[Q] Eliminating chinesses app from a STAR A3 (beginner level) - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello all,
let me present my self as a beginner in the world of Android.
It has come an Star A3 to my hands, with Android 4.0 and among all great things of IceCream, few Chinese apps I want to get rid of
the phone is rooted (well, one headache less)
I have flash the recovery 592zn.com_recovery_Star_A3_MT6573.img with Mobileuncle tools (included in the mobile originally) and done a Boot/System/Data/Cache Nandroid backup
Apps I want to eliminate :
Baidu input (and add the standard input keyboard)
own Chinese launcher (I have already install LauncherPro, but I would love to get rid of the Chinese one completely)
UC xxxxx (some Chinese browser)
Root Explorer (Chinese version, to be able to install the English one)
ICS 4.0 (also Chinese version)
a Chinese flash-light
a Chinese dark/light switch screen
a Chinese version of the configuration menu
so, basically to keep a clean Android
so, where I have to look for help on how to do that ??
what short of help / tutorial am I looking for ?
I have installed:
http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html/#ImDisk
to be able to mount the nandroid img files in windows7-x64
but I can't see anything, it ask me to format the unit (?)
similar with Daemon Tools .
any help will be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance.
InTheater

My advice since you're rooted is install Titanium Backup and use it to uninstall everything you don't want. It's a root app that can get rid of virtually anything.
Seeing as you have a nandroid backup, in the unlikely case that the device won't boot at all without one or more of those apps, you can just restore the backup you have.

SifJar said:
My advice since you're rooted is install Titanium Backup and use it to uninstall everything you don't want. It's a root app that can get rid of virtually anything.
Seeing as you have a nandroid backup, in the unlikely case that the device won't boot at all without one or more of those apps, you can just restore the backup you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beautiful, it works like a charm !!
I have been able to get rid off all Chinese stuff
thanks

Star A3 for dummies
Hello
Ok I have searched for hours (as the video asked) and I cannot find an "android for dummies" guide. I dont know what a "root" is or what "titanium" is... so I may have found the correct forum - but I just don't understand it.
So the problem is this:
I bought a touch screen DualSim Android 2.3 GPS 3G MTK6573 Phone Star A3.
It arrived today BUT it has some chinese programmes on it (that I would like to clear) and I cannot seem to download any additional apps for it.
google.play wont work (apparently it doesnt support the device)
It has a few basic apps - but nothing wild or that I guess can't be re-downloaded again.
What would you recommend I do - do I wipe it and install something new or what. and if so please can someone explain it to me in small "for dummy" steps
I am not sure what else I need to tell you to give you abetter pic, but ideally I'd like this phone to work on the google apps system (or can you point me to where I can get similar apps)
On the "about phone" the
android version is 2.3.5
Kernel version is 2.6.35.7
I would really appreciate any help you can give me
Thanks

My first advice would be to try and achieve root on the phone. This should be relatively easy on a Chinese phone, most don't have great security.
Basically, "root" means to get increased permissions on the phone. There are certain files and actions on the phone that normally you can't do. With root, you can. Think of it as somewhat like logging into a computer as an Administrator rather than a standard user.
"getting root" basically means installing a hack to let apps on your phone do more than they could otherwise e.g. uninstall preinstalled apps.
To "root" your phone, you can use a tool like SuperOneClick or UnlockRoot. For both, you follow a few instructions, plug in your phone and click "Root" in the program, it'll work out the best way to do it for your phone and do it.
Once that is all done, there is a guide here for getting Google Apps (e.g. Play Store) working on unsupported devices: https://senk9.wordpress.com/2010/12...ogle-apps-gapps-on-your-android-device-phone/
Once you get Play Store working, Titanium Backup is an app you can install from there. Using root, it can uninstall any app you want.
Be careful with all this, if you're not you could break your phone.

educated dummy
Thank you so much! - and such a fast reply too!!!
I really apprecate your patience in explaining this all to me.
It sounds relatively straight forward - I will have a look at those progs and link you suggest tomorrow.
Obviously I dont want to break the phone either, then it would be more useless then it is already
Fingers crossed - will let you know how I get on.

Hi all,
Watched the video so I thought I would tag onto this thread instead of starting a new one.
Just bought a cheap star a3 dual sim android phone. This my foray into android phones and I am having some weird issues. Just a first note I have just rooted the phone but these issues where here before and after rooting. The A3 is a htc sensation clone i believe when my other half who has a htc desire tries to call the phone the phone goes straight into answer phone and rejects the call, she is on giff gaff in the uk and i have tried both a 3 network and orange sim and it happens on both. There is some weird chinese security software that I trying get remove but its seems very stubbon. Anyone any ideas. Ps battery life is awfull i only seem to get 6 hours from full to dead without hardly any use. Maybe I have loads running but unsure what I need to keep running.
Please help.

I have the star a3
Google play works perfectly. If you PM me, I am happy to send you the apk file for google play.
since you are rooted, I strongly suggest you get root explorer installed so you can go through and remove all the chinese apps.
Make sure you remove "himarket" its a big battery hog.
To the person who says their calls go straight to voicemail, remember this is a dual sim dual *standby* if you are using 2g or 3g cell data on one sim then the other sim cannot make or receive calls.
Also, there is no ICS for the Star A3, its just a skin on top of Gingerbread to make it look like ICS, if you go to settings, about phone and look, the version number will be 2.3.4 or 2.3.5 which means its gingerbread (if you really do have 4.0.1 ICS I would love to get a copy of the ROM for it!)

Related

[Q] Need some questions answered :)

Hey there, since yesterday I'm a proud owner of this nice phone with android and as I'm crazy about tweaking and stuff I want to get the best out of my phone.
Question 1.
What can I achieve by getting Android 2.1 on my phone?
Question 2.
Is it possible to make a decent backup/flash backup of the branded stuff that comes with my phone? If yes how could I achieve this?
Question 3.
If it's possible to safely backup (to be able to keep waranty intact somewhat) can I get the upgrade for 2.1 NOW? Because I still don't have it (slow ass T-Mobile doing it by serial number or something)
Question 4.
Rooting, is it a good idea? What can I achieve with rooting my device (I know it gives me root access but what can I do further if I have root access?)
Question 5.
If I ever brick my device, is it still possible to get the original firmware on it?
Those are my questions for now :0 Hope you people can help!
jeffroiscool said:
Hey there, since yesterday I'm a proud owner of this nice phone with android and as I'm crazy about tweaking and stuff I want to get the best out of my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Question 1.
What can I achieve by getting Android 2.1 on my phone?
Better performance, A little better theme than 1.6, better touch response, better battery life, access to Android 2.x only apps, somewhat improved bluetooth, live wallpaper and few more..
Question 2.
Is it possible to make a decent backup/flash backup of the branded stuff that comes with my phone? If yes how could I achieve this?
Root your phone and use titanium backup..
Question 3.
If it's possible to safely backup (to be able to keep waranty intact somewhat) can I get the upgrade for 2.1 NOW? Because I still don't have it (slow ass T-Mobile doing it by serial number or something)
You can back up normal data (and also apps from market in android 2.1) like contacts, messages, settings etc through Se back and restore utility.
For backing up system apps, or upgrading to 2.1 out of turn, you need to root your phone, that will theoretically void your warranty.
Question 4.
Rooting, is it a good idea? What can I achieve with rooting my device (I know it gives me root access but what can I do further if I have root access?)
Wonderful idea, only if you are familiar with system tweaking and somewhat familiar with linux. And you are willing to take risks.
for example -
a) You can simply install some very useful root only apps like titanium backup, root explorer, app2sd etc to manage your phone contents.
risk associated: very low to moderate
b) you can even change basic framework and theme of your phone, remove bloatware that comes with phone and use terminal emulator to have (almost) full fledged linux console. etc
risk associated: Moderate to High
c) When it comes out, you can even get custom roms on your phone
risk associated: Very high to Fatal
Question 5.
If I ever brick my device, is it still possible to get the original firmware on it?
Depends on how bad the phone is messed up, at the end all depends on your knowledge of using the right methods and right tools.
If you can get the phone to recognized by SEUS/PC Companian/Flash tool you can (hopefully) repair/reflash it with firmware.
Hope it helps..
Yeah it helps, I'm not afraid to toy with my new phone and I do have linux experience. The only thing I want to be sure of is if I can reset everything in case of a brick or something if I ever need to send the phone back to Sony
So if I use the sony ericsson updater my phone gets fully restored to their stuff? (Well not if I edit my serial-number to get 2.1 quickly so theoraticly they can always find out I fiddled with it I guess.
So what I'm actually planning to do is:
1. Have a backup ready for the thing above
2. Get Android 2.1
3. Root Android 2.1
4. Remove safe to remove Bloatware
5. Get a custom theme going. As I'm seeing so far the HTC Theme was ported somewhat? I definiatly want a good homescreen. How 1.6 is now sucks.
6. Have a method of EASILY organizing all my applications I'm going to install after doing the above.
7. Install apps
8. Customize to taste.
So to get 2.1 now I would need to edit that serial which I can do if I get rooted first which probably requires Exploid because SuperOneClick was 2.0+?
Rooting 2.1 is SuperOneClick thingy.
Removing safe stuff with Titanium Backup.
Get that theme and start tweaking.
Finding good homescreen/launcher tools.
Get my apps again (Appbrain ftw)
jeffroiscool said:
So to get 2.1 now I would need to edit that serial which I can do if I get rooted first which probably requires Exploid because SuperOneClick was 2.0+?
Rooting 2.1 is SuperOneClick thingy.
Removing safe stuff with Titanium Backup.
Get that theme and start tweaking.
Finding good homescreen/launcher tools.
Get my apps again (Appbrain ftw)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, you can use generic product code, or generic build.prop you can even find generic FW with flashtool on this forum.
PS: for 1.6 rooting Exploid works wonders..
I'm currently on a rooted stock 2.1...06.
i can't seem to find the Google Maps in the market.
my maps' version is at 4.4, but it says on appbrain that the latest is 5.3.1 for all android versions...
http://www.appbrain.com/app/google-maps/com.google.android.apps.maps
how can i update this?
i already tried searching for it, but found nothing.
also could not find gtalk and gmail...
any ideas?
try different os
Hey,
you can use different os like froyo final by owian or gingerbread 13, as your phone is already rooted. Try froyo u will really enjoy it, as i did ;-)

