General [HELP THREAD] Ask ANY Question. Noob Friendly.

immortalneo · Apr 30, 2013

There are a lot of people joining XDA on a daily basis, and there are a lot of repetitive questions being asked
which clutter up the Development and 'Q & A' threads. Point them here. Feel free to ask or answer questions.

The idea of this thread is to get users to help other users with their problems/questions. People are usually
ridiculed for asking questions that other people deem stupid even though it may be a legitimate question. This
leads to new users being afraid to ask questions!

Only provide well mannered help towards users in this thread. Please do not spoon feed, but rather point in
the direction where that user can find an answer and educate himself. If you don't want to answer, at least
point out where to find the answer.

Before posting anything, I strongly advise you to read THIS thread.

Then, have a quick look at the names of threads in Post No. 2, you might find what you need right away.

Third. Even if you do get your question answered, please do come back and read threads in Post No. 2
(coming later as soon as we start getting the guides) to educate yourself. You'll be surprised how much time
and frustration it will save you in the future!

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ASK ANY QUESTION HERE! No question is stupid or irrelevant in this thread. You will either get an answer or will get pointed in the right direction.

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Gheddox · May 16, 2019

Droidriven said:
There is a difference in hardware, not just software, if it's CDMA then you're stuck with CDMA. There is one exception, "some" CDMA devices have been known to have a GSM(Global) mode that allows them to be used on GSM network, I doubt that a TracFone device is one of them.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

I thought as much. I think i'll just buy a T-mobile motherboard on ebay and swap it out. Ill try and contact the network to find out but as you said i doubt it because looking through the phone its missing things a regular stylo 4 would have such as the NFC and fast charge. phones takes about 2 hours to charge from 0%.

I have a Stylo 4, CDMA originally via Comcast -a Verizon MVNO-, and I now am using as a GSM just as @Droidriven has described [correctly] as being one of these uncommon examples of a device possessing this capability. The question to determine is does the specific Tracphone variant maintain this capability and I'm kind of leaning towards similar doubts, as expressed by @Droidriven.
Under SETTINGS - NETWORK & INTERNET - MOBILE NETWORK 6 - SYSTEM SELECT you may find the ability to choose GLOBAL option. Though I'm uncertain that would guarantee operation with your perspective service provider. IF you have the GLOBAL option then, by all means, seek confirmation through that provider.
You might also Google search on GSMARENA or similar sights for Tracphone specific interoperability with GSM.

Now that I think about it for some reason in the sellers post they showed the IMEI on the screen on the phone but now that search the phone status i'm only seeing the the MEID. According to the Googles MEID=CDMA and IMEI=GSM, so maybe it has it. But when I follow your instruction and go to MOBILE NETWORK the Phone pushes me out of the option so i dunno.

Droidriven · May 16, 2019

Gheddox said:
I thought as much. I think i'll just buy a T-mobile motherboard on ebay and swap it out. Ill try and contact the network to find out but as you said i doubt it because looking through the phone its missing things a regular stylo 4 would have such as the NFC and fast charge. phones takes about 2 hours to charge from 0%.

Now that I think about it for some reason in the sellers post they showed the IMEI on the screen on the phone but now that search the phone status i'm only seeing the the MEID. According to the Googles MEID=CDMA and IMEI=GSM, so maybe it has it. But when I follow your instruction and go to MOBILE NETWORK the Phone pushes me out of the option so i dunno.

Yeah, my Tracfone Stylo 3 doesn't have it either. They probably removed the option to prevent switching the device to a GSM region/network.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 01:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:53 AM ----------

Isaac Zackary said:
First post and complete noob!

I've been searching the web for some answers and keep getting directed to XDA-Developers. So here it goes.

I'm looking to replace my Windows Phone and my frugalness tells me to buy an Android phone instead of an iPhone. The whole reason I'm looking to replace my phone is that Microsoft is ending support for it this December. But everything I read says that most Android phones get security updates for only 2 years, with the exception of Google phones that get 3. The problem is that I really don't want to have to pay for another phone just yet. But if I'm going to have to anyway, it would be nice to have a phone that lasts a while, not just a couple years. So my questions are:

Is keeping an Android Phone for 5 years or so reasonable?
Do security updates really end after only 2 years?
How important is it to keep up with having the latest Android version?
Would installing a custom ROM or OS be the way to go to keep up with the latest security updates?
Does it matter which phone I get?
How hard could it be to install a custom ROM on a phone?

Thank you in advance!

1) yes, plenty of users here are using devices well beyond the 5 year mark.

2) depends on the manufacturer or carrier the device is bought from.

3) not very important but at some point, certain apps and features stop working when your android version is too old to support new software.

4) yes, but it depends on whether or not the developer of the custom ROM takes the time to update the ROM when security updates are released.

5) the phone you get doesn't necessarily matter, it really depends on exactly what you are looking for in a device. Depending on your purposes and what kinds of things that you will be using the device for may or may not be a factor in deciding which device you choose. There is a thread here in the Q&A section intended for people that are looking for new device suggestions, post your questions there concerning which device to choose.

6) it depends on the particular method required to root and/or flash the device. Some are easy, some are complicated and risky, it all depends on the exact device model you choose.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

fil3s · May 16, 2019

Hello

My Nokia 5 ta-1024 won't charge past 50% apparently since I flashed Nokia 6 firmware fromthis site.

What can I do? :crying: should I flash Nokia 5 firmware from that site or is my Nokia damaged!!

Edit: flashed stock nb0 symptoms are still there

help!!

fil3s · May 16, 2019

Am I ever going to get an answer?

Or will I just be ignored, lol.

GOOGLE_USER · May 16, 2019

BALANCE

jason_l367 said:
Am I ever going to get an answer?

Or will I just be ignored, lol.

~~Try battery recalibration methods if actual usage does not reflect diminished battery.~~

*EDIT* I would deplete the battery with device powered on and then FULLY recharge with device powered off.
I was just curious really whether or not you were experiencing less usage time with, what is possibly nothing other than, an erroneous charge state being reported.

Naldo1995 said:
Could somebody help me odex a rom

CLICK HERE

Or perhaps CLICK HERE?

Gheddox · May 16, 2019

Droidriven said:
Yeah, my Tracfone Stylo 3 doesn't have it either. They probably removed the option to prevent switching the device to a GSM region/network.

I was talking to my brother about it today and he made the point that phones arent made strictly cdma anymore as its old tech barely anyone uses so he told me about the secret menu that probably exists on the phone and it worked D:

Droidriven · May 17, 2019

Gheddox said:
I was talking to my brother about it today and he made the point that phones arent made strictly cdma anymore as its old tech barely anyone uses so he told me about the secret menu that probably exists on the phone and it worked D:

Yeah, that's the dialer menu to access radio settings, very handy in different ways, it can actually be used to gain more overall control of virtually everything that the radio does and when.

Also, it isn't necessarily a matter of it being "old tech", it's a matter of that is the network type that two major cell providers use and they usually do just about everything they can to prevent their devices from being activated on other networks. That makes for a lot of CDMA devices that they would prefer staying on a CDMA network if they had their way about it.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 07:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:51 PM ----------

jason_l367 said:
Hello

My Nokia 5 ta-1024 won't charge past 50% apparently since I flashed Nokia 6 firmware fromthis site.

What can I do? :crying: should I flash Nokia 5 firmware from that site or is my Nokia damaged!!

Edit: flashed stock nb0 symptoms are still there help!!

The Windows phone and Nokia sections would probably get you better and more experienced answers. Most of us are only experienced with the typical android devices.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

fil3s · May 17, 2019

Droidriven said:
The Windows phone and Nokia sections would probably get you better and more experienced answers. Most of us are only experienced with android devices.

Not sure if you're serious.. I've a Nokia 5..

Droidriven · May 17, 2019

jason_l367 said:
Not sure if you're serious.. I've a Nokia 5..

The point is, yes, it's android, but it's android that is of a flavor that isn't exactly what most of us are use to. AmazonOS is also "android" but it's still quite a bit different "under the hood", so to speak. I still say that the Nokia section would get you more experienced answers as the members there are definitely more experienced with Nokia devices than most of us here.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Gheddox · May 17, 2019

Droidriven said:
Yeah, that's the dialer menu to access radio settings, very handy in different ways, it can actually be used to gain more overall control of virtually everything that the radio does and when.

Also, it isn't necessarily a matter of it being "old tech", it's a matter of that is the network type that two major cell providers use and they usually do just about everything they can to prevent their devices from being activated on other netwotks. That makes for a lot of CDMA devices that they would prefer staying on a CDMA network if they had their way about it.

