# Question
Title: How to access the internal memory of HTC Explorer
I have HTC Explorer and with **Root Explorer** put a file into `/system/lib` directory.

After reset, the phone will not boot. Now I cannot access to the internal memory via the phone and I need to access it via the PC in order to delete the file from `/system/lib`. How can I do it?

# Answer
> 2 votes
If you had ADB debugging enabled, there is an easy way to do this using the SDK.

All you have to do is connect the device to the computer while it is booting, and type:

```
adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
rm -rvf /system/libskia.so
mv /system/libskia.so-back /system/libskia.so

```

To get the ADB binary you will have to download the Android SDK, or Google 'Android Mini SDK'.

If you didn't have USB debugging enabled, then the only thing you can do is flash a new ROM. You would have to install CWM recovery, and find a ROM for your device.

If your device has fastboot you can easily flash a recovery file *that has been made for your device* by using the `fastboot flash recovery <recovery .img file path>`.

---
Tags: internal-storage, boot, htc-explorer
---


# Question
Title: Video Player in Galaxy Note 10.1 keeps starting itself when connected to computer through USB
The Video Player app that came with Galaxy Note 10.1 will start at the background when connected to a Windows computer through USB. And there's no option in that app to disable it. It always appear in Task Manager when connected. Is there any way to disable this auto-start?

# Answer
Most likely the video player registered a listener to be notified on "USB connected". If you want to keep the app but get rid of that annoyance, the only way goes via root. You won't need a custom ROM for that -- just an app like Autorun Manager PRO which allows you to disable listeners of any app:

As the screenshot shows, *AutoRun Manager* lists up all apps along with their registered listeners. Check here for your video player app, find the responsible listener, and remove the checkmark in front of it. That should do it.

If you do so for some apps, and some day decide to remove *AutoRun Manager*, *your restrictions would persist* unless you reset them *before* uninstalling *ARM* (the app has a "revert" option, and can even revert all changes at once). If you forgot that, and want to re-enable disabled listeners, the only way is to re-install the affected app (not *ARM*, that won't help as it remembered its actions in its settings, which are removed when you uninstall the app).
> 0 votes

# Answer
If this is the stock system, then the only way to change it would be to root it and install a Custom ROM (or remove the stock video app and replace it with a 3rd party video player).
> 0 votes

---
Tags: video, auto-start, samsung-galaxy-note-10.1
---


# Question
Title: How to Root SpreadTrum SC6830 Kernel 2.6.35.7
Model - Callbar A1
Android - 2.3.5
Kernel Version – 2.6.35.7
Software version – 2.3.001.P1.12065
Hardware version – P1
CPU – SC6820 (1 GHz.)
Screen – 3.5” HVGA

I tried several methods such as Doom Lord, Super One Click, Unlock Root, Z4Root to root the phone but none worked.

Tried ADB to manually root the phone through commands but almost every command returns – “Permission Denied” or “Read Only System”. However files su, SuperUsr.apk, Busy Box were easily pushed into /data/local/tmp. Further steps like making local.prop and onwards could not be executed and returned above stated errors.

Also tried modifications by putting update.zip on SD Card root and running Android Recovery System but this method also returned error “Signature Verification Failed”.

Tried Nautilus on Linux Mint with OpenSSH while running DroidSSH on the phone but could not mount device by any means.

Scanned my device with ‘X-Ray’ app which reported that device or firmware I am using had been patched and is not vulnerable to any of the exploit available at the moment.

I desperately need rooting to remove pre-installed bloatwares and applications to free internal memory which is very less. I am trying to root phone for the last several days but every method has failed. Can any one help ?

I am providing complete details of System Memory Map, MTD Tables, Symbolic Links, Directory Permissions and File Permissions of my android phone. I hope some one having knowledge of android system can help me by suggesting custom exploit after going through details given below.

**## system memory map**

```
00000000-00000000 : sprd-battery.0

00000061-00000061 : sprd-sdhci.0

00000064-00000064 : sprd-sdhci.1

00463000-0047ffff : System RAM

004e0000-004fefff : System RAM

01a00000-0fffffff : System RAM

0452c000-04a08fff : Kernel text

04a24000-04b65a67 : Kernel data

0eee0000-0eefffff : ram_console.0

84000000-840000ff : NK reserved I/O

8e002000-8e002fff : sprd_spi.0

8e003000-8e003fff : sprd_spi.1

9c004300-9c004400 : example.0

a0010000-a0010097 : Mali-300 GP

a0011000-a001102f : Mali-300 L2 cache

a0012000-a0012027 : Mali-300 PMU

a0013000-a0013023 : Mali-300 MMU for GP

a0014000-a0014023 : Mali-300 MMU for PP

a0018000-a00190ef : Mali-300 PP

e0002000-e0002fff : sc8800g_dcam.0

e0006000-e0006fff : sprd-sdhci.0

e0007000-e0007fff : sprd-sdhci.1

e0010000-e0017fff : sprd_nand

e0024000-e0024fff : serial_res0

e0025000-e0025fff : serial_res1

e0028000-e0028fff : sc8810-i2c.0

e0029000-e0029fff : sc8810-i2c.1

e002a000-e002afff : sc8810-i2c.2

e002b000-e002bfff : sc8810-i2c.3

e0036000-e0036fff : serial_res2

e0037280-e00372c4 : sprd-tp.0

e003c000-e013bfff : dwc_otg.0

```

**## mtd table**

```
NAND device: Manufacturer ID: 0x2c, Chip ID: 0xbc (Micron NAND 512MiB 1,8V 16-bit)

Good Block: 4034  Bad Block: 0  Reserved Block: 62

dev:        size       erasesize  name

mtd0: 00040000 00020000 "spl"

mtd1: 00080000 00020000 "2ndbl"

mtd2: 00040000 00020000 "params"

mtd3: 00080000 00020000 "vmjaluna"

mtd4: 00a00000 00020000 "modem"

mtd5: 003c0000 00020000 "fixnv"

mtd6: 003c0000 00020000 "backupfixnv"

mtd7: 00500000 00020000 "dsp"

mtd8: 003c0000 00020000 "runtimenv"

mtd9: 00a00000 00020000 "boot"

mtd10: 00a00000 00020000 "recovery"

mtd11: 10e00000 00020000 "system"

mtd12: 07800000 00020000 "userdata"

mtd13: 03c00000 00020000 "cache"

mtd14: 00040000 00020000 "misc"

mtd15: 00100000 00020000 "boot_logo"

mtd16: 00100000 00020000 "fastboot_logo"

mtd17: 003c0000 00020000 "productinfo"

mtd18: 00080000 00020000 "kpanic"

```

**## symbolic links**

```
symlink("/data/bin/bash","/system/xbin/bash");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.dump","/system/xbin/lop.dump");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.init","/system/xbin/lop.init");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.reset","/system/xbin/lop.reset");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.start.kernel","/system/xbin/lop.start.kernel");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.start.user","/system/xbin/lop.start.user");

symlink("/data/bin/oprofile/lop.stop","/system/xbin/lop.stop");

symlink("/system/bin/alsa_aplay","/system/bin/alsa_arecord");

symlink("/system/sps/FT5206/firmware/ft5206_fw.bin","/system/etc/firmware/ft5206_fw.bin");

symlink("/system/sps/headset-soc/ko/headset.ko","/system/lib/modules/headset.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/mali/ko/mali.ko","/system/lib/modules/mali.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/mali/ko/ump.ko","/system/lib/modules/ump.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/msg2133/firmware/henghao_fw.bin","/system/etc/firmware/henghao_fw.bin");

symlink("/system/sps/msg2133/firmware/huangze_fw.bin","/system/etc/firmware/huangze_fw.bin");

symlink("/system/sps/msg2133/firmware/oufeiguang_fw.bin","/system/etc/firmware/oufeiguang_fw.bin");

symlink("/system/sps/rda5802/ko/rda5802.ko","/system/lib/modules/rda5802.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/rtl8723as/firmware/rlt8723a_chip_b_cut_bt40_fw","/system/etc/firmware/rtl8723as/rlt8723a_chip_b_cut_bt40_fw");

symlink("/system/sps/rtl8723as/firmware/rtk8723_bt_config","/system/etc/firmware/rtl8723as/rtk8723_bt_config");

symlink("/system/sps/rtl8723as/ko/8723as.ko","/system/lib/modules/8723as.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/snd_dummy_alsa_audio/ko/snd_dummy.ko","/system/lib/modules/snd_dummy.ko");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/boot_must_complete.sh","/system/xbin/boot_must_complete.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/bin/df");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/bin/mkdir");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/bin/rm");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/ash");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/busybox");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/bzip2");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/cp");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/du");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/env");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/find");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/grep");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/hexdump");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/killall");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/md5sum");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/reset");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/tar");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/uname");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/uptime");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/vi");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox","/system/xbin/which");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/gcom.arm","/system/xbin/gcom.arm");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/gsnap.save_anr_tombstones.sh","/system/xbin/gsnap.save_anr_tombstones.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/ll","/system/xbin/ll");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/localtime","/system/etc/localtime");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.bt.service.sh","/system/xbin/logs4android.bt.service.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.bt.sh","/system/xbin/logs4android.bt.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.sdcard.umount.sh","/system/xbin/logs4android.sdcard.umount.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.sh","/system/xbin/logs4android.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4modem.sh","/system/xbin/logs4modem.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lrz","/system/xbin/lrz");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lsof","/system/xbin/lsof");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lsz","/system/xbin/lsz");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkcached.sh","/system/xbin/mkcached.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkinternal.sh","/system/xbin/mkinternal.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkswapd.sh","/system/xbin/mkswapd.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/preloadapp.sh","/system/xbin/preloadapp.sh");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/strace","/system/xbin/strace");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/tree","/system/xbin/tree");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/uevent","/system/xbin/uevent");

symlink("/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/upnvpropd.sh","/system/xbin/upnvpropd.sh");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwconfig");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwevent");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwgetid");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwlist");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwpriv");

symlink("iwmulticall","/system/bin/iwspy");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/cat");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/chmod");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/chown");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/cmp");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/date");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/dd");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/dmesg");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/getevent");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/getprop");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/hd");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/id");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ifconfig");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/iftop");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/insmod");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ioctl");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ionice");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/kill");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ln");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/log");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ls");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/lsmod");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/lsof");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/mount");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/mv");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/nandread");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/netstat");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/newfs_msdos");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/notify");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/printenv");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/ps");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/reboot");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/renice");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/rmdir");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/rmmod");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/route");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/schedtop");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/sendevent");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/setconsole");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/setprop");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/sleep");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/smd");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/start");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/stop");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/sync");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/top");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/umount");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/uptime");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/vmstat");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/watchprops");

symlink("toolbox","/system/bin/wipe");

