[MOD] GPS Fix....Faster Location fix. - Sprint Galaxy S 5 Android Development

I recently went to West Virginia from Ohio and noticed the GPS took forever to get a fix on my location. I changed the GPS file and it went from taking 5 to 10 min to get a fix down to 5 seconds or so. I figured it might help others out so feel free to try it out.
This is for the Sprint S5 but may work on others I'm not sure. Test at your risk.
Use root explorer or a file manager with root access to rename gps.conf.txt to gps.conf then copy it to System/etc/ folder. Make sure the permissions are set to RW-R--R-- and then reboot.
PLEASE MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR system/etc/gps.conf FILE FIRST JUST IN CASE.
This is what I added to make this work.
Will work on most androids and thanks for hitting the Thanks Button Everyone
NTP_SERVER=0.north-america.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=1.north-america.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=2.north-america.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=3.north-america.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=0.us.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=1.us.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=2.us.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=3.us.pool.ntp.org
feel free to use this just give me some credit if you do please.
UPDATED WITH A ZIP FILE JUST FLASH IN RECOVERY..

What did you change exactly? I think that would be more helpful than just providing the file.

CNexus said:
What did you change exactly? I think that would be more helpful than just providing the file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only difference I see is NTP servers
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

ram9200 said:
Only difference I see is NTP servers
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have this device so seeing a diff in the OP would help as it would be tedious for me to download the entire S5 rom just to diff that

CNexus said:
I don't have this device so seeing a diff in the OP would help as it would be tedious for me to download the entire S5 rom just to diff that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, I was just stating thats the only difference ?.
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

So will just have to apply the GPS fix zip ?
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app

verse187 said:
So will just have to apply the GPS fix zip ?
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes just flash in recovery. I use twrp and make a backup first just in case

Just flashed this on my S2 running Vanir 4.4.2, worked like a charm. Thanks
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Krowbarr said:
Just flashed this on my S2 running Vanir 4.4.2, worked like a charm. Thanks
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad that it worked for you and thanks for putting info on what your device is.

Thanks for providing this fix. Unfortunately, I tried it while on several AOSP ROM's available for the Sprint version and it seams to have broken GPS.
Prior to applying this fix on AOSP based ROM's, GPS worked and locked fine, afterward, It's stuck on "Searching for GPS" and won't lock on.
I've tried everything I can think of and the only way I can get it back is to restore my nandroid of my rooted stock TW based ROM. Unfortunately, I didn't nandroid after flashing the AOSP ROM's when GPS was working. I've tried 3 AOSP ROM's (Carbon/Vanir/AOKP) and all 3 have the problem.
Any help in solving this would be appreciated.

intenselyinsane said:
feel free to use this just give me some credit if you do please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really?
http://forums.androidcentral.com/lg...168060-mod-gps-fix-v3-4-21-a.html#post1713719

Buddlespit said:
Really?
http://forums.androidcentral.com/lg...168060-mod-gps-fix-v3-4-21-a.html#post1713719
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah....really...most mods have went from one android phone to another. Each is a little different on each phone and I did the work for you if you use the zip. Why would you not give credit to someone doing the work for you. Never said I figured this mod out myself just made it easier to apply to the Sprint S5...not really a big deal to me though you can mod it yourself and take all the credit no problem...

intenselyinsane said:
Yeah....really...most mods have went from one android phone to another. Each is a little different on each phone and I did the work for you if you use the zip. Why would you not give credit to someone doing the work for you. Never said I figured this mod out myself just made it easier to apply to the Sprint S5...not really a big deal to me though you can mod it yourself and take all the credit no problem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want credit for it. I don't want credit for anything I didn't do. If you read the entire thread, you'll see that I had just cobbled together something I found here and there on the internet. Even if I did package it, it's still not my idea.
Now, I'll give you thanks and kudos for the package. It's great to see people still working on this. In fact, I'll do that right now!

Hey thank you this works pretty good! Much faster GPS lock. Can it be taken 1 step farther and default to California instead of North America?
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app

You should be able to if you have the server settings for that location. Just put them in place of the North American ones.

Just Flash a stock Samsung Firmware through Odin, or Heimdal If you have a mac. If your on the latest firmware you cannot downgrade so do not waste your time flashing any other firmwares via odin. After you flash stock via Odin boot the phone let it get a GPS fix and then flash the ROM of your choice [unless it has known issues with GPS fix this should solve your issues] Take care

Alright so.
I flashed this GPS fix and ever since I did, my data connection bounces all over the place, even after I went back to stock?? It really borked my system.
So, the GPS didn't fix... As I couldn't get a lock in the first place. Secondly, my data would no longer connect. I was smart enough to do a backup of the system BEFORE flashing this fix file, thinking it would have backed up the original GPS config file, though maybe in crazy and always had acted like this? Then I factory boot back to stock, then got a boot loop, tried a couple times, ram the rwilco rooted rom and booted in, got my GPS lock, did the battery pull and restored my backup.
Had anyone else experienced this kind of issue? It's now functional, aside from my data signal constantly flaking out on me...As dumb as i was, I did not actually back up the original sprint file, separately wishing i had. If anyone has it, please post it up , it would be greatly appreciated.
Would love some feedback, thank you!
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app

konichwa said:
Alright so.
I flashed this GPS fix and ever since I did, my data connection bounces all over the place, even after I went back to stock?? It really borked my system.
So, the GPS didn't fix... As I couldn't get a lock in the first place. Secondly, my data would no longer connect. I was smart enough to do a backup of the system BEFORE flashing this fix file, thinking it would have backed up the original GPS config file, though maybe in crazy and always had acted like this? Then I factory boot back to stock, then got a boot loop, tried a couple times, ram the rwilco rooted rom and booted in, got my GPS lock, did the battery pull and restored my backup.
Had anyone else experienced this kind of issue? It's now functional, aside from my data signal constantly flaking out on me...As dumb as i was, I did not actually back up the original sprint file, separately wishing i had. If anyone has it, please pray it up , it would be greatly appreciated.
Would love some feedback, thank you!
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I'm noticing now data gets stuck or something. Need a unfix zip
Sprint GS5 Moars 6.2

