title: Micromax A065 - language

text:
# Question
Title: Micromax A065 - language
I got a mobile from an Indian friend of mine. The model is Micromax A065 and I would like to install the Greek language and make it the default language.

I tried the following apps with no luck:

1. Locale More Pro
2. MoreLangs
3. Locale Select
4. MoreLocale 2

Is there a way to reset the phone and select the Greek language during the setup?

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can try and use Language Enabler

Download and open the app. Type the language you want and check mark it. Then press on that "3 dot" button on top right and select `Enable Languages`. See if this works. Ofcourse there are other ways too, but try the simplest one first. You need to be rooted if you are above android 4.2.

---
Tags: languages
---


# Question
Title: Does Google+ to new Photos app "cut & paste," or "copy & paste" archives?
Does the new Photos app duplicate photos from Google+, or does it move them completely over?

I pay $1.99/month for my Google Storage and was wondering if current system will delete the copies in "traditional" Storage of photos, when it transitions my media into the new Photos app. I was hoping to avoid duplication.

# Answer
> 0 votes
When you run the Photos app for the first time, it asks you if you want to display your pictures from Google Drive in the gallery.

It also states that the pictures will stay in Google Drive unless you move them.

I haven't (yet) found anywhere in the Settings that lets you change your mind. If I do, I'll put up a screenshot.

---
Tags: applications, photos, google-plus
---


# Question
Title: How to decompile android kernel within android itself?
How do I decompile kernel.bin of my android 4.1.2 kernel on android itself? Is there an app that can decompile kernel.bin or any methods for decompiling kernel.bin?

Thank in advance!

# Answer
> 1 votes
No. You can't decompile within android. Not only hardware isn't probably strong enough for compilation/decompilation in most cases, but how do you plan to edit such a huge code in android itself? You will infact need special editors like notepad++ or gedit even in PC to organize the code and be able to understand it to edit. Plus its not "kernel.bin", its " boot.img".

So well, PC is only way for now ;)

---
Tags: kernel
---


# Question
Title: Reverting refurbished devices to previous versions
I just purchased a few refurbished Samsung (S3, S4, S5) devices from Gazelle for a testing lab I'm organizing. The product listings for each said they had Android 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4 respectively. However, when they arrived and booted up, they all appear to have 4.4.2 installed. Factory reset seems to only reset to version 4.4.2. Is there a way to (without rooting) revert the devices back to previous versions of Android?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Yes. There's a very easy way using Odin.

* First, download odin from above link and also download whatever android version firmware you want from Sammobile, also download samsung drivers. Then extract the odin archive.
* Now, enable USB Debugging mode from developer options on your phone
* Backup everything from phones. Data will be erased.
* Now run odin and click on PDA button and point it to firmware file downloaded in earlier step.
* Switch off your device completely. After that, turn your device on in download or Odin mode. This can be done by simultaneously holding the power button+volume down+home button on your phone. You should now be in download mode (it should say `Downloading.... Do not turn off Target!`).
* Connect phone to pc using usb now. Once connected, the ID:COM section in Odin should turn to light blue. This means that the device has been connected and is ready for flashing. If it doesn't show any response, you may need to reinstall drivers.
* Make sure "Auto Reboot" and "F.Reset Time" are enabled and disable every other option.
* Click on `Start` in odin and wait a while, it may take sometime. Once done, it should say `Success`.
* Finally boot the phone, first boot may take a while so wait atleast for 20mins by watch.

Perform these steps separately for every phone one by one.

Good luck, and hope it helps :)

# Answer
> 0 votes
Unfortunately, this might not be possible or cheap. version 4.4 usually comes with secured bootloader, which is not downgradable by PC.

But give it a try, worst thing would be that you'll permanently disable KNOX on the s5. As an attempt to downgrade FW is considered a security risk because of allowing old FW's exploits. the s3 and s4 don't have the knox trigger AFAIK.

It's not for sure, so you definitely should try, but before you begin, **Note down your current FW version exactly** if you don't and flashing of old FW will fail, you'll need to flash as close version to the old one as possible, because all parts of FW will get overwritten except for the bootloader and the phone won't probably even boot , or will work with issues.
But don't worry, if that happened, flashing back the previous, or maybe newer version of the FW will restore everything, except probably for the KNOX on the s5. The important version info is under Settings-About device-BUILD NUMBER

Dumping the original FW would be too much hassle and would require root, so a better option is, if you'll need to go back to original FW, to search for it using only second part of the version-string, e.g. on mine it's XXXXXX.N910FXXU1BOC5 so I would search N910FXXU1BOC5

as for the second part of the first sentence, a more costly way of doing this is to give those phones to a company offering "unbricking of hard brick phones". I mean you give them your working phones and tell them to flesh them with older fW. Maybe even too old, if they won't have exact version. then you still can go up.
Unbricking of hard bricks is done by removing the memory chip and flashing it outside of the phone, the culprit then won't be able to tell what's happening during the surgery and so an downgrade should after all be possible.

---
Tags: installation, android-versions
---


title: Phone is too flat to charge

text:
# Question
Title: Phone is too flat to charge
My phone died today, and now it won't charge at all on the charger it came with. I don't think the battery has failed, as it still gives me just as much charge on a full charge as always. The phone is an LG P500 running CM7.

My battery charged perfectly in another model of the same phone. Does this suggest there is an actual problem with my phone?

What can I do to get my phone to start charging?

# Answer
The phone should *always* charge, no matter how empty the battery is. You imply that the empty battery is the reason why it wouldn't charge, but I think that this is not true.

It is more likely that you are dealing with a hardware issue here. But first make sure that you connect the charger for at least an hour to your phone, just to make sure that it is really not charging. Even if there is no visual feedback of the charge process, there is still a chance that it does so. You could also try swapping the battery with the one from your brother, to see if the failure is the battery or with the phone.
> 3 votes

# Answer
The same happened to me, try plugging it in to a laptop with a usb cable. for some reason that was the only way the phone would charge while it was turned off or compleatly flat.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, battery, charging
---


# Question
Title: Problems with time zones on a Micromax unite 3 with Lollipop
My timezone is GMT +5:30 but it always changes it to GMT +2:00. Please help me fix this problem. This made me miss an important meeting.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I'd first check your settings under `Date & Time` (at the bottom of the settings menu).

**Possibility 1**: Automatic time zone is deselected.

* `Issue`: Your phone is manually setting an incorrect time zone.
* *Solution*: Select `Automatic time zone`

**Possibility 2**: Automatic time zone is selected.

* `Issue`: Your phone is automatically selecting an incorrect timezone
* *Solution*: Set your time zone manually by deselecting `Automatic date & time` and pressing `Select time zone` below and setting it to `Kolkata` or `Colombo` (both GMT +5:30).

Let us know if either of these fixes your issue!

---
Tags: date-and-time, time-zones, micromax-unite
---


# Question
Title: Remove option for dual SIM in Sony Xperia C3 Dual
My Sony Xperia C3 Dual phone (which has dual SIM slots) has now updated to Lollipop. I never use the second SIM slot, so is there a way to disable or remove the option because in lock-screen mode it gives me the notification about no service on SIM 2 slot?

# Answer
On Mediatek devices, Gravitybox works well to hide the said SIM card notification. However, if this app does not work for your Qualcomm device, then use an alternative app named NotifyClean which can selectively hide notifications including the said one.

See if it helps.

Note:- Device needs to be rooted and Xposed Framework installed.

---

## About Gravitybox

> GravityBox is a module which primary goal is to provide the users of AOSP devices with a tweak box to turn their vanilla AOSP ROM into custom ROM packed with additional features and tweaks without need to flash anything. Most of the preferences can be changed on-the-fly without rebooting.

## About NotifyClean

> You could configure which apps are allowed to create notifications in the top left area, the notification area. If an app creates a notification it will be collected and added to the list. You could deny *all* notifications of an app or only *specific* messages - if it's not a customized notification. So I used it to hide "waiting for connection", but not "you are connected".
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 5.0-lollipop, dual-sim, sony-xperia-c3-dual
---


# Question
Title: Can APK expansion files be moved to the SD card without root on the Moto G (Android 5.0)?
It seems as if Motorola has reimplemented the ability to move apps to the external SD card on their recent devices.

Does this only apply to an app's .apk file, or will Motorola's implementation also move the (usually much larger) APK expansion files a.k.a. OBBs to the SD card when moving an app?

I understand that the app's data and cache files will not be moved unless the developer specifically implements SD card support.

# Answer
> 0 votes
.OBB files are usually large and they will be/can be moved to SD card along with app data. Sometimes only .OBB files will be placed on SD card and app data is kept in internal memory for faster startup.

---
Tags: external-sd, motorola-moto-g
---


# Question
Title: Does the Samsung Galaxy S6 record video using H.265?
The AnandTech review mentions H.265 encode capability in the SoC but does not mention codecs in the video review.

Does video of any size (1080p, 4Kp30, 720p120, ...) get encoded using H.265 on Samsung Galaxy S6?

Edit: Quote from the article:

> Beyond the swap from a LPDDR3 memory controller to a LPDDR4 capable one, the only other at first noticeable major functional overhaul on the SoC seems to be that the dedicated HEVC decoder block has been removed and HEVC encoding and decoding capability has been merged into Samsung's MFC (Multi-Function Codec) media hardware acceleration block.

# Answer
GSM Arena have posted a review of the Galaxy S6 which includes a downloadable 2160p video clip. Running it through `mplayer` reports the following:

```
Opening video decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg's libavcodec codec family
libavcodec version 54.35.0 (external)
Selected video codec: [ffh264] vfm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg H.264)

```

I take this to mean the device records in h264 only.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: video-recording, samsung-galaxy-s-6
---


# Question
Title: Nexus 4 charging/uncharging while plugged in
I have a problem when charging my Nexus 4, I tried looking around to no avail.

My problem is that when I have my phone plugged in to charger it doesn't charge, Instead it flickers between charging and not charging really fast.

When I look at the battery icon in the top right, the lightning bolt is also flickering, indicating that the phone is switching between charging/discharging at high speeds.

My phone is dead right now and I can't charge it because when it is in this state, the net result is discharging (when it is plugged in that is).

