Develop Bugs

[Q] Could auto brightness be set more conservatively?

So as everyone knows our brilliant screen and auto brightness eat batteries like candy. Many people, understandably, disable auto brightness to conserve battery life. I haven't gone that far yet as I do use my phone in many different environments and enjoy the dynamic brightness. With that said auto brightness does set the brightness unnecessarily high.
Would it be possible to adjust auto brightness so that it still functions but sets brightness 10-20% (or a user specified value) lower than normally?
I'm not sure this would save as much battery as statically setting the brightness (is it the "auto" adjustment that drains battery or the brightness it sets it at?) but I'm sure it would be better than stock auto brightness.

You cannot do this from stock rom to my knowledge, but I'm sure there is a custom rom that will allow you to do this. You might have to search around a bit though.

I wrote an app that allows you to set custom auto brightness behaviour. You can check out the free version here.

Cyb3rGlitch said:
I wrote an app that allows you to set custom auto brightness behaviour. You can check out the free version here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, question: will this actually reduce battery usage or possibly cause more by enabling so many extra features?

If you're willing to rebuild android from source you could try changing device/samsung/tuna/overlay/frameworks/base/core/res/res/values/config.xml to have a more subtle brightness adjustment.
Or maybe running yet another app is easier in the meantime... But maybe someone who builds custom roms might want to hack at it...

The juice defender app has a schedule for brightness i believe, So it will come on automatic during the times frames you set..good luck

textshell said:
If you're willing to rebuild android from source you could try changing device/samsung/tuna/overlay/frameworks/base/core/res/res/values/config.xml to have a more subtle brightness adjustment.
Or maybe running yet another app is easier in the meantime... But maybe someone who builds custom roms might want to hack at it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah thanks that's what I was looking for. You can't mod this file directly without rebuilding from source? Would be cool to be able to apply this to any ROM.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

wish777 said:
The juice defender app has a schedule for brightness i believe, So it will come on automatic during the times frames you set..good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, not exactly what I was looking for though. It has to be more dynamic than a hard schedule.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Editing default auto brightness levels was a Cyanogen 7 feature. If it hasn't yet been added into CM9, it'll eventually get there.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

phishie said:
Ah thanks that's what I was looking for. You can't mod this file directly without rebuilding from source? Would be cool to be able to apply this to any ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems this thread has figured out a lot more about this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1377410
I don't know how easy it is to patch the existing apk. Seems possible.

Cyb3rGlitch said:
I wrote an app that allows you to set custom auto brightness behaviour. You can check out the free version here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good, unfortunately useless in free version and I have no card to buy payed one

pesho00 said:
Sounds good, unfortunately useless in free version and I have no card to buy payed one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why is it useless? I have been playing with it since yesterday and really like it, much better than system auto brightness. I don't really feel it's missing anything it the free version though I'm pretty sure I'll buy it just to support the developer. Very nice app.

pascanu said:
Why is it useless? I have been playing with it since yesterday and really like it, much better than system auto brightness. I don't really feel it's missing anything it the free version though I'm pretty sure I'll buy it just to support the developer. Very nice app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, it is a very nice app! I love how I can customize the brightness to match my environment and needs.

In my case, I selected "auto brightness inly on wake" in Lux Auto Brightness and it is draining battery. I paid for it but I am going to uninstall it.
Please Vito, let us know how to improve battery with Lux configurations. Thaks

While I can't provide any input on Lux, I also wrote an custom auto brightness application which can be found on Market here.
The market version isn't really good on Gnex though, you may just contact me and I'll send you the last dev version, it is now alright. I myself have a GNex and now it's alright. It would take me about 2 weeks till I'll be able to update Market version, most likely - there are enough things to add.

[Q] Disable Capacitive Buttons (Q)

Hello Brochachos from all over the world! I was wondering if there was any way to turn off capacitive buttons fully and just use the on-screen soft keys? That would be awesome. Thank you for your insight and help on this fellow xda members! <3 kse91holydiver

kse91holydiver said:
Hello Brochachos from all over the world! I was wondering if there was any way to turn off capacitive buttons fully and just use the on-screen soft keys? That would be awesome. Thank you for your insight and help on this fellow xda members! <3 kse91holydiver
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a mod for the nexus s that disabled the keys, I could adapt it to this phone probably. Using cm9 i'm guessing?

No, actually I'm using AOKP, does that change the difficulty in adapting it?

