Re: Device Administrator setting disabled after reboot

[Pent]

From another thread about same topic:

"As subject says, i check the box, later boot(or remount sd card) and
it
wont stay selected.

Tasker isnt set to be on the sdcard, but does get disabled when sdcard
is
unmounted."

android 4.1.1 CM Based. "

Which ROM do you have ?

I think this is very unlikely to be a Tasker problem, because apps
have no control over whether the user has checked the administrator or
not.

Pent

[Pent]

> In case there is no other way to fix this than reinstalling, will my
> settings and profiles remain or will I have to redo/backup+restore them all
> after installing?

Menu / Data / Backup
Uninstall (check trial version is not installed in Android settings
too)
Reboot
Install
Menu / Data / Restore

Pent

[Ivelin Ivanov]

I just reinstalled Tasker but the problem persists. I have a Huawei Ascend Y300, Build B171, Android 4.1.1, rooted but no custom ROMs or any major modifications.

Now that I think about it, this appears to be the same problem that prevents paid keyboards (Swype, SwiftKey etc) from staying as default after reboot. Apparently since JB the Play Store installs paid apps in /mnt/asec, which gets mounted too late during boot, thus preventing the installed apps from being recognized by Android  before it sets the various defaults. At least that's how I understand the problem with keyboards specifically, but it makes sense that Android also checks the device administrators before mounting /mnt/asec, thus it can't see that Tasker is still installed and removes its administrator access.

That problem doesn't appear for apps that get installed as free apps and only after install receive an unlock code or something to unlock the paid version.

See the official Android "bug" here - https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=34880 or one possible workaround here - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.haxsync.facebook.workaround&hl=en

[Pent]

Very good info, thanks.

Pent

[Ivelin Ivanov]

I found a way to "fix" this (also works for Swype!) but it requires a rooted phone:

1. Install Link2SD - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.buak.Link2SD
2. Start Link2SD
3. Select Tasker from the list of apps
4. Select "Move to Phone"
5. Done!

Alternatively, you can also use Titanium Backup FREE to backup Tasker, then uninstall it, then restore. In this case you might have to check your TB settings and see if it's set to restore to the correct location. TB also has an option to "Move to Phone", but I'm not sure if it works in the free version or you need the PRO version for this. The end result should be the same, so use whichever app you prefer or already have installed. I can't provide a step-by-step for TB though since I've already moved Tasker with Link2SD.

What the above does is move Tasker from /mnt/asec to /data/app, the latter being initialized early enough during boot so that Tasker remains as an active device administrator.

So far I haven't noticed any problems with either Swype or Tasker after fixing them. What I thought might cause problems is when there are updates to Tasker from the Play Store, but the store still lists Tasker as installed so I don't think that's gonna be a problem either.

[Wietse van Buitenen]

a while ago I also noticed this but had no idea what was happening and didn't have time to debug..

Since the I used the Secure Settings Plugin to enable Device Administrator for Tasker when Tasker Monitors starts, an easy workaround if you're rooted :)

Thanks for the info btw. now I know I wasn't loosing my mind :)