yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Apps and Games] Mr Creosote:
I've been lurking on this thread for a couple of days, as well as following the github bug report. I actually did have a go at dns logging, and I could only see facebook.com in the log, but whitelisting that domain didn't help.

I'm just chipping in with my experience because deselecting that source seems to be a completely adequate solution. not only is facebook working fine, other websites are loading noticeably faster and smoother, and I'd like to know what other people are finding when they try the same.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
I went as far as creating a (mostly fake) FB account to check on all those reports but for me all expected graphics always showed up even with the latest 4 default source files enabled. What I noticed is that some graphics looking identical are actually served from different places depending on which ISP/location I use. FB is clearly doing a lot of unholy manipulations in the background. As mentioned earlier, the host-file.net list only includes a handful of FB-related hosts that should be trivial to whitelist if necessary, but simply NOT using that particular list might be just as easy... until FB switches to yet another set of adservers.

It's fascinating to hear people blaming AdAway but ignoring the facts that ads are served by FB (and YouTube, etc.), that the lists are created by their respective maintainers, and that the user picks the lists he/she wants to use. My driveway is covered with snow right now and I'm thinking of filing a complaint with the National Weather Service! ;)
[Android Apps and Games] mondohow:
No offense but maybe it's time some AdAway users develop a bit of common sense. Sometimes I read this thread and it hurts my brain. Mike B. has the patience of a saint. Why come on XDA to find and use a tool as essential as AdAway (at least for me) if you aren't going to at least read the dev/maintainers post usually the OP or first post? The thought of changing a perfectly adequate name and coddling anyone who can't even take time to read and understand something they're installing on THEIR own device is absurd/crazy on a level I hope we don't get to in my lifetime.

There's even a thread dedicated for "sites to be removed" if I remember correctly. I found that and most days I'm as lazy as they come. SMH

Thank you Sir for maintaining AdAway. I block ads through my router at home but on the road without adaway is when I really appreciate the simplicity and awesomeness of this app.
[Android Apps and Games] Promez:
Yeah ,Mike should be sanctified[emoji14]
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
People having issues with the contents of the

hosts-file.net

source file should consider visiting the Official hpHost Forum, and specifically request removal of entries in the Hosts Outbox subforum.

People having issues with

Facebook

should consider visiting the Facebook Help Center.

People having issues with

YouTube

should consider visiting the Official YouTube Help Center.

People having issues

reading

probably won't read this post... ;)
[Android Apps and Games] Ultramanoid:
From the replies I get it seems that what I wrote is being misinterpreted and actually understood in the opposite way I meant.

Which is; users who do not want to read the OP and do not bother to even search, and do not understand what AdAway is ( a hosts file manager ) would be better off using something else and not littering the thread with redundant questions again and again, that again and again, Mike B. keeps answering, since those users do not, and will not, listen to reason.

Weed them away by giving an accurate name to this application from the start.

I was actually trying to be polite in the way I expressed it. It's been a long time that this forum by developers for developers has more posts from users and people wanting a quick fix for something, than actual developers.
[Android Apps and Games] androcraze:
I'm not seeing anything in Post #1 that says a thing about "hostfiles", or explaining what AdAway does, or how it works. My #1 gripe about constantly-asked questions in threads: if many users keep asking the same question(s), the information needs to either be in the first post, or at least referenced from there. It should be the first thing a user sees.

How about a paragraph at the beginning of Post #1: "AdAway is a utility for root users used to help manage hostfile entries. AdAway doesn't directly block ads; it limits unwanted ads by blocking servers that distribute those ads to websites."
[Android Apps and Games] Mr Creosote:
I don't think requesting the removal of entries would resolve this particular issue. there are two entries which obviously relate to facebook in http://hosts-file.net/ad_servers.txt

one of them is ads.facebook.com

the other is pixel.facebook.com

whitelisting these does not resolve the issue with facebook images failing to load. only disabling the entry has an effect.

also, as I mentioned, this entry has a noticeable effect on overall performance. all pages load better with it disabled, not just facebook. I have no idea why that would be, but it's happening.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Only [MENTION=3355398]mrRobinson[/MENTION] can edit the OP. I suppose we could start a separate support /Q&A thread but I doubt that it would help much. Actually, this thread is remarkably tame and well-behaved compared to many others... ;)

---------- Post added at 11:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 AM ----------

Look closer and you'll see "fbcdn" links. Those are the Facebook Content Delivery Network hosts and are responsible for most of the ad serving.
[Android Apps and Games] androcraze:
"I've answered this multiple times, and yet people still ask without searching."