```

**## diretory permissions**

```
set_perm_recursive(0,0,0755,0644,"/system");

set_perm_recursive(0,0,0700,0644,"/system/lost+found");

set_perm_recursive(0,2000,0755,0755,"/system/bin");

set_perm_recursive(0,2000,0755,0755,"/system/xbin");

```

**## file permissions**

```
set_perm(0,0,0555,"/system/etc/ppp/ip-up-vpn");

set_perm(0,2000,0550,"/system/etc/init.goldfish.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,06750,"/system/bin/run-as");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/etc/pvplayer.cfg");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/etc/rc.local");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/opl/etc/vt_substitute.jpg");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/boot_must_complete.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/busybox");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/gcom.arm");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/gsnap.save_anr_tombstones.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/ll");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/localtime");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.bt.service.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.bt.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.sdcard.umount.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4android.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/logs4modem.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lrz");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lsof");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/lsz");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkcached.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkinternal.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/mkswapd.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/preloadapp.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/strace");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/tree");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/uevent");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/upnvpropd.sh");

set_perm(0,2000,0755,"/system/sps/tools-binary/tools/xmlprecopy.sh");

set_perm(0,3003,02750,"/system/bin/netcfg");

set_perm(0,3004,02755,"/system/bin/ping");

set_perm(1000,1000,0640,"/system/etc/bluetooth/auto_pairing.conf");

set_perm(1002,1002,0440,"/system/etc/bluetooth/audio.conf");

set_perm(1002,1002,0440,"/system/etc/bluetooth/input.conf");

set_perm(1002,1002,0440,"/system/etc/bluetooth/main.conf");

set_perm(1002,1002,0440,"/system/etc/dbus.conf");

set_perm(1014,2000,0550,"/system/etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-run-hooks");

set_perm(3002,3002,0444,"/system/etc/bluetooth/blacklist.conf");

```

# Answer
SuperOneClick, and other one click root methods use a rootkit exploit that has been patched in the newer versions of Android.

To root the newer versions of Android, a new exploit is needed. You would have to find a way to install the binaries, and set the permissions.

This *can* be done using the stock recovery - it just needs to be signed correctly, and as such, could be quite difficult.

Other ways include flashing a custom `boot.img` file using the bootloader. If your device doesn't come with a flashable bootloader then you are really out of options sorry.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: rooting
---


# Question
Title: Can I run Windows Phone apps on Android devices?
I need to run a Windows Phone 7 app developed for our company but no one has a Windows phone.

Is there any way I can run it on my Android, perhaps a simulator or something?

# Answer
> 7 votes
There is currently no way to run Windows Phone 7 apps on Android devices.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Windows uses Win32API binaries, along with an optional virtual machine called *.NET CLR* for .NET binaries, which encompasses C#, VB.NET, and Managed C++.

Whereas, Android apps, are written in Java that targets *DalvikVM*.

The nearest is *MonoDroid*, which enables apps written in .NET languages and sort of transliterates the compiled bytecode suitable for DalvikVM... I say transliterate.. it's not exactly 100% on the ball either and it's expensive as well! The added bonus with it, is cross-compilable for iOS too :)

---
Tags: emulators, windows-mobile
---


# Question
Title: Can I change the gmail account associated with google play store?
When I got my android phone I had a gmail account, gmail-1, but have now created another account, gmail-2. Is it possible to transfer my play store info (i.e. app download history) from gmail-1 to gmail-2 and set gmail-2 as my primary email?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Google has this to say on transferring data between accounts.

It lists certain types of data that *CAN* be transferred and certain types of data that *CAN NOT* be transferred. Unfortunately Google Play Apps falls into the *NOT* category.

It's conveniently titled Moving Product Data.

---
Tags: google-play-store, gmail, google-account
---


# Question
Title: some apps, no problem loading on 2 devices. Not this one - help
I have loaded a free app (imediashare) from Amazon store onto my Kindle Fire. I want to put the same app on my Samsung phone, but when I go to the app store from the phone and try to 'buy' it, I'm told I already own it.

I have had no trouble doing this same action with some other apps, nor with any books (putting them on both devices)

I think I may be able to reload it from my apps library, but I cannot find it, navigating from the Samsung.

Any help would be much appreciated.

# Answer
> 2 votes
This article should help:

How to install paid apps on multiple Android devices

Also you can try to install application using web version of Play Store (in the `Send to` list select needed device, for example, your phone).

---
Tags: applications, amazon-kindle-fire, amazon-appstore, multiple-devices
---


# Question
Title: USB storage blank or unsupported filesystem
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> How to get rid of “SD Card blank or has unsupported filesystem” notification

When I connect a USB Flash drive to my Galaxy SII Android 2.3.4, it alerts me with this message:

> USB Storage Blank or Has Unsupported Filesystem

What is the problem and how can I resolve it?

# Answer
Best thing you can do is first try and get anything off the drive you want from a computer. Then reformat the drive to FAT32 and try connecting it again if your still getting the error report back
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, samsung-galaxy-s-2, usb-peripherals
---


# Question
Title: Change permission on file in /sys folder
I am trying to turn off the backlight on the soft keys (home, menu, back and search).

My phone is a HTC Evo 3D running Ice Cream Sandwich. Before, I had Gingerbread installed and I could use "Screen Filter" app to turn the lights off. After the upgrade, "Screen Filter" no longer works.

On one forum it says that if you edit the file `max_brightness` in folder

`/sys/class/leds/button-backlight`

from `255` to `0` and then switch the screen off and on again then the key lights stay off.

However, the file is read-only.

I want to make the file writable. Do I need to root my phone to do this?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Yes, your phone must be rooted because to access that file the `/system` needs to be mounted as write-able

Once you obtain root you can run this command inside a shell:
`su`
`chmod 777 /sys/class/leds/button-backlight/max_brightness`

Then just navigate to that file and edit it using a file browser. What the `chmod 777` command does is change the permissions on that file so that you can edit it. After you finish I would suggest changing the permissions back to what they were.

The original permissions were probably `0666`. So it would be like this: `chmod 0666 /sys/class/leds/button-backlight/max_brightness`

To encompass t0mm13b's remark below, go here for information on how to make the file write-able at boot, instead of having a script be run at each boot that makes it write-able.

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, backlight, file-permissions
---


# Question
Title: How to change lock screen on a phone like it is on a Kindle Fire?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> How can I get a random image on my lockscreen?

Everytime the user turns on the Kindle Fire, the lockscreen of the device presents a different background. (Of course it cycles trough a list of pictures and later it repeats itself) I'd like to achieve this behaviour on my phone. I'm not interested in the way of the unlock. I just want that custom pictures appear in the background of the lockscreen if I turn on the screen.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You don't need root access to change lock screen of your phone. Kindle Fire's type of lock screen is called `Sliding Tab` or `Slider`. I'm not sure if it's possible to use exactly the same lock screen but you can experiment with applications on Play Store.

---
Tags: lock-screens, amazon-kindle-fire
---


# Question
Title: Will Android tablets have issues if they are always on?
I plan on using an Android tablet in an always-on scenario (a fancy self-coded alarm clock, but this would apply to numerous uses). Is there any problems with keeping an Android tablet on and charging all the time? Is this likely to cause screen issues?

# Answer
OLED screen are very bad for burn in and colour leaking (even worse that plasma screens in alot of cases) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen\_burn-in and so leaving them on the same screen for some time would not be a good idea You might also find the general life of the device shortened because of the hardware being used all the time, but unless you are putting the device under stress im sure it would be fine. The battery would likely weaken over time as well due to the constant charging
> 3 votes

---
Tags: tablet, screen
---


# Question
Title: Nexus 7: does ruining the bootloader hard-brick the device? Or is there still a chance to recover?
So, I've got a Nexus 7 and would like to start expirementing with images, etc (primary goal being installing Ubuntu in multiboot with Android, probably loading from a flash drive over an OTG cable).

My main concern (and hence the question) is:

*I've heard, that rooting, unlocking the bootloader and flashing ROMs involve some dangeorus operations (like "fastboot erase boot loader") that can render the Nexus 7 unbootable if something goes wrong (i.e. the bootloader ends up in a messed state or erased).*

Is there always a strong guarantee (not "99 out of 100, I'd say, if you're lucky") I can get the Nexus 7 to boot an OS with software-only means (i.e. USB cable, PC, and my hands pressing the hardware buttons on the tablet) if the above-described scenario takes place (i.e. the bootloader is ruined and the device refuses to boot)?

I've discovered that there exist different opinions on that matter, with some (obviously quite experienced) people telling one should not really worry about possible problems during image flashing and alike operations, and still others seem to struggle with what appears to be a Nexus 7 hard-bricked after an unsuccessful flash attempt.

For example:

* This thread is a story of several Nexus 7 devices (hard) bricked with essentially a wrong sequence of fastboot (or alike) commands.
* This fresh thread bears an example of "a knowldgeble guy" telling everything can be fixed.

**Please note: this question is specifically about Nexus 7, and not about unbricking in general!**

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you can get the device to boot to fastboot then you can "fix" a brick.

I have "soft bricked" my devices many times.

Samsung has "Download Mode", basically their version of fastboot. If you have an image that you can flash, you can recover. The same goes for the Nexus 7. If you have an image, which google provides because they are "developer" devices (as well as consumer).

The term "**brick**" is used very loosely and doesn't mean what it meant back in the WinMo days. When you bricked your WinMo phone it was as useful as a paperweight.

