S9+, Android 10, Nova Launcher, Recents button isn't working.. - Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers

So I run the S9+ on Xfinity Mobile. When I got the phone I uninstalled just about everything Samsung (per bloatware removal instructions here). Everything is great. With each update some stuff may come back so I uninstall it again.
Android 10 came, and everything works fine except the recents button on my home screen. I usually open recents to either close a program or quickly switch to another program. I also use it to split screen 2 apps at once.
Any ideas what to do?

I guess you uninstalled stock launcher/samsung experience/one ui.That would be why this happens.

ordeniz said:
I guess you uninstalled stock launcher/samsung experience/one ui.That would be why this happens.
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I've always had them uninstalled and it worked before.

yuppicide said:
I've always had them uninstalled and it worked before.
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this is the cringiest thing people say when troubleshooting. Ive been in leadership positions at 2 different companies in the tech support dept and when helping customer service reps, if someone told me that a customer told them exactly what you responded with, i would either just walk away (jokingly, then turn around and explain that it doesnt matter) or (if they were new) id gently tell them that people say this all the time and that it having worked prior is normally irrelevant. Uninstalling those is the same as uninstalling touchwiz on a touchwiz based ROM, youre begging for trouble doing that.

Youdoofus said:
this is the cringiest thing people say when troubleshooting. Ive been in leadership positions at 2 different companies in the tech support dept and when helping customer service reps, if someone told me that a customer told them exactly what you responded with, i would either just walk away (jokingly, then turn around and explain that it doesnt matter) or (if they were new) id gently tell them that people say this all the time and that it having worked prior is normally irrelevant. Uninstalling those is the same as uninstalling touchwiz on a touchwiz based ROM, youre begging for trouble doing that.
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Cringy - Usually classified by seeing something and feeling extremely embarrassed.
Why would you be embarassed? That's a stupid word to use.
Anyway, I know it can be risky, but I'm not begging for trouble. I've been using this phone since 2018 without 99% of the Samsung stuff using this thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...-bloatware-youd-recommend-to-rid-off-t3759500
Anyway, I'ma get ready to factory reset the phone, run update, then remove everything and be back to normal.
Definitely not irrelevant. That's like saying "Gestures used to work, but now they don't".

Anyway, I did a factory reset, update, proceeded to uninstall everything again.. all good. Just takes a few hours.. to set every setting back up again, etc.

yuppicide said:
Anyway, I did a factory reset, update, proceeded to uninstall everything again.. all good. Just takes a few hours.. to set every setting back up again, etc.
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Click to collapse
Did you uninstall stock launcher/samsung experience/one ui again?

yuppicide said:
Cringy - Usually classified by seeing something and feeling extremely embarrassed.
Why would you be embarassed? That's a stupid word to use.
Anyway, I know it can be risky, but I'm not begging for trouble. I've been using this phone since 2018 without 99% of the Samsung stuff using this thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...-bloatware-youd-recommend-to-rid-off-t3759500
Anyway, I'ma get ready to factory reset the phone, run update, then remove everything and be back to normal.
Definitely not irrelevant. That's like saying "Gestures used to work, but now they don't".
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its far from a stupid word to use, and youre reply now falls into that same category. Go to urban dictionary and read their definition of cringey. And read past the first sentence where examples are given. it goes a little something like this "Cringy Someone or something that makes you embarrassed to be a part of the human race. Usually classified by seeing something and feeling extremely embarrassed, throwing your head back and closing your eyes to block your view of the cringy media, and biting your lip to keep in your scream of utter disgust. In some cases, a person viewing cringy media may also feel an almost unbearable feeling of wanting to (insert horrible act here). The first example shows usage of the word that defies the first definition. When attempting to help someone with anything really and the person youre helping says "well ive always done it this way and its never been a problem before", i guarantee you that 99% of the helpers in those situations have either facepalmed or very much wanted to. Cringey, plain and simple. Something or someone that usually makes one cringe.

Related

[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.
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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.

[Q] Kernel level spywares, the REAL deal...