Hopefully mrRobinson can do some editing.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Yes, they don't read and they don't search, but there's no point in getting too upset about that since we can't do anything about it. It's not necessarily laziness on their part, it's merely a lack of understanding. For many people, an electronic device is simply a set of easy buttons that can always magically guess what they intent to do. When the device/app doesn't guess correctly, the manufacturer/developer is blamed. The electronics industry as a whole is partially responsible by trying for years to convince people that "computers (and mobile phones) are easy to use". Some even claimed at one time that their OS was "intuitive". Even the term "smartphone" reinforces that concept, as if a phone had any smarts at all. Those marketing campaigns were extremely successful and nowadays smartphone users expect miracles and tend to get very upset when a device doesn't behave according to their expectations, even if those expectations are totally unrealistic. We can either completely ignore the pleas for help (recommended if you wish to keep your sanity) , or do our best to assist the misguided souls, depending on our disposition, knowledge level, frustration threshold, and availability. Providing tech support is not for everybody and one needs a thick skin and lots of patience, but after a few decades of doing it, it gets slightly easier....

FYI, not too long ago in another tech venue, I got a message that said "People here always say to google for answers. how do I do that? I don't have time to waste surfing the net. pleae help"(sic)! I saved that jewel so that I could quote it verbatim. Apparently, the guy/gal was dead serious. After a deep breath and a few muttered swear words in my beard, I answered as nicely as I could muster at the time, but that user wasn't satisfied... and probably never will be. ;)

OK, enough wasted space. Let's get back to AdAway support. Yes, AdAway is working fine on any rooted Android phone from 4.0 on. If you think you have a problem, look it up... ;)
[Android Apps and Games] Mr Creosote:
I found this thread by googling "adaway blocking facebook images", clicking on it took me to the most recent discussion about it, which started a couple of pages back.

aside from that, I also found a github bug report about it, which was started a couple of days ago. the google results gave me the impression that this was a very recent issue, it certainly wasn't obvious that this was a problem that had been encountered and solved multiple times.

so, I can't speak for anyone else, but I did google the problem first. that's how I ended up on this thread.
[Android Apps and Games] kongmingtwo:
thanks TC, had this built in to my previous ROM, was looking to manually get it for the one I'm currently running. Works like a charm!
[Android Apps and Games] Salty Wagyu:
I added all these URLs to the whitelist from what I could find from the last few pages:

white external-lhr0-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white external-lhr1-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white external-lhr10-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white external-lhr2-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white external-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white external-lhr4-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white external-lhr5-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white external-lhr6-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white external-lhr7-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white external-lhr8-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white external-lhr9-1.xx.fbcdn.net
white fb-promotions.com
white creative.ak.facebook.com
white ads.facebook.com
white pixel.facebook.com
white creative.ak.fbcdn.net

Some images are loading now, but not all. Profile pictures and some timeline shares are blank.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
The hosts you mentioned were merely guesses based on the contents of the optional hosts-file.net source file and various user reports. If you are still missing some graphics, try to find out their

exact URL

and you should be able to whitelist them also, assuming that the issue is that they are somehow blacklisted by your source file(s). Some people have reported that simply NOT using the hosts-file.net source is sufficient and that would be the easiest approach. If the problem is withing Facebook itself, a likely possibility, then nothing you do will matter much.

Out of sheer curiosity, I really wish someone would finally post the URL of one of those alleged "missing" graphics. If the graphics is never seen from any device, then chances are it simply doesn't exist, but if it can be seen from another device, browser or ISP, sharing it's location would answer many questions. Of all this FB chatter, that would be the most relevant piece of information, yet

nobody has come forward with a specific URL

.