I tried using my roommate's charger, and it sometimes works and sometimes does the same as my charger, also my device has the latest system update that happened (can't remember what number), but the problem has been happening way before then.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

# Answer
This is likely a hardware problem. Check your connection, if not power circuit...
> 0 votes

# Answer
Its problem in cable. I have faced this issue. Try changing the cable.
> 0 votes

# Answer
This is indicative of two possible issues.

* Your charger or charger's cable is failing
* Your phone's charging port is failing

I'd try using a varied assortment of different cables to charge it - the easiest and cheapest solution is to find a different cable that works. If that doesn't work, you might need to fix the charging port on the phone, which is obviously not an easy task. You can also try using a wireless charger to charge it - that bypasses the bad cable connection completely.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Try using the original charger or plugging your Nexus into a laptop via usb
> -1 votes

---
Tags: battery, nexus-4, charging
---


title: How to browse to a NAS in Android?

text:
# Question
Title: How to browse to a NAS in Android?
I have a NAS attached to my home router, and the NAS is running a web server. I would like to run the browser on my Android tablet, enter the URL (in my case, diskstation/wordpress) and get the page. This works from my PC, but if I do it from my tablet, I'm redirected to my ISP's search page (i.e. Verizon tries searching for a web site called "diskstation/wordpress").

My tablet has no SIM card, so I know I'm going through my home WiFi router. I'm not sure if I need to configure the DNS on my tablet or change some setting on my router or do something else entirely.

Can anyone help?

Thank you, Bob

# Answer
> 1 votes
As you can access the NAS fine via its IP address, the NAS is reachable from your Android device – but the issue is, your Android device cannot resolve its name. That is because Android, by default, always uses Google's name servers, no matter what the DHCP server tells it. You will have to override those settings:

1. Open *Settings* (e.g. from your app drawer) and go to *WiFi*
2. Scroll the list of WiFi APs and long-press the entry of your own WiFi network
3. Chose to edit the entry
4. Tick the check-mark for "Advanced settings"

At this place, you will probably see it has "DHCP" selected. To edit the settings we need to change, you'll have to switch that to a "fixed address".

5. Switch from "DHCP" to "fixed"
6. Check the IP address and make sure it matches your network1
7. Make sure the "default gateway" matches the IP address of your router
8. Change the value of "DNS1" (usually `4.4.4.4`) to your name server (usually the same as your router), but leave "DNS2" (usually `8.8.8.8`) untouched.
9. Save the settings

Now try again: you should be able to access your NAS via its name, the same way you can do from your PC. As we left "DNS2" untouched, names your router cannot resolve will still be resolved via this. Once you have verified it works, you can try switching back to DHCP and check if it still keeps the changed name server, and thus leave the task of managing available IP addresses completely to your router (avoiding address collisions in the future). If switching back to DHCP brings your original issue back, you'll have to stick to "fixed IP".

---

**1:** you can find the original IP address in *Settings › About phone* in the status section

# Answer
> 0 votes
Thank you Izzy. I found another solution:

On my router (a MI424WR) I added a DNS entry for my Synology NAS. For some reason, every device on my network had a DNS entry whose source was DHCP, except for the NAS.

Now I'm able to use the NAS' hostname from my tablet. I've seen some complaints on Synology's forum that DHCP isn't working, and perhaps that's the problem I ran into. What I still don't understand is why my PC was able to use the hostname.

Also, it appears that my tablet is using my router's DNS even though I did not go through the steps you listed.

* Bob

---
Tags: wi-fi, browser, dns, router
---


# Question
Title: how to reinstall google play back onto my mobile
How can i get the play store to work on my samsung galaxy ace it has changed to market. I have tried to download it from the web but still will not work

# Answer
Assuming you are rooted, installed a custom ROM and/or have a custom recovery, you can re-install "Google Apps" by flashing a GAPPS zip file.

The following website has ZIP files that you can flash in your recovery for most (or all) Android versions. https://basketbuild.com/gapps
> 2 votes

---
Tags: applications
---


title: Where can I find Google Play services?

text:
# Question
Title: Where can I find Google Play services?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace and when I try to use my apps, it says "This app won't run without Google Play services, which are missing from your phone".
Where can I find those Google Play Services as they are not in my menu nor in any of my settings? I had them before but now I can't find them..!

# Answer
Google Play Services can be Disabled (Turned Off), and it is possible you did so. To find out if this is the case, and to re-enable, use Settings\>Application Manager, and find the List of Apps either 'All', or sometimes it is split into 'Disabled' (Turned Off). The 'All' or 'Disabled' lists are to the far right panel of this tabbed interface - scroll far right. If not in a Disabled list, the disabled apps are at the bottom of the 'All' list. Find it alphabetically to re-enable (Turn On).
> 1 votes

# Answer
Simply Google: Google Play services to install it. This has worked for me many a time and you can even update it via this method.
> 0 votes

# Answer
In addition to the answer by wbogacz, if you cannot find Google Play Services yet you think that you've not uninstalled it, then follow this solution:

1. Enable USB Debugging, install ADB drivers in your PC for your device, and make sure that your device is getting detected in the output of the command `adb devices`. (Consider Minimal Installation of ADB.)

Alternatively, you may install a terminal app like Terminal Emulator for Android or Terminal IDE.
2. * Connect your phone into PC and run:

    ```
       adb shell

    ```

    The command will let you enter into ADB shell.
    * The following `pm` command will find all enabled packages in your device and `grep` will output `gms` for com.google.android.gms i.e. Google Play Services.

    ```
       pm list packages -e | grep gms

    ```
    * The following `pm` command will find all disabled packages in your device and `grep` will output `gms` for com.google.android.gms i.e. Google Play Services.

    ```
       pm list packages -d | grep gms

    ```
    * Alternatively, you can run the last two commands in Terminal Emulator app.
    * If your system has the Play Services installed, then the output of one of the last two command should be:

    ```
       package:com.google.android.gms

    ```
3. If the package is enabled, then you can find it easily in **Settings → Apps → All Apps → Google Play Services**. In your launcher the app name would be **Google Settings**.

In case you cannot see it in any said location yet it is enabled, then type the command:

```
 am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.google.android.gms/.app.settings.GoogleSettingsActivity

```

The command will launch the **Google Settings** UI.
4. If the app is disabled, then you can enable the app using the command:

```
 pm enable com.google.android.gms

```

Repeat step 3. to launch this app.
5. If you do not see any output in Step 2., then possibly your device doesn't have Play Services installed. In this case, AFAIK you have to flash a Gapps package.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-ace, google-play-services
---


# Question
Title: How do i fix a white screen after replacing digitizer on Nexus 7?
I replaced the screen and digitizer on my nexus 7. Now when I power up the nexus 7, it is only a white screen that flickers. I checked all wires and they are fine. How do I fix this?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Are you sure that both your screen and device are functioning, and the problem does not lie directly with either device but the connection between them?

Start diagnosing your problem by finding out whether the screen works correctly (with another device), or the device works on it's own and it's not a problem with the motherboard (another screen)?

Also try contacting the company that you bought the screen from for troubleshooting instructions and double-check you've setup the screen with your device correctly.

---
Tags: screen, power-on
---


# Question
Title: Samsung galaxy 3S, battery is good, phone won't charge or power up
I have a samsung galaxy 3S, about a week ago it rebooted itself, since then it will won't charge or turn back on, I have tested the battery to see if it was that, the battery works perfect, I have cleaned the connections to the battery and the battery itself, when i do plug it in the red charge light will come on for about 2 minutes then goes off, but still won't power up, please help, i have lots of picutures i would like to get off the phone

# Answer
If your device is not modified, the best option from here may simply be to contact Samsung and ask about using your warranty to get your device fixed. All Samsung mobile phones have a two year warranty from the moment you receive the device, so if your device is still within that period of time you should be able to, for free, have Samsung fix the device and your pictures retrieved.

Use the Samsung website for more information regarding this.

USA: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/ UK: http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, battery, charging, power-on
---


# Question
Title: Get into fastboot mode without root or hardware buttons
I own a relatively unknown Chinaphone, the *CUBOT GT72+ (MTK6572 SoC)* \- on which I was attempting to gain root access. No known exploit-based root methods exist for this device (which runs on Android 4.4.2), so I found myself having to dissect boot.img using the *MTK-Tools* Perl-scripts.

After unpacking the boot image, I made some modifications in the initramfs, they are as follows:

* Modify *default.prop*, setting *ro.secure* to 0, *ro.debuggable* to 1, and *ro.adb.secure* to 0.
* Add the *rootsh* binary to */sbin*.
* Modify init.rc to mount */system* as a *rw* filesystem, since (re)mounting */system* is somehow not allowed by the kernel, even when root.
* Replace *adbd* in */sbin* with a version provided by a package called *adbd insecure*, which was supposed to automatically grant root access to adb-connections.

(**Please note**: Before replacing adbd I had also installed the *su* binary in */system/bin* and the *Superuser.apk* package)

Now this is where the problem comes in: the hacked *adbd* **no longer allows me to connect using adb**. It shows the device - with an id of *0123456789ABCDEF* as *offline* in the devices listing of adb.

Now, using an adb shell, I could simply get root by typing 'adb shell' followed by a simple 'su', and ta dah: root shell! Yet, somehow, the permissions on the *su* binary are all messed up - since when I use a terminal emulator on the device itself: I get presented with a 'Permission denied' error. Applications are not getting root, either. (I suppose the permissions are messed up somewhere, *chmodding* went fine, but *chowning* did not. Also, *busybox* is still missing.)

And here's the final problem: the phone does not have a way to get into fastboot mode using hardware buttons, so I found myself having to type 'adb reboot bootloader' to get it into fastboot mode... which, well, obviously doesn't work anymore. And to reflash boot.img I need to get into fastboot mode.

My device does work just fine when turned on (although not rooted), but I really want to reflash boot.img to get the proper *adbd* back. There is a button combination to get into recovery mode, but that doesn't provide me with a connection in adb. Sideload mode *does* seem to come up in adb, yet flashing any Update.zip has so far not been succesful (maybe due to a crippled *adbd*?), even though I have tried various methods of crafting (signed) *Update.zip* files with the only purpose to reboot the device into fastboot mode.