intenselyinsane said:
I recently went to West Virginia from Ohio and noticed the GPS took forever to get a fix on my location. I changed the GPS file and it went from taking 5 to 10 min to get a fix down to 5 seconds or so. I figured it might help others out so feel free to try it out.
This is for the Sprint S5 but may work on others I'm not sure. Test at your risk.
Use root explorer or a file manager with root access to rename gps.conf.txt to gps.conf then copy it to System/etc/ folder. Make sure the permissions are set to RW-R--R-- and then reboot.
PLEASE MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR system/etc/gps.conf FILE FIRST JUST IN CASE.
This is what I added to make this work.
Will work on most androids and thanks for hitting the Thanks Button Everyone
NTP_SERVER=0.north-america.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=1.north-america.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=2.north-america.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=3.north-america.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=0.us.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=1.us.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=2.us.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=3.us.pool.ntp.org
feel free to use this just give me some credit if you do please.
UPDATED WITH A ZIP FILE JUST FLASH IN RECOVERY..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's working pretty fine buddy.. thanks

Okay, that's about enough.
I'm just going to say it. This fix appears to be the cumulative product of lots and lots of cargo cult nonsense. It's unlikely to ever help anything, no matter how many people have been posting that it "works great". To someone who is familiar with these technologies, upon close examination this "fix" really sounds a lot like a bunch of people on the internet got together and came up with a cure for the common cold which involves filling a Neti pot with Oscillococcinum, and then gently inserting it into one's rectum. This "fix" is wrong for a positively breathtaking number of reasons. Making matters worse is that it's gone on for so long that a whole bunch of well-meaning (okay well, "desperate for clicks" is probably more honest) blogs and news sites are repeating it, also without examining it carefully. Can we please stop spreading this misinformation around?
First off, those NTP_SERVER lines are unlikely to be doing what is apparently hoped for (I can't be the only one thinking it)... they're setting a variable--not populating an array. It's just replacing the previous value seven times. This means the last value "wins". Secondly, to do NTP properly there should only ever be an odd number of NTP servers involved. Eight is not an odd number... unless you're using Imperial eights or some eights you got off some sketchy Chinese website or something and then god help you. In the event that there's a disagreement among the servers polled, the time reported by a majority of them is what is used (because it's NTP which is a protocol that has been argued to death since before many of you were born, so that's is a fight you would do well to not jump into the middle of). You can't have a majority if four are saying one thing and the other four are saying another thing--you're just dead in the water and have to start over. We don't average the responses from all of them because that would definitely be wrong, despite being "close". It's also appropriate to wait for them all to respond before making this determination. If you try to poll eight and one doesn't respond... there's going to be considerable time lost while deciding it's not going to respond. Using lots of servers just adds complexity and the chance of failure without substantially increasing precision! Compounding this madness is that the pool server names are all querying from the same pool of NTP servers, despite one set saying "north-america" and the other saying "us". The best part is that it's primarily being used to ensure that the time your phone already has (and probably got from the cellular towers) isn't wildly inaccurate. What matters to GPS receivers is the time the satellites think it is (which is generally even more accurate than what you're going to get over the internet!)
Now, we do need to know the present time to get a result more quickly, but we don't need femtosecond accuracy for this, nor would specifying a whole bunch of NTP servers make that possible. We just need a ballpark figure that's accurate to within a few hours. We need to know the time so that we can use ephemeris tables (that's the weird file your phone occasionally downloads from the internet and is good for a few days--don't waste time re-downloading it multiple times a day!) to figure out where the satellites are in their travels, and we're just (pretty reasonably) assuming that no one crossed half a hemisphere since the last time GPS was queried, so... knowing (within a few hundred miles) where we are and where the satellites are, we can work out in advance which servers are most likely to be overhead and visible/audible. This allows us to skip listening for a bunch of satellites we can't hear, (and most importantly) exclude the borderline useful ones near the horizon that we probably won't be able to listen to for long enough to be useful. because of interference, and go straight to listening for the ones we can be pretty sure are overhead in relatively ideal positions.
Now as to "pure" GPS mechanics, let me explain... You need a minimum of three satellites in "view" in order to get a solid fix on your location.... because triangulation isn't something that happens when one tries to swallow a Dorito without chewing. There's be a whole slew of the satellites flying around overhead and things can get very complex very fast, but you still need three to triangulate your location. Additionally your device has to be able to "hear" them for about thirty seconds in order to get their broadcasted location information (which is almost ridiculously precise because getting it wrong can mean falling out of the sky LOL and satellites aren't cheap!). In that time we are also getting what time the satellites think it is with (no pun intended) stellar accuracy.
Your phone uses ephemeris tables and (hopefully) an almanac of satellites it's heard from recently to skip the step of finding three satellites to listen for, and it uses cached time information to skip ahead again instead of waiting for the part of the broadcast with time in it. This is why you get a coarse location within 100m or so really quickly, which is then refined as the satellites' time is heard and perhaps a few more satellites are listened to for good measure. Most of the poking and prodding people are doing (particularly those which flush the almanac or cached location information) tends to actually just slow things down, not speed them up.
TL;DR: Stick with one NTP server in your gps.conf. ...preferably north-america.pool.ntp.org (the numeric host part you see it prefixed with is also largely decorative) if you're in North America because it's better for determining accuracy and less wasteful of public resources. NTP servers that are overworked because people are querying them needlessly can't respond as quickly as ones that are almost bored to death.
To those people who seem to be convinced this "fix" works, please perform the following experiment. Back up all your data and wipe your entire phone (wipe caches, format /system, nuke user data), and then reflash the firmware. Boot it up, go into Maps, and time how long it takes to get a solid location fix. Now, reboot the phone and while it's rebooting, place it in the middle of a large plastic (not metal) bowl filled with Doritos. I personally prefer Cool Ranch flavor for this. Once it's rebooted, again go into Maps and time how long it takes to get a solid fix on your location. Congratulations, you've just proven that Doritos have an almost magical effect on the accuracy and speed of the GPS receiver in your phone by assisting with triangulation! Please remember to chew thoroughly when the experiment is complete.

