Develop Bugs

4 Hard Button Go Crazy on Android

I installed the Android OS on my phone that was found on this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5480057&postcount=7353
I updated it and everything to what he has but occasionally my hard buttons at the bottom will either stay lit or not respond at all. Or it will even go crazy as if I were sitting there spinning my finger around the middle hard button thus making it highlight everything on my menu. That also causes trouble because then it thinks that when I press the home key it decides to bring up the call log screen.
Is there anyway to disable the "iPod Scroll" on the center hard key?

Dude. You should update to the newest build. And update Rootfs and zImages.
everything is in the XDAndroid thread in this forum.

I updated to the one found here:
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=104276
And my scroll wheel and hard buttons still mess up from time to time.

What device do you have? RAPH100?

Sorry I don't know the developer names but its the HTC Fuze for AT&T so it's either the RAPH100 or just the RAPH. The start up config I'm using for Droid is the RAPH config.

Its best not to touch the capacitive DPAD and scroller during boot up. (safe time is when you can see a n d r o i d or the bootscreen.) This and having the pad clean is very crucial if you don't want it going crazy.
Try cleaning it with a wet cloth/tissue and try again.
I also had a screen protector which was massively scratched which caused problems. Ever since removing it the DPAD has been working great.

dude i totally have the same problem.
i ve tried wipe it clean but no luck.
sometimes everything work great but all of a sudden the buttons go wild and start flashing. after that, nothing will bring it back to normal. maybe after a few minutes if will stop blinking, lefting one or two LEDs on, and the button is then less responsive, though still works if you place your finger on the button you want for a few seconds before pressing.
I've seen a few people complaining about this but other says its because of our own device...
However everything works normally in WM... so i guess it might be about the sensitivity or something like that.
no matter it get fixed or not, I do want a method to disable the scrolling too, and maybe the left and right buttons, because they never work even under WM...

Yeah, mine does that too. Its random, sometimes not happening for days, then all of the sudden it starts. And this is within the same boot. Very odd. BTW, I keep up on all builds, always update asap, and my pad is spotless. I can't really figure it out.

also getting the exact same problem a lot, with everything up to date, clean, and not touching on bootup. would it be difficult to implement a code where we could just disable the middle scroll wheel? thats the thing that causes the most problems, and its not really that useful anyway.

@reverendkjr
This may be off topic but, you say you leave your phone running Droid all the time? How do you not drain your battery in like 4 hours unless you leave it charging all day?
But I'm pretty sure I'm as up to date as I can be and I still get this issue.

twiggy159 said:
@reverendkjr
This may be off topic but, you say you leave your phone running Droid all the time? How do you not drain your battery in like 4 hours unless you leave it charging all day?
But I'm pretty sure I'm as up to date as I can be and I still get this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not off topic at all. I have been using Xandroid as my one and only OS for about a month now. I do charge it quite often, and I leave it on my desk at work on a charger. I also charge it at night as I sleep. I start off the day with 100% and can go 6 or so hours without issue. I continuously get 3-4 days in a row without a reboot or a failure. I find that it has become a suitable alternative to Winmo. The difficulty that I have is that there are primary functions which I miss a bit (camera mostly). But I feel that in order for me to fully understand and appreciate this, and to be able to contribute as a quasi beta tester, I must be willing to spend as much time with it as possible. I keep up with these forums on a regular basis , checking them sometimes 2-3 times a day. It is difficult to distinguish helpful info sometimes, since there are several versions floating around, and not everyone has the same setup & environment. I search as much as I can to find my own solutions, and for the most part, I'm relatively proud of myself. I usually only chime in when something is really bugging me, or I see something valuable that I can add to a conversation.
This issue was one that I had seen a few people talk about, and it had always been chalked up to being a dirty sensor type of thing, or someone touching the pad while it was booting. Having tried all of these solutions with no success, I had come to the determination that it was not constant, it could be ignored or dealt with, and eventually someone would fix it. It is most definitely not a "hot" item, so I never made a stink about it. Now that others have brought it forward, I decided to add my experiences.
I have loads of respect for the developers, and realize that they are not doing this for me. They are doing it for themselves, and fortunately, they share it with us. I am envious of their ability to make this project possible, and have no expectation or demands. I just take what they give us, and try to make it work for me.
Just my two sense, I'll step away from the pulpit now.

+1 for Navigation Wheel or capacitive D-pad issue
reverendkjr said:
Yeah, mine does that too. Its random, sometimes not happening for days, then all of the sudden it starts. And this is within the same boot. Very odd. BTW, I keep up on all builds, always update asap, and my pad is spotless. I can't really figure it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May I appeal to the developers to move Raph110 Navigation wheel to "Not working" so further development can occur. I do not touch the wheel during boot, but it still randomly flips out. My screen is clean. I did the clean cloth thing. The Navigation wheel not only flips out going all over the place. It actually rarely works the way it should in any application.
All I really need is to turn it off or disable the Navigation wheel if at all possible. Is it necessary to load the Nav-wheel capacitive drivers or can we disable them? Would it disrupt the function of the D-pad if disabled because all I need is the D-pad.
Chime in RAPH110 guys. Would you care if the Nav-wheel was disabled, because I actually think this is what is causing the issue.
I just want to make sure that I communicate to any developers that this is not a major issue. To me, I feel as though this is the only issue that I have at all. With the build I use, I honestly have no other issue which means that the Raph110 Android end product is 99% complete. To be direct, Thank you! I feel as though you purchased me a new phone, so this is no way a complaint. It is only the last 1% quality assurance analysis. ;-)
Edit: I just re-read this thread and the common denominator is HTC Fuze or RAPH110 users are having this minor issue. RAPH100 posting are saying "Just read the thread" or "use updated packages" or "clean the screen" which I think may all work and be valid for you RAPH100 users. I can indeed say without a doubt that this does not work for RAPH110.
In order for me to stop the random D-pad/Nav-wheel random scrolling, I have to screen lock it, let it go to sleep, then it might stop. It does stop mind you, but it is quite random how I am able to stop it.

spideyngo said:
May I appeal to the developers to move Raph110 Navigation wheel to "Not working" so further development can occur. I do not touch the wheel during boot, but it still randomly flips out. My screen is clean. I did the clean cloth thing. The Navigation wheel not only flips out going all over the place. It actually rarely works the way it should in any application.
All I really need is to turn it off or disable the Navigation wheel if at all possible. Is it necessary to load the Nav-wheel capacitive drivers or can we disable them? Would it disrupt the function of the D-pad if disabled because all I need is the D-pad.
Chime in RAPH110 guys. Would you care if the Nav-wheel was disabled, because I actually think this is what is causing the issue.
I just want to make sure that I communicate to any developers that this is not a major issue. To me, I feel as though this is the only issue that I have at all. With the build I use, I honestly have no other issue which means that the Raph110 Android end product is 99% complete. To be direct, Thank you! I feel as though you purchased me a new phone, so this is no way a complaint. It is only the last 1% quality assurance analysis. ;-)
Edit: I just re-read this thread and the common denominator is HTC Fuze or RAPH110 users are having this minor issue. RAPH100 posting are saying "Just read the thread" or "use updated packages" or "clean the screen" which I think may all work and be valid for you RAPH100 users. I can indeed say without a doubt that this does not work for RAPH110.
In order for me to stop the random D-pad/Nav-wheel random scrolling, I have to screen lock it, let it go to sleep, then it might stop. It does stop mind you, but it is quite random how I am able to stop it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think mine is a RAPH100... i cant take out the battery and double check... but mine is a unbranded version fron 3 australia... which i remember is raph100. and i totally have the same issue so this is not only happening on raph110 i believe.