The device does come with a proprietary flashing tool, but that only works under Windows XP. I do not own any computers running Windows. And especially not XP. (*The adb version I run on my computer is the latest provided by Debian (sid), so it should be quite recent.*)

Now the question remains: **How do I get my device into fastboot mode?**

# Answer
If you've had problems flashing your phone through adb, you should really consider the Windows XP installation route. I've had to look around for some compatible drivers,as I've been experimenting using Windows XP and even Windows 8.1 with success using SP Flash tool. As one of the the answer given before in this thread, you don't need ADB to flash files to your phone SP Flash tools; just the required drivers and connect the phone to the computer with the battery removed.

You could try VMWARElinux to install Windows XP on with with required drivers/ files, etc. I can confirm VMWARE windows allows USB devices to connect to it, including this phone. I've flashed through it with success. Don't know if the Linux version does, though.

After lots of research and headaches I've finally managed to fully root my phone. I've posted my files so you can try it out here:

http://www.needrom.com/download/cubot-gt72-rooted-rom-twrp-recivery/

Best and luck and regards.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Did you properly change adbd permissions?

Look for other files in the same directory with adbd for permissions value. Most probably it will be 644 but be sure.

Note: adb is a service and need to be properly run at start so reboot after changing permissions
> -1 votes

---
Tags: rooting, adb, boot, fastboot, reboot
---


title: corrupted /data partition?

text:
# Question
Title: corrupted /data partition?
for a stupid reason I used TWRP which is btw a stupid tool... long story short.. It messed up the data partition...

Currently I have a nexus 5 that can run whatever recovery I want, but doesn't have a /data partition...

How do I fix my phone so that I can install any ROM for complete reference here are some of the info

when ever I try factory reset (using CWM) I get the following error

```
--Wiping data...
Formatting /data...
E:Error mounting /data!
Formatting /cache...
Formatting /sd-ext...
E:unknown volume for path [/sd-ext]
Formatting /sdcaard/.android_secure...
E:Error mounting /sdcaard/.android_secure!
Data wipe complete

```

I've tried `adb shell` and then running the following

```
~# e2fsck /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata

e2fsck 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010)
e2fsck: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...
e2fsck: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata

The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
filesystem.  If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
    e2fsck -b 8193 <device>

```

# Answer
> 6 votes
Try doing what it suggests... run `e2fsck -b 8193 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata`. If that doesn't work, try running `mke2fs /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata`.

You can also boot into fastboot mode and run `fastboot erase userdata`.

If none of these work, please elaborate on this "long story". How did you mess up your data partition with TWRP? Got any logs/error messages/steps to reproduce? I've been using TWRP ever since I started using custom ROMs and never had an issue.

# Answer
> 1 votes
This solution fixed the issue of device stuck at boot logo.

* Boot into TWRP or any other similar recovery.
* Enter `adb shell` in a terminal on your PC while running recovery on the phone.
* Enter `e2fsck /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/persist`. Should work for other partitions that might be corrupt as well (Query Google to find more Android partitions).

---
Tags: recovery-mode, clockworkmod-recovery, nexus-5, formatting
---


# Question
Title: Migrate Google+ photos to Google Photos and free up Data Quota
I see my old Photos that were uploaded to google+ in the new photos app. I have it set for the new free high resolution, but I still see google+ photos taking up 7 gbs when I go to drive and check my quota.
Can I delete the photos from google+ or should I try something else first?
I would prefer not to lose my old photos. I would think they would be moved to the new free storage because they are all smaller than the 16MP limit for the high resolution now.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Google hasn't announced anything about moving these. While it's possible, if not likely, that they may do so at some point, your only sure-fire solution would be to download all your photos, delete them from Google Photos, and then re-upload them under the new setting.

---
Tags: google-plus-photos, google-photos
---


# Question
Title: How many people can use the same card on Google Wallet?
A company of 120 developers would like to purchase one credit card, deposit some money on it and give it to their employees on usage.

Employees will use it solely on Google Play to purchase applications.

Does anyone know what is the max number of accounts that can use the same credit card?

# Answer
Here's my direct experience with something similar on a much smaller scale:

My girlfriend and I setup a joint Google account so we could share purchased apps. I added to it a card of mine that was already on my own Wallet account. The new account was IMMEDIATELY frozen and I couldn't make any purchases. After digging into it, I was told that if there's any suspicious activity, especially on a new account, including adding a card that already exists on another account, they automatically freeze it for an unspecified period of time.

In my case, about 48 hours later it unfroze.

I realize this doesn't confirm what would happen if you did this for 100+ accounts, but from experience they did react rather dramatically to it being added to only ONE additional account. I suspect I was unfrozen on goodwill as the account didn't exhibit any other suspicious behavior. The card being added over and over to dozens of accounts would likely trip higher-level oversight and lead to a problem.

One note: I've actually had good experience with Google's phone support when resolving a Wallet-related problem with the Play Store. The person I spoke to was helpful and was able to contact a higher-up for policy information, and provided me with an accurate solution. Supposedly this number is a direct line to their support. I'd recommend getting an official statement from them before making any major decisions.
> 3 votes

# Answer
I don't see why it wouldn't be possible.

As long as you're using a *non-Google-Wallet card*, like a MasterCard or Visa, and adding it to each account, I think you're fine.

If you're looking to use a Google Wallet card, it's unclear. I know **you definitely cannot have more than one Google Wallet card per account.** (They verified this with me on the phone)

However, they say nothing on this help page or this page about using one ordinary credit card across multiple accounts.

Just have each person punch in the digits and you should be good to go!
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, google-wallet
---


# Question
Title: Nexus 5. Needs factory reset, no access to AndroidOS., can't unlock or grant permission
I have a Nexus 5 updated to Android 5.1.1 just some days ago.

Today I have installed this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vanillasys.mikechang&hl=en

(I always only install really trusted app from well known developers or companies, but today I have done it, and I am already regretting it. So far I have lost everything in the phone -luckily I always have full backup enabled-)

I could not log in into the app as it even does not advise how to register, when I tried to exit the app, the Android OS entered a never ending loop of crashing the interface - displaying a message about the interface crash - crash again - message -crash - message .......

A) I rebooted thinking about not launching the app again and deleting it from the Google Play Store, and then even before getting to the PIN screen to unlock the phone, the loop crash - message - crash - appears again, not even displaying the on-screen numkey to dial the PIN. (the rest of the OS seems to work as I could hear the email warnings)

B) I booted in Safe mode, and again not even displaying the numkey screen, error loop again.

C) I can manually go into Recovery Mode and reboot bootloader (I don't know what this is for)

I booted in recovery mode and

1) wipe data/factory reset -\> reboot and same result as in A)

2) wipe cache partition -\> reboot and same result as in A)

So I am desperate.

I am using XUbuntu Linux 14.04 LTS fully updated.

Then I am using this guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7fhPYQSMQ4 I remember some moths ago about having done the clicking 7 times in the build number to enable developer mode. I also possibly enabled (very likely) the "USB debugging" ...

BUT as I have no access to the Android OS anymore I am not able to use the `abd devices` command and get the phone to display the box asking for permision "Allow USB debugging?" (2:54 in the video), so I never get permission, and I can't either perform the command `abd reboot bootloader` (3:23) and even worse `fastboot oem unlock` (4:21)

I also try going into recovery mode and then to use the option "apply update from ADB" but as I do not have permission to access the phone from the computer I cannot do anything. I try `abd sideload image-hammerhead-lmy48b.zip` just to get notified of lack of permission.

What can I do? I can use windows, Linux or Mac. How can I unlock the phone's recovery mode and get permission to access it form the computer?

I would prefer not to use windows as It seems a pain to configure everything to get it to work with Windows, and also I have not used it for some years.

Info from my phone's recovery state screen:

```
Fastboot mode:
Product name: hammerhead
Variant: hammerhead D821(H) 32GB
hardware version: rev_11
Signing: production
Secureboot: enabled
Lock state: locked

```

Thanks in advance.

Alex

# Answer
> 2 votes
First, I want to clarify: when you hold the volume button while turning on the phone, and get the screen with the big "Start" arrow at the top, that's not recovery mode. That's the bootloader, also known as fastboot mode. When you choose "recovery mode" from the fastboot screen and get a screen with a little droid and a red exclamation mark, *that's* recovery mode. `adb` commands work only in the regular OS or in recovery mode; `fastboot` commands work only in fastboot mode.

You don't need to worry about enabling USB debugging from the settings menu; that's only for enabling it within the regular Android OS. It's always enabled in fastboot and recovery mode. Also, `adb reboot bootloader` is the same as just turning the phone off and then holding the volume button when turning it back on again.

The factory reset that you already did *should* have fixed the problem. That erases all installed apps, files, etc. and leaves you with just the OS, which is in a read-only partition and shouldn't have been affected by any apps you installed. If the problem persists after a factory reset, either the app somehow managed to gain root and modify the system partition (unlikely if you were running 5.1, assuming you hadn't rooted it), or it's a problem with the phone itself and the timing (after you installed that app) was just coincidental. Maybe something went wrong while installing the 5.1.1 update.

Anyway, the best course of action now is to reinstall the factory image. This is more thorough than a factory reset because it actually reinstalls the OS itself, rather than just erasing all the user data. If the system partition is corrupted somehow, a factory image will put it right.

Go to Google's Nexus factory image page and download the 5.1.1 image for the Nexus 5. At the top of that page, you'll find directions for how to install it. In a nutshell: put the phone into fastboot mode, then run `fastboot oem unlock`, then run the `flash-all` script included in the factory image package.

The `fastboot` program on your computer may require administrative privileges, so you should run it as root when doing `fastboot oem unlock`. You should also run the `flash-all` script as root, since the script just runs several other `fastboot` commands for you.

Just to be clear: installing a factory image will erase all user data stored on the phone. Don't do it if you have any important data on the phone that you don't want to lose. (But if you already did a factory reset, you probably don't have any data left on the phone anyway.)