NVM I looked at your mod and adapted it myself, no flash zip necessary. For anyone else who wants to know you delete the text in /system/usr/keylayout/sec_touchkey.kl and then save changes in a root explorer app.

Is there any trick to turning the lights off on cm9?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Yeah I don't want to completely disable the keys themselves, I just want to turn the annoying, battery-wasting backlight off. The CM9 setting to do so does not work.

webran61 said:
Yeah I don't want to completely disable the keys themselves, I just want to turn the annoying, battery-wasting backlight off. The CM9 setting to do so does not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to know this too.

This was made by T.C.P. But I use it on CM9 Codename and AOKP. Turns off the lights but they still work. Flash in recovery and enjoy.
http://db.tt/clMO98XH
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Qwallace70129 said:
This was made by T.C.P. But I use it on CM9 Codename and AOKP. Turns off the lights but they still work. Flash in recovery and enjoy.
http://db.tt/clMO98XH
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could I just push this file somewhere in the system? What's the path?

phatmanxxl said:
Could I just push this file somewhere in the system? What's the path?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/system/lib/hw/
Push it there and reboot
Some ICS roms like codename have a "lights.sph-d710.so" file so push the the lights.exynos4.so and delete the d710 one then reboot (if that's the case).

batting1000 said:
/system/lib/hw/
Push it there and reboot
Some ICS roms like codename have a "lights.sph-d710.so" file so push the the lights.exynos4.so and delete the d710 one then reboot (if that's the case).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I just read the script and did that thanks. It works.

Qwallace70129 said:
This was made by T.C.P. But I use it on CM9 Codename and AOKP. Turns off the lights but they still work. Flash in recovery and enjoy.
http://db.tt/clMO98XH
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems once the d710 file is deleted the brigbtness goes crazy and the widget for brightness stops working, anyone else?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

TeamERA said:
It seems once the d710 file is deleted the brigbtness goes crazy and the widget for brightness stops working, anyone else?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I said make sure you add the lights.exynos4.so after you delete the d710 file and then reboot.

Don't forget to set permissions before your reboot.

Why would you ever want on screen buttons instead. Phone screens are small as is, and youre choosing to use a portion of it to be dedicated to buttons you already have? Not to mention theyre not as responsive as capacitive buttons and theyre bound to get in the way sooo much more. I think its the worst part of ics, and Ill be dissapointed if the s3 ships without capacitive buttons, even if it does make ot look cooler. And the removal of search and menu is downright retarded

The .so file does indeed work. Thanks so much for the workaround.
Also on the general subject I would much prefer fewer buttons on my mobile device. My HP laptop has capacitive buttons and they are the cause of many headaches. Even the menu button on my E4GT sporadically activates on its own from time to time. Google did it right with ICS and the Galaxy Nexus. The keys are there only when you need them and auto-hide when you don't meaning the screen real-estate is not as much of an issue as one might think.
Sent from my Touchpad using xda premium

webran61 said:
The .so file does indeed work. Thanks so much for the workaround.
Also on the general subject I would much prefer fewer buttons on my mobile device. My HP laptop has capacitive buttons and they are the cause of many headaches. Even the menu button on my E4GT sporadically activates on its own from time to time. Google did it right with ICS and the Galaxy Nexus. The keys are there only when you need them and auto-hide when you don't meaning the screen real-estate is not as much of an issue as one might think.
Sent from my Touchpad using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they dissapear its rare. And that portion of the screen is blacked out anyways. Ive never had an issue with my capacitive buttons.

webran61 said:
Yeah I don't want to completely disable the keys themselves, I just want to turn the annoying, battery-wasting backlight off. The CM9 setting to do so does not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried RootDim, in lock mode?

MultiLockOn said:
Why would you ever want on screen buttons instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am trying to do it because my hardware buttons randomly press themselves making the phone difficult to use. I get where you are coming from though.