Hey guys,
I was having the same problem in wm6.5 using many different energyroms, i disabled the scrollwheel altogether within the registry, never used it anyway. I am now getting the same problem in Android. is there is a registry parallel in android?
btw using a RAPH100 (all above fixes did not work)

devs, is there no easy way to implement a disable scroll wheel setting?? i swear that wheel will drive me crazy at times

While this could be an issue with all Raph 110's (AT&T Fuze), I think it is just a subset due to hardware problems. For me, the problem only happens occasionally and it does not only occur in xdandroid, but also in WM. There is an HTC tool (for WM) named NavDbgTool.exe that will show you what is happening with the capacitive buttons/touch area on the Raph. For me, when I have issues it lights up all over and shows touches occurring that are not occurring. I know of at least one XDA member (Captain Throwback) who was able to get a replacement phone (a Tilt2) from the insurance carrier because of this issue.
Perhaps this is a problem that eventually happens with all Raph 110's due to a hardware flaw. If that is the case, maybe enough complaints to AT&T will cause them to replace all of the devices (similar to how Sprint is replacing all their Touch Pro's due to overheating issues). In the meantime, if you have insurance, you should be able to get a replacement phone, just use the NavDbgTool.exe to document the problem in WM.
Also, due to this issue, it would be nice to have the option to disable the capacitive touch area on the Raph 110 in xdandroid (while keeping the D-pad working). I don't use it for anything now that zooming doesn't work for recent versions of Opera in WM.

I'm starting to think that this is Winmo ROM related. I noticed that since I've used the ROM that I have installed right now, the amount of times this issue has affected me has been slim to none. I am currently running the an NRG rom from june 12 with sense 2.5.
link: http://hotfile.com/dl/47992175/ccd8b44/Energy.RAPHAEL.21905.Sense2.5.Jun.12.7z.html
I'm not guaranteeing anything, but its working for me.
Maybe it has something to do with a package that is built into certain roms. I have noticed a few times where the winmo ROM i have loaded will affect Android's performance as well. The ROM that I am currently running was also what provided me with the ability to get GPS working in Android.
I hope this helps some of you.

I don't think it has anything to do with WM. For me, it only happens in Android.

firstly i have a raph100 that has this issue too, so its not just raph110
secondly, for me, this happens in wm too but a lot less frequently and seems to repair itself. It happens in android 70% of time when i boot, the 30% else happens later...
newly released zimages seem to shutdown the capacitive panel when sleeping, and this solved my problem a little bit since every time it goes crazy I can put the device in sleep then resume it...

But when it goes asleep the two buttons on the right act as back, the two on the left act as home. I think there is only one physical button on both sides, the touch figures if you are pressing back or end.
Sent from my AOSP on XDANDROID MSM using XDA App

[Q]Problems with WiFi and screen off?

Does anyone else have issues with the WiFi connection while the screen is turned off? I noticed that not a single one of my music streaming / radio apps work when the screen isn't on. It works for maybe a minute before all sound just stops. Starts just fine again once I power up the screen.
Has there been any changes done to the handling of these matters in ICS perhaps?
Pretty annoying not being able to stream music over WiFi as I think I'll hit my 5GB limit on data pretty fast if I can't use the WiFi at work for this.
So has anyone else noticed these issues?

SBS_ said:
Does anyone else have issues with the WiFi connection while the screen is turned off? I noticed that not a single one of my music streaming / radio apps work when the screen isn't on. It works for maybe a minute before all sound just stops. Starts just fine again once I power up the screen.
Has there been any changes done to the handling of these matters in ICS perhaps?
Pretty annoying not being able to stream music over WiFi as I think I'll hit my 5GB limit on data pretty fast if I can't use the WiFi at work for this.
So has anyone else noticed these issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah same here. I remember this being an issue with Android 2.1 for my Desire but was fixed in custom roms. Might be the same situation here again.

I remember this being an issue with my Nexus One, don't remember if it was fixed in 2.2 or 2.3. I remember testing file transfer using SwiFTP, with the bug the file transfer would go down to double digits (kB/sec), with the bug fix it would be a few hundred kB/sec, with the screen on it would hit mB/sec or so (in any Android version).
I believe this is the official issue:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=9781
With my Nexus S I'm not experiencing this bug. Sscreen on still gives me a major wifi speed boost, but screen off I get a few hundred kB/sec, which should be more than enough for any streaming app. KiloBYTES btw, not bits. I'm surprised ICS and/or Galaxy Nexus brought this problem back. Or it could be something else entirely.
Are you connected via 2.4GHz or 5GHz wifi? I would think the new 5GHz radio in the GN probably has more aggressive power saving features. Try switching to 802.11b/g (instead of 802.11n, in any frequency), see if it helps.

Have you changed your WIFI sleep policy?
On my Froyo phone, if you hit menu while in the WIFI settings (I know there is no menu in ICS) you get an option to go into advanced settings where you have the option to choose your WiFi sleep policy (When screen turns off, never when plugged in, never).
There should be a way to access that advanced settings area somewhere.. My phone is a couple hundred miles away right now and I won't see it for another week so I can't be of much further help right now. However, there "was" a setting in previous versions.

best info at the time last year was here for the N1
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=01a47ff5b0a92d52&hl=en
7xx replies there to read, but really good info. somewhere in there, maybe around#600 the info gets good, can't remember. But shortly around this time the problem was gone/fixed.
there was a guy with an app i think it was wifi fixer, i could be wrong. that worked sometimes, but battery drain was bad. Whatever google, or CM did fixed the low power save mode issue. I'm thinking it was something at the kernel level?
edit, on second thought, there's no good reason to read all that. You won't get a fix out of it anyway. It was updated away in the end, something related to MAC addresses and build numbers and frf50 or some such.
BUT this seems like the same kind of thing going on in the power save mode.

Have you checked your advanced settings?
Wi-Fi>>(settings [bottom right])>>Advanced>>Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep...
Mine was set to always by default, so I suspect that the issue lies else where...