Hi guys! Long time lurker/flasher/tweaker here. Really not sure where to post this tho so mods please move to best area if this isnt it.
To start with this may sound a lil crazy but without getting too much into it I am a victim of something called "Gang Stalking". Google it if ya wanna know more, they know everywhere I am. Crazy crazy evil **** but anyways...
So I have always suspected to have trackers/keyloggers installed on any devices I have if someone manages to get their hands on it. Well I just purchased a new Dell Venue 8 the other day and had a weird experience buying it to start with. Im an American currently in Mexico (part of my journey trying to escape my persecuters) and I went to Office Depot to pick it up as they had a killer sale for it going on (a whole 1/3rd off and electronics are more expensive here)... Well i get the usual run around I get at any business if my persecuters find out im going there for something. Like "no you can only get that special online blah blah etc" when the site clearly says in store only lol. Anyway im used to management being paid off wherever I frequent to give me a hard time and such so as usual I demand the manager and when he tries to give me the run around I start asking for his boss and the number to corporate and threaten to call them there and often they cave. Well he did but says hes going to have to "pull some strings (just for me)" lmao but that to come back tomorrow afternoon and he would have me one at that price. So I say fine whatever. I come back the next day and pick it up and its not factory sealed but I dont say anything and think "well as long as it works fine then ill just take it to end the headache"... It looked brand new still.
I get it home finally and after playing with it a couple days I figure that after that weird scenario at Office Depot I would do some snooping to see if I could find anything on it out of the ordinary (like spyware) and it goes without saying that IF theres been something installed that its going to be the best of the best, probably government level software. Especially since they know Im a tech wiz. I have not got around to rooting it yet as the only method requires a PC so just havnt had a chance. When I first started it up it went through setup and updating to 4.4 as if it was factory fresh. Well I do a lil research and see that theres not much (if any) chance something of that caliber could be installed without rooting first. Well I didnt think it had been rooted, atleast I knew not by me, but I hop on the playstore to download (brother joeykrim's) root checker just to see and the WEIRDEST thing happened. I hit download, it came quick, and the INSTANT it was done and said " installing root checker" my screen went totally blank. Like I could still see the backlight so it was on still, just blacked out. Only way to cure was hit power twice and my pin screen came back up and things seemed normal, and I was able to run root checker and it said NO root but I still thought how odd is that with the screen? I knew better but checked a couple more apps out to verify they didnt exibit the same pattern, they didnt of course. I then tried installing another app called root checker and it blanked the screen out again. Tried with an app called just "root check" and all was normal. Once again with another "root checker" app and the screen blanked. This is super weird no? Almost seems like spyware thats detecting a root checker being installed and running some batch process to hide root or something. Well I also learned in one of the root checker apps that there was in fact a version of BusyBox installed, which I then verified by running. Wouldnt the phone have to be rooted for busybox? I know theres a no root version but I sure didnt install it. Any chance of it being factory installed? So what should I make of all this guys? Kernel level spyware? If so it could survive a factory reset right? How could I get it out and be 100% sure? If I flash a stock image from here would it remove ANY chance there could be spyware? Even of say a government level? Sorry for the long post but help please!
Bump. I know some of you guys know something about this kinda thing. Scared to answer jaha? Would it help if I removed the word government lol? I actually think I may have killed it anyway (fingers crossed)... It seems after doing the "installing root checker and blanking the screen" process a few times (seems like 5 times if I remember correctly) it no longer exhibits this behavior, and after this lil round of playing my tab was noticeably hot (like 3d gaming for a half hr hot). Its almost as if after going into "safe mode" a certain number of times the spyware "Self destructed" to avoid detection. Hopefully thats the case and hopefully this will help some other victim of this cruel torture one day. Knowledge is power guys! Dont let these psycho NWO pricks get you down! They want to rule and control the world but they can only rule you if you let em! Educate yourself about the BS going on in this seemingly FREE country. Heh. Much love!