The bottom line, however, is that this is a thread about AdAway, not about Facebook or hosts-file.net and there's not much we can do to help besides repeating the same generic advice on using the DNS Request Log and only selecting the source file(s) that you need.
[Android Apps and Games] mrRobinson:
You know you can use wildcards in the whitelist. So *fbcdn.net would be better than trying to name them all.
[Android Apps and Games] androcraze:
fbcdn-creative-a.akamaihd.net
[Android Apps and Games] Salty Wagyu:
Thanks all, using this now and seems good so far!

white *fbcdn.net
white fb-promotions.com
white *facebook.com
white fbcdn-creative-a.akamaihd.net
[Android Apps and Games] skyfolder:
I use adaway everydays, it's realy nice, thanks
[Android Apps and Games] androcraze:
I'm seeing that fb-promotions.com is a scamming site; Firefox won't let me near it.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
This is how Google describes that site:

Deceptive site ahead

Attackers on fb-promotions.com may trick you into doing something dangerous like installing software or revealing your personal information (for example, passwords, phone numbers, or credit cards).​

Just your average phishing site, harmless in itself but where careless users could easily get themselves in trouble. In many ways, Facebook itself is a "scam" but some people might still want to see all the ads and "offers" on there. This is exactly why it's a good thing that AdAway doesn't block/allow anything on its own. The decisions, whether wise or not, are up to the user! ;)
[Android Apps and Games] androcraze:
OK. Fair enough.

You just described ebay.

I'm suspecting that fb-promotions.com has nothing to do with ads or images on fb. As such, it should probably be un-whitelisted.
[Android Apps and Games] shaqman89:
lol. I'm sorry to be OOT, but I just have to ask. Why ebay?
[Android Apps and Games] androcraze:
Heh. Just came to mind. Actually, ebay might the safer of the bunch with your actual data. Pick one:

Amazon: https://medium.com/@espringe/amazon-s-customer-service-backdoor-be375b3428c4#.bkgbytzev

E-Bay: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-388189/Revenge-eBay-customer-sold-faulty-laptop.html

Hyatt: http://krebsonsecurity.com/category/data-breaches/

Target: http://www.wsj.com/articles/target-reaches-settlement-with-visa-over-2013-data-breach-1439912013

Just about any retailer. All are subject to mishandling or abusing your data, or having "partners" screw with you.

And my #1 favorite (in regards to AdAway):

Forbes: http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/08/you-say-advertising-i-say-block-that-malware/
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Please don't ask, don't answer, not here!

All

web sites are wonderful/terrible/useful/offensive/entertaining/dangerous/educational. ;)
[Android Apps and Games] shaqman89:
You have a good way on your making your point :)

It's just another way of saying, you choose what adblock does for you. lol.
[Android Apps and Games] mrvlhs:
There are some manual entries I would like to add to my hosts file. Has anyone successfully created a local hosts.txt file and added that to the host sources on Adaway? I've tried "file://path_here" to no avail. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!
[Android Apps and Games] shaqman89:
You could do manual entries by adding them to the blacklist. It's in Option - Your List - Black.

So, no need for the file.
[Android Apps and Games] mrvlhs:
I added www.trypap.com just to check but it's still accessible, even after rebooting the phone. Also cleaned cache just to confirm and tried with another website I've never visited before but it seems like blacklisting is not working properly :/
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Blacklisting is working fine, as long as your browser is going through local DNS. For example, if it (or your APN) uses a proxy, nothing you do in the hosts file will matter. Did you remember to "DOWNLOAD FILES AND APPLY AD BLOCKING" after adding your blacklist entries? Did you verify that there is indeed a "127.0.0.1 www.trypap.com" entry in your hosts file? Are you even positive that "www.trypap" is the exact URL you want to block and not something else on "trypap.com"?
[Android Apps and Games] :
Better will be add: *akamaihd.net

http://youtu.be/_6XqiTN23rc

https://m.facebook.com/help/community/question/10151490883594668/?see_all=1
[Android Apps and Games] androcraze:
akamaihd.net is for more than just fb:

aksb-a.akamaihd.net

apiskywebbercom-a.akamaihd.net

asrv-a.akamaihd.net

cdncache2-a.akamaihd.net

contentcache-a.akamaihd.net

couponcp-a.akamaihd.net

downloadandsave-a.akamaihd.net

ds-aksb-a.akamaihd.net

fbcdn-creative-a.akamaihd.net

giantsavings-a.akamaihd.net

hadj1-a.akamaihd.net

inmobisdk-a.akamaihd.net

rvzr-a.akamaihd.net

rvzr2-a.akamaihd.net

"couponcp", "downloadandsave", "giantsavings" all bother me for some reason.
[Android Apps and Games] jshamlet:
Also, remember that you have one other tool for managing network traffic - iptables. Adaway works great for the vast majority of apps that use OS provided DNS services, but obviously some apps/services can get around that. iptables based blocking, on the other hand, is a lot tougher nut to crack, as it blocks specific ip address or ports at the network interface level. Most Android firewall users only know about app-level blocking, which is an all or nothing affair, but you can add a script to block specific ip address or ranges just like in the old days. Even that isn't complete protection, as things like VPNs and proxies can get around even that, but it is worth keeping in mind.

However, if I can't trust an app to the point that I have to break out a network analyzer and custom firewall rules, I really would question whether it should even be installed at all.
[Android Apps and Games] :
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akamai_Technologies

cdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net (facebook)

fbcdn-creative-a.akamaihd.net (facebook)

fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net (facebook)

fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net (facebook)

.

.

.

maybe is more url for photos? so?

I heard that akamaihd use facebook, twitter etc.
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Iptables are typically a bit too complicated to configure for many Android users and frankly might be overkill for most. The simplest and safest way to avoid unwanted connections is to

NOT

use apps/sites that would require that kind of blocking/redirecting. By far the worse "security" risks are the users' fingers! ;)

---------- Post added at 12:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:52 AM ----------

Akamai is a HUGE network used for content delivery by just about every major online player. It's nearly impossible to use the web without receiving some content from Akamai.
[Android Apps and Games] androcraze:
May be for photos, may be for ads.

Only "fbcdn-creative-a.akamaihd.net" is listed under ad_servers.txt, so why try and whitelist the others?
[Android Apps and Games] :
You're right, but in next day, maybe he will be have another problem in another app, that use the akamaihd addresses ; ) And who knows, if other addresses in sources do not use facebook.

Greetings
[Android Apps and Games] androcraze:
You could just un-check all 4 of the host sources; that way you're covered for every possibility ;)

akamaihd hosts ads, images, and everything else. Wild-carding everything on akamaihd is your call. I think it's a bad idea.

The following hosts:

creative.ak.fbcdn.net

external-lhr0-1.xx.fbcdn.net

external-lhr1-1.xx.fbcdn.net

external-lhr10-1.xx.fbcdn.net

external-lhr2-1.xx.fbcdn.net

external-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net

external-lhr4-1.xx.fbcdn.net

external-lhr5-1.xx.fbcdn.net

external-lhr6-1.xx.fbcdn.net

external-lhr7-1.xx.fbcdn.net

external-lhr8-1.xx.fbcdn.net

external-lhr9-1.xx.fbcdn.net

fbcdn-creative-a.akamaihd.net

scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net

probably shouldn't be "blacklisted". There might be a legitimate reason that they were blocked at one point (perhaps there's still a legitimate reason to continue to block them). Until they're removed from the list, users can whitelist them if they choose to. Anything else from akamaihd (in the host file) is bad (and evil), unless I'm told otherwise.
[Android Apps and Games] mrvlhs:
I can confirm that the hosts file is containing all addresses blacklisted. Even though they are in the hosts file I can still access them. I do not have any VPN running at the moment (not intentionally) and I'm currently on CM13. I have not made any changes to the DNS server configurations or APN. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you for the support!

