Database Info

***Making Your Own EQ Settings!!! **UPDATE: PRE-MADE SETTINGS**

Uploaded one of many pre-made EQ settings. i will begin making more soon. This one is for you Drum n' Bass lovers out there, you know who you are although this sounds alright with other kinds of music (better than the flat EQ anyway) it is built predominantly for songs with low bass, i will be making more EQ settings, working on a good Rock one as we speak ​
You install this exactly the same as my AudioMods. REMEMBER!!! you will need my other modified files for this to have it's proper effect. using this alone will not increase the volume by much and might not even work
editing the EQ on the G1 isn't hard, but it's kinda long winded and requires a fair bit of tinkering.
i'll try and talk you through it as best i can i've already enabled the EQ, all you need to do is set it up to your needs.
step 1 - download included file (the EQ taken from V1 audiomod, so a slight volume increase)
step 2 - open it with Microsoft Excel
step 3 - Editing. The only line we're interested with is Row 6.
If you look at this line, it's all to do with the EQ. you have BAND1 all the way across to BAND8. basically, i wouldn't touch either BAND1 or BAND8 as these are only filtering out the really high and bottom end which you don't want.
ok, so looking at BAND2 we have:
BAND2 gain
BAND2 gain does essentially what it says on the tin, increases the gain/volume. REMEMBER!!! we're working in hex here, so the lowest is 0 and the highest is 0F (i think)
for those who don't know much about hex it goes:
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0A,0B,0C,0D,0E,0F and then 10. but 10 loops back to 0's volume so 0F is as loud as you can go, and in comparison to V3, which is only on 0B, thats pretty damn loud.
BAND2 Freq
yup, you guessed it. this controlls at which frequency range the gain controlls. a lower number is lower and a higher number higher. This is pretty advanced tbh, i left it well alone lol
BAND2 type
this is a tricky one. I think this controls what type of EQ is happening at that point, e.g. a parametric, or it could even be Q control, i don't know.
we can judge by BAND1 and BAND 8 that type 1 is a low-shelving EQ and type 2 is a high-shelving EQ. basically, you don't want to use these. again, i left these well alone.
so yeah, thats about it really. Gain is the only main one you need to worry about. you also need a basic understanding of how an EQ works.
Increasing all the Gains to the same volume is fine, thats what i did in my mods, but that gives a very 'basic' sound. creating a Bass Boosting EQ, for example, would mean you increase the gain in the first few bands and keep them lower in the mid-high ranges.
research, some spare time and patience would come in handy
anyway guys, i hope this helps. feel free to ask any questions, although i wont be able to answer them until i get home from work tomorrow
here is a graphical representation of what i'm going on about. (i don't fully understand band 1 and 8 so i kinda left them out )
BTW this diagram and the file included is based on V2 so, as you can see in the diagram, the volume is already boosted quite a bit. i wouldn't go much higher tbh. 0B is V3 and thats pretty distorted, so i'd say thats about the limit. unless you're very brave
--------------Flat EQ (AudioFilter.zip) ------------------------ Drum n Bass style EQ (...DnB EQ.zip) ----------------- Rock style EQ (...Rock EQ.zip)
i can't say this is spot on what happens but it's a very basic guide from my 'interpretation' of how the EQ works
i hope this helps some of you

someone can write an app that will change this file within the OS?
amir

unfortunately i have not been able to make the settings change without rebooting the phone. but i imagine it's perfectly possible if someone can figure out how to do it

does this Affects the headphones too?
amir

What are the chages that you are using personally, I would like to try that first and go from there. Thanks.

JLine05 said:
What are the chages that you are using personally, I would like to try that first and go from there. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm just using my V2 atm which has a flat EQ. not had chance to mess with the settings properly.
it all depends what kinda of EQ you are after. i'm gonna try and make a 'smily-face' EQ (as we call it at college) which boosts the high and low end and leaves the mid range fairly untouched. personally, for the music i listen to (pendulum mainly ) it sounds pretty good.

Well, I tried that but it's very hard to fine tune.
When it sounds good with the head phones, it sounds like crap with the loudspeaker and vice versa.
And having to reboot the phone each time you try new settings makes the process way too long to appreciate the difference.

Zappletoo said:
Well, I tried that but it's very hard to fine tune.
When it sounds good with the head phones, it sounds like crap with the loudspeaker and vice versa.
And having to reboot the phone each time you try new settings makes the process way too long to appreciate the difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very true. we need a way of making the settings 'stick' without rebooting the phone

Nice work! I will play around with this once I get out of the woods

Zappletoo said:
Well, I tried that but it's very hard to fine tune.
When it sounds good with the head phones, it sounds like crap with the loudspeaker and vice versa.
And having to reboot the phone each time you try new settings makes the process way too long to appreciate the difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya when I get to it, I'm gonna have 2 files set and saved on sdcard. One for line out/headphones. And one for phone speaker out put and just swap them on the fly via terminal.
What about sym links. Just have both files and point them where u want depending on what use ur using... now some gui with on the fly adj would be the best.

welcome to the jungle baby!
I LOVE DRUM & BASS!
I'm goin to see Dieselboy, Gein, Tech Itch, & SPKTRM tonight. Wamp wamp!
btw, thanks for the eq.

AH.... reminds me of the simple days with WM and the SRS WOW Equalizer. Well not that easy but...Hey, this is a great start! No one else have even though about this! Keep up the good work!

