[Q] Theft Aware - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

https://www.theftaware.com/
Just wondering if anyone has tried this app. They claim that it will be able to locate your phone even after you flash a new ROM on it OR restore phone to factory default settings.
I'm not sure how they can pull that off but if this is true I would definitely spend the money.
Anyone?

I use it and love it. It will survive a factory reset if installed to the system but they do not claim and it will not survive a ROM flash and it will not. Download the 7 day trial and have fun. If you install it on a rooted phone as part of the system make sure you know how to use ADB or Terminal in order to remove it. But who would want a security app that was a once click uninstall anyway?

Ah... I see. That would make sense. I don't know where I've seen someone posting that it survives a ROM flash. I think it was one of the ratings on the app.
In that case it really isn't that good. I wonder if you can make a security app which can do that.

Related

Bricked my phone, got it fixed. Now I'm scared to root.

Long story short: I messed up with flashing a custom rom. But gladly, I got my phone fixed. Now, I wanna root again but I'm scared of rom flashing. I just wanna do the basic benefits of rooting like deleting stock aps and other things.
So what other 'rooting benefits' can I obtain without rom flashing? Or without having the risk of bricking my phone? The rooting process is kinda simple for me since I can use the z4root app.
Help? Anyone?
reyesryanmjaube said:
Long story short: I messed up with flashing a custom rom. But gladly, I got my phone fixed. Now, I wanna root again but I'm scared of rom flashing. I just wanna do the basic benefits of rooting like deleting stock aps and other things.
So what other 'rooting benefits' can I obtain without rom flashing? Or without having the risk of bricking my phone? The rooting process is kinda simple for me since I can use the z4root app.
Help? Anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can obtain lot of goodies, like install applications not coming from the market, i guess, edit system files, remove non needed system applications, do a lot of things, be sure when you flash a rom to have a fully charged battery, its really hard to brick it.
mmmmm ????
depending what phone you have?? Rooting is safe enough, you can "unroot" just as easy! I definitely recommend z4root If you flash another ROM be sure to do lots of research next time!!! If you experience any problems, dont forget google can be your best friend! You can count on the fact you wont be the only one having the same problem
I have LG p500. Basically, I'm now scared of anything that involves CMD. I can install non market apps like the ones from here. So yeah, after Z4root. what now?
These phones are great for bricking, because a lot of times they're easy to fix. Try out themes, custom roms, custom kernels, it's all available to you now.
Can you guide me a bit? Please
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
Oh! I read this thread in the news section. If i understand it correctly it will allow me to uninstall preset apps without cmd?
Nalthos said:
I recently bought a Droid 2 Global and decided to get my feet wet with android development. To familiarize myself with the platform I wrote a simple utility for managing the bloat that came pre-installed on my phone. I thought there might be other people who would get some use out of this so I am posting it here. You will need to be rooted and have busybox installed to use this application. If you used z4root to root your phone then you should have everything you need.
The application is pretty simple. When you start it you are presented with a list of the Bloat that the application recognizes. Each item in the list has a checkbox that indicates whether it is enabled or not. To disable bloat you just uncheck the boxes next to what you don't want and then press the Apply button that appears at the bottom of the screen. You can save what you have disabled as a profile by pressing the options button and then choosing Save Profile. This is convenient because you are going to need to turn all of this bloat back on if you want to receive updates. If you have saved a profile and a new update becomes available you can launch Bloat Manager, press the options button, choose Enable All and then click Apply to get your phone ready for the update. After the update installs you can launch Bloat Manager, press the options button, choose Load Profile and then click Apply to turn the bloat back off.
The following applications can be toggled on or off using Bloat Manager:
Amazon MP3 /system/app/amazonmp3_1_8_14_signed_zipaligned_Signed_2010-09-09_15-23-51.apk
Blockbuster /system/app/Blockbuster.apk
City ID /system/app/CityID.apk
Friend Feed /system/app/FriendFeed.apk
Kindle /system/app/Kindle-1_0_2-OEM-SingleSign_Signed_2010-09-20_17-31-57.apk
