text:
Turn Bluetooth on so it stays on even when trigger app is closed
Hi Guys I am trying to make a profile to turn on Bluetooth when I open Spotify. That works but as soon I switch the app to browse something while playing the music Tasker turns the Bluetooth off ;(.
So I want an Event when Spotify is opened turn on Bluetooth even if I delete Spotify it should stay on ;)
Does anyone know a solution?
Thank you guys ;)

You can add an exit task that will turn on Bluetooth. And being that Bluetooth is already on, it will stay on till you manually switch it off.
To set an exit task, long press on the task and select "add exit task" there, select Bluetooth on as the task.

Alternatively - you can specify that the profile should not restore settings:

Long-press on the profile
Tap 'gear' icon to access the profile's properties
Disable the 'Restore Settings' option


text:
does airplane mode stop phone from pinging towers?
with recent riot's in Iran, there is saying that even with the phone in airplane-mode, it's pinging nearby towers, giving away location data and information such as that.
this is a really big security risk and may get people into jail.
is that true? if so, how would one fix this problem on the android device? does the phone being root or not make any difference?

Can you quote (link) where this claim was made?

@beeshyams no, it's some thing being told on social networks. i know i shouldn't trust these things, but i want to be sure about it.

Yes, once in airplane mode, it disables the mobile radio. it's pinging nearby towers, giving away location data and information such as that. When you enable the 'airplane mode', it sends a signal to the tower stating that the mobile radio is going to be disabled, and that's the last piece of information that'll be out from your device (after enabling airplane mode).

Location is determined using one or more of the following

Mobile radio (mobile registering itself with nearby towers without mobile data being on)
Cellular data is on
GPS
WiFi

For more details see this Android Tracking by vendor
Coming to your question if device is on Airplane mode (radio disabled) and GPS , WiFi are disabled as well (Note that WiFi can be enabled in Airplane mode ), there is no way your location can be determined
(However, there are reports as highlighted in this question that with GPS off also, location data is sent to Google, but that is a different question altogether - How do I stop my device from sending my location to Google every second, even when the location setting is off? )

As you mentioned it being on social media, there is no credibility to that claim

im talking about a government level of hacking or pulling unwanted data, so it's not possible to do that? except for in case the phone has a malware installed? is it possible for others to use the same methods used by google to collect data on the phone? and how would google get that data while there is no internet or radio connection?

AFAIK no it's not possible. Even if there is malware that is transmitting location , how can it send when  Airplane mode is enabled (GPS and WiFi off too). This is the designed behaviour.  Beyond this, if it is possible, I would be interested in knowing how :)

For the purpose of this answer, let's assume an adversary with state-level resources.
If the device's transmitters are off (airplane mode without WiFi or Bluetooth), it cannot be located in real-time by the adversary. It does not matter whether location services are enabled; using GPS (a satellite-based system with one-way transmissions from satellites) does not leak information directly. With this paranoia level, it's best to leave this off, lest any information be stored that can come out later. If you really needed GPS, rebooting before turning off airplane mode might be enough to keep you safe.
If the device has an active transmitter, it can be located. It does not matter whether you have location services enabled.

Your mobile provider must know what towers/stations you are associated with for you to receive calls or data. For an adversary with state-level resources, you can assume that the adversary also has access to this information.
You can assume that turning on WiFi will also reveal your location. The adversary likely has your MAC address, and Android is poor at randomizing it , with some exceptions.

If the device is compromised, you are out of luck. There is no practical way to verify that the device is not listening and recording location information for later transmission.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
No calendar notifications from old phone events after switching phones
I recently switched from a Wiko LENNY (don't laugh, it was my first phone) to a Samsung Galaxy S7. When I tested notifications at first they seemed to work, but my phone keeps missing events. I've come to the conclusion that I only get notifications for events created on the Galaxy but not for those created on my old phone.
I currently have both the Samsung and the Google calendar app installed on the Galaxy and both behave in the same way (either both or neither send a notification). I also made sure that "Notify on this device" in Google Calendar is checked. I can see all the events I missed on my new phone (so the cloud syncing must have worked) and they all had notifications set for them. In fact, when I boot up my old device I DO get notifications for all the events I missed via the built-in calendar app.
So: How can I receive notifications for events created on my old out-of-use phone on my new phone?

Go to settings > accounts and check if sync settings are enabled. Same with calendar app if you have that option

Yes, Settings > Cloud and accounts > Accounts > Google > Sync Calendar is enabled. I don't see any such settings in either calendar app.

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


text:
Can't access main camera (stuck in wide angle)
My Zenfone 4 Max camera app is stuck on the wide angle camera. The icon on the picture below says it's the main camera, but it's possible to see by the curve on my wall that it's indeed in wide angle. When I click on the wide angle icon, system says it's now on wide angle, but the image doesn't change.
I have tried restarting in safe mode, clearing app's cache, restarting normally and tried using 3rd party camera apps. No success so far.
Any way to fix this without having to take it to Asus tech support (they take forever to answer) and/or restoring factory settings?

So far the only fixed I could find was to reset to factory Settings. Nothing else worked (rebooting, clearing camera cache, installing a 3rd party camera app, etc)


text:
Samsung tablet keeps asking to allow data access when plugging to PC by USB
I cannot access data on my tablet by USB, because when I plug it in, it keeps popping a dialog to allow access, when I pick allow, the dialog pops up again, and so on endlessly.
This is a Samsung Galaxy Tab A, my PC is on Ubuntu.
Update: After some more tests, I determined that if when I plug the tablet to the PC by USB, the tablet screen is turned on, it works fine. However if I plug the tablet with the screen off, the issue described above occurs.

Please add a screenshot

@beeshyams The dialog shows on the tablet, I cannot take a screenshot.

Maybe the cable keeps disconnecting, and therefore it's doing it. Try a different cable

@Abochur I tried three different cables. All of them work fine on another device. Also, the tablet charges fine if I plug it (using the same cable) to a power outlet.

Could it be the USB port instead? This really does sound most likely to be caused by the cable repeatedly disconnecting and reconnecting, which is a common failure mode.

@DanHulme That was my first thought too. But the same USB port on the PC, with the same cable, plugs succesfully to my phone (which is also Samsung). And the port on the tablet works fine when charging on a power outlet.

This is a workaround more than a fix, but it works for me on another Samsung device.
Install Samsung SideSync app from the Google play store on your device, then install Samsung SideSync app on your PC (http://www.samsung.com/sidesync).
After one more "allow access" popup, it won't ask again as the SideSync app will keep the allow access permission open.

how about Mac OS host?

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


text:
Typing on my Android Device directly from Windows 10
Is there a way where I can type something on Windows 10 and it goes directly to my ZTE Axon 7?

You can always use an otg wire and connect a keyboard to your phone

You should try Remote Keyboard, available for Android 2.3+.
That app worked well with my Windows 10 computer and my OnePlus 3T, and you can try this tutorial which shows you how to use the app.
If you don't like this app or if it's not working with your phone, you can try this one : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.volosyukivan
Or, as @A bochur said, you can use an OTG wire.


text:
Change Assistant Language Without Changing Locale on Oreo
I am in the United States, but I would like it if my assistant and navigation voice had an Australian accent. On Oreo, the only way to do this seems to be to change the system language to English(Australia). After doing this though, I notice the phone seems to think I am Australian, as Google Now shows me news from Australian websites and Inbox shows dates in DD/MM format. There used to be an option to change date format, but that also seems to have disappeared in recent versions. I would like it if my Assistant voice were Australian, but my overall system local was US. Does anyone know of a way to make this happen?

I just downloaded Google assistant app to see if it can be changed. Sorry, it says that Google assistant language is tied to the system language. In short, you can't

That's on an unrooted device -couldn't find workaround for rooted devices too

Did you try under Assistant settings, there is an option for search language.

A bochur, that setting does not affect the assistant language. Though I set it to English(US) so I may hopefully get slightly better voice recognition.


text:
Why are my "Sleep" settings disabled?
Under 'Settings - > Display', my 'Sleep' option is disabled and locked at 30 seconds (which is terrible). I have a 'Work Profile' on the phone, but this is not happening to others at the company, so this appears to be a local issue.
What could be causing this and how can I re-enable my sleep settings? It seems some other setting is affecting the sleep setting, but I can't find what it would be.

I'd manually activated the 'Battery'->'Power Saving' mode, which was overriding the 'Sleep' settings. It would be nice if the 'Sleep' settings had told me this, but there you go.


text:
How to delete Images on Android 8.1.0?
Android is complaining of dwindling storage space. I regularly delete personal files to comply with its demands and can now use but 20 Gb of a 32 Gb storage unit. Recently I noticed an item called Images in the Storage -> Photos & videos dialogue:

The trash bin of the Photos application is empty, and so far I could not identify these "images" in the system. How can I delete them?
Update: I have wiped the system cache, follow the procedure described here. This had no effect, the phone still reports 3 GB of images that are nowhere to be found.

I am on Oreo 8.0 which has different options. Wondering if it is images that are pending deletion in smart storage . If you enabled it , disable it and see if you can still see images eat space

I have smart storage disabled. I have never enabled it.

These are the caches Images which Android stores it in itself. To delete these Images, go to your File browser and allow the File browser to show Hidden Files and then Go to
Phone Storage > DCIM > .thumbnails
There are image more than 100 image and some waste files stored under this folder. Delete whole folder. Doing this can help you in some Manner to get out of dwindling storage.

There were about 140 MB in that folder. Very far from the 3 GB reported by the system.

Go and check images in your gallery that they worth 3 gb or not. If not then check each and every folder of yiur internal storage and delete each image which is waste for you.

