text:
Marshmellow issue with large SD card as internal storage
(this was posted in the thread insufficient storage even with marshmallow sd card formatted for internal space and plenty of space which is a discussion about this same problem, but for some reason this got deleted... dont understand this.  Now I opened a new question)
Today I inserted a brand new 64GB fast SD card (Sandisk extreme U3) in my MotoG 2nd generation, as I was constantly hitting the internal storage barrier. I formatted it as "internal storage" also called Adopted storage I believe.
I was expecting to see a total size of 64 GB of "memory" to be available, and not having to bother anymore with choosing between internal mem and SD cards. So I am now still puzzled why I still see both separate, and still hit the limits on storage space... I thought Android would handle this fully in background, so the user would see 1 big memory. What I don't understand is that I still get the "not enough space" error and why then I would have to manually move apps or data between Internal memory...
When I check the storage, I see Android 2.5 GB, Internal memory 4.6 of 5.5 used, Sandisk SD card almost all free (58GB)
anyone can help ?

Apps can't be stored on SdCard. The only way to do that is rooting the phone and use apps like Link2sd or adopting SD card if you have Android 6+. Here is how to do it.

Thanks for the reply, but I DID "adopt" the SD card, like I clearly described in my first post.  I expected to see 1 large space, but that clearly is not the case.   So, I don think this "big new thing" on Android 6 is not really very useful.   I tried moving applications to the SD, but many cannot be moved

Than you done something wrong. Of course it shows as two different spaces, otherwise how would you know when apps are on SD card. What error you get when you try to move app. Did you migrated data on adopted card?

well, I expected that both storages would be managed in the background by Android, similar to a Win Swap file, where windows takes care of swapping between ram (internal storage) and disk (external storage, like my SD).

(sorry for the multiple messages, but each time I hit enter the message gets posted).  Yes, I did migrate my data (but minimal result: 250 mb).  I am not getting an error, but on many applications, I do not have the possibility to move it to SD.  Some yes (and those work) but many dont give the option to move

If you adopted it it should offer you moving for every single app. Provide a screenshot from storage menu in settings and open adopted space and take a ss, and addnit to question

http://i66.tinypic.com/124jzbp.jpg
Here are the 4 screen shots you asked (sorry, is in my local language, but you will recognize the format for sure).   upper left: all storage, upper right: SD card details, lower left: application now in Internal Memory but with the option to move it (genius scan as example), lower right: application where I do not get the possibility to move it (as most standard android things, but many other apps as well)

Well everything seems fine, I don' know why there isn't an option to move. As default you can't move preinstalled apps, those which are came with stock rom, but I don't think that uber was pre installed. However try cleaning all cache and rebooting, if that not help then format sd as external and adopt it again. If even after that there isn't option to move to adopted space for not pre installed apps, then it's probably up to software. Which device you own?

Moto G, 2nd gen with 8 GB internal mem only, hence why I wanted to expand my memory (was constantly hitting the limits)

I don't know then, as I said try formating it back to fat32 and adopt it again and than reboot. And are you sure that apps that cannot be moved are not system apps?

I tried reformatting back to normal SD card, reboot, and then reformatted the SD card as Internal storage (adopted).   Situation is exactly the same: several non-system apps do not offer the possibility to move.   Such as: Dropbox app, Tripadvisor app, K-9 mail app, GoPro app, Soundhound app, Uber app, etc....  for sure not system apps.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Android Nougat - Network Security Configuration for Charles Proxy
I recently update my device to Android Nougat and found that i'm not able to all content of the traffic on my charles proxy, and when I used marshmallow/Lollipop devices, I can still see what I want to see.
Based on this Android Security Config, We have the control of the certificates we want to trust for the application we own. ( we need to add this config file into manifest.)
How about other nougat applications (api>=24) ? How can I see other nougat applications' traffic content? is there a way to do so since we don't own the application, there is no way for us to trust certain self-signed cert.

If you want to to look at the network traffic there is still the possibility on a rooted device to use XPosed and one of the Anti-SSL modules (e.g. TrustMeAlready).
Unfortunately XPosed is currently only available for 32bit Android versions and most Nougat devices I have seen use Android 64bit.
Edit 2023-05: Nowadays you can use LSPosed instead. It works fine with Magisk in Zygisk mode.
Or if you want to investigate a regular app from AppStore you can modify and re-sign the app (e.g. via APKTool) - of course this only works for apps that don't have an integrity check.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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

sort: votes


text:
Are all Note 7 phones to be returned?
I have applied to court to return my Samsung Note 7 to the retailer who refused to take it back and return my money (a necessity in my country by law)
The court decided that an expert should decide if returning the phone is necessary or not.
Expert report said that my Note 7 is not up for recall by Samsung and therefore my demand was denied by the court.
I read it that all Note 7 phones should be returned but expert decided otherwise, stating that it only includes phones that are sold by Samsung and not retailers, and not all phones but only a subseries has this problem and my phone wasn't one of them.
Is he right? Not from the legal aspects but the tech part. I thought all Samsung Note 7s were possibly risky.

Call Samsung representatives to your rescue. The recall is as serious as it can be - Samsung is going as far as permanently disabling all N7s still in hands.

I agree with Andy here. I really don't know about any lists announced by Samsung about a subseries. For all I know, they are called back. Consumer protection laws of EU should protect your rights if you are from EU or a country that acts by European Human Rights Agreement. Since Samsung called the devices back, the device is obviously problematic. Try to contact Samsung if retailer is official. If not, if you can, object to court ruling and take it to Higher Court.

What country are you in?

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about legal issues and recalls, not Android use.

Samsung is pushing out Updates that disable the Charging ability of your phone so it becomes useless.
Samsung stated that every Note 7 should be returned regardless of the Place you bought it from. I would suggest that you contact Samsung about that problem and see if they can help.

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


text:
Why Changing Permissions For Some Systems Files is Not Allowed?
I have a rooted  tablet and while browsing my files, i came along this folder: (./0/android/data) in the internal storage ... lets say (X-plore file browser) has the folder: (./0/android/data/x-plore).
For some reason, i wanted  to change the permissions for that program, instead of giving it the permissions: (reading, writing, executing) ... it will be (reading & executing).
The problem is it says (process failed, some file systems do not allow changing permissions) using Root browser or ES File Explorer (both with root access).
1- Why it says i can not change permissions although i have the root access already ?
2- Why it refers to a folder of an external application [(./0/android/data/x-plore)] as a system file ?

On more recent phones, internal storage is mounted on a FUSE mount point. Here's the corresponding line from mount executed on my Nexus 6P:

/dev/fuse on /storage/emulated type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other)

FUSE only acts as an interface that translates the underneath actual filesystem. In Android's case, it's usually VFAT, exFAT or something similar, to guarantee readability under a variety of host OS. FAT and NTFS filesystems don't support granular file permissions under Linux-based OS - everything is pre-determined by how the drive was mounted, resulting in the default permission you see. This leads to Root Explorer throwing the error in the screenshot.
Note: I'm not exactly good at Linux, and have also learned quite a bit myself as I searched for materials that could answer this question, so feel free to edit and improve this answer with more professional ideas.


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How to prevent apps to become auto install without user interaction?
In my mobile some app automatically install without my any action. Some times thos apps are auto install even I already uninstalled them, but every time I uninstalled thos apps are automatically install in my phone after few hours.
OS. 5.1
software which automatically install :- Reos message and music.

Please give examples and your OS version, device details

@beeshyams question update. Os.5.1 and Reos message is automatically install


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How to move app to sd card when it is not possible?
Tap Application Manager. Select an app you want to move to the microSD card. If you don't see a Move to SD Card button, the app cannot be moved.
How to move these types of apps to sd card?

Which android version do you have?

And no apps can be moved to sd card without root + link2sd or adopting sd card if you have android 6+

on my Asus Zenfone 2, i formatted the micro sd with one partition adopted and second in fat32 and with Apps2SD or Link2SD i always got error "second partition not found".
I found that with the swiss-knife "Titanium Backup ★ root" it's very easy and it's working:
just keep my finger on the app i'd like to move and select "move to adoptable" et tah-dah: my app is moved on the adopted partition on sd.

You can download Link2SD and use it to transfer files. However, it requires your phone to be rooted.

Why is my answer downrated? It is wrong or something?

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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build.prop regeneration
I have tried to edit build.prop for on screen navigation keys, but, unexpectedly get cleared build.prop file and got saved. What can be done to regenerate file? Should reinstall zip should solve it? Or can I copy file(build.prop) by extracting from ROM zip.

build.prop file inside /system/build.prop is got cleared and saved.

The prop file is right there in the zip (/system/build.prop, same as the path on the phone) - you don't even need additional extraction tools to get it back.
Re-installation will also restore it, but at the cost of losing all prior modifications on /system that you made.

I have re-flashed ROM, working well.


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Why do widgets disappear after running out of battery?
After phone shutting down by running out of battery, when I start it again all the widgets disappear. At first I thought that this is a problem of my launcher (Apex), but even the native one (Trebuchet) lose all the widgets. They won't disappear if I shut down or reboot the phone as usual. Why is that?
Phone information:

OS: CyanogenMod 11
Model: Samsung GT-I9195
Launchers: Apex (free) and Trebuchet

Are you installing apps on your SD card? If so this is the main reason for this to happen. Apps having widget functionalities should be installed in phone storage . Some app even give you a small pop up saying
Widgets Functionalities might not work if you install this app in you external storage.
Hope This helped.

I forgot to add. No, I don't.

same here... I usually turn off the phone over night and when I power it back on the widgets are gone


text:
Access data on device with broken screen (Samsung Galaxy Ace 4)
The screen on my Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 broke (running Android 4.4) and I really, really wish to get all my photos and other data off it. The phone has a pattern lock screen as well as an additional PIN if the pattern is entered wrong. I've tried numerous methods:

I can turn my phone on, hear the startup sound, all the buttons work (even the two touch buttons for back and menu)
when I plug in my phone onto my PC, the device shows up but is empty - need to unlock the phone first.
Touch doesn't respond, so no vision and no touch => no way to normally unlock phone.
Galaxy Ace 4 does NOT support USB OTG, so plugging in a mouse to TRY to do something is out of the question as well.
I don't have USB debugging enabled
The device was never rooted
Maybe that is why I cannot get ADB to work either...
There are a few software solutions available that claim to be capable of unlocking your phone's screen through USB, or being able to get your data off your phone, but NONE of them support Galaxy Ace 4 explicitly.
I DO have Airdroid installed on the phone, but WiFi and other means of connectivity are turned off on the device and I know of no way to re-enable them with a broken screen
therefore Google's Android Device Manager was of no help

At this point I feel I have tried everything. Is there anything else I can do? Screen replacement is roughly $100, and I don't care about this phone anymore as a device, I just want the data. Maybe it's possible to somehow connect a different screen (from a cheaper/older phone? Not just this exact model), it doesn't have to fit perfectly, it can even hang loose on a thread, I just need to unlock the device.
Recently we can often hear in the news how governments hacked someone's phone (a captured terrorist or such), so is there literally any other way I could get into mine? I do know both the PIN and the pattern, and of course credentials to my Google account.