---
Tags: crash-reports
---


title: How can I remove a MultiRom ROM?

text:
# Question
Title: How can I remove a MultiRom ROM?
I have a secondary ROM I'd like to remove, but trying to remove it using the TWRP Multirom menu or the Multirom app in the primary ROM fails (shows failure and force quits respectively). Is there any other way to remove the ROM?

One possibility is to completely remove multirom and all associated secondary ROMs but that's really overkill and I'd like to avoid that as far as possible.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I'm not entirely sure why this worked but what I did was to:

1. Wipe data from the secondary ROM I wanted to remove
2. Reinject the current boot sector

Then I rebooted and was able to successfully remove the ROM via TWRP.

---
Tags: rom, twrp, multirom-manager
---


# Question
Title: Droid Turbo Bluetooth Microphone with Touchless Controls?
Can you use a bluetooth microphone to activate the touchless controls on the Droid Turbo? ("The "Ok Google Now" feature)

# Answer
> 1 votes
No, you cannot. It's built entirely to listen ONLY through its built-in microphones, as it can do so with minimal power drain. Activating touchless control through any normal Bluetooth headset would require that the Bluetooth headset's microphone be always listening and always transmitting to the phone, resulting in a massive power drain to both devices.

The only exception that I'm aware of is the Motorola Hint Bluetooth headset which is specifically designed for this, as it uses similar technology to the Droid Turbo and Moto X line to always listen with minimal power usage, has its own voice commands, and can tap into the Google Now voice functionality. Presumably, with time, we'll see other devices add the same or similar functionality.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I have spent an incredible amount of time talking to tech support and *nobody* told me this, because they clearly didn't know. BTW, it appears there are apps that also do not use the bluetooth mic, and I believe that's due to (my) device's profile as an audio distribution device, which might not include having a mic.

---
Tags: google-now, motorola-droid, voice-recognition
---


title: SD card trouble

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

# Answer
> 0 votes
Maybe you can download AParted from Google play store and from there go to tools and choose your sdcard (mine is Part1 FS:fat32 Size:7888mb because my sdcard is 8GB I checked the first one) and then check your sdcard which you will know because of the size and choose repair and click apply, wait, you can apply it several times then reboot your phone and check if it is fix.

Hope it helps!

---
Tags: samsung, sd-card, data-recovery, samsung-galaxy-s-5, media-files
---


# Question
Title: How can I make my HTC One stop vibrating on notifications, but still make noise?
My HTC One vibrates every darn time the notification sound comes on, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get it to stop. I have "vibrate on calls" unticked in the setting, under sound, and it still does it. This was never a problem before that system update a little while ago.

I am seriously so mad right now.

Help?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Yes, I too went in to Settings \> Accessibility and turn off for reminder of notifications. That fixed it for me. (For HTC 826)

# Answer
> 0 votes
To remove vibration you should Settings \> Sound \> deselect the vibration box

# Answer
> -1 votes
Go to Settings → Accessibility and untick the box for reminder of notifications. That might fix it.

---
Tags: vibration, htc-one
---


# Question
Title: Initiate voice recording via Bluetooth dialling in car
I drive a car with a built-in hands-free interface to a Bluetooth phone (it's a Volkswagen Passat). From the "on-board computer" interface in the dashboard, I can select an entry from my contact list and dial that number to talk to them.

I often find that, as I am driving along, I have a thought that I would like to remember by recording a voice memo to myself. The only way I know of doing this is to unlock my Android phone, start a voice recording application and hit the record button. By the time I've typed my pin number into my Android phone to unlock it, this is already very unsafe while I'm driving along, so I don't want to do this!

Is there anyway I can set up my phone such that if I dial some "special" number (#\*#\*# or whatever) that, when I call it will just record my voice rather than actually dialling an external number? I could then program this number in to my contacts list and access it via the buttons on the steering wheel of my car.

Ideally, when I hang up the call I'd like it to email me the recording, but that may be going too far...

This would also be useful on the motorbike where the phone is in my pocket, but I can dial numbers (when safe to do so) via the Garmin Zumo 660 GPS. If I stop at some traffic lights, I can quickly dial a number on the GPS, but I certainly wouldn't have time to take my gloves off, unzip my jacket, take my phone out and run a voice recording application!

# Answer
Set up Google voicemail. Call that number and record a message.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth, voice-recording
---


# Question
Title: How can I run an installed system application that doesn't appear in the app list?
I have a rooted Android device and have a couple of pre-installed System apps in the `/System/App` folder that do not show up in the normal App list.

Using various file explorers, I can "look inside" the APK files or view and change information on them, but if I try to open them, I'm prompted to install the app which then gives me a warning that it will replace the existing app and it's settings. This leads me to believe these apps are already installed and functional.

Is there a way I can just run these apps instead?

I do not want to Install, Replace, Move, or Remove anything which is all I can find via Google. I just want to run the existing pre-installed app that has no icon in the app list.

As a side note, I tried using ES Explorer and created a shortcut on desktop to one of these APK files, but opening it from the desktop shortcut just prompts me with the same Install and warning about replacing the app.

# Answer
> Is there a way I can just run these apps instead?

If I were you and see such apps that are not in the Apps list, then I would take a look at `AndroidManifest.xml` inside the `.apk` (Extract by touch holding file under Es File Explorer**More →Open →ES Zip Viewer →** Select `.xml` file and **Extract**, and view using Axel).

I would first try to see the activities registered under `action.intent.action.MAIN` e.g. for a file named `Galaxy4.apk` the associated activity name is `.Galaxy4`.

Relevant output from Axel:

```
<activity
    android:theme="@id/0x01030006"
    android:label="@id/0x7F060000"
    android:name=".Galaxy4"
    android:launchMode="3">

   <intent-filter>
     <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
   </intent-filter>
</activity>

```

What's next to do? Fire up ADB or a terminal app and type:

```
am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.android.galaxy4/.Galaxy4

```

This command launched the app with its default activity. What's more? I realized that this `.apk` was actually a live wallpaper native to Android and can be accessed inside Wallpaper settings. Now it makes sense why it isn't needed in the Apps list.

Your case probably would differ and so, type `am` to see various parameters that it has. You may also take a look here and here.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Sounds to me like you have just disabled the apps. If that is the case just go to Settings/Application Manager then select all apps. Locate the app(s) in question and if it is disabled, just enable it. Good Luck!
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications, root-access
---


# Question
Title: How to open winmail.dat file email attachment?
My boss can't open attachments in his Lenovo K3 NOTE and all he got was a `winmail.dat` file. What settings should I use to get rid of `winmail.dat` file and open the attachments?

# Answer
Microsofts Outlook e-mail program sometimes sends e-mail attachments as "Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format" (TNEF). This attachment is usually named "WINMAIL.DAT".

You should install the Winmail.dat Opener(1.7mb) or Free Winmail Viewer(6.9mb) app from the play-store. Opening the file will reveal you multiple files packed into it just like a zip file.

> # How to open a winmail.dat file?
>
> 1. Select `Winmail.dat Opener` from the context menu of the `winmail.dat` attachment.
> 2. Start `Winmail.dat Opener` and use the built-in file dialog to select a previously saved winmail.dat file. Once you are at the contained files list, you can long click a file to open it or select files and click the "save" icon from the action bar to save all selected files to the sdcard. All files will be saved to a directory called "winmaildatopener".
> 3. After successful export of a file to this directoy an open file dialog will enable you to start further actions, like open, share on the exported files.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: applications, email
---


# Question
Title: Can Google location be mistaken -- association with contacts
My girlfriend was located at a house in a town that she works in. I asked whose house and she replied she'd never been there. I drove by on my own after dropping her off and recognizedo the car in the driveway as belonging to a coworker of hers. So could this be because they phone each other and their phones somehow connected to each other pinpointing her there while never physically there. A random house is a e asy you shrug, but to be her coworkers home out of 500 homes seems against good odds.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Location services are usually accurate within a certain range. For example, google tells me my location is accurate within 30m. Obviously, your mileage may vary.

You can find detailed information about *your* location history with timestamps over here.

---
Tags: applications
---


# Question
Title: How can I create a second instagram account?
I want to create a second instagram account. I already have my personal instagram, and I want to create a second one for an art project.

For the art project, I'm not necessarily planning on using my phone to upload the pictures, instead I'd use a web browser based client like Gramfeed.

However for that I'll still need the existing account. How can I do that?

# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm not sure if multiple account signup is currently supported in Instagram mobile app and sign up is not available except through the website. There was once single phone can create only single account restriction. If you are unable to create a new account from your mobile app and if you dont have two phones, then the only way to create a new instagram account in a computer is to

Install Bluestacks or Andy Emulator for computer -\> Install Instagram App -\> Create a new account.

And access the created account in a browser or in the emulator itself.

If you have a Lollipop OS you don't need two phone nor need to setup Bluestacks. You can install Instagram app under two different User Accounts and both Instagram apps share a different appdata and therefore different username to login with.

---
Tags: instagram
---


title: HTC One M7 Keeps Restarting Itself

text:
# Question
Title: HTC One M7 Keeps Restarting Itself
I have recently bought a new HTC One M7. Since the moment I turned it on it's performing random reboots. At the begining it was every few minutes but now its every time I unlock the screen. I've performed 3 factory resets - didn't help (I think that even made it worse) I've entered "safe mode" - still rebooting I've tried to enter recovery mode but the phone got stuck on the loading screen (exclamation point icon)

Anyone might have an idea what's going on? Is the phone defective? Might it be a hardware issue?

As I said, the phone is new, so no custom ROMs or strange apps installed

Thanks

# Answer
> 1 votes
At the end the problem was with the internal thermostat. Had to replace the device.

Thanks for all the answers!

# Answer
> -1 votes
I had the same problem, still rebooting in safe mode. I found Amazon's software was using up approx. 55% of the CPU, and was kicking my computer off of the internet. Disabled Amazon, uninstalled all updates, and disabled automatic updates, and now phone is back to normal.

# Answer
> -1 votes
what you have to do is hold the up volume button and press the power button once. once you do that you will see a set of commands and once you do that you will want to select the wipe cache partition and once you do that it will just clean out the battery and it should allow it to work from there.