Related

My phone is crazy!

I don’t know if it’s an age thing, as in phone years = two years being geriatric or what but it’s been doing some weird stuff.
Periodically, it’ll crash. The screen will totally freeze with it either on the home screen or a black screen as though it’s switched off. Ho hum, yet another battery pull to rectify it.
It doesn’t like too many text messages so I have to regularly do a bit of housekeeping there. Related to that, typing is starting to irritate me on there. The predictive seems to have a mind of its own and, well, it just winds me up so I end up making calls instead of texting.
Some of my text messages have vanished without me deleting them! I’ve noticed texts can be located in the SIM contact and the phone contact yet strangely my SIM tells me it has no texts. Nevertheless, when I’ve decided to embarked on a housekeeping mission, I learn that messages I intended on keeping have gone before I’ve even started deleting anything!
For a while, the phone also didn’t seem to know where I was. I was and still am in the UK and a few times, it put me in Balkan. That’s great. I’m all for a free holiday but it could have warned me so I could have packed properly!
It likes to use data even when I’m not even touching the phone! Whenever I pick up the phone, I always check next to my network that there is no counter. However, often when I pick it up I can see an hour or two has passed on a counter meaning its gobbling data. What’s spooky about this is that I’m meticulous about switching stuff off that uses data and it still turns itself on! This was the whole reason I didn’t take this phone on holiday last year; I reverted to my LG Renoir because it was safer!
The last thing it’s done, just a few minutes ago is re-start itself! I wasn’t even using it; it was just sat on the table next to me minding its own business and decided to re-start. Why?
After the Balkan incident happened a few times, my Mum said my phone was crazy. I agree with her.
Has anyone else had weird stuff happen on their phones?
If you have not tried it yet I would do a hard reset. Power your HD2 on while holding down both the volume up and down buttons and follow the on screen instructions when the come up.
Also make sure to back all of your personal data up from the HD2 first as this will wipe it clean.
For a while, the phone also didn’t seem to know where I was. I was and still am in the UK and a few times, it put me in Balkan. That’s great. I’m all for a free holiday but it could have warned me so I could have packed properly!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This made me laugh hilariously too by the way.
The earlier roms often exhibited some, all or less of these behaviors. If you are still on a 1.4 rom version, get it updated.
T-Macgnolia said:
If you have not tried it yet I would do a hard reset. Power your HD2 on while holding down both the volume up and down buttons and follow the on screen instructions when the come up.
Also make sure to back all of your personal data up from the HD2 first as this will wipe it clean.
This made me laugh hilariously too by the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is something I could try. I’ll get doing a bit of housekeeping first though. Thanks
samsamuel said:
The earlier roms often exhibited some, all or less of these behaviors. If you are still on a 1.4 rom version, get it updated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I’m on the original version that came with the phone. I think that might be 1.43.
When you mentioned a ROM update, I thought
I’m so overwhelmed with the information on this forum. There are so many ROMS it’s hard to know what to pick and I’m seeing far too many posts where people have tried to update and something’s gone wrong.
I just don’t have the level of understanding about phone software to carry this out successfully.
If it were as easy as it is to update my iPod via iTunes, then I’d do it but all this looks way too scary
if you want to keep a stock rom, an update is very easy. and a lot of bugs in the first releases have been fixed.
just go to the website of your carrier and download the rom in the support section. if your phone isn't branded you can download the newest version on the htc website.
if you upgrade your rom you also have to backup all your data, cause it will get lost during the update process.
you can use pim backup for contacts and messages, or just use microsoft myphone.
yea mine was mental on teh original 1.43 too, lots of accidental calls,
to get the update start with htc.com, most of the uk carriers dont bother hosting the updates, htc.com - top right, pick country, then support - select phone - downloads and change teh small dropdown from all to rom upgrade, look for your carrier, , if a rom doesnt accept your serial when you click to download it, it isnt right for your phone, and you maybe have an unbranded, meaning it would take the regular WWE (world wide english) update, in which case try the one that doesnt have a carrier name attached.
once downloaded, read THIS which is linked to from THIS, which is a list of very usefull guides and related posts.
Thank you for all your excellent replies!
I got the latest T-Mobile ROM 3.14.110.1 from HTC website and completed the update following the HSPL installation.
Those links were absolutely wonderful! Thank you so much! I also found it useful watching the Youtube videos that were linked in one of the threads.
I’m currently personalising my phone and I’ve forgotten how to add Bluetooth as a QuickLink. I know it can be done as I saw the solution on here when I first got the phone and did it then so I’m having a look around see if I can find it again.
Oh and what a pleasant surprise being able to watch Youtube on my phone at last! Nice one!
Thank you all ever so much
besca147 said:
I’ve forgotten how to add Bluetooth as a QuickLink. I know it can be done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
id recommend you dive straight in and install cookies home tab(CHT) mod and CHT editor. (Link is in the CHT mod thread).
Not only do they make sense wonderfull, but it has built in quicklink assignable toggles for BT, wifi and such.
samsamuel said:
id recommend you dive straight in and install cookies home tab(CHT) mod and CHT editor. (Link is in the CHT mod thread).
Not only do they make sense wonderfull, but it has built in quicklink assignable toggles for BT, wifi and such.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is seriously wonderful! Thanks for the sharing this info and the link.
I've put the stuff on this evening and the add ons to get me the bluetooth toggle.

