4.4 kitkat - How to find installed apps which are using SMS feature

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo (Android KitKat). Some of the apps are using my SMS feature and SMS are costing pennies from my pocket without my knowledge.

I want to know what are all the apps which are sending SMS. If I found list of Apps, is this possible to restrict them from not using SMS feature without uninstalling them.

Answer

Go to Settings -> Apps -> Downloaded. Here you'll see a list of all the apps that you have downloaded from the internet.

If you open any one and scroll down to the bottom, you'll see all the permissions that the app has. An app that sends messages on its own would have the send SMS messages permission enabled, which looks like this.

If you see this in an app, you have found the potential culprit.

---

Alternatively, you can download a third-party application like App Permission Watcher, to watch which app has the send SMS messages permission enabled.

---

Unfortunately, if you are not rooted, the only way you can stop the app from sending SMS messages is by uninstalling it.

However, if you are rooted, then you can edit the permissions of each app using your superuser controller.

sd card - How to remount sdcardfs to allow setting file permisions / ownerships?

I have a rooted OnePlus One running LineageOS 15.1 (Oreo 8.1). I am trying to adjust some file permissions/ownerships on the emulated sdcard partition.
The partition seems to be mounted as an sdcardfs:

A0001:/ # mount | grep /storage/emulated                                                                                                                                                           

/data/media on /storage/emulated type sdcardfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,fsuid=1023,fsgid=1023,gid=1015,multiuser,mask=6,derive_gid)

I'm not sure what that means. Some people suggest that Android used to use mount then switched to fuse and now with Oero uses sdcardfs. I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but I'm a bit scared that something like mount -o remount, rw /mnt/sdcard/ (which apparently is what you had to do in the past to be able to set file permissions on the emulated sdcard partition).

Short demonstration showing that file permissions won't be applied:

A0001:/ $ su
A0001:/ # ls -la /storage/emulated                                                                                                                                                                 
total 12
drwx--x--x  4 root sdcard_rw 4096 2018-07-24 17:44 .
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root        80 2018-07-24 17:21 ..
drwxrwx--x 14 root sdcard_rw 4096 2018-07-24 17:20 0

drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw 4096 1970-01-01 01:12 obb
A0001:/ # touch /storage/emulated/a
A0001:/ # ls -la /storage/emulated/a
-rw------- 1 root sdcard_rw 0 2018-07-24 17:44 /storage/emulated/a
A0001:/ # chmod 777 /storage/emulated/a
A0001:/ # ls -la /storage/emulated/a                                                                                                                                                               
-rw------- 1 root sdcard_rw 0 2018-07-24 17:44 /storage/emulated/a

(Note: the same happens if I use /storage/emulated/0 instead of /storage/emulated)

My question is: What do I have to run in order to be able to change the file permissions and file ownerships on this weird sdcardfs partition.

root access - Windows mount android file system

I want to edit some files on my phone but I can not access the root folder on my phone.

I'm using a rooted Google Nexus 5 running Android 5.0. I can read/write to my /, and /system by Android's ES file explorer but not Windows' software.

How can I mount the Android system file in Windows, so I can read/write to the same places from there? If that's not possible on Windows: I'm also use Ubuntu. So, Can I mount my phone under Ubuntu?

Answer

There's a second way, which should work with multiple operating systems on the computer's end: Taking a look at my list of file Android server apps, you can find some Android file-server apps using WebDAV or Samba, and SSH Clients & Server has some for SSH. Check those with "root capabilities", as you want to access the entire file system read/write.

Preparing your device for read/write access is done the same way as specified in my other answer. Then start the "server-app" you've selected, and you should be ready – not even a cable needed, as this works via WiFi:

• Linux supports SSHFS, i.e. mounting the file system via SSH. There are also helpers to achieve this on Windows (listed there)


• Samba is supported as "Samba" on Linux, and should be natively supported on Windows as "Windows Share"


• WebDAV should also be supported by both systems

So with any of the three categories, you should be able to mount your Android's file system under Linux as well as Windows. Only possible "drawbacks" here are that you need an additional app on the Android device, and it might be a bit slower due to WiFi (the latter must not necessarily be the case, though).

dictionary - Where to report a bug in a keyboard app?

I have Nexus4 with Android.
One of the input languages is Russian. I use Russian word suggestions or swype method for messaging.
There is a particular form of Russian verbs (frequently used) that seems to be omitted in the dictionary (suggestions).
Where can I report this bug?

Answer

If you're using the stock Android keyboard, you can report it on the central Android bug tracker. Be warned that there are already more than 25000 reports there, and many never receive any response from Google.

If you find a bug in a third-party keyboard you're using, visit the keyboard's page in Google Play (either through the Play Store app or on the website) and click Email developer.

Lastly, and this definitely isn't applicable in this case, if you find a bug in a device manufacturer's keyboard (such as the Samsung Keyboard found on Samsung phones), the answer will depend on which manufacturer, so you should contact their product support in the first instance. Hardware manufacturers tend not to have publicly-accessible bug trackers.

cyanogenmod - Disable Internet access detection of WiFi networks?

In fact my WiFi DO HAVE Internet access, but for some reason it keeps telling me I don't and won't automatically reconnect to it. Now I have to manually reconnect every time.

So, is it possible to disable Internet access detection of WiFi networks?

I'm using CyanogenMod 12.1.

_{(click to enlarge image)}

I've tried disabling captive portal detection, still no luck.

home screen - What is the default resolution of a wallpaper that fits the homescreen exactly in an Android phone?

On an Android phone the wallpaper spans across all of the home screens.

So what size should pictures be to fit properly as custom wallpapers?

Answer

Here are the correct wallpaper dimensions for the phones cited in Leimi's answer:

• 480x320 for devices like the HTC Wildfire


• 640x480 for devices like the HTC Hero or Legend


• 960x800 for devices like the Nexus One


• 960x854 for devices like the Motorola Droid

If you device isn't listed there is an easy way to figure out the dimensions of the wallpaper based on your particular phones resolution:

• 2x the width and 1x the height

so for example my Moto Droid has a screen resolution of 480x854 so I want my wallpaper to be 2x the width (480 pixels) and 1x the height (854 pixels) = 960x854.

Here is a chart with most devices specs to help find the resolution.

Also check out this Lifehacker article that explains Android wallpaper sizing well.

Android apps not working with HTTP proxy

So I want to redirect my Android phone's HTTP traffic through a proxy running on my computer, in my case Burp Suite. I tried doing so by changing the WiFi settings and also by using the Drony app. I also installed Burp's SSL certificate on my phone. When I visit websites using Chrome, everything works fine both on HTTP and on HTTPS, and I can see all the requests on Burp. But when I use a different app - any app - I get a "cannot connect to the Internet" error message and I can't use the app.

Does anyone know how to fix this issue? I should also mention that my phone is not rooted.

Thanks!

Where in the file system are applications installed?

I have installed a few Android applications both with the adb install MyApplication.apk command and via a webserver (like an alternative to Android Market).

But where in the Android file system on my phone is the MyApplication.apk file placed? Are applications installed with adb install not placed in the same directory as applications downloaded from the Market?

I found some applications on /system/app but I can't recognize them as some downloaded from Android Market or the one I have installed with adb install.

Where on the system is applications that I have installed located?

My phone is not rooted, and I am running Nexus One with Android 2.2.1.

Answer

Where an app is stored very much depends on several criteria:

• System apps / pre-installed-bloatware-apps are stored in /system/app with privileged apps in /system/priv-app (which are mounted read-only to prevent any changes). You may also find system apps in /custpack/app's subdirectories.