My Net /system/app/Mynet.apk
My Verizon /system/app/MyVerizon.apk
News Widget /system/app/NewsWidget.apk
Performance Manager /system/app/PerformanceManager.apk
Skype /system/app/Skype_mobile.live.apk
Social Messaging /system/app/SocialMessaging.apk
Social Share /system/app/SocialShare.apk
VZNavigator /system/app/vnav_6.1.0.160_Droid2Global_rel_PROD_signed.apk
Visual Voice Mail /system/app/Vvm.apk
Weather Widget /system/app/WeatherWidget.apk
World Clock Widget /system/app/WorldClockWidget.apk
When you disable an application using Bloat Manager it simply renames it to .bak. When you re-enable an application it is renamed back to .apk.
Bloat Manager remounts your /system partition as writable in order to make changes to applications. I came up with this list based on what other people have had success with removing, but I have not personally turned off everything on the list. Changing things in your system partition is always dangerous so please be careful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
Lol, rooting is so easy a baby could do it. OneClickRoot FTW.
reyesryanmjaube said:
Long story short: I messed up with flashing a custom rom. But gladly, I got my phone fixed. Now, I wanna root again but I'm scared of rom flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for sharing, yo.
Sent from my weak Wildfire, can't wait to trade in for HD2, also, not afraid to root.
So yeah aside from this feature, what else can I do without. Using cmd?
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
Iinstead of asking and waiting for responses, search on the forum or read a sticky or something to expand your knowledge if you aren't comfortable with cmd you probably shouldn't be messing with root privileges. And bricked phones are dead phones, you can only recover from a brick by replacing hardware
xxmonsterx said:
Iinstead of asking and waiting for responses, search on the forum or read a sticky or something to expand your knowledge if you aren't comfortable with cmd you probably shouldn't be messing with root privileges. And bricked phones are dead phones, you can only recover from a brick by replacing hardware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. Since you put it that way.
But there's just too much. You cant blame me for being like this. I bricked my phone and they replaced the mother board (for free) and I am worried to do this again. I tried learning, I failed. And I don't like to be a wannabe developer of some sort, I just want to maximize my phone to it's potential and do what most people do.
You can say that I haven't exerted too much effort. In that case, maybe you're not the person I should me asking help from. Sorry, I was hurt.
reyesryanmjaube said:
So yeah aside from this feature, what else can I do without. Using cmd?
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CMD (command shell in windows,mac or linux) is only used when you change ROMs or unlock the bootloader (the program that loads the ROM) apps and themes have nothing to do with it, you will read ADB a lot which is basically a way to access the whole device remotely, most of this you do on the handset itself. Root is a term the same as apples jailbreak, which gives you complete access to everything (most is protected bloatware (apps) that network providers don't want you to delete, there is also a percentage of protection stopping you messing up bits that bricking your phone! Bricking doesn't mean screen wont work, force closes or not booting...it means DEAD! If see something cool that you fancy doing, research a little first and if you don't know what it is or means...DONT DO IT! Its that simple root is what you make it, it opens a lot of options but there's no rush to get to the end, the you learn doing little bits, the quicker you'll be confident flashing ROMs and maybe even developing your own customisations
reyesryanmjaube said:
Wow. Since you put it that way.
But there's just too much. You cant blame me for being like this. I bricked my phone and they replaced the mother board (for free) and I am worried to do this again. I tried learning, I failed. And I don't like to be a wannabe developer of some sort, I just want to maximize my phone to it's potential and do what most people do.
You can say that I haven't exerted too much effort. In that case, maybe you're not the person I should me asking help from. Sorry, I was hurt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to maximize your phone's full potential you have to deal with thoses things, e.g.: joy 845 comes with the stock rom, which is slow and contains many things not needed, thus you have to flash another rom, better, faster etc...so yeah you have to be a wannabe in the end if you want to do what you want.
Check out Youtube how-to vids on rooting. Some are invaluable, especially the longer ones. Most of these guys take you step by step in detail.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

