Database Info

[MOD] External Search Key (Switching jump key and Search Button)

With this you can simply have your search key where the jump key is.
i decided to do this when i figured out that the search key can also jump to the apps you set your jumpkey to jump to (making me think WTF do i need the jump key for then?) but its used to jump back to recent apps. i just use "prehome" from the market for this (double tapping home bring up recent apps like the way holding home on other android phones would do)
basically you dont loose anything and this mapping is easy to adjust to.. you can still jump back into apps but you have to use the keyboards seach button to launch the jumpkey app. both of them (search and jumpkey) launch apps when pressed with another button combo if you have a jump set. i Just think its smart/convenient to have a External search button Like most phones do. Also holding the jumpkey will activate voice search
First you need to be rooted.. then download super manager (or a root file explorer like root explorer) Open Super manager and tap the setting icon and enable root.
Then just download the file below
Unzip it, put the File on your SD card
With Super manager Take the file and place it in system/usr/keylayout .. overwriting the existing file. then reboot and your done.

Works great! Now I don't have to flip my keyboard open to do a voice search lol

would there be any way to set the trackball click to search instead? It was discussed in another thread but idk if anyone tried it.

Broken Capacitive Button Workaround!

Alright, the Galaxy series, although awesome, suffers from some issues. None are as frustrating as when the damn capacitive (bottom) buttons stop working!
Normally it seems that all four bottom buttons don't fail at the same time, just one or two. This doesn't seem to be as much of a physical problem as a software one, probably an application running in the forefront that is blocking them. Now it is hard to do much of anything if the settings button (left side) fails, as you cannot access most settings for your apps. Both my outside buttons rarely work, the aforementioned settings button (left) and the search button (right). Search button doesn't matter to me, I can call up search on screen easily enough. The other two are home and back buttons. Back is more necessary than home. So to work around this Samsung-induced-pain-in-the-ass, I swapped the search button function for the home.
Here's how:
Make sure you are roted and have a rooted file manager. Root Explorer tends to work best.
1. Open Root Explorer, and make sure it is mounted r/w.
2. Navigate to /system, /usr, /keylayout.
3. Tap/hold Broadcom_Bluetooth_HID.kl, and select 'Open in Text Editor'. If you get a Warning message, that means you are mounted r/o so you just need to click the Mount R/W button above.
4. Change key 139 to read HOME instead of MENU.
Change key 102 to read MENU instead of HOME.
Hit the back capacitive button and choose to save. It will create a Broadcom_Bluetooth_HID.kl.bak file also so if you want to undo this then just erase the new Broadcom_Bluetooth_HID.kl file and then erase the .bak off the other file.
5. Now open the melfas_touchkey.kl file the same way by holding it until it allows you to select 'Open in Text Editor'.
Change key 139 to read HOME instead of MENU.
Change key 102 to read MENU instead of HOME.
Hit the back capacitive button and choose to save. It will also create a .bak file.
6. Open the qwerty.kl file by holding it until it allows you to select 'Open in Text Editor'.
Change key 102 to read MENU instead of HOME.
Change key 139 to read HOME instead of MENU.
Hit the back capacitive button and choose to save. It will again create a .bak file.
7. Back out of Root Explorer and restart your phone.
Now, when you push your home button it will bring up your settings menu in whatever application is open, and your settings button will do the home function (or nothing, as my outside buttons do as they don't usually work). I now use my back button to get me to home, it just takes a few more pushes as it goes one step at a time. Not as much of a pain as not being able to set program functions, that's for sure!
Note: Depending on your setup, the file names might be slightly different on other Android devices, but they will always be very similar. They'll all have a bluetooth.kl, touchkey.kl and qwerty.kl (or whatever your keyboard layout might be). You can also fool around with other key settings if you wish to experiment, depending on what is and is not working at the current time. Just save your original .bak files so you can put it back to normal easily. If you alter the .kl file more than once, it will overwrite the .bak file again (which is not used by the phone) so make sure you copy the .bak's to another directory (such as /sdcard/backups or your regular computer).
Hope this makes your lives easier and don't forget to thank me if I helped you.

Modified Home key acting up
So after using this mod for a little while, it has been working well except for some slight stalling of response from the capacitive buttons (which was happening before the mod) and an awfully annoying habit of backing out of programs by itself due to the modified left button which was originally Settings but I changed to Home with the above mod. When this happens, I can see the left button go dark as if it's been physically pressed, so obviously there is some electrical or software malfeasance happening there.
The fix to this problem is to navigate to your /system/usr/keylayout folder again and:
Delete: "key 139 HOME"
In each of these three folders we altered earlier:
Broadcom_Bluetooth_HID.kl
melfas_touchkey.kl
qwerty.kl
The result is that no action is associated with the leftmost capacitive button, which is fine because it wasn't working properly in the first place. This was becoming problematic as I typed in Terminal or while using my Ubuntu build on the phone.
Now, if there was also a problem with the search popping up by itself then you would just have to delete "key 217 SEARCH". Remember why I initially did this was because the outside capacitive buttons were not functioning properly and I needed the settings button more than home while in programs.