There are tools that can dump data from the eMMC directly through JTAG. (paid tools though)

What I would try to recover at least some of the data, if all the things you already mentioned did not work:

Disclaimer: I did not perform this exact same steps on the Ace 4, but only on a much older Samsung Device. So I can't guarantee that this works, and I'm not responsible for data loss, so do this at your own risk. This is a hop or drop approach.

Part of the process is shown in a video here. I'll put a textual description and some sidenotes below:

On a Windows PC, install Odin3. It can be downloaded here. Odin is a flashing tool for Samsung devices, allowing to flash alternative ROMs or a custom recovery. A recovery is sort of a mini-operating system in your phone, allowing to access some deep-level options and modifications. The recovery that is installed by default has a highly limited functionality, so we will install another recovery in the next steps. This other recovery could be able to let you access files stored on your phone.
Power off your phone.
Put your Ace 4 into download mode by pressing the combination Power Button + Home Button + Volume down key for several seconds. The process can be seen in the linked video. As shown in the video, press Volume Up to confirm going into download mode. Download mode basically means that your device is in a state now where system files (including the recovery) can be modified.
Start Odin on your PC, connect your phone to the PC and wait for Odin recognizing the device.
Download the CWM recovery that is linked below the video. Download the "CWM Recovery", not "Philz Recovery".
Select the AP field in Odin and select the tar.md5 file you just downloaded.
Leave all other Odin options as they are, and hit start.
Wait until Odin is finished.
As soon as Odin is finished, turn off the phone and reboot your phone into recovery mode by pressing and holding Power Button + Home Button + Volume Up button for a few seconds. IMPORTANT: At this point, with a new recovery flashed, I'm not sure if you will still be able to boot into normal Android OS. Most recoveries are not compatible with the default Android OS.
Now, you should have a new recovery on your phone, as seen on the video. This recovery provides some useful functions. Now try to connect your phone to PC and see if it appears in Windows Explorer as a device with all the subfolders in your phones internal storage.
If nothing appears, now comes the challenging part: We need to navigate to the option "mount and storage" that is shortly seen in the video. This can be done using the volume up / down keys and the power key to confirm.
Once you (probably) are in that section, it should look like seen in this picture. Now we want to mount partitions named "ext_sd" or "sdcard" or similar. At this point with a broken screen its gonna be trial and error. I think usually the 4th entry is /sdcard, so after entering the screen, you should press volume down three times and confirm hitting the power button. As far as I remember, this will toggle the state from unmounted to mounted. If you're lucky, you device will show up in Windows Explorer then. If not, hit the power button again to revert the change you just made and make another try by hitting volume down once again to select the next entry.

I think now how you see what I meant with hop or drop approach, especially with a broken screen - this is probably the last chance to get the data, but also could mess up your device. As I said, try it at own risk. If you try it, though, I will be curious to hear whether this worked out. If you have any other questions, let us know.

AFAIK Samsung phones have WiFi option in their power menu so if that is true in your case and also if you have Airdroid configured to connect on having proper connection to a server i.e., PC than you may have a chance of communicating with the device.Do try and report back

Sadly, this is not the case for such an old model. There are only three options in the power menu (power off, reboot, airplane mode).
Nevertheless, I've had the screen replaced a few months ago, so I'm able to use the phone now. I've had tried many things, but in the end wasn't able to recover anything from that phone without having to pay for a screen replacement.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S4 broken screen ADB autharization
I have an SGS4 i9500 device with totally screen broken. So, I can't see or touch anything. But device works. I had flashed it with Odin using this firmware: I9500XXUGNJ1_I9500SERGNJ1_SER.
Then I rooted it same way and flashed CWM revovery v6.0.3.3.
Now I need to install some software on it (VNC server and more and more).
So, I need to have ADB shell enabled in main system.
I connected via ADB in recovery, mounted main /system directory like this:
~ # cat /etc/fstab

/dev/block/mmcblk0p19 /cache ext4 rw
/dev/block/mmcblk0p21 /data ext4 rw
/dev/block/mmcblk0p20 /system ext4 rw
/dev/null /sdcard datamedia rw
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /external_sd vfat rw

~ # mount -o rw -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p20 /system

Then, like described here I appended /defaul.prop and /system/build.prop:
echo "persist.service.adb.enable=1" >> default.prop
echo "persist.service.debuggable=1" >> default.prop
echo "persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb" >> default.prop
echo "persist.service.adb.enable=1" >> /system/build.prop
echo "persist.service.debuggable=1" >> /system/build.prop
echo "persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb" >> /system/build.prop

So, ADB enabled in main system. But it still shows UNAUTHARIZED device status. At same link we see the solution:
cd ~/.android
adb push adbkey.pub /data/misc/adb/adb_keys

(from C:\User\user_name directory in my case)
Then restarted ADB daemon.
But it still have UNAUTHARIZED device status when rebooted to the system.
How this happens? Also, /data in recovery is same as /data in fstab when the /system isn't.
I checked multiple times: /data/misc/adb/adb_keys is same as my public key. What I missed up? Any suggestions?
Also may be there is another way to disable ADB auth? May be more options in .prop files?
UPD: It's seems like /data/misc/adb/adb_keys for recovery and for the system are different. But everything points that's not true:
cd /etc
/etc # ls
ls
fstab           mtab            recovery.fstab
/etc # cat recovery.fstab
cat recovery.fstab

# mount point   fstype          device                                  device2
/efs                    ext4            /dev/block/mmcblk0p3
/boot                   emmc            /dev/block/mmcblk0p9
/recovery               emmc            /dev/block/mmcblk0p10
/cache                  ext4            /dev/block/mmcblk0p19
/system                 ext4            /dev/block/mmcblk0p20
/data                   ext4            /dev/block/mmcblk0p21   length=-16384
/preload                ext4            /dev/block/mmcblk0p16
/modem                  emmc            /dev/block/mmcblk0p13

/sdcard                 datamedia   /dev/null
/external_sd    vfat            /dev/block/mmcblk1p1

/etc # cat fstab
cat fstab
/dev/block/mmcblk0p19 /cache ext4 rw
/dev/block/mmcblk0p21 /data ext4 rw
/dev/block/mmcblk0p20 /system ext4 rw
/dev/null /sdcard datamedia rw
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /external_sd vfat rw

Thanks in advance.
Pavel.

what you're looking for is here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=66731042&postcount=260

I had exact same issue on my LG Volt when screen was broken. So first thing for sure you need to have enabled is "developer options" and USB debugging turned on.
Even when USB debugging is turned on when your computer will send encrypted digital key code for authentication you have to accept on your screen.
That's for security purpose.
There was one solution for enabling USB debugging but after that you have to confirm digital key code to access ADB shell... Etc...

Thank you for reply. Yep. According to this post we should append public key to file /data/misc/adb/adb_keys whether is done where we accept dialog on device. I did it. Also when I tried to put wrong key even recovery shown me unauthorized. So I forced to reflash it. But now recovery authorized normally while main system isn't. It still appeared as unauthorized.


text:
How to stream audio from Android device to PC or web-server?
Is there any ready-made application that allows one to stream audio, over WiFi to from phone's microphone to a configurable IP-address and port-number ?
Have come across several applications that do the reverse, and some that are very purpose specific, i.e. baby-monitor, which do not fit my purpose.

Yes there are. Some which I found are for gaming live streaming like YouTube Gaming, Mobcrush & Twitch. Some for screen mirroring and streaming like Screen Stream Mirroring Free. Some streaming videos and audios like AllConnect - Play & Stream which supports DLNA/UPnP. Some also make your android a UPnP/DLNA streaming server like BubbleUPnP UPnP/DLNA, MediaHouse UPnP / DLNA Browser, Plex & BubbleUPnP for DLNA/Chromecast.
Update: Also there Voip over lan apps like Wi-Fi Talkie FREE, WiCall : VoIP call, Wifi call & Intercom for Android,. There is app for streaming android mic to Icecast servers called Cool Mic. Another streaming via HTTP/RTSP called LANmic and another called RtpMic.
Sorry I can't post more than 2 links with my new account. I posted the exact names of some examples though. I'm sure there are more but these were on the top of the lists and with massive number of users.


text:
Idle device and inactive phone consuming too much battery
I just bought a brand new Zonda A450 with Android 4.4. I was quite surprised when the battery started to drain too fast. Even taking a photo with flash could take 3% of the battery instantly. From what I see, the device being idle and the phone being inactive take 50% of the battery!

I searched in Google on how to optimize the OS, remove useless apps and widgets, etc., but I just saw a slight improvement.
What I can do to reduce the percent of battery used? Since these two aren't apps, I couldn't find an answer on Google. How can I fix this issue?

The battery display of Android 4.4 was pretty bad and imprecise.  This was improved in the successor versions as well as the battery saving possibilities. If the device is new try to get an update to Android 5. If it is not available they sold you a shopkeeper...

@Robert You do recommend to upgrade to android 5?

When it comes to battery saving you should upgrade to the latest version available. Generally the battery saving improvements are getting better and better with each Android version.

I found what caused the excessive battery drain was, i changed the Preferred network setting to just use G3(WCDMA)(or whatever network your carrier uses) instead of the auto/global setting it has by default, now the inactive phone drains 28% of the battery, better than before

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


text:
How can I find my stolen android mobile?
This morning one of my Android mobile has been stolen. I had ‘signed in’ in Google Crome and play store in that device with one of my gmail acount. I'm trying to find the mobile through’ device manager. But It says ‘location unavailable’. Is it because the stolen mobile is switched off or the stolen mobile isn't connected to the internet? My stolen mobile needs to be connected to internet so that I can locate the mobile? Or I can locate the mobile if it's just switched on and no longer connected to the internet? What happens if the thieft sign out my gmail account from Google? Please tell me

If your gps is ON on the phone, you should be able to locate device

what do you mean by 'gps'?