The only true bricks I have ever seen is when something fails in the hardware. Anything else that I have seen there is still a way to get to recovery, fastboot, download mode, etc. If you can get in to any of those you are golden.

---
Tags: nexus-7, unbricking
---


# Question
Title: Hide / Add / Replace dock icons on home screen
I have Samsung galaxy Y and I do have 2 questions about dock settings on home screen.

1. Is it possible to Hide / Modify dock on home screen?
2. Is it possible to make it toggle on touch the home screen?

# Answer
> 1 votes
This functionality isn't available as standard in your default launcher, but the launcher is replaceable. There are lots of alternatives out there, some require a minimum OS version. Unless you've rooted your phone it looks like the maximum OS version you can be on is v2.3.5 (Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung\_galaxy\_y\_s5360-4117.php). So this rules out the newer breed of launchers which are based on the Android 4.x launcher. BUT there are still a load of good launchers which will be compatible with your phone and will provide the functionality that you're looking for. Have a look at:

# Answer
> 0 votes
My first suggestion is to look into replacing your launcher. You can find several Home Launcher replacements in Google Play Market.

My current favorite is the Holo Launcher.

**Alternatively**

# Answer
> 0 votes
Use Holo launcher: Really an awesome launcher, you will get an ICS look and you can hide Icons in the drawer; you can also add icons in the dock session. Use it and I bet you gonna really like the holo launcher.

---
Tags: applications, settings, home-screen, samsung-galaxy-y
---


# Question
Title: Enable wallpaper scrolling for HTC Sense 4+
My htc one x just got updated to HTC Sense 4+. Just yesterday, there was another update but I don't quite know what that update was for. Anyway, with sense 4+, the wallpaper doesn't scroll when I go to different panels. Furthermore, I don't quite like carousel either.

I thought the widgets have become a lot more stylish, though.

How do I enable wallpaper scrolling with sense 4+ now? If that is not possible, how do I roll back to HTC sense 4?

I don't like Go Launcher because, I think, the widgets are not as good as the HTC ones; so I'd rather not replace sense with something else.

Is this somehow possible at all, please? I am willing to root my phone, if needed, to get the wallpaper scrolling back.

Thanks.

# Answer
I have a HTC One X too, and I hadn't noticed yet that wallpaper scrolling is not working anymore. After some searching in the settings, I haven't found the solution to your problem. So I think that I have to conclude that there is no option to restore this functionality.

Reverting back to previouse Sense versions is not an option as far as I know. Rooting is an option, but I guess that this will not fix the problem, though I cannot really say for sure it will or will not.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Use the Google Play app called Landscape Wallpaper; it works. I think we can't have the scrolling effect because of the "carousel" effect of the panels.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: htc-sense, wallpaper
---


# Question
Title: Where are the sources and issue tracker of Ghandicam?
I want to report a bug in Gandhicam, and possibly fix it.
But I can't find Gandhicam's bug tracker not source code.
Any idea where they are? Not found via Google.

Gandhicam is an application for live video/photo upload, aiming to help whistle-blowers protect civil liberties, making phone confiscation pointless.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Seems like Gandhicam is dead...

# Answer
> 2 votes
I am not sure it is open source, as I could not find any reference to it being so, but you can try using the Contact link on their website to report the bug.

---
Tags: video
---


# Question
Title: Sync contacts on android device with G+ information
I have a contact on my phone that doesn't show anything but a phone number. When I review that contact on my Gmail Contacts on the G+ section it shows their address, work address, phone, work phone, etc.

Is there a setting in Android or Gmail I need to adjust in order to get this to sync with my phone?

# Answer
> 6 votes
On Gmail, make sure that contact is associated with the google+ profile. On the top right corner of the contact page, you should see **Connected Profiles** and below it a Google+ link.

I the account isn't linked and it doesn't suggest it. **Add** the person's Google+ Profile address as a **URL**

You can find the **Add** option on the left side of the contact page, right below the basic info.

Another option is to go to **Circles** under Gmail Contacts itself, locate the contact you want and merge it with the other Contact (in case they are not 1 already)

Finally, on Android, Install Google+, if it isn't already installed, and on your Android Device under Google+ **Settings** make sure **Keep contacts up to date** is enabled. Then You may need to start merging contacts inside the **Android contacts**. (When I got mi phone, it did a poor job detecting and auto merging contacts)

---
Tags: contacts, sync
---


# Question
Title: The WiFi connection on my Dell XCD 35 (Froyo) times out
I recently bought the Dell XCD35, one of the biggest issues I'm facing is that it keeps disconnecting from an established (and saved) WiFi network and I need to manually select 'Connect' for it to get on WiFi.

I don't have this problem with my Galaxy 3, which I'm also using. And the problem persists even on other WiFi networks that I've tried connecting to. I've checked the settings (WiFi sleep, etc.) Also downloaded WiFi Manager app but no difference.

There is no trouble while connecting, but the moment the screen times out, the Wifi connection does too! This is very annoying, because it used up precious network. Is there a solution or should I just junk this phone?

# Answer
> 0 votes
There is an application in Google Play named Blade WiFi Fix; it will solve your problem.

# Answer
> -1 votes
it happens to my dellxcd too. i think u cant use both bluetooth and wifi in xcd at same time.

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, wi-fi, connection-issues
---


# Question
Title: USB On-the-go MIDI Keyboard with Nexus 7
Has anyone successfully used a MIDI Keyboard (through USB OTG, specifically) with a Nexus 7? (I am not looking for commentary on the particular keyboard, but please state which you have used.)

# Answer
You can use **any *standard Midi* keyboard** with your device. (src)

There are several keyboards with Korg and Roland. Choice of the device is all yours. But unfortunately there are reports that your nanopad is not working with this as you asked in your original question. (src)

You may want to verify that with the manufacturer first, before you go for a new one. Once you have a *standard Midi* device (which does not require driver installations), you can use apps like USB MIDI Monitor or Grand Piano

---

Note: You can try eBay for good solutions. Visit a local music store and check compatibility before you buy as Izzy suggested
> 2 votes

---
Tags: nexus-7, usb-on-the-go
---


# Question
Title: Galaxy tab 2 10.1 is showing x and y coordinates and mouse lines on the screen
My Galaxy tab 2 10.1 is showing x and y coordinates across the top of the screen. When I swipe my finger on the screen, a line is trailing behind it, like what I am doing are showing. It was normal one day, then showing this the next day.

Does anyone know how to hide these details?

# Answer
Goto **Settings--\> Developer options--\>**(Uncheck) **Pointer location**.

Thats it.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: screen, samsung-galaxy-tab-2-10.1
---


title: Reading pdf books on my phone

text:
# Question
Title: Reading pdf books on my phone
When I want to get/download books from Google Play Store, I usually get this notification:

But then I am not sure what to do afterwards to be able to read those pdf books on my phone. I've installed to ebook reader apps (kindle and another one), I also downloaded Google Play books app but I can't find those books exploring in those ebook reader apps and I can't find Google Play Books app on my phone to check whether it is possible to read them there.

# Answer
> 2 votes
You can download the Google Play Books app from the market (link)

If there is a problem with your installed app, open the app using Play Store app and uninstall and reinstall it. Now you should have the app shortcut in your app drawer.

In this app, you will be able to view your purchased books.

---
Tags: google-play-store, samsung-galaxy-nexus, pdf, ebooks
---


# Question
Title: Can you install vanilla Android on any phone?
I have an Samsung Galaxy S3. TouchWiz is great, but I want to use the vanilla Android OS you see on the Nexus 4. Is this possible?

# Answer
In theory, it should be possible to compile Android from source, with proprietary blobs for the specific device.

In practice, however, this is largely impossible, with the exception of Nexus devices and those from community dev-friendly manufacturers like Sony.

Samsung, in particular, is notorious for providing terribly (un)organized sources, and even the talented hackers of Cyanogenmod team are frustrated, and many have sold off their devices and moved to Sony and Nexus devices.

So, your only realistic option is to install a community ROM like CM10.1. Again, it is not bug-free or fully featured as stock firmware.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Yes, there's two avenues:

* Download a vanilla AOSP ROM that targets SGSIII *provided*
    + Your handset is rooted and running custom recovery
    + Flash the `update.zip` of that AOSP ROM that targets the same.
* Build your own from scratch *provided*
    + Your desktop computer, have heaps of disk space and running Linux 64bit
    + Heaps of RAM, 8Gb minimum, and is a quad core or better
    + Download the android source from the official code repository.
    + Populate the device tree that matches your device, with proprietary blobs
    + Have an hour or two of free time as it takes a while to compile and finally spit out a `system.img`, `boot.img` and `update.zip`
> 3 votes

---
Tags: rom-flashing, vanilla-android
---


title: Flashing Cyanogenmod9 - Kernel via Odin

text:
# Question
Title: Flashing Cyanogenmod9 - Kernel via Odin
EDIT: I think the question is more confusing than helpful. I leave it up simply because something else has been closed as a duplicate to this. My problem was finally solved by flashing a completely fresh stock android.

With my Galaxy S i9000 (galaxysmtd), I can only access download and recovery mode after flashing some recovery kernel via odin. The latter was done to escape the boot loop that my installed cyanogenmod 9 was stuck in.

Installing the cyanogenmod cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip from the sdcard from within the recovery mode gives me an error 7. This is supposedly because the recovery kernel I flashed was unfit.

My idea now is to flash only the kernel of the cyanogenmod-9.1.0-galaxysmtd as an odin-pda file, boot into recovery again and to then install the full ROM that is still on my sdcard, which should be possible then.

Because I can't boot the phone normally, I don't know how to put anything on the sdcard manually and have to use odin.

I have been reading though a lot of threads now, but the nomenclature seems to be used in such an inconsistent way that googling the right thing is almost impossible. I hope I expressed myself in sufficient clarity.