PS: I attached a screenshot of the permissions of the file

PS2: I attached a screenshot of a ping in the console showing the hosts file working correctly. It doesn't work on Chrome though. I do not have Chrome's data saving option enabled, which runs data through their servers for compression. What am I missing here?
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
If the hosts file contains the expected entries (including the "generated by AdAway on..." message), then AdAway is doing its job, but apparently something in your system is bypassing/preventing local DNS resolution. If AdAway was given sufficient permissions to successfully edit the hosts file and that edited hosts file is retained after a reboot, AdAway is no longer a relevant player.

Please make absolutely sure that you do not have a proxy in your APN (some CM builds package their own, often erroneous APNs) and that your browser doesn't use any proxy (or "optimizer") of its own. Have you tried with another browser? Your trouble is probably not a generic CM13 one, (I keep a test device using CM13 here and have no such problem).

Is your hosts file really 20.24MB in size? That's MUCH larger (10x!) than what you'd get using only the default source files. Perhaps you should try first using solely the 4 default sources in case your system simply can't handle the huge hosts file.

EDIT:

The second screenshot which you have now added clearly shows that "www.trypap.com" is correctly redirected to "127.0.0.1", confirming that both AdAway and your local DNS resolution are working properly. If somehow your Chrome installation still shows something else even after clearing its cache, please try with another browser. This is extremely reminiscent of a Chrome "data saver" issue or a simple persistent cache. Check, double-check, and triple-check your settings, especially: Chrome -> Settings -> Privacy -> Clear Browsing Data -> Cache
[Android Apps and Games] mrvlhs:
Well... after such a long post I must thank you for your support in writing. It appears to be working now, after I tried to acess the domain by adding http://. Now it works even without it. I don't know if there were some cached leftovers, to be honest I have no idea how that happened but it is finally working and hopefully without further setbacks.

PS: Yes, my hosts file is that big and now that everything seems to be working I still have a few more sources to add ;)
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
I'm glad to hear everything is working fine for you, but I have to make a couple of comments:

a blacklist entry uses a full host name (e.g. "www.something.com"), but NO protocol (no "http://, "https://", etc.). That's the format to use when entering a host manually in a blacklist and that's the way entries should look in your hosts file.

I strongly encourage you to try using FEWER source files. It's extremely unlikely that your current monster does more for you than a more reasonably-sized file, and at best it slows down your system for no clear benefit. Without knowing anything about your browsing habits, I am still positive that you will NEVER need to block most of the entries in your current 20MB hosts file, and that many of those entries are not even accessible to you.. or even current! ;)

It's YOUR system and you can do anything you want to it as long as you promise not to blame AdAway if something isn't working as you'd like! ;)
[Android Apps and Games] abdomsr7:
i've faced some problems the last time i used the app she changed the port or something in the settings then the connection didn't work in the phone (till i revert settings to default)
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
Are you sure you intended to post in the

AdAway

thread? If so, we would need a lot more details before we can help you.
[Android Apps and Games] abdomsr7:
yes. it's adaway i think it's been a month ago i've set it to stop ads then tried to browse as always but nothing worked then i deleted adaway to try fix the problem but nothing luckly i had adaway apk in my micro sd so i installed it again and revert the settings then everything worked from that's day i haven't used adaway
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
What do you mean by "nothing worked" and "revert the settings"? Please be specific. The only thing AdAway does is place the entries you selected into your hosts file. If your hosts file contains those entries, then AdAway "worked". Once you tell us what exact problem you encountered on which device/ROM/browser maybe we'll be able to advise you, but first reviewing the documentation may be sufficient.
[Android Apps and Games] dsa88:
Well, I guess the following link is supposed to be included in the first post or at least hyperlinked, to prevent any confusion, to enlighten, to educate...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_(file)
[Android Apps and Games] Mike B.:
.. or users could look at the very first screen in the AdAway builtin help... ;)
[Android Apps and Games] arteaga323:
I know this was resolved already but I've been thinking and it just bothers me, how did you get to that conclusion as to what the right links to whitelist were? What step was I missing? I just wanna pick your brain so I can feed mine some knowledge. Thanks again for the help!