# Question
Title: Boot looping / Corrupted data partition, CWM crashes when restoring to factory defaults
Been using the Alpha version of CM7 for the Samsung T989 (T-Mobile Galaxy S II) for over 2 weeks now. Seems like when I rebooted it today it managed to corrupt the data partition.

Symptoms: -Normal starts loop just after the kernel screen. -CWM boots and works -ODIN boots. -CWM crashes when doing factory reset or restoring the data partition of a backup or formatting the data partition

This happened to me 2 days after installing CM7, the same version I'm still using. I was similarly stuck, but then I tried restoring my nandroid backup and eventually I could re-apply the CM7 zip and the phone started fine to a blank android.

Is there a way to solve this issue with my partitions? I am not too comfortable with re-partitioning it because I'm aware this can damage the boot sectors and brick it quickly if I don't do it just right.

Advice?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Try doing a data wipe and wipe the cache as well. I would then reinstall the CM7 package on the device.

If the issue is specifically with CWM crashing, it could be because the partitions are sizes that CWM doesn't support. I had an issue like that with my Nook Color. I have a nerwer model and the data partitions were 5GB and the media partition was 2GB, the older versions had it reversed. I found a script that someone already created to put the partitions back to the old format and CWM worked fine after that.

Now, I am taking a shot in the dark here on this, as I do not have that device, nor have I really read anything about it or the issue you are describing.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-2, clockworkmod-recovery, unbricking
---


# Question
Title: Why can't I download anything from the Market after CSC change?
I changed the CSC to my country and after that, I couldn't download anything from the Market.

**It gives this error: "app name" could not be downloaded due to an error. (-101)**

I tried updating to Market 3.4.4, cleared the cache, rebooted my phone. Nothing worked. I don't have wifi at home and I get online via free wifi at a local mall. Couldn't download any app for 2 days now (that I've tried after the CSC change) but I'm able to browse.

Please help. Thank you.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I fixed it by doing a factory reset, and restoring my personal apps only and not including backups of system data.

---
Tags: google-play-store, downloading, csc
---


# Question
Title: How can I access Internet using my PC through an Android phone connected via USB?
I have a phone with Android 2.2 (HD2 with CM6.0) enabled to surf internet pages (data connection). Now, I would like to "surf" using my PC connected via USB to the phone.

Is it possible? Which programs do I need both on PC and Android?

If there are multiple solutions available, a free or low cost one is preferred

# Answer
Seeing that you have 2.2, the easiest solution would be to go to Settings -\> Wireless & networks -\> Tethering & portable hotspots. There you have an option to enable usb tethering (exactly what you asked for) or, even better try out Portable Wi-fi hotspot. That way you will be able to connect to the internet without connecting the phone via usb, and connect multiple devices if you want.
> 6 votes

# Answer
It sounds as though you are just asking for a tethering solution (whereby you share your data connection on your phone with your pc). A stalwart in tethering is the app PDAnet. The free version (which doesn't allow secure connections, but allows most browsing and even WoW connection) can be downloaded from the market and installed on your phone. From there you install a client side program on your desktop/laptop, enable USB debugging on the phone, and follow PDAnet's instructions.

If you want to one-up my suggestion feel free, there are better solutions, but I would recommend trying the baseline to get your feet wet first. Especially considering you'll want to keep the data usage inconspicuous.
> 3 votes

# Answer
If you're trying to use your Android phone as a GPS device for your PC (or presumably laptop) then you can try an app called GPS Tether this sets your phone up so that it will forward GPS details to a PC, but the PC does need the full Android Developer tools installed, so that it can use ADB (Android Debug Bridge) so isn't very straightforward.

This will only pass on the GPS location data to the PC, the PC will need to do everything else, so you'll need a separate navigation and/or maps program on the PC to make use of the data.
> 1 votes

# Answer
If you want something to connect to the files on your PC (which clearly is what you meant by navigate) you'll either need to share files on your PC, on the same home network you connect your phone to, or get an app like pocketpc to have a remote user connection to your phone.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, networking, internet, tethering
---


# Question
Title: Adding an extra mailaccount in Android (manual setup disabled)
I'm trying to add another mailaccount (IMAP / SMTP).

However I cannot set it up.

* Applications
* Email
* Add account
* Fill in emailaddress and password
* I should be able to click on `Manual setup` now but it is grayed out (disabled).

I've also tried it without filling the emailaddress and password, but also without luck.

Android version 2.3.3

Any idea how to setup an extra mail account on my phone.

# Answer
If it's a gmail account (eg, myemail@gmail.com) or you haven't added the domain to the email address (eg,moo@cow.com), you cannot use manual setup.

Personally I would recommend ditching the native mail app and going with K9 \- it's a far superior email client.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: email
---


# Question
Title: New battery - any special treatment required?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> How to break in a new cell phone battery?

Admittedly this could be aimed at any mobile device, but I have a new battery for a HTC sensation. To get the best out of it, does it need any special charge/discharge cycling?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Yes, you should wipe your battery stats, charge it up to full without turning it on (or without using it, if you have a model that turns on automatically when charging), turn it on & let it discharge all the way, then charge it back to full again in order to recalibrate battery level readings.

How to wipe your battery stats depends on what device you're using and what ROM you have loaded.

---
Tags: battery
---


title: Android losing BT headset password

text:
# Question
Title: Android losing BT headset password
I have a Sidekick 4G running 2.2.1.

I've had a problem with both stock and custom ROMs randomnly losing the BT connection to my Plantronics Pro headset. Sometimes hitting the connect button on my headset will reconnect it, but eventually it always loses it permanently and I have to unpair, delete it and then re-pair it. If I try to just re-pair, I get this message: "Unable to pair with PROPlantronics. Incorrect PIN or password."

This is, needless to say, hugely annoying and oft times very inconvenient (such as when I'm driving and discover my headset can't be used).

Anyone have an idea of how to fix this? I never had this problem with the headset on either my G1 or my og Droid...

# Answer
Seems to have been a common problem with Plantronics Pro Voyager series headsets, not specific to Android.
> 1 votes

# Answer
If you are sure that the Bluetooth device works perfect with other devices, and you have tested with stock- and custom-rom. Then you have only got one option left, deliver your smartphone for repair/guarantee.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth, headset, bluetooth-pairing
---


# Question
Title: What kinds of memory does an Android device have?
What kind/types of memory (or data storage devices) does and android device have, and what information is stored in that type of memory?

I know of:

* Internal memory
* RAM Memory
* ROM Memory
* Storage card / SD/Card

# Answer
Android devices are very similar to computers, they consist of a BIOS (Basic Input Output System), an OS (Operating System) and then Applications and Data.

* The BIOS would be stored in EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), or rather a sub-type called Flash Memory. (Wikipedia)
* When the BIOS loads the OS then it is moved into RAM Memory. RAM memory stores all currently running applications (including the OS). (Wikipedia)
* The Operating System software, and application software are stored in storage; which is usually an internal SD card, or SD card like storage. (Wikipedia)

+ You can have additional storage, such as an external SD card.

So you would have

* EEPROM (Flash Memory)
* RAM (System Memory)
* SD Card (Storage)
> 5 votes

---
Tags: internal-storage, ram
---


# Question
Title: Receiving "Message board service started" randomly
Randomly on my Android Galaxy S2, I'm receiving a message nag **"Message board service started"**.

It can happens in an application, in the app drawer or anywhere randomly.

I'm unable to find any sources talking about this message.

Do you have an idea?

Android 2.3.6

# Answer
> 1 votes
Found it ....

* Message Board service started
* BlueLocate service started

Here is the app causing theses messages : Connectdroid

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


# Question
Title: Why are my SMS messages being sent automatically?
When I start composing an SMS message on my Samsung Galaxy S2, if I pause for a couple of minutes the SMS gets sent automatically, even though the message hasn't been finished (and I haven't hit the "send" button). Is there some way I can stop this happening, please?

# Answer
> 1 votes
You could start off by checking if this is a problem with the Messaging app itself. Install an alternative SMS app (I use GO SMS Pro myself).

If all's fine with the alternative app, and you don't mind using it (they're much more powerful anyway), problem solved. Otherwise, you could try out what patchie is suggesting.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I would re install Android to the newest version. Either do it yourself, or go to a phone shop and pay 10$ or so for them to reinstall your phone.

If this solves your problem, it was a cheap fix. If it didn't work, you can go back to the phone shop where you bought the phone and make them fix it in guarantee.

If you want to try to download and install an awesome rom for your phone, you should read this: http://www.cyanogenmod.com/devices/samsung-galaxy-s2

---
Tags: sms, samsung-galaxy-s-2
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy S2 hangs/freezes sometime
I am using Samsung Galaxy S2 for last 4 days. After two days of usage, I am experiencing phone hanging frequently. It just freezes while operating. The screen light won't go off and screen stays freezed. Only way out is press & hold power off button and restart S2.

I was using a launcher called, Go Launcher EX. Thinking this launcher is making the problem, I uninstalled everything related to this. But it didn't fix the problem.

I am running the following applications other than the defaul samsung installed ones.

1. Advanced task killer
2. Amazon Kindle
3. Angry birds
4. Dropbox
5. Facebook
6. Firefox
7. Gmail
8. Picture Dial
9. Springpad

I am not sure which application causes the problem. I am thinking of doing a factory reset. Before I do that, just wanted to see if someone else faced the problem.

If the crash/freeze happens next time, is there a place that I can look for diagnostic information? Like logs, dumps etc.

Edit

I got it freezing again. I was charging the phone and got a call. That froze the phone.

Any help would be appreciated

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you suspect an app or service is causing the freeze, and if your phone is rooted, install Bloat Freezer and then freeze background apps and services in groups to try and isolate the problem. A good list of apps that can be safely frozen can be found here. Some of them are:

* All share
* Analog clock
* Android live wallpapers
* Ap Mobile
* Bookstore

There are over a hundred listed in the post I've referenced.

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, samsung-galaxy-s-2, crashes, system-freeze
---


# Question
Title: How can I edit a movie with Movie Studio?
Using Movie Studio, how can I edit a video, specifically split it to remove a portion of the video? I've figured out how to apply effects and transitions, but I want to clip a portion. Is it possible?

