Develop Bugs

What would you do?

Ok guys, been a long battle. I spent a combined four and a half hours on the phone with sprint yesterday morning. We did soft resets, hard resets. We checked ESN and other numbers I didn't know existed. We checked towers as well.
And after all this, I still have issues making calls. When I go to make a call at home, it automatically disconnects even though I have full bars and my data is working. I also cannot receive calls, as everyone texts me saying that it is going straight to voice mail. I only really go three places.(work, home, gf's place) The problem occurs at both my place and work. However, it doesn't seem to happen when I am on the road, and it only happens sometimes at my gf's.
I took the phone to Sprint with a ticket number given to me by a second tier manager? The sprint store rebooted my phone a few times, tried to make a few calls. Of course it works. So their rule is, if they cannot replicate the problem, they cannot help.
So I guess I am asking what you guys would do. The only two option I see are:
1. Buy a used EVO and finish out my contract(14months) hoping nothing goes wrong with it.
2. Take the early penalty, close my account and go to Verizon like the rest of my friends whose GPS's and calling "just work".
I would hate to leave sprint cause they have the best unlimited deal out there. But this is the second "top of the line" phone I have bought with them that has been a disaster. And both of them seemed to work flawlessly for the first couple months I had them.
By the way, I am on stock EC05, and I have been ever since it EC05 came out. I am not rooted or anything. It was working fine till about Friday.

Do you have TEP?

Wow, try taking out the sd card and use the phone to make a call. SD cards can make the phone do some funky things. If that works; then put it back in, connect the phone to your computer, copy all the contents to your computer; format the sd card and copy the contents back to the sd card.
change to sprint only network (settings - wireless networks - mobile networks - system select .. choose sprint only)
uninstall app 3rd party applications; perhaps something running is the culprit
If still no joy; I would root it and try a custom ROM. Maybe a file got corrupted at some point and that is causing the disconnections.
I really like the one I am on, its worked beautifully.
I'd be happy to help you through the root process if it gets to that point.
Good luck

It doesn't matter whether I have it or not, they rebooted the phone, brought up the dialer, made one call(he might have made two, one of the other people was talking to me) and sent me on my way. If they can't replicate the problem, then their policy is to not do anything. I even asked them if I could make a video of it first hand when I get home, and they basically said that won't change anything cause they have to be able to replicate the problem first hand.

jdelano said:
Wow, try taking out the sd card and use the phone to make a call. SD cards can make the phone do some funky things. If that works; then put it back in, connect the phone to your computer, copy all the contents to your computer; format the sd card and copy the contents back to the sd card.
change to sprint only network (settings - wireless networks - mobile networks - system select .. choose sprint only)
uninstall app 3rd party applications; perhaps something running is the culprit
If still no joy; I would root it and try a custom ROM. Maybe a file got corrupted at some point and that is causing the disconnections.
I really like the one I am on, its worked beautifully.
I'd be happy to help you through the root process if it gets to that point.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try SD card when I get home. I don't have any third party apps, as the technician on the phone hard reset my phone like 3 times. I tried every custom rom, and I even tried to go back to DI18. All of them had the same problem, so I am guessing it is hardware related. Again, data is working correctly, just seems to be something with the calling hardware.

swanysto said:
It doesn't matter whether I have it or not, they rebooted the phone, brought up the dialer, made one call(he might have made two, one of the other people was talking to me) and sent me on my way. If they can't replicate the problem, then their policy is to not do anything. I even asked them if I could make a video of it first hand when I get home, and they basically said that won't change anything cause they have to be able to replicate the problem first hand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have TEP - don't even bother with taking to the store any longer. Just complain enough over the phone and you should be able to get someone to send you a new one.

bjhill2112 said:
If you have TEP - don't even bother with taking to the store any longer. Just complain enough over the phone and you should be able to get someone to send you a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I cannot really wait for them to send me a phone. I need to get something today, as this phone is also my work phone. Customers do not like going straight to my voicemail :/

After a tech on the phone with Sprint screwed my phone up even worse, had me stuck in an activation loop. He told me to bring it to a Sprint store. Well this was at night so I Odin'd to stock DI18 and let it do the OTA and that cleared up the loop. It may work for you and save you grief.
Do you BONSAI?