[Q] enlighten phone stuck at setup wizard

Hi Everyone, I need some serious help - thanks in advance!
I have a LG Enlighten phone - I am a tech, although I am new to the whole smartphone thing (ya, I know, where have I been lol). Anyway, as you probably know it has limited internal storage. So I have a Sandisk 32gb micro sd card installed where I move things over to it to keep space open on the internal. The phone is rooted.
Ok, things were going well - and I am not sure what happened precisely, but obviously I must have moved something over to the sd card I shouldn't have. The phone went wonky on me after a reboot. I got stuck in a boot loop I could not recover from. So I did a factory reset (power button, home, and volume up). That went just fine. I activated just fine to. Problem is after that all I get is: Sorry! the application com.android.lgsetupwizard (process com.android.lgsetupwizard)has stopped unexpectedly. please try again.
You can press the force close button a million times (I probably have) and nothing happens. I have tried EVERYTHING to try to clear this and I can't get passed it. I've spent two days online reading forums, web pages, watching youtube videos - nothing has helped. Problem is, since I did a factory reset its back to defaults (I am assuming) meaning USB debugging and mounting is turned off because it is turned off as default. I can't get passed that infernal screen to turn it back on.
I don't have any data on here that I care about I just want my phone back. I don't mind flashing the rom but for the life of me I can't get at it!
When I go into restore mode, at least with the enlighten it doesn't give you options - it just shows the picture of the android for a few seconds then reboots. No idea what it's doing there.
I tried re-formating the micro sd card thinking maybe it was picking something up from there, that didn't seem to do anything.
I have Android Studio installed, I was hoping to do something through it - but again the phone isn't mounting when plugged into my laptop (windows 7) - it was before - no doubt because that feature is turned off because of the factory reset.
If you have ideas, please speak in small words with lots of steps. Thanks.
HELP!
Pandora1331 said:
Hi Everyone, I need some serious help - thanks in advance!
I have a LG Enlighten phone - I am a tech, although I am new to the whole smartphone thing (ya, I know, where have I been lol). Anyway, as you probably know it has limited internal storage. So I have a Sandisk 32gb micro sd card installed where I move things over to it to keep space open on the internal. The phone is rooted.
Ok, things were going well - and I am not sure what happened precisely, but obviously I must have moved something over to the sd card I shouldn't have. The phone went wonky on me after a reboot. I got stuck in a boot loop I could not recover from. So I did a factory reset (power button, home, and volume up). That went just fine. I activated just fine to. Problem is after that all I get is: Sorry! the application com.android.lgsetupwizard (process com.android.lgsetupwizard)has stopped unexpectedly. please try again.
You can press the force close button a million times (I probably have) and nothing happens. I have tried EVERYTHING to try to clear this and I can't get passed it. I've spent two days online reading forums, web pages, watching youtube videos - nothing has helped. Problem is, since I did a factory reset its back to defaults (I am assuming) meaning USB debugging and mounting is turned off because it is turned off as default. I can't get passed that infernal screen to turn it back on.
I don't have any data on here that I care about I just want my phone back. I don't mind flashing the rom but for the life of me I can't get at it!
When I go into restore mode, at least with the enlighten it doesn't give you options - it just shows the picture of the android for a few seconds then reboots. No idea what it's doing there.
I tried re-formating the micro sd card thinking maybe it was picking something up from there, that didn't seem to do anything.
I have Android Studio installed, I was hoping to do something through it - but again the phone isn't mounting when plugged into my laptop (windows 7) - it was before - no doubt because that feature is turned off because of the factory reset.
If you have ideas, please speak in small words with lots of steps. Thanks.
HELP!
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Click to collapse
could you just do a factory reset with the buttons on it?
or has that been tried before
---------- Post added at 07:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:37 PM ----------
btw, i havent been here that long but i dont think you will get much responds because this is on a general thread, i think it would be better if it was in a helping section
Phurkus said:
could you just do a factory reset with the buttons on it?
or has that been tried before
---------- Post added at 07:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:37 PM ----------
btw, i havent been here that long but i dont think you will get much responds because this is on a general thread, i think it would be better if it was in a helping section
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Click to collapse
****
I mentioned that I did a factory reset - but I didn't mention I did it several times (more than that even). Again, the enlighten doesn't really give you a lot of options when you do one. It shows a picture of the android and a file folder for a few seconds - maybe 10... then it boots. there's no option, no text, no choices, nothing. A bit confusing to be honest. Then it boots up, you get the language choice and activation call (which goes through fine) and then wham! back to hell and that freakin' error message.
BTW I posted here because there is no specific forum for the enlighten phone - I didn't want to post in a forum for another phone and get yelled at. Suggestions on a forum? and thanks for taking the time to reply! :0
Pandora1331 said:
****
I mentioned that I did a factory reset - but I didn't mention I did it several times (more than that even). Again, the enlighten doesn't really give you a lot of options when you do one. It shows a picture of the android and a file folder for a few seconds - maybe 10... then it boots. there's no option, no text, no choices, nothing. A bit confusing to be honest. Then it boots up, you get the language choice and activation call (which goes through fine) and then wham! back to hell and that freakin' error message.
BTW I posted here because there is no specific forum for the enlighten phone - I didn't want to post in a forum for another phone and get yelled at. Suggestions on a forum? and thanks for taking the time to reply! :0
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***
I just thought I would post how I just resolved this. I got passed it by getting a PHONE CALL! I flipped the screen up to answer, yanked away. After the call was done I didn't do anything, the other party hung up. Then there was a REALLY long pause on the phone - the screen went black. I waited a couple of minutes, pushing the buttons did nothing. Then finally - the home screen came up. NO MORE BEING PROMPTED FOR A FORCE CLOSE! Yea! And it appear everything is working. Now before it decides to break again I want to flash the rom (I am running the bloated stock rom). Thanks for checking this out. and if you're looking at this cause you're having the same problem, I really hope what worked for me works for you too!
Pandora1331 said:
***
I just thought I would post how I just resolved this. I got passed it by getting a PHONE CALL! I flipped the screen up to answer, yanked away. After the call was done I didn't do anything, the other party hung up. Then there was a REALLY long pause on the phone - the screen went black. I waited a couple of minutes, pushing the buttons did nothing. Then finally - the home screen came up. NO MORE BEING PROMPTED FOR A FORCE CLOSE! Yea! And it appear everything is working. Now before it decides to break again I want to flash the rom (I am running the bloated stock rom). Thanks for checking this out. and if you're looking at this cause you're having the same problem, I really hope what worked for me works for you too!
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Ayy greate job OP! glad to hear that. hope you dont do the same mistake twice
Phurkus said:
Ayy greate job OP! glad to hear that. hope you dont do the same mistake twice
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lol you and me both!
This was a learning experience, it was the first time ever I have had a phone with an external micro sd card which holds more data than the actual phone. Also, my first Android. So I am thrilled to have my phone back - I had been messing with it late last night when this happened and didn't sleep at all because, well, I thought I just bricked my phone!
Lessons learned:
You can move just about any app you want to the sd card, no problem - but what you don't want to move are the operating system files/apps. Nor do you want to convert them to "user apps" and move them. Or at least I don't. Since I don't quite understand how it works, and what that does. I had THOUGHT it would just mean everything would run from my sd card - maybe a smidge slower - but it would run. Well, I was wrong. lol. So I am passing that tidbit along.
Also, in the future, if anything like this happens - don't be so quick to do a factory reset, cause you now take away the ability to connect via usb... It is a last resort, not a panicked, go to move. At least not for me.
And, there is something called Rom Managers - install one on your freakin' phone. I didn't know about them. So I didn't have one. I could have resolved this whole thing sooner if I had (maybe).
Lastly, before you do too much - have someone call you or call yourself from another phone to see what happens. It fixed my problem. Of course I won't be rebooting before I flash my rom (wow, that sounds dirty lol) cause I fear the same thing happening...
