Develop Bugs

Remapping soft keys

So I'm looking at remaping the soft keys (specifically the search) on the front of the phone. There appears to only be one "SEARCH" in the /system/usr/keylayout/vision-keypad.kl - key 217 (see code below) - that if changed has the following 2 effects:
1. Alters the functions of both the soft key on the front of the phone and the search key on the hardware keyboard. When I remap one, they both change to match your modification.
2. When changed, long press functionality of the soft key is lost. It will only accept a short press.
"SEARCH" can be successfully changed to "MENU", "BACK", and "CALL" (possibly others I have not tried) then pushed to the phone in recovery and function perfectly. However, when I map it to be the "POWER", the soft key does nothing on press, while the hardware search key on the slide-out works fine.
Has anyone found a way around this?
We remap the track pad to wake because we dont like using the top mounted power button, but it only does a half-ass job because when you want to shut the screen back off, you still have to reach for the power button. I think the track pad wake mod needs its own 'bacon bits'
Code:
# column 0
key 185 USER3 WAKE_DROPPED
key 100 ALT_RIGHT WAKE_DROPPED
key 217 SEARCH WAKE_DROPPED
key 28 ENTER WAKE_DROPPED
key 38 L WAKE_DROPPED
key 14 DEL WAKE_DROPPED
key 54 SHIFT_RIGHT WAKE_DROPPED

I think you're out of luck with regard to an easy fix. I just did a quick experiment with evtest and it looks like the softkeys on the screen are just areas of the touchscreen that the window manager treats specially and generates synthetic key events in response to touches on, instead of being actual mappable keys.

teferi said:
I think you're out of luck with regard to an easy fix. I just did a quick experiment with evtest and it looks like the softkeys on the screen are just areas of the touchscreen that the window manager treats specially and generates synthetic key events in response to touches on, instead of being actual mappable keys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the are mappable. I managed to make it be the menu button and the back button just fine. It just doesnt want to be the power button..

The same key can be used as a single quick press or a long press. It is considered two different keys though. So you would have to figure out what the long press equivalent of the search button would be and change that one.

The way this thread can stay in developmental, is show steps on how you are remapping the keys.
For others to gain knowledge or this thread is moving to Q&A

Mikey1022 said:
The way this thread can stay in developmental, is show steps on how you are remapping the keys.
For others to gain knowledge or this thread is moving to Q&A
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I'm off here, but if I was making this post to show the steps, would that not fall under a "How To" or "Guide"? My goal here is development. Development –noun 1. the act or process of developing; growth; progress. Or in my case, I'm in the act/process of developing a remapped key file to make the search soft key into a power key, and to then share with the rest of the forum. My progress so far is that I've managed to map it to a menu key and a back key with no problems, and am reaching out to others for help as to why it is that when I change it to the power key, it doesn't accept my changes.
Its kinda a gray zone, in that if I were to successfully remap it to the power button and post the file here, it would, technically speaking, be less of a development thread than it is now - because it would be finished developing and instead, merely contain a file with instructions.
However, as requested, and for those who are interested:
The file you are looking for, is as mentioned in the OP, "vision-keypad.kl" and is located in /system/usr/keylayout. You can edit it with a text editor like Notepad++. The line that I am looking at, also refer to OP, is key 217.
I'm thinking now, after messing with it some more, that maybe because it is a soft key it cant be mapped to power, being that as soon as the screen shuts off it no longer functions... But then again there exists widgets that, upon press, turn off the screen and they function fine, so I see no reason this shouldn't. I'll keep you posted on what I find, and would appreciate any help in the mean time.

i'd love to be able to map a longpress menu and a longpress back action. Cyanogen 6.1 allows longpress back to be turned into force kill foreground process. So there is a way to capture longpress on those 4 keys, the question is, what does the system read that keypress as and how can it be mapped.

sundar2012 said:
i'd love to be able to map a longpress menu and a longpress back action. Cyanogen 6.1 allows longpress back to be turned into force kill foreground process. So there is a way to capture longpress on those 4 keys, the question is, what does the system read that keypress as and how can it be mapped.
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Click to collapse
So it is doable! There are some .bin files in the /system/usr/keychar folder that correspond to the .kl files in the ../keylayout folder, but i havent been able to read them. Maybe thats it.. Gonna figure that out when I land tomorrow and get my computer set up

I changed the Search function key to Camera and it only works on a long press and I get no result on a short press. So maybe the function you are trying to rename the Search key to has to be specific to either way i.e. short or long press but not both.
So it will either work as a long press key for some functions or a short press key for others.