[Q] New Viewpad 7

hi, i am new on the forum so hello to everyone. I joined as i have recently been given a Viewpad7 as a present. i only wanted a 7 inch tablet and didnt have the funds for an ipad/transformer etc, they were a bit on the large size.
i have read a bit about the device and have had a chance at trying it out at one of our local shops. it certainly was a lot faster and more sturdy that the storage options 7" device.
i may be interested in rooting the device and have read up a bit about it on various threads on this forum. i get 50% of what is being said but 50% goes over my head at the moment.
i have an htc android phone and one of the things that is really frustrating is the fact that the memory fills so quickly if you add too many apps. i have been told rooting a device will allow more apps as it allows install to the disc rather than the internal memory...i am presuming this will be the same for a tablet allbeit most have a larger internal memory??
i have heard that the android 2.2 is not great with tablets as it is designed really for the moblie phone? is this the case for the viewpad?
i am presuming that a rooted tablet can use slightly amended operating systems with some tweaks?
can anyone tell me what other benefits there are...
Gingerbreak sounds a good one from what i have read as it is based on the android 3 software...
if there isnt a need to root it i will carry on as is but if there are a lot of benefits i might as well root it when i first get it before i load anything onto it...i will have to learn some of the jargon like 'adb shell' to make sure i dont end up with a brick.....what are the risks in rooting and how often do things not turn out better?
sorry for all the questions....
atb
forgot to ask is there a youtube guide to rooting where i could watch someone going through the stages etc
Hi
Here is the link to video guide for rooting viewpad 7 (or variant like mine - commtiva lynx n700): http://www.techofweb.com/technology/root-viewsonic-viewpad-7-superoneclick.html
With rooted system you can actually do a lot of tweaks like flashing altered core, which will give you possibility to overclock a bit, it will also give the ability to install applications which can require root like Titanium Backup (total backup of all applications, their settings and data) and others.
With rooted device you can also change how your desktop looks, changing even notification icons or dialogue windows or buttons.
Then as you mentioned rooting opens a way to use cores which allows you to store applications, data and java machine cache to a partition on SD card (ext2, 3 or 4) and this will give you a way to install lot more apps than on non rooted tablet.
I can see a lot of benefits in rooting tablet, I have done it 2 days after purchasing n700. Installing new roms will not always give you a stable, fast working tablet, there are reboots sometimes for no apparent reason, there is sometimes a lot of fun flashing another rom and restoring all your apps and data and rearranging desktop to how is was.
What are the risks - if you start wisely and flash proper recovery first and do a system backup first - chances to brick your device permanently are slim. But if you start flashing a device with a new rom right away - you may end up with a non working device and a need to find a stock rom. Because before you can flash rom you must flash recovery, which gives you the ability to flash a rom designed for your device. I haven't read of anyone who bricked tablet when trying to root it.
I've heard about some stack with non working rom (boot loop) and asking for stock one. But there is always a way to flash non altered rom for your device (after flashing recovery which is kind of application like bios but without all those options to change device settings).
But behind all this, which is for altered pads lovers just a fun - you will have a device which is far more functional then the stock one.
Have fun
Jaredj
hi...i think i will root it at least, but not sure if i will bother with any of the roms. doesnt look like there are many available for this tablet, although i may be looking in the wrong places...
atb
rooted it...use the one click but it wouldnt do it with the latest so i used one of the older versions and it did it...
now...now that it is rooted can i get rid of any of the clutter like the stock browser and any of the other stuff i wont use as i will download other apps??
will titanium backup copy the whole system for me, i have seen a post about backing up the viewpad but it was using the command prompt and i am not confident doing this...what is the easiest way of doing a full backup in case i brick it??
atb
another question i have is will rooting the pad now mean that i can save more apps onto it...it is showing about 80mb of space left at the moment...if so how do i get it to save everything to my sd card?
atb
Another point....now i am getting into this device. i have copied some of my films onto disc to put in this... some mp4 some h.264 [i think] files both with mp3 audio but the player on the viewpad just says it cant play them...it hasnt opened any video files yet!!!!
atb
nothing seems to be working here...i have emailed viewsonic support and have now been told this unit only supports 3GP playback????????
atb
Install a better video player app, I use rockplayer myself to play avi files.
Further I would recommend you search and read the forums, there is a lot of info to be found and most of your questions will already have been answered in the past.
have now tried rockplayer but still no joy. it will play small files up to 70mb but anything bigger seems to bring the sorry cannot play video warning... have tried altering some of the settings in the 3GP format but still no joy. have also noticed it wont paly any of the youtube videos through the app at HQ, but it will play them all at a lower quality...really did want this to hold films to play on the move but as yet cannot seem to get them to play no matter which palyer... not sure if it may be a problem with the unit?
will do some more reading!!
atb

[Q] Lenovo P780 with Vibe UI (generic) help

Hi, it's great for me to have found this forum. I have a Lenovo P780. It initially came with a heavy launcher and the ROW(?) ROM, rooted I think from a store. The phone is great but the 1GB RAM is kind of a bottleneck. I really use the phone as a desktop replacement and perform lots of organizing and office work ( alongside with music and video playback of course). Trying to find something lighter for the phone and without having absolutely no idea what am I doing, I put Vibe UI 2.0 to it (no backup or anything else) and that was the start of the end Although the phone is much faster now, there is no store and i'm unable so far to install it. Also I'd like to know if there is a better alternative environment for the phone or a (easy) way to remove some of the Lenovo bloatware (which have no uninstall option ) (or just disappear them from launcher). Could you please explain me how can I achieve the above in the most idiot-proof and simple way possible, maybe also give me some hints (or point me to a thread-link) about the terminology because I'm a complete noob . Thanks in advance for reading this
First and Foremost, you need to Check if the device is Really Rooted. If you are not familier with the concept, please review How to Root Any Device Next use a simple app called Root checker [APP] Root Checker - in the Android Market That will confirm if you do or do not have Root.
If it turns out you don't have Root, please review Rooting Tutorial for KitKat to get Root. If you have issues in that process, please post on that thread.
As to the Lenovo Bloatware, these are what's called System Apps. Those can''t be removed the traditional way. You need a Root Uninstaller that uses Root permissions. Typically users go for Titanium Backup as it can take backup of apps that you uninstalled. That way if you remove something that's critical to the Running of Android, you can restore back.
Please use caution. When in doubt, its advisable to Freeze an app using Titanium Backup rather than removing it.
Thanks mate, you've been very helpful. The phone is not currently rooted. I'm checking and trying all the suggestions posted. I will post here or at stumpy's thread if I have a problem / query.

ZTE 967S - Phone B0rked. Need some help

Hi,
I have a ZTE 967S. Had it for a few years, it came rooted with a standard Chinese ROM. I'd like to install a new rom but I'm useless at this, however I can say that the recovery mode is in Chinese which certainly doesn't help!
My problem is I was having a lot of problems coping with only 4GB ROM, although I think the partitions must be wrong because I could barely install more than two applications like facebook.
Anyway I downloaded a program to free up space, deleted some unimportant core apps like hangouts etc but now I'm unable to install any new applications on the handset.
I just wondered what you think may be the best solution to this? I've looked about installing a new rom but would this require me to install Mobile Tools on the phone? which is obviously a little difficult now. Is there another way?
modaco.com/topic/366106-zte-v967s-impressions-root-recovery-rom/

Malware filled phone?

Hey guys, how are y'all doing?
Here's a little background on my problem:
A year ago bought a cheap-ass smartphone for my mom, from a big supermarket chain in my country that was selling french phones cheaply, it was only 60€ and my mom needed a phone, so there it is!
Anyway cut to the present, the phone is riddled of what I suspect is malware that installs itself as soon as I remove it such as Free Games, com.google.toolkit, MiniChrome, N62Androidpt, System Component, adservice, and a couple others.
It also keeps switching wi-fi off, and turning on that option that allows apps to be installed from unknown sources, and worst of all it keeps opening the phone in built browser with adds, and even porn sites on occasion, which is really not desirable as my very young aged nieces love stealing the phone and try to use it.
I installed malwarebytes, also did a factory reset to no avail it fixed nothing.
So I decided to flash a stock rom to see if I could get rid of it, searched around and found a repository of stock roms or firmwares or whatever it's called (I'm not too familiar with this side of smartphones), which I'd love to post, but apparently can't because I've last than 10 posts: doc-doapi.com/EM/selecline/smartphone/
It has a lot of roms for different models of my brand.
Used the UpgradeDownload - R2.9.2015 tool that was in that folder and flashed it successfully.
After I turned on the device it opened the new phone setup process, logged in to my google account, and restores my stuff like contacts, and a few trusted google apps from before the flash, but it soon started again to install those malware apps I stated up there on it's own, and it was soon in the same state as before...
Anyway here's some info about my phone that probably should've gone to the top.
It's a Selecline phone
Model S4S5in3g
Android version: 5.1
Kernel version: 3.10.65
Compilation number: S3S5in3g.V1.2_20160307
At the back it has a sticker and another model number 870712 which I used to find the folder on that repository of stock roms.
And that's all in a big nutshell, anyone has any tips?
Thanks.
lil' bump
Do you have login credentials for this Auchan website where you found the ROMs? It is asking for a login ID and password. I need ROM for Model S6S5IN3G.
Quick tip for getting rid of Malware even before they start. Go to Settings and check Data Usage. See which apps are using lots of data (downloading junk into your device). Note if there are any strange sounding apps that are downloading a lot of data, especially if it is not an app that you yourself were directly using.
Next, flash the stock ROM again. Once you flash the new ROM, you have to find a way to root the device. Try KingRoot. Then after the phone is rooted, go to Playstore and download SD Maid. Run SD Maid and give it root access. In the settings for AppControl of SD Maid, allow it to show system apps. Then run app control and freeze any strange-looking user apps (or anyone that was downloading a lot of data) and system app that are not required.
Please, let me know about the website and how to access the ROMs.
As mentioned before, install a clean room again. Copy virustotal app from the attachment of these post (https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=77053739&postcount=11) to SD-card and install it. Turn wifi on and let it run. Control every app and the system-apps. Post a screenshot of the findings. If there are findings, then the room is infected. The only way to deal with this, is to root it, install rootexplorer an kill the infected app. This can be dangerous, if for example, the lauchner is infected, an alternative launcher must first be installed and set as default, before you can kill the infected one (otherwise you will own a useless phone until you flash it again ;o).
Hey guys, thanks for trying to help.
I tried literally everything before, I've even somehow got a kitchen up and running and I removed everything that looked suspicious and all those bran add-ons from the rom, but even then I'd still get infected.
I didn't really try the antivirus route though and to be honest I already shelved that phone, but I'm kinda bored, so I'll try y'all suggestions, an extra working phone can always come in handy.
CVAngelo said:
Do you have login credentials for this Auchan website where you found the ROMs? It is asking for a login ID and password. I need ROM for Model S6S5IN3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd love to help you mate, I found that repository in a forum maybe forum.gsmhosting, and I've tried to access it earlier, and I'm also denied access.

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