# Answer
> 2 votes
A quick search brought up this article at http://blog.laptopmag.com/how-to-edit-video-with-movie-studio-on-your-android-tablet.

While I don't have a tablet, I have played with Movie Studio before, and it looks like all you have to do is tap the timeline at the bottom of your clip, and drag the arrows that appear on its edges to trim it. This only trims the edges off, so if you want to take a part out of the middle, I would re-add the clip (so you have two copies of it in your timeline), and then drag the arrows on the ends of the copy so you only have the part you want, without getting rid of the beginning of the clip from the original.

---
Tags: video
---


# Question
Title: What Android app replicates the iPhone Siri (voice recognition) functionality?
The new Siri app on the iPhone looks pretty intersting (at least from the videos). Is there an application on Android that matches or improves on the same functionality? Specifically, something that doesn't require the memorization of *robotic* voice commands?

I have tried Vlingo, but for many requests it just seems to perform a Google search which leaves you in a web browser without voice functionality.

# Answer
There's nothing (at present) that can do all that Siri does.

Depending on your needs you might be able to get close.

Lifehacker had an article about your current alternatives: How to Get a Siri-Like Personal Assistant on Your Android Phone for Free

To summarize: You'll need one of the following (or a combination):

***Update***: terryk2 points out Iris, currently in alpha testing, which is by the developers' own admission a direct response to Siri.
> 14 votes

# Answer
While still in alpha, it may be worth checking out Iris. It's got a limited set of Siri's functionality, but it looks like it could be interesting to watch it grow.
> 8 votes

# Answer
That would be Google Search, which also has voice command abilities. Although I am not sure how intuitive the commands can be given, compared to Siri.
> 2 votes

# Answer
I'd say Vlingo is probably the closest but doesn't have the contextual power that Siri does but it's very close.
> 0 votes

# Answer
There is an app called Skyvi in the android market. Initially I used IRIS, but it was quite buggy. This is comparatively better in my opinion. It's humorous as well.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications, voice-command
---


title: Missing mp3 files on SD card

text:
# Question
Title: Missing mp3 files on SD card
I am trying to add mp3 files to my Toshiba Thrive trough an SD card. What I am doing is loading the SD card in my laptop and adding the files directly. I loaded around 6 GB to the (32GB) card. When accessing the SD card files trough the tablet it only shows half of the files. I've done this process a couple of times, also I reformatted the SD card but tablet only reads some of the files and some other folders that I created for other documents don't even appear when I load the card on the tablet. Any insights on this?

# Answer
> 2 votes
if you use the tablet mount function to mount the sdcard to computer, and copy some files, sometimes it has problem, it need more times, and suggestion refresh in the folder when finish copy, when you fresh you can check the copy successful or not.

if you use the sdcard reader to mount to the computer, when finish copy, need **safe remove usb** to ensure the copy finish.

---
Tags: external-sd, files, mp3
---


# Question
Title: Does Android put wifi and other data networks to sleep when the display is turned off?
I was wondering if stock Android puts Wifi and other data networks to sleep when the display of the device is turned off. If not, what app can help me do the same ?

# Answer
It depends, some Android devices have an advanced setting **WiFi Sleep Policy** under

`Settings -> Wireless -> Wi-Fi Settings -> [Menu Button] Advanced -> Wi-Fi Sleep Policy`

But I am not sure if this is a vanilla Android feature or an manufacturer modification. At least the Galaxy S series has this setting.

Data networks are usually fully active. But Apps like Tasker allow you to define certain profiles to improve battery life. For example: Only allow 2G when the display is off, because 2G requires less battery then 3G (UMTS).
> 12 votes

# Answer
I don't think it turns the WiFi or Data networks off. You can try by downloading an app from market and while it is downloading, turn off the screen. You can see that even after the screen is off, the download completes after some time. I am not sure exactly which app does this but you can try searching the market for such an app.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, wi-fi, screen
---


# Question
Title: Failed to update HTC Desire S to latest firmware with Android 2.3.5
My phone configuration is:

* Model HTC Desire S
* Android 2.3.3
* HTC Sense 2.1
* Build number 1.47.401.4

Today I've got notification that an update is available for my phone with:

* HTC Sence 3.0
* Android 2.3.5

I've downloaded the update and started it. My phone rebooted, then for several seconds I saw green icon showing that update is going. After that I've received the red exclamation mark icon. I've triggered the recover console and saw the following:

```
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
Installing update...
Copying fotaBoot to /data/system for customize reload...
Verifying current system...
assert failed: apply_patch_check ("/system/app/EReader.apk", "5f3c2be955e09...", "c4071fc9ffc21...")
E:Error in /sdcard/download/OTA_Saga_S_HTC_Europe_2.10.401.8-1.47.401.4_release_225210fmxlt12djw1sr7y5.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted.

```

As far as I understood from the log, the CRC failed for the EReader.apk. Does that mean that the updated downloaded incorrectly? Or maybe there are some issues with my phone?

Can someone, please, help me with this issue:

* Should I forget about this update and wait for the next one?
* Is it the bug in the system or in my phone?
* Can I somehow (without rooting the device) overcome the problem and install the update?
* Any other thoughts are welcome. Thank you.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Mostly likely the update over the air downloaded the wrong archive, which failed to automatically install. In addition to that I found on several forums that the phone had many broken stuff after such update. Therefore I've decided to update it manually.

I've downloaded the zip archive with latest official firmware, put it on my sdcard, rebooted the phone into recover console. It automatically found my zip archive and the phone was updated. Everything works fine now.

The complete instructions together with latest firmware can be found here (Russian language): http://www.youhtc.ru/forum/showthread.php?p=304305&posted=1#post304305

I've translated them in short below:

* Download the zip archive with RUU\_Saga\_S\_HTC\_Europe\_2.10.401.8\_Radio\_20.4801.30. 0822U\_3822.10.08.04\_M\_release\_225161\_signed.exe from here
* Rename the zip archive to **PG88IMG.zip** and put it in the root directory on sd card
* Power off the phone
* Press volume-down button and then power button.
* The recovery console will pop up. The phone will automatically find the zip file and check it. It will ask you to confirm the update. If you're OK with that, the phone will be updated.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I believe your downloaded update file is broken somehow.

Further notice:!! manual operations always have the risk to brick your phone. So be careful, and remember I take no responsibility.

You can manually update with rom update utility (RUU). RUU is a PC program that updates your phone through usb connection.

You should backup all your information first.

And you can find the released ruu list here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1002506 As of know, latest seems to be RUU\_Saga\_S\_HTC\_Europe\_2.10.401.8

---
Tags: updates, htc-desire-s
---


# Question
Title: Will a UK Android telephone work in Japan?
I am on the UK carrier Vodafone, and wish to upgrade my phone soon. I am going to Japan for five months next year, and would ideally like a phone which I can use out there, with a Japanese sim card.

Will an android phone I get here (e.g. the HTC Desire) work in Japan? Will it need to be unlocked?

# Answer
Sim-locked phones need to be unlocked for use on other carriers. Almost every phone you get will be sim-locked. The most easily unlocked phones I know of are the Galaxy S line.

The only other thing you need to check is the radio frequency bands used by the device and the carrier. If they match, you're in luck. "Quad-band" devices should work on every GSM network.
> 2 votes

# Answer
You will struggle to get a SIM card that's not on a contract in Japan. Even then, it's really hard if you don't have a Japanese passport.

The best option I'm aware of would be to get a SIM from www.mobalnarita.com. Disable data on your phone and use wifi only. Data charges in Japan are really expensive.
> -2 votes

---
Tags: sim-card, compatibility
---


title: What's next if Super One Click fails?

text:
# Question
Title: What's next if Super One Click fails?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> How do I root my Kindle Fire?

I want root, but not enough to reflash or do anything that has a significant chance of harming the phone. In the past I've always used Super One Click, but I've found the Kindle fire can't be rooted Super One Click (though it has specific instructions to root) and neither can my Motorola Electrify after the latest update.

Is there anything to try after Super One Click? It's an amazing catch-all solution but I realized I have never found another solution that doesn't require carrier and device specific roms, recovery mode and lots of other scary things.

# Answer
The kindle fire was just recently updated and the update removed root from the device, and it broke the Super One Click root method used. Once another root method is found (it may have been already) the developer of Super One Click will most likely update the application to support the Kindle Fire again.

Here is an article from Engadget talking about the update.

> Just when you thought it was safe to root your Kindle Fire with a single click, Amazon has clamped down on homebrewing enthusiasts. The company has begun pushing out an update for the $199 tablet that breaks the root, disabling the SuperOneClick utility in the process. If you've rooted your tablet and are still running a version of the Amazon-flavored Gingerbread, you're susceptible to the update any time you're connected to a WiFi network. However, if you've already made the leap to another version of Android, such as CM7, you can bypass this and any future software updates. There are some improvements with 6.2.1 though, as smoother scrolling, password protected WiFi use and the ability to remove recently used items from the home screen carousel are among the upgrades. If you're looking to read up on the issue before taking action, roll up your sleeves and hit the links below.

XDA-Developers Topic

From that thread, if you modify the hosts file and put the amazon update server to point to localhost (127.0.0.1) you will not receive the update, but If you cannot use Super One Click, it sounds like it is too late for you. You seem to already have the update.

Steps to disable the Kindle Automatic Silent Update:

1. Modify /etc/hosts
`127.0.0.1 s3.amazonaws.com`
2. Disable OTASilentInstall
Use an app like Titanium Backup and Freeze the OTASilentInstall apk
3. Rename OTASilentInstall (Optional)
Another option is to use a tool like RootExplorer and rename OTASilentInstall.apk to OTASilentInstall.bak.

As for your Electrify, I found some steps to root but I don't have the device so I do not know if they still work.