That's all I wanted to share - cause that's what I learned. Sorry if this is super obvious to people - it sure wasn't to me.
Pandora1331 said:
lol you and me both!
This was a learning experience, it was the first time ever I have had a phone with an external micro sd card which holds more data than the actual phone. Also, my first Android. So I am thrilled to have my phone back - I had been messing with it late last night when this happened and didn't sleep at all because, well, I thought I just bricked my phone!
Lessons learned:
You can move just about any app you want to the sd card, no problem - but what you don't want to move are the operating system files/apps. Nor do you want to convert them to "user apps" and move them. Or at least I don't. Since I don't quite understand how it works, and what that does. I had THOUGHT it would just mean everything would run from my sd card - maybe a smidge slower - but it would run. Well, I was wrong. lol. So I am passing that tidbit along.
Also, in the future, if anything like this happens - don't be so quick to do a factory reset, cause you now take away the ability to connect via usb... It is a last resort, not a panicked, go to move. At least not for me.
And, there is something called Rom Managers - install one on your freakin' phone. I didn't know about them. So I didn't have one. I could have resolved this whole thing sooner if I had (maybe).
Lastly, before you do too much - have someone call you or call yourself from another phone to see what happens. It fixed my problem. Of course I won't be rebooting before I flash my rom (wow, that sounds dirty lol) cause I fear the same thing happening...
That's all I wanted to share - cause that's what I learned. Sorry if this is super obvious to people - it sure wasn't to me.
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Click to collapse
there you go OP! what i do is i have an old LG phone that i like to mess with or put apps to try them out from here. and it its good, i put it on my regualr phone.
sounds like you learned and just bumped yourself up the ladder of software knoledge today!
Phurkus said:
there you go OP! what i do is i have an old LG phone that i like to mess with or put apps to try them out from here. and it its good, i put it on my regualr phone.
sounds like you learned and just bumped yourself up the ladder of software knoledge today!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---
Absolutely! I love to learn especially stuff I don't know much about - but... I wish it didn't happen in such a panic lol. Oh well, lessons learned... I wouldn't have been in a panic if it weren't my only phone, but it is. :0
I also wish it were easier to learn - it seems (at least to me) that every phone has enough unique characteristics that you really have to be specific about model and o/s. It makes searching for answers that much more difficult. What works for one person won't work for all or even most. You have to do a lot of trial and error. I suppose if I were a programmer perhaps it would be more clear to me on how these things tick. I am tho, just a tech - I fix and build stuff. Although I do have some programming ability, I would never even dream to call my pathetic scribblings code. lol Scripts yes, but really, really simple ones and thing more complex is just greek to me.
Is there any good place to see what kind of custom roms work best with the enlighten? I am thinking of putting one on there... I hate the bloatware stock rom.
Pandora1331 said:
---
Absolutely! I love to learn especially stuff I don't know much about - but... I wish it didn't happen in such a panic lol. Oh well, lessons learned... I wouldn't have been in a panic if it weren't my only phone, but it is. :0
I also wish it were easier to learn - it seems (at least to me) that every phone has enough unique characteristics that you really have to be specific about model and o/s. It makes searching for answers that much more difficult. What works for one person won't work for all or even most. You have to do a lot of trial and error. I suppose if I were a programmer perhaps it would be more clear to me on how these things tick. I am tho, just a tech - I fix and build stuff. Although I do have some programming ability, I would never even dream to call my pathetic scribblings code. lol Scripts yes, but really, really simple ones and thing more complex is just greek to me.
Is there any good place to see what kind of custom roms work best with the enlighten? I am thinking of putting one on there... I hate the bloatware stock rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i learned that lesson too when putting a rom on my phone, not everything works for everyone.
the best place i can think of is on here lol. i just assume the rom with the most replys and views is the most popular. you can try googleing because i know there are other mobile development forums out there that work on other roms. but i know this is the most popular forum.