[Q] Factory Data Reset after Root

Hello everyone. Please let me pre-apologize if I'm posting this in the wrong forum. I have spent much, much time reading similar posts on this question, and I am a newbie, but very quickly learning.
I'm only asking this just to be absolutely safe before I do it. -I am very New to android phones and have managed to Root my phone 1st try and have no issues, everything is fine, and I love the phone and this site.
=-QUESTION-=
I want to do a Factory Data Reset (settings/privacy/Factory Data Reset), and the phone is rooted (used KMS One click Root)
1.Is it safe to do this.
2.Should I do anything before I attempt it.
3.Should I expect the phone to be back to it's "factory" state afterwards.
xtra info:
I base my questions off of what I have already read/learned, I have a bunch of programs I installed for testing purposes (1st time android user & all free versions), now that I know what I want installed, I want the phone to start Fresh (I just like the way it runs after a factory reset) and after that, I am going to buy$ all the programs, which are mostly utility programs from the android market.
I already bought App2SD Pro, and want to buy many, many more. I have installed on my pc Eclipse and the full Android-sdk-Tools. Although I am not a Programmer, my intentions is to become one, if I can learn it all .....lol
There are no Mods or anything like that installed and nothing was removed by me. (system apps, etc.)
Bottom Line: - As a "Newbie", as You call it, I don't yet know enough to remedy any serious problem if one was to happen after doing this, the "factory reset after rooted already", So I want to be sure before I attempt anything. So I came here to ask the opinion of the experts, you.
...and on a last and somewhat unrelated issue, after rooting the phone using the KMS thing, I don't even know what it installed or what it did'nt at the time of rooting, and I state this out of confusion due to part of the Readme file stating afterwards on your phone goto the android market and download busybox - but it seems it was installed by the rooter (as far as I could tell) and Superuser.apk as well, since it was there after rooting. -But I know nothing of what these apps do, still trying to understand them.
...So this is where I'm at educationally with my phone, and ALL Respect to all of you.
Thanks for Reading.
My PHONE:
Samsung Galaxy Prevail
Model# SPH-M820-BST
Android Version 2.2.2
Build# FROYO.EE14
Kernel version: 2.6.32.9
Hardware version: M820.07
current added software:
ATK, App2SDPro, Astro, CacheMate for Root, DroidWall, ES File Explorer, LCDDensity, OperaMini, PdaNet, QuickBoot, RomManager, RootCheck, SD-Booster, SpareParts+, SuperManager, SuperUser, Titanium Backup.
(These are the utility programs I mentioned above), I currently only purchased the full version of App2SDPro, and want to purchase/reinstall all the rest at their paid full versions, but only after the factory reset is completed.
Also, after the phone was rooted, I tried to uninstall Superuser (I was trying to update it at the time) and from what I remember, it would not un-install, and still won't. (possibly some need to know xtra info for you)
I use XP-Pro/sp3, tweaked by me, and I am pretty familiar with it, but Linux is new to me, and I am just getting started on learning/using that in Oracle VM VirtualBox for educational reasons for now.
-THANKYOU, Again.-
I'm guessing this question is not interesting enough for an answer.
A factory reset should reset your phone to how it was when you got it. You will lose your apps, but any purchased apps will be remembered so you don't have to worry about that. Superuser is essential on a rooted device to grant apps SU permissions, so don't try to remove it.
k_nivesout thankyou. I have been sitting idle waiting to find out what to do, now at least I understand what Superuser is for and how important it is. -I understand what a Factory-Reset will do, as I have done it a few times already messin' around with it since I bought the phone 2 months ago., ..but.,...
You Stated:
You will lose your apps, but any purchased apps will be remembered so you don't have to worry about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean I will lose the apps I installed myself, not the system pre-installed stuff (i think you guys call it bloatware) CORRECT?
AND
How will the system remember that I bought an App such as the one I did buy, App 2 SD Pro, I ask because I want to know if it's stored on the phone somewhere (meaning it's not a total reset/wipeout --my thinking is still in windows mode) or on the 16GB memory card I have in there, because I was planning on wiping that to start fresh as well, or does the market read/remember my phone id/login email, etc. when I connect and try to redownload/re-install it. ?
-In fact I would like to know that anyway for future reference before I start laying money down on lots of apps I want.
Hope you understand what I'm asking here.
ThanKyou.
Yes, you'll lose the market apps with the factory reset, but your paid apps are tied to your Google account. So whenever you set up the phone again with that account, it will associate those apps, even on a new phone.
I can't remember if its just on gingerbread roms, but the last few times I've done a factory reset, Google has remembered my free apps too, and started redownloading them automatically from the market.
I'm no expert. but here's what I have experience.
If you'll do a factory reset. All will be gone, your settings, apps etc but you the phone will retain its root.
Cool.
I got what I needed to know. Just wanted to go with the experience of others before I do anything involving systemwide things, don't want to wind up with a dead phone that will take weeks of trial and error to fix, especially as I'm new to the whole android thing/programming/linux, and also 'cause boost's customer service is chock full of lazy "I hate my job and don't want to be here" type tech support.
This is all I can afford at the moment and it is fine, and I'm glad I'm able to make it better and mess around and learn from using it. And this site too of course.
Thanks guys

