Database Develop

Beta testing ROM's for the Se Xperia

Having been following various threads on this forum for a few weeks now I have noticed an increase in the number of users claiming the cooks have created faulty/buggy ROM's and also an increase in the number of cooks suggesting that these faults/bugs would be a lot less common if quality beta testers were available to assist.
So, in the spirit of trying to appease users whilst assisting the cooks; I would like to ask everyone to submit ideas for a 'standard' process for beta testers to follow. Something that covers the basics whilst checking for the stuff that often gets missed.
I'm hoping to collate all the data that gets posted here into a solid guide which can be used by people like me who want to help (and have the time), but don't know where to start.
Looking forward to your posts;
.M.

mindcandy said:
I'm hoping to collate all the data that gets posted here into a solid guide which can be used by people like me who want to help (and have the time), but don't know where to start.
Looking forward to your posts;
.M.
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I also would like to help but I don't know how...

One thing you can do is to test all the different connection types (BT, WiFi, ActiveSync etc.). Often these can make a problem in new ROMs.

Testing , Testing & Testing
Probably can be categorized (shooting from the hip) This can be refined as everyone sees fit:
1.) Functional Testing
Make a phone call. Receive a phone call.
Send & Receive Text Message.
Configure & send email.
Connect wifi surf internet. Connect internet w/o wifi.
Connect to a device using bluetooth.
Change background and/or theme.
Ensure battery drainage is 'reasonable' considering what you're doing..<subjective>
Ensure restore of a back up such as Pim Backup works.
2.) Usability & End to End Testing
Turn on phone and use apps installed.
Is device finger friendly.
Is navigation of device user-friendly?
Are graphics in tact and nice on the eyes?
Is performance reasonable? <relative to stock rom>

[Q] Security question: Phones and Intelligence Firm Visits

*Assume the phone in question is rooted and s-off*
Scenario: A person is invited to the HQ of a very successful and prominent intelligence firm by one of the highest ranking advisors in the firm. The purpose of the invite is unknown to this person, although it isn’t a place like Google so they aren’t exactly in the business of just giving out tours for friends. It’s possible that lucrative employment may be an option. Assume that buying a prepaid phone for the visit is not an option, and that the phone does not leave the custody of the person at any time during the visit.
Question: Is it possible to push anything to the phone (a program or script for example) which would survive a complete wipe followed by a nandroid restore (backed up before the visit takes place) when only the following is enabled (no NFC, Bluetooth, or Wifi):
-Data/radio
-Radio
-Airplane mode
Thank you very much for your time on this.

prospect7 said:
*Assume the phone in question is rooted and s-off*
Scenario: A person is invited to the HQ of a very successful and prominent intelligence firm by one of the highest ranking advisors in the firm. The purpose of the invite is unknown to this person, although it isn’t a place like Google so they aren’t exactly in the business of just giving out tours for friends. It’s possible that lucrative employment may be an option. Assume that buying a prepaid phone for the visit is not an option, and that the phone does not leave the custody of the person at any time during the visit.
Question: Is it possible to push anything to the phone (a program or script for example) which would survive a complete wipe followed by a nandroid restore (backed up before the visit takes place) when only the following is enabled (no NFC, Bluetooth, or Wifi):
-Data/radio
-Radio
-Airplane mode
Thank you very much for your time on this.
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Click to collapse
Lol this is a little paranoid imo but also very interesting. How could your radio and data be enabled with airplane mode at the same time? I would also say that this isn't specifically related to the HTC ONE but more related to Android in general. Maybe you should ask your special question here

Yes, it is possible. They put up a rogue cell site, your phone connects to it, and they are in control of any data sent / received to the device.

cschmitt said:
Yes, it is possible. They put up a rogue cell site, your phone connects to it, and they are in control of any data sent / received to the device.
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Click to collapse
How the device will connect to that rogue cell site with airplane mode activated?
I love that poem mate! :good: in your signature lol ''Ode to the Noob''

Thanks, both of you, I'll post this to the forum you mentioned, alray.
Paranoid yes, but if you've followed the intelligence community closely, it's not so much paranoia as precaution. Trust me, I won't go blame it on aliens, hahaha.
To answer your question, alray: Information has been made public to show that hardware level surveillance is possible on electronic devices and there are devices used to do this. Granted, it's rare, but I figured I'd leave it open ended to see if someone knew something I didn't.