Poke lock?

I have been noticing that ever since I got my refurbished fascinate (to fix 3g issues) every time I get a call I get a phone app poke lock. The exact line from the dumpsys Power is
poke lock 'PhoneApp': POKE_LOCK_IGNORE_CHEEK_EVENTS
And that's as far as my knowledge takes me. the only way I know to clear it is to reboot and that sucks to do after every call. Can anybody help me?
Thats actually a setting In your phone to ensure the phone doesn't lock as your in call....apparently someone who owned it before you set it, and your carrier got to lazy to update full settings.....
Ill find info on fix, however sure fire way to fix, is flash a new kernel or simply go to Settings+ Factory data reset.....
Be advised obviously this will wipe your entire phone to scratch....backup your contacts, and as a final disclaimer this is about 90% to work...
Best of luck!!
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
This problem plagues me from com rom to cm7, otb to pbj. When I forget to reboot, it eats my battery alive, not to mention driving me nuts
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
Maybe
Well i think i found you solution, ive NEVER dealt with this issue so im not 100% sure but i am a web developer and a professional coder, so it does seem like a great place to start,
You will need Root explorer and head on over and find the file
libs/ui/Input Dispatcher.cpp
from there the simplest way i would think is to move this file onto your computer, and edit the coding as the link below (and where i got this information) describes.
http://gitorious.org/rowboat/frameworks-base/commit/a87ea46/diffs
To open and edit the CPP file it varies on what system your computer runs.....
Mac:
http://www.codeblocks.org/
http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/homepage.jsp?code=CW_HOME
PC:
http://www.codeblocks.org/
http://www.editplus.com/
Linux:
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/moreinfo/c.php
Now, i am a bit tired, so if i have read this alllll backwards and that actually tell you how to get to the problem you ALREADY have lol then, im at a lost! I'll look more and more into this for you and hopefully get you more and more detail till its fixed!
Now I know I'm up pretty early for a Saturday, but I can't for the life of me find
/libs/ui/inputdispatcher.cpp
with root explorer searching or just exploring around. I have a couple folders named "lib" (one in the root directory, one in /system, plus app files), but for the life of me I cannot find a ui subfolder. Anyody? Am I blind or do I just need some more sleep?
I get this same poke lock so I am interested to see if this is something that shouldn't be happening.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Ok
Mk sorry ive took so long to come back around, i keep mighty busy with my 5 month old, gimme a few more minutes to quest my phone and find it, then ill give both of yall my best and final answer lol
EDIT-
OOOOOk Melon, your first post you told me what dumpsys power is telling you poke lock 'PhoneApp': POKE_LOCK_IGNORE_CHEEK_EVENTS
HOWEVER if you look RIGHT above it, you will see "mPokeLocks.size=1:" Now we need to get that 1 to a 0, however i havent found a positive fix to this, alteast i now know why your situation is occuring, please be patient im trying to see how to edit that file to "0"
EDIT EDIT-
And again, i just spent an hour looking into this deeper and deeper, and this is allll i can tell you
1. Its a glitch in gingerbread
2. What i said in the first edit stands true, you must get that "1" to a "0"
3. I've got into everything from busybox, down to the files its self, yes i've found the appropriate files, but not sure how to edit them
4. Im running a Full EC09 2.3.3 i know you said you have flashed and went from every ROM however i can't seem to see why flashing through an outside source (not on your phone) like using Odin and taking the file found here http://www.mydroidworld.com/forums/fascinate/8081-gingerbread-fascinate-release-thread.html (mine) will not erase and clear that setting with a new system update.
5. Im really about to lose my mind at how deep this rabbit hole is going for this (what seems to be) a simple fix!!!
Final thoughts, even if you have done it 500 times, go get Odin, download the kernel from the link about and click start! (after putting your phone in download mode obviously lol) and if that just doesnt do it, i really have no other clue!!!!
I'm not against trying this, but I'm currently running com rom 2.1 and still having the issue. Would flashing this ruin any frameworks? Also, I don't know if I care to jump to EC09 and all of it's sd frying badassery
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
Agreed on frying the sd, it did mine! but i back up my stuff, as far as mixing signals and messing with the frameworks, i'd really advise NOT to flash it as i have no clue on that and i wouldnt want to completely render your phone useless!
phew, i mean theres your flip of a coin, i've read atleast 5 other forums of people having the same issue and the best result is to do a killall -9 com.android.phone, but that only fixes until the next call comes in.....
So keep working with it, and hope theres a fix soon....or flash EC09 back up your data and hope for the best, either way here its kinda a lose.
But the best thing i can still guarantee if YOU know any other way, is that in that dumpsys file that says the number 1 if you can get that to 0 somehow, someway, and replace it in phone i'll put 50$ says that will without a doubt fix your problem, but locating that, and changing that in-leis the problem its self!!
Sorry i couldnt do more for you
Best of Luck

[Q] Anyone Offer A ROM Flashing Service On The XDA?