---
Tags: hardware, boot-loop, htc-one-x
---


# Question
Title: Would Cyanogenmod be faster than stock Android?
I am currently running an HTC One (M8), rooted, stock 5.1 Android Lollipop. If I upgraded to a CM build, would I notice any significant performance increase? Once in a while, 5.1 lags like crap; I don't think they completely fixed the memory leak...so would a CM ROM fix stuff like this? Their latest build for my phone came out yesterday, but it's only a nightly build, all of them are...

So bottom line, should I flash the nightly Cyanogenmod ROM, if I'm looking for stability, speed, and maybe a bit more customization?

# Answer
Actually, rom experience varies device by device (even for same models, it is possible that you may have more/less stable feeling for rom than others).

> so would a CM ROM fix stuff like this?

Yeah there is no memory leak in CM 12.1 right now, that I can assure you. Stable builds will take a while. Nightly arent bad, I use them too. It really does have a great performance. Never froze in my case, customization is awesome as well.

Now I cannot (and no one can) guarantee same experience for you. I can only give you an idea of what CM 12.1 is now. So-\>

* Its quite very stable. I cant even remember last time I faced an issue on it. Although RAM is not something I bother about, but CM actually leaves my phone with far better free ram than stock.
* I Dont have HTC ONE M8 so I dont know how the stock rom was. But on my phone, CM is far better than stock.
* I do face some lags. The frequency is somewhere around just 2-5 per day (not more than that definitely, infact I barely notice this).
* You can actually push the performance further. Install a custom kernel, get a better governor (my personal fav is interactive v2). Probably overclock it a little (not needed really, but in case you feel like...). There are a lot of tweaks a kernel can do alone.

> So bottom line, should I flash the nightly Cyanogenmod ROM, if I'm looking for stability, speed, and maybe a bit more customization?

Yes. I cannot say for definite that your experience will be mind blowing and stuff. But CM is one rom you must never judge before you actually try. As I said, even its nightlies are very stable given the amount of time they had to correct bugs. As for customization, it has a great theme manager that allows you to control a lot of aspects separately (different theme for notification panel and statusbar, fonts, bootanimations, icons etc etc), so the customization capabilities are ofcourse far better than stock.

In fact, a lot of roms are ported keeping CM as base. CM is known for its stability and speed (and probably minimalism too if you uninstall those pre-installed bloatware apps. The optimized drivers are another great thing), hence it makes porting roms easier. Definitely worth a try.
> 1 votes

# Answer
> So bottom line, should I flash the nightly Cyanogenmod ROM, if I'm looking for stability, speed, and maybe a bit more customization?

Actually, it's not stable because it's "nightly". I think they will never release a stable version right now.

About speed, it's sometimes speed on my Nexus 5 and sometimes lag, I found Stock 5.1 have fast response and good performance than it, and yes it's have a lot of customization and that's the awesome thing in it!

At all, am using multi ROM on my phone and am uses CM as a secondary ROM but I use it all the time, it's not bad! :)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod
---


title: CM12 installation interrupted

text:
# Question
Title: CM12 installation interrupted
Just started installation of cm12 via tool from http://www.cyanogenmod.org/ on my **Nexus 4** At some point during installation ive got message that it lost connection to the device and i need to reboot or switch usb port.

I rebooted and only thing that i can get now is bootloader. If i go with normal load or recovery it the same screen with "standing cynagenmod guy". And device is doing nothing.

Im running Windows 8 and in fastboot its not detected.

I have tried both adb and fastboot but it seems that they do not see the device.

Is it the end of my phone? Thanks.

# Answer
Uninstall any existing drivers through device manager/USBDeview and install raw google drivers (you can use Nexus Root Toolkit for that). On side note, also try this-\> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2588979 I too have nexus 4 and I too faced drivers problem in windows 8.1, but this was what fixed it for me.

> Is it the end of my phone?

No android devices arent that easy to completely mess up (especially modern ones). So in case you fail to get phone to be detected via fastboot in windows 8, try that in linux (like ubuntu) instead. Thats because there you only need to add USB rules while setting up adb. And until today, I havent faced a single situation personally where it didnt detect my phone.

**Now what to do after your fastboot has been detected?**

First, download twrp or similar recovery. If its in zip form, extract it and get the recovery.img file. If its already in img format, leave it as is. Then open terminal in linux/cmd in windows and use command-\>

```
fastboot erase recovery
fastboot flash recovery PathToRecoveryAndFileName.img

```

This will flash recovery into your phone. Just download flashable zip on CM rom (do not use any tools this time, get directly flashable zip).

Use `fastboot reboot recovery` to boot it into recovery, push the zip file you downloaded as rom by-\>

```
adb push PathToROMZIPAndFileName.zip /sdcard/

```

This will push rom zip into sdcard, then simply flash using recovery.

In case you fail to flash recovery from some reason, you can also directly boot into recovery without flashing it right from pc. For this, use command `fastboot boot PathToRecoveryAndFileName.img`

One last thing, in case you decide to use nexus root tookit, it has an in built option to try recovering from bootloop. Select `I cant use recovery` or any such option in that, it should automatically do some work for you.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod
---


# Question
Title: my phone glaxey s4 had its screen crashed and Ive changed it and now it wont charge
My Samsung Galaxy S4 keeps showing the message "Charging paused. Battery temperature is too low", whenever I plug the phone into a charger. I've tried using a different charger and even another battery but the message re-appears and the phone continues to not charge.

How can I resolve this problem?

# Answer
Reflash the stock rom using odin. If it didn't work, change the power socket
> -2 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-4, charging
---


# Question
Title: Transfering mp3 file from a pc and play it on Android 4.1.1?
I recently bought a smartphone with the intent of not having to bow to iPhone and its iTunes etc. I am a PC only user and so I don't really want to change my religion from Win-to-IOS!

However, what I thought would be simple is proving to be difficult. I am sure there will be many like me. And that is why I am posting here.

My pc runs Win-XP. The ALDI phone is Medion E4002 (MD 98388) and runs Android 4.1.1.

I want to copy some mp3 files that I have to the Android phone so I can listen. Not too much ask, is it?

But I am unable to. Tried the Help Line of ALDI. The bottom line from support person is that under Windows it should work without any additional software. Because in my case it does not work, the problem must be with my pc!

In Android under System Settings, I tried connection as a USB Storage. Yes, two new "removable drives" are recognized, but properties shows as 0 bytes and all blue disk.

And if I try the connection as a Media Device (MTP) the phone is not recognized by the pc.

Any help?

Update from original psoter (july 25, 2013)

As was suggested by the Aldi / Medion Help Centre guy, I tried copying files from a Win 8 laptop. There too, the USB mode did not work, but MTP did. Thanks for the answers.

# Answer
German Wikipedia notes that Windows XP supports MTP only with *Media Player 10* installed, so this is one thing your could try.

A second pointer is provided by How do I install the MTP drivers for Windows XP ? in the MS help center, which points you to download and install the Media Transfer Protocol Porting Kit from their website.

Number 3 advice: You wrote you *tried connection as a USB Storage*. That should do without any specific drivers even on Windows, as the device then poses as "USB disk". It should present you at least the SD Card this way. You wrote it shows with a "0 byte size": if that should mean how much data is in there, that could be normal (card still empty).

Last one: If all other fails, take a look at apps like e.g. AirDroid, which lets you remotely administrate and manage your Android device, and also includes a file browser with drag-and-drop support. You start this app on your Android device, and it will show you an URL to type into your browser on the PC. Then you can handle everything else from within your web browser.
> 3 votes

# Answer
I could not get USB transfer to work either (Windows 8, Nexus 4 and Nexus 7). As a workaround I am using AirDroid (Google Play).
> 1 votes

# Answer
If you do not mind transferring files wireless-ly, you can always go for an option like WiFi file transfer as explained in this answer. You can try updating the MTP drivers of your PC and installing device drivers if any.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I've been tearing my hair out with this one as well. The one thing I wanted most, and it didn't work. I found the missing info at whirlpool forums. You actually have to turn USB storage on, not merely enable it in the settings. Also, what you really want is for the phone to autoplay. Here's the process I went through; don't know which step actually fixed the issue:

Go into settings and `check usb debugging` and `usb tethering`.

When you connect the phone by USB and the two dive icons appear, right click on them, go to properties and select autoplay, change the drop down menu from music to mixed content and check the `prompt me each time to choose an action`. This is for Win XP, mind you.

When you next connect the phone to USB, tap the top of the screen where the battery and USB icon is. Slide down to reveal your options, and a message saying `connect as usb storage` will appear with the Android robot icon holding his arm up as a USB connector. Press `turn on USB storage` when it connects. Autoplay will automatically open a removable disk drive box asking you what you want to do. Click open folder to explore files and voila - cut and paste what you want.

I only got this far after I put in the micro SD card. Before that, I never saw the Android robot appear with turn USB storage on/off after sliding the screen down, only the `connect as USB storage` setting. The checkbox would be there, but it wouldn't connect and merely charge even though there is another selection for that.

Hope it works for you. Good luck.
> 0 votes

# Answer
An easy low brow way to do this that I find the best for investment/reward ratio is ..... drum roll, flourish of hands, magical passes over sequined leotard clad assistant's body, ..... copy the MP3s onto a microSD card that is plugged into a USB port on the PC. And then disconnect the microSD card from the PC and insert it into the microSD slot next to the SIM slots of the phone.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I was able to copy MP3 files to my 4.1.1 Android phone by:

1. Connecting the USB cable to the phone.
2. Select "Media Device (MTP)" from the menu which pops up.
3. In Windows 7, I just used Windows Explorer and copied files from my PC to the SD card (E: Drive for me, could be different for you). Finding the right place to drop the files on the SD card is sometimes a challenge, but for me, I just dropped it at the root of the "E:/SD card".
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, file-transfer, mp3
---


# Question
Title: What's the difference between Google Plus Instant Upload and the new Google Photos?
Google Photos is a newly launched application from Google that now backs up all your photos for free (as long as you're ok with their being 16MP and 1080p). But I also have Google Plus with Instant Upload enabled. Are these two completely different services, and is there any way to get my Google Plus Instant Upload photos (which is a lot) into Google Photos?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Google Photos is basically just a rebrand of Google+ Photos. Same data, different apps handling the backups.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Google Photos is Google+ Photos rebranded to be more generic (and not limited to the G+ network).

