Virus or background processes? - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have these two different apps(?) that have shown up in my app drawer and I'm not sure what to make of them. One's named "mainline_train_primary" and the other's "trichromelibrary" or something along those line.
I use Ruthless launcher and they're only visible when I enable the option to show apps that are being installed in the app drawer. They're not there when I try other launchers or disable to the option.
They're also not actually installed so it doesn't do anything when I try to uninstall them. They both open up in Play Store when I click on them, but returns the message "To view this content, install and set up a web browsing app". I can manage to open them in a browser when I change the way Play Store opens up supported links. They both lead to market.android.com/details?id=[the name of the app]%[some numbers] but just wind up as 404 pages.
What confuses me is that they're both actually something related to Google, but I'm not super savvy, so I'm not sure if these are legit or are just some viruses mimicking the real thing.
I've already tried several factory resets as well as re-flashing the stock firmware, but either one or the other would eventually show up after a while.
I'm on the Essential Ph-1. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Related

[Q] Launcher default set to Home, no Web button or .apk access

I rooted the Nook Tablet using adb and NookandZergy, installed the Go Launcher EX, and had no problems until an accidental tick of the "default launcher" box. I know there are several Q and A posts on the subject, but none seem to have my particular problem.
- I seem to have no access to the developer setting or anything outside of the standard Nook settings. I don't see a way to access the developer settings, though when I plug the NT into a usb port, the notification for developer mode does come up.
- I have no "web" access, as in, I have no ability to open a web browser. I believe I may have deleted it when installing the root using one of the DOS options. The same goes for the search function.
- Going through the "library" app, I can see the android system UI files, etc., but nothing that could seem to help. I also can't launch any .apk files. The NT cannot read the file and claims it is an unsupported format.
I know I have tgps_launcher installed, at least I'm 95% certain that I do. I cannot seem to access it, unless I'm unaware of all the ways to do so. I think I've provided all the info surrounding this. If I have to nuke it and reroot, I will, though I would like to avoid that option and am unsure how to do so.
Any help is appreciate. Thanks in advance.
How to switch the default home launcher for HomeCatcher once I've already set it?... This link is in my FAQ >> i would suggest you to read it.
~ Veronica
Thanks for the quick reply.
Unfortunately this isn't possible solution, as it requires use of the "search" function. The search function for the NT Home was removed during the rooting process and is unavailable.
For the sake of argument, I tried to look for some sort of search functionality and found nothing. The only option, as I stated before, was to use the "library" app search function. This only displays actual Nook apps, however (Crossword, etc.).
maridus said:
Thanks for the quick reply.
Unfortunately this isn't possible solution, as it requires use of the "search" function. The search function for the NT Home was removed during the rooting process and is unavailable.
For the sake of argument, I tried to look for some sort of search functionality and found nothing. The only option, as I stated before, was to use the "library" app search function. This only displays actual Nook apps, however (Crossword, etc.).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First time i rooted (i had installed go launcher) few minutes later my device started to act weird it changed to Nook home launcher and go launcher disappeared i could not access to the browser icons eather, so i found a way to open apps and look in their settings too find for a link to make browser open and i succeeded once browser opened i went to android.market.com and looked for go launcher >> install after that a new window will pop up asking which application i desired to use to open it, i pick market app , it opened i installed then another window to ask which launcher i wanted for default home i pick go launcher and problem fixed. After that i removed stock launcher, cleaned my nt screen and got it a screen protector, never had that kind of issue again.
~ Veronica
lavero.burgos said:
First time i rooted (i had installed go launcher) few minutes later my device started to act weird it changed to Nook home launcher and go launcher disappeared i could not access to the browser icons eather, so i found a way to open apps and look in their settings too find for a link to make browser open and i succeeded once browser opened i went to android.market.com and looked for go launcher >> install after that a new window will pop up asking which application i desired to use to open it, i pick market app , it opened i installed then another window to ask which launcher i wanted for default home i pick go launcher and problem fixed. After that i removed stock launcher, cleaned my nt screen and got it a screen protector, never had that kind of issue again.
~ Veronica
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clever! Unfortunately, that was a no-go too. I went through Nook Friends to get to the google sign-in page, from there I got a mock google.com homepage going and found a download, but none of the ones I tried would work, the psuedo-browser would just crash.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to remove the stock launcher, but my gf actually prefers that interface to the Go Launcher (it's her device, I'm just doing the heavy lifting for her). I think I'm going to cut my losses and do the manual reset from your FAQ. Going with that, are there any launchers that more closely resemble the original Nook Home, or maybe a method of importing some of the icons/functionality of the rooted stuff to the Home? In any case, I'm going to be looking putting AnyCut and/or NT Hidden Settings to have several backups in case this happens again.
Thanks again for your help.
maridus said:
Clever! Unfortunately, that was a no-go too. I went through Nook Friends to get to the google sign-in page, from there I got a mock google.com homepage going and found a download, but none of the ones I tried would work, the psuedo-browser would just crash.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to remove the stock launcher, but my gf actually prefers that interface to the Go Launcher (it's her device, I'm just doing the heavy lifting for her). I think I'm going to cut my losses and do the manual reset from your FAQ. Going with that, are there any launchers that more closely resemble the original Nook Home, or maybe a method of importing some of the icons/functionality of the rooted stuff to the Home? In any case, I'm going to be looking putting AnyCut and/or NT Hidden Settings to have several backups in case this happens again.
Thanks again for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use stock launcher and still have an alternative one for when you use it (lets say) and change between them by using homecatcher or another app like home switcher, you may want to go to B&N setting > search> searchable items and check more items there; also in the quick tips section of my FAQ tell you what app to use to add android apps to default nook home launcher.
BTW just checking when i opened the netflix app you get some links there to open browser but if its crashing then you probably have to start from scratch 'cause that's not normal behave anyway.
~ Veronica
Had the same thing happen to a friend's NT that I had rooted for him, and besides all that you mentioned "Button Savior" was there but didn't do anything. You are pretty much stuck.
I ended up having to do the 8+ factory resets and re-rooting, and then restoring everything from TiBackup. At least once you have the drivers working on your computer it's really not that big of a deal. I read somewhere that it might be related to "Homecatcher" but not sure about that.
~ G