I mean GPS, location services whatever you call it.

Where's the option to activate this service on mobile? Do I need to use app for this or what ?

Go to settings>location you have on/off switch there. http://z42i.imgup.net/Screenshot8e0b.png But if you allredy lost phone you cant activate it so you probably wont find your phone.

GPS is the actual feature that tracks the location of your phone, not internet connection. If GPS is turned off, you can't track it. As far as I know, when you try to locate the device using Android Device Manager, your phone's GPS gets activated even if it was off. However, in order for your phone to be able to receive that command it should be connected to the internet. If your phone wasn't password-protected than the thief might have disconnected it.

@SarpSTA now I tried to locate my device via ADM with location turned off but connected to a wifi and it says: Online. Access to a device location is turned off. So no you can't locate it when location is off.

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје It worked in my old phone, Samsung Galaxy Wonder. I never tried it again.

What happens if the thieft sign out my gmail account from Google? Please tell me

Will I still able to track the phone even if he signed out my gmail account from Google? What should I do for it ?

GPS is global positioning system. It is the setting/function on a phone that allows satellites in space to triangulate a position on earth, thus determining where that position is on a map. Sometimes users disable this due to security concerns or concerns of privacy.
There are several ways such a setting could be disabled though, even if you did not disable it. A thief or someone who found the phone could have enabled airplane mode which makes data, network, and GPS services disabled. Unfortunately, the phone could also be off due to power depletion of the battery.
I would recommend calling the phone periodically each day, checking the location each day, changing your Gmail password (just in case - I'm a little paranoid), and trying anyway you can to contact the new owner of the phone if it does have an owner. Additionally, if you had avast or some other anti-virus program installed, those programs also offer device locating. If your phone's GPS is indeed enabled, perhaps your Google location settings didn't work properly but the anti-virus location services could still help you find the device.

Thanks a lot. can't I enable gps service through Google right now ?

Where's the option to activate this service on mobile? Do I need to use app for this or what ?

What happens if the thieft sign out my gmail account from Google? Please tell me

As far as I and my Google searches know, you cannot enable location services remotely for a cell phone or tablet device. If you have a device with Android on it in front of you, you can go to settings -> General Tab -> Location. In this location section, you can enable/disable location services. Also, you can enable/disable certain location services/features within some apps, but the android system settings are global, meaning you can disable location services for all apps. If the thief signed out of your google account, not Gmail, it could diminish options available to you.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Restrict access to safe mode in the Android 6.0+ devices without rooting
I locked down my device (running Android 6.0+) so that only my application can run on it. I have to give these devices to the employees in my firm. Now I have implemented an Enterprise Mobility Management(EMM) solution to run only one application. But I'm afraid the employees still have access to Safe Mode through which they can uninstall my company app and get access to the entire device.
So I have come across various third party Kiosk Applications like Mobilock Pro who gives the functionality to restrict safe mode without rooting. The link to their Blog is here. Android has itself posted here that this restriction is possible with Marshmallow.
I have searched for similar questions but None of them used Marshmallow APIs.
So my question is how can I implement this restricted access of safe mode on my own? Any Help would be appreciated!

My solution which I applied is to simply deactivate the volume down & so they will be unable to go into the safe mode, this is very practical and you will be saving money.

By "simply deactivate the volume down", did you mean physically break it? Otherwise, could you explain how to do it?


text:
Problem downloading add-on dictionaries on Google Keyboard (Gboard), can it be downloaded in different way?
Using Lenovo A6010 Plus with the latest update of Android 5.0.2. Here is the problem:
When I go to GBoard Settings > Dictionary > Add-on dictionaries, I simply look for the language I want to add and mark it. The status changes to "Downloading", but in a second, it goes back to "Available" again, and no downloading starts or language dictionary added.

Google Keyboard comes with the phone and it can't be uninstalled. The problem occurs after updating Google Keyboard to Gboard (the new Google Keyboard name).
What I tried:

Restarting the phone.
Allowing unknown source installation
Trying the same exact steps on another phone, on the same WiFi, and verifying it works (is there any way to transfer the dictionary after downloading it from one phone to another ?)
Trying mobile data and disabling WiFi
Uninstalling the update and installing it again

Looking forward to any suggestions.

I had the same phone and the same problem.
Yesterday, I have installed "Norton Clean, Junk Removal". Open it and make it clean. After that, I can download any add-on dictionary.

Thanks for answering. Doesn't work though. It seems because this phone comes with old google keyboard and after updating it doesn't accept dictionaries .. as I understand from reading so far, it might be license issue that I don't fully aware of.


text:
I can't delete bad piggies off Galaxy S4
I installed the game thinking I'd play it, but I changed my mind. Anyway, that's not too important. I clicked uninstall, and it does say it uninstalled it, but in the application manager, it is still taking up 108 MB, though listed as "Not installed."
If I go to the play store, and try to get the game again, it installs instantly, proving to me that the app is still somewhere on the phone (I don't have 100 MBps internet) How do I get rid of the app completely?
If it's important, I use Android Lollipop 5.0.1.

The solution is really simple. All I had to do was click on the app in the application manager, and press the menu button.  I got an option saying "Uninstall for all users" That's all I needed to do.

Do you have root? I don't know, so I will just say both ways, with and without root.
--With root
Get a Root File Explorer (I recommend ES File Explorer), open the menu, scroll down to the root option and turn in on. Then navigate to /data/app and delete the app file. The file name should be the apps package name. That would be com.rovio.BadPiggies.apk. Delete that. I can't remember how Lollipop installs apps, so if /data/app is full of directories, then just delete the directory named com.rovio.BadPiggies.
--Without root
You need a computer for this. Download ADB (I'll give you a link) to your computer. cd to where ADB was downloaded to. Plug your phone into the computer. Open up a terminal (or CMD if your on Windows). Run adb devices. It should list your devices serial number, and it's status. Allow the computer to use ADB. The prompt will be on your phone.
Run adb shell, then run the following commands in order:
cd /data/app
ls

If ls's output was a bunch of files ending in .apk then run rm com.rovio.BadPiggies.apk, and if it wasn't, then run rm com.rovio.BadPiggies.
Hope this helps


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Can I use Linux commands on Android?
Android is a kind of Linux. So I would be able to use the commands.
Can I use Linux commands on Android? If I can, how do I?

Android is not exactly Linux. While it runs on the Linux Kernel, most of the applications are completely different. Linux itself is not an OS, but is frequently referred to erroneously as one.

@Downvoter Please explain why downvoted.

It shows a bit of lack of research.

Should I delete it?

No, just let it lie. If the question doesn't do anything, it will be auto-deleted by Community

You can run some linux commands on terminal application on Android. Install any terminal emulator first then use such commands. However, not all commands could be used. Here are some for example. To run every command linux machine can run, you'll need to root your device.


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Android device manager keep re-adding old phone
Recently i found that my old device shown up in list of devices with location in USA strange thing was that the phone was in my house and far far away from USA and phone is wiped and connected to different gmail account so I just removed it now I found that is showed up again. Does anyone have clue what is happening, or how can I contact google support to ask them about this?


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com.google.android.gms destroying my battery
Something happened around two months ago. Since then, 2 or 3 times per day the app com.google.android.gms begins to consume battery like crazy (rooted Android 4.4 in a Galaxy Note 4). I think this is for some kind of sync of Google.
Logcat shows the strange behavior, with tons of messages like these:
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [ContextSpecificAclFactory]LocationConsent failed, ULR opt-in status is: false, account#-63XXXXX32#
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [AclManager]No 2 for (accnt=account#-63XXXXX32#, com.google.android.gms(10015):UserLocationProducer, vrsn=10084000, 0, 3pPkg = null ,  3pMdlId = null). Was: 2 for 1, account#-63XXXXX32#
V/AlarmManager( 3363): waitForAlarm result :8
V/AlarmManager( 3363): waitForAlarm result :8
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [ContextSpecificAclFactory]LocationConsent failed, ULR opt-in status is: false, account#-63XXXXX32#
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [AclManager]No 2 for (accnt=account#-63XXXXX32#, com.google.android.gms(10015):UserLocationProducer, vrsn=10084000, 0, 3pPkg = null ,  3pMdlId = null). Was: 2 for 1, account#-63XXXXX32#
V/AlarmManager( 3363): waitForAlarm result :8
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [ContextSpecificAclFactory]LocationConsent failed, ULR opt-in status is: false, account#-63XXXXX32#
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [AclManager]No 2 for (accnt=account#-63XXXXX32#, com.google.android.gms(10015):UserLocationProducer, vrsn=10084000, 0, 3pPkg = null ,  3pMdlId = null). Was: 2 for 1, account#-63XXXXX32#
V/AlarmManager( 3363): waitForAlarm result :8
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [ContextSpecificAclFactory]LocationConsent failed, ULR opt-in status is: false, account#-63XXXXX32#
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [AclManager]No 2 for (accnt=account#-63XXXXX32#, com.google.android.gms(10015):UserLocationProducer, vrsn=10084000, 0, 3pPkg = null ,  3pMdlId = null). Was: 2 for 1, account#-63XXXXX32#
V/AlarmManager( 3363): waitForAlarm result :8
V/AlarmManager( 3363): waitForAlarm result :8
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [ContextSpecificAclFactory]LocationConsent failed, ULR opt-in status is: false, account#-63XXXXX32#
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [AclManager]No 2 for (accnt=account#-63XXXXX32#, com.google.android.gms(10015):UserLocationProducer, vrsn=10084000, 0, 3pPkg = null ,  3pMdlId = null). Was: 2 for 1, account#-63XXXXX32#
V/AlarmManager( 3363): waitForAlarm result :8
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [ContextSpecificAclFactory]LocationConsent failed, ULR opt-in status is: false, account#-63XXXXX32#
W/ctxmgr  (25335): [AclManager]No 2 for (accnt=account#-63XXXXX32#, com.google.android.gms(10015):UserLocationProducer, vrsn=10084000, 0, 3pPkg = null ,  3pMdlId = null). Was: 2 for 1, account#-63XXXXX32#

The only way I found to stop this is to kill com.google.android.gms by hand, but sooner or later it resurrects again.
It seems that Google is trying to make my life misserable because some Location Consent was not given?