DDTM is not on is it??
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

I've heard of similar things. I helped someone troubleshoot the problem and came up with it had to be the tower. They called again to customer service and of course they said that nothing is wrong with the tower. I think that they called again to make a report to check out the tower near their house. They did that a few times. I don't know how long it took to fix the situation. I do notice lately that, even though signal strength was okay before, it's better now.
If you have another sprint phone, if you activate it, does it do the same thing? This might be one of those instances that if you complain enough, maybe they might give you one of those devices they have (I forgot what it's called) that you hook up to your home internet and it acts like a mini tower at home. I've heard of stories that after enough complaining enough, they'll just give you one. If the phone still does it then it's the phone that's flaky.
When you talk to someone, make it clear you use this phone for work and if people can't reach you, you will lose clients. If you start losing clients because of this then you will be forced to go to another carrier. If they say you'll have to pay etf then tell them you won't because it isn't your fault that you can't make or receive calls at work and home.
This phone or their equipment or service isn't working properly and you're losing customers because of this.
Here's another idea. Find someone else that has sprint. Have them go by your work and home and see if they can send or receive calls. If they can then its your phone, if they can't then it's the towers.

swanysto said:
I will try SD card when I get home. I don't have any third party apps, as the technician on the phone hard reset my phone like 3 times. I tried every custom rom, and I even tried to go back to DI18. All of them had the same problem, so I am guessing it is hardware related. Again, data is working correctly, just seems to be something with the calling hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, I'd be flippin out if it were me. That has got to SUCK!!

Help! I think I'm being targeted by phishers/scammers because of an app!

I jumped the gun the other day and installed "Temple Run", but it was the just the latest 'fake' version: When I went to go uninstall it, I noticed two additional apps that it must've auto-installed as well (some TV streaming app and some 'rate it' app). I immediately uninstalled them as well, and never used either of those apps whatsoever.
Ever since then, I've been getting a BUNCH of random calls (from two different local area codes) from numbers I don't know. I was curious about them, so I looked them up: Every single one of them is a Harshad number.
I don't know what to do:
I haven't answered one yet, but somehow, someway, it seems like they're trying to get more information.
Btw, I know it's from installing that fake app because I actually put it on my girlfriend's phone too, and she just started getting the same random calls too.
Anybody else dealt with this, or know of anything I can do? ( I really don't wanna change my number: I've had it for about 10 years).
Help!

Do a full wipe and then register on the National No Call list.

That's a bummer to hear.
Personally, i'm a bit surprised that so many people (in the news-blog-osphere) are falling for the fake-version scam, with this app.
I've played it and I don't see the hype. Literally boring as f*ck.
Sent from my calculator watch.

Explain what you mean about it being a "Harshad number?"
And when did you install it on your girlfriend's phone versus yours? I'm not convinced that that alone is proof that it was a result of installing the app.
Even so, I can't imagine what help we could provide. There's nothing software-related you can do to get someone to stop calling you. But I imagine after a little time with no results they'll give up.

first odin a full stock tar.
then do a ##786# reset. you need msl for this.
786 reset WILL wipe your internal storage(not SD card).
format sd card for good measure. backup only files you know are safe.. pics.. etc.
hopefully your number isn't on some sort of list.. its possible there's a background service sending sms etc.. the wipe should take care of it all. it may be extreme.. but better safe than sorry

TurboFool said:
Explain what you mean about it being a "Harshad number?"
And when did you install it on your girlfriend's phone versus yours? I'm not convinced that that alone is proof that it was a result of installing the app.
Even so, I can't imagine what help we could provide. There's nothing software-related you can do to get someone to stop calling you. But I imagine after a little time with no results they'll give up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A harshad number, by definition, is any number whose sum of total digits is evenly divisible into the original number.
When dealing with harshad numbers that are phone numbers, they are free, untraceable numbers that are commonly used by scammers/phishers to get your personal information.
I installed the app on her phone about two minutes after I put it on mine: she was leaving for work, and I hadn't even run the app on my phone yet: neither of our phones have ever had the issue before...so I'm convinced it was from installing it.

autoprime said:
first odin a full stock tar.
then do a ##786# reset. you need msl for this.
786 reset WILL wipe your internal storage(not SD card).
format sd card for good measure. backup only files you know are safe.. pics.. etc.
hopefully your number isn't on some sort of list.. its possible there's a background service sending sms etc.. the wipe should take care of it all. it may be extreme.. but better safe than sorry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct and a nightmare. Sorry dude. I mean the damage is done in some ways.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

Hacked Phone?