1. Turn on USB Debugging in `Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB Debugging` \- check the box.
2. From the market download and install the Superuser App to your phone. You may be asked to update binaries but you can't till you're rooted. It's OK as is.
3. Download and install the drivers to your PC from the link in step 9 below.
4. Download both the ADB package and the torpedo root file to your PC from the link in step 9 below.
5. Create a folder on your C: drive called Root.
6. Unzip the ADB package to the Root folder and move the torpedo root file there as well.
7. Plug your phone into your PC with the USB cable. Set USB Settings to Charge Only.
8. From your PC click Start:Run: type CMD and click OK.
9. Enter the prompts shown at How To: Root Motorola Photon 4G
> 4 votes

---
Tags: rooting, amazon-kindle-fire, motorola-electrify
---


title: Why do I always lose this file?

text:
# Question
Title: Why do I always lose this file?
I run a dual-booted HD2 from SDCard/HaRET with MIUI Android & stock WM6.5.

I keep a copy of this file in `\Storage Card\My Documents` for listening in CorePlayer and survive possible hard resets.

However, **everytime**, and I really mean **every** time I boot MIUI this file disappears from the SD card. I'm unable to locate it from Android and when I reboot into Windows I see no traces of it.

Why the hell (can I say hell?) does Android delete the file from SD on every single boot? Does it hate M3U files?

# Answer
Android scans your sd card. When it finds an MP3 playlist (m3u file) it looks for media files in the same path, if it does not find any, it deletes the playlist because it thinks it is empty.

To stop this from happening create a file in the folder with the m3u file called `.nomedia`. This will tell the media scanner to ignore the content in the folder.
> 7 votes

---
Tags: sd-card, htc-hd2
---


# Question
Title: Sudden loss of contacts on my Samsung Galaxy S - running Gingerbread
I have recently experienced that all my phone contacts suddenly disappeared from my internal phone memory.

I could still see the 2 contacts that were on my SIM-card, and I have no contacts on my external SD-card.

I have looked through the different contact display options under settings, and they were all on.

The contacts disappeared without me installing or deleting anything, or any other provocation. And while I was browsing through my call log, I could see the contact names being replaced by the underlying phone no, like a slow delete, very frustrating.

I tried to Google it, and found that this has happened to many other Android users (and not just Samsung phones), but I couldn't find a suitable solution to the problem anywhere.

It's not catastrophic since I have all my contacts synchronized with Outlook, although, I will be losing the contacts added after my last sync.

But I would really like to avoid to have this happen again in the future, and if possible recover my lost contacts.

Does anyone have an idea of what has happened, what to do about it and how to avoid it in the future...?

# Answer
I don't know why it happened, but a good way to prevent it from happening again is to set your contacts to sync with your Google account. This way whenever you add a new contact, it will be uploaded, and if the phone loses your contacts again, you probably won't even notice it, as they will be automatically downloaded back to your phone.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, 2.3-gingerbread, contacts
---


# Question
Title: In which directory are Android updates downloaded?
I want to download and install a system update for my Android HTC Desire.

The download was successful but during installation it stopped. In the ClockworkMod console I can see the error "signature verification failed".

I wanted now to try to toggle signature verification in the ClockworkMod menu off and give it another try but unfortunately I cannot find the update file (ClockworkMod menu proposes `/sdcard/update.zip` but this file cannot be found).

Do you know where the updates are downloaded or any other hint to help me update my system?

*(I used ClockworkMod v2.5.0.7 for rooting my system)*

# Answer
> 2 votes
You cannot install an over-the-air (OTA) update from the manufacturer or carrier if you have ClockworkMod Recovery installed, even if you disable the signature verification. You will need to return to the stock recovery console and stock ROM (if you are currently running a custom ROM) first, and then go to `Menu -> Settings -> About -> System Updates` and re-start the update process. Keep in mind that you will lose root once the OTA is installed, and you'll have to re-root your phone all over again.

Alternatively, you can see if there is a custom ROM available for your phone that is based on the same Android version as the OTA, such as CyanogenMod. I'd start at XDA-Developers forums for your phone.

In either case, it's very likely that you will need to wipe your device's internal memory also (which erases all of your installed apps and settings,) so don't forget to backup what you want to keep.

---
Tags: updates, htc-desire, clockworkmod-recovery
---


# Question
Title: Is there a way to enable WiFi-tethering without root access?
Is there a way for WiFi-tethering without root access.

I mean before Froyo.

I have HTC Hero 2.1, and frankly, I don't want to root it for security reasons.

# Answer
Here is the ultimate answer:

First, on your phone, install a terminal-emulator from Android market, then run

```
cat /proc/cpuinfo

```

which will show you the detailed processor information of your phone (ARM5 in my case).
Afterwards, you need to install an ARM5 cross-compiler environment on your Linux box (download Ubuntu and VirtualBox if you are a Windows/Mac-freak and don't have a Linux box), in order to compile native code for your phone.
You do this in order to be able to start a privilege escalation attack ON YOUR PHONE.

So, next, you need to cross-compile a privilege-escalation attack for ARM5 (HTC Hero microprocessor). For that, use the RageAgainstTheCage attack made by Sebastian Krahmer of Suse Linux Berlin (in binary only), reverse-engineered here:
http://pastebin.com/fXsGij3N
A precompiled version is available here http://cmw.22aaf3.com/common/rageagainstthecage-arm5.zip
Download the Android SDK starter kit from Google.
Install the appropriate Android Platform SDK (version 2.1 for me).
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Then, download the superuser (su) package:
http://cmw.22aaf3.com/common/su-2.3.6.2-efgh.zip

Put all, the superuser package, the su program, and the RageAgainstTheCage exploit in the same folder as adb (a program to connect to your android phone from the Android SDK). You need to enable USB-Debugging, and switch of internet sharing.

Next, you transmit the file rageagainstthecage.bin to folder /data/local/tmp on your phone (initially, as normal user, you have write access only to the sdcard and the temp folder, but this is sufficient)

```
adb push rageagainstthecage.bin /data/local/tmp/

```

Then you start a shell on your phone:

```
adb shell

```

And change ownership on rageagainstthecage.bin to all

```
chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage.bin

```

Next, you start rageagainstthecage on your phone as normal user

```
/data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage

```

When the exploit finished, your adb connection should terminate.

If it doesn't type

```
exit
adb kill-server
adb start-server

```

Now connect again to your phone:

```
adb shell

```

ADB shell now runs with escalated privileges (root). So now, remount the file system so you can write on the system partition.

```
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
exit

```

Now push su and superuser to your phone (remember, you have write access now)

```
adb push su /system/xbin/
adb push Superuser.apk /system/app/

```

And then change ownership on su to all

```
adb shell chmod 4755 /system/xbin/su

```

Next download and install one of all those free tether apps that require you to root your phone. Start superuser.

Now start your tether app. A popup will appear, which will ask you whether you want to grant this app root access. Say yes, and check remember.

Now switch of your phone and restart. When it has restarted, everything is back to normal, no more root privileges. But su is still there and executable for everyone. So, when logged in, start the wifi tether app. Since you checked remember in the superuser app, it will use su to switch this application to root, which means it will now run fine, with only the tether app with root privileges :)
Next, connect with your Linux box to your brand-new working Android WIFI hotspot. After you're sure it works, don't forget to put access restrictions for the hotspot in place.

BTW, if you use your escalated privileges to export some apk packages for reverse-engineering, you will notice that android lacks the cp command.

You can circumvent that restriction by using cat (copy-cat) instead:

```
cat /data/app/superuser.apk >> /sdcard/Downloads/superuser.apk

```

;-)
> 4 votes

# Answer
I don't know of any way to do wifi tethering without root (before 2.2). You can, however, use bluetooth or a USB cable with PDANet which does **not** require root.
> 8 votes

# Answer
My samsung galaxy s (android 2.1) had a tethering option build in from the start. Settings-\>wifi-Mobile AP and I only had to check a checkbox for it to work. And it works really great. (not locked here t-mobile/netherlands)

I can't find the application name though.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Easy tether is an awesome app that allows wifi tethering. http://www.androidzoom.com/android\_applications/communication/easytether-lite\_eoqh.html
> 2 votes

# Answer
You won't like this answer but your carrier may provide the service if you're willing to pay extra for it. Sprint offered a WiFi hotspot feature for $30/month on the Evo pre 2.2. Ridiculous, yes. But may be your only option.
> 1 votes

# Answer
You can get unrevoked, its an app which gives you root access without changing your kernel/flashing a rom/voiding your warrenty, use that on every startup (its automatic) and then get the superuser app. Then you can use the Open Tethering app which requires root access.

Thats the ONLY free way to do wifi tethering. Otherwise pay sprint or your provider the monthly enable tethering fee.

Worst Case Scenario you can tether using EasyTether app. It creates a forwarding mechanism for HTTP requests through the USB port. Requires software on android + computer. Its not WiFi Tethering, but its free, rootless tethering. For 3 bucks you can get the pro version and do HTTPS as well. Better than nothing (or 30 bucks a month --err thats insane--)
> 1 votes

# Answer
Short answer, you need to root for wifi hotspot tethering, or pay Sprint $30 a month. I thought about purchasing the package, but decided against it because they already charge you $10 extra per line for no legit reason. My thought there is they expect you to tether and can't do anything about it really, so they charge you extra and every month, 10 bucks adds up quickly per line, especially for those on your plan who don't even care to tether at all.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: wi-fi, 2.1-eclair, wifi-tethering
---


title: Android Account types missing google

text:
# Question
Title: Android Account types missing google
When I go to Settings -\> Accounts & sync -\> Add account, there isn't the option of google, just skype and corporate. How can I get the google account type option? I have rooted my tablet, and have shell access. I am using Android 2.3 gingerbread on a Pandigital Supernova.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you need to install GMail, you can snag the APK by pointing your Android's browser to DroidLoad and downloading it from there. You should be able to either launch it directly or save it to your SD card and then launch it via navigating to it in a file browser and clicking on it. There are more detailed instructions on DroidLoad if you problems.

You should probably also install GTalk, as if I'm remembering correctly quite a few other apps rely on it's transport layer for various things.

# Answer
> 1 votes
It sounds like your table has not been provisioned with "core" Google apps. Installing them separately from 3rd-party websites will not resolve this issue, since you will need other "system" APKs as well.

Without an exact make and model of your tablet it's impossible to recommend anything. Knowing those, you might be able to find a "gapps" package built for it. You will need a custom Recovery image, and very likely a custom ROM installed first before you can attempt to flash GApps.