Neville.Holland said:
Have you checked your advanced settings?
Wi-Fi>>(settings [bottom right])>>Advanced>>Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep...
Mine was set to always by default, so I suspect that the issue lies else where...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Mine was set to always by default but still getting this issue.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

I would suggest that this issue is related to the individual applications you are using, rather than anything to do with Android.
I am able to stream music from Google Music via WiFi just fine when the screen is off, and I am also able to talk to someone on Skype via WiFi just fine when the screen is off.

oscillik said:
I would suggest that this issue is related to the individual applications you are using, rather than anything to do with Android.
I am able to stream music from Google Music via WiFi just fine when the screen is off, and I am also able to talk to someone on Skype via WiFi just fine when the screen is off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for posting that; I was getting pretty worried and disappointed after reading this thread. I had to deal with this when I first got my Nexus One, until Google released the 2.2.1 update with a new Broadcom driver which finally fixed the issue. No streaming, no pushes, just nothing at all from wifi when the phone went to sleep. All traffic to/from the phone would just stop. It was maddening.
The Galaxy Nexus comes to Canada a week from today, and this would've been a show-stopper for me. At least it's working for you, so my day isn't ruined quite yet

Has this issue ever been nailed down? I've seen considerable discussion on it going back years. I've seen considerable speculation regarding WIFI mode and Governor. I've seem many of the bug reports marked closed.
Yet I have a GN on v4.0.4 and the moment the screen goes off - either because you turn it off or it just times out - the WIFI goes to h*ll. I've run ping and network trace from both sides and there is no doubt the WIFI stays connected, however latency goes way up and packets are lost... and with TCP connections it gets congested with retransmits. I've run with the governor set to "Performance" and there is no difference.
So, is there any consensus on what is causing this problem with current stock hardware/software?

I read that it's something that's been coded in for a while. Try using this:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ratcash.wifiperf
-Sent via XDA Premium-

Ok, to answer my own question, this is still related to the PSP issue from years ago:
code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=9781
code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=15549
Bottom line is that some hardware - like GN - has an additional level of PSP on WIFI. The issue was resolved by inclusion of an additional lock mode - WIFI_MODE_FULL_HIGH_PERF - some time ago. However, its up to an application to request the new lock state if it thinks it needs it. Many don't.
So, its probably not a bad idea to contact developers of the various applications and recommend they look into the new lock level in the later APIs.
Also, the "WIFI High Performance Widget" can be used to manually hold a WIFI_MODE_FULL_HIGH_PERF lock on the WIFI if you're dealing with an application that isn't doing it its self. Beware of the other "WIFI fixes" out there, none of the ones I tested were acquiring the correct lock.
Also, from an adb shell you can use "dumpsys wifi" to see who is holding what lock, for example:
Code:
Locks acquired: 5 full, 5 full high perf, 5 scan
Locks released: 4 full, 4 full high perf, 5 scan
Locks held:
WifiLock{PANDORA type=1 [email protected]}
WifiLock{HighPerformance type=3 [email protected]}
Here you can see Pandora is only holding type=1 (WIFI_MODE_FULL) and HighPerformance is holding type=3 (WIFI_MODE_FULL_HIGH_PERF). Dumping the WIFI state takes the guess work out of it.

Tried that widget, having absolutely no luck with 'in tune' and 'winamp' for radio with the galaxy nexus verizon...
as soon as the device sleeps, wifi goes to hell and buffer drops in and out every 2 seconds. Completely unusable, any recent fixes? this is totally making me think I just bought a $400 brick since this feature was very important for me.

What may be confusing about that widget is that it is a "widget". You have to locate it under "widgets" and then put it on the surface and then click it to enable it... it should be blue when on, and black when its not.

tlum said:
What may be confusing about that widget is that it is a "widget". You have to locate it under "widgets" and then put it on the surface and then click it to enable it... it should be blue when on, and black when its not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been trying to put the 'widget' itself (2x2 square) on the home screen but even if i hold and drag it to where I want it, it never actually appears on the screen. And of course i'm still getting crazy ping times...Does anyone else have this working on a GN (verizon - not that it should make a difference)?
I have found a few workarounds to this issue, none are great and frustrate me greatly.
1. Root and use the franco kernel. Seems people with that have no issues - since you can set? the wifi to full performance.
2. Use this wifi performance widget
3. Use an app that has properly set its own wifi settings. - Going through all the radio apps on the google market, i am finding only one app that seems to be doing this right: DI Radio - some kind of dance/techno/etc - confirmed it with ping times, they remain low on sleep.
Not one other radio app seems to have set 'proper' settings - which shows that something needs to be addressed in the os...I was having good luck with the yahoo music app, but depended on the stream (maybe some buffer more :dunno - the ping results are garbage.
EDIT: I tried installing high performance wifi again, and finally got the widget to one of the homescreens! Let me break it down for anyone else who comes across this. After install, the small 1x1 blue app box is put on your desktop and the black screen comes up with the wireless networks and a checkbox. I then went to apps->widgets and tried putting the 2x2 widget on the home screen again, and like always it clicks on like its there (and when you click home and its never there). However, this time I hit BACK instead of home after dropping the widget and it took me back to the black screen with the checkbox, then i hit home and voila its sitting there. You can click on it like you mentioned! Confirmed with ping for tune in...pings remain low.
If this continues to work, it may be a godsend. It is annoying having to have this, but far far better than not.

I had that problem also especially when i tried to download big files when the screen turn off the download speed became extremely slow, this widget solve this, i think to that moment its the easiest solution tap it when you need it tap it again when you done.
By the way i had this problems with franko kernel also and again to my opinion it is the good solution for now, until the apps developers update their apps.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

If you download the SDK - you only need Android SDK Platform-tools - to a PC and use the adb shell it is easy to dump the WiFi lock state with dumpsys wifi and see exactly which app(s) are holding what locks. Completely takes all of the guessing out of who is doing what when. Judging the behavior can be subjective because there are other reasons that the WiFi can break up which can be very frustrating.
developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/adb.html