# Answer
The key lines to understand why Error 7 occurred is from the `recovery.log` as shown here:

```
-- Installing: SDCARD:cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip
Finding update package...
I:Update location: SDCARD:cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip
Opening update package...
I:Update file path: /mnt/sdcard/cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip
Installing update...
I:Trying update-binary.
script aborted: assert failed: getprop("ro.product.device") == "galaxys" || getp
rop("ro.build.product") == "galaxys" ||
       getprop("ro.product.device") == "galaxysmtd" || getprop("ro.build.product
") == "galaxysmtd" ||
       getprop("ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000" || getprop("ro.build.product")
 == "GT-I9000" ||
       getprop("ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000M" || getprop("ro.build.product"
) == "GT-I9000M" ||
       getprop("ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000T" || getprop("ro.build.product"
) == "GT-I9000T"
assert failed: getprop("ro.product.device") == "galaxys" || getprop("ro.build.pr
oduct") == "galaxys" ||        getprop("ro.product.device") == "galaxysmtd" || g
etprop("ro.build.product") == "galaxysmtd" ||        getprop("ro.product.device"
) == "GT-I9000" || getprop("ro.build.product") == "GT-I9000" ||        getprop("
ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000M" || getprop("ro.build.product") == "GT-I9000M"
 ||        getprop("ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000T" || getprop("ro.build.prod
uct") == "GT-I9000T"
E:Error in /mnt/sdcard/cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted.

```

The fingerprint on the existing ROM, by way of the property `ro.product.device` or `ro.build.product` which is found in `/system/build.prop` did not match the expected one of the following:

* galaxys
* galaxysmtd
* GT-I9000
* GT-I9000M
* GT-I9000T

In theory, you could edit the `build.prop`, and change it for this to work, but comes with a big fat juicy warning - "***The actions in changing the build.prop's two properties could result in a soft-brick***" :)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, samsung-galaxy-s, rom-flashing, odin
---


# Question
Title: Number recognition of company number ranges
I would like it, if it was possible to program a number range of a company in my phone as a pseudo-contact.

For example, I know my company has a thousand telephone numbers in a block. I have a number in that range, as have all my co-workers. For some, the number is ofcourse in my address book, and their name shows up correctly. However, I would like to add the whole range, so that in absence of a more specific match, it would still show my company name as the caller.

I doubt if this is possible, but should anybody know of a way, I'd like to hear about it.

# Answer
I looks like the program suggested (Prefixer) may work. The problem will be "*For some, the number is ofcourse in my address book,*". I didn't see an "exception" to the rule on those screenshots, so how does it handle numbers that are in the block of numbers AND in the contacts.

As a workaround to an "easy way":

Of course manually inputting the numbers will work. Gmail allows more than a few numbers on a single contact. I don't know what the upper limit is, but you could just make a similarly named contact and max it out too. This would allow you to remove the exceptions from the block. Maybe use another contact software and import the contact if that interface is easier to add multiple numbers.

You could also just do it as they call. I am on 2.3.5 and after the call, when the number is not known it asks me to make a new contact or assign it to an existing one.

EDIT: I couldn't find anything out there that would do this automatically. I now know Google contacts will allow around 3000 contact numbers in one contact. Anymore than that it is starts acting odd (not saving, etc).

Using the tools that are available I have made it work by importing this block from a CSV file. Here are the steps:

1. Goto my dropbox share at Block Import csv's
2. Download all the CSV file from that folder **** Might want to turn off syncing contacts on the phone at this point.
3. Go to google contacts
4. Choose MORE--\>IMPORT--\>CHOOSE FILE and choose the csv file (Block Import.csv)
5. Import (this may take a little while for google to respond depending on your connection speed) A new group will be created called "imported M/DD/YY
6. Go to that group and choose all the contacts. (check box on the top left)
7. MORE --\>MERGE CONTACTS--\>OK It will only do 250 at a time. Be patient, it is very slow.
8. Rename the contact (something like "Compan Name\_1" and remove it from this group and add it to "my contacts"
9. Repeat steps 6 through 8 until there are no single contacts left. There should be around 34 contacts with 3000 contact numbers in each of them.
10. Turn syncing back on if you turned it off.

While a bit manual, with patience, it does work. Now, I don't know what that will do to your phone when you try to sync it.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: contacts, calls
---


# Question
Title: Firmware Update for Samsung S LCD I 9003 stops at "preparing firmware update"
I am trying to upgrade the firmware of samsung galaxy S LCD using Samsung Kies. I am using the recent version of Kies. But during when I click start update it is showing that the FirmwareUpdate has stopped working. and it is showing preparing firmware upgrade components forever. Please advice me what to do.

# Answer
I'm having the exact same problem and just received the following message from Samsung:

> The Kies software does not detect the handsets, there are several causes for this and a process of checks will discover the cause and show the solution:
>
> 1. Check the system specification is correct for the KIES software.
> 2. Check the correct and up to date version of the software is being used.
> 3. Check that handset is set on the correct mode which is SAMSUNG Kies.
> 4. Be sure that the handset show connected ‘not connecting’ on home screen.
> 5. Try to test a different USB port and restart PC.
> 6. Check in device manager that the driver has been installed and update if required
> 7. If handset has device manager (download one from market place for android 2.1 or higher)
> ensure that all tasks have been ended and handset is in the idle mode before connecting ‘download the task killer, it is an application used to close all the applications (not just minimizing them)’
> 8. Completely remove current version of the Kies software and re-install
> the latest version from the website.
> 9. Test with different PC.

It's quite a number of possibilities being mentioned.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Had same problem.

Open the App Drawer, tap on Settings \> Storage, tap on *Unmount SD card*

Then you have to physically remove the SD card. Worked now!
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, updates, samsung-kies
---


# Question
Title: Droid Bionic screen won't auto shut off when plugged in
My phones screen will remain backlit and on while plugged in after getting a text or something that would pop up.

Even if nothing popped up, if I just unlock it while plugged in, it will never re-lock on its own.

This wasn't always the case but I didn't notice it for a while and am not sure what might be causing it. Maybe a background app?

Works normally when not plugged in.

# Answer
Check to see if "System Settings / Developer options / Stay awake" is checked. It's intended to give exactly that behavior ("Screen will never sleep while charging").
> 2 votes

---
Tags: lock-screens, motorola-droid-bionic
---


# Question
Title: Disable screen compatibility mode as a user
My phone (HTC Sensation) has recently been updated updated to Android 4. An app that I already had installed now expands to fill the whole screen but looks very pixelated. Is it possible to disable the auto screen resize for this application?

Looking at the SDK docs (http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screen-compat-mode.html), the developer of the app can disable it in the manifest file, but as that's not me I'm wondering how I can do it as a user of the app?

Any ideas?

# Answer
Your only option is to contact the developer of the application via the contact email in its Google Play page. The only compatibility option ICS has is a way to force accelerated rendering. This can be found under the `Developer Options` section of the `Settings` app. Based on your description, though, this probably won't resolve the scaling issue you have, besides possibly speeding the app up a bit.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I used spareparts+ to set compatibility mode off, it really works.

but, in 4.2.1, spareparts+ seems not working.

I'm still finding some way to set compatibility mode off in 4.2.1
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, screen-resolution
---


# Question
Title: Jelly Bean search - only contacts and apps?
In previous versions of Android, the Google search widget allow you to choose what you want to search. I always configured it to search only contacts and apps. this way the Google web search results doesn't push down the phone search results, and still I can use the widget to search Google.

It seems like in Jelly Bean you can't remove the web search results and they always push the phone search results down (an sometimes even hide them under "Phone Search").

Is there a way to remove the web search results from the widget search?

If not, do you know any efficient search widget/app the can search the phone?

# Answer
The Universal Search function had to be limited on newer Android versions due to one of Apple's lawsuits. Thanks to this, the search behaviour had to be modified and can't be restored without rooting the device.

For rooted devices the situation is somewhat better since you can replace `GoogleQuickSearch.apk` with a modified version. You can see the steps on XDA. As always with modifications requiring root, use caution. I'm not certain if the APK is device-dependant.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, 4.2-jelly-bean, google-search
---


# Question
Title: Automatically connect to Wi-Fi nodes, but route everything through encryption
Related to my question about VPNs, is there any way to get my phone to automatically connect to unencrypted access points, but route all my traffic through my home network?

This would be kind of like an intermittent, but free, alternative to a data plan, to just sync my email and such automatically when it sees an open access point, but without the risk of apps transmitting passwords or cookies in the clear over a rogue password-scraping access point.

If I combine something like Wi-Fi Ruler with a VPN would it do this? Are there better alternatives?

Can I have the VPN automatically disabled when I'm connected to a trusted (saved) access point for better speed? (Maybe disabled by a Tasker profile?) If I have the tunnel enabled, and my home network is offline, I'd like the phone to block everything until I explicitly disable the tunnel.

Wi-Fi Ruler can connect to APs automatically, Orbot and DroidVPN can capture all of a rooted phone's traffic and route it through a proxy, and VPNs and SSH tunnels allow for encrypted connections to a home or work network, so it seems possible, but how to put all this together?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Lifehacker suggests an app called SSH Tunnel:

> SSH Tunnel is an app that allows an Android phone to connect to the internet using an ssh tunnel for a completely secure connection. It's great for those times when you've got no data signal, stuck at work or a coffee shop that only has public Wi-Fi available, and you need to be sure that nobody is snooping your sensitive personal information as you connect to sites.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Is Orbot a reasonable option? Doesn't do what you're describing but does protect your content. Guardian has a decent number of encryption apps.

# Answer
> 0 votes
As for the "Automatically connect to Wi-Fi nodes" part, the Wi-Fi Ruler app is very good. It will automatically connect to APs, then it will actually try them to see if they have internet connectivity (and blacklist them and try another one if they don't), automatically approve clickwalls (Panera, Starbucks, ...), save APs under different priority profiles, etc. Combined with something that keeps a persistent tunnel going, this should be a solution.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I am using cyanogen 10 mod and there is an option to set "Always on VPN". I didn't test it but it says "Select a VPN to always stay connected to. Don't allow any network activity unless VPN is connected."

Not sure what version this was added in. I am on 10.1 on Motorola Xoom tablet CDMA.

---
Tags: wi-fi, encryption, vpn, wifi-hotspot, ssh
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to share WiFi network (not 3G network) via BT PAN to other devices?
I'm tring the BT PAN profile on an Android 4.1 device.
There is no 3G network on my device.
I use Wi-Fi to connect to the network.