I'm searching around trying to fix my phantom search button issue but don't want to flash a different rom or start a new thread... I'm rooted with framaroot (great system, so easy to do), have busy box, root browser- virgin mobile S2 SPH-D710, same as the Epic 4G touch. I found a thread in another forum talking about editing the button to simply no longer have a task, but in regards to the menu button and not the search button which is the one that is giving me the phantom issue. Thread is here:
http://androidforums.com/galaxy-s2-...th-ics-jb-phantom-menu-keypress-easy-fix.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2203059
Anyone know how to go about deleting the functionality of the search button?
I want to take this approach as it seems the only way short of a new/referb or hunting down a custom rom where the software somehow fixes the issue via programming. I did have virgin send me a referb and it had the same issue lol, so working on fixing it the xda way haha. For those with the same issue and wondering what is causing it, IMO the best explanation I found was from another forum, it seems to be hardware, where a screen replacement or capacitor addition is the fix because some S2s had bad quality control and a magnetic shield was not installed correctly and when the cell antenna is in a low reception area, it increases power and that causes an inductive voltage situation or some other power issue and makes the handset think the menu or search button is pressed. I found some who feel that even though it's a hardware issue, of course the software could be set to prevent the cell antenna from 'juicing up' in low reception areas.

Disable Touch Key Backlight on Google Edition

I hope someone can help me out with this (I guess most of my posts arent worth bothering with as they usually go untouched by anyone). I'm trying to figure out a way to disable the touch button backlight on a Google Edition ROM. I have been searching for an answer since the Google Edition hit. All I can ever find is how to disable on GSIII ROMs (non ge). If anyone can please help me out I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!

comoc85 said:
I hope someone can help me out with this (I guess most of my posts arent worth bothering with as they usually go untouched by anyone). I'm trying to figure out a way to disable the touch button backlight on a Google Edition ROM. I have been searching for an answer since the Google Edition hit. All I can ever find is how to disable on GSIII ROMs (non ge). If anyone can please help me out I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screen Filter is an app that can disable the backlight of the softkeys. Set it to auto-start at boot and you should be good. I know its not a direct fix but its a low impact app that shouldnt effect battery life or operation.

C.Sweat said:
Screen Filter is an app that can disable the backlight of the softkeys. Set it to auto-start at boot and you should be good. I know its not a direct fix but its a low impact app that shouldnt effect battery life or operation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for replying! It does not seem to work with our model tho.

comoc85 said:
Thank you for replying! It does not seem to work with our model tho.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to work for me. Did it dim the screen at all (thats its main function)? Did you see the check box "enable softkey back light" (uncheck it) at the bottom of the app ui?
⇩⇩⇩ ⇩⇩⇩ ⇩⇩⇩​

C.Sweat said:
Seems to work for me. Did it dim the screen at all (thats its main function)? Did you see the check box "enable softkey back light" (uncheck it) at the bottom of the app ui?
⇩⇩⇩ ⇩⇩⇩ ⇩⇩⇩​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it did dim the screen, but if i uncheck the enable softkey back light, anytime I touch the screen the backlights still come on. Are you on a G.E. rom? I am currently on Infamouse G.E.

comoc85 said:
Yes, it did dim the screen, but if i uncheck the enable softkey back light, anytime I touch the screen the backlights still come on. Are you on a G.E. rom? I am currently on Infamouse G.E.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No im not. I am on AOSP (Slim Bean) though.

There are options to do this in AOKP and CM roms. Anybody know how those builds pull it off?

Give me a minute to shower and I'll write you an app. All you have to do is install my app, reboot, grant it root access, and profit.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

elesbb said:
Give me a minute to shower and I'll write you an app. All you have to do is install my app, reboot, grant it root access, and profit.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks brother. Any luck getting that working? With all of the research I have been doing, I have found MANY people that want to get this option working.

comoc85 said:
Thanks brother. Any luck getting that working? With all of the research I have been doing, I have found MANY people that want to get this option working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fell asleep working on it last night. I'm gonna finish it in a bit. Been playing dead island Riptide!
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

Okay i am having troubles setting it to off on boot. But here is a "toggle" version of it where you can toggle them on or off. Will try and fix the boot issue tomorrow.

SWEEET!!! Works like a charm thanks dude! Like I said, I've been searching for this forever! I know that many others have been searching for this, perhaps you should make a thread in the mods section.

comoc85 said:
SWEEET!!! Works like a charm thanks dude! Like I said, I've been searching for this forever! I know that many others have been searching for this, perhaps you should make a thread in the mods section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go HERE i fixed the boot issue. I was way too tired last night xD missed something really simple lol

Moto X Smart screen notifications

I found this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2395549
Thx to Niko001
It is a app that give you the smart notifications from the moto x :victory:
And it works great.
Is have tested it.
Works only on Google play edtion 4.3
But mabey on sens rom to. But thit not test that
Insctructions
Install like every other APK file

Any pics on what it looks like when up and running?