Thanks to the logs, I found the culprit: the bad (maybe even illegal?)  practices of Google Maps.
Since I hate spam and hate to be tracked for advertising by Google, I always opt out for all those things. In the last version of Google Maps for Android, there is a Location History option, that was off. Since Google Maps has the devilish behavior of trying to track you by launching itself when you don't open it yourself, it opens in the background and tries to save your location in their servers. That trigged a crazy loop because of my Location History off setting.
The only solution I found, at least if I want to keep using Google Maps, was to enable Location History. No more batery drains.
Google is copying the worst practices of Microsoft at the speed of light.

It may just be really bad quality control by Google. They're not interested in use cases such as "Location history: off" and do not test the code for that case...


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How do I turn off Messenger's default browser?
About a month ago, Messenger implemented an in-app browser, similar to the one on the main Facebook app. It's terribly slow, and I'd love to load links in Chrome (or Tumblr, or Twitter, or whatever app is actually meant for the link). I've looked all over and cannot figure out how to disable it - all help I find is for Facebook's in-app browser, not Messenger's. I'm using a Oneplus 3 with the default Oxygen OS. Thanks!

Not sure if you figured this out or not, or maybe they fixed it, but I figured it out. Open messenger. In the far upper right corner, tap the silhouette icon that takes you to your profile. Scroll down and check "open links externally"

I've got this set, but it doesn't seem to work on all links. I'm tempted to re-install and see if that helps because there is no obvious reason for it not to apply.

Go to messenger, go to Photos & Media and switch on: "Open Links in Default Browser"

(Click to enlarge)

They have really hidden this setting, but thanks to this guide I found it, and set it. Now it appears to not have any affect on a link I'm really keen to open in chrome.

Should be the accepted answer

While this is a feature of the Facebook app itself, it appears there is no feature to do this with the current version of Facebook Messenger as of this answer (version 100.0.0.29.61).
The only current method in order to use the Android assigned default application for the URL is to Click the Menu Icon and click Open in ...
However if you are noticing that your in-app browser is slow, you may need to head into your Settings -> Apps and clear cache for Android System WebView and Google Chrome. (You may have to turn on Show System in the three dot menu.)

This option appears to have been removed, at least on my device. The "share" option only let's me share on messenger. Opening the messenger website in chrome doesn't let me use messenger. Looks like the only way to get a URL out of Facebook messenger is on a desktop browser!


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How does Whatsapp store the chats and contacts of any given user, and are they recovered if one installs Whatsapp on a different phone?
I currently have a Nokia Lumia, with Windows Phone 8.1 installed, and an Asus Zenfone 5, with Android 5.1 Lollipop. Both of them are old and outdated, but the Lumia is horribly so. In fact, I almost exclusively use the Zenfone, and I've kept the Lumia because of one thing only: I do not want to lose my Whatsapp chats and contacts.
Now, though, after the launching of Whatsapp Web, it seems to me that these things are actually backed up on the Whatsapp cloud, and that it would be safe to toss the Lumia and install Whatsapp on the Zenfone. Actually, to be honest, I'm thinking of getting a new phone entirely, and leaving both of these obsolete devices.
My question is, should I get a new phone and install Whatsapp on that device, when I desperately want to keep all my chats and contacts that I have on my Lumia?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/general/21002842

Your data is stored on the device and encrypted using either an encryption key that is also in the device or a key generated based on your account. The best advice is to do as whatsapp suggests and before you uninstall anything, you make from the Windows phone a copy/back-up on your cloud (google-account). It is under options/back up. Then (re)install whatsapp on the Android and import the data from the cloud. Confirm the number and done!
Or you can try exporting a database on an SD and then try to import that on the Android, but that is definitely not suggested. It seems to never work. There are some discussions here on the matter.


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Inappropriate Downloading Notification. How to remove?
I had installed a Hindi Dictionary Application which contains the Speech to Text Output.After pressing the speech button then the Downloading notification came up,three days passed still the notification isn't cleared any way to handle it.Please Check Image Here

You need to clear the data and cache of the app:
The steps depend on phone make and Android version:
Touch and hold the notification > Touch the 'i', it will bring you to the app (Downloader Manager) > Clear Data and Cache and you're done.
On Samsung J5, Marshmallow (6.0.1)

Touching an app notification:

Touching the i symbol:

Touching Storage option:

,There is no option to clear data there.

There should be. What do you see after touching the i ?

The option of Force stop and Go to App are able to press but clear Data not

If you won't get my response then I can send a pic

Do you see Storage? (The first option)

Storage in setting?

Not in Settings, in where touching the i symbol leaded you

Block,Priority and Sensitive option are there

On pressing the i button

I dragged the App to App info to Clear Data

Did you solve your issue? The aim was to clear data and cache. Steps was just different depending on phone and Android version.

Yup but the popup still there no change

What app showed up in App info?

In App Info it showed only Force Stop and Go to App option to work and rest clear data and cache were not pressable

Kindly help me.Any other way?

Check the update.


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PM error Could not access the Package Manager
I am trying to freeze an app on my phone using the solution given here.
I am using the Terminal Emulator app to execute the commands:
su
pm disable {package_name}

But am getting an error:
android.os.TransactionTooLargeException
Error: Could not access the Package Manager. Is the system running?

This error is being generated regardless of the app I try to disable.
How do I resolve this error?
My phone is a rooted Micromax Unite 2 A106 running on Android 4.4.2.

Is the screen unlocked when you are doing this? I've only seen this error when im trying to adb shell but my screen is locked

I'm executing this command on the phone itself, not from a PC; so the screen is unlocked when I do this.

The problem has to do with your version of the su binary. I was using ChainFire's updated binary and it didn't work. I re-rooted with Kingoroot and it's now working.


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Memory card is not working .!
I have bought Sandisk 32 GB MicroSD class 10 for my Lenovo Phab Plus . I am facing a problem . Card is need to be format Everytime I insert it after I connect it with my PC . It's working fine in PC , I have a old phone which even does not have  JAVA , It is working in that phone also. Sometimes it is not detectable .

When I re-inserted it I found this .

What should I do ?? I've already  replaced memory card once from Amazon . But same problem .
Moreover My device does not show as Media Device on my PC .  When I was using 8 GB SD card , it used to connect as Moung SD Card but now its not working .

Did you try formatting using your Android device?

I am trying to avoid that , Since I don't have wifi here . After formatting this device.It does not start without wifi connection . I am going home tomorrow then I will try to format it .

I meant formatting the card in your device

Yep I did earlier several times . But as soon as insert it after transferring files from my PC , it starts to ask for format .

Have you confirmed if the device supports a 32gb memory card, try using an 8gb memory card, if it persist, you might need to do a backup and then a factory reset.


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Can APK Editor be used to increase the location/GPS Fix Interval?
I want increase location fix updates for Google Maps location history (currently 10-15secs) and other location calls on my android Marshmallow device. Can this be achieved by something like APK Editor?

Theoretical: maybe. Practical I would strongly recommend to simple use a different GPS track recording app that allows you to do what you want.

Whether you want to modify the APK depends on your use case.
You can simply have another app which has a higher location fix frequency, and Google Maps is likely to have fast location updates as the "fastest interval" setting makes it possible to use the faster location requested by other apps.
If you do want to change the behavior of Google Maps, you can go with either Soot (Jimple modification) or ASM (Java byte code modification, which is better for highly obfuscated code like Google Maps). However, this can be a painful task. Thus, I would suggest you go with the previous approach unless you really need to modify Google Maps.


text:
sd card reports full when it isn't
I foolishly interrupted a file deletion operation on my internal sd card. (The card was full when I started) Now using any file explorer tool shows files and directories adding up to ~300 M, yet the entire 1.2 G sd card shows as full.
My tablet is rooted, and I have the file explorers set to show hidden files. I have connected to a Linux PC with adb and done ls -al on the sdcard. Linux disk tools also show the card full, but the extant files only adding up to ~300 M. Nothing shows what is consuming the extra space.
Please do not reply with advice to clear cache, look for dumps, etc. There is no visible or hidden file on the card which is consuming the space. There must be a corrupted file or directory attribute or table or some such.  Any advice as to how to reset this parameter(s) would be greatly appreciated.
On Linux I would run fsck on the disk - is there such a thing for Android?

This did indeed turn out to be file system corruption.  This question helped me solve it but I don't think it is a duplicate because the accepted answer did not work for me.  However one of the other answers was very close to what I needed.
To fix:
Connected to my Linux PC with adb.
Then issued adb shell mount | grep -i sdcard command.  This told me that my sdcard filesystem was vfat, which is why the accepted answer to the other question didn't work for me. So going off another answer to that question I did a adb shell fsck_msdos -y /dev/block/vold/93:80.  This spat out a bunch of output and created a bunch of files in LOST.DIR on the sdcard which was awesome, because then I could get at them and delete them.  One was 770M which was the bulk of the missing space.
Problem solved.


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How can I bypass stock tethering app?
I have a rooted Coolpad catalyst with no cwm. I plan on creating a workaround for cwm but, that's another project. Anyway I have MetroPCS I've tried apps like barnacle, but I get WAN interface not found. It seems newer phones have a guard against root tethering methods, I thought about changing the settings app but can't risk it yet. I am running Android 5.1.1

Are you running the stock ROM (albeit rooted), or a true open-source ROM like CyanogenMod/LineageOS?

This app CWM Tether should help you.