Erlang2012 said:
I had that problem also especially when i tried to download big files when the screen turn off the download speed became extremely slow, this widget solve this, i think to that moment its the easiest solution tap it when you need it tap it again when you done.
By the way i had this problems with franko kernel also and again to my opinion it is the good solution for now, until the apps developers update their apps.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The app does work well, however I have been running into some issues as I continue to use it. It randomly decides to turn off the forced max wifi (even though its still blue and looks like its operating) or perhaps the phone is forcing the wifi issue again. It seems to happen when you are downloading, playing with some other apps? You only notice it when you sleep it and the streaming radio immediately starts having issues.
Solution is to flip back to the widget turn it off and turn it on again. It works, but is another annoyance.
I haven't yet ascertained exactly what causes it to switch off yet.
tlum said:
If you download the SDK - you only need Android SDK Platform-tools - to a PC and use the adb shell it is easy to dump the WiFi lock state with dumpsys wifi and see exactly which app(s) are holding what locks. Completely takes all of the guessing out of who is doing what when. Judging the behavior can be subjective because there are other reasons that the WiFi can break up which can be very frustrating.
developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/adb.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will look into this, thank you.
---------- Post added at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:28 PM ----------
I used the adb shell (learned how to install all these dev tools and how to use it first ) and here is some updated info:
Tunein = type=1
Pandora = type=1
Audioaddict service (Digitally imported app I posted above previously) = type=3
google music = type=3
High performance app = type=3 (havent figured out why this likes to stop randomly)
I will update with more app info, hopefully others can also email the developers and see that it gets fixed, so we no longer have to use damn workarounds...

jeep364 said:
... It randomly decides to turn off the forced max wifi (even though its still blue and looks like its operating)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it definitely has an issue holding its lock, and it definitely seems related to another application taking over and also when it switches to cell and back, I can confirm that. It may be related to the OS since the widget thinks it still on when clearly the lock as been released, so it may be that the OS released the lock and the widget has no idea. I haven't taken the time to look into the details yet, and this is something we should make the developer aware of.

tlum said:
Yes, it definitely has an issue holding its lock, and it definitely seems related to another application taking over and also when it switches to cell and back, I can confirm that. It may be related to the OS since the widget thinks it still on when clearly the lock as been released, so it may be that the OS released the lock and the widget has no idea. I haven't taken the time to look into the details yet, and this is something we should make the developer aware of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, from what I can see it loses lock:
1. when cell switching
2. manually killing/starting wifi
3. when ANY application is downloaded/removed (ie. changes in permissions)
4. when playing with dolphin, other apps for more than a few minutes, it will kill it even though the blue stays lit. I think its as you mentioned, during general use of the phone, at some point some permissions are changed and hifi performance is tossed off its lock.
If you only are streaming music and re enter the phone to check a gmail alert or two...it seems to be fine. otherwise you need to hit the lock widget one more time before sending it to sleep with pandora/tune in playing.

[Q] App or Program to use Phone on PC?

I've looked into Airdroid, but what I'm looking for is to use all the functions of my phone, but using my computer as an interface. aka, all available apps, etc.
Essentially, I want to be able to see the screen on my computer while running other programs, and use the keyboard and mouse instead of the touchscreen interface.
I do a lot of work on my computer and phone and dislike having to switch between the two devices, this would allow me to multitask with a simple alt tab on the computer, as well as possibly type faster
Edit:
Looking for something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJPJz4qlZFc&feature=related
But I'm looking for something more responsive

have you actually tried the vnc solution? it may be more responsive if youre wirless network is faster.

The latest user comments made me not want to try it:
"Worked great before ICS
Any idea on ICS Support?"
"A few pixels appear on the top right on the Galaxy Nexus, the rest is a black screen. Usually after running the server, the phone's screen goes black then crashes--later the keyboard stops working for all other apps. A reboot fixes that one.
"
Doesn't sound like it'll brick the phone so I'm giving it a shot now, but any one else know of how to do this?
Edit: Tested the Droid VNC, but when I start it up, it gives me an IPv6 address to use that I can't figure out, seems like an issue a lot of users have had
the app also refuses to close haha, it goes to "Stopping server. Please wait...' and just stays there.

JY-UL128N2 now available

I emailed Joying again yesterday to ask about UL128N2, and they responded by adding the unit to their webpages and accepting orders.
Canada website (Canadian $):
http://www.joying.ca/best-joying-ne...t-pip-sleep-model-bluetooth-4-0-dab-obd2.html
Global website (US $):
https://www.carjoying.com/new-andro...h-4-0-gps-navigation-professional-head-u.html

and the website is down. As usual.
If the website isn't down, it's their forum. Sigh.

morgish said:
and the website is down. As usual.
If the website isn't down, it's their forum. Sigh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well its back up now. Or at least its working for me.
Sometimes international routing through the great firewall can be a bit.... spotty.

Has anyone bought already?
Is it better than the ones with bezel and volume knob?

KamaL said:
Has anyone bought already?
Is it better than the ones with bezel and volume knob?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My two units arrived. Played with one of them on the kitchen table late last night.
The row of capacitive buttons are thoroughly pointless -- touches to them don't register at all if your finger doesn't touch it absolutely perfectly.
Having said that, I like them better than the one with the knobs, for the reason I've already mentioned to you -- the lack of deep bezels.
Better? It is definitely a matter of preference. I don't need the capacitive button row, so that doesn't bother me at all.
Note: they have this weird dot thing stuck in the UI as configured by default. Touching the dot brings up a set of buttons -- back, home, menu, etc. So.... CHINA. Obviously, unless you have AT LEAST three copies (SystemUI header bar, row of buttons, the weird dot thing, steering wheel controls) of every button, somebody is going to miss it. Fortunately, there is a control application in the application menu that allows you to disable the stupid dot.

doitright said:
My two units arrived. Played with one of them on the kitchen table late last night.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sitting on the fence with this purchase, any-chance you could do a video review with these units?

doitright said:
My two units arrived. Played with one of them on the kitchen table late last night.
The row of capacitive buttons are thoroughly pointless -- touches to them don't register at all if your finger doesn't touch it absolutely perfectly.
Having said that, I like them better than the one with the knobs, for the reason I've already mentioned to you -- the lack of deep bezels.
Better? It is definitely a matter of preference. I don't need the capacitive button row, so that doesn't bother me at all.
Note: they have this weird dot thing stuck in the UI as configured by default. Touching the dot brings up a set of buttons -- back, home, menu, etc. So.... CHINA. Obviously, unless you have AT LEAST three copies (SystemUI header bar, row of buttons, the weird dot thing, steering wheel controls) of every button, somebody is going to miss it. Fortunately, there is a control application in the application menu that allows you to disable the stupid dot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That dot was terrible. I also disabled it immediately, thankfully they gave an easy option to turn it off, unlike many of the other things that are obfuscated(such as disclosing to owners the hardware keycombo to boot into recovery).
Upon receiving my unit the capacitive buttons weren't always responding even when pressed perfectly, but after holding down RST till reboot they haven't had the issue again.
When inquiring about a larger touch area for the capacitive buttons I got "Hi friend, Nice day Yes, you can choose the bigger or small touch area in below settings:" with this picture attached.
Increasing the delta values in Settings of the Key Study app doesn't seem to do a whole lot but I think the trigger area is a bit bigger. Unfortunately the border values are for the entire touch screen not per button area.

tally3tally said:
I am sitting on the fence with this purchase, any-chance you could do a video review with these units?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. I don't do video.

rcll said:
That dot was terrible. I also disabled it immediately, thankfully they gave an easy option to turn it off, unlike many of the other things that are obfuscated(such as disclosing to owners the hardware keycombo to boot into recovery).
Upon receiving my unit the capacitive buttons weren't always responding even when pressed perfectly, but after holding down RST till reboot they haven't had the issue again.
When inquiring about a larger touch area for the capacitive buttons I got "Hi friend, Nice day Yes, you can choose the bigger or small touch area in below settings:" with this picture attached.
Increasing the delta values in Settings of the Key Study app doesn't seem to do a whole lot but I think the trigger area is a bit bigger. Unfortunately the border values are for the entire touch screen not per button area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That one looks like the buttons (and their corresponding areas) are considerably larger than with the 7". They are surprisingly small on this! I might see if I can disable them altogether, since I suspect that it would likely interfere with "slide finger in from left" gestures.