Since we don't have super AMOLED, wouldn't this be a huge battery drain?

jabza said:
Since we don't have super AMOLED, wouldn't this be a huge battery drain?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not realy screen is on for a 10 or 15 sec.

this is how it looks like. When you push the icon of the notification you see from it is

The whole screen would light up as black instead of being off like Amoled. I don't think LCD's can take full advantage of this feature

I think notifierpro is the best app for this task. The free lite version works awesome.

All they need is a setting to set a timeout. I use Knock² currently and its set to 30seconds. I use it mainly at work to see if a message is worth grabbing my phone for.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4

altimax98 said:
All they need is a setting to set a timeout. I use Knock² currently and its set to 30seconds. I use it mainly at work to see if a message is worth grabbing my phone for.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does it work properly on HTC one as I've read a lot of negative reviews about not working properly on HTC one

ahmed4never said:
does it work properly on HTC one as I've read a lot of negative reviews about not working properly on HTC one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah worked fine... but it is 4.3 and above only. Meaning it only will work on the GE ROM or phone.
He needs to change his target API to hide it from those not 4.3
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4

I'm using knock2 and it works like a charm.
Send from my Phonebox

ryanfsdf said:
The whole screen would light up as black instead of being off like Amoled. I don't think LCD's can take full advantage of this feature
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can, the battery drain is significantly higher than an AMOLED screen.
I'm fine with keeping the extra battery life and having the LED. (Dashclock helps on the lock screen).
The Moto X benefits the most by far from this because of a few reasons.
1.) Contextual low-power processor
2.) AMOLED screen
3.) It doesn't have a notification LED to begin with.

i think it is what you personal perfer or like. I thougt nice app let's share. For those ho want it.
Just had a training for my Samsung care point to maintain my license. And had the same explanation of diferents beteween AMOLED, Super AMOLED and LCD.
I hope to get a re traing for HTC to.

I have installed it on my viper Rom. Works perfect. But then I am getting force closes error on gmail. When I disable it. Gmail works fine. But when I enable it. It gives me force close error. Any solution?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

[KERNEL MODULES] [4.4/4.4.1] Screen Dimmer, Fast Charge

Screen Dimmer
The minimum screen brightness is too damn bright to use in the dark.
Run the app, click "Load" next to "n5dim", change your brightness to the minimum (and then up a bit and back down) and notice how much dimmer it is.
The brightness at all other levels stay the same.
Source: https://github.com/mzhou/n5dim
Fast Charge
This works by setting the registers on the bq24192 charger chip to allow as much input current (from USB/AC) as possible, as well as allowing as high a charge current as possible (to the battery).
From limited tests I've performed in the past, this actually isn't enough to get faster charging, so further investigation will be needed, though your testing will be much appreciated.
It will take effect on the first time you plug in after clicking "Load". If you're already plugged in, you need to unplug and replug for it to take effect.
Source: https://github.com/mzhou/n5charge
General
To use either of these, you need any kernel which supports modules (CONFIG_MODULES=y).
I've attached (modules_boot.img) a stock kernel with the config changed to support modules.
modules_441_boot.img is for 4.4.1, while modules_boot.img is for 4.4.0.

Does this dim further than setting '1' in /sys/devices/mdp.0/qcom,mdss_fb_primary.160/leds/lcd-backlight?
(Also I noticed your CSE email, a fellow UNSW student?)

Cyb3rGlitch said:
Does this dim further than setting '1' in /sys/devices/mdp.0/qcom,mdss_fb_primary.160/leds/lcd-backlight?
(Also I noticed your CSE email, a fellow UNSW student?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Dragging the brightness slider to the minimum already sets 1 there.
There's values hard coded in the platform data to internally restrict the value to a minimum of 5 (but that's of little consequence).
The main gain is is from the "full scale current" (you can find an explanation in the datasheet for lm3630) which has been hard coded to 18 in the platform data. Bringing it down to 0 makes a huge difference.
(sup)

Nice work! I wonder why they limited it. Possibly to stop people putting their phone into an unusable state during the day?

Cyb3rGlitch said:
Nice work! I wonder why they limited it. Possibly to stop people putting their phone into an unusable state during the day?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done it to myself many times when I did this to my old phone.
Also updated the attachment in the OP to be compatible with more kernels.
Tested working on Franco.