• normal apps in internal memory go to /data/app


• some apps (encrypted on internal storage?) go to /data/app-private


• Apps stored on external memory go to an encrypted container in /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure. As at runtime Android needs them to be decrypted, it will decrypt them and store a decrypted copy on tmpfs (so it's gone on a reboot) in /mnt/asec
  (you cannot simply look into /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure directly from the device; but if you use a card reader and attach the card to your PC, you will see the files there have the extension .asec instead of .apk -- from which you will get the connection to the name /mnt/asec).


• the apps data are stored below /data/data/ (internal storage) or on external storage, if the developer sticks to the rules, below /mnt/sdcard/Android/data/.

imap - Firm Gmail, i.e. Google Apps -email, with K9 -email program?

I am struggling with this kind of Google Apps -site, example from Google.com -site here.

I use two email-clients in Android: default Gmail -client (because it is tied to my Gmail) and K9. I am able to set up all Gmails to K9 but one email i.e. the firm email from the site https://www.google.com/a/firm.com (excluding ofc the Android-tied-gmail -account, more here). It means that I am using K9 and default Gmail-Android -program but I would like to have all emails under K9. Is it possible and how can do it here in the case of the Gmails targeted to firms? I think such gmails are called something like Google App or something like that, not sure.

The firm Gmail is not accepted like this in K9:

Username: forname.surname

Password: correct

IMAP server: mail.myFirm.com

Security type: SSL (always)

Port: 993

Use compression on network: Mobile Wi-Fi Other

If I change the IMAP -server to mail.gmail.com, it gets accepted but it won't work correctly -- redirection problem. But now I am stucked why it does not accept the above settings?!

Perhaps useful to other like-minded

1. 
   

   All emails under K9 -app?

   
   


2. 
   

   Email-client with Sent emails from many emails under IMAP?

   
   
   


3. 
   

   Setting up IMAP over device-swarm that has a Debian Desktop -client, more here.

   
   

Answer

The default settings by K9 have at least two mistakes:

1. 
   

   use imap.gmail.com instead of mail.gmail.com.

   
   


2. 
   

   use full emails for usernames such as forname.surname@myFirm.com, not just forname.surname.

   
   

Example settings

Incoming Email settings

Username: forname.surname@myFirm.com

Password: correct

IMAP server: imap.gmail.com

Security type: SSL (always)

Port: 993

Use compression on network: Mobile Wi-Fi Other

Outgoing Email settings

Outgoing Server Name: smtp.gmail.com

Use Authentication: Yes

Use STARTTLS: Yes (some clients call this SSL)

Outgoing Server Port: 465 or 587

Username: forname.surname@myFirm.com

Some useful information extracted from this blog here.

google - How do i change play store region?

This question already has answers here:

Closed 3 years ago.

I have been dealing with this issue since i bought this phone ( Galaxy Note 4 ). I need to change my play store to the US, but I couldn't. I have tried many methods especially, changing my home adress of (google payment or wallet). Many people used to download an app called (Hola and others) ,but i don't prefer to use apps in this way. In google play (Contact us) mentioned that I need to put a payment method related to US. Anyway, I don't have a payment for US.

Is there any way to do it?

wi fi - How to share Android "Reverse-tethered" internet via Android WiFi?

Before going into main question, we do know that :

Now the question is :

"Is there a way to share the reverse-tethered internet (as we known connected via usb0 interface) via "Android WiFi Hotspot?"

To make it easier, here's the schema:

^{Schema of my setup (click image for larger variant)}

*Additional Notes :

• 
  

  Actually I don't give a limit which version of the Android (so if it's just compatible in higher version e.g. 4.2, it's okay for me), but I prefer it works on 2.3.x (Gingerbread)

  
  


• 
  

  Some explanations of how to make APN (Infrastructure Mode) on Android (just like Wireless Router/[netsh wlan hostednetwork] on Windows 7/8) might be really helpful too.

  
  


• And also some explanations about how to masquerade (internet sharing) between two interfaces in Android. (such as ICS in Windows or Masquerade/iptables thingy in Linux-based)

Answer

I managed to make it work. Here is an "OSI-like" diagram of my setup, if it makes sense:

 ____________________   ______________________________    ____________
|   LinuxVM <----+  |  |                              |  |            |
|  VirtualBox    |  |  |                              |  |            |
| Windows7(host) |  |  | +--> AndroidPhone <-------+  |  | +-->Laptop |
|  (USB)         +-------+   (USB)  (wifi-HotSpot) +-------+   (wifi) |
|___________________|  |______________________________|  |____________|

The script is located at the XDA forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=50236807&postcount=9

## 0.a. Connect android-phone to PC through USB.
## 0.b Enable Settings|...|Tethering 
##  (so that the device gets detected by the PC's kernel, you should see the following with 'dmsg':
##         [    3.976599] rndis_host 1-1:1.0 usb0: register 'rndis_host' at usb-0000:00:0b.0-1, RNDIS device, 4e:d5:8c:7b:4f:5a
## Enable Settings|...|Wifi-Hotspot


## Setup usb reverse-tethering.
#  from: http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2287494
#

#  Yours device might be 'rndis0' or something else.  Check by just typing 'netcfg'.
#
netcfg usb0 dhcp
busybox route add default gw 10.42.0.1 dev usb0


## Disable mobile-data.
#
busybox ifconfig rmnet_usb0  0.0.0.0



## Masquerade through USB.
#
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
iptables -t nat -F
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o usb0 -j MASQUERADE
iptables -P FORWARD ACCEPT


## Set DNS (if neccessary, ie google's 8.8.4.4).

#
setprop net.dns1 XX.YY.ZZ.WW

Samsung Galaxy S3 i9300 Boot Loop Problem

Problem: Phone battery ran out. Popped spare battery in and the boot loop began. Can only go so far where the screen says "Samsung Galaxy S3 i9300" and nothing further.

Tried with no success:

1. Flicking power button several times


2. Vol Up + Home + Power = loop persists


3. Vol Down + Home + Power, then Vol Up to select Continue and screen is just stuck in "Downloading.. Do not turn off target"

Please help :(

usb connection mode - Default USB MTP for Android 6.0

I would like to have MTP selected by default (instead of charging) when I plug an Android 6.0.x device to a PC through a USB cable. What should I add or modify in the build.prop file of my rooted device to make this happen? I know that it's not possible to do that without root access but the device is rooted.

Answer

The best I found so far is an application named MTPEnabler: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/app-mtp-enbaler-t3263467

sync - How do I copy text from my PC to my phone?

I am looking for a way to copy text from my home computer to my phone, sort of a shared clipboard. Right now I go to the zxing QR code generator and paste the code, take a picture of the screen with the phone, and set the barcode scanner to copy text to the clipboard. It seems like there should be a simpler way. Does anyone know of a way to do this?

Answer

You can install the WiFi Keyboard app from Android Market. A good app, supports both USB and WiFi input. You need to follow information carefully, to get work around.

Reset the request permission dialog on Marshmallow

I am testing my Android application and trying to make sure all permissions (whether granted or denied) are handled correctly. I mistakenly clicked "Never ask again" on a permission and now it never asks me.

I have tried Settings - Apps - Reset App Preferences, but that didn't work.

How can I reset this so that the request permission dialog box comes up again for the permission?

Answer

You need to manually allow the permission on that specific app to reset the request permission dialog.

1. Open the App info (either by dragging from app launcher, or Settings - Apps - [app name])


2. Select Permissions


3. Enable the permission you denied with "never ask again"


4. (Optional) Disable it again from here; note that by this time, your app will request the permission again when needed.

touchscreen - Touch screen not working

I cracked the screen on my android A13 Allwinner tablet so I got new screen and put it on the tablet but the touch screen is not working at all. Can someone help me please.