Curious for those of us without the proper tools or the know how to do this properly. This works for the Note but can also work for any other device.
Just study up. Read the instructions. Visit the general section and read. Flashing is easy. Best to just learn. Watch some YouTube videos. Be careful. Have fun.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
NightHawkUndead said:
Just study up. Read the instructions. Visit the general section and read. Flashing is easy.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You missed the part in the OP about not having the proper tools. No amount of reading or studying or preparing can help when the tool is made for Windows and you're running a Mac (or no computer at all).
OP -- I'm sure there's plenty of people on here who do (or would help you with) flashing ROMs but a lot of that is going to depend on where you live. Best bet: Craigslist and see if you can find someone in the Cell Phones section who does that. Denver (yes... where I am) has a ton of shops that will flash custom ROMs for you - but of course they want you to pay for the privilege.
However - I would really recommend finding someone local and trustworthy. Don't EVER send someone your device, because let's be honest - you'll most likely never see it again unless you're sending it to a real business.
bmstrong said:
Curious for those of us without the proper tools or the know how to do this properly. This works for the Note but can also work for any other device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First....start off at YouTube, and watch people root the Nexus One over ADB. You'll learn a few tricks...but most importantly, you'll learn your way around the device manager and the command prompt in windows. While it may seem daunting at first...there are only a few commands you'll need to learn.
That solves the problem you'd have with rooting and installing Clockwork Mod (the basis for flashing any new ROMs.
Lastly...if you can find a valid windows installation (or you can even use a 90 day trial version of windows 7 enterprise) you'll want to install boot camp on your Mac...which allows you to run windows on your Mac. Easily.
By no means am I an android powerhouse, but I do work in IT and am handy with a device manager, various hosts, and windows and Mac.
The next best option would be to offer someone here 10-20 bucks to show you over Skype, or do it for you using go to meeting.
Remember 1 thing. Its actually hard to brick a device if you do a few things.
Only flash RC or final versions of ROMs. In general. These have been THOUROUGHLY tested. The more feedback for a ROM the better. Learn to search threads here frequently.
Don't go about customizing the software by flashing mods (until your more comfortable). Android provides a perfect host system for providing customization via the Play store. Widgets...toggles...backgrounds. Notification tweaks, and almost everything else you'll need can be found on the play store and easily uninstalled.
Lastly...always keep a backup of you're system
via Nandroid, and keep a backup of your apps with Titanium backup.
If you have any more questions....feel free to ask them here or PM me.
You can start by researching "how to do a Nandroid" and "what is clockwork recovery mod" in your favorite search engine.
If you think you can follow the simple steps of performing a Nandroid and you can find your way around Clockwork Recovery Mod....there really isn't much to worry about.
Bricking your device can usually be fixed in the case of a soft brick or boot loop. The real bricking usually happens when you flash software meant for another device, or don't follow instructions.
Once you've flashed your first ROM...you'll find that the process is remarkably similar for all mods ROMs and other packages.
Appreciate the replies. The largest problem I have is the computer itself. I have whole rooms of computers sitting across the street at KSU. Not a problem to use and my pick of OS. The problem lies in they are public and get wiped on shutdown. So no backup. Thoughts?
I've done updates across various Mobiles for years like that.
bmstrong said:
Appreciate the replies. The largest problem I have is the computer itself. I have whole rooms of computers sitting across the street at KSU. Not a problem to use and my pick of OS. The problem lies in they are public and get wiped on shutdown. So no backup. Thoughts?
I've done updates across various Mobiles for years like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly - Once you get CWM setup on the phone there's very little if any need for a computer. I'm not sure what you mean by "backup" but since you're talking about public computers - let's just run through this scenario:
Go across the street and install CWM. Now, let's say a few days later a new ROM comes out. Woohoo! Assuming you've already flashed CWM, all you need to do is shutdown your phone, backup it up in recovery. This saves to your external SD. Reboot. Download new ROM save to internal SD. Shutdown, pull external SD, boot to recovery, flash away.
If you're worried about it - buy a USB external drive and use the university computer to copy the contents of your external SD across to the hard drive every one in a while.
netsyd said:
Honestly - Once you get CWM setup on the phone there's very little if any need for a computer. I'm not sure what you mean by "backup" but since you're talking about public computers - let's just run through this scenario:
Go across the street and install CWM. Now, let's say a few days later a new ROM comes out. Woohoo! Assuming you've already flashed CWM, all you need to do is shutdown your phone, backup it up in recovery. This saves to your external SD. Reboot. Download new ROM save to internal SD. Shutdown, pull external SD, boot to recovery, flash away.
If you're worried about it - buy a USB external drive and use the university computer to copy the contents of your external SD across to the hard drive every one in a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that sounds like a plan. Hmmm. Maybe I can do this myself. Now I need to find a stock stable ICS with NFC enabled. Even better would be one to take advantage of the radio hidden by AT&T. It would be nice to have the option to pop and flop.
Exactly. Once the initial root and new recovery menu is done then you are set. Between a CWM nandroid, Titanium Backup, MybackupPro, and even Appsaver your only real limitation is set by how large your external sdcard is.
You can even use online storage sites like Minus, Google Drive, Drop Box etc to host all of the files so that you can access them anywhere.
Hmmm. What's the closest stock ICS out there right now, if I may?
I am running Flapjaxx Unofficial ICS and it is super smooth. I plan on switching to his latest though once it is finished downloading.
netsyd said:
Honestly - Once you get CWM setup on the phone there's very little if any need for a computer. I'm not sure what you mean by "backup" but since you're talking about public computers - let's just run through this scenario:
Go across the street and install CWM. Now, let's say a few days later a new ROM comes out. Woohoo! Assuming you've already flashed CWM, all you need to do is shutdown your phone, backup it up in recovery. This saves to your external SD. Reboot. Download new ROM save to internal SD. Shutdown, pull external SD, boot to recovery, flash away.
If you're worried about it - buy a USB external drive and use the university computer to copy the contents of your external SD across to the hard drive every one in a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 on any Flappjaxxx ROM btw. So you pull your external sd? Have you ever had an issue or is it just a precaution?
Sent from Galaxy Note
bmstrong said:
Appreciate the replies. The largest problem I have is the computer itself. I have whole rooms of computers sitting across the street at KSU. Not a problem to use and my pick of OS. The problem lies in they are public and get wiped on shutdown. So no backup. Thoughts?
I've done updates across various Mobiles for years like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if it would help you to back up on google drive? Ive never tried it or anything but it could possibly give you some cloud space. Maybe a good option?
Yayodroid said:
I wonder if it would help you to back up on google drive? Ive never tried it or anything but it could possibly give you some cloud space. Maybe a good option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. I use both Drive and Dropbox, so no worries. The larger question I have is why do I need to back some of this stuff up? I've never been a big application guy. This Note has 4? Maybe 5 apps on it, aside from the stock Google services. SMS/MMS get deleted instantly or saved into the Cloud. And email moved with my Gmail account and that gets barfed back into each Mobile I use very easily.
Titanium backup seems like a pain in the ass. All I'm after is a clean stock ICS build, a way to shut off the hard keys and replace them with soft buttons, and that MHL works. Turning this Note into a portable LTE MHL Chromebox with a fantastic screen. The option to flop and plop would be nice...
you dont have to back up, but personally i would like to have my own personal backup of stock. of course there are stock odins around here. but in your situation it might be more handy on the cloud to access anytime. you might want to use the back up to flash back to for when they release ics over the air.
Service makes some sense
If you've read many of the questions that some poeple ask on these forums, it really makes me think that certain people really shouldn't be trying some of these things themselves. Most of us have no problem reading and understanding rudimentary steps to get us going, but some people come in with little to no foundation in these matters; what we're saying really is Greek to them. I feel bad, but for these people, I encourage them to seek out someone that knows, at least on a basic level, what they are doing.
I've written looooong, detailed tutorials for people and I'm glad to do it. But sometimes even after that, I get the feeling that these people will still end up messing their phones up. I've been proven right on at least two occasion and I can't help but feel bad... So maybe a pool of people in each area capable and willing to do these kinds of things might make sense. Haven't thought through how that would work, but maybe. Hmmm...
bmstrong said:
Hmmm. What's the closest stock ICS out there right now, if I may?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im using team perfections ics ucle2 objection with rc1 its great as well as fj's
sent from team perfections ics rom
Extremely interesting process and results. I still have a host of questions, why certain things are done in a certain order, what exactly some of the things do that I did, and why when I did not make a back up of anything, it said specifically that it failed, some of my apps and vids are still here in the new FJ ROM. Just a fasincinating first time experience from someone who has always used stock Nexi. The ROM isn't really my taste, I hate Apex and there is bloat apps in it. But!
I feel like the old Quantum Leap show...
You can debloat with tibu. Also, you can use any launcher you want.
Sent from Galaxy Note