My Quarantined / frozen apps

I downloaded an app called App quarantine from the market and put the following apps in the don't run bin , but before doing that I downloaded Go Launcher / Go Contacts / Go Sms Pro and did a ehh, conversion from the stock samsung apps to Go Stuff. Has anyone else done this or anything similar?
Apk's no longer running on boot
(See screen shots, i'm lazy today.)
jb0nd38372 said:
I downloaded an app called App quarantine from the market and put the following apps in the don't run bin , but before doing that I downloaded Go Launcher / Go Contacts / Go Sms Pro and did a ehh, conversion from the stock samsung apps to Go Stuff. Has anyone else done this or anything similar?
Apk's no longer running on boot
(See screen shots, i'm lazy today.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a number of apps that do the same type of thing, Titanium Backup will 'freeze' apps as well as a whole host of additional features.
Then of course, another option is to just rename the apps from *.apk to *.bpk and rebooting.
My personal preference is a third option called Autostarts which is similar to MSconfig in Windows but for Android. The reason being is, it gives you the ability to keep an app from ever running unless you actually tap the app to run it but still allows you to keep the app installed in the event you want to use it. Google Maps comes to mind, I want it installed, I dont want it running in the background.
I dont recommend removing any of the bloatware if you plan on staying on stock but, some of it for US Note users was able to be uninstalled without root via either Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->All Applications, then tap an app and see if uninstall was lit up, if so, sweet. Or, alternatively you could go thru the Market->(Menu Key)->My Apps but not all apps show up in this list. As a side note, I actually manually did a search for many of the apps on the phone and manually updated them because they were not showing up in the market 'My Apps' list.
One other side note, most of the Samsung apps are actually pretty decent, I usually dont touch them. Its the ATT software and the apps ATT took bribe money from third parties that bothers me (Yellow Pages for example).
Oh, and a little known feature of Go Launcher is the ability to hide apps.
Tap the App drawer icon to get to the list of apps on your phone, tap the menu button, tap hide apps. For those of us that havent bothered to root, this at least gives you the ability to not have to look at apps you dont want to see in the app drawer.
Wow thank you for all the info. As far as staying stock, I like making my devices unique to me, I did keep all spen related apps, but killed pretty much everything else. I doubt my phone will ever see an official release of anything, Xda all the way
littlewierdo said:
There are a number of apps that do the same type of thing, Titanium Backup will 'freeze' apps as well as a whole host of additional features.
Then of course, another option is to just rename the apps from *.apk to *.bpk and rebooting.
My personal preference is a third option called Autostarts which is similar to MSconfig in Windows but for Android. The reason being is, it gives you the ability to keep an app from ever running unless you actually tap the app to run it but still allows you to keep the app installed in the event you want to use it. Google Maps comes to mind, I want it installed, I dont want it running in the background.
I dont recommend removing any of the bloatware if you plan on staying on stock but, some of it for US Note users was able to be uninstalled without root via either Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->All Applications, then tap an app and see if uninstall was lit up, if so, sweet. Or, alternatively you could go thru the Market->(Menu Key)->My Apps but not all apps show up in this list. As a side note, I actually manually did a search for many of the apps on the phone and manually updated them because they were not showing up in the market 'My Apps' list.
One other side note, most of the Samsung apps are actually pretty decent, I usually dont touch them. Its the ATT software and the apps ATT took bribe money from third parties that bothers me (Yellow Pages for example).
Oh, and a little known feature of Go Launcher is the ability to hide apps.
Tap the App drawer icon to get to the list of apps on your phone, tap the menu button, tap hide apps. For those of us that havent bothered to root, this at least gives you the ability to not have to look at apps you dont want to see in the app drawer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to add I guess a 'fourth' option, I like to use the app 'root toolbox' available on the market with both free and pro versions. Under the advanced menu you can remove any system apps you like but the nice thing is anything you remove is automatically backed up to the root toolbox folder on the internal sd. The backup is done automatically so you dont have to worry about removing something and forgetting to backup first and also gives you the option to restore any system apps you removed simply and easily. Ill be honest the restore feature has saved my bacon many times lol and is also a great way to experiment which apps are safe and unsafe to remove.