4.0 ice cream sandwich - How can I get rid of the low disk space notification?

The low disk space notification frequently comes up. I can't get rid of it; the clear button doesn't clear it, and neither does tapping it. It's just taking up space. How can I get rid of it?

I've got 20 MB of free space on my phone, which isn't a lot, but it's sufficient. I already know how much space is available, so a constant reminder serves no purpose, as there's nothing I'm willing to delete to free up space.

This is a Google/HTC Nexus One running Android 4.0. (Quite an old phone to be running ICS, but it was like that when I aquired it secondhand.)

Edits in response to the comments and answers:

• 
  

  I've already moved all possible apps to the SD card, and even a few that weren't supposed to be moved there. Unfortunately, Android insists on keeping some stuff on the phone, even when the apps are moved off. As a Linux user, I can't understand this. By a combination of choosing the $PATH well and manipulating mount points and symlinks appropriately, I can't see why it should make any difference to the system where the app is installed.

  
  


• 
  

  I've already cleared the cache. There's not much there, since I've been aggressive in my cache management. I've even cleared out several apps' data.

  
  


• 
  

  I haven't yet gotten around to moving my data to the SD card, as I asked about here. I think it'll only amount to a few MB of savings, though.

  
  
  

Answer

It is enormously annoying, isn't it? There's no way to suppress it on an unmodified system that I know of, but you can at least free up more internal disk space by emptying system and app caches using an app like SD Maid or by going into the application management section (Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->All, then click on an app name) and manually clearing out app data for hogs like Google Maps and the like using the Clear cache button (note: don't clear the app data! just the cache).

Does Bluetooth tethering not work, or am I doing it wrong?

I carry two Android devices: my Nexus S phone, and a Nexus 7 tablet (both running Android 4.1 "Jellybean"). The tablet has Wi-Fi, but no cellular radio; so in order to use the Internet with it when there's no Wi-Fi hotspot nearby, I have the phone set up for Wi-Fi tethering: it effectively becomes a Wi-Fi hotspot, and the tablet uses that for Internet access. This works perfectly.

However, I recently discovered what appears to be an alternate method of tethering: Bluetooth. Both devices have menu options that seem to allow it; here's screenshots of how I configured both devices:

^{Options on Phone and Tablet (click images for larger variants)}

I tested this by turning Wi-Fi off on both devices, then opening the browser on the tablet and refreshing the page that happened to be loaded. I saw a message that said

    Unable to connect to the Internet

I was, of course, hoping to see the page reload.

It's a shame that I cannot get this to work, because it promises one advantage over Wi-Fi tethering: easier security. I want to prevent other people from stealing my bandwidth; with Wi-Fi, this requires that I set up a WPA password, and then get that password onto the tablet somehow (which is quite tedious). But with Bluetooth, all that's required is that I "pair" the devices, which I've already done.

So I am wondering if I'm doing something wrong, or if this feature simply doesn't work.

Answer

Figured I'd check in again :) My phone and tablet are both running 4.2.2; bluetooth tethering has been working perfectly for months. There must have been a bug in 4.1 that got fixed in 4.2.

security - My android phone was stolen. How worried should I be with all my google data inside the phone?

Ok, so my samsung galaxy 5 was stolen. I had gmail, calendar, twitter(tweetdeck), facebook, ... all my personal data in it.

I didn't have any app installed that could wipe this information from a sms (tried to install PlanB through the market, but I don't think it'll work).

I already changed my google password and I'm proceeding to change facebook and twitter as well.

Is this enough? How much of this information (old emails, tweets, ...) are saved in the phone's memory? Can I prevent access to this just by changing my passwords?

I've blocked my SIM card with my provider, so I guess the phone currently have no internet or telephone line access.

Here in Brazil we can also block a stolen cell phone with the IMEI number, but I don't know exactly what this means. Will this brick the phone or just prevent it from being registered in the network?

storage - Can't move apps to SD Card on Huawei

I own a P9 Lite(EMUI 5.0, Android 7.0) and when I'm trying to move an app to my SD Card there is no option, but on someone's P8 Lite with Android 6.0 this option is available, how can I fix this thing and move apps on the SD Card + Data

adb - How to mount system in rw mode if no custom recovery

When I changed my build.prop for spoofing another device model, I copied build.prop from another device having gingerbrad but my system is froyo. When I rebooted, I lost my internet connection. It reports no ruim card where as it is there. I had installed apks for terminal emulator, busybox etc. but they are not working. Xplore file manager does not work. But free version of Astro File Manager and ROM Toolkit work. I tried to push old build.prop on device using adb but it gives permission denied error as it is read only system. I came to know that adb root and adb remount works if you are in recovery mode. I tried to go into recovery mode, but there is no custom recovery installed on my cheap android phone, so can not go into recovery mode. su does not work in my adb shell. Can anybody tell me the way to mount system partition in rw mode using adb ( without recovery mode ) or is there any tool which will work in this situation ? Thanks in advance.

samsung galaxy nexus - How do I get these toggles in my notification bar?

I was reading an article talking about the Galaxy Nexus vs. the Galaxy SIII, and ended up buying a Nexus (was a steal, and I knew it was getting JB).

Anyway, I've recently updated it to Jellybean, but I realised that I didn't have something that was showing in the article - the toggles they showed in the Notification bar (in the right hand image).

Are these provided in the standard ROM, by an app, or in a custom ROM? I can't seem to find them.

Answer

These toggles aren't part of Android. Third party ROMs like CyanogenMod and MIUI, and certain skins that Hardware manufacturers put on Android include that.

If you want to have this functionality on a Nexus running stock Android you might want to try these two applications, I have used them both, and they are quite stable and useful.

Power Toggles : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.painless.pc

More Quickly Panel: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mabware.android.MoreQuicklyPanel

media player - Unsupported File Type: Why did my Samsung Galaxy S suddenly stop supporting MP3s?

All of a sudden my Samsung Galaxy S claims to not support mp3 files (the phone has been idle for a few hours, I did not touch anything). Ogg files however still play without problems. When this happens, no app can play mp3 files, e.g. my custom ring tone is not played anymore (it just vibrates as if it were muted). A reboot of the phone fixes the issue but within 3-4 days the problem comes back. It does not make a difference if files are stored on internal or external sd card.

This also affects video playback, I'm just not sure if it happens at the same time or independent of each other. The youtube app can no longer start videos (unknown playback problem), and the video player app claims all video files as unsupported. I suppose the issue may not be the video playback itself but the audio codec used in the video (mp3).

Any idea how to fix this or debug this? I don't want to reboot my phone every couple of days - it takes 2-3 minutes to do this and a phone should just work.

I applied 2.2.1 firmware lately and this only seemed to make the problem worse. I had this before 2.2.1 (with 2.2) but only very rarely.

I'm curious if TitaniumBackup may be the culprit as the backup scheduler seems to stop processes sometimes. Maybe others experiencing this issue use scheduled TitaniumBackups, too? The hint was that since upgrading to 2.2.1 I also upgraded to the licensed TitaniumBackup version and scheduled daily backups. But this may just be coincidence. What contradicts this theory: Backups are scheduled at night but last time I saw this issue it happened during the day - mp3 worked in the morning, failed in the afternoon. The phone was idle during the time it "decided" to no longer play mp3.

Looking at forums (I only found a few hits in Google), people having the same problems suggest to simply reboot the phone - but that is no fix at all. Or they suggest to send the phone back for replacement - and guess what: It has not fixed the problem for people experiencing this issue. So I suggest it is not a hardware issue (neither related to sdcards nor to the phone itself).