Ok, so got the thing installed last night.
Well, sortof.
Seems that China can't make up its mind regarding how far the front of the radio sticks forward relative to the mounting holes. So my first attempt to mount it resulted in the radio's face sticking so far forward that my DDIN face plate wouldn't have been able to make it down to the dashboard.... assuming that the holes fit. More on that later.
Second attempt, I moved the radio back to the next set of holes on the mounting bracket, which are a bit more than 1/2" behind the holes that I had the UL135 mounted with. Ok, well depth is *better*, but now a bit too far back. Middle of the night, so as long as I can use the thing to route my way to work in the morning, I'm ok with that. Maybe on the weekend, I'll drill another set of holes about half way between the two sets I tried so far. That should line it up OK.
So the DDIN sizing. Another thing that China can't make up its mind on. The UL135 fit in the Toyota Tacoma Metra dash kit... very snugly in horizontal direction, roughly 1mm clearance in the vertical direction. This UL128N2 is about 2-3 mm too big to fit in that dash kit in BOTH directions. They *claimed* the UL135 to be 100mm x 178mm. They *claim* the UL128N2 to be 102mm x 178mm. I will tell you that the UL128N2 is WIDER than the UL135, despite the claimed equal width. And given the 2mm (actually more) increase in height and that I had at least 1mm of available vertical space, I *should* have been able to force it in. NOPE. The difference is much greater than that, and in both directions. If the UL135 really is 100mm x 178mm, then the UL128N2 is probably 104mm x 180mm. WHY? Oh, the reason is absolutely HILARIOUS, it is because they have a thin plastic ring around the glass digitizer. They ordered the GLASS to have dimensions matching the DDIN target, but didn't compensate for the thin (~1mm) plastic ring around it! Very typical of the way that China manufacturing works. Ok, so I was able to grab a file and open up the dash kit a little bit to make it fit, and now its ok.
So next up... actual functionality.
First observation; the AM radio frequency standard is set to something that is most decidedly NOT North American standard. The closest frequency I could get to my preferred station was off by 2 kHz. While it was adequate to get the station and understand, without TYPICALLY an overabundance of noise or added sound from the next station over, it definitely sounds bad. Thanks so much China, for giving me a well working AM radio tuner! With any luck, I'll be able to hack the program to tune the proper frequencies.
On the physical utility of the unit, when you look past the "size" issue, its not bad. As expected, the screen is much more convenient without the deep bezel around it as the UL135 had. In order to achieve this, they replaced the physical control buttons with a row of capacitive buttons. Those buttons are pretty well useless, you can't reliably press them without focusing carefully on them. That is what is often called "distracted driving". I would go so far as to say that this row of buttons is DANGEROUS to try to use. Not only that, but the row of buttons is ***COMPLETELY REDUNDANT***. After all, they are just duplicates of the home/back/volume buttons that are already present on the SystemUI upper panel anyway, and, of course, the STEERING WHEEL BUTTONS (for those who have them hooked up). Why did they even bother to include that row of buttons? Because.... CHINA! Oh well.
Next up; there are some serious bugs when it comes to AUDIO ROUTING. If the radio is playing, and GPS voice comes on; radio mutes. Oh, it STAYS muted until you go BACK into the radio application, which seems to trigger a reset of the audio routing. This improved once I set google maps as the default nav application, now it just volumes down the radio to "pretend" to play the GPS sounds, and volumes it back up after.
Well, starting with the "included" ancient version of google maps... while it does make sound, it gets clipped by about 3 seconds at the start of the sound. So you miss about the first 3 seconds of the instruction. Update google maps to the latest version, and no sound comes out at all. Ok, what is happening with the newer one is that it is trying to use an audio pathway that is obviously BROKEN on these units. So that means that there isn't going to be any voice nav from google maps until either (a) THEY fix the audio routing problems, or (b) WE fix the audio routing problems. I'm not sure yet if there is an audio routing policy file that we can configure, or if this is something hard baked in somewhere. That's very annoying, but something I can live with for now. I prefer the newer google maps enough to live with the lack of voice guidance, rather than to try to use the ancient version.
DPI: Obviously, Android believes that the screen is as large as a TELEVISION. The fonts are all incredibly small, even if you set it to HUGE font. Ok, so right angle triangle has H = root(1024*1024+600*600)=1186.83 pseudopixels. Divide that by 7, makes 170 DPI. Its set to 160 DPI, so Android thinks that the screen is 7.4 inches. Ok, that's not really too far off from reality, but it IS in the wrong direction, to make everything look SMALLER than it should be. The problem is that the screen is roughly 3 feet away from your face. Take a tablet and how far do you hold it away? Roughly 1.5 foot. So lets figure out how big Android should *THINK* the screen is, in order to blow things up to the same scale as a 7" tablet at 1.5 foot.
We're dealing with right triangles again, 7:3 = x:1.5, x = 3.5. Android should think that the screen is 3.5 inches. That puts it up at 338 DPI. Ok, so these numbers are pretty rough, since I'm just guessing the viewing distances, but you get the idea. Crank that DPI WAAAAAAAY UP! Only problem I see, however, is regarding how they coded the SystemUI. If they followed the Android design guidelines, then they coded it with DP's (density independent pixels), which means that when you crank the DPI far enough to make applications look proper, it will make the CHINA look HUGE. Think about it -- they designed their SystemUI panels to show at a "normal" size when the DPI is set way too low. I can see bad things happening.
I wonder if it would be practical to just SWAP OUT the chinese SystemUI for one built from source? That might actually be a practical way of repairing the UI. Might also be nice to rebuild the System Settings application from source. I'll have to go over it again, but I don't recall there being anything special about System Settings -- they just colorized it, broke the bluetooth part, and added a password to developer options. WHY???!?!
Like the American proverb says... "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" That ESPECIALLY goes for China, since if it ain't broke, they're GOING to break it.
And now, to BLUETOOTH.
Well, knew going into it that they futzed up the bluetooth settings as badly as they possibly could. Why? Because... CHINA. The good news is that they tried so hard to break it as badly as they could, that it was EASY to fix.
In fact, I had written up the most important fix WELL before I even had these head units. I will refer to my fix thread HERE: http://forum.xda-developers.com/and...elopment/bluetooth-settings-launcher-t3504526
There are two obvious problems with bluetooth on these units;
1) They deleted the System Settings button that brought up the Bluetooth settings. That is what I fixed in above thread.
2) They BROKE the bluetooth pairing pin prompt. On a normal Android device, when you try to pair with something from it, it will first try one or two "standard" pairing pins, and they don't work, then it will pop up a dialog requesting that you enter the device's pin. This one does NOT do that. It JUST tries to pair using whatever pin is hardcoded in the CHINESE bluetooth application. So while I haven't "fixed" this, there is at least a reasonably easy (if not particularly convenient) workaround. When it doesn't pair, you go into the chinese bluetooth application, change the pin there, and try again.
So the good news is this; the REAL MEAT of the bluetooth stack, is the product of INTEL. Not China. That means that once you work around the severely broken UI (again, WHY BREAK it when you can just leave it be and have it ACTUALLY WORK?), it actually works WONDERFULLY! That means you can connect to AND USE multiple devices at the same time. I.e., torque + **ANY** OBD device, while simultaneously a voice call AND bluetooth data tethering.
Hmm, what else....
Bootup.... this is a very dramatic change from the UL135.
A full bootup takes about 20 seconds.
So when you get into your car in the morning to go to work, after it has been sitting all day, you turn the key, and it is IMMEDIATELY UP. Wait, what? Its wired correctly -- if the +12 and IGN were reversed, then it would lose power with the ignition switch off, which means that it would have to do a full bootup. If the IGN wasn't connected at all, then the screen will never turn on -- when the IGN turns off, the screen goes off, radio stops playing, and another thing I observe, is that bluetooth connections are lost. So, either the thing is only doing a partial shutdown and proceeding to "drain the battery" mode, or they have actually made it sleep *correctly*, switch off all the parts that suck down the power, put the CPU into deep sleep (clock off), and sit there draining negligible power until it receives a wakeup interrupt (IGN line powers up). If that is so, then I am VERY pleased, at least with this element.
On performance and stability;
Its better than the UL135 across the board here. This thing is no rocket, the CPU is actually quite a TURD, though definitely better than RK3188 (despite lower benchmarks). The increased RAM helps with keeping things in memory and responsive. The stability is a night and day improvement over the UL135, which I believe to be attributable to the INTEL element. eMMC performance is abysmal.
Summary so far;
1) The front panel is bigger than DDIN.
2) The front panel sticks out a different amount than UL135.
3) The audio routing policy is BORKED.
4) The UI is ALL CHINA.
5) The Bluetooth stack is INTEL
6) Performance is "OK". Nothing special.
7) Wakeup after sitting all night is INSTANTANEOUS.

