Database Info

The touchpro "D-Pad"

Apologies if this has been thoroughly covered, I went back 4-5 pages in each forum but didn't see anything.
From what I can gather from reviews and youtube videos the D-pad on the Touch pro works like a standard D-pad, and when in opera can be used to zoom in by circling it with a finger like a click wheel on an Ipod. Is it possible to modify it to work as a scroll wheel instead of a "zoom wheel". I know this isn't an option out of the box, but is it something that's possible, or being worked on?
I'm considering from the tilt, and while I've convinced myself that I don't need the hard left and right buttons, or the email & browser buttons, I'm not sure I'll be able to get used to working without any kind of jog dial/scroll wheel.

I think it's been asked and the answer is not yet.
The D-pad is one of the things I really don't like about the phone though, the buttons are all on the same plane, not separated in any way, and that makes it very difficult to differentiate the d-pad from the home/back/send/end buttons. I didn't find it was a problem until playing games, when I kept minimizing the window by hitting the Back button.

oh... the touch pro has a d-pad??? omg ive had the phone for almost a month and i only just discovered it. i thought it was just a scroll thing. its really hard to press though..

Black93300ZX said:
I think it's been asked and the answer is not yet.
The D-pad is one of the things I really don't like about the phone though, the buttons are all on the same plane, not separated in any way, and that makes it very difficult to differentiate the d-pad from the home/back/send/end buttons. I didn't find it was a problem until playing games, when I kept minimizing the window by hitting the Back button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I don't really play a whole lot of games on my phone, but I do read a lot of really long email threads, and more importantly, when I'm bored I read sites like overheardinnewyork.com which is basically a lot of text to scroll through.
I'm getting the feeling that I'm going to have to find a way to "play" with a TP and see if I love it or not. I went 8125, x01ht, tilt, and now I'm looking to upgrade. but if this phone isn't going to rock me, I'll hold out (for what I don't know).
As much as I like flashing new roms to my tilt, it seems all anyone does is try to rip the best features from other phones...so at some point I might as well just get the other phone.

Diamond Tweak 0.5.3 allows you to enable d-pad scrolling for some applications.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=409540
(you need to soft-reset after you have changed options)

dougalls said:
Diamond Tweak 0.5.3 allows you to enable d-pad scrolling for some applications.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=409540
(you need to soft-reset after you have changed options)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, looks promising. Have you tried it? I just can't imagine I'd ever use the zoom feature, although up to now I've used opera mini, so perhaps after switching to opera mobile I'd change my mind. But I'm still pretty sure I'd prefer to double tap the screen to zoom, and have another means of scrolling.

I have tried it and it works well for contacts (useful), programs etc but does not work with my Yahoo inbox (possibly due to the ROM I am using - ROmeOS v1.22) and it does not replace the zoom in opera. You can set up custom applications in DiamondTweak so it may be possible to overcome any differences between ROM's by setting up a custom application. I do use the zoom in opera so wouldn't want to replace it.
You can still double tap to zoom in/out on opera, as well as the wheel - the wheel lets you zoom in/out in small increments, double tapping toggles between full page and zoomed in.

DesCo said:
Hmmm, looks promising. Have you tried it? I just can't imagine I'd ever use the zoom feature, although up to now I've used opera mini, so perhaps after switching to opera mobile I'd change my mind. But I'm still pretty sure I'd prefer to double tap the screen to zoom, and have another means of scrolling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think about this, with Opera Mobile you'll only have 2 levels of zoom ("in" or "out") unless you use the wheel to zoom. I liked being able to use it to fine tune and get things to look just right, but that's me. Try it out and see what you think.

With newer versions of Opera Mobile, there is now an on-screen zoom slider that adds a "tap and slide" button for incremental zooming. Now I find myself wanting an alternative to scrolling, since my finger otherwise covers up part of the screen and might accidentally click a link. Unfortunately the arrows and dpad don't scroll the page but instead jump from link to link.
This has been one detail (although a minor detail) that has made be begin to consider replacing my TP with the X1, since the X1's optical sensor dpad apparently provides scrolling functionality.

DesCo said:
Hmmm, looks promising. Have you tried it? I just can't imagine I'd ever use the zoom feature, although up to now I've used opera mini, so perhaps after switching to opera mobile I'd change my mind. But I'm still pretty sure I'd prefer to double tap the screen to zoom, and have another means of scrolling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use advance config 3.3 ........search for the link
go to options, click smart touch and it allows you to add any application, where in touch wheel (above D Pad) can be used for scrolling......i use it for contacts, file manager, program, call history, phone window, mails, messages and its really usefull and very cool........i dont use it for opera and internet explorer and use it for zooming as put in default
~
Kingjack

Thanks for the info. As I said, I haven't picked up the TP yet, I'm holding out for the Fuze (or a reasonably priced GSM model).
To change gears a bit, I'm curious, what kind of difference do people see in using cooked Roms on this device. I only ask because as a Kaiser user I'm used to using Roms because they incorporate features from the latest equipment. But as this is among the newest models out, and a "flagship" phone so to speak...is there much of an advantage over say a stock ATT rom minus the bloat? I enjoy high level of customization, and being able to pick my features, but as this is a relatively new device, I don't want to go through the trouble of unlocking and flashing if there isn't going to be a real gain in performance/features, or if it's going to impact performance (like trying to run Manilla 2d on a Kaiser, and pretending that a 5 second screen rotate time is ok)
PS: just for the record, despite my incredibly low post count, I've been lurking on the board for ~2 years...I'm not some (I hate this word) newb asking "what rom is best" or "can someone explain to me how to XXX reading the Wiki is too much work"...just wanted to throw that out there.

Volume buttons for scroll
Review on wmexperts of Sprint Touch Pro has the information below in the comments area. Looks like the reviewer followed up with the statement that he used AE Buttons to remap the volume buttons on the side, where the scroll wheel is on 8525/Tilt to scroll up and down with each click. I don't have Fuze, but it seems like this would work on it as well, I don't think it's a free softare though.
http://www.wmexperts.com/reviews/smartphones/review_24_hours_with_the_sprin.html
Buttons: I have successfully used AE Buttons to successfully remap the volume up and down buttons. I have the volume down button set at one click to scroll down and a log click for OK/Enter. The volume up button is set at one to scroll up and the log click Alt/Tab Wisbar's switch utility. I have also remapped the Back button to OK/Enter. The Home button now brings down the Start Menu on a single click and Email when I hold it down. This has made life a lot easier and has in virtually increased my available hardware buttons to a more comfortable level of usable buttons.

cparkhorn said:
Review on wmexperts of Sprint Touch Pro has the information below in the comments area. Looks like the reviewer followed up with the statement that he used AE Buttons to remap the volume buttons on the side, where the scroll wheel is on 8525/Tilt to scroll up and down with each click. I don't have Fuze, but it seems like this would work on it as well, I don't think it's a free softare though.
http://www.wmexperts.com/reviews/smartphones/review_24_hours_with_the_sprin.html
Buttons: I have successfully used AE Buttons to successfully remap the volume up and down buttons. I have the volume down button set at one click to scroll down and a log click for OK/Enter. The volume up button is set at one to scroll up and the log click Alt/Tab Wisbar's switch utility. I have also remapped the Back button to OK/Enter. The Home button now brings down the Start Menu on a single click and Email when I hold it down. This has made life a lot easier and has in virtually increased my available hardware buttons to a more comfortable level of usable buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How have you managed to get AEButton working on your home button?
I found that the home and back buttons seem to be "hard coded" to do their tasks, and AEbutton only assigns an *additional* task to each button. In other words, when I press Home for start menu, it first goes home, and then opens start. If I map the back button to Camera, it first goes back an application screen, then launches camera. Very annoying. The only buttons I found AEButton works with is the vol up and down. Is there a trick I'm missing?

Fuze: adjust 4-way rocker sensitivity (going "back" constantly)?

New Fuze user and new user to WM in general. I like the device, but it's been a bit overwhelming trying to get things together and tweaking it.
My biggest gripe right now is the sensitivity of the 4 way directional pad. Up and down work pretty well, but left and right are tricky to hit and I usually wind up going home, canceling, or going back. It's quite frustrating and I'd much rather use the directional pad than peck on the touchscreen in many situations.
I'm a bit befuddled: is navigation via the directional pad touch sensitive or is it a physical button? Is there anyway to adjust the sensitivities or sensor zones/regions so as not to accidentally hit one of other hardware buttons?
Thanks.

Got the same issue. The up / down navigation works fine, but left and right is just horrible. It would almost be better if you could use the touch sensitive part, rather than having to press the buttons fully down.

yup its a problem on all i think

lbhocky19 said:
yup its a problem on all i think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, how did this get pass R&D and QA? The lack of responsive and accurate left/right keys is abysmal (makes me unable to use Calendar). I sure hope there will be some remedy ....

Yeah, I agree, the d-pad is sorely lacking. It seems to be getting a little easier as I get accustomed to it, but the d-pad from my 8525 was much better.

I agree 100%. And like vexingv said, this is particularly annoying in the calendar application. The D pad on my 8525 was far easier to use.

And all this time i thought i just kept messing up. I have the same problem also.

calendar is where the problem really does shine

This is the WORST part about this new phone redesign. It's almost as if MARKETING came up with this idea than actual engineers.
I wonder if we can just cut the surface so we get the d-pad left-right back and so it's not shared with other buttons.
Thanks a lot HTC! You now have THREE buttons that do the same thing instead of 2 last time on the Kaiser:
Home goes back to Home
Back (formerly OK), goes back to home anyways
Hangup goes back to Home anyways already!
So hitting left or right you have 66% of it going straight back to HOME.
Then, you take away the scroll-wheel capability and replace it with rocker buttons for volume that only do that and nothing else.
Genius by HTC.

NuShrike said:
This is the WORST part about this new phone redesign. It's almost as if MARKETING came up with this idea than actual engineers.
I wonder if we can just cut the surface so we get the d-pad left-right back and so it's not shared with other buttons.
Thanks a lot HTC! You now have THREE buttons that do the same thing instead of 2 last time on the Kaiser:
Home goes back to Home
Back (formerly OK), goes back to home anyways
Hangup goes back to Home anyways already!
So hitting left or right you have 66% of it going straight back to HOME.
Then, you take away the scroll-wheel capability and replace it with rocker buttons for volume that only do that and nothing else.
Genius by HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the scroll wheel does work, but its ability is to zoom/decrease the text size, which for most intents and purposes is a waste.
For clarification, is the directional rocker currently touch-sensitive or is there a physical button that is being depressed (albeit poorly).
If this keeps up, how about mapping some of the other 4 hardware buttons to provide some L/R functionality?

Okay guys. Here is the weird crazy part. I had the same problem, I just flashed the original stock att rom back (Well, tried to freeze in the middle to return ) but I had the att rom on it, I tried to re-install via the microSD card, and after it went through all the customization, I was so suprised that the left and right were working, it blew me away. I was like, "wdf? Is this the same phone." I have no idea what happened, but they seem more responsive. No tricks. At first I thought it was just me, but I started to use it more and more and it was working much better than before. No idea what fixed it, but I'm a happy camper

Here's some pictures of a guy who dropped it. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2904011&postcount=1
Looks like distinct buttons. We just need to keep the face plate from sharing the presses.

Stock rom here... Moving 'left' seems to work okay but 'right' either hits Call End or Back. And here I thought I was doing something wrong.

NuShrike said:
Here's some pictures of a guy who dropped it. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2904011&postcount=1
Looks like distinct buttons. We just need to keep the face plate from sharing the presses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously! Whose idea was it to make all those buttons into 1 face plate! stupid idiot designer. At least they could've separated the d-pad somehow, maybe a very precise circle.

Yeah with the new excitement with touch interfaces, HTC seemed to have left their minds/brains elsewhere. But judging from the pictures in the linked thread above, it seems like none of the 4 directions have physical buttons.

Count me in on this problem...
For the Calendar I just open the keyboard and use that D-pad on the bottom right.
SOLUTIONS...
I propose someone should create software to do 1 of 2 things:
1) Use the G-sensor to control scrolling. This function would be activated by touching, not pressing/clicking, the center of D-pad. Similar to how you focus the camera. This action would activate the software thus allowing scrolling in all 4 directions by tilting the device.
2) Change the input so we only have to Touch the D-pad (like how we zoom in on pictures/Opera) to move in the desired direction.
So who's up to the challenge of developing some software to make this happen? I will gladly donate $$$ as the D-pad is the ONLY thing I dislike about the Fuze/Touch Pro.

it took me 10 days to realize how to left and right buttons work (sprint).

Hmm...maybe the designers/engineers meant for BOTH hardware buttons on either side to be depressed nearly simultaneously in order to register navigation to either the left or right?
Eg.: Placing the tip of my right thumb parallel with the end the bottom of the phone between the two hardware buttons (farther away from the D-pad than one normally would) such that both buttons depressed, I was able to get much better accuracy navigating to the right. Can get the same response on the left side, but it's not as feasible due to the awkward positioning of the hands/fingers.

I got tired of this problem before so I used G-controller. It works.
[Link]

The buttons are both touch-sensitive and physical buttons. The problem is if your thumb is touching any of the big buttons, it will prefer that over the directional click. Add to that the fact that the area the phone considers to be part of the non-directional buttons is much bigger than what it considers to be the directional buttons and it is a problem.
I wish people would stop following Steve Jobs's design ideas. Fewer buttons does not a better product make.

Is it just me? The "right" D-Pad button is KILLING ME!!

I might honestly have to abandon this phone for just this reason. I am always exiting out of programs cause that damn right press button is so unreliable. And i've read where you should be pressing, but it doesn't help. it is so sporadic as to what actually happens. I need reliability, and this d-pad is so not. Coming from the hermes which had lots of hard buttons i could have lived with a dpad like this (cause it's easier to get back to where u were), but since this hasn't got any buttons i need the dpad that much more to be on point.
Out of 10 presses of the D- "right" button, how many times are you all hitting it correctly?

once i figured out that the you have to press pretty far compared to the up & down, i havn't misclicked at all.
But you are right, its a pretty stupid design and I find myself using the touch screen much more because of it.

Dillsnik said:
I might honestly have to abandon this phone for just this reason. I am always exiting out of programs cause that damn right press button is so unreliable. And i've read where you should be pressing, but it doesn't help. it is so sporadic as to what actually happens. I need reliability, and this d-pad is so not. Coming from the hermes which had lots of hard buttons i could have lived with a dpad like this (cause it's easier to get back to where u were), but since this hasn't got any buttons i need the dpad that much more to be on point.
Out of 10 presses of the D- "right" button, how many times are you all hitting it correctly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try using Gscroll. works great as alternative to a d-pad

Correct
I get the same prob.. I haven't got the thickest of thumbs but somehow I keep missing the precise point needed to get this button to function. Just add this to the growing list of flaws.

The area just outside the outer ring immediately beyond the < > keys should allow you to scroll. You don't need to try and scroll using the inner ring circle.
Are you saying its not working this way?

It works this way for me, but it's not reliable enough to hit it 100% of the time. I think HTC dropped the ball on usability here. If you're on the edge of the scroller and press that should be a right, left, up down etc... when there is no clear button it's hard to press...
I'd gladly give up the nice look of the smooth face for some real buttons like my TyTn had.

Someone needs to design a new Dpad for this device!
Rplace the whole bottom panel with something better. Ie- a real Dpad and real buttons.
The Palm Treos have really nice Dpads. And for further inspiration, you can just look at any Nintendo device or controller.
How hard would it be ?

Check this out: http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=1698

the_ozyrys said:
Check this out: http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=1698
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I meant in my post. However, showing it is so much easier like the article you posted. Good find!

I know exactly what you mean. I keep hitting the home button.
So now I just don't use the D-pad at all

Problem with TP2 camera

I recently upgraded to a Touch Pro 2 from a Mogul, massive improvement (other than the lack of hardware keys). So I was a little worried when first using the camera, but the interface quickly grew on me. After installing everything I had on the Mogul, and a few other things that weren't previously supported, I went to snap a quick picture. But for some reason I now have to press and HOLD the shutter button for about 2 or 3 seconds while it auto-focuses then finally takes the picture. For the last week or two (since I've had the phone) I just tapped the button and it focused and took the picture, and was a lot quicker.
I've gone through all of the new cabs I've installed and looked for changes to the camera's registry settings, but found nothing (other than the enabling of the extra modes).
I've also tried changing the Key Delay settings in Advanced Config. Normally I find solutions to any problems I encounter by searching the xda forums, but this time all I'm coming up with is TP2 camera reviews, and stuff about the TP Shoot Options (which are related to the TP's hw button, I'm guessing?).
It's not a huge problem, I mean everything still works as it should. It's just kind of annoying having to hold the button and wait. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

I forgot to add, pressing the Enter key on the hardware keyboard still has the desired effect. It's just something with the on screen shutter button.

I'm sorry I can't provide a reply to solve your problem, but I think you might get more/better feedback if you post here.

Thanks for the suggestion =)
The reason I posted here instead of the TP2 forum is because I assumed this wasn't a specific TP2 related issue, rather a WinMo issue (if it is in fact a registry fix). But I will post there also, and hope for more feed back.

[Q] Hardware buttons went crazy!

Hello!
I'm experiencing some problems with my o2 Touch Pro.
Hardware buttons on the bottom of the phone (d-pad, home, back, call, end call) are not working properly (they work fine only 20% of the time, it's random i guess).
When i press "call" button, device responds as if i pressed the "left" button. It's very annoying. The circle used to zoom in, and out around the "enter" button is problematic as well. It zooms - but but in a very chatoic way - a bit of of zoom in, then zoom out, another zoom in. Functions are just messed up.
Another time, it's all working...
How can i fix it? Is it a hardware problem?
I'm using the Energy Rom - titanium version.
Thanks for your help in advance...

Honestly, if you can't deal with it, get another device. Either that or stick with the stock ROM, less problematic (you can also keep the full function of the d-pad) but then again it may introduce other issues. Someone mentioned this being more a hardware than a software issue. Since I cannot reproduce this on my at&t Fuze, that is all I can suggest on my end.

I get some of that with my fuze; mostly, the d-pad doesn't read gestures properly. If I run compact heaps (from sk tools) periodically, it helps. Soft resetting obviously helps as well. I think it's more of a hardware issue. My problems have definitely gotten worse over time. You can also check out this tool (from an HTC test rom dump; can't remember where I got it). It's a debugger for the d-pad. At least you can see how accurately the button presses and gestures work.

Thanks.