Answer

I think I found the problem.

Like bjoernz said, some application is creating many objects from MediaPlayer class and it's not releasing that after. So, I opened an adb shell, became root (su) and I found the PID (process ID) of mediaserver, using the command:

ps | grep mediaserver

The mediaserver's PID, in my case, is: 84

Then, I listed all resources used by that PID with the command:

lsof | grep 84

And I got the following result:

So, it became easy to identify that the official twitter application (com.twitter.android-1.apk) was the problem. Then I removed twitter application and I installed TweetDeck instead and the problem disappeared since last week.

Hope this can help you.

[]'s

How to make a complete factory reset, without anyone being able to retrieve my data?

I will have a few Android phones that I will have to let go.

I would like to make a proper clean wipe of the data, without no one being able to retrieve them, and do a factory reset.

I have read about the Schneier Method, encrypting the device before doing a factory reset, doing both, etc.

Since I am not an Android/adb guru, I would like to know if some of you would have some idea on how to achieve this with certainty.

I know "certainty" is a big word when it comes to proper data erasure on flash memory but still.

I have found some answers here and somewhere else, saying that encrypting and doing a factory reset on your Android device is enough, but I could not find a reliable source.

Just a few information that could be useful:

• I'm running Linux as my OS and, therefore, I'm not looking for a Windows-based solution


• My devices are non-rooted and (almost) identical (Samsung A510F + 1 A510FD)

Answer

HOW DELETED DATA IS RECOVERED?

Data (un)deletion strongly depends on how a storage media (HDD, SSD, eMMC etc.), filesystem (NTFS, FAT32, ext4 etc.) and OS save and delete files.

• 
  

  File carving / signature search / content-aware recovery identifies standard signatures values in the headers of deleted files (as file command and antivirus programs do to identify known viruses hiding in files) e.g. JPEG files start with 0xffd8 and end with 0xffd9. The data in between blocks is assumed to be the file (considering the file is contiguous; no fragmentation). Other checks may also be performed on header like a checksum, the file’s length, or date/time etc. But not all file types have a standard header/footer signature, so determining where the file starts/ends is difficult. Metadata (including filenames) isn't recovered with this method.

  
  

  This approach works for deleted files, filesystems or partitions. Photorec, scalpel, foremost and popular Android app DiskDigger (in dig deeper mode) work on this approach.

  
  


• 
  

  Recovering as much as possible information about deleted data blocks from within filesystem e.g. from directory entries, journal, inodes etc. Filesystem is basically the catalog which holds file name vs. file location information and journal is a kind of backup information. So recovery of filenames (and other metadata) is more probable with journaling filesystems.

  
  
  

  This approach works only if filesystem and partition are intact, or are recoverable using first method. DiskDigger (in dig deep mode) and extundelete work on this approach.

  
  

---

WHAT MAKES RECOVERY OF DELETED DATA DIFFICULT / IMPOSSIBLE?

• A file/directory is simply deleted e.g. from some File Explorer app or with rm from commadline.


• A file is renamed to some random string, then deleted.


• Filesystem on the device is not journaling, so no information can be collected from journal. Ext4, the commonly used filesystem on Android, is journaling.


• 
  
  

  Filesystem on the device is a Flash Filesystem e.g. F2FS.

  
  

  In this case you are left with minimum tools (e.g. no debugfs to list deleted inodes and to lookup corresponding data blocks from journal) and also data is always written to new blocks as a wear-leveling strategy. Garbage Collection makes recovery less probable from filesystem because Logical Block Addresses (LBAs) of data blocks get changed. So only carving method is applicable, and it works.

  
  


• Filesystem or partition is deleted, making it harder to search directory structures and journal from within filesystem. Android's stock recovery deletes filesystem during a Factory Reset. See this answer.


• Whole disk is erased including Partition Table, boundaries of partitions and filesystems are vanished. This isn't possible on Android devices because there are partitions required to boot the device.


• 
  

  File was fragmented (not saved contiguously as a single piece), particularly if no information can be recovered from filesystem.

  
  

  Fragmentation is higher on Windows as compared to Linux/Android; Ext4 is self de-fragmenting because of Delayed Allocation and reserved-blocks-percentage etc. But usually large files on an older filesystem are always fragmented.

  
  


• 
  
  

  You overwrite file/filesystem/partition with other file/filesystem/partition, or zeros, or random data (shredding).

  
  

  If you have root access, throw a stream of /dev/urandom on block device to overwrite all data including filesystem. Now forget about its recovery, though it doesn't nullify the possibility of data recovery directly from flash storage (raw NAND), by chipping it off the board (who will do this except in forensic lab!). Official tool from SD organization: SD Memory Card Formatter also overwrites with zeros in full format mode. Please note that repeated overwriting wastes precious E/P cycles of flash memory.

  
  


• 
  

  Filesystem is TRIMmed or SECURE TRIMmed, or ERASEd or SECURE ERASEd.

  
  

  These are special commands for different types of flash storage devices. TRIM is issued by the filesystem to the firmware of flash device, requesting the actual physical erasure of data blocks (LBAs) which have been deleted from the filesystem. Filesystems mounted with discard option always send FITRIM ioctl whenever a file is deleted. Android does a scheduled TRIM, or you can do manually with fstrim command. See this answer.

  
  


• 
  

  Partition is BLKDISCARDed or BLKSECDISCARDed.

  
  

  blkdiscard issues TRIM command for whole block device i.e. partition or disk (roughly equivalent to issuing TRIM on a newly created filesystem).
  
  TRIM saves filesystem's superblocks/inode table and drive's partition table, BLKDISCARD saves nothing on block device.

  
  

  Android's stock recovery tries to do at least one of the both during a Factory Reset. See this answer.
  Something similar happens with bootloader unlock and fastboot erase, though it depends on implementation inside bootloader but that's what Google expects from OEM/SoC vendors.

  
  


• 
  

  Deleted file is encrypted or file doesn't have an identifiable unique signature (at start or end), so no carving is possible.

  
  

  Like an encrypted archive or file that mostly file explorers can create. Or a file with some uncommon format, not known to recovery programs.

  
  


• Filesystem or block device is encrypted so the data becomes unrecognizable (like FBE/FDE on Android). Mostly new devices come with forceencrypt or fileencryption flags set in fstab, so vold encrypts them on first usage. If not decryptable (e.g. formatted), data is impossible to be recovered on such devices.


• Flash storage device is self-encrypting, common for SSDs but not for eMMCs.



• Flash storage device is erased with SECURITY_ERASE or ENHANCED_SECURITY_ERASE ATA commands, common for SSDs but not for eMMCs.


• 
  

  Storage device isn't accessible e.g. on embedded system if bootloader is erased, device is bricked and no more bootable. There is no protocol to communicate with eMMC, even if the data is there, except through something very lower level like JTAG or a chip-off.

  
  

  Also see: Bootloader/BIOS, flashing ROM and correlated risks. Why Android devices are more brickable than PCs?

  
  


• Storage media is physically damaged; mechanically or electrically.

Large size storage solutions like NAS or the more complicated SAN that makes use of LUNs with advanced protocols likes iSCSI, and data integrity solutions like RAID also complicate the data recovery process. However single disks like on home PCs or the flash memory like on Android phones are rather simple cases.

---

So while a Factory Reset with stock recovery suffices in most cases, you can combine any of the above described steps, whichever applicable to your device, to make sure your data is not retrievable.

RELATED:

google play store - Can application upgrades happen automatically, even if you have it turned off in marketplace?