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


text:
fastboot stuck on sending 'boot'
I'm trying to flash cm13 boot.img to my phone and it stuck on this for more than 20 minutes:
$fastboot flash boot boot.img
target didn't report max-download-size
sending 'boot' (5760 KB)...

and after I disconnect the cable I get this error:
FAILED (data transfer failure (Protocol error))

here is the result of other fastboot commands. since I already erase the system, boot, and recovery, fastboot is the only way I can interact with my phone.
$ fastboot devices
BX90319AH2&ZLP  fastboot

$ fastboot erase boot
erasing 'boot'...
(bootloader) Erase of partition 'boot' requested
(bootloader) S1 partID 0x00000003, block 0x00000148-0x00000179
(bootloader) Erase operation complete, 0 bad blocks encountered
OKAY [  0.183s]
finished. total time: 0.183s

$ fastboot erase system
erasing 'system'...
(bootloader) Erase of partition 'system' requested
(bootloader) S1 partID 0x00000004, block 0x00000182-0x000007c1
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000200
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000300
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000400
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000500
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000600
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000700
(bootloader) Erase operation complete, 0 bad blocks encountered
OKAY [  5.745s]
finished. total time: 5.745s

p.s. I installed cm12.1 on this phone before without any problem.
any suggestions?

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/126311/fastboot-erase-system-not-working/213489#213489

Alternatively, because I'm guessing you're in a process to flash a new Custom ROM and you want to flash manually using fastboot, you can look for a compatible custom recovery, download it and place it in the computer you're using. On fastboot, if bootloader is unlocked, as it probably might be since you're already on custom ROM, write these commands
fastboot boot [path-to-custom-recovery]

It will boot up on a custom recovery that you downloaded

Select Wipe
Advanced Wipe
Check system, dalvik, data, cache
Swipe to wipe
Back to install
Locate the zip and install it or send it from computer using adb sideload

I had the same problem and solved it by changing the way of the connection between the phone and the PC. First I connected an old USB Extension cable between the USB cable from my phone to the PC, I tried it on a USB2 port and on a USB3 port. When entering fastboot devices it shows the number of the device and therefore an active connection, but trying to flash anything took forever and I had to interupt it by rebooting into the bootloader.
The solution was, when I connected the phone's USB cable directly to a USB3 port.
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader.img
target reported max download size of 494927872 bytes
sending 'bootloader' (3554 KB)...
OKAY [  0.116s]
writing 'bootloader'...
OKAY [  0.220s]
finished. total time: 0.336s

The old USB Extension cable was the problem.

When trying to replace LineageOS 16 with stock ROM on my Moto X4 payton, I experienced the same issue - my new Lenovo X390 running Arch Linux wouldn't send the .img files while everything worked fine on my good old T410s (also running Arch)... So before suspecting your Android device make sure to try another PC.

I just experienced the same thing: In my case fastboot didn't output anything and neither kill nor kill -9 managed to stop the process – apparently because it was stuck in a syscall. Accordingly, the kernel also started writing messages to /var/log/syslog along the lines of "INFO: task fastboot:803155 blocked for more than 604 seconds". At some point I turned off the phone upon which fastboot finally stopped. Then I tried out a different USB cable, started fastboot again and it finally worked!

In my case I had to install Motorola drivers on my PC, then fastboot boot foo.img worked.


text:
Playing instead of streaming M3U files (media playlist) on Android
I have Xperia Z3 running on Android 6 (Marshmallow). The phone is rooted and Xposed.
I need a way to play .m3u or .m3u8 files on Android, not streaming them, and I want to be able to shuffle the songs.
Tried "MortPlayer Music", but the interface is terrible and there's no shuffle feature.
Are there any ways to do this?

"without third party": for that we'd neet to know at least your device and Android version, better also the music player(s) already installed.

Changed the request: thid party is perfectly allowed. Android is V6, but the player is factory custom from sony. No support.

These apps can play the M3U files:

Poweramp Music Player: A little messy too; Having storage glitches on an i9505 TouchWiz.
Personal score: 8/10

MortPlayer Music: No shuffle, disorganized, ugly interface.
Personal score: 5/10

M3U and M3U8 aren't playable media files, they are playlist files. Open them in any text editor to see what they tell your media player to access.

I think the question acknowledges that M3U/M3U8 is a playlist file. However, the problem is that some music player apps just don't recognize/support it. Regarding this answer, I'm curious how opening the file in the text editor achieves something?

It allows you to see what content is being streamed/played when a media player loads (starts playing) the playlist. If you don't want to stream content then download the source files listed in the playlist.

Ugh, I'm really sorry, I think I messed up when editing the question back then. Looks like the original question was asking to play local M3U files, not M3U streams. And I misinterpreted it as playing the M3U playlist instead of streaming it.


text:
Send email/notification to device A when receiving a call on a device B
I have a work phone, and I am not always able to answer the calls coming in.
I would like to set up a system where I receive a notification (email or otherwise) on my main device, even if I am away from my work device.
For example:
Notification on Device A:
Device B received a call from 555-2345 at 10:38AM.
Does anyone know of any apps that offer this service?

You can achieve this through IFTTT.
Look at this recipe to send email notifications on missed calls. You can find similar ones or create on your own, the learning curve isn't very high.


text:
How to clone and application with all its files in the same device?
Basically what I want is to have the same app twice, but if I use APK Cloner the new app doesn't have the original's app saved data, so what I want is to clone the data of the original APK to the cloned APK too.

Apps like this can do it , but see if you are comfortable with all those permissions it wants

Be sure to copy files at /sdcard/Android/data/[package.name.of.app] to the path that the cloning app stores its files if you want to clone it's data too, for example an app called Parrallel Space stores the files at /sdcard/Parrallel Space/Android/data/


text:
What does it mean when saved WhatsApp voice notes are not starting with "PTT"?
I deleted one of my contacts. I have a WhatsApp voice note, but it's not starting with "PTT". It's an alphanumeric number, and I could not find the mobile number associated. I can play it without any issue.
What does it mean when a WhatsApp voice message is saved other than a name starting with PTT? Why is it not stored with the mobile number details along with it?

It's not properly saved is my guess. Can you play it?

Yes I can play it ..

It's more likely that voice note wasn't created as as  push to talk (PTT) message via WhatsApp in which case it normally starts with PTTxxxxx, rather this voice note was created with a device recorder hence starts with alphanumeric number.
I noticed my voice recorder names all recorded audios with in a number format to confirm this. Hence its still recognised snd plays well on your device. Perhaps they sent you an audio created by a native voice recorder not via WhatsApp.


text:
FRP triggered after hard reset on rooted phone 5.1..Any Explanation?
Though I'm a great fan of frp, I'm a greater fan of Rooting. I have an android device running lollipop 5.1 with just so many bloatwares. I rooted the device and got rid of the bloatwares. It was kinda nice that the superuser app was not converted into system app. I Uninstalled it since it was eating up to 54Mb space. I did not lose root privillege. I turned off OEM unlock and was using my device as normal with rooted apps both old and new working fine. It came a time I did a hard reset and frp was triggered. I couldn't setup the device  with any other account except with the last known account. That surprised me because I know rooting turns off frp. Thanks

@beeshyams I always thought so. No need to even root. Just checking OEM unlocking in developer settings turns off frp

I've personally tested it on my non rooted 6.0.. Turning OEM on unlocking deactivated frp

Look at this post https://android.stackexchange.com/q/183000/207780

+1   for pointing this out. Deleting my comments

I was stunt. Maybe I will include an external link to a video to see for real how frp works just fine on  a rooted phone


text:
How to solve Inaccurate battery status after removing battery
My phone battery is just about 2 months old. It can last for many days without browsing and over 12hours  streaming HD videos on YouTube. But something is strange. Any time I remove the battery ( high temperature or to switch SIM card or SD card ), phone doesn't care if battery was at 99%, on reboot, I realized battery has drastically reduce down to even 5%. At times I would remove the battery again and wait for some minutes (about 30)  and reboot again getting up to 40%.
What's the problem and how to solve it
Device : MTN Smart L 860 on Marshmallow 6.0

I had read of this happening long back. Reason given was that reboot causes a sudden load on the device and the battery drops but if you keep the device running for a while it fixes itself. Not having experienced it, I can't say with confidence

Mine doesn't fix with the device running for a while. Rather it seems to adjust itself if the device is left alone without a battery for hours. If I allow the device to keep on running with the faulty battery status, it would work as normal and soon battery low and then shutdown. When put on charge it would charge as normal

That's an another way I suppose. I now recall another way was to let it run and when it is close to low percentage charge it. But coming to your question, I would risk saying that it is poor OS management of battery level

Actually it wasn't like that before.

MTN smart L860  6.0


text:
Removing adopted storage sdcard
My smartphone has ability to use two sim card or one sim card plus sdcard. Generally, I'm using second option (sim+sdcard), sdcard as adopted storage. I want to use second sim card temporarily. But if I will unmount sdcard and pull it out will I be able to use it later without problems?

It works as expected. I successfully unmount adopted storage.
First I moved all apps to internal memory. Then I unmount adopted storage from SD card options.

System starts syncing data that was not written yet and after minute there was intent notification "You can remove sdcard safely". So I removed card. Nothing wrong was happening. Of course, wallpaper disappears but it was predictable.

Another side effect was that I can't save screenshot so I made these photos by another phone.
After some time I inserted same SD card to smartphone and Android mount it automatically. Wallpaper appears again and all my files from SD card was in the same place as before.
Technically adopted storage is separate file system but mounted in a file system, in the specified directory. Not every app can be moveable to adopted storage. It behaves like normal SD card with FAT/exFAT file system but Android merge view of internal memory directory in one "file system". Another difference is that adopted storage is encrypted. Android mounts that encrypted block device, decrypt it and mount in /mnt/expand/. No system data are moved to adopted storage, only apps that developer implement an option to move app data to adopted storage.
Test was made on Android 7.1.1. Smartphone model: Motorola G5S Plus (XT1805)

That's what I predicted. Only you included the step to avoid the trouble I've mentioned: "First I moved all apps to internal memory." Your question doesn't include that. Usually one uses adoptable storage because internal storage is too small for the apps to fit. If yours fit all in, I don't see why you're using it at all. // What I wonder about is your last big paragraph: to my knowledge, adoptable storage completely replaces internal, so all apps+data would go there. Are you really talking about adoptable storage, not App2SD as it sounds?