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?
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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.
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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

A Tale Of Woe and a Cry for Help. (Backup won't restore to Pixel 3)

This is a saga. I had a very long six hours with Pixel support yesterday. Phone is on Verizon. Sorry if some of this is text speak, it's adapted from telling a buddy and reddit about this mess.
So. My camera has been kinda ****ed up for a month or so. I talked to google support about it a while ago but kinda took a break from dealing with it. I have deduced that it is clearly a hardware issue. The camera makes a loud clicking noise when it tries to focus, very rarely actually does focus. The last step in Google troubleshooting before they will warranty it is a factory reset. I said I didn't wanna because it was obviously a hardware issue but my guy said I had to, I should have just lied, but I didn't think of it. So before I reset, I wanted to have everything backed up, which it wasn't, apparently. So to speed things along and not have to wait for it to sync itself, I forced the backup using adb. Made sure it was completed, though. And I can see the backup on Google Drive right now and could then. So then I do the reset.
The phone comes back, my instructions were to skip the startup and test the camera. Obvs doesn't work because it was a hardware issue, but now I wanna reset my phone. Go through the wizard. "No backup found." Ask my camera guy what I should do, he said it glitches sometimes, just do another reset after we're done setting up for me to return the phone maybe. Don't wanna do that right away cuz I'm going away, but I have a while to do it. So I do the second reset and do the wizard right at startup. Still no backup. I call back for a different tech, who has me reset through the bootloader. Still no backup. At that point, I ask if there is someone who can walk me through the commands to force a restore with adb. He says his supervisor could, he'll be back and call me in an hour.
90 minutes pass. I receive no call. I call back looking for my specialist. Get some other dude whom I walk back through the problem with screen sharing on. Takes him a while to get the lay of the land, which is, again, the backup exists, I can see it, for some reason my phone setup cannot, I would like my full phone setup back and not just my ****ing photos. "Ok, we can try transferring you to a manager." Yes. That is what I wanted before. Get another guy who I am not sure is actually a manager. Spend like 15 minutes trying to make him understand the issue and again saying please just give me someone with some familiarity of developer tools who can walk me through some commands real quick. I have a new troubleshooting step he says! Great! He tells me it. Then I went from annoyed to mad. Mind you in between all these calls, I've been getting that 30 seconds of Vivaldi looped on end. He suggests we try putting it in safe mode and letting it sit for half an hour to make sure no apps are interfering. I tried to explain to him that this is pointless, that the whole problem is that THERE ARE NO APPS, IT'S FACTORY FRESH, what would this solve. He tries to say we're just troubleshooting and have to go through it and why safe mode checks things. I said again, I'm clearly not a complete novice, I understand the thing we're doing, I am explaining to you right now why you are having me do it and why it is a pointless step, can we move onto the next one, please. The call drops. He may have just hung up on me because he realized I wasn't happy with his horrible pointless idea.
I call back and this time, through some more Vivaldi, get fairly straight through to a manager. This one at least seems to grasp the issue. He doesn't know how to fix it. No one there knows anything at all about how to use any developer tools, and we've officially established my level of technical literacy is higher than the people meant to help me, if not high enough to get myself out of this mess. There is no one higher to escalate this too, but we can be transferred to the Drive department. Sure. More Vivaldi. Get my guy. At least this time he seems to be on the same continent. Has no idea why I was transferred to him, this is not something in their wheelhouse at all, he'll try one thing, and oh, by the way, I don't own a cell phone yuk yuk yuk. Seems kinda wild for a Google tech support guy not to have a cell, but that's just me. His one thing doesn't work. He has no idea why android support rolled me around the way they did all day. See if Verizon might know. btw you wanna take a survey? That's mostly where we are now. Except. For some reason, if you turn off autobackup, it'll delete all existing backups. This is stupid, but also an issue because I neither want my phone to backup and overwrite the backup I know works nor to delete that backup. So now my phone is backing up into another drive where it can't hurt anyone.
Also, I've now warranty'd the phone with Verizon for the camera issue, so hopefully it will just restore easily to the new one, but just in case it doesn't, I'd still like some advice if anyone has any.
Anyway, the question is if anyone knows how to force the thing to restore with adb.
tl;dr: I forced my phone to do a backup with adb, I can see the backup in google drive, but when I try to setup my phone, it won't recognize that it is there. Does anyone know how to solve this, using adb again or otherwise?

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