If you access Photos from your Google+ profile, it will redirect you to the new Google Photos service (photos.google.com), where all your photos from G+ will be. I noticed that after I first accessed Google Photos, it appears that it took several hours for all my photos from G+ to be available through the new service.

Google Photos is also more closely linked with Google Drive, with a specific option to import media from Google Drive.

---
Tags: google-plus, google-plus-photos, instant-upload
---


# Question
Title: Help I accidentally removed the Media Scanner
A couple of hours ago I was cleaning out unnecessary apps on my phone (LG G3) using 3C Toolbox when I must have accidentally removed the app responsible for scanning my media. The Gallery & Music apps both claim that there's no media for them to retrieve yet when I use the file browser I can locate specific files on my phone. 3C toolbox won't allow me to create backups for some reason but that's another issue. I have the .zip for the exact ROM that I'm using but I'm unsure on how to extract the right app from it to reinstall. Any help whatsoever is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

P.S. I have tried numerous media re-scanners on the Play store but none of them seem to work, I assume this is due to the media scanner itself being missing.

(Device: LG G3 D855) (ROM: Resurrection\_Remix\_LP\_v5.3.8-20150309-d855)

# Answer
> 0 votes
Here's what you do since you have the ROM zip:

* Open the ROM zip in pc with winrar or similar.
* Inside zip go to `system/app` and copy `MediaScanner.apk` (or any similar name depicting it as MediaScanner) to desktop. If there is no MediaScanner.apk inside system/app, then check inside `system/priv-app` (it would definitely be in one of these folders).
* Connect your phone to PC. Copy MediaScanner.apk from desktop to its internal sdcard.
* Install and open Terminal Emulator.
* + Enter the command `su` -- it will ask for granting root, grant it.
    + Enter the command `cp /sdcard/MediaScanner.apk /system/app/` -- this will copy `MediaScanner.apk` to the folder where it should be.
    + Now the final step, permissions. Enter this command to set permissions -- `chmod 755 /system/app/MediaScanner.apk`
* Reboot phone.

**NOTE:**

Make sure you copy `mediascanner.apk` to root of your internal memory and not in some folder. Else you will have to modify the commands I told above.

The name `MediaScanner.apk` might be different in your case. Just look around for an app that resembles the name. For e.g. in my phone the name is `MediaProvider`, so just look around for keyword `Media`.

### Choice 2 in case you fail to find `MediaScanner.apk`, or any other problem

* From the zip file on computer you opened in winrar, copy the entire `app` and `priv-app` folders inside `system` folder to desktop. Then connect your phone and copy these two folders to root of internal memory (not in some folder).
* Install and open Terminal Emulator, enter the following commands *one by one*.

```
su
cp /sdcard/app/ /system/app/
cp /sdcard/priv-app/ /system/priv-app/
chmod 755 /system/priv-app/
chmod 755 /system/app/

```
* Reboot phone.

**NOTE:**

This may cause crashing of some stuff (only once this time, wont happen after you run all these commands and reboot). Dont fret, and think of it as normal.

You will have all those useless apps installed again, so you will have to remove them carefully again. This time, take a backup first and remove one by one keep checking for consequences of every app you uninstall by rebooting and testing.

---
Tags: file-system, gallery, system-error, system-apps, media-scanner
---


# Question
Title: "There was a problem while playing. Touch to retry" when trying to play offline video
I encounter problems when I play videos downloaded from Youtube. I've downloaded 5 videos. Those videos are added to disk. The downloads were all completed successfully, but when I try to play them, it says

> There was a problem while playing. Touch to retry

May I know the reason and how to fix it?

# Answer
> Those videos are added to disk.

How do you know that they are added to disk? and what is mean by disk here? Do you mean external store such as SD card?

If you mean SD card, then that is unlikely as YouTube Offline feature *save* all downloaded videos on internal storage (and not on disk/SD card), something like below location:

```
Internal storage/Android/data/com.google.android.youtube/files/Offline/(system generated folder name)/streams

```

You can check this question for more details on storage of YouTube Offline video location.

> downloads were all completed successfully

Again, how did you verify this?

The important point is anything you save will be accessible for **48 hours** in the offline section on the left-hand sliding menu, of YouTube App. Even if the file is there, YouTube won't list it if it's already expired. The permission is controlled on their server per account basis, to access those downloaded files.

You can try below quick steps to see if you Offline feature is working:

1. Download at least 1 video and as soon as you finish download Turn-off Internet (3G/4G/Wi-Fi).
2. Open YouTube App, and go to offline section on the left-hand sliding menu, of YouTube App.
3. You should now see this recently downloaded video there, just try to play it. YouTube should immediately start play (remember, we turned off internet in step-1, still app should play video as it is offline and already downloaded on your phone)

**Caution:** You will lose all Downloaded Offline YouTube videos, when you "Uninstall Updates" of YouTube App.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: youtube, offline
---


title: call volume increases by iteslf?

text:
# Question
Title: call volume increases by iteslf?
The volume of the call increases by itself when I'm using headphones. It starts at max when a call is coming and a minute or so after I lower it it increases again to the max. I thought it was my headphones, but it happens with different ones. The volume button also looks fine. And besides, this increase doesn't happen immediately after I lower the volume (which I would expect if something was constantly pressing a button) I tried to look for a setting that does that, but couldn't find any. I have Galaxy S5 with stock 5.0 ROM

# Answer
> -1 votes
First try to disable the equalizer of your music player. The Call Ring, Music volume and Alarm has different sound settings. So, check if all the settings are set to minimum volume. And if that doesn't solve your problem, install the Volume Limit & Lock app from google play-store.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-5, volume
---


# Question
Title: Storage space running out. Some system functions may not work
In my Android in notification bar I see message **`Storage space running out. Some system functions may not work`**.

When I check I see **`188 MB free`** in device memory and around **`10 GB`** in USB storage.

I re-installed Android OS a few times.

It helps for about a couple of months then the problem returns.

If I delete some applications or data it helps for a few hours to a few days.

**Questions:**

* Why do I get `Storage space error` if there is a lot of available space?
* Can I join *device* and and *USB* memory? Will it help or at least delay the time while the problem return?
* Any other advice how I can deal with this problem?

# Answer
> 13 votes
On Samsung phones, type in the dialer `*#9900#` then choose the second option: "Delete Dumpstate/logcat".

# Answer
> 10 votes
Even though there already are many answers, there is actually none answering two main questions and the third one just for a case of dumpstate problem. Read just bigger text if you're in a hurry.
Also, I'll explain why solutions mentioned in other answers help only sometimes. And offer another solution in case cat is not your problem.

* # Why do I get Storage space error if there is a lot of available space?

## It's not an error, it's by design. The trigger for low space is quite high, usually 10% OR 500MB, whichever is lower.

*"some system functions may not work"* \- that's not precise, some WILL NOT work.
Synchronize, some download functions, installing apps, hangouts and many Google apps.

If you'll ask:

* **Why there is less than 500MB available?**

then the answer is, that it's either that you used it up unknowingly, or that there is a problem with something stuffing up your storage space.
If you used it up and want to check with what, follow the answers saying clean up your space, if you didn't, it might be variety of other problems, but most likely it's logcat which is leaving huge dumpstate files behind. In that case follow the answers mentioning logcat or log or dumpstate. Or jump to my last paragraph below.

---

**Which parts of memory are monitored for free space.**
we may distinguish two model situations according to the FS structure in an Android phone:
(Note, that what I call INTERNAL STORAGE is not standardized name, usually it's weirdly called sdcard, might also be called USB storage as it possibly is in your case.)

* DATA partition is separate partition from INTERNAL STORAGE

INTERNAL STORAGE is not monitored and you can fill it up to zero free bytes and nothing happens. DATA storage is monitored, on galaxy S2 it's 10%, from 1500 MB, 150MB must be always available.

* one partition for both DATA and INTERNAL STORAGE

INTERNAL STORAGE is emulated as a separate partition with different permission rights. It also has a "fuse" or reserve, which will not allow all space of the real partition be used. Files on INTERNAL STORAGE are actually located in /data/media/
old models, maybe up to Android v2.3, also has DBDATA partition, which was separately monitored - if I remember this correctly

A change from one system to another might have been done by a FW update. I still remember when such update removed thousands of my holiday pictures on Galaxy Note2. An INTERNAL STORAGE partition was removed and mounted on DATA partition using FUSE, there was 100MB difference when I checked free space on each.

---

So, depending on a data structure you have, you need to keep for example 400MB of free space on an INTERNAL STORAGE which might, using **df** or a free space analyzer app, show as 500MB free space on DATA partition.
Note that,
\- the minimum size is different for each model and sometimes also FW version.
\- You need to wait for about a minute to see if the notification will clear itself after you make some more space available.

---

---

second question:

* # Can I join device and and USB memory? Will it help or at least delay the time while the problem return?

## Fast answer, NO. And if it would help? Yes, it would help to avoid the problem of low space, by means of having bigger total storage.

To elaborate:
IF "USB memory" is pluggable SD card, or a pluggable device in your case, or if it's located on a separate memory chip, as it's on Tab 1 and phones from similar age, then it's not possible to join it with DATA partition.
IF "USB memory" is an INTERNAL STORAGE in your case, you can join them but it's not an easy or safe process. In other words, if there is not a guide by someone who have successfully done that on the same model of a phone as is yours, we might also figuratively say, NO, it's not possible.

While searching the Internet for the guide, be aware that it wasn't a clever idea to name the INTERNAL STORAGE as "USB storage", because there is also a real USB storage. You'll find a lot of solutions for enabling USB for storage drives, so called USB OTG feature, don't get diversed.

basically you need to:
re-partition your memory chip, called eMMC for some reason, delete USERDATA - what is a partition name for INTERNAL STORAGE and merge the freed space with DATA partition.
then find/compile fuse module which would take care of emulating the partition with full permissions for media\_rw or some other user,
edit init script, to create a mount point for new INTERNAL STORAGE,
many more changes and tweaks which I can't think of.

