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Help ADB For S4, DPI change issue

pickstarr

Newbie
Hello. I recently messed up my phone, and to fix it, I need to get ADB debugging on it. However, I forgot to turn it on before I did that... is there anyway to install ADB onto my Galaxy S4 so I can fix the issue? Thanks.
 
I'm guessing that normal Android will not boot up?

If that's the case and you don't have the ability to boot into a custom recovery and use adb from there, then I'm afraid you might be stuck :(.

By the way, it's not really a case of installing adb--it is rather a setting indicating if you want your device to have adb access on or off.
 
What did you to your phone exactly? Also as far as recovery from a bootloop or soft brick adb doesn't do much for Samsung devices.... What you want is odin or kies, neither of which need adb to be on.
 
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I changed the resolution and now my phone is messed up. A few messages won't stop popping up. I'll try those out if I can't find out anything
 
So you changed resolution (not sure how that's done) or DPI? The two are different and DPI changes can be undone, not sure what you did exactly though.
 
Another thing. A lot of the tutorials I am reading say something about editting build.prop in /system, however, I can't find anything of that sort on my Android S4? I am on a Windows 8 laptop and I'm trying to fix my resolution problem. Where is build.prop and where is /system?
 
Don't know about resolution and sorry if I wasn't clear, I meant to say yes, undoing dpi change is definitely doable. You'd have to edit a line in your build.prop, I believe it's ro.lcd.density=yourdpi
 
You can use a file explorer if you're rooted (and you are if you did all that, right?) And navigate to /system and it's the only file in that directory, everything else is folders. Alternatively you can download Kernel Adiutor and grant it root access, open the hamburger menu at the top left, scroll down to tools and tap on build.prop editor and use the magnifying glass at the top right and type in "LCD" and change the value from there.
 
You can always sign into the play store on your PC and install the app from there, it should download to your phone and then you can use it. As far as using your PC to change your DPI, since you have debugging off you can't use adb and I'm not sure of any other method with PC that doesn't require that to be on. Very off topic question, do you have a custom recovery installed?
 
I have USB Debugging, if that makes for any consultation. I don't think I have custom recovery on. Any way to check from PC?
 
Hey man, I did everything, but it still says I have something wrong, and my DPI didn't change. Do you have Skype? I think you can help me.
 
Another thing. A lot of the tutorials I am reading say something about editting build.prop in /system, however, I can't find anything of that sort on my Android S4? I am on a Windows 8 laptop and I'm trying to fix my resolution problem. Where is build.prop and where is /system?
Sadly, if you don't know where the "system" is.. Then you shouldn't even be trying to modify anything within it.
 
Yeh, read up and educate yourself first, before you go bricking your phone. Our S4, All Things Root forum is probably a good place to start. :)

If it's a problem with a particular app or game not displaying properly, would be better to email the developers about it, get them to fix their stuff.
 
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Hello. I changed the DPI on my device and screwed everything up, and I'm trying to fix it. I don't have access to my device, so I have to do it over PC. I don't have access to it because the same 3 messages pop up every time. Anyways, when I try to change the DPI from my computer (adb shell wm density 480) this message pops up - error: device unauthorized.
This adbd's $ADB_VENDOR_KEYS is not set; try 'adb kill-servers' if something seems wrong.
Otherwise, check for a conformation dialog on your device.
Can anyone tell me what this means? Is there a fix? Nothing pops up on my device.
 
Anyways, when I try to change the DPI from my computer (adb shell wm density 480) this message pops up - error: device unauthorized.

Close the command prompt window and open a new one. Type:
adb devices

At this time, watch your phone's screen. If it's not already on, bump the power button to turn it on. You should get a pop-up that allows the connection. Tick the little checkbox to "always allow", then press OK.

Then rerun the DPI command in a root shell. I.E. adb shell command and make sure you have a # prompt. If not, type su to get one (root shell), then repeat the DPI command at that point.
 
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Close the command prompt window and open a new one. Type:
adb devices

At this time, watch your phone's screen. If it's not already on, bump the power button to turn it on. You should get a pop-up that allows the connection. Tick the little checkbox to "always allow", then press OK.

Then rerun the DPI command in a root shell. I.E. adb shell command and make sure you have a # prompt. If not, type su to get one (root shell), then repeat the DPI command at that point.
Thank you so much... but now, there's another problem. Man, they just keep coming on... So, when I type "adb devices" into my cmd, it just comes back with this - "'adb' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. Is there a fix for this or am I just doing something wrong?

Edit: When I run it with Minimal ADB & Fastboot, it detects my device (hooray!) but, it says that it is unauthorized... any solution?

Edit: I installed something, it detects my device (another yay) but, it says it is offline... any solutions?
 
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