[Q] Can Logcat show all recent behaviour/actions?

As the title states I need to know if Logcat can or will show me all recent behaviour and actions? Can it do it if the phone has been flashed back to stock?
I ask because I watched my partners phone going a bit erratic to say the least.
All sorts of things were being opened in front of us with no one touching the phone. Messages were being put to us on the screen, files were deleted, files altered.
Photo's were altered, favourites altered.
Had I not seen this with my own eyes then I would have found it hard to believe, but with personal details, bank details, photo's, addresses etc being on phone and looking compromised I would like to get to the bottom of this quickly and by any means possible.
As much as I know about ROM cards, Nagraedit etc this is a field I know nothing about although a friend told me that it's not normally done to this scale.
If Logcat can't help me could someone give me any suggestions as to how I may track the activity, cause, source etc?
All security apps that have been run find nothing! One app was classed as dodgy and was promptly deleted but there are still some things vanishing. By vanishing I mean we have a look then exit only to see they have been removed. Some time later they seem to be put back in. Some things marked as favourite are unchecked as we look at the screen yet we have touched nothing.
As crazy as it may sound it has happened and I want to eliminate all possibilities as this happened few days after flashing with ROM & kernel.
Failing this then the phone may be sent off for analysis of some sort or sold and replaced.
Thanks in advance and any help would be greatly appreciated.
C'mon guys, 84 views and no offers
Just to update the post, All photo's were deleted from the sd card as well as various other folders and all personal stuff has gone!
Yes there are options available to retrieve them and I have the programs to do but it still doesn't take away the fact the some thieving scrote thinks it's good to play games by installing sh*t on his ROM to hack into phones, then steal whatever they want!.
Feels like we have been burgled!
Three ROMS were flashed in the week leading up to this, therefore that narrows the possibilities.
That and the fact that that a similar thing happened and the person on the other end was showing content from this site.
One ROM already ruled out and behaviour of another is casting doubt due to behaviour of the smiling balloon which seemed to become an app that was being downloaded, then reappear making out it was a recycle bin.
Just hope the trail leads to the clown responsible and not a goose chase
Now, not all developers are crooked or loading their ROM'S with stuff but regardless of who makes it, who praises it, who loves it and swears by it, who kang'd it etc I would strongly urge people to upgrade or buy a phone instead of rooting, popping this ROM and or ROM in.
gtogaz said:
C'mon guys, 84 views and no offers
Just to update the post, All photo's were deleted from the sd card as well as various other folders and all personal stuff has gone!
Yes there are options available to retrieve them and I have the programs to do but it still doesn't take away the fact the some thieving scrote thinks it's good to play games by installing sh*t on his ROM to hack into phones, then steal whatever they want!.
Feels like we have been burgled!
Three ROMS were flashed in the week leading up to this, therefore that narrows the possibilities.
That and the fact that that a similar thing happened and the person on the other end was showing content from this site.
One ROM already ruled out and behaviour of another is casting doubt due to behaviour of the smiling balloon which seemed to become an app that was being downloaded, then reappear making out it was a recycle bin.
Just hope the trail leads to the clown responsible and not a goose chase
Now, not all developers are crooked or loading their ROM'S with stuff but regardless of who makes it, who praises it, who loves it and swears by it, who kang'd it etc I would strongly urge people to upgrade or buy a phone instead of rooting, popping this ROM and or ROM in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I would do is to flash a full stock ROM via Odin. Not an ordinary one, but a 3 part one (you can access it through a link in my signature). We are talking about an i9100 right? Not an i9100M/G etc? That 3- part stock firmware will wipe the device as it flashes. Then, don't install any apps after you've flashed. If nothing happens, great, put all your apps back on and see what happens.
Also, what ROMs have you flashed recently? And where did you download them from? I'd easily be over 50 ROM flashes and have never encountered any issues such as that. So have many thousands of others here on XDA.
And, what on earth do you mean with this bit:
gtogaz said:
That and the fact that that a similar thing happened and the person on the other end was showing content from this site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, thanks for the reply.
I used ROM'S from here but think it would be wrong to name them at this point till I get more info. The Mrs has had one or two from other places she now tells me , but there was no inappropriate behaviour before or after these. And any steps I have taken to install for her, I have obtained from XDA. All were Jelly Bean based and either 4.2.2 or 4.3.
Yes it's I9100 although it's I9100P. The variant hasn't had any effect in my opinion and have always flashed to stock then went through the usual steps of erase, wipe, format, mount etc.
There was once some nonsense from another superuser app, well not so much the app but one of the components which started zipping up stuff etc. That was eradicated immediately, and was several weeks prior to this carry on starting. For the life of me I can't remember the name of it but know I had used it before with no trouble whatsoever so did find that odd to say the least..
She had mentioned it before but I thought yeah okay, had I not seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed her to be honest.
The content that was being shown from here was like watching someone scanning over a sheet of paper with a handheld scanner, only watching it on the phone. Sorry - can't think of any other way to describe it and the phone was just going to various sections on XDA - all to do with Jelly Bean. The Mrs assumed it was the dev from this other super user app pointing her in the right direction for Jelly Bean etc.
I recognised some of the content as I had in fact read them myself and went to the same pages on comp to show her but was expecting this message will self destruct in 5 seconds to come on screen and Mission Impossible music to start.
The behaviour in the latter stages was outrageous and somewhat audacious, but that's another story.
Just wanna trace it and sort it out and in one sense it's a lesson learned for her lol cos my phone is running just sweet lol.