WANTED: Feedback on hobby project 'ANDROID MOBILE TRIAGE KIT'

::THE HOOK
Hello! My name is Atomicmuffin, and may I present the concept of an (aptly dubbed)'Android Mobile Triage Kit'! This is a minor little "side-project" i've been killing time with as of late and it had been suggested by an associate that I share with the community.
::THE GOAL
In a nutshell? I just want community feedback. Before I set to work typing out a series of long articles (I tend to be overly defining in my writing :C), and before I spent the time to lay everything out, taking pictures, tutorializing steps, etc. And that's just the Forum part. The UI/UX is non-existant, nor do I have any sense of established direction with my custom software tools and the like that i've written. SO, before the required time is spent "noobifying" my mini-project and developing documention as such...here I am.
::A BRIEF BACKSTORY
I decided to come here and gather input from th community following my experiences yesterday, which consisted of the successful ressurrection of an associates' pretty-much-dead Galaxy S3-Mini via on-the-spot boot-sdcard generation....subsequently followed by another associate whom wanted the latest firmware (Marshmallow) for their S5 (flashed to PB1..they were still on 4.4.2 KitKatt! NK1 I believe)...and capped off with the first-timers' starter-pack (S4-edition) for a friend: TWRP Flash + Root >> then custom ROM and Kernel.
This general scenario is of course nothing new to the modding community, however there is one (or maybe two or three) critical aspects of this partiticular endeavor that may appeal to some, the primary of which is PORTABILITY.
All of this happened in a 20-minute window, at a Starbucks, and it all fits in my jean pocket. Hell, half the time was spent waiting for downloads to complete on crappy Starbucks wifi. Afterwards, It was suggested that I venture outside of my bubble and share with others this little setup i've assembled. And after brief consideration about persuing it, and longer consideration for the name of it, here I am.
Triage [tree-AZH]:
-Noun -- Triage is the process of examining problems quickly, often with limited resources, in order to decide which ones are the most serious and consequently must be acted upon first.
Alrighty then!...but why?
See...now that's just one o' them great life mysteries. But actually, I'd have to conclude that it is because I lack other, more creative ways to spend my free time. Take this circumstance combined with owning excessive amounts of Samsung mobile devices (in sequential order, too!) and **** like this was just bound to happen sometime....
:EAKING UNDER THE HOOD
So...just what is the 'Android Mobile Triage Kit' exactly?
It is an assortment of tools & utilities, both hardware and software, and self-made as well as some google-search-aquired software components and some Amazon-search-aquired hardware components. And so, with those powers combined, out pops a Triage Kit in which one can quickly assess and attend to any Samsung mobile device capable of being flashed via ODIN.
Even at this stage (lets call it Pre-PreAlpha) or "state" of the project, there is nothing I cannot do in ODIN, nor any other tool that this setup cannot do as well. Mobile Odin and FlashFire (and similar apps), while certainly very useful and convienent for what they are (Thanks Chainfire! And also for the inspiration!), they depend on one, often-critical and unchangeable fact of life: The device has to at least boot. Even further, make it into a ROM after booting, and further still, require root privs. Whereas the only immovable obstacle facing my uniquie approach would be something along the lines of definitive hardware failure (like you dropped it in the pool).
Even if you're hard-bricked and cannot reach ODIN-mode, depending on which device you have the tools exist or are in-development, and those select devices can often be recovered by constructing a boot-sdcard (or more advanced, a boot eMMC-like partition on an external flashdrive). Currently, the pair of tools i'm developing to handle those tasks is on the backburner, but not forgotton.
::TEAR 'ER APART AND PIECE 'ER TOGETHER
All that's left is the how. This article is already too damn long as well so I'll try to be brief..
Absolute Essentials:
1x - Samsung-manufactured device to be operated on. (e.g the phone you wanna ODIN-flash)
1x - Mobile Device running Android 4.4+ (KK+) and ROOT CAPABLE, ideally Samsung-manufactured as well but not critical.
1x - USB-Std A--Female to USB-MicroB--Male Adapter. Colloquially referred to as an USB-OTG adapter.
1x - Length of standard USB-Std A--Male to USB-MicroB--Male cabling. (AKA Charge cord)
MUCH - Patience.
This would be bare minimum. My "kit" contains many more tools and doohickeys to save as many helpless victims on the go as possible. I'll add a pic later, but given the functionality of it all, it STILL FITS INSIDE MY 'TRIAGE BAG' (aka A Crown Royal Baggy), AND FITS ENTIRELY INSIDE MY JEAN-POCKET, ALBEIT SNUGGLY..
::THE NITTY GRITTY
Since Android runs atop the Linux Kernel, The main concept here is what happens inside the MasterDevice (or HostDevice, if you will). We actually piece together a Linux Distribution and build a rootfs imagefile. We "boot" this image inside the phone, passing variables, params and other required resources from Android such as hardware drivers, etc. We then pull a Chinese Fire Drill with various processes, handing the reigns over to this booted image. Once all is said and done, we have (for all our relavent intents and purposes) a running Linux Distro in which we operate. From there it's just a matter of developing the comm tools.
This "chroot", as it's called in Linux terms, isn't only limited to our application of it flashing devices. In fact, I built my "Plebian" (my own personal Debian-based setup) chroot on my VZW-branded Galaxy S4 for the sole purpose of assisting in the ONLY OTHER "side-project" i'm working on currently: Reading, Reverse-Engineering and Hacking the CANBUS its associated modules inside a BMW E90 via the ODB-II port. You can do anything! It's basically a mini-desktop. In fact, i'm (although sparingly) working on further integration with my phones, involving root-switching, kernel-switching, kexec'ing (hot-booting Kernels), and perhaps even bootloader bypasses? Who knows. But anyway....
If interest is lackluster, no big deal, whatevs, it's just a side-project. However should interest explode, patience would be a virture, as it would be a good chunk of time before I'd finish creating all relevant documentations and such, and stabilize the disaster that is the current UX before finally going public. Unforuntely in it's current "working" state, only those with quite the intimate knowledge of Linux (and kernel), usb, serial device communication, etc..etc...would be able to actually use it effectively. Thus why i'm here to receieve feedback!
::THE FINAL QUESTION: Should I continue to develop and release such a project? And would the community benefit to such an extent as to justify the additional time investment? Thank you guys so much for the input!
P.S: Didn't know which forum to post in, since i'm currently only requesting feedback in the conceptual sense, so posting it in off-topic.

