[CM6 MOD] dBm Meter - Nexus One Themes and Apps

EDIT: All thanks shaggy-h, for making this possible (see post 22 below). This mod is now included in CM6 RC2 and the nightlies under the CM settings.
Having never owned an Iphone, I never knew or thought about this. But while reading about the iphone's antenna issues, I found out that older iphones have an option to display the dBm in place of the signal bars when going into the Field Test of the phone.
After this whole iphone4 debacle, I realize that signal bars means nothing, but I do think dBm is an accurate representation of true signal strength. It would be awesome that can be done on the N1 as well. I know it's already in the settings, but it would be awesome to have it toggle-able on the notification bar, or even take the place entirely of the bars icon.

Looking at the code it's certainly doable. Canadiancow's battery percentage mod could be used as a guide on the changes required. As far as I can tell with my (virtually non-existent) Android hacking skills, here are the relevant bits of code:
Signal strength calculation (see eg around line 1000):
http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=pl...c436bf9b9cb71b1f057b4904c660318e20eff;hb=HEAD
Canadiancow's battery percentage patch:
http://github.com/cyanogen/android_frameworks_base/commit/cc79426a30cc6e6748c5ebcdbd89aaac4036f257
I don't have a dev environment set up to work on this and I'm not really even sure how to go about doing so, but hopefully the above is enough to motivate someone who's more familiar with this sort of dev work to make the required changes.

Very good idea!

OK I managed to get a dev environment set up and had a quick go at implementing this. I've got it working, but there are a couple of problems. The biggest is that dBm values of -100 and below don't fit in the icon and so they wrap. I'm not sure what the best fix is for that. Another problem is that it looks a bit cluttered and the number obscures the bars, so maybe it would be cleaner looking if I took away the bars completely?
Also, I need to set the text to a colour other than the default white. I was thinking green/yellow/orange/red depending on the signal strength. What do you think?
Here's a couple of screenshots so you can see what I'm talking about:
-95dBm: http://redyeti.net/Nexus/dbm.png
-101dBm: http://redyeti.net/Nexus/wrap.png
I'll try and find some time to address these remaining issues over the next couple of days.

This is a very cool idea!!! I am anxious to see where this goes.

this would be great. hope you get something worked out.

This is great. Maybe get this added to cyanogen eventually

This should help. (from romainguy's twitter feed)
RT @timbray: Interested in signal-bar calculations? Android is open source, check updateSignalStrength() in http://is.gd/dd2Kh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
edit: same info as posted by shaggy-h

I've tried a different approach that works better. I'm now writing the dBm value as a separate piece of text, much like the clock. The downside is that it takes up a bit more real estate in the already crowded status bar.
I plan on adding an option to allow turning the dBm or bar icon on or off:
1. Show bars only
2. Show dBm value only
3. Show bars and dBm value
Here's a couple of screenshots of my progress:
http://redyeti.net/Nexus/dbm2.png
http://redyeti.net/Nexus/dbm3.png
The only other thing is it looks like the text alignment is a bit out and needs to be a pixel or two further left. I think that might be a little tricky to fix without it affecting the clock too, but I'm sure I can figure something out.

How about having the dbm value on the notification pull down next to the mobile network name?

This looks great so far, shaggy. Thanks for volunteering to take this on. Let me know if you want any testing done.

bewA said:
How about having the dbm value on the notification pull down next to the mobile network name?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a bad idea - there's certainly plenty of room for it there. I'm not sure how much work is involved in putting it there and I suspect it'll be harder to continually update it there like it does on the status bar, but I'll take a look. I still like the idea of having the dBm value visible at all times on the status bar though.

search for the tricorder app on the marketplace.. it can display a whole bunch of stuff about the phone.. one is carrier and wifi signal strength. sound level. number of gps satelites. etc.

Maybe this will help, I've added the gsm signal to Netmeter+LED's (now CPUStatusLED) graph

Just a quick update on this... I've only had a small amount of time to work on it, however it wasn't difficult - the code changes are basically done and work against the CM6 codebase (including settings in CMParts to enable/disable and change the text color). The big problem I'm still having is that I'm new to Git and still need to figure out if I've got my repo set up properly (currently there's some wierd stuff going on...) and how to push my changes back to the CM codebase. Hopefully I'll have time to figure that out over the weekend.
I won't have an apk/jar that you can install in the meantime sorry, I don't trust my ability to create a stable/reliable one yet, and spending the time to do so will only delay things further. The code itself however I'm happy with and confident in!

shaggy-h said:
I've tried a different approach that works better. I'm now writing the dBm value as a separate piece of text, much like the clock. The downside is that it takes up a bit more real estate in the already crowded status bar.
I plan on adding an option to allow turning the dBm or bar icon on or off:
1. Show bars only
2. Show dBm value only
3. Show bars and dBm value
Here's a couple of screenshots of my progress:
http://redyeti.net/Nexus/dbm2.png
http://redyeti.net/Nexus/dbm3.png
The only other thing is it looks like the text alignment is a bit out and needs to be a pixel or two further left. I think that might be a little tricky to fix without it affecting the clock too, but I'm sure I can figure something out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about an option which shows the dB value on top of a colored background like the battery meter? The background can be in broken into 4 sections to correspond to the 4 bars.

Nighthound said:
How about an option which shows the dB value on top of a colored background like the battery meter? The background can be in broken into 4 sections to correspond to the 4 bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that the text would have to be very small. As it is the current battery meter text is restricted to 99 max because displaying 100 on some phones causes the text to wrap. The dBm signal needs to handle numbers down to -113 or so (ie 4 characters) which makes the problem even worse.
Anyway, today I found enough time to figure out how to submit my changes as a patch to CyanogenMod. Assuming I haven't completely botched it, hopefully you'll be seeing it in a CM build soon. There's definitely more that could be done with this, but for now I'm just happy to have made it this far

shaggy-h said:
The problem is that the text would have to be very small. As it is the current battery meter text is restricted to 99 max because displaying 100 on some phones causes the text to wrap. The dBm signal needs to handle numbers down to -113 or so (ie 4 characters) which makes the problem even worse.
Anyway, today I found enough time to figure out how to submit my changes as a patch to CyanogenMod. Assuming I haven't completely botched it, hopefully you'll be seeing it in a CM build soon. There's definitely more that could be done with this, but for now I'm just happy to have made it this far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really looking forward to your results. Thanks again, shaggy.

shaggy-h, remove the - and replace it with a color to the dBm number.. black means minus and red means +.. although you will never see the +

PapaDocta said:
shaggy-h, remove the - and replace it with a color to the dBm number.. black means minus and red means +.. although you will never see the +
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's not much point spending time implementing red for positive since it'll never happen! Personally I'm not convinced it's a great idea to leave off the - sign anyway, it'll only confuse people into thinking higher equals better. Also, it still doesn't solve the wrapping problem since 3 characters is still too many.
For what it's worth, here's some screenshots of the same dBm levels on an iPhone (from Anandtech's iPhone4 antenna investigation):
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/gadgets/apple/iPhone4/dd3v33sr_183cch83wsd_b.jpg
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/gadgets/apple/iPhone4/dd3v33sr_171dbtdxcc3_b.jpg
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/gadgets/apple/iPhone4/dd3v33sr_172jh7xbn2m_b.jpg
Looks fine to me.

Related

Battery Status build 202

I just installed this (went from Build 197) and noticed that the CPU usage indicator was no longer present. Anyone know why this was taken out? I am guessing it is because of decreased battery life, but I thought that was useful piece of information to have.
It's still there. just tap on the first memory icon and it will change the reception percentage icon to the cpu icon. After 30 secs or so it will change back to the way it was before though.
Well tapping on the first icon brings up the SD card available room. I did discover something odd though, According to the "about" tab the installed version is build 197. Perhaps the developer uppped or linked the wrong file?
**********
Disregard my idiocy, it helps if I download from the freakin beta section instead of the "stable" release... boy do I feel stupid!
Heres where you get build 202, it's here on XDA-Dev.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=270751

Phone "hangs" after hanging up?

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but i checked some performance related threads and nobody mentioned it.
After hanging up a call, why does the entire device hang for about 10-13 seconds before I can use any other function (including making another call) ??
Anything that can be done to fix this?
Thanks for the help!
hello? I'd really appreciate someone to reply to this, just so at least I know I'm not the only one with this problem. Thanks!
did you do any radio changing?
It seems to be an issue with some radios on some phones. I have a list of radios that I use that will crash the phone after so many calls.
No, no radio changing. In fact I don't even know what that means.
The phone doesn't crash, it just hangs after a phone call for about 13 seconds like it's trying to process something. Doesn't anyone else experience this?
have you downloaded a bunch of app to run in the background of your phone?
it does sound redundant, but if you take a look at your task manager it'll show you how much of your ram is being used up. if it's somewhere high like 75% then you need to close whatever program is taking up the most memory.
another possible thing might be active sync. I heard that when active sync tries to sync while not connected it can cause slow downs and that might happen during or when you hang up a call.
good luck
Just tested it. Active directory was not on, and neither was there any background processes working according to Task Manager, and it still took 10 secs after I hung up the call before I could reuse the phone.
How long is it supposed to take for the rest of you?
a second or less. Active sync is the usual culprit for bad battery life, but it looks like something is running in teh background and making your phone calls take longer to quit.
download and install advanced config, and look in one of the settings which is called "hangup delay" or something like that default is 1500 mS (1.5 seconds) change it to 500 mS or what ever you want and see if that makes a difference
BlackAccord said:
download and install advanced config, and look in one of the settings which is called "hangup delay" or something like that default is 1500 mS (1.5 seconds) change it to 500 mS or what ever you want and see if that makes a difference
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done that now, and all I've done is improve the "hang time" by the number I've reduced the "hangup delay" by. The hang-up delay was originally 3000, and I reduced it to 1000, so my "hang time" is reduced by 2 seconds, but I still have to wait around 9-10 seconds before the phone is usable again.
How come no-one else is experiencing this? There's nothing special running on my phone.
I have the Telus device and have the ' hang' problem as well. I have seen updates on the HTC website for different carrier versions that may correct this problem. None for Telus yet though.
do you have any sort of battery meter running at the top of your screen? ie tnt battery meter?
that app KILLS KILLS KILLS performance on the TP for some reason...
Yes I have a battery meter at the top of the screen, but it's the stock one. I don't know what a "TNT" battery meter is. Should I disable it, and if so how? And after I do, how would I know how much power I have left? And are you saying that those of you who did not turn of the battery meter had performance problems when hanging up?
Thanks!
monkeychucker said:
I have the Telus device and have the ' hang' problem as well. I have seen updates on the HTC website for different carrier versions that may correct this problem. None for Telus yet though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank-you! I am also with Telus! If anyone has any suggestions - please help! This is the number one problem with the phone, as well as dropped calls on occasion. I like all the non-phone (ie. PDA) functions though (except that all my outdoor photos turn blue)
Found this which seems to help:
Dealt with HTC for the same issue you're talking about. Turn the "Auto save contact" off and make sure you wipe you call history and the issue will go away.
ajy101 said:
Yes I have a battery meter at the top of the screen, but it's the stock one. I don't know what a "TNT" battery meter is. Should I disable it, and if so how? And after I do, how would I know how much power I have left? And are you saying that those of you who did not turn of the battery meter had performance problems when hanging up?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im talking about a meter that runs across the very top of your screen so that if it's halfway across your screen you ahve 50% battery left. if you don't have any idea what i'm takling about then ignore this lol

Tracks from Captivate Compared To Other Devices

Using JH3 with SuperRooter and lagfix.
Did play with LBSTestMode and change settings, but those settings did not change "jupiter.xml" which I believe is where the GPS stores its settings, since that is where we turn off the GPS Log File.
Even with decent locking, tracking doesn't follow very well. Attached images show the differences between the Captivate (Yellow Pins) and Treo Pro (White/Black Squares).
Will try a few things that I've seen and post up some more results after I drive to work in the morning.
Does anyone know name of a good NMEA logging app, to log the NMEA statements directly.
Attached images are snippings from google earth, showing tracks...
Only changes made is used Epic 4Gs jupiter.xml file from this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=759641
I did see some improvements in tracking, previously all recorded turns or even lane changes resulted in an overshot track by over 100 ft, that took 10+ seconds to return to active track. These are from today's test with above changes, I drive 45 minutes to work, interstate, US Hwy, and city streets so its a decent test.
(EDIT) Red is Treo Pro recording NMEA with VisualGPSce / Blue is Captivate running GPS Logger from market (/EDIT)
Cap 1 is the only truly overshot at speed turn, at about 40 MPH, but the previous turn was perfect (in the same image)
Cap 2, only appeared on interstate @ 70 mph (on there 11 miles), had about 3-4 lil bumps like this that went off track by about 100-150 ft and returned, seems to last about 6 seconds but could be enough to throw navigation program off track
Cap 3, examples of improvements
Cap 4, examples of improvements
Joe, what's the red and what's the blue tracks? That way we can compare properly
dougp.me said:
Joe, what's the red and what's the blue tracks? That way we can compare properly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edited post, that kind of slipped my mind since I knew the colors, but others need to know too DUH...
If anyone wants to know I used gpsvisualizer.com to convert the NMEA and GPX file to a track/waypoint based KML. I know I could get KML from GPS Logger, but I wanted to files with same format
Good research...
For comparison purposes do you also have a tracks of the PRE-Fix??? Like to see how much the GPS actually fixes it, that's not a placebo effect?
TexUs said:
Good research...
For comparison purposes do you also have a tracks of the PRE-Fix??? Like to see how much the GPS actually fixes it, that's not a placebo effect?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't save any tracks before laying around in the 1472365 (LBSTestMode), but I believe any changes made in test mode are only a placebo affect. The first post is before changing jupiter.xml. I'm playing on the angle that that menu/program is exactly what it says, a "Location Based Services Test Mode" for testing different settings. Changes made there are saved in system.db but not in jupiter.xml
From the fact that you have to edit jupiter.xml to disable GPS logging in JH2/JH3 means that settings are definatly being pulled from that file.
I'm actually going to change the SUPL settings in jupiter.xml to the google ones and see what happens.
The first set of images is pre-fix and the second is post-fix?
TexUs said:
The first set of images is pre-fix and the second is post-fix?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but last night record some more data and it was back to the tracks over shooting turns and accuracy being off by up to 100 feet so not sure what's up with this thing.
Can see all the satellites with decent signal, so I doubt its a hardware issue but more likely firmware or drivers depending on where the calculations are done.
I know the devs over in the kaiser and vogue forums did work to improver gps accuracy in the kernel.. It may just end up being a wait and see since we don't have source for the samsung kernel
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Dialer's network use

Does any one knows why the dialer is always high on the list of network uses as reported by spareparts? It's even higher than the email client with 4 imap accounts (30 minutes polling).
I scrolled and scrolled. Scrolled some more then I saw dialer so I'm assuming I don't have your issue.
Sent via my Continuum 5 Cappy.
Thanks. I'm on firefly. I suspect something weird is going on with the dialer. Will try other roms
Same is happening with mine. I'm trying to figure out why my phone keeps losing 3-4 percent an hour while idle and in my pocket...just noticed that Dialer is the highest on my network usage with about 1/3 in the blue and the rest in the red in the Battery History section of Spare Parts. I'm not sure what the deal is, but figuring that this might be my culprit.

Question 6a - issues

Hello peeps,
I have just received my Pixel 6A and while i am extremely satisfied, coming from a Huawei P30, this phone has definitely few drawbacks.
1. The signal strength. My phone constantly keeps dropping 1-2 bars while being in my room. (previous phone was full good signal always.
a) Whenever i call someone, before getting the signal tone, like 10 seconds have to pass with the phone being silent and then reaching the 'ding ding' tone.
b) Signal in the gym is extremely low and i almost get no reception. (P30 from huawei had signal almost everywhere inside.
c) I recorded a 5 second video in a shopping mall yesterday and i tried sendig the video to my friend 30 times using whatsapp/ viber / facebook / instagram on cellular internet and different wifi-s and couldnt send it from the mall, from my friend's house and it suddenly started working after 1 hour. (I also had the phone restarted 2 times in between to try and make it work ( unsuccesfully)
2. There is a date/weather (weather can be removed) display on the first main page on the phone, on the upper right which cannot be removed no matter what.
I have a widget that i would like to place there but i cannot since their internal date is stuck there and obstructs the place i would like to use my date/weather/time widget on.
3. Apps just stop sometimes and are non-react-ant. I always keep 1-2 apps open, and never more than that. Example, oppening instagram app > going to my profile > suddenly i cannot click anywhere, i can only close the app and open again and it will work. This happens for multiple apps.
4. No notification number on the apps like there is on almost all android phones. You should have an option to have example Messages(3) next to your Messages app, but instead it states Messages and a random colored circle just indicating that there IS a message, not how many.
Being my third day with this device, im somewhat really bothered by these minor/major issues so i am wondering, has anyone else complained for these and how come that they havent been addressed/implemented/fixed already?
Thank you for the read/input =)
The bars indicating mobile data signal strength on your phone do not provide an accurate measure of the signal strength. Each carrier and phone manufacturer has their own interpretation of what each bar represents, so the number of bars can vary across different carriers and phones [1]. Therefore, it is not possible to compare signal strength between different phone models simply by looking at the number of bars displayed on the screen [8].
Date, weather, notification dots, etc depends on your launcher, perhaps the default Pixel Launcher isn't to your liking, there are plenty of others that you might prefer.
I'm using Lawnchair 2 personally, it's close to Pixel Launcher but allows to hide At a glance (the time weather thing) and the search bar, and also has notification dots with numbers.
There is also a mod for the Pixel launcher if you're rooted, didnt try that one though.
That apps randomly close or stop is a bit worrying though, mine don't do that, well that said, it's normal that apps that rely on internet data need to refresh when you reopen them due to battery optimisation.
Aka, if you dont clear them from your recent apps then they stay open as in in memory, yes, but they still get stopped from actually processing stuff after a while to save battery.
You can try to disable battery optimisation for those apps if you don't like that.
They shouldnt be crashing though.
Unfortunately, i am no fan of launchers.
On the other side, i have just found another glitch/issue/hardware problem?
Whenever i use my phone for the calls (the thing it should be mostly used for) and use speaker instead of putting the phone to my ear, the other person will hear around 20 % of what i say.
The phone is literally 30 sentimeters away from me and ill say 3 sentences to which the other party is quiet and asks if i have said anything since the voice is sliced/muffled/cut/low volume.
Anyone else experiencing this?
Well, as far as I know, huawei excels on signal strenght due the fact that they own a lot of intelectual property regarding to that.

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