My question was "can I remove card". I mention nothing about apps because it doesn't matter. Even if didn't move apps, the worst thing that could happen it will be that I can't be able to run that app and that's it. No data will be lost. Why I'm using adopted storage? Because it's encrypted. This is second reason why someone should use adopted storage.
Did you even check how adopted storage works? Did you check how looks mount points in enabled adopted storage phone? No, not all apps+data goes there. Only these where the developer adds an ability to move app+data to adopted storage.

Look at https://source.android.com/devices/storage/adoptable
"Apps can be placed on adopted storage media only when the developer has indicated support through the android:installLocation attribute."
"Apps moved to adopted media are remembered while the media is ejected, and return when the media is reinserted." And I'm not talking about App2SD nor Link2SD.

In App2SD only APK files are moved, data stays in /data partition. Link2SD is not an official way to move apps to SD.

I won't discuss that here in the comments – but if apps don't matter, then why do you move them back before? Your question suggests you want to simply unmount and go; your answer says it doesn't work that simple (as does mine). And yes, I checked how adoptable storage works (when it came out with MM). I decided against using it for myself: Encryption is certainly good, but not if I'm not in control of the key (i.e. I cannot mount the card on a different machine in case my Android device dies). That's what I use the card for: to have a backup in such case. Saved my day more than once.

Because I didn't have sureness about apps, I suggested by your answer. Just in case I moved them to phone. But after test, I saw that it was not necessary. How does my answer say it doesn't work that simple? I can simply unmount and temporarily remove card and this is what I was asked. If root your phone you can get key to decrypt partition on PC. My Moto is rooted and first thing what I did was made the backup of the key file. I used that to copy files between SD card and PC if I want to make backup of all my files from SD card.

It is not necessary to move the apps off the SD card.  You can choose the "eject" option, then remove the card once Android says it can be ejected.  I tested this on Android 7.1.  After removing the card I rebooted the phone, and it booted fine.  The apps that were on the SD card do not show up, nor does the media stored on the SD card.  But all other apps function fine.

Once you've adopted your external SD card as internal storage, you no longer can simply remove it without causing massive issues (apps crashing and the likes) – after all, the card is acting as internal storage then, covering everything that goes to /data/data (i.e. all the apps' data, configurations etc.).
The only way to take it out without causing issues is to convert it back to "portable storage". Which is technical possible – as long as there's sufficient internal storage available. If there is, I'd wonder why you've adopted the card – so that probably won't be done by just pressing a single button: you'd first need to make enough space, i.e. remove data stored in "adoptable storage" so the remains fit into real internal storage again.
TL;DR: No, you cannot simply unmount and take the card out to free the shared slot.

Did you test it?

In sdcard options there are unmount option. I made a screenshot and look at marked text. https://nextcloud.qkiz.pl/index.php/s/9skaC7wOVBHyZt2

Try it and see the terror, @QkiZ. That's one of the reasons I avoid adoptable storage. No need for me to try. What do you think will happen if your apps certainly no longer can access their data? Also see our adoptable-storage tag-wiki.

App will stop. Nothing bad will happen. It will behave like in SD card with classic layout (with FAST file system).

This answer is incorrect.  You can unmount and remove the card.  I tested on Android 7.1.  Once you boot up, you won't see the apps or files that were on SD card, but other apps will work fine.

@jdhildeb please read again. I didn't say you cannot unmount it. I wrote you cannot unmount it without affects to apps stored on the card.


text:
What is the catch with microSD cards that have NFC support and will my Xiaomi Mi A1 support it?
I recently bought myself a Xiaomi Mi A1. Because it has a microSD card slot I'd like to buy a card. I noticed that some have NFC. Is it worth It? Is this real NFC or just a gimmick feature to buy such cards?
Will my A1 with Oreo recognize it and enable it or do I have to use apps to get this working, if this purchase would make a sense?
An example of the card.

The card you linked is an SD card, not a micro-SD card. You can't use a normal SD card in your phone.

My mistake, sorry-

Mi A1 does not have NFC support. See specs here so it doesn't make a difference what card you buy. How you plan to use the card (external storage or adoptable-storage ), what you plan to store on it are important factors in deciding which card to buy. See  second question linked below for help
I am using a Samsung card and it is recognised. You don't need to use an external app
Related

Is it possible to add the NFC to the phone which does not have it?
What is the minimum MicroSD speed necessary to extend the storage of an Android phone?


text:
Moto G5 Plus with Square or PayPal chip reader?
Square doesn't provide any compatibility information for this phone, and PayPal doesn't provide phone-specific compatibility information at all.
Does anyone have evidence that this phone works with a CHIP reader (not interested in swiping)? I suspect that the Square and PayPal Bluetooth (not earphone jack) readers work, but can't find hard evidence.

Yes, they should work with your phone.
Squire:
This device is compatible with the Moto g5 plus according to squire compatibility page
PayPal:
According to the devices compatibility page, it works with any Bluetooth enabled phone that runs Android 4.0 or higher, and has the PayPal here app.
According to Gsmarena, the Moto G5 Plus is running Android 7.0 and higher, and has Bluetooth access.
Put the two together, and it should work.
Just double check that the PayPal here app is compatible with your phone, by finding it in the play store, and check if it allows you to download it.
Strangely, on the compatibility page it mentions that the phone has to have an earphone jack, even though this is a Bluetooth device. (But that's still not a problem being that your phone has an earphone jack anyway)


text:
problems with SDCard after partitioning
I'm using a rooted XPeria Z1c. Recently I got myself a bigger SDCard (128 GB) and I decided to use 2 partitions. I started 'adb shell' then partitioned the card using
sm partition disk:<disk_id> mixed 50

After disconnecting the phone I formatted the 2nd partion as exFAT. Windows' disk manager is showing me 3 partitions on the SD: one exFAT plus 2 more that obviously aren't recognized. One of those 2 is quite small (16MB in size), the other one has roughly the size I'm expecting it to have.
EDIT: formatting was done by the phone itself after I first inserted the freshly partitioned card, and I expected the format to be ext4.
My phone has no problems using both of the main partitions, so that's good.
On my PC I'm running a Linux device driver by Paragon enabling me to access extFS formatted sd cards an pendrives from Windows Explorer. But if I directly connect the card to my windows PC (using an SD card reader) only the exFAT partition is accessible. Apparently the other partition is not truly formatted as ext4.
I tried various adb / terminal commands to access that special partition and find out what it is but I can't really access it (fdisk, mount, cat, df, ...).
Can anyone give me an idea how to handle this? What file system could be used for my internal SD card if it's not ext4?
EDIT2: (after comment from @Izzy): I just created a new (smaller) SD card with just one partition and formatted as ext4. After inserting it into my phone I had to prepare and format it as internal storage. After that I pulled it off my phone again and examined it using my PC. Result: the ext4 partition is readable in Windows (through the Paragon driver) and it also has an extra 16MB partition. No idea whatsoever what this is used for...
EDIT3: doing some more experiments with my smaller sd card I think that @Izzy pointed into the right direction; might as well close this question

I suppose MTP simply doesn't share non-FAT partitions. At least that was the case back then with UMS (only FAT partitions where shared – and AFAIR only the first FAT partition of an SD card).

@Izzy: no, I'm not talking MTP here. What I mean is pulling out the SD and directly connecting it to my PC using an SD card reader which has way better performance than MTP. I've been doing this for a while now and never had problems with SD cards that have a single ext4 partition. Maybe I have to clarify that in my question... (btw: connecting my phone through MTP both partitions are showing!)

Thanks for the detail in the last sentence – I wasn't sure about this! // As to your problem (and thanks for the update in question and comment), let me make another guess: is the other "invisible" partition by any chance used as adoptable storage? In that case, the explanation might be that it's encrypted (follow the link to our corresponding tag-wiki for details then).

encryption is an interesting idea; I'll have look at it. - i nregards to "the other invisible partition" I'll put a few more details into my question - makes it easier for others ;)

Hm - yes that could well be the case; didn't know about the encryption part. Thanks for pointing out! If you put it as an answer I cuold accept and close this question

Done. As a bonus, I also solved your puzzle on the additional 16M partition :) As you cannot close the question, I'd say accepting the answer should suffice. We don't close questions just because they're answered. There always might come a newer, better answer :)

As it turned out, your partitioning was due to the fact you wanted to use adoptable-storage (and not, as one might assume, to use link2sd). As our adoptable-storage tag-wiki points out, adopted storage will be encrypted – not just the files on it, but the entire partition. That explains two things:

attaching the card to your PC using a card reader, the PC cannot read the partition without having the encryption details. As you didn't provide them to the PC, it could not "open" it
attaching the device via MTP however shows the partition fine on your PC, as the Android device has decrypted it

Remains the mystic 3rd partition. The small size suggests it's some "control partition". A good guess as it turns out: if you list the label, you will find it's called android_meta (while your adopted partition will be labeled android_expand) – which you can find out e.g. by a Google search for "sm partition disk" 16m. Quoting from this Oopsmonk article on how adoptable storage creation works:

It will create two partitions (android_meta and android_expand) for adoptable storage, the android_meta is a reserved space for feature use and android_expand is the external storage which is encrypted via dm-crypt.

With that last detail, your puzzle should be complete

just let me give a final comment to your very comprehensive answer: I'm running on LineageOS 14.1, i.e. Nougat, and I simply got tired of various apps giving me a hard time storing data on my sd card. So my solution was a) get a bigger card and b) split it into 2 partitions, one internal and one external. Would have been nice if I could have accessed my ext4/internal partition in the way described above.