I know I can bypass with USB I meant wireless

If you prefer doing this wirelessly, then you will to route your internet traffic via VPN.
You can obtain an Open VPN from playstore (e.g OpenVPN)
Basically whenever you wish to tether you will need to perform this code via terminal:
iptables -t filter -F FORWARD
iptables -t nat -F POSTROUTING
iptables -t filter -I FORWARD -j ACCEPT
iptables -t nat -I POSTROUTING -j MASQUERADE
ip rule add from 192.168.43.0/24 lookup 61
ip route add default dev tun0 scope link table 61
ip route add 192.168.43.0/24 dev wlan0 scope link table 61
ip route add broadcast 255.255.255.255 dev wlan0 scope link table 61

Benefits include:

Secured connections through the tunnel
Re-routing of traffic simulates a local connection and not tethering

However connections may be slow depending on server chosen.
Alternately you can get Foxfi Wifi tether  and is already configured to tether.
(Disclaimer: This is not a hacking proceedure, carefully read the Ts & Cs of your ISP if they allow tethering with 3rd party applications)


text:
Is it possible to copy from SD card reader to USB memory stick directly?
I'm looking for an easy way to backup SD cards full of photos on a trip. I have a 3-port USB hub, and can mount an SD card reader to copy photos to my phone running Cyanogenmod. But if I hook up the USB memory stick to the same hub, it doesn't show up so I can't do the backup from reader to the stick.
The workaround would be to copy the contents of the SD card to phone memory, remove the reader, replacing with the USB stick, and copy from phone memory to the stick. But this is cumbersome as my phone has little memory free, so would have to do multiple passes which is slow and (human) error prone.
I also have a Raspberry Pi Zero running an rsync backup script to do the copying, but the script doesn't work consistently or reliably.
So, is there a way I can copy directly from SD card reader to a USB memory stick?

Found a solution after further research.
Install app USB OTG Helper which requires BusyBox to be installed. I believe both apps require root to function properly. After that I attach an unpowered USB hub with multiple ports. Connect the card reader, and tap on "mount" in USB OTG Helper. Connect USB memory stick, again tap on "mount". Then I can copy directly from the card reader to the stick using any file manager.
Note that the mount points the Helper app shows are incorrect. It claims both drives have been mounted under /storage/UsbOtgDrives, but one of them was under usbdisk instead.


text:
So what does Cyanogen Inc shutting down mean for CyanogenMod and similar ROMs?
So Cyanogen Inc (cyngn), known for their support for their support for CyanogenMod and their efforts to integrate Cyanogen OS into devices such as the OnePlus One, Alcatel POP Mirage, and several other devices. Cyanogen Inc just recently announced that they are shutting down their services.
What does this mean for CyanogenMod, Cyanogen OS, and the devices which originally shipped with Cyanogen OS? Will they no longer receive OTA updates?

How will you get an OTA update if the servers providing it are taken down, and no new updates are being made in the first place?

Well Matthew, there's several things that phone manufacturers can presumably do, and I assume that one of those may be to redirect the updater to a new location.

CM's own blog is unreachable now, but XDA-Developers already summed it up and clarified some important bits:

All monetary and infrastructural support for CyanogenMod from Cyanogen Inc. will cease. -> CyanogenMod will no longer receive nightly builds after December 31st... unless the team finds another host to build nightlies.
CyanogenMod will rebrand as LineageOS.
The CyanogenMod team will not continue official development on the CyanogenMod project, but the work will continue in LineageOS.

Since it's clear that Cyngn is going in a new direction, Cyanogen OS will almost certainly have no future - it's not community-driven in the first place. CyanogenMod, on the other hand, will live a bit longer, until Lineage truly dawns (or fails).
UPDATE Dec 29, 2016: The GitHub repo and Gerrit code review platform of LineageOS are online, and I have personally verified that codes are fully buildable, and previous CM users can seamlessly transition to current builds. Also, from what the Gerrit shows, the team is now working on renaming all CM elements to Lineage/LineageOS, amongst the usual bug fixes and improvements.
UPDATE Jan 13, 2017: Rebadging is almost complete: LineageOS 14.1 now has a redesigned setup wizard with no CyanogenMod presence. LineageOS 13 remains mostly untouched, since Marshmallow is near deprecation. The download site itself is also accessible, though building has yet to begin.
UPDATE Jan 18, 2017: LineageOS now has its own bootanimation, thus rebadging can be deemed as completed.
UPDATE Jan 23, 2017: All systems operational, and first official builds have rolled out!

Update - I moved from CM to lineageos builds about 3 months ago (Feb 2017). Its stable, the big stuff works, and overall works well enough to be a daily phone OS, although some (mostly minor) issues.


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Can not install CM 13.0 / 12.1 on galaxy s2 because of missing file_contexts
I am currently trying to install Cyanogenmod 13.0 via CWM on an Galaxy S2 i9100. The phone is successfully rooted and by holding Power, Home and Up I can successfully boot into the system recovery-screen. There I choose to apply update from ADB, hit adb sideload cm-13.0-20161218-NIGHTLY-i9100.zip and wait. Then I receive:
Verifying update package...
Installing update...
Warning: No file_contextsThis package is for device: galaxys2, i9100,GT-I9100,GT-I9100M,GT-I9100P,GT-I9100T,SC-O2C; this device is .
E: Error in /tmp/update.zip (Status 7)

The device is clearly an S2 i9100 (without g), and this is also displayed when I load settings -> device information.
Some sites like e.g. http://www.droidviews.com/fix-status-7-error-while-installing-ota-update-or-roms/ tell to change /META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script (and to remove the check for the correct smartphone) and then try it again. Unfortunately, with this change verification errors occur.
So I tried http://fokke.org/site/content/howto-create-android-updatezip-package (unzip everything, recreate META-INF/MANIFEST.MF, CERT.SF and CERT:RSA by runing java -classpath testsign.jar testsign update.zip update-signed.zip and then re-zip the folder), but still the verification error occurs.
Also changing in ro.product.device in /system/build.prop from GT-I9100 to i9100 did not change anything (according to http://apcmag.com/how-to-fake-an-android-device.htm/ and the assertion in the first line of /META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script, GT-I900 was correct in the first place, it rather seems like the property could not be loaded by the update script).
The same happens with different CM-versions, regardless whether they are stable or not, so I suppose the check is executed in every version. I did not find any workaround for this - is there maybe a way to set ro.product.device on my phone, skip the assertion by some argument or just get the right verification information?

After some help from the irc-channel, the solution is (like described in https://web.archive.org/web/20161224194651/https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_i9100) to use the boot.img from the cm13-zip (which seems in fact to be twrp) and flash it to the device with first booting in download mode (Power + Home + Down) and then running heimdall flash --KERNEL boot.img --no-reboot (KERNEL with capital letters). Afterwards, one can normaly install the zip using sideload.


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How to write to / delete from external SD Card on Android 6.0 Marshmellow Huawei P9
I'm coming from a rooted Samsung S4 to a non-rooted Huawei P9. With the rooted S4 I could do anything at all, the stock P9 is extremely restricted. I want to stay with stock because it's a phone that's been loaned to me and I don't want to risk breaking it, and I'd like the Android 7.x over the air update in a few months without having to unroot.
I would prefer not to mount the external SD as internal memory, as it's slower. I've tried creating files, deleting files, and changing permissions, I can't do anything.
Basically I would like to be able to do two things:

Add and delete files to the external SD card using a file manager,
such as Root Browser
Have Bittorrent Sync (or other apps) write to the external SD card

I know Android security was ramped up around Android 5, but this much restriction is crazy. Is there a way around to do this working within the stock OS? I may just have to give up on external SD, it seems pointless to have it right now.

Android 5 had more restrictive SD Card permissions. Android 6 lowered those again. Newer applications like updated file explorers shoud automatically ask you for SD Card permission after the first start.
Did you try to install a file manager and see if it asks you for SD Card write permissions?

Thanks @Underlines. I tend to use Root Browser, which probably assumes you have root so doesn't ask for permissions. I've used ES in the past, but I found it annoying. Can you recommend a file browser that you know works with external SD on Marshmellow?

try Solid Explorer


text:
Android phone automatically deletes photos?
A quick rundown on the situation is this. I've just changed to a new phone just about a month ago, and there's something weird that I noticed - my phone automatically deletes the photos.
At first the deletion is small scaled - I noticed it when I lost about 3 photos about 2 weeks ago. However today I noticed something bigger - I lost almost 5 months worth of photos. It wasn't moved anywhere else as I couldn't find it even after a search on the SD card on my computer.
As you can see from the image below, the file names of the photos in my DCIM gallery simply jumped from 9 July 2016 to 12 December 2016. I'm pretty sure I several photos during the 5 months in between as there were quite a few major events and I took plenty of photos during them.

I know there's another similar thread on this matter, but the contents doesn't help as the approach in the thread doesn't apply to me. I've checked for the file they mentioned but it doesn't exist in the folder.
I'm running on Android 6.0.1.
If anyone knows what's going on, your assistance is much appreciated. Thank you!

Photos could be removed by a cloud sync/back up application.
One example is Google Photos. You may have chosen to remove photos which have already been backed up. You may not see them in the Gallery, but they will appear in Google Photos thumbnail.
Photos are removed from your device by tapping menu -> Free up space.

If you did, you can still see your photos, including the ones removed, in the Google Photos app and http://photos.google.com.

I actually solved the problem. In Samsung device or take any Android, there is a feature called Storage Booster which automatically deletes unnecessary data as multiple same photos from the device, so you have to turn it off to keep your photos in your destined folder.
Just go to Settings > Device care/maintenance > Storage > Storage booster > Auto delete unnecessary data.
Then unselect the last option i.e unselect "Auto delete unnecessary data".
I made a YouTube video for the demonstration: https://youtu.be/_0TBev1HQ68


text:
How to flash a zip file without signature verification?
I have lenovo a3300-gv running android kit-kat. I tried to flash a .zip file in it using flashify. But it fails to flash as signature verification fails. I read some articles stating to flash in CWM/TWRP recovery to avoid this error. But I can't get custom recovery for my device. So, is there other way to flash in stock recovery without signature verification?

Unless you could somehow get the manufacturer's private key to sign it, no.

I'm afraid no (no easy one). As you have no custom recovery for your HW platform there is chance you can't rebuild a firmware for your phone. Bypassing this signature is possible only by modifying the source (actually this is what is done in teamwin or clockworkmod recoveries).


text:
Building ROMs & Kernels?
I've been using customs ROMs and Kernels on my GS5 for a while now, but I want to get a clear explanation about how it works. Here are a few questions:

What is 'building' in Android? I heard that the build system is different from other Linux systems.
What's the difference between a ROM and a Kernel?
Is the 'ROM part' and 'Kernel part' separated? So, can I build them separately and install them separately?
How do I add device drivers(such as WiFi dongles) to my Kernel?
Inside a custom ROM zip file, is the Kernel included alongside with the ROM?
Are kernels compatible with different ROMs? (E.g. Using a Kernel built from the official stock sources on CyanogenMod)

These may be very newbie-ish questions but I'm really, really curious.