I'd start with Android development sites like XDA-Developers and RootzWiki, and then searching on Google may bring more results.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I finally found out where. After trying various "gapps" packages, none of which worked and some of which destroyed the system, I finally found this page: http://www.cesgeekbook.com/2011/12/install-android-market-pandigital.html

That provided some "gapp" apk's and listed in what order they needed to be flashed. No rooting needed, and was a very simple process. Also gave me Full Google Android Market access. Hope that helps somebody as much as it helped me.

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, google-account
---


# Question
Title: WiFi on my Nexus S no longer works after update to ICS - How can I troubleshoot or fix this?
I just updated My Nexus S to ICS today and everything is working properly except for WiFi. It shows the network's SSID but says it is "Out of range". How can I fix this?

# Answer
> 1 votes
That's right, this is known issue and you are not alone. Unfortunately there is no official way to fix this. The only way to get your WiFi working properly is to remove your SIM card or use American (USA) sim card.

BTW it doesn't depend on whether you updated manually or via official OTA.

I suppose, the problem is with latest kernel which doesn't support other country codes despite US and EU. The new kernel is getting the country code from SIM card and after finding that it's neither EU nor US it's dropping wifi support. Unfortunately I don't know exactly why.

There are some workarounds however, they require Rooted device. You can install custom ROM's (unsigned!) or use some scripts (from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1372074&page=7)

You can "star" the issue here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=23262 so as many people would "star" it as more attention it could get.

People also saying that there are some missing features after upgrading like:

* No Face Unlock.
* No Camera Zoom.
* No Zero Shutter lag
* No Android Beam for Images.

P.S: As far as I know Google stopped providing ICS OTA for Nexus S. I hope they are aware of that issue and working on it.

---
Tags: wi-fi, samsung-nexus-s, 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich
---


# Question
Title: How do you remove flash from Galaxy Tab 10.1?
The browser is slow and maybe it's flash but I cant figure out how to get rid of it.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Why don't you try using browsers like `Dolphin Browser` or `Opera` which have an option called Flash on Demand, wherein flash objects are loaded only if you want them to.

---
Tags: adobe-flash
---


title: Android Deep Sleep

text:
# Question
Title: Android Deep Sleep
I am confused about the utility of *deep sleep* over *complete shut down*. When I am putting my phone to *deep sleep*, I am no longer getting SMSes nor can people call me. I receive the backlog SMSes after *power on*. Why should I use it instead of *complete shut down*?

What keeps running during *deep sleep*? What's the point?

# Answer
Perhaps you're talking about airplane mode? If so, it saves on battery without having to actually turn off your phone by shutting down all the radios. It's also useful for places that don't allow cell phones (hospitals, airplanes during take off/landing, etc) in that it won't ring, etc.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: standby
---


# Question
Title: How can I install swype on HTC Wildfire S?
I have an HTC Wildfire S and want to install Swype.

I understand from a bit of searching that I need to download it.

When I search for "swype" in the marketplace there are dozens of results which all don't seem to install the Swype functionality.

Some forums even mention that this is not possible.

**How do I install Swype functionality on my HTC Wildfire S?**

# Answer
Swype uses a "closed" beta system to distribute its app rather than using the Market. You can register for the beta and get a download link for their installer by simply visiting the Swype website.

Disclaimer: I have no idea if the Wildfire is "officially" supported, but QVGA screen support is noted for v3.0. The forum thread you linked to in your question is about 5 months old, and QVGA was not supported at that time.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Have you tried http://beta.swype.com/ ? You need to register with an email address to get a link to download the Swype installer.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Swype developers pulled the app from the market in favour of deals with manufacturers and networks to have the app pre-installed on phones. So the only way to obtain it is to find a copy of the app apk file and manually install it. Note that there are different versions of the apk depending on the screen resolution (and possibly other factors) of the phone.
> 1 votes

# Answer
go to new message, put your finger on text input box and hold, it'll bring up 'edit text', choose 'input method' then 'swype'.
> -2 votes

---
Tags: swype, htc-wildfire-s
---


# Question
Title: How secure are the "app password protection" apps?
I know there are a number of apps available that can password protect specified apps. I want to know how secure they really are.

As far as I know, there aren't any exposed OS hooks in android to allow one app to prevent another app from starting up. And some of these apps can be fooled by just switching tasks when it presents the password screen. So, are all of these apps just for casual protection, or are there any apps out there which guarantee that password protected apps can't be launched without the password?

# Answer
Those protected apps aren't secure at all. These protects are meant for girlfriends only... :)
As you've said Android doesn't allow one app to prevent another app from starting up, there's no way to really protect an app.
The password screen can be by-passed by disabling one receiver of protector app. Even its also not required for some poorly written protector apps: Just, kill the protector app and done! And, the most easiest method is more funny: Many protector apps provide a failsafe password to by-pass protection in case user has forgotten the password. You just need to contact developer saying you have forgotten your password & he'll provide you a failsafe password. :)
If your device is rooted, I recommend you to use Seal. Seal provides a root method which is much more secure than generic methods. Disabling a receiver doesn't by-pass its security. As it gets root permission, it heal itself from any attempt to by-pass its security. So, even malicious codes fail against it.
In the last, no protector app encrypts an app & decrypts it on fly before opening it. Its simply because Android system simply doesn't support it. So, an advanced user can access your protected apps & associated data using Android SDK.
> 5 votes

# Answer
A reasonably well respected program is KeePass, an android version exists here.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.android.keepass

On their site they have quite a good discussion about the security http://keepass.info/help/base/security.html
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications, security, password
---


# Question
Title: Movie or Video of mobile web application for demo
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> Is it possible record videos of my screen?

Is there any way to capture mobile activities of user on mobile capture as a video. I have samsung galaxy S running 2.3, is it possble using this? or is such feature introduced Android 3.0

or, if above is not possible, could you please help me out in finding out any software which does window activity capturing in Windows7 , I will use Android emulator to create video of my mobile web application.

-Thanks.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can try Screencast Video Recorder FREE and if it works you can get the paid version Screencast Video Recorder.

For Windows I'm sure many software exists. Why don't you ask on Super User if you can't find one.

---
Tags: screencast
---


# Question
Title: Is there a calendar that I can sync with my phone, without using Google?
My Google calendar is getting messed up big time. Birth dates are multiplying on my Android phone. Even the dates are changing.

I want a calendar on my PC that I can sync with my Android phone, without using Google. Is this even possible?

# Answer
The table at http://www.syncdroid.net/ is quite comprehensive. If you have Outlook, there are ways to sync your calendar with your device. Always list your device and OS - it helps.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: calendar, google-calendar
---


# Question
Title: Is there a web browser+Java plugin available for Android?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> Are there any Android browsers that support loading a Java Applet in-browser?

I am having some issues accessing internet banking etc on my tablet with Android as the operating system. Is there any way of avoiding this, or solutions so that i can access webpages that rely on Java?

# Answer
I've never even heard of a java browser plug in for Android, and I'm quite surprised to hear of a financial institution using java as an integral part of their website. I do believe you're hosed for that particular issue.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: java
---


# Question
Title: Transferring contacts, calendars and applications from one device to another
I am completing my contract on my EVO 4G and replacing it (with a Galaxy SII Epic 4G). Both are Android - I am wondering what is the best way to transfer my contacts (a few thousand) and calendar (a few dozen) from the old to the new?

Also, I assume I have to install all apps one by one on the new device, any better ideas.

# Answer
Assuming you're using Google calendar and that the contacts aren't being stored on your SIM card, all you need to do is set up your new device with the same Google account that you used to set up the previous phone(s). If you are storing the contacts on the SIM, there is an option in the contacts to move them to Google contacts.

As for installing your apps, any apps you've paid for will automatically download and reinstall from the Android Market (again, provided you use the same Google account on both devices). You can also use services like AppBrain to create lists that you can then use to mass install apps on another device.

I would recommend using Titanium Backup to back apps up on one device to your SD card, then either transfer the SD card to the backup files to the new device, install Titanium Backup on the new device, and then restore from that. That way you get too keep you settings for the apps, too. Don't backup the system settings though, as going from one device model to another may be problematic.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: applications, contacts, calendar
---


# Question
Title: Screen brightness too high on auto mode when in the dark room
An Android-based HTC Desire S is set to "auto brightness" display mode. The brightness is adjusted okay unless the device in a completely dark room. In a dark room then display is very bright - tolerable, but really uncomfortable.

Is there a way to make it less bright without disabling "auto brightness" mode?

# Answer
> 2 votes
go to the market and search for screen filter. It Can get much dimmer than the brightness control by controlling the screen colors rather than just the backlight.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Short answer: no.

Auto brightness is usually a battery waster.

I like to use the Brightness widget, it will let you turn on/off auto-brightness or with one touch adjust the brightness to one of several presets.

---
Tags: screen, screen-brightness
---


# Question
Title: How do I disable background data in Ice Cream Sandwich?
The option for "Background data" used to be under Accounts & sync in Android 2.3. But on my Galaxy Nexus, the option is missing. Therefore some applications are still using background data... How can I disable "Background data" in ICS?

(Click image to enlarge)

# Answer
Settings / Data Usage / Menu button / Restrict Background Data

(Click image to enlarge)
> 9 votes

---
Tags: sync, 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich
---


# Question
Title: Can I transfer my Thunderbird Lightning Calendar from home computer to my Android phone
I use Thunderbird with the Lightning extension on my home computer for email and calendar. Is there a way of transferring just the calendar to my Android phone? It would be so useful when away from home so I can make appointments. The only way to do it now is to print the page or remember!

# Answer
If you use Google calendar, you can

* Export the calendar from lightning as an .ics file
* Import that .ics file into Google Calendar
> 3 votes

---
Tags: calendar
---


# Question
Title: Real time events show up with a 4 minute delay
So I just bought a Milestone 2 and installed CM 7.2 by Endless (based on the Defy CM ROM). Everything is working great, but there's one thing that annoys me.

Everytime I tweet something it never shows up as `x secs ago`, instead it shows `4 min ago`.

This also happens on the Facebook app. The real time events always shows 4 minutes. It is like the OS is adding the time by itself. This really doesn't make much difference but I'm really curious as it why does it happens. Any help is much appreciated. :)

# Answer
> 3 votes
It sounds like your clock is 4 minutes fast. Check to see if your phone is getting its time from the network (on Gingerbread, it's Settings/Date & Time, not sure about CM 7.2).