@ElEm check the mentioned tag-wiki. If your PC runs Linux, there are ways to read the partition. But no easy ways. One of the reasons I avoid adoptable storage (some other reasons are you cannot easily take out the card at all without shutting down the system, and I have sufficient internal storage for my needs anyway :) Btw: Running LOS here as well :)


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It's been asked before about .andriod_secure folder and/or file, but why is this file dated 12/31/69 when the andriod system had not been invented?
.android secure folder or file in my memory card for my LG STYLO AND LG STYLO 3 PHONES date of file 12/31/69

When this got in my first phone (2015)and sometime in(2017) I found the file and it was fine until 11/14/17. Had to get a new phone 01/03/18 I found the file again after loading my memory card now it's in here. I hope it's not associated with a virus and/or malware. Also I'll be monitoring this in the future.

Probably just corrupted time stamp on your file system. So Android rewrote it to default Unix Time. Read about Unix time here (Unix Epoch is 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 UTC)


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How can I recover photos from my bricked Google Nexus 5X
My Google Nexus 5X has died on me all of a sudden. Screen went blank, then rebooted and seems to have gone into a "bootloop". That is, it shows "Google" followed by the "android" spinner animation which then goes black and back to the "Google" logo.
Do I understand correctly that the device is likely beyond (affordable) repair? My goal now is to extract from it the photos I've taken over the past couple of months.
Things I've tried so far:

When I press the "Power" and "Volume Down" buttons I can get the "Fastboot Mode" menu. But when I choose the "Recovery mode" option I'm shown the "No command" error screen.
I've also seen the device go completely black with a red led blinking at its bottom. So I've then connected it to its fast charger and was able to boot it correctly. Unfortunately that only lasts for a minute or two. If I connect it to my PC via cable and try to download the photos, it dies in the middle of copying.

Please let me know if there are other steps I can take to recover my photos.

Android doesn't allow you to access your storage unless you boot into your phone or have your bootloader unlocked. And if you unlock your bootloader, you lose all your stuff in that process. So if you really want your photos, you will have to go through the tedious process of booting your phone and copying images one by one until it reboots, rinse and repeat. If you remember your folder structure, its way faster to use ADB commands to pull all your images than doing copy paste. Use - adb pull /scard/my_family_photos pc_backup_folder

Do I understand correctly that the device is likely beyond (affordable) repair?

Fortunately, there is a fix for this infamous Nexus 5X bootloop issue. You need to disable all high performance a57 cores. Instructions for doing so are in this XDA thread
PS: Did you check photos.google.com? Maybe it has everything backed up on the cloud? Also, try contacting Google/LG regardless of your warranty status. You might just get a replacement device or a refurb.
Edit: One very unsafe and risky way is to let your storage be wiped while unlocking, apply the patch mentioned in the thread and use recovery apps like Undelete or Photo recovery to try to get something back. But this is very risky process and wouldn't work 100%
Another crazy hack is to put your phone in a plastic wrap, put it in freezer with the USB cable dangling out, connect to your laptop and try to copy your photos. It should give you 5-10 minutes before it starts rebooting. You can do this 3-4 times and get everything off your device. Don't let your device get moist though.


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Bootloader unlock failure "Command not allowed" of a Huawei Honor 6x
I have followed all instructions to unlock my Huawei bootloader, until the last instruction in the command prompt.
Some maybe useful information:

My computer runs windows 10
My phone is a Huawei Honor 6x (title)
I am using a charging cable to connect my phone to my computer

What I did so far:

Registered a Huawei account, and got my access code
Turned on USB debugging
Connected my phone and computer with a charging cable
Ran adb and fastboot
Opened Windows Powershell (I couldn't find command in the adb folder) and typed the following commands:

adb reboot bootlader
fastboot oem unlock 2**************1

It produces an error message that says:

Also, my phone should say "unlocked", but it still says "locked".
Any ideas on why the command is not allowed?

After turning on developer settings did you turn on Allow OEM unlocking option?

Thanks so much! I tried that now, and it seems to be working fine! One last question, do you know any good softwares to be able to root my phone?

Search for Magisk and see if it is compatible with your phone (most likely it should be). You should also try to flash TWRP recovery first.

Uhh... What's the point of unlocking your bootloader in the first place? That's right, installing custom recoveries and rooting from there.

You can try:
fastboot oem get-bootinfo to make sure that it is unlocked or not.

It is because Huawei has completely terminate the unlock code application service on July 25th, 2018.
You can refer to the following link where Huawei has officially mentioned it.


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Is it possible to transfer an apk from my mac to my android phone via Bluetooth?
I only want to transfer from mac to android, not reverse and also achieve this via Bluetooth. Open to install any app on android
Thanks

Yes, you can send files over Bluetooth. By default, android doesn't allow to receive every file type (many phones don't have this issue) so just rename the apk and add another acceptable extension like .jpg or .mp3 in the end. The Android phone should be able to receive the apk just fine. Now open the bluetooth folder and delete the added extension and you have your apk ready to install.


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App exits on its own if certain permissions are denied. Any way to prevent?
Some jerk apps, if certain permissions are denied to them, exits on its own. This forced the user to grant permission to use, which contradicts with appops' intention.
Is there a way to prevent such apps from accessing real data without letting them quit automatically?
I know XPrivacy is a good Xposed module, but it doesn't run on Android 7


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I need help recovering vital data from a corrupted sd card formatted as internal memory with the phone off
This will be my first post on a stack exchange site, so please excuse any mistakes I make if possible.
[This first paragraph is backstory of sorts; not really important]
My father's phone's SD card recently became corrupted. Neither him nor I know the reason as to why. I did not know what was on the card, so I made no attempt to immediately rescue any data. A while later, his phone began spontaneously rebooting for no obvious reason after being used for a short amount of time -- again, neither of us know why this has happened. I afterwards found out that this SD card contains vital information relating to the medical treatment of a family member.
Assuming it is possible, how would I go about recovering data from a corrupted SD card which was previously formatted for internal storage without having the phone on? In this case, the phone is able to boot into recovery fine, and is able to actually start up for a short period before it appears to crash.
The phone is a Blu Life One X2 64gb internal storage with a now corrupted 64gb SD card formatted as internal storage.

If the SD card was formatted as Adopted (internal) Storage recovery of this data is only possible if the device was rooted prior the SD card being adopted and you have access to the device in a functional state... If you can't satisfy both requirements then your data is not recoverable, at least not in our lifetime, if fifty supercomputers that could check a billion billion (10↑18) AES keys per second (if such a device could ever be made) would, in theory, require about 3×10↑51 years to exhaust the 256-bit key space to brute-force hack the data.
If the devices was rooted and functional, it's easy, and that information is available in multiple other questions here. The key component to these solutions is you must access the encryption key from the device, which requires the device be functional and fully rooted, have a Linux computer with a microSD card reader, and a bit of Linux terminal knowledge.
The rooting must have occurred prior to adopting the SD card as internal storage though, because for most modern devices rooting requires unlocking the bootloader, which also wipes all data in the device including the encryption key.
Without access to the encryption key from the device, the data is not recoverable by any known method. Be aware that even if you happened to get the encryption key somehow and if the data is actually corrupted in the card, recovery of any data will likely be impossible.
Advice for the future: Don't use adopted storage (internal storage) unless it is absolutely required for the device to function as you wish, meaning it would likely have very little internal storage (less than 8GB or possibly 16GB), as adopted storage puts very high read-write usage on the card which can causes it to fail unexpectedly, a situation which is quite common as you have experienced. SD card expansion can still be added and used as Portable Storage (external storage) and can be used to store pictures, documents, music, and other files and data, this usage is not encrypted and can be read in any compatible device.


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Disable backlight and permanently show ambient display using root?
I own a Rooted Nexus 5x on the Pixel^2 8.0.0 ROM, and when I saw a real Pixel 2 on its charger at night I noticed that it didn't have "backlight" on (black was actually black) and it permanently showed the ambient display.
I don't see a settings option for this, can I turn it on using root?

It's called Always On display and you ideally shouldn't be using it on your Nexus 5X because its an LCD screen, not AMOLED like Pixel. You can flash a different ROM which has this feature or if you have Android 8.1, it's already baked in all devices just needs to be manually activated. Follow this XDA article
You need to install Andromeda Substrantum on your phone. Download Pixel Enabler or Always-on-enabler subtrantum theme and install it.

Alright, so I don't want to burn my screen (I didn't realize that until now) but can I still turn off the backlight so the Adaptive Display doesn't light up at night?


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Firefox Focus crashes after uninstalling Google WebView
I uninstall Android System WebView with adb shell using the following commands.
pm uninstall com.google.android.webview
pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.webview

Now, when I launch Firefox Focus and type any website to visit, it crashes and shows the warning, but the normal Firefox Browser works without any issue.

Question: Though Play Store shows "Android WebView is a system component powered by Chrome", does Firefox Focus (FF) depend on that Android WebView? Can FF be run without WebView as normal Firefox?

TL;DR: As of Oct 2018, FireFox Focus now uses the GeckoView engine for rendering
TL;DR: Yes FireFox Focus depends on the Android System WebView with plans to switch to GeckoView when its ready. So NO you can't remove the Android System WebView and expect the app to work (as of Jan 2018).
So Firefox Focus is an open source project:
https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/focus-android
Looking at the project, there isn't much code there but does pull a library called:
geckoview-latest.arr
From what I can tell from this mailing list post (after following a few links from the main page README):
https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/firefox-focus-public/2017-October/000018.html
and this issue:
https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/focus-android/issues/13
states that the team started the Firefox Focus project using Android's WebView while waiting for GeckoView to reach Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1322573
The fact that not everything in the Depends On list is crossed off means that GeckoView is a work in progress.

Thanks for the GitHub link. I find the dependency in AndroidManifest.xml. Can I remove the dependency from APK file of FF?

The last line in the AndroidManifest.xml is only for opt-out yes/no for sending metrics back to Google. The app will NOT work without Android System WebView. You may want to read through the links I provided to get context.


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What is this icon that looks like a battery with recycle symbol inside it?
I see this battery with recycle symbol icon to the left of the alarm icon for about 3 days.