Read the window manager source (from AOSP or CM), determine what scancodes it synthesizes in response to touches or long-touches on the softkeys, edit keylayout accordingly.

Doesn't ButtonRemapper from Android App Dev section work on G2? :S

hey guys, i dont know if you all figured this out or not, I just got the g2, and to remap the key to power button you have to change it to "ENDCALL" not "POWER", after, reboot and voila! your search button now acts like a power button!!!!! Hope this helps!!!!!

Need to Map Back button to one of the soft key
Rceently I bought HTC Desire Z (no warranty), and I am facing the problem with 4 bottom buttons of the touch screen (menu, back, home and search). So I am planning to do hardware map for one of the softkeys to BACK button.
Could you please provide me step-by-step installation of all the softwares and the procedure I need to do for updating "vision-keypad.kl" file. Appreciate your help.
My one more doubt is that what is the difference between "WAKE_DROPPED" & "WAKE". I have seen these keywords in ".kl" file in GITHUB.
Please give me reply ASAP. I am frustrated with the way the mobile is working. Just imagine how it will be if back button stop working and you are in the middle of some application. I restarted my mobile some dozens of times.

<31/01/11> -/- Latest Rootfs + Corrected key mapping for Blackstone

Hello all,
I have attached the latest rootfs.img from Xdandroid with corrected key layout for the blackstone as you may have noticed that by default we have two power buttons and have lost the multitasking keymap. Please find below the latest rootfs <rootfs-20110123-5cafe3f> with modified keymapping to regain the multitasking keymap and also the home button.
Yes I am aware you can adjust the end button behaviour in spare parts but you still won't have the multitasking keymap.
Update: Fixed init.eclair.rc and init.eclairhero.rc for updated android binary in latest XDAndroid rootfs.img, eclair now boot's as it should.
Best Regards,
ST1Cl<^^aN

-- Reservered --

At the moment my focus was to return the multitasking functionality, I will be further modifying the keymapping to suite our needs and to be more blackstone specific.
Best Regards,
ST1Cl<^^aN

ok fixed init.eclair.rc and init.eclairhero.rc for updated android binary, uploading updated rootfs.img in a moment...
Best Regards,
ST1Cl<^^aN

Stickman89 said:
Hello all,
I have attached the latest rootfs.img from Xdandroid with corrected key layout for the blackstone as you may have noticed that by default we have two power buttons and have lost the multitasking keymap. Please find below the latest rootfs <rootfs-20110123-5cafe3f> with modified keymapping to regain the multitasking keymap and also the home button.
Yes I am aware you can adjust the end button behaviour in spare parts but you still won't have the multitasking keymap.
Update: Fixed init.eclair.rc and init.eclairhero.rc for updated android binary in latest XDAndroid rootfs.img, eclair now boot's as it should.
Best Regards,
ST1Cl<^^aN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you!!!!!

Could You specify what function is assigned to each button? Does it work like in WM ?

Hello,
This key assignment is perfect I think ! Thank you stickman89
some precisions about it:
- Call button: call or voice command (hold)
- Home button: Options & show keyboard (hold)
- Previous button: previous screen
- End button: sleep & end call (if on call) & shutdown options (hold)
sleep is an option under Spare parts => End button behavior => Go to sleep
- Power button: home & recent apps (hold 1 second)
In launcherPro preferences I configured to open/close notifications, when already on home => it's convenient to show notifications by pressing twice on power button)

Thanks, but there is a way to reassign those buttons?
I prefer WM style, where power button means power and home suits home

teti77 said:
Thanks, but there is a way to reassign those buttons?
I prefer WM style, where power button means power and home suits home
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will later be modifying those key's to suit our needs, if I match the winmo key layout I will need to set-up long press functions as well, I will try my best to please everyone. Atm this is just to return the missing multitasking function...
Best Regards,
ST1Cl<^^aN

can you map long press end button to recent apps,and leave the power button for power control and shutdown options? ; since home is more frequently used than power on/off , and it's pretty much inconvenient to have it mapped to power button because it's not easily accessible
so,
end >home
long press end >recent apps
power > screen off
long press power > shutdown options
thanks

farukb said:
can you map long press end button to recent apps,and leave the power button for power control and shutdown options? ; since home is more frequently used than power on/off , and it's pretty much inconvenient to have it mapped to power button because it's not easily accessible
so,
end >home
long press end >recent apps
power > screen off
long press power > shutdown options
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 *grin*
It's more intuitive... or we're more used to it
EDIT: Where's the blac100 keymap? I don't find it in /data/etc/keymaps...