Is it possible to share the network from my device by BT connection?

Thanks,
Cliff

# Answer
I have successfully done this in the past using Wifi Tether for Root Users \- it has an option to leave the WiFi on during BT tethering. But it needs a rooted device.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, bluetooth-tethering
---


# Question
Title: Where to upload video files? to have online video albums? To share them for WhatsAPP apps
I am having lot of Video files which are my personal to give to my girl friend. My girl friend personal video files are also to send to me.

Now both together, i want to keep them as Album, Which i need to upload to Google Drive or Microsoft Sky-drive or Drop-box.

Like Photo upload/share concept, is there Video upload/share apps in Android?

Which could also help me:

* While using, WhatsAPP, or Skype i need to send my google drive videos to someone using send video? Is there any way in Android?

# Answer
Yes, you can use Google Drive, Dropbox or SkyDrive to upload your Videos. I think though that the YouTube app would be better, just remember to mark your video as "private". You can even set up an extra Google Account just for that which you can both use with the same password.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, video, skype, whatsapp-messenger, video-recording
---


# Question
Title: Can I use my iMac's mic and speakers for a call with my android 2.2 phone (through Bluetooth)?
I'd like to use my iMac's audio (i.e., microphone and speakers) for a call that is handled on my Samsung galaxy i5000 Android 2.2 phone. Is that possible?

I've paired my iMac (OSX 10.6) and smartphone through Bluetooth. Then, during a call, I opened the context menu on my phone (where you can also enable/disable the speaker of the phone), but the Bluetooth icon is disabled. (although Bluetooth itself is active and working, e.g. from my iMac I can see the files on my phone).

Is there any way to get the above working?

*(I wondered whether to post this under apple- or android-stackexchange, but given the Bluetooth icon being disabled, I decided to post it here)*

# Answer
The reason for the Bluetooth icon being disabled is that you haven't paired the phone with a device that supports the Headset profile. Bluetooth uses profiles to categorize which services a device supports, and Macs don't support acting as a headset, only connecting to a headset (see list of supported profiles).

To use this functionality, you'd need additional software which enables the Mac to act as a headset and connect to a headset gateway (which your phone most likely supports).
> 2 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth, calls, bluetooth-audio
---


# Question
Title: Google music player restores deleted playlist
Why does my Google music player automatically create some of the playlists I deleted before?

When I delete a playlist, the playlist appears again after I turn off my Nexus 7 and turn it on again. It doesn't happen to all playlists, only specific ones.

# Answer
Try to clear data and cache.

**Settings**--\>**Apps**--\>*select* **Google player***(click on it)*--\>**clear data&cache**

and just **turn off sync with Google Play music**( this may be the cause of your issue).
> 1 votes

---
Tags: music-player, google-play-music
---


title: How can I screenshot the Nexus 7?

text:
# Question
Title: How can I screenshot the Nexus 7?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> How to take a screenshot with an Android device?

I want t take a screenshot on my Nexus 7, but none of the apps work.

How can I take a screenshot on my Nexus?

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you are using the stock ROM, you can simultaneously hold the power and volume down buttons for 1-2 seconds. A screenshot will be captured.

If you aren't using stock, you should check the ROM's power menu (hold down the power button).

---
Tags: nexus-7, screenshots
---


title: Hide Developer Options in Android 4.2

text:
# Question
Title: Hide Developer Options in Android 4.2
I know how to show the developer options menu. How do I hide it again?

# Answer
> 13 votes
Clearing the data on the "settings" app will get rid of the developer options on the Galaxy Nexus (at least on 4.1. Not sure about 4.2), but that may only work on that device. It doesn't do it on my Galaxy S3.

**Note**: The above action clears the *settings* of the settings app, i.e. not actually importanty data per se. You should be fine doing this.

The only other known method to get rid of them requires root and deleting **/data/data/com.android.settings/shared\_prefs/development.xml**.
See Where are the developer options in Android 4.2?

# Answer
> 0 votes
**Edit: New CM10.1 added a feature to hide developer options when it is turned off**.

GitCode

Once you became developer you can't hide developer options from your mobile. But you can simply turn it off (Developer option will be there in Settings).

---
Tags: settings, 4.2-jelly-bean
---


# Question
Title: Hide "Successfully Updated" notifications from Google Play/Market
I have a lot of apps on auto-update and I *really* don't care when most of them update. I almost always have 3 notifications saying some app has successfully updated.

Is there any way I can the notifications off? I'm on Android 2.3.5, Motorola Electrify. I *think* I have the latest version of Market since it updated to Google Play on its own. I don't see settings for this anywhere in Google Play or the device's settings. FWIW I'm not rooted.

# Answer
> 7 votes
From 4.1 onwards it's possible to do so in the System Settings/Apps/Google Play Store. Uncheck the box that says Show Notifications. That kills all notifications for the app.

# Answer
> 5 votes
No, i don't think its controllable. At least i haven't found any set of *Advanced Settings* in *Google Play* to enable/disable such notifications. So, I think, at the moment, you have to live with it, though a request can be made to Google for improvements at http://code.google.com/p/android/

# Answer
> -1 votes
Open Market application. Tap Menu key. Select Settings. Uncheck Notifications. (notify me about updates to apps or games that I've downloaded)

---
Tags: google-play-store, notifications
---


# Question
Title: Enabling headset button automatically during calls
I have a Samsung Tab 2, and a mono bluetooth headset.

The phone shows a bluetooth-connected icon at the top. When I dial any phone number, the headset button is not showing as connected. I have to click the headset button everytime to hear the phone audio in bluetooth headset.

Is there any way to enable headset button automatically during calls when the bluetooth headset is connected?

# Answer
> 0 votes
I don't know if they will work in this case, but maybe you could have a look at apps like Auto Bluetooth, Bluetooth Auto Connect, Automatic Bluetooth Toggle and many more (just look for somethinig like auto bluetooth in Play Store). Maybe there are some apps that can solve your problem.

As far as I know, there is no real built-in way to enable that button.

---
Tags: bluetooth, calls, headset
---


# Question
Title: What's the meaning of signal strength colors in battery usage screens?
The battery usage screen has an indicator for "Signal strength" that, instead of being blue/black like WiFi, has many colors: green, gray, yellow. What's their meaning?

# Answer
For easier reference:

Source: XDA
> 18 votes

# Answer
I assume that you mean on the graph you get if you go to **Settings** -\> **About Phone** -\> **Battery Use** and tap the graph at the top? I have a signal strength line there, under the battery level graph that has many colours in it that's labelled "Phone Signal" on my device.

(full size)

The reason it's there is that your signal strength can have a big effect on your battery life. If you have a good, strong signal from a nearby phone mast then your phone will run it's antenna in a low-power mode, whereas when it has a bad, weak signal it will turn up its transmitter into a full-power mode to help ensure that your communication gets out. As an extreme example I know that if I forget to switch my phone into Airplane Mode before putting it in the metal lockers at my sports centre, then I often come back to only a quarter or less of battery charge left.

I can't find an official reference for what the colours mean, the feature was introduced in Gingerbread but the official Gingerbread manual barely mentions the graph and that screen beyond telling you that it exists (p.48 of the 2.3.4 manual linked), from personal experience I know that Red is a bad/no signal, but other than green being a good signal, I don't know the significance of the other colours.

Some internet forum posters suggest these meanings for the signal strength graph, which seems to match up with what I see:

**Red** = No data signal (or possibly no signal at all)
**Grey** = No or minimal (2G/EDGE) data connection
**Olive Green** = 3G/4G connection with light data usage
**Bright Green** = 3G/4G heavy data usage (streaming media, etc)
**Yellow** = No consensus on what this means, but it only seems to show up as a very narrow sliver, and generally only when the connection seems to be changing state (eg from data network to wifi)

This seems to agree with what I see on my phone, that while wifi is on and connected to an access point (so any data should be going through wifi and not the phone network) I only have grey, olive or red in the signal strength, whilst when wifi is off I get the greens in addition.

There is also the indicator in the Android status bar that is normally green, but changes to yellow and then red when it is extremely low, the main battery usage graph follows these three colours with what looks like the same thresholds, but that one doesn't sound like what's confusing you.
> 17 votes

# Answer
* **Black/transparent**: Power off
* **Red**: Phone is trying to find a signal
* **Yellow**: Signal strength 0 (min)
* **Dirty yellow**: Signal strength 1
* **Even more dirty yellow**: Signal strength 2
* **Somewhat yellowish gray**: Signal strength 3
* **Green**: Signal strength 4 (max)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: battery-life, system
---


# Question
Title: Reduce time it takes for device to power on when pressing power button?
I recently got my Nexus 7, and I love it.

There is only one thing that is bugging me: The amount of time you have to hold the power button to turn the device on.

Most of time I have to hold it for around 30 seconds - this is not ideal at all, as number 1, my finger starts hurting as I am pushing it in and 2 my finger easily slips meaning I have to start again!

SO, my question is this:

Is there any way, without flashing a custom ROM, to reduce the amount of time I have to hold the power button to power the device on? Flashing a custom kernel **is ok**.

# Answer
Short answer: No.

Long answer:

This is something set at a really low level and I have never heard of this as being something that can be modified.

It's definitely nothing that can be resolved in a custom rom, maybe a different bootloader, but I have a feeling it's at a lower level than that.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: power-on, buttons
---


title: Clearing Notifications/Downloads

text:
# Question
Title: Clearing Notifications/Downloads
Recently bought the Samsung Galaxy Ace and I'm having issues removing the notifications of a download that claims it is still in process, and notifications about messages that are not sent...

Any idea how to remove both these things?

Restarting phone hasn't help, nor has "force-Stop"-ing the downloads manager.

# Answer
If the download is still in process, click the Notification, select the download and Select the 'Cancel' button.

If the download has finished, then reboot your device.

You can clear un-sent message notifications by clicking the notification.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: notifications, samsung-galaxy-ace, downloading
---


# Question
Title: Synchronisation of contacts and calendar suddenly stopped working
While working fine for almost a year now (since I've installed *CyanogenMod* on my device), a couple of days ago synchronisation stopped all of a sudden: Network indicators turned white (no longer green on Gingerbread / blue on ICS and up), which indicates the device is *not* "in-sync" with the Google servers.