I thought I had turned off all the automatic upgrades for the apps on my phone (T-Mobile G2 w/ Froyo).

However, yesterday, I got a notice that said that I had new GMail and described the new features.

I checked GMail, and I did have the new 2.3.5 version.

Then I checked Android Market, and it shows "Allow automatic updating" as unchecked.

security - How do I secure/encrypt SD card data transparent to apps?

Are there any off-the-shelf options for securing the contents of an SD card so that files written by apps writing to SD are encrypted? If so, what is the best option?

I'm looking for something for all apps. I would strongly prefer to do it without rooting.

Answer

Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) has a feature called "adoptable storage", which allows the external SD card to be treated as if it were internal storage. When this is done, everything on the card is encrypted.

More details: https://source.android.com/devices/storage/adoptable.html

SMS backup in Android

This question already has answers here:

Closed 8 years ago.

Possible Duplicate:
How do I backup and restore SMS Messages?

How can I make a backup of SMS messages to the SD card in Android 2.2?

Google Account Sync, high battery usage of Google Play Services

I have a similar question like this one. I recently (since 2 days) also have a very high battery wastage (keeps only less hours while it used to keep the whole day). In the battery settings the chart looks similar to the one in the question from the link. (Google Play Services on the top.)

_{Click image to enlarge}

My Question now is regarding the answer in the topic from Dean:

After trawling through all manner of options I isolated the root cause of this issue.

Within Google Account Sync I had a look at all available settings and the one that seemed to be causing an issue was 'Sync Internet' option which was just constantly running (and appearing to be keeping the phone awake.

Switching this off has got back my battery back to normal.

I still have no idea why my phone was trying to sync the entire internet :-)

I can't find the Google Account Sync in Android 6.0 since the settings menu has a new layout. Is the answer still valid and if yes how can I find these settings or is the problem a new one?

Side note: I just noticed that the Google Play Store itself also received a recent update, but they wouldn't release an update with that high battery consumption, would they?

Answer

My guess is the problem is going to get worse, theoretically, since I an still on 4.2.2, so can't speak with practical experience.

Going by this, Android 6 has a great auto back up system, key changes are:

1. 
   

   In addition to app data it saves your settings also

   
   


2. 
   

   Reinstalling apps comes with data of those apps.

   
   


3. 
   

   Games saved with 'Saved Games' feature of Google Play Games will have game data restored.

   
   


4. 
   
   

   Back up is scheduled to happen every 24 hours or trigger based. This back up mechanism is moved to Google Play services, except for games which are in Google Play Games

   
   

The documentation configuring auto back up for apps as quoted in the link states "On devices running Android 6.0 (API level 23-API levels are tied to Android releases, so Android 1.0 was "API 1," Android 1.1 was "API 2," and Android 1.5 was "API 3." Android 6.0, is API 23) or higher, the default system behavior is to back up almost all data that an app creates." 

I do not know how much has been implemented in the OS and the same article quotes " as of October 10, 2015: of the top 200 third-party, non-game apps, 190 targeted API 22 or lower and thus won't work on the new backup system." How rapidly this situation will change is anybody's guess but eventually non-game apps I suppose will want to be compatible

So, my guess is that sync is going to carry a far heavier payload than before and surely be a bigger battery hog and also hurt those on data plan.

Bottom line is that it is better to disable sync or selectively sync in Google Play services and Google games services if you want to limit your battery drain, besides uninstalling those Google apps which you don't use. Since the third party app back up with data may take a long time to be fully implemented by app developers, creating custom recovery images as back up would still be required.

applications - What precisely is CloudAgent process? Its files eats space like crazy

I have bunch of usual stuff going on in my phone (Samsung Grand, Android 4.1.2) like app auto-updates, Twitter, Dropbox, etc. Most of the time it's clear what the network-related settings for them are (wifi-only all the things) and they are clearly reflected in data stats.

The one exception is "CloudAgent" process, which:

• does not really make it obvious what it belongs to (is this part of Android? Samsung custom stuff?)


• eats space like crazy (its folder was well over 1GB out of 4GB system space)


• eats network, even when not on wifi

While it doesn't really cause any serious issues, it is highly confusing - what it is, what it does and which settings control it?

Answer

It's Samsung software, built into the system in certain Samsung phones. Like the Dropbox app, it's a service to automatically upload photos you take on your phone; it connects to your "Samsung account" if you create one. It also integrates with Dropbox to sync photos to the device Gallery; if you have "Camera upload" turned on in Dropbox as well, this probably results in your phone having two copies of each photo: the usual one, and one in CloudAgent's storage.

You can change its settings by going into the main Settings app and choosing Cloud from the Applications manager list (in the Device section). You can clear its data and disable it, or "freeze" the app if your device is rooted, and the only consequence is that photos from Dropbox won't show up in Gallery. If you have the Dropbox app installed as well, Dropbox can still sync (and automatically upload photos) without CloudAgent running.

settings - How can I add a custom search engine to Chrome (beta, stable...)?

Call me dumb, but, I don't see an obvious way to do this.

I want to add duckduckgo.com as the main search engine in Google Chrome for Android (beta, stable...)

audio - How do I use an external microphone with my Galaxy Nexus?

How do I use an external microphone on my Galaxy Nexus, and what kind do I need?

I know if it should use a jack plug (3.5 mm), but not all jack connectors are the same, and I don't know if the lower or middle or upper part is for the microphone.

I want to use my phone for a video conference, but there is going to be a lot of noise around me, so I need an external microphone without all the background noise which the microphone in the phone gives.

I don't think the Gnex can handle a USB mic through the micro USB port, correct me if I'm wrong.

Answer

Today i have made some progress in this question. On iPhone you can buy a iRig Mic which can do the job (and it should work on android too). But since i want to use another external microphone i have decided to make the adapter myself from some different adapters (which does the same thing as iRig Mic, but with a female 3.5 mm jack output, so i can use my wireless microphone with it)

I have ordered the parts from an online store in denmark, but you can get it all over the internet, you just need to know what you need :)

The first thing you need is a 3.5 mm male 4 pole conductor jack (TRRS) to RCA adapter. Like this one Then you need a RCA to either female jack or XLR adapter (either if your mic has a jack or XLR output) Like this one And thats all.

Then you can plug everything together and use the mic of your choice on your Android phone.

(BTW some stock camcorder apps can't use external microphones, then just use this camcorder app: https://market.android.com/details?id=rubberbigpepper.lgCamera&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsInJ1YmJlcmJpZ3BlcHBlci5sZ0NhbWVyYSJd )

I'm using this app ^^ with this set of wireless microphones

And i'm just waiting for the last adapter in the mail tomorrow..

So from tomorrow i can record with my galaxy nexus and record the sound via the wireless microphone on a distance up too 30 meters :D

And if i need to go around with the phone and the microphone, i will just plug in a wired microphone to the female jack and go around with the phone and microphone in my hand :)

I hope someone in the future can use this information which was very hard to find on the internet :) When i have some time later today or tomorrow, i will upload a couple pictures to illustrate my setup :)

sms - How can I deal with mass texts from an Apple phone when using an Android phone?

Occasionally one of my friends using an iPhone will send out a mass text, and for the next few days I get spammed with texts from all the other numbers they sent it to, most of them unidentified on my phone, and since some of them are responding to each other, none of them make any sense. It's incredibly annoying. Presumably iPhones have something that can detect and properly order mass texts, as Apple wouldn't want to annoy their own users, only Android users. Is there something I can do to make the mass text make more sense on my end?

Answer

Jelly Bean upgrade (4.2) add support for group messaging. So, two solutions :

• 
  
  

  upgrade your phone to Jelly Bean 4.2.