Ha tell me about it. Tracfone said they wont be unlocking the phones and every unlocking service avoids Tracfone with a 10ft pole. I know the phone is currently unflashable because no one can unlock the bootloader, but is there any other way i can unlock the phone. I'm Fresh out of options.

fil3s · May 17, 2019

Droidriven said:
The point is, yes, it's android, but it's android that is of a flavor that isn't exactly what most of us are use to. AmazonOS is android but its still quite a bit different "under the hood", so to speak. I still say that the Nokia section would get you more experienced answers as the members there are definitely more experienced with Nokia devices than most of us here.

Ok .. anyway, I've drained the battery , I'm charging it up now. If that fails I guess I'll go and seek help on another thread, thankyou .

Droidriven · May 17, 2019

jason_l367 said:
Ok .. anyway, I've drained the battery , I'm charging it up now. If that fails I guess I'll go and seek help on another thread, thankyou .

The typical battery calibration methods such as draining completely and charging completely or the battery calibration apps "should" work, if they don't then it's probably a device/firmware specific issue, at least in part, which might require device/firmware specific experience.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

fil3s · May 17, 2019

Droidriven said:
The typical battery calibration methods such as draining completely and charging completely or the battery calibration apps "should" work, if they don't then it's probably a device/firmware specific issue, at least in part, which might require device/firmware specific experience.

I drained the battery and charged it to full. Battery is functioning normally for now. Thankyou that was the solution

whbisondtr · May 18, 2019

I have a galaxy S9 and on boost mobile. After the pie updates and the updates subsequently thereafter the wifi signal gets worse. I've compared it to my old S5 and S7 and those have better signals than my S9. Is this just an S9 problem and is there anyway to boost the signal? I'm about ready to activate my S5 and sell the S9..

Dhananjayamishra · May 19, 2019

Oneplus 5 flashing custom ROM or kernel or both

Hi there, please help me out in figuring out some things.. This is all about my phone oneplus 5.. I have rooted the phone and I have installed xposed and magisk, and later I installed Device ID masker app, now I found that Device ID masker is not working for system apps while it works for system apps in other phones.. I contacted developer, he nicely replied it works well for system apps, if it is not working for system apps in your device then system apps are directly reading the values.. Now I want to know if I flash custom ROM or custom kernel or both, then will ID masker app work for system apps or not..

Ssssss8622 · May 19, 2019

Dhananjayamishra said:
Hi there, please help me out in figuring out some things.. This is all about my phone oneplus 5.. I have rooted the phone and I have installed xposed and magisk, and later I installed Device ID masker app, now I found that Device ID masker is not working for system apps while it works for system apps in other phones.. I contacted developer, he nicely replied it works well for system apps, if it is not working for system apps in your device then system apps are directly reading the values.. Now I want to know if I flash custom ROM or custom kernel or both, then will ID masker app work for system apps or not..

System apps are a part of the ROM . So if you use a custom ROM things might change.

Droidriven · May 19, 2019

whbisondtr said:
I have a galaxy S9 and on boost mobile. After the pie updates and the updates subsequently thereafter the wifi signal gets worse. I've compared it to my old S5 and S7 and those have better signals than my S9. Is this just an S9 problem and is there anyway to boost the signal? I'm about ready to activate my S5 and sell the S9..

Boot into stock recovery and then choose the "wipe cache partition" option, after the wipe finishes, reboot the device.

If that doesn't work, backup your contacts, apps and other important or personal information, then boot into recovery and choose the "factory reset/wipe data" option, then reboot and reinstall your backed-up data.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

whbisondtr · May 19, 2019

Droidriven said:
Boot into stock recovery and then choose the "wipe cache partition" option, after the wipe finishes, reboot the device.

If that doesn't work, backup your contacts, apps and other important or personal information, then boot into recovery and choose the "factory reset/wipe data" option, then reboot and reinstall your backed-up data.!

Yeah I tried clearing the cache and was hoping not to have to do a factory reset, but I'll give it a try. I appreciate the reply

Droidriven · May 19, 2019

whbisondtr said:
Yeah I tried clearing the cache and was hoping not to have to do a factory reset, but I'll give it a try. I appreciate the reply

Yeah, I know, but sometimes there are things left behind from before the update that doesn't play well with the update, factory reset or manually flashing the update via your device's flash tool is usually the solution.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

brill_e · May 20, 2019

Hello how can i get sdcard as exfat formated and recognize
In android 9 when its rooted is this possible?

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