More on the GMaps audio routing.
While I haven't yet tried out the latest system update, I HAVE found a way to make GMaps actually speak.
Unfortunately, the "way" is by being on a PHONE CALL.
Yep. When you're on a PHONE call, google maps is HAPPY to speak to you. In fact, the damned thing will NEVER SHUT UP. Obviously. When better to harass you then when you're trying to listen to someone else? Or when you're trying to speak, since it shuts off the microphone in order not to echo back the nav prompts.
(fortunately, there is a setting to tell it not to issue nav sounds during call).
Oh yeah, gmaps also speaks LOUDER than the phone call.
EDIT: people on the joying forum are indicating that the newest update will fix the gmaps voice.

Ok, on to the December 8th UPDATE.
First off, I have NOT really run the update yet. Supposedly, it fixes the GMaps sound problem.
I can confirm that they have NOT (yet) caught on to Blueballs.apk that I wrote (and shared) to regain access to the System Settings --> Bluetooth activity, so bluetooth functionality has not been degraded.
First the install process;
Take their install archive and EXTRACT it to a uSD or USB disk. Either is fine. I used USB.
msdos type partition table, ONE partition, formatted as fat32.
Power on the vehicle, stick in the card or USB, and wait until it prompts you to install the update.
Now is where things get scary....
Starts by updating the MCU, fine, then proceeds to update the Android image. The progress bar moves about a 3rd of the way across, and STOPS. And it just sits there. For about 10 minutes. The only indication that the device isn't completely crashed out is that the little websphere thing is still spinning in the little robot's hands. Ok, eventually it goes, then it says to yank out the disk and it will reboot itself. OK, no problem.
You do it. And it reboots. It plays the boot animation, right up to the last frame... and stops. It just sits there saying "ANDROID" across the screen. Now you're thinking to yourself that THIS THING IS JAMMED UP AND YET WE HAVE NO WAY TO GET INTO RECOVERY!!!!! Crap. Ok, lets just let it be. It sits, and it sits, and about 15 minutes later, the panel lights go out. Ok, at least something changed. Wait another minute and it finally boots. So WHAT THE BLOODY HELL CHINA? Obviously, it must have been optimizing application number 27 of 258, so WHY DID YOU DELETE THE PROGRESS DIALOG, CHINA? WHY?????
So it boots back up, and you notice something funny right off the bat. It has returned to the china launcher. Ok, that's minor. Keep on moving, we can reset it to google launcher momentarily. So now you go into something like k9mail, and it asks you to sign in.
HUH?
But the program remained installed.
THE BLOODY MORONS..... THEY DELETED EVERYTHING FROM /data/data/. They kept /data/app/, but they deleted /data/data/. So everything you've set up now has to be reset. GEE, THANKS SO BLOODY MUCH, CHINA.
So my suggestion... if you're going to update to the Dec8 system image, the sooner you do it, the less of your settings you will lose, because the less of your settings you will have actually SET.
Quick observations;
1) They have NOT fixed the frequency selection on the AM radio. I'm still stuck 2 kHz away from my target frequency.
2) There were THREE phases to the system install; MCU, Android, and "Allapp.pkg".
3) Allapp.pkg contains Settings.apk. Yet there was a Settings.apk in the Android update. Hmmmmm..... wonder if we could just force back the REAL Settings.apk and have a proper functioning system?
4) Allapp.pkg *also* has a SystemUI.apk. Could it be? Could the one in the Android update actually be... no, it couldn't. There's no way that they would actually *include* an AOSP SystemUI, is there?
This is the list of all of the apk files in Allapp.pkg:
Code:
EasyConnectedFY07.apk
assets/CarMan.apk
assets/CarManNotChinese.apk
assets/EasyConnServer.apk
Gmail2.apk
JY-1-C9-BT-V1.0.apk
JY-1-C9-Guide-V1.0.apk
JY-1-C9-Launcher-V1.0.apk
JY-1-C9-MUSIC-V1.0.apk
JY-1-C9-Radio-V1.0.apk
JY-1-C9-Video-V1.0.apk
JY-2-C9-Launcher-V1.0.apk
Maps.apk
PlatformServerSofia.apk
Settings.apk
SFY-1-C9-Steer-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-Aux-V1.0.apk
sofia-1-C9-CarMark-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-FileManager-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-Gallery-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-RightCamera-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-Server-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-TV-V1.0.apk
SystemUI.apk
SYU-1-5009-FloatBtn-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Calculator-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Caliration-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Canbus-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-CarRadio-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-CarUi-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Graphics-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Navi-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-SubServer-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-UIServer-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Update-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Widget-V1.0.apk
SYU-2-C9-CMSettings-V1.0.apk
SYU-2-C9-EQ-V1.0.apk
Notice... CarMan.apk and CarManNotChinese.apk, LOL.
Oh, and "SYU-1-C9-Caliration-V1.0.apk" is also pretty cool.... ***CALIRATION***