Hello everybody, I'm not sure where exactly to post this nor what thread I could search for, as I think my situation is slightly unique and I'm very much confused and concerned.
Just a bit of background, I recently purchased a Galaxy Nexus from Verizon, which has been performing beautifully. I unlocked/rooted immediately, flashed the latest MIUI and franco kernel, and have been enjoying my phone since! Yesterday, however, after failing to successfully update my ROM (forgot to wipe data before the flash and was too lazy to make backups), I reloaded my nandroid and just figured I would rest on my previous version, as it was running fine before.
Today, I found out three of my contacts received calls from me which I did not make, and do not show up on my phone records. I might have dismissed this as some sort of phantom calling, or honestly maybe even butt-dialing, except for the fact that these individuals claimed I spoke to them and said unusual things along the lines of a prank call. During this time, I was at work and my phone was safely in my pocket the entire period in question.
Now, I have absolutely no idea what happened and no idea where to start looking; as such, I'm turning to what I think is an experienced XDA community to perhaps shed some light onto this? I don't want to jump to an extreme conclusion and say that my phone was somehow "hacked," as I don't even know if it's possible that you can hack a phone to call? Or is there any way for someone to make a call that shows up as my phone number on a contact's phone in another fashion? Again, any sort of information would be helpful, and any sort of solution or preventative measure would be even more appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

It could be a rouge app you installed that have permission to place call without your permission. What app did you installed recently?
Pressed from my Maguro

Mach3.2 said:
It could be a rouge app you installed that have permission to place call without your permission. What app did you installed recently?
Pressed from my Maguro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've installed Serve, Documents to Go, and Google Now for ICS from XDA! I actually did google some more, I see that it's possible someone spoofed my number? I don't really know. If it doesn't continue, it won't be a problem, but I'm concerned more malevolent calls may occur.

It's completely possible that someone spoofed your number, there are numerous websites that allow you to do so.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

It's certainly possible that apps can dial numbers or send text messages. I've yet to come across one that actually tries to have a conversation with the person it's calling however.
Sound more probable the number was spoofed, like someone already stated.
If you want to feel safe about your phone, wipe everything and reflash factory images. No rogue app will survive that.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

I'd say go a bit further, re-lock & unlock the bootloader and then flash a factory image. Everything inside the phone has been nuked then.

Thanks for all the replies everyone,
I think I shall do as suggested and reflash a stock ROM at the very least, as a precautionary measure even though I actually am fairly certain my number was just spoofed, due to a certain pattern in the people who were called.
Thank you all for at least quelling my worries that something more serious had occurred.

[Q] Is our information really secure from theft?

If you are like me, you should have all your favorite apps, documents, pictures etc. stored right on your phone that basically gives a full picture of who you are as an individual. You also have been pretty satisfied with the pattern, pin number, password or face unlock or all of these together as a security you have in place to prevent unauthorized access. But here is something that happened by accident that led me down this thought process. While trying to yank out the phone from my pocket while driving (which when you are getting a phone call especially becomes the most impossible task), I noticed that the phone "Power Down", "Restart", "Airplane Mode" pop up was on. This is on top of my regular swipe to unlock with pin number lock screen. This made me curious and noticed that the back button will work to close this pop up and also the power button works to reactivate this pop up. I hope everyone is with me till here. What surprised me was that the phone will actually turn off or restart from this point without the need for an unlock code. This means anyone with rooting and backup knowledge can steal my phone, restart my phone into recovery and wipe it to make the phone their own or just create a backup (CWM) and through that access my personal information. I know that photos and documents stored on the external card is open unless encrypted. But I hoped the internal data would be secure.
What do you guys think about this? Is there any app that would prevent access to the phone while locked via hard keys? What do you do to keep your information safe?

TL;DR version
If phone is stolen and person has knowledge of android they can factory reset your phone, even if you have a password setup. If they enter recovery they can wipe data and factory reset your phone and now it is usable for them.
My theory if you have your phone rooted I wish there was a way to lock the recovery with a password. Unfortunately ODIN will always be available able to get back to stock. Cerberus is a great app to have full control of phone if stolen FYI

DesperateScorpion151 said:
What do you guys think about this? Is there any app that would prevent access to the phone while locked via hard keys? What do you do to keep your information safe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As soon as I realize it is missing I would activate the wipe feature in this software.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lookout&hl=en
If I have your phone in my possession I guarantee I can hack it regardless of any security measure you make take, so the best solution is to be able to wipe it remotely.

technically even a remote wipe is not enough if the thief is knowledgeable. I accidentally wiped flashing in Odin with nand erase checkd and recovered everything that was on it using this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994705 so your never completely safe

Exactly my point like everyone else confirms it here. We have advanced so much to a point that even a 9 year old (not that 9 is too young to know computer basics) who is familiar with basics on rooting after reading through forums after forums can get away with stealing a smart phone now a days. At this point the only way I could think of protecting my data (first priority) and then track my phone is if the tracker is incorporated into the boot loader or recovery itself on top of what ever software you have installed in the OS. So if the thief tries to unlock my phone after a restart, the installed software should take care of the rest but If he/she is smart enough to go via boot loader or recovery then the incorporated tracker can do its thing. Anything of that sort exists?

Did you forget you could just pull the battery to get into recovery?

Why do you need to pull the battery?

Aerowinder said:
Why do you need to pull the battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't, but its easier than going through all of the steps OP posted.

I really doubt my data is worth anything. Pictures of my cats aren't exactly hot commodities and I don't store anything on my phone that I wouldn't publicly reveal, anyway.
I wouldn't be worried about my worthless information, just annoyed I was dumb enough to let it get stolen. Yeah, I know that basically anyone with half a brain can wipe a phone and re-sell it - it always amazes me when people think that thieves aren't smart enough to do that.
I'm cynical. Saves a lot of worry since I just expect the worst, I guess.

They get into your email where it may be more info to compromise.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

I would be less worried about the minute possibility of a phone thief targeting your personal information than I would be about your personal data being mined from your phone by numerous applications.
Bottom line is, if you use Google or Facebook, you personal information is already in the hands of giant corporations who will never be held accountable for the theft of your personal info.
Take Facebook for example - within the app, the only time it should ever ping your location is if you are using FB chat and have the location setting enabled. However, even when you disable location within FB chat, every single time you open Facebook it uses your GPS to get your location. Every time.
In addition, although you are unable to see it in action because there is no notification icon for it, I would bet a million bucks it's also pulling your network location if your GPS is off.
Facebook is constantly working in the background - even if you never opened it.
Google? I won't even begin to try and explain the amount of data they are collecting from you. As is T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, ATT, etc. every single second that your phone is on with data enabled.
Should we be concerned with some random thief who knows the ins and outs of Android pulling your data? Sure, we should think about it. But the reality is, if you own a smart phone your information is already out there in the hands of companies who will use it to any end they can in order to turn a profit. Period.

ButWhile I see the pros and cons of different parts involved in using social networks and so forth, one thing we can (at least for now) be certain of is that they won't use your credit card information etc. to make illegal purchases and so forth. I know of a person who routinely used the credit card app to check balance, pay bill etc. and next thing he was getting phone calls to see if the purchases made at a casino in Spain are OK?! This is without ever losing the phone!!. So, it could be worse in the case of phone loss. Sure, personal data, pictures and even email to some extent is not as bothersome to me as identity theft. Thank to some anti-fraud features of the banks etc. one can deny and simply not be associated with that activity (of course in legitamate cases). My friend ended up getting another card with different number and they closed the online banking account. He had to re-register all over with another id. So, it can be a big hassle. I heard of cases where people had to hire lawyers and run around courts to prove their innocence due to identity theft. Of course if you keep a picture of your driving licence on the phone, you are really asking for it so... (trust me, one girl was doing this because she didn't want to carry her purse/wallet on night outs)
Having said that, I am always worried if the roms we download here in XDA have trojans or backdoors built into kernels and system files... I know that it is like doubting even the good devs but how do we know for sure? Unless you are really an in-depth expert and figure out all the details such as processes and ports that are open and so forth, how do you really know? The phone's data icons keep pinging back and forth every now and then and at times I wonder what's being sent and what is it receiving... just sync'ing contacts...or...??
Call me paranoid but, after what happened to my friend, and similar stories, I am a bit skeptical about the security and integrity of the ROMs in the first place... Now, mostly I download and try different roms and settle on one that suits my preferences. I use the phone for calls as well as to make general tasks easier in many aspects except financial transactions. In short, I don't trust my smart phones.
For those of you wondering what Google is tracking, (not by any means the only place to look) login to your gmail account and look around different settings. You'll see web history, phone data to name a few..

Phone hacked

I need help identifying what app or setting got me into this mess.
I think the hacker has adb access.
He shuts down apps.. etc
He is messing with the notifications.. i get ony a few. Sometimes they come in late.
I have made reset from samsung setting and the boot menu, AND I INSTALLED A NEW ROM (the one for my phone) WITH ODIN. Still the issue resurfaces.
I think my roomate installed smthg in it. He is on the house wifi and he is got a degree in networking (i think thats what it's called, we study in french in my country)
Please i need help.

If someone needs any further details, please ask.

Avoid the wifi network you suspect your hacker friend is on, reinstall the rom downloaded on another network and stay on 4G and see if it still happens? Also suspect your PC to be hacked...

Thx for replying,
I did format my pc but i have connected it to house wifi.. didn't notice anything out of order though.
I found out about the "Revoke USB debugging authorisations" option in Developer Options. I think it is working.

Today, since i made a new instagram account, i added a mutual friend. Turns out it was an old and lost account, and thats when i got the error from the video.
Fortunately, i fixed it by un.following the account and clearing the app storage.
I need to know what access does he have?

Can't upload the video, here's some shots.

Look no further than yourself for the cause of this... one way or another.
RX: Factory reset, change Google account password.
Stop with the social media crap and go mingle with real people.

This not about social media, it's about getting my phone back.
With my old account, I couldn't even talk to my messenger friend. Today, thats like having your phone number unreachable all the time, frustrating.
Please if you don't want to help don't, but no need for quick unhelpful replies.

Carch921 said:
This not about social media, it's about getting my phone back.
With my old account, I couldn't even talk to my messenger friend. Today, thats like having your phone number unreachable all the time, frustrating.
Please if you don't want to help don't, but no need for quick unhelpful replies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How was it compromised?
Understand if it was compromised it's more than likely because you left yourself vulnerable to attack.
A compromised OS needs to be cleaned or wiped... I gave you the solution(s).
No need to say thanks but don't give me lip about your screw ups.

Thank you.
I tried factory reset more than 10 times, different ways. No luck.
I think he is got access to one of my friends account but i don't know how he is using this connection with me ( message, notification.. i don't know)
@blackhawk what you said is true, and i didn't mean no offense.

Carch921 said:
Thank you.
I tried factory reset more than 10 times, different ways. No luck.
I think he is got access to one of my friends account but i don't know how he is using this connection with me ( message, notification.. i don't know)
@blackhawk what you said is true, and i didn't mean no offense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reflash the firmware especially if it is Oreo or below.
If it's not embedded in the firmware, it's being added by you albeit inadvertently.
Your Achilles heel is social media... don't be so predictable. Break the link in the chain.
None of the social apps should be running on the device, they are malware. At least keep them in the cloud.
Email must always be kept in the cloud and any attachments downloaded from it scruntinized or preferably not downloaded at all. All downloads are suspect.
At this point your data base is suspect as well.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.

Android 11.
I am trying.

Carch921 said:
Android 11.
I am trying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless someone physically got their hands on it, there's no known way the Android 11 stock factory image can be compromised by a rootkit or virus. A factory reset is all that is needed.
The problem happened after the reset.

blackhawk said:
Unless someone physically got their hands on it, there's no known way the Android 11 stock factory image can be compromised by a rootkit or virus. A factory reset is all that is needed.
The problem happened after the reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly what i suspect did happen. I often leave my phone home and my pattern is known for him.
How can i undo a modification of that level.
(I intend to go to a phone repair shop and install new soft with the "box". Is this recommended or is it a bad idea)

Carch921 said:
That is exactly what i suspect did happen. I often leave my phone home and my pattern is known for him.
How can i undo a modification of that level.
(I intend to go to a phone repair shop and install new soft with the "box". Is this recommended or is it a bad idea)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never leave a phone physically unsecured as that's the only real security there is.
You need to have the firmware reflashed then be careful what you put back on it.
Change all your passwords and use secure passwords.

I ithink i this is the problem.( in the pic below)
There was an app called android device.. don't know if this is normal. So i deleted it and restarted and things are back to normal.

Sorry i can't upload the image, the app closes automatically.

Scan it online with Virustotal.

Sell the phone Facebook