[Q] Package file is invalid...

Hello all.
I am new here and posted in the General folder because it wouldn't let me post in the android folder. My phone started doing this 2 months ago. Originally it started when I downloaded an app and then I got a window pop up and said 'Package file is invalid'. Now I am on my 3rd Triumph (returned for other issues) and the problem is still around. It seems like the problem follows my gmail account around. I only get this error with some of the apps. I need to know how to remedy this issue. I have read the other thread about this problem here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=674725
and it lost me after the fourth post.
Phone info:
My Triumph is fresh out of the box ( just got another one yesterday, 10/1).
Dont know what ROM I am using.
Not rooted ( and dont want to void any warranties)
If you need other info, just let me know.
Most of the things mentioned in that post regard a modified rom, which you probably don't have (in other words, "my phone is stock"). The biggest question is whether you have tried restarting your phone lately.
The second biggest question? Where are you installing your apps from? If from the market, here are my troubleshooting recommendations. If not, correct me here or feel free to PM me.
Market acts goofy on the Triumph, and for that I blame Android. Try going into Settings> Applications> Manage and go to Market (usually under Running apps). Clear cache and force close, then see if the problem continues. Second time around, clear cache and clear data and force close, and try again. If problems still persist, uninstall all your updates and then see what your phone does.
I rather like the old Market because it didn't have that overpriced junk in it. Either way that refresh might be necessary.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
I have not restarted the phone lately mainly because I just got a new one yesterday.
I use only the market to download apps.
I did all the things you said in the order you said them and I am now running the old market but it still doesn't let me download certain apps. With the old market the pop-up window doesn't say 'package file is invalid' it now says 'Download was unsuccessful, please try...' and I cant see the whole error message.
I haven't been using the Market long enough to know the one. I am new to the android game.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=674725
There is that way, but you will be breaking your warranty, since you need CWM and neeed to be rooted
Other Ways:
Go to settings, then applications, then go to market, uninstall updates(if you have)
or
Get titanium Backup(if you can), uninstall market, pull the Vending apk from http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=320287&d=1272913729 inside /system/apps, put on SD Card, and install it.
If titanium backup wont(MAYBE NOT FULLY SURE) let you uninstall, then you need to be rooted.
Absolute Last Option that probably won't do much good is, factory reset.
Titanium Backup requires root anyway. Becoming rooted isn't hard, as long as you can download and run the app Gingerbreak 1.2. It isn't on the market, of course.
Although still, I find it strange you cannot just open certain apps. Are there any specific ones that do or don't work?
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Yeah! If you use Gingerbreak V1.2, you can root, then unroot when you are done, they will never see it was rooted. ANYWAYS, they never check if your rooted when you return or exchange a smartphone, not even Virgin Mobile checks....
austrie said:
Yeah! If you use Gingerbreak V1.2, you can root, then unroot when you are done, they will never see it was rooted. ANYWAYS, they never check if your rooted when you return or exchange a smartphone, not even Virgin Mobile checks....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got into crap with Best Buy because they checked, actually So yes, I would recommend getting rid of as many traces as possible... but yes, Gingerbreak is the meanest and cleanest method available on any of the three VM Android phones. At least, as of now.
They check WTH!?!?! What did they check for/what did you change?
I highly doubt that they dont check to see if someone did something to their phone that would void the warranty. Nevertheless I would like to not root the phone at least until I am sure I am keeping this one.
austrie said:
They check WTH!?!?! What did they check for/what did you change?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The convo went something like...
"Your last phone was rooted. We can't get money for rooted phones."
"Um, I can un-root it then."
"No, we already accepted it."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