Why is the Google Play UI so terrible?

I've been using Android since 2009 and since the very beginning I have wondered why Google has done such a poor job developing their Marketplace store (since renamed to Google Play -- ridiculous name but that's a different topic). Specifically, the User Interface of the marketplace. The market HAS undergone a couple of changes to its appearance and has had the addition of music, movies, etc. But the basic user interface components for App Installation have seen practically no change at all.
Here's my incomplete list of severe shortcomings of Google Play:
1. There is NO WAY to see a short concise list of all the apps you have already purchased. You can choose between two tabs -- "Installed" and "All". The "Installed" list is just that -- apps already installed. The "All" list shows everything -- already installed, purchased but not installed, free and recently installed on a different device, etc. And this is big jumbled mess is listed in the order of apps most recently installed, which leads to:
2. There Is NO WAY to sort the list in the "All" tab by any criterion. It is what it is, you are stuck with the order everything is listed in and you cannot change it.
3. When you want to install an app, you first have to tap on the app name and then it jumps to the detailed page for that app, where you then press "Install" and then another screen to confirm. There is NO WAY to install the app directly from the app listing without jumping through multiple screens every time for every individual app. This wouldn't be so terrible, except:
4. The listing does not REMEMBER YOUR POSITION when you press back. I find myself scrolling down through the UNSORTABLE list on the "All" page, finding the app I want, which may be 150+ apps down, going to that app's detailed page and pressing install/confirm, then pressing back twice, and it returns me back to the TOP of the list again. So if I wanted to then install the next app that was right below the previous one, I have to SCROLL DOWN AGAIN.
5. Ultimately, what I WANT and NEED is a batch installer directly from the marketplace. Put some freaking CHECKBOXES next to every app on the main list and then put a big "Install All Checked" button at the top. What's so difficult about this concept?
6. You may say "Just use titanium backup, it will solve all your problems." Well I DO use Titanium backup where appropriate. But sometimes I just want to do a CLEAN install of every app, directly downloading from the marketplace again. App backups do get screwed up over time, and reinstalling from marketplace fixes those issues. Not to mention, TiBackup requires ROOT, which not everyone has/wants/needs/knows how to obtain. Or I might be installing all my required apps on a totally new device and I don't want to import incompatible data from some other device.
In my opinion this is a MAJOR shortcoming in Android. There absolutely NEEDS to be a way to easily batch-install many apps directly from the marketplace. Especially for people like me who have 100+ apps installed and regularly wipe my phone to install the latest ROM. And #1 is just insulting in my opinion. I can't see a list of only the apps I OWN? I might forget that I purchased something a long time ago and just forgot to reinstall it. And nobody has come up with a third party tool to batch-install from the market (or have they?)
Can someone please help me understand why Google has failed to improve their storefront for so long? Where is the suggestion box for me to voice all of these concerns?
christophocles said:
I've been using Android since 2009 and since the very beginning I have wondered why Google has done such a poor job developing their Marketplace store (since renamed to Google Play -- ridiculous name but that's a different topic). Specifically, the User Interface of the marketplace. The market HAS undergone a couple of changes to its appearance and has had the addition of music, movies, etc. But the basic user interface components for App Installation have seen practically no change at all.
Here's my incomplete list of severe shortcomings of Google Play:
1. There is NO WAY to see a short concise list of all the apps you have already purchased. You can choose between two tabs -- "Installed" and "All". The "Installed" list is just that -- apps already installed. The "All" list shows everything -- already installed, purchased but not installed, free and recently installed on a different device, etc. And this is big jumbled mess is listed in the order of apps most recently installed, which leads to:
2. There Is NO WAY to sort the list in the "All" tab by any criterion. It is what it is, you are stuck with the order everything is listed in and you cannot change it.
3. When you want to install an app, you first have to tap on the app name and then it jumps to the detailed page for that app, where you then press "Install" and then another screen to confirm. There is NO WAY to install the app directly from the app listing without jumping through multiple screens every time for every individual app. This wouldn't be so terrible, except:
4. The listing does not REMEMBER YOUR POSITION when you press back. I find myself scrolling down through the UNSORTABLE list on the "All" page, finding the app I want, which may be 150+ apps down, going to that app's detailed page and pressing install/confirm, then pressing back twice, and it returns me back to the TOP of the list again. So if I wanted to then install the next app that was right below the previous one, I have to SCROLL DOWN AGAIN.
5. Ultimately, what I WANT and NEED is a batch installer directly from the marketplace. Put some freaking CHECKBOXES next to every app on the main list and then put a big "Install All Checked" button at the top. What's so difficult about this concept?
6. You may say "Just use titanium backup, it will solve all your problems." Well I DO use Titanium backup where appropriate. But sometimes I just want to do a CLEAN install of every app, directly downloading from the marketplace again. App backups do get screwed up over time, and reinstalling from marketplace fixes those issues. Not to mention, TiBackup requires ROOT, which not everyone has/wants/needs/knows how to obtain. Or I might be installing all my required apps on a totally new device and I don't want to import incompatible data from some other device.
In my opinion this is a MAJOR shortcoming in Android. There absolutely NEEDS to be a way to easily batch-install many apps directly from the marketplace. Especially for people like me who have 100+ apps installed and regularly wipe my phone to install the latest ROM. And #1 is just insulting in my opinion. I can't see a list of only the apps I OWN? I might forget that I purchased something a long time ago and just forgot to reinstall it. And nobody has come up with a third party tool to batch-install from the market (or have they?)
Can someone please help me understand why Google has failed to improve their storefront for so long? Where is the suggestion box for me to voice all of these concerns?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm waiting for google to fix this too!
I agree with everything youve said - but the way I see it is that the Play store is a work in progress. There have been some pretty significant enhancements made in the last few years (I think I started using android in 2010).
Since then they have made 2 or 3 comprehensive UI updates, added books and movies support (which you mentioned), and the “ALL” apps list is also reasonably new (since Google Play was implemented).
I think within the next year or two you will start to see a lot of the features you mentioned.
Apple’s app store was pretty basic when it first started, now they have a lot of great sorting and display options.
Hopefully Google will step up.
Cheers.
Yeah, it will be nice if we can install multiple apps at the same time. Well, batch installer, that's what i mean.
Also, i wish i could delete some old apps (that I installed only to test them) from "Other apps in my library". There are lots of apps i never used, only tried them, and this, combined with the inability to sort the apps, make a real mess. I have to mine for every useful app that i need to install.
Or, at least, they should make a "Favorite" option.

Are you getting the terraclicks ad virus?