---

---

third question:

* # Any other advice how I can deal with this problem?

The best option, if you have a root access, is to

## lower the threshold of the minimum free space.

You can put it down to 1%, possibly even less. That means 20 - 120MB of minimum free space.

It involves sqlite3 editing but although it might look difficult, it's very straightforward process. Just follow any good guide and you'll do it alright. THIS guide looks splendid or there also are sqlite3 editor apps, or find another guide using THIS gugl link.
There are two things to note:
\- different guides are mentioning different table names. 'Secure', 'system', 'global' or even 'gservices'. The truth is, it was applicable in different tables through different Android versions. Now it should be in 'global' before it was in 'secure' and before that 'system'. My advice is, just put it in all of them, you will not hurt anything. That means follow the guide you'll find and repeat the steps while replacing the table name with each of those names I mentioned above.
\- you might find settings.db file locked and not writable even with root, it happened to me when ICS came out. But didn't happened since. Anyway, in that case, boot into recovery, pull the file out, edit on PC and push back in.

If 1% (around 100MB if you have 16GB chip) is still too much for you to waste, as it was for me, add sys\_storage\_threshold\_max\_bytes value too, I have 20000000 = around 20 MB and never had much of a problem, although many apps don't have available space checking and will error without stating the reason, so you need to keep in mind it might always be free space issue. There is -OR- statement between those two variables. Don't put less than 20 there because if a certain system file which resides in /data folder will fail to write, your phone might not boot. I find 20MB quite safe as there are no files larger than that in /data, while excepting /data/data, /data/app/ and dalvik. and if a file will get broken in /data/data, no big deal. Data reset of that app will solve it.

---

## If something is eating up the free space

If you suspect that there shouldn't be so much space taken, or you just want to clean up space, as in a couple of other answers here, I also recommend DiskUsage to help with the job of visually locating what is taking how much space.
In the DiskUsage app, in the second column, the 'media' stands for INTERNAL STORAGE and Apps represent /data/app and /data/data - space taken by apps.
The 'System data', in green color, on the bottom is the rest of /data folder and shouldn't be too high. 300MB is fine, over 1GB is probably a problem.
If this System data is too high, it's possible your logcat has gone wild and created tons of dumpstate postmortem poems. In that case, and only in that case, will all of the other answers here be applicable. Meaning that deleting this gigs of wasted space in folder /data/log or dialing a \*#9900# , which by the way is not a valid command for every device, will bring your Android back to a good mood. For how long is a question of whether the culprit which caused the excessive logging has been patched, or removed.

# Answer
> 3 votes
May be you should check this link, hope this will solve your problem.

# Excerpt:

> 1. Root your phone.
> 2. Download the Root Browser app fro here
> 3. Reboot
> 4. Open the newly installed Root Browser app, a pop up will come stating if you want to give the app root permission. Grant it.
> 5. Navigate to `/data/` and delete the folder `log`
> 6. See the magic :)

# Answer
> 3 votes
I had the exact same problem. Had the phone into the Samsung Service location a number of times, where they performed a full software recovery twice and then replaced the mainboard, but the problem persisted.

I realised that the memory logs, which were filling up the logs file, seem to be connected to a network issue and decided to try and obtain a new sim to see if this helped. I got the new sim yesterday and everything that seemed to kick in the log files and fill up the system memory seems to be ok.

Previously, it might be ok once I had cleared the logfiles (\*#9900#, delete log files) for a few hours, but then all of a sudden the log files would start again. Within a few hours, my phone (Galaxy Note) would start becoming unresponsive, and I would get the Storage space running out message and my system memory would be down to 100mb rather than 1.4g.

After weeks and weeks of the same problem I am reticent to say that things are completely resolved. Putting the new sim in seems to have solved the problem for me.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Well, the best way to zero in on what you can get rid of to free up storage space is an app that maps out your storage use such as Disk Usage, a cleanup app such as SD Maid, or a file manager that can search for large files.

But since you're facing the Catch-22 of needing to free up some storage before you can download any apps that help you free up storage, start with the stock file manager, called **My Files**:

Tap **All Files**, then **Device Storage**, then navigate to the folders where you're most likely to have large files you can get rid of. Some likely candidates are the following default folders:

```
DCIM/Camera
Download
Pictures
Sounds
Documents
Temp
Music
Movies

```

In order to see the file size in the list, so that you don't have to long-press each file and select **Details** to see how large it is, tap the menu button, select **View By**, then select **List and Details**.

To help you determine where you're using the most storage, you can go to **Settings \> Storage** (the exact location of **Storage** may vary depending on your device and OS version, for example on a Samsung Galaxy S it's on the **More** tab):

If, for example, you see the largest number under `Pictures, videos`, you probably want to start with the folders `DCIM/Camera` and `Pictures`; if the largest number is under `Audio`, look in `Sounds` and `Music` for files to get rid of.

Since it's a tedious process using the stock tools, I recommend only doing it this way until you have enough space to download some apps that can help you clean up more efficiently.

# Answer
> 2 votes
On a Galaxy S2 with Cynagoenmode 11 running, I did below steps to free space. This clears all unnecessary logs generated.

```
> adb shell
$ cd /data/log
$ rm *

```

# Answer
> 1 votes
I have been through this storage problem. This is the solution to your problem only if you have "root" access. This problem occurs due to old application data of apps which have not been uninstalled properly.
Download "SD Maid" from the Play Store. You can search for application data which exists on your device in spite of being uninstalled. Clear the corpses and retry installing the app you want to install and it should work.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I think APP2SD will work for you. With this you can set default app location to USB or ext card.For this I can suggest you to download and install AIO Toolbox. It has tonnes of features builtin. See if it might help you.

---
Tags: internal-storage, storage, insufficient-memory
---


# Question
Title: "Flashing" custom recovery from running ROM
A possible solution to my other question related to this.

Having root access, what's there to prevent me from manually flashing a custom recovery from my running operating system? If my bootloader is locked, can I still do:

```
dd if=openrecovery-twrp-2.7.0-deb.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery

```

If so, then I'd be able to flash a custom recovery from inside of a running Android operating system, bypassing a locked bootloader. I suppose if someone has root access to a running operating system, you're pretty much hosed anyway, but would this at least in theory work?

Can I use something similar to the above command to flash a recovery in a live, running Android device?

# Answer
In response to my own question: yes, you can flash a custom recovery from a running OS. The recovery, since it isn't mounted, should be fine to write:

```
dd if=openrecovery-twrp-2.7.0-deb.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery

```

You run the above at your own risk and I accept no responsibility for what you do with this.

Do note, however, that if you have a locked bootloader, it will prevent booting because it will see that the recovery's signature is bad.
> 2 votes

# Answer
A 'newer' and free (and in my opinion the best so far) root app is Flashify. It can flash kernels and recoveries from your phone. Additionally it can download the images for you, too.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cgollner.flashify
> 1 votes

# Answer
Actually I have tried this on around 3-5 occassions(and it has always worked, for some reason).

What I did was I download recovery in img format (or if it was zip I manually extracted it to get the img file). Then renamed file from whatever name to `recovery.img`

Then I went to `system/etc` and deleted existing recovery.img and copied the new one downloaded above. Then set permissions to rw-r-r or 755.

This has quite greatly worked for me. Again, *I am not taking any responsibility here*. Feel free to backup and check ;)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: recovery-mode
---


title: The speaker won't work for my Nexus 4

text:
# Question
Title: The speaker won't work for my Nexus 4
My phone was working fine until one day I left it outside for a few minutes. I went back inside and checked my phone. I tried to watch YouTube but it had no sounds.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Did you phone get wet, or really hot? Connect a headset, if it doesn't play sound at all, reboot your phone.

---
Tags: nexus-4
---


title: Always-on VPN sends no traffic

text:
# Question
Title: Always-on VPN sends no traffic
I've set up a L2TP/IPSec VPN server with pre-shared keys, and everything works fine when I connect to the VPN manually.

However, when it's set to be the *always-on VPN*, everything changed. It seemd that no traffic was sent to the Internet anymore. If I opened a URL, the browser would return `Error code: ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED`.

Is there anything wrong with my configuration of my phone or the VPN server?

I'm running android 4.4.4 with a recent CM nightly build.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I think the problem is an bug in android kitkat listet as Issue 64819.

it says:

> **Android 4.4 VPN: DNS request packets' source IP address is always private address**
>
> A packet capture shows that the DNS packets are sent out of the public interface, as expected, but source IP address is the VPN-assigned private address, which is not publicly routable.
>
> This issues does not occur on Android 4.3.

see here: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=64819

---
Tags: vpn
---


# Question
Title: How do I download a ROM from a Samsung Galaxy S3?
I have two identical Samsung Galaxy S3 (model GT-I9300), one running the stock rom and one running cyanogenmod. I want to download the rom from the one with the stock one and install it on the other one.

How do I download, with Odin or Heimdall, the rom from the stock S3?

# Answer
You mean to take the Firmware (FW) out from the stock-FW phone and put it into the other one as-is? to have two identical-FW phones?

The confusion is in download/upload words, when you put the phone in bootloader mode it's saying "Download mode". From the phone's point of view, it's going to download stuff from PC.
If you want to take out the FW. It would be upload.

That's why it's safer to say flash and dump. Even though it's not really flashing.

---

It's somewhat possible to dump the FW, but there is usually no reason for doing so. Download the same version from the Internet and you'll end up with exactly the same system files as on other phones with the same FW version.

## How to find specific firmware version on the Internet

On the stock-FW phone, go to Settings -\> About Device -\> Build number
and take a note of the second part of the number. It'll be something like I9300UBUGOD1
That also includes CSC version. Now search for this version on these two sites:
Samsung-Updates
SamMobile
or put it into Gugl, usually something cames out.
Flash it to target phone from PC using Odin. No root required.