i dont understand what this means

had this same problem now for a while but cant sort it . so i got in toutch with samsung. the problem is i have no play store on my phone . had to send samsung reports on my phone . and this is the responce i got as pictured below
tazzuk2020 said:
had this same problem now for a while but cant sort it . so i got in toutch with samsung. the problem is i have no play store on my phone . had to send samsung reports on my phone . and this is the responce i got as pictured below
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using fdroid and aroura store
Nameless Foe said:
Try using fdroid and aroura store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah thats fine but i still want to know what the issue is
tazzuk2020 said:
yeah thats fine but i still want to know what the issue is
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tbh, im not sure about whats going on there... I have personally never seen that before. Hopefully someone will stumble across and have the answer. Good Luck!
Nameless Foe said:
Tbh, im not sure about whats going on there... I have personally never seen that before. Hopefully someone will stumble across and have the answer. Good Luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks anyway
Someone here knows about this but not me. Couldn't find much about it;
App installation | Knox SDK
Samsung tech support sucks.
Sounds like a Knox issue. Somethings not configured correctly or got corrupted.
Did Playstore ever work?
Is the phone a carrier one? Carrier tech support can be much better than Samsung's if you get a knowledgeable tech.
Try deleting your Goggle account(s), full nuke them, then recreate your primary account.
Clear Playstore and Goggle Play Services app data.
Do not have any disabled or Firewall blocked, Android, Google apks for now.
Reboot and clear system cache on the boot menu (NOT a hard reset!).
Try again, reboot if it fails.
Make sure the Goggle account is working correctly; trying using gmail.
Reboots are generally needed after you correct the issue for Playstore, it's a pain.
You can try a hard reboot (NOT reset!) but doubt this will help.
A hard reset (factory reset) may get it but it could reoccur so try to find the root cause.
If it's a none stock configuration or rooted phone you'll need advance help from XDA members who play with these issues for fun, giggles and to learn new curse words. Lol, I haven't as yet... I already curse like a Nam Vet
If you don't find a solution bump this thread each day as needed. Be patient as their is a wealth of knowledge here within the site's members.
blackhawk said:
Someone here knows about this but not me. Couldn't find much about it;
App installation | Knox SDK
Samsung tech support sucks.
Sounds like a Knox issue. Somethings not configured correctly or got corrupted.
Did Playstore ever work?
Is the phone a carrier one? Carrier tech support can be much better than Samsung's if you get a knowledgeable tech.
Try deleting your Goggle account(s), full nuke them, then recreate your primary account.
Clear Playstore and Goggle Play Services app data.
Do not have any disabled or Firewall blocked, Android, Google apks for now.
Reboot and clear system cache on the boot menu (NOT a hard reset!).
Try again, reboot if it fails.
Make sure the Goggle account is working correctly; trying using gmail.
Reboots are generally needed after you correct the issue for Playstore, it's a pain.
You can try a hard reboot (NOT reset!) but doubt this will help.
A hard reset (factory reset) may get it but it could reoccur so try to find the root cause.
If it's a none stock configuration or rooted phone you'll need advance help from XDA members who play with these issues for fun, giggles and to learn new curse words. Lol, I haven't as yet... I already curse like a Nam Vet
If you don't find a solution bump this thread each day as needed. Be patient as their is a wealth of knowledge here within the site's members.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is not rooted. I’m not getting options to factory reset . I’m not really clued up very much thf
tazzuk2020 said:
The phone is not rooted. I’m not getting options to factory reset . I’m not really clued up very much thf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try what I suggested. Recreating your Google account will most likely fix it. Learn by doing.
Play with it. The stock Android OS are pretty much impossible to damage short of bad 3rd party apps. The more you play with it, the more you learn. Make sure all your critical data is completely backed up*; be prepared for a reload at any time to prevent data loss.
If you need to download apps from Playstore now and have a device that can connect to Playstore do this. Install the apps you want on that device then use ApkExport to copy those apps then transfer and install on the troubled device
APK Export (Backup & Share) - Apps on Google Play
Manage and extract your apps.
play.google.com
Google how to bring up the boot menu on your model. The clear system cache option is found there; it can cure many erratic behavior issues.
The hard reboot is a different key sequence, Google for that model.
Do not do a factory reset until you exhaust all other solutions if the load is still fresh and no viruses are present otherwise it's a waste of time.
If you feel you have no other solutions you can use it, but if it doesn't fix it or it reoccurs you'll be right back where you started.
Contact your carrier tech support, ask to talk to advanced tech support, escalate your case if need be. They will likely be more helpful than Samsung. Remember a tech that tells you nothing but to do a factory reset isn't giving you tech support. It's the easiest solution for them, not you!!!
Note: if it's an old OS load by all means punch in a fresh copy though; after a year or so, or any major firmware update a factory reload is good practice.
*back up to SD card if you have one and/or your PC. Back that PC copy up on at least one stand alone hdd. Develop a complete back up plan before you need it.