  
  


• 
  

  install a third party application that handles it : this one seems to have a fair number of good reviews.

  
  

What are the minimum hardware specifications for Android?

As per the title, what hardware do I need to be able to run various versions of Android?

Answer

Start with the Android compatibility page. This outlines goals for Android's compatibility and links to the current Compatibility Definition Document which has the technical requirements. All versions of the CDD to date are below.

These are also linked to from the Android Compatibility Downloads page which also includes test suites.

There is no Compatibility Program for older versions of Android, such as Android 1.5 (known in development as Cupcake). New devices intended to be Android compatible must ship with Android 1.6 or later.

Notable points:

The requirements in these documents must be met for a device to be "Google Approved" and ship with the official Google apps such as the Play Store and Google Talk. However, they are not necessarily hard requirements. Since Android is open-source it can be modified to run on lesser hardware, and the opposite is possible as well — modifications necessary to run the OS on a device may make the firmware image too large to fit on it, just for example.

How can I add a shortcut to a particular Google Drive document to my Android homescreen?

How can I add a shortcut to a particular Google Drive document to my Android homescreen?

This is the Android analog to this question. Using a URL doesn't work, since I don't want to open the browser and I want to directly access a Google Drive file I have made available offline.

Could QuickShortcutMaker be used? Looking through it briefly, (see here) it doesn't look possible because the "intents" used by QuickShortcutMaker don't take arguments such as a filename.

Answer

You should be able to do this natively.

Android 3.0 (and below):

In your launcher, press and hold on a blank area and click "Shortcuts". Select "Drive Shortcut", then your document, and it will create a link for you.

Android 4.0 (and above)

Open your app drawer and jump to the Widgets section. Swipe until you get to "Drive Shortcut". Long-press and drop on your desktop. Choose the account to use (if necessary) then select the document.

4.0 ice cream sandwich - Compass north and south are reversed on my Samsung Galaxy 2

Since upgrading my phone to ICS, my compass is reversed, with the north end pointing south.

I have tried waving the phone in a figure 8 pattern and flipping it over on all axis.

What can I do to get my compass pointing the right way?

Answer

I found the answer on this page, and the solution was to download and install a compass fix patch.

rooting - How can I root my Pandigital Novel 7" Tablet?

I have a Pandigital 7" that is updated as far as the firmware updates go. However, I do not have access the Android Market and I do not have root access.

I am trying to install a SQL reader that I found on SlideMe.org and it says to update my ROM, but I have the most up-to-date firmware from the Pandigital Website.

I also found a link for a firmware update Android Open Source Kit here: http://www.pandigital.net/?PageID=335

Does anybody know if this open source kit will give me root access?

networking - How configure the DHCP settings of WIFI Tethering (Hotspot) on Android?

When connecting my PC to Android Wi-Fi hotspot, it assigned a 192.168.42.x address to my PC. I really need to change this as it conflicts with one of our work subnets - is this possible?

rooting - How can I root the Amazon FireTV?

I would like to root my Amazon FireTV so I can sideload applications on it. Like XBMC (Kodi), Google Play, Google Play Movies.

My FireTV OS version is 51.1.1.0_user_511070220. Can I root it? What are the steps to root it?

Answer

For a list that may be more up-to-date, see AFTVNews software list.

Due to recent software updates that block rooting, some Fire TVs cannot be rooted. To know if your Fire TV can be rooted, check your software version by going to: Settings > System > About on your Fire TV.

• 51.1.4.3_user_514020320
  
  
  
  • Released: 2/5/2015
  
  
  • Rootable: NO
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.4.2_user_514015320
  
  
  
  • Released: 12/15/2014
  
  
  
  • Rootable: NO
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.4.1_user_514013920
  
  
  
  • Released: 11/18/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: NO
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.4.0_user_514005520
  
  
  
  
  • Released: 10/23/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: NO
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.4.0_user_514006420
  
  
  
  • Released: 10/23/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: NO
  
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.3.0_user_513010720
  
  
  
  • Released: 10/26/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: NO
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.3.0_user_513011820
  
  
  
  • Released: 9/25/2014
  
  
  
  • Rootable: NO
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.3.0_user_513011520
  
  
  
  • Released: 9/13/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: NO
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.2.0_user_512073320
  
  
  
  
  • Released: 8/13/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: NO
  
  
  • Notes: As of 1/1/2015, all updates after this date have not been rootable.
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.1.0_user_511070220
  
  
  
  • Released: 7/9/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: YES
  
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.1.0_user_511069920
  
  
  
  • Released: 6/25/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: YES
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.0.2_user_510058520
  
  
  
  
  • Released: 4/29/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: YES
  
  
  
  


• 51.1.0.1_user_510055620
  
  
  
  • Released: 4/7/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: YES
  
  
  
  



• 51.1.0_user_510047320
  
  
  
  • Released: 4/2/2014
  
  
  • Rootable: YES
  
  
  
  

---

If you made it this far, congratulations! You have a build of FireOS that is rootable. Let's proceed

1. Download TowelRoot by clicking on the Red Icon


2. Download SuperSU Apk - We need the APK because we do not have Google Play - XDA Thread for SuperSU


3. Side load the applications on to the FireTV - This is beyond this question, I may do a Q&A for this in the future. In the mean time, look for adbFire to sideload the apps or Ask a Question for help with this step.


4. Launch towelroot from your FireTV application menu


5. Use the remote and click make it ra1n button
   


6. Wait for towelrootto finish.
   
   
   
   • You may need to reboot.
   
   
   
   
   


7. Launch SuperSU


8. Update su binary if you are asked.


9. 
   

   Verify you have root access - see how can I tell if I have root

   
   
   
   
   • 
     

     this can be done from a console/terminal window and connect to the FireTV via adb

     
     

     adb connect xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:5555
     adb shell su

     
     
     
   
   
   
   


10. 
    

    You should be promted on your FireTV with a Grant request
    

    
    

How do I know when "adb backup" is finished?

I have a non-rooted Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and I wanted to try the "adb backup" feature. Possibly in preparation for rooting, but that's not really relevant to the question.
I want to back up everything.
I used this command on a Windows 7 command line:

adb backup -apk -shared -all -f c:\mybackup.ab

My phone prompted me for my password, which I entered, and clicked the button to begin the backup.

I let it run for several minutes, and the cmd window returned to C: prompt. On the phone, it was still flipping through filenames.

At some point, it stopped flipping through filenames but the back up selection buttons were still greyed out. C:\mybackup.ab existed, and was about 1GB in size, which is significantly smaller than I thought it should be, especially since I said to back up the apk files and the whole "shared" space (/mnt/sdcard).

What should I see (on the PC and on the phone) when the backup process completes? How long should I wait, if I estimate I'm using about 10GB of the 32GB of space?

Edit: ... and/or is that the wrong set of command line arguments?

Answer

The adb backup command won't work fully on an unrooted device as it will attempt to backup things like the /system partition, and without root access the phone will deny you this for safety reasons. I'm glad to hear running it with the -nosystem flag worked out for you :)

If you want to do a complete backup you need to be rooted. The /system partition, according to this page:

contains the entire operating system, other than the kernel and the ramdisk. This includes the Android user interface as well as all the system applications that come pre-installed on the device. Wiping this partition will remove Android from the device without rendering it unbootable, and you will still be able to put the phone into recovery or bootloader mode to install a new ROM.

This means that your backup does not include anything related to your operating system, only your apps and their settings. If you decide to root your device, you can create a very solid backup from CWM Recovery where all partitions are backed up to the sdcard on the device, including the system and boot partitions.

sync - How can I know which apps are currently connecting to the Internet?