## To dump firmware from a phone

There could be a way to dump the phone without rooting, but no one knows how. We can only assume this possibility because there is a disabled option to Dump in Odin program. But I tried, as many others, with factory rooted phone, developer phone or one with unsecured test pre-release firmware version, the dump option is never available in the Odin program.
It's either just for some very special pre-release FW, or it was never implemented in the Odin software, or it was planned and never finished in phone's bootloader, because for no real usability perhaps? Or it must be activated by some special cable, or button combination presses.
Or it was put there by engineers in Korea just to taunt curious hackers.
I believe the latter, as even in new FW, if you dig in bootloader resources, you'll find a graphics showing green Android taunter with words "Upload mode".

**So this is a known way to dump FW anyway:**

Note that you'll need to root the stock-FW phone, to Dump it.
Firstly we need to find out which files we need to dump and then flash:
Open firmware's TAR or TAR.md5 file of any version of THE SAME model using 7zip and look inside. Note the names of files included.
Later you'll need to rename files you'll dump to the same names as those in this TAR. There is much more partitions that you can dump, than those you can flash. Files which are inside TAR should be enough to fully flash a phone, but not always all partitions are included, sometimes they leave bootoaders out.
In the list on the bottom I marked those which are never included by -
and those which I remember seeing in TAR files by +
Use that list to rename dumped files which you want to flash by Odin from Partition Name to Flash Filename, or get this list from your phone by following method. Be aware that you must not flash PIT and EFS, but you might dump it to have a backup.

To get a list out from your phone:

* get Heimdall
* connect phone
* switch driver to libusb
* in Heimdall - Utilities - Download PIT file
* switch driver back by removing libusb in Windows Device Manager
* alternatively download PIT from the Internet, but you'll need to trust whoever is posting it that it's not from another phone, version, or broken
* go back in Heimdall
* use printpit to print your PIT file
* Note each entry which contains both: "Partition Name" and "Flash Filename"
EXCEPT PIT and EFS partition. Make a backup but DO NOT FLASH PIT or EFS from one phone to another.

Now we have a naming scheme, Partition Name is how the file with partition will be dumped, and Flash Filename how it should be re-named before flashing.
Note that some partitions are not documented and there is no knowledge outside of the factory of what are they for. They might be for storing specific phone's information, or calibration data calculated and flashed once in factory for each phone.
Flash only partitions you'll find in stock TAR files.
Those not-in-TAR-file should be flashed only as last resort, when you know that those on target phone has been damaged. And always backup them before flashing new ones over them.

Make this dumping step on both target and source phones. On target just to have an backup.

* root the phone
* flash custom recovery TWRP recomended, but not working well on some models
* boot into recovery
* plug on PC, use adb or qtADB to go to /dev/block/platform/**folder\_with\_different\_name\_in\_each\_phone**/by-name
* **dd** or use qtADB to copy "files" except USERDATA from that folder to media partition, sdcard, or UFD using USB OTG

Next on PC (or check alternative below):

* rename all files according to flash files naming scheme
* if you add recovery partition dumped from the rooted source phone, it will change targed status to custom, making KNOX disabled, same as if you just rooted it. If you don't want that either include official recovery from the same version of stock FW, or if there is working partition in the phone just don't include recovery in the TAR flash
* on a linux machine or in cygwin Tar those files into TARball using ustar mode
* no need to md5 it, as you probably trust yourself that you won't damage the file. but if you must than md5 it and concat hash to the end of TAR, rename to TAR.MD5
* flash in Odin, no root required

Alternatively, but only for rooted phones, you can use **dd** on target phone, or MobileOdin.

---

be very careful, you must NOT flash PIT and EFS partition, even though they are mentioned in PIT file. For each phone EFS contains specific data, some of which are encrypted using some serial number taken from the phone. So each efs only works in the one phone which it's designed for. By flashing it, you'll loose the original one, that's not easily recoverable.

also no need to care about recovery partition, as it's not stock partition but custom, from the rooting process.

---

I know the DUMP part of this guide is not extra descriptive, but each step would need a separate post. If you're completely lost in it, consider downloading ready FW from the Internet.

---

s3 FW list dumped using heimdall. Might change with different FW versions:

```
+
Partition Name: APNHLOS
Flash Filename: NON-HLOS.bin

+
Partition Name: MDM
Flash Filename: modem.bin

Partition Name: SBL1
Flash Filename: sbl1.mbn

Partition Name: SBL2
Flash Filename: sbl2.mbn

Partition Name: SBL3
Flash Filename: sbl3.mbn

+
Partition Name: ABOOT
Flash Filename: aboot.mbn

Partition Name: RPM
Flash Filename: rpm.mbn

+
Partition Name: TZ
Flash Filename: tz.mbn

-
Partition Name: MODEMST1
Flash Filename: nvrebuild1.bin

-
Partition Name: MODEMST2
Flash Filename: nvrebuild2.bin

-
Partition Name: M9KEFS1
Flash Filename: m9kefs1.bin

-
Partition Name: M9KEFS2
Flash Filename: m9kefs2.bin

-
Partition Name: M9KEFS3
Flash Filename: m9kefs3.bin

+
Partition Name: SYSTEM
Flash Filename: system.img.ext4

+ this is CSC, might be left out
Partition Name: CACHE
Flash Filename: cache.img.ext4

+ only sometimes
Partition Name: PARAM
Flash Filename: param.lfs

+
Partition Name: BOOT
Flash Filename: boot.img

+ but you can't Dumb stock recovery as to dump you need root, to get root recovery is usually overwriten
Partition Name: RECOVERY
Flash Filename: recovery.img

Partition Name: PERSDATA
Flash Filename: persdata.img.ext4

+ but contains only crapware, version is connected with CSC
Partition Name: HIDDEN
Flash Filename: hidden.img.ext4

Partition Name: CARRIER
Flash Filename: carrier.img.ext4

- this is /data and INTERNAL STORAGE, aka sdcard, do not dump it's HUGE and there is no reason
Partition Name: USERDATA
Flash Filename: userdata.img.ext4

Partition Name: PGPT
Flash Filename: pgpt.img

- it is included sometimes but to change layout, NEVER FLASH IT might hard brick phone
Partition Name: PIT
Flash Filename: MSM8960.pit

+
Partition Name: MD5
Flash Filename: md5.img

Partition Name: SGPT
Flash Filename: sgpt.img

```
> 1 votes

# Answer
Depends on what sort of rom you download.

**CASE 1: Stock ROM**

If you download stock rom (like from Sammobile) then yes, you will need odin to flash it.

***NOTE:*** There is an app called Mobile ODIN (pro version on play store), its the exact odin but it wont need pc. Since your phone is already rooted (you want to install rom on phone running CM right?), you can also try flashing using that. I always flash kernels in case they aren't in zip format using mobile odin. But, **warning:** I have never tested ROM flashing using mobile odin. Theoretically, it should work since thats the reason it was made. But I am unsure of success and consequences. Proceed at your own risk.

---

**CASE 2: Custom ROM**

It would be likely in .zip format. You cant flash that using odin. Now the real trick here is to get it into phone in which you need to install new rom.

**Further possiblities:**

* Possibility 1: Your phone is in bootloop or any such state where it doesn't start.

In that case, get into recovery using volume up+power+home key combination (for phone where you need to install new rom). Set up ADB on your pc.

Transfer the rom file from your stock rom phone to pc.

Connect your phone to PC in which you want to install new rom after booting the phone into recovery.

Open cmd and enter this command-\>

```
adb push PathToRomAndFileName.zip /sdcard/

```

This will push the rom file to your phone, you can flash it using recovery the normal way.

* Possibility 2: There is no bootloop, things work normally:

Just download rom to your phone with stock rom, transfer it to your phone in which you want to install it using bluetooth or whatever method you prefer. Go into recovery and flash it normal way.

---

**Easiest Universal Method** (whether its bootloop or not, needs external sdcard):

Download rom in your phone with stock rom.

Put in memory card and transfer rom to that.

Now eject memory card and put it in phone where you want to install the rom.

Boot to recovery and install the rom from external sdcard.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3
---


# Question
Title: Trying to update Nexus 5 to 5.1.1 and using Nandroid backup
I'm trying to update my Nexus 5 to 5.1.1, but when I restore my Nandroid backup I lose the update.

What should I do?

# Answer
That's because you backed up the older Android version, so when you update from 5.1 to 5.1.1 you install a new version then you try to restore the backup, you will got the previous version 5.1.

You can try to restore `data` only, but i think it will crashed.

For future updates use Titanium Backup to backup all of your data and then when you install the new version of Android you can restore it using the same app, Actually i always do that.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Nandroid backup invloves backup of everything, including:

* `/system`(which is your "android version and os" in rough words, also includes the preinstalled apps)
* `/boot`(which is your kernel)
* `/data`(all apps you installed and their data (like app settings). This does Not involve your personal files)
* `/cache` (the application cache)

When you nandroid restore as whole, your system partition is overwritten. In other words, your current os (the android 5.1.1) is overwritten by the os inside nandroid backup (the older os).

Same with cache and data.

Now you can try installing just data and ignoring system to keep your os updated by choosing `advanced restore`option from recovery. This would take care of your OS reverting to older version (since we aren't restoring `/system`).

But that would mean that application data that is restored is from android 5.0 or any older version whose backup you made), but your current system is 5.1.1. Hence it will cause some incompatibility with apps and they might crash (a situation commonly referred as *FC* (short for `Force Close`) when apps crash with message `Unfortunately, [app name] has stopped working.`.

Hence it is never advised to restore anything from previous older android version's backup. Although clearing dalvic and cache might help (since then cache and app classes are created according to newer OS), but still the android's code downloaded is made for older OS (apps on play store download according to android OS you install on phone, so they have best compatibility when downloaded from store).

Hope this helps.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: updates, nexus-5, nandroid
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to temporarily disable all notifications on Android wear?
I was looking into getting an android wear device but I will need to make it just a watch without the smart bit sometimes. Is there a quick and easy way of doing this?

I was looking at the Sony smartwatch 3 but I am not definite as to which one to get.

# Answer
You can disable the notifications on your wearable device by following steps below:

1. Swipe down from the watchface
2. You should see something like this:
3. Select the option on the left will put your watch to silent mode.

Hope my answer helps.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: android-wear
---