Zappletoo said:
Well, I tried that but it's very hard to fine tune.
When it sounds good with the head phones, it sounds like crap with the loudspeaker and vice versa.
And having to reboot the phone each time you try new settings makes the process way too long to appreciate the difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fastludeh22 said:
Ya when I get to it, I'm gonna have 2 files set and saved on sdcard. One for line out/headphones. And one for phone speaker out put and just swap them on the fly via terminal.
What about sym links. Just have both files and point them where u want depending on what use ur using... now some gui with on the fly adj would be the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DONE...
just to throw this info out there. i have these files on my ext2 partation of my sd card and am using sym links like the old app2sd method. i have all three versions on here and can swap loudness with 2 commands. prob is i only know how to do it in adb, lol. i keep getting read only error from terminal when trying to swap. i know it can be done from terminal, im just overlooking something. this idea was sparked by the need for different settings based on headphones/lineout or phone speaker usage, but can be used for different music or whatever.
now you dont have to have on sd card some steps in first part will have to be changed if u dont want to go though all that, but for people with apps2sd its simple.
*edit: thanks to member innerlight he pointed out where i was screwing up in terminal when trying to mount as read/write, lol. if you want to do it in terminal type su (hit enter). then type mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock03 /system (hit enter). now follow the rest of the instructions starting with step 2 and leave off adb shell in the begening of each step.
1.adb remount
2.adb shell mkdir /system/sd/etc
3.adb shell cp /system/etc/AudioFilter.csv /system/sd/etc/AudioFilter.csv
4.adb shell cp /system/etc/AudioPara_TMUS.csv /system/sd/etc/AudioPara_TMUS.csv
5.adb shell cp /system/etc/AudioPara4.csv /system/sd/etc/AudioPara4.csv
6.adb shell rm /system/etc/AudioFilter.csv
7.adb shell rm /system/etc/AudioPara_TMUS.csv
8.adb shell rm /system/etc/AudioPara4.csv
9.adb shell ln -s /system/sd/etc/AudioFilter.csv /system/etc/AudioFilter.csv
10.adb shell ln -s /system/sd/etc/AudioPara_TMUS.csv /system/etc/AudioPara_TMUS.csv
11.adb shell ln -s /system/sd/AudioPara4.csv /system/etc/AudioPara4.csv
12.adb shell reboot
ok at this point they're running off sdcard. here is where running sym links importance runs in. you can have several different eq settings saved in your /system/sd/etc/filename.csv(it can be anything u want like headphones.csv or what not) for purpose of this write up im using AudioFilter.csv as stock and AudioFilterv3.csv as the "loud" one. when u want to switch on the fly (and heres where terminal would come in handy) its just a few commands.
edit: remember if you want to do it in terminal type su (hit enter). then type mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock03 /system (hit enter). now follow the rest of the instructions starting with step 2 and leave off adb shell in the begening of each step.
1.adb remount
2.adb shell rm /system/etc/AudioFilter.csv (dont worry only removes sym link)
3.adb shell ln -s /system/sd/etc/Audiofilterv3.csv(or whatever ur alt eq is named) /system/etc/AudioFilter.csv
4.adb shell reboot
Now enjoy your new settings. Now to fig out how to have them take effect without rebooting...

Well done men is the start i will try it but i must flash to JF 1.5, then i test your work THK!!!

Am reading this while at gym.
Has anyone tried doing it with gscript.
2 ways and I am no expert but:
Without symlinks just stick one lots of files, eg. Heavy metal in1 folder on fat32 sd and another lot in another folder, eg. Hiphop. Then have 1 gscript to replace the folders in system/etc with the modified audio files in heavy and another gscript to replace files with those in hiphop? And then you can also have gscript automatically reboot....
With symlinks have 1 script use audio files from 1 folder and another gscript use another set of files?
Will this work? I use similar gscripts to backup and restore data from my workout app..
I will have a crack at it later tonight but have to figure out the whole eq level thing first. Wonder if I can use similar settings to the way core player does on WM?

ok... had a quick look at file in excel 07... looks bloody complicated 2 me..... could take a while..... someone want to make a hiphop one and a hard rock/heavy metal one and then i will have a crack at the gscript thing?

MontAlbert said:
ok... had a quick look at file in excel 07... looks bloody complicated 2 me..... could take a while..... someone want to make a hiphop one and a hard rock/heavy metal one and then i will have a crack at the gscript thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly I don't know much about gscripts yet, but don't see why that wouldn't work. I think that's similer to what lucidrem is doing in other theard to put one of the premade ones on there.
Honestly I like the idea of having them on my sdcard now that I have it done, lol. Think you can write a script that would do the bottom 4 steps in my post to switch eq? I edited my post to add commends from tereminal insted of adb . You can use the different ones the op made for test of theory.
I'm gonna try and make some eq's tonight.

fastludeh22 said:
DONE...
...Now enjoy your new settings. Now to fig out how to have them take effect without rebooting...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice work man!!
works perfectly, just tried it out ^^
but yeah, the only problem now is the rebooting issue. i'm gonna start working on a program for the market which lets you choose the EQ setting, but it's pointless if you have to reboot each time ><

update: graphical representation of what i did to the DnB EQ uploaded. will be uploading a 'Rock' EQ shortly

So I'm gonna start making a personalized eq tonight. If I'm reading this correct you "loud" mod is just the eq turned up on all bands? Is there not a master gain, to just make it louder without effecting the different hz settings?
Also do we know what hz each "band" is, or just that left is bass and right is highs, lol?

Aura crashing and buggy? FIX

Not sure if it's just me but I have been using Sygic Aura for a few weeks now and find it crash prone and buggy. However it remains the best option I have seen without data. I have e-mailed their support but that looks a limited path so far.
From the feedback on the market I am not the only one. So I have decided to post my work around here.
What I will say is that it's great software when it's working but often crashes and sometimes (I think when you try to start it too soon after a crash) it loses it's settings completely not great when you happen to use your phone for other things during a journey like making calls.
So on to the workaround, you will need :-
one rooted phone
gscript lite (available free app on the market developed by someone on this forum)
my script:-
Code:
busybox mv /sdcard/Aura/Android/settings.dat /sdcard/Aura/Android/settings.old
busybox mv /sdcard/Aura/Android/weather.dat /sdcard/Aura/Android/weather.old
busybox cp /sdcard/download/aurafiles/settings.dat /sdcard/Aura/Android/
busybox cp /sdcard/download/aurafiles/weather.dat /sdcard/Aura/Android/
busybox mv /sdcard/Aura/Res/db/items.dat /sdcard/Aura/Res/db/items.old
busybox mv /sdcard/Aura/Res/db/main.dat /sdcard/Aura/Res/db/main.old
busybox cp /sdcard/download/aurafiles/items.dat /sdcard/Aura/Res/db
busybox cp /sdcard/download/aurafiles/main.dat /sdcard/Aura/Res/db
am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.sygic.aura/com.sygic.aura.SygicAuraActivity
exit
How to do it.
firstly configure aura how you want it and exit the program.
secondly copy the following files :-
/sdcard/Aura/Android/settings.dat
/sdcard/Aura/Android/weather.dat
/sdcard/Aura/Res/db/items.dat
/sdcard/Aura/Res/db/main.dat
In to the directory/folder:-
/sdcard/download/aurafiles/ (you will need to make this folder)
(you may not need all these files but it does work with all of them if you add favourites you may want to redo this stage regularly probably worth scripting itself.)
Open up gscript lite on your droid, select add script input a name and paste my script in and save
best of all you can add a shortcut directly to the script in your homescreens.
no more lost settings in Aura.
I have only done a few tests so far but these have had the desired effect even when the software has reset. I will update the post if I bump into any unforseen site effects. This script is provided without warranty or blame if it doesnt work for you!!
Enjoy!

new favourites are retained they are in another file.
nope I was wrong it resets favourites so a script to copy them in the first place!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

aura is pretty much unuseable on my galaxy s cap.
not only does it crash all the time, it sometimes reboots my phone.
i like the UI, but it's way too buggy.

Busybox, Environment Variables and Tweaks scripts?

Well I am trying to test how well the tweak script in init.d work
and apparently /bin isn't even in $PATH
I load it every time but its kind of annoying...
I can't seem to file .profile so my first question is where the hell is he?!
my second question is basically did anyone ever check them?
there are 2 or 3 attempts to remount partitions with noatime
one with barrier and another one which is basically a loop of noatime remount
Darky zipalign goes over system/app every reboot? why?
and 11link2sd why the 10 seconds sleep?
maybe everything is the way it suppose to be but I still need to find out why...

I am not a Linux engineer, but I'll answer with what I've noticed.
The android shell isn't supposed to be a full blown command line environment, so you don't get a .profile file and any variables you put into $PATH get reset when you reboot.
Yeah the scripts aren't that efficient, they're mostly script packs that have gotten passed on from phone to phone for a while, so if you know what you're doing you can put everything you want into your own file as that would work better instead of doing all the remounts you're talking about.
About zipalign, if you read through the script it now has a database file that keeps track of which apk's it's already zipaligned so it only does it to new ones.
Honestly I would be happy with just having the ext4 remounts for delalloc and noatime since those provide a significant boost, other than that I think Android does a good job at ram management, etc.

The PATH gets reset every time I get a new shell...
as for the Zipalign database or no database, it useless...
there is no reason for running this on the phone, it should be run only one time when you are making the ROM

logan123 said:
The PATH gets reset every time I get a new shell...
as for the Zipalign database or no database, it useless...
there is no reason for running this on the phone, it should be run only one time when you are making the ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed bash and not even it loads .bash_profile correctly. It gets really annoying.
Well, if you don't like some of the things just remove them.

Carrier IQ

So, looks like we have Carrier IQ on our phones, thanks to AT&T. Any luck on getting a 3rd party ROM on here yet? Any estimates as to when?

Can you give us more information? like how you found it on the phone, what steps did you take?
With more info, those of us in the know can figure out how to disable it, or remove it, without having to resort to waiting for a rom.
I have been looking for it for quite some time without much luck.

It's the device health app.it calls the ciq agent . Easily frozen.
Sent from my MB865

mtnlion said:
It's the device health app.it calls the ciq agent . Easily frozen.
Sent from my MB865
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I will see what else I can come up with for the ciq agent, maybe a way I can fake it out on the *NIX side of the house.

Yep first thing I went looking for after I got root.

Bloat freezer. It's free, finds it fast. When you freeze device health it doesn't want to close and keeps force closing, just reboot, it will be frozen and not running.

Douchewithaphone said:
Bloat freezer. It's free, finds it fast. When you freeze device health it doesn't want to close and keeps force closing, just reboot, it will be frozen and not running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Must be rooted.
Sent from my mAtrix2!!

Well, I have found a way from the UNIX end to stop this thing in it's tracks, but it is not pretty for those unfamiliar with command line....
What we have to do is uncompress the kernel image in the boot.img remove the sys.DeviceHealth from the init.rc file there, then compress the kernel back up, all using cpio.... now to see if I can possibly make it work, and not brick any phones in the process, maybe I can throw a quick apk together next week.
I have tried the bloat freezer and the android assistant and I can still find the sys.DeviceHealth running on the UNIX side with the ps command, so this is a nasty one.
I will keep you guys posted, If I can find a better way.

Here is the link I saw, and how I figured out where sys.DeviceHealth is starting from.
For those interested ONLY. PLEASE do not try this yet, give me some more time to play with this in an emulator and see what I can come up with.
I am just sharing information at this time. BTW Zygote is the process that is calling the sys.DeviceHealth on the Atrix 2.
To see this Do the following from the terminal emulator app on your phone or though adb shell.
ps | grep -i Heal
ps | grep -i zygote
If you notice on the sys.DeviceHealth process that the second number is the same number as the first number of the zygote process.... What that means is that the zygote process starts the sys.DeviceHealth process. The first number is process ID (the processes "adress" so to speak), and the second number is the Parent process ID (The process that started the next one).
http://vinnysoft.blogspot.com/2009/12/zygote-system-process.html

jimbridgman said:
Here is the link I saw, and how I figured out where sys.DeviceHealth is starting from.
For those interested ONLY. PLEASE do not try this yet, give me some more time to play with this in an emulator and see what I can come up with.
I am just sharing information at this time. BTW Zygote is the process that is calling the sys.DeviceHealth on the Atrix 2.
To see this Do the following from the terminal emulator app on your phone or though adb shell.
ps | grep -i Heal
ps | grep -i zygote
If you notice on the sys.DeviceHealth process that the second number is the same number as the first number of the zygote process.... What that means is that the zygote process starts the sys.DeviceHealth process. The first number is process ID (the processes "adress" so to speak), and the second number is the Parent process ID (The process that started the next one).
http://vinnysoft.blogspot.com/2009/12/zygote-system-process.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zygote appears to be a process respawner (watchdog) of some type. The trick is to find out where its config lies and tweak that to prevent the launching of sys.DeviceHealth.
I've just got the busybox installed that came with TiBackup and the shell tools are sorely limited (no grep for eg.). The shell itself is also pretty limited (no pipe??? WTF?). I had a version of bash on my atrix4g, and I'm wondering if you know of a reliable source for bash and shell tools for the atrix2?

A lil info on what AT&T says and how it uses Carrier IQ and some of the devices it is on can be read here http://m.androidcentral.com/atts-us...its-own-analytics-app-not-just-embedded-phone

razholio said:
zygote appears to be a process respawner (watchdog) of some type. The trick is to find out where its config lies and tweak that to prevent the launching of sys.DeviceHealth.
I've just got the busybox installed that came with TiBackup and the shell tools are sorely limited (no grep for eg.). The shell itself is also pretty limited (no pipe??? WTF?). I had a version of bash on my atrix4g, and I'm wondering if you know of a reliable source for bash and shell tools for the atrix2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that is exactly what zygote is. You would disable the sys.DeviceHealth in the EXACT way it says in the in link I posted, but you have to uncompress the kernel image, and extract the init.rc in there, then edit it to not include the sys.DeviceHealth, then re-compress it with cpio. This is just for information right now, so that later on when the ROM developers get started, they can use this info for their ROMs. I am testing this using a couple Android emulators to see what I can do with this.
As for a reliable busybox, I like the version from JRummy16 in the market, go grab that an install the latest version of busybox from his installer you downloaded (I think it is 1.19.3 or something similar).
also go get the hackers keyboard in the market, it helps a lot if you EVER use the terminal app ON the phone, heck I like for text and typing as well.

Jim: I'm assuming you mean the initrd image and not the kernel, or is that all wrapped up into one in android? the initrd is an odd place for the system's watchdog config. I suppose putting it in the kernel image prevents disabling it because presumably we don't have the key to sign the new image...
that's a new version of busybox, but I'm more interested in one with all of the options compiled in. What I have is pretty bare-bones... Does his busybox have grep at least? what do you do for a decent shell?

razholio said:
Jim: I'm assuming you mean the initrd image and not the kernel, or is that all wrapped up into one in android? the initrd is an odd place for the system's watchdog config. I suppose putting it in the kernel image prevents disabling it because presumably we don't have the key to sign the new image...
that's a new version of busybox, but I'm more interested in one with all of the options compiled in. What I have is pretty bare-bones... Does his busybox have grep at least? what do you do for a decent shell?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes in the initrd image the kernel is packed in there, as well as the init.rc file on Android, as well the filesystem subset, etc.
The init.rc file in / on the phone is NOT the one the kernel itself executes, take a look at that link I posted, Here is the excerpt we are interested in, I am pretty sure that the sys.DeviceHealth is in the exact same place:
I want to get a bit more control of what things are starting up when. To do this I need to modify the init.rc file. To do this I first extracted the the ramdisk to the fileystem so that I can modify it (gnucpio -iz -F ramdisk.img).
After this I simply commented out the line from init.rc. Then we can recreate it: (gnucpio -i -t -F ../ramdisk.img | gnucpio -o -H newc -O ../rootfs.img).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes both the stericson and JRummy16 busybox have most every command in the busybox you really need, oh and they create links in /system/bin for you, so that you can run commands without needing to always type busybox in front of the command.
As far as shells, I am a bourne or korn guy, so I just use the default /system/bin/sh, since I am closely intimate with bourne, being the UNIX Engineer that I am, and handling anything at the lowest level of the OS still requires bourne. But I love to program in korn (ksh), but I have not found any android shells that are useable beyond the basics, since we really are not going to spend much time there, it does not matter much. I would get aquainted the bourne, that android uses, since android seems be using the old school UNIX style bourne, more and more, yes there is some bourne again in there too.
P.S. pipe is in the /system/bin/sh, just make sure you source the /osh/apath.sh file, to get the /system/bin and /system/xbin in the shell...
The hackers keyboard has things like the arrow keys so that you can command recall, and other helpful things.
If you really need to run something, from the shell, just make sure put sh in front of it, or it won't run in a shell, one of the oddities about Android.

I have tested the method I mentioned before, and uncompressing the ramdisk that holds the kernel, and removing the sys.DeviceHealth from the init,rc, and it does work, after packaging it back up with CPIO. I tested this on an older phone that does not have a locked bootloader.
I am afraid to test it on the Atrix 2 since we still do not have a true way to get back after a soft brick at that low level.
Given the fact that this was another style of phone, and an unlocked bootloader, and the fact that the process name is a little different, I am still confident we can do something similar for our phone.

If you follow the directions on my post, you'll find it much easier to disable the Carrier IQ.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...6#post20281786

mrpoet said:
If you follow the directions on my post, you'll find it much easier to disable the Carrier IQ.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...6#post20281786
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^^^^^^^^^Page not found^^^^^^^^^^^

kirkgbr said:
^^^^^^^^^^^Page not found^^^^^^^^^^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this Link. I am not sure if it will do the job for us or not, because we don't have the same Apps installed as the Epic 4g that this original post was copied from.
Here is the thread, mrpoet created and pointed to:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1390874
Here is the original one, that he does link to in his references:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1373394
I am going to see if it works.
----Edit---
I just gave this a try and all the commands ran successfully, but sys.DeviceHealth is still running after following the above post.

JRW 28 said:
A lil info on what AT&T says and how it uses Carrier IQ and some of the devices it is on can be read here http://m.androidcentral.com/atts-us...its-own-analytics-app-not-just-embedded-phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to let everyone know, the information contained in the link that JRW 28 posted, is an accurate statement from AT&T.
I have inside information that, that is BS. There are 100's of Terrabytes of Disk Storage just for this purpose.

They're a pack of bastards.

[SCRIPT][1.6+][WHATSAPP][14/11/08] Disable sending read-receipts for WhatsApp msgs

Shell script to disable read receipts for all your incoming Whatsapp messages
Even "better": Others won't see whether you've already read their message(s) or not. However, you will still be able to see the read receipts of others!
Code:
################################################################################
#
# Shell script to disable read receipts for all incoming Whatsapp messages.
#
# [ ANDROID AND ROOT ONLY ! ]
#
# Author: Stephan Schmitz <[email protected]>
# Source: https://gist.github.com/eyecatchup/9af90363732801b131bf
# Last Updated: 09. Nov 2014
#
# ABOUT
#
# You don't like that everyone in your Whatsapp contact list is now able to see
# whether you've already read their latest message(s) or not? Then feel free to
# use the following "work-around" that I found to disable sending read receipts
# globally. Once patched, whenever you get new messages, the senders will never
# see the 2 check marks in blue. They'll just stay gray, just like it was until
# recently. Well, almost. Because you'll still be able to see whether your chat
# partners have already read the messages you sent to them. ;)
#
# DESCRIPTION
#
# In early Nov. 2014, Whatsapp added a new "feature" - read receipts. It means,
# your chat partners will get a visual feedback (2 blue check marks) as soon as
# you've read their message(s).
#
# Unfortunately, Whatsapp's dev team forgot to implement a corresponding privacy
# setting for users to be able to turn off this feature. However, fortunately, I
# found it was fairly simple to disable the feature, since it is set in a public
# XML file in Whatsapp's app data directory.
#
# This script shall serve as a convenient wrapper for those Android users who do
# not live in userland - as well as for the lazy ones.
#
# PRE-REQUIREMENT
#
# Basically, all it needs is a working `sed` commandline utily in path.
# If you should not have "Busybox" installed yet, choose one of the available
# "Busybox" installer apps from Google Play Store and let it install busybox.
#
# USAGE
#
# - Save this script to your phone's sdcard as disable_whatsapp_read_receipts.sh
# - Open a terminal session on your device
# E.g. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jackpal.androidterm
# - In the console, login as root (type su, hit enter) and type:
# sh /sdcard/disable_whatsapp_read_receipts.sh
# (adjust the path, if required, to fit your's!)
# - Hit the enter button. Done. (Whatsapp will restart afterwards)
#
# If you get any error message a) make sure the /data partition is mounted /w rw
# permissions and b), if the permission for restarting WA is denied, 1st try to
# uncomment the last line of this script (append hash char "#" (without quotes))
# and run the again. Otherwise, consult me for help here:
# http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/script-disable-whatsapp-read-receipts-t2933467
#
# IMPORTANT NOTE
#
# The last successful test for this was run at 09. Nov. 2014 and on the Whatsapp
# Android version 2.11.399 and 2.11.432 only. Even though it should work for all
# Android versions, it was not tested. Also, Whatsapp might change their current
# implementation any time soon. So this work-around might stop working any time
# soon too. Keep that in mind!
#
################################################################################
Download
NOTE: This script requires the "sed" command line utily (ie "busybox") installed on the system, which pre-requires a rooted device!
NOTE: The gist requires an update, which I'll post tomorrow. For further details and a manual workaround see my post here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=56640205&postcount=9
External link to gist.github.com (see the inline comments for further instructions): http://goo.gl/EiOvO0
Download, run, done. Enjoy. Whatever.
PS: For those who understand German, here're some screenshots of testing this " hack". As you can see, my chat partners can't see the read status. http://imgur.com/a/kzQs3

Nice trick!
However, I've noticed that the preferences .XML files are reset to the original values once the application relaunches. So, basically, the changes do not stick.
Any workaround on this?

smartxdev said:
Nice trick!
However, I've noticed that the preferences .XML files are reset to the original values once the application relaunches. So, basically, the changes do not stick.
Any workaround on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's kind of odd, since the script explictly restarts the Whatsapp package *after* applying the changes to the prefs xml. Which then, in turn, should result in no result at all (assuming a restart rewrites the xml), right!? But it does work. Now, the first question would be how you define restart (activity (re)launch, package force && start)?
Update: Just checked it and you're right. If I use the -S option on the am start call (to force stop Whatsapp before (re)starting the activity), running script has no effect at all - since the XML is being recreated. And that also means, that the change will gets lost with every device reboot.
The easiest solution I see here, to have a "permanent" effect, to wrap the script in a plain simple app and attach it an onboot service. (Also, looking at #4, some further checks should be added.) If Whatsapp will leave this current implementation of defining whether to send read receipts or not, I'll invest the time into an app version, I think. (Just don't want to have too much hustle with it. So want to wait whether it's worth to spend more time on this.) Thoughts?

hi, i have this problem:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
can you fix it?

Dj Mauro said:
hi, i have this problem:
can you fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had permission error too.
In the terminal, try to first run "su" command (without the quotation marks), it will obtain root permissions for the terminal.
Then run the actual command. That solved the permission error for me.
Bexton said:
That's kind of odd, since the script explictly restarts the Whatsapp package *after* applying the changes to the prefs xml. Which then, in turn, should result in no result at all (assuming a restart rewrites the xml), right!? But it does work. Now, the first question would be how you define restart (activity (re)launch, package force && start)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually it never worked for me (I mean, script ran successfully, but i have no success in disabling the "read recipient" when i tested it).
Then, I tried to do it manually:
- make a backup copy of the target file (/data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml)
- and then set: "read_receipts" to value="0" in the original file
- save it
- and when i open whatsapp app again, the XML file is restored to the older values, and the "backup" copy gets erased.
And for the "restart" question, i tried the following:
1 - swipe the app away from the recents, make XML modifications, and relaunch
2 - kill the app, make XML modifications, and run it again
I also tried to set XML file permissions to read-only, but it still was replaced by original config. once i opened the app.
-----
I was thinking about another workaround:
Since the read receipt (and delivery too) is usually done by transmitting a small message by the application, back to the sender, once the conversation window is opened.
It may be possible to just block this outgoing communication on your side by XPrivacy.
But, i have yet to hunt down the specific permission/address to block, without crippling the app..

Dj Mauro said:
hi, i have this problem:
snip
can you fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a quick fix, this should work for you:
1.) Add the following line above the line with the sed command:
Code:
mount -o rw,remount /data
2.) Change the last line of the script to the following (if it still compains replace the user id value in the command with that from the error message. and if it still complains, it might even work when you just comment out the line):
Code:
echo `am start --user -2 -n com.whatsapp/com.whatsapp.Conversation`
3.) Back in the console again, login as root (su, enter) and run the script.
Let me know if it worked.
As said in my update to post #3, I'll probably add some automatisms for such issues soon.

Bexton Tnx !

how about an xposed module?

smartxdev said:
I had permission error too.
In the terminal, try to first run "su" command (without the quotation marks), it will obtain root permissions for the terminal.
Then run the actual command. That solved the permission error for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, recognized already that I completely forgot to mention that at all (to run the script as root). I updated the inline instructions accordingly.
smartxdev said:
Actually it never worked for me (I mean, script ran successfully, but i have no success in disabling the "read recipient" when i tested it).
Then, I tried to do it manually:
- make a backup copy of the target file (/data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml)
- and then set: "read_receipts" to value="0" in the original file
- save it
- and when i open whatsapp app again, the XML file is restored to the older values, and the "backup" copy gets erased.
And for the "restart" question, i tried the following:
1 - swipe the app away from the recents, make XML modifications, and relaunch
2 - kill the app, make XML modifications, and run it again
I also tried to set XML file permissions to read-only, but it still was replaced by original config. once i opened the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sheesh. Okay, I think I got what's wrong here.
As far as I understood, you didn't even got to the point where the file
Code:
/data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml
stored the modified value, correct?
When I was looking at your manual procedure I recognized a small but probably crucial difference! Let's have a look at it. My initial, manual approach was:
# Login as root
Code:
[email protected]> [B]adb shell[/B]
[email protected]:/ $ [B]su[/B]
# Copy the original prefs xml file to /sdcard/.
# NOTE: We use cp as root user, but with the --preserve switch to copy a file owned by Whatapp's OS user.
Code:
[email protected]:/ # [B]cp -p /data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml /sdcard/[/B]
# So, at this point, the copied file /sdcard/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml is still owned by Whatapp's OS user.
# Now, my last 2 steps were to modify the read-receipts settings value in /sdcard/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml and copy back the modified file to its original location, which I did as follows:
Code:
[email protected]:/ # [B]sed -i'.bak' 's/^.*\bread_receipts\b.*$/ <long name="read_receipts" value="0" \/>/g' /sdcard/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml[/B]
[email protected]:/ # [B]cp -p /sdcard/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml /data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/[/B]
So all together, this was:
Code:
[email protected]> [B]adb shell[/B]
[email protected]:/ $ [B]su[/B]
[email protected]:/ # [B]cp -p /data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml /sdcard/[/B]
[email protected]:/ # [B]sed -i'.bak' 's/^.*\bread_receipts\b.*$/ <long name="read_receipts" value="0" \/>/g' /sdcard/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml[/B]
[email protected]:/ # [B]cp -fp /sdcard/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml /data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/[/B]
So what happened with the last 2 commands that made it work for me, but breaks in the script version?
The core problem here is, as I just learned, that GNU sed's -i extension does not actually edit files in place (--in-place is a misnomer, in my opinion); it creates a temp file, deletes the original file, then renames the temp to the name of the original. The result is a new file - much possibly with a different owner.
So in my manual procedure, the result of the sed command worked fine except for the fact that it changed ownership on all the files it went through. The only problem is that these files (or at least the backup file) were owned by the root user - the user I run the command as. However, then I used the -f switch (to force overwrite) and the -p switch (to preserve permission, ownership and timestamps) to copy back the prefs file from /sdcard/ back to its original location in the Whatsapp data folder. That means, as a result, in the Whatsapp data folder there was a) no new file from another user (the backup file) and b) the modified prefs xml file still had its original ownership information. Basically, this kind of "fixed" sed's -i mode behaviour on the prefs file plus didn't created a new file in Whatsapp's data folder.
The last step to solve the puzzle is fairly simple. I just tried the procedure manually - as defined upthread - with all my friends' phones. Thus, I didn't noticed the sed behaviour. Plus, the friend Iinitially wrote the script for didn't told me that it wasn't working for him.
Anyway. Let's finally come to how to fix.
A quick look into the sed manual unveils that -c switch should do the trick:
Code:
-c, --copy
use copy instead of rename when shuffling files in -i mode
(avoids change of input file ownership)
Unfortunately, this switch is not enabled in all the busybox sed's for Android. Also, this would still leave us with a new file in Whatsapp's data directory. Even if all ownership information of existing files can be preserved, we should also not create any files in the folder that are not known to the Whatsapp app.
So basically my manual approach is the way to go:
a) Save the backup of the original prefs file somewhere on /sdcard/
b) Preserve ownership and permissions for /data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml
NOTE: Even if you got the value in the prefs xml saved to "0" and with no changes to ownership and permissions, you still need to restart any running Whatsapp process. Otherwise the change will have no effect! And, rebooting the device, resets the prefs xml file!
I'll post an updated version later. Until then, probably the easiest way to test this, is the manual way using a text editor app on your device.
- Open any text editor app with root capabilities (I used https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.maskyn.fileeditor )
- From the menu choose "Open file", navigate to /data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/ and open the file com.whatsapp_preferences.xml
- Find the line that reads <long name="read_receipts" value="SOMENUMBER" /> (SOMENUMBER is a placeholder, of course)
- Replace SOMENUMBER with 0 (zero), so the line reads <long name="read_receipts" value="0" />
- Save the file
- Now, close Whatsapp from the recent apps view and restart it.
- You can verify the change by running the following command (as root) from a terminal on your phone:
Code:
cat /data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml |grep read
- You can verify the ownership and permissions by running the following command (as root) from a terminal on your phone:
Code:
ls -l /data/data/com.whatsapp/shared_prefs/com.whatsapp_preferences.xml
smartxdev said:
I was thinking about another workaround:
Since the read receipt (and delivery too) is usually done by transmitting a small message by the application, back to the sender, once the conversation window is opened.
It may be possible to just block this outgoing communication on your side by XPrivacy.
But, i have yet to hunt down the specific permission/address to block, without crippling the app..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, feel free to share any suggestions!

Ather said:
how about an xposed module?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess that'd be possible too. Just that I never looked into it yet.

Thanks, @Bexton for your detailed explanation.
Manual editing by Turbo Editor did the work for me.
I tested it, and the blue check marks were indeed blocked.
And btw, Turbo Editor has a nice "recent files" list on the startup, so reediting of the parameter on restart should be simple and easy.
Then, i did Restart (full restart to the device), and.... ...it still holds!
The parameter in the XML is unchanged and read notifications are still blocked
So, it made me wonder, why it didn't work for me before? I used ES Text Editor to edit the XML, it was fine, but then i made a backup copy somewhere inside the /data/data/com.whatsapp/ folder. And I think that "foreign" file caused full rewrite of the xml files by the app.
I hope it may hold permanently, but, we'll see..

Ahoy everyone!
We're 2 students from the University of Milan who created a repository [https://github.com/phosphore/whatsapp-blue/wiki]
for an Android app with the aim of getting rid of those blue ticks. We're currently
considering and testing out all the possible solutions including the modification
of com.whatsapp_preferences.xml (as found by @Bexton) or the filtering of the TCP
packet responsible for the read receipt.
Although using Bexton's method greatly simplifies the solution, it is just a
temporary workaround before Whatsapp fixes it.
Having a proxy filtering the requests should be a permanent solution. We are
reverse engineering FunXMPP (WA proprietary protocol) to find that particular request.
We're open to contribution!

smartxdev said:
So, it made me wonder, why it didn't work for me before? I used ES Text Editor to edit the XML, it was fine, but then i made a backup copy somewhere inside the /data/data/com.whatsapp/ folder. And I think that "foreign" file caused full rewrite of the xml files by the app.
I hope it may hold permanently, but, we'll see..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some editors use a similar internal workflow as GNU's sed in -i mode and without the c switch. Resulting in "corrupted" files (in the sense of ownership & contex)..
Th3Zer0 said:
Ahoy everyone!
We're 2 students from the University of Milan who created a repository [https://github.com/phosphore/whatsapp-blue/wiki]
for an Android app with the aim of getting rid of those blue ticks. We're currently
considering and testing out all the possible solutions including the modification
of com.whatsapp_preferences.xml (as found by @Bexton) or the filtering of the TCP
packet responsible for the read receipt.
Although using Bexton's method greatly simplifies the solution, it is just a
temporary workaround before Whatsapp fixes it.
Having a proxy filtering the requests should be a permanent solution. We are
reverse engineering FunXMPP (WA proprietary protocol) to find that particular request.
We're open to contribution!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you hook up via email? I'm working on an app as well and currently considering the possibilities. Maybe it's worth sharing thought.. Please send to [email protected], thanks!

This is why I waited before investing more time into it, hehe. So, time to relax for everyone. Here is news:
Whatsapp will soon get the ability to turn off the blue checkmark read indicator, according to an alleged Beta tester of the application.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Original tweet: https://twitter.com/0xmaciln/status/530294585072025600
Via: http://www.myce.com/news/whatsapp-w...ble-privacy-sensitive-blue-check-marks-73438/
Looks like this thread will be obsolete very soon.

Bexton said:
Whatsapp will soon get the ability to turn off the blue checkmark read indicator, according to an alleged Beta tester of the application.
Original tweet: https://twitter.com/0xmaciln/status/530294585072025600
Via: http://www.myce.com/news/whatsapp-wi...k-marks-73438/
Looks like this thread will be obsolete very soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice!
I think whatsapp(facebook?) expected this to come, they already had some bad experience with the "last seen" issue some time ago.
And it is already implemented as a simple switch inside XML prefs...

Bexton said:
Looks like this thread will be obsolete very soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, maybe I was wrong and it will not become obsolete. Maybe I will still build an app for it. Why? I found more news on the matter, that pointed out a major difference to me.
The same person who confirmed the additon of the on/off toggle for the read receipts, Ihlan Pektas, actually blogged about the feature already a few days ago. The essential information given in his blog post here (in German language) for me is, that he says that early alpha builds already have an implementation for it, and when you disable sending your read status (so that others can't see if you've read a msg), you will, in return, NOT be able to see the read status of your chat partners! (What makes perfectly sense, becausee it's the same way they do it for the "last seen" status.)
That being said, I think there'll be interest in an alternative. An alternative that is capable of disable sending one's own read status, while still being able to see the read status for one's own msgs, sent to others?!
Well, we'll see. (But the party ain't over yet.. )

Thanks Bexton. Tried your manual method with ES File Explorer, without making a backup, and it works. Even survives a full reboot.

Bexton said:
That being said, I think there'll be interest in an alternative. An alternative that is capable of disable sending one's own read status, while still being able to see the read status for one's own msgs, sent to others?!
Well, we'll see. (But the party ain't over yet.. )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see your point, but to make this happen, we need to look at another approach. Because, now we disable it by the pretty obvious flag in the pref. file, and once they release a "feature" it will be probably the same flag that will cause you not the deliver read receipts either.
The thing is, that in fact I barely use whatsapp, for various reasons. I'm here to help some non-techie friends of mine.
Anyways, I use Open WhisperSystems' TextSecure mostly (less polished and fewer features, but free, opensource, and actually secure).
So, a short while ago, they've introduced "delivery receipts". And for some reason, only I was able to get others' delivery receipts, but when others send me messages, they didn't receive a delivery receipt from me. (That's basically what we are trying to do here, just with read receipts)
At first, I was sure there is some bug in this. But then it turned out that I tuned XPrivacy too tight on restrictions, and this new feature could not get through and send the delivery notice. (unfortunately I don't remember what exactly the troublesome restriction was)
That's why i first thought about XPrivacy for this case as well.
Logically, the mechanism here might be the same, and once we find out what activity or address to block it will do the trick without letting the app itself know about it.
And it seems like @Th3Zer0 guys have the same direction in mind.
Bottom line: sounds like a good idea to find out how to "cheat" those things, and maybe build Xposed module/app on it

This seems to be the equivalent of downgrading whatsapp, letting you see blue ticks but other's cant see
It seems that it disables the part where you can highlight your own message and see who has seen the message though.
Working on 2.11.432.
Whatsapp just enabled a new feature a la Telegram where you can see who's typing in a group.

Contradictory to my previous report, I'm noticing that over time the "read_receipts" parameter keep reverting to a original value. What's weird though is that i was unable to pinpoint when it actually happening, since it happens without any kind of full phone restart in between.
Have you (@Bexton?) any insight on it?
And by the way, as I was talking about the sadly unpopular, but security-wise superior TextSecure, this post came out: Open Whisper Systems partners with WhatsApp.
Sounds promising, but it still remains to be seen how it all gets implemented and how much of a metadata leakage will be going on, since it is very unlikely that a proprietary and closed source SW company as WhatsApp will kill their business value (which is an insight on near 700M users' data) just like that.