways?
I'd try a factory reset and then try again.

I wiped everything and tried again from the start and it took.


text:
What makes the Atrix's implementation of Citrix Receiver special?
The Motorola Atrix looks like a nice phone.
A widely publicized feature is the remote desktop function, which uses Citrix Receiver to connect to a virtualized workstation in the cloud, so that one could potentially plug the phone into any TV and start working.
My question is: how much of this function is unique to the Atrix? It looks like Citrix Receiver can be used on any Android device, indeed it's available for other smartphone platforms as well. Other smartphones have HDMI output, so that is not a differentiating factor.
Could I replicate this function on any Android phone with an HDMI jack?

The advantage that ATRIX currently has is that the HDMI out can display up to a 1280x1024 resolution, plus the dock provides full function USB keyboard and mouse.
Some of the other Androids do have HDMI out, however they only mirror the lower resolution of the phone display ( if at all ) Most of them only output pictures or videos.
The ATRIX does the best job of providing access to a Virtual Desktop without compromise.

disclaimer : Citrix worked with Motorola on the ATRIX solution

If you're asking if you can do remote desktop on a phone and also have the phone output to a TV, the answer's yes.  I use Remote Desktop Enterprise on my device (Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant), and my device supports some sort of output from the USB port to HDMI as well as wireless DLNA.


text:
How do I turn off the cellular radio without disabling bluetooth?
I have an old Motorola Droid that is no longer subscribed on any Verizon service. I still use it for things like web browsing, ebooks, and along with some wireless stereo headphones, music. I've already turned off 3G data usage (EVDO) by disabling the Enable data option under Mobile network settings. However, when I turn off the cell radio (CDMA), bluetooth is also disabled. I first observed this problem on the stock Android 2.2 firmware. Now my phone is rooted, running on an Android 2.2 based firmware (CyanogenMod 6).
Why disable the cellular radio?
Simply put, I want to turn it off because I don't use it. Moreover, it uses battery life and cpu time (even if relatively small amounts):

I've tried two different methods of disabling the cellular radio, but both ended up doing the same thing:

Turning on Airplane mode, then re-enabling Wi-Fi. This has the expected consequence of also disabling bluetooth.
Using the Phone Info menu by dialing *#*#INFO#*#* (4636) and pressing Turn off radio. This actually just turns on Airplane mode:

As you can see, even though Wi-Fi does stay on, Airplane mode disables bluetooth. The headphones won't sync until I turn off Airplane mode, which of course turns the cell radio back on.
In both cases Airplane mode is enabled, so bluetooth gets disabled. But now that the device is rooted, I should be able to disable the cellular radio without using Airplane mode at all. How can I do that?

Check out this guy's post on XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11370203&postcount=2
This might be considered a risky solution, but if you aren't using the 3G connection at all and you're careful to simply rename the .apk's he references you might just disable the cell radio without needing to use Airplane Mode.
In case the link doesn't work, he suggests using Root Explorer to rename phone.apk to phone.apk.bak and telephony.apk to telephony.apk.bak thus disabling these two packages.  You have to reboot your phone to finalize the changes.  If it doesn't work, you should remove the .bak from each file name and they should be available again.
At OP's request, a summary of his findings:

Phone.apk is the Dialer app, which
  is responsible for the cell radio.
  PhoneTelephony.apk turns out to be
  just the Dialer storage, which we
  can kill just to save more memory.
  AndroidOS immediately restarts
  Dialer when it is closed, so
  renaming it will cause problems. But
  after a battery-yank-reboot,
  everything is ok. It also gets rid of
  the annoying Activate your phone
  dialog that comes up on every boot.
  btw, the dialpad still comes up after
  getting rid of Dialer :-)

Good news: this seems to work! Bad news: renaming Phone.apk crashes the phone app and causes an endless error message loop: "The process com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again." with two options, Force close and Report. Had to pull the battery to reboot, although kicking myself for not trying the Report option.  I used the Terminal app, instead of Root Explorer. The CM wiki mentions these should not be removed even in a barebones setup. But everything seems to be working as expected. Cell radio is off!

Additional notes: the other app was TelephonyProvider.apk, which was the Dialer storage. Phone.apk was the Dialer app, which after disabling turns off the cellular radio. A more elegant solution would be to modify init so that the apps are never started, wouldn't you agree? I'll give you the bounty on this, but Stack Exchanges says I have to wait 21 more hours. If you (or anyone) can explain how to do that, I will gladly award another +50 bounty. :-)

Well then I'd try to rename just phone.apk back to it's original file name, and leave telephony.apk.bak disabled.  I'm not exactly sure why the guy I linked to at XDA suggested changing phone.apk, but the file names suggest to me that telephony.apk should be what everything else is dependent upon.  Also, I'm pretty sure they say that over at CM's site because they expect people to be using their phones to make and receive phone calls and text messages, but since you don't care about those functions this should be fine.  I'm glad this worked for you!

@briankb - I was once recommended Autostarts for a different objective, but perhaps it will work for you in this case?  I never downloaded it so I don't know what it's capable of, but it purports to allow you to view and block any app that runs on any given intent or during boot.

Thanks, I'll look into that. For future reader's benefit, do you mind editing my conclusions into your answer? Phone.apk is the Dialer app, which is responsible for the cell radio. PhoneTelephony.apk turns out to be just the Dialer storage, which we can kill just to save more memory. AndroidOS immediately restarts Dialer when it is closed, so renaming it will cause problems. But after a battery-yank-reboot, everything is ok. It also gets rid of the annoying Activate your phone dialog that comes up on every boot. btw, the dialpad still comes up after getting rid of Dialer :-)

Cool workaround.

@briankb - I'm glad we found a way to do this as I plan on doing the exact same thing with my Droid once I use my last New Every Two later this year and it will be handy to extend my battery a bit.