I'm afraid it's a malware app. I tried to find it but couldn't. Also, Bitdefender anti-virus says your phone is safe.
What is this icon? How can I find what the icons shown in notification bar are for?

It is the Power saving mode active notification icon on Samsung devices. Find out more at Android Central.
Answer to second question: Just swipe down from screen-top. You can see notifications, tap on it, it will open that application. This link shows list of major  notification icons for Samsung devices.

It is a Power saver icon. If you want to disable it, just go to settings and disable power saver.


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How to export data usage stats?
I am able to see the stats generated by Android at Settings>Data Usage for cellular data and wifi both. Is there any way to export these stats?
I don't think android has any option for the extraction. I know apps which track data, but they wont give me historical data.
Where is this data stored, maybe, I can extract it from there.
My phone is Moto G5S, running 7.1.1, not rooted.

adb shell dumpsys netstats detail full - I don't think they are stored for ever. batterystats.bin gets refreshed on reboot / full charge

Please ignore the storage part and what follows after that. Somehow I was thinking of battery stuff

See this for where it may be stored

You can save data usage recordings using an ADB command like the following:
adb shell dumpsys netstats detail full > data_usage.txt

If you are interested in the data usage of a specific application, you can find its identifier (which is used in the above recordings) using a command like the following:
adb shell dumpsys package com.example.application | grep userId


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Set encryption password for booting on OnePlus 5?
How do you set a custom encryption password on the OnePlus 5 and make the system prompt for the password on boot?
The OnePlus One made this easy, but I can't figure out how to do it on the OnePlus 5.
(Otherwise what is the point of encryption if the device automatically decrypts itself?!?!)

I was trying to do this too, but it seems like this is by design as seen at  oneplus forum.
Apparently nothing gets decrypted after boot until you enter your pin/pattern but it's still a bit disappointing if you want the phone to not even boot without authentication.


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XIAOMI Mi A1 LTE bands - User manual or website is right?
Situation:
Live in Spain, moving to Argentina. Buy a new Xiaomi MI A1, on the website it lists support to LTE B4 (main band in Argentina).
Get the phone, open the box which says GLOBAL Version, but user manual's LTE band support list does not say B4.
I ask XIAOMI, the reply is "ignore the manual" (see screenshot, in spanish but pretty clear)
Any way to know which info to rely on? I will send it back if it does not support B4.

As per GSM Arena Website: These are the bands of Xiaomi Mi A1 Global Version.
2G bands    GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
3G bands    HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
4G bands    LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800), 38(2600), 40(2300)
Also, with GSM Arena's Network Coverage section in Argentina says about these bands:
2G capabilities :GSM 850, GSM 1900
3G capabilities : UMTS 850, UMTS 1900
4G capabilities : LTE 700(28), LTE 1700(4), LTE 2100 (4).
LTE 2100 is listed as Network coverage and Mi A1's band


text:
How can I trust ROMs?
My device is a few years old (it's a Wiko Ridge 4g) and the last official update was Lollipop 5.0.2. This means I can't get security patches anymore, and the recent Meltdown and Spectre attacks made me think about how bad that is.
From what I have read if the manufacturer does not provide updates I have to get a custom ROM, downloaded from somewhere, or give up and get a new device. I am not opposed in principle to flashing a ROM but how can I trust the source (and the tools)?
Background: I am a software developer but know next to nothing about the whole mobile ecosystem.

Although a developer could in theory insert their own malicious code into a ROM, the source is openly available for most 3rd party ROMs so you could examine it or build it yourself. That said, I have never heard of a custom ROM that has been purposely infected with malicious software, data mining, key loggers, etc. TBH, your device is probably less secure because of custom recovery or an unlocked bootloader than any custom ROM. As far as who to trust, this comes down to peer review, check the forums for your device and read what others have said.

"Trust" is a small world for a large field. You have to look at each variant individually:
Trust that the custom ROM does not brick your device or destroy smartphone components
The more people use a specific custom ROM, the more likely all serious problems are known and may be even already fixed. For that reason, I personally prefer LineageOS-based ROMs without any modifications (or the minimum to support the specific device).
Trust that the custom ROM does not contain malware
I assume that purposely infected ROMS are very unlikely. Most custom ROMS are created by experienced developers that are active for years. Publishing an infected ROM would result in a loss of reputation for such people. As a lot of users use their ROMs rooted, the chance is high that the infection would be detected. Therefore (as long as the developer account has not been hacked), infected ROMs are unlikely.
However, I would recommend to check the history of the author and only use popular ROMs from XDA-Developers or better those directly provided by Lineage OS.
Tust that there are no backdoors or similar
Custom ROMs contain a lot of compiled code. Especially the kernel and other sensitive software running with high privileges is usually compiled by the author. Even if the sources for the kernel used by the ROM are public (and is free of backdoors and so on), it is a common problem to prove that the source code is really the one used to build the kernel. Detecting something malicious in a kernel or a different compiled software is very problematic.
Again, you have to trust the author of the custom ROM...
Trust that the all security features work as intended
The main factor of security is that some actions are forbidden/denied for certain entities. The usual testing approach of custom ROMs is "it works for me". Therefore, I assume that most of the security features are not well-tested in custom ROMs. If something goes wrong in the build process, it may remain undetected for a long time.
One common problem for example is that custom ROMs are signed with AOSP private key (which is public). Therefore, it is easy for malware developers to sign an app with the system keys to gain special system permissions.


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Does disabling mobile data when I'm connected to wi-fi conserve battery?
I always do this out of habit, but it recently occurred to me that Android might be clever enough to automatically turn it off when I've got wi-fi access. Is it?

eh @beeshyams – missing a "no" somewhere? :)

Connecting to WiFi automatically disables mobile data on most phones, so turning it off manually does not save your battery. There are some phones which have a "turbo download" mode, that uses both WiFi and data to download files faster, however most phones don't have it.


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Is erasing the `misc` partition a solution to automatic/unnecessary boot into TWRP after having installed LineageOS 15?
I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I'm unable to find a good answer that I can understand, so bear with me:
I've recently installed TWRP & LineageOS 15 on my Moto G5 (cedric), although I'm sure I messed the process up a bit, because I had almost-bricked my phone in the meantime and don't really understand how I solved it either. Now everything is working again, except for the fact that when I (re)start my phone, it automatically boots into TWRP instead of LineageOS. The way I boot into LineageOS anyway, is to tell TWRP to reboot into the bootloader (or go to the bootloader directly with the volume key trick), and then from the bootloader I use 'start'.
A possible solution that I've found on the internet involved changing / erasing the misc partition, as it would be responsible for directing a boot to either TWRP or LineageOS. However, other google results tell me that erasing misc could gravely upset your phone.
The main question is: Is it correct that zero-ing the misc partition is a solution to this boot issue, as the possible solution states? Or is it misleading and the boot issue is probably something else entirely?
Here's the hexdump of the current contents of my misc partition (the result of first copying it to my computer with dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/misc of=/storage/FE84-1705/misc.img and adb pull ..., and then running hexdump -C misc.img):
hexdump -C misc.img
00000000  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
00000800  62 6f 6f 74 2d 72 65 63  6f 76 65 72 79 00 00 00  |boot-recovery...|
00000810  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
00000840  72 65 63 6f 76 65 72 79  0a 2d 2d 77 69 70 65 5f  |recovery.--wipe_|
00000850  64 61 74 61 0a 2d 2d 72  65 61 73 6f 6e 3d 77 69  |data.--reason=wi|
00000860  70 65 5f 64 61 74 61 5f  76 69 61 5f 72 65 63 6f  |pe_data_via_reco|
00000870  76 65 72 79 0a 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |very............|
00000880  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
00001500  71 65 20 30 2f 30 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |qe 0/0..........|
00001510  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00001520  31 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |1...............|
00001530  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
00100000

And this is the result of running fdisk -l misc.img:
Disk misc.img: 1 MiB, 1048576 bytes, 2048 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Furthermore, I've installed TWRP 3.2.1-0-cedric and LineageOS 15.0-20171125_073252-UNOFFICIAL-cedric.

I went ahead and changed it anyway, and the answer is YES.
The qe 0/0 part has something to do with Motorola's way of assessing whether the phone is and/or has been rooted, and the last 1 I don't understand. I went ahead and used hexedit to remove only the boot-recovery and recovery.--wipe_data.--reason=wipe_data_via_recovery parts, then transferred and wrote the new image back to the misc partition; and now the phone starts up to LineageOS automatically.

Some comments for those who need (save your time to google):
What is the misc partition?

MISC - also FOTA on older devices
It's a tiny partition used by recovery to communicate with bootloader store away some information about what it's doing in case the device is restarted while the OTA package is being applied.
It is a boot mode selector used to pass data among various stages of the boot chain (boot into recovery mode, fastboot etc.). e.g. if it is empty (all zero), system boots normally. If it contains recovery mode selector, system boots into recovery mode.
It may also carry some necessarily required information in the form of switches to control hardware or settings related tasks such as CID (Carrier or Region ID) information and USB configurations etc.

Source: [INFO] ANDROID DEVICE PARTITIONS and FILESYSTEMS | XDA Developers Forums
Locating misc/fota folder
From TWRP terminal (or via adb shell):
ls -d $(find /dev/block -name by-name)/*

Windows equivalent of hexdump
Windows doesn't provide an equivalent command for hexdump. However, in PowerShell 5.0+, there is one with format-hex. Still, in my opinion hexdump is better.
Don't forget to backup
To create backup:
adb pull /dev/block/platform/soc/7824900.sdhci/by-name/fota fota.img

To restore backup:
adb push fota.img /dev/block/platform/soc/7824900.sdhci/by-name/fota

In my case it didn't work, so I restore it because only the OEM knows what it means


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Android Chrome browser - how to make it always open to BLANK page? And new tab open to blank as well?
When opening Chrome browser on Android (brand new Pixel 2 XL with no root or customization and with all latest updates), it goes to a cluttered page with the Google logo and a bunch of nonsense I'll never use. How do I get this to be BLANK when I open it, and that goes for new tabs as well?