I have a Samsung Spica running Eclair (rooted). I've noticed on a number of occasions that inspite of the Autosync option turned off, the sync icon appears in the notification bar. By default, Gmail, Calendar & Contacts are set to sync whenever the Autosync option is turned on.

I don't use any scheduler app like Locale or Tasker.

Is there an app or some way to see which app is connecting to the Internet at any given time? Or can someone verify if this sort of behaviour of the sync icon appearing is normal?

Answer

OS Monitor does that. Shows the name of the app, and the IP address of the connection (including a WHOIS with a map when you click on it).

EDIT: I should mention that the sync icon TYPICALLY indicates a system-level sync. Do you have every item (GMail, Contacts, Calendar, Facebook) explicitly turned off in the settings?

Where is data of Google Play Services located in device? Can I safely delete it?

Just noticed that data in internal storage for Google Play Services app grew above 100Mib, so this app is officially space hog now.

So my questions are:

1. What is the exact location for Google Play Services data? (for backing up)


2. Can I safely delete Google Play Services data and let app recreate it?


3. What I might lose if I delete Google Play Services data unsafely?

Answer

What is exact location for Google Play Services data?

Package name of Google Play Services is com.google.android.gms.

Default data directory of apps is under /data/data, and for Play Services, it is /data/data/com.google.android.gms.

Note that you can't simply copy-paste it into anywhere. To peek into data directory of an app you would need root access. Fortunately, for non-root devices, Play Services allows its backup using adb.

After installing ADB, enter this command in a shell:

adb backup -apk com.google.android.gms

This will save the backup in the file backup.ab located in the current directory.

To restore that backup, enter this command from the same current directory:

adb restore backup.ab

Can I safely delete Google Play Services data and let app recreate it?

By safely, if you mean clearing data from Settings → Apps→ Downloaded → Google Play Services, then you're good to go.

In Android 4.4.2 and 5.0.2, you don't get the straight option named Clear Data. Instead you get Manage space. Follow the screenshots:

_{(Click image to enlarge; hover to know details)}

However, in Android 4.2.1, there was no Manage Space but Clear Data. Perhaps, the former option is Android version specific and not app specific.

Doing adb shell pm clear com.google.android.gms is also safe, at least, my Play Store, and Gmail (both ridiculously dependent on Play Services) worked fine after executing both steps independently.

The data recreated too.

What I might lose if I delete Google Play Services data unsafely?

I don't know what unsafely would mean here other than purging the app directory of Play Services without uninstalling it, so I can't comment on it.

Anyhow, the front-end of Play Services is named Google Settings, the core of Google Apps, whose icon you would see in your app drawer. Simply open it, and the entries you would see are possibly responsible for the data collection of Play Services. And as I said above, the dependent apps worked fine without a hitch, so this app's data isn't something I would worry about. Your case may vary, so dig deeper into this app's GUI.

2.3 gingerbread - Camera app on HTC Sensation keeps crashing

I have an HTC Sensation, about two years old. It's running Gingerbread, rooted but not modded or custom-rommed. All of a sudden, the native camera app started crashing - i.e. it opens and immediately closes. I don't know if the hardware camera is damaged, or if it's just the app.

There have been no changes to my phone since it last worked - no new apps, no settings changes, nothing.

Any ideas? Are there any other camera apps out there that I could download to replace the native one?

Answer

I just found a free sensors diagnostic app, install it and run it in order to see if it's a hardware problem: Z - Device Test

samsung - SD card trouble

I have a 16GB Samsung Galaxy S5. I filled the memory so I bought a 32GB SD card to move my media onto. I copied the Media onto the SD card, made sure everything transferred properly, and then deleted the media on the device memory. A few hours later, I turned the phone off, switched batteries, and when I booted back up, a message popped up saying that the SD card was damaged. The phone will not recognize anything except that its installed. Please tell me there is a way to fix the SD card and recover my media with minimal loss! How can I do it?

battery life - Sony Ericsson DISCHARGES when plugged in

I have a Sony Ericsson Live With Walkman (WT19i). About a week ago my phone started discharging when plugged in for charging using either a Samsung wall charger or the USB port on my PC. It charged slowly but correctly when it was turned OFF, but dropped down to zero rapidly from 60% charged state when plugged in ON state.

I fail to understand the reason for this as the phone works correctly when not charging (battery appears to be intact and not leak charge on regular use).

cyanogenmod - Trouble on the instalation of the Cyanogen?

I'm trying to install Cyanogen on my Xperia L. I've done all the steps until here.

My problem is on step 5, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. On the sideload method, it says to select install zip > install zip from sideload, but on my phone there is not such option.

In the push and install method it says to navigate to the phone's mounts and storage. But there is also no such option on the phone. What appears in my phone is the following:

• Reboot system now


• Apply update


• Wipe data/factory reset


• Wipe cache partition


• Reboot to bootloader



• Power down


• View recovery logs

Progress: I've uploaded the CM to my SD card. I've tried to run it using Apply update > from sdcard1. It runs for a while but it ends up in a screen that says:

Cyanogen

Install failed

Finding update package...

Opening update package...

Installing update...

This package is for device: C2105, C2014, C2105, C2104, taoshan

this device is .

E: Failed to install /sideload/package.zip

Please take note of all the above lines for reports

Installation aborted.

The problem here is that my device is an Xperia L C2104 (according to the box). I'm starting to think that I should upload it to /sdcard/0/.

applications - Useful or cool Tasker recipes

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, visit the help center for guidance.

Closed 7 years ago.

Locked. This question and its answers are locked because the question is off-topic but has historical significance. It is not currently accepting new answers or interactions.

In a similar vein to this question, I'm interested in finding any useful recipes for Tasker.

I've found several profiles and "Step Throughs" on their wiki, but would be interested in any others that people have found helpful.

dual sim - Moto E being charged for mobile data even if it's turned off on Vodafone Karnataka SIM

Closed. This question is off-topic. It is not currently accepting answers.

---

I have very recently purchased Moto E and using Vodafone Karnataka SIM. I have disabled mobile data and work only with WiFi.

Even after this, I see I am being charged with 0 MB data usage.

^{(Click for full size)}

I don't understand what is happening here. It is coming very frequently. I am very sure none of the apps are using it since I uninstalled almost every app that I installed after this problem has arisen. I have checked data usage logs and it says 0 MB data usage and that none of my app have used any mobile data.

Why is this happening? Probably some check after WiFi gets disconnected? I checked with Android debugger, but there is too many log statement. Anything particular I should be looking at?

Any help or suggestion is appreciated.

external display - How could I view that Android Screen on a computer or larger screen

How can I display my Android ICS Samsung Galxy S3 Screen on a Laptop or Monitor Screen? Are there any fast quick programs which do this?

Answer

There are lot of apps to do that. One is droid@screen; you need to have access to Android development toolkit for that though.

Extremely sorry for not providing the links, here are the links

droid@screen http://droid-at-screen.ribomation.com/ please install the USB drivers of you phone, instructions about how to use it is given there on the site.

If it asks for ADB you need to download Android SDK from here http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html (Got to other platforms, download SDK. ) ADB will be present in platforms tools inside the SDK

2.2 froyo - Screen timeout when reading

I have my screen timeout set to 30 seconds, which is a good interval normally. However, when i am in a browser reading or Adobe Reader or ThinkFree or whichever other reader, I would like the timeout to be larger or never.

Is there anyway of doing this in Froyo without manually setting it to 30 mins and after I'm done reading all I wanted to read, set it back to 30 seconds?

Thank you.

Where can I find the Chrome bookmarks stored locally in Samsung Galaxy S6?