The keymaps is located at /system/usr/keychars/qwerty.kl but it is a symlink to /etc/keymaps/raph_navi_pad.kl.BTW rootfs is already updated.Perhaps OP could submit his patch to stineb to be included for blac100 in the main tree

farukb said:
can you map long press end button to recent apps,and leave the power button for power control and shutdown options? ; since home is more frequently used than power on/off , and it's pretty much inconvenient to have it mapped to power button because it's not easily accessible
so,
end >home
long press end >recent apps
power > screen off
long press power > shutdown options
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
This would make more sense to me too, especially as at the moment if you're stupid like me and fumble at 'previous/back' but get 'end' instead you end up in a mess with the device locked and having to press power to turn the screen on then swiping to unlock and end up back at the home screen.

+1
Looks better to work with it...

Stickman, does the last rootfs (20110210) bring this keymap for blackstone? Or the changes aren't commited yet?

Eodun said:
Stickman, does the last rootfs (20110210) bring this keymap for blackstone? Or the changes aren't commited yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i believe there's only one sure way to find out...

farukb said:
i believe there's only one sure way to find out...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using it and keymap works great, and power & end buttons work as in WM
Sent from Blackstone using XDA App

Eodun said:
I'm using it and keymap works great, and power & end buttons work as in WM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does long press end show up list of recently ran apps

No, it lacks that. It would be perfect otherwise
Sent from Blackstone using XDA App

i'm sure when I tried this longpress did bring up recent apps

[Q] Lack of a menu button a problem?

Could you guys clarify something for me?
If there are only three buttons - back, home and multitasking - how to get to the hidden menus in existing software? Will they be unavailable until an app is updated? Or will those buttons be brought out somehow?
Or is there something else I'm not seing?

There are literally 2 threads about this already. Not to mention a couple videos out there showing how it works.
When a legacy app is loaded, a menu button appears next to the multitasking button (this is how it works in honeycomb since the start).
The SDK is designed so that new apps and updated apps will have menu items (or at least a button) integrated into the app in plain view.

Sorry, my bad..
Thanks for your reply.

[Q] Remap home soft key long-press?

Couldn't find anything about this anywhere, so I'm starting a new thread.
Is there a way to remap what application loads when long-pressing the home soft-key? I've remapped what app loads when holding the volume-up key with the screen-off, but I'm looking to have a specific application run when holding the home button soft key, instead of the default "google" option that appears when doing it on the stock ROM.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, as would the monitors moving this thread to its proper location if it should belong somewhere else :good:

We'll need root.
I wish OEMs would include this level of customization by default. I wouldn't mind having my home button long press either launch my camera or the App Swap app and have my recent button long press switch to the last app.
Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

partylikeaninjastar said:
We'll need root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. I was hoping there might be a workaround (like KeyPlus) or an app like Home2Shortcut which I used on my SGS5 to accomplish that change. Oh well. Guess I'll just keep doing what I've been doing: patiently waiting for root to drop whenever the dev's involved feel it's ready! Thanks for the quick reply!

How can I change the functionality of the hardware keys on the device?

Hey, I'm trying to change the functionality of the hardware keys. I have seen different solutions, I tried with some apps and I have tried editing Genaric.kl.
I changed:
key 139 MENU
to
key 139 MENU VIRTUAL
But it didn't solve my problem. Right now the buttons are "Back - menu - recent apps" I come from Oxygen OS version 1 on my 1+1 and on that version I was able to change short hold function on the button in the settings but I can't seem to do that on the latest version of Oxygen OS. So I have swapped places with "Back" and "Recent apps" so my current order is "Recent apps - menu - back" I want the recent apps to become a menu button instead like it was on 1+1. I've also read the "MENU" actually is APP_SWITCH which is not stated in Genaric.kl.
Does anyone have a detailed solution for this?
Thanks!

The menu button doesn't really exist any more. It's been phased out for ages.

blackalice said:
The menu button doesn't really exist any more. It's been phased out for ages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still doesn't answer my question Sir.
I believe it's possible but I can't find the solution.