Doesn't seem to be anyone out there who can answer this, so I'll post my workaround. Make a home screen shortcut to "about:blank". Using the Nova launcher, you can change the name to "Chrome" and the icon to be identical, and just use that to launch the app.
Unfortunately it still doesn't do anything for new tabs though. I mainly use Adblock Plus browser because Chrome is ridiculously notorious for pushing Google content, and will continue to do so until they add more options for control.

You can use kiwi browser and install Automa extension

Here's how to set it so that when you open chrome, it should go to a blank page.
Open chrome, press on the three dots found in the top right of the screen, go to 'settings' then, click on 'home page' enable the home page option, and change the home page URL to  about:blank just that, no www or anything.
This way, when you open chrome and you don't have previously opens tabs, you will get a blank page instead of the default one.
According to AndroidPolice there is no way to have the new tab open in a blank page, but he does mention some workarounds that might suit you.

There is no "home page" under settings.

@BuddyZ just found that the home page option is not available in pixel phones!!? https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/5d6f2z/cant_figure_out_how_to_set_a_homepage_on_chrome/ really not sure why it wouldn't be there.

I finally figured it out. Even if you have the default website set, when you open Chrome, it gets stuck on another website that opens up.

If you open Chrome, you have to hit the "house shaped" button on the upper left and that will take you to the home page.
In order to get your Chrome to open to the home page, you need to delete all of your tabs. To do this, make sure you are on the home page, and then click on the box on the upper right side. There should be a number in that box, that is the number of tabs open.
Then click on the hamburger symbol (a line of 3 dots on the upper right) and you will see "close all tabs". You will only see this after clicking the tab box first and then clicking the 3 dots.
Now your Chrome will open to your default home page.

I was racking my brain trying to figure how why it wouldn't open to default. It's the multiple tabs open!


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can't install APK on Android device running kernel version 3.10.49
I am trying to install the Android Terminal Emulator by Jack Palevich (https://github.com/jackpal/Android-Terminal-Emulator)
I have tried installing various versions of this application, including this fork: https://github.com/dvhh/Android-Terminal-Emulator
I am unable to install the application on my Android device running kernel version 3.10.49 (jenkins@80b25755b68d #1 Fri Aug 18 23:17:19 JST 2017)
When running from the device, I get an error saying installation from unknown sources is forbidden (even though unknown sources are enabled in the settings)
Installation through adb reveals the real error:
>adb install C:\term-release.apk
C:\term-release.apk: 1 file pushed. 2.7 MB/s (572662 bytes in 0.199s)
        pkg: /data/local/tmp/term-release.apk
Failure [INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_INCONSISTENT_CERTIFICATES]

Device is a Kyocera DuraXE flip phone.
I have Googled this error and tried every solution I found.

I cannot uninstall and reinstall the app because the app is not installed to begin with
I have made sure unknown sources are enabled
I have tried rebooting the device
There are no "overlays" running on the device that I am aware of. It's a brand-new phone fresh from factory.

I'm at a complete loss as to what to do. I have also tried installing alternate software like termux but I get the same errors every time.
I tried running it on the device from Android Studio as well. Here is the result:
01/05 12:49:12: Launching Term
$ adb push C:\Users\myusername\ApkProjects\Term\Term.apk /data/local/tmp/jackpal.androidterm
$ adb shell pm install -t -r "/data/local/tmp/jackpal.androidterm"
    pkg: /data/local/tmp/jackpal.androidterm
Failure [INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_INCONSISTENT_CERTIFICATES]

$ adb shell pm uninstall jackpal.androidterm
DELETE_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR
Error while Installing APK

It gives me a pop up saying there was an error installing and to try uninstalling the package, but when I click OK i get "DELETE_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR", probably because the app isn't actually installed.
At a complete loss what to do

So just an update, it appears that this particular model of phone comes with a custom version of Android that Kyocera have basically restricted installation of all 3rd party apps on. I don't know of any way to bypass this restriction. If anyone does, please let me know.


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Restrict app network access on Android Oreo
Two days ago, I got android oreo 8.0 update for my xiaomi mi A1 phone which is a device based on Android One. But one of the features which I loved the most before Oreo was complete control of network access for specific apps. When I was using nougat, I could completely allow or block network access to certain apps in both mobile and wifi networks separately. But after oreo update, that option is gone. I can now only disable the background data usage but can't block the network access of an app completely. Even if i set the wifi network as metered one and disable background network access of an app, it still uses the network and keeps consuming my data.
It's kind of disappointing how the developers gave us super granular control over notifications but removed a very useful feature, at least for me, which was already there in nougat. For those who don't know about it, the option is available in data usage section, when you tap the three dots in upper right corner, two options come up. One is mobile network and other was app network access. Unfortunately, it's not there anymore in Oreo.

Although, I found a solution, a temporary one. I started using no root firewall app from play store and it did the work but it has limitation. It creates its own vpn to pass the network data for the specific app. As long as it's running, your choice of allowing or blocking network access for a certain app will be as per your choice. But what if i use a paid vpn service, which I do, the vpn created by no root firewall app will get disconnected as you can't run two vpn simultaneously in phone and your network access choice for apps won't work anymore. Well that's unfortunate, isn't it! If you haven't tried this yet, try it once.

I could do this without no root firewall app on nougat but I have to use this app on oreo
The built-in option for network access control was good but i don't know why they removed it. It's still there on xiaomi phones with MIUI but not on A1 as it's running on the android one. If any developer from Google is reading this then please restore that option back as it was in nougat. Also for MI A1 phone.
There are other issues also with Oreo on Mi A1. They say oreo has gotten more snappier and smoother but I think not more than it was in nougat. It's become more sluggish. I can't scroll through apps in a folder with smooth effect. I can almost see the lagging scroll, even the app drawer has a slight lag when it goes up or down. The battery backup has reduced than it was on nougat and most annoying, I can't remove the system notifications completely which keeps showing me apps running in the background. Well, I want it to run in background and I want their notifications but I don't need an extra notification badge telling me which are those apps, all I can do is snooze it but no more than 2 hours. The most annoying feature taking notifications space and good for nothing.
I think the lag and sluggish UI for A1 will be fixed later but the annoying notification and options for app network access really need some attention.
There are many more things but i hope it's already long enough. Sometimes, I regret updating to oreo. I don't need that picture in picture or super granular notification control which I could do it previously also on nougat. I could turn off notifications of an app completely. Whether I want or don't want, no need of giving options like marketing notifications, miscellaneous notifications, etc. I mean, most of the people don't even need such options. I just want that inbuilt app network access option in data usage section which would allow me to have complete control over network access of certain applications because sometimes I just want to go back to nougat but I think I can't do it without losing my data.
Thank you for reading.

Possibly that could be the thing why the Oreo update got delayed. Even the Moto X4 which launched way after Mi A1 got the update like 15 days early.

I'm exactly at your scenario (phone+feeling the same :/) but I think that google intentionally removed that option because of the ads, prior to this we could play any game or use offline apps ads free and still be online on social apps and getting notifications that is not on google interest.


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On formatting your phone where does all your media go that was previously placed in the vault?
I recently did a factory-reset on my android phone which cleared all the apps and the media files including the ones I had in applock vault. Upon reinstalling the application appLock I could not find the media I uploaded there so I just want to know where these media files from the vault go and if there is a way to recover them?
Thanks in advance

If this is the app that you used, then according to their FAQ (found in the app details in play store) the images are not stored online, and therefore were deleted during your factory reset. there is no easy way to restore them.

Are my hidden files stored online?
  No. Your files are stored only on
  your device, so please make sure to backup all your hidden files
  before transferring to new device or factory reset


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How do I sync Exchange contacts & calendar in Oreo?
I'd like to sync my work contacts and calendar to my phone, but the option to add an Exchange account appears to have been removed in the version of Android I'm using (Nexus 5X running 8.0.0).
How can I do this? I'm not looking for a standalone app, I want something that will sync with the built-in dialer & calendar, like CalDAV-Sync does for a CalDAV account.
I've tried installing Exchange Services from APK Mirror but that didn't change anything.

So I've run into the same problem. Any solution to this by now?

Microsoft Outlook now has the capability of syncing contacts. It's a heavyweight solution for just that feature.
I haven't found a way of doing calendars directly. If this is a cloud based exchange server that supports sharing calendars via iCal, it's possible to add that to a third-party calendar provider, then sync that to Android.


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How to download and emulate the official android x86 image from Android Studio?
Android studio downloads x86 images from google and emulate them so I can test my apps. I tried downloading and unzipping the thing it downloads but it doesn't look like an image that can be run with virt-manager.
Which images are downloaded by Android Studio and how can I emulate them in Ubuntu?

Your question is not clear enough. Are simply looking for a way to Android virtual device via Android studio on linux ? You want to know the files downloaded by Android studio needed  to run the official images?

@xavier_fakerat I want to emulate the images that android studiio downloads. I've managed to download the zip files, but they contain more than a simple ISO image, I don't know how to run

androidx86? Isnt that a desktop OS? Just run it in a VirtualBox, You'll have to google its setup i cannot remember off the top of my head.

@DanBrown but I need the official android images

If I understand correctly what you want achieve, this has been documented pretty well on SE sister sites:
Firstly assuming you have successfully installed Android studio, it needs the following files to successfully run an AVD:

sdk tools
build tools
platform tools
system-images
sources etc

(You may download these separately as zipped files, but make sure to extract in the correct directory)

In case you haven't got Android studio (or standalone sdk manager) up and running, you may need to get started by following these posts on sister sites:

Stackoverflow: How to install Android SDK on Ubuntu?
AskUbuntu: Complete Installation Guide for Android SDK / ADT Bundle on Ubuntu

Unlike on Windows, you can simply access avd manager using command-line i.e open terminal ( CTRL + ALT + T) and type android avd to open the Android Virtual Device Manager.
Configure your virtual device to suit your needs, click start and from here you can launch your AVD

My idea was to run it independently of Android Studio and maybe from SDK. If it's a x86 image, then why I can't simply run on KVM? Is there a way?