blackhawk said:
Try what I suggested. Recreating your Google account will most likely fix it. Learn by doing.
Play with it. The stock Android OS are pretty much impossible to damage short of bad 3rd party apps. The more you play with it, the more you learn. Make sure all your critical data is completely backed up*; be prepared for a reload at any time to prevent data loss.
If you need to download apps from Playstore now and have a device that can connect to Playstore do this. Install the apps you want on that device then use ApkExport to copy those apps then transfer and install on the troubled device
APK Export (Backup & Share) - Apps on Google Play
Manage and extract your apps.
play.google.com
Google how to bring up the boot menu on your model. The clear system cache option is found there; it can cure many erratic behavior issues.
The hard reboot is a different key sequence, Google for that model.
Do not do a factory reset until you exhaust all other solutions if the load is still fresh and no viruses are present otherwise it's a waste of time.
If you feel you have no other solutions you can use it, but if it doesn't fix it or it reoccurs you'll be right back where you started.
Contact your carrier tech support, ask to talk to advanced tech support, escalate your case if need be. They will likely be more helpful than Samsung. Remember a tech that tells you nothing but to do a factory reset isn't giving you tech support. It's the easiest solution for them, not you!!!
Note: if it's an old OS load by all means punch in a fresh copy though; after a year or so, or any major firmware update a factory reload is good practice.
*back up to SD card if you have one and/or your PC. Back that PC copy up on at least one stand alone hdd. Develop a complete back up plan before you need it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i cleared system cache. done a hard reboot. still the same . cant even find the option to do a factory reset. im not worried about backing phone up. the phone is a samsung a51. i have got another firmware downloading as we talk im not convinced its going to sort the problem
tazzuk2020 said:
i cleared system cache. done a hard reboot. still the same . cant even find the option to do a factory reset. im not worried about backing phone up. the phone is a samsung a51. i have got another firmware downloading as we talk im not convinced its going to sort the problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google it for that model. It's should be on the boot menu though. Also in settings as well.
I don't know what to say. This isn't that hard... small steps first.
I was completely PC illiterate 16 years ago. Was building up custom machines within the first year and probably crashed 50 or more XP loads, lol.
I was completely Android illiterate 6 years ago.
I'm 63 yo...
I have done little coding but you need to acquire a certain level of wherewithal to use PCs/Androids well, to keep them and your data secure.
You learn by doing and the Android OS is far easier to learn than XP or XPx64.
If you don't immerse yourself in it you will not learn.
It's fun to play with.
Explore it, play with it... you can't cause any permanent harm to a stock Android. You will occasionally need to undo a setting(s) change you made that may soak up a lot of time tracking it down but that's how you learn.
Go through all the settings and learn what they do.
Turn on Developer Options, play with it.
Google for the answers as your questions arise.
I'm constantly learning by doing that not just for Androids but a broad range of topics.
Lol, the internet is a whole pseudo library at your fingertips. Pretty cool.
blackhawk said:
Google it for that model. It's should be on the boot menu though. Also in settings as well.
I don't know what to say. This isn't that hard... small steps first.
I was completely PC illiterate 16 years ago. Was building up custom machines within the first year and probably crashed 50 or more XP loads, lol.
I was completely Android illiterate 6 years ago.
I'm 63 yo...
I have done little coding but you need to acquire a certain level of wherewithal to use PCs/Androids well, to keep them and your data secure.
You learn by doing and the Android OS is far easier to learn than XP or XPx64.
If you don't immerse yourself in it you will not learn.
It's fun to play with.
Explore it, play with it... you can't cause any permanent harm to a stock Android. You will occasionally need to undo a setting(s) change you made that may soak up a lot of time tracking it down but that's how you learn.
Go through all the settings and learn what they do.
Turn on Developer Options, play with it.
Google for the answers as your questions arise.
I'm constantly learning by doing that not just for Androids but a broad range of topics.
Lol, the internet is a whole pseudo library at your fingertips. Pretty cool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No factory reset on boot menu. And nowhere to be seen on phone. I even typed it in to search bar on phone . Maybe this is all linked. Only option I have is to reinstall the firmware I have got downloading but that won’t be finished for a few hours
You should be able to factory reset from recovery. Google how to boot to recovery for your device
xunholyx said:
You should be able to factory reset from recovery. Google how to boot to recovery for your device
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Nothing from boot menu.
tazzuk2020 said:
Nothing from boot menu.View attachment 5212005
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Part of the reason I left Samsung years ago. They do stuff different than any other OEM. You can't even use fastboot commands ffs
xunholyx said:
Part of the reason I left Samsung years ago. They do stuff different than any other OEM. You can't even use fastboot commands ffs
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i got a feeling its to do with knox. is there anything i can do about this . i brought the phone 2nd hand. the phone works perfect apart from play store