I'm freaking out as my Chrome browser on my rooted Samsung Galaxy S6 got reset after using Datasync, and when I opened my Chrome browser it showed as a fresh install. Like never used before. I had months of research in my bookmarks which I now see did not get backed up. Now would the bookmarks be stored locally on my S6 somewhere so I can access that info???

And I didn't sync my Chrome bookmarks to the cloud since before I kept losing bookmarks by synching across devices.

wi fi - What are the Wi-Fi disconnect reasons on adb dumpsys wifi?

adb dumpsys wifi gives me, among many others, lines like this:

Event [IFNAME=wlan0 CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=X reason=7]

What does reason=7 mean? What other reasons are there?

If this applies to Android aswell (I guess so since Android does use wpa_supplicant), reason 7 would translate to "Class 3 frame received from nonassociated STA" - Now what does that mean?

(I'm trying to debug WiFi disconnects that shouldn't happen.)

How to restore the stock firmware to the Asus Zenfone 2?

Asus Zenfone 2 (Z00AD, ZE551ML)

I have downloaded the stock firmware from here. But how to flash it? This guide tells me to put it on an external SD card and boot into "update mode" by pressing Power + Volume Down, but that combination doesn't do anything on my phone.

It looks like I can use something called Asus Flashtool, but it appearantly involves using a different type of format for the firmware, which I will need to download from a third party.

Asus has provided me with the firmware. How to flash it?

Answer

I found out how to do it with the official firmware from asus.com. I'll post this for the benefit of all sentient beings future readers with the same problem. I'm writing this in a very beginner-friendly fashion.

Note: I had stock recovery. These steps will not work if you have a custom recovery.

---

Disclaimer: This is only what worked for me. It may or may not work for others. Follow these steps at your own risk. Any problems you encounter or global nuclear wars you cause while following these steps are your own responsibility. If something goes wrong (such as a power outage or loose cable) in the middle of the flashing, it will soft-brick your phone. If you don't know how to deal with such things, take your phone to a proper service center instead of following this tutorial.

---

1. I downloaded the official firmware from here.

Important(!): You must select the exact correct file. Failing to do so could damage your device. It's important that you match all the numbers with those on your device. In my case, the relevant values were ZE551ML and 2.20.40.184 for WW. ("WW" is the important part.) You may think you have the same phone as me, but your values may be different. In that case it's very important that you get another image, namely the correct one for your device!!

2. I used Windows 10.


3. Downloaded and installed this driver.


4. Downloaded and installed Minimal ADB and Fastboot.


5. Copied the firmware file (from step #1) to the folder in which Minimal ADB and Fastboot was installed. (In my case C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot.)

Before proceeding, ensure the battery is above 50% (just to be safe.)

6. 
   

   Turned off the phone completely.

   
   


7. 
   

   Pressed and held the Power button and the Volume up button both at the same time.

   
   


8. 
   

   As soon as the phone vibrated, I let go of the power button.

   
   

Please note: I had to try several times before this key combination worked. If it doesn't work immediately, try again until it works.

9. After a short while I saw this:

10. 
    

    I pressed Volume down twice until it said RECOVERY MODE inside the box. I then pressed the Power button.

    
    



11. 
    

    When you see this dead android, and a message saying Error!, do not despair, I also saw that message.

    
    

12. On that screen, I pressed the Power button and the Volume up button both at the same time.

Please note: I had to try several times before this key combination worked. If it doesn't work immediately, try again until it works.

13. I was then taken to this screen:

14. 
    

    I pressed Volume Down to select apply update from ADB. I then pressed the Power Button to select that option.

    
    


15. 
    

    I connected the phone to the computer.

    
    



16. 
    

    I navigated to the folder in which Minimal ADB and Fastboot was installed. (In my case C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot.)

    
    


17. 
    

    Holding down Shift I right clicked in the white space in that folder and selected Open command window here.

    
    


18. 
    

    In that window, I typed adb devices and pressed Enter to check the connection to the phone.

    
    

In my case, the output to that was

List of devices attached
0123456789ABCDEF        sideload

19. I then typed adb sideload UL-Z00A-WW-2.20.40.184-user.zip and pressed Enter.

Important: Unless you have the exact same file as me, you have to replace UL-Z00A-WW-2.20.40.184-user.zip with whatever file name your actual firmware file has. Remember to include .zip as Windows often doesn't display file name extensions by default.

20. The process took around 20 minutes. This time may vary. The command prompt window told me the percents of progress along thew way. I was given a confirmation message after it was done. I rebooted the phone, and I now have the stock firmware on my phone.

I actually also wiped data and cache partition (which wipes all personal data), because I wanted a totally clean phone. But I think that's optional.

Attribution: I followed this tutorial, but I had to do some of the things differently and figure parts of it out on my own.

By the way, I've successfully rooted now, and it works again! :D

permissions - How to prevent an application from getting installed apps

I'm a android user not a developer and just want to know how can I prevent an app e.g. Facebook from getting installed apps list? Or alternatively hide some apps from installed list in order to fool the Facebook app.

5.0 lollipop - Open a new tab in chrome from a shortcut or app

Since updating to Android 5.1.1 I started using the new tab switcher merged with recent apps, however, every time I click on chrome I have to wait for it to open the last tab only to open a new one anyways, and if I wanted the old tab I could have opened it from the recent apps.

I tried creating a bookmark to use about:blank, which works except I don't have access to any bookmarks or history as from the new tab page, but when trying to link directly to the new tab page I am unable to find a method which works.

Using "about:newtab" I am given a transparent overlay on my launcher which shows as Chrome in recent apps.
Using chrome://newtab or chrome-native://newtab I receive a toast from the launcher stating "App isn't installed.".

I thought about creating a simple app with no UI which simply opens chrome to a new tab, or using Xposed to change it to open in a new tab on click, but am unsure how to go about this.

Is there some file in system I could change to add Chrome as a handler for "chrome://" links?

What other method I could try in order to create a shortcut on my launcher to open a new tab for chrome?

More Info

• Launchers Tested: Nova Launcher, Google Now Launcher


• Chrome Versions: Chrome 45.0.2454.94, Chrome Beta 46.0.2490.34


• Android Version: 5.1.1 LMY48M


• Device: Nexus 5

settings - Increase vibrate strength

The vibrate strength of my Galaxy Nexus is incredibly weak. When I have the phone in my pocket I simply don’t feel the vibrate for incoming calls at all, which defeats its purpose. I’ve missed more than one important phone call due to that.

Is there a way to increase the strength? I haven’t found anything relevant in the settings.

Answer

AFAIK, the vibrator motor that are used in the phones are called Q-Coin motor as they are in a shape of a coin. They are of permanent magnet type accepting two leads for positive and negative DC voltages. The circuitry that operate this motor just can switch on the motor for a specific period of time and can change its rotation direction. All other parameters of vibration are set by motor's design.

Hence, for your need the amplitude of the vibrator motor has to be increased to make you aware. And unless the motor itself is replaced, this can't be done in my opinion.

This is a specification of such a motor and you can see it's details.

UPDATE: After searching Google, I stumbled on more info about these motors. With that information, it seems that there are two types of such motors. One being fitted with an eccentric rotating mass and another being a linear actuator (working more like a speaker). The article about linear actuator says that this is the present trend and beautifully explains how the motor works.

If the Nexus device that is in question is vibrating at its maximum amplitude, then there is no way any software component to increase its amplitude. Other way, if device is NOT vibrating at its maximum, then by increasing the applied voltage there is a possibility to increase the amplitude.

Thanks to @Konrad Rudolph who made me to know more about this motor.