(Request) An app or xposed module to remotely turn on your gps and locate your phone

Hello, I'm new to the site, well I've always used it but first time posting, y'all are great and always help me with a lot of things with my phone.
I don't know if it's usual of people to request here, but as a non-dev, and due to losing my phone yesterday(I found it today, I had lost it at the beach) I realised it'd be amazing for an app to be able to do this, and, well, I can't make an app.
There are plenty of these apps that locate your phone, I guess one of the most common is Google's Find my device, but none of these can't seem to work if you have your location turned off, and I always have it turned off unless when I need it.
It'd be cool with the great power of xposed, a module which lets you find your device by remotely turning your location on, I guess there was an app that could do this and there were a lot of controversy about privacy, so they don't have the feature anymore, i don't remember, read it on reddit a while ago, but if the user is the only one who can turn it on, and is notified on the phone, and, also accepts the consequences of installing the app, I guess it's ok.
Is it possible? What are the odds? Is it hard? I think it's not a bad idea, plus not only me, but a lot of people(who knows xposed of course) would find it useful.
Thanks for your attention

vadinoguerrero said:
Hello, I'm new to the site, well I've always used it but first time posting, y'all are great and always help me with a lot of things with my phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your best bet is to post this request on the following thread.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2327541
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT VIA PM UNLESS ASKED/REQUESTED BY MYSELF.
PLEASE KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE

Thread closed as user has been routed to correct thread.

Old school dude learning new tricks

I work in TV media as an engineer now. When I was younger I learned how to program in C ++ but never ##. I gave up c++ over 15 years ago. I did install kotlin about a year ago to learn Android programming however found it much more difficult then I thought it would be. I found the way that the modules are separated in the Android programming environment confusing.
What makes me old school is I know Electronics repair at the component level this includes surface mount technology. I always found Electronics easier to understand then programming.
I installed an Android radio in my Lexus about a month ago. I had several issues and were able to solve a couple. When I found the x d a website, I found it interesting reading some of the other users troubles. I'm hoping to contribute a little bit of knowledge while gaining a whole lot more.
The Android units that I purchased was through Phoenix Automotive and I've had some difficulty with the sound levels. I managed to fix some of the sound levels by using a hidden equalizer built into the software OS of the Android.
The main issue I'm having, is probably just the fact that the newer version has locked the factory settings and the code window does not come up on this version, so you can't enter a code to access factory settings. I think it is a rip-off that they have locked this out now. As I understand it, the Android radio head unit, that I have, does have hidden features for audio control in the factory settings area. If anyone knows how to make a console or terminal emulator work on this Android head unit, so I can access factory settings that way, would help.
Thanks

RogerHomeboy said:
I work in TV media as an engineer now. When I was younger I learned how to program in C ++ but never ##. I gave up c++ over 15 years ago. I did install kotlin about a year ago to learn Android programming however found it much more difficult then I thought it would be. I found the way that the modules are separated in the Android programming environment confusing.
What makes me old school is I know Electronics repair at the component level this includes surface mount technology. I always found Electronics easier to understand then programming.
I installed an Android radio in my Lexus about a month ago. I had several issues and were able to solve a couple. When I found the x d a website, I found it interesting reading some of the other users troubles. I'm hoping to contribute a little bit of knowledge while gaining a whole lot more.
The Android units that I purchased was through Phoenix Automotive and I've had some difficulty with the sound levels. I managed to fix some of the sound levels by using a hidden equalizer built into the software OS of the Android.
The main issue I'm having, is probably just the fact that the newer version has locked the factory settings and the code window does not come up on this version, so you can't enter a code to access factory settings. I think it is a rip-off that they have locked this out now. As I understand it, the Android radio head unit, that I have, does have hidden features for audio control in the factory settings area. If anyone knows how to make a console or terminal emulator work on this Android head unit, so I can access factory settings that way, would help.
Thanks
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Click to collapse
Sure youll find good stuff around, welcome!