1) Building in Android could mean:
 - building a deliverable in the android build tree
 - building a deliverable on an android platform having build tools installed
 - building the AOSP (Android OpenSource Project)
A little bit more context may help. According to the following question 'the build system is different from other Linux systems' it could be the AOSP one. Actually Android is a distro for phone. Then building an android firmware for a mobile platform is equivalent to building a linux distribution for a desktop computer. You build the bootloader, the kernel, the root filesystem and some extra deliverables (ex. recovery filesystem that is a special android system, vendor filesystem image, SDK, NDK, Android CTS, etc...). The way to build all this is different from any other existing build system. All this is very well documented in source Android web site Android Source web site. Have a look at it :)
2) A ROM is not a very precise term. It could mean several things. Generally ROM designates the SYSTEM part of the android complete firmware for a mobile platform, the kernel being another part of this firmware. But sometimes, a ROM contains the whole: the SYSTEM, the DATA, the BOOTLOADER, the BOOTLOADER Params, the RECOVERY and the KERNEL part.
3) If ROM designates the complete firmware, Kernel is part of it, then kernel is included in ROM and build of ROM => build of kernel. If ROM designates the SYSTEM part of android, then both are separate and they can be built and installed separately.
4) Android is a mobile platform and as such runs on phones. Installing device drivers is possible but is a little bit complicated as it greatly depends on the hardware platform design. For reference boards (development platforms), these procedures are well documented by manufacturers, allowing developers to do this by themselves. For a closed platform (as a HTC or SAMSUNG phone), the documentation is far more difficult to obtain (most often it requires at least a NDA, and sometimes no documentation at all is available as it remains company confidential informations).
5) I assume that, by ROM zip file, you mean the OTA update package. This package may contain anything the platform need to update and this includes (but is not limited to) kernel, bootloader, radio firmware, TEE firmware etc. These packages are based on a scripting language (named edify) that allow to do some very complex operations for updating.
6) Kernel is linked to the hardware platform (a phone <=> a kernel). However some SYSTEM may requires some specific features to be enabled at kernel level. Then generally yes, kernels are compatibles with any SYSTEM partitions (assuming term ROM is used here with the meaning of the android SYSTEM partition).
Hope this helped ;-)

Objection to 6): kernels are usually not cross-compatible, even if they're built for the same device but for different ROMs. The rest are alright as I see it. +1 just for the effort of writing such a long answer.

At the restriction I mentionned (some vendor features may be dependent on kernel features), kernels are perfectly cross compatible. A kernel is a kernel and there is no cyanogen kernel or AOSP kernel. Actually all android kernels are hikey linux based. Refer to http://source.android.com/source/devices.html#hikey-boards if you need to be convinced.

I have to moderate what I said. Actually binder and other android specific linux modifications introduce some adherences between android version and linux version. Then kernel and not compatible from one version to another but in the same version, whatever is the 'distro' (ROM as U call it), kernel are interchageanble (I think we could verify but they should use the same kernel for the same platform).

Pretty much, since stock ROMs are usually way head of custom ROMs in kernel version nowadays.

Sure. Sorry but reading what I wrote is really not very clear and I apologize for that. I clearly base my reasoning on undefined and unclear terms  I use out of context. I imagine this is really obscure then I try to reformulate:

Google define an android API level (linked to android platform names as Nougat, Kitkat, etc). Linux kernel versions (and android specific modifications) are linked to these API levels. Any linux kernel for a hardware platform will run for any Android userland wioth the correct API level. ROMs are only some customization of the userland part of android and custom ROMS are linked to android API levels.

Hmm... If that's the case, here's a somewhat related question I've been wanting to ask: the kernel versions linked to the API levels are quite high, but why can custom ROMs have the same API level running on a much lower kernel version? Some even have KitKat/Lollipop on very outdated 2.6.xx kernel. Did they just manually port all the additional modules needed?

Yes. Actually several linux kernel versions are available for every API level. A v2.x, a v3.x and a v4.x could be available. It is only a matter of porting the android specific changes. Here are some good descriptions of these changes:
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-major-changes-that-Android-made-to-the-Linux-kernel
http://elinux.org/Android_Kernel_Features

Ah, good read for when I have time, thanks. Wish I could upvote more than once.

welcome! my pleasure :)


text:
How to project screen in android x86
I have installed Windows as well as android x86 on my laptop. Everything was just fine until the LCD of my Laptop was not broken. Now with broken screen I use Specific key combination to project my screen to an external monitor. This feature works fine with Windows but the key-combination does not work for android x86. Monitor does not even detect a signal from laptop. Is there any trick to project the screen in android with parent screen broken?

Just find your grub configuration file of android-x86 operating system and add video=LVDS-1:d to the end.
This will enable external monitor connected through HDMI port and disable primary monitor after boot. You can also add command for resolution which suits your external monitor but this is not necessary.

You want to have a multi display android config.
cf:
Configuring Display Settings
source TileUtils.java
source SuggestionParser.java
App Shortcuts
UI Shortcuts

I don't want a multi display I just want to have a single display on external monitor with Specific key combination to project since my laptop's screen is damaged.

The android feature is named multi display, but you can configure only one of course

Agreed... but how?

Of course all this is reserved for very advanced users, but it is possible to map your specific projection keys (from your laptop keyboard) on intents for configuring your android. All documentation I mentioned allows to configure the android part. You still need to catch the keycodes for your  keys and use them. Perhaps first try with some easier keys (as 'a', 'b', etc).

Fn+ F7 works for Windows but any other Fn + any other key does nothing for android. I can't even toggle bluetooth On and Off by Key combination.

I don't know the specifics for your laptop, but any key or key combinaison have a low level keycode (for ex at BIOS level). Linux kernel runs the same way and the keyboard driver provide a key code for any key combinaison. At now nothing should be triggered for handling this, but its up^to you to find which keycode is produced by the keyboard driver and then trap this and create an intent that could be broadcasted to a display management app.

Sorry, I'm not sure what actions should I do as an end-user with the links given here...


text:
How can I get the Moto Z USB Drivers?
I want to use my Moto Z as a physical device, however I can't without the drivers.
The only thing I found was the Motorola Device Manager. However, plugging it in to my PC I get this, even though I have an internet connection on both my phone and laptop.

Is there any direct driver? Or, how can I fix it?

Direct driver for what? Mass Storage device? That isn't possible anymore... I don't know what that window is from/for though. The device should be recognized as a MTP (Media Storage Protocol) device, but you will have to toggle it on on each connection of the USB cable from the notification pull-down.

@acejavelin I really want to develop android applications with it.

https://www.skyneel.com/download-latest-motorola-usb-driver-with-installation-guide (Untested, that's why it's a comment and not an answer). But if you are going to do development, why not use Linux? No drivers are required for Android device and most distro's official repositories have fastboot/adb already available.

@acejavelin I'm not going to get a completely different OS just for development

@acejavelin the program I download gives an error "That account already exists"

Hmm... guess I have never seen that. What is giving you the error and where, in the MDM software of the Moto Z Drivers link I posted earlier? I was able to download it successfully, but do not have Windows to test with.

When I run the program downloaded from skyneel


text:
Banking app detects previous root
I have a Sony xperia Z (C6603). A while back I rooted the device but then later I did a factory reset and unrooted it. Sadly I have forgotten exactly what software I used for rooting/unrooting.
Now the phone works perfectly for everything I do except for my Barclays Bank app which declares "Sorry, the Barclays Mobile Banking app does not support rooted devices".
I have tried mutilple root-detection utilities and they all insist the device is no  longer rooted.
Is there anything I can do to fix this?

There is probably sime file left there, so only you can is to flash stock firmware

You can flash stock ROM. This'd be the best absolute solution. Because all other solutions would probably require you rooting the device again.

If the App is using SafetyNet it also detects that your Bootloader is unlocked. So if your BL is still unlocked you will need to Lock it for the App to work.
I dont have a Xperia Z but this seems to explain how to do that:
Link to xda

Download the latest Flashtool ( found in OG android development forum)
Install the Flashtool drivers found in the drivers folder
Connect phone in Flash-mode (phone shut down, volume down + power)
Press the BLU button
Press the relock option
Put a stock .tft firmware in the Flashtool firmwares folder (this is required!!)
Flash the firmware (this is required!!)
Done

Sure. There is some means.
You could check cydia, they propose a pack for hiding root (If I remember well the Barclays bank app is part of the app they provide by default).
You could also check that you really uninstalled root (by reinstalling stock recovery): did you go through this?
The last and ultimate step would be to delete /data/app*/<root-app-package>, /data/data/<root-app-package> and /sdcard/Android/data/<root-app-package>. But you need to be root to do that :)

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
How configure more than 5 multi-users
I have a Lenovo Tab3 10 running Android M. It allows to configure multiple users but no more than 5 (including guest user).
Is there a way how to enhance the limit to configure more users?
5 multiple users could be enough for me but the 5th one is reserved to guest user. I've tried to disable guest user feature with no effect. There is still guest user that allocates 1 of 5 multi-user slots.

The maximum number of users is defined in a resource overlay defined by device manufacturer. The resource is named config_multiuserMaximumUsers. Check in Device Administration doc: Multi User. This is manageable via APIs.

Does it mean I'm able to change it to for example to 6 without rooting the phone?

Nop ! Not immediatly at least. In order to change such config values, you need to be root, actually you should even need to rebuild the firmware because a resource overlay is a build object that will modify several underlying resources in the firmware (not sure how exactly for the multi-user feature). It should be possible to change it at runtime, I didn't yet had a look at it.

Edit your build.prop file using the build.prop app or root browser and add the following at the bottom:
fw.max_users=9001

Change 9001 to as many users you want to have support for.


text:
Microphone extremely quiet
For some time, my microphone is extremely quiet when doing things like making voice messages on WhatsApp or when calling someone. I searched the internet for a solution, but I couldn't find anything except for some apps which didn't work (or only worked in the app itself but outside did nothing).
Is there a config file with the microphone volume so I can adjust it myself or some script or so?
Wired headset microphone is also extremely quiet.

Information that could be relevant to this problem:
Samsung G900f (S5)
Android 6.0.1 / Cyanogenmod 13
Baseband version G900FXXU1BOD3

is your microphone fine for some apps say media player? meaning to ask if the volume is fine otherwise but low for say whatsapp 2. If yes, one could consider automation solution. Let me know

The volume is low for every app, but some voice recording apps have the option to set the microphone volume to a higher level, which makes the recording somewhat louder. So basically it's the same for everything.