If you are getting time from the network, try disabling automatic updates and set the time manually to a source like time.gov or time.is.

---
Tags: clock
---


# Question
Title: How can I get apps from the Amazon app store from an unsupported region?
Currently, the Amazon app store appears to be US-only. Similar to How do I use the US Android Market from Europe?, I want to know: How can I use the US Amazon Appstore?

Market Enabler doesn't seem to work, and it's not IP-based like I previously thought. Any suggestions?

# Answer
You have to "prove" to be a US resident by accessing the store with a US based IP **once**. It's sufficient to use a US proxy.

Additionally, you need a US credit card with a US billing address to buy apps; to download free apps, you can fake the number (all 0's will work) and address. Then ensure 1-click ordering is turned on in your Amazon.com account (the Appstore will prompt you to do this and provide a link). A prepaid credit card in USD might be a good way to do this for people outside the US, I'm not sure.

Some users seem to be reporting that Amazon is now blocking non-US IP addresses. This isn't 100% accurate, since I access the app every day from Canada with no issues. It may block specific countries though, in which case you'll need a US-based proxy/VPN. Make sure you trust it, so that your account credentials aren't compromised; don't use Tor / Orbot!
> 24 votes

# Answer
This from MoDaCo worked for me:
Using the Amazon Appstore from outside the US (including paid apps)

The gist is you need..

1. An account with amazon.com (rather than .co.uk or whatever)
2. A valid US address and phone number to attach to this account
3. A US registered credit/debit card number for the account attached to account's 1-Click settings

Legal and 'non-illegal' methods given in the link.

**Update**
This method no longer works as Amazon seem to have started checking your region (IP address presumably). So looks like you'd need to use a US based VPN now.
> 2 votes

# Answer
I'd just like to let everyone know that initially I registered my Fire with an account that had a US address and a fake AMEX credit card, and then I added my (Australian) bank account number and it works just fine. I haven't bought anything on my Fire yet, but I did successfully purchase Quickoffice Pro from the Amazon website. =D
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, google-play-store, amazon-appstore, localization
---


# Question
Title: Is there any free (not trial) software by which we can run android on windows xp PC?
Is there any free (not trial) software by which we can run android on windows xp PC?

I have search and found this http://youwave.com

However, it is trial for 7 days

# Answer
You can try LiveAndroid. It's around 180MB and comes as an ISO file. Create a virtual machine in your Windows Machine and load the ISO to boot the VM into Android.
> 3 votes

# Answer
You can download Android SDK for free from Android Developers website. The SDK includes an emulator or all major versions that have been released. The emulator can run any Android applications that doesn't require specific hardware (e.g. GPS, Accelerometers). Graphic intensive applications (e.g. games) could be slow though, unless you have a very, very powerful PC.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: windows
---


title: Android Honeycomb Stock Email Font

text:
# Question
Title: Android Honeycomb Stock Email Font
I'm using the stock email on Android 3.1 (ASUS Transformer) and I've configured my corporate email.

I need to know if it's possible to change the font used when creating or replying to emails. The font used, whilst nice enough, is a little too large.

Whats worse is when I view those sent emails in Windows 7/Outlook 2010, it gets rendered as Times New Roman.

# Answer
My understanding is that the stock e-mail app sends mail in plain text only -- not HTML. Thus whatever client receives the message will render it in a default font for plain-text messages. For Outlook, that's apparently Times New Roman. (Courier New is another possibility.)

So your question might actually be "Can I send HTML e-mail from the stock Android app?"
> 1 votes

---
Tags: email, fonts
---


title: What's in an update?

text:
# Question
Title: What's in an update?
My Samsung Galaxy S2 just updated to version `I9100XWKI4`. Is there a place where I can see what's in that update? And in the ones before that?

All I could find was a blog post from a site that shows how to root the device. Isn't there an official change log somewhere?

# Answer
You can look at the Google Changes for each release of android, but this device uses Samsung TouchWiz. This release contains the Google changes, plus the changes that Samsung made. I do not know of a "change log" page that Samsung has.

I read that this version is the official Gingerbread 2.3.5 release of Android TouchWiz. But also, if you use a USB Jig, that it breaks the that functionality.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: updates, samsung-galaxy-s-2, device-firmware
---


# Question
Title: Deleting contacts in bulk - Ice cream sandwich
I just got my Galaxy Nexus, and from logging into some service, I can't figure out which, it automatically imported contacts which I don't want on the phone. Is there a way to delete contacts in bulk? I haven't found one yet.

Thanks

# Answer
for android 4.0

settings---\>storage---\>Apps---\>Contacts Storage---\>clear data

sync the contacts with your gmail account before doing this, remove synchornisation, do the above steps and sync again with you gmail account, will take some time for the names and numbers to come
> 1 votes

---
Tags: contacts, 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, delete
---


# Question
Title: How can I install vanilla Android on the Kindle Fire?
I just received my Amazon Kindle Fire and since I am not located within the USA I can't use most of services provided Amazon. So I think the best thing for me would be to install a vanilla (custom) Android ROM.

**How can I install vanilla Android on the Kindle Fire?**

# Answer
The most stable option at this point is to use CyanogenMod. You can get it onto your Fire by doing the following:

# Root and Custom Recovery

On Windows, you can use the Kindle Fire Utility to root the Kindle Fire and install Team Win's recovery (TWRP). It's extremely straightforward, and should even set up the Google drivers for you. The whole process is done via a command-line numeric menu.

On non-Windows OSes (of if you just prefer it) you can manually root with BurritoRoot. It's also fairly painless. You'll then need to set up `adb` on your OS, and install TWRP, which can be done by following this guide on RootzWiki. The gist of it is that you need to reboot into fastboot and then flash the recovery image, which should be:

```
user@linux ~ $ adb shell
$ su
# idme bootmode 4002
# reboot
user@linux ~ $ fastboot -i 0x1949 boot path-to-twrp.img
user@linux ~ $ fastboot oem idme bootmode 4000  <-- After auto-reboot
user@linux ~ $ fastboot reboot

```

Or something along those lines.

# Flashing CyanogenMod

This works just like any other recovery system, really. Just grab CyanogenMod and put it onto your `/sdcard` partition. Reboot into TWRP by powering off the device, then pressing/holding the power button at the FIREFIREFIRE bootloader (installed with the TWRP image), and use TWRP to select and flash the CM zip.

## Cyanongenmod for Kindle Fire
> 11 votes

---
Tags: custom-roms, amazon-kindle-fire, vanilla-android
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy Mini GT-S5570 Gets disconnect during firmware upgrade via kies
Whenever i try to upgrade the firmware of my galaxy mini gt-s5570 via samsung kies.....first KIES starts to download the firmware...but the phone doesn't show "downloading" on screen first...but every time (8-9 times that i've tried) when the download reaches around 69%-70%.....the upgrade process halts and says"PC cannot recognize the mobile phone" then the phone gets into download mode and shows "Downloading" on the screen! and i have to reboot my phone! What do i do now? any help??

# Answer
1. Disconnect your phone.
2. Reinstall the drivers.
3. Toggle USB Debug mode, reboot your phone and connect it.

If that doesn't work, try putting your phone into Download Mode manually.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-kies, samsung-galaxy-mini
---


# Question
Title: How to transfer text messages from iPhone to Android with iOS 5?
I'm trying to switch from an iPhone 3GS to a Galaxy SII and got multiple questions. This one concerns migrating text messages (SMS). I've found quite some articles, basically, they fall into two categories:

1. Getting the text message SQLite database from the iTunes backup and exporting stuff manually to CSV files.
2. Importing the SQLite database directly with tools.

Most pages link to this article.

Problem: Apparently, this only works in iOS \< 5.0 or iTunes \< 10, don't know. With newer backups, the SQLite database can not be opened anymore, and the Android tools mentioned do not work anymore.

So I'm looking for any other suggestions on how to correctly migrate the text messages to Android.

Note: I'm aware that maybe this is more an iPhone question than an Android. Nevertheless, I hope to find someone here who faced the same problems. This is exactly the reason why I'm migrating in the first place.

# Answer
> 5 votes
Worked like a charm for me with the 2nd option (web service conversion) on this page: https://legacy.isms2droid.com/#converter. I´m running the latest iTunes 10.5.2.11 and Windows 7 32-bit Enterprise. My iPhone runs iOS 5.0.1 and my Android is an Xperia Arc with Android 2.3.3.

What I did was basically create a PC backup (used to run iCloud but changed that option in iTunes), look up the needed DB file (according to the guide), convert it with the web service, and then load it onto the Android phone memory card, and then use the SMS backup and Restore to restore the SMS database.

The only problem I had, was that all the SMS that had been sent or received with iMessage was corrupted. Apparently, they don't store phone numbers with these posts, and therefore all these messages were put in an "Unknown" thread, with no date connected to them.

---
Tags: sms, samsung-galaxy-s-2, ios, data-transfer
---


# Question
Title: Note taking app with a hand guard/hand recognition feature?
I have an Asus Transformer Eee Pad. I recently purchased a stylus that allows for pen-precise writing and wanted to utilize my tablet as a note taking device.

I have found several apps for this purpose, but none of them allow for recognition of my hand, which confuses the screen. If I rest my hand on the edges of the tablet I am fine, but that only works if I am writing on the outer edges of the "sheet", and I would ideally like to utilize the whole page for notes.

**Does anyone know if there is an app for Android tablets out there that is capable of this functionality?**

My friend's iPad had an app that allowed him to designate a "dead" area of his screen so he could rest his hand on it and the iPad ignored input from that area, allowing him to take notes with ease and I admit I was pretty jealous. I'm hoping there is some similar app out there for Android. Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide.

# Answer
> 2 votes
The general rule is to make sure you touch your device with your stylus first then rest your palm, it helps big time. Unfortunately, I have not seen an app with a dead area, but that means its not the "whole page".

Samsung are the leaders for true stylus technology on android with their new Galaxy Note phone/tablet which may be the best choice for this kind of thing.

May I ask what stylus you purchased? I have not seen any with pen-precise writing, it does not seem possible with the capacitive touch screen when you compare it to Samsung's stylus tech with pressure sensitivity and separate Wacom sensor.