I think I have got a virus in my phone. Sometimes when I open any link in Chrome, a random popup opens which usually redirects to the play store somewhere. Once I opened 9gag.com and it opened 9gag's play store link. It even happened with android authority blogs that when I interact with the page i.e touch or scroll anywhere, a random ad link just pops up. Not only this but the original page is replaced by a facebook page whose URL contains something about a campaign i.e its ID etc. History shows a website terraclicks.com and google search on terraclicks shows that it's a PC virus.
Not only with Chrome, I even got the same popup while opening a link using facebook's own default internal browser.
I used Avast to scan for viruses including all files but it found no virus. The same thing is also happening in my brother's phone and we don't share anything between phones. There's a laptop in my home which also shows terraclicks in its history. So I think the virus is spread over all the devices, but I am still unsure as to how to remove it while mobile's antivirus detects nothing.
ad virus
Yes i have the same problem.Please help.
well I installed ccleaner and cleared three things:
All apps cache, chrome history and empty folders. It disappeared for some days but last night it came again to me. Now I have repeated the process again, let's see what happens now..
Usman i have factory restored my phone but it is still there. I dont know what to do now
khan khan said:
Usman i have factory restored my phone but it is still there. I dont know what to do now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which internet are you using? I am using PTCL
Do you also have this on another mobile or on computer?
no, there is only one mobile and it is only happening with it.
It's most likely a simple ad that is displayed when they detect your device and want you to download their app I stead. Use an ad blocker and you will be fine.
zelendel said:
It's most likely a simple ad that is displayed when they detect your device and want you to download their app I stead. Use an ad blocker and you will be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's also appearing on computers. And I can say it's not coming from the website's owner because I personally work on a website and one time clicking on its logo triggered the ad. That website would never put an onClick ad on its logo.
terraclicks ad virus
You should install a new window on your computer which will definitely remove these ads but what to do with this in the android. I have installed every antivirus , antimalware and have performed a reset too but no effect.
OMG, I was also infected with Terraclicks. All I can find is removal guides that have nothing to say about Android system.. Can I just reinstall by browser or reset my phone to factory settings? I would prefer the second option because I have lots of photos that are important to me on my device. thanks
It's almost a year since the original post on this thread, and still searches for info on this insidious malware, Terraclicks shows just non-android solutions and generic adware removal info.
Like several other posters I have tried dozens of AV and anti-malware apps but nothing works so far.
Has anyone found a solution??
Clear all apps cache, browser cookies (it will log you out of all websites in the browser), and browser history (only if needed).
Try the above steps one by one and give some time between them to see if the problem goes away without doing the other steps.
It probably comes from visiting cheap websites like those sharing apk files or songs etc. They don't give a damn about the users.
For me this was solved by making uTorrent pro inactive, the adds stopped.
Once I uninstalled it they never came back.
Assuming you have cleared your Chrome cache etc, I suspect you have an app which has been installed which is causing this. In my case it was an .APK which I had downloaded externally (because I couldn't get it from the Play Store). As it happened, this particular app made itself a device administrator (you can check by going into Security, Device Administrators) and it also had greyed out the ability to uninstall it. The app was also running as a background process which is how it keeps spawning those ads. Nothing picked it up as Malware (Malware Bytes, Trend, CCleaner). That was the giveaway to me, that something wasn't right with this app. This would also explain why a phone reset wouldn't remove it, because that typically reinstalls all your apps (except in your case) the app would have probably come from the Play Store. Since removing the app, I've had no problems and the dreaded problem has gone away. Now I am a lot more careful about which APKs I loaded. Good luck
I had this issue and it ended up being one of the apps I downloaded. Once in uninstalled the correct app the problem ended. If you do factory reset, then redownload all your apps, then the problem would come back because you redownloaded all the apps you originally had. This is especially true if you use an app that's not in googles playstore so what he is saying sounds almost exactly the same as what happen to me.
Thank you that fixed it. I downloaded showbox of a site. N it messed up my phone.

Browser opening ad website after updating apps

Sometimes when an app finishes updating my browser (Via Browser) opens and loads a page that is advertising apps. First it was Appsquare, now it's some other website I forgot to remember. I have NO idea what the cause is and I didn't install any strange apps to my knowledge. I never installed any APK that I downloaded outside the Play Store and both Malwarebytes Antimalware and Eset found nothing. This doesn't always happen when I update an app so there's no set pattern. Smetimes it doesn't happen after updating one or more apps and sometimes it does and that is why I can't really figure out which app is causing it, if it is an app at all because there are no ads displaying in either app I use because I paid to get rid of it. Yes, I did some research and it seems to be an issue mainly affecting Samsung users and one site in particular did some research and found out it was a shady ad network behind it: Clickity. My symptoms do match but I have an LG device, not a Samsung device and I use a different browser. I have used a few of Cheetah Mobile's apps in the past but I'm sure I deleted all traces of it on my phone, at least the things I could find. And I haven't used a single app from those devs anymore since I did a factory reset on my phone and updated to Android 8 so there shouldn't be a trace left. I need help fixing this because I have no idea where to look.
EDIT: It turned out to be my clock widget app "Digital Clock Widget Xperia" made by Lazar Dimitrov that was causing those ads to pop up, despite paying to remove ads.

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