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How to lock the screen to remain vertical/portrait?
When screen rotate lock is off, the screen on my tablet has four possible orientations: A, B, C, and D, as illustrated below:

I know that it is possible to lock the screen to one orientation -- A or B or C or D -- by deselecting the screen rotation icon in the Notifications pulldown:

But I want to lock the screen so that it is always in either the A or the C orientation (vertical/portrait), and never in the B or D orientation (horizontal/landscape).  In other words, I want the screen to always be oriented vertically, but still respecting the particular vertical orientation (gravity).
Is this possible?
You might wonder why I want to do this -- I am physically disabled, and it would (really help me out if this were somehow possible.  I'm running Android 7.1.1 on a Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2017).)

It looks like the app called "Ultimate Rotation Control" will do what you are asking. Here's the link:
Ultimate Rotation Control

+1 just for mentioning this particular app.

To lock your screen to have always (vertical/portrait) install and use
Screen Rotation Control  available on the Play store
here


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What data can be retrieved from a broken discarded tablet
I had a Lenovo Tab 2 A7-20F, purchased in August of 2016, one of if not the cheapest model for around £50.
It began to fail here and there and I decided to get rid of it.
I started by smashing it in order to make any data unusable, but it was making a mess so I wrapped it up in a thick layer of freezer bags so as not to cut myself - and decided to think later about what to do.
I have recently thrown it out by accident and bins have since been emptied. Not in recycling or anything, just a regular dust bin.
I'm now a little concerned about my Wi-Fi password which was saved on it but is quite some hassle to change.
The tablet was totally unusable, screen smashed up, and I think the tablet had started to split right through. Does changing my Wi-Fi password sound unhealthily cautious ?
Now, assuming that all data inside is retrievable, and given that I only ever logged into anything in incognito mode, should I worry about other passwords ?
Finally, I have logged out of my Google account on that device thanks to that feature of Google's online services, but might the password still be in my tablet ?
Thanks

With forensic efforts data might be restored. But be honest: if you find a totally smashed cheap tablet like that what you described, would you take the pain? I very much doubt that. It's not an easy task if the device is in the state you describe – so either one hires professional help for some thousands of bucks – or has the equipment and spends days or weeks on that without knowing whether it's worth it. Unlikely to happen (but not impossible of course).

Well I don't know what physical space the internal memory actually takes inside  the tablet, I have no idea about whether it is actually broken. If it's large then I assume it is damaged at least in some places but if it is small then maybe not

With today's chip sizes I don't assume it's very large (not more than an inch in each direction). But the thing is: the "finder" sees a totally wrecked cheap "piece of junk". Nobody would assume "useful data" on something like that – and not take above described efforts for a one per million change of finding something intetresting. To be on the safe side next time: do a perfect wipe (overwriting everything with garbage) before you smash your hardware :)

Alright, thanks, so would you say that access to sb's email address would generally not be considered worth it ? It's cause I heard they send that kind of trash to countries in Africa where criminal gangs retrieve data from allegedly broken stuff.

As I said: the effort to retrieve those data from a device damaged like this isn't worth the data one would expect on such a low-end device. Sure one can sell addresses and passwords. But the pay for that is far below the effort – and that IMHO holds true even for those "cheap crooks". It's no guarantee, though – it's just very, very unlikely to happen. Especially as the device first had to be dug out from some garbage dump.


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Accessing the menu button using only a mouse
I got my first tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2017), running Android 7.1.1).  I am physically disabled, and I'm unable to actually touch the screen.  But I can use a computer mouse, so thanks to Android's support for mouse control via a USB OTG cable, I'm able to use the operating system and do most everything.
One thing I haven't found in the operating system, though, is a Menu button like this:

My tablet does have a physical/hardware Menu button -- the button to the left of the home button -- like in this photo:

But since I can't press physical buttons on the tablet, I want to access the Menu with the mouse only, in the operating system.  Is this possible?

Doubling those hardware buttons to software buttons would help, do I understand that correctly? If so, you could check with my list of apps to Edit Key Settings. Assistive Touch sounds like a candiate, promising e.g. virtual back+home buttons (just forget about that RAM booster included). If your device is rooted, you'd have some additional possibilities.

@Izzy Correct, doubling the hardware buttons to software buttons would help so much!

Thought so :) Were you able to try one of those apps? Did any work out in the desired way? Feel free to write up an answer then though the idea was mine (you could of course mention that fact) and accept it.


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SD card gets different name at every format
Every time I format the SD card, or install new ROM., or move it to another phone, it comes with a different label
Something like
410E-1D17 or FEA7-1EF1 or BD05-14A1
How do I stop this mess and make it consistent ?
Its screws up all apps that rely on the absolute path
Does it happen only on Xperia phones ?
Android M

No you can't stop it from changing.
First you should know it's not the "name" for an SD card (technically "volume"). Even worse, "name" is an ambiguous term here. You should either use "product name" (for hardware) or "volume name/label".
This is, in fact, "Volume Serial Number". It's a 32-bit integer so you see it represented with 8 hexadecimal numbers. It is subject to change whenever you format it.
As beeshyams noted, you may be able change it with command line utilities from rooted Android (you can always do so in a GNU/Linux system). To obtain the correct utilities, you should download Termux, and install a package named mtools in it:
apt install mtools tsu

Then follow this guide and run
tsu
mlabel -i /dev/block/xxx -N XXXXXXXX ::label

I haven't tested it but I'm afraid it isn't an easy job to do on Android. Better grab a Linux computer :)

Improving iBug's answer: Windows applications "AOMEI Partition Assistant" can edit "Volume Serial Number".


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Are modified boot images for rooting OS specific?
I'm trying to figure out how to root Oreo on Nexus 6P
The guides I was able to find are all Marshmallow (6.0) specific, and include requirements for 3 files: (1) Modified boot image, (2) TWRP recovery and (3) SuperSU
Obviously, the latter two are OS independent and I simply get the latest versions.
But can I use the same modified boot image for Oreo 8.0/8.1 as I did for Marshmallow 6.0? Or do I need OS specific modified boot image?

Sure you do. Not sure if that's still the correct way to go though, I think Oreo pretty much denies SuperSU. Look up Magisk.

Boot.img has the kernel
 and ramdisk
 in it (linked answers explain what they do). They are the  first components that boot your device and subsequently OS comes into picture
Some reasons not to flash the boot.img meant for one OS on to another OS:

Hardware is usually different and so are the drivers for it. Which means hardware components may fail to function in the absence of drivers. Worst case, your device may be unusable (say your display drivers don't work)
Security Kernels are updated with latest security patches and flashing older kernel would make you vulnerable
Encryption In the instant case you are talking of Marshmallow and Oreo. They have major differences in the way OS boots and in the way encryption is done. Marshmallow has Full Disk Encryption which has been replaced by File encryption from Nougat onwards. See this for details. So your device likely would fail boot

These are few things that are on top of the mind. In short don't


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SMS/MMS database location?
I'm trying to pull SMS messages from an old Nandroid backup, but need to find the database before I can. I found an article listing its location in Kitkat, but can't find anything for Nougat/Oreo. (Or even Marshmallow for that matter.)
Anyone happen to know where the files for SMS/MMS messages are actually stored?

While for Android 6 and 7 the DB with SMS data is located under

/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony

on my LineageOS 15 (Oreo) the file has been moved under

/data/data/com.android.messaging

and renamed to bugle_db
Oo

/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

Thank you!  (Although on my Oreo phone it's actually mmssms.db)  I just couldn't track it down, for some reason even FIND wasn't finding any DB containing 'sms' in the filename.

If you have Mokee rom this is the location:-
data/data/com.android.messaging/databases/bugle_db
Copy it using some root file browser(ES explorer/Amaze file manager) and rename it to bugle_db.db

I am sorry, this doens't really answer the question. You didn't specify which Version of Android the Mokee rom is based on. He specifially asked for the location of the sms database on recent Android version. Since the question it has been asked about 9 months ago I doubt it's even still revelant.

Mokee rom has many version(Marshmallow to Oreo), I am personally using Nougat and path of the database given above, it may help somebody


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Install GMS core Packages on brand-new Huawei
Like some people here before me, I have problems installing GMS core packages on my brand-new Huawei that I bought some weeks ago in China. (EMUI 5.1, Android 7.0, Model number TRT-AL00A, Build Number TRT-AL00AC00B210)
I read through some of the posts here and in other forums, but whenever I tried to install the downloads, I got an error message. (I need to admit, I am not a very tech-savvy person..)
So I guess the main problem is that my Huawei version is simply too new - is that correct? :O Has anyone encountered similar problems or discovered a solution?
Thanks for your consideration!
All the best,
Tobias

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! To install GApps, they need to be "flashed" to the system partition (or you need root powers to place them manually). For details, see e.g. our google-apps tag-wiki. Alternatively, you could try microG, which is an open source alternative to the proprietary Google Services Framework.

You can use YalpStore instead of google play store:
https://github.com/yeriomin/YalpStore
https://github.com/yeriomin/YalpStore/releases
https://f-droid.org/packages/com.github.yeriomin.yalpstore
Just install the yalpstore zip as you would install a google zip.
Please do not use androidapksfree.com .
Apps from androidapksfree do not come directly via google and can therefore be maliciously modified, malware. Apps via yalpstore come directly and can't be modified.
Also distributing apps via other channels like androidapksfree can be considered a copyright infringement (= crime) - apps from yalpstore come directly from google and can only be considered "violation of google terms of service". This is far less than a crime.