doitright said:
My two units arrived. Played with one of them on the kitchen table late last night.
The row of capacitive buttons are thoroughly pointless -- touches to them don't register at all if your finger doesn't touch it absolutely perfectly.
Having said that, I like them better than the one with the knobs, for the reason I've already mentioned to you -- the lack of deep bezels.
Better? It is definitely a matter of preference. I don't need the capacitive button row, so that doesn't bother me at all.
Note: they have this weird dot thing stuck in the UI as configured by default. Touching the dot brings up a set of buttons -- back, home, menu, etc. So.... CHINA. Obviously, unless you have AT LEAST three copies (SystemUI header bar, row of buttons, the weird dot thing, steering wheel controls) of every button, somebody is going to miss it. Fortunately, there is a control application in the application menu that allows you to disable the stupid dot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the 10" version and I got the buttons to work 100% after relearning the touch keys. Open "carmediasettings" then click on Panel keys assignment. Hope that helps =)

xlinkx said:
I have the 10" version and I got the buttons to work 100% after relearning the touch keys. Open "carmediasettings" then click on Panel keys assignment. Hope that helps =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue on the 7" isn't the button calibration, just the physical size of the touch areas.
Doesn't matter anyway, since the buttons are all available in other places -- systemui bar and steering wheel.

So today installed the second UL128N2 into the wife's Subaru Forester.
Popped out a parrot asteroid smart (obsolete). The dimensions of the parrot are about a full quarter of an inch in both horizontal and vertical directions. Really had to do a job on the ddin dash adapter on that one, but fortunately was able to avoid having to cut up the actual dashboard.

doitright said:
Summary so far;
1) The front panel is bigger than DDIN.
2) The front panel sticks out a different amount than UL135.
3) The audio routing policy is BORKED.
4) The UI is ALL CHINA.
5) The Bluetooth stack is INTEL
6) Performance is "OK". Nothing special.
7) Wakeup after sitting all night is INSTANTANEOUS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any news on the instantaneous wake up after a full night? No car battery issues after several nights? I would be very interested in measurements of power consumption when the car is switched off.
Regarding the small font settings, would you suggest to buy the 8" unit if it fits in the car? I guess that the UL138N2 has the same hardware as the UL128N2 only with an 8" screen? And I hope that it has also the instantaneous wake up?
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA-Developers mobile app

nomailing said:
Any news on the instantaneous wake up after a full night? No car battery issues after several nights? I would be very interested in measurements of power consumption when the car is switched off.
Regarding the small font settings, would you suggest to buy the 8" unit if it fits in the car? I guess that the UL138N2 has the same hardware as the UL128N2 only with an 8" screen? And I hope that it has also the instantaneous wake up?
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I wouldn't suggest that. I would just suggest changing the DPI setting on the 7" to something more suitable.
The UL138N2 WILL NOT fit in a DDIN dash adapter. Its basically a DDIN *box*, with a TABLET bolted out in front of it. Unless your car is an ugly beater, you probably won't want to install something that ugly into it.
As far as overnight power consumption, I have not had any opportunity to test more than a 24 hour stretch. No issues, nor, frankly, do I expect any. They appear to be sleeping the unit correctly, so all of the wireless signals are turned off, and CPU is in clock stopped mode, so like a good quality tablet with the wifi turned off, it'll go for months like that. On a battery as big as a car has, possibly years (assuming that the car battery didn't self discharge in that time, which it will).

doitright,
With your help I was able to get full system menu. Thank you! I was wondering if you were able to get "Ok Google" to work on any screen. It only works on the home screen for my 10" head unit.

xlinkx said:
doitright,
With your help I was able to get full system menu. Thank you! I was wondering if you were able to get "Ok Google" to work on any screen. It only works on the home screen for my 10" head unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no interest in retard mode, so no. I have not.

doitright said:
DPI: Obviously, Android believes that the screen is as large as a TELEVISION. The fonts are all incredibly small, even if you set it to HUGE font. Ok, so right angle triangle has H = root(1024*1024+600*600)=1186.83 pseudopixels. Divide that by 7, makes 170 DPI. Its set to 160 DPI, so Android thinks that the screen is 7.4 inches. Ok, that's not really too far off from reality, but it IS in the wrong direction, to make everything look SMALLER than it should be. The problem is that the screen is roughly 3 feet away from your face. Take a tablet and how far do you hold it away? Roughly 1.5 foot. So lets figure out how big Android should *THINK* the screen is, in order to blow things up to the same scale as a 7" tablet at 1.5 foot.
We're dealing with right triangles again, 7:3 = x:1.5, x = 3.5. Android should think that the screen is 3.5 inches. That puts it up at 338 DPI. Ok, so these numbers are pretty rough, since I'm just guessing the viewing distances, but you get the idea. Crank that DPI WAAAAAAAY UP! Only problem I see, however, is regarding how they coded the SystemUI. If they followed the Android design guidelines, then they coded it with DP's (density independent pixels), which means that when you crank the DPI far enough to make applications look proper, it will make the CHINA look HUGE. Think about it -- they designed their SystemUI panels to show at a "normal" size when the DPI is set way too low. I can see bad things happening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried some changes to the dpi in build.prop. I went up to 180 and the ui looks alright still. Then I decided what the heck and went to 300 since my galaxy s5 is at 480...bad idea. The screen gets stuck on the kill apps screen and you can't open anything. Luckily I was able to open es file explorer using adb and edit the build.prop. After rebooting, all os well again.
Moral of the story, don't try anything over...maybe 200?