Did you try the solution mentioned here https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/development/how-to-microphone-gain-increase-s5-t3190613

I know this is going to sound a little low tech, but have you tried blowing out or using a strong adhesive (like gorilla tape) to clean out the microphone holes? I've personally encountered the same issue caused by months of dust and pocket lint clogging up the microphone holes on a Note 4.


text:
I wiped everything on my phone with TWRP. What should I do?
I wiped everything on my HTC 10 device using TWRP (I checked everything). My device was rooted. Now how can I get the device working properly again? I think that I don't have anything on the device (and on the external sd) but the TWRP.

You need to flash a new ROM.

With proper driver and ADB installed, sideload another ROM from your PC using ADB sideload, available in Advanced menu.

"With proper driver and ADB installed" can you, please, explain more or refer to a link about that? I am on macOS Sierra.

You need the USB driver from the manufacturer for ADB/fastboot to work. What method did you use when installing TWRP before this? If you did it from fastboot, then probably you already have these. If not... macOS might pose a problem, since HTC doesn't seem to have made a driver package for it.

I tried doing that with the command "adb sideload 2PS6IMG.zip" (where 2PS6IMG.zip is a ROM I downloaded which is supposed to be stock ROM) but I got the message "cannot read zip file".

Make sure the filename and path is correct. Also, if I remember correctly, TWRP doesn't flash stock ROM packages (signature and update-binary problems). Find a stock-based custom one.

I believe the HTC 10 has an microSD card slot. If you download a new ROM onto the card using another device (i.e. tablet) then insert it back into your phone, it should be able to reboot into a new install. I did the same thing on my Samsung Note II and this worked for me.
For information on how to install a new ROM, see:
http://www.howtogeek.com/162516/how-to-flash-your-nexus-s-or-any-other-android-device-with-a-new-rom/
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-flash-a-rom-to-your-android-phone-30885281

The links show how to install TWRP. The only thing I have on my device now is TWRP. They don't show how to install a new ROM.

You can use TWRP to add a new system onto your phone. I have edited the answer to better suite your needs.


text:
Why Does TowelRoot Require Internet / Network Access?
I read a blog post somewhere that suggested TowelRoot does not need internet access, and I've also read that it does. The latest version I tried to run TowelRoot v3 will not work without it. Is it downloading or sending any information? If so, what?
Addendum: I suppose if they were trying to accomplish anything nefarious, they would just do it instead of asking for permission... right?

Since TowelRoot's code is not publicly available, I resorted to decompile the latest APK, downloaded from the TowelRoot website, in order to investigate the app's need for the INTERNET permission.

Relevant notes
Upon successful decompilation, it turned out that neither the activities nor the code itself be obfuscated. The developer certainly had anticipated that this app would've been investigated, yet he had left the code to be as much transparent as possible.
The most important file we have at this point is TowelRoot.smali, which describes all the workings of this app.
Note: depending on your particular version of ApkTool, the line numbers may vary.

Initial structure
In lines 13-22, the code initializes a field called fingerprint. The relevant code follows:
.field fingerprint:Ljava/util/List;
    .annotation system Ldalvik/annotation/Signature;
        value = {
            "Ljava/util/List",
            "<",
            "Lorg/apache/http/NameValuePair;",
            ">;"
        }
    .end annotation
.end field

which is a Java list composed of key-value pairs, to be used when collecting the relevant info from the phone.

Data collected
In lines 56-215, the code describes a method called fillInFingerprint, which is responsible for retrieving the appropriate data to be sent to the TowelRoot website, in order to ascertain whether the device can be rooted via the homonymous exploit. This method makes an extensive use of the abovementioned fingerprint field. The collected data follows.
Device model
The visible device model. Lines 70-80:
iget-object v4, p0, Lcom/geohot/towelroot/TowelRoot;->fingerprint:Ljava/util/List;

new-instance v5, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;

const-string v6, "model"

sget-object v7, Landroid/os/Build;->MODEL:Ljava/lang/String;

invoke-direct {v5, v6, v7}, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;-><init>(Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)V

invoke-interface {v4, v5}, Ljava/util/List;->add(Ljava/lang/Object;)Z

Device fingerprint
An unique identifier for the OS build. Lines 83-93:
iget-object v4, p0, Lcom/geohot/towelroot/TowelRoot;->fingerprint:Ljava/util/List;

new-instance v5, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;

const-string v6, "fingerprint"

sget-object v7, Landroid/os/Build;->FINGERPRINT:Ljava/lang/String;

invoke-direct {v5, v6, v7}, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;-><init>(Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)V

invoke-interface {v4, v5}, Ljava/util/List;->add(Ljava/lang/Object;)Z

Device hardware
Likely the processor board. Lines 96-106:
iget-object v4, p0, Lcom/geohot/towelroot/TowelRoot;->fingerprint:Ljava/util/List;

new-instance v5, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;

const-string v6, "hardware"

sget-object v7, Landroid/os/Build;->HARDWARE:Ljava/lang/String;

invoke-direct {v5, v6, v7}, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;-><init>(Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)V

invoke-interface {v4, v5}, Ljava/util/List;->add(Ljava/lang/Object;)Z

Device serial
Device's unique serial number. Lines 109-119:
iget-object v4, p0, Lcom/geohot/towelroot/TowelRoot;->fingerprint:Ljava/util/List;

new-instance v5, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;

const-string v6, "serial"

sget-object v7, Landroid/os/Build;->SERIAL:Ljava/lang/String;

invoke-direct {v5, v6, v7}, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;-><init>(Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)V

invoke-interface {v4, v5}, Ljava/util/List;->add(Ljava/lang/Object;)Z

Device kernel version
Vital since the exploit is likely to have been patched in the recent kernels. Lines 122-134:
iget-object v4, p0, Lcom/geohot/towelroot/TowelRoot;->fingerprint:Ljava/util/List;

new-instance v5, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;

const-string v6, "kernel"

invoke-virtual {p0}, Lcom/geohot/towelroot/TowelRoot;->javaSucksAssReadTheKernelVersion()Ljava/lang/String;

move-result-object v7

invoke-direct {v5, v6, v7}, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;-><init>(Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)V

invoke-interface {v4, v5}, Ljava/util/List;->add(Ljava/lang/Object;)Z

TowelRoot version
Lines 168-180:
iget-object v4, p0, Lcom/geohot/towelroot/TowelRoot;->fingerprint:Ljava/util/List;

new-instance v5, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;

const-string v6, "appversion"

invoke-direct {p0}, Lcom/geohot/towelroot/TowelRoot;->getSoftwareVersion()Ljava/lang/String;

move-result-object v7

invoke-direct {v5, v6, v7}, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;-><init>(Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)V

invoke-interface {v4, v5}, Ljava/util/List;->add(Ljava/lang/Object;)Z

Modstring
The string modstring. Lines 202-211:
.local v1, "modstring":Ljava/lang/String;
iget-object v4, p0, Lcom/geohot/towelroot/TowelRoot;->fingerprint:Ljava/util/List;

new-instance v5, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;

const-string v6, "modstring"

invoke-direct {v5, v6, v1}, Lorg/apache/http/message/BasicNameValuePair;-><init>(Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)V

invoke-interface {v4, v5}, Ljava/util/List;->add(Ljava/lang/Object;)Z

The server request
In lines 227-329 the code describes the method queryServer, which queries the server's database in order to find a match with the collected data, and handles the possible exceptions in the code. Such data is transmitted to the URL https://towelroot.appspot.com/report/ via SSL and a POST request (lines 263-275):
.local v2, "httppost":Lorg/apache/http/client/methods/HttpPost;
new-instance v5, Lorg/apache/http/client/entity/UrlEncodedFormEntity;

iget-object v6, p0, Lcom/geohot/towelroot/TowelRoot;->fingerprint:Ljava/util/List;

invoke-direct {v5, v6}, Lorg/apache/http/client/entity/UrlEncodedFormEntity;-><init>(Ljava/util/List;)V

invoke-virtual {v2, v5}, Lorg/apache/http/client/methods/HttpPost;->setEntity(Lorg/apache/http/HttpEntity;)V

.line 88
invoke-interface {v1, v2}, Lorg/apache/http/client/HttpClient;->execute(Lorg/apache/http/client/methods/HttpUriRequest;)Lorg/apache/http/HttpResponse;

move-result-object v3

make it ra1n
The method buttonClicked (lines 333-426) contains the code that makes the app work when you push the button. Amongst others, it calls the methods fillInFingerprint to gather the required info, and queryServer to see if the device can be rooted.
It then proceeds by analyzing the server's response. If said response is empty, TowelRoot prompts you about the necessity of an Internet connection (lines 369-378):
invoke-virtual {v0, v2}, Ljava/lang/String;->equals(Ljava/lang/Object;)Z

move-result v2

if-eqz v2, :cond_1

.line 115
const-string v2, "Please ensure you are connected to the internet"

invoke-virtual {v1, v2}, Landroid/widget/TextView;->setText(Ljava/lang/CharSequence;)V

If the response is not empty, then TowelRoot proceeds by checking if the abovementioned equals the string nyet (lines 391-402):
const-string v2, "nyet"

invoke-virtual {v0, v2}, Ljava/lang/String;->equals(Ljava/lang/Object;)Z

move-result v2

if-eqz v2, :cond_2

.line 117
const-string v2, "This phone isn\'t currently supported"

invoke-virtual {v1, v2}, Landroid/widget/TextView;->setText(Ljava/lang/CharSequence;)V

If the response equals nyet, then the phone isn't officially supported.
Finally, if the response is both non-empty and different from nyet, TowelRoot starts the rooting procedure by calling the native method rootTheShit, defined at line 448 and probably contained inside the library libexploit.so.

For the brave ones
TowelRoot includes a special mode for users with unsupported devices. This mode, whose code is defined inside the method titleClicked (lines 451-504), is accessible by tapping the red welcome to towelroot v3 title inside the app, and will allow the user to try different modstrings in order to try to root the device anyway.


text:
Any way to disable emojis/smileys/everything?
So, is there any way to COMPLETELY stop showing emojis/smileys in every single app? I'd rather see a blank square than an annoying face.
Why I want to do that? I don't know, I hate them.