Fully Functioning Capacitive Button Workaround
I actually found a specific need for the home key.
When in Terminal Emulator, if I want to back out to the main screen and access another application, I have to use my back button. Trouble is, the back button also closes out the terminal session, which is a pain in the *ss if I want to just look up something in my browser and then go back to it. I have to then restart my session and retype on the small as hell keyboard. So I was thinking, how am I going to implement a home key function in my drop-down start menu which is always accessible and low-and-behold, here it is:
SoftKeys for Root Users
https://market.android.com/details?...EsIm5ldC5ob29wYWpvby5hbmRyb2lkLlNvZnRLZXlzIl0.
This is a great app. Solves the problem. Starts immediately on boot.
There's also this for just a home key in the start menu drop-down, no start on boot though:
BK Softhome
https://market.android.com/search?q=bk+softhome&c=apps
Problems solved! I now have disabled all 4 capacitive buttons while using Softkeys for Root Users for all functions. (Delete: key 102, key 139, key 158, and key 217 in all three folders listed in original post)

Disable wake on volume in all ICS Roms

I don't like how the screen turns on when I change the volume for music in my pocket, so here's a workaround I found:
- Use Root explorer (or similar) and browse to /system/usr/keylayout/
- Mount system as R/W
- Long press ffa-keypad.kl and open with text editor.
- Remove the words "WAKE_DROPPED" next to key
115 VOLUME_UP
114 VOLUME_DOWN
Only remove the "WAKE_DROPPED" words and save the file. Restart your phone and wake on volume button press should be disabled.

Thank you for this! Actually was just running into issues with this yesterday. When I run, I use my phone for music, and every once in awhile, it'll randomly decide to wake, and since it's in my pocket, it'll just start going crazy pressing buttons, pocket texting random people, and skipping tracks, haha.

Help please
ganja_guru said:
I don't like how the screen turns on when I change the volume for music in my pocket, so here's a workaround I found:
- Use Root explorer (or similar) and browse to /system/usr/keylayout/
- Mount system as R/W
- Long press ffa-keypad.kl and open with text editor.
- Remove the words "WAKE_DROPPED" next to key
115 VOLUME_UP
114 VOLUME_DOWN
Only remove the "WAKE_DROPPED" words and save the file. Restart your phone and wake on volume button press should be disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you post the entire file because I made a mistake and disable ALL and now I can t remenber wich ones than you !

Thank you for this! Was getting really annoying before. This is perfect now. Super clear directions. Thanks again.

Old thread, but same questions I suppose. I would like to disable wake on volume up for my Droid4 running ICS 4.0.4 but I don't have ffa-keypad.kl in my folders. I found several files that contain 114 and WAKE, but I'm not sure which one needs editing. I found the key layout info:
http://source.android.com/tech/input/key-layout-files.html
That indicates that changing the wrong one will just be ignored. Any guidance on determining which the right file is? Like I said, there's ~20 files and at least 4 have 114 in them. ES File Explorer doesn't seem to let me search file contents that I can see.

bkenobi69 said:
Old thread, but same questions I suppose. I would like to disable wake on volume up for my Droid4 running ICS 4.0.4 but I don't have ffa-keypad.kl in my folders. I found several files that contain 114 and WAKE, but I'm not sure which one needs editing. I found the key layout info:
http://source.android.com/tech/input/key-layout-files.html
That indicates that changing the wrong one will just be ignored. Any guidance on determining which the right file is? Like I said, there's ~20 files and at least 4 have 114 in them. ES File Explorer doesn't seem to let me search file contents that I can see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Change it in all 4, or plug ur phone into a computer, adb pull the entire folder and then search contents from there.
Then edit the files using notepad++ or notepad2 and then adb push them back

I actually solved this through searching a bunch more. The basic answer is that you need to edit whatever file ends with "-keypad.kl". For my Droid4 , that's "omap4-keypad.kl". Thanks for the response though!

bkenobi69 said:
I actually solved this through searching a bunch more. The basic answer is that you need to edit whatever file ends with "-keypad.kl". For my Droid4 , that's "omap4-keypad.kl". Thanks for the response though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice, I like how you followed up with the needed info. Next time someone searches they'll stumble upon ur answer

Worked perfectly on my ZTE Blade III, stock rom. Thanks man!

[GUIDE] How to Disable Home Button Wake on S6

You will need a root explorer and All in One Gestures app.
Look in device/system/usr/keylayout for generic.kl
Make a backup of this file before editing.
Open it in a text editor and look for lines "Key 158 BACK" and "Key 172 HOME"
Swap BACK and HOME then save and reboot.
Then open All in One Gestures and under hardware keys tab, swap funtion of home and back again.
Somewhere along the line the wake funtion is dropped. Everything else works as normal.
I needed this feature disabled b/c wallet case would keep screen on constantly and eat battery.

I found a slightly better alternative. Your method effectively disables the key light of the BACK button.
My method is:
Edit Generic.kl. Find key with SEARCH, and comment it with a #. Then find HOME, and replace HOME with SEARCH. Go into All In One Gestures, and click on the FAB with "+". Add " Search" key, and assign it the action for Home. That's it. Same effect, but key light for BACK still works!

Both working with Note 4 too.
With first method you are loosing backlight and haptic feedback, while with second you are gaining haptic feedback on home button too.
And you need to set long press for 'google now', otherwise it won't work.

Thoth33 said:
You will need a root explorer and All in One Gestures app.
Look in device/system/usr/keylayout for generic.kl
Make a backup of this file before editing.
Open it in a text editor and look for lines "Key 158 BACK" and "Key 172 HOME"
Swap BACK and HOME then save and reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did a variation of this. I swapped 254 MENU with 172 HOME. That's all. No need to install Xposed or any other apps.
This works simply by editing system files without having to install other apps like Exposed.
Now, the menu button is HOME. But it won't wake the phone, because menu does nothing unless phone is already awake. HOME button is MENU, but it doesn't wake the phone.
Perfect!

[HOW-TO] Remap capacitive (if you have(or any other)) buttons on any Android device

My original article on this was made for a Galaxy S3/S4/S5/S6/S7 devices because I didn't know that root directory organisation is almost the same.
This tutorial/how-to will guide you trough the process of remapping you capacitive buttons (or any other, I assure you'll figure it out!).
This however does not work on some chinese phones as I was told. Be careful when doing this, you can cause critical or even permanent damage to your device even if you do a smidge wrong.
HOW TO REMAP CAPACITIVE BUTTONS ON ANY ANDROID PHONE
If you're left handed like me, then you might wanna remap your capacitive buttons if you use the back key more often than the multitask button.
You can remap many other buttons such as volume keys and the power button, just use some logic and you'll figure it out.
As we progress on, you'll realize that there are many more things you can remap other than the physical buttons.
!!!DISCLAIMER!!!
I'm not responsible if this doesn't work for you!
I'm not responsible if your capacitive buttons don't work!
!!!DISCLAIMER!!!
1. You'll need root access for this, otherwise it won't let you edit the file
2. Go to Play Store and download any file manager app that supports root access (Best: ES File Explorer, Total Commander, Root Browser)
3. Open the file manager, and go to the root directory
4. Grant it root permissions if it doesn't ask in the begining
5. Go to the system folder, then to the usr folder and then to the keylayout folder
6. Long press on the Generic.kl file and click on Open as, then on Text and then select your prefered text editor
7. Now click on the search option if you have (otherwise you're gonna have a bad time searching)
8. Search for the word BACK, but search for the whole words
9. Change it to APP_SWITCH (make sure it's capitalized!)
10. Search again for the word MENU and change it to BACK (there may be two MENU words in the file so search twice)
11. Search for the word APP_SWITCH and change it to BACK
12. Save the fie
13. Exit and close the file manager
14. Reboot your device and enjoy!​

Nifty little guide! I'd been itching to figure out how to change the hard-mapped ExpressKeys on my Wacom Cintiq Companion Hybrid for a while now!
The only catch is that with this thing, you have to change those mappings in a file called "gpio-keys.kl" instead of "Generic.kl", which only seems to cover USB/Bluetooth keyboard and game controller mappings. At least it's a neat reference for potential key bindings, though by no means a full list.
In other words, if you can't find what you're looking for in Generic.kl, check gpio-keys.kl or even the other .kl files in that directory. You might just find your physical button mappings there.

NamelessFragger said:
Nifty little guide! I'd been itching to figure out how to change the hard-mapped ExpressKeys on my Wacom Cintiq Companion Hybrid for a while now!
The only catch is that with this thing, you have to change those mappings in a file called "gpio-keys.kl" instead of "Generic.kl", which only seems to cover USB/Bluetooth keyboard and game controller mappings. At least it's a neat reference for potential key bindings, though by no means a full list.
In other words, if you can't find what you're looking for in Generic.kl, check gpio-keys.kl or even the other .kl files in that directory. You might just find your physical button mappings there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for letting me know, the same thing happened to my brother, he owns a sony xperia s or sl i can't remember

i want to add long press menu button for menu and single tap for recent apps. Help
i.e. menu key >long press > menu
---------- Post added at 04:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:53 PM ----------

Hello!
I bought a EP online, but the power button its damaged,it press it self. I managed to root the device and deactivate the press power option by putting a # before the number of the key.
That worked now the phone is not pressing the key multiple times(it does but the action its null)
The problem its that the continuos Hold of the power key its making the phone to be rebooted, even after the power key its "DEACTIVATED" Is there any name for the action of reset that i can deactivate by doing the # thing?
please help!! this is driven me crazy..