Whatsapp Virus spreading?

Hello everyone,
I might have a big problem.
This morning I booted my HTC One M7 as usual, and when it finished booting it opened a browser tap with a fake whatsapp update. I closed the browser immediately, and five minutes after this, the exact same thing happened. I started thinking how this could happend, and honestly I have no clue. All my apps are from the play store, and I only download documents for school. I haven't even downloaded a new app in the last week, however 15+ of my apps aren't up to date.
I scanned my phone with malwarebytes and it couldn't find anything. I rebooted my phone after the scan, and the problem seems to be gone. I was telling this story to a friend of mine this afternoon, and my mother said that she experienced the same thing, just a couple hours before I experienced it. After further investigation, it wasn't exactly the same. When she opened whatsapp, it asked her to do a weekly back-up of her chats. At first, she closed whatsapp, but when it appeared again, she clicked yes. She wasn't very clear about this, so I don't know if it was a fake menu, or the real deal. I have also scanned her Moto g (2013), and it found no malware.
I don't know if this could be harmfull. Especially because my parents use their phones for mobile banking.
This is a screenshot of my HTC
It could easily have been done through whatsapp. Part of the reason most people have stopped using it. Viruses run rampant I'm just about all of Facebook apps. And no anti virus will find them as they are vastly different then normal viruses.
zelendel said:
It could easily have been done through whatsapp. Part of the reason most people have stopped using it. Viruses run rampant I'm just about all of Facebook apps. And no anti virus will find them as they are vastly different then normal viruses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the Netherlands literally everybody uses it, but it's good to know that this could indeed happen! Should I be worried about this, and what should I do when it returns?
Dark-shot said:
In the Netherlands literally everybody uses it, but it's good to know that this could indeed happen! Should I be worried about this, and what should I do when it returns?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I heard alot of people in Europe use it alot, here in the states almost no one uses it really except for kids. Most have moved to hangouts.
If I was you I would completely back up the device and then wipe everything and reflash the device.
Things like this will not be picked up by so called virus scanners.
I'am afraid that it is something like ShiftyBug (https://blog.lookout.com/blog/2015/11/04/trojanized-adware/). In the article it says that you have to install apps from third parties, but I have almost never done that. I have downloaded popcorntime in the past, but I have deletet it almost 6 months ago.
I'm afraid that if I reflash my device, that it will come back fairly soon. Is it possible that it has spread over my wifi network? Because of the fact that my mother got something similar on the same day.
But how do I know for sure that it is a virus? After I restarted my phone (12 hours ago), it hasn't shown up yet. Am I worried for nothing, or is there a big chances that I'm infected?
Thank you for all your replies!
Dark-shot said:
I'am afraid that it is something like ShiftyBug (https://blog.lookout.com/blog/2015/11/04/trojanized-adware/). In the article it says that you have to install apps from third parties, but I have almost never done that. I have downloaded popcorntime in the past, but I have deletet it almost 6 months ago.
I'm afraid that if I reflash my device, that it will come back fairly soon. Is it possible that it has spread over my wifi network? Because of the fact that my mother got something similar on the same day.
But how do I know for sure that it is a virus? After I restarted my phone (12 hours ago), it hasn't shown up yet. Am I worried for nothing, or is there a big chances that I'm infected?
Thank you for all your replies!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The key word there is almost. If you reflash the device and it comes back then it maybe something that someopne else downloaded and was shared through your network. As you said your mother also saw it so I would go through her phone as well.
There are many apps out there that do this that are in the play store. So it is all a matter of being careful.
There is a chance. If it is big or not depends on how you use your device. It could also have come from a website someone visited. Im not saying you did but many porn sites are set to infect devices when they visit them.
If it was me. I would just start from scratch with each device and make sure that all the things installed are legit.
You could also run a logcat and try to reproduce it. That would tell you what is causing it.
Doesn't seem dangerous.
JohnColston said:
Doesn't seem dangerous.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you have not been paying attention. Any browser pop that tells you to update an app is 99% an infected apk. It is a common practice for those that take apks and re-package them with malware
After reading more i must admit you are right.... My bad:good:
So I have to flash my phone, aren't there any other options? And if not, how do I reflash The HTC firmware to my phone?
Should I make a back-up before doing this, won't the malware spread again if I instal the back-up on my phone?
Thanks again!
EDIT:
Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to reproduce the problem.
I still haven't been able to reproduce the pop-up.
I do propably know where the problem came from, a friend of mine sent me a older version of soundcloud (the new one can't cache music). I installed that app, decided that it was to old for me and deleted it. The malware must have spread right after the first use. I'm planning on flashing my phone inthe weekend.