It is not possible to remove in every single app, since some are baked into the app itself. You can remove emojis from your keyboard however as well as from the app in which you are using. As an example, if you have google keyboard, go into settings---> preferences switch emoji switch key off. In apps such as WhatsApp or Macebook messenger, it is not possible without tampering with the app itself.


text:
high volume warning window cause system halt
I'm using Nexus 6 for a long time, but after some safety update, a problem came up. Before, when you raise the volume above a certain level, the system would warn you that it is bad for your hearing abilities. But now, the warning is gone, and instead, it would make the system app stop, like an unhandled exception is thrown, and the app will reboot. I guess the app is called System Interface or something similar.
Other info:
Phone: Nexus 6, not rooted
System version: problem occured at Android 6 (Marshmallow)
                but in Android 7 (Nougat) it is still there
Problem occur time: When earphone was plugged in, and volume is turned up.


text:
Is it possible to lock the bootloader without losing data?
Is it possible to lock my phone without losing the system data it has? I had previously unlocked my Nexus 6p to get root access, and have since despised the big yellow warning sign reminding me that my device is unlocked every time I restart my phone. I have downloaded over a hundred apps as well as movies, music, and other files that I don't want to lose, so factory resetting is not an option. I am running Android 7.1.1 Nougat with a TWRP custom recovery.

You could just do a backup and restore it afterward.

I'd rather keep my data completely if it is so possible.

"big yellow warning" you could just flash another bootlogo...

It would be great if that were possible. I don't believe it removes the yellow icon though.

On Nexus 6P the bootloader relocking method is contains the Factory Reset, there is nothing to do.
If you are trying to relock your device you should see a screen like this: image.
If you want to keep your files and data you should make a backup and when your device bootloader agian locked you restore it.
This is a normal behaviour but for example on OP2 there is a method to keep your data in save during the bootload relocking procedure.

I believe that the OP2 method is to unlock. Will it work the same for locking?

In the linked article there is a paragraph named: "UNLOCK/LOCK BOOTLOADER WITHOUT WIPING DATA" so I guess it's a bidirectional method.


text:
Gboard ruined my typing experience, how can I change it back?
My phone just got the new Gboard, and to be honest, I haven't noticed much of an improvement. Maybe I don't use its many celebrated features as much as I should.
However, I have one big problem with it the way it is. I use my phone to mainly type two languages: Norwegian and English. Before the update, I would switch between them by the touch of a button (the globe icon next to the space bar), and for those rare occations I needed something else, I could momentarily enable them in the settings. I used the English layout for writing English, and the Norwegian language to write Norwegian. This way, the moment I begin to write, the swipe function knows which dictionary to test for what I'm trying to type, and everything works nicely.
However, with the new Gboard, it can do both languages at once. Apparently, the internet is happy that you don't have to manually switch, but I am more annoyed at the fact that when I begin swiping, the keyboard doesn't know which dictionary to use, so I can swipe all I want without any words coming out. I have to manually type a few words first before it gets the idea, and from there it works nicely. It also makes it much more difficult to mix both languages into a single small text.
How can I get back to manually switching between languages? Is there a setting I've missed, or do I have to roll back to an earlier version?
I'm on an LG Nexus 4, running Android 5.1.1, and Gboard version 6.0.69


text:
Lenovo Yoga 3 10' sd card?
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
So basically i'm trying to find any info what SD cards does Lenovo yoga 3 supports.
Would it support SAMSUNG 32GB MICRO SDHC EVO PLUS CLASS 10
Thanks

Lenovo Yoga 3 10" MicroSD card slot supports every MicroSD card upto 128GB, so this Samsung what you have mentioned will be a good choice.


text:
A faint instagram-shaped beige overlay, always
I got a Galaxy S5 (second hand you may note,  however it's in great condition) very recently.
I've noticed that there is a very faint beige-yellow tint on the screen at all times in the shape of the main features of the instagram app.
It's far more obvious on a white background.
Does anybody know why this has happened?

From what you described, it's very likely that your S5 is the victim of screen burn-in. The previous owner likely used Instagram a lot, which burnt the main interface into the screen. The damage is done to the AMOLED screen itself instead of software-based, and thus can't be reverted, unless you decide to replace the screen altogether.

I have a 2-year warranty, but how much would a screen replacement cost?

@JacobGarby Free if it is covered by warranty. Is it?

I think this phenomenon isn't included in warranties anyway. AMOLED screens are always quite expensive - my local resellers have framed ones for ~$100. Customer service might ask a lot more than that.

@SarpSTA I'd have to ask. I sure hope so

@JacobGarby What country are you from?

@SarpSTA England

@JacobGarby If EU laws are still in effect, as far as I know, it is covered in warranty due 1999/44/EC.

I would say that your mobile has had a screen damage. You will need to change the screen because this is not a software issue. It's from within the screen of the phone,and must be changed for a better look.


text:
How do I stop Google Play Services from being automatically installed?
I've an old rooted Android 2.3 phone which comes with "Android Market" that is obviously updated with latest "Google Play Services". There is no "Google Play Services" installed on phone and strictly speaking I don't need it. But recently I've found that "Google Play Services" is automatically installed when connected to internet!
The problem is that phone becomes very slow (no issue with free space but I don't know why it becomes very slow after having play services). So, I've to uninstall "Google Play Services" but it is not the solution as it is automatically installed without prompting (say secretly).
As far as I know it is the "Google Play Store" which can do this as it has power (aka back door).
So, How do I stop or prevent "Google   Play Services" from being automatically installed? Or I've to uninstall "Google Play Store"? Or you can suggest the work around for the issue of phone's being slow down with "Google Play Service".

Is 'Google services framework' anywhere on it? Try removing that.

You can check this thread over at XDA-developers. You'll want patched GSF to skip self-updating.
Please note that sticking to older GMS versions (or not having them at all!) might prevent some "modern" applications from working correctly.
p.s. your slowness issue is more likely about low free RAM than disk space.


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Using Tasker to detect when a waypoint is reached in Google Maps
I have an issue with my Google Maps app where it doesn’t always tell me that I have reached a waypoint. I have contacted support and they could not find any solution (found here).
So I am hoping that Tasker can help me. I have found that when I reach a waypoint that the Google Maps notification bar icon disappears so I am hoping that Tasker will be able to detect it and run a task.
While I have set up simple tasks before this is a bit out of my league so I am hoping that I could have some guidance setting this up. Or, if necessary, an alternate solution (Ideally fixing the original problem).


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Adobe Reader -"This file could not be accessed Check the location or the network and try again."
Hey all and Merry Christmas. I have some issues with my Nexus 5 and its behavior regarding .pdf files within Chrome. You know all that after downloading any pdf file from the Web the next step is opening automatically with any pdf reader that is set by default(eg. Adobe Reader in my case latest version). This worked without any problems till some weeks ago, when phone stumbled on the error from the Title. I can open manually the .pdf files after this failed process by navigating through the source but it kinda bugs me why it is not working anymore as it should.
Tried the following but it was in avail: Master/Hard reset, uninstalling all updates of both apps(Chrome and Adobe) though Chrome has nothing to do with it i guess and installing just Adobe.
P.S: This is weird also > Even with Drive PDF Viewer it doesn't open automatically after download. It just minimizes after completion and again i must navigate to the download folder and open it manually.
P.S.2: On Nexus 6P this issue is non-existent, I tested it and the process works fine.
Does anyone has any idea what's happening?
Android Version: 6.0.1 Marshmallow, not rooted.
L.T: To shadow this issue if it can't be fixed can i in some way disable automatic opening after downloading .pdf files?
Thanks!

Did you ever get an answer? Same issue here.

Nop. I have other issues with it beside that, maybe they are related like, no sim card from time to time, reset loops but this is from the power button and it can be fixed via cleaning. Perhaps it's time to get a new phone because he is kinda old, 2 years almost i think + accidentaly droped several times. Anyway do you have these problems too? The last two?

Adobe has finally fixed this issue through an update.


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Can't change file and folder permissions on rooted device
I can't change the file and folder permissions on my rooted android 4.4.2 device. I tried doing this from Root Explorer, Total Commander and also from terminal emulator and it didn't worked. Any idea why?

Permissions of what? Which files or folders? Some filesystems like FAT32 don't support UNIX permissions and therefore you can't change them.

Yes, i think the problem is because the file system is fat32, though the commands i run from the terminal  df  and  blkid  didn't get me much info about that.

Probably refer to this one I answered not long ago.

@user1800997 Which folders are we talking about?

If you have solved your problem, post the solution as an answer rather than editing your own question.

I guess the file system you are working on is mounted as readonly mode.
/system is readonly by default. You need to run the following command to re-mount it as read-write
su
mount -o rw,remount,rw /system

Another guess is that the file has immutable attribute. Try run this command as root to remove immutable attribute from the file.
chattr -i YOUR_FILE

Good answer, which you might want to integrate with some info about the /storage/emulated/0 mountpoint, since OP didn't specify the culprit folder. In fact, since the abovementioned is masked via FUSE, changing ownership and permissions on it isn't allowed, and even the root user has to work on the original folder, which resides in /data/media/0 in order to edit permissions.

The problem was caused by the fat32 file system of the sdcard.


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Convert a game asset to image
I have a game on my phone that I really like. I was astonished by the portraits of the characters. I found the portrait within the game files but it has no extension, but I know myself it's counted as an image file within the game. Is there any way to convert the game asset into any image format?
Thanks in advance

Try to add common image extensions to that file, such as .jpg, .png, .gif

Tried, doesn't work.


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`adb reboot -p` usually reboots instead of power-down which it is supposed to
When writing:
adb reboot -p

I expect the unit to power down indefinitely. Instead, it just reboots automatically, the same as having written:
adb reboot

only.
Why is that? What should I write?

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/a/138057/96277

From my notes,  adb shell reboot -p.

shell only means it opens a shell first and writes the same there.

@JohnyTex Nein, it's not the same. adb reboot -p means execute adb with arguments reboot and -p. adb shell reboot -p means execute a shell on the device, then execute the program reboot with argument -p which resides inside the device. This is the difference.

Yes, what I meant (sloppily) was that the result is the same, right?

Many phones start booting when a power cable is attached. This could be the reason here for the phone rebooting instantly instead of staying off.

Do know what could be done about that?

@JohnyTex you would have to disconnect your phone just after issuing the command

This should work
adb shell reboot -p

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. While this is a valid answer, could you [edit] and expand on the reason why it works? Otherwise, it's okay.