Very cool! :good:

AWESOME! Is there maybe a mod like this for the NN7 (new nexus 7 )

Is there any advantage to this method over using an app like lux?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

adzjwarner said:
Is there any advantage to this method over using an app like lux?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No app will be able to get the backlight this dark.
I'm not sure what Lux does, but if it modifies the colours to produce a darkening effect, then the contrast will be very bad.

adzjwarner said:
Is there any advantage to this method over using an app like lux?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there, I'm actually the developer of Lux. The main purpose of Lux is to replace your auto brightness system without the need for root access. That being said, there's no reason why this neat kernel module couldn't be added to a root plugin for Lux.

Cyb3rGlitch said:
Hey there, I'm actually the developer of Lux. The main purpose of Lux is to replace your auto brightness system without the need for root access. That being said, there's no reason why this neat kernel module couldn't be added to a root plugin for Lux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah cool.
I tried out Lux and I'm not sure if it's a limitation in the free version, but it only sets the backlight brightness (/sys/class/leds/lcd-backlight/brightness) to a minimum of 10 before it starts doing colour adjustment instead.
My module treats the value 1 as special for making the backlight super dark. Dragging Android's built in brightness slider uses the full range of values 1-225 inclusive.
There's no reason it couldn't just map the full 1-255 to a wider range, but I initially wanted to lean towards keeping things as stock as possible.

arararagi said:
Ah cool.
I tried out Lux and I'm not sure if it's a limitation in the free version, but it only sets the backlight brightness (/sys/class/leds/lcd-backlight/brightness) to a minimum of 10 before it starts doing colour adjustment instead.
My module treats the value 1 as special for making the backlight super dark. Dragging Android's built in brightness slider uses the full range of values 1-225 inclusive.
There's no reason it couldn't just map the full 1-255 to a wider range, but I initially wanted to lean towards keeping things as stock as possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does that because some devices do silly things near 0 like putting the device to sleep. You can change the minimum brightness in settings to 1 which should fix this (although I suspect it might round 0.01*255 to 2. I'll have to check my codebase).

Cyb3rGlitch said:
It does that because some devices do silly things near 0 like putting the device to sleep. You can change the minimum brightness in settings to 1 which should fix this (although I suspect it might round 0.01*255 to 2. I'll have to check my codebase).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somehow overlooked that when I was skimming the settings. (And it does round to 2 ).
I could make 2 or anything less than 5 special so that Lux users can benefit. Or maybe just make it configurable with a parameter at insmod time...

arararagi said:
Somehow overlooked that when I was skimming the settings. (And it does round to 2 ).
I could make 2 or anything less than 5 special so that Lux users can benefit. Or maybe just make it configurable with a parameter at insmod time...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whatever you feel works best. A parameter sounds like the most flexible solution though.

This is exactly what I was looking for!
Could I get a bit more explanation of how to install this though? Do I flash the kernel in recovery and then run the command from a shell on my phone, or on my computer?
Thanks for making this.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

I'll be watching this thread intently. I currently use lux as well.

rockingondrums said:
I'll be watching this thread intently. I currently use lux as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Nelsocracy said:
This is exactly what I was looking for!
Could I get a bit more explanation of how to install this though? Do I flash the kernel in recovery and then run the command from a shell on my phone, or on my computer?
Thanks for making this.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash the kernel in whatever normal way you choose.
Extract and copy n5din.ko to your phone.
Use root and put it in /data so that apps with SD card access can't mess with it.
Run "insmod /data/n5dim.ko" on your phone. This can be with a terminal emulator or adb or script manager.
I'm probably gonna be making more modules so I might make an app to simplify the process.

Cyb3rGlitch said:
Hey there, I'm actually the developer of Lux. The main purpose of Lux is to replace your auto brightness system without the need for root access. That being said, there's no reason why this neat kernel module couldn't be added to a root plugin for Lux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OhHai! Big fan of the app, it's saved my eyes when internetting in bed for many many months now! (Though I probably should just not internet at night)
I'll leave the plugin stuff to somebody who knows how to do that and rejoice when(if) it happens. :good:

arararagi said:
Flash the kernel in whatever normal way you choose.
Extract and copy n5din.ko to your phone.
Use root and put it in /data so that apps with SD card access can't mess with it.
Run "insmod /data/n5dim.ko" on your phone. This can be with a terminal emulator or adb or script manager.
I'm probably gonna be making more modules so I might make an app to simplify the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That worked perfectly, thanks.
This is really dim! I'm impressed. If you ever decide to modify it like you mentioned earlier so that the full brightness adjustment was available I'd be interested. It would be useful to have access to all the brightness levels between yours and the ordinary minimum brightness.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app