Actually, the *#*#INFO#*#* (4636) method DOES work.  While the control is greyed out under wireless settings, the taskbar icon still shows BT connectivity and I have tested and confirmed that BT is still active on my og Droid.

I've confirmed this on a Samsung Galaxy Tab running CyanogenMod. Bluetooth and WiFi continue to work and "Cell standby" does not show up on the battery usage stats.
(Thanks for this, btw! Cell standby has been responsible for a significant amount of battery drain on my development devices.)

Note: this is not a 'sticky' setting; it will reset after you reboot your phone.

Perfect solution. Non-invasive and easy to change back and forth.

Make sure Airplane mode is off.
Hold the power button for a second or two, and click Data Network Mode in the menu that pops up (it should say ON, and will turn to OFF).

If you don't have this option, uncheck Packet Data or Data enabled under Settings -> Wireless and Network -> Mobile network

Turn off WiFi.
Turn on Bluetooth.
Done!

After doing this the cellular signal strength icon on the notification bar is still active. When I deactivate cell radio through the Phone Info menu, or when the phone is in Airplane mode, that icon shows an (X) symbol to indicate that it is disabled. btw I've had Data enabled unchecked since I last did a hard reset, and the battery usage still shows the cell radio using battery life.

Oh, I assumed you just wanted data off.  I guess you're trying to save as much battery as possible then?  Well it should be possible to do this, since the WL1271 bluetooth chip is not really related to the cell radio (though it's also the WiFi chip).  If Motorola's made it work this way I don't know how to get around it.  Maybe if you installed CyanogenMOD.

Yeah I guess we'll find out. I'm set on doing just that :)

-1 For purely "technical" reason: Answer does not actually answer the question (all cellural activity disabled, not just data). Please add an indication to the answer that it only answers the question partly.

@IlariKajaste briankb's first comment is sufficient, I think.


text:
android access in some countries

Possible Duplicate:
How do I use the US Android Market

Hello
I would like to ask if there is any way to get android market in syria cuz it's not allowed
Thank you

If you have a rooted phone, you can try using Market Enabler to spoof the Market into thinking you're accessing it from a country where the Android Market is available.

Thanx ...but i dont wanna root my phone any other way ?

You can use a SIM card purchased in a country where Market access is available.


text:
Difference between Super LCD screen of Nexus S and Super AMOLED screen of Samsung Galaxy S -- Which is better?
I was wondering has anyone of you experience the difference among super LCD screen of Nexus S, and Super AMOLED screen of Samsung Galaxy S? Which type of screen is better?

Better for what? "Better" is pretty subjective. Is there some objective measure you're looking for?

As Ryan has pointed out there isn't that much of a difference between Super AMOLED and Super LCD screens - chances are you will be hard pressed to see the colour difference unless you have two mobiles side by side (or at least the difference is small enough it shouldn't really be an issue)
From what I've read, where the two differ are:

Battery usage - AMOLED uses less power, thus longer use of the phone on one battery charge.
Screen glare (under the sun) - LCD screens I believe have less glare and are more 'readable' compared to the standard AMOLED. Supposedly the Super AMOLED has improved from the AMOLED and is more readable under the sun too.

edit:
It seems like Super AMOLED has indeed improved compared to AMOLED. According to engadget, Super AMOLED is now similar to LCD - both are slightly more visible than AMOLED under the sun.

Super AMOLED, AMOLED, LCD (screens left to right)

I think you have LCD and AMOLED reversed in your second point.  I experience much less glare with my AMOLED screen than I ever have with an LCD.  Plus the AMOLED can go so bright, even in direct sunlight it's visible.

I've never had the chance to compare actual, physical phones with LCD/AMOLED/Super AMOLED screens - only been able to get information from reviews/articles.
Updated my answer with a bit more information regarding the screens and glare.

Gotcha.  +1 for research!

The US Nexus S has a Super AMOLED, But a lot of manufactures are moving to Super LCD for the screens because of the "Super AMOLED Shortages". Even the Galaxy S 2 is supposed to have a Super LCD.
From an engadget article comparing the two...

there really is no clear winner between SLCD and AMOLED when it comes to picture quality -- the former offers a sharper picture plus a more realistic color reproduction, whereas the latter shows off brighter, more vibrant colors. But as we concluded earlier, AMOLED seems to be slightly ahead of the game with its power efficiency

Now, I am not really sure if there is a big difference between AMOLED and Super AMOLED, but as you can see, visually, there isn't much of a difference between AMOLED and Super LCD. Super AMOLED is going to produce a darker black, as Super AMOLED doesn't transmit any light at all when displaying black, which helps on battery.

The most notable difference seems to be the rendering of black, where the Super AMOLED display rocks the socks off of the Super-LCD.

(Source: Comparison of Nexus-S models on flickr)
Otherwise the points seem to be that the SAMOLED takes less power and is a little bit thinner and lighter. The "vivid" colors may actually lead to over-saturation, but it doesn't look like a problem I'd worry about.


text:
Run Android application from remote computer
I need to run my Android application from a remote computer (in the same network) via SSH (not using ADB). How do I do that?

See also: How to launch Google Keep from shell?. About how to find the activity to start, see e.g. What is the main activity of Google Keep called?

You need to run an SSH server on your phone, such as DroidSSH.
You can launch adb shell from the SSH session terminal, and then run am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n <qualified-app-name>.  For example, <qualified-app-name> is something like com.android.settings/.Settings.

You don't need to run adb shell before using am. am works like any other shell command, so you can run it from a SSH session directly, unless the SSH server dicks around with your $PATH.

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


text:
Will resetting my unlocked phone to factory settings lock it again?
I have an unlocked G1 that is freaking out on me in various ways. If I "restore factory settings" am I going to wind up locking it?

Normally unlocked phones are unlocked for good.  I wouldn't expect a factory reset to change it.  (See also: Unlocked Galaxy i7500, Reset Will Remove it?)
It's not 100% certain, though.  For example, some Galaxy S users had their phones re-locked when updating from 2.1 to 2.2, which is a somewhat similar process to doing a factory reset.
You could always do a backup through ClockworkMod or something (and back it up to your computer first) in case it does get re-locked, so that you could restore it to the previous unlocked state.  That requires root, however.  (Root can sometimes be undone by a factory reset, but not if you have a custom ROM that came pre-rooted).
If you have the unlock code from when you originally unlocked it, that code should still work to unlock it again if it gets re-locked.

Just wanted to confirm that, at least in this case, restoring the factory settings did not lock my phone.

I have an HTC Sensation 4G that originally was purchased from T-mobile.  I unlocked it using the code provided by T-mobile (free) and used it on AT&T.  I just did a factory settings reset as instructed in the user manual and it still works fine and is still unlocked.


text:
Android ASTRO Cannot Locate Download Directory
I have placed apk in download directory.  I have also downloaded from web into download directory, but ASTRO does not seem to see this directory.  In Astro I see / etc  lib data (empty) and sd (empty).  On the other hand from windows explorer I don't see these files I see
F:Android
F:download/ with apks
F:DCIM empty

F:Android/data with some items like cache but not much.

So far searching with Astro I could not locate downloaded files in the download directory which I know are on Android.  Any suggestions.  Thanks

Also the data on F:Android/data really looks nothing like the data directory I am seeing on ASTRO???

Now I could place files in location other than download in case this is somehow not visible to ASTRO, but I am not really seeing these other areas like var etc etc from the Windows side.

All I can see is the directories under F: that I have listed above. The download looks the same as what should be on the device but I am not seeing all the other android linux directories.  What do I need to do see more from ASTRO like download? or see more of Android direcotries from the windows side?  Thanks

You really need to edit your question (and comments) so that your directory paths make sense.  Also, try to make your question a bit more clear.

@Androider: Please take the information from your comments and edit it into your question.

Are you trying to find the file(s) while still in USB mount mode? Your phone can't read the SD card while it is so mounted. Unmount and try again.

Look at /mnt/sdcard/download.  And based on Al's comment, I suggest making sure your phone is not connected to your PC and then reboot the phone before looking there.


text:
G1 Misbehaving -- can I (should I?) reinstall donut?
I have an unlocked G1 (b/c I am stuck with an AT&T contract) that recently started to do a lot of weird things all at once. Most notably, it rings but does not show the caller or allow me to pickup. The home key no longer does anything, and when I hold down the power key I see only the "power off" option -- no airline mode or silent mode.
I can make calls just fine but this is obviously an issue.
I've managed to get root on the phone (via UniversalAndroot) and BusyBox and i've been reading this: http://gailly.net/android/android-tips.html but I'm not really sure where to start troubleshooting this. I think I need a development OS to actually run adb root. I'd like to at least try installing or upgrading my OS.
Am I barking up the wrong tree? This is my only phone.

I'd actually recommend upgrading past Donut, since there is a great custom ROM community for the G1.  For example, this looks like the best Froyo ROM for the G1, but you can look around XDA's Android Development forum (specifically the ROM Bible thread) if you want to find out more first.

The super shorthand install instructions are giving me the willies.

@Amanda Try looking in the "sticky" threads, there should be something with good instructions of what happens during the flashing process, things to avoid, etc.

I definitely know a ton more than I did when I started down this path. In the interest of getting a working phone, I've restored the factory settings for the time being, but I'm excited about trying again with a clear head later this week!


text:
Can I backup my APN settings?
Where are my Access Point Names stored in the file system? Can I back them up via adb shell?
My phone is unlocked (AT&T Contract. Le sigh.) and I'm inching towards modding it but I want to be sure I've got my APN settings.

Yes, just copy the /system/etc/apns-conf.xml file.
You can also use an app like APN Backup & Restore: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.riteshsahu.APNBackupRestore
Edit: To backup manually-entered APNs (or ones otherwise not part of your ROM, such as ones "imported" when you insert a new SIM card) you also need to back up
/data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/com.android.settings_preferences.xml

APN Backup & Restore does not do this.

I actually just dug out /system/etc/apns-conf.xml but ... that file contains the default T-Mobile APNs not the APN that I entered manually for AT&T. Under Settings > Mobile Network > Access Point Names on my phone itself I see the correct APN for my carrier. Where is that stored?

(An academic question. I'm just curious. I copied the settings I need using the age old "eyeball and pen" method.)

Hmm, that's a good question.  I just checked mine and it doesn't have info for my carrier either ... can't find any information about it or files that look promising.  Maybe it's in a database somewhere.

Ha!  Found it!  /data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/com.android.settings_preferences.xml.  Note it only seems to contain the current APN, so if you entered more than one the others aren't there.  I don't know where the others are.

I've just got one. That's it. Perfect.

It doesn't appear that you can restore by just replacing the com.android.settings_preferences.xml file.  I think the actual data is in a db somewhere.

The db for the actual data is in "/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony.databses/telephony.db" --> http://bradchow.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/apns-file-in-android/


text:
How do I know what radio firmware I'm running?
I'm gearing up to mod my phone and reading the Cyanogenmod Installation Support Line which is helpful-ish right up until step 1.3, "1.3 Radio ...aka Which EBI am I?" They refer you to a post that makes almost no sense to me and which seems to be pretty damn important. I can't tell from it where I would look to see which EBI I am. In Recovery Flasher it shows my Phone Type as "EBI0/32B"
Looking at the wiki I find a whole page (I searched for "EBI0") I do see instructions for turning the phone off and holding down the back arrow while I power it back up. Here I see the following:
DREA100 PVT 32B
HBOOT-0.95.000
CPLD-4
RADIO-2.22.23.02

Sep 2 2008

I think this means I'm a 2x radio and thus can safely install DangerSPL. Am I on the right track here?

Yes, based on those posts you definitely have a 2.x radio that does not require the modified kernel.  Your radio version is also listed as supported on the DangerSPL page.  I think you're good to go, best of luck!


text:
Why can't I boot into recovery mode?
I think I'm actually missing something here still. Everything I read suggests I need to boot into recovery mode as a first step, and that I ought to be able to do that by holding down the "home" key while I'm starting up. Instead I get a bang (!) in a triangle icon with a phone next to it.
Have I skipped a step or is there something wrong with my phone? I know there's something wrong with my phone ... that's why I embarked on this project to begin with. But could that be some how preventing me from booting to recovery mode? Or is the problem a skipped step?

Al Everett pulled the "T-mobile G1" tag from this post but ... the answer is specific to the G1/Dream. I know better than to restore the tag, but don't lose sight of that detail.

Edit: Apparently download and recovery modes are merged for the G1.  Just press Alt-L on your physical keyboard while in Download mode, and Recovery will show up.

What you're seeing is Download Mode.  The key combination is usually subtly different.  In the case of my phone, it's just a matter of having the phone connected to USB or not.  You should try it with and without USB, as well as removing the battery and doing a fresh boot.  (You can also remove the battery, plug into USB, and reinsert the battery and try).  Also try other keys -- you already know using Back instead gets you to that device info screen.

Some phones need key combos also, see for example http://www.askvg.com/revealing-3-hidden-secret-modes-in-google-android-mobile-phones/

Everything I read suggests I need to boot into recovery mode as a first step,

If you're using Samsung Spica (and probably most other Samsung phones, not sure about other phones), the general idea of rooting/installing-custom-rom is that the very first time you flash your ROM, you need to do it in Download Mode. This first flashing uses the system that Samsung itself uses.
This first flash will usually install ClockworkMod Custom Recovery, which will replace the phone's original Recovery Mode with a much more featureful version. Once you have ClockworkMod's Recovery, then you can install any ROM in the Clockwork's .zip file format; nearly all (or all?) modded Android are distributed as a Clockwork .zip format.


text:
Video out over USB?
I'm starting to regret not getting an Atrix - the whole docking scheme seems so cool. Unfortunately, it seems that I can't even do much of a DIY thing to output a video stream with the device's screen over USB. I have a rooted G2.
The G1 could do video-out, but only because it had the hardware for it (although it was never implemented). There's apps out there for VNC and for screenshots, although not for screen recording (from which it would be a small step to output to USB).
The most frustrating thing is that this is an area with very sparse documentation. Stuff like this hasn't much been done before, and I can't find any existing software to do this sort of thing.
Is there anything that you guys know of that I could follow for developing an app to do this via software since the hardware for video-out isn't there? Even better yet, is there any software that can record the screen? If I was on a Linux desktop, how could I tap into the monitor's video stream?
Thanks,
-Trey

Development questions belong on StackOverflow, though they'll need you to ask a specific question (not "How can I develop an app").  Please see the FAQ.

I don't think that this is necessarily a question for Stack Overflow. "How can I capture the video output of my device?" seems like a valid question for here, although I'm not sure there's going to be a solution.

This is indeed a question to StackOverflow. I asked a very similar question about a week ago, and basically, the answer is no, to implement that you'll have to dig very deep into the code. See here for more. Hope it fits your question.


text:
Why can't the Droid 2 connect to 5 GHz WiFi networks?
The Droid 2 can connect to 2.4 GHz wireless networks, such as 802.11b/g/n, but not 5.0 GHz networks such as 802.11a/n.  Why is this?  Is there any workaround to allow it to connect to both types of wireless-N WiFi networks?
Note, this is similar to a question that was recently deleted by its owner and I didn't get a chance to answer.  Hopefully this will be useful to others in the future.

The WL1271 WiFi chip in the Droid 2 does not support 5.0 GHz networks, so there's sadly no possibility of a workaround.  Its "better cousin", the WL1273 chip, does support 5 GHz networks; unfortunately, Motorola went the cheap route.  You can get more info on these chips at the Texas Instruments website.


text:
Looking for Android equivalent of Clonezilla / Diskimage / Ghost etc
Have been googling for quite a few hours but can't seem to find what I'm looking for, hope someone can point me in the right direction....
I want to basically make a complete image of my phone before I make an changes to it so that I can restore it exactly as it is now. In the PC world I would use CloneZilla / ghost or similar. though I have used dd in the past and don't mind using it.
I am looking for a solution that will work on the following phones:

HTC Desire (not HD or S)
Sony Erikson X10 Mini Pro

In my searching I found mention of a tool called Nandroid, but as best as I could tell it seemed to only be for a G1 and required Root. I don't have root on either phone, so solutions offered requiring root are not helpful because (as I understand it) gaining root will wipe the data (at least some) I'm trying to back up.
I also found article about creating a GoldCard for a HTC Desire, is this what I need to do? there was no explanation on what a GoldCard was? It also didn't look like a particularly desirable method as It required wiping the memory card first and had no mention of how to restore if things go bad.
My objectives are as follows:

Upgrade the SE X10 mini (it's stuck on Android 1.6!) I know there is a 2.1 upgrade for it, but it's not available unless yo have a windows machine??? I only have Ubuntu + Mac. I'm not prepared to buy a windows licence just to upgrade an android phone (seems Odd!)
Try out Android 2.3 and 3.0 on the HTC Desire and the X10, understandably this is play, so I want to be able to go back quickly, especially on the X10 (wifes phone) as I will be in no end of trouble if I brick that and don't get it back by the morning :)
If successful with the first 2, then I can look at trying out dev releases and testing them (That is after all my day job) and hopefully being able to contribute. To do this I need to be able to load a release test it out and then roll back on the same night so Ideally I need a process that is quite quick or a bunch of shell commands I can script.

Hopefully someone can steer me on the right course....
Thanks,
Dave.

Are you up and running with the SDK yet?

I don't know if I'd flash any 3.0 builds onto a phone.  The way I understand it 3.0 is optimized for tablets at the moment, and at best the screen on a phone will just be too small for you to effectively use Honeycomb.

Are you sure there isn't a friend/family/work Windows PC/laptop that you could borrow for an hour to temporarily put the SE software on, if this is for your wife, and if she's not a technical power-user then she'll probably be better off with the official release. The requirement for a Windows PC isn't that odd, the phone doesn't currently support OTA updates, so it uses an app to load the updates. They've obviously only had resources to write one app and so written it for the OS that 99% of their customers will be able to access.

http://www.howtogeek.com/125375/how-to-create-a-full-android-phone-or-tablet-backup-without-rooting-or-unlocking-your-device/ It's not very simple, but seems to be posible. As son as anyone can program a software with a suite of all of this, we will have our "Androidclonezilla"...

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/28296/full-backup-of-non-rooted-devices

Root should not erase any phone data.  How do you expect to back up the entire device with only user permissions?  You need root permissions, in the absence of a system-level tool built into the OS or bootloader or a PC-side tool for directly accessing the phone storage (both are very unlikely).  Update: There is now OS-supported backup which an app like Helium can use to back things up without root.
ClockworkMod / Nandroid is definitely not G1-only, there are dozens if not hundreds of supported devices.  It's definitely the best way to back everything up.
I recommend checking out XDA's x10 Mini General forum and possibly the Android Development forum also; read all the sticky threads, they should give you a good overview of all this.  You can do the same for the Desire.

With the stock firmware and without root you can’t accomplish what you want.
To backup your entire phone you need complete access to the phone ROM memory to copy all of its contents, and for that you need root access.
I have a HTC Desire and what I’ve done is use Unrevocked to gain root access to the phone and change the android recovery of the phone for one that includes tools to do “nandroid” backups, among other things like install ROM from compressed files on the SD card.
The process is simple and fast and in a few minutes you will have a phone with root access and a recovery system that give you plenty of new tools.

If you can get the device to expose all of its partitions while in Clonezilla (on a pc) then could you not use partclone/dd or whatever Clonezilla uses to clone all of those partitions, just as you would a regular hard drive? I can clone a Windows 7 partition without having any root access to it from within a Clonezilla livecd.


text:
What is the right way to backup my whole phone?
I did a factory reset last night, and I'd like to try to mod my G1 but I want to make sure I have a good, complete recovery image. Preferably one that will restore things like my K9 mail settings, in addition to my installed applications. If I went ahead right now with the modding I wouldn't need these things but I need to just use my phone for a few days, for which I'd like to arrange my settings.
I think I need to use nandroid, so maybe my real question is: are there caveats to be alert to in a nandroid backup?

If you only want apps/settings backed up, I recommend Titanium Backup.  It requires root.  Its backup will be saved to /mnt/sdcard/TitaniumBackup/, you can copy that folder to your computer just in case your card gets formatted.
If you use ClockworkMod / nandroid, do the same thing (copy the /mnt/sdcard/clockworkmod/backup folder to your PC afterwards).  The only real caveat is that you should flash the ROM you had when the backup was done before restoring the backup.  If the ROM you flashed afterward was significantly different, restoring without first reflashing the previous ROM can brick the phone.

That detail about ClockworkMod is something about which I had no clue.  I'm really glad I read this before I ever needed to restore a backup from nandroid!

What would you recommend if you are wanting to do a full backup before rooting your device?

There's no need to return to the "old ROM" if you just want to restore single items with Titanium Backup. Just think of using the "Migration Mode", at least when it comes to system data, and stay away from restoring system apps.


text:
Factory reset left root intact?
I rooted my Dream/G1 last night and finally gave up on modding it (not for good mind you, but for the moment) and opted instead to just restore it to factory settings via Settings > SD card & phone storage > Factory data reset, which did solve all the problems I was having with multitasking (and not being able to answer it, etc.)
Curiously, I still seem to have root on the phone, despite having reset it. I'd love to understand how that is possible! Superuser Permissions is the only non-stock app still on the phone, and I'm still able to use su to gain root privileges from adb shell. Is this because BusyBox installs to my SD Card?
My phone works just fine, so this is hardly critical, but the whole exercise was/is about knowing my phone better and this is most def. a mystery. Thanks!

Root things (su, busybox and Superuser.apk) are installed in /system, which is usually on a special partition. This partition is usually mounted as read-only. (Remember mount command, that is neccesary to allow writing there...) It is likely that this partition is not affected by master reset.

Note: @Redh3ad confirmed this in his comment: A factory reset only wipes the userdata partition and cache. Superuser.apk and su are copied to system partition when rooting, so a factory reset doesn't touch these files.

If you want to remove root access from your phone you need to un-root it.
Here's a link for Unrooting HTC G1/Dream
or Unrooting the G1 | Android Forums

The links I provided are just a starting point - I have never un-rooted so I can't speak to the method but I know that a "Factory Data Reset" / "Hard Reset" will NOT remove 'root'.  I have done a "Hard Reset" though and have experienced the same thing as you - you still have root and any apps that were part of rooting and whatever custom ROM you flashed - everything else is gone.  This will just clear your user-data and apps (and possibly some other things that I just don't know about) but the phone will still be rooted if you had done that before you did the "Hard Reset".  As one of the links states one of the main reasons for un-rooting is for turning your phone in for warranty repairs.
Hope this helps.

You should test your phone to see if you actually still have root access, or if for some odd reason restoring your phone to stock didn't remove the icon for the superuser app.
Go to the market and download something like Barnacle (adhoc WiFi AP app) or AndroSS (screenshot app) and try to run whatever you download.  If it request su access, you allow it, and it actually performs the task it's designed for then you still have root.  If it doesn't prompt you for su access or if it does but them seemingly doesn't respond properly then odds are the factory reset removed your root access without cleaning up after itself.
As far as why you wouldn't have root but still have the superuser app installed?  That's something that would require a lot more digging, I think.

Amanda says she restored to factory settings, not that she reflashed the original ROM etc. IMO, all that has occurred is that the various settings have been restored to their original state and the user data has been wiped. Whatever exploit was used to gain root access still remains which is why she's still rooted.

@Sparx - I was under the impression that a factory reset brought the firmware back to stock settings (meaning no apps installed that didn't come with the phone at stock) which would mean the superuser app shouldn't have persisted as you don't get that from the Market where your account will redownload anything you had previously installed (at least on 2.2 it will).  Of course the main difference between our perspectives lies within the method that the factory reset option uses to accomplish it's task.

A factory reset only wipes the userdata partition and cache. Superuser.apk and su are copied to system partition when rooting, so a factory reset doesn't touch these files.


text:
Is it possible for my HTC Desire to interupt my iPod when I receive a call?
I frequently miss incoming telephone calls because I am listening to my iPod Touch and I don't feel it vibrate.
Does anyone know if it's possible for my HTC Desire to somehow notify me of the call via my headphones?
I've seen bluetooth connection devices that purport to do this (such as the GEAR4 BluEye), but they are several years old now.
However given that this kind of hardware exists, and that the Desire and the iPod Touch have Bluetooth built-in, I wondered if there was an app or setting that would enable the phone and iPod to work together in this way?

This is... interesting.  So what you want is an app that will push some kind of audio notification to your iPod Touch via Bluetooth that will play through the connected headphones when you receive a call?

@JonnyP - yes, exactly.

Well connecting the two devices via Bluetooth shouldn't be too much of a hassle, in theory.  And there are plenty of apps like Tasker which allow you to take any specified action upon any specified condition.  The trick here is going to be finding something that will essentially treat your iPod Touch as a BT headset or something similar.  I'll look around a bit and see what I can find.

I've found something for you, although it may not treat your iPod the right way.  The only way to find out is for you to give it a shot.  Luckily the developer of this app offers a version that's a five day free trial.
Super BT Mono
If you're running stock Android 2.2 try this.
If you're running CyanogenMod try this.
I'd follow the dev's instructions on how to get this up and running, and just treat your iPod like the BT headset with which this app is meant to interface.  It doesn't say so on the app page in the Market, but on some forum thread (of which I've unfortunately lost track, dammit) someone mentioned that it will send notification tones and ringtones to the BT device.

Why don't you just listen to music on the Android device?
I have a sneaking suspicion that, given how Apple tends to be very restrictive about what gets into the App store, and even more restrictive about what apps can do, this probably wouldn't work simply.
On the Android side of things, it's a breeze to write an App (or maybe there's something out there already that can do it?) that would connect to the iPod over bluetooth and send some notification to pause, when a call comes in. The problem as I see it is that, unlike on Android, there's no real way (without jailbreaking the iPod) to just write an app for the iPod that listens over bluetooth and pauses when it gets the notification...


text:
Will the AT&T HTC Aria Froyo (2.2) official upgrade solve the Bluetooth reset issue? will it allow free tethering as the unofficial 2.2?
Hi
I couldn't wait and dowloaded the 2.2 upgrade for my AT&T HTC Aria just to find out the official one came one a few weeks later.
The only reason I want to upgrade is the Bluetooth reset bug (phone reboots / resets after walking away from a bluetooth source, e.g. when I exit the car while using Vlingo (with car handsfree), my phone resets!
So my quetions are

What is the best way to solve the Bluetooth reset issue? Will the official upgrade fix it?
Assuming most chances it will, will it hurt my phone in any way? (will it unroot it? will it block tethering?)

what happens when you don't use Vlingo?

The official update will almost certainly unroot and not allow free WiFi tether.  I'll let someone with experience speak to the bluetooth issues.


text:
When is the Nexus S Android 2.3.3 update coming to the UK

Possible Duplicate:
When will my phone get the Android 2.3 update (Gingerbread)?

I have a UK Nexus S and it is still on 2.3.2. It's been a month since this update began being pushed out in the US, but so far I've seen nothing. Have any UK users received it, and is there any news on its UK roll-out?

Offficial OTA updates can take their own sweet time getting to your phone, since they're dependent on not just how Google is rolling down the updstes but on operator arrangements as well. The simplest andquickst way of getting an update is to download the signed OTA update from Google and manually update your phone. XDA forums is typically a good place to find links to those updates - that is also how I downloaded my the 2.3.3 update to my NexusOne, sitting in India. Waiting for an OTA update, I would probably have been among the last people in the world to get it :)
Here is a simple way of manually updating your phone:
- Download the update and rename the file update.zip
- Connect your phone to your PC/Mac and copy that file to your microSD card.
- Power down your Nexus S. Then press ‘power’ and hold the volume button. You’ll see a screen appear with three Androids.
- Using the volume buttons, select ‘Bootloader’ and then press ‘Power’ to select.
- On the next screen, select ‘Recovery’.
- The phone will reboot. You’ll see a triangle with and Android robot and an exclamation point.
- Press the volume up button and the power button at the same time.
- Using the volume buttons, select “Apply sdcard: update.zip”.
- Reboot to get 2.3.3


text:
Samsung Galaxy S firmware codes
When Samsung Kies offers an update it doesn't tell you what version of android the update is.
All you get is seemingly meaningless codes like
PDA:JPI / Phone:JPP / CSC:JP4

or similar
What do these codes mean?
How can you convert these codes to android versions.
If they are arbitrary can this question serve as a list mapping codes to android versions.

Well for the Vibrant, the codes are as follows; for example, KA7:
The first letter is the year: K is the eleventh letter of the alphabet, so 2011.
The second is the month: January (A = 1).
7 is the revision or build, so KA6 is older than KA7, etc.
It's obviously different for the i9000 but you should be able to find that info on XDA.  They'll also tell you which release is which version of Android, which is not in the code AFAIK.


text:
Built-in alarm clock on G2?
I just upgraded from G1 to G2 Android. The G1 had a decent alarm clock application built right into it. The G2 doesn't seem to have this app (or I can't seem to find it.) Anyone know how to access it if there is one?

Are you referring to the "Clock" app?

No worries, I too had this problem switching from the G1, thought they made a huge oversight in removing the alarm clock...

I think they changed the name of the stock Clock app during one of the Android OS upgrades.
In 2.1 I think it was called "Desk Clock".  In 2.2 it's just called "Clock".

Thanks! Found it about 5 minutes after I posted this lol. Woke me up this morning :)


text:
can automatic update work when app is not installed from android marketplace?
or how can i auto update an app that is not installed via
android marketplace. it is useful in scenario where many of our customer uses custom built of android device ( which not yet registered to android ) , and we want to make sure that changes to our app propogate to device ?

This sounds like it might be better asked on stackoverflow.
The autoupdate is a feature of the market. If users haven't installed the app with the market you'll have to implement your own update feature. In Android 2.2 you could potentially take advantage of the push notification system for updates.

As an example, the dxTop homescreen uses an internal update feature. The software checks regularly (internally, NOT via market) and if there's an update, asks, downloads and installs it.

You would have to create your own process of having the application notifying the user of updates (and providing a link to the new apk. You could do this with a background service that pops up a message in the notification bar). The user has to install the application from the market to receive updates via the Android market.

To notify an Android phone that an application have a new version (without programming all the process) you have 2 options:
1.- Use the market feature, but for your comments I think this one is out of your list.
2.- Use the notification system available on Android 2.2 and 2.3.
To use this push notification service the device needs to be logged on a Google account in order to receive the notification, so maybe this isn’t suitable for your process.
If no one of this options is what you’re looking for, you will be forced to develop your own push notification system and install that system in every Android phone you need update.

@Doliveras- I'm curious re: the push notification system is there a way to push a notification that then auto-triggers an update, or are you suggesting you push the notification and then programmatically kick off the install?

@Simon, I'm suggesting to push a notification to a device and then use the application he mentions it's installed on that device to take the appropiate action.


text:
Change default application for handling headset controls
I have a HTC Desire HD running stock 2.2
When using the HTC supplied headphones, the play/pause/nav controls only work with Meridian. I don't remember explicitly setting it up as such, although I may have missed it. I'd like to be able to use them with BeyondPod instead, as I'm about 10x more likely to be listening to a podcast than music.
Is there a way to change the default app for these buttons?

Similar problem but with different music apps http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/5994/how-can-i-make-the-button-on-my-headphones-control-something-other-than-the-stock are there any similar options in Meridian?

So I had this page open on another tab for ages before I saw I hadn't saved the comment. Probably would've been more helpful before you found the answer yourself!

A bit more playing around led me to a (if not THE) solution.  I found an "enable headset buttons" check box in Meridian, which prompted me to dig further into BeyondPod, where a found a similar setting.
Everything works as I'd like now.
I've since gone back and checked a couple of things though, which are not quite as I expected.  I thought if you re-enabled the controls within one app, it might disable the other.  This isn't quite what happened. When I re-enabled Meridian, it responded to the controls, although BeyondPod still showed it as supposedly responding, which it didn't.  Once I'd disabled Meridian again, I had to go back into BeyondPod, disable and re-enable it's control in order to have it respond again.
My main gripe was that if I were listening a podcast, and bumped the headphone controls, the music would start playing over the top of my podcast audio.  While it may be a cute multi-tasking demo, it's not a particularly practical use of this feature, IMH(BC)O.

To clarify: You disabled Meridian from receiving headset actions, and enabled BeyondPod. And you're now using your headset to only control BeyondPod, not both Meridian and BeyondPod?

Yes, that's correct.


text:
What does the message: 550 Invalid name or chroot violation mean?
I am trying to establih an Ftp connection between my Archos tablet and my Galaxy phone.
I am using the swiFTP server program on my Archos.
I am able to connect to the Archos from the phone using an TPP client but when I try to copy any file Ireceive the message  '550 Invaid name or chroot violation'.
Can anyone explain what this means?

Looks like this is a pretty common problem.
One of the comments in the second link says that you need to change /sdcard to /mnt/sdcard.  Apparently Android 2.2 changed the way the SDCard is mounted and the error you're receiving comes from /sdcard being a symbolic link in 2.2 rather than an absolute path.

http://code.google.com/p/swiftp/issues/detail?id=86
http://code.google.com/p/swiftp/updates/list

@HonnyP: /mnt/sdcard did not work. Looking at the links you put in you answer, I decided to try / as 'Stay within folder'in swiFTP. Once I did that, I could connect to the Archos, and even more, could change folder. On the Archos I had to change to /mnt/storage before I was able to copy files ( the /sdcard looks to be a symbolic link to /mnt/storage on the Archos 101. Thanks for you help, it really made me look at the correct place to find the solution.

@Edelcom - No problem, glad I could help!


text:
Can I replace the OS of a Samsung Galaxy S?
I was attracted by the hardware specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S.
However, I don't like the default TouchWiz skin developed by Samsung. I'd prefer to use the native Android UI, as in the Nexus S and similar devices.
Is it possible for me to perform "self installation" of the stock Android OS, after I bought the Samsung Galaxy S? If yes, how? Will I void the warranty of my phone by doing this?

Isn't that just replacing their customized launcher, not the OS?

You need to be more specific than "Galaxy S". There are several different iterations of the sgs like the Fascinate and the Epic, which require different ROMs.

As for me, I'd like to replace the stock OS on Samsung Galaxy S (GT9000) because I want to have voice calls in Google Talk. Perhaps, I'll try a CyanogenMod based on the newer versions of Android that would have support for voice calls in Google Talk.

I'm not familiar with the Samsung Galaxy, but in general if you want to install an aftermarket OS you need to root your phone and in general rooting your phone will void the warranty.
Do you have other reasons for wanting to change the OS or is it really just TouchWiz?
According to this XDA post, the only TouchWiz-free ROM is CyanogenMod.  It's very unstable on the Galaxy S though.
However, you can install a different launcher such as LauncherPro.  TouchWiz will still be on the phone, but just in the background, so you can have a more "stock Android" experience by using another launcher.
I hope I've answered your intial question. Don't hesitate to ask new questions about how to go about disabling TouchWiz if you do opt to go that route.

Launcher Pro is a homescreen replacement. You're not exactly disabling the default TouchWiz interface, merely using another in its stead. There are other launchers like ADW.Launcher and GoLauncher.

Thanks, @sparx. I cleaned up my answer a bit. Seems like options for disabling TouchWiz is a question unto itself.

@Sparx: while you're technically correct, I think it is a bit too nitpicky; with all those overlines, now I can barely understand what the post is attempting to say.

@LieRyan: I agree. I was just trying to impress upon Amanda the slight difference.
@Amanda: IMO, your answer was fine just as it was. :-) Not OT.

I cleaned it up, hope everyone doesn't mind.

I sure don't mind.

Yes, flashing a custom ROM will void your warranty.  However, it is very simple to revert to the stock ROM with a Galaxy S for warranty purposes.  Rooting will also void your warranty, but the method below does not require root.
The easiest way to a get a new OS for a Galaxy S is to use Odin for Windows (download here.  Search for "Heimdall" if you want to do this on Linux).  You just need an Odin-flashable ROM.  For the Galaxy S Vibrant, I highly recommend the ROM I currently use, Bionix v1.3.1, which has a TouchWiz-free version.  I assume you have a GT-I9000 however; you should look for one that suits your purposes in XDA's i9000 Android Development forum.
Edit: According to this post, the only completely TouchWiz-free ROM is CyanogenMod, which is unstable/buggy.  So if you don't want CM and just want to replace the launcher, you can do that without flashing another ROM as Amanda says in her answer.  Otherwise you can continue with the instructions below for using Odin.
Once you have the ROM, do the following:

Put your phone into Download mode

Remove the battery
If non-i9000, attach the phone to your PC via USB.
Hold VolumeDown plus either the Home key (i9000) or VolumeUp (non-i9000) and the power button

Reinsert the battery.
Let go of the power button only about 1 second after the white device logo appears (if it does)
After a few seconds a yellow triangle with an android in it should appear, you can let go of the keys since this is download mode.

Start up Odin.
If non-i9000, detatch your phone from USB.
Attach the phone to USB so that Odin recognizes it.
Load the .zip file you downloaded (the custom ROM) into the PDA field of Odin.
Load the 512 .pit file into the PIT field of Odin.
Check "Re-partition".
Hit Start.  Odin will tell you when it's done; if it fails, reboot your phone and try again.  (This happens occasionally).

Note that if you need to back anything up, you should do that beforehand and save the backup to your PC, since everything (except probably the external SD card) will be wiped on the phone.  Also note that you do this at your own risk; Odin is very powerful and misusing it can damage your phone.  I've used it dozens of times myself safely.

Quick answer: Yes it is possible to get a nearly stock Android on your Galaxy S.
I just flashed Gingerbread to my Galaxy S last week or so.
You can find any relevant information here:
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/17020-all-models-cyanogenmod-7-for-samsung-galaxy-s-phones-experimental/
Contrary to what is written in the first post I'd actually say that it is already pretty stable for a ROM which is described as 'experimental'.
Since I installed it I cannot remember of any system crash or similar. (Which doesn't  mean that It won't destroy your phone.)
There are some missing features/bugs though.
Notably: radio, frontfacing camera.
Another funny bug is that your data connection only works after you lock & unlock your phone. (You have to do this once it boots so it's not a big deal.)
And oh, Gingerbread is awesome.
Edit: If you are on Linux you can use Heimdall instead of Odin.

Do you mind to capture a screen shoot, on how samsung galaxy s look like in Gingerbread? Does it still have the ugly looking TouchWhiz?

@Yan No, CM does not use Touchwiz.  (As far as I know, no Gingerbread ROM for the SGS does either).

http://twitpic.com/4i8i8l

I am curious what you decided to do :)

In order to replace the OS there are a few steps that must be taken. I do not have a Samsung Galaxy S phone nor do I know how locked down it is. At this time, I do know that the SGS is not available on CyanogenMod yet (popular stock-ish Android OS rom).
In general, the steps for any phone would be:

Root the phone (varies by phone)
Download ROM Manager
Flash a recovery such as Clockwork Recovery
Make a backup of the phone's original ROM with Nandroid
Use ROM Manager to download a Rom, such a CyanogenMod
Flash the ROM with ROM Manager.

Some phones it is not possible to flash a rom because of a locked bootloader.  Most Motorola Droid phones except for the original Droid and Xoom have this problem.  However, as already mentioned, you can still replace the home launcher with another such as LauncherPro, ADW or numerous others.