Possible tampering or what?

Ok. Last year someone was able to tunnel into my network at home. Alot of crazy s*** went down. Long story short, I think there's something fishy going on again.. let me explain.
Everytime I get a new phone, laptop, desktop, etc. I start finding a ridiculous amount of hidden files and folders. The PC side is no longer the issue, now its moved to Android, I think?..
The question I want to know, is how can I compare my what my phone should be installing after a factory reset, file wise? I've looked for a list online to compare with and no luck so far. I also found that there is a partition of the internal storage, completely hidden and inaccessible. Like.. I can't see anything. Add that with permissions being changed randomly so I'm not able to take full control over these pesky little buggers.
In short, I'm either wayyyy to high off that last dab, or my phone is being tampered with. What can I do? Here's what I'm working with.
Samsung A21 (SM-S215DL) using Straight Talk. Attached is a screenshot of the SW mumbo jumbo. I really hope someone can help. TIA!
namdrop22 said:
The question I want to know, is how can I compare my what my phone should be installing after a factory reset, file wise? I've looked for a list online to compare with and no luck so far.
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IMO nobody can tell you what apps to install after a Factory Reset: it's alone your decision what apps you want to run.
jwoegerbauer said:
IMO nobody can tell you what apps to install after a Factory Reset: it's alone your decision what apps you want to run.
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No no. You're missing the question here.
namdrop22 said:
No no. You're missing the question here.
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May be.
A Factory Reset doesn't install anything, it wipes all user apps and data. A Factory Reset never touches Android OS itself.
Look at the running apps and services, anything utilizating root or kernel or system privileges will not be in that list unless it's using a app to bootstrap but if you have a weird duplicate system app or an app with a strange name could help you narrow it down. if you have usb debugging enabled you may be able to run a logcat as well to see what messages the system is generating.
Does samsung offer any tools to read the boot log? You might find something In that too. Lastly, well you should do this first, check if there are any exploits or vulnerabilities with your phones software and hardware. Google search " chipset-or-software-name-here + escalate vulnerable cve exploit "
Check past software versions too, you could get hit while the vuln is unknown or lesser known then it patches the manufacturers patches.
Can u elaborate on these file systems or folders you say you have that are invisible?
Unless you loaded malware, a trojan etc on to the phone either in data from the PC, email download, an app you installed or a download from the internet.
Even so it would die with a factory reset... so do another factory reset so if you think so.
Then be careful what you allow into it.
Don't let anyone use your phone or access any of your devices ie flashcards, PC etc.
Run
SafetyNet Test - Apps on Google Play
SafetyNet device compatibility test
play.google.com
to check whether phone's Android got tampered or not

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