GMS services have to be installed in /system.
To be able to install anything in /system, you have to either unlock the bootloader of your smartphone ('clean' way) or root your smartphone ('dirty' way).
After unlocking the bootloader, you need a recovery that can install the GMS zip package. I only know TWRP.
So:
1. Is your bootloader unlocked? Search google to find out:
- how to check if your bootloader is unlocked (on your device or similar devices)
- how to unlock it (search on your manufacturers website)
2. Do you have a recovery that can install zip packages? TWRP would be such a recovery. Search google to find out:
- how to boot into recovery on your device (to find out if a suitable one exists)
- how to flash a suitable recovery with fastboot ("flash recovery fastboot")
Good luck!

Currently the GMS Core installer is not compatible for HUAWEI {EMUI 5.1, Android 7.0) so you'll face problems when downloading the GMS Installer.
So if you want to install Apps like Whatsapp, Facebook and Messenger, you need to download the APK before installing them. The link as below:
https://www.androidapksfree.com/apk/whatsapp-apk-latest-version-download/
https://www.androidapksfree.com/apk/facebook-apk-latest-version-download/
https://www.androidapksfree.com/apk/facebook-messenger-apk-latest-version-download/


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How to make Note 8 screen dimmer?
The screen is still way to bright at it's dimmest setting at night. I don't want to use an app that places a filter with an opacity setting over the screen because it just makes the screen look crappy and just makes everything bright grey instead of actually lowering brightness very much.
Is it possible?

Not sure what that means. Can you point me in the right direction so I can learn more?

Sorry, for being cryptic. Gravity Box Xposed module is a very powerful tool and screen dimmer is an small portion and it works well. You can also integrate that with automation. There are other rooted tools but I found this best

I have an earlier Samsung phone which can use Llama, an automation tool which sets profiles that activate upon entry/exit to known areas, like Wifi seen/not seen. Your phone can most likely use it or a similar automation tool to do the same.
In Llama, I have set up a profile for nighttime (time range), plus my specific area, to lower volume and screen dim. Llama's settings allow screen dimming down to as little as 1% from its selector, with about a dozen settings to choose from.
Disclaimer: I am not the developer of Llama, just a satisifed user for many years.

Upvoted because I really like the application. Unfortunately though Llama's lowest setting for brightness is the same as me turning the brightness down all the way the normal way.

So far the best thing that I've found to help is just setting the background to black (and not black onyx or any other "mostly" black background). Obviously this doesn't help in applications, but the main source of light that I didn't like was from the home screen so this helped a little.


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Wipe system partition
When installing a custom ROM shouldn't we wipe system partition along with data, dalvik, and cache?
What are the differences with and without wipe?

You should. That is a "clean flash" and is normally recommended in installation instructions. This ensures that the ROM is written on a clean slate
At times, like in the case of "nightly" ROMs or some mods to ROM, /system is not wiped but written over the existing system called "dirty flash" (not even /data  or cache is wiped)
As a thumb rule, switching over from stock to custom ROM or from one custom ROM to another, clean flash is recommended. ROM chefs clearly mention this in instructions. Also, if you are upgrading to a higher version of ROM by clean flashing it (Thanks to Izzy who pointed this in comments)

Strictly speaking, a "dirty flash" is a flash were you don't wipe anything (i.e. not even /data). But your advice is correct: when switching between different ROMs, one should always do a "clean flash" (i.e. wipe /cache and /data, and best also /system) – also when doing a "major upgrade" to a newer Android version. In the latter case it might not always be necessary (there are even some OTAs performing a "dirty upgrade" – I've seen this e.g. on the Galaxy 7 Edge updating from MM to N), but it never hurts (except you've got to install/configure everything again).

@Izzy: thanks for adding useful inputs. I deliberately left out the dirty flash distinction to focus on the /system but added it now, as also higher OS bit. My upgrade to Oreo via OTA a couple of days back was also "dirty"

So if I upgrade from 6.0 stock to 7.1.2 lineage OS nightly I should do that with a clean wipe or a dirty wipe?I did that with both of them and I don't see any difference.

I am not familiar with Lineage but you would need to see the instructions. However, it is best to do a clean flash not to have problems. And problems may pop up later too, not visible immediately on dirty flashing


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6.5GB of internal storage is missing, how can I free it
I have a HTC Desire 510,
Android version 4.4.3, HTC Sence version 6.0 Software number 1.51.401.7 HTC SDK API level 6.25
When I go to storage I see:

Apps 3.56GB
Music 110MB
Photos & videos 60.82MB
Other 3.88GB
Available 400MB

I want to make more internal memory available.
When Clicking on more space (or selecting apps from the settings menu)
I see:

7.59GB / 8.00GB
Apps 1,21 GB
Gallery 47.74MB
Miscellaneous:  107MB

About 6.5 GB of memory use is not listed!
Does any one have an idea what that can be and how I can free it?
Extra information added on 2018-01-21 by request of: Izzy
I understand that the system also uses some internal storage.
The frustrating part is that the "missing" memory used to be less.
It seem something beyond my control is eating away internal storage.  I've followed the instructions at https://www.xda-developers.com/install-adb-windows-macos-linux to install adb and get the following result:
Filesystem            Size   Used   Free   Blksize
/dev                   432M   152K   432M   4096
/sys/fs/cgroup         432M     0K   432M   4096
/sys/fs/cgroup/memory: Permission denied
/mnt/asec              432M     0K   432M   4096
/mnt/obb               432M     0K   432M   4096
/system               2479M  1611M   868M   4096
/data                 4091M  3646M   444M   4096
/cache                 309M   256K   309M   4096
/devlog                 15M     9M     6M   4096
/fataldevlog            15M     8M     7M   4096

I'm fine with a system needing 2GB for other stuff.
What amazes me is the 3.5GB for data when I only have a few small app's installed.
When I want to do an ls for /data I get permission denied.
I've used SD Maid Storage analyzer.
It tells me /storage/emulated/0 has 3.6GB used / 3.9 GB capacity.
Clicking on it gives me only 534MB used.
More than 3GB is gone!
I really want to have it back because I can hardly update any app let alone install new ones.
With regard to the .data directory:
There is one other directory in it with a dozen of files with sizes in KB's (not even in MB's)

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts!  I've opened my answer with "the usual question". This is indeed almost a "frequently asked" one. See e.g.: Is some of my internal memory missing? // Why does my phone show less storage than it's supposed to? // Why the Galaxy has 25GB instead of 32GB (here it's also 6.5G "missing") – just to give a few examples (many more exist AFAIR).

The usual question. According to GSMArena, your device has 8 GB internal storage altogether – which is not only the /data partition (where your apps and user data are stored), but also includes the /system partition where the OS resides. Depending on manufacturer and device, the latter can consume up to 8 GB of your internal storage chip (usually devices with heavily modified GUIs such as Samsung's TouchWiz are the ones using the biggest sizes for that).
Though on a device with 8 GB altogether 6.5 GB for the /system partition sounds a bit much, that's the part excluded from your listings. To check how much is consumed by /system you can use a terminal app (or adb shell) to run the mount or df commands (the latter gives easier to read output sufficient here).
In addition to the two mentioned partitions, there're also other partitions consuming some space (e.g. /boot and /recovery), but they're usually rather small (much less than 100M in most cases) while not to be ignored in this context. For a full list, you can e.g. check with this XDA post (which unfortunately does not include sizes).
A more detailed discussion (also on the HTC Desire 510) can also be found at AndroidCentral, and give you additional clues.

@technetium May I suggest you integrate those 3 comments with your original question? There formatting will work again then as well, and the information gets readable. I vaguely remember some questions along the lines of something is secretly eating my internal storage; this one is a trifle old but can serve as starting point (e.g. follow the questions in the "linked" and "related" section).

Sorry for the late reaction. (Something else in my life had a higher priority) I've integrated my comments in the other directory. The only option in the question you link to that I did not try is a factory reset. I'd like to avoid that.


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Unable to change time in Android emulator: Alarm driver missing
I am running Android 4.4 (using custom a custom rooted system image) in the android emulator (from the command line). When trying to set the time via Settings > Date & time ("Automatic date & time" and "Automatic time zone" are disabled) i can set the time (the dialog appears and works), but the system clock is not updated.
Logcat says:
D/        ( 1206): Setting time of day to sec=1515250620
W/        ( 1206): Unable to open alarm driver: No such file or directory

What could cause the alarm driver to be unavailable/missing and how can i fix this?
Update: I have verified that /dev/alarm is missing -- is there any way to add the missing driver without having to recompile android?
Thanks!

Yes, but some compiling is needed for the driver. Just not the whole custom image.
You need to set-up a cross compiler.
Go to your .config file and set the kernel driver you want to compile to

=m

using the menuconfig command
By selecting 'm' for the kernel driver. This means ``module,'' meaning that the system will compile it, but not directly into the kernel, but as a loadable module."
Now you are ready to compile your specific driver using this make command.
make <ARCH= Path to arm-eabi- directory >  <path to the .c file of module>

Once compiled go grab the created .ko file. Copy it to

/system/lib/modules/

within your custom rooted system image.
Lastly, from the terminal emulator use the insmod  command to inject it in. So it would look like
su

mount -o rw,remount,rw /system

insmod /system/lib/modules/modulefile.ko

That should do it if you encounter any errors read them carefully incase the module is interdependent. Check the Dmesg logs for success or errors.
References:
https://source.android.com/devices/architecture/kernel/modular-kernels#loadable-kernel-modules
http://linuxdocs.org/HOWTOs/Kernel-HOWTO-4.html


text:
can i give root access to an app without root my phone?
i have a Wiko wim lite which cannot be rooted for whatever reason, however i wanted to give root access to apps like greenify or flux or even orwall, how can i do please?

No you can't.
Some apps like Greenify permit you to gain more functionality using adb commands (e.g. see this for Greenify). My device is presently not rooted but I use Greenify powered by these commands and it works well
This is not as powerful as root access but much better compared to vanilla version
These adb commands are not available for all apps as the developer needs to cater for this. It's better to search for  alternative apps that facilitate this and use them instead
Aside, some other apps that have this are Wakelock Detector Lite, Force Doze, Macrodroid (these are the ones I use )