First I thought it might be some Google Server outage (as all of us know them), I waited a couple of days. But it didn't solve up within a few days, so I decided to take a closer look. `logcat` then showed: Always when trying to sync, the network connection timed out.

Further side-effects: Google Playstore app did no longer open ("network timeout"), Google Talk insisted on a "username/password failure".

That's where I got stuck: What to do? Reboot didn't help, shutdown/restart didn't help either, nor did clearing cache/data from the contactssync app. I couldn't log off GTalk (which would be the next logical step), as GTalk immediately insisted on that username/password error.

Now what?

# Answer
## Analysis

Luckily, `logcat` gave the IP address along (in my case: `74.125.93.113`). On my PC, I first checked with the browser ("https://74.125.93.113/") -- and in fact, connection timed out. Next I checked what's behind the IP:

```
host 74.125.93.113
113.93.125.74.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer qw-in-f113.1e100.net.

```

Didn't tell me anything. But checking with `/etc/hosts` on the Android device, I found the entry:

```
74.125.93.113 android.clients.google.com

```

A lookup of that host reveiled: The IP `74.125.93.113` no longer belongs to it -- which explains the trouble.

## Solution

The solution requires root, unfortunately, as `/etc/hosts` is owned by root and read-only for everybody else. Furthermore, `/etc` is just a symbilic link to `/system/etc`, which means the entire file system is read only.

### What you need

### What to do

Open the terminal app, and follow these steps:

```
# make yourself root
su
# SuperUser/SuperSU may require approval at this point. Give it.

# check how /system is mounted:
mount | grep system

#output will look similar to this:
/dev/block/mmcblk1p21 on /system type ext3 (ro,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered)

#remount /system read-write, using the values obtained:
mount -o rw,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system

#edit /etc/hosts
vi /etc/hosts
# put a comment-sign (#) in front of the line containing the bad IP, e.g.
# 74.125.93.113 android.clients.google.com
# save the file

# re-mount /system read-only (or simply reboot, that will do it as well)
mount -o ro,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system

```

Now just wait a short time -- or simply call up *Google Play* to check. It shouldn't take long for the lights to turn green again.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: contacts, sync, calendar, google-apps
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to specify multiple home pages for the default android browser?
That is, I want my browser to start with two tabs open, set to two different URLs. I have tried putting "google.com | facebook.com" into the URL but that does not seem to achieve the intended effect.

# Answer
> 4 votes
**No, it's not possible.**

How did I get such result? As always I started to google this possibility but found nothing interesting. So I decided to check Android Browser source code. If you want you can download it by typing in console:

```
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/apps/Browser

```

After 5-10 minutes (I'm not new in programming) of looking repository I found 2 facts:

1) The homepage is saved as one `String` (Java type).

2) The homepage is opening by calling this function (in `Controller.java`):

```
@Override
public Tab openTabToHomePage() {
    return openTab(mSettings.getHomePage(), false, true, false);
}

```

So as you see (If you know programming a bit) it returns **one tab**, not several (like `List<Tab>`).

---
Tags: browser, stock-browser
---


title: Adding apps in the unlock screen

text:
# Question
Title: Adding apps in the unlock screen
I have a Samsung tablet (not sure of model), running Android 4.0.4.

When I unlock my screen, I have four default options that I can choose from, or I can use the empty area to unlock the main screen. How can I add apps like my favorite games to this menu so I can go directly into those games?

If you need more information, please let me know. Please provide steps for getting the information also.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Have a look at Go Locker. It provides you with custom lock screens that can be themed. Cant remember if compatible with tablets though.

---
Tags: lock-screens, home-screen-shortcuts
---


# Question
Title: How can transfer my game progress from HTC Legend to Samung Galaxy S3?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> How to backup Angry Birds saves/data?
> New phone: How to transfer game progress?

I don't really want to root either phone. But if I absolutely had to, I could root the HTC Legend, but definitely not the Samsung Galaxy S3.

# Answer
As long as none of the devices runs JellyBean (Android 4.1 and up), and it's just about those Angry Birds (as the comments suggest), take a look at AngryBirds Backup:

As the screenshot shows, the app supports a variety of the AngryBirds games (I don't know if it's complete, as I'm no "gamer", but it looks pretty much). So use this app to backup your AngryBirds data from the old phone to SD, copy the data to the SD card of the new phone, and use the very same app to restore them there.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: data-transfer
---


# Question
Title: Text displayed as hieroglyphs on website
On my mobile browsers, the text just shows up as hieroglyphs in this site. The menu items also do not show up as well.

Does any one have ideas where this comes from?

Screenshots (click to enlarge):

# Answer
> 0 votes
This is due to a lack of font support on the device.

On my Nexus 7 I see this:

---
Tags: browser
---


# Question
Title: Is ARM EABI v7a System Image and Mips System Image important?
I noticed that what makes installing SDK packages so slow is because these two packages take too long to be downloaded and sometimes it hangs on these two. Do you really need to download these two packages on every API version in the SDK Manager.

# Answer
> 2 votes
These system images just enable you to run Android emulator with processor of some architecture (depending on system image version; for example, Android 4.0 supports x86) and Android SDK doesn't require these images at all. If you use your phone (or some real device) for android development and don't use emulator at all than you don't need to install them at all.

---
Tags: android-sdk
---


# Question
Title: Cannot receive calls but can make calls on my tablet HCL ME Y2
I recently bought a HCL ME Y2 tablet with Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) installed.

It has a SIM slot and when I use the Phone dialer (the blue phone icon app), I can make calls over GSM but when someone tries to call this number, the phone vibrates for less than a second while I hear a single ring at the calling phone and immediately after I get the message that the phone is busy.

I cant even sent SMS / receive SMS on the tablet.

I Couldn't find any solution to this, any input?

# Answer
I had the same problem and resetting the device fixed the issue. Give that a try.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: calls, phone-app, gsm
---


title: What's causing my phone to freeze?

text:
# Question
Title: What's causing my phone to freeze?
I Have a Samsung Galaxy S2. I had it for around 2 weeks, when it first turned itself off and wouldn't turn back on again. The keyboard would glitch and stop working. and apps like Facebook, or Google Play, Internet etc would freeze then the error `'Application' Is not responding` send error report etc.

I've just got it back from repairs, and the applications are still stopping responding, it hasn't crashed yet though. Any ideas what could be making it do this considering they've completely wiped the phone and screened it etc?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I removed Facebook and it seemed to have helped my phone run better. Before I was getting flooded with invites from the same person and my phone was constantly freezing.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-2, system-error, system-freeze
---


title: Which CM9 ROM for sony ericsson x10i?

text:
# Question
Title: Which CM9 ROM for sony ericsson x10i?
I was about to download a CM ROM file for my phone, here

Now when I use that (first) uploaded link, it showed me a folder, in which there are a bunch of different versions, such as

* anzu
* aoba
* mango
* etc

and many more.

How do I determine which would be the correct version for me?

My Phone is a Sony Ericsson Xperia x10i, if that is of interest.

I hope this was not asked before, I was searching around for a while.

Thanks for any help!

# Answer
I do not think there's any support for the x10 from CM for the v9 release.

For reference:

* Xperia Arc =\> **anzu**
* Xperia Neo =\> **hallon**
* Xperia Pro =\> **iyokan**
* Xperia Mini Pro =\> **mango**
* Xperia Ray =\> **urushi**
* Xperia Mini =\> **smultron**
* Xperia Arc S =\> **ayame**
* Xperia Neo V =\> **haida**
* Xperia Active =\> **satsuma**
* Live with Walkman =\> **coconut**
* Xperia Neo L =\> **phoenix**

# Edit:

CyanogenMod is a ROM that targets a lot of handsets. A souped up/bloated version of the Stock Vanilla AOSP Android (*the ones found on the Nexus series handsets*)

The FreeXperia project was founded by *jerpelea* who (unofficially works for Sony, gets freebies and contributes to porting CM for that handset etc). Also, FreeXperia project is officially merged into the CyanogenMod tree. Not all legacy devices are supported using the CM ROM, **especially for the newer v9 and v10 (ICS and JB respectively.**

If visiting this Get CM you will actually find that CM is not supporting the legacy devices!

Have not tried FreeXperia, but have heard it is not 100% stable, as some things are broken on it (If anyone wants to correct me, feel free to say so in the comments) :)
> 3 votes

# Answer
This is not version of CM - it's CM code name of device. Depending on your device you should download needed release.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, custom-roms, sony-ericsson-xperia-x10
---


# Question
Title: Why are some apps hidden and how to unhide them
For example, on my Galaxy Tab 7.7 Plus (SC-01E) running Android ICS, the Phone app APK is installed but does not show up in my app drawer.

It will actually show up if it is called by a widget, but there is no launched icon for it anywhere. In the system settings it shows as running.

This tablet is not rooted but I did buy it off from Yahoo! auction.

# Answer
Android has many apps that run either in background (such as Accuweather daemon) or only appear as widgets (for example TypoClock). Since these two apps don't need the user to open them from the launcher, they don't add an icon to it.

The same happens with Live Wallpapers. If you use a root explorer or another root app that will let you see all the installed apps, you will see that the list is higher than the apps that appear in the launcher.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, app-drawer
---


# Question
Title: Keep getting "Error retrieving information from server. [RH-01]" from the play store
It used to work fine but now when I open the Play Store app it says "Error retrieving information from server. \[RH-01\]" and I can't do anything. I tried clearing the cache of the Google Play Store and Google Play Services but it still has the problem. Gmail still works from the phone so I don't think it's a problem connecting to my google account.

I have an Xperia Arc with custom rom, which turns out to be the problem. See accepted answer.

# Answer
Apparently some custom ROMs do not come with any Google services and to fix this you need to flash gapps using a program such as Clock Work Mod. This page has a link to download gapps.
> 4 votes

# Answer
This could be caused by flashing an incompatible GApps package. If that's not the case (and you are sure you have the correct/compatible GApps installed), try the following:

1. Open the "Google Play" app and press the home button to return
2. Go to *Settings → Applications → Manage Applications*
3. Select the "ALL" tab, Search for "Google Play Store" and press it to open.
4. Press "Clear cache"
5. Press "Force stop"
6. Return to *Settings → Applications → Manage Applications*
7. Press "Google Services Framework"
8. Press "Clear Data"
9. Press "Force Stop"
10. Start "Google Play Store" and it should give an error
11. Reboot. Once your device has restarted Google Play Store should work. Wait a minute or too if it doesn't.

This should help if a corrupt cache is the cause of your problems (a corrupt cache might lead to strange error messages, amongst others). If it doesn't help, you might try the same steps but include "Clear Data" for the playstore app.
> 13 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, system-error, sony-xperia-arc
---


# Question
Title: How do I add another keyboard layout to my ICS phone?
I speak English as my first language, but I also am fluent in French and I'd like to occasionally write in French on my Android phone. I have ICS, and whilst I can easily change my language to French, I cannot change the keyboard layout to an AZERTY or QWERTZ layout.

How do I add another language keyboard layout to my phone?

# Answer
Actually it's very intuitive, open the App Drawer, look for *Settings*, then follow below:

* Language & Input \> Keyboard & Input Methods \> Android keyboard (AOSP) Settings \> Input Languages
* And in this list tap to put a check-mark for both English and French.
> 2 votes

# Answer
You can achieve this using third-party keyboard apps. Try MultiLing. I like it particularly for 2 reasons:

1. It's highly customizable: from the look to keyboard layouts to languages to sounds to effects to emoji icons to tablet layouts and much much more.
2. It supports my native language =) (Uzbek - a minority language) with the autocompletion dictionary.

And the best part? It's free!

**Background Info**

Although I don't need French and I only use the QWERTY layout, I tried adding French and the layouts you mentioned and it worked and I was able to do that pretty quickly.

Note that you won't be able to change the keyboard layouts as quickly using a shortcut as you would change languages (swiping the space bar). However, I'm assuming one doesn't need to change layouts that often since it's a matter of typing preference.

**Setting up Languages and Layouts**

Once you install the keyboard, follow these steps to add languages (the app will actually present a very convenient step-by-step set up wizard when you first run it):

1. Settings *(not Android settings, but Multilang keyboard settings - there is a key for that on the keyboard. This will open a popup)* \> Languages \> tick off the languages you want.
2. To install the autocompletion dictionaries, go to "Install Dictionaries" on the same screen. This will open developer's website with links to download dictionaries from Google Play.

To change the keyboard layouts:

1. Settings \> Keyboard Settings \> Themes, sizes and layouts \> ABC Layouts \> select the layout you want.
2. Press back several times to go back to the input screen and you are good to go.

**Switching Layouts**

If you want to use QWERTY with English and AZERTY with French, there are two ways to achieve this:

1. Changing the MultiLing keyboard settings where you have English and French set up - following the steps above (total of 7 taps or 4-5 seconds).
2. Using the stock Android keyboard with English language and QWERTY layout, and MultiLing with French and the layout of your choice. In this case keyboard switching is done through the notifications screen (as far as I remember on ICS - I'm on Jelly Bean now).

**Bonus Information**

Here's a promo video for the keyboard which shows the different languages, layouts and styles. You will see my language on the 33rd second :)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, keyboard, languages, localization
---


# Question
Title: Desire stuck in Boot Loop After mod install
I installed an Audio Mod 'BeatsAudio' through clockworkmod recovery on my HTC Desire. After i rebooted it just keeps looping the boot logo over and over. I have tried removing the battery, sim and SD card, and also no luck there.

I've also tried wiping the data and cache partition but that doesn't help. I can get in the HBOOT menu but unrevoked doesn't seem to recognize my phone. I have tried ropening a stock boot rom to see if that would install it but it tells me its not compatible with my 64Bit OS.

I have no idea what else to do.

# Answer
> 2 votes
You installed Mod to **system**, so you need to reflash ROM from recovery.

Erase user data (hard reset) will not help you.

# Answer
> 0 votes
wipe dalvik cache after wiping cache reboot and wait a while

---
Tags: htc-desire, boot, boot-loop
---


# Question
Title: Change existing contacts from 'phone' to 'gmail'
When the contact items (or several) are set to 'phone', how can they be changed to 'gmail' in order to sync?

In the post Contacts Sync problems: phone contacts not syncing to Google, it says that contacts set to 'phone' will not sync. So, how can they be changed?

# Answer
You need to export your phone contacts in to vcf format and then again import it into Google contacts.

Steps in Android 4.2:

* contacts -\> settings \> Import/Export -\> Export to storage.
* contacts -\> settings \> Import/Export -\> Import from storage. - This will ask you to select your Google account to save.

Edit/Delete or remove duplicates in http://contacts.google.com. Thats easy.
> 6 votes

---
Tags: contacts, sync, htc-desire, gmail
---


title: Backup and Restore using adb

text:
# Question
Title: Backup and Restore using adb
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> New phone: How to transfer game progress?

I recently got a Samsung Galaxy S3 and I am wanting to transfer my Jetpack Joyride game progress from my old HTC Legend. There are 2 things I am unsure of when it comes to using adb. Is there a way to us it to get the data from my HTC or will I need to root it. I read in a few places that it doesn't work on Android 2.2. Also, what commands would I use to restore the data to the Samsung?

# Answer
`adb backup –apk –shared –all –f /backup/mybackup.ab` \- backs up your all apps and data.

`adb restore /backup/mybackup.ab` \- restores it back.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, adb, data-transfer, htc-legend
---


title: Google Play Store Doesn't Open

text:
# Question
Title: Google Play Store Doesn't Open
So, in the end of the past year I have finally got to root my china replica (fake) Galaxy SIII

Everything was working just fine, until I remove some app from the `/system/app` directory, because this replica comes with almost no internal space, although I thought I was removing only unnecessary apps. I removed two that should not have been removed, the phone started to act erratically, it would fully start, but the screen just showed the wallpaper a blinked nonstop.

After my first attempt, I tried to solve it, throwing everything back on it, that stopped the blinking screen and showed the apps shortcuts on the main screen again. Then I started removing one app at time interspersed with a reboot. After removing what I didn't want left, except the only two necessary apps, I went to the Play Store, to download some apps and enjoy the new freed up internal space, only to discover that it simply didn't open anymore.

At first it would load, then show the upgrading screen (from market to play store) and when I tapped \*continue" the app would just shutdown, and I was back at the app launcher, then I tried again just to even attempt open the app, the screen would change to the loading, but very quickly, it would shutdown again.

After my second attempt, I tried installing apps via ADB, and it worked, and so did the apps, every app that I installed worked just fine, but it wouldn't be updated unless I could find the .apk file and install it again via ABD. What, in some cases, is simply impossible.

Than I found a site, that would send the download link of the .apk file to my email, and I could download it in my phone, which was not an update but it was better than have to install anything via ADB. Then I tried to launch one of those apps, only to discover that my browser would crash with a F/C when I tapped *save* in the download pop-up.

After weeks searching for solutions and for any clue in this issue, I discovered that within the Dropbox's application directory contained a lot of `.txt` files.

Reading these files, I discovered what is causing the malfunction of the Play Store and the download function in the Browser, and it is the same thing. The problem is I don't know what to do to solve this.

Following below are some examples of the `.txt` files:

**Location**: `/data/system/dropbox`

**File name**: `system_app_crash@1357930047501.txt`

```
Process: com.android.vending
Flags: 0xabe45
Package: com.android.vending v8016010 (3.10.10)
Build: sprd/sprdroid_base/hsdroid:2.3.5/MocorDroid2.3.5 W12.20_P12_20121105.115851:user/test-keys

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Unknown URL content://downloads/my_downloads
    at android.content.ContentResolver.insert(ContentResolver.java:600)
    at com.google.android.finsky.download.DownloadManagerImpl$1.run(DownloadManagerImpl.java:43)
    at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:130)
    at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:60)

```

**File name**: `system_app_wtf@1354930047485.txt`

```
Process: com.android.vending
Flags: 0xabe45
Package: com.android.vending v8016010 (3.10.10)
Subject: Finsky
Build: sprd/sprdroid_base/hsdroid:2.3.5/MocorDroid2.3.5/W12.20_P12_20121105.115851:user/test-keys

android.util.Log$TerribleFailure: [27]
DownloadProgressManager.makeNewCursor: Download progress cursor null: content://downloads/my_downloads
    at android.util.Log.wtf(Log.java:275)
    at android.util.Log.wtf(Log.java:254)
    at com.google.android.finsky.utils.FinskyLog.wtf(FinskyLog.java:40)
    at com.google.android.finsky.download.DownloadProgressManager.makeNewCursor(DownloadProgressManager.java:126)
    at com.google.android.finsky.download.DownloadProgressManager.onDownloadProgress(DownloadProgressManager.java:234)
    at com.google.android.finsky.download.DownloadProgressManager.access$000(DownloadProgressManager.java:28)
    at com.google.android.finsky.download.DownloadProgressManager$2.run(DownloadProgressManager.java:97)
    at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:130)
    at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:60)

```

**File name**: `system_app_crash@135793929686111.txt`

```
Process: com.android.browser
Flags: 0x9be45
Package: com.android.browser v10 (2.3.5)
Build: sprd/sprdroid_base/hsdroid:2.3.5/MocorDroid2.3.5/W12.20_P12_20121105.115851:user/test-keys

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Unknown URL content://downloads/my_downloads
    at android.content.ContentResolver.insert(ContentResolver.java:600)
    at com.android.browser.BrowserActivity.onDownloadStartNoStream(BrowserActivity.java:3737)
    at com.android.browser.BrowserActivity$18.onClick(BrowserActivity.java:3603)
    at android.view.View.performClick(View.java:2485)
    at android.view.View$PerformClick.run(View.java:9080)
    at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:130)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:3690)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:507)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:839)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:597)
    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)

```

Does anyone knows what it means? Or how to solve it? I really want this to work and despite it is taking up all of my free time, and I cannot come up with a solution.

Originally Posted in XDA Developers

# Answer
The issue was caused by lack of a system application, the application `donwloadprovider.apk`.

The problem was identified by comparing the `/system/app` directory in two similar devices, and noticing that the application was missing.

The solution:

* Copy the application from the working devic e(A) to a computer.
* Push via ADB the application to the malfunctioning device (B) `/system/app` directory.
* Reboot device B.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, logging, system-error
---


# Question
Title: What part of android is responsible for alerts?
Some time ago I customized my Android phone by removing all the bloatware and by setting the permissions for a lot of system apps with lbe security center to a more privacy-friendly state. This included disabling access to my phone number, IMEI, SIM number, Internet access for apps that shouldn't have it, and other things. I only removed which I considered bloatware, such as several Samsung apps, Google junk I didn't need such as search, widget, sync adapters,... And I customized the permissions of for example Google services framework (no SIM number access, and other set to on demand), Android market (no phone number and location), maps (location on demand, no phone number/IMEI)...

After that I ran into a problem, namely my calendar alerts don't function properly and I noticed that my alarms don't activate the second time (using galaxy s3 app). The calendar alerts sometimes function correctly but sometimes either not on time or not at all, and I found on the Internet that some people are experiencing the same problems with the calendar and exactly the same way as for when the alerts do work and when they don't. Some apps that seem to rely on the Android system for alerts (such as wordfeud, buienalarm), don't work correctly either. I noticed, but cannot say this for certain, that the alerts do work once or several times after I enable WiFi for the first time (or was it mobile Internet?)

I have to mention that apps that have their own alert/notification system do work correctly, such as chaton (using Samsung push app), whatsapp and Trillian.

Now I'd like to know if anyone can tell me which app or feature is responsible for these alerts and notifications and/or how to fix this properly. I installed a custom version of the Galaxy S3 Android 4.1.2 ROM of wanamlite using the mobile Odin app but my problems aren't solved.

specs :

Android 4.1.2 wanamlite Galaxy S3 international I9300

# Answer
You should revert the permissions of the Google Services Framework app. This is the app that controls the connection to the Google Servers, and without it Sync and other things will not work.

You should also revert the permissions for all adapters, and non-bloatware system apps. There is a reason the apps need this data.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Some devices do have problems with at least the calendar alerts. Or at least partial ones: What does a single chime help if I'm just "out of reach", as the device is on my desk while I'm being for the "private place". Alarms thus should repeat until explicitly dismissed, at least for a given time frame (30min minimum).

To work around this problem, the playstore offers several apps like e.g. Calendar Event Reminder (CER) or CalendarAlarmHelper, which might be worth a look for you. I'm using the former, and it never missed to alert me. HandyPhone might also be worth a look in this context (at least if you're running ICS or above).

side-note: Yeah, I'm also using LBE in a similar manner as you do, so it works even then ;)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: notifications, calendar, alarm, alerts
---


# Question
Title: How do you clear .thumbnails folder without hanging Windows Explorer?
Is there a recommended way to clear out the thumbnail data that I have in `DCIM/.thumbnails` folder?

It occupies about 50 MB and I want to clear it out but when I press Ctrl+A in Windows Explorer it stops responding. There are maybe 10,000 files in there.

Is that enough to cause this problem where Explorer just hangs?

I read in another post here at AE that you're supposed to go to Settings, Applications, and then pick the Gallery app and tap Clear Cache button.

I tried this and it didn't help. Also it said in the dialog that the size occupied is like 170 KB or so. So I don't think that's it.

But this is on Android 2.2, just for the record, so maybe it doesn't work that way in this version.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You could use any file explorer directly on your Android device to do this. A good choice is e.g. ES File Explorer File Manager, which as a side-effect also enables you to directly access your PC from the Android device (accessing your Shared Folders via WiFi), and has many other nice features:

* Start the app
* Go to *Settings → File Settings*, and enable *Show Hidden Files* option
* Navigate to the folder
* long-press the folder name, and select "delete" from the pop-up menu
* Confirm the deletion of folder and contents, if asked for
* for "normal operations", you might want to disable *Show Hidden Files* again

It is pretty safe to delete the entire folder (instead of deleting all files separately). After all, with a new phone/sd card, the folder won't exist either. The app/service using the folder will simply re-create it if it does not (longer) exist.

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, htc-desire, file-management, thumbnails
---


# Question
Title: What's the best method for rooting HTC Desire?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> How to root a HTC Desire running official Android 2.3?

What's the best method for rooting HTC Desire?

Do I need both S-OFF and root? How are these two things related?

I essentially want to root because I am often short on space so I want to be able to store apps and associated data on the SD memory card instead of the internal phone memory. For this I will need root, right?

# Answer
> 0 votes
One of the best methods to root the HTC Desire is to use Unrevoked. It will install root and a custom recovery. You can check the guide in XDA Forums

S-ON (default phone state) will read-lock your `/system` and `/recovery` partitions, so despite being root, you won't be able to modify them. With S-OFF you remove that lock and can make use of root in all the phone. To achieve S-OFF you can use Revolutionary.

I suppose what you want is to use any App2SD script. For that you will need to be root and depending on the script you want to use, you might also need S-OFF to be able to write in `init.d`

---
Tags: rooting, 2.2-froyo, htc-desire
---


# Question
Title: Cannot connect to Facebook, hosts file seemingly ignored
I have a Motorola Atrix.

My country used to block Facebook, so I decided to add its ip to the `/etc/hosts` file about 3 months ago and it worked in the browser, but the Facebook app did not.

Now my country has unblocked Facebook so I would like to clear my hosts file and use Facebook as normal. However, my phone cannot connect to Facebook normally even after I performed a factory reset. Other devices still work without the modified hosts file.

Also, if I add some test lines to the hosts file such as:

```
127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.1 test

```

then try to `ping test` in a terminal emulator it returns `unknown host`.

Is my hosts file being ignored? Did I miss something? I have OTA Root Keeper and it seemed to keep root after I did a factory reset. Did it keep something related to networks, too?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Go to the Applications menu in settings -- at least that what I think it's called on Gingerbread, on on ICS it's just Apps -- select the Facebook app and clear the cache as well as the data. Then go to the `/Android` folder on your SD card and delete anything starting with `com.facebook`.

Finally, reboot your phone. If your problem was related to the Facebook app it should now be fixed.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Using a root explorer application, navigate to `/system/etc` and delete anything that is named `hosts` including any backups, then restart the device.

You may also need to clear the facebook app data as well.

---
Tags: networking, factory-reset
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy Y won't connect to the computer
I'm having problem connecting my Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 to the computer using via USB.

Whenever I connect it, it automatically charges. Before there was a prompt to connect it to the computer but now it just charges directly. I have tried downloading the Samsung Kies but it still won't connect.

# Answer
2 places to check:

1. Settings -\> Wireless and Network -\> USB Settings, and select "Ask on connection".
2. Settings -\> Applications -\> Development -\> USB debugging \[disable USB debugging\]
> 1 votes

# Answer
When I experience this, turning the phone off and on again with the USB connected seems to make it work.

I recommend you turn it on and off again.
> 1 votes

# Answer
You might have a broken cable and/or connector:

Install aLogCat and unplug the USB cable then clear the logs, then re-plug the USB cable. You should see something like this:

```
--------- beginning of /dev/log/system
D/Vold    (  132): USB connected
D/Vold    (  132): Share method ums now available
I/StorageNotification(  263): UMS connection changed to true (media state mounted)
D/Vold    (  132): USB connected
D/Tethering(  185): sendTetherStateChangedBroadcast 1, 0, 0
D/Tethering(  185): interfaceAdded :usb0
D/BluetoothNetworkService(  185): updating tether state
D/BluetoothNetworkService(  185): interface usb0
W/Tethering(  185): active iface (usb0) reported as added, ignoring
D/dalvikvm(  580): GC_EXPLICIT freed 6K, 53% free 2705K/5639K, external 0K/0K, paused 57ms
D/dalvikvm(  639): GC_EXPLICIT freed 24K, 51% free 2814K/5639K, external 0K/0K, paused 61ms

```

If it's just something like this, your connection is not detected (broken cable,...):

```
D/SettingsAppWidgetProvider(  639): Widget is from a previous version... Let's update
D/SettingsAppWidgetProvider(  639): No instances yet... Wait for at least one instance to exist before adding global settings
D/dalvikvm(  263): GC_CONCURRENT freed 332K, 49% free 3079K/6023K, external 911K/990K, paused 4ms+3ms
D/dalvikvm(  639): GC_EXPLICIT freed 17K, 51% free 2814K/5639K, external 0K/0K, paused 60ms

```
> 0 votes

# Answer
Just slide downwards and tap "USB Connected". From there, you'll see the "Connect USB storage" button. Just tap it, and wait for the android image to change from green to orange. Now, you're connected.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Try removing and reinserting your SD card.
> -2 votes

---
Tags: usb
---


# Question
Title: How do I set a default application that gets used without enquiry?
Say I've got that app that allows me to make phone calls over my private WiFi network (FRITZ!App Fon if that matters).

Every time I'm going to make a call, Android asks me which application to use: the (system) phone app or the FRITZ! app. Usually, it's no problem to pick one of the two, but it is problematic when driving: with my Bluetooth equipment, I'm able to start a call without taking the hands off the steering wheel. Better: I **would** be able. Because every time I'm going to start a call, I have to select which app to use.

So I have to pick my phone, unlock it *(while driving)* and select the app to use.

Is there any way to set the default application for a task so that I don't have to pick one every time I want to do something (i. e. always use the system phone app when making calls).

Extra bonus: a rule-based setting would be great (only provide the option to choose that WiFi phone app when I'm actually connected to my home WiFi or when BT is off).

# Answer
> 1 votes
While it cannot switch the default app for something, Tasker can still do this. Llama may be able to do it also, but you'll have to set it up like this:

Set the Stock Dialer as default.

Make a tasker profile that enables when you are connected to WiFi and triggers when you open the dialer-- the triggered action could then be to open your WiFi calling app.

I hope that works--

---
Tags: default-applications
---