1 Month with the PD - thoughts

It has been a month since I got the PD.
Some brief thoughts based upon my experience with the phone.
I was an Apple user since they launched the iPhone in 2007. Nothing to do with the perpetual Apple vs. Android debate, just iOS suited my purposes, that's all.
I was using the HTC 10/BB DTEK50/Priv for a while, as a second phone.
I got fairly used to the operating system and to be honest, they are all very similar. But carrying 2, sometimes 3 phones was becoming a right pain, so looked for a good dual sim phone that would run two What's app accounts simultaneously.
Enter the PD. Easily love at first sight. I said this was my "jumping off point".
Wasn't very easy to get hold of, where I live, so had to wait almost a month and PAID-A-LOT-!! LOL
What a truly beautiful phone. I have used every Apple phone ever made, every BB phone made, 2 Vertu's (UGHH), and hand on my heart can say, I still cannot stop looking at it.
I had a major issue after setting it up, which is discussed in another thread.
I had no home screen icons or apps visible, only a blank screen that allowed calls and messages to come through in the status bar, could enter settings, but that was it.
The eventual solution, after almost suffering a heart attack, was to load both sims in, and then ejecting the sim tray. The apps just popped up instantly. Very strange, indeed.
After that, everything has been super easy.
-Stellar Battery (and I am a heavy user)
-2 whatsapp accounts running - awesome.
-What a lovely screen!
-No complaints with the camera. I like it. Even the slightly synthetic "Leica" look in the Wide Aperture Mode.
-The Fingerprint sensor is absolutely instant.
-EMUI is easy and nice to navigate
-The ability to edit the quick launch(?) icons in the pull down menu is excellent.
Now the bits that are bugging me.
1) No firmware updates. The last one was, I believe, in December, and I still am on B138. This is something that Huawei needs to look into post haste. I have written to them 5 times, till today. No response whatsoever.
2) Notifications - this is the elephant in the room. They are random at best.
All the Settings - Unlimited data Access, Battery Optimizations, Battery Ignore Whitelists, Priority Notifications, etc. are all on, as is oft discussed, and checked, but whatsapp and emails sometimes still do not give me a notification, until I open the app. This IS an issue for me. I am missing time constrained messages all the time. If anyone has a fix or solution for this, I will be very grateful.
3) Keyboard, Sometimes, the keyboard will freeze if the screen sleeps whilst the keyboard is open in an app, and I reopen it.
I have to collapse the keyboard and bring it up again. Not a huge deal, but an annoyance, none the less. Maybe a GBoard thing?
4) Screen Auto Brightness - Takes an age to organize itself. In the dark, it will blind you, before thinking to itself, that it is, indeed, night, and the screen should be a wee bit less bright. The exact opposite in the day - Very dim and then will eventually get off its backside and decide to brighten up the screen. Very annoying.
5) How do I change the name of my phone. It's not the Bluetooth and Wifi name. My car still picks it up as Huawei LON-L29, as do apps like Photosync and whilst connecting to my Mac.
6) Photos. Now this may not be a PD Specific issue, but when I transferred my 22,000 images across, they all came as a big jumbled mess. No date-wise organization. So looking for specific images, is well, impossible.
7) Music - No equalizer settings in the stock music app. For my specific purposes, unusable, because in my car's bluetooth radio, the bass is overwhelming.
So, apart from these minor points (and 1 big one), I love the phone. I wonder how they could possibly improve it...Firmware, Huawei! Firmware!

For photos delete the cache. That'll sort the jumbled up mess.
For Music Player Google removed the EQ option a few months ago, I hate Play Music now. I use Captune. It has its shortcomings but its the best EQ.
Keyboard - I use Swift with no problems.
My worst issues are the crappy screen protector (GG3) and the lack up updates. I'll be selling it shortly.

I'm enjoying my phone,the only gripe I have with it is the UPDATES.
As for keyboards Try downloading Blackberry Keyboard or Google Keyboard.

Thank you for your suggestions, guys.
I tried clearing the cache, but no joy there. I tried an app called Quickpic, that is apparently supposed to deal with this. Didn't help either.
I was wondering, even if I had to reimport all my image and video files, is there any way they could be sorted by date taken?
This is turning out to be as big of an issue as the notification one, as I depend on images and videos, to send and discuss with my clients. And needless to say, I can't find anything. So am relegated to carrying an iPhone 6s+ just for my media, so I can send the required files via email or WhatsApp. Really, Not an ideal situation.
I will try the BB Keyboard.
Regarding the packaged screen protector, agreed, it is appalling. Before I buy the 2.5/3D tempered glass screen protector, has anyone had any experience with it?
Bonerp, Captune works for me, Thank you.
Have any of you'll worked around the notification bug?
For example, WhatsApp notifications sometimes do not wake the screen, but when a second or third WhatsApp message comes through, it may wake...Or not.
Seriously, if this is such a widely publicized bug, why is Huawei not looking into this?

ap10046 said:
Thank you for your suggestions, guys.
I tried clearing the cache, but no joy there. I tried an app called Quickpic, that is apparently supposed to deal with this. Didn't help either.
I was wondering, even if I had to reimport all my image and video files, is there any way they could be sorted by date taken?
This is turning out to be as big of an issue as the notification one, as I depend on images and videos, to send and discuss with my clients. And needless to say, I can't find anything. So am relegated to carrying an iPhone 6s+ just for my media, so I can send the required files via email or WhatsApp. Really, Not an ideal situation.
I will try the BB Keyboard.
Regarding the packaged screen protector, agreed, it is appalling. Before I buy the 2.5/3D tempered glass screen protector, has anyone had any experience with it?
Bonerp, Captune works for me, Thank you.
Have any of you'll worked around the notification bug?
For example, WhatsApp notifications sometimes do not wake the screen, but when a second or third WhatsApp message comes through, it may wake...Or not.
Seriously, if this is such a widely publicized bug, why is Huawei not looking into this?
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Click to collapse
I tried a curved tempered glass protector and it was awful so binned it. It had tape on the edges and just didn't look good and lost sensitivity.
Have you tried clearing cache at the boot screen or from settings/storage? Might help with the notification bug.
I've sent Huawei several things to fix and just had a 'thank you' response and nothing more. I'm not aware of a notification bug though. I definitely had one on the mate 9 until the first pre release fix was received, but not on this one.
Only other thing I can suggest re pics is delete data, or delete google account, delete cache then add your account again.

How do you guys work around the copy-paste thing?
I mean to having to bring out a paper and pen for copying an email address, phone number, passage from a message or an email is just unacceptable, when this is a widely utilized convenience on other platforms and, I believe, some Android UI's too?
I have tried a few apps that claim they can do this, but no joy.
Also, sharing contacts from the contacts app, only allows vcard, text message and attach to email, no What'sApp, Outlook or any app, for that matter. Can this option be changed somewhere?

quick question
I am looking to get the mate 9 pro; which is the same phone as the PD, just without the fancy branding..
Are any of you on Tmobile in the USA, and, do you get 4G/LTE?
The reseller I have been emailing with on Amazon says you do NOT get 4GLTE on Tmobile in the USA with this phone, but I have read that you do.
Thanks if you can help with this! :good::good: