yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Apps and Games] dimex:
It doesn't work, period. I removed all my whitelisted entries because I don't really use the sites anymore that needed them, added facebook.com, twitter.com, and plus.google.com to the blacklist, re-applied AdAway, rebooted, and nothing's changed. Facebook still loads, ads still there, data saver in Chrome is off. Force stopped Chrome and reset cache and data.

Sent myself my host file to inspect it and all 3 blacklisted entries are in the file.
[Android Apps and Games] Pkt_Lnt:
Most of the facebook.com links are hosted by akami and others..............
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
If you have now verified that all three entries are in your hosts file, it's clear that

there's nothing wrong with AdAway

and that your problem lies somewhere else.

You still haven't told us what the approach originally suggested of getting a DNS Request Log showed you. THAT is the best way to see which servers, if any, can be redirected by the hosts file. Instead of repeating myself, I'll quote one of my previous replies to you:

I know you said you blacklisted "facebook.com" yet can still access Facebook, but if you are using your browser, I suspect that what you are accessing is not "facebook.com" but actually "www.facebook.com" (as "https://www.facebook.com"), which is a different server. This is exactly why you must check your DNS Request Log to find out exactly which servers you wish to block or allow!

I'm afraid this entire exchange is taking way too much time and energy, and I haven't told you anything that hasn't already been mentioned countless times in this thread. Review your DNS Request Log as advised, or delete AdAway and install AdBlock Plus, or do nothing, but please note that AdAway is working just fine and doing exactly what it's supposed to do!
[Android Apps and Games] dimex:
I ran DNS Request and viewed the log: it showed www.facebook.com, so I added that. Yes, it blocks facebook.com now but the social media share buttons still exist.
[Android Apps and Games] Pkt_Lnt:
Because they don't come from facebook, but a third party redirect server.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
No, it doesn't. It blocks "www.facebook.com". However since I have now reached my patience quota for the day, I'll refrain from further comments on this "share buttons" saga... ;)
[Android Apps and Games] shaqman89:
I just checked the source of that button using firebug in firefox. Frankly, like it has been mentionedd *SO MANY* times above, it's not adaway issue.

It's not loaded externally, but from a css in XDA itself.

Since it is not loaded using a specific DNS entries, I am almost certain that adaway can't deal with that.

Do remember, when you are comparing to adblock's from desktop browser, they sometimes block a html element itself, not necessarily a url, like what adaway does.
[Android Apps and Games] ChasingShadows:
That is true, the image comes from XDA, just the links point to the social media ...
[Android Apps and Games] GabbyWC:
I use AdAway on all my rooted Android devices and consider it to be very useful software. Has anyone here tried this app on an Android TV device with Android 5.1 or higher? Newer versions of the Android TV operating system have removed the three-dot menu functionality from most apps which means that users cannot access the options menu for AdAway either. It is possible to work around this limitation at the app level so I wonder if the developer is willing to revise AdAway's code to force that menu to be visible on Android TV. As it stands, the only areas of the program accessible to Android TV users are the apply and disable ad blocking buttons along with the hosts sources selection list.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Thanks for moving the discussion to this thread. I'm not very familiar with the limitations of your Nexus Player but if it can't access the menu that's a major problem. As far as you know, is it by design or is it a bug in AndroidTV 5.1? You can select hosts source but not use black/white lists or the DNS Requests Log which are on the same menu?

I have no idea how difficult it would be to modify AdAway for your device or why your OS removed the menu, but since AdAway is open source, anybody could give it a try. The question that comes to mind is whether it's worth it, depending on how many people would use it, how long the device will have those limitations, etc.

Have you tried an older (2.9.2?) version of AdAway which doesn't have any "material" UI code and may just manage to sneak the 3-dot menu through?
[Android Apps and Games] dimex:
This might be hacky, but can you run TitaniumBackup on your AndroidTV device? If so, you could possibly make a data backup of AdAway all set-up from your other device and then use TitaniumBackup to apply it to the apk installed on your AndroidTV.
[Android Apps and Games] GabbyWC:
Hey, Mike, the removal of the 3-dots menu on Android TV appears to have been an intentional decision on the part of Google. It took effect as of Android 5.1 and is also applicable to Android 5.1.1. I don't know how Android M will handle it but its final release is still months away and I'd be surprised if Google reversed their decision.

I've attached a screen shot which displays how AdAway looks on Android TV. Honestly, it's not that big of a deal to me for this particular app because I don't usually need to access AdAway's menu unless I want to whitelist a web address or use the log DNS requests feature that you mentioned in the other thread.

GravityBox has a "force overflow menu button" option in its miscellaneous settings but it doesn't seem to work on Lollipop, unfortunately. I've already brought this to the attention of the GravityBox developer so maybe things will change in a future update of his Xposed module.

I don't use that software but according to what others have mentioned in XDA's Nexus Player forums, it too is limited in functionality on Android TV because of its missing menu.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Thanks for the details. I didn't realize that your device was so "crippled", and the inability to run an AdAway DNS Request Log is probably the least of its limitations! Since those are only software/firmware restrictions, I suspect someone will eventually provide a fully functional android ROM but for now I'll stick to my Chromecast that doesn't even pretend to be anything but a simple (and cheap) TV streaming accessory! ;)

From the AdAway standpoint, it's unfortunate that you can't use the app fully, but as long as you have root access and are able to write to /system, you can always prepare the hosts file on a phone/tablet, then copy it to the Player. Clumsy, but better than nothing...
[Android Apps and Games] ImTinkuKhan:
Please explain about SONY XPERIA ZR
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
OK, you go first, what about SONY XPERIA ZR and what does this have to do with AdAway? ;)
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
I should be able to drop a new version by end of week. Just testing for a few days.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Is that the long-awaited version that blocks numeric IPs, rewrites CSS on web pages, handles 128GB source files, bypasses proxies, and makes a cup of coffee in the morning? ;)
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
Nope, its the version no one has been waiting for that updates the build env, uses latest ndk, gradle, bump target sdk version, etc. and attempts to address https://github.com/sufficientlysecure/ad-away/issues/635

and a fix for a lint error on compile time.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
The 09:00 update time is indeed an unfortunate one. For my own "stuff", if I have to pick a specific update/sync time, I make it 03:01 (middle of the night, and 1 minute away from any potential DST-related conflicts).

I wish dschuemann updated the internal help/FAQ to match current users concerns and expectations, but that's obviously entirely up to him...
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
Yea i'm not a java guy but I'm making it so when you check the box it will grab an Hour from 3-8 and a minute from 1-59 and that is the update time. everytime you check or uncheck the box it randomizes within that range. Best i can do.

This way anyone with older versions would still hit the servers at 9 while the new version would be from 3am - 8am.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Nice to know I'm not the only one using Java only when forced to do so. The pseudo-randomized time sounds good enough. Realistically, there's no obvious need to check daily since common source files are not updated all that often but it apparently makes users feel better thinking that they have the very latest... or that it makes an actual difference for the servers they're likely to need to block. ;)
[Android Apps and Games] SgtJamesHeller:
Wow. You made this thread over two years ago and you're still answering people's questions, etc.

That's dedication. :thumbup: :D
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
Actually [MENTION=4343728]Mike B.[/MENTION] answers the questions. I just lurk and update once in a while.
[Android Apps and Games] SgtJamesHeller:
Yeah, I noticed that after posting but it'd look stupid if I edited it afterwards :/ So props to him too.

But still, you're still doing this and that's pretty awesome.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
You're the Recognized Contributor, I'm merely an unrecognized AdAway user with too much time on his hands... ;)
[Android Apps and Games] SgtJamesHeller:
Don't get me wrong, I understand how much work it is helping a large number of people with a wide range of problems, I just didn't realise how much you'd done until I went back further.
[Android Apps and Games] BakaB:
its here!

https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24052804347787499
[Android Apps and Games] CovyPark:
thanks~!!

I'll try it!!
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
I'm still testing but I'll add to OP when I think it's ok. Might be few hrs after I check server logs.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Yes and no. As [MENTION=3355398]mrRobinson[/MENTION] mentions, it's still under testing so don't feel compelled to grab that version quite yet, especially since it offers only very minimal changes from the user's standpoint. Note that it still identifies itself as version 3.0(52) and therefore will not be automatically recognized as a new version by Titanium Backup and similar apps.
[Android Apps and Games] :
I've installed AdAway on HTC One according the instuctions (symbolic link) and the app still can't add custom entries and new lists to the hosts file. I opened the hosts location manually and performed a search. Only the default lists seem to work.

Is there any general troubleshooting I could do?

I've put websites to the blacklist (or should it be redirection?):

9gag.com

facebook.com

buzzfeed.com

apple.com

How do I generally block websites? Do I have to always use "www" ahead?

I have "applied AdAway again" and restarted my phone. This issue has been going on weeks.

Can someone test with my domains and report here?
[Android Apps and Games] jackdubl:
Confirmed. Couldn't play video till I disabled adaway, then it worked fine.
[Android Apps and Games] bogdan1980:
Ups, i tested that link on chrome, firefox, opera, default browser, boat browser, no video when adaway is ON.

With it off, video is working.

EDIT, disable this link in adaway

http://hosts-file.net/ad_servers.asp

You know why that link block those videos on abc, espn, etc? Because they content ads in video just like on YouTube, so that link is blocking it.

Now videos are working

Galaxy S2 powered by Dorimanx!
[Android Apps and Games] guycan:
Can u please specify a little how I can do this Thanks

SGNote2
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
Regarding this video stuff...

You don't need to disable an entire source to get the video to work. Simply turn on the logging in Adaway, see what dns requests are made when loading the page. then add them to your whitelist. You have to reboot when making any of these changes.
[Android Apps and Games] Namoi:
Thanks for that input mate.
[Android Apps and Games] jackdubl:
Whitelist this to stop blocking for the video in the linked above; don't know how many sites it's good for: cdnapi.kaltura.com
[Android Apps and Games] fireb33:
you can edit the link to http://hosts-file.net/ad_servers.txt to get it working again
[Android Apps and Games] bogdan1980:
It's just too much work to add websites on white list.

That link block to much know websites, i don't want to add over and over white listwebsites, i just disable that link.

I have 4 more links for ads plus one from adblock chrome(easylist).

I am well protected for ads.

Galaxy S2 powered by Dorimanx!
[Android Apps and Games] jackdubl:
That didn't do anything for me.
[Android Apps and Games] guycan:
Did not work thanks doe 4 ur input/ advice

SGNote2
[Android Apps and Games] jackdubl:
Look at post 367.
[Android Apps and Games] Krowbarr:
Hello friends, can someone please tell me what I need to have on my whitelist for adfly to work properly? Here's a screenshot of what I currently have but it's still being blocked:mad:

Owner/Operator Samsung E4GT running

PAC-In-Black/All In One 4.2.2 w/Lightening Zap 1.1 phase 2 kernel

We were born in a time where if something was broken we would fix it and not just throw it away
[Android Apps and Games] bogdan1980:
I put two,

*******

* *******

Galaxy S2 powered by Dorimanx!
[Android Apps and Games] Krowbarr:
Thanks for the reply but it's showing up as stars * lol. Mine did too until I took the dot . away. Strange;)

Owner/Operator Samsung E4GT running

PAC-In-Black/All In One 4.2.2 w/Lightening Zap 1.1 phase 2 kernel

We were born in a time where if something was broken we would fix it and not just throw it away
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
You need to add cdn(dot)adf(dot)ly as well.
[Android Apps and Games] Krowbarr:
Worked! Thank you very much for your help:D:thumbup:

Owner/Operator Samsung E4GT running

PAC-In-Black/All In One 4.2.2 w/Lightening Zap 1.1 phase 2 kernel

We were born in a time where if something was broken we would fix it and not just throw it away
[Android Apps and Games] bogdan1980:
I use adf dot ly and *adf dot ly, working as well. I tried with cdn and it seems ok
[Android Apps and Games] AndrewTo:
it must require root?

sorry I'm a complete noob :silly:
[Android Apps and Games] Namoi:
Yes, as it overwrite your host file.
[Android Apps and Games] deejayburnout:
Just installed this as I am shocked how much adverts there are on Android. Probably the only thing wrong with the OS.

Cheers for his software.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Do you have "S-ON" on your HTC? If so, the contents of /system are automatically restored at boot time, and any changes you made are lost. See your device's support areas for ways to enable "S-OFF".

Once you get that working, the entries in your hosts file or blacklist must be the

exact

server names you wish to block (no wildcards), noting that "anysite.com" and "www.anysite.com" are different domains and would need to be blocked separately. Some servers automatically redirect to the "www." subdomain when accessed from a browser (or port 80 in general), but you can't relay on that.
[Android Apps and Games] :
S-ON, creating a symbolic link is AdAway developer's official solution for HTC phones. Please check the thread.

Please note that the hosts file isn't "blank" after reboot and contains thousands of entries.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Perhaps, but the original developer no longer supports AdAway and even back then (2-3 years ago, before current HTC One/android releases) he pointed out that "Problems can occur on some HTC devices when system-Partition is not writable!". With that in mind, I "unofficially" still suggest switching to S-OFF or at least verifying that processes that attempt to access /system/hosts see the intended full hosts file though the symlink.

When you try to add blacklist items, what specific error, if any, do you see? How is your device rooted? You DID remember to reboot after making changes, right?
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
When i had my one m8 with s-on i found the symbolic link worked best if i booted to recovery, then used adb from there to create the link to /data/data/hosts, and then reboot and in adaway tell it to use /data/data/hosts. It then worked for me.

I updated OP with the dev build.

My changes have been merged and my local webserver hosts file was hit at 4:56 am with the daily update changes so seems to be working.

Changelog for 08.04.15 dev build vs 3.0:

text input fields set to single line - by phoenix09

update build env (ndk, gradle, android support)

remove deprecated permission

fix lint error

slightly randomize if you use daily update it won't be at 9am all the time now. (if you use logcat i have it print the time it "randomized" to)
[Android Apps and Games] Nikki1993:
Getting force close on scan for adware on nexus 6. Will catch log when get home to the pc.
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
known issue and not new to this version. I know the problem but not skilled enough in java to fix myself. Would need a better java dev.

The root cause of the issue is causing the following:

https://github.com/sufficientlysecure/ad-away/issues/617

https://github.com/sufficientlysecure/ad-away/issues/633

https://github.com/sufficientlysecure/ad-away/issues/626

basically whether an adware scan or parsing a large hosts file, adway tries to grab all the data all at once. It needs to take like XX size chunks of the data to process at a time, then no size would be too large.

But sorry i can't fix those issues.
[Android Apps and Games] Nikki1993:
My bad, should have searched before posting :P cheers for the explanation though, though weirdly enough I did not have the crash on my nexus 5 for some reason o_O
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
A lot depends on how much available storage your device provides, but the real solution is to stay away from large source/hosts list that very seldom provide any real benefit over more reasonably sized files with perhaps a handful of blacklist entries. The most common problem I've seen while helping users get the most out of AdAway is use of way too many source files or huge source files. Less is often more! ;)
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
will depend on quantity in your apps list. do you have more apps now or same?
[Android Apps and Games] Nikki1993:
Using sources that come with the AdAway, haven't ever added any extra :P didn't feel any need.

---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 PM ----------

Well I use couple of more apps on my brand new nexus 6, 2 new wallpaper apps, 1 system monitor app, linkedin app and tales from borderlands game... otherwise same app list as on my nexus 5.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Probably different ROM, different data, etc. It's not how much RAM you have, it's how you use it. I bet that if you look at how much room you have actually available you'll see a noticeable difference. ;)
[Android Apps and Games] Nikki1993:
Both stock roms :) but yea, there must have been something :) but I guess we will never know.
[Android Apps and Games] :
I don't want to switch to S-ON, I'd have to install a Sense-based ROM that I will never do. I probably have rebooted dozens of times after started playing with AdAway.

I don't get any form of error, AdAway acts like it's working.

I managed to attach my hosts file to this message (zipped because of limited file formats). At least the names of my custom filter lists are mentioned on the top and the entries are actually added to my hosts file!

I tested with a couple of entries from Dan Pollock's hosts file and the domains are properly blocked :good:

What is the difference between "black" and "redirection" in your lists?

Which one should I use?

Doesn't AdAway always use redirection?
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Technically, yes the hosts file (and therefore AdAway) always uses redirection. The traditional way to effectively block a URL name (e.g. google.com) is by redirecting it to a "do nothing" address, such as 127.0.0.1 (aka "localhost"). AdAway optionally provide a fake webserver at that address so that processes are tricked into assuming that the server was actually reached, therefore avoiding error messages or annoying placeholders. In practice, the term "redirection" is usually reserved for a variation where the URL is replaced by another server. For example, redirecting google.com to 204.79.197.20 (bing.com) instead of the correct 74.125.227.169, a potentially dangerous trick. Don't use that type of redirection unless you're absolutely sure you know what you're doing... ;)
[Android Apps and Games] :
So are blocked entries redirected to 127.0.0.1?
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Yes. Look at your /system/hosts to see what servers are blocked/redirected.
[Android Apps and Games] Door 555:
Thanks
[Android Apps and Games] fusk:
Any solution to the jackbox.tv problems ?
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
The only references I see to a "jackbox.tv" problem in relation with AdAway is that some people are trying to access that site while still blocking some of the URLs it needs (Google Anylytics?). As usual, the solution is potentially simple: allow the URLs you need and block the URLs you don't want.

The AdAway DNS Request Log is your friend. If it doesn't show any URLs to block or allow, that means the site does it all without using your local DNS resolution (hosts file). If the site is designed in such a way that it requires you to watch a bunch of ads to be functional, there's nothing AdAway can do about that.
[Android Apps and Games] fusk:
Guess i should've phrased it differently, i wasn't suggesting there was a problem with adaway. But more like people incl. me not knowing what to whitelist to make it work without disabling adaway completely.

Tried adding "jackbox.tv" but quickly found out that, that is not how it works.

I didn't know there was a dns log before you just mentioned it and i was looking for it.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
I tried to look at that site but it apparently requires a login to get in. At the very least it seems to require Google Analytics and probably countless other external references, as is fashionable for those games-related sites. You don't have to disable AdAway, you merely need to find out what the site needs and either whitelist or not block those references. If nothing useful appears in your DNS Requests Log, you might have to either live with a bunch of ads or find an alternative site to play on/with.

From a very cursory glance at their login page, I see that It already requires

yui.yahooapis.com

maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com

www.google-analytics.com

fonts.googleapis.com​

before you can even get in. If you are currently blocking any of those, try whitelisting them (you can use wildcards for whitelisting), but there are probably many more once you enter the site. Remember to reboot after making any changes to the hosts file.
[Android Apps and Games] fusk:
Considering i don't use it very often, it might just be easier to just disable adaway temporarily while using the site.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Remember that "disabling AdAway" basically means simply "switching hosts files". You could also try accessing that site through the Chrome browser (with the "data saver" proxy enabled which allows Analytics AFAIK) while using another browser (Firefox?) for everything else, or going through a redirector such as "http://blankrefer.com/?http://jackbox.tv", etc...
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
New version up. Enjoy.
[Android Apps and Games] WhammyDroid:
The following server is not responding: https://hosts-file.net/ad_servers.txt

Edit: It is finally fixed.
[Android Apps and Games] zachchen1996:
New version not working for some reason?
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
What specific problem do you have with the current AdAway 3.01 (08.06.2015) on which device under which ROM? If you were running 3.0 previously, you should be able to simply install the new one over it and retain all of your settings.
[Android Apps and Games] zachchen1996:
Nevermind, it works fine now! :)
[Android Apps and Games] 519FlyBoy:
Awesome app! Thanks!!
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
did you see https on that url in the app i posted?

it should be http.