EDIT: I can reprodce the pop-up! It's linked to opening the app 'night mode', this app was downloaded in the official play store 2 years ago. Since then it hasn't got a lot of updates though.
Hey,
Time for a little update.
Last weekend, I contacted HTC's customer support due to the fact that I couldn't find my software version. They told me that I should execute a RUU, but they couldn't find the right version, so I had to contact the Dutch customer support (I didn't do this in the first place because the Dutch customer support wasn't open in the weekend).
The next monday (23-11) I contacted the Dutch customer support and asked them for the ROM, and unfortunately due to the regulations they don't publish the ROM's. However, they told me to do a factory reset and that should solve the issue. Unfortunately, it didn't. After the reset, I now get a different Whatsapp pop-up once or twice a day. The pop-up isn't connected to opening an app, like it was before the reset.
A friend of mine experienced the same problem this week on his new Moto X. All the other phones in my home network don't have this problem.
I hope someone will be able to help me!
Thanks in advance!
Dark-shot said:
Hey,
Time for a little update.
Last weekend, I contacted HTC's customer support due to the fact that I couldn't find my software version. They told me that I should execute a RUU, but they couldn't find the right version, so I had to contact the Dutch customer support (I didn't do this in the first place because the Dutch customer support wasn't open in the weekend).
The next monday (23-11) I contacted the Dutch customer support and asked them for the ROM, and unfortunately due to the regulations they don't publish the ROM's. However, they told me to do a factory reset and that should solve the issue. Unfortunately, it didn't. After the reset, I now get a different Whatsapp pop-up once or twice a day. The pop-up isn't connected to opening an app, like it was before the reset.
A friend of mine experienced the same problem this week on his new Moto X. All the other phones in my home network don't have this problem.
I hope someone will be able to help me!
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a chance that it might've spread over a certain network.... Is you and your moto x friend uses the same network ?
sdeepb said:
There's a chance that it might've spread over a certain network.... Is you and your moto x friend uses the same network ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, we both use the wifi network at our high school. But I did the factory reset friday evening, and since then I haven't connected to that network.
It might have spread through that network though.
Dark-shot said:
Yes, we both use the wifi network at our high school. But I did the factory reset friday evening, and since then I haven't connected to that network.
It might have spread through that network though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on the malware a factory reset will not remove it. In fact most malware cant be removed that way. You have to flash the whole device to get rid of it.
Dark-shot said:
Yes, we both use the wifi network at our high school. But I did the factory reset friday evening, and since then I haven't connected to that network.
It might have spread through that network though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my opinion after starting all over again as you've already been told, you should do all that you did before and monitor each step with patience and concentration to actually understand what's behind this... This may help out
sdeepb said:
In my opinion after starting all over again as you've already been told, you should do all that you did before and monitor each step with patience and concentration to actually understand what's behind this... This may help out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As he said. Here is what I would do if I was in your place. Anyone got any extra steps to add feel free to chime in. This would kinda suck for a bit.
You will need a custom recovery. And a bit of time to set up
1. Take everything off device.
2. Format full device in recovery. Not factory reset. Format system, data, internal storage and both caches.
3. Flash complete stock firmware.
4. Get root before rebooting
5. Reboot, do not connect to wifi during set up. Do not restore anything.
6. Get Catlog from the play store and run it.
7. Then continue set up. Wifi and ect. Scan backed up files with a pc virus scan but only return what you really need.
8. When restoring from TIBU install apps fresh from the market and restore data only to apps. (sucks I know but only way to be sure) make sure to delete old back and redo.
Then monitor catlog. This will tell you everything going on. You would be able to figure it out.
Lol... Use adaway or adblocker and such pop up will be gone ... These are the new tricks from those freaking advertisement companies. They are now smart buddy. Even they can access the vibration as the pop up will come phone will get vibrate and users understand this as genuine and click on those ads . You got whatsapp pop some got browser pop up. Hope this will help u ...
Even you can flash moaAB ADBLOCKER from recovery.
veer.killerboy said:
Lol... Use adaway or adblocker and such pop up will be gone ... These are the new tricks from those freaking advertisement companies. They are now smart buddy. Even they can access the vibration as the pop up will come phone will get vibrate and users understand this as genuine and click on those ads . You got whatsapp pop some got browser pop up. Hope this will help u ...
Even you can flash moaAB ADBLOCKER from recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you would've read it fully than you'll know that the case is far bigger than what you're thinking it is

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