---
Tags: notes, stylus
---


# Question
Title: Multiple update notifications from Android Market
I have recently upgraded my HTC Desire to run CyanogenMod 7. The main reason I did this was so that I could use a more recent version of the Android Market that supported multiple accounts. The reason for this was that I have moved my email address from GMail to Google Apps for Your Domain and wanted the main email address on the phone to be the Google Apps one, but the market to keep using the gmail one so that I don't have to buy apps again.

I also have two other gmail/apps accounts configured on the phone (so that I can receive emails sent to these two accounts).

Generally, everything works fine and I'm really happy with CyanogenMod. However, I have one fairly minor problem with the market. When new updates are available to the installed apps, I used to get a notification message saying (e.g.)

```
2 New Updates are available

```

(I'm paraphrasing as no updates are currently available, so I can't remember the exact wording of the message). This is quite instructive. With the new market, I get FOUR notification messages:

```
2 New Updates are available email@mydomain.com

2 New Updates are available other_email@mydomain.com

2 New Updates are available more_email@gmail.com

2 New Updates are available email@gmail.com

```

This seems a bit daft as they're all the same updates! Is there any way to sort this out? The market is set up to use the email@gmail.com account, but seems to be checking for all of the accounts. I'd imagine that if there are paid apps that need updating, they'll only be listed for the last account (although that's a guess), but for all the free ones I seem to be stuck with multiple messages.

# Answer
I guess this is by design as the majority of users don't have 4 accounts on their phone. The whole idea of those messages is to give the user the opportunity to download a new version as soon as it comes out. You may not want to use your mobile data when you don't want it to. Maybe the update automatically tickbox would bypass this message, however it will probably still say that 3 updates have been applied.

So what you maybe looking for is silent updates https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10328471/can-we-do-silent-updation-for-android-application looks like you can do it with a rooted phone.

I too think that Google can handle multiple accounts in a more intuitive ways across their products. Since its out of our control to improve these closed source apps ourselves I will say its better than it used to be. I think the best solution for Google would be to combine these messages into one notification ie "5 apps have been updated".

Make some noise on the Google support pages to improve this UX, this may be a good start http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/label?lid=551c5c4cca827a18&hl=en
> 2 votes

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


# Question
Title: Configuring DHCP client on my Android board
I am running Android on my development board and want to configure DHCP client on it. Can anyone tell the details of what steps to be followed to configure DHCP client on Android?

# Answer
> -1 votes
enable the ethernet port and then use **setprop** command to enable dhcp. Then start dhcp client.

---
Tags: 2.2-froyo, dhcp
---


# Question
Title: Streaming a movie from Windows (Media Center??) to A500
Simple straight question: I own an Acer Iconia Tab A500 w/3.2 OS and a Windows 7 PC with lots of movies, including H.264 HD in Matroska format.

How can I stream that content, supposed that I installed K-Lite Codec Pack, on Android by installing the least possible amount of software? The tablet is already shipped with Acer ClearFi which is a DLNA implementation and looks compatible with Windows Media Center, however when I tried to play a non-HD movie in MPEG-4 format the default player reported that the fortmat is unsupported.

I'm new and a bit confused to Android video and home streaming. I don't know how codecs work in the Linux-like world.

\[EDIT\] About codecs (if these matter): on Windows, I can watch the videos with Windows Media Player too, not only VLC/MPC I remember that once I was able to stream to my Xbox 360 with Vuze's embedded media server with live transcoding. Do I need something like that for streaming to Android too?

Thank you.

# Answer
> 3 votes
I use TVersity to stream to my Android device, Logitech Revue, Original Xbox, Xbox 360, etc. TVersity can transcode the video on the fly.

I have, in the past, been able to get Matroska container files to play, but not always and with varying results. Sometime they don't play at all, sometime they played fine, and sometimes they play, but the video is choppy and out of sync with the audio.

Being able to stream the video to your android device will depend on the video codec used to encode the video. If the device does not support the codec, it will not play. AFAIK, android, out of the box, does not support the matroska container, actually, there are a lot of formats that android does not support. Using something like TVersity on your "Media Server" allows you to transcode these videos in a format that the device will understand, and can play.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I personally like Subsonic to stream my media, and they have apps for all major mobile device platforms. It does on the fly transcoding to FLV.

---
Tags: video, streaming, 3.2-honeycomb
---


# Question
Title: Alternatives to Smart Actions for non-Motorola devices?
Motorola's recent selection of Android gadgets (particularly, the Droid Razr) sport a Smart Actions application that automatically modifies your phone settings when certain events occur -- for example, turning off data service and ringer at night, reducing volume when you arrive at work, turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when you get home, etc.

I've seen this in action on my friend's device, and by his account, this is quite a battery-saving and convenience feature.

I wonder if there exists a similar application on the Market for non-Motorola devices.

# Answer
Well, you have several applications that do what you want. You have Tasker which is paid, Llama which is free and I'm currently using and can recommend, if you look around in the Market, you can find other applications.
> 9 votes

# Answer
There is also the free Timeriffic. Works similar to what I remember of Locale but without the GPS component.
> 3 votes

# Answer
The app that I use for this is Unlock with WiFi (free version, paid version) while it can't do anywhere near as much as Tasker and Locale can, I prefer small apps that do exactly what I want and not much more.

Unlock with WiFi as well as its core function of disabling the screen lock when you're attached to a trusted Wifi point, can also switch Wifi, bluetooth, GPS and Background Sync on and off depending on whether or not you're connected to the trusted Wifi (I have my home wifi, and my parents Wifi points specified as trusted).

If you're interested in doing more than this, or triggering differently then Locale and Tasker (both paid apps) are very highly recommended for automating Android settings and apps.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: automation
---


# Question
Title: Using Multiple Devices With the Play Store
I've been using a Droid (original model) for a while and recently I bought an Archos 7 Home Tablet at Office Depot (I think it was on clearance, but I don't remember why it was marked down). I registered the Archos tablet online, then tried to download some apps so I could start using it.

The selection was small, so I went to the Play Store and logged in with my Google ID. When I tried to download apps, it told me they would not work on my phone -- but I was using a tablet.

This tablet is not the easiest to type on (which shouldn't be a big issue for what I have planned for it), and that's making it frustrating trying to enter data for forms or to deal with anything. At this point, my understanding is that Archos seems to have their own app store that I was using when I registered my tablet.

But now I want to use the Play Store I linked to above, but when I go there, it always tries to download to my phone, not to my tablet.

How do I tell the Play Store that I have multiple devices and tell it to download apps for the device I'm using? I tried setting up another Google account, but it wants my email address and when I give it, then Google says it's used by another account.

How can I use the Play Store with both devices?

# Answer
The first thing you need to do is to check your tablet version. My suspicion is that it isn't running Honeycomb (Android 3.0+ or the tablet version of Android) but actually a heavily modded phone version of Android (i.e Android 2.1-2.3).

Go to settings -\> about phone (or something similar. each manufacturer changes how you access this)

If it is indeed running the version of Android meant for phones, then the market might be complaining to your tablet because you might be trying to download apps meant for honeycomb.

The online market automatically updates to include additional devices when you activate them (i.e when you initially do the android setup and sign in to your google account). Make sure you select the drop down and check if there is another option. Also make sure you activated both devices under the same account.

-I know I should have made this a comment but its too long of an answer for one. :P
> 5 votes

---
Tags: applications, google-play-store
---


# Question
Title: How to read out the data in HTC Desire SMS backup file?
Unfortunately my HTC Desire SMS app crashed (HTC official android 2.2), all SMS and MMS were lost. When I tried to recover from a previously backed up SMS file (generated by Desire SMS app), but it didn't work, prompting failed to recover. But I found actually most of SMS and MMS had been recovered, with some important ones still missing. I want to open the backup file directly to read out the missed SMS, how to do it? Someone said the backup file is SQLite file, right?

# Answer
All the messages in Android are stored in an SQlite database on the mobile. So, I guess this Desire backup application simply copies this database to an accessible folder (presumably sdcard).
Since it's an SQLite file, you can simply download and use an SQLite Browser and view the SMS in there.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Try the unix `strings` command against the db file directly. This will search the binary db file for human readable strings and print them on the console.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: sms, htc-desire, backup, data-recovery
---


title: Asus Transformer video playback

text:
# Question
Title: Asus Transformer video playback
I have an Asus Transformer tablet with the dock extesion and I am trying to play a video file recorded in MOV format. I had recorded the video on my Powershot ELPH 310HS camera in 1080p setting and it is saved in h264 format.

I tried putting the SD card into the dock and playg back the video but the playback is very slow and I think it i sbeing done in software.I installed the MX video player app to play back the video.

My question is if there is any way to do playback using a HW video decoder? I thik that I've read that the tegra 2 has this bultin but I don't know enough about video formats to know whether this is a hardware limitation or whether it could be solved with a diffferent app.

# Answer
Mobo Player. Singlehandedly the best video player app on Android. Its the 'VLC' of Android. Plays nearly every format flawlessly.

Download the app, click the button to download a 2MB codec pack (so it can play different video formats) and you are good to go. If you have any problem with the playback, just go into the settings and force software rendering.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.clov4r.android.nil&feature=search\_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5jbG92NHIuYW5kcm9pZC5uaWwiXQ..
> 1 votes

---
Tags: video, asus-eee-pad-transformer
---


# Question
Title: Any "must read" docs for Linux-head buying an Android device?
I've decided to finally upgrade to an Android phone from my perfectly good N900 because Twitter open sourced the encrypted SMS messaging application TextSecure by Whisper Systems.

I'll want vanilla linux software though, probably busybox/bash, sshd, rsync, perl, python, latex, duplicity, git, git-annex, gnupg, encfs (fuse), and tahoe-lafs.

Is there any good resource for comparing issues with rooting different Android devices? Or perhaps resources to suggest issues I should google before selecting a carrier?

Are there any HowTos or other docs I should skim before buying an Android device? Is there a debian derivative who's package list I should explore?

Basically, what's the due diligence for a Linux head buying their first Android device?

# Answer
Android != GNU/Linux. That is a common misunderstanding.

*You will never have the same Linux experience like you had with your N900 running debian*. Sure, you can install busybox, sshd, maybe rsync and fuse should also be possible. Latex for example, with it's various dependencies will be hard to get running. Mostly because there is no package manager for Android and the toolchain (i.e. libc) is not the same. It's all technically possible, no major blockers. There are even ways to get debian/ubuntu running on Android, even side-by-side. But this doesn't seem a practical solution, more a proof-of-concept for now.
> 10 votes

# Answer
As Flow already mentioned, Android although based off of linux will not give you the same experience. This also means that the linux utilities will have to be cross compiled. Sorry.

If you want a development device with vanilla software and fast updates, then the Nexus line of smartphones is the best way to go.

1. Galaxy Nexus - GSM version (This is if you want to go for the most updated phone with the most support in terms of drivers, and OS)
2. Nexus S - This is if you dont need a top of the line phone but still want something supported by Android Open Source Project or AOSP for short
3. Nexus One - Google has recently dropped support for AOSP of this device so it will need some tinkering but this is by far the cheapest out of the 3 on ebay with enough power to still run the latest version of Android.

The one stop shop for all Android development needs: http://forum.xda-developers.com
> 2 votes

---
Tags: linux
---


# Question
Title: Do all android phones have to reload their home screen?
I have had my EVO 4G for coming on 2 years.

Lately it has developed this ever so annoying habit of reloading the home screen for 60 seconds any time I return from a memory intensive app such as the Amazon Market or Dolphin Browser, or after I clean up memory.

I have tried cache cleaners, app killers, and periodic rebooting, but it just keeps happening.

The EVO 4G is pretty light on RAM, and I am wondering if I upgrade to a bigger Android device (considering an Epic or Photon), if that will cure the problem?

Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks, Victor

# Answer
No not every android phone does this but it is done in many HTC phones. The reason is simple: memory usage.

Here is the breakdown:

When the system is running out of memory, the inbuilt task killer of the system automatically kicks in and checks to see if it can stop an application and recover some RAM. HTC Sense devices employ a launcher that is "heavy" and often uses up a lot of memory so when the task killer sees you are not using your launcher and knows it needs the RAM for another app, it kills the launcher. Thus, when you hit the home button or quit the app, the launcher has to re-initialize.

Tips:

DO NOT use a task-killer if you dont have a low end device. Android already has a built-in one that kills apps and does it safely. Using apps such as "Advanced Taskkiller" actually mess with the way the system kills apps and actually can cause more Force Closes and system instability in the long run.

Additionally, the more RAM the system has, the more the launcher uses to cache stuff it needs. This is good because the launcher becomes more responsive and fast as its using a cached copy instead of grabbing it all over again. If you clear the cache constantly, it needs to re-cache the items and so it will be less responsive.

Use a lighter launcher. Sense might be good but there are more rock solid and light launchers such as Launcher Pro that wont experience this problem. You dont need a new phone with more RAM. Trust me, 1GB of RAM is more than enough with the right system. :)
> 7 votes

---
Tags: ram, launcher
---


# Question
Title: Windows 7 complains that Nexus S driver is missing
When I connected my Nexus S to my PC running Windows 7 Professional (32-bit) via USB cable, the system installed a handful of drivers before complaining that the Nexus S driver wasn't installed.

I can see the USB storage as a drive letter. And I can use MyPhoneExplorer to browse all of the memory.

I'm just concerned that if I go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Devices and Printers, the Nexus S icon is there with a warning symbol on it because the driver wasn't loaded.

If I try to let Windows fix the problem, it searches and fails to find the driver and suggests I take it up with the manufacturer.

If I select Properties for the Nexus S, I see the drive letter listed plus "USB Composite Device" and "USB Mass Storage Device", but sitting at the top of the list is "Nexus S" with a warning sign.

Should I be worried? Does anyone else have this?

I have previously had a different Android phone connected and that was OK once I got the drivers for that...

# Answer
This is a common problem among Android phones. Sometimes Windows might try to install drivers for your phone which might not necessarily be complete.

Like Matthew said in the answer above me, you could use the Android SDK package which usually includes drivers for Nexus devices but in the event it doesn't work:

You need to get the usb drivers from the manufacturer. Following the instructions in this link might help:

http://nexusshacks.com/nexus-s-hacks/how-to-install-nexus-s-windows-usb-drivers/
> 1 votes

# Answer
There's absolutely no reason to be worried. You can install the drivers from the Android SDK and that should fix the issue, though.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-nexus-s, windows
---


# Question
Title: Modify framwork-res with same signature?
According to this post, you can modify the framework-res.apk to remove carrierIQ software from the phone. Unfortunately a lower post, and others, suggest that this doesn't work, causes infinite boot loop, since recompiling it will make a different signature. If true, is there a better way to do this?

# Answer
The core android framework, the UI and lockscreen are all compiled into the framework-res.apk. So naturally messing with it and improperly modifying this will result in infinite boot loops, strange overall bugs and "wonkyness."

If you have the ability to flash new framework-res.apk, it means that you have a custom recovery and root access. So just flash ROMs that don't have Carrier IQ. These are usually builds built from AOSP and CM as both of these code bases are given straight from Google and are clean of any third party proprietary software like Carrier IQ.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung, carrieriq
---


# Question
Title: Are PIN lock and lock screen widgets incompatible in ICS?
My wife has a Bionic and I've got a Galaxy Nexus. So she has the older Android version and I've got ICS. We both use PIN locks.

On her phone, she first has to swipe-unlock to get to the PIN screen, which means her first screen has lock widgets on it.

On my phone, I only see the PIN screen. This means I don't have any lock widgets, which is disappointing. I have to unlock my phone in order to mess with music that is playing.

My question is: is this an ICS issue or is there a setting I missed that lets me see the lock screen (with widgets) before the PIN screen?

# Answer
Seems to work for me -- here's what I see:

<sup>(Click image to enlarge)</sup>
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, samsung-galaxy-nexus, lock-screens, motorola-droid-bionic
---


title: Android Desk Phone Tablet

text:
# Question
Title: Android Desk Phone Tablet
I have been using VoIP for my landline for years, with an analog telephone connected to internet via an ATA.
Recently, this Grandstream GXV3175 PoE video phone sparked my interest in upgrading and getting rid of the analog phone and ATA, but now I wish to upgrade to an **Android system with camera and market**. It could then also serve as a simple always-on portable PC for quick lookups or web browsing, and basic organiser/games/multimedia…

There already are several ideas for using Android systems as a desktop phone:
\- Android desk phones with Power-over-Ethernet
\- Android desk phone tablet+dock, for landlines with xDSL

Budget/specs-wise I like the Archos 80 G9 **tablet**. And ideally, there would be a Telpad-like dock but with PoE, but since that is not available for the moment, I was thinking about just connecting an **external handset** to the tablet in order to have proper microphone quality. Here I see 2 possibilities:
1. via an USB port, e.g. Tiptel or Digitus
2. via an earphone port, e.g. iPego or Moshi Moshi

However, if I read up correctly, none of the above seems to be supported on Android tablets?!
\- Does the OS (3.x/4?) actually support the USB handsets or are there *drivers readily available*?
\- Are there Android tablets that have a 4-band or 4-pole earphone port with support for an external *headset/handset with microphone*? (Above-mentioned iPego or Moshi Moshi handsets are for iPhone/iPad only…)

How can I do this? Any suggestions/alternatives?

PS: sorry, `new users can only post a maximum of two hyperlinks` :/

# Answer
> 2 votes
For external headsets you would be better looking at the incredible range of bluetooth enabled headsets for mobiles. I doubt that there will be any support for the current desktop usb based ones anytime soon as its not the focus of Android atm. A hardware vendor would have to write the drivers for them, or an opensource effort.

I was just playing with the new native sip voip on Android 4 and its now deeply integrated. I was using the voip account that my home phone uses so my when someone call my house my mobile also rings and uses the wifi, very cool I wonder if this will pick off.

---
Tags: microphone
---


# Question
Title: How do I use my front facing camera on my Galaxy S?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> My Samsung Galaxy S front-facing camera doesn't work in camera app, Gtalk or Skype — How can I use it?

It gives me the options of: single shot, beauty, smile shot, contiuous, panorama, vintage, add me, action shot, and cartoon. I can not find a way to use it. HELP???

# Answer
> 1 votes
there is an button

click it to change.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Which camera application are you using? If you use the stock camera, unfortunately for Samsung Galaxy S there's no such button or option to toggle between front/back camera, the front lens is used only for video chat. Maybe you should try other camera app on market or wait for the next update of the stock camera app (hopefully)

---
Tags: camera, front-camera, webcam
---


# Question
Title: revert back to android 2.1 in samsung galaxy 5 aka europa from cyanogenmod 7 gingerbread 2.3
I have installed android 2.3 gingerbread in my galaxy 5 europa GT-I5500 following this post Now want to go back to 2.1, any dictation how to do that? Thanks for your help.

# Answer
Is there something wrong with Cyanogenmod?

What you want is the stock version of android Samsung put on the phone, there is no revert as it was deleted when you put cyanogen. As you dont seem to have a copy I would go to Samsung support site or you will have to trust another source on the net and download it there. This would be another great community resource for your phone http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1156
> 2 votes

---
Tags: samsung
---


# Question
Title: How can I add a calender to my Android tablet?
How can I add a calender to my Android tablet? In Settings\>Accounts& Synch I can only create Exchange account. There is no option to create any calendar. I do not have android market, google calender, gmail android apps. I standard calendar pre-installed - but I can do nothing because I have no calendars to save events. How to fix it?

# Answer
Seems like you have an Android tablet without the Google APIs. This are devices that use Android but without a Google branding ("with Google (TM)") and Google Services Framework (Google API) to avoid paying fees to Google. Android itself is open-source so every manufacture can use it without charge on their devices, **but if they want to have the Google Services like Market, Maps, Navigation, Google Calendar and so an, they have to pay a license fee to Google.** You can recognize devices with Google Services based on the "with Google (TM)" branding on the back of the device.

AFAIK there a ways to install the Google API when you have root on your device.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: calendar
---


# Question
Title: Save more then 200 SMS per contact on 2.3?
I've noticed that my Samsung Galaxy Gio (Android 2.3) saves only 200 SMS per contact. Is there any way to save more?

# Answer
> 4 votes
In the messaging app, access `menu` \> `settings` \> `text message limit`

and set it to a higher number you like.

Hope this helps.

---
Tags: 2.3-gingerbread, sms, samsung-galaxy-gio
---


# Question
Title: Why isn't the name of my device changing?
I changed the name of my new Kindle Fire within my Amazon account by going to `Manage My Kindle -> Manage My Devices`. Everything seems to have gone fine on the account side, but the upper left hand corner of my Fire still just says "Abby's Kindle". Lamest name *ever*. It's been about 24 hours since I made the change in my account. Why hasn't it changed? What step am I missing?

# Answer
If you haven't tried this yet, I think you should try syncing your device. To sync the device, you tap on the settings button on the top right and select `sync`.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: amazon-kindle-fire
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy 7" (GT-P6210) USB debugging is not detecting in Linux?
I am using ubuntu Linux 10.04 Pc in that my **Samsung Galaxy 7"** (GT-P6210) **homeycomb 3.2** is not detecting for development its showing in eclipse as

`DeviceMonitor] Failed to start monitoring ????????????` in **console**

and in **device tab** its showing ?????????????.

Except this **7' GT-P6210** Samsung tablet all other Samsung devices are showing fine.

When I switch off the tablet and connected to the USB its showing the number and online as status. List of devices attached 4641199B0F8488AE device

why? whats the problem any solution.

**NOTE:** I already Added 51-android.rules

```
Samsung 04E8

```

and also I enabled the **USB debugging** mode.

Its working fine in **Mac**.

I found that only its not detecting in updated ADT r16, except all other ADT version device is detecting very fine.

any idea?

# Answer
> 10 votes
When `adb` shows devices as `????????????` it's usually a permission problem and the usb device file. Your `udev` rules doesn't seem right. Make sure that you have udev configured to something like this:

```
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="04e8", MODE="0666"

```

Where `04e8` is Samsung's USB Vendor ID.

Under Linux there is also an `adb_usb.ini` from the SDK where you have to add the vendor IDs:

`~/.android/adb_usb.ini`

```
# ANDROID 3RD PARTY USB VENDOR ID LIST -- DO NOT EDIT.
# USE 'android update adb' TO GENERATE.
# 1 USB VENDOR ID PER LINE.
0x17ef
0x1949

```

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, samsung-galaxy-tab, 3.0-honeycomb, 3.2-honeycomb
---


# Question
Title: How to root a HTC Desire running official Android 2.3?
I have an HTC Desire (Bravo, A8181, GSM) sold in Sweden. I updated it to Android 2.3 using the official release, which is as of 2011-12-29 available at HTCdev with instructions from here.

Now I want to root it. I did some googling and it seems like it isn't possible to root a Desire that has been updated to the official Android 2.3. I tried following this guide, but it failed at step 6 in *How to: Root*. When I attempted to run unrevoked, the progress text `running root...` was followed by the error message `Error: failed to get root. Is your firmware too new?`.

I also tried searching for a way to downgrade it to Android 2.2, with no luck.

How can I root this phone?

# Answer
> 3 votes
In my searching I stumbled across Revolutionary. It looked good enough, so I downloaded it and ran it. It prompted me to plug my phone in, and then it pretty much did the rest on its own. The result was that a custom recovery system was set up, from which it is easy to install ROMs and the like to the phone.

The Revolutionary docs mentions a zip file you need to install in order to root the phone. In order to install the zip file, I first downloaded it to my phone's SD card. Revolutionary only sets up the mentioned recovery system, so the official HTC Android 2.3 was still intact and running on the phone. I used that to mount the SD card on my computer and copy the zip file, but I could just as well have done it using Revolutionary.

After placing the zip file on my SD card, I shut down the phone, then held the *volume down* button and pressed the power button. This results in starting the phone's bootloader, from where one can start the recovery system (Revolutionary in my case). This greeted me with a neat menu containing the entry *install zip from sdcard*. I selected this and navigated to the zip file I downloaded. When the installation was complete, I rebooted the phone into Android, and my app drawer now contained the Superuser app. Root complete!

---
Tags: rooting, htc-desire
---


# Question
Title: How can I prevent stock Android browser from loading last visited page?
Whenever I launch the stock Android browser (my phone's running Gingerbread), it loads the last visited page. If the last page was a 'heavy' one and I'm on a mobile connection, it can often slow down browser start. Is there any way to prevent the browser from doing this?

# Answer
> 5 votes
You can close all the pages via Menu -\> Windows before exiting the browser.

If you want the last page to stay loaded and not reload, you have to make sure the browser isn't killed or forced to give up memory by Android. In other words, use only lightweight apps or don't use anything, and hope your system behaves :P

# Answer
> 1 votes
You may want to consider using an app such as Bookmark Home. This creates a type of launcher for bookmarks, similar to Chrome's New Tab homepage or Opera's speed dial. You can import your bookmarks from the browser. This is probably the closest you can get to loading a default home page like Google Search, as opposed to loading the last page - it just has that one extra step.

---
Tags: browser
---


# Question
Title: Blocking 3rd-party image in Android browser?
For Firefox 4 for Windows, there is a really useful image-block addon for slow connections: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/quickimage/

Unfortunately, Firefox mobile is pretty slow and the addon doesn't exist for it. Most browsers can turn off image loading in options/settings. But often this causes a horrible site look. Blocking only 3rd-party image sources really makes browsing on 64kB/s mobile connections a lot faster. Generally, you don't need things like Opera Turbo Mode, it's not like DSL speed, but sites load within 5-10 sec.

So is there a way to block 3rd-party images by default? Tools like AdBlock don't show images with distinct paths (, but download all images by default?). I'm not looking for something like Opera Mini or Opera Mobile Turbo mode. I know these options.

---

**I found a solution for Firefox (built-in config setting). I keep the question open, as someone may find to do the same thing on Dolphin HD or Opera**. Then Dolphin would become my standard mobile browser.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Found out that **Firefox mobile** can do this by going to

```
about:config

```

in address bar and setting

```
permissions.default.images         3

```

Possible values:

* `1` = load all images
* `2` = no images
* `3` = only images from the current URL

Saves a lot of bandwidth (e.g. user avatars on Stack Exchange are not loaded, while with "no image loading", one doesn't see voting arrows). I just don't like mobile views of sites that much. An add-on would be nice to easily switch this config setting for a single website like the *quick image* addon on Firefox Desktop.

If Dolphin HD had this, feature it would be unbeatable. Unfortunately, Firefox is lacking the speed and tap gestures of Dolphin.

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Tags: browser, images
---


# Question
Title: Can I create a contact in a particular contact group on Android 2.2?
Is there a way to add a new contact into a particular contact group which I have in my Google contacts? Similarly, is there any way to move contacts from one group to another?

It seems as of now, I can only create contacts on Android but cannot put them in any specific group. To do that, I've to use the web interface of Google contacts.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Open the contact, click menu--\>edit and scroll down. You should see a drop down box titled groups just below the email addresses. Click that and you can then select the groups the contact should be a member of.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I have Android 2.3.3 on Samsung Galaxy Ace and it doesn't have any option to edit the groups. I'm managing the contact groups from GMail and then sync. It's a standart feature on Android 3. You can use a third party application to manage your contacts. Some applications have the ability to edit contacts' groups. *(DW Contacts & Phone & Dialer)*

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Tags: contacts
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# Question
Title: Desire HD Official Sense 3 update: Slate skin
I just updated my DHD to the official Sense 3 update.

Anyway, In Sense 2.1, I was using the sleek Slate skin. After updating, I went to "Personalize -\> Skins" and chose "Get More"; Slate skin was not there. Also choosing different skins will produce "similar" looking skins (maybe with a little difference).

So, anyone knows how to get the old Slate skin back?

# Answer
Can you once try Slate.apk from this xda thread.

He has created/ported many skins.
> 0 votes

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Tags: htc-sense, htc-desire-hd, themes
---


title: Android and iTunes

text:
# Question
Title: Android and iTunes
Is it possible to sync an Android phone with iTunes? If so, are there any limitations?

# Answer
Yes, you can actually use DoubleTwist in combination with TuneSync (or TuneSync alone) to sync with iTunes although you are limited to songs that are not DRM'd by Apple.

You can also do it without any app on your phone with Notpod (Windows only).

The only drawbacks that I am aware with either of these are not being able to use DRM and people have reported some unreliability. The problem in general with syncing Android with iTunes is that it may work today but if Apple changes something in an update you may get locked out until someone comes up with another work around. If you are all Android now, I'd recommend on cutting iTunes out of the picture all together.

**Edit:** Here's a couple other options I've come across that are pretty awesome:

1. Dazzboard
2. iSyncr WiFi Add-On. You need an app and a desktop client. The app costs a little but the desktop software is free. This one seems like the coolest option so far.

**Edit 2:** I happened upon another app...

* Music WithMe: Syncs your phone iTunes over Wifi or 3G. It doesn't stream the music, it download it to your phone. Also, I don't think it can handle DRM'd tracks. It's little pricey at $15, especially with the currently less than stellar reviews, but it may be one to watch.
> 16 votes

# Answer
There is also Missing Sync for Android to sync your iTunes playlists (and associated files) to your phone.

It works pretty well.
> 5 votes

# Answer
Not that I am aware of, however you could try Double Twist for similar functionality.
> 4 votes

# Answer
The easiest way to do this is use Google Music, and specifically the Google Music Manager.

1. Go to music.google.com and download the Music Manager.
2. It will run in the background on your computer and upload everything in iTunes, including new downloads/purchases, to Google Music.
3. Finally just download the Google Music app to your Android and you are all set.

A few caveats:

* This seems to be a one-way sync. So deleting a file from iTunes will not delete from Google Music, or vice versa
* The Google Music app on Android is a little different from iTunes/iPhone model. The music is not automatically downloaded to the phone unless you explicitly set it up that way. By default you have to stream the music, which requires an internet connection.
* Apple DRMed content cannot be uploaded to Google Music and therefore won't be transfered using this method.